US Demands Release of 128,000 Prisoners Held by Syrian Regime
Arab World
Asharq Al-Awsat
US Ambassador to the UN Kelly Craft. (AP)
The United States demanded on Monday the release of nearly 128,000 people who have been arbitrarily detained by the Syrian regime. "This practice is unacceptable," US Ambassador Kelly Craft told the UN Security Council at its monthly meeting on the conflict in Syria. "The Assad regime must release detainees and provide international monitors access to detention centers," she said. Syrian regime leader Bashar Assad has declared several amnesties of prisoners since the conflict began in 2011 -- notably in 2014, 2018, and in mid-September. Separately, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin called for the "elimination of terrorists in Idlib" province, while stressing that utmost care be taken to spare civilians. The conflict has claimed the lives of an estimated 370,000 people. "The time has come to encourage and not impede Syria's return to the Arab family," Vershinin said. Syria was suspended from the Arab League in 2011, and the issue of its return has divided the organization's members for more than a year. Security Council members also welcomed the creation of a UN-sponsored constitutional committee by the regime and the opposition, after two years of arduous negotiations. The UN envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, said the committee's formation marked the first concrete political agreement between the regime and the opposition. "It is also a shared promise to the Syrian people to try to agree under the auspices of the United Nations on new constitutional arrangements for Syria -- a new social contract to help repair a broken country," he said. The committee's 150 members are supposed to hold their first meeting October 30 in Geneva. Its revision of the constitution is viewed by the UN as a first step toward holding elections that would include the Syrian diaspora. Last week, the Syrian regime stressed that no deadline has been set for the committee to conclude its work.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1926346/us-demands-release-128000-prisoners-held-syrian-regime
US Air Force Trains on Moving Command Center from Qatar
Gulf
Washington - Elie Youssef
A US Air Force B-52 bomber arrives at al-Udeid Air Base, Qatar. (Reuters)
Amid escalating tensions between the United States and Iran, the US Air Force temporarily moved its Middle East command and control center from Qatar to South Carolina as part of a training. As the Combined Air and Space Operations Center (CAOC) at al-Udeid airbase in Qatar sat empty, operations were being controlled by teams at Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina. The air operations center coordinates over 300 flights and attacks in areas like Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria. The base, especially its electronic command center, was established 13 years ago to command fighter planes, bombers, drones and other air force assets in the region stretching from Northeast Africa through the Middle East to South Asia. Although the move was temporary and lasted 24 hours, it signaled a major tactical shift. The unannounced operation was the first time US command and control had been moved out of the region since the center was established during the 1991 First Gulf War. While air force personnel said moving functions to a different base had been a long-harbored ambition enabled by new technology, the move comes amid renewed tension with Iran, which lies around 300km to the northeast. “The functions that the CAOC provides for air power are so critical and so essential that we can’t afford to have a single point of failure,” said Maj. Gen. Chance Saltzman. Air Force officials said recent incidents involving Iran helped add urgency to the project. “Iran has indicated multiple times through multiple sources their intent to attack US forces,” said Col. Frederick Coleman, commander of the 609th Air and Space Operations Center. “Frankly, as the war against ISIS winds down and as we continue to work through a potential peace process in Afghanistan, the region is calming down and potentially more stable than it has been in decades,” he said. “Except for Iran.”
from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1926316/us-air-force-trains-moving-command-center-qatar
Hot Mud, Mineral Water Baths Can Treat Osteoarthritis, Study Finds
Varieties
Cairo - Hazem Bader
An Iraqi cover his boy with sand from a sulfur pond at Hammam al-Alil city south of Mosul, Iraq April 3, 2017. (Reuters)
A new study carried out by Lithuanian researchers found that hot mud treatments and sodium chloride baths may relieve the symptoms of osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint condition that causes pain and stiffness in the joints. It can affect most joints but is more common in those of the knees, hips and hands. Currently, doctors recommend combination therapy, which includes pain medication and non-pharmaceutical interventions, such as expensive physiotherapy. Scientists are keen to find cost effective, drug-free ways of relieving symptoms. The researchers in Lithuania decided to investigate two interventions: peloid therapy and balneotherapy. The researchers recruited 92 participants with an average age of 64 years. Females represented 87% of the group. All individuals suffered from osteoarthritis problems in different parts of their bodies. All three groups received standard physical therapy. Group 1 and 2 received hot mud treatments or mineral water baths, while Group 3 acted as control. Alongside physical therapy, Group 1 received peat mud applications on the waist and leg areas. The temperature of the mud was 36–42°C. The procedures lasted 20 minutes and they took place every other day for the month-long treatment period. Group 2 received physical therapy, plus 15-minute sodium chloride (salt) bath treatments. The temperature of the water was 36–38°C. Group 3 only received physical therapy. The researchers assessed a range of physical measures at the beginning of the study and one month after the interventions had ended. These measures included walking speed, range of motion and how quickly the participants could sit down and stand up. Immediately after the intervention and one month later, the authors found that Groups 1 and 2 fared significantly better. Their Anthropometric data significantly improved, pain intensity and joint stiffness decreased and physical activity increased, compared to the control group. The findings were published in the International Journal of Biometeorology and a report on the study was released Saturday by the Medical News Today website. Although the study's findings were positive, lead author Lina Varzaityte said the results are preliminary and scientists will need to carry out longer studies. "We need a longer study with more than 100 participants, and more diverse sample, because most of the current study participants were women," she told Medical News Today.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1926291/hot-mud-mineral-water-baths-can-treat-osteoarthritis-study-finds
Water Scarcity in the Nile Region despite Heavy Rainfalls
Varieties
Cairo - Hazem Badr
A desalination plant in Carlsbad, California. File photo: AP
Further rainfalls may not necessary mean more water in the Nile River's riverbed. This increase in rainfalls, which is triggered by high temperatures, will be wasted along with bigger amounts of water because of high temperatures and their impact on evaporation rates. That's the troubling conclusion of a new study led by the US Dartmouth College, saying that a rising population along the Nile will reduce the amount of available water. The study, published by the college's website in early September, focused on the Upper Nile Basin that includes western Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Uganda. Nearly all of the rain that feeds the Nile's northward flow to Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea falls in this area. The problem is that the Upper Nile Basin is being affected by two seemingly contradictory effects of climate change. On the one hand, using a mix of available climate models, the study predicts an increase in regional precipitation for the remainder of this century. The researchers expected an upward trend in precipitation comes as a result of increased atmospheric moisture normally associated with warming. At the same time, however, the study finds that hot and dry years in the region have become more frequent over the past four decades. This trend is projected to continue throughout the century with the frequency of hot and dry years as much as tripling. As a result, the study finds, increased evaporation from higher temperatures combined with the doubling of runoff demand from a larger population will counteract any projected increase in rainfall. Population in the region is projected to nearly double by 2080, which will impose additional demands on water resources. According to the study, annual demand for water runoff from the Nile will regularly exceed supply by 2030, causing the percentage of the Upper Nile population expected to suffer from water scarcity to rise sharply. By 2080, the study estimates that as much as 65 percent of the regional population (250 million people) could face chronic water scarcity during excessively hot and dry years. In a report published on the college website, Ethan Coffel, one of the study authors, said: "Climate extremes impact people. This study looks not only at high-level changes in temperature or rainfall; it also explains how those conditions will change life for real people." "The Nile Basin is one of several fast-growing, predominantly agricultural regions that are really on the brink of severe water scarcity. Environmental stresses could easily contribute to migration and even conflict," he added. The study concluded that "the Nile population has to prepare itself for the crisis by expanding the seawater desalination projects." Despite plans announced by some countries, including Egypt, to expand the establishment of desalination plants, Dr. Khaled Fouad, professor of Water Resources, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagazig University, says it is not enough. According to the Housing Ministry, the Egyptian plan aims at increasing the water supply produced by desalination plants to 1.7 million m3 /day by 2020, equaling 6.6 percent of the total drinking water supply. Fouad underscores the need to use more drinking water in agriculture, which is expected to be significantly affected by the water scarcity scenarios. But, the challenge facing Fouad's demand is that the establishment of desalination plant is expensive, because most of its components are imported. They also require huge operating costs as they consume huge amounts of fossil fuel. According to Fouad, the best solution is the fast nationalization of the desalination industry, and the use of solar power instead of traditional fuel to operate these plants.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1926276/water-scarcity-nile-region-despite-heavy-rainfalls
Iraq PM Officially Blames Israel for Attacks on PMF Camps
Arab World
Baghdad – Hamza Mustafa
Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi. (Reuters)
Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi officially accused on Monday Israel of carrying out a string of strikes against Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) camps in his country in recent months. “Investigations into the targeting of some Popular Mobilization Forces positions indicate that Israel carried it out,” he told Qatar’s Al Jazeera television. This is the first time that the premier accuses Israel of being behind the attacks. He did not provide further details. The government had set up committees to probe the attacks that had targeted several PMF camps throughout Iraq. The PMF had repeatedly pointed blame at Israel. The government had said that it would seek the truth before pinning blame. A spokeswoman for the Israeli military declined to comment on the Iraqi premier’s remarks, saying “these are reports from foreign media and we do not comment on them”, reported Reuters. The series of incidents at PMF bases began in mid-July, when an Iraqi fighter was killed and two Iranians were wounded in shelling on a base in Iraq's Amerli region by "an unidentified drone," according to a statement by the Iraqi joint operations command. In August, an attack struck a position held by Brigade 45, a PMF unit based near Iraq's desertic western border with Syria, killing one fighter and severely wounding a second. Security expert Fadel Abu Ragheef told Asharq Al-Awsat that Abdul Mahdi’s accusations were official confirmation of previous charges against Israel. A lot of information is available about strikes that Israel has carried out in the region. The attacks are part of an Israeli plan against the PMF that will only intensify unless the forces move their weapons to the Defense Ministry, he added. The Fateh coalition, which includes several PMF factions, stressed that the Iraqi government now reserves the right to retaliate against Israel after Abdul Mahdi revealed the results of the probe. Fateh MP Mohammed al-Baldawi said the premier’s declaration allows the government to pursue all possible means allowed by international law to respond to Israel. He also urged the government to purchase the Russian S-400 missile defense system to protect Iraq from attacks. Eradaa Movement MP Hussein Arab told Asharq Al-Awsat that Iraq must now turn to the international community, starting with the Arab League, United Nations Security Council and Organization of Islamic Cooperation, to file a complaint against Israel.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1926271/iraq-pm-officially-blames-israel-attacks-pmf-camps
Yemen’s Houthis Release 290 Detainees in Face-Saving Move
Arab World
Sanaa - Asharq Al-Awsat
Some Yemeni prisoners seen after they were released by the Houthis from the central prison in the capital Sanaa on September 30, 2019. AFP
Houthi militias claimed on Monday having released 350 detainees from Sanaa prisons, as a kind of face-saving strategy. Their claim was an attempt to show the group’s commitment to the Stockholm agreement struck with the Yemeni government last year. While the International Committee of the Red Cross issued a statement clarifying Houthi fabrications concerning the exact number of released persons, Asharq Al-Awsat learned from interviews it conducted with those released Monday, that none was a prisoner of war or had fought in the ranks of the legitimacy. On Monday, Houthis brought journalists to the vicinity of the central prison in Sanaa to give the impression that they were respecting the Stockholm agreement concerning an agreed prisoner exchange. One of those released told Asharq Al-Awsat on condition of anonymity that he was kidnapped three years ago from north Sanaa by Houthis that claimed he was acting against the militia. Another released man said the insurgents also kidnapped him three years ago when he was traveling to Maarab. An injured person who walked out of prison on Monday said he was hurt when a military camp where he was detained with others, was hit, denying having fought in the ranks of the legitimacy. On Monday, the ICRC said Houthis released 290 kidnapped persons. A statement said 42 of the detainees were used as human shields by Houthis during an attack on a military site and arms depot in Dhamar, where the men had been held three years ago. Franz Rauchenstein, the ICRC chief in Yemen, said the Red Cross facilitated the release following a request from the Houthis. He expressed hope that this would open the door to “further releases to bring comfort to families awaiting reunification with their loved ones.” The ICRC said it helped confirm the identities of the detainees, determined where they would like to go upon their release, assessed detainee health and provided financial assistance. For his part, UN special envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths called on “all parties to ensure the safe return of the released detainees to their homes.” He also invited the warring sides to meet at “the nearest opportunity and to resume the discussions” that began last year in Stockholm.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1926266/yemen%E2%80%99s-houthis-release-290-detainees-face-saving-move
Aramco Plans to Pay Base Dividend of $75 Billion in 2020
Business
London - Asharq Al-Awsat
FILE PHOTO: Logo of Saudi Aramco in Manama, Bahrain, March 7, 2017. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo
Saudi Aramco plans to pay a base dividend of $75 billion in 2020, it said in a corporate overview posted to its website on Monday. It paid out a $20 billion special dividend in the first half of the year on the back of an “exceptionally strong financial performance” in 2018, the company said in August. It said Monday that if the total dividend falls below $75 billion between 2020 and 2024 it will prioritize payouts to non-government shareholders. The company plans to announce its intention to float later this month with the aim of selling shares on the Riyadh stock exchange as soon as November, Bloomberg reported. Aramco is planning to select about 15 bookrunners in total, sources have said. Also Monday, the chief executive officer of Aramco’s trading arm, Ibrahim Al-Buainain, said the oil giant has restored full oil production and capacity to the levels they were at before attacks on its facilities on Sept. 14. Oil output capacity was restored on Sept. 25, he told a conference in the United Arab Emirates' city of Fujairah. The attacks targeted the Abqaiq and the Khurais plants, causing a spike in oil prices, fires and damage that halved the crude output of the world's top oil exporter, by shutting down 5.7 million bpd of production.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1926261/aramco-plans-pay-base-dividend-75-billion-2020
Engineers Develop New Sensor for Irrigation Rationalization
Varieties
London - Asharq Al-Awsat
Coffee trees are irrigated in a farm in Santo Antonio do Jardim, Brazil. (Reuters)
In response to the global need to regulate water consumption in agriculture, researchers from the University of Connecticut engineered a soil moisture sensor. According to the Tech Xplore website, the new sensors are more affordable than the currently used ones, small enough to insert into the soil with ease and less expensive to manufacture than current technology. Guiling Wang, professor of civil and environmental engineering at UConn, said: "Advances in hydrological science are hampered by the lack of on-site soil moisture data. It's really hard to monitor and measure things underground.” “The challenge is that the existing sensors are very expensive and the installation process is very labor intensive.” According to the research team, the sensors are expected to save nearly 35 percent of water consumption, reported the German news agency. Current sensors that are used in a similar way range from $100 to $1,000 each, while the one developed at UConn costs $2, according to the researchers.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1926256/engineers-develop-new-sensor-irrigation-rationalization
Committees Set up to Probe Haramain Train Station Fire
Gulf
Jeddah - Asharq Al-Awsat
Governor of the Makkah region Prince Khalid al-Faisal inspects the Haramain train station after the weekend's fire. (SPA)
Adviser of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and Governor of the Makkah region Prince Khalid al-Faisal revealed that several committees will be set up to probe the fire that broke out at the Haramain train station fire over the weekend. The results of the investigation will be referred to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz, he added during an inspection of the station in the Sulaymaniyah district in Jeddah city. The fire had raged for seven hours before being completely contained by civil defense teams. Prince Faisal said the second floor of the station and the roof of the building were damaged in the incident. He said it was still early to determine the extent of the damage. The first and ground floors were unaffected by the blaze. The probe will reveal how the fire broke out and why, said Prince Faisal, while thanking all parties that took part in dousing the blaze.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1926251/committees-set-probe-haramain-train-station-fire
Surviving Skin Cancer is Possible, British Doctors Say
Varieties
London - Asharq Al-Awsat
A cancer cell (white) being attacked by two cytotoxic T cells (red), part of a natural immune response triggered by immunotherapy. REUTERS/NIH
British doctors have said more than half of patients can now survive a deadly skin cancer that was considered untreatable just a decade ago. According to the BBC, ten years ago only one-in-20 patients would live for five years after being diagnosed with late-stage melanoma. Most would die in months. But drugs to harness the body's immune system mean 52 percent now live for at least five years, a clinical trial shows. Doctors said it was an extraordinary and rapid transformation in care. Melanoma is the fifth most common cancer in the UK and kills nearly 2,300 people each year. If it is caught in the early stages then the chance of survival are good, but as the cancer becomes more aggressive and spreads throughout the body (known as metastatic cancer) then survival plummets. James Larkin, a consultant at the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, said: "In the past, metastatic melanoma was regarded as untreatable. Oncologists considered melanoma different to other cancers; it couldn't be treated once it had spread." People tended to live between six and nine months after diagnosis. The trial investigated two immunotherapy drugs which are designed to enhance the immune system and let it attack cancer. There were 945 patients in the trial, a third was given nivolumab, a third was given ipilimumab and a third was given both. Doctors then looked at the five-year survival rate: the proportion of patients still alive after five years. The results showed: 26 percent were still alive on ipilimumab alone 44 percent were still alive on nivolumab alone 52 percent were still alive when given both. In an interview with the BBC, Prof. Larkin said: "It's been an amazing surprise to see so much progress in such a short a period of time. It's been the most extraordinary transformation from a disease that was regarded, among all the cancers as the most difficult to treat, the most serious prognosis." "The possibility that 50 percent of people with stage-four melanoma are alive five years after having immunotherapy treatment," he added. The findings have been presented at a meeting of the European Society for Medical Oncology and published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1926246/surviving-skin-cancer-possible-british-doctors-say
Salah Khashoggi Rejects Exploitation of His Father’s Case to Undermine Saudi Arabia
Gulf
Riyadh - Asharq Al-Awsat
Salah Khashoggi. (Reuters)
Salah Khashoggi, the son of late Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, criticized on Monday attempts by some parties to exploit his father’s murder to undermine Saudi Arabia and its leadership. “In a year since my father’s passing, opponents and enemies of the nation in the east and west have sought to exploit his case to undermine my nation and leadership,” he tweeted. “Throughout his life, my father always rejected such attempts to undermine them and I refuse for his memory to be abused to achieve that after his passing,” he added. Salah voiced his absolute trust in the Saudi judiciary in achieving justice in his father’s crime and holding the perpetrators to account. “As Jamal Khashoggi has always said, I will remain true to God and then the nation and its leadership,” he vowed.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1926241/salah-khashoggi-rejects-exploitation-his-father%E2%80%99s-case-undermine-saudi-arabia
Beirut - Sanaa el-Jack
A boy sweeps the pavement near the Beirut shop he works in. Asharq Al-Awsat
“He is safer working at my shop then staying on the street in search for a job,” says a grocery shop owner in Beirut about a Syrian boy who earns around four dollars daily to support his mother and two younger sisters. There are more than 100,000 child laborers in Lebanon, 35,000 of them being Lebanese. They work mainly in the industrial sector and agriculture. The Syrian boy who unloads products and cleans the grocery shop tells Asharq Al-Awsat that he dreams of returning to his village and attend school. “I will help my mother to work in agriculture in our land,” said the boy, who lost his father in the Syrian war. But he said that currently he has “no other option” but to earn around 30 dollars a week. The shop owner, who is also Syrian, insists that he is protecting the boy by employing him because otherwise he would be left homeless. His working conditions are no better than girls aged between 11 and 15 who start their shifts at 5:00 am at a chicken slaughterhouse, exposing themselves to sexual exploitation and diseases. The executive head of Beyond Association, Maria Assi, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the rise in the number of child laborers in Lebanon is the direct result of growing poverty. “In order to fight child labor, officials should resolve the problem of poverty, deteriorating economic conditions and the lack of awareness among parents, rather than seeking to resolve their repercussions,” she said. Assi called on the international community to force the Lebanese government to protect child workers. She said her association had a success story in the eastern town of Saadnayel where it agreed with the municipality to ban child labor and return the children to school. “In the eastern Beka Valley and elsewhere, we are carrying out initiatives to stop children from working and proposing alternatives by encouraging their parents to work instead,” she said. Assi added that Beyond also works on rehabilitating such children and reintegrate them into society.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1925151/lebanon-poverty-forces-children-work
Extreme Poverty Threatens Yemenis Living under Houthi Rule
Arab World
Sanaa - Asharq Al-Awsat
A nurse weighs Afaf Hussein, 10, who is malnourished, at the malnutrition treatment ward of al-Sabeen hospital in Sanaa, Yemen, January 31, 2019. (Reuters)
Since the coup by the Iran-align Houthi militias in Yemen in September 2014, 75 percent of the population slid into poverty and 230,000 were killed. The tragedy transformed into the worst humanitarian disaster in the world, according to international reports. Several recent reports seen by Asharq Al-Awsat revealed the extent of damage to the country’s economy as a result of successive crises caused primarily by the Houthis systematic and repeated targeting of the sector. A report released and prepared for the UNDP by the Pardee Center for International Futures at the University of Denver revealed the war will triple the number of people living in extreme poverty if the fighting persists. It will skyrocket from 19 percent of the population in 2014 to a projected 65 percent in 2022. The surge in poverty across Yemen is driven by factors attributed to war, including a breakdown of the economy that has seen USD89 billion in lost economic activity since 2015. The conflict has disrupted markets and institutions and destroyed social and economic infrastructure. Gross domestic product per capita has plummeted from USD3,577 to USD1,950, a level not seen in Yemen since before 1960. Yemen is now ranked as the world’s second most unequal in the world in terms of income, surging past 100 other countries in inequality levels in the last five years. In the absence of conflict, Yemen could have made progress toward achieving the SDGs, the global anti-poverty framework agreed in 2015 with a target date of 2030. But more than four years of fighting has set back human development by 21 years, the report added. The intensity of poverty has also surged, with Yemen projected by 2022 to have the largest poverty gap—the distance between average income and the poverty line—in the world. The report identified spikes in malnutrition across the country. Thirty-six percent of the population is malnourished and could reach nearly 50 percent if fighting continues through 2022. The report contains especially dire projections if the war continues for the next decade. If the fighting continues through 2030, 78 percent of Yemenis will live in extreme poverty, 95 percent will be malnourished and 84 percent of children will be stunted. Economists told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Houthi coup and looting of public and private facilities was a low point for Yemen. According to the World Bank, the war waged by the militias led to the destruction of the Yemeni economy. It is estimated that more than 40 percent of households have lost their primary income source and find it increasingly difficult to purchase the minimum food requirements. Welfare analysis suggests that poverty has increased to an estimated 71 to 78 percent, with women more severely affected than men, the World Bank added.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1925121/extreme-poverty-threatens-yemenis-living-under-houthi-rule
Palestinians Set Stage for Arab Investment Conference in Cairo
Arab World
Ramallah - Asharq Al-Awsat
Pictures depicting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas are seen in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank June 12, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman
The Palestinian Authority's Minister of National Economy Khaled al-Osaily has stressed the importance of an Arab investment conference on Palestine that is set to be held in the Egyptian capital by the end of 2019. During a press conference he held in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Sunday, Osaily said preparations for the first such Arab conference have made headway. The Palestinian government has launched a comprehensive review of Israeli products in the local markets “at a time when Israel stops our products from reaching the Israeli market.” He revealed that the Palestinian Authority will seek international arbitration through a specialized court on Israel’s circumvention of the "Paris Protocol” which was signed between the Palestinians and Israel in 1995 to govern their economic relations. Such an Israeli move has paralyzed the development of the Palestinian national economy, charged Osaily. He referred to commerce agreements signed with Jordan to increase the volume of trade between the two sides to 1 billion dollars annually, and a request made to Israel on importing oil from Iraq. The Palestinian government has also signed cooperation agreements with Arab federations to support several sectors. According to Osaily, the PA is engaged in discussions with several states, mainly China, Russia, India, Indonesia, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland and others to consolidate economic cooperation. He told the press conference that the Palestinian government has granted tax incentives to 13 projects with a capital of 28 million dollars in industry, tourism and renewable energy sectors that provide direct jobs for 366 people.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1925106/palestinians-set-stage-arab-investment-conference-cairo
Egypt's Sisi Pledges to Protect the Poor, Middle-Class
Arab World
Cairo- Asharq Al-Awsat
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi addresses the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
Egypt's president says he'll protect the poor and middle-class Egyptians hard hit by his government's austerity measures. The remarks are the first on economy by Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi, following rare anti-government protests earlier this month believed to have been partly driven by economic hardship. Sisi tweeted late Sunday that measures are underway to "protect the rights of the people" adversely impacted by slashing subsidies. He didn't elaborate. Sisi's ambitious reform program, launched in 2016, aims at overhauling the country's ailing economy. The government has also floated the currency and substantially cut subsidies. The austerity measures have taken a heavy toll on poor and middle-class Egyptians. The official statistics agency reported in July that one in three Egyptians is living in poverty.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1925101/egypts-sisi-pledges-protect-poor-middle-class
Iran's Oil Facilities on 'Full Alert' Amid Fears of Cyber War
Iran
London- Asharq Al-Awsat
Iran replaces drawings on US embassy marking 40th anniversary of storming it (AFP)
Iran’s oil minister told the petroleum industry on Sunday to be on alert to physical and cyber attacks amid heightened tensions with the United States in the Gulf region. “All companies and facilities of the oil industry should be fully alert to physical and cyber threats as sanctions target the petroleum industry,” Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said in a statement, carried by the Oil Ministry’s news agency SHANA and reported by Reuters. US media reports have said Washington was considering possible cyber attacks against Iran after the Sept. 14 attacks on Saudi Arabia’s oil sites, which US officials blamed on Tehran. Iran, however, has denied the charge. Iran said on Wednesday it was inspecting security at key Gulf oil and gas facilities, including assessing preparedness for cyber attacks. Reports on social media had said there was a cyber-attack on some petrochemical and other companies in Iran on Sept. 21, although a state body in charge of cyber security denied there had been a “successful” attack. Zanganeh explained that these precautions are necessary in light of the US sanctions on Iran and the comprehensive economic war, which Tehran accuses Washington of waging against it. Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in an interview with NBC that there is an ongoing cyber war between Iran and the United States. He referred to Stuxnet, a malicious computer worm that is widely believed to be have been made by the US and Israel. "There is a cyber war going on. The United States started that cyber war, with attacking our nuclear facilities in a very dangerous, irresponsible way that could've killed millions of people," he said. "There is a cyber war and Iran is engaged in it,” he added, warning the United States from not being able to finish any war it starts against Iran. Minister of Information and Communications Technology Mohammad-Javad Azari Jahromi, for his part, has earlier said that Iran is facing cyber-terrorism such as Stuxnet. Iran has long been on alert for cyber threats after the United States and Israel covertly sabotaged Iran’s nuclear program in 2009 and 2010 with the Stuxnet computer virus, which destroyed Iranian centrifuges that were enriching uranium.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1925086/irans-oil-facilities-full-alert-amid-fears-cyber-war
Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan to Discuss Different Approach to GERD Issue
Arab World
cairo- Mohammed Abdo Hasanein
The Grand Renaissance Dam hydroelectric project in Ethiopia. (AFP)
After a heated week that witnessed an escalation between Egypt and Ethiopia, an independent scientific group from both countries as well as Sudan will start meeting on Monday in Khartoum hoping to find a consensual way out of the dispute over filling and operating Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). The spokesman of Egypt's Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources, Mohamed al-Sibai told Asharq Al-Awsat that the scientific committee is made up of five specialized experts from the three countries. The meeting will be crucial in discussing each country's proposals on the rules of filling and operating the dam. It will be followed by a meeting of Irrigation Ministers of the three countries on October 4 and 5 to approve the topics to be agreed upon. The Khartoum meeting comes after the failure of the last round of negotiations, held in Cairo, which included the countries’ Irrigation Ministers. The meeting did not address the technical aspects and was limited to procedural details without discussing substantive issues. Ethiopia refuses to discuss the offer that Egypt has already submitted to the two countries. Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan have been negotiating for nearly eight years, without reaching any result. Egypt fears that the dam will damage its limited share of the Nile water, about 55.5 billion cubic meters, which the country needs for more than 90 percent for its supply of drinking water, irrigation for agriculture, and industry. Over the past few days, Egypt and Ethiopia have sought to convince the international community of the validity of their respective positions and blamed the failure of negotiations on the other's intransigence. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, during his UN General Assembly address in New York, called for international intervention in the negotiations over Ethiopia’s Great Renaissance Dam. Sisi said the international community should play a “constructive role” in urging all parties to be flexible in the negotiations over the dam, in order to reach an agreement that achieves a common interest for all. Egypt’s Foreign Ministry held extensive meetings over the month with European, Arab, and African ministers in Cairo to brief them on the recent developments of the negotiations. The Ministry noted that the Egyptian proposal for filling and operating the GERD is fair, balanced, and enables Ethiopia to achieve the purpose of the Renaissance Dam, which is to generate electricity. The proposal further noted that the operation of the Dam should be done without harming the water interests of the downstream countries, especially Egypt, which depends completely on the Nile to meet its water needs. Speaking at the 74th UN General Assembly, Ethiopia’s president Sahle-Work Zewde responded to Egypt’s call for international intervention in the ongoing Nile dam dispute. The President noted that some 65 million Ethiopians do not have access to electricity, cautioning that the River Nile should not be an object of competition and mistrust, adding the dam project offered a unique opportunity for all the countries along the river to co-operate to share the waters. In 2011, Addis Ababa announced the construction of the $4 billion dam to be the centerpiece of Ethiopia’s bid to become Africa’s biggest power exporter, generating more than 6,000 megawatts.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1925066/egypt-ethiopia-sudan-discuss-different-approach-gerd-issue
Time for Europe to Close Ranks Against Iran’s Threats
Opinion
Bobby Ghosh
Bobby Ghosh -
The scales are finally falling from European eyes on Iran. In a joint statement on Monday, Germany, France and Britain held the Islamic Republic responsible for the recent attacks on Saudi Aramco facilities, adding that “no other explanation is plausible.”, At the United Nations General Assembly in New York, European leaders used their meetings with President Hassan Rouhani to pile on pressure. France’s President Emmanuel Macron urged him to meet with US President Donald Trump; Rouhani, under strict instructions from his boss, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, demurred. He trotted out the usual preconditions for talks with the US — a return to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and an end to sanctions — even though these were already a dead letter. To make matters worse for Tehran, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson endorsed Trump’s view that Iran should make a new deal with world powers, covering not only its nuclear ambitions — the remit of the JCPOA — but also other threats that it poses. In response, Iran professed to be upset with the Europeans, accusing them of lacking the “strength or willpower to counter US bullying.” This reaction is, to say the least, uncharitable. Since Trump pulled the U.S. out of the JCPOA last year, the European signatories have given every appearance of wanting to honor their end of the bargain with Iran. First, they urged Europe-based companies to keep investing in Iran, even invoking a European Union statute forbidding them “from complying with the extraterritorial effects of US sanctions.” When that failed, they created a workaround, a “special purpose vehicle” to protect trade with Iran from the sanctions. The Europeans also haven’t stopped pressing Trump to ease his “maximum pressure” campaign against the Islamic Republic. In recent weeks, Macron has taken the lead, proposing a package that includes a $15 billion line of credit. Meanwhile, the Europeans have adopted an indulgent attitude toward Iran’s atrocious behavior — its attacks on oil tankers in the Persian Gulf, its defiance of EU sanctions against giving material assistance to the genocidal regime in Syria, even its brazen capture of European nationals for use as hostages. They expressed only mild reproach at the regime’s breach of uranium-enrichment limits imposed by the JCPOA. But given the regime’s penchant for escalating provocation, it was bound to test the limits of European sympathy, and then to go a step too far. That happened with the attacks on Saudi Arabia’s most important oil installations — which were in effect an assault on the world economy. Trump may have helped the European change of heart by his repeated offers of talks with Rouhani — without preconditions. His firing of Iran hawk John Bolton as national security adviser also eased any lingering suspicions that the president was looking for an excuse to go to war with the Islamic Republic. What next for the Europeans? France’s president remains keen to play intermediary, but Khamenei’s treatment of the last world leader to try — Japan’s Shinzo Abe — should temper Macron’s optimism. Even as Abe was visiting Tehran with hopes of opening discussions, the Iranians engineered an attack on a Japanese-flagged oil tanker. To rub it in, Khamenei embarrassed his guest by claiming, in a tweet, that Abe agreed with the Iranian view of the US. The supreme leader is not man for subtlety, and he will need a more forceful demonstration that the Europeans will no longer tolerate his hostile behavior. The quickest way to do this is to join the US effort to protect the sea lanes and oil infrastructure in and around the Persian Gulf. Britain is already signed up for some of the naval duties, and Johnson has said he’s open to helping Saudi Arabia guard its infrastructure from Iranian attack. The other Europeans should follow suit and close the Western ranks against the Iranian threat to commerce and trade. They should also signal an end to their tolerance for the regime’s nuclear brinkmanship. Iran’s breach of enrichment limits gives the JCPOA’s signatories cause enough to impose their own economic sanctions. These may not add much bite to the American sanctions, but the symbolism would be useful. For Iran, the loss of European indulgence leaves only the two other JCPOA signatories, China and Russia. But the regime in Tehran has long known not to expect too much material support from those quarters: That is why Iran has never pressured them to try to save the nuclear deal with the urgency it has brought to bear on the Europeans. It cannot have escaped Iranian attention that neither Beijing nor Moscow has bent over to create a special purpose vehicle to circumvent American sanctions. If the loss of Western sympathy now compels a desperate regime to demand more of its eastern and northern friends, it will almost certainly meet with more disappointment. Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin may criticize Trump’s abrogation of the nuclear deal, but Chinese and Russian companies have little enthusiasm to run the gamut of American — and hopefully, European — economic sanctions on Iran. (Bloomberg)
from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1925021/bobby-ghosh/time-europe-close-ranks-against-iran%E2%80%99s-threats
Lebanon: Salameh Says New Circular to Reduce Pressure on Dollar Demand
Business
Asharq Al-Awsat
FILE PHOTO: Lebanon's Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh speaks during an interview with Reuters in Beirut.
Lebanon's Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh said on Monday that a circular is set to be issued on Tuesday to reduce the pressure on US dollar demand at currency exchange offices. Salameh's announcement came after a meeting he held with President Michel Aoun. He said the central bank was securing the foreign currency needs of the private and public sectors and would "continue in that according to the fixed prices that will be announced without any change," Reuters reported. The circular will organize "securing dollars for the banks at the official rate declared by the central bank to secure imports of petrol, medicine and flour", Salameh said. The Lebanese pound has been pegged at the rate of 1,507.5 to the dollar for more than two decades. On Sunday, protesters took to the streets in demonstrations against the deteriorating conditions and the economic and financial crisis. Tires were set ablaze on several major roads in Beirut, paralyzing the capital. “We went down to demand to live with dignity. We want to say to the MPs, the ministers, and all the ruling class that if they don’t want to give back what they stole, they should at least stop stealing so the people can live,” one protester in Beirut said, attacking Lebanese leaders over state corruption, according to Reuters. Lebanon won pledges of $11 billion to finance a major investment program to revive the economy at a Paris conference last year, however, donors first want to see the state implement reforms to put the public finances on a sustainable path. Funds pledged at that have yet to be released.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1925006/lebanon-salameh-says-new-circular-reduce-pressure-dollar-demand
Libya: Haftar’s Forces Strike GNA Militias in Sirte for 2nd Day
Arab World
Cairo - Khalid Mahmoud
Men walk in front of Rixos hotel damaged by a rocket in Tripoli, Libya May 24, 2019. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic/File Photo
The Libyan National Army, led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, struck for the second day in a row positions held by militias loyal to the Government of National Accord in the coastal city of Sirte. GNA head Fayez al-Sarraj, who considers himself the military commander, admitted for the first time that there is no army in the country. Sarraj deplored the ugly truth, “there is no army in Libya”, adding that attempts continue to rebuild the military institution as he expressed confidence that the US ally could be helpful in this regard. He accused Haftar of crippling the political process following his offensive on Tripoli on April 4. Victory is a matter of time and Haftar’s wish to enter Tripoli is inconceivable, he affirmed. LNA’s Karama operations media center announced Sunday that in the past two days, militia positions and headquarters suffered huge material and human losses due to the strikes. Sirte Protection Force (SPF), which is loyal to Sarraj, admitted that three airstrikes had struck the city. Local media channels quoted SPF Commander Al-Naas Abdullah as saying that gate 17 in the city’s east was targeted by four airstrikes with no human losses. This is the second attack in a row, following a series of airstrikes on positions belonging to SPF and another civilian facility that left two people dead and five injured.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1924996/libya-haftar%E2%80%99s-forces-strike-gna-militias-sirte-2nd-day
Tel Aviv - Asharq Al-Awsat
A general view of the Sinai Peninsula, south of Cairo, Egypt (File photo: Reuters)
The Egyptian authorities have returned the Israeli tourist to his home after he went missing last week in Egypt’s western desert region on the border with Libya. Aviv Slobodkin, 26, had been traveling in Egypt’s western desert region since the beginning of this month, according to his family. The family announced that their son returned to his home safe, on Sunday, without giving details as to why he disappeared and how he returned. The young man traveled to Egypt early last month and maintained continuous contact with his family, however on Sunday, he said he had arrived in an area called “Farfara” and that he intended to go to Cairo immediately afterward. It was the last time his family heard from him and Israeli police announced Slobodkin as missing and called on citizens to help find him. His sister, Marina, said that the Egyptian authorities found Slobodkin in Sinai and that he lost contact due to a malfunction in phone signals and couldn’t call anyone, however, he is okay and was not hurt. Earlier, anti-terrorism unit in the Israeli Prime Minister's Office issued a warning banning Jewish Israelis from entering Egyptian territory in general and Sinai in particular because of a real danger it posed to their lives.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1924961/egypt-authorities-return-lost-israeli-tourist
Iranian Opposition Launches ‘Transitional Phase' to Overcome Regime
Iran
London - Asharq Al-Awsat
Secretary General of the Constitutionalist Party of Iran–Liberal Democrat delivers a speech during a conference in London on Saturday, September 28, 2019.
Iranian opposition groups announced Saturday the launch of a new party to manage the "transitional period” and act as an alternative transitional government for Tehran's political regime. The new party organized a two-day founding conference in central London to adopt a plan for “managing the transitional period.” It is headed by activist opposition politician, Hassan Shariatmadari, who stressed in his opening speech the importance of working to overcome the current regime. He called on Iranians to unify their anti-regime protests, urging them to “break restrictions” and continue to exert efforts to steer away from the current administration. Shariatmadari addressed their concerns over the alternative for the current regime, which he said is responsible for “isolating” the Iranians and depriving them of “progress and democracy.” “We want to be the voice for the Iranian people and help them combat the regime,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat. Shariatmadari said that the option to acknowledge Iranians has been forgotten by international parties, while they were busy choosing between imposing maximum pressure on Iran or waging a war. “This option should be taken into consideration because the people are capable of overthrowing the regime if you support recognizing representatives of the Iranians and their voice,” he stressed, adding that any negotiations that do no lead to regime change will be rejected. He said the transitional administration will manage “civil resistance and communication with the Iranians,” adding that it will also communicate with international parties through the International Contact Group in the administration. “We want to send ambassadors of goodwill and peace to the region,” Shariatmadari revealed, stressing that talks have already begun with European and American parties. Addressing Iran’s neighbors, he said: “There is no animosity between us. We want to coexist with you and reach economic and security cooperation in the Middle East.” The new party is formed of ten working groups and 11 secretaries. Its managing committee is comprised of 35 activists and opposition figures, including 14 who are in Iran. Organizers of the conference revealed the Iranian embassy in Britain had exerted diplomatic pressure on the Royal Institution of Great Britain to change the conference’s location. Separately, the Constitutionalist Party of Iran–Liberal Democrat discussed during its annual conference the situation in Iran and the demands of the next phase, in light of the increasing popular discontent with the regime. Secretary General, Haideh Tavackoli, said the party “seeks the best and least dangerous future for Iran as a basis for constructive cooperation with other forces, whether they agree or oppose the party’s visions and ideas.”
from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1924926/iranian-opposition-launches-%E2%80%98transitional-phase-overcome-regime
French Roadmap to Implement CEDRE Decisions in Lebanon
Arab World
Beirut - Khalil Fleihan
The Zouk power plant is seen in Zouk, north of Beirut, Lebanon March 27, 2019. Reuters
A French diplomat said that Paris is expecting from Lebanon to take several measures by the end of this year for the release of soft loans and grants pledged to the country at the CEDRE conference held last year. A French roadmap is considered “binding” for the delivery of pledges made by Paris during a meeting held ten days ago between French President Emmanuel Macron and Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, the diplomat told Asharq Al-Awsat in remarks published Monday. The roadmap requires Beirut to approve the 2020 state budget and pass a series of necessary reforms, particularly in the electricity sector. Macron had affirmed that "France will always remain committed to fulfilling its commitments to implementing the resolutions approved at the CEDRE conference,” held in Paris in April 2018. According to the source, there are ongoing contacts between Beirut and Paris to solve a problem on the establishment of a steering committee tasked with drawing up conditions for any project that Lebanon plans to propose before being transferred to Parliament for approval. The diplomatic source said Paris insists on forming a committee represented by France, Britain, Canada, Jordan, the European Investment Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Lebanese premiership and the deputy PM, chairman of the Supreme Commission for Privatization, the Council for Development and Reconstruction and the Central Inspection. The French proposal came after Hariri suggested that the committee includes only him as Prime Minister, the Council for Development and Reconstruction and the Higher Relief Commission, explaining that Lebanon would be quicker in forming the committee with fewer members. However, according to the source, France reiterated that Lebanon should respect the original membership of the committee, which is required to assure transparency. “Paris is well informed that Lebanon has prepared four projects that should be transferred to CEDRE when the zero hour is determined to start implementing the decisions of the donor conference,” the source said, adding that the first phase would kick off in mid-November.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1924901/french-roadmap-implement-cedre-decisions-lebanon
Tunisia: 'Takfiri' Arrested for Plotting to Stab Security, Military Forces
Arab World
Tunis - Mongi Saidani
Tunisian security forces. (AFP)
Tunisia's counter-terrorism forces arrested a Takfiri who was plotting to stab security and military members in Sousse. The suspect, 24, resides in Hammam Sousse. Investigations proved that he endorses extremist intellect and had pledged allegiance to ISIS. In his initial confessions, the suspect considered Tunisia as a “land of jihad” where offensives against security forces and the army are permitted. He went further describing them as “devils” and called for attacking foreign tourists. The suspect admitted he was communicating with a takfiri member from Kalaa Seghira, Sousse province, and the two were planning to conduct stabbings against the army and security forces. He is now facing the charge of joining a terrorist organization, the counter-terrorism forces said. After raiding his house, his family confessed that he was trying to impose a strange pattern of living on family members through banning them from watching the television and obliging them to wear Afghani clothing. Sousse, a touristic city, was a victim of the most terrifying terrorist attacks on June 26, 2015 when one of the Tunisian hotels was attacked by Seif Eddine Rizki, killing 39 tourists. In less than one month, Tunisia witnessed four stabbings against security and military members. The charge was launched against terrorist members who pledged allegiance to ISIS and are operating as “lone wolves”. The most recent attack was against Bizerte (60km to the north of the capital) at the beginning of this week when Malik al-Thawadi stabbed to death Head of the security office in Bizerte's Court of Appeal and injured a military member.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1924891/tunisia-takfiri-arrested-plotting-stab-security-military-forces
