LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

September 27/16

Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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http://www.eliasbejjaninews.com/newsbulletin16/english.september27.16.htm

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Bible Quotations For Today
When you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing
so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 06/01-04: “‘Beware of practising your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. ‘So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

Those who have never been told of him shall see, and those who have never heard of him shall understand.
Letter to the Romans 15/14-21: “I myself feel confident about you, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another. Nevertheless, on some points I have written to you rather boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to boast of my work for God. For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to win obedience from the Gentiles, by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and as far around as Illyricum I have fully proclaimed the good news of Christ. Thus I make it my ambition to proclaim the good news, not where Christ has already been named, so that I do not build on someone else’s foundation, but as it is written, ‘Those who have never been told of him shall see, and those who have never heard of him shall understand.’”"

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on September 26-27/16
"Christian Girls are only Meant for One Thing, the Pleasure of Muslim Men"/Raymond Ibrahim/Gatestone Institute/September 26/16
Abbas to Arab Leaders: Go to Hell/Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone Institute/September 26/16
Iran capitalizes on collapse of US-Russia cease-fire deal/Week in Review/Al-Monitor/September 26/16
Khamenei Glorifies IRGC But Does Not Rule Out Adopting Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Standards, Which Harms IRGC, Regarded In The West As A Terror Organization/By: A. Savyon and Y. Carmon/MEMRI/September 26/16
A bloody end to another failed ceasefire in Syria/Brooklyn Middleton/Al Arabiya/September 26/16
If JASTA had not been vetoed/Turki Aldakhil/Al Arabiya/September 26/16
Is Cameron really to blame for the mess in Libya/Dr. Azeem Ibrahim/Al Arabiya/September 26/16
King Fahd: Either we live together or die together/Jamal Khashoggi/Al Arabiya/September 26/16
Collective action to change confrontational course critical/Samar Fatany/Al Arabiya/September 26/16

Titles For Latest Lebanese Related News published on on September 26-27/16
Bulgaria Court Error Delays Trial of Hizbullah Bombing Suspects
Berri: 'Package Deal' is My Favorite Candidate
Hariri Holds Talks with Franjieh in Bnashii
Apple Farmers Block Jbeil Highway, Demand Government Action to Sell Products
Report: FPM's Street Rallies Awaiting 'Green Light' from Aoun
Kataeb Urges Election of President on Sep. 28 without 'Intimidation, Blackmail'
Bassil from Chicago: We Must Resist and Topple Any Illegitimate Authority
Syrian Terror Suspect Arrested in Deir al-Zahrani
Hand Grenade Tossed Overnight in Sidon Refugee Camp, no Casualties
Jumblat: International and Arab Powers Have no Time for Lebanon, Better Elect a President
Hariri, Frangieh agree to step up contacts to elect new president
Military court sentences Tannous Jallad for life in prison for collaboration with Israel
Military court sentences Mawlawi, Mansour to death
Francophone Secretary General starts official visit to Lebanon tomorrow
General Security denies demanding Syrians deportation

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on on September 26-27/16
Nine Injured in Houston Shooting, Suspect Killed
American hotels in Adana, Turkey, could be targets of attacks
Fresh strikes hit Aleppo as supplies dwindle
Syria says truce still viable after week of airstrikes
Moscow slams US, UK for ‘unacceptable’ UN statements on Syria
Turkey welcomes withdrawal of Syrian Kurdish fighters from Manbij
Boris Johnson arrives in Turkey, set to meet Erdogan
Britain’s Johnson extols virtues of his ‘Turkish washing machine’
Yemeni forces kill suspected Qaeda chief
Aid reaches starving families in Yemen’s Hudaydah
Iran's Ahmadinejad should stay out of election: conservatives
Palestinians condemn Trump vow on Jerusalem as Israel's capital
Axing Hamas from EU terror list would be lowest point for European Jews since Holocaust'
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
Iran: Three million two hundred thousand children being hindered from education
Iran: Increased pressure on political prisoners
IRAN: Ex-IRGC chief calls entering Iraq after conquering Khorramshahr a mistake
Iran: Strikes and protests of workers in major cities
Reports from Iran’s prisons

Links From Jihad Watch Site for on September 26-27/16
New York-based Egyptian Muslim activist calls for boycott of Copts: “The crescent must be on top of the cross”
Leaked FBI data reveal 7,700 terrorist encounters in USA in one year
Spain: Two Muslims arrested for supporting the Islamic State
Despite mall shooter’s “SubhanAllah” post and admiration for ISIS caliph, police search for motive
Why Leftists Fear ‘Law And Order’ Talk More Than Terror — a Nonie Darwish Moment
U.S. Federal Court: Facebook’s ‘moral obligation’ to contain jihadist rhetoric
David Wood Video: The Purpose of Debating Islam and Jihad: A Reply to Dr. Craig Considine
Top 10 Qur’anic Laws that Inspire the Laws of Iran — an Anni Cyrus Video
Hillary advocates gun control as response to terrorism
Pentagon quietly studying Islamic theology to understand the Islamic State and al-Qaeda

Links From Christian Today Site for on September 26-27/16
Pope Francis Has Made It Harder To Become A Saint
Christians Step Up Campaign To Save Asia Bibi From Blasphemy Death Sentence
Christian Values Are Under Attack In America, Say White, Working-Class Evangelicals
Christian News Anchor Condemned For Wearing Crucifix On Air
Two Dozen Christians Deported From Saudi Arabia For Praying
Kidnapped Priest Found Dead In Mexico; Third Killing In A Week
Shopping Catalogues Are Tools Of Satan, Says Pastor Rick Warren
Shocking Rise In Child Rape In Sierra Leone
Why Are So Many Mexican Priests Being Killed?
Muslim And Christian Children In Aleppo Will Pray Together For End To Brutal Conflict
Hungary Wants A 'Giant Refugee City' In Libya To Keep Migrants Out

Latest Lebanese Related News published on on September 26-27/16

Bulgaria Court Error Delays Trial of Hizbullah Bombing Suspects
France Presse/Naharnet/September 26/16/The trial over a deadly 2012 bombing of Israeli tourists in Bulgaria, due to start on Monday, has been pushed back to November because of a procedural error, prosecutors said. The opening was delayed because the Sofia court had failed to inform the victims' families of the start date, prosecutors told AFP. The proceedings against two alleged suspects in the attack, who are on the run and being tried in absentia, will now start on November 10. A Franco-Lebanese national, identified as Mohamad Hassan El-Husseini, blew up a bus carrying Israeli tourists at the airport of the Black Sea coast resort of Burgas on July 18, 2012. Five Israelis, their Bulgarian driver and the bomber himself died in the attack, which left 35 other Israelis injured. Bulgarian authorities identified the attacker's alleged accomplices as two Lebanese men with links to Lebanon's Hizbullah, named as Australian passport holder Meliad Farah and Canadian citizen Hassan El Hajj Hassan. The attack -- which both Israel and Bulgaria blamed on Hizbullah -- was the deadliest hit against Israelis abroad since 2004. It played a role in a subsequent European Union decision to blacklist Hizbullah's military wing as a “terrorist organization.”

Berri: 'Package Deal' is My Favorite Candidate
Naharnet/September 26/16/Speaker Nabih Berri has announced that he would “communicate” with al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri “in the coming hours,” while ruling out the possibility of electing a president before the parties agree on a so-called “package deal.”“There is nothing new in the presidential file and I will communicate with Hariri in the coming hours,” Berri's visitors quoted him as saying in remarks published Monday. As for calls by some parties for Hizbullah to press the speaker to endorse Free Patriotic Movement founder MP Michel Aoun for the presidency “before asking Hariri to do so,” Berri noted that his “favorite candidate” would be “an agreement over a package deal involving the presidency, the government and the electoral law.”“If we don't agree on this package deal, especially on the electoral law, we would be crucifying any elected president,” the speaker added. Hariri returned to Beirut Saturday from a several-week foreign trip during which he shuttled between Europe and Saudi Arabia. Lebanon has been without a president since the term of Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014 and Hizbullah, Aoun's Change and Reform bloc and some of their allies have been boycotting the parliament's electoral sessions, stripping them of the needed quorum. Hariri, who is close to Saudi Arabia, launched an initiative in late 2015 to nominate Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh for the presidency but his proposal was met with reservations from the country's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah.
Hariri's move prompted Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea to endorse the nomination of Aoun, his long-time Christian rival, after months of political rapprochement talks between their two parties. The supporters of Aoun's presidential bid argue that he is more eligible than Franjieh to become president due to the size of his parliamentary bloc and his bigger influence in the Christian community.

Hariri Holds Talks with Franjieh in Bnashii
Naharnet/September 26/16/Al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri held talks Monday evening in Bnashii with Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh. Hariri was accompanied by his advisers Ghattas Khoury and Nader Hariri, state-run National News Agency reported. On Marada's side, the meeting was attended by Culture Minister Rony Araiji, ex-minister Youssef Saade, Franjieh's son Tony and the lawyer Youssef Finianos. MTV said the meeting would be followed by a dinner banquet and a possible closed-door meeting between Hariri and Franjieh. The two leaders will not make televised statements after the talks, the TV network added. MTV later reported that the meeting will be "decisive."According to MTV, the meeting comes after rumors claiming that Hariri has informed Hizbullah that he has decided to endorse Free Patriotic Movement founder MP Michel Aoun for the presidency.
The rumors were however denied by both Hariri sources and Bnashii sources, the TV network said. Hariri had returned Saturday to Beirut from a several-week foreign trip during which he shuttled between Europe and Saudi Arabia. Lebanon has been without a president since the term of Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014 and Hizbullah, Aoun's Change and Reform bloc and some of their allies have been boycotting the parliament's electoral sessions, stripping them of the needed quorum. Hariri, who is close to Saudi Arabia, launched an initiative in late 2015 to nominate Franjieh for the presidency but his proposal was met with reservations from the country's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah. Hariri's move prompted Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea to endorse the nomination of Aoun, his long-time Christian rival, after months of political rapprochement talks between their two parties. The supporters of Aoun's presidential bid argue that he is more eligible than Franjieh to become president due to the size of his parliamentary bloc and his bigger influence in the Christian community.

Apple Farmers Block Jbeil Highway, Demand Government Action to Sell Products
Naharnet/September 26/16/Apple farmers in the city of Jbeil, north of Beirut, kicked off a sit-in on Monday and demanded a government action with regard to helping them sell their products, the National News Agency reported. The farmers have briefly blocked the Jbeil highway leading to Beirut, and threw their apples on the road blocking the traffic for a couple of hours. After receiving assurances that a meeting with Prime Minister Tammam Salam and Agriculture Minister Akram Shehayyeb will be organized, the farmers reopened the road after a while. Lebanon recorded a slow growth in its agricultural sector and is attributable to the Syrian crisis because a good percentage of the agricultural products were exported to Syria or through Syria to other Arab countries and the Gulf States.

Report: FPM's Street Rallies Awaiting 'Green Light' from Aoun
Naharnet/September 26/16/Free Patriotic Movement sources stressed that they have completed the preparations for the street rallies and are waiting for the start signal from MP Michel Aoun, As Safir daily reported on Monday. "The plan to kick off street rallies and take action on the ground has been completed, and putting it into implementation awaits the signal of Aoun," the sources told the daily on condition of anonymity. They added that Aoun will take his decision to launch the rallies following a session designated to elect a president, which they said is the breaking line between two stages. The Change and Reform announced earlier that it has started mobilizing for street protests on September 28 and October 13 as part of its escalatory steps that are aimed at pressing the other parties in the country to “abide by the National Pact.”FPM chief Jebran Bassil has threatened that the FPM would “topple the government” through street protests if the other parties do not heed the movement's demand regarding “partnership” and the National Pact. The 1943 National Pact is an unwritten agreement that set the foundations of modern Lebanon as a multi-confessional state based on Christian-Muslim partnership.

Kataeb Urges Election of President on Sep. 28 without 'Intimidation, Blackmail'
Naharnet/September 26/16/The Kataeb Party stressed Monday that the September 28 presidential vote session must be a “constitutional process” not involving any “intimidation” or “blackmail.”“Quorum must be secured for electing a president in the Sep. 28 presidential vote session, which must be a constitutional process not involving intimidation or a distribution of shares,” Kataeb's political bureau said in a statement issued after its weekly meeting. “No one is authorized to paralyze the country, blackmail the Lebanese, or distribute or withhold the constitutional posts,” it added. And stressing that “sovereignty is not a small detail in political life,” Kataeb reiterated its rejection of electing “any candidate not carrying a sovereign, national project.”Lebanon has been without a president since the term of Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014 and Hizbullah, MP Michel Aoun's Change and Reform bloc and some of their allies have been boycotting the parliament's electoral sessions, stripping them of the needed quorum. Al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri, who is close to Saudi Arabia, launched an initiative in late 2015 to nominate Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh for the presidency but his proposal was met with reservations from the country's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah. The ex-PM's move prompted Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea to endorse the nomination of Aoun, his long-time Christian rival, after months of political rapprochement talks between the two parties. The supporters of Aoun's presidential bid argue that he is more eligible than Franjieh to become president due to the size of his parliamentary bloc and his bigger influence in the Christian community.

Bassil from Chicago: We Must Resist and Topple Any Illegitimate Authority
Naharnet/September 26/16/Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has warned that “coexistence in Lebanon is threatened,” while noting that there is a duty to “resist and topple any illegitimate authority.”“Despite of all that is happening we are still resilient, but coexistence in Lebanon is threatened and today we are facing a new test and challenge,” said Bassil during a meeting with Lebanese expats in the U.S. city of Chicago. “We have taken a decision to accept the other, regardless of their sect or religion, but this acceptance needs the same level of acceptance from the other. Any mutual relation requires acceptance from both parties,” Bassil stressed. “We must accept each other in development and we must all pay taxes or no one should pay. We must be equal and represented in parliament and we must accept each other in the government,” the FPM chief added. “We have established national partnership in the country in order to live free, sovereign and with full rights. Some call it racism but we call it conformity to the National Pact,” Bassil went on to say. The FPM, which has the biggest Christian bloc in parliament, has suspended its participation in cabinet sessions and national dialogue meetings over accusations that other parties in the country are not respecting the National Pact. The 1943 National Pact is an unwritten agreement that set the foundations of modern Lebanon as a multi-confessional state based on Christian-Muslim partnership. “We have a duty to resist and topple any illegitimate authority. This is how to be Lebanese who respect the National Pact. The essential rule for national partnership is accepting each other,” Bassil added. “If you accept me I'll accept you and if you reject me I'll reject you,” he said. “Our Lebanon is our National Pact and our Levantism is the triumph of our Arab causes through the principles of freedom, sovereignty, human's dignity, justice and equality,” Bassil added.
The FPM chief had recently warned that the country might be soon plunged into a “political system crisis” if the other parties do not heed the movement's demands regarding Muslim-Christian “partnership.” The FPM has also announced that it will resort to street protests to press for its demands. Lebanon has been without a president since the term of Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014 and Hizbullah, FPM founder MP Michel Aoun's Change and Reform bloc and some of their allies have been boycotting the parliament's electoral sessions, stripping them of the needed quorum. Al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri, who is close to Saudi Arabia, launched an initiative in late 2015 to nominate Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh for the presidency but his proposal was met with reservations from the country's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah. The supporters of Aoun's presidential bid argue that he is more eligible than Franjieh to become president due to the size of his parliamentary bloc and his bigger influence in the Christian community.

Syrian Terror Suspect Arrested in Deir al-Zahrani
Naharnet/September 26/16/A Syrian man was arrested Monday in the southern town of Deir al-Zahrani on suspicion of belonging to terrorist groups, state-run National News Agency reported. “Army intelligence agents arrested the Syrian Th. al-Slaibi in the southern town of Deir al-Zahrani on suspicion of belonging to terrorist groups operating outside Lebanon,” NNA said. He was taken to the southern headquarters of the army's intelligence directorate for interrogation. The army intensified its crackdown on terror suspects in the wake of the arrest of Imad Yassine, whom the military described as the “emir” of the Islamic State group in the Ain el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp. According to media reports, Yassine was coordinating with the IS leadership to stage major “Iraq-like bombings” across Lebanon. An army statement issued Thursday said Yassine had been plotting to stage bomb attacks against “army posts, vital and touristic facilities, shopping centers, popular gatherings and residential areas in several Lebanese regions.”As Safir newspaper reported Friday that Yassine's bank of targets had included Casino du Liban, downtown Beirut, the Central Bank, the power generation plants in Jiyeh and al-Zahrani, Nabatiyeh's “Monday Market”, UNIFIL forces in the South, KFC outlets in Dbaye, army patrols and posts, in addition to firing rockets at Israel in a bid to ignite the southern front. Al-Joumhouria newspaper meanwhile reported that Yassine had been plotting to assassinate political figures in Sidon and Beirut, including Speaker Nabih Berri.

Hand Grenade Tossed Overnight in Sidon Refugee Camp, no Casualties
Naharnet/September 26/16/Unknown assailants tossed a hand grenade overnight on the roof of the residence of a Palestinian National Security member in the refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh in Sidon, the National News Agency reported on Monday. The grenade was tossed on the roof of the residence of Nasser Daoud, NNA added. No causalities were reported, it added.

Jumblat: International and Arab Powers Have no Time for Lebanon, Better Elect a President
Naharnet/September 26/16/Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat stated that International and Arab powers have no time to address Lebanon's needs, as he emphasized the necessity to reduce the pressure on Lebanon's security and economic situations through the election of a president which would bring about a positive shock that reactivates the institutions, As Safir daily reported on Monday. “The presence of a president leads to the reactivation of the situation and triggers a positive impact to the country and reopens the institutions without exception,” said Jumblat in an interview to the daily. However, he added: “I believe that the issue of the presidency is postponed in accordance with the circumstances at the current moment particularly that no (country) one has the time for us.” On the adamant stances of Hizbullah and its adherence to the nomination of founder of the Free Patriotic Movement MP Michel Aoun, Jumblat said: “I respect Hizbullah's proclaimed choice and adherence to nominating General Aoun, but I wonder if the hidden intentions are something else!”Jumblat highlighted the proposal to bring al-Mustaqbal Movement chief ex-PM Saad Hariri as Premier, he remarked that any alternative to Hariri is going to be “radical”, he said: “All parties including Hizbullah have a national interest to protect the option of moderation which is represented by Hariri.” On Speaker Nabih Berri's adherence to call bickering political parties for the national dialogue sessions, the PSP leader pointed out: “Berri's adherence to national dialogue does not stem from void. The man confirms in each session on the Taif accord, perhaps because he has become aware that a certain reality must change one day .. I do not know how some Christians look at the issue, but i fear that some suggestions could take the Christians to triplicity instead of parity.”“If some believe that the Taif accord is no longer viable, and they are wrong to believe so, what would be the alternative then?” asked Jumblat. He went on to say: “In Doha, there was a western and an international resolution to elect Michel Suleiman as president, then came the Doha agreement as the result of an international and Arab push .. Today no one has the time for us and if we overthrow what we already have, we will be facing the unknown.”

Hariri, Frangieh agree to step up contacts to elect new president
Mon 26 Sep 2016/NNA - Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri and MP Sleiman Frangieh agreed on Monday to step up calls and consultations with the local political powers, in order to elect a new president of the republic. Hariri headed this evening to Bnachii, meeting the invitation of his presidential candidate, the Marada Movement leader, with whom he reportedly dwelt on the presidential issue and the means to meet this due date. Both agreed to widen the spectrum of contacts with the entire political powers in order to elect a new head of the Lebanese state, as well as to activate the constitutional institutions. The meeting was attended by Hariri's advisor, former minister Ghattas Khoury, and his office manager, Nader Hariri, alongside Minister of Culture, Raymond Araiji, former minister Youssef Saade, Mr. Toni Frangieh, and lawyer Youssef Fenianous.

Military court sentences Tannous Jallad for life in prison for collaboration with Israel
Mon 26 Sep 2016/NNA - The military court sentenced on Monday Tannous Ibrahim Jallad for life prison, for collaboration with the Israeli enemy. The verdict also ruled five-year imprisonment for Ramez Najib Sayyed, and sent both Salam and Ibrahim Shakar to two years in jail.

Military court sentences Mawlawi, Mansour to death
Mon 26 Sep 2016/NNA - The military court, headed by General Khalil Ibrahim, sentenced to death both Shadi Mawlawi and Jalal Mansour on Monday, for forming armed gangs and targeting Lebanese army outposts with explosives in an attempt to kill a soldier. The in absentia verdict indicated that Mawlawi's file included six others, among whom Osama Mansour, who had been previously killed, as well as teenager W.D., and Raed al-Hussein. It is to note that Mawlawi is still at large since the last events in Tripoli.

Francophone Secretary General starts official visit to Lebanon tomorrow
Mon 26 Sep 2016/NNA - Francophone Secretary General Michaelle Jean shall pay an official visit to Lebanon from September 27 to 30, International Francophone Organization said in a statement. The statement said that Jean's visit to Lebanon affirms the importance of this country with respect to Francophonie, highlighting the importance of Lebanon in the literary creation in the French language. The Francophone top level official is due to meet Prime Minister, Tammam Salam, House Speaker, Nabih Berri, and Culture Minister, Roni Areiji, in addition to Lebanese dignitaries.

General Security denies demanding Syrians deportation
Mon 26 Sep 2016/NNA - The General Directorate of General Security denied, in a communiqué on Monday, having issued a circular hereby demanding the deportation of Syrian nationals from Lebanon, as disseminated by social media. "The General Security's Directorate confirms that the alleged circular is fake, and it shall pursue people who are posting it," the agency said, stressing that no changes have been made to the instructions relevant to Syrians entering and residing in Lebanon.

Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on on September 26-27/16

Nine Injured in Houston Shooting, Suspect Killed
France Presse/Naharnet/September 26/16/A gunman opened fire in Houston on Monday just before daybreak, wounding nine people before police shot and killed him, police said. The shooter was a Houston-area lawyer, the Texas city's police chief Martha Montalvo told a news conference. She would not identify the man by name. Police said they were investigating whether the shooting was motivated by "issues at his firm."Of the nine people injured, six were sent to hospitals while three were treated and released near the scene of the incident. One person was in critical condition and another in serious condition, police said. Police did not disclose what kind of gun was used. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner told local television station KTRK that it appeared the motivation for the shooting may have been the lawyer's relationship with his firm, which "went awry." The police chief said there were no indications of any others involved, and that investigators were checking the man's social media accounts to help in determining his motive. Police responded to reports of a shooting at 6:29 a.m. local time, and engaged in a shootout with the suspect. "The individual was firing actively at the officers," Montalvo said. The shooter was killed, after which police examined his body for explosives. They then examined his car and found numerous weapons, Montalvo said. Authorities also planned to check his apartment, and asked residents in a three-block area to remain in their homes while police continued their work. Witnesses told local media that the shooter fired onto moving cars from an area near an apartment complex. "The shots were coming almost non-stop. Four, five, six at a time," said Jaime Zamora, a cameraman for Houston television station KTRK who witnessed some of the shooting. He estimated that between 30 and 50 shots were fired. Local stations broadcast images of cars with bullet holes and broken windows.

American hotels in Adana, Turkey, could be targets of attacks
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 26/16/Reuters Tuesday, 27 September 2016/The US Consulate in Adana, Turkey, warned Americans on Monday that it had obtained specific and credible threats of potential terrorist activity targeting US-branded hotels in Adana. “US citizens in Adana are advised to exercise caution when patronizing these establishments,” the consulate said in a statement on its website. Aleppo Reels from Strikes as Russia Accused of 'War Crimes'.Syria's Aleppo faced worsening food and medical shortages on Monday and warplanes again pounded the city as Russia condemned what it called "unacceptable" Western rhetoric after allegations of war crimes. A fresh wave of intense air strikes battered Aleppo's opposition-controlled east, said an AFP correspondent in the city facing its worst violence in years. During an emergency session of the U.N. Security Council, U.S. ambassador Samantha Power accused Russia of "barbarism", while the British and French envoys went even further. "War crimes are being committed here in Aleppo," Francois Delattre of France said, while Britain's envoy spoke of bunker-busting bombs and more sophisticated weaponry unleashing a "new hell" on Syrians."It is difficult to deny that Russia is partnering with the Syrian regime to carry out war crimes," said Britain's Matthew Rycroft.
The Kremlin hit back.
Spokesman Dmitry Peskov denounced "the overall unacceptable tone and rhetoric of the representatives of the United Kingdom and the United States, which can damage and harm our relations."Despite the exchange, the violence showed no signs of abating on the ground, with people in Aleppo saying food and vital medical supplies were dwindling to nothing. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said at least 12 people, including three children, were killed in Monday's raids on several rebel-held districts.
Blood shortage, more amputations
Including the latest deaths, a total of 140 people, nearly all civilians, have been killed in Syrian and Russian raids on eastern Aleppo since late Thursday. They include 23 children and 10 women, Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said Monday. It was the fourth day of intense bombardment since a defiant Syrian regime launched a new assault to retake all of Aleppo following the collapse early last week of a short-lived ceasefire brokered by Moscow and Washington. Since the truce fell apart, a total of 248 people have been killed in Aleppo city and the wider province by Russian and government bombardment, the Observatory said. A Syrian military source told AFP regime forces had no intention of letting up on rebel-held areas. "The air force will bomb any terrorist movements, this is an irreversible decision," the source said, reiterating the regime's goal was to "recapture all regions of Syria" outside its control.
A medical source in rebel-held Aleppo said hospitals were struggling to deal with a huge number of casualties. "Hospitals that are still in service are under a lot of pressure due to the significant number of wounded in recent days, and the major shortage of blood," the source told AFP. "Because of this, serious injuries are requiring immediate amputations."With Aleppo back under siege since regime forces again fully surrounded the city in early September, residents were left reeling from food shortages and skyrocketing prices as well as intensifying violence.
- 'End the nightmare' -
Several charity kitchens in Aleppo's rebel-held east were closed in fear of strikes, while water remained cut after pumping stations were damaged at the weekend. "We endured through years of bombardments and did not leave Aleppo. But now there is no bread, no drinking water, nothing in the markets. The situation is getting worse every day," said Hassan Yassin, a 40-year-old father of four. On Monday, dozens of rebels and their families quit the last opposition-held district of central Homs city as part of a deal struck with the regime last year. A total of 131 fighters and 119 family members were bussed out of Waer, devastated after a three-year regime siege, to rebel-held Dar al-Kubra further north, said a source from Homs governorate. An estimated 600,000 Syrians live under siege, according to the U.N., with most encircled by regime forces though rebels also use the tactic. The U.N.'s World Food Program said it delivered food aid on Sunday to civilians in four besieged towns in Syria for the first time since April. Madaya and Zabadani, near Damascus, are encircled by government forces while Fuaa and Kafraya in the northwest are besieged by hardline rebels. A convoy of 53 trucks entered Madaya and Zabadani, with another 18 to Fuaa and Kafraya, according to the International Committee for the Red Cross. At Sunday's Security Council meeting, U.S. envoy Power voiced some of the strongest criticism yet of Russia's support for President Bashar Assad's regime. "What Russia is sponsoring and doing is not counter-terrorism. It is barbarism," she said. Russia's year-long air war has helped Assad's forces regain ground lost to a wide range of opposition forces. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has also warned the use of advanced weaponry against civilians could amount to war crimes.
Ban called on world powers to "work harder for an end to the nightmare" in Syria that has killed more than 300,000 people and driven millions from their homes.

Fresh strikes hit Aleppo as supplies dwindle
AFP, Aleppo, Syria Monday, 26 September 2016/Warplanes again pounded rebel-held areas of Syria’s Aleppo on Monday as residents warned of increasing shortages of food and medicine. An AFP correspondent in the battered city said a wave of strikes hit areas of the opposition-controlled east of the city from dawn, in particular the Al-Mashhad and Sayf al-Dawla districts, sparking large fires. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said “dozens of raids” had hit districts of east Aleppo after midnight on Sunday, with many wounded and at least two civilians killed. It was the fourth day of intense air raids on the city since a defiant Syrian regime launched a new assault to retake all of Aleppo following the collapse of a short-lived ceasefire brokered by Russia and the United States. The Observatory said Monday that at least 128 people, nearly all civilians, had been killed in Syrian and Russian raids on eastern Aleppo since late Thursday. Among the dead were 20 children and nine women, said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman. At least 36 civilians, including 11 children and five women, were killed in raids targeting rural areas of Aleppo province, he said. A medical source in rebel-held Aleppo said hospitals were struggling to deal with a huge number of casualties as supplies dwindled. “Hospitals that are still in service are under a lot of pressure due to the significant number of wounded in recent days, and the major shortage of blood,” the source told AFP. “Because of this, serious injuries are requiring immediate amputations,” he said. With Aleppo back under siege since regime forces again fully surrounded the city in early September, residents were having to deal with food shortages and skyrocketing prices as well as the increased violence. The price of a portion of bread had risen to 500 Syrian pounds ($1) from 350 Syrian pounds last week, the AFP correspondent said, and food was becoming increasingly difficult to find. Several charity kitchens that had distributed food in eastern districts were also no longer operating due to the danger of air strikes. Aleppo, divided since mid-2012 between government control in the west and rebel control in the east, has seen some of its worst fighting in years over the last week, raising widespread international concern. The UN Security Council met in an emergency session on Sunday to address the fighting, with Britain, France and the United States demanding Russia rein its Syrian ally.

Syria says truce still viable after week of airstrikes
By The Associated Press, Beirut Monday, 26 September 2016/Syria’s foreign minister said Monday that an internationally-brokered cease-fire is still viable, as rescue workers in Aleppo sifted through the rubble from the heaviest airstrikes on rebel-held areas of the northern city in five years. Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem, speaking to Mayadeen TV from New York, also said the government is prepared to take part in a unity government incorporating elements from the opposition, an offer that has been rejected in the past. Opposition activists say more than 200 civilians have been killed in the past week under a sustained aerial campaign that UN envoy Staffan de Mistura called one of the worst of the 5 1/2-year war. The UN Security Council convened an emergency meeting but failed to take any action because of deep divisions between Russia and Western powers. “What Russia is sponsoring and doing is not counterterrorism, it’s barbarism,” said US Ambassador Samantha Power. “It’s apocalyptic what is being done in eastern Aleppo.”Airstrikes on Aleppo on Monday killed at least six people, according to the Local Coordination Committees, an activist-run collective. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported hours later that 12 were killed, including three children. Al-Moallem accused the US, Britain, and France of convening the Security Council meeting a day earlier in order to support “terrorists” inside Syria. But he said ongoing communications between US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov meant a truce agreement brokered two weeks ago is “not dead.” Syria’s military declared the cease-fire ended one week ago. The spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin said the cease-fire is ineffective, but that Moscow is not losing hope for a political solution to the country’s crisis. However, Dmitry Peskov told reporters Monday that the Kremlin is concerned that “terrorists are using the cease-fire regime to regroup, to replenish their arsenals and for obvious preparations to carry out attacks.” Peskov also took issue with harsh criticism by the United States and Britain over Russia’s actions in Syria. He said Russia considers the tone of the criticism unacceptable and “such rhetoric is capable of causing serious harm to the resolution process” in Syria. US Secretary of State John Kerry said the Syrian and Russian governments “seem intent on taking Aleppo and destroying it in the process.”“While they’re pounding Aleppo, dropping indiscriminate bombs, killing women and children, talk of a unity government is pretty complicated,” Kerry said during a visit to Colombia. He said the Syrian opposition won’t be “particularly excited about having a negotiation when they’re being bombed and starved,” adding that statements by the Syrian government are “almost meaningless.”In the central Syrian city of Homs, meanwhile, a second group of rebel gunmen and their families began evacuating from an opposition neighborhood. Some 120 gunmen and their families are expected to leave al-Waer as part of an agreement to restore the government’s authority over the neighborhood, Homs Governor Talal Barazi said. The agreement struck over al-Waer was in keeping with Assad’s determination to settle the war on his own terms, securing surrenders through sieges and staying in power at least through an interim period to steer the country out of crisis. Pro-government forces have kept al-Waer under a steadily tightening siege since November 2013, prohibiting food and medical supplies from reaching the remaining 75,000 residents, down from 300,000 before the start of the war in 2011.
In exchange for the evacuations, the government is permitting aid convoys to supply the neighborhood with badly needed food and medical supplies. A Syrian Arab Red Crescent convoy of 36 trucks delivered assistance for 4,000 families in the district Saturday. UN humanitarian officials have condemned the sieges against civilians as “medieval” and in contravention to international law. In New York, al-Moallem reaffirmed his government’s proposed roadmap to end Syria’s war, saying Damascus would support a referendum on a new constitution followed by parliamentary elections and the formation of a unity government.

Moscow slams US, UK for ‘unacceptable’ UN statements on Syria
By AFP, Moscow Monday, 26 September 2016/Moscow on Monday slammed the United States and Britain for accusing Russia of “barbarism” and war crimes in Syria as Russian and Syrian warplanes continued to bomb rebel-held areas of Aleppo. “We note the overall unacceptable tone and rhetoric of the representatives of the United Kingdom and the United States, which can damage and harm our relations,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Moscow and Damascus were repeatedly accused of war crimes at Sunday’s emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to demand that Russia rein in its long-standing ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. “In short, it is difficult to deny, that Russia is partnering with the Syrian regime to carry out war crimes,” British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said, adding that incendiary munitions “indiscriminate in their reach” were being used against Aleppo civilians.
Rycroft added that Moscow and the Syrian regime had “unleashed a new hell” on the battered Syrian city. US Ambassador Samantha Power meanwhile accused Moscow of “barbarism”. At least 124 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the bombardment of rebel-held eastern Aleppo since the army on Thursday announced an operation to take the country’s second city, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, on Sunday accused Washington of failing to convince armed opposition groups it supports to distance themselves from the Al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front and abide by a short-lived ceasefire brokered earlier this month by Russia and the United States. Churkin however said that reviving the ceasefire was still a goal that Moscow could pursue if it was part of a “collective” effort on all sides. Peskov said Monday that the ceasefire has “little effect” but the Kremlin is not ready to bury it quite yet.“Moscow is not losing the hope and political will to use maximum efforts to reach the point of political settlement in Syria,” Peskov said Monday. “So far it’s been hard.”Aleppo, divided since mid-2012 between government control in the west and rebel control in the east, has seen some of its worst fighting in years over the last week, raising widespread international concern.

Turkey welcomes withdrawal of Syrian Kurdish fighters from Manbij
By Reuters, Ankara Monday, 26 September 2016/A significant portion of Kurdish YPG militia fighters who were in the northern Syrian town of Manbij are withdrawing to the east of the Euphrates river in a move welcomed by Turkey, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus
told reporters on Monday. Ankara has demanded that the YPG forces move east of the Euphrates, viewing the group as closely linked to Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militia fighting in southeast Turkey and deeming both groups terrorist organizations.

Boris Johnson arrives in Turkey, set to meet Erdogan
AFP, Istanbul Monday, 26 September 2016/British foreign minister Boris Johnson began a key visit to Turkey on Monday, months after he led the successful “Brexit” campaign that played on anti-Turkish sentiments. The trip by Johnson is the first visit by a top level British official since the failed coup in July that aimed to overthrow President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Campaigners for Britain to leave the EU in the June 23 vote repeatedly raised the specter of millions of Turks being free to live in Britain as a reason to pull out of the 28-nation bloc. Former London mayor Johnson risked further Turkish ire in May when he won a British competition calling for rude verse about Erdogan, organized in solidarity with a German comedian facing prosecution for doing the same. Turkish officials have played down possible setback in the two countries’ relationship, saying British-Turkish ties are too important to be hostage to Johnson’s statements. A spokesperson for the British embassy in Ankara told AFP that Johnson had arrived in Turkey, where he is to meet Erdogan and Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, as well as Syrian opposition groups. He is also due to visit the Turkish parliament in the capital Ankara which was extensively damaged by airstrikes on the night of the failed July 15 coup, Turkish officials said. Johnson has made headlines in Turkish media because of his Turkish great-grandfather Ali Kemal, who was a politician and a journalist in the 1900s.

Britain’s Johnson extols virtues of his ‘Turkish washing machine’
By AFP, Ankara Tuesday, 27 September 2016/Months after winning a competition for an offensive poem about the Turkish head of state, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson clearly needed to make himself feel welcome in Ankara. But true to his flamboyant reputation, London’s top diplomat chose an original course by singing the praises of his Turkish-made washing machine. Speaking at a news conference in Ankara alongside Turkish EU Affairs Minister Omer Celik, Johnson talked up the relationship between London and Ankara as crucial even after Britain’s vote to leave the EU.
“We are lucky in the United Kingdom to be one of the biggest recipients of Turkish goods,” boasted the ex-London mayor, who is himself of partly Turkish ancestry. “I am certainly the proud possessor of a beautiful, very well functioning Turkish washing machine,” he said. He did not reveal the brand of the much-loved machine in the Johnson household but several Turkish brands in household goods have broken into the international market in recent years. As another example of the strong relationship, Johnson said Turkey every year receives 2.5 million British tourists. “It’s an extraordinary act of kindness, if I may say,” he said with typical humour. “I hope they (the tourists) behave themselves...well... I am sure they do,” he added. Johnson had in May penned the winning entry in a competition on offensive poetry about President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, published by the conservative British magazine The Spectator, aimed at demonstrating free speech to Ankara. This was during the campaign in the referendum for Britain to leave the European Union which Johnson helped to lead and eventually win. Turkish officials at the time played down any damage in the two countries’ relationship, saying British-Turkish ties are too important to be hostage to such statements. Johnson, who quipped that he and Celik were both descendants of Ottomans, is due to meet Erdogan in Ankara on Tuesday.

Yemeni forces kill suspected Qaeda chief
AFP, Aden Monday, 26 September 2016/Yemeni forces killed a suspected local al-Qaeda chief Monday in a clash at his house in the southern province of Abyan, security officials said. A Yemeni soldier also died and another was wounded after troops stormed the residence of an alleged insurgent identified as Abdullah Hubaibat, on the outskirts of the town of Loder, the officials said. Two other militants suspects were wounded in the fight, while a third was arrested, the sources told AFP. Government forces backed by a Saudi-led coalition entered Abyan’s capital Zinjibar last month and recaptured other towns across the province. The Arab coalition battling Iran-backed militias in Yemen has also been providing government troops with air cover throughout their war against al-Qaeda and the ISIS group. The United States has carried out numerous drone strikes against al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) operatives in Yemen.

Aid reaches starving families in Yemen’s Hudaydah
Al Arabiya English Monday, 26 September 2016/A convoy of trucks carrying humanitarian aid arrived Monday at Yemen’s western province of Hudaydah, where there is widespread starvation among the population. Mona Relief, a Yemeni aid organization run by volunteers, told Al Arabiya English that convoys began delivering aid to 200 families in the al-Tuhita area in Hudaydah on Sunday, providing urgently needed basic supplies. The aid comes after shocking images of malnourished mothers and their emaciated children emerged earlier this month. “Al-Tuhita in al-Hudaydah has registered the largest number of malnutrition cases,” Dr. Riaz S. Karim, co-founder of Mona relief, told Al Arabiya English. Every family is given a package of 50kg wheat, 10kg rice, 10kg sugar and cooking oil enough to last a month.“Our campaign in Hudaydah started yesterday targeting 200 families there, and it will continue for a month. We are planning to target almost 5,000 families living there,” Fatik al-Rodaini, founder of the humanitarian organization, said. The aid group has been working since May 2015 to tackle issues of food security and child protection in war-torn Yemen. The images emerge as the UN Security Council called on all parties in the Yemen civil war to halt all military activity and abide by the terms of a Cessation of Hostilities agreed upon in April. The council said in a statement issued earlier this week that the humanitarian situation will continue to deteriorate in the absence of a durable peace agreement and urged all parties to resume talks with Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed. The ongoing war in Yemen has plunged the country into a serious humanitarian crisis, with hundreds suffering from famine and malnutrition. With the lack of food coupled with high prices, many are left with little choice but to resort to eating leaves. Meanwhile, the United Nations World Food Program (WPF) warned that “at least seven million people - a quarter of the population - are living under emergency levels of food insecurity.”
Families receiving aid
It is a crisis that has deepened since the civil war broke out, and according to WFP there has been a 15 percent increase in hunger during the past year. The WFP further warns that another 7.1 million people are ready to fall into hunger if the situation does not improve. In 19 of the 22 governorates of Yemen, many are experiencing severe hunger.The UN has also repeatedly criticized Houthi fighters and their allies for blocking the delivery of desperately needed humanitarian supplies to areas such as Taiz, Yemen's third-largest city.

Iran's Ahmadinejad should stay out of election: conservatives
AFP/September 26/16/Iranian conservatives called on former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to stay out of next year's election following a speech by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Monday.In a cautiously worded statement ahead of a theological class, Khamenei said: "A certain person came to me and I told him not to do a certain thing, believing it would be to the benefit of both the person himself and the country."Although he did not mention Ahmadinejad by name, several conservative figures interpreted his words as a rebuke to the controversial former president who led the country from 2005 until the 2013 presidential election. "Mr Ahmadinejad must be very thankful and grateful for the leader's advice and he will definitely listen to this advice and not run for the election, and will be of service to people in some other position," said Mohammad Gharavian, a cleric in the holy city of Qom, according to ISNA news agency. Ahmadinejad has made numerous public appearances in recent months, leading to speculation that he was planning a comeback in the presidential election next May. Khamenei implied that such a move would create "a bi-polar atmosphere" that would "damage the country". Ahmadinejad's inflammatory rhetoric -- particularly regarding Iran's nuclear programme and hostility towards Israel -- was blamed for deepening tensions with the West, but his populist approach and humble roots means he has retained popularity with poorer sections of Iranian society. By the end of his term, he had alienated even the conservative establishment and faced wide-ranging criticism over his handling of the economy and failure to show sufficient deference to the supreme leader. President Hassan Rouhani, a moderate who oversaw a deal with world powers to end sanctions in exchange for curbing Iran's nuclear programme, is expected to run for a second term, although he faces mounting pressure from conservatives who say the deal has brought few benefits to Iran.

Palestinians condemn Trump vow on Jerusalem as Israel's capital
AFP/September 26/16/Palestinian leaders Monday accused Donald Trump of abandoning any hope of a two-state solution after the Republican candidate said he would recognise Jerusalem as Israel's "undivided" capital if he won the US presidential election. Trump pledged Sunday during a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu he would recognise Israel's claim over east Jerusalem, which would break with decades of precedent and put Washington at odds with most UN member states. "Trump's statement shows disregard for international law (and) longstanding US foreign policy regarding the status of Jerusalem," Saeb Erekat, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, said in a statement. "Previous statements delivered by his adviser on Israel show a total abandonment of the two-state solution, international law and UN resolutions."US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has pledged he would recognise Israel's claim over east Jerusalem.Israel captured the eastern half of Jerusalem during the 1967 Six-Day war and annexed it in 1980, declaring all of Jerusalem Israel's unified capital. The Palestinians see east Jerusalem as the capita l of their promised future state. The Palestinian foreign ministry issued a statement criticising Trump as well as his Democrat rival in November's election, Hillary Clinton, accusing her of overly favouring Israel at the expense of the Palestinians. "The state of Palestine will not serve as a bargaining chip for gaining the Jewish vote in the United States," the statement said. After a meeting with Netanyahu in New York, Trump's campaign released a statement saying the candidate "acknowledged that Jerusalem has been the eternal capital of the Jewish people for over 3,000 years". "The United States, under a Trump administration, will finally accept the long-standing congressional mandate to recognise Jerusalem as the undivided capital of the state of Israel," it added. The United States -- and most other UN member countries -- do not recognise Israel's annexation and consider Jerusalem's final status to be a key issue to be resolved in peace negotiations aimed at a two-state settlement. The US Congress passed a law in October 1995 calling for an undivided Jerusalem to be recognised as Israel's capital and to authorise funding for moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. But no US president -- Democrat or Republican -- has implemented the law, regarding it as an infringement on the executive branch's authority over foreign policy.
 

Axing Hamas from EU terror list would be lowest point for European Jews since Holocaust'
Jerusalem Post/September 26/16/One of the largest Jewish umbrella organizations in Europe has condemned the EU's top court for moving toward the removal of Hamas from the bloc's terrorism blacklist. European Jewish Congress (EJC) on Monday berated last week's recommendation by a top legal advisor for the European Court of Justice in favor of taking Hamas off of the EU's terror list, and effectively unfreezing the Palestinian movement's currently sanctioned assets. “If Hamas is indeed removed from the terror watch list, then this will be the lowest and most worrying point for European Jewry in 70 years,” stated EJC President Dr. Moshe Kantor in reference to the period since the Holocaust. On Thursday, European Court of Justice advocate-general Eleanor Sharpston argued that the placement of Hamas, along with the Sri Lankan Tamil Tigers, on the EU blacklist had been decided without sufficient, independent evidence. “Hamas has murdered countless people and ensure millions more live in misery, and their means to kill many more could be given to them on a silver platter because someone in Europe feels there is not enough evidence to define them as a terrorist organization,” Kantor charged in light of Sharpston's opinion. “One only has to open up their proudly written charter to read that they seek bloodshed and terror and even aspire to the genocide of Jewish people worldwide," Kantor added, calling for the issue to be rectified. In a statement release Monday, he pointed at European bureaucrats as potentially "providing the ammunition both on this continent and elsewhere," while asserting that Jews continue to serve as target in Europe. Israel also protested the potential removal of Hamas from the EU terror list, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon saying: "This is only a (legal) opinion which is not binding on the court and is part of the European judicial process." "We are convinced that the European Union will do all that is required in order to keep Hamas, an active terrorist group, on the European terror list." While Sharpston's advice is not binding, judges' rulings are typically closely aligned with the recommendations of the advocates-general. The United States has also urged the maintenance of sanctions on Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip and has fought and attacked Israel for three decades. The ECJ has said that its justices have begun deliberations on the case and there was no set date for a ruling.
Reuters contributed to this report.
 

International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
Joint News Release No. 16/107/26 September 2016
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement calls on States to seize an unprecedented opportunity to advance nuclear disarmament
Geneva/New York (IFRC/ICRC) – On the occasion of this year's International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement renews its call on States to begin negotiations on a treaty to prohibit the use of and completely eliminate nuclear weapons, in accordance with their existing commitments.
This call comes during the annual session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, which may decide to convene a conference in 2017 to negotiate a treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading to their total elimination. In doing so, they would be acting on the recommendation made in August by a United Nations Working Group on nuclear disarmament with the wide-spread support of States.
For the first time in over 70 years, a ban on nuclear weapons could become a reality.
“I call on all States to seize this opportunity,” said the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Peter Maurer. “The time has come for world leaders to show leadership on this issue. We need to rid the world of nuclear weapons once and for all. Until we do, the potential for the intentional or accidental use of nuclear weapons remains as does the risk of the catastrophic and long-lasting consequences that nuclear weapons can have: on human health, the environment, climate, food production and socio-economic development. Ridding the world of nuclear weapons is a humanitarian imperative.”
“History has shown us that the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons – of even one nuclear weapon - are horrific beyond words, and can last for decades,” said the President of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Tadateru Konoé. “More than 70 years after the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, doctors at the Japanese Red Cross Society hospitals in the two cities are still treating many thousands of survivors who are struggling with long-term health effects.”
“Most nuclear weapons in today’s arsenals are many times more powerful and destructive than those used in 1945,” Mr. Konoé said. “The effective delivery of humanitarian assistance in the wake of an attack would be close to impossible and no international plans seem to be in place for this eventuality.”
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement made an historic appeal in 2011, building upon calls made since 1945, for the prohibition and elimination of nuclear weapons.
For more information, please contact:
Iolanda Jaquemet, communications officer, ICRC
E-mail: ijaquemet@icrc.org ¦ Mobile: +41 79 217 32 87
Ernesto Granillo, advisor and spokesperson, ICRC
E-mail: egranillo@icrc.org ¦ Mobile: +1 917 231 6583
Benoit Carpentier, team leader – public communications, IFRC
E-mail: benoit.carpentier@ifrc.org ¦ Twitter: @BenoistC ¦ Mobile: +41 79 213 2413

Iran: Three million two hundred thousand children being hindered from education
Monday, 26 September 2016/NCRI - ISNA news agency has on Saturday September 24 quoted from “Shahindokht Molaverdi”, regime’s vice president, that three million two hundred thousand children are being hindered from education among which girls are the main group.
Regarding the hindered from education, she said: “According to the results of the Parliament’s Research Center, at the moment there are three million two hundred thousand children In Iran who are being hindered from education.”According to a statistics published in 2015, many of the children hindered from education are from deprived provinces in the country while girls have the majority in the statistics. Last September at the beginning of the 2015 school year, about one million four hundred thirty thousand students didn’t go to school. “Ali Asghar Fani” Minister of Education, had once said that nationwide, 51 percent of the students are boys and 49 percent of them are girls and that following the Islamic Revolution in 1979, the gap between boys and girls has decreased. But according to “Atlas of the Status of Women in the Country”, the illiteracy situation among Iranian women and girls is worrying and it is critical in 40 cities. Cities in Southern Iran are on top on the Girls Illiteracy Table. Sistan and Baluchestan is the first province in this regard, with 11 cities on the list, followed by Khuzestan with three cities. West Azerbaijan is third and East Azerbaijan is fourth on the table. In Khuzestan province there are 90,000 hindered-from-education children, being dropped out of school before 18. Among the reasons which hinder children from going to schools are such factors as family poverty (thereby not affording the educational costs), participation of children in the household income ( working children), cultural issues, seasonal immigrations and lack of birth certificate, all of which are more easily accepted when it comes to girls.

Iran: Increased pressure on political prisoners
NCRI/Monday, 26 September 2016/The clerical regime’s henchmen sent 63-year-old political prisoner Arjang Davoodi to Zabul Central Prison in exile on September 24. The henchmen even prevented the transfer of his personal belongings and his drugs. Arjang Davoodi who suffers from different diseases including heart disease, kidney disease and diabetes, has been transferred from one prison to another since October 2003, has been tortured and ill-treated, and has spent long periods in solitary confinement. He has now been transferred to Ward 2 of Zabul prison, where ordinary prisoners are jailed. Political prisoner Ali Moezzi, father of two PMOI members, after for two weeks of uncertainty and three times back and forth between Evin and Gohardasht prisons, was finally transferred to Gohardasht Prison on September 21. Mr. Moezzi, 67, who suffers from various diseases such as cancer, kidney failure and severe neck arthritis, has repeatedly been exiled from one prison to another and deprived of the most basic facilities and medical care. Mehdi Farahi Shandiz, political prisoner in Gohardasht prison, has been in solitary confinement and incommunicado for three weeks. On September 2 he and a number of prisoners were severely beaten and later he was transferred to solitary confinement. In this regards, Mohammad Mardani, criminal head of Gohardasht prison and henchman Dariush Amirian, who is the so-called internal manager of the prison and takes the stools from underneath of the feet of prisoners on gallows, are intent to increase pressure on prisoners continuously and with different methods. This includes banning visits by second degree family members or simultaneous meeting with family members, banning entry of books into prison (the condition for bringing a book into the prison is to take one out), banning any food brought by family members, banning purchase of any electric equipment from the prison store or from outside of the prison, lack of any possibility of repairing of electric equipment…. In addition to these repressive restrictions, a high number of prisoners have long been deprived from family visits and phone calls to their relatives. Prisoners also suffer from the extreme low quality of the food and high cost and lack of quality of goods sold in the prison store, as well as lack of heating and cooling equipment and shutting off all prison apertures.The Iranian Resistance calls on international human rights organizations, especially the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran and Rapporteurs on arbitrary arrests, torture and the right to life, to take urgent action in relation to the Iranian prisoners, especially political prisoners.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran/September 26, 2016

IRAN: Ex-IRGC chief calls entering Iraq after conquering Khorramshahr a mistake
Monday, 26 September 2016/NCRI - Mohsen Rezai, secretary of the Iranian regime’s State Expediency Council who also served as the commander of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) during the Iran-Iraq war, has called entering Iraq after the ‘liberation of Khorramshahr’ a mistake.
In an interview with the state-run “Khabar News Network” on September 24, Rezai said: “We shouldn’t have entered Iraq; rather, we should have announced that we would enter Iraq unless the Iraqi government met our demands.”Regarding the decision to send the regime’s troops into Iraq, Rezaei acknowledged later in the interview that entering Iraq has been due to “inexperience” of Iranian officials. These words by the former commander of the IRGC come at a time that the regime’s officials have previously defended the decision to send Iranian troops into Iraq and continue the Iran-Iraq war after the ‘liberation of Khorramshahr.’Nevertheless, the former commander of the IRGC said that Khomeini believed that the war should have continued until Saddam was overthrown.These statements by Rezaee are expressed some two decades after the mullahs’ regime poured two million people into the war and spent billions of dollars for an anti-patriotic war.

Iran: Strikes and protests of workers in major cities
Monday, 26 September 2016/NCRI - According to reports from Tehran, ‘High-Voltage station’ workers gathering in front of regime’s reactionary parliament, were forced to leave the area following the intervention of the suppressive law enforcement agents. The workers then gathered once again in front of the Management and Planning Organization as well as the parliament’s park area while wearing yellow helmets. In Central Iran, coffee shop owners in Isfahan held a gathering in front of Isfahan Governor’s place on Sunday September 25 in protest against the closure of their shops. It is noteworthy that more than 400 coffee shops have been shut down in Isfahan in recent weeks. On the morning of Saturday September 24, a group of agricultural engineering supervisors in Khuzestan (Southern Iran) gathered in front of Ministry of Agriculture in Ahwaz. One of the demonstrators said that they have been promised to be hired in the Ministry from 2011, but after five years, still nothing has been done in this regard. The agricultural supervisors who were promised to be hired, have now more than six years of work experience. He added: “for years we have been waiting to be hired and now that we’ve grown older, we can’t even apply for a job elsewhere.” More than 150 of the agricultural engineering supervisors have applied for a job in the Ministry of Agriculture in Khuzestan, but their cases have not yet been dealt with.
The gathering in front of Khuzestan Agricultural Organization lasted for two hours. After receiving no response, the demonstrators then shifted to Khuzestan Management and Planning Organization.

Reports from Iran’s prisons
Monday, 26 September 2016/NCRI - According to reports, the political prisoner “Arjang Davoodi” was summoned on the morning of September 22 by judicial officers in Gohardasht Prison (Rajaee Shahr) in Western Tehran. He was told to gather up his belongings and get ready to be sent into exile in Zabol, where he should stay for two years. Considering the illnesses Davoodi is suffering from, his cellmates say that this is a conspiracy by the Iranian regime’s judiciary to murder him. Also on Wednesday September 21, 2016, political prisoner “Reza Kahe” was summoned by the Gohardasht Prison Management Office. In the office he was investigated and threatened over his non-participation in prison’s mandatory classes (religious classes), congregational prayer as well as roll call. In response, this political prisoner has protested about the pressure and stated that he will not take part in such classes and in the roll call as well, because he has been brought to this ward forcibly and against the Principle of Separation of offenses. Also according to news, there was a violent clash between ordinary prisoners on Tuesday September 20, following which a number of them were transferred to other wards. The clash took place in ward 2 of Hall 5. This violent clash has raised concerns among the families of the political prisoners. Political prisoners and their families have repeatedly protested against prison’s non-conformity to the Principle of Separation of Offenses. The political prisoner “Omid Shahmoradi Sanandaji” who following his long-suffering caused by his illness had finally been taken to a hospital outside of prison for treatment, was forced to return to the prison after the prison officials interrupted his treatment process by preventing him from carrying out tests at other hospitals. Held in ward 7 of Hall 12 at Evin Prison in Northern Tehran, this political prisoner had previously gone on a hunger strike in protest against being prevented from having access to medical treatments. It should be pointed out that Omid Shahmoradi was arrested in May 2012 and has been held in solitary confinements 240 for seven months.

Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on on September 26-27/16

"Christian Girls are only Meant for One Thing, the Pleasure of Muslim Men"
Raymond Ibrahim/Gatestone Institute/September 26/16
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8969/christian-girls-muslim-men

Recently in Iraq, 19 Yazidi girls were placed in iron cages and burned alive in front of a crowd of hundreds, for refusing to copulate with jihadis.
"Religious minority women under IS [Islamic State] control are often repeatedly sold from jihadi to jihadi. Once militants get tired of raping and abusing one particular girl, they usually sell them off to one of their militant buddies so they can rape and abuse them at their own pleasure." — Samuel Smith, The Christian Post.
After their children were abducted by the Islamic State, a couple answered their door to find the body parts of their daughters and a video of them being tortured and raped.
"Christian girls are considered goods to be damaged at leisure. Abusing them is a right. According to the community's mentality it is not even a crime. Muslims regard them as spoils of war." — Local residents, Pakistan.
Islamic law, always harsh, is still harsher for women. According to the Koran, men have "authority" over women and may beat them if they are "disobedient" (4:34). According to Mohammad, the prophet of Islam, women are less intelligent than men — two women are needed to equal one man's testimony — and the majority of hell's population is made up of women, who are likened to donkeys and dogs in their ability to distract a man from his prayer and thereby annul it.
What, then, is Islam's view of women who are "infidels"? They are at best "meant for one thing, the pleasure of the Muslim man," as one Muslim told a group of young Christian girls in Pakistan before terrorizing and murdering one. In the Koran, (see 4:24), non-Muslim women seized in a jihad can be bought and sold as sex slaves for Muslim men, as the Islamic State has been doing.
Emily Fuentes, communications director for Open Doors, a human rights organization that advocates for persecuted Christians, said:
Unfortunately, more and more women are the target of [Muslim] terrorist groups. There are numerous international incidents of women being kidnapped, raped, and forced to convert from Christianity to Islam by radical extremist groups.... Many are also sold on the open market. This brutality is not only occurring in the Middle East but in Africa and in many other places. In many of these countries, women are subject to persecution because they are considered second-class citizens because of their gender. As minorities in both gender and faith, Christian women face double the persecution. Although we don't have an exact number, we know that millions of women are being persecuted.... In these Muslim-dominated countries, Christian women are systematically deprived of their freedom to live and are denied basic human necessities.
Christian women are double damned: barely tolerated both as women and as non-Muslim "infidels; it becomes clear why they are the greatest recipients of Islamic abuse.
By now, the plight of non-Muslim females in the grips of ISIS is well known. Since conquering Mosul in June 2014, the caliphate has executed as many as 250 captive non-Muslim girls (mostly Yazidis and Christians) for refusing to be sex slaves. Most recently, 19 Yazidi girls were placed in iron cages and burned alive in front of a crowd of hundreds, for refusing to copulate with jihadis.
According to a report that appeared one day after Open Doors highlighted the plight of non-Muslim women:
Religious minority women under IS control are often repeatedly sold from jihadi to jihadi. Once militants get tired of raping and abusing one particular girl, they usually sell them off to one of their militant buddies so they can rape and abuse them at their own pleasure.
One escaped Yazidi girl explained how she was
"she was bought and sold by eight different jihadis... We were put on display [in sex slave markets]. Men came in and looked at us like objects. It was like a car showroom.... Women were bought for cash — as little as $20, or exchanged for things like mobile phones, or given away as gifts."
She was raped at least three times a day for over 16 months by countless ISIS fighters, forced to take contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs, and repeatedly tried to kill herself to escape the abuse. Her account is typical, and has been made by many other escaped non-Muslim girls.
Other recent reports tell of "one 8-year-old girl who was also bought, sold and raped by eight different militants in a span of 10 months"; of another "sex slave who set herself on fire to prevent from being raped"; of a couple who, after their children were abducted by ISIS, answered their door to find a plastic bag containing the body parts of their daughters and a video of them being tortured and raped; and of Christian and Alawite women being raped and slaughtered by ISIS jihadis invading their village.
Islamic State jihadis laugh and joke about buying and selling Yazidi sex slaves, in a propaganda video.
But such Islamic abuse of women is hardly limited to groups such as ISIS or Boko Haram — a Nigerian-based organization that also defines itself in exclusively Islamic terms and is notorious for abducting, enslaving, raping and murdering Christian girls. Approximately 700 Christian and 300 Hindu girls are abducted, enslaved, and raped in Pakistan every year. These are very large numbers considering that Christians and Hindus each make up only one percent of the nation's Muslim-majority population.
Just four days after Open Doors made its remarks about the plight of Christian women, two Muslim men in Pakistan invaded the home of a Christian woman while her soldier husband was away serving in the army. They tied and gang raped her while threatening to slaughter her two-year-old infant daughter if she did not comply. According to the 30-year-old woman:
"The men treated me like an animal, telling me I was a worthless Christian.... They said Christian women are all whores and they would come back and repeat their debauchery if I ever told anyone."
Because she is both a female and infidel in a Muslim-majority nation, the police and the law did nothing for her. That same week, five more Christian girls were kidnapped, converted to Islam, and forced to "marry" their captors.
There are many more examples of rape and sometimes murder of Christian girls — and sometimes Christian boys — in Pakistan. After a 9-year-old Christian girl was raped by a Muslim man who boasted of having "done the same service to other young Christian girls," local residents explained:
"Such incidents occur frequently. Christian girls are considered goods to be damaged at leisure. Abusing them is a right. According to the [Muslim] community's mentality it is not even a crime. Muslims regard them as spoils of war."
A similar situation prevails in Egypt. In July 2012, U.S. Congressman Chris Smith testified about the "escalating abduction, coerced conversion and forced marriage of Coptic Christian women and girls. Those women are being terrorized and, consequently, marginalized."
The late and often diplomatic Coptic Pope Shenouda III, the head of Egypt's Christian community, highlighted this proclivity back in 1976: "There is a practice to convert Coptic girls to embrace Islam and marry them under terror to Muslim husbands." Between 2008 and 2013 alone, nearly 600 cases of abduction, rape, and forced conversion of Christian women have been documented in Egypt. The situation has only gotten worse since, as per the title of a 2012 report: "Abductions and Forced Conversions of Christian Coptic Women in Egypt Dramatically Increase."
If young women are sexually targeted, older women are sexually degraded. On May 20, a 70-year-old Christian woman in Egypt was stripped naked, spat upon, and paraded in the streets of Minya to jeers, whistles, and yells of "Allahu Akbar" ("Allah is Greatest") by an angry Muslim mob.
Two days before the Open Doors report was published, Muslims in Uganda beat and raped a 22-year-old Christian woman because she accused a mosque leader of murdering her father due to a religious argument. A month earlier, the 13-year-old daughter of a mother who left Islam and converted to Christianity, was raped by local Muslims and told: "This is the second warning to your mother for disgracing the faith of the Muslims."
It should be noted that even in Europe, it is the indigenous females who are suffering the most from the influx of Muslim migrants. Exponentially higher numbers of sexual attacks and rapes are being committed, often on the same logic that prevails in the Islamic State or Pakistan. In the words of a Muslim migrant in Germany who stalked, cursed, and groped a woman: "German women are there for sex."
A final important point: while non-Muslim women are targeted more than non-Muslim men for sexual reasons, that does not mean that they are targeted less than men when it comes to non-sexual forms of Muslim persecution, such as attacks on "blasphemers" and "apostates." Chivalry is an alien concept to Islam; when it comes to terrorizing and putting infidels in their place, the religion of Muhammad is strictly egalitarian. In Pakistan for example, the most notorious blasphemy case involves a Christian woman, Asia Bibi, who has been in prison on death row since 2009; and when a Christian couple was accused of desecrating a Koran, both husband and wife were burned alive. More recent accounts that surfaced around the same time that Open Doors highlighted the plight of Christian women include:
Indonesia: In what was described as "an unprecedented use of Shari'a on a non-Muslim," a 60-year-old Christian woman was publicly caned 30 times for selling alcohol.
Islamic State: A Christian woman was executed by Islamic militants for refusing to deny her faith in Christ. ISIS also threatened a group of Dominican nuns, demanding they either convert to Islam or pay jizya, tribute (based on Koran 9:29). "The elderly sisters [fled and] began to suffer heart attacks and heart failures from the stress of the mass exodus. Over the past 18 months, 23 of them died, sometimes up to three deaths a week. 'They died of a broken heart,' said Sister Huda."
Uganda: A Muslim man strangled his wife to death for leaving Islam and converting to Christianity. Another Muslim man beat and threatened to butcher his wife while shouting "Allahu Akbar" because of her conversion to Christianity.
One seldom hears of the reverse, of a Muslim wife killing her husband for apostasy, due to the lack of authority women have in the Muslim world.
You do not want to be a woman in Islam.
**Raymond Ibrahim is the author of Crucified Again: Exposing Islam's New War on Christians (published by Regnery with Gatestone Institute, April 2013).
© 2016 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Abbas to Arab Leaders: Go to Hell!
Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone Institute/September 26/16
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9023/abbas-arab-states

Abbas and Fatah leaders in Ramallah claim that Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates (the "Arab Quartet") are using and promoting Abbas's rival, Mohamed Dahlan, in order to facilitate their mission of rapprochement with Israel.
Many Palestinians were surprised to see veteran Palestinian official Ahmed Qurei, a former Palestinian Authority (PA) prime minister and one of the architects of the Oslo Accord, come out in favor of the Arab plan, which basically envisions ousting Abbas from power.
This, and not Israeli policy, is Abbas's true nightmare. After all, he knows that without Israel's presence in the West Bank, his regime would have long fallen into the hands of Hamas or even his political rivals in Fatah.
The "Arab Quartet" plan shows that some Arab countries are indeed fed up with Abbas's failure to lead his people towards a better life. These states, which have long been politically and financially supportive of the Palestinians, have had enough of Abbas's efforts to secure unending power -- at the direct cost of the well-being of his people.
In his speech last week before the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas trotted out his usual charges against Israel, citing "collective punishment," "house demolitions," "extrajudicial executions" and "ethnic cleansing." However, Abbas's thoughts seem to be elsewhere these days. He is facing a new challenge from unexpected parties, namely several Arab countries that have come together to demand that he reform his ruling Fatah faction and pave the way for the emergence of a new Palestinian leadership.
Yet this was not included in the UN speech. Indeed, why would Abbas share with world leaders that his Arab brothers are pressuring him to introduce major reforms in Fatah and end a decade-long power struggle with Hamas that has resulted in the creation of two separate Palestinian entities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Abbas, his aides admit, is today more worried about the "Arab meddling" in the internal affairs of the Palestinians than he is about "collective punishment" or "settlement activities." In fact, he is so worried that he recently lashed out at those Arab countries that have launched an initiative to "re-arrange the Palestinian home from within" and bring about changes in the Palestinian political scene.
The Arab countries behind the initiative -- Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates -- are being referred to by many Palestinians as the "Arab Quartet."
In an unprecedented critique of these countries, Abbas recently declared:
"The decision is ours and we are the only ones who make decisions. No one has authority over us. No one can dictate to us what to do. I don't care about the discomfort of Washington or Moscow or other capitals. I don't want to hear about these capitals. I don't want the money of these capitals. Let's free ourselves from the 'influence' of these capitals."
Although he did not mention the four Arab countries by name, it was clear that Abbas was referring to the "Arab Quartet" when he was talking about "capitals" and their influence and money. Abbas's message: "How dare any Arab country tell me what to do, no matter how wealthy and influential it may be." Abbas sees the demand by these Arab countries for new Palestinian leadership, unity and reforms in Fatah as "unacceptable meddling in the internal affairs of the Palestinians."
So what exactly is it in the new Arab initiative that has so enraged Abbas, to the point that he is prepared to place at risk his relations with four of the Arab world's preeminent states?
According to reports in Arab media outlets, the "Arab Quartet" has drafted a plan to "activate the Palestinian portfolio" by ending the dispute between Abbas's Fatah and Hamas. The plan also calls for ending the schism within Fatah by allowing some of its expelled leaders, including Mohamed Dahlan, to return to the faction. The overall aim of the plan is to unite the West Bank and Gaza Strip under one authority and end the state of political anarchy in the territories controlled by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas. The "Arab Quartet" has even formed a committee to oversee the implementation of any "reconciliation" agreements reached between Fatah and Hamas and Abbas and his adversaries in Fatah. According to the plan, if such an agreement is not reached, the Arab League will intervene to "enforce reconciliation" between the rival Palestinian parties.
When Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas addressed the UN General Assembly on Sept. 22, 2016, he did not share with world leaders that his Arab brothers are pressuring him to introduce major reforms in his Fatah faction, and allow some of its expelled leaders, including Abbas's rival Mohamed Dahlan (inset), to return.
Abbas's main concern is not a "reconciliation" with Hamas. In fact, he has repeatedly expressed his readiness to form a unity government with Hamas and end the dispute with the Islamist movement. In recent weeks, there has even been renewed talk of Fatah-Hamas talks in Qatar to achieve "unity" and "reconciliation" between the two rival parties. Rather, it is the attempt to coerce Abbas into reconciling with Dahlan that is really getting to the PA president. In the view of a source close to Abbas, he (Abbas) would rather make peace with Hamas than "swallow the cup of poison" of patching things up with Dahlan.
Abbas harbors a very particular dislike for Dahlan. Until five years ago, Dahlan was a senior Fatah official who had long been closely associated with Abbas. Once, Abbas and Dahlan, a former security commander in the Gaza Strip, formed an alliance against Yasser Arafat, the former president of the PA. But the honeymoon between Abbas and Dahlan came to an end a few tears ago after the Abbas and his lieutenants in Ramallah began suspecting that Dahlan has ambitions to replace or succeed Abbas. At the request of Abbas, Dahlan was expelled from Fatah and accused of murder, financial corruption and conspiring to overthrow Abbas's regime. From his exile in the United Arab Emirates, Dahlan has since been waging a campaign against the 81-year-old Abbas, accusing him and his two wealthy sons of running the PA as if it were their private fiefdom.
Such is Abbas's contempt for Dahlan that last week he reportedly instructed the PA authorities to ban Dahlan's wife, Jalilah, from entering the Gaza Strip. Jalilah runs and funds a number of charities in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. Her activities are seen by Abbas as an attempt to build power bases for her husband and pave the way for his return to the political scene. Abbas's decision to ban her from entering the Gaza Strip came following reports that she and her husband were planning to organize and fund a collective wedding for dozens of impoverished Palestinian couples. The funding, of course, comes from the United Arab Emirates, whose rulers have been providing the Dahlan couple with shelter and money for several years.
When Abbas says that he "does not want the money" of certain Arab capitals, then, he is referring to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. He strongly suspects that these two wealthy countries are investing funds in Dahlan as part of a scheme to replace him and pave the way for the emergence of a new Palestinian leadership. For Abbas, who has refused to name a deputy or promote a potential successor, this is a very serious threat to his autocratic rule and a "conspiracy" by outside parties against him and his Palestinian Authority leadership.
Abbas and Fatah leaders in Ramallah are convinced that the "Arab Quartet" members are actually planning to pave the way for promoting "normalization" between the Arab world and Israel -- all at the expense of the Palestinians. They claim that the four Arab countries are using and promoting Dahlan in order to facilitate their mission of rapprochement with Israel. These countries have reached the conclusion that as long as Abbas and the current PA leadership are around, it would be very difficult to initiate any form of "normalization" or peace treaties between Arab countries and Israel. The PA leadership's position has always been that peace between the Arab countries and Israel should come only after, and not before, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is resolved.
According to Palestinian political analyst Mustafa Ibrahim:
"The plan of the Arab Quartet prepares for the transitional post-Abbas era and negotiations for peace between Arab countries and Israel. The plan is designed to serve the interests of Arab regimes more than ending divisions among the Palestinians. The goal is to eliminate the Palestinian cause and find an alternative to President Abbas."
This analysis reflects the views of Abbas and his veteran Palestinian Authority leaders in Ramallah, who continue to be extremely wary of any talk about succession in the PA leadership.
Interestingly, the "Arab Quartet" initiative for now seems to have divided Palestinian officials, with some welcoming it, and others rejecting it.
Criticizing Abbas and the Fatah leadership for coming out against the plan, Hassan Asfour, a senior Fatah official and former PA minister of state, urged Abbas to reconsider his "impractical, irrational and hasty" decision to dismiss the initiative of the four Arab countries. Asfour pointed out that Abbas's recent criticism of these countries was "harmful" and "unjustified." Abbas's close aides have retorted by claiming that Asfour was a political ally of Dahlan and therefore has a clear agenda.
Many Palestinians were surprised to see veteran Palestinian official Ahmed Qurei, a former PA prime minister and one of the architects of the Oslo Accord, come out in favor of the "Arab Quartet" plan, which basically envisions ousting Abbas from power. Abbas's close advisors claim that Qurei has joined Dahlan in his effort to bring about regime change in Ramallah.
Dahlan, for his part, has launched his own initiative by calling for an "expanded" gathering of Palestinian factions in Cairo, to discuss ways of bringing about real change in the Palestinian political arena. Thus, Dahlan has moved from behind-the-scenes activities to topple Abbas to public moves. And in this he enjoys the political and financial backing of at least four important Arab countries that would also like to see an end to the Abbas era. This is the first time that a senior Palestinian official has openly challenged the PA leadership with the support of Arab countries. It is predicted that at least 600 people will attend the Dahlan-sponsored conference in the Egyptian capital. The PA leadership is now threatening to retaliate against anyone who attends the conference by cutting off their salaries. This will only deepen the crisis in Abbas's Fatah and yield yet more infighting.
Abbas undoubtedly had these thoughts in mind when he addressed the UN General Assembly -- the new Arab "conspiracy" to replace him with Dahlan, or someone else. This, and not Israeli policy, is Abbas's true nightmare. After all, he knows that without Israel's presence in the West Bank, his regime would have long fallen into the hands of Hamas or even his political rivals in Fatah.
The "Arab Quartet" plan shows that some Arab countries are indeed fed up with Abbas's failure to lead his people towards a better life. These states, which have long been politically and financially supportive of the Palestinians, have had enough of Abbas's efforts to secure unending power -- at the direct cost of the well-being of his people. It will not take long before we see whether these Arab countries, now mocked by Abbas, will succeed in ridding the Palestinians of leaders who lead them toward nothing but ruin.
*Khaled Abu Toameh, an award-winning journalist, is based in Jerusalem.
© 2016 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Iran capitalizes on collapse of US-Russia cease-fire deal
Week in Review/Al-Monitor/September 26/16
An errant attack by US warplanes in Deir ez-Zor on Sept. 17 that killed 62 Syrian soldiers marked the beginning of the end of a short-lived US-Russia agreement to provide humanitarian relief to Syrians, jump-start political talks and coordinate targeting against terrorist groups.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that he found it “very hard to believe” that the United States could make such a mistake in Deir ez-Zor, where Syrian forces were battling Islamic State (IS) militants, adding that he had, however, conveyed an apology on behalf of the United States to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
On Sept. 19, two days after the Deir ez-Zor incident, a statement by the Syrian General Command of the Army and Armed Forces declared an end to the truce. The United States blamed Russia for a deadly attack on a United Nations aid convoy that night in Aleppo that killed 12. UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’Brien, while not accusing Russia, said that if the attack on the convoy was deliberate it would constitute a war crime.
On Sept. 22, Syrian military forces, backed by Russia and Iran, unleashed a furious assault to retake those areas of Aleppo primarily held by Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (Conquest of Syria Front), previously known as Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaeda’s Syria affiliate, and aligned groups including Ahrar al-Sham.
The collapse of the agreement and renewed fighting dashed the hopes of Syrians longing for peace. The United States and Russia had hoped to gain some diplomatic traction for the deal during “leaders' week” at the UN General Assembly in New York. The deal had depended on the until-now remarkable efforts of US Secretary of State John Kerry and Lavrov. At times, they seemed a party of two, perhaps three, if you included UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura, in their determination to win a reprieve for the Syrian people and strengthen cooperation against terrorists. Many in Washington and Moscow made known their pessimism, if not opposition, to the deal, and it is a fair question whether the regional parties on either side of the Syria war did anything to back up the US-Russian effort. Our guess here is probably not, or if so, not much.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, for his part, seems in no mood to give the US-Russia deal a second chance, at least for now. He was never an enthusiast. On Sept. 12, hours before the US-Russia agreement went into effect, Assad had declared that he would retake “every area from the terrorists and to rebuild.” The Syrian president accused the United States of collusion with the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra in the attack on Syrian troops in Deir ez-Zor.
After setting the pace for Syria diplomacy for much of the year, Kerry’s last-ditch efforts to seek a prohibition on aircraft in Syria, and his emphasis on “no military solution,” were now out of step with the turn of events. Lavrov said a unilateral prohibition on Russian and Syrian air forces “would not be taken seriously by us anymore,” adding that unless the United States and its coalition partners take steps to separate moderate armed groups from Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, “our suspicions that this all is being done to take the heat off Jabhat all-Nusra will strengthen.”
In anticipating the next steps in Syria, the key player to watch is Iran, which is fully on board in backing Assad’s offensive in Aleppo. The first stop for discussions on the future of Syria, after Damascus, is Tehran. As we wrote in our second column back in December 2012, Iran’s “influence in Syria surpasses that of Russia. There is no closer relationship, and no country with more vital interests in Syria.”
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, in an interview on NBC, also rejected the notion of grounding Syrian and Russian aircraft. “If you ground all planes, that would mean that [IS] can continue its savage killings with more vigor. … So if you ground all airplanes, then it would benefit the terrorists 100%, the [IS] terrorists. So to move in that direction would mean a move toward benefiting terrorism.”
Ali Hashem writes that Iran “is assessing the situation in accordance with its agenda and interests, which may not necessarily be fully congruent with those of Russia — but both countries are nevertheless trying to make use of their common interests in Syria to solidify their front. Their main objectives include keeping a defiant Assad in power, preserving the structure of governance in Syria and combating terrorism. One of the main requests the Iranians made during the many negotiations over Syria was the designation of Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, previously Jabhat al-Nusra, as a terrorist entity, just like IS; this request was fulfilled in the US-Russia agreement. This step was enough for Tehran to at this stage abide by the deal despite all the concerns, as the latter alone could be seen as a blow to its regional rivals, who saw the rebranding of Jabhat al-Nusra as a way to place it along with other Syrian opposition factions on the other side of the negotiating table. Ultimately, to Iran, the collapse of the US-Russia agreement — as the deal itself — will not change anything in its only plan on the table, which involves supporting Assad until he survives the tide. Indeed, the visit by Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Jaber Ansari to Damascus on Sept. 19 reflected this stance. After meeting with Assad, Ansari said, “Iran is determined to provide Syria with all the facilities it needs in its critical fight against terrorism."

Khamenei Glorifies IRGC But Does Not Rule Out Adopting Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Standards, Which Harms IRGC, Regarded In The West As A Terror Organization
By: A. Savyon and Y. Carmon/MEMRI/September 26/16
September 26, 2016 Inquiry & Analysis Series Report No.1269
Introduction
On September 18, 2016, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei delivered a speech to Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) officers on the occasion of Armed Forces Week in the country. In the speech, Khamenei praised the IRGC, calling it a crucial cornerstone for the revolution regime, the armed forces, the country's economy, and Iranian society. He added that the IRGC is at the forefront of the revolution and protects the country from enemies within and without, and that it is the essence of the progress of the state and the revolution.
Khamenei also rejected claims by President Rohani that the military threat to Iran has been removed thanks to the JCPOA, as well as the call by Expediency Council chairman Hashemi Rafsanjani to follow in the footsteps of Japan and Germany and invest in the economy rather than military buildup, stating that the only ways to remove the military threat were and will be "defensive and military power" and "instillation of fear in the enemy," and that Iran must therefore enhance its military capabilities. According to him, Germany and Japan were forced to disarm and lost their independence. Khamenei said the essence of the state is its independence, culture, and beliefs, and that Iran must not abandon its true nature and obey mistaken and disgraceful Western methods such as Western attitudes towards the shameful issue of homosexuality, which runs contrary to the creation of mankind.
Additionally, Khamenei repeated his warning and instruction to not conduct dialogue with the U.S. He revealed that the Americans "insist [that] we should negotiate with them on issues related to… Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen," and criticized those in Iran – hinting at pragmatic camp leaders Rafsanjani and Rohani – who call for dialogue with the U.S. and believe it is not an enemy. Khamenei determined that talks with America prepare the ground for enemy infiltration and cause Iranian backwardness. He said that American hostility was evident during the years of the revolution and particularly during the nuclear talks, and therefore it should be distrusted and not spoken with.
It should be mentioned that Khamenei's speech comes on the backdrop of a public debate regarding whether Iran will comply with the protocols of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) – an international body combating money laundering, thus adopting the Western economic order that requires transparency, and the Western view of the IRGC as a terrorist organization.[1] In his speech Khamenei refrained from addressing this critical issue, which is at the top of the political agenda, and did not speak against the FATF; in fact, according to reports in Iranian media, Iranian banks have begun implementing FATF protocols. Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Shamkhani said on September 14 that the council made a decision on the matter but that it still requires Khamenei's approval.[2]
As in the past, this recurring pattern of action by Khamenei reveals his weakness as a leader. In times of crisis, Khamenei avoids making decisions on critical questions regarding the regime's revolutionary nature in its conflict with the West. Thus, for example, Khamenei approved the JCPOA at every stage but railed against it at every opportunity. Here too, he seems to have approved the implementation of FATF protocols by Iranian banks, who refuse to cooperate with the IRGC, while praising the IRGC in public speeches.
However, unlike the JCPOA, which did not directly harm any Iranian element in a practical sense, in the case of the FATF, the IRGC suffers a direct, crippling blow. It is yet to be seen whether the leadership of the IRGC, which is the source of Khamenei's military and political might, will accept such a blow, which undermines its power and grip on the regime. In a September 22, 2016 interview on channel 2 of Iranian TV, IRGC deputy-commander Hossein Salami made statements implying that Iran might in fact comply with FATF standards. He said: "As for the IRGC, FATF will not affect it in any way, not even a little, because the IRGC is a legal institution and is in full compliance with the legal criteria of Iran. It is a stable, strong and mighty institution, and has already found ways to tolerate the hostility of the largest enemies. It has experience and knows how to conduct itself."
The following are excerpts from Khamenei's speech, as quoted and paraphrased on his English-language website: [3]
Khamenei's Speech
As Khomeini Said, If The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Did Not Exist, The Country Would Not Exist Either
"Pointing to the significance, value and high status of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, [Khamenei] said: 'The reason why Imam (r.a.) [i.e. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini] made that well-known statement – "" – was that the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps is a blessed tree from whose identity faith [the] revolutionary and jihadi movement blossoms. And preserving the country and the Revolution is dependent on the continuation of these important elements...
"'After the passage of 37 years from the Islamic Revolution, particularly after the Sacred Defense Era, the truth of the statement that that deep and experienced man – who always relied on God – made about the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps has become clearer than ever. It should be said that the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps is the solid trench of the Revolution... 'Besides ensuring security and attending to matters related to defense, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps is influential in other areas as well– such as infrastructure, development, rendering services to underprivileged classes, attending to cultural and artistic matters, and producing revolutionary thoughts. These measures should continue and the public in the country should be informed of them...
"Describing the defensive, infrastructure and cultural measures that the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps has adopted as outstanding and prominent, [Khamenei] reiterated that such an evaluation of the measures that the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps has adopted is realistic and impartial. He stressed: 'Even the enemies of the Islamic Republic and the Revolution have made such an evaluation about the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps.' [He] stated that preserving the identity of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps is an important course of action that requires vigilance and constant identification of detriments, saying: 'Preservation [of the IRGC's identity] does not mean lingering in time. On the contrary, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps should not be satisfied with its achievements in the arena of science, technology and innovation because the enemy is changing its tools and making new achievements. Therefore, its forward movement should not be stopped in any way'...
"[He added:] 'One of the responsibilities of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps is ensuring domestic and foreign security. If foreign security does not exist and if the enemy is not confronted outside the borders of the country, domestic security will be undermined as well.'"
"We Should Strengthen The Defensive Power Of The Country On A Daily Basis"
"[Khamenei] stressed that the main requirement for putting an end to military threats is the increasing power of the Armed Forces, adding: 'In recent years, some officials [referring to President Rohani] have sometimes made certain statements implying that the elimination of military threats and the threat to wage a war has been because of such and such courses of action. This is while such statements are not correct because the only element that puts an end to military threats has been and will continue to be defensive and military power, and instillation of fear in the enemy.'
"The Supreme Leader... referred to recent statements saying that the reason behind the progress of some countries is the closedown of their military organizations[4] : 'It is very difficult to believe that those to whom these statements have been attributed have actually said such things. But if such statements have really been made, they are definitely wrong... The countries which have been said to have closed down their military organizations did not do so voluntarily. The reason why their military organizations have been closed is that they were destroyed in world wars and they were not allowed to have military organizations... No wise person puts his defensive force aside. So, we should strengthen the defensive power of the country on a daily basis.'
"[Khamenei] pointed to faith as the main factor in strengthening the defensive capability of the country and added: 'Asymmetric wars work in the same way. In such wars, the other side suffers from lack of faith despite the fact that it has advanced tools and equipment. He reiterated: 'A clear example of an asymmetric war occurred in Iraq. During that war, the popular forces of Iraq – which did not have advanced military equipment but which enjoyed a great degree of faith – managed to free regions which the American soldiers and their allies could not conquer since the beginning of their arrival in Iraq.'"
"Why Should We Abandon Our True Identity And Follow Wrong And [Disgraceful] Western Methods … Such As Homosexuality[?]"
"The Supreme Leader... touched on the issue of distorting the elements of the Islamic Republic's soft power and said: 'As well as the wrong statements that are made about the defensive power of the country, there are also some wrong notions and distortions about some revolutionary concepts. Such notions and distortions are even more dangerous than those wrong statements.' Khamenei stated that rejecting the concept of independence and considering it as equal to isolation[5] is one of these distortions: 'The purpose of rejecting independence is following the systems that domineering powers have designed. Unfortunately, some people are repeating this notion whether knowingly or unknowingly.' [Khamenei] described 'independence, culture and belief' as the main source of identity for nations and stressed: 'Why should we abandon our true identity and follow wrong and ridiculous [in the Persian the word is 'disgraceful' - MEMRI] western methods?'
"[Khamenei] reiterated that the shameful issue of homosexuality is one of those cases which are to the disadvantage of humanity. He added: 'In global propaganda, they create uproar and tumult in a way that if someone rejects such issues, they will feel isolated. That is why even some western politicians advocate such wrong thoughts in order to win votes. He mentioned: 'The result of rejecting independence which westerners stress is this. Now, should we abandon the divine and enlightened philosophy of Islam and follow such a ridiculous thought?'
"The Supreme Leader... stated that another distortion of the elements of Islamic Republic's soft power is considering idealism as equal to irrationality: 'Idealism is the same as rationality. If a people lose their ideals, they will become empty from the inside, just like the situation that western societies are in today... Ideals are what engender enthusiasm towards progress and movement in nations. The loftier and the more experienced and enlightened these ideals are, the more precise the movement will become.'"
'Not Only Is Negotiating With America Not Beneficial, But It Is Also Harmful'
"Another distortion that [Khamenei] cited was the elimination of the Islamic Republic's distrust of imperialist powers in the world: 'One of the elements of the Islamic Republic's soft power is complete distrust of imperialist powers in the world, which are headed by America in the present time. [He] stressed the necessity of developing this complete distrust of America, adding: 'Unfortunately, some individuals [referring to Rafsanjani and Rohani] are not willing to accept this distrust. Although they mention in words that America is the enemy, but a genuine sense of lack of trust in America does not exist in them... When you have a feeling of enmity and a genuine distrust of the other side, you observe the requirements of this distrust in your negotiations and meetings and you never trust the other side's statements... We have witnessed America's enmity in the course of many years after the Revolution, during the recent nuclear negotiations and in other areas as well.' Citing a historical example, [he] said: 'On the issue of the Constitutional Movement, when the English were trusted and when the people steered towards their embassy, a fatal blow was delivered to us and the result was that the country remained backward for 75 years.'
"Addressing regional countries, [Khamenei] mentioned: 'If you are not vigilant, if you do not understand the plots that American imperialism hatches and if you are deceived by their smiles, it is possible that you too will remain backward for 50 or even 100 years.' [He] stressed: 'Today, if we open the way for negotiations with the Americans and for their temptations in different areas, not only will this prepare the ground for their overt and covert infiltration but it will also eternally prevent the country from achieving the desired progress. And under such circumstances, backwardness will be certain... The Americans insist that we should negotiate with them on issues related to West Asian countries – in particular Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen. What is their real goal of asking us to negotiate with them? Their goal is nothing other than preventing the presence of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the region as the main factor in American failures... Reason dictates that we completely distrust those who have shown their enmity in a clear way.'
"Khamenei pointed to the existence of some 'whispers' that the Islamic Republic should negotiate with America on regional matters, stating: 'Not only is negotiating with America not beneficial, but it is also harmful. This has been discussed with the high-ranking officials of the country by presenting cogent reasons and the
"Some People Wrongly Think That We Have Been Besieged, But We Will Bring All Our Enemies To Their Knees"
"[Khamenei] highlighted the importance of cultural and intellectual security as well as security in people's living environments: 'The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps should play its part in all these areas.' [He] mentioned that all the capabilities of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps pivot around faith and revolutionary and jihadi spirit, adding: 'You should not allow your revolutionary spirit to be undermined through a materialistic outlook and through entrance in the competition of materialism and extravagance.' He also stressed the necessity of education and preserving the bond that new generations in the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps have with revolutionary concepts. Describing Basij as a national capacity and expressing his joy at the existence of many activities in that popular organization, Khamenei stated that such activities should be given depth.
"[Khamenei] reiterated that the people of Iran can be role models in global developments: 'If officials and the people can achieve the economy of resistance in the real sense of the word, if they help the country to get rid of the enemy's monetary and financial tricks and if they destroy the value and mastery of the dollar over economic life, they have saved other countries as well as themselves and they will become a role model for them.'
"[Khmanei] said that the reason why the enemies are angry at the people of Iran is the inspirational nature of the Islamic Republic, stating: 'Despite the existence of massive pressures, sanctions and threats, the movement of the people of Iran has become bolder and more transparent every day and the good and auspicious sapling of the Islamic Revolution has become stronger on a daily basis... The Islamic Republic is still in the beginning of its path towards achieving lofty goals and ideals, but even this amount of moving forward and showing independence, resistance and firm determination has conquered the hearts of other nations... If we preserve our motivation, faith and firm determination and if we use our wisdom and intelligence correctly, we will overcome the plots that the enemies hatch in all areas. Some people wrongly think that we have been besieged, but we will bring all our enemies to their knees... I have no worries about the future and I believe that by Allah's favor, the future of the country will be much better than the present time.'"
* A. Savyon is Director of MEMRI's Iran Media Project; Y. Carmon is President of MEMRI.
Endnotes:
[1] See MEMRI Inquiry & Analysis Series Report No. 1249, Post-JCPOA, The IRGC Is The Factor Stopping Iran From Integration Into The Western Economy, May 20, 2016.
[2] Tasnim (Iran), September 14, 2016.
[3] English.khamenei.ir, September 18, 2016.
[4] This refers to Rafanjani’s August 20, 2016 statement that Germany and Japan developed strong economies after they were banned from having military forces in the wake of World War II.
[5] This alludes to statements made by Pragmatic camp leaders Rafsanjani and Rohani against Iran’s political isolation and in favor of engagement with the West.

A bloody end to another failed ceasefire in Syria
Brooklyn Middleton/Al Arabiya/September 26/16
The latest ceasefire in Syria concluded in dramatic, utter bloodshed before Syrian civilians received any of the humanitarian aid that was supposed to be delivered during the lull in fighting. Unforgivably, the Syrian regime once again prevented aid workers from entering into territory it is holding and intentionally blocked access during what was a rare moment of calm. The most recent developments underscore why Russia and the US will not reach anything close to consensus on military cooperation in Syria and why coalition forces should act unilaterally to aid civilians.
Days after the Russia-US brokered ceasefire was implemented, US-led coalition jets accidentally bombarded regime positions, killing 62 Syrian soldiers. The US immediately acted with a great deal of transparency, launching an investigation into the attack and noting if coalition jets did strike Syrian soldiers it was indeed the result of a miscalculation. There is no reason to asses the US would intentionally – particularly amid a ceasefire – attack Syrian positions after years of maintaining a standard of no direct aggression against Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Nonetheless, Russia capitalized on the attack for propaganda purposes, noting that they were, “reaching a really terrifying conclusion for the whole world,” that DC is “defending [the] Islamic State.” Russia further demanded the UN Security Council convene for an emergency meeting within 24-hours of the US-led attack on Syrian combatants. Most notably, Russia has never attempted to convene an emergency UN meeting when any one hospital is obliterated in an air strike or when a massacre at a market takes place; this obvious point was one that United States Ambassador to the United Nations (UN) Samantha powers publicly noted, calling Russia’s “stunt” both “hypocritical” and “cynical.”Russia’s immediate response to the accidental attack further underscores why any potential path toward military cooperation or intel sharing between Russia and the US is better left unpaved
Russian response
Russia’s immediate response to the accidental attack further underscores why any potential path toward military cooperation or intel sharing between Russia and the US is better left unpaved. Meanwhile, after days of the Assad regime refusing to grant proper permits for aid deliveries during the ceasefire, a suspected Russian airstrike hit a UN aid convoy, killing at least 20 people. Russia, against all evidence, has attempted to indicate the aid convoy instead “caught fire.” Even prior to this deadly attack, Russia has repeatedly disregarded international law while fully propping up a barbaric regime doing the same – for years. The continued and intentional targeting of civilian infrastructure by the regime and Russia highlights the need for the US-led coalition to act unilaterally to aid civilians. Pressuring the UN to follow through on its commitment to execute humanitarian aid drops is a start. Despite extremely high tensions between Russia and the US, the risk of retaliation by Russia or the regime for executing such humanitarian missions remains low. As the latest effort to broker some semblance of peace unravels, the need to pressure all factions to respect the most basic elements of humanitarian law – by making a credible threat of military force - remains critical. The regime has carried out numerous war crimes while continuing to sabotage aid workers’ efforts to relieve the immense level of suffering. They are not and will never be a party that can be relied on. At the same time, Russia has proven that the amount of pressure it will exert on the regime will remain limited. The Syrian government and Russia have once again begun mercilessly bombarding eastern Aleppo, with renewed attacks reportedly leaving approximately 100 people dead and another two million choked off from water, according to the New York Times.
The latest period of tenuous calm is clearly over and plan B cannot be continued inaction.

If JASTA had not been vetoed
Turki Aldakhil/Al Arabiya/September 26/16
If American President Barack Obama had not vetoed the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA), relations between the US and its historical allies would have been put through their most difficult test. If this vetoed decision does not last, the American crisis will renew not just with Saudi Arabia but with all countries. These are the last days of the Obama administration. Its management of international balances for the last eight years has been weak. This is not the opinion of an Arab or Saudi writer, but the product of thorough analyses by people such as Henry Kissinger and other experts. In the veto message, Obama wrote: “JASTA threatens to create complications in our relationships with even our closest partners. If JASTA were enacted, courts could potentially consider even minimal allegations accusing US allies or partners of complicity in a particular terrorist attack in the US to be sufficient to open the door to litigation and wide-ranging discovery against a foreign country – for example, the country where an individual who later committed a terrorist act travelled from or became radicalized.”These are the last days of the Obama administration. Its management of international balances for the last eight years has been weak
Transformation
Transformation in American relations with their Gulf allies was not only due to the US. Vali Nasr, author of the book “The Dispensable Nation,” says US allies no longer desire to sit, listen and nod in approval whenever the US speaks. Obama’s openness to historical enemies has influenced America’s balance in the Middle East, the region that specifies fates and where alliances are formed. What is more dangerous is that Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton encourages leaving the Middle East and focusing on Asia.
**This article was first published in Okaz on Sept. 26, 2016.

Is Cameron really to blame for the mess in Libya?
Dr. Azeem Ibrahim/Al Arabiya/September 26/16
Libya is still a mess. Not on the level of Syria or Iraq, but a mess nonetheless. With a slow-burning civil war going on between the western and eastern halves of the country, each backed either by the West or by Russia. And in between the two, there is still an ISIS outpost trying to stake a claim – although luckily, so far without much success. We do not hear much about what happens in Libya, except in so far as it relates to the Mediterranean migrant crisis. But that does not mean things are quiet. They are only quiet relative to Syria, and that continues to attract most of the media coverage in the West. Yet should we ever see significant progress in Syria, and Afghanistan, the next story will no doubt be Libya. And there is a case for seeing Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya together as part of the same phenomenon: failed states smouldering in the wake of Western interventions. This is certainly a powerful narrative in our political discourse, most prominent amongst left-leaning progressives and anti-war campaigners. Indeed, the parallels between these cases are hard to avoid. What is somewhat more surprising is that the UK’s House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee should also be taking a similarly hostile view of Western intervention, particularly in the case of David Cameron’s efforts in Libya. Many of the anti-war progressive crowd will no doubt feel greatly vindicated by these developments. But unfortunately, this stance has some rather perverse implications - especially from the point of view of a humanitarian-minded progressive. Britain and France can be fairly criticized for losing interest in Libya after the initial intervention and allowing the country to unravel into its current de facto civil war
First of all, let us all agree that Libya is not in a good place right now. And also, that it is in a worse place than it was in 2010. That is not what is disputed here. We are not comparing how things are now with how they were before the 2011 Civil War. What we must be comparing is how Libya is today, given that we did intervene in the civil war against Qaddafi, as compared to how it would have been today had we not intervened in 2011. And the fact of the matter is that we do not know. It is possible that Qaddafi may have emerged victorious from the uprising, with a swift and brutal response which would have nonetheless established order and security in the country and minimized long-term casualties. But it is just as likely, if not more so, that, as the West stood by, the tribal divisions of Libya would have played out into the orgy of violence we see in Syria and north-west Iraq. Or, in the extreme case, tribal and ethnic strife could have burst over into ethnic cleansing and genocide on the scale of the Balkans or Rwanda.
Timely intervention?
What we do know, in spite of the Foreign Affairs Committee’s report based, as it was, or rather questionable sources, is that when the West decided to intervene in Libya in 2011, Qaddafi’s forces were marching on Benghazi intent on massacre. Is the humanitarian progressive thing to do in such circumstances to stand aside as pro-democracy movements are brutally crushed by tinpot dictators? Should we have stood by and watched as we did in Syria when Assad started using chemical weapons against his own people? President Obama criticized David Cameron for allowing Libya to become a “shit show”. And that may be valid criticism. But by the same measure, the Obama administration can be accused of letting Syria become a “shit show” for the way they have refused to intervene decisively early in the conflict - and certainly after the chemical weapons “red line” was crossed. The way Libya has turned out is certainly not good. And Britain and France can be fairly criticized for losing interest in Libya after the initial intervention and allowing the country to unravel into its current de facto civil war. But that is not to say that we should not have intervened to stop a massacre. It is to say that once you have intervened in a country, you must assume responsibility for how that country develops from there. And that is where Western foreign policy has been falling down in the last two decades: we are happy to intervene in other countries - but our political culture does not tolerate the long term commitments that such intervention requires morally.

King Fahd: Either we live together or die together
Jamal Khashoggi/Al Arabiya/September 26/16
The Middle East was so simple and forthright until recently. It was easy to analyze changes and understand its basic elements. Enmities were explicit and alliances unquestionable. Even compliments between different parties were clear, as everyone knew they were just a matter of courtesy. Back then it was black and white, but now it is a grey area where people, led by US President Barack Obama, talk the talk but do not walk the walk. On Tuesday, he stood on the UN rostrum counseling attendees. He delivered an eloquent speech about democracy and pluralism, criticizing the transformation of ethnic and religious identities into reasons to reject the other. He was mainly speaking about the Middle East.
The case of Syria
However, on the same day the Washington Post published details of his administration’s involvement in the withdrawal of a law imposing sanctions on the Syrian regime and its allies, the same regime that has sown sectarian strife to kill the Syrian people. Obama’s administration claimed that it interfered to stop it because it did not want the law to affect the US-Russian truce in Syria, a truce that was never taken into consideration anyway as it was breached by the regime and Moscow. The regime said the truce had failed, but US Secretary of State John Kerry replied that it was still operative. These contradictory statements have kept analysts busy, leading some to think that Moscow is in control, others to believe that Washington has woken up and wants to support the Syrian people, and others to explain how the Syrian regime has lost its sovereignty because two main powers are standing behind it. However, analysts forget that the truce is meaningless because the killing continues and barrel bombs are still falling on civilians and even aid convoys. So what truce is Kerry talking about? Which agreement is Washington defending when pressuring Democrats in Congress to withdraw the law against the Syrian regime and its allies?
It did not do so for the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA), which was unanimously passed even though it threatened the US relationship with its main ally Saudi Arabia, which is presumably more important than Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his allies. This what I mean by grey politics prevailing nowadays in the region, extending from Syria to Yemen and Libya. What are agreements for if relevant parties do not abide by them? It is not about Obama alone; all powerful forces in the Middle East are involved. Maybe the Russians and Iranians are the most straightforward, but their straightforwardness is not helping anyone; they stand by the evil side in the conflict. In the past, targeting an aid convoy with an airstrike, and killing dozens of volunteers and workers from international organizations, would be enough for the UN Security Council (UNSC) to take a firm stand and strict punitive measures. On Sunday, the UN and Red Cross said such an incident took place, without naming the aggressor. The following day, the regime and Russia shamelessly accused the Syrian opposition of being behind the incident, which prompted comical comments about “Ahrar al-Sham aircraft.” The lies and disregard continued, although everyone knows that the Syrian fly zone is controlled by a semi-joint operations chamber that shares all information. It was founded by the US and Russia to ensure they do not collide by accident when undertaking operations over Syria.
On Tuesday, the Pentagon revealed the type and number of warplanes that undertook the operation: two Sukhois, which are mainly from Russia’s air force but can also be Syrian. As a punitive measure, the coalition should target the airport from where the warplanes took off. It would also be implementing the truce article that bans the regime’s air force. What are agreements for if relevant parties do not abide by them? Are these grey policies real, or just a cover for a US withdrawal, leaving behind it many agreements, declarations, meetings, anger and warnings in order to mislead regional powers? Is the strong Russian presence in Syria preventing the US from intervening? The US bombed the regime headquarters in Deir al-Zour last week, and Russia did not strike back on American soil. Rather, it carried on their communications, agreements and disputes. Washington said it was a mistake, but it can bomb again ‘by mistake’ the runways and helicopters carrying barrel bombs. Maybe it needs reminding that it is a superpower.
Libya
We can also find this greyness in Libya. The world worked so hard to gather Libyans from various political parties in Morocco, and arduous negotiations resulted in a national-accord government supported by the UNSC and the international community. Like any agreement, it has to have antagonists. Back in the black-and-white era, sanctions would be imposed on nonconformists, and procedures would be taken to get them out of the political game. However, since we are in a grey era, a general claiming to be the Libyan army commander occupied Libyan oilfields, in a blatant violation against the national government. The greyness is increasing as information reveals the participation of France, which is supposed to be a member of the EU that supported the national-accord government. Paris provided General Khalifa Haftar with warplanes. Egypt does not hide its support for him, violating international legitimacy.
The most the world can do is issue a decision preventing the purchase of Libyan oil exported from ports controlled by the illegitimate general. Regarding Syria and Libya, greyness complicates things, prolongs conflicts, increases people’s misery, and most of all, generates new crises and other regional conflicts.
Iraq
This greyness makes us yearn for the black and white, like in Aug. 1990 when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait and late Saudi King Fahd said: “Either we live together or we die together.” Half a million American soldiers arrived, and the largest army since World War II was rallied in Saudi Arabia. Everybody was awaiting the start of the war to liberate Kuwait. When Saddam tried to drag the world to his grey battlefield, then-US President George Bush said clearly: “Saddam must leave Kuwait.” Bush did not back down. The policy then was black and white.
**This article was first published in al-Hayat on Sept. 24, 2016.

Collective action to change confrontational course critical
Samar Fatany/Al Arabiya/September 26/16
Many people around the world remain skeptical about the role of the United Nations to serve humanity and to achieve global prosperity. World leaders gathered at the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 12, 2016 to address global terrorism and pledge billions in aid to tackle the refugee crises, instability and economic security. UN chief Ban Ki-moon in his address strongly criticized the involved forces in Syria who have blood on their hands. “Present in this hall today are representatives of governments that have ignored, facilitated, funded, participated in or even planned and carried out atrocities inflicted by all sides of the Syria conflict against Syrian civilians,” he said. The continued double standard of Western policies towards the region is what is fueling the sectarian conflicts and civil unrest in the region. World leaders are called upon to mobilize a stronger and more cohesive global front to confront the extremists and warmongers who are the real enemies of peace. Sectarian conflicts are fueling the endless civil wars in the region. In Iraq, Libya, Yemen the bloodshed continues and the world watches while arms dealers make money at the cost of innocent lives. Destruction of homes and killing of hundreds is a result of this global apathy. Then collateral damage is legitimized and heartless religious extremists turn a blind eye to the atrocities on the ground. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef emphasized the need for more efforts to solve the regional conflicts through preemptive diplomatic means to stem the crises and stop them from turning into military conflicts that bring forth humanitarian disasters. He reiterated that the Kingdom would continue carrying out its humanitarian, political and economic role, and realizing its responsibility to promote moderation and justice, which are the concepts that form the basic tenets for the Kingdom’s interaction with the global community. The injustice against the Palestinian people, the global rise of Islamaphobia, the proxy wars in Syria and the rest of the region, extremism and sectarianism are all issues that feed terrorist organizations
Injustice and proxy wars
The injustice against the Palestinian people, the global rise of Islamaphobia, the proxy wars in Syria and the rest of the region, extremism and sectarianism are all issues that feed terrorist organizations. President Obama in his address called for greater integration between nations. “We can choose to press forward with a better model of cooperation and integration or we can retreat into a world sharply divided and ultimately in conflict along age-old lines of nation and tribe and race and religion. I want to suggest to you today that we must go forward and not back.”These are beautiful words. However, without a more serious commitment to find solutions and provide relief to the innocent civilians who are suffering and dying of hunger, disease and war machines the hostilities and the regional conflicts will continue. Andrej Kiska, the president of the Slovak Republic addressed the danger of “extremism and intolerance”, he said, “There is a real danger in the rise of nationalism, extremism, intolerance in many parts of the world. I am certain responsible leaders need to address these dark moods in our society. Because they are the enemy of mankind. “One of our most obvious duties is to provide for peace and development. However, we are witnessing the largest crises of displacement since World War II.” He said UN member states needed to remain strong in their values. “We need to stop growing anger, prejudice and hostility to different races and religions.”
So far the ongoing war against terrorism and extremism may have promoted moderate rhetoric, however, it has not succeeded to put a stop to the radicalization and the spread of un-Islamic militant ideology. Opinion leaders continue to urge religious scholars in the region to create a spirit of solidarity rather than fuel further hate with inflammatory accusations. Bold and moderate scholars like Sheikh Mohammed Shaltout, the former Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, who encouraged harmonious interactions between Sunnis and Shiites are rejected for their moderate approach. Many sectarian scholars including Yousef Al-Karadawi, chairperson of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, have rejected his Fatwa validating the Shiite doctrine. Today fear and anger dominate our discourse. Humanity continues to be threatened by the forces of violence, revenge, hate and greed leaving no room for peace, love, mercy and compassion. Global coexistence is the only way forward. A global collective action to change the existing confrontational course is critical. World leaders continue to give false promises to address the global challenges. However, they should realize that it will be impossible to put an end to global terrorism and curb the radicalization of the region without finding a just solution to major regional conflicts. It is time they give up their selfish designs for world peace and the common good for all mankind.
**This article was first published in the Saudi Gazette on Sept. 24, 2016.