LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
September 26/15

Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
http://www.eliasbejjaninews.com/newsbulletins05/english.september26.15.htm

Bible Quotation For Today/Or are you envious because I am generous? So the last will be first, and the first will be last.
Matthew 20/01-16: "The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire labourers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the labourers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the market-place;
and he said to them, "You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right." So they went. When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, "Why are you standing here idle all day?"They said to him, "Because no one has hired us." He said to them, "You also go into the vineyard." When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, "Call the labourers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first." When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, saying, "These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat." But he replied to one of them, "Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?"So the last will be first, and the first will be last.’"

Bible Quotation For Today/I know your works your love, faith, service, and patient endurance. I know that your last works are greater than the first.
Book of Revelation 02/18-29: "‘And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: These are the words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze: ‘I know your works your love, faith, service, and patient endurance. I know that your last works are greater than the first. But I have this against you: you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet and is teaching and beguiling my servants to practise fornication and to eat food sacrificed to idols. I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her fornication. Beware, I am throwing her on a bed, and those who commit adultery with her I am throwing into great distress, unless they repent of her doings; and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am the one who searches minds and hearts, and I will give to each of you as your works deserve. But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call "the deep things of Satan", to you I say, I do not lay on you any other burden; only hold fast to what you have until I come. To everyone who conquers and continues to do my works to the end, I will give authority over the nations; to rule them with an iron rod, as when clay pots are shattered even as I also received authority from my Father. To the one who conquers I will also give the morning star. Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches."

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on September 25-26/15
Derailed Micheal Aoun & The Butcher Bachar Assad Are From The Same rotten Cut/Elias Bejjani/September 25/15
Will Lebanon’s presidential vacuum demand foreign help/Nayla Tueni//Al Arabiya/September 25/15
The world must not fail the Syrians twice/Mohamed Chebarro/Al Arabiya/September 25/15
Iran moderates and hardliners: What they mean for Russia and the West/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Al Arabiya/September 25/15
Behind the lines: Is Syria on the way to becoming a ‘frozen conflict’/By JONATHAN SPYER/September 25/15
Latakia Is Assad's Achilles Heel/Fabrice Balanche/Washington Institute/September 25/15
Ben Carson Exposes Islamic Taqiyya/ Raymond Ibrahim/PJ Media/ September 25/15
Syria and the World—Victory or Compromise/Amir Taheri/ASharq Al Awsat/September 25/15
Hearing Wrap-Up: General Petraeus on U.S. Mideast Policy/Foreign Policy/September 25/15
Swedes' Homes May Be Confiscated to Accommodate Asylum Seekers/Ingrid Carlqvist/Gatestone Institute/September 25/15
Uncle Gamal Abdel Nasser/Michael Young/Now Lebanon/September 25/15

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin for Lebanese Related News published on September 25-26/15
Derailed Micheal Aoun & The Butcher Bachar Assad Are From The Same rotten Cut
Nasrallah: Russia prepared to ”significantly” support Syria
Salam to Attend Opening of Development Summit in Nasrallah: Russia prepared to ”significantly” support SyriaNew York
Bassil Warns of Catastrophic Effects of Refugee Crisis
March 14 National Council to Convene Next Month
Armed Groups, Including Hizbullah, Vital Prop for Syria's Beleaguered Army
Hizbullah Reaches Deal with Syria Rebels on Zabadani, Shiite Towns
Will Lebanon’s presidential vacuum demand foreign help?

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on September 25-26/15
Pope throws weight behind Iran nuclear deal in historic address
Saudi Arabia suggests pilgrims at fault over hajj deaths, Iran indignant
Death to the Saudi dynasty,' Iranians chant as anger rises over hajj stampede
Carson: In order to preserve women's rights, America must remain a 'Judaeo-Christian' nation
Netanyahu urges Muslims: 'Don't be led astray by anti-Israel incitement'
Obama Welcomes China's Xi with Tough Talk on Rights, Cyber-Theft
U.S. Expresses 'Deep Concern' over Saudi Death Row Youth
Still a long way to travel' before normalizing US-Iran ties, Rouhani says
British FM: Russia’s build-up in Syria strengthens Assad
Torah Scroll Dedicated to Druze Israeli Policeman, Zidan Seif Killed Rescuing Jewish Worshipers in Palestinian Terrorist Attack
Barghouti: Palestinian Authority will soon have election
US welcomes Saudi Arabia’s leadership role on UNHRC advisory group

Links From Jihad Watch Web site For Today
Iran’s Supreme Leader: Muslims must “shatter” the U.S., the “idol of tyranny”
|Video interview with Robert Spencer: Islamic State plans to behead the Pope
Clockmaker Ahmed Mohamed’s family says he has been “severely traumatized,” hires lawyers
UK: More than 1,000 FGM cases in just three months
AFDI Muhammad Cartoon Contest winner Bosch Fawstin’s anti-jihad superhero Pigman returns!
The Unknown: My Islamic Court Date and No Way Out
SIOE Free Speech Event, Copenhagen September 26: Muhammad Art Exhibit
Australia: Muslima spotted on TV brandishing toy gun at Muslim festival
Video: Students say Ahmed’s clock looks like a bomb

Derailed Micheal Aoun & The Butcher Bachar Assad Are From The Same rotten Cut
Elias Bejjani/25.09.15/Tweets for today
*Assad's Evil prayers yesterday are a dark photo copy of Aoun's theatrical, heretic and camouflaging advocacy for Lebanese Christians' rights.
*There is no freedom or self respect in advocating for criminals Trojans and narcissists like Assad, Aoun and all evil the derailed politicians of the same rotten cut.
*Definitely, one million No, Aoun and all the thugs in his pro Iran and anti Lebanese circle including his son-in-law's are not advocating for Lebanon's Christian rights, but for their own evil interests and personal gains. They are Trojans per excellence.

Nasrallah: Russia prepared to ”significantly” support Syria
Hezbollah´s leader touted Moscow's growing intervention in the war-torn country.
BEIRUT –Now Lebanon/September 25/15/ Hezbollah´s leader discussed Russia´s major military build-up in Syria, announcing that Moscow was prepared to provide significant support to the Bashar al-Assad regime.  ”There are significant numbers of aircraft, missiles, and accurate machineguns ready to be sent to Syria,” Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said Friday in his first televised appearance in over a month. However, he downplayed reports, including ones in pro-Hezbollah media, that Russia was already involved in military operations in support of the Assad regime. “The Russians informed Damascus that they were ready to send forces to Syria, but the latter has not demanded that yet,” Nasrallah said, echoing previous comments made by Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem. He hinted that an official Syrian call for Russian military intervention was coming, saying that Damascus “might demand it soon.”“We consider the Russian intervention a positive factor,” Nasrallah said. Nasrallah also said that Moscow was coordinating with Turkey, Iran, Iraq and to create a counter-terror alliance to tackle the threat of ISIS in the region, echoing a recent report in the pro-Hezbollah daily. Al-Akhbar reported Tuesday that Hezbollah had joined a new counter-terror alliance with Moscow and that Russia will take part in military operations alongside the Syrian army and Hezbollah. The newspaper´s editor-in-chief Ibrahim al-Amin wrote that secret talks between Russia, Iran, Syria and Iraq had resulted in the birth of the new alliance, which he described as “the most important in the region and the world for many years.” “The agreement to form the alliance includes administrative mechanisms for cooperation on [the issues of] politics and intelligence and [for] military [cooperation] on the battlefield in several parts of the Middle East, primarily in Syria and Iraq,” the commentator said, citing well-informed sources.“The parties to the alliance are the states of Russia, Iran, Syria and Iraq, with Lebanon’s Hezbollah as the fifth party,” he also said, adding that the joint-force would be called the “4+1 alliance” – a play on words referring to the P5+1 world powers that negotiated a nuclear deal with Iran. The Al-Akhbar article came hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly reached an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow over the latter country’s major military build-up in Syria. The pro-Hezbollah newspaper also said that Russian troops were coordinating with Hezbollah fighters. “[Several] days ago, Russian officers accompanied by specialists… from the Russian forces arriving in Syria toured a number of positions in Hama’s Al-Ghab Plain area and carried out a field survey accompanied by Syrian Army and Hezbollah officers,” Amin claimed. “Similar tours took place in the [areas] around Idlib and in the mountain range overlooking Latakia.”He also made the startling claim that Russia will “play a prominent role on the ground and will participate in combat on the battlefield with their advanced weaponry by leading operations and taking part in artillery shelling, air [raids] and otherwise, alongside the Syrian army and Hezbollah.”

Salam to Attend Opening of Development Summit in New York
Naharnet/September 25/15/Prime Minister Tammam Salam was in New York on Friday to attend the opening of the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit 2015. The summit is aimed at formally approving an ambitious and costly 15-year blueprint to eradicate extreme poverty, combat climate change and address more than a dozen other major global issues. Implementing the new development goals — expected to cost between $3.5 trillion and $5 trillion every year until 2030 — is expected to be the focus of the three-day summit that will include speeches by U.S. President Barack Obama, China's President Xi Jinping and the leaders of Egypt, India, Iran, Germany, Britain and France. The document — called "Transforming our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development" — which sets out the 17 broad goals and 169 specific targets, will be adopted after the opening speeches at the summit. Also Friday, Salam is expected to meet with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration. On Monday, the U.N. General Assembly session will officially kick off and the next day a summit on fighting extremism will be held during which leaders, including Obama and Salam, will give speeches.The PM will also address the General Assembly and the International Support Group for Lebanon on Wednesday before returning to Lebanon.

Bassil Warns of Catastrophic Effects of Refugee Crisis
Naharnet/September 25/15/Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil has said that the Syrian refugee crisis has had very harmful effects on Lebanon's security and economy. “This crisis had catastrophic effects on security, development, the economy, the society and the environment,” Bassil said in a speech he gave at the Group of 77 and China meeting that was held in New York. The 39th annual meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the member states of the Group of 77 and China was held in preparation for the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit. The crisis “broke the ability of our institutions to bear (its consequences) in health, education, energy, water and infrastructure,” Bassil said. He stressed that Lebanon is being punished over the huge burden of refugees and with the absence of financial aid such as long-term loans with low interest rates. His speech at the conference came as European Union leaders pledged on Thursday to boost support to Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan to help them cope with the millions fleeing the fighting in Syria. Bassil said that Lebanon, whose population is around 4 million, is hosting around 1.5 million displaced Syrians in addition to 500,000 Palestinian refugees. The foreign minister held talks with several of his Arab and Western counterparts on the sidelines of the meeting.

March 14 National Council to Convene Next Month
Naharnet/September 25/15/The March 14 alliance's National Council is planning to hold a conference mid-October to propose solutions to the country's growing crises, its leader former MP Samir Franjieh said. Franjieh, who was elected as president of the council in June, told An Nahar daily published Friday that there is a need to set the stage for a political life in Lebanon which is based on coexistence away from violence. The official said that the recent anti-government demonstrations revealed the “total collapse” of the state. The protests have been rocking Lebanon since mid-July when a waste management crisis erupted following the closure of the Naameh landfill south of Beirut. The National Council “is not a political party and will never be,” insisted Franjieh. “It is a frame for gathering and launching initiatives,” he said. The March 14 general-secretariat announced the creation of the council in March.

Armed Groups, Including Hizbullah, Vital Prop for Syria's Beleaguered Army
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 25/15/ More than 150,000 trained and equipped fighters in pro-government groups, including Hizbullah, have become an indispensable brace for a Syrian army beleaguered by well over four years of intractable conflict. "There are more than 25 main militias of different sizes that fight alongside the Syrian army" and number between 150,000 and 200,000 men, a security source told Agence France Presse. The most prominent is the National Defense Forces (NDF), established in 2012 after the army suffered a string of defeats in the provinces of Damascus, Homs and Aleppo.
Under the command of Brigadier General Hawash Mohammed, the NDF has deployed some 90,000 fighters from various sectarian backgrounds throughout Syria. For Assef Hamdoush, a 28-year-old student-turned-NDF fighter, "there aren't enough young men to fight the rebels committing massacres in Latakia province", the coastal heartland of President Bashar al-Assad. "We didn't have a choice: fight or die," Hamdoush told AFP. His 31-year old friend, Karim, said his reasons were more economical. "I lost my job. I didn't have any means of surviving other than taking up arms," he said. Militiamen receive a monthly salary of $100 to $300, compared with army conscripts who receive about $10 a month. "This is what has pushed so many to leave the army and to join the NDF," said lawyer Alaa Ibrahim. Young Syrian men also choose the NDF because they are deployed near their hometowns, instead of serving for months in faraway provinces in the mainstream forces. Joining the NDF also grants them more power in their hometowns.
Army strength halved
"This is why the army has forbidden its soldiers to become members of these groups and has said that fighting in the militias does not exempt them from mandatory military service," Ibrahim told AFP. Experts say Syria's army has been roughly halved from its pre-war size of 300,000 by deaths, defections and increased draft dodging. In a recent interview, Assad highlighted the importance of "volunteer" fighters, without whom "the army would not have been able to hold on for four and a half years of such a difficult war". Some militias are run by political parties, with the ruling Baath Party commanding some 10,000 men. Others are organized along tribal or sectarian lines: Alawites defend their heartland along the coast, Druze fight in the southern province of Sweida and Christians battle in the northeast. The army has also received substantial support from thousands of fighters sent by Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon -- notably Hizbullah.
"The presence of these parallel groups does not mean that the Syrian army has collapsed, but that the burden has become so heavy that it needs support forces at its side," said one high-ranking official close to Syria's Bureau of National Security. The security source said the militias receive orders from a single "central leadership, in coordination with the Bureau of National Security which is in direct contact with the presidency".
Key front lines
Militias play a central role on key front lines, including at Zabadani, the last rebel stronghold along the border with Lebanon, as well as south of Damascus and in Latakia. In the Shiite district of Al-Amin in central Damascus, the pictures of six young men killed in Aleppo are posted on walls. Although most militiamen were trained by the army, others have received training from Hizbullah and Iranian forces. "The militias fight alongside the army and follow its orders, while being independent administratively, organizationally and in their training," the high-ranking official said. "Their members are assigned to specific locations and they receive a bonus if they accept missions that are difficult or far away from home, which isn't the case for the soldiers."Syria's military courts do not have jurisdiction over the militias, which are not subject to sanctions if they commit abuses, lawyer Ibrahim said. The rivalry between the army and militias is palpable. Fadi, a 24-year-old soldier who has been fighting since 2011, said: "The armed groups claim to support the military, but in fact they often ruin our victories and hurt our reputation.""We know very well that they only fight in certain areas," he said, criticizing the groups for showing off their weapons in public spaces "where there are no battles or fronts".

Hizbullah Reaches Deal with Syria Rebels on Zabadani, Shiite Towns
Naharnet/September 25/15/Hizbullah and Syrian rebels have reached an agreement involving a six-month ceasefire in three battleground Syrian towns, a monitoring group said Thursday. “Under Turkish and Iranian sponsorship and with guarantees from the United Nations, an agreement has been reached between Lebanon's Hizbullah and the fighters of Zabadani and the Islamist Ahrar al-Sham movement in Zabadani, Fuaa and Kafraya,” the anti-regime Syrian Observatory for Human Rights announced. The mainly Shiite Fuaa and Kafraya are the two remaining villages in Idlib province in the northwest still in regime hands while Zabadani is the rebels' last stronghold near the Lebanese border. Citing “preliminary information,” the Observatory said the deal envisages the evacuation of women and children from Fuaa and Kafraya in return for the withdrawal of Zabadani's rebels along with their families to the Idlib province. It also involves “the evacuation of critically wounded people from the town of Madaya that is adjacent to Zabadani, a six-month ceasefire and other points.”Several ceasefires had been reached in the three towns in the past. Pro-government forces and Hizbullah launched an offensive to try to recapture Zabadani in July, prompting a rebel alliance -- including members of al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front -- to besiege the Idlib villages of Fuaa and Kafraya, whose residents are Shiites. Last week, the rebels launched one of their fiercest attacks to date on Fuaa and Kafraya. The assault began on Friday with at least nine car bombs against the outskirts of the two villages -- seven of them detonated by suicide bombers. At least 66 rebels, 40 pro-government militiamen and seven civilians were killed in the latest assault, according to the Observatory. Sunday's ceasefire was the third attempt to agree a truce for the three areas. A ceasefire last month lasted only 48 hours. Hizbullah has sent thousands of fighters across the border to support Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces against the Islamist-led militants fighting to topple him. The group's intervention has helped the Syrian army recapture most towns in the Qalamoun region near the border with Lebanon. Hundreds of Hizbullah fighters have been reportedly killed in the conflict to date. In total, more than 240,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government protests. The fighting has since evolved into a complex civil war involving rebels, the regime, al-Qaida and Islamic State jihadists, Lebanon's Hizbullah and Kurdish fighters.

Will Lebanon’s presidential vacuum demand foreign help?
Nayla Tueni//Al Arabiya/September 25/15
During his visit to the Lebanese town of Jezzine last week, Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rahi commented on the presidential vacuum. “It’s a shame that a president hasn’t been elected yet. Let’s pray for officials to carry out their constitutional responsibilities of electing a president,” he said. “[People] used [to underestimate the presidential post] and ask what the president’s jurisdictions are anyway; however, it turned out that everything has been obstructed as a result of presidential vacuum. Legislation and the government’s work have been hindered and chaos has reached (all state) institutions.”It’s the responsibility of the leaders to prove that they have the upper hand regarding the process of electing a president.On top of the agenda of the national dialogue sessions, which recently resumed in Lebanon after a long time, is the attempt to reach a consensus on electing a president for this headless republic.
Deliberate obstruction
Some parties are perhaps glad that electing a president has been obstructed, as it helps serve their aim of imposing a constituent assembly. These parties continue to obstruct the finalizing of several state appointments in the hope of making the general assembly a fait accompli. Others however seek to obstruct electing a president in the hope that circumstances change.It’s impossible to reach an agreement over the presidency amidst the presence of all these conditions. If some of those participating in the dialogue refuse to discuss other problems before finalizing the issue of the presidency, nothing will be achieved.
That failure would mean that the Lebanese leaders would be confessing that it’s not possible for them to reach any agreement – and hence that they’re incapable of reaching any domestic solutions. This confession of failure would therefore lead to the summoning of foreign parties for help. This is the only available option the Lebanese people have, and they’ve perhaps used to this after the Ta’if Agreement designed to end the civil war.It’s therefore the responsibility of the leaders at the dialogue table to prove that they deserve the posts they hold, that they are capable of reaching an agreement in the country’s best interests, and that they have the upper hand regarding the process of electing a president.Otherwise, their failure will be collective. And their meeting will not diffuse tensions in the street, but will rather provide an excuse for people to take to the streets to demand their resignation.

Pope throws weight behind Iran nuclear deal in historic address
By AFP, AP | United Nations, New York/Friday, 25 September 2015/Pope Francis on Friday threw his support behind Iran’s accord with major powers as he backed a goal of global abolition of nuclear weapons. The Iran agreement “is proof of the potential of political goodwill, exercised with sincerity, patience and constancy,” Francis said in an address to the United Nations. “I express my hope that this agreement will be lasting and efficacious, and bring forth the desired fruits with the cooperation of all the parties involved,” he said. Francis made his remarks a day after a friendly welcome at the U.S. Congress, where many Republican lawmakers have vehemently criticized President Barack Obama for negotiating with Iran, an enemy of the United States and Israel since its 1979 Islamic revolution. Francis also declared that there is a “right of the environment” and that humankind has no authority to abuse or destroy it. Hoping to spur concrete action at upcoming climate change negotiations in Paris, Francis accused the world’s powerful countries of a “selfish and boundless thirst” for money. He says that has led them to destroy the planet and impoverish the weak and disadvantaged. Francis also appealed anew for the protection of Christians and other people persecuted by extremists in Syria and Iraq. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Pope Francis has made papal history by addressing the largest array of world leaders ever at the United Nations. The U.N. chief thanked the pope for demonstrating again his “remarkable global stature as a man of faith for all faiths.”The gathering that starts shortly after the pope’s speech is bringing a record 154 heads of state or government to the U.N. It’s to launch an ambitious set of global development goals. World leaders and diplomats filled the General Assembly chamber to hear the pope address representatives from its 193-member nations. Joining them were Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates and Nobel peace laureate Malala Yousefzai, the Pakistani education campaigner.

Saudi Arabia suggests pilgrims at fault over hajj deaths, Iran indignant
Reuters/Daily Star/September 25/15
MINA, Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabia, under growing pressure to account for a crush that killed more than 700 people at the hajj pilgrimage, on Friday suggested pilgrims failing to follow crowd control rules bore some blame for the worst disaster at the event for 25 years. The kingdom's regional rival Iran expressed outrage at the deaths of 131 of its nationals at the world's largest annual gathering of people, and politicians in Tehran suggested Riyadh was incapable of managing the event. "Death to the Saudi dynasty!" hundreds of demonstrators chanted at a protest in the Iranian capital Tehran. Saudi Health Minister Khalid al-Falih said an investigation would be conducted rapidly and a final toll of dead and wounded calculated. At least 863 pilgrims were injured. "The investigations into the incident of the stampede that took place today in Mina, which was perhaps because some pilgrims moved without following instructions by the relevant authorities, will be fast and will be announced as has happened in other incidents," Falih said in a statement. Falih's comments were likely to be seen by the kingdom's critics as an attempt to deflect responsibility for the incident: Safety during hajj is politically sensitive for the kingdom's Al Saud dynasty, since the ruling family presents itself internationally as the guardian of orthodox Islam and custodian of its holiest places in Mecca and Medina. With photographs of piles of the dead circulating on social media and pilgrims frantically searching for missing compatriots, the effort to uncover the facts and assign blame was likely to grow more acute and possibly more political.
"CATASTROPHE"
The disaster appeared to put pilgrims on edge. Hakim, from Morocco, said: "It is simply scary to hear how people crushed one another. More frightening is that we do not know how it happened."A pilgrim who asked to be identified only as Abu Abdallah said security forces appeared on high alert after the deaths. "What happened is a tragedy and many people ... are terrified, but in the end we can only pursue our Hajj duties."Saudi King Salman ordered a review of hajj plans after the disaster, in which two big groups of pilgrims collided at a crossroads in Mina, a few km (miles) east of Mecca, on their way to performing the "stoning of the devil" ritual at Jamarat. Iran's President Hassan Rouhani, in New York to attend the U.N. General Assembly, echoed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in blaming Saudi Arabia for the incident. "I ask the Saudi Arabian government to take responsibility for this catastrophe and fulfil its legal and Islamic duties in this regard," Rouhani said in a statement published on the state news agency IRNA. Iranian state television said the demonstrators in Tehran were showing their anger at "Saudi incapability and incompetence to run the hajj". "The world will not accept excuses like the weather was hot or the pilgrims were disorganised," Tehran Friday prayer leader Mohammed Emami-Kashani was quoted as saying by Fars news agency. Iran's deputy Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir Abdollahian also called "Riyadh's negligence inexcusable" and announced a committee has been established to look into the incident. Iranians pilgrims who survived the deadly incident described Saudi's response "too little, too late," according to Iran's state run Press TV. They said the rescuers arrived at the scene two hours after the incident and started collecting dead bodies first instead of helping the injured.
Saudi Arabia's Interior Ministry spokesman Major General Mansour Turki was quoted in Saudi media on Friday as saying the security forces had immediately responded and begun to rescue those who fell in the crush. "This year's hajj ceremony was disorganised as the Saudi government had hired young and inexperienced people," Saeed Ohadi, Head of Iran's hajj and pilgrimage organization told Iran's state broadcaster in a live interview from Mecca. Speaking in New York, Pope Francis expressed "my sentiments of closeness" with the world's Muslims after the tragedy. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the United States offered condolence. In Islamabad, the Pakistani ministry of religious affairs said seven Pakistanis were dead and six were injured. Former Iraqi Prime minister Nuri al-Maliki, an ally of Iran and foe of Riyadh, said the incident was "proof of the incompetence of the organizers of the pilgrimage season".He said the hajj should be placed under the authority of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the world's largest Muslim organization.

Death to the Saudi dynasty,' Iranians chant as anger rises over hajj stampede
By REUTERS/J.Post/09/25/2015
Saudi Arabia, under growing pressure to account for a crush that killed more than 700 people at the haj pilgrimage, on Friday suggested pilgrims failing to follow crowd control rules bore some blame for the worst disaster at the event for 25 years. The kingdom's regional rival Iran expressed outrage at the deaths of 131 of its nationals at the world's largest annual gathering of people, and politicians in Tehran suggested Riyadh was incapable of managing the event. "Death to the Saudi dynasty!" hundreds of demonstrators chanted at a protest in the Iranian capital Tehran. Saudi Health Minister Khalid al-Falih said an investigation would be conducted rapidly and a final toll of dead and wounded calculated. At least 863 pilgrims were injured. "The investigations into the incident of the stampede that took place today in Mina, which was perhaps because some pilgrims moved without following instructions by the relevant authorities, will be fast and will be announced as has happened in other incidents," Falih said in a statement. Falih's comments were likely to be seen by the kingdom's critics as an attempt to deflect responsibility for the incident: Safety during haj is politically sensitive for the kingdom's Al Saud dynasty, since the ruling family presents itself internationally as the guardian of orthodox Islam and custodian of its holiest places in Mecca and Medina. With photographs of piles of the dead circulating on social media and pilgrims frantically searching for missing compatriots, the effort to uncover the facts and assign blame was likely to grow more acute and possibly more political.
The disaster appeared to put pilgrims on edge. Hakim, from Morocco, said: "It is simply scary to hear how people crushed one another. More frightening is that we do not know how it happened." A pilgrim who asked to be identified only as Abu Abdallah said security forces appeared on high alert after the deaths. "What happened is a tragedy and many people ... are terrified, but in the end we can only pursue our Hajj duties."Saudi King Salman ordered a review of hajj plans after the disaster, in which two big groups of pilgrims collided at a crossroads in Mina, a few km (miles) east of Mecca, on their way to performing the "stoning of the devil" ritual at Jamarat.Iran's President Hassan Rouhani, in New York to attend the UN General Assembly, echoed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in blaming Saudi Arabia for the incident.
"I ask the Saudi Arabian government to take responsibility for this catastrophe and fullfil its legal and Islamic duties in this regard," Rouhani said in a statement published on the state news agency IRNA. Iranian state television said the demonstrators in Tehran were showing their anger at "Saudi incapability and incompetence to run the hajj." "The world will not accept excuses like the weather was hot or the pilgrims were disorganized," Tehran Friday prayer leader Mohammed Emami-Kashani was quoted as saying by Fars news agency. Iran's deputy Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir Abdollahian also called "Riyadh's negligence inexcusable" and announced a committee has been established to look into the incident.
Iranians pilgrims who survived the deadly incident described Saudi's response "too little, too late," according to Iran's state run Press TV. They said the rescuers arrived at the scene two hours after the incident and started collecting dead bodies first instead of helping the injured. Saudi Arabia's Interior Ministry spokesman Major General Mansour Turki was quoted in Saudi media on Friday as saying the security forces had immediately responded and begun to rescue those who fell in the crush. "This year's hajj ceremony was disorganized as the Saudi government had hired young and inexperienced people," Saeed Ohadi, head of Iran's hajj and pilgrimmage organization told Iran's state broadcaster in a live interview from Mecca.
Speaking in New York, Pope Francis expressed "my sentiments of closeness" with the world's Muslims after the tragedy. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the United States offered condolence. In Islamabad, the Pakistani ministry of religious affairs said seven Pakistanis were dead and six were injured. Former Iraqi Prime minister Nuri al-Maliki, an ally of Iran and foe of Riyadh, said the incident was "proof of the incompetence of the organizers of the pilgrimage season."He said the hajj should be placed under the authority of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the world's largest Muslim organization.

Carson: In order to preserve women's rights, America must remain a 'Judaeo-Christian' nation
By JPOST.COM STAFF/ 09/25/2015/While speaking at a rally at a Michigan university Thursday, Republican presidential hopeful Dr. Ben Carson said that America should remain a "Judaeo-Christian" nation in order to preserve "the American way" as well as women's rights, adding that Islamic societies treat women like "chattel." Carson went on to say that Muslim societies who adopt from Sharia Law, a faith based system of religious rules, oppress women, stating "We do not want to import that type of ideology into America," according to news publication The Christain Science Monitor. The comments, made at Spring Arbor University, come on the heels of recent controversial statements Carson made last week in regards to Islam, when he said that, in his opinion, a Muslim should not be president because the faith contradicts American values and the US Constitution, The Monitor added. "I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation. I absolutely would not agree with that," Carson said while being interviewed on NBC's Meet the Press. Carson, a retired neurosurgeon who has been near the top of opinion polls for the crowded field of Republican presidential candidates, also said that he thought a US president's faith should be "consistent with the Constitution." Carson later clarified that he would not object to a Muslim president if they were "willing to put the Constitution above their ideology," according to the Detroit News.

Netanyahu urges Muslims: 'Don't be led astray by anti-Israel incitement'
By JPOST.COM STAFF / 09/25/2015
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recorded a special holiday greeting to Muslims on Friday, insisting that claims Israel was upsetting the delicate interfaith balance on Temple Mount were false. "Muslim citizens of Israel and members of the Islamic faith around the world, I would like to wish you all an 'Eid mubrak'," Netanyahu said, marking the occasion of Id al-Adha. "I hope that this year will be one of peace between the religions." "I would like you to know that Israel is maintaining the status quo on the Temple Mount," the premier said, posting the message on his Facebook page. "Israel safeguards the holy places of all faiths. Don't be led astray by incitement, wild incitement that is without foundation. We respect all religions."The emphasis Netanyahu placed on Temple Mount could be interpreted as a message directed at Jordan, which is reportedly furious with the Israeli government over its handling of events at the Islamic holy places there. The Prime Minister’s Office refused comment Thursday on a spate of reports that Jordan’s King Abdullah II is refusing to take phone calls or meet secretly with Netanyahu because of the tension around the Temple Mount.
According to the reports, Abdullah does not want to create a “business as usual” atmosphere with Netanyahu while the situation around the Temple Mount remains tense. Nevertheless, the prime minister did not back off from stressing that Israel will preserve the status quo and law and order at the site. Following Thursday’s security cabinet meeting on stiffening penalties for rock-throwers, Netanyahu said that Israel has told its neighbors that it will preserve law and order on the Temple Mount, and is calling on the Palestinian Authority to “stop its wild incitement.”
“We are preserving the status quo,” he said. “We are not violating it and all comments that we intend to harm Muslim holy sites are completely baseless.”Netanyahu added that those who were bringing explosive devices in the mosques are the ones altering the status quo. The Kuwaiti daily Al-Jarida reported on Thursday that Abdullah refused Netanyahu’s request to hold a secret meeting in the Red Sea resort town of Aqaba, just over the border near Eilat. The reports said that not only has the Jordanian government refused to accept any back-channel messages from the Prime Minister’s Office, but it is considering a recall of its ambassador from Tel Aviv as a means to express its displeasure with Jerusalem’s policies. Some 10-days ago Abdullah, in a meeting in Amman with British Prime Minister David Cameron, said that Jordan has been “very concerned and angered with the recent escalations in Jerusalem, specifically in Al-Aksa Mosque.” He said that if the situation continues, it “will affect the relationship between Jordan and Israel; and Jordan will have no choice, but to take action, unfortunately.” Following Abdullah criticism, Israel - according to Channel 2 - sent messages to Jordan that it should not be shirking its own responsibility at the Temple Mount and that it was in fact the Jordanian Wakf Islamic Trust that has allowed the rioters who were armed with stones to sleep in Al-Aksa Mosque.

Obama Welcomes China's Xi with Tough Talk on Rights, Cyber-Theft
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 25/15
U.S. President Barack Obama welcomed China's Xi Jinping to the White House on Friday with pointed remarks about human rights, cyber espionage and Beijing's territorial ambitions. Xi arrived at the White House to a 21-gun salute and full ceremonial military honors, underlining the importance of the state visit, but Obama did not pull any punches.Washington and Beijing are at loggerheads over spying and China's claims in the South China Sea, but the relationship underpins the entire global economy. And Washington hopes to persuade China, the world's top polluter, to make a new commitment on climate change. "Even as our nations cooperate, I believe and I know you agree, that we must address our differences candidly," Obama said at a welcoming ceremony, with Xi standing at his side.
The U.S. leader stressed Washington's attachment to human rights, and tacitly referred to allegations that China's spies have hacked US firms for commercial gain. "We believe nations are more successful and the world makes more progress when our companies compete on a level playing field," Obama warned.
And he called for international disputes to be "resolved peacefully" -- an implicit reference to China's disputed territorial ambitions in the South China Sea.
Xi's opening remarks were less pointed, but he warned of the need for mutual respect of each other's sovereign rights and the importance of economic cooperation."We have no choice but to seek win-win cooperation," Xi said. "Let us work hand in hand with great resolve to write a new chapter in China-U.S. relations."
Cap-and-trade' pledge
The visit came as the weakness in the Chinese economy is roiling world markets, and discussions of Beijing's slow move to a market-led exchange rate will be tense. But the White House hopes for a constructive exchange on at least one subject: climate change. China is the world's biggest polluter and the United States is one of the worst per capita. Xi is expected to announce a commitment to limit greenhouse gas emissions. "China will confirm for the first time that it will launch a national emissions trading system, an ETS or a cap-and-trade system in 2017," a senior US official said. That could help limit emissions in China, which has already launched seven pilot trading schemes in locations such as Beijing and Shanghai.
The initiative would add to emissions curbs pledged last year by China and the U.S. in a bid to forge a UN climate pact, scheduled to be sealed in Paris in December. Other breakthroughs are unlikely, although an agreement on cyber security has not been ruled out.
'Window into world view'
Obama and held Xi a casual meeting on Thursday evening, shedding their ties and strolling out of the West Wing to Blair House, the president's official guest house.
Officials hoped that by starting off informally, the leaders would find time for a relaxed exchange of views. "Far and away, the most constructive engagements they've had have been in their private dinners," said senior Obama national security aide Ben Rhodes. This provides an opportunity, Rhodes said, to "put aside the talking points and actually get a window into one another's world view."
Obama and held Xi a casual meeting on Thursday evening, shedding their ties and strolling out of the West Wing to Blair House, the president's official guest house.
Officials hoped that by starting off informally, the leaders would find time for a relaxed exchange of views. "Far and away, the most constructive engagements they've had have been in their private dinners," said senior Obama national security aide Ben Rhodes. This provides an opportunity, Rhodes said, to "put aside the talking points and actually get a window into one another's world view."
Xi -- who kicked off his US visit in Seattle, meeting with top corporate CEOs -- is seen in Washington as one of the strongest Chinese leaders in decades.
Even as the Chinese economy has slowed -- calling into question Xi and the Communist Party's technocratic bona fides -- the president has tightened his grip on power. But his assertiveness has fueled a host of disputes that US officials say risk throwing the delicately balanced relationship out of kilter. "At any one time we are cooperating and competing," said one senior administration official.
"What we strive for is to make sure that competition doesn't define the relationship and that competition is taking place in a way that is healthy and is fair."
- Dangerously close -
Obama and Xi will also look to highlight cooperation to curb Iran and North Korea's nuclear programs and tackling people-to-people ties. An agreement is also expected to limit the risk of dangerous air-to-air military encounters. On the eve of Xi's visit, U.S. officials said two Chinese fighter jets had passed dangerously close to an American spy plane in international airspace over the Yellow Sea.

U.S. Expresses 'Deep Concern' over Saudi Death Row Youth
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 25/15/The United States expressed alarm on Thursday over the case of a Saudi Arabian who was sentenced to death for his alleged role in anti-government protests as a teenager. Saudi Arabia is a close ally of the United States, but State Department spokesman John Kirby said Washington was "deeply concerned" about the case of Ali Mohammed al-Nimr. The United States, where the death penalty is used in several states, did not condemn the sentence itself, but echoed the growing international outcry over the young man's trial and failed appeal. "We are deeply concerned by the case of al-Nimr, who was sentenced to death although he was a minor at the time or his arrest, and by allegations that his sentence was based on a confession made under duress," Kirby said. "We call on the government of Saudi Arabia to respect universal human rights and its international obligations to ensure fair and transparent judicial proceedings that afford requisite fair trial and safeguards in this and on all cases."Ali al-Nimr, a manner of Saudi Arabia's Shiite minority, was a 17-year-old schoolboy in 2012 when he joined an Arab Spring-style pro-reform protest in Qatif in the eastern part of the kingdom. He was sentenced to death for allegedly belonging to an illegal organization and his last appeal failed recently, leaving him facing execution, probably by decapitation. Earlier this week, a panel of United Nations legal experts complained that his appeal was been handled "with a complete disregard for international standards.""Any judgment imposing the death penalty upon persons who were children at the time of the offense, and their execution, are incompatible with Saudi Arabia's international obligations," the U.N. experts said. The U.N. panel said 134 people have already been executed in the kingdom this year, 44 more than in the whole of last year. In August, Amnesty international reported that at least 2,208 people were executed between January 1985 and June 2015 in Saudi Arabia, nearly half of them foreigners. Ali al-Nimr's father Mohammed al-Nimr has called on Saudi Arabia's King Salman, who was received with great pomp this month at the White House, not to sign his son's death warrant. Ali is the nephew of Nimr al-Nimr, a Shiite religious leader who is also on death row. Nimr al-Nimr was a driving force behind demonstrations that began four years ago in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province.
Most of Sunni-majority Saudi Arabia's Shiites live in the east, and have complained of marginalization. Ali al-Nimr's father admitted that his son, then a high school student, had joined thousands of other people in protest. But he insisted that Ali was innocent on numerous other charges including burglary, attacking police and using a Molotov cocktail.

'Still a long way to travel' before normalizing US-Iran ties, Rouhani says
By REUTERS \ 09/25/2015 19:25
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Friday said ties with the United States had improved, though there was "still a long road to travel" before the two estranged nations could have normal relations. "The situation has certainly changed," Rouhani, in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, told a group of senior editors from media organizations. "We can point to the tangibles, the many steps forward, but there is still a long road to travel." He described the historic nuclear deal between Iran and the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China as a "big test" for US-Iranian relations and said that it was important to create an atmosphere of trust. "If we continue on the path, the road will be paved to further cooperation and collaboration," he said, adding that "we have seen good faith between the two sides." The White House has said there was no meeting planned between Rouhani and US President Barack Obama while they are at UN headquarters in the coming days. Rouhani suggested it would be premature to discuss encounters between the two men. "Before talking about meetings or handshakes," Rouhani said, the two countries should focus on resolving issues.
Still, Rouhani's first public remarks since arriving in New York were more upbeat than what Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said earlier this month. Khamenei said Tehran would not negotiate with the United States on any issue after the landmark nuclear deal with the six world powers in July. The United States and Iran have been at odds since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution. Deep differences remain over Middle East conflicts, as well as what Washington sees as Iran's support for terrorism and poor human rights record. Speaking through an interpreter, Rouhani also responded to media reports that Iran and Russia were part of a coalition that would take on Islamic State and other militant groups. He said Russian President Vladimir Putin told him personally that Moscow wants to play a more active role in combating extremist groups. "I do not see a coalition between Iran and Russia on fighting terrorism in Syria," Rouhani said. Implementation of the July 14 nuclear agreement, which will eventually see the lifting of crippling economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for limits on Tehran's nuclear program, could begin by November or December of this year. "Conditions are ripe for that," the Iranian president said. Western officials have suggested that implementation of the deal was more likely next year.
Rouhani also referred to the detention of Americans in Iran and Iranians in the United States. Iran is holding several Americans, including Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, who has dual US and Iranian citizenship. Rouhani said both countries should do what they could to move forward to freeing prisoners held by each other. He added that the issue was "personally important to me," though he said his constitutional powers were limited on the matter. "Both governments have to help to move these legal files forward," he said.
Iranian officials have said they want freedom for Iranians held in the United States, some of whom have been jailed on charges of circumventing US sanctions on Tehran. Rouhani complained about some of the statements made by US lawmakers critical of the nuclear deal, saying they contained "extremely bitter extremist judgments" and were met with astonishment in Iran. "It was as if they were on another planet," he said. "They did not seem to know where Iran was."Rouhani also touched on the tragedy in Saudi Arabia, echoing other Iranian officials' comments that Saudi authorities bore some blame for a crush that killed over 700 people at the haj pilgrimage in the annual event's worst disaster in 25 years. He said the tragedy may be a result of the Saudis transferring experienced troops to Yemen to fight against Iranian-backed Houthi fighters, a military campaign that Tehran has repeatedly criticized.

British FM: Russia’s build-up in Syria strengthens Assad
Reuters, AFP /Friday, 25 September 2015/Britain has said Russia’s military build-up in Syria reinforces President Bashar al-Assad and increases Moscow’s “moral responsibility in the crimes committed by the regime.” “Russia’s military build-up complicates the situation,” Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond told the French daily Le Monde in an interview after talks with his French and German counterparts in Paris on Thursday night. “Assad must go, he can’t be part of Syria’s future,” Hammond added, according to Le Monde’s French translation. “If we reach a deal on a transition authority and Assad is part of it, then it will be necessary to talk with him in his capacity as an actor in this process.” In remarks released on Thursday, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said the only way to end the war in Syria is to support its existing government in the fight against terrorism. In an interview with CBS News “60 Minutes,” the Russia leader repeated his view that only the Syrian people can decide if and when to replace Assad. Russia has deployed a force equipped with attack jets, helicopters and armored vehicles to a Syrian airbase. CBS interviewer Charlie Rose suggested that this Russian military intervention was designed to “rescue” Assad, and Putin replied: “Well, you’re right.” “And it’s my deep belief that any actions to the contrary -- in order to destroy the legitimate government -- will create a situation which you can witness now in the other countries of the region or in other regions, for instance in Libya, where all the state institutions are disintegrated,” he said. “We see a similar situation in Iraq,” he added. “And there is no other solution to the Syrian crisis than strengthening the effective government structures and rendering them help in fighting terrorism, but at the same time urging them to engage in positive dialogue with the rational opposition and conduct reform.”Next week Putin is to meet U.S. President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, but his latest comments only underline the gulf between the two leaders.

Torah Scroll Dedicated to Druze Israeli Policeman, Zidan Seif Killed Rescuing Jewish Worshipers in Palestinian Terrorist Attack
The Algemeiner/September 25, 2015 /Zidan Nahad Seif with his infant daughter, shortly before his death in the line of duty. Photo: Courtesy. Ten months after his heroic death, an Israeli Druze police officer is being honored with a Torah scroll in his memory, nrg reported on Thursday. Master Sergeant Zidan Nahad Seif was killed while trying to save Jewish worshipers at a Jerusalem synagogue under attack by Palestinian terrorists armed with axes, knives and a gun. The Torah scroll is being donated by Chilean-Jewish multi-millionaire Leonardo Farkash. Seif’s family members, including his widow and two children, as well as leaders of Israel’s Druze community, will take part in the dedication ceremony — which involves carrying the Torah scroll to the Kehilat Bnei Torah synagogue in the Har Nof neighborhood, where the police officer lost his life in the line of duty, along with four Jewish worshipers. Rinal, Seif’s widow, expressed her gratitude for the dedication of the Torah scroll, so sacred to Jews. “I appreciate this very much, that they are honoring Zidan and and not another Jewish or religious person, but specifically Zidan who was from a different religion. This is truly a great honor for us,” she said. Seif, 30, of Yanuh-Jat, had been one of two law-enforcement officers to arrive at the scene of the bloody attack, carried out by two terrorists who entered the synagogue, and began stabbing and hacking congregants to death. Seif was shot in the head during a gunfight with the assailants, whose attack left Rabbi Moshe Twersky, Rabbi Avraham Shmuel Goldberg, Rabbi Kalman Levine and Aryeh Kupinsky dead — and seven others seriously wounded. Seif, who died after being evacuated from the scene to the hospital, was posthumously promoted to the rank of First Sergeant. He was survived by his wife, two young children, his parents and five siblings. His funeral was attended by hundreds of Jews, among them members of Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community, President Reuven Rivlin, Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovich, Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino and MK Eli Yishai from the Sephardi ultra-Orthodox Shas party.

Barghouti: Palestinian Authority will soon have election
By GIL HOFFMAN/09/25/2015
The front-running candidate to replace Mahmoud Abbas as head of the Palestinian Authority, jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti, believes the PA will soon have its first election for president in more than a decade, according to MK Basel Ghattas (Joint List), who met with him on Thursday.
Ghattas visited Barghouti in honor of the Id al-Adha holiday at Hadarim Prison (formerly Tel Mond Prison), where Barghouti is serving five life sentences plus 40 years for five murders and an attempted murder committed while he led Fatah’s Tanzim militia. Ghattas said Barghouti was healthy and closely followed the news. “Based on what I heard from him multiple times, I think he will run,” Ghattas said. “He thinks that if the situation does not change, Abbas will reach conclusions [about leaving politics], and there will be democratic elections.” Ghattas said Barghouti was familiar with the results of Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research’s poll last week, which found that if an election were held and Abbas did not run, 32 percent of respondents would prefer to see Barghouti replace him, nearly 20% prefer Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, PA Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah of Fatah got 8%, and Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal and former Fatah operative Muhammad Dahlan each received 6%. The two most moderate potential candidates fared the poorest in the poll. Only 4% said they favored failed PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat, while former PA prime minister Salam Fayyad of the Third Way party got only 3%. The poll, which found a majority of Palestinians oppose the two-state solution, was conducted in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip from September 17 to 19, covered 1,270 adults and had a 3-percentage point margin of error.Ghattas said Barghouti believes PA relations with Israel have hit a dead end.
The MK said he did not support efforts to prevent the appointment of former Council of Jewish Communities in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip chairman Dani Dayan as ambassador to Brazil, because he did not want a less extreme candidate to be appointed who would “whitewash” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government.
Joint List MK Yousef Jabareen sent a letter to Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on Thursday asking her not to approve the appointment. “Dayan has consistently acted with blatant disregard for international law and norms, and has been spearheading various initiatives that directly violate the Palestinian people’s basic rights,” Jabareen wrote in his letter to Roussef. Jabareen quoted from a New York Times opinion article that Dayan wrote in 2012 in which he defended the expansion of the settlements in the West Bank. “Dayan is a settler who is ideologically committed to the development of the settlements – a policy Brazil recognizes as illegal under international law,” Jabareen wrote. “Approving his appointment as ambassador would legitimize his criminal ideology and practices, and send a resounding message that Israel’s oppression of the Palestinian people has no consequences in the international arena.”
Nathan Wise contributed to this report.

US welcomes Saudi Arabia’s leadership role on UNHRC advisory group
TOVAH LAZAROFF/J.Post/September 25/15
The United States said this week it was pleased to hear of Saudi Arabia’s leadership role on a United Nations Human Rights Council advisory group. “We would welcome it. We’re close allies,” US State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters in Washington on Tuesday. He spoke after a blog post by UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer last week indicated that in 2015, Saudi Arabia had been one of five ambassadors on a key advisory panel to the UNHRC. The body, which is known as the Consultative Group, has since June been chaired by Saudi Arabian Ambassador Faisal bin Hassan Trad. While a new group of ambassadors will be appointed for 2016, Neuer’s piece made headlines around the world because of Saudi Arabia’s dismal human rights record.
“It is scandalous that the UN chose a country that has beheaded more people this year than ISIS to be head of a key human rights panel,” Neuer said.“Saudi Arabia has arguably the worst record in the world when it comes to religious freedom and women’s rights, and continues to imprison the innocent blogger Raif Badawi,” Neuer added. Badawi also faces a flogging sentence of 1,000 lashes.
Saudi Arabia is already one of 47 member states that makes up the UNHRC. But its role in the sub-group in 2015 expanded its influence on the committee, cording to Neuer. “This UN appointment is like making a pyromaniac into the town fire chief, and underscores the credibility deficit of a human rights council that already counts Russia, Cuba, China, Qatar and Venezuela among its elected members [of 47 nations],” Neuer said. At the State Department on Tuesday, Toner said that the US has “a strong dialogue, obviously a partnership with Saudi Arabia that spans, obviously, many issues." “We talk about human rights concerns with them. As to this leadership role, we hope that it’s an occasion for them to look at human rights around the world but also within their own borders,” Toner said.
“We make our concerns clear when we do have concerns, but that dialogue continues,” he said. Neuer said that the Consultative Group's membership for 2015 also included Greece, Lithuania, Chile and Algeria. In a subsequent blog post on the issue, Neuer said that the Consultative Group had short listed candidates for the following UN positions: UN Special Rapporteurs on Violence Against Women, the Right to Privacy and Cultural Rights. It also short listed candidates for membership on the UN Working Groups on Arbitrary Detention, Enforced Disappearances and experts on People of African Descent.
Neuer has also alluded to possible back-room deal in which Saudi Arabia was placed on the Consultative Group in 2015 in exchange for dropping its bid last year to become UNHRC president. He has also speculated about the connection between Saudi Arabia’s UNHRC membership, as one of the council’s 47 member states, and a 2012 donation of $1 million to the UNHRC council.
The UNHRC and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights have rejected all such claims. In a statement the UNHRC sent out to the media on Thursday, it explained that over the past few days, “a highly distorted narrative has been spreading on the role of Saudi Arabia in the Consultative Group.” It explained that membership to the Consultative Group was determined solely by member states of five regional groups. Each of those regional groups had one representative on the Consultative Group. Saudi Arabia belongs to the Asian group, which placed it on the Consultative Group as its representative. The UNHRC explained that the Consultative Group assess candidates for expert positions such as special Rapporteurs. “On the basis of objective criteria, they then recommend candidates, by consensus, to the President of the Human Rights Council. The President then conducts broad consultations before putting his recommendation before the full membership of the Human Rights Council. The Human Rights Council then appoints the relevant candidate,” it said.
“Clearly, it is patently untrue to suggest that any one ambassador has the authority to decide upon a candidate unilaterally. The ambassador of Saudi Arabia was nominated by the Asian Group to serve on the Consultative Group from 1 January to 31 December this year, and assumed the chair on a rotating basis during part of this year,” the UNHRC said. “The chairmanship does not entail any powers over and above the four other members, who this year come from Lithuania, Greece, Chile and Algeria,” the UNHRC said. “The composition of this year’s Consultative Group was made public at the beginning of this year and the group has already submitted all of its three reports for 2015. It is not expected to meet again until next year, when it will have five different members," the UNHRC said. “The appointment of mandate-holders is conducted in a transparent manner following well-established rules and procedures taking into account views from various actors including those from states and civil society. Any candidate not happy with the way the process was conducted may appeal to the president of the Human Rights Council,” the UNHRC said.

The world must not fail the Syrians twice
Mohamed Chebarro/Al Arabiya/September 25/15
Most Europeans know that their countries have some of the best social-security systems in the world – and many outside the wealthy economic bloc know it too. That includes those roaming in search of safety inside Syria – an estimated 7 million of them. They find themselves stuck between the firepower of the Assad regime, bombarding and destroying cities held by rebel forces, and ISIS, which controls large swathes of Syria’s countryside. And an estimated 4 million Syrians are choosing to leave the war-torn country in search of a better future for their children and families, even if that means making the unsafe journey by sea, or on the highways of Europe, to get to safety. The European nations should not fail Syrians a second time, when called to take in people fleeing the conflict. Many in refugee camps in Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan are constantly weighing their options. Their dilemma is whether to stay in camps – which offer them less and less every day, with international funds depleted after years of conflict – or to make a final run and seek asylum, with all the danger that entails.
250,000 dead
The crisis in Syria has so far left more than a quarter of a million Syrians dead and more than a million injured, maimed, tortured or imprisoned. Some Syrians with families in the Gulf states were allowed to settle in the region, despite the firm immigration rules in those nations. They were given access to education, healthcare and the right to work. Any Syrian would be pushed towards the desperate choice to migrate or seek asylum. It is not because they are greedy, or hold anyone responsible for the war in their country. It is because after more than four years, their savings are running out, some of their children are not getting an education, and the healthcare they have been provided with by charitable organizations may soon run out.
A new chapter
On top of this, it is clear to many that the conflict has recently entered a new chapter with the arrival of Russian troops. For years, Lebanese Hezbollah militia, with guidance from Iran, have tried to help the Syrian regime crush the uprising – with fighters from Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan joining in. On the other hand, opposition Syrian fighters received funding and military hardware from Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and even the United States. All of this made it evident to civilians in Syria that tipping the balance towards peace is next to impossible in the foreseeable future, given the complex mix of international players involved in Syria’s many conflicts. It is a war between the regime and its people, as well as between Iran and the core Gulf Arab states led by Saudi Arabia. It is a hidden war between Arabs, the Turks and Persians; it is part of the global war on terror; and it is a war between the U.S. and its European allies against Russia, over the Ukraine issue.
Barbed-wire fences
For all these reasons and more, Syrians are fleeing, hoping for a better future, even if it means crossing Europe’s barbed-wire fences. For the Europeans in the north such as the Germans or Swedish, or the smaller southern and eastern nations of Hungary, Macedonia and Greece, the surge in refugee numbers is alarming. Yet migration is as old as the world, with those seeking better, richer and safer lives having been moving around the globe for millennia. Along with thousands of Syrians, refugees include Kurds, Iraqis, Palestinians from refugee camps in Syria and other Arab nations, Iranian Kurds or other minorities in Iran, and Afghanis. And the newcomers also include Africans fleeing conflicts or poverty in nations like Somalia and Eritrea.
Immigration an old theme
The issue of immigration has been ongoing in Europe for decades, with many refugees, migrants or economic migrants receiving generous state benefits since well before the Syrian crisis. This was witnessed in Europe with the Bosnia and Kosovo conflicts. Even when the EU was moving to include new states in Eastern Europe, we heard loud voices from the ultra-right parties, objecting to countries such as Poland or Romania being allowed to join. This saw the issue of immigration become a main theme of manifestos of many political parties in Europe. All of the above needs to be considered when it comes to discussing the policies and means to deal with Syrians hoping for asylum. The Syrians are simply following a basic survival instinct and the human trait to seek a better existence. The mechanisms of multilateral international organizations have been in place to prevent conflicts similar to what is happening in Syria today. But it seems these same mechanisms is failing hundreds of thousands of Syrians. And so these European nations should not fail Syrians a second time, when called to take in people fleeing the conflict – whether you call them migrants, immigrants or asylum seekers.

Iran moderates and hardliners: What they mean for Russia and the West
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Al Arabiya/September 25/15
After Iran’s nuclear deal, crucial strategic developments in Syria by Tehran and Moscow will likely usher in critical geopolitical changes in the Middle East. Since the uprising in Syria erupted, and until the nuclear deal was reached between six world powers (known as P5+1: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States; plus Germany) and the Islamic Republic, Iranian and Russian leaders utilized different means of control to achieve their shared strategic interests in Syria. Russia employed political and diplomatic means, such as using its leverage in the United Nations Security Council and applying its veto power to buttress Assad’s position. Rowhani’s team believes that improved ties between Iran and the West, can make the West choose Iran as an alternative to Russia.
Iran, on the other hand, was present on the ground in different territories of Syria. Commanders of the Quds force, a branch of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards that operates in foreign countries, began leading the combat in Syria, infiltrating local defense, intelligence, and military establishments. Tehran’s deep military involvement reached a level that even Syrian politicians began to question. With so much outside influence, how independent is Damascus from the Islamic Republic, politically speaking? But after the nuclear deal, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Moscow have stepped up their coordination and enhanced their military build-up in Syria. IRGC leaders have not been hesitant in drawing attention to this development. Despite all of these strategic maneuvers, the mainstream media has paid minimal attention to whether there is a unanimous agreement in Iran’s domestic political spectrum with regards to how the Iranian-Russian strategic and tactical coordination is unfolding, and whether the country’s leaders agree on how their control in Syria is being projected on the international stage. If there are disagreements, how will that affect Iran’s ties with Russia, and Iran’s role in Syria?
Ideology Vs national interests
When it comes to Iran’s domestic politics, and how Iranian President Hassan Rowhani’s camp (the moderates and realists) as well as the reformists differ from the hardliners, the major discrepancy lies in the means, tactics and policies used to achieve the objectives, rather than the objectives themselves. The major political objective of both Rowhani and Ayatollah Khamenei’s camps is ensuring the survival of the political establishment in the Islamic Republic, as well as ratcheting up Iran’s geopolitical, economic, ideological and strategic power. But contrary to the hardliners, Rowhani’s camp put economic and national interests on the very top of the list; ahead of ideological interests. They argue that prioritizing ideological interests has isolated and alienated Iran, ultimately endangering the leaders' hold on power. As a result, putting economic interests ahead of ideological interests (such as sealing a temporary nuclear deal), will further strengthen the Islamic Republic. Therefore, from the perspective of President Rowhani and his technocrat team, the Islamic Republic should not alienate itself from the West (particularly when it comes to trade) by projecting that Tehran is getting closer to Moscow militarily, politically, ideologically, and economically. Rowhani’s camp prefers to grow closer to the West for economic reasons, conceal its intensified ties with Russia, reduce reliance on Russia, and keep the balance between Russia and the West. In addition, Rowhani’s team believes that improved ties between Iran and the West, can make the West choose Iran as an alternative to Russia. It will make European countries and former Soviet governments in Central Asia and Caucasus buy oil and gas from Tehran as well as export petroleum through Iran’s territories and to the Islamic Republic. Hassan Rowhani’s camp is cognizant of the fact that President Vladimir Putin, who views the U.S. as an adversary, is indeed in need of Iran and would desire to have more formidable ties with Tehran at these crucial moments in order to counterbalance U.S. power in the region. As a result, Rowhani views this issue as an opportunity where they can apply political opportunism by playing Russia against the West and the West against Russia in order to gain the most, economically and geopolitically.
Hardliners
On the other hand, the hardliners, who prioritize ideological and revolutionary values, view closer ties and coordination with Russia as more crucial in order to tip the balance of power against the United States and its allies in the region.
That is why, when Iran steps up strategic or tactical coordination with Russia and when Tehran buys advanced missiles from Moscow, Iranian officials from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps are among the first to boast about Iran-Russia military and geopolitical ties while Rowhani’s team is more likely to underscore the significance on the international stage in order not distance the West from Iran.
Nevertheless, at the end of the day, Iran’s critical foreign policies are not informed by the foreign ministry or the office of the President, but by the Office of the Supreme Leader, senior cadre of IRGC and Quds force. The president sets the international tone for the Supreme Leader’s objectives to be achieved. As long as Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei is alive, the moderate camp will be less capable of moving Iran more towards the West, and less towards Russia. But they can play a crucial role in preventing the deterioration of ties between the West and Tehran.

Behind the lines: Is Syria on the way to becoming a ‘frozen conflict’?
By JONATHAN SPYER/09/24/2015
The latest moves on the regime side in the Syrian war suggest an effort by its allies, including Russia, to “freeze” the conflict rather than to continue it to victory. This is because victory in the form originally conceived of – the reconquest of the entirety of the country by the Assads – is clearly no longer achievable.
To freeze a conflict in this sense does not imply that the conflict will become inert or inactive, but only that it will continue to smolder on without resolution. The newest statements by leaders and mouthpieces of the various elements supporting the dictator, meanwhile, offer clues as to how the ongoing conflict is to be presented by Syrian President Bashar Assad’s allies – as a fight against “terrorism,” as exemplified, they claim, by both Islamic State and its rival Jabhat al-Nusra. In terms of the situation on the ground, the arrival of Russian personnel and equipment to Latakia province is intended to bolster the regime enclave in the western coastal area. There are no indications, however, of a Russian strategy to take part in a ground campaign to claw back the large swathe of northern Syria lost to the rebels and Islamic State. Rather, the deployment suggests a limited ground component, with a greater focus on air capacity.
Images first published in an article by this reporter and Mark Galeotti in Jane’s Intelligence Review offered evidence of infrastructural improvements and ferrying of matériel by Russia to the Basel al-Assad International Airport in Latakia.
Russia is flying Yakovlev Pchela-1T unmanned aircraft from this site, and looks set to begin flights of fixed-wing aircraft from there in the near future. These air operations look set to back the beleaguered government forces, assisting them in their fight against the rebels and relieving pressure on Assad’s own overstretched air force.
Further south, the Beirut Daily Star reported this week that Hezbollah is to end offensive operations in Syria, following the indecisive conclusion of the Qalamoun offensive, launched in July. The purpose of this offensive was to clear the Sunni Islamist rebels from the area northwest of Damascus and just east of the Syria-Lebanon border. The going was slower than expected, and Hezbollah losses were high. The final stage of the offensive was the retaking of the town of Zabadani.
However, it now looks as though Zabadani will be secured for the regime not through military conquest but by a quid pro quo with the rebels. Reuters reported this week on negotiations, via third parties, between representatives of the rebels and Iranian and Hezbollah officials. The agreement would allow for safe passage for remaining rebel fighters from the center of Zabadani. In return, the rebels would allow the departure of remaining civilians from the Shi’ite villages of al-Foua and Kefraya. These represent the last areas of government control in Idlib province in the northwest of the country. Announced on Sunday, the cease-fire that accompanied the negotiations has so far held.
Having secured its objectives, albeit at a heavy cost and partly by negotiation, Hezbollah now looks set to seek to hold these areas, as part of a larger effort on the part of the regime and its allies to consolidate control over the roughly 20 percent of Syria that remains to Assad. The propagandists and spokesmen of the pro-Iranian regional bloc have already begun to frame this policy as a campaign against “terrorism.” No doubt the increased use of air assets will be compared to the coalition air campaign against Islamic State. The latter, in turn, is likely to find itself also a target of increased regime attention, to make this comparison plausible. But the real fight will be to defend the existing regime enclave against the rebels.
Ibrahim al-Amin, editor of the pro-Iran and pro-Hezbollah Al-Akhbar newspaper in Lebanon, announced the arrival of a new bloc that he called the “4+1” alliance against terrorism. The “4” are Russia, Iran, Iraq and Syria. The additional “1” is Hezbollah. According to Amin, this new alliance constitutes a “strategic shift” in the Syrian situation, and is set to include the “sending of Russian and Iranian special forces to the areas controlled by... Assad.” Amin, whose writing has a slightly overheated style that recalls the Arab nationalist propaganda of earlier decades, also predicted a major ground role for Russian forces on the Syrian battlefield. The Russians, he asserted, will ‘“play a prominent role on the ground and will participate in combat on the battlefield with their advanced weaponry by leading operations and taking part in artillery shelling, air raids and otherwise, alongside the Syrian Army and Hezbollah.”
A rival and less sanguine interpretation of Russia’s activity in Syria, authored by Abdulrahman al-Rashed, appeared in the pro-Saudi Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper (of which Rashed is a former editor). Rashed speculated that the Russian buildup in Latakia might presage a decision by the Assad regime to pull out of Damascus and finally establish the long-discussed Alawi enclave in the western coastal area. He referred to the Russian and Iranian doubling down on support for Assad as a “lost game.”
But if Amin errs in depicting the “4+1” initiative as a matter of grand historic import, Rashed is perhaps excessive in suggesting that a regime retreat from the capital may be imminent, and in depicting Assad’s cause as hopeless. The most beleaguered area for the regime in recent months has been the western coastal area itself, rather than Damascus. As of now, the most immediate task facing Russia, Iran and the other allies of the regime is to solidify its hold precisely on the western coast. Damascus, by contrast, is witnessing clashes between rebels and regime forces, but appears somewhat more solidly in the regime’s hands.
In recent weeks, the most notable dynamic in the Syrian war has been the absence of major changes in possession of ground, along with a sharp uptick in regime air activity and shelling. This, combined with the local cease-fire in Zabadani and the Idlib front, suggests that the immediate goal of Assad’s allies is the preservation of the regime enclave as currently constituted, rather than the grander “war on terrorism” painted by regime and pro-Hezbollah propaganda or the more desperate retreat depicted by Rashed.
If this goal is achieved, might this in turn lead to Syria becoming another one of the “frozen conflicts” which are the specialty of Russian strategy as presently constituted? Given the balance of forces on the ground and the diplomatic deadlock, this possibility should by no means be ruled out.

Latakia Is Assad's Achilles Heel
Fabrice Balanche/Washington Institute
http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/latakia-is-assads-achilles-heel
September 23, 2015
In light of its large Sunni population, the coastal city and its environs are not secure for the Syrian regime, possibly explaining why Russian forces are concentrating there.
Over the past few months, the Syrian army has grown weaker and lost many positions, a development that explains Russia's recent deployment of troops. Previously, Russia had sent only military advisors and technical staff to support the Syrian army. Another key question, however, involves why these troops are being sent to Latakia and not Tartus, site of the official Russian military base. Indeed, this new, strong Russian presence along the northern Syrian coast can be explained by the Assad regime's weakness in the area, where Alawites no longer constitute a majority.
Latakia Demographics
In 2010, the population of Latakia was about 400,000, about 50 percent of whom were Alawite, 40 percent were Sunni, and 10 percent were Christian -- mostly Orthodox. Geographically, Alawites occupy the northern and eastern suburbs, whereas Sunnis live downtown and in the southern suburb of al-Ramel al-Filistini, the city's poorest area. Christians inhabit what is known as the American district, named for an American-established Protestant school. In this historically Sunni city, Alawites are still considered by the old urban dwellers to be foreigners. Up until the French Mandate, which began in 1920, the city had no Alawite residents at all, except household servants. More than two decades later, in 1945, Alawites constituted only 10 percent of the population, living in a poor suburb called al-Ramel al-Shemali. A dramatic demographic shift, however, was encouraged by President Hafiz al-Assad's policy of "Alawitization," which led Alawites to become a majority by the 1980s.
The countryside around Latakia is likewise divided between Sunni and Alawite villages. Traveling north toward Turkey along the Latakia-al-Haffah-Salma line, one finds a majority of Sunnis, according to the 2004 census -- about 80,000 of the 140,000 residents. In particular, the subdistricts of Rabia and Qastal Maaf are mostly Sunni (Turkmen), as are the coastal villages of Burj Islam and Salib al-Turkman. Since the crisis began in 2011, the Turkmens of Rabia and Qastal Maaf have joined the armed opposition, whereas Turkmens from Burj Islam and Salib al-Turkman, surrounded by Alawite villages, have preferred to stay neutral. To the east of Latakia, the northern part of Jabal al-Ansariyya (Alawite Mountain), including al-Haffah, its surrounding villages, and Jabal al-Akrad (Kurds Mountain), is also Sunni-dominated. Even though the residents of Jabal al-Akrad are of Kurdish origin, dating to the Middle Ages, none of them speak Kurdish any longer and the area is considered effectively Arab. Since spring 2012, Jabal al-Akrad has been a rebel stronghold. That July, al-Haffah was occupied briefly by rebels coming from Jabal al-Akrad, but the population did not join them for fear of incurring government retaliation.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Latakia city is now hosting 200,000 internally displaced persons, along with 100,000 more IDPs elsewhere in the province. Most are Sunnis from Idlib and Aleppo. Alawites go to Alawite villages and Sunnis to Sunni areas, the result being an increase since 2011 in Sunni representation along the Latakia-al-Haffah-Salma line. Indeed, by now, most Sunni women and children residents of Jabal al-Akrad and the Rabia subdistrict have fled to Turkey, where they are living as refugees. Most of the men, however, are fighting against the Syrian army.
Weakened Northwest Front
Since spring 2012, the armed opposition has controlled Jabal al-Akrad and the area along the Turkish border, up to the Armenian village of Kassab. In March 2014, jihadist groups, coming partly from Turkey, invaded Kassab and destroyed the Russian radar station atop Jabal Aqra. But, unable to progress southward, they left Kassab that June. To the west of Idlib, Jisr al-Shughour, and Ariha, a geographical continuum exists between Jabal al-Akrad and the northwestern rebel zone, posing a real threat to regime control in Latakia. This is why Syrian president Bashar al-Assad created a new militia, the "Shield of the Coast," belonging to the National Defense Army. The specific goal is to protect the Syrian coast with young Alawites who have refused to fight outside the Alawite area. Assad needs to show he is protecting "Alawistan," unless he wants Alawite soldiers to take matters into their own hands and renounce their government support. During July and August 2015, the rebel offensive in the al-Ghab plain threatened Latakia and the underpopulated Alawite villages in northern Jabal al-Ansariyya.
Given all these dynamics, the risk of a Sunni uprising in Latakia still exists. The Sunni suburb of al-Ramel al-Filistini has been surrounded by the Syrian army since the August 2011 uprising, and many residents are awaiting the right moment to act.
Battle for the Sea
For the rebels, gaining access to the sea is both strategic and symbolic. The al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra (JN), traveling from Kassab, reached the Mediterranean in just a few days. The new "Conquest Army" (Jaish al-Fatah), also headed by JN, would very much like to control a major port like Latakia or Tartus. The case for Latakia, from this perspective, is comparatively strong. To begin with, the road to Latakia is more accessible than the Tartus road. In addition, Tartus -- as contrasted with Latakia -- is a true Alawite city, with Alawites constituting 80 percent of the population, along with 10 percent Sunnis and 10 percent Christians. Moreover, the population residing between Tartus and Homs is predominantly Alawite, with a strong Christian minority (e.g., in Safita and Wadi al-Nasara). In the countryside surrounding Tartus, Sunnis are concentrated around al-Hamidiyah and Talkalakh. Complicating other jihadist roads to the sea are Hezbollah and the Syrian army, which are stiffly controlling the Lebanese border to prevent any coordination between Sunnis in Syria and the Sunni Akkar district and Tripoli. This strategy was exemplified by the al-Qusayr battle in May 2013.
Currently, Damascus and Homs are being protected by Hezbollah and other Shiite militias. Holding this territory is essential for the regime, Hezbollah, and their Iranian backers. Meanwhile, Latakia represents less of a strategic interest for Iran, as contrasted with Russia, which wants to maintain a presence along the coast more than in Damascus or the Golan Heights. Toward this end, the Russian navy still holds its base in Tartus and plans to rebuild the former Soviet submarine base in Jableh, some twenty miles south of Latakia. With the aim of bolstering a future Alawite state on the Syrian coast, whether it extends to Damascus or not, Russia is also fortifying its position along the southern Turkish border, with the ultimate goal of preventing Sunni Syrian forces from gaining access to the sea.
Conclusion
Given the rebels' spring offensive near Idlib, a real possibility exists that the civil war will reach Latakia. A rebel army could find strong support from Sunni residents, many of whom have long dreamed of revenge for regime efforts to impose Alawite control over the city. After the April 2015 fall of Jisr al-Shughour, fear overtook the Alawite population, and some families fled for Jabal al-Ansariyya, which is considered more secure than Latakia, whose refugees' loyalty to the government can hardly be assessed.
Many Russians are living in Latakia, and they understand very well the sectarian problem facing the city and countryside alike. As for the influx of Russian troops, they are needed to protect the city given the present weakness of Syrian forces. If the rebels succeed in taking all or part of the city, rooting them out would be extremely difficult. Such a takeover would challenge the Russian path forward, perhaps modeled on Abkhazia, the territory that now exists almost entirely independent of Georgia thanks to Russian protection -- and that fits the Russian practice of grooming microstates on its periphery to serve as military bases. A Russian-backed Alawistan, should it become viable, would provide many of the advantages of a real state, including complete dependence on Russia, without the same costs.
For his part, Assad has no better choice than to accept a strong Russian role in the coastal region. His army can no longer defend Latakia, which faces the prospect of a rebel offensive strongly supported by Turkey. Nor can Assad defend Damascus without the support of Hezbollah and Iran. Western and Gulf countries have long counted on the possibility that a weakened Syrian army and Assad's eventual overthrow could allow for an imposed political transition, but this plan did not account for direct Russian intervention or, should Damascus come under threat, direct intervention from Iran.
From the French perspective, continued bombardments against the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, or ISIS, will continue to be carried out in the name of self-defense, given that recent terrorist attacks perpetrated in France seem to have been planned in Syria. France will thus be loath to deny the Russians their efforts on the ground in Syria, also officially to fight terrorism. Other Europeans will be compelled to take a similar view of the Russians, who by sending troops to an Alawite area will also appear, in concrete terms, to be protecting Middle East minorities and not just organizing conferences such as the one held by French foreign minister Laurent Fabius earlier this month.
Fabrice Balanche, an associate professor and research director at the University of Lyon 2, is a visiting fellow at The Washington Institute.

Ben Carson Exposes Islamic Taqiyya
By Raymond Ibrahim on September 24, 2015 in Islam, Other Matters
PJ Media
Of all the points presidential candidate Ben Carson made in defense of his position that he “would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation,” most poignant is his reference to taqiyya, one of Islam’s doctrines of deception.
According to Carson, whoever becomes president should be “sworn in on a stack of Bibles, not a Koran”:
“I do not believe Sharia is consistent with the Constitution of this country,” Carson said, referencing the Islamic law derived from the Koran and traditions of Islam. “Muslims feel that their religion is very much a part of your public life and what you do as a public official, and that’s inconsistent with our principles and our Constitution.”
Carson said that the only exception he’d make would be if the Muslim running for office “publicly rejected all the tenants of Sharia and lived a life consistent with that.”
“Then I wouldn’t have any problem,” he said.
However, on several occasions Carson mentioned “Taqiyya,” a practice in the Shia Islam denomination in which a Muslim can mislead nonbelievers about the nature of their faith to avoid religious persecution.
“Taqiyya is a component of Shia that allows, and even encourages you to lie to achieve your goals,” Carson said.
There’s much to be said here. First, considering that the current U.S. president has expunged all reference to Islam in security documents and would have Americans believe that Islamic doctrine is more or less like Christianity, it is certainly refreshing to see a presidential candidate referencing a little known but critically important Muslim doctrine.
As for the widely cited notion that taqiyya is a Shia doctrine, this needs to be corrected, as it lets the world’s vast majority of Muslims, the Sunnis, off the hook. According to Sami Mukaram, one of the world’s foremost authorities on taqiyya,
Taqiyya is of fundamental importance in Islam. Practically every Islamic sect agrees to it and practices it … We can go so far as to say that the practice of taqiyya is mainstream in Islam, and that those few sects not practicing it diverge from the mainstream … Taqiyya is very prevalent in Islamic politics, especially in the modern era.[1]
Taqiyya is often associated with the Shias because, as a persecuted minority group interspersed among their Sunni rivals, they have historically had more reason to dissemble. Today, however, Sunnis living in the West find themselves in the place of the Shia. Now they are the minority surrounded by their historic enemies—Western “infidels”—and so they too have plenty of occasion to employ taqiyya.
Nor would making Muslims swear on Bibles be very effective. As long as their allegiance to Islam is secure in their hearts, Muslims can behave like non-Muslims—including by praying before Christian icons, wearing crosses, and making the sign of the cross[2]—anything short of actually killing a Muslim, which is when the taqiyya goes too far (hence why Muslims in the U.S. military often expose their true loyalties when they finally reach the point of having to fight fellow Muslims in foreign nations).
For those with a discerning eye, taqiyya is all around us. Whether Muslim refugees pretending to convert to Christianity (past and present), or whether an Islamic gunman gaining entrance inside a church by feigning interest in Christian prayers—examples abound on a daily basis.
Consider the following anecdote from Turkey. In order to get close enough to a Christian pastor to assassinate him, a group of Muslims, including three women, feigned interest in Christianity, attended his church, and even participated in baptism ceremonies.
“These people had infiltrated our church and collected information about me, my family and the church and were preparing an attack against us,” said the pastor in question, Emre Karaali: “Two of them attended our church for over a year and they were like family.”
If some Muslims are willing to go to such lengths to eliminate the already downtrodden Christian minorities in their midst—attending churches and baptisms and becoming “like family” to those “infidels” they intend to kill—does anyone doubt that a taqiyya-practicing Muslim presidential candidate might have no reservations about swearing on a stack of Bibles?
Precedents for such treachery litter the whole of Islamic history—and begin with the Muslim prophet himself: During the Battle of the Trench (627 AD), which pitted Muhammad and his followers against several non-Muslim tribes collectively known as “the Confederates,” a Confederate called Naim bin Masud went to the Muslim camp and converted to Islam. When Muhammad discovered the Confederates were unaware of Masud’s deflection to Islam, he counseled him to return and try somehow to get his tribesmen to abandon the siege. “For war is deceit,” Muhammad assured him.
Masud returned to the Confederates without their knowledge that he had switched sides and began giving his former kin and allies bad advice. He also intentionally instigated quarrels between the various tribes until, thoroughly distrusting each other, they disbanded and lifted the siege, allowing an embryonic Islam to grow. (One Muslim website extols this incident for being illustrative of how Muslims can subvert non-Muslims.)
In short, if a Muslim were running for president of the U.S. in the hopes of ultimately subverting America to Islam, he could, in Carson’s words, easily be “sworn in on a stack of Bibles, not a Koran” and “publicly reject all the tenants of Sharia.” Indeed, he could claim to be a Christian and attend church every week.
It speaks very well about Carson that he is aware of—and not hesitant to mention—taqiyya. But that doctrine’s full ramifications—how much deceiving it truly allows and for all Muslim denominations, not just the Shia—needs to be more widely embraced.
The chances of that happening are dim. Already “mainstream media” like the Washington Post are taking Carson to task for “misunderstanding” taqiyya—that is, for daring to be critical of anything Islamic. These outlets could benefit from learning more about Islam and deception per the below links:
My expert testimony used in a court case to refute “taqiyya about taqiyya.”
The even more elastic doctrine of tawriya, which allows Muslims to deceive fellow Muslims by lying “creatively.”
My 2008 essay, “Islam’s Doctrines of Deception,” commissioned and published by Jane’s Islamic Affairs Analyst.
Recent examples of how onetime good Muslim neighbors turn violent once they grow in strength and numbers.

Syria and the World—Victory or Compromise?
Amir Taheri/ASharq Al Awsat/September 25/15
With the Syrian tragedy currently dominating the headlines, the “something-must-be-done” chorus has returned to urge “action”.Almost everyone, from Moscow to Washington and passing by Paris and London, is talking of a “political solution” through negotiations or simulacra of negotiations.
The problem is that those who talk of a solution do not even agree on what the problem is. Until last week, the Western powers defined the problem as one of a despotic regime using terror and massacre to silence a rebellious nation. Because Bashar Al-Assad is the public face of that regime, the idea was that his demise should be the first element of a solution. Now, however, most Western powers, starting with the United States, have dropped their “Assad-must-go” mantra. Thus, they are left without even a definition of the problem.
At the other end of the spectrum, as Assad’s backers, Russia and the mullahs of Tehran have their definition. To them Syria is a sovereign state attacked by foreign terrorists. The solution is to help Assad destroy them. Defining what is happening in Syria is not easy. It all started as a popular uprising against a despotic regime which morphed into crackdown against all dissent. That in turn forced elements within the uprising to take up arms; the movement morphed into a civil war. The trouble is that even the term civil war does not fully describe the Syrian situation.A civil war happens when the active elements of a nation are divided in two camps of more or less equal strength. In Syria that was not the case.
The Assad regime does have a popular base, especially among the Alawites and to some extent Christian communities. But that base is not large enough to divide the nation into two camps of equal strength. What falsifies the balance of power is the regime’s armed superiority, especially the air force, which helps hide the relative weakness of Assad’s popular base. Another key feature of a civil war is the absence or at least the peripheral effect of foreign belligerents on either side. Again, that is not the case in Syria. According to conservative estimates some 20 percent of the men fighting for Assad are foreigners, notably “volunteers” from Iranian-sponsored Hezbollah branches in Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan.
For its part, the anti-Assad camp has attracted large numbers of Jihadists from more than 80 countries.Both camps benefit from crucial financial, logistical, and propaganda support from foreign powers. There is, of course, no civil war without some foreign input. Even in the first major civil war recorded in history, between two generals of ancient Rome, Marius and Sulla, both used foreign mercenaries and were financed by foreign supporters. The Spanish Civil War of 1936-39 was a mini dress-rehearsal for the Second World War with Fascist powers and the USSR backing rival camps. In the case of Syria, however, foreign intervention is far more important than it was in the civil wars in ancient Rome or contemporary Spain. Some aspects of the Syrian situation make it resemble a proxy war among rival outside powers rather than an internal conflict.
One point often raised by Western leaders, most recently by British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, is that they do not know “which is the good side to support.”
Often there is no good side in a civil war. Even if the two sides initially consist of choir boys, they are soon sucked into the vortex of savage violence dictated by the very grammar of civil war. Marius or Sulla, Caesar or Pompey which one was white, and which one black? That depended on the observer’s point of view and interests. In the French Civil War following the “Great Revolution” the Vendee rebels, romanticized by Honoré de Balzac in “Les Chouans” and by Anthony Trollope in “La Vendee”, were often as ruthless as the party of the Guillotine from Paris. Also in the romantic view of the American Civil War, which was really a war of secession, the North represents the good side and the south the bad. However, the North had its share of war crimes, not to mention the havoc wreaked by “carpet-baggers” who arrived in the south in the wake of its defeat.
In the romantic view of the Spanish Civil War the Republicans were the good guys and the Phalangists led by Generals Mola and Franco, the bad ones. However, both sides committed atrocities that we now label “crimes against humanity”. What about the Russian Civil War of 1917-22? Would a victory by Kolchak and Denikin have made Russia a better place than the one ruled by Lenin, Trotsky and Stalin who won the war? In a civil war the first rule is to survive. And that means learning to resemble the adversary as far as possible. If the adversary is exceptionally savage, the challenger will also end up the same way. That Assad should produce the Jihadi throat-slitters is no surprise.
Ordering Frunze to wipe the Kazakhs off the map, Lenin sent a brief cable: “Capture their animals, kill their men, and throw their women and children out of our borders.” The father of “Scientific Socialism” was copycatting the Kazakh tribal chiefs he was fighting. Civil wars never end in a draw. One side must win totally, even if only a Pyrrhic victory. The loser accepts unconditional surrender or flees into exile as was the case with the defeated Southern camp in the Yemeni civil war of 1994. US Secretary of State John Kerry is seeking talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov to arrange a ceasefire. That is mere posturing. A civil war never ends with a ceasefire, especially one negotiated by outsiders.
Since the Second World War we have witnessed over 240 civil wars, some lasting for decades. On occasions, the outside world did contribute to ending the war by withdrawing support from one side, for example when the Chinese pulled the carpet from under Holden Roberto’s feet in Angola, or by increasing help for one side to crush its rival as was the case with Western support for Yoweri Museveni in Uganda. The Lebanese civil war was a special case because of the sectarian structure of the society which sustained it. Because there were more than two camps, the goal could not be total victory for one side. That, in turn, gave rival foreign powers the clout to impose a settlement on their respective clients. Could the outside world find a similar solution for Syria which is now also divided into numerous semiautonomous entities often sustained by sectarian sentiments?
Do not hold your breath.

Hearing Wrap-Up: General Petraeus on U.S. Mideast Policy
September 23, 2015/Foreign Policy
http://www.foreignpolicyi.org/content/hearing-wrap-general-petraeus-us-mideast-policy
David Petraeus, the retired Army General and former director of the CIA, testified on Tuesday before the Senate Armed Services Committee on the subject of U.S. policy in the Middle East. In his prepared remarks and testimony, General Petraeus made clear that the security crisis in the Middle East will not resolve itself and that U.S. power will be instrumental to managing it. In doing so, the general laid out a consistent and proactive strategy that stands in sharp contrast to the passive and incoherent approach of the Obama administration.
The Foreign Policy Initiative (FPI) believes the following quotations will be useful for lawmakers and the general public as they consider the next steps for U.S. policy in the Middle East.
The Crisis in the Middle East
“The Middle East today is experiencing revolutionary upheaval that is unparalleled in its modern history. At the root of this upheaval is the weakening or disintegration of state authority in multiple countries. This has led to a violent struggle for power across a vast swath of territory—a competition both between different groups within states, and one between different states in the region and some outside it. Almost every Middle Eastern country is now a battleground or a combatant in one or more wars.”
“The crises of the Middle East pose a threat not just to regional stability, but also to global stability and to vital national interests of the United States, for the repercussions of developments in the Middle East extend well beyond it. Indeed, the Middle East is not a part of the world that plays by Las Vegas rules: what happens in the Middle East is not going to stay in the Middle East.”
“International peace and security do not require the United States to solve every crisis or to intervene in every conflict. But if America is ineffective or absent in the face of the most egregious violations of the most basic principles of the international order that we have championed, our commitment to that order is inevitably questioned… and further challenges to it are invited.”
“The situation confronting the U.S. in the Middle East today is very hard. But as I observed when I took command in Iraq in early February 2007 amidst terrible sectarian violence, hard is not hopeless. As complex and challenging as the crises in the region are, I am convinced the United States is capable of rising to the challenge—if we choose to do so.”
Iraq
“In my judgment, increased support for the Iraqi Security Forces, Sunni tribal forces, and Kurdish peshmerga is needed—including embedding U.S. advisor elements down to the brigade headquarters level of those Iraqi forces fighting ISIS. I also believe that we should explore use of Joint Tactical Air Controllers with select Iraqi units to coordinate coalition airstrikes for those units. And we should examine whether our rules of engagement for precision strikes are too restrictive.”
“The key now is for the U.S. to help strengthen those in Baghdad who are prepared to pursue inclusive politics and better governance—goals that unite Iraq’s Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds. It is vital that Sunnis and Kurds, in particular, are again given a stake in the success of the new Iraq, rather than a stake in its failure.”
“We have a unique opportunity right now to support the prime minister in Baghdad, who is a year into the job, pursuing very aggressive reforms. He's done away with the vice presidencies, the deputy prime ministers, eight ministries and is now asking for examination of the activities of the chief justice.”
“Make no mistake about it. Prime Minister Abadi has crossed the Rubicon in the form of reforms that he is pursuing…. And I think it was the right move, a very strong move. But he is going to have to be shored up in every way that is possible, not just by the United States but by the coalition and, more importantly, by forces within Iraq that want to see their country move forward again as an inclusive country rather than one that practices exclusive politics that are carried out, in many cases, at the force of a gun.”
Syria
“Syria today, Mr. Chairman, is a geopolitical Chernobyl—spewing instability and extremism over the region and the rest of the world. Like a nuclear disaster, the fallout from the meltdown of Syria threatens to be with us for decades, and the longer it is permitted to continue, the more severe the damage will be.”
“The central problem in Syria is that Sunni Arabs will not be willing partners against the Islamic State unless we commit to protect them and the broader Syrian population against all enemies, not just ISIS. That means protecting them from the unrestricted warfare being waged against them by Bashar al Assad—especially by his air force and its use of barrel bombs. This, not ISIS, has been the primary source of civilian casualties; it has also been a principal driver of the radicalization fueling ISIS and the refugee crisis.”
“The problems in Syria cannot be quickly resolved. But there are actions the U.S., and only the U.S., can take that would make a difference. We could, for example, tell Assad that the use of barrel bombs must end—and that if they continue, we will stop the Syrian air force from flying. We have that capability.”
“I would also support the establishment of enclaves in Syria protected by coalition airpower, where a moderate Sunni force could be supported and where additional forces could be trained, Internally Displaced Persons could find refuge, and the Syrian opposition could organize.”
“Russia’s recent military escalation in Syria is a further reminder that, when the U.S. does not take the initiative, others will fill the vacuum, often in ways that are harmful to our interests. Russia’s actions to bolster Assad increase the imperative of support for the moderate opposition and Syrian civilians. We should not allow Russia to push us into coalition with Assad, which appears to be President Putin’s intention.”
“I think very important to underscore the fact that Bashar al- Assad can't be part of the long-run solution in Syria. He is the individual held responsible for well over 200,000, perhaps as high as 250,000 Syrians dead, and he is the magnetic attraction that is bringing jihadis to Syria to fight him.”
Iran
“As we have seen in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, Iran’s activities are not only hostile to us and our partners. They also exacerbate Sunni feelings of alienation and disenfranchisement, which in turn drive sectarian radicalization and the growth of groups like ISIS.”
“Rather than viewing the nuclear agreement as marking the end of a hostile relationship with Iran that will enable our disengagement from the Middle East, we should see it as inaugurating a new, more complex phase of that competition that will require intensified U.S. involvement in the region.”
“The United States should make absolutely clear that we will never allow Iran to possess highly enriched uranium, and that any move in that direction will be met with military force. This guarantee must be ironclad to reassure our partners in the region and have the desired effect with Iran. Such a declaration would carry maximal credibility if issued by the President and Congress together.”
“We must intensify our work with our Arab and Israeli partners to counter Iran’s malign regional activities. This can take several forms, including continued use of existing sanctions authorities against Iranian entities tied to terrorism, ballistic missile development, and human rights abuses. It should also include expedited approval of weapons systems sought by our partners in the region and greater integration of their capabilities. And it should encompass additional actions to demonstrate that the theater remains ‘set’ with respect to our own capabilities to carry out military operations against Iran’s nuclear program, if necessary.”
Russia
“I think that what Vladimir Putin would like to do is resurrect the Russian empire. You see this in a variety of different activities, or at least the Soviet Union. He has a number of different activities, diplomatic and economic and, of course, military in a variety of countries around Russia. And now, he is, of course, in Syria as well, and trying to revive Russian relationships with countries in the Middle East.”
“I think the immediate objective that he has in Syria is to solidify the corridor on the Mediterranean coast between Latakia where he has his air base and Tartus where they have the Russian naval base, the only naval base left in the Mediterranean. Clearly, he would like to shore up his ally, Bashar al-Assad. At the very least, he wants to make sure that Bashar is not thrown under the bus by either other regime members or perhaps even Iran until at least he has some better sense of the way forward."
Afghanistan
“I do think that we have to take a very hard look at our future plans for the footprint that we have in Afghanistan, recognizing that now there is an Islamic State presence being established there, recognizing there still is work to be done to continue the disruption – the further disruption of Al Qaida senior leadership in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan.”
“We're in a situation where, with a relatively modest number of U.S. forces providing assistance to our Afghan partners, we are able to continue to accomplish the mission that we went to Afghanistan to achieve.”
“We cannot forget why we went there and why we stayed. It was because Afghanistan was where Al Qaida planned the 9/11 attacks and conducted the initial training for those attacks. And our mission was to ensure that never again would Afghanistan be a sanctuary for Al Qaida or other transnational extremists to do that again.”
- See more at: http://www.foreignpolicyi.org/content/hearing-wrap-general-petraeus-us-mideast-policy#sthash.XR2heaQ4.VVVqI63z.dpuf

Swedes' Homes May Be Confiscated to Accommodate Asylum Seekers
One month of Islam and Multiculturalism in Sweden: August 2015
Ingrid Carlqvist/Gatestone Institute/September 25/15
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/6550/sweden-islam-multiculturalism
Translation of the original text: Svenskarnas bostäder kan konfiskeras till förmån för asylsökande
In 1992, the "Threat and Risk Assessment Commission" established that the government should have the option to seize property, especially summer homes, from the Swedish people in a time of crisis.
Despite Sayadi's commission of three rapes and his sexual molestation of young girls, as well as his systematic criminal activity, he received only a four-year prison sentence, and will not have to face deportation.
Husein wants a Swedish passport so he can go back to Somalia, the country he claims to have escaped from -- to "visit his mom and establish business contacts."
"The situation affects everyone who lives and stays in our little county. The climate has grown tougher, many people feel scared and unsafe and with that comes the risk of increased xenophobia, antagonism and exclusion." — From a letter to the government from Örkelljunga County leaders. The county swiftly received criticism from the mainstream media, and the Immigration Service let it be known that they have no intention of helping Örkelljunga.
August 3: Ahmad El-Moghrabi, 21, who has no driver's license, was indicted for driving like a madman through the city of Malmö in February, and nearly killing a mother and baby. On February 11, he drove a luxury Mercedes at high speed, with some other Arab men as passengers, one of whom is a well-known extremist, when the police tried to pull the car over. Instead of stopping, El-Moghrabi sped away at about 150 km/h on the busy inner city street of Amiralsgatan, where the speed limit is 40 km/h.
The police chase ended when El-Moghrabi hit some parked cars. Three people were injured, and the mother and baby sustained life-threatening injuries after being crushed between the cars.
El-Moghrabi fled the scene, but was apprehended later. He has been charged with gross negligence, grievous bodily harm, fleeing the scene of an accident, and driving without a license. His own explanation to the rampage was that he did not want to be caught by the police, as his license had been revoked.
August 3: It was reported that 2000 third-world immigrants are seeking asylum in Sweden -- each week. The largest groups were Syrians, then Afghans, stateless people, Eritreans and Somalis. The Immigration Service now reports that there are close to 50,000 asylum seekers living in various housing and rental facilities, and more are on their way to a country that already suffers from a major housing shortage.
The question is: Where will they live? More and more people are now worrying that the government will confiscate the homes of Swedes and give them to asylum seekers. In 1992, the "Threat and Risk Assessment Commission" (Hot- och riskutredningen) established that the government should have the option to seize property, especially summer homes, from the Swedish people in a time of crisis. In early September, editorial columnist Anna Dahlberg of Expressen, one of Sweden's largest dailies, urged Swedes to "make way" and "hand over the keys to their apartments to those in greater need."
August 3: Another shooting took place in the violence-stricken city of Malmö. No one was hurt this time, but the police found empty shell casings on Rasmusgatan Street in the Seved area, one of Malmö's "no go-zones," where a majority of the inhabitants are of foreign descent. The area is known for its open drug trade, and over the last few years, a large number of shootings and grenade attacks have occurred there. (On June 12, a hand grenade was thrown, and four people were wounded.) In an attempt to bring down the crime rate, local authorities gave the police permission on August 12 to place four cameras in the area to film events around the clock.
August 5: The Stockholm police department caused an uproar with a shocking story about everyday life in immigrant-heavy suburbs such as Tensta-Rinkeby, Hjulsta, Kista and Husby. Youth gangs regularly attack police by using lasers to blind them, and throwing rocks and firebombs. Criminal gangs resolve conflicts by shooting at each other in public places, risking the lives of innocent people who may be in their way. Police officer Nikolina Bucht wrote in a column in the daily Svenska Dagbladet that it is time to "take back the area from the criminals and protect all the respectable people who have their neighborhoods destroyed, their cars set on fire and feel unsafe." She wrote:
"Last week my colleagues got a call about a sudden cardiac arrest in Rinkeby. ... When they arrive at the scene, they are met by about ten young people who are provoked by their mere presence, turn aggressive and mask their faces. The police are forced to focus on the rock throwing instead of going up to the apartment and starting CPR. He had to wait for several minutes extra before he got help, time that could have saved his life. This was not an isolated event."
August 7: A Somali refugee, Mohamed Husein, complained he has not yet received a Swedish citizenship. Somalis must wait three years longer than others for citizenship, as they cannot prove their identity. Husein wants a Swedish passport so he can go back to the country he claims to have escaped from -- to "visit his mom and establish business contacts."
August 10: It was reported that a 15-year-old pregnant girl, who six weeks prior traveled with her boyfriend to Syria, had been captured by the Islamic State (ISIS). How the girl managed to travel without a passport or identification papers remains a mystery. Swedish media made no effort to sort out why she would object to living with ISIS. Her boyfriend is reported to have joined an al-Qaeda-affiliated group.
August 11: The law journal Dagens Juridik reported that a 19-year-old girl was taken into custody, in accordance with the LVU law ("Care of Young Persons Special Provisions Act"), after her family threatened to subject her to honor violence. Social service workers on the island of Gotland applied for "administered care" after the girl, in spite of threats, had escaped from the shelter where she was living and moved back with her family. The court stated that the investigation showed that the girl's desire to return is rooted in her upbringing, which has taught her that the honor of the family is more important than her individual rights. She may also feel guilt, because she thinks she is dishonoring the family by not being with them. According to the court, the girl's behavior should be considered socially disruptive under the definition of the LVU law, and therefore, she needs to be protected.
August 14: Two men, 21 and 26 years of age, were remanded, suspected of two of the many recent hand grenade attacks in Malmö. At the same time, another 26-year-old was remanded for attempted murder and possession of an illegal weapon, both of which occurred in Rasmusgatan, in Malmö's "no-go" Seved neighborhood.
Early that morning, police also discovered two hand grenades in Adelgatan, in central Malmö. One had exploded, and the other one failed to work. A large area was barricaded and several buildings had to be evacuated. The police suspected the incident could be linked to a car bomb that had detonated in Malmö two days earlier. Malmö has experienced the most bomb attacks of all Scandinavian cities: this year alone, 20 bombings have taken place.
August 12: A 43-year-old Iranian citizen, Ramin Sayadi, was sentenced to four years in prison for three rapes and two counts of sexual molestation of young girls. Sayadi also sold the girls large quantities of prescription narcotics such as Tramadol, Ritalin and Subutex. The police investigation showed that he had close to 1,000 customers. When the girls became addicted to the drugs, he took advantage of them sexually. The police believe there are many more victims who have not come forward. Detective inspector Jan-Åke Stendahl told daily Göteborgs-Posten that the man had over 200 contacts listed in his mobile phone, and a majority of the numbers belonged to young girls. Sayadi was caught in May of last year, walking around Gothenburg's central station trawling for customers.
Despite his systematic criminal activity, he received only a four-year prison sentence, and will not have to face deportation.
August 14: A so-called unaccompanied refugee child was prosecuted on rape charges. The act took place on the night of January 10, in a youth home in Västerbotten in northern Sweden. The suspect is a native of Afghanistan and claims to be 17 years old. The police believe he raped the woman when she was in a drunken stupor, and therefore in what the law calls a "particularly vulnerable situation."
August 17: The police issued an international arrest warrant for a Congolese citizen, Loran Guy Mogi, 23, wanted for the murder of his ex-girlfriend, Therese Eriksson, 23, of Vårgårda. Eriksson had been found dead four days earlier in Mogi's apartment, but he had fled the scene. She was killed by blows to the head and body. After a week on the run, Loran Guy Mogi was apprehended at a refugee facility in the German city of Hannover. He has since been remanded pending trial. According to the prosecutor, Robert Beckard, Mogi has pled not guilty to the murder charge, but admits that he beat Eriksson and may thus have caused her death.
August 18: The media website Avpixlat wrote that an Algerian man, who has not lived in Sweden for six years, is entitled to financial aid to cover doctor's visits and the cost of his medicine. The man came to Sweden in the 1990s, but never worked or paid taxes there. Six years ago, he returned to Algeria, but in April of this year, he suddenly appeared in Sweden again to seek emergency health care. He underwent two surgeries at taxpayer expense, and considered himself entitled to financial aid for the cost of his medicine and several doctor's visits. The municipality of Gothenburg had ruled against the request, but an administrative court now ruled that since the man has no income or assets, he is entitled to aid.
August 18: Five representatives of the Church of Sweden wrote, in an op-ed in the Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter, that the church should also be open to Muslims. The article astonished and angered Christians. Stefan Gustavsson, secretary general of the Swedish Evangelical Alliance, pointed out that Islam, Judaism and Christianity promote three radically different versions of what happened to Jesus:
Islam: Jesus did not die.
Judaism: Jesus died but was not resurrected.
Christianity: Jesus died and was resurrected.
These different versions cannot all be true, Gustavsson points out, and urges the Church of Sweden to awake from their Sleeping Beauty-slumber and start taking big questions seriously:
"The religion relativism that is now widespread throughout the Church of Sweden is not just an intellectual dead end, it is an insult to the Christians of Iraq and Syria who face forced conversion and who are willing to give their lives for their faith in Jesus Christ."
But the Church of Sweden persists, and on August 30, it invited imam Mohammad Muslim Eneborg to take part in high mass. Before he converted, the imam was named Åke Daniel Eneborg and he was a left-wing activist.
August 24: Former member of parliament Thoralf Alfsson (Sweden Democrats) wrote on his blog that the Immigration Service had hired no fewer than 1,200 people during the last year. Earlier, in August 2014, the Immigration Service had about 5,000 employees; in August 2015 that figure was 6,200. This means that the wage costs have increased by 50 million kronor (about $5.9 million) a month. In all, the Immigration Service's staff now cost Swedish taxpayers 250 million kronor ($29.6 million USD) a month, or 3 billion kroner ($360 million) a year.
Aside from skyrocketing costs, Alfsson questions why so many people of foreign descent find employment with the Immigration Service. He writes: "I can't but wonder what kind of screening process the Immigration Service have in regard to the people they hire. Could there be employees with residency status in Sweden who use a fake identity? Are there ISIS-sympathizers among the employees?" And there are.
Social commentator and author Merit Wager, who frequently publishes anonymous posts from Immigration Service employees, wrote in an August 21 blog post that authorities now no longer take rejected asylum seekers into custody, due to attacks from left-wing extremists. That is why the IKEA-murderer, who had received a deportation order, was not in custody, a failure that led to the death of two innocent people in the heart of the Swedish idyll. One Immigration Service employee said:
"Years ago, the Immigration Service was often heavily criticized by various left-wing groups who wanted to 'protect' the asylum seekers who had been found lacking in reasons for protection and targeted for deportation. Sometimes there were big demonstrations and now and again Immigration Service buildings were vandalized. Today these actions have ceased almost completely. The reason is very simple – the Immigration Service has hired the activists. They are now officials at the authority! I've met several people who are quite open about their backgrounds in these activist groups. The reason the Immigration Service hires them is that they state on their CVs exactly what the government wants to hear – that they have a 'burning engagement in human rights issues.'"
August 24: A police van was attacked with a hand grenade in the Stockholm suburb of Tumba. Four policemen were in the vehicle at the time. If it had not been for the fact that the vehicle was armored, the incident could have ended in a bloodbath. The attack began when several people threw rocks at police officers, and a fire was set at the local police station. Moments later, the hand grenade was thrown and landed about five feet from the police van. No one was injured, but the vehicle sustained 105 holes from shrapnel. Despite intense police efforts, the perpetrators of this attempted murder have not yet been apprehended.
A police van is riddled with shrapnel (left) from a hand grenade attack in Stockholm on August 24. The four policemen in the vehicle at the time could have been killed if the van had not been armored. At right, the Malmö police bomb squad disarms a hand grenade found in Landskrona, on September 22.
August 25: Local politicians in small southern county of Örkelljunga (population 10,000) wrote a desperate letter to the government; its signatories begged for help in solving the problems brought by the wave of asylum seekers. The Immigration Service has opened housing in Örkelljunga for about 250 asylum seekers in apartments, a former motel, and a number of private family residences -- including housing for unaccompanied refugee children. An additional 100 units may open up in the Åsljungagården Hotel.
The local politicians wrote in their letter that crime rates have risen and that the police have been called on a number of occasions. Rape, assault, battery and shoplifting are mentioned, as is the temporary closing of the Centrumhuset youth center. At the largest housing facility, an old motel, there are 90 adults and children. The mix of various ethnic groups is said to have led to riots, threats and hunger strikes. The letter states:
"The situation affects everyone who lives and stays in our little county. The climate has grown tougher; many people feel scared and unsafe and with that comes the risk of increased xenophobia, antagonism and exclusion."
The county swiftly received criticism from the mainstream media, and August 27 the Immigration Service let it be known that they have no intention of helping Örkelljunga. Immigration Service Press Officer Fredrik Bengtsson, quoted in the daily Helsingborgs Dagblad, was especially angry about the county's criticism concerning different groups being placed together:
"If one thinks along the lines of placing asylum seekers any other way, you're on a slippery slope. Separate housing for Christians and Muslims is not something we have in society. We have freedom of religion, and that applies to housing as well. You have to stop for a moment and think about it, because that's not how we do things in society."
August 26: Swedes heard the news that politicians in the nation's three largest cities want to offer courses in "self-care and sexual matters" to gypsy women beggars. Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö are applying for 8.7 million kronor (just over $1 million USD) from the European Social Fund, for the project, and hope to reach 250 women. Twice a week they will attend class and get food, free health checkups and free hygiene- and sanitary articles and condoms. They will also receive compensation for "loss of work income." Local politicians from opposition parties in Stockholm criticized the project strongly.
August 28: "Afrikas Horn," an immigrants' organization, reports another "Swedish" ISIS-warrior killed in battle. The man was in his thirties and originally from Somalia, but lived in the immigrant-heavy area of Vivalla in Örebro. The man was apparently one of three who have repeatedly traveled to join ISIS, but were twice intercepted in Turkey and sent back to Sweden. The man is the fourth resident of Örebro who has died as an ISIS terrorist. The chairman of Afrikas Horn tells the local paper Nerikes Allehanda that "the family is in mourning."
August 28: Ali Khoddami, once an asylum seeker to Sweden, was sentenced to prison for defrauding an elderly woman. Khoddami worked in home care services and tricked Inga Lill, a 90-year-old woman suffering from dementia, out of millions of kronor. By pretending to be the woman's friend, Khoddami was able to take over her bank accounts and move into her house, along with his family. He used her savings of two million kronor (about $240,000 USD) for luxury items, as well as several cars. Khoddami also managed to persuade Lill to sign over her house -- her childhood home built by her father -- to him. The house is apparently worth five million kronor ($590,000 USD). It was only after Khoddami put Lill, who has no living relatives, in a nursing home that the fraud was uncovered. The District Court sentenced Khoddami to 2.5 years in prison and fined him 7 million kronor ($830,000) plus interest and damages.
August 28: There were reports that people-smugglers have, over a short period of time, dumped 100 asylum seekers in the Gothenburg area. Pernilla Wallin, unit manager of the application unit at the Immigration Service for the Western Region, told Swedish Public Television that she never thought the situation would escalate like this and that the circumstances are "exceptional." The Immigration Service is now desperately looking for "external contractors who want to bid on temporary housing for asylum seekers."
**Ingrid Carlqvist, a noted journalist based in Sweden, is a Distinguished Fellow at Gatestone Institute.

Uncle Gamal Abdel Nasser
Michael Young/Now Lebanon
Forty-five years later, Nasser’s legacy still escapes us
On 28 September, some Arabs will commemorate the 45th anniversary of Gamal Abdel Nasser’s death. But in one respect the onetime Egyptian president never left us, laying the foundations of the Arab security state that prevails to this day.
Those romantic about Arab nationalism will want to remember Nasser as much more than that. It was he who sent shockwaves throughout the region when, as the leading figure in the Free Officers movement, he overthrew the monarchy of King Farouq in 1952. It was also he who struck a blow against the declining colonial powers, when, in 1956, he nationalized the foreign-owned Suez Canal Company, saying its revenues would help finance the then symbol of Egyptian economic reaffirmation, the Aswan High Dam.
So much of the heroic symbolism in the modern Middle East is tied into things with which Nasser was associated, that to reduce him to the establishment of an authoritarian order seems low. Perhaps, but nearly half a century after his death, that part of his legacy remains more alive than any other.
It is interesting that among those who helped reinforce Egypt’s security order were the Americans, in particular the Central Intelligence Agency. During the 1950s, the Americans were looking to strengthen their ties with Arab nationalist regimes that, they thought, would be better able to contain communism in the Arab world. Nasser seemed an ideal choice, but in Syria as well the CIA sought to build up a relationship with another officer, Husni al-Zaim, who seized power in 1949 in a coup.
And yet a great misnomer is that Nasser ushered in the era of Arab military regimes. As Cambridge sociologist Hazem Kandil has written in a fascinating revisionist book published in 2012, titled Soldiers, Spies, and Statesmen: Egypt’s Road to Revolt, Nasser spent much of his time trying to counterbalance the military.
For Kandil, many of the developments in post-revolution Egypt were driven by Nasser’s rivalry with his old friend, Abdel Hakim Amer, who had built a powerful position for himself as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, before becoming first vice president and deputy supreme commander. Nasser felt threatened by Amer. But being unable to clip his wings from within the military hierarchy, he did so politically, resorting to the novel tactic of establishing the Arab Socialist Union. This mass party was used to mobilize support for the regime and prevent the military from staging a coup.
“Nasser’s real goal was to create a civilian network of vested interests to enhance his power vis-à-vis the military,” Kandil writes.
Similar patterns were replicated under Anwar al-Sadat and Hosni Mubarak, though each man adopted different measures. Sadat built up the powers of the Interior Ministry to offset the military. Mubarak, even as he continued to do the same thing, also encouraged the expansion of a capitalist class tied to the regime, which was given greater power in the system to formulate policy.
Kandil’s book is an eye-opener because it explains the brutal subtleties of Arab regimes. Their priority is survival, which means Arab dictators tend to destroy all institutions or individuals posing a potential threat to them. That is why the rubric “military regime” is so misleading. Leaders often emerge from the military, but then seek to undermine those mechanisms that initially propelled them to power by curtailing the effectiveness of the armed forces.
This can involve installing a vast security apparatus to control the military. It can also mean placing loyalists in key positions in the armed forces to keep an eye on what is going on. Arab leaders have usually done both, taking care even to watch the watchers, as no one can ever truly be trusted. That is why parallel intelligence services have proliferated, notably in Syria, as each one keeps tabs on the others. All information is centralized at the top, where the leader alone has a comprehensive picture of what is taking place.
The protections Arab regimes put in place to survive can be very efficient. In Libya, Muammar Gadhafi may have been ousted, but that was only because Western airpower supported the rebels. In Syria, Bashar Assad may have lost large swathes of territory and has engaged in mass murder against his society, but the core of his regime has held. He is perceived by many dupes as a foe of jihadism and his foreign backers have come through. Sadly, his foul regime may now be gaining in strength rather than the contrary.
One of Kandil’s most interesting arguments is that the great disaster of the Nasser period, the defeat of the Arab armies in the 1967 war against Israel, came about because Nasser’s efforts to counterbalance the army were so successful. As a consequence of this, Amer and his acolytes sought to achieve something spectacular to regain the initiative. Though Amer knew Egypt was in no condition to fight Israel, he took provocative steps in the run-up to June 1967 “to salvage the image and influence of the army.”
According to Kandil, Nasser, who is often blamed for the 1967 war, strongly opposed the Egyptian decision in May 1967 to request a withdrawal of the United Nations Emergency Force in Sinai that separated the Egyptian and Israeli armies. Nasser, aware that a full withdrawal would raise the probability of war, told Amer to request only a partial withdrawal, but this was never implemented. Amer, not Nasser, then closed the Straits of Tiran to Israeli ships, provoking a casus belli that led to the devastating Israeli attack.
Forty-five years after his death, Gamal Abdel Nasser continues to leave an ambiguous legacy — being blamed for that for which he may not have been responsible, even as the nature of his authoritarian power is equally misunderstood. It’s surprising that to this day no great biography has been written of the man. Banished to the realm of myth, Nasser remains elusive even after all this time.
Michael Young is opinion editor of The Daily Star newspaper. He tweets @BeirutCalling