Bin Salman kidnaps Lebanon and asks the Gulf states to exert maximum political and commercial pressure: Saudi Arabia is losing in Marib and attacking in Beirut

Bin Salman kidnaps Lebanon and asks the Gulf states to exert maximum political and commercial pressure: Saudi Arabia is losing in Marib and attacking in Beirut

    Saturday, October 30, 2021   No comments

Media Review: Lebanon in the News

Just like on November 4, 2017, the day Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman decided to kidnap the Prime Minister of Lebanon, Saad Hariri, and force him to resign. Yesterday, Bin Salman decided to kidnap the entire Lebanese government, and force it to kneel before him, or to leave, under the pretext of statements made by Minister of Information George Qardahi, before his appointment as a minister, in which he criticized the aggression on Yemen. And as 4 years ago, so was last night. As soon as the Saudi regime announced the withdrawal of its ambassador from Beirut, the expulsion of the Lebanese ambassador in Riyadh, and the cessation of imports from Lebanon, the same media outlets, and the politicians themselves, went out to cover the madness of Ibn Salman and his decision to pressure Lebanon and push it into submission. For example, the head of the Lebanese Forces party, Samir Geagea - who was the only politician whom the Saudi ambassador, Walid al-Bukhari, visited publicly before announcing his withdrawal from Beirut - delivered a clear threat to the Lebanese: “There is a very big rolling crisis between the Gulf states and the Lebanese government. The current government majority is called upon to take a quick, decisive and clear decision to spare the Lebanese people more tragedies.” Meanwhile, former MP Walid Jumblatt was clearer than Geagea, in terms of his demand for the dismissal of "this minister who will destroy our relations with the Gulf."

Sources linked to the Saudi regime confirmed that Riyadh wants to overthrow the government of Najib Mikati, so either the latter and his government submit, with what this means by opening the door for concessions that will not stop at an end, or he resigns. The new Saudi position seems to have taken statements made by Minister Qardahi, before the formation of the government, as a pretext to attack Lebanon, due to the failure of Ibn Salman's forces in Yemen, specifically in the battle of Marib. In its statement in which it announced the withdrawal of its ambassador from Beirut and the expulsion of the Lebanese ambassador in Riyadh, the Saudi government repeated lies about Lebanon's lack of cooperation with it in the field of drug control, despite the fact that the majority of drug seizures in Saudi ports are based on information from the Lebanese security services. But the most important thing in the statement is the repetition of talk about Hezbollah and its “control” of Lebanon, and “providing support and training for the terrorist Houthi militia.”

Saudi Arabia's decision to escalate in Lebanon will be joined by other Gulf states, the first of which was, as usual, Bahrain, which at night copied Riyadh's measures (expulsion of the Lebanese ambassador). While it was reported that Qatar and Oman would not trade with Saudi Arabia, Riyadh decided to conduct a series of contacts with other Arab countries in an attempt to take a decision in the Arab League against Lebanon!

What happened remains within the framework of a new adventure for bin Salman, unless the United States and France decide to adopt it. In that case, Lebanon will face a major decision to drag it into total chaos, which supports the argument of those convinced of it, the US sanctions decision issued the day before yesterday against Representative Jamil Al-Sayed and businessmen Jihad Al-Arab and Danny Khoury. However, the information that was available yesterday indicated that American and French contacts with Mikati, urging him not to resign, with “the need to address the emerging problem with Saudi Arabia.”

Mikati rushed to contact the President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun. After a statement expressing his regret for the Saudi decision, he called Minister Qardahi and "asked him to assess the national interest and take the appropriate decision to reform Lebanon's Arab relations," according to a statement issued by the prime minister's office. This statement means an encouragement from Mikati to Qardahi to resign. Prior to that, Hezbollah had informed the Prime Minister that any attempt to dismiss the Minister of Information in the Council of Ministers (this decision requires two-thirds of the members of the government) would mean the resignation of the party's ministers. Attempts were made to put pressure on former MP Suleiman Franjieh, as he named Qardahi to the ministry, but the Marada leader refused to pressure the minister and push him to resign. Pending what the Minister of Information will decide, the Prime Minister decided not to cut short his visit to Scotland, where he is participating in the United Nations Climate Change Conference.

Sources in contact with the Saudi authorities said that Riyadh has informed its allies in Lebanon since the day before yesterday that it is in the process of escalating steps against Lebanon. In parallel, the Saudis expressed their “disappointment” that the reactions to Qardahi’s words were limited to statements of denunciation, amid expectations that ministers affiliated with the Future Movement and the Socialist Party would resign from the government, as well as popular movements in a number of Lebanese regions denouncing what Qardahi had made. .

The sources pointed out that Saudi Arabia, which heard requests slowly from Qatar and Kuwait, hastened to take its steps and is awaiting similar measures soon from others, especially the United Arab Emirates, which had not announced any action.

In addition to these steps, Saudi Arabia appeared to be acting very angry, and the callers said that Saudi diplomacy was talking about a failure in the Iranian-Saudi negotiations on Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon. Riyadh has sought with Damascus, through the Emirati side, to play a role in the Yemen file and in the Lebanon file as well, in return for Riyadh helping to return Syria to the Arab League and communicating with the Europeans and Americans to open the door for aid in the reconstruction process.

As for the position of the allies in Lebanon, the Saudi side deliberately limited the ambassador’s visits to Geagea without other prominent leaders, and that he clearly expressed the continuation of the estrangement with Prime Minister Saad Hariri and the Future Movement, and that Riyadh will not ask the latter for any step “and he knows what must be done.” doing it".

Bin Salman kidnaps Lebanon and asks the Gulf states to exert maximum political and commercial pressure: Saudi Arabia is losing in Marib and attacking in Beirut

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Source: «الأخبار» 

To limit Iran's influence in Syria, US should lift sanctions on Syria, Putin tells Bennett

To limit Iran's influence in Syria, US should lift sanctions on Syria, Putin tells Bennett

    Friday, October 29, 2021   No comments

Reporting by Axios suggested that Russia's Putin sought Israel's help in easing U.S. sanctions on Syria. Here is our summary of the hypothetical exchange presumed to have happened between the two:

• Bennett: I want Iran to have less influence in Syria.
• Putin: who do you think should help Syria recover from the 10 year war so that it would not seek help from Iran for it?
• Bennett: Russia and Russian companies. You are already there. 
• Putin: Russian government is there. But Russian companies are afraid to go there because of US sanctions. 
• Bennett: Why aren't Iranian government and Iranian companies afraid to do business in Syria?
• Putin: Because they are already under US sanctions. What are they going to be afraid of? Maximum-maximum pressure?
• Bennett: Oh, S&^%!  That sucks! What can be done then?
• Putin: Ask your friends in the US to lift the sanctions on Syria so that Russian, and possibly Western companies, can take away business from the Iranians, which will diminish their influence, which you are seeking.
• Bennett: I guess we will have to. We will also call on our Gulf allies, especially those who signed on the Abraham Accord, to go back to doing business in Syria then. 

The original reporting by Axios:  

https://www.axios.com/putin-israel-us-sanctions-syria-fcd5300c-44ce-41a4-870f-e7f72d4ed538.html

Sanaa Government Likely to impose and end to the war with its imminent control over the richest province in Yemen

Sanaa Government Likely to impose and end to the war with its imminent control over the richest province in Yemen

    Saturday, October 16, 2021   No comments

 Oct. 15, 2021

The government of the outgoing president, Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi, lost the 12th district of the Marib governorate, after the latter fell yesterday, to the Yemeni army and the "People's Committees", following bloody battles that lasted for several days, and the failure of air support by the Saudi-Emirati coalition. in resolving it in the interest of his allies. This development came in the wake of the coalition's refusal to respond to the tribal mediation that intervened to prevent bloodshed in the district, bearing in mind that Abdiya had symbolically fallen since late last month, with the army and "committees" closing in on it from all directions, and giving them an opportunity for Hadi forces' fighters to get out safely. with their own weapons.

 Tribal sources confirmed to Al-Akhbar newspaper that the district fell completely yesterday, in a military operation by the army and the “committees” in which the Abdiya tribes cooperated, after Hadi’s forces and the Islah party militias refused to respond to the 22-day deadline, to withdraw. The sources pointed out that hundreds of members of those forces and militias were forced to surrender recently, despite the "coalition" threatening them, last week, with bombing, in the event of handing over the Directorate, following their demand from Saudi Arabia to intervene to lift the siege on them, so the response came from the operations room of the joint forces in Riyadh. Promising to carry out an airdrop within days. However, Saudi Arabia broke its promise, leaving more than 2,000 Hadi forces and allied tribal fighters victims of a losing war in Abdiya. The sources indicated that the "Coalition" warplanes launched a series of intensive raids during the past two days, which failed to impede the progress of the army and the "committees" and caused the death of a number of Hadi's forces with mistaken raids.

For his part, a military source in Sanaa confirmed to Al-Akhbar that the army and the “committees” had taken control of the entire Al-Abdiyyah district with “an active contribution from the tribes,” pointing out that the areas near the Jabal Murad district are currently being combed, searching for “dozens of terrorists.” Al-Qaeda and ISIS elements fleeing the district. Al-Qaeda, which admitted its active participation alongside Hadi forces in the Abdiya front two weeks ago, mourned one of its most prominent military leaders, Yasser Al-Omari, nicknamed "Abu Tariq Al-Omari", who fell on the aforementioned front Tuesday. The organization indicated, in a statement, that Al-Omari had “a long march of fighting in the ranks of the organization, starting from Afghanistan through Iraq and the Levant,” adding that the dead man “was among the wanted by the American intelligence services, and he was arrested in Saudi Arabia and placed in the prisons of the House of Saud for several years.” , before the authorities released him and sent him five years ago to fight in Yemen. Also, a number of leaders of the "156th Brigade" of Hadi's forces were killed during the confrontations of the past weeks, led by the commander of the Abdiya Front, Brigadier General Nasser al-Saidi, in the Bani Abd area, which represented the first line of defense for the Abdiya district over the past weeks.

What Authority Does The President Have Under Article 80 Of The 2014 Constitution Of Tunisia?

What Authority Does The President Have Under Article 80 Of The 2014 Constitution Of Tunisia?

    Monday, July 26, 2021   No comments

On July 25, the president of Tunisia, Kais Saied, cited article 80 of the ratified 2014 constitution to declare a national emergency. The presidential order suspended the parliament for 30 days, dismissed the prime minister, and lifted immunity on parliamentarians. Here is a translation of the article that the president is relying on to justify and enforce his declaration.

 

Article 80 * Emergency provisions

In the event of imminent danger threatening the nation’s institutions or the security or independence of the country, and hampering the normal functioning of the state, the President of the Republic may take any measures necessitated by the exceptional circumstances, after consultation with the Head of Government and the Speaker of the Assembly of the Representatives of the People and informing the President of the Constitutional Court. The President shall announce the measures in a statement to the people. The measures shall guarantee, as soon as possible, a return to the normal functioning of state institutions and services. The Assembly of the Representatives of the People shall be deemed to be in a state of continuous session throughout such a period. In this situation, the President of the Republic cannot dissolve the Assembly of the Representatives of the People and a motion of censure against the government cannot...

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Despite "confirmed war crimes of willful killing, torture, and rape," the ICC closes probe into abuse of Iraqis by British troops

Despite "confirmed war crimes of willful killing, torture, and rape," the ICC closes probe into abuse of Iraqis by British troops

    Thursday, December 10, 2020   No comments

 Key Quotes from the ICC Prosecutor's Statement:

The Office "confirmed, that there is a reasonable basis to believe that members of the British armed forces committed the war crimes of wilful killing, torture, inhuman/cruel treatment, outrages upon personal dignity, and rape and/or other forms of sexual violence."

"the more than ten year long domestic process, involving the examination of thousands of allegations, has resulted in not one single case being submitted for prosecution to date: a result that has deprived the victims of justice."

"the only professionally appropriate decision at this stage is to close the preliminary examination and to inform the senders of communications. My decision is without prejudice to a reconsideration based on new facts or evidence."

The AP reported that the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor said she is closing a preliminary probe into allegations of killings and torture of Iraqi prisoners by British troops from 2003-2008 and will not open a full-scale investigation because U.K. authorities have investigated the allegations.

The global court only takes on cases of crimes against humanity, war crimes and other serious international offenses if a member state is unwilling or unable to investigate them or has carried out investigations that were not genuine with a view to shielding suspects from justice.

In a statement, Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said her office confirmed that there is “a reasonable basis to believe that members of the British armed forces committed the war crimes of wilful killing, torture, inhuman/cruel treatment, outrages upon personal dignity, and rape and/or other forms of sexual violence" against Iraqi detainees.

Read:

• The Statement
  
  
• The Report

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What US 2020 Elections tell us about Americans’ values systems

What US 2020 Elections tell us about Americans’ values systems

    Monday, November 09, 2020   No comments

 

Trump: “This fucking virus, what does it have to do with me getting reelected?”

~  Inside Donald Trump’s 2020 undoing

Let’s not forget what US presidential elections tone and results confirm: The rude and candid discourse that elevates personal interests above all else; the power of those who consider themselves better and superior and more deserving; and their view that everyone else should be grateful that they can serve them and be thankful for the opportunity to exist in the same space they exist even as servants… just under half of the American public approved of such tone and character. And from what data reveal, the standard bearer of the supremacist discourse lost not because, nationally, just 3% of the voters 3% more people rejected his supremacist discourse and value system, but because 3% of the voters disapproved of his mismanagement of a pandemic crisis that killed quarter million people in less than eight months. This reality cannot be covered by the veneer of deliberately selected photos of some Americans celebrating the win by the less openly supremacist candidate.

 News story: ~  Inside Donald Trump’s 2020 undoing

Aisha Bakari Gombi: a terror to the terrorists

Aisha Bakari Gombi: a terror to the terrorists

    Friday, October 09, 2020   No comments

By Ebele Orakpo 

It’s often said that what a man can do, a woman can do even better. This saying has been proven to be true in the North-Eastern region of Nigeria, which has been the theatre of war between the forces of evil (Boko Haram terrorists) and good (the Security agencies and the poor masses) for about 11 years.

In Adamawa State, one of the states being ravaged by the Boko Haram, considered the third most dangerous terrorist organisation on earth after Al Qaeda and The Islamic State,  lives a queen by all standards, by name, Sarauniya (Queen) Amina Bakari Gombi, a  wife, mother, hunter, warrior, and tailor. Due to her exploits as a warrior, she has entered the folklore of the locals just like the legendary Queen Amina of Zazzau, Hausa warrior queen who ruled in the mid-16th Century. 

Perhaps, one can confidently say that Queen Amina has come alive in Aisha Gombi, Queen Hunter and nemesis of Boko Haram fighters. At a time when many, including men, were running away from the insurgents who were raiding communities, maiming, killing raping, and abducting men, women, and children, and razing down villages, Aisha stood to be counted.

... read more; Source: https://bit.ly/3lyisxJ

Full text and summary of the 25-year China-Iran deal covering Trade and Military Collaboration

Full text and summary of the 25-year China-Iran deal covering Trade and Military Collaboration

    Friday, July 17, 2020   No comments

Media review: Iran replaces its nuclear deal with the P5+1 with one with China

China and Iran are reported to have quietly drafted a comprehensive military and trade partnership. The deal would make way for about $400 billion worth of Chinese investments into Iran’s key sectors, such as energy and infrastructure, over the next 25 years.

The deal:

An 18-page draft of the proposed agreement, the Persian version of it available at the end of this summary,
talks about expanding Chinese presence in Iran’s “banking, telecommunications, ports, railways and dozens of other projects”. In return, Iran is to provide regular and “heavily discounted” supply of oil to China for 25 years.

In the strategic realm, the proposed draft talks about deepening military cooperation, with “joint training and exercises”, “joint research and weapons development”, and intelligence sharing.

This deepening military cooperation would be intended to fight the “the lopsided battle with terrorism, drug and human trafficking and cross-border crimes”.

The deal is reported to have been first proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping during his 2016 visit to Tehran, and the proposed draft was approved by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif over the last couple of weeks.

These moves come at a time when the Iranian economy has been crippled by sweeping US sanctions, which have ensured that any company in the world that deals with Iran would be cut off from the global financial system.

The deal has not been presented to the Iranian parliament yet, and Beijing is still to disclose the terms of the deal, though Iranian officials have publicly acknowledged that there is a “pending agreement with China”.

What does it entail?
The opening sentence of the proposed draft says: “Two ancient Asian cultures, two partners in the sectors of trade, economy, politics, culture and security with a similar outlook and many mutual bilateral and multilateral interests will consider one another strategic partners.”

There are nearly 100 projects cited in the document that would have Chinese investments, and are expected to be a part of Xi’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which aims to extend China’s strategic influence across Eurasia.

These 100 projects include “airports, high-speed railways and subways”, effectively touching the lives of most Iranian citizens.

“China would (also) develop free-trade zones in Maku, in northwestern Iran; in Abadan, where the Shatt al-Arab river flows into the Persian Gulf, and on the gulf island Qeshm,” notes the NYT report.

The draft agreement also talks about China building infrastructure for 5G telecommunications network in Iran. This would see Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei — a company that has come under severe US sanctions and been banned by many countries across the world such as the United Kingdom and Australia — enter the Iranian market.

Chinese global positioning system BeiDou is also proposed to assist Iran’s cyber authorities in regulating what is shared in the country’s cyberspace, potentially paving the way for Iran to develop a China-like “great firewall”.

US ‘pushed’ Iran into China’s arms
Since coming to power in 2017, US President Donald Trump has withdrawn from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which froze the country’s nuclear programme, and enforced comprehensive sanctions on Iran, devastating its economy. Now “Tehran’s desperation has pushed it into the arms of China”, remarks the NYT report.

“Iran and China both view this deal as a strategic partnership in not just expanding their own interests but confronting the US. It is the first of its kind for Iran, keen on having a world power as an ally,” said Ali Gholizadeh, who works at University of Science and Technology of China in Beijing.

Until now, Iran used to seek European cooperation for trade and investment, but it has reportedly grown increasingly frustrated with it.

“The draft agreement with Iran shows that unlike most countries, China feels it is in a position to defy the United States, powerful enough to withstand American penalties, as it has in the trade war waged by President Trump,” said the NYT report.

The US State Department spokesperson said the US would continue to “impose costs on Chinese companies that aid Iran”.

Middle East geopolitics

For decades now, the US forces have dominated the Middle East’s security paradigm, but this agreement could now provide China with a foothold in the region, according to unnamed US officials in the NYT report.

Analysts contend that when China develops strategic ports in various countries, there is a possibility that it might militarise them at some point.

In the proposed draft, China plans to build several ports in Iran, one of them at Jask, just outside the Gulf of Hormuz, which is the entrance to the Persian Gulf.

The Gulf of Hormuz is among the nine key maritime chokepoints across the world. All of these chokepoints are controlled by the US, which many security analysts believe is a marker of US strategic hegemony over the world.

Now, a Chinese port at Jask “would give the Chinese a strategic vantage point on the waters through which much of the world’s oil transits. The passage is of critical strategic importance to the United States, whose Navy’s Fifth Fleet is headquartered in Bahrain in the gulf,” the NYT report states.

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Unverified copy of the Agreement Between Iran and China:

Historians expose early scientists' debt to the slave trade

Historians expose early scientists' debt to the slave trade

    Monday, November 25, 2019   No comments

In a world or research and discovery, where endeavors cost money, it is unlikely that any scientist would climb the ladder of recognition without profiting from business schemes that are exploitative. When we think of Isaac Newton today, people think of the theory of gravity. But very few people think of Newton's connections to the upper echelons of London’s financial world, which tied to the transatlantic trade in enslaved people. This article take a look at the connection between science and wealth, and there sources of wealth.

Full text of the Sochi Memorandum on Northern Syria signed by Putin and Erdogan

Full text of the Sochi Memorandum on Northern Syria signed by Putin and Erdogan

    Tuesday, October 22, 2019   No comments

The full text of the memorandum of understanding reached by the two countries, Russia and Turkey, related to Northern Syria. This version of the memorandum was provided to the media by the Turkish foreign ministry.
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 "President of the Republic of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin agreed on the following points:

1. The two sides reiterate their commitment to the preservation of the political unity and territorial integrity of Syria and the protection of national security of Turkey.

2. They emphasise their determination to combat terrorism in all forms and manifestations and to disrupt separatist agendas in the Syrian territory.

3. In this framework, the established status quo in the current Operation Peace Spring area covering Tel Abyad and [Ras al-Ain] with a depth of 32km (20 miles) will be preserved.

4. Both sides reaffirm the importance of the Adana Agreement. The Russian Federation will facilitate the implementation of the Adana Agreement in the current circumstances.

5. Starting 12.00 noon of October 23, 2019, Russian military police and Syrian border guards will enter the Syrian side of the Turkish-Syrian border, outside the area of Operation Peace Spring, to facilitate the removal of YPG elements and their weapons to the depth of 30km (19 miles) from the Turkish-Syrian border, which should be finalized in 150 hours. At that moment, joint Russian-Turkish patrols will start in the west and the east of the area of Operation Peace Spring with a depth of 10km (six miles), except Qamishli city.

6. All YPG elements and their weapons will be removed from Manbij and Tal Rifat.

7. Both sides will take necessary measures to prevent infiltrations of terrorist elements.

8. Joint efforts will be launched to facilitate the return of refugees in a safe and voluntary manner.

9. A joint monitoring and verification mechanism will be established to oversee and coordinate the implementation of this memorandum.

10. The two sides will continue to work to find a lasting political solution to the Syrian conflict within Astana Mechanism and will support the activity of the Constitutional Committee."