US Okays military helicopters for Lebanon: report
Washington has approved the transfer of Huey II military helicopters for Lebanon, the U.S. newspaper World Tribune has...
Wednesday, 24 September 2014
US Okays military helicopters for Lebanon: report
US Okays military helicopters for Lebanon: report
Washington has approved the transfer of Huey II military helicopters for Lebanon, the U.S. newspaper World Tribune has...
Erdogan promises Salam to help secure hostages’ release
Doubts cast over strike on Khorasan
The U.S. says it has hit a little-known group called “Khorasan” in Syria, but experts and activists argue it actually...
Prisoner swap with militants possible: Machnouk
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s interior minister said Wednesday for the first time that the government was not opposed to a prisoner swap with the ISIS and the Nusra Front, as the families of captive soldiers brought the country to a standstill by blocking a major highway between Beirut and the Bekaa Valley.
“A trade-off is possible,” Nouhad Machnouk said, shifting away from the government’s prior decision to suspend negotiations after Nusra and ISIS militants began executing soldiers in an effort to pressure the government to meet its requests.
Machnouk spoke to news outlets before flying to Paris, where he is set to meet Future Movement leader, former Prime Minister Saad Hariri.
More than 30 soldiers and policemen were captured by Nusra and ISIS militants during an armed attack on the northeastern border town of Arsal last month.
The two groups are said to be holding at least 21 captives. To date, the militants have beheaded two soldiers and shot another.
ISIS has asked for the release of Islamists detained in Roumieh prison, while Nusra are demanding protection for Syrian refugees and the opening of a safe passage for civilians into and out of Arsal.
The Army is wary of allowing free passage from Arsal to the outskirts, where the militants are hiding, for fear that they could receive food and aid from the town.
The government’s turnaround came a day after Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah declared that he was not opposed in principle to a prisoner swap. The militants have claimed in the past that Hezbollah is obstructing the negotiations for the release of the prisoners.
It also occurred as the families of the hostages escalated their protests at the government’s inaction by blocking a key thoroughfare from Beirut to the Bekaa Valley.
The protesters burned tires and erected tents in Dahr al-Baidar and before the village of Aley on the Beirut-Damascus highway.
They also partially blocked the Tarshish-Zahle road and vowed to completely block it Thursday if the government did not take action to free the captives.
The blocking of the roads came after pledges to step up protests to pressure the government into negotiating with their captors, and aimed to isolate the Bekaa from the capital and Mount Lebanon.
“We hold the government responsible for what has happened and for what might happen in the future,” said the sister of a captive soldier. She appealed to rival Lebanese politicians to act quickly to resolve the issue, calling for swapping the captive personnel with Islamist detainees held in Roumieh prison, the main demand of the militants.
“Beware of the anger of the mothers. ... We want you to secure the liberation of our sons quickly,” one of the captives’ father said.
The interior minister expressed his sympathy to the families of the hostages who had blocked the arterial roads, but said that such protests do not influence the terrorists who are holding their sons hostage.
Machnouk condemned the killing of abducted Army soldier Mohammad Hamieh who was executed by Nusra militants last week and slammed last week’s roadside bombing that killed two Army soldiers in Arsal, saying the incidents are acts of terror that serve to disrupt negotiations.
Such acts targeting the Army and security forces “blatantly contradict internal and foreign efforts to find a solution to secure the return of the captives,” he said.
The persistence of terrorist assaults, according to Machnouk, proves the underlying intent of inciting sectarian strife in Lebanon in general and the Bekaa in particular.
Escalating sectarian tensions in the region “facilitates the implementation of the large conspiracy plotted against Lebanon and its people,” he said.
The interior minister called on the people of the Bekaa and the Lebanese in general, to form a unified and cohesive front in order to foil terrorist plans.
Speaking to the families of the victims, Machnouk said that “the blood of their children would not go to waste.”
The suffering of both the hostages and their families are a national responsibility and the hostage crisis will require time, said the interior minister, expressing hope that the detained would return unharmed.
But tensions in the Bekaa Valley were matched by Tripoli where unnamed militants opened fire at Army posts in Bab al-Tabbaneh, Syria Street and Barad al-Bisar, read a statement released by the Lebanese Army late Wednesday.
One soldier incurred a minor wound in his leg as a result of the Bab al-Tabbaneh attack. The soldier was rushed to the hospital for treatment.
According to the statement, soldiers at all three Army posts fired back at the militants and launched a chase in an attempt to seize the perpetrators.
The Army also cordoned off the Barad al-Bisar area and barred any cars from entering or leaving the area, a security source told The Daily Star.
However, it remains unclear whether the soldiers were capable of detaining any of the gunmen. The attacks happened at separate times throughout the day.
Why President Obama Is in New York
After the President's address at the United Nations General Assembly this morning, Secretary of State John Kerry sent the following message to the White House email list.
Didn't get the email? Make sure you're signed up to receive updates from the White House and senior Administration officials.
Good afternoon,
Each and every year, the world's leaders gather in New York for a session of the United Nations General Assembly. Earlier today, President Obama spoke to them directly in an address that warrants the attention not only of those leaders, but of all Americans. It was clear, candid, and compelling. The President talked about the world as it is, and the world as we all hope it can be.
The President said that, for all the hard-won progress we see in the world, there is also what he today called a "pervasive unease."
A deadly Ebola outbreak ravaging West Africa, Russian aggression in Ukraine, and the group of medieval murdering terrorists known as ISIL, which, left unchecked, could pose a growing threat beyond the region -- including our homeland.
So when President Obama addressed the leaders of more than 140 nations this morning, he posed two fundamental questions that will help define both the world's future and our own: Can the major powers set aside their differences and meet their responsibilities as leaders? And can the world reject the cancer of violent extremism?
Army needs written guarantees to ensure success
The words of Prime Minister Tammam Salam and other politicians about supporting the Lebanese Army are all well and good, high-ranking security sources have told The Daily Star, but wishes and statements alone won’t liberate the captured soldiers or defeat the terrorists.
The Army and security forces need to receive written guarantees issued by the Cabinet, the sources said. In the past, the government of former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora gave guarantees to then-Army commander Michel Sleiman that enabled him to use all means to abolish the phenomenon of the extremist Islamist group Fatah al-Islam in the northern Palestinian camp of Nahr al-Bared. This time, guarantees should be issued that would allow the Army to do whatever is necessary to liberate the security personnel captured during the battle for Arsal in early August.
If this is done, it would prevent the obstruction of any operation that the Army starts, and would boost the military’s ability to undertake the task entrusted to it by the Supreme Defense Council: preserving security in all of Lebanon.
The sources expressed fear that a failure to give such assurances might lead to unfortunate developments that would not be in the interest of the Lebanese state and would decrease the chances of the soldiers being released.
In contrast to rumors that the Lebanese Army doesn’t have enough strength to defeat the terrorists in Arsal, the sources said that the facts on the ground indicate the opposite. The latest development that led to a number of terrorists in Arsal being killed was thanks to the Lebanese Army using a high-tech drone to fire a rocket at one of the militants’ bases.
The weather factor will also play a large role in determining events in the next few weeks, according to the sources, a factor which applies to all sides. However, the Army’s decision to close most of the supply passages and prevent aid and other vital items reaching the militants will affect their capability to resist so strongly.
Concerning the issue of the captured, the sources said that kidnappers were still keeping their hostages in Arsal and its perimeter, and were not in the outskirts as some believe.
They also claimed that only one call had been made between the kidnappers’ representatives and the chief negotiator dispatched by Qatar, showing that what has been said about ongoing talks and contacts with the kidnappers over the issue is inaccurate, even if certain statements indicate otherwise.
The sources think the countries Lebanon has so far relied upon to help with this matter – namely Turkey and Qatar – are no longer available to assist, likely due to the fact that they are now participants in the anti-terrorism international alliance being built to crush ISIS.
The sources denied knowing of any plans in the works to release the 21 soldiers and policemen, saying that it all depended on the behavior of ISIS and the Nusra Front.
They should succumb to Lebanon’s demand that they stop killing captives before negotiations can be resumed, the sources said.
Fleeing ISIS, but fearing the weather
DEIR AL-AHMAR, Lebanon: Abu Ahmad, a Syrian refugee with a toothless smile, sucked on a cigarette at the edge of the crude tented settlement he now calls home. “In Raqqa, they would have cut my fingers off for this,” he said. “For this, I would be a kaffir [apostate],” he said, inhaling deeply. Abu Ahmad and approximately 400 other refugees fled Raqqa after ISIS took over the town and implemented their strict interpretation of Islamic law. Now spread across fifteen camps on the outskirts of Deir al-Ahmar in North Bekaa, the refugees said that while the butchery of ISIS is well behind them, they have a new, even less discriminate foe in Lebanon: the elements.
“We’re scared of the cold and the rain,” said Taher, as the mountain winds whipped up the corners of his red checkered kiffeyeh. When the rain begins to fall in a few weeks’ time, the fallow field where they have set up a makeshift camp will turn to mud.
“When the rain comes, we’ll be lost. The ground will turn to mud up to our knees,” said Abu Ahmad.
While ill-prepared for the cold, the refugees agreed that even the harshest winter in Lebanon is preferable to ISIS rule in Raqqa.
“Here, there is rain and cold, but there you’ll get your head cut off,” said Abu Khaled. He described how ISIS had mounted a human head on a pole in the center of the town, threatening anyone who moved it with the same fate.
Ali, a wiry young man who was acting as a camp leader, said he was arrested by ISIS patrols after he was caught walking around during prayer time.
He said he was regularly beaten during the 10 days he spent in prison. “They beat me at dawn and at sunset, and forced me to read the Quran all day,” Ali told The Daily Star. His captors, he said, were not Syrian.
According to Abu Ahmad, Islamists from all over the globe now control Raqqa. “There were French, Americans and British people there. All sorts of Europeans,” he said.
Ahmad, a stooped, older man, said ISIS militants had arrested his 12-year-old son for not carrying an ID. Ahmad paid more than $300 to have him released. “If I had not paid, he would have been lost,” said Ahmad. “They were trying to get him to fight with them.”
Women said that they had been forced to wear niqabs and gloves in public or their husbands would be beaten or fined.
“If you’re not wearing it [niqab] they’ll bring in your husband or brother or beat him,” said Hourieh, a woman in one of the camps.
Taher said he was stopped by an ISIS patrol while riding with his wife on his motorcycle, because her face was not fully covered. “They gave me a ticket,” he said.
But Taher, like many refugees in the camp, left his wife and some of his children behind in Raqqa.
“If everybody leaves the house, ISIS comes in and they’ll take everything,” explained Abu Ahmad.
Under ISIS, women rarely leave their homes; they are not permitted to do so without a close male relative. “We just stayed in the house,” said Mariam, sitting on a mattress in her makeshift tent. “They didn’t let us do anything.”
Many of the men are trying to earn money picking crops in Deir al-Ahmar to support their families in Raqqa. They say they opted to come to Lebanon, instead of Turkey, because some had previously worked as seasonal agricultural laborers in the Bekaa Valley
Still, they worry for their family members still living under ISIS rule. The militant group, several refugees said, launches rockets at Syrian warplanes from crowded residential neighborhoods with little regard for the casualties inflicted when the regime jets inevitably return fire.
“When the warplanes come to hit [ISIS] fighters, where are they? They’re in front of our houses,” said Mohammad, another Raqqa native.
“They never launch attacks [against the regime] from military bases. They launch attacks from civilian neighborhoods,” said Abu Ahmed, nodding in agreement.
Ultimately, most refugees say dire economic circumstances in Raqqa, rather than ISIS brutality, forced them to leave the town.
The Raqqa they describe, where water, electricity and food are in short supply, contrasts starkly with the propaganda videos ISIS circulates online which strive to show the city as the fully functioning capital of their so-called caliphate.
“There was very little work, and we didn’t have enough money to get food,” said Taher.
“You couldn’t even buy bread. The price of bread quadrupled,” agreed Abu Ahmad.
The prospect of ISIS crossing the border into Lebanon also worries some of the refugees who have been following the news in Arsal closely.
ISIS is currently holding several soldiers hostage on the outskirts of Arsal and has already beheaded two.
“We’re trying to get away from them,” Mariam said. “Now we’re scared they’ll come here.”
The refugees expressed skepticism that airstrikes, executed this week by the U.S. in cooperation with the Gulf states, against ISIS targets in Raqqa would lead to a long-term solution.
“We support anything that will end the war. We just want to go home,” Abu Ahmad said.
“We just want peace,” Ali said.
The coming winter weighs much heavier on their minds than ISIS or U.S. airstrikes. “We have no wood, we have no roofing, there’s no water, there’s nothing,” Ali said.
“The rain, it will soak us right through,” he said, pointing to the thin, permeable fabric which constituted his roof.
“We need things to cover our roofs,” said Bashir, a Syrian refugee who manages one of the camps.
“When it rains, everything will be destroyed: our mattresses, our clothing,” Abu Ahmad said. “The rain could start any day now.”
Fleeing ISIS, but fearing the weather
DEIR AL-AHMAR, Lebanon: Abu Ahmad, a Syrian refugee with a toothless smile, sucked on a cigarette at the edge of the crude tented settlement he now calls home. “In Raqqa, they would have cut my fingers off for this,” he said. “For this, I would be a kaffir [apostate],” he said, inhaling deeply. Abu Ahmad and approximately 400 other refugees fled Raqqa after ISIS took over the town and implemented their strict interpretation of Islamic law. Now spread across fifteen camps on the outskirts of Deir al-Ahmar in North Bekaa, the refugees said that while the butchery of ISIS is well behind them, they have a new, even less discriminate foe in Lebanon: the elements.
“We’re scared of the cold and the rain,” said Taher, as the mountain winds whipped up the corners of his red checkered kiffeyeh. When the rain begins to fall in a few weeks’ time, the fallow field where they have set up a makeshift camp will turn to mud.
“When the rain comes, we’ll be lost. The ground will turn to mud up to our knees,” said Abu Ahmad.
While ill-prepared for the cold, the refugees agreed that even the harshest winter in Lebanon is preferable to ISIS rule in Raqqa.
“Here, there is rain and cold, but there you’ll get your head cut off,” said Abu Khaled. He described how ISIS had mounted a human head on a pole in the center of the town, threatening anyone who moved it with the same fate.
Ali, a wiry young man who was acting as a camp leader, said he was arrested by ISIS patrols after he was caught walking around during prayer time.
He said he was regularly beaten during the 10 days he spent in prison. “They beat me at dawn and at sunset, and forced me to read the Quran all day,” Ali told The Daily Star. His captors, he said, were not Syrian.
According to Abu Ahmad, Islamists from all over the globe now control Raqqa. “There were French, Americans and British people there. All sorts of Europeans,” he said.
Ahmad, a stooped, older man, said ISIS militants had arrested his 12-year-old son for not carrying an ID. Ahmad paid more than $300 to have him released. “If I had not paid, he would have been lost,” said Ahmad. “They were trying to get him to fight with them.”
Women said that they had been forced to wear niqabs and gloves in public or their husbands would be beaten or fined.
“If you’re not wearing it [niqab] they’ll bring in your husband or brother or beat him,” said Hourieh, a woman in one of the camps.
Taher said he was stopped by an ISIS patrol while riding with his wife on his motorcycle, because her face was not fully covered. “They gave me a ticket,” he said.
But Taher, like many refugees in the camp, left his wife and some of his children behind in Raqqa.
“If everybody leaves the house, ISIS comes in and they’ll take everything,” explained Abu Ahmad.
Under ISIS, women rarely leave their homes; they are not permitted to do so without a close male relative. “We just stayed in the house,” said Mariam, sitting on a mattress in her makeshift tent. “They didn’t let us do anything.”
Many of the men are trying to earn money picking crops in Deir al-Ahmar to support their families in Raqqa. They say they opted to come to Lebanon, instead of Turkey, because some had previously worked as seasonal agricultural laborers in the Bekaa Valley
Still, they worry for their family members still living under ISIS rule. The militant group, several refugees said, launches rockets at Syrian warplanes from crowded residential neighborhoods with little regard for the casualties inflicted when the regime jets inevitably return fire.
“When the warplanes come to hit [ISIS] fighters, where are they? They’re in front of our houses,” said Mohammad, another Raqqa native.
“They never launch attacks [against the regime] from military bases. They launch attacks from civilian neighborhoods,” said Abu Ahmed, nodding in agreement.
Ultimately, most refugees say dire economic circumstances in Raqqa, rather than ISIS brutality, forced them to leave the town.
The Raqqa they describe, where water, electricity and food are in short supply, contrasts starkly with the propaganda videos ISIS circulates online which strive to show the city as the fully functioning capital of their so-called caliphate.
“There was very little work, and we didn’t have enough money to get food,” said Taher.
“You couldn’t even buy bread. The price of bread quadrupled,” agreed Abu Ahmad.
The prospect of ISIS crossing the border into Lebanon also worries some of the refugees who have been following the news in Arsal closely.
ISIS is currently holding several soldiers hostage on the outskirts of Arsal and has already beheaded two.
“We’re trying to get away from them,” Mariam said. “Now we’re scared they’ll come here.”
The refugees expressed skepticism that airstrikes, executed this week by the U.S. in cooperation with the Gulf states, against ISIS targets in Raqqa would lead to a long-term solution.
“We support anything that will end the war. We just want to go home,” Abu Ahmad said.
“We just want peace,” Ali said.
The coming winter weighs much heavier on their minds than ISIS or U.S. airstrikes. “We have no wood, we have no roofing, there’s no water, there’s nothing,” Ali said.
“The rain, it will soak us right through,” he said, pointing to the thin, permeable fabric which constituted his roof.
“We need things to cover our roofs,” said Bashir, a Syrian refugee who manages one of the camps.
“When it rains, everything will be destroyed: our mattresses, our clothing,” Abu Ahmad said. “The rain could start any day now.”
Nurturing tolerance and mental well-being
BEIRUT: It is often forgotten that schools are important not just for a traditional education that leads to a job, but also to help foster a child’s mental well-being, a subject that is often ignored or sidelined due to a lack of understanding. The Institute for Development Research Advocacy and Applied Care, is plunging headfirst into the sensitive issue to ensure Syrian and Lebanese students are given the tools they need to deal with the challenges facing Lebanon today.
The result was “Turning Teachers into Educators of Tolerance and Conflict Resolution,” an initiative which has been rolled out with 17 teachers from 13 different public schools across Lebanon, with the aim of reducing tension and violence, and increasing tolerance among more than 1,300 Syrian refugee and Lebanese students.
The initiative took place during the 2013-14 school year with 442 classroom sessions in grades four to seven, and is the result of a collaboration with the Education Ministry and funding from the U.S.
“The brain is highly vulnerable in the years of childhood and adolescence,” explained Elie Karam, IDRAAC’s president, at a conference Wednesday entitled “The Mind Does Not Forget,” where the results of the project were announced.
Providing the right environment for children to grow during these phases is vital because they “don’t forget the stresses at home and elsewhere,” he added.
The teachers, who were subjected to three training sessions before applying the acquired skills and activities with the students in classes, were chosen carefully.
“[The choice was] related to how psychologically minded they were, how popular they were with the children and how ready and motivated they themselves were to apply the program,” explained Caroline Cordahi Tabet, a child and adolescent clinical psychologist at St. Georges Hospital University Medical Center.
Over 13 weekly sessions, teachers were tasked with developing the students’ ability to cope with stress and limit their aggression toward one another using a schedule set by IDRAAC. In each session the students partook in a range of activities, including reading stories, building puzzles or learning breathing techniques for high-stress situations.
Communication skills, teamwork spirit and increasing tolerance were key.
The fact that most of the children targeted had not yet reached puberty made it easier for them to acquire these skills, the report noted, something which was noticeable in the project’s results.
Some 88 percent of the teachers believed the project improved various aspects of their students’ behavior, and all agreed it helped effect a positive change. Following the intervention session, teachers estimated that inter-student support increased from 2.9 percent to 42.4 percent.
Such an initiative is particularly important at the moment, as Lebanon struggles to cope with more than 1.2 million Syrian refugees and social tensions are on the rise.
“The project stems from a mission to disseminate information and programs related to mental health into communities who need it the most,” IDRAAC’s child and adolescent psychiatrist John Fayyad explained, adding that cases of conflict have been reported in private and public schools and between the host communities and the refugees and their families.
“The thing you want to do is to try to build skills among children to improve their ability to coexist with each other and to diminish the amount of tension.”
Speaking to The Daily Star ahead of the conference, Fayyad explained that planning such mental health interventions was a difficult task that required a lot of work.
“In this particular project we wanted to reach a very large number of students so we developed a program in which we trained teachers,” he said.
Although the ongoing Syrian crisis, the influx of refugees, and the various trauma and stress-related cases have taken up much of the news, such issues were not the only reason the organization had decided to take this step.
Fayyad explained that aggression had been apparent among Lebanese students even before the Syrian refugees starting coming to Lebanon.
“We’ve done these types of projects ... before the Syrian refugee crisis,” he explained. “These are types of skills that are needed for every type of child and in all types of settings.”
Before children become teenagers is the age at which they will take such skills seriously, Fayyad said.
“They are old enough to understand them, yet not old enough where they have [already] built a lot of bad habits,” he said, adding that it would be more difficult to break these new habits.
Palestinians arrested while attempting to reach Italy
BEIRUT: Nearly a hundred Palestinians, most of whom were refugees from Syria, were arrested by Lebanese authorities while attempting to travel illegally to Italy, police and a Lebanon-based Palestinian official said.
The Internal Security Forces said it had arrested 108 individuals – 99 Palestinians, eight Lebanese and one Syrian – near the Tripoli port area while they were attempting to leave the country by boat. The migrants included 26 children and 10 women.
The ISF said the individuals were being smuggled from the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp to Tripoli and from there to Italy. The police said they had also arrested a Lebanese man who was part of the gang attempting to smuggle the families.
A Palestinian official told The Daily Star the majority of the migrants were Palestinian refugees from Syria attempting to flee tough conditions in Lebanon. He said one man had sold one of his kidneys in order to finance his ticket out. The official said the families were being held in the Tripoli Serail and interrogated about the smuggling ring.
There are roughly 44,000 Palestinian refugees from Syria in Lebanon, many of whom fled the siege of the Yarmouk refugee camp near Damascus in late 2012. The figure is down from a peak of over 80,000, as families have returned to Syria or been smuggled out of the country to Europe or other nations on the Mediterranean. Many have died while making the journey.
Some have also managed to secure visas to European countries that accept refugees from Syria.
In Lebanon, Palestinians from Syria are especially vulnerable, facing even more restrictions in their access to work than do most Palestinian refugees, who are barred from many professions and cannot own land.
They also face resentment from some in the Palestinian refugee camps, who find their neighborhoods overcrowded because of the influx of refugees from Yarmouk. The camps themselves have never been enlarged since the 1950s. Officials say they face exploitation by employers who can easily cheat them because of their refugee status.
Supply routes key difference between ISIS, Nusra demands
BEIRUT: When the Nusra Front relayed its demands to the wife of captured policeman Ali Bazal this week, she came to a startling realization, one that has already fanned the flames of anger among the families of the captured servicemen blocking roads and burning tires along Bekaa Valley highways.
Their demands were as follows: A humanitarian corridor into Arsal, the release of the detained over the Arsal clashes and compassion toward Syrian refugees – no mention was there of Islamist prisoners, thought to be a key demand sustaining the government’s no-compromise approach.
“I think that was an ISIS demand,” the Nusra militant told Fliti, when she asked about the conspicuous absence of the prisoners.
As reflected in the disparate attitude adopted toward negotiations with the government to free at least 21 soldiers and policemen still in their custody, Nusra and ISIS in Qalamoun harbor starkly distinct interests in Lebanon.
Ensuring unremitting supply routes in Lebanese territories is at the heart of the Nusra’s strategy with its hostages, according to experts and sources close to the group, which explains its consistent alacrity with mediators. ISIS, on the other hand, ultimately seeks to establish a foothold in Lebanon, which is why the release of Islamist prisoners figures so prominently in its demands.
For now, ISIS can afford to pursue ambitious designs on Lebanon because it wields the upper hand logistically in Qalamoun, according to a Syrian source acquainted with the militants and a former mediator responsible for brokering the cease-fire that ended the first round of clashes in Arsal.
“ ISIS is receiving assistance and backing from [the movement’s headquarters in] Iraq,” the source close to the militants, who requested anonymity for safety reasons, told The Daily Star. “Supplies are reaching the [ISIS] militants in Qalamoun through the Alboukamal crossing [between Syria and Iraq].”
The source, who claims to have witnessed the group’s stockpiles in the rugged outskirts of Arsal, said they included “everything” from weapons and ammunition, to food and medicine, as well as new fighters.
The former mediator confided to The Daily Star that ISIS militants were in a “better position” than their less-resourced counterparts. He added that during negotiations, the main two contacts that mediators have with ISIS was Abu Talal, who assumed leadership of Imad Jomaa’s brigade, and the Nusra commander Abu Malek.
It remains to be seen how U.S. strikes targeting ISIS trade routes in Syria might affect supply flows to the area.
The supplies are believed to make their way from Alboukamal to Qalamoun through a “a clear network of routes” that include underground tunnels, according to Mario Abou Zeid, a researcher for the Carnegie Middle East Center, paved by the militant group with the implicit support of the Syrian regime.
“ ISIS established these routes earlier on during the Syrian uprising,” he said. “In certain areas the Assad regime looked the other way and disregarded the transfer of arms and ammunition making its way to the militants, in a way to boost their power in the fight against [Syrian] opposition groups.”
“We know that ISIS has more access to supplies than Nusra [in Qalamoun],” he added. “This is one of the major issues, Nusra is weaker and ISIS has more advanced weaponry from Iraq. This is why for Nusra gaining access to Lebanese territory is crucial; they need to have a presence here for ammunition and supplies.”
Both sources acquainted with the militants, including the former mediator, claimed that ISIS sometimes bribes Syrian regime agents to ensure their supplies arrive to Qalamoun. “They don’t feel desperate because of the Army blockage of Arsal,” the source said. “Nusra, however, might become desperate.”
According to Army sources, Arsal is effectively cut off from the militants, with a number of checkpoints erected in the town to ward off infiltration from within.
“There are no points through which groups in the mountains can easily resupply from towns in Lebanon,” said Center of Strategic and International Studies military expert Aram Nerguizian. He argued that no matter how effective militant routes from Syria are, “They won’t negate the effects of winter.”
Nerguizian’s reasoning underlies the Lebanese government’s apparent strategy to delay negotiations until the harsh effects of the winter begin to take their toll on the militants, compelling them to relax demands.
Ostensible drawbacks aside, at the moment Nusra appears to be subsisting through the same Syrian supply lines exploited by Free Syria Army battalions also stationed in the outskirts, but these routes may not endure the winter.
Basel Idriss, an FSA commander in Arsal, confirmed to The Daily Star that their logistical supplies are coming from deeper within Qalamoun, and not Lebanon, where other Nusra Front brigades are also positioned. However, he said they often face delivery hitches.
“We currently don’t have a shortage of supplies but we are facing difficulty in transporting them,” he told The Daily Star, claiming that the passage into Syria remained open by the regime to prevent spillover into Arsal.
But prior to the August clashes, the Nusra Front was benefitting from key individuals in Arsal, like Sheikh Mustafa Hujeiri, who supported them “under the table,” the source in Arsal claimed.
“Nusra made it a point to recruit Lebanese from Arsal, not the refugees, because they knew the area,” the source said.
“Some of the militants who were later arrested during the clashes, used to come in to Arsal and leave with stacks of bread,” the former mediator said.
Nusra’s summary execution of captive Mohammad Maarouf Hamieh, the former mediator said, was a sign of the group’s growing despondency. Its meeting with Fliti, however, was a sign it is still a willing negotiation partner, unlike ISIS and its exhibitionist beheading practices, which has helped to stall talks.
The content of the demands put forth and the relative seriousness with which each group conducts negotiations is also indicative of competing proclivities. Both sources acquainted with the militants said ISIS was demanding the release of Fatah al-Islam inmates in Roumieh.
According to the former mediator, however, ISIS also wants Joumana Hmeid, an Arsal native detained for driving a car rigged with explosives on the Labweh road in February.
It is unclear who among the approximately 74 Fatah al-Islam members currently detained in Roumieh’s Block B are wanted by ISIS, but it is likely that principal figures Nouri Nasr Mahmoud al-Hajji and the brother-in-law of the group’s former leader Shaker al-Absi, known as Abu Salim behind bars, both Syrians on death row, are on the list.
According to a security source inside the prison, not all Islamist detainees are rejoicing at the prospect of being released in a swap deal. “Maybe the younger ones,” the source said. “But the ones who’ve been here since 2007, they know that if they are released in an ISIS deal, they are beholden to them, and so are their families and communities.”
“One inmate who’s served for 15 years, Abu Sleiman, said he wouldn’t accept to be on the list, because he has a young daughter,” the source said. “‘I don’t want to be a fugitive my whole life,’ he told me.”
Loyalty to ISIS in the event of a swap deal will surely pave the way for released members to radicalize their communities, a development the government wants to deter altogether.
Subtle Sea Change On Minimum Wage As GOP Candidates Back State Hikes
Illinois Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner says under certain conditions, he would support a higher minimum wage in his state. Seth Perlman/AP hide caption
itoggle caption Seth Perlman/AP
Illinois Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner says under certain conditions, he would support a higher minimum wage in his state.
Seth Perlman/AP
Here's another entry in the strange bedfellows political show, 2014 edition. As election day gets closer, Republicans in battleground races seem to be moving to the center on a number of issues. Their latest sea change is the minimum wage.
Alongside pay equity, infrastructure investment and college affordability, raising the minimum wage is at the center of the Democrats' election year economic agenda. President Obama has given numerous speeches on the minimum wage, excoriating Republicans in Congress for blocking a federal minimum wage hike. "Either you're in favor of raising wages for hardworking Americans or you're not," he said in April.
He makes it sound so simple — but this is politics.
In several battleground races this year, Republicans are changing their minds about the minimum wage. As free market conservatives, they are philosophically opposed to raising the wage.
But a handful of Republican candidates in tight races have come out in favor of raising the minimum wage on the state level.
Bruce Rauner, running for governor of Illinois, says he believes the federal minimum wage could be lowered, or even eliminated. But, if Illinois passed tort reform and tax reform, Rauner now says he would support raising the state wage.
Why the change? Illinois is one of five states this year that has a minimum wage hike on the state ballot. These propositions are hugely popular and usually pass with 60 or even 70% of the vote.
In Arkansas and Alaska, where there are also minimum wage referenda on the ballot, Republican Senate candidates Tom Cotton and Dan Sullivan say they'll vote for them. In Sullivan's case, he was previously opposed to the ballot proposition but then, his spokesman said, "he had a chance to read the initiative."
Democrats are crying foul. They were hoping to use the referenda to get more of their supporters to the polls. If there's no difference between the Republican and Democratic candidates on this issue, that might be harder. Ted Strickland, the populist former governor of Ohio says these Republicans have had a foxhole conversion. "Most people understand that when someone embraces a policy they have previously rejected, and they do it just a short time before an election," says Strickland, "they are acting out of political expediency, rather than out of convictions and courage."
Republican strategist Sarah Fagen says in this case what Republicans consider to be good policy — letting the free market work — is not good politics. Republicans would rather avoid the debate over the minimum wage altogether and focus on other issues, she says. So, they've made a kind of tactical retreat.
Remaining opposed to a federal wage hike but supporting a state hike allows them, says Fagen, to be true to "their economic philosophy but still be reasonable to voters who are demanding that the minimum wage be increased."
Republicans are choosing their battles more carefully this year. They're moving to the center on issues like contraception or the minimum wage, and that's caused some fancy political footwork on both sides. In some states, Republican legislators voted to raise the state wage in order to avoid having the issue on the ballot. But in Alaska, Democrats in the legislature blocked a bill so that the issue would be on the ballot this Fall.
And that raises the obvious question: Can these ballot propositions actually help Democratic candidates?
Progressive activist Brad Woodhouse says yes, up to a point. Using the minimum wage ballot referenda as bait, Democrats can target drop-off voters who might only come out and vote because they think it's in their economic interest.
"You hope that if they come out to increase the minimum wage," says Woodhouse, "that they'll vote for the Democrat."
Ballot initiatives can boost turnout – by about 1%. That, theoretically, could help Democrats win an otherwise close race.
But academics who study ballot referenda say no minimum wage initiative has ever determined the outcome of a state race. John Matsusaka, director of the Initiative and Referendum Institute at the University of Southern California, points out that there are many examples of Republican candidates winning statewide even as minimum wage ballot referenda also passed two to one.
"The Democrats might get a bump from this," says Matsusaka. "But the people who look closely at these data have a hard time finding that it makes a big difference."
So the bottom line is that these initiatives are very good for people who want to raise the minimum wage, but they're less useful as a political tool for Democrats looking for help in a Republican-leaning political landscape.
Dems Probably Won't Take The House, So Why Are They Spending So Much?
No one is predicting that Democrats will win a House majority in November. Yet they are millions of dollars ahead of the Republicans in fundraising, especially among the small-donor faithful.
U.N. Security Council Unanimously Passes Anti-Terrorism Resolution
President Obama motions to other heads of state before convening a U.N. Security Council meeting, on Wednesday. The Council unanimously approved a historic resolution aimed at ending the flow of foreign extremists to the world's conflicts. Julie Jacobson/AP hide caption
itoggle caption Julie Jacobson/AP
President Obama motions to other heads of state before convening a U.N. Security Council meeting, on Wednesday. The Council unanimously approved a historic resolution aimed at ending the flow of foreign extremists to the world's conflicts.
Julie Jacobson/AP
In a vote presided over by President Obama, the U.N. Security Council has unanimously approved a historic resolution aimed at stopping the flow of foreign extremists to battlefields around the world.
Resolution 2178, which criminalizes traveling abroad to fight for extremist organizations as well as the recruiting for or funding of such groups, was adopted by all 15 members of the Security Council. According to Reuters: "It generally targets fighters traveling to conflicts anywhere in the world. It does not mandate military force to tackle the foreign fighter issue."
The U.N. resolution expresses concern that "foreign terrorist fighters increase the intensity, duration and intractability of conflicts, and also may pose a serious threat to their states of origin, the states they transit and the states to which they travel."
Obama, who was the first U.S. president to chair a Security Council meeting in 2009, thanked members for approving the historic measure, but warned that "a resolution alone will not be enough." The vote follows an address by the president in which he warned that inaction on extremism and other global threats could pull the world into "an undertow of instability."
"The words spoken here today must be matched and translated into action," Obama said.
The president said 15,000 fighters from 80 nations were thought to have traveled to Syria since the conflict there began.
Reuters says: "The resolution is under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which makes it legally binding for the 193 U.N. member states and gives the Security Council authority to enforce decisions with economic sanctions or force."
New Microsoft GM looks to Lebanon for future talent
BEIRUT: Leila Serhan looks to put Lebanese talent at the forefront of the computer software industry after being named Microsoft's General Manager for North Africa, the Eastern Mediterranean & Pakistan, Tuesday.
Serhan, who was previously the General Manager of Microsoft Lebanon and Emerging Markets, was promoted to Regional General Manager Tuesday, replacing the former regional GM Sayed Hashish.
“I am very excited” said Serhan. “It is a place where you can bring Lebanese talent to the forefront.”
Serhan who lives and works in Lebanon, said that the "Lebanese have big ideas.”
However despite a present creative force, Serhan stressed that the cultivation of successful talent would require a mix of creativity and investment.
“We have a reservoir of creativity in Lebanon but the country still requires more investment," she said. " Microsoft can bring this combination of investment and talent."
Because she hails from the region, the General Manager said that she “has a vested interest in the area.” This would reinforce her position as a General Manager over the NEPA region.
Serhan has held multiple positions during her 12 years at Microsoft including: Small and Medium Enterprises, Solutions and Partners Director; Lebanon Country Manager; Business Manager; SME Manager and Marketing Manager.
Before joining Microsoft in 2002, Serhan worked for six years with telecom company Libancell, where she headed the Financial Planning and Budgeting unit, and was one of the youngest managers in the company.
Serhan graduated in 1996 from the American University of Beirut with a Bachelor degree in Business Administration.
Fadlallah: Oct. 4 marks first day of Eid al-Adha
BEIRUT: Oct. 4 will mark the first day of Eid al-Adha, the office of the late Shiite preacher Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah announced Saturday.
The Muslim holiday of al-Adha also known as the Greater Eid is an annual holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide in which the faithful commemorate Prophet Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son Ishmael as an act of obedience to God.
The three-day holiday also marks the culmination of the Muslim pilgrimage to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.
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Parliament plunges into darkness
BEIRUT: Parliament plunged into darkness at 2.30 p.m. Wednesday - an unprecedented incident in a country where severe power rationing has become a regular occurrence.
“Unprecedented power cut in Parliament: no electricity since 2:30 PM. Currently working to the light of my laptop,” tweeted MP Ghassan Moukheiber, who also posted a photo from Parliament showing darkness in his office and corridors.
“Parliament is now equal to suffering people, except we don't run a generator just for me and don't have a deal with neighborhood generator!!,” he added.
In separate remarks to The Daily Star, Moukheiber said he thought guards at Parliament did not turn on the generator because he was the only MP still at his office in late afternoon.
“I am working and I have people with me. I have things to do,” said Moukheiber, one of the few active lawmakers.
“I don’t know if there is a generator in the first place and if there is one, they will not turn it on just because one MP is still in his office,” Moukheiber explained. “Sometimes they turn off the AC in a bid to pressure me to leave if I stay after 5 p.m. I sometimes do leave if it becomes too hot.”
Lebanon has been witnessing increased hours of power rationing due to continuous strikes and protests held by Electriticite du Liban contract workers who have blocked entrances to the company’s headquarters across the country.
They are demanding full-time staff positions for all employees.
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Obama At U.N.: World Risks Being Caught In 'Undertow Of Instability'
President Obama addresses the 69th session of the United Nations General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters in New York on Wednesday. Richard Drew/AP hide caption
itoggle caption Richard Drew/AP
President Obama addresses the 69th session of the United Nations General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters in New York on Wednesday.
Richard Drew/AP
President Obama told a gathering of the U.N. General Assembly today that the world was living in "pervasive unease" from such crises as terrorism, expansionism and the Ebola epidemic. He challenged the world body to fix the international system or risk being "pulled back by an undertow of instability."
"We come together at a crossroads between war and peace; between disorder and integration; between fear and hope," the president told member nations at U.N. headquarters in New York.
"I often tell young people in the United States that despite the headlines, this is the best time in human history to be born, when you are more likely than ever before to be literate, to be healthy, and to be free to pursue your dreams," Obama said. "And yet there is a pervasive unease in our world – a sense that the very forces that have brought us together have created new dangers, and made it difficult for any single nation to insulate itself from global forces."
Obama challenged the assembly to "renew the international system that has enabled so much progress."
"We can reaffirm our collective responsibility to confront global problems, or be swamped by more and more outbreaks of instability," he said. "For America, the choice is clear. We choose hope over fear."
The following are some highlights.
Terrorism And Extremism: 'No God Condones Terror'
"With access to technology that allows small groups to do great harm, they have embraced a nightmarish vision that would divide the world into adherents and infidels – killing as many innocent civilians as possible; and employing the most brutal methods to intimidate people within their communities."
"Muslims the world over aspire to live with dignity and a sense of justice. And when it comes to America and Islam, there is no us and them – there is only us, because millions of Muslim Americans are part of the fabric of our country."
"[When] it comes to America and Islam, there is no us and them – there is only us, because millions of Muslim Americans are part of the fabric of our country."
"No God condones this terror. No grievance justifies these actions. There can be no reasoning – no negotiation – with this brand of evil. The only language understood by killers like this is the language of force. So the United States of America will work with a broad coalition to dismantle this network of death."
"[We] do not act alone. Nor do we intend to send U.S. troops to occupy foreign lands."
"The ideology of ISIL or al Qaeda or Boko Haram will wilt and die if it is consistently exposed, confronted, and refuted in the light of day."
"[The] countries of the Arab and Muslim world must focus on the extraordinary potential of their people – especially the youth. Here I'd like to speak directly to young people across the Muslim world. You come from a great tradition that stands for education, not ignorance; innovation, not destruction; the dignity of life, not murder. Those who call you away from this path are betraying this tradition, not defending it."
"Where women are full participants in a country's politics or economy, societies are more likely to succeed. That's why we support the participation of women in parliaments and in peace processes; in schools and the economy."
Russia And Ukraine: U.S. 'On Right Side Of History'
"We will impose a cost on Russia for aggression, and counter falsehoods with the truth. We call upon others to join us on the right side of history – for while small gains can be won at the barrel of a gun, they will ultimately be turned back if enough voices support the freedom of nations and peoples to make their own decisions."
The Ebola Epidemic: 'Need Broader Effort'
"As we speak, America is deploying our doctors and scientists – supported by our military – to help contain the outbreak of Ebola and pursue new treatments. But we need a broader effort to stop a disease that could kill hundreds of thousands, inflict horrific suffering, destabilize economies, and move rapidly across borders. It's easy to see this as a distant problem – until it isn't. That is why we will continue mobilizing other countries to join us in making concrete commitments to fight this outbreak, and enhance global health security for the long-term."
On Climate Change
"America is pursuing ambitious reductions in our carbon emissions, and we have increased our investments in clean energy. We will do our part, and help developing nations to do theirs. But we can only succeed in combating climate change if we are joined in this effort by every major power. That's how we can protect this planet for our children and grandchildren."
Iran's Nuclear Program
"America is pursuing a diplomatic resolution to the Iranian nuclear issue, as part of our commitment to stop the spread of nuclear weapons and pursue the peace and security of a world without them. This can only happen if Iran takes this historic opportunity. My message to Iran's leaders and people is simple: do not let this opportunity pass."
Global Poverty
"America is committed to a development agenda that eradicates extreme poverty by 2030. We will do our part – to help people feed themselves; power their economies; and care for their sick. If the world acts together, we can make sure that all of our children can enjoy lives of opportunity and dignity."
China's Muscle Flexing In Asia Waters
"America is and will continue to be a Pacific power, promoting peace, stability, and the free flow of commerce among nations. But we will insist that all nations abide by the rules of the road, and resolve their territorial disputes peacefully, consistent with international law. That's how the Asia-Pacific has grown. And that's the only way to protect this progress going forward."
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Future MP slams Nasrallah over negotiation remarks
BEIRUT: Future MP Jamal Jarrah has criticized Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah Wednesday for backing government negotiations with Islamist hostage takers after claims that Hezbollah had attempted to kill the jihadists.
“I didn’t get what Sayyed Nasrallah meant by negotiating with the kidnappers, particularly after targeting them with a rocket in an attempt to kill them,” Jarrah told a local radio station.
Jarrah also expressed his dismay at failure of the Lebanese authorities to clarify Tuesday’s incident.
The Nusra Front said a rocket crashed into the location used by the Islamist group as a detention center where the captured Lebanese servicemen were being held. It did not say where the attack took place.
A source acquainted with the militants confirmed the nighttime attack, but said the hostages were fine.
A military source, speaking to the local newspaper Al-Mustaqbal, dismissed reports the Lebanese Army had shelled the location.
In a speech late Tuesday, Nasrallah said the government should negotiate with Islamist militants holding at least 21 Lebanese soldiers and policemen hostage from a position of strength, warning that negotiating from a weak position would lead to a catastrophe.
He rejected accusations that Hezbollah opposed negotiations with the militants to secure the release of the hostages.
Nasrallah also called on rival factions to keep the hostage ordeal away from their political bickering and rivalry, adding that the kidnappers were playing with Lebanon’s fate in view of the confusion within the government over how to approach the hostage crisis.
NSSF issues last warning to several Lebanese hospitals
Music video takes aim at traffic accidents
In an effort to curb traffic accidents in Lebanon, advocates launch a video awareness campaign to promote safe driving.
Obama's U.N. Speech Aims To Enlist Others In Fight Against ISIS
President Obama addresses the U.N. General Assembly in the morning about the threat posed by the Islamic State, also known as ISIS. And in the afternoon, he hosts a meeting of the Security Counsel.
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