Special focus Qaddafi’s revenge Iran’s missile The lingering from the grave programme threat of the over Sarkozy and the North Islamic State Korean factor Page 17 Pages 12-13 Pages 6,14

Issue 149, Year 3 www.thearabweekly.com UK £2/ EU €2.50 March 25, 2018 Saudi crown prince’s US talks set to deepen bilateral ties, regional understandings Thomas Seibert

Washington

uring his visit to the Unit- ed States, the first since becoming Saudi Arabia’s heir apparent and de facto ruler, Saudi Crown DPrince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz worked to buttress his personal standing and promote Saudi interests in the United States for years to come. He clearly found more receptive ears at the Trump White House than he did under the Obama administra- tion. An enthusiastic US President Donald Trump lauded Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud’s “very wise decision” to make Crown Prince Mohammed first in line to the throne. “The relationship is probably the strongest it’s ever been,” said Trump. “We understand each other.” For Riyadh, which has advocated a more hard-line US position on Iran, recent senior personnel changes in Washington are likely to further an- chor US opposition to Tehran’s am- bitions and might seal the fate of the Iran nuclear deal. A week after the replacement of Rex Tillerson as secretary of state, the White House announced that national security adviser H.R. McMaster would be replaced Receptive ears. US President Donald Trump (R) shakes hands with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz in the Oval Office, on with former UN Ambassador John March 20. (AFP) Bolton, considered a foreign policy hawk. tion of such a move from Washing- showed the complexities at play re- is ultimately necessary to meet the scholar at the Washington Insti- The final decision about the nu- ton or Riyadh. garding the Yemen war, especially needs of the Yemeni people.” tute for Near East Policy, said: “The clear deal has not been announced Crown Prince Mohammed dis- with the United States providing in- Even more directly, war critics in Saudis are very sensitive to this. but US-Iranian relations are unlikely cussed arms deals worth billions telligence and logistical support to Washington, including members of They’re certainly communicat- to improve. “We’ll see what hap- as he met with Trump and other the Saudis in that conflict. Congress, highlighted the heavy toll ing with elite circles to discuss the pens,” Trump said, with the crown top officials in Washington. In an The White House said Trump and of the conflict in terms of casualties measures they’re taking to try to prince in attendance. “Iran has not Oval Office meeting with the crown Crown Prince Mohammed talked and effect on the civilian popula- get humanitarian assistance into been treating that part of the world, prince, Trump said US arms sales about “the threat the Houthis pose tion. Yemen.” or the world itself, appropriately.” worth almost $20 billion to Riyadh to the region, assisted by the Iranian As the crown prince sat down with The Palestinian-Israeli so-called The Saudis are also hoping for a were under way and many more Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.” Trump, the US Senate voted on a bi- “deal of the century” was also dis- better understanding of their griev- were planned. His administration The crown prince and Trump partisan resolution seeking an end cussed by Crown Prince Mohammed ances against Qatar after the firing of announced a $670 million arms deal were also said to have “discussed to US support for the Yemen con- with Jared Kushner, the president’s Tillerson, who was perceived as too with Riyadh on March 22. additional steps to address the hu- flict. The Senate, following a request son-in-law and senior adviser, and close to Doha. Grievances include Crown Prince Mohammed also manitarian situation and agreed that by US Defence Secretary James Mat- Jason Greenblatt, Trump’s special Doha’s ties to extremist groups touted planned Saudi investments a political resolution to the conflict tis, rejected the bill. Mattis warned envoy for Middle East peace. and Iran. A US-GCC summit in May of several hundreds of billions of an end to US support would add to The prospects for such a deal have might still be in the works but would dollars in the United States. civilian casualties and embolden the become critically garbled after the not be about the row with Qatar. The Trump administration Houthis, who have launched missile US president’s decision to transfer The dispute is an “inter-GCC prob- regards Saudi Arabia under the An enthusiastic US attacks against Saudi targets. the US Embassy in Israel to Jeru- lem,” Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al- crown prince as a key partner in its After meeting with Crown Prince salem, a decision opposed by the Jubeir was quoted as saying by the quest to thwart Iran’s regional ambi- President Donald Trump Mohammed, Mattis insisted Saudi Saudis. No information trickled National, on March 23. tions. Trump picked Saudi Arabia as lauded Saudi King Arabia was going to be “part of the about the timeline for announcing The Israeli website DEBKAfile re- the destination of his first overseas Salman bin Abdulaziz Al solution” in Yemen and that an end the deal. ported that plans to relocate a major trip as president and is eager to re- Saud’s “very wise to the conflict will be on “positive US military base in Qatar to Saudi pair ties to end Riyadh’s frustration decision” to make Crown terms for the people of Yemen but Thomas Seibert is a Washington Arabia were “approved” during the that built up under Trump’s prede- also security for the nations in the correspondent for The Arab Weekly. Trump-Crown Prince Mohammed cessor, Barack Obama. Prince Mohammed first peninsula.” meeting but there was no confirma- However, talks in Washington in line to the throne. Lori Plotkin Boghardt, a Gulf P2-3,7 Tunisians celebrate opening of ‘City of Culture’ in departure from downbeat mood

Stephen Quillen The sprawling 9-hectare centre, the country’s “commitment to free of… a place for every Tunisian.” “The City of Culture serves as an marked by a towering glass globe, expression” and a stage for “new Zine el-Abidine added that the opportunity… for a different cultur- is a tribute to Tunisian arts and cul- ambitions of the next generation.” project was a towering accomplish- al landscape. It creates new occa- Tunis ture, with spaces dedicated to na- Caid Essebsi said the complex ment for Tunisia, positioning it at sions for creators to work and opens tional cinema, music, theatre, art met the priority needs of a popula- the centre of cultural expression in the door for artists to learn, create t a time many Tunisians and literature. tion trying to ward off extremist the region. He noted it would pro- and perform… This city will exclude are despondent over a It took years to complete and narratives. vide artists with a venue to show- no one,” Zine el-Abidine said. lacklustre economy and many doubted it would ever be. “Every Tunisian should be proud case their work, serve as a touristic In a reply to critics who saw the disappointing govern- Initiated in 2006, the project was of this project. Culture is the main landmark and preserve the coun- City of Culture as a reminder of an- ment performance, they dogged by administrative and fi- tool with which we will fight ter- try’s cultural heritage. other era, Zine el-Abidine said: “The haveA a rare achievement to cele- nancial difficulties following the rorism,” he said at the March 21 project represents the will and pat- brate following Independence Day. 2011 revolution, with some arguing opening ceremony. “Tunisians have Interview riotism of all Tunisians… Let’s build On March 21, the day after the it was not a priority for a country to dream and have confidence in with the together rather than injuring each country’s independence celebra- struggling to provide jobs and bread themselves.” other.” tion, Tunisian President Beji Caid to the poor. Others discounted the Tunisian Minister of Culture Mo- Tunisian Essebsi inaugurated the “City of project as an unwelcome legacy of hamed Zine el-Abidine echoed Caid Minister of Stephen Quillen is an Arab Weekly Culture,” a new arts complex that the previous regime. Essebsi’s remarks at a news confer- Culture correspondent in Tunis. is seen as a creative and intellectual Seven years later, senior officials ence, saying the newly founded city By Lamine Ghanmi hub for the country and the region. hailed the project as a reflection of was a “place that we can be proud P22 2 March 25, 2018 Cover Story Visit of Saudi Crown Prince to US Viewpoint Saudi crown prince looks beyond Trump Adel al-Toraifi was Saudi minister of culture and information from 2015-17. The Saudis take on as he eyes long-term investment in US radical Islam, face a Thomas Seibert Washington long journey ahead ith his first visit to the United States since he became he year 1979 was a The time is now.” heir to the throne of watershed for the He is clear about the problem. Saudi Arabia, Crown Middle East. Ira- “Political Islam — whether Sunni or WPrince Mohammed bin Salman nian revolutionaries Shia, Muslim Brotherhood or jihadi bin Abdulaziz has embarked on overthrew the shah, Salafist — has damaged Muslim an image and strategic reposition- the Soviet Union countries,” he once told me. “It ing campaign for himself and his invaded Afghanistan also gives Islam a bad name. There- country that goes for the long haul Tand Sunni Islamic extremists tried fore, it is the role of Muslim coun- and looks far beyond US President to take over the Grand Mosque of tries to face these evil ideologies Donald Trump’s administration. Mecca in Saudi Arabia, Islam’s holi- and groups and to stand with our Eager to present Saudi Arabia as est shrine. world allies in the West and East to a land of opportunity for investors Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed confront them once and for all.” and a steadfast ally of the West, bin Salman bin Abdulaziz hadn’t Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Crown Prince Mohammed, 32, met been born but he is fighting the Al Saud and Crown Prince with Trump and other officials dur- ghosts of 1979 as he dramatically Mohammed have ushered in some ing several days of talks in Wash- reforms the kingdom. head-spinning changes. The crown ington. He then set off on a 2-week, The attempted takeover of prince has led the effort to roll coast-to-coast tour, during which Mecca was a defining event in back the powerful religious police. he was to meet with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, mainly because of These self-righteous moralisers no Apple, Google and Amazon as well what happened next. Saudi rulers, longer have the right to stop any- as Hollywood and oil executives. fearing Iran’s revolutionary exam- one on the street or take matters ple, gave more space to the Salafi into their own hands. They have clerical establishment to counter been effectively marginalised. the radicals. The king and crown prince Traditional Salafi preachers are granted women their long-awaited The campaign goes for neither violent nor political but rights to drive and attend sport- the long haul and looks they hold a rigid view of Islam. ing events. Women are no longer Their legal rulings and attempts to required to wear headscarves. I ex- far beyond US President police morals made Saudi Arabia pect to see more women appointed Donald Trump’s increasingly intolerant, setting to senior positions in government, administration. back the gradual opening of the even at the ministerial level. Once 1960s and ’70s. Saudi Arabia unleashes the poten- tial of women, there is no telling Following his marathon tour how far the country can go. through the United States, the Building on the past decade’s crown prince was expected in For the first education reforms, Crown Prince France on April 8 but the jury is Mohammed launched the MiSK out on to what extent his campaign time in four Foundation to provide young Sau- could be successful. decades the dis with world-class skills training. Sitting next to the US president in ghosts haunting He has led the way in normalising the Oval Office on March 20, Crown life in Saudi Arabia for young peo- Prince Mohammed said more than Saudi Arabia ple, who are increasingly fed up half of the projects included in a plan are in retreat. with social restrictions. The new from last year for $200 billion of Sau- General Entertainment Authority di investments in the United States, is giving Saudis foreign concerts, including the purchase of military theatre and cinemas and soon a equipment, had been finalised. In Saudi schools, education was Royal Opera House. “We planned this for next ten ended the ban on women driving envoy Jared Kushner. Saudi Arabia largely in the hands of foreign He has done something more in- years but it happens in one year, we cars and with a massive crackdown shares Trump’s scepticism about nationals, many with Muslim tangible but also vital: bridged the implement 55%,” the crown prince on corruption suspects described the international nuclear deal with Brotherhood backgrounds. In the deep generational divide between said during televised remarks with by some as potential rivals. Iran and has threatened to seek 1960s and ’70s, Saudi Arabia was ruler and ruled. Like some three- Trump. “So this is [a] signal that During his US tour, which in- nuclear weapons itself if Tehran more concerned with Gamal Abdel fourths of Saudis, he is under 35. there are a lot of things [that] could cludes stops in New York, Boston, gets the bomb. Nasser’s Arab nationalism than He speaks their language. He uses be tackled in the close future and California and Texas, the crown For Crown Prince Mohammed, with Islamist radicalism. their apps. He knows their frustra- more opportunities,” the prince prince will be trying to drum up however, the US visit is about much Thus, the Muslim Brotherhood tions, including with corruption. added in English. support for his Vision 2030 plan, an more than just the current adminis- wasn’t much of a worry but the The recent crackdown on corrup- “We’ve become very good friends ambitious reform project designed tration. combination of the Brotherhood’s tion should be seen in this light. over a fairly short period of time,” to diversify the Saudi economy and “He is trying to lay the ground- political outlook and the rigid Business as usual was not working Trump said, while lavishing praise modernise state institutions to en- work for strong relations with the Salafi doctrine injected a virus into and the crown prince was willing on the crown prince, who became sure Saudi Arabia’s future once oil United States for what he hopes will the Saudi education system. That to pull up the carpet to clean the first in the line of succession to supplies run out. be decades as king of Saudi Arabia,” virus allowed Osama bin Laden rot underneath. the Saudi throne last year and has Crown Prince Mohammed has said Stephen McInerney, executive to recruit 15 Saudis to take part in At an October 2017 conference established himself as his coun- had excellent ties with the Trump director of the Project on Middle that terrible deed on September 11, for international investors, Crown try’s de facto ruler. Crown Prince administration since last year and East Democracy, a non-partisan 2001. We Saudis failed those young Prince Mohammed laid out his Mohammed has made headlines is especially close to the presi- organisation in Washington advo- men and that failure had global ideas for moderate Islam. “Saudi around the world with reforms that dent’s son-in-law and Middle East cating US support for reform in the implications. Arabia was not like this before Salafi clerics and Muslim Broth- 1979,” he said. “We want to go back erhood imports worked in concert to what we were, the moderate Is- as they were given unsupervised lam that’s open to all religions. We Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to US grabs attention in Gulf region access to private donations to fund want to live a normal life… coexist mosques and madrasas from Kara- and contribute to the world…. We chi to Cairo, where they generally will not spend the next 30 years favoured the most conservative of our lives dealing with these Mohammed Alkhereiji Donald Trump and US Secretary of the Daily Telegraph’s defence and preachers. destructive ideas.” Defence James Mattis. foreign affairs editor, said Crown The policymakers’ idea was During my time in office, I came The Saudi owned Al-Arabiya TV Prince Mohammed’s high-profile simple: Give the political Islamists to realise that, while Saudi Arabia London carried interviews with Arab and visit to the United States “could be and their Salafi affiliates room to will continue to face challenges, for Western commentators as well as a defining moment for the Middle influence educational, judicial and the first time in four decades the ll eyes in the Gulf Coop- graphics highlighting the prince’s East.” religious affairs and we will con- ghosts haunting Saudi Arabia are in eration Council (GCC) agenda. UAE Minister of State for Foreign tinue to control foreign policy, the retreat. Mistakes are inevitable and countries, particularly In a commentary published by Affairs Anwar Gargash, before the economy and defence. Saudi rulers there is no universal guidebook on Saudi Arabia, are fixed the Abu Dhabi-based daily news- crown prince left Riyadh, said the were handling the hardware while how to reform a country but lead- westward as Saudi paper the National, Con Coughlin, trip would help bring Arabs’ “po- radicals rewrote the country’s soft- ers like the late Lee Kuan Yew of CrownA Prince Mohammed bin Sal- litical weight” back to the global ware. Saudi society and the Muslim Singapore show how far a country man bin Abdulaziz continues his stage. world still reel from the effects. can go with the right policies. global tour with a visit to the Unit- “Prince Mohammed bin Sal- Crown Prince Mohammed’s crit- Saudi Arabia has a long jour- ed States. man’s visit to Washington carries ics describe him as a young man ney ahead. It will not be without The crown prince’s trip, in which What makes Crown special significance to the Arab in a hurry. They’re right — and he bumps and bruises. Change never he seeks to present a modern Saudi Prince Mohammed’s world. In an area that was torn by should be. As he told all of us in his comes easy but Crown Prince Mo- Arabia, has received extensive cov- global tour unique is not regional interferences, we see the cabinet constantly: “Time is our hammed has raised expectations erage in the Gulf, with most news foreign affairs but its political weight of Arabs making a enemy. We cannot wait any longer dramatically. The genie is out of outlets carrying stories and photos strong comeback with the prince’s to reform our country. the bottle and it can’t go back in. of his meetings with high-level US promotion of visit as well as the position of Saudi officials, including US President investments. Arabia in general,” Gargash posted March 25, 2018 3 Cover Story Visit of Saudi Crown Prince to US Saudi crown prince looks beyond Trump Viewpoint Hussein Ibish is a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, a weekly columnist for the National (UAE) and NOW Media and a monthly contributing writer for The International New York Times. as he eyes long-term investment in US For Riyadh, building deep engagement with the US does require communications work

ith an exten- his ambitious agenda a fighting sive series chance. of meetings That’s why he isn’t only meeting in Washing- with the White House, the Penta- ton, Saudi gon and Congress in Washington. Crown Prince He’s also going to high-tech hubs Mohammed and innovation centres in Boston, Wbin Salman bin Abdulaziz began a Seattle, Silicon Valley and San tour of the United States to build Francisco. He’s going to meet with relations with the Americans that those in the energy industry in are central to the crown prince’s Houston. He’s going to talk with national, political and even per- CEOs and financiers in New York. sonal strategy. Because culture and the reintro- His wide-ranging economic and duction of public entertainment social reform programme, centred and enjoyment — quarantined in on Vision 2030, is all about capac- private spaces or forbidden alto- ity building in a country that gether in Saudi society for many desperately lacks proficiency. decades — are key imperatives, It’s partly by design. For exam- he’s going to meet with the enter- ple, the chronic weakness of the tainment industry in Hollywood. Saudi military, amply demonstrat- ed in Yemen, is neither coinciden- tal nor inevitable. It stems from Riyadh could the 1950s and ’60s when Arab once reliably monarchies and republics were routinely toppled and military count on governments swept the region. Washington to Saudi leadership took numerous measures to ensure that wouldn’t ward off happen in Riyadh. external threats The side effect has been an but no longer. expensive but wholly inadequate armed force. Analogies abound throughout a society conditioned At a news conference with the to be politically passive and crown prince, Trump focused on dependent on the government. weapons sales to Saudi Arabia, Shared goals. US President Donald Trump (C-R) However, plummeting oil prices at times sounding more like the holds a lunch meeting with Saudi Crown Prince and other developments meant manager of a car dealership than Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz (C-L) and business as usual was not an op- a US president. However, Crown members of his delegation, on March 20. (AFP) tion. Prince Mohammed will be very Riyadh could once reliably pleased with the proposed $1 bil- count on Washington to ward off lion in weapons sales announced external threats but no longer. In already. That’s the easy part. Middle East. “He wants to establish rights, women, religious intolerance fore the views of Americans about the era of burden sharing under It’s going to be harder to make a relationships with companies and and Islamist extremism in the king- Saudi Arabia start to change. “He former US Presidents George W. deal on Saudi Arabia’s nuclear en- investors and build confidence.” dom. News reports say Saudi Arabia will have to go much further than Bush and Barack Obama and US ergy programme, especially after ABC News quoted a source close has begun a comprehensive public he has gone so far,” he said. President Donald Trump’s “Amer- the crown prince told CBS News’ to the Saudis as saying the crown relations campaign in line with the In responding to such criticism, ica First” agenda, Saudi Arabia ob- “60 Minutes” that if Iran develops prince’s tour of the United States crown prince’s reform programme Saudi officials point to the wide viously needs to urgently improve a nuclear weapon, so will Saudi was not really about Washington as with the goal of helping change the support the crown prince’s anti-cor- its military capacity. Arabia. much as the other cities he is to visit. country’s image. ruption drive enjoys at home and That means major reforms, such It may sound reasonable in Improving Saudi Arabia’s image The PR campaign has suffered plead for patience with their coun- as consolidating security forces, Riyadh and beyond to counter in the United States is bound to be setbacks recently, however. West- try as it introduces ground-breaking which has happened as they are any Iranian nuclear weapon with an uphill battle after years of adver- ern rights groups and newspapers reforms in what is still a fundamen- all under the control of Crown an equivalent Arab deterrent but sity, especially since the Septem- published allegations that promi- tally conservative society. Prince Mohammed. It also means the comments underscore views ber 11, 2001, attacks. A Gallup poll nent figures targeted in the anti-cor- Crown Prince Mohammed is turn- learning fast from more capa- that, if Saudi Arabia won’t forego published last year indicated that ruption campaign were physically ing “Saudi Arabia into a normal ble partners, such as the United uranium enrichment, Washing- two-thirds of American respond- abused. Saudi authorities vehe- country in which normal people States. ton cannot be its main source of ents said they had an unfavourable mently rejected the allegations. lead normal lives,” Saudi Foreign Crown Prince Mohammed’s reactors. opinion of the kingdom. McInerney said Crown Prince Mo- Minister Adel al-Jubeir said be- project aims at a sweeping trans- The nuclear energy ques- Opinions still seem shaped by hammed would have to implement fore the crown prince’s visit to the formation of Saudi society trying tion points to a broader pattern. negative perceptions of human more of his reform programme be- United States. to turbocharge its development in Crown Prince Mohammed has no a single generation. This has hap- problem dealing with the Trump pened elsewhere — in Japan in the administration or the Pentagon. 19th century and in South Korea Congress, however, may try to Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to US grabs attention in Gulf region in the last quarter of the 20th block the weapons sales due to century. Whether anything of the concerns about the war in Yemen. kind can be accomplished in Saudi It recently rejected a bipartisan Arabia remains to be seen but it’s proposal to block further US on Twitter. norms that went unchallenged, network limited its coverage of exactly what the crown prince is participation in Yemen. The senti- “At a time in which Arabs are thus inhibiting our progress,” the Crown Prince Mohammed’s US attempting. ment is out there and it’s growing. in need of regaining our posi- Saudi ambassador wrote. “But our visit to a report citing an unnamed The conundrum, which makes The crown prince and Saudi tion and role [in the world], Saudi leaders have set a new course that senior US official stating that such leaps forward so rare, is that Arabia need to attend to their Arabia fills the region with hope aims to transform our economy Trump would urge Crown Prince they require the creation of new image, not merely with the ad- and dreams of a better Arab world,” and society and unlock our un- Mohammed to end the kingdom’s institutional capacity and the ministration, but with the entire he added in another tweet. tapped potential. boycott of the tiny Gulf Arab state. production of human capacity country. Many Americans like What makes Crown Prince “Saudi Arabia is reforming, and Last June, Saudi Arabia, along necessary to administer and staff where Crown Prince Mohammed Mohammed’s global tour unique our dynamism will take the Saudi- with the United Arab Emirates, wide-ranging public and private is going, especially with social and is not foreign affairs but its promo- US relationship to new heights. Bahrain and Egypt, severed ties institutions more or less simulta- religious reforms, but are uneasy tion of investments. Both sides should seize the mo- with Doha over what they de- neously. Technology and infra- about the autocratic way he’s get- Saudi Ambassador to the United ment.” scribed as Qatar’s interference structure can help but the key is to ting there. States Prince Khalid bin Salman The Saudi ambassador was ref- in their internal affairs, support rapidly transform Saudi Arabia’s If the crown prince is going bin Abdulaziz, in an editorial in the erencing major reform measures for radical Islamic groups, and, dependent subjects into empow- to secure the kind of sustained, London-based pan-Arab Asharq introduced in the kingdom, in- chiefly, ties with the kingdom’s ered and productive citizens. broad and deep engagement with Al-Awsat, said the crown prince’s cluding efforts to foster women’s main nemesis, Iran, another is- Crown Prince Mohammed is the United States in general that vision would go a long way in rights, adopt moderate Islam and sue factoring heavily in the crown plainly counting on a greatly he seems to be counting on for strengthening US-Saudi relations crackdown on corruption — all pil- prince’s US visit. expanded partnership with the the grand transformation he is at- and driving reform at home. lars of the new Saudi Arabia. United States as a whole — not just tempting, there is important com- “For decades, the kingdom lived In stark but predictable contrast, Mohammed Alkhereiji is the Gulf government institutions — to give munications work to be done. according to social and cultural GCC member Qatar’s Al-Jazeera section editor of The Arab Weekly. 4 March 25, 2018 News & Analysis

‘Kneel or starve’: Damascus’s brutal ultimatum to population of Eastern Ghouta

James Snell ban centres have been attacked with airpower and superior weap- onry before being overrun by re- Cambridge gime and allied forces. In Homs, in Aleppo and now East- nder siege for almost ern Ghouta, the toll these liquida- five years, the rebel tions take on civilians is immense. enclave of Eastern Thousands are killed in the bomb- Ghouta, in Syria’s ing and the ground campaigns. Damascus governorate, There are reports of regime forces Ufaces liquidation by the regime of staging mass summary executions Bashar Assad. of men of fighting age. Women The regime, aided by Russian fear rape from regime forces and planes, began a campaign in Feb- its shabiha militias, which has be- ruary to conquer Eastern Ghouta. come an established tactic as well Within days, hundreds of civilians as a weapon of war consciously em- were killed in air attacks. ployed. The United Nations attempted to Facing these odds, it is unsurpris- institute a ceasefire at the end of ing that many civilians choose to February, which would have halted flee. The assault on Eastern Ghouta fighting for 30 days. The measure created an exodus of people des- failed before it began and the vio- perately attempting to escape the lence continued. enclave before it is crushed. Emma Beals, a Syria analyst, said via e-mail that “the scale of displacement is even bigger than what we saw in Aleppo.” She noted The violence will that United Nations estimates sug- continue undiminished gested, last week, that nearly one- until the regime controls in-six of the people in Eastern Gh- outa — 50,000 people out of nearly Eastern Ghouta. 400,000 — had fled the enclave. This forms part of a regime strat- egy not just of conquest but of de- As the regime’s campaign in- population. Beals said that “since tensified, stories of brutality in- August 2016, when Darayya was creased. Activists documented the pounded by a military campaign aftermath of air strikes on markets that resulted in forced displace- and hospitals with photographs ments, we have seen this strategy and video footage attesting to the rolled out across the country.” Ghouta forever for other regions of Heras noted that the assault on ganisations in Syria and director of devastation. “Eastern Aleppo suffered a siege, Syria especially Idlib, or fight to the “Eastern Ghouta is collective pun- Doctors Under Fire, a medical char- After the air campaign was air assault and then ground cam- death.” ishment aimed at ripping out the ity, described the situation facing deemed effective, the regime paign through the second half of Regime slogans give a sense of its roots of the opposition movement Eastern Ghouta’s residents. moved in ground forces. Regime 2016,” she said. Eastern Ghouta intent. Pro-regime forces offer bru- that has grown so close to Assad’s He said, in an e-mail message: fighters drove back the insurgent faces the same. tal dichotomies, beginning with the palace door in Damascus.” “There are virtually no medical groups in Eastern Ghouta. Nicholas Heras, a fellow at the threat “Assad or we burn the coun- Crushing the area is a way to sig- supplies. What food there is, is very With the weight of regime and Centre for A New American Secu- try.” Regime forces characterise nal the regime’s increasing domi- expensive and the bombardment Russian forces pressing down on rity, said: “The Assad government sieges as a choice: “kneel or starve.” nance and the extent to which it interspersed with chlorine barrel the besieged area, it appears things is giving the population of [Eastern] Beals noted that the latter has, for is willing to employ brutal tactics bombs is as intense as we’ve seen.” can only go one way. Ghouta the choice to stand down Eastern Ghouta, become an injunc- against all opponents. De Bretton-Gordon said that at The world has seen this sequence and accept Bashar Assad as their tion to “surrender or die.” Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, an the Union of Medical Care and Re- of events before. Across Syria, ur- leader, board on buses and leave Some of this has a personal edge. adviser to non-governmental or- lief Organisations there are 175 very Turkey’s Afrin victory comes amid risk and uncertainty

Simon Speakman Cordall operation has cost Ankara dearly. filiates while singing songs of jihad bels’ new unity would draw the pop- Stein said what was “undeniable An estimated 50-80 regular Turk- waged in Dagestan and Chechnya. ulation in behind them. “The people is that the Turkish war in Afrin has ish soldiers were killed and 195-447 Few are likely to be opposed to aid- now hate all the rebel factions and upended the American war in the Tunis of their allied militia members have ing the Turkish advance along the this will change when there is a uni- lower-ERV (Euphrates River Val- died. border. fied army,” he told the Guardian. ley).” urkish troops and their Allegations of war crimes have Accusations and counter-accusa- However, Aaron Stein, a resident While the hands of the United Syrian proxies swept into been widespread. In addition to tions have long divided Syria’s re- senior fellow at Atlantic Council, States and its political adversaries the disputed Kurdish town shooting fleeing refugees and the bels. However, in finding common said, in e-mailed comments: “This in Damascus are weak, Ankara’s are of Afrin on March 18, dis- mutilation of a Kurdish female fight- cause within Turkish pockets, talk is certainly the intention but I think far from free. Erdogan began his in- placing the populace and er’s body, Turkey stands accused of of unity is again being heard. In a it’s clear from the events following cursion into Syria with the apparent Tmarking a new chapter in Syria’s recruiting Islamic State (ISIS) fight- March 22 report, a Turkey-aligned the fall of Afrin to Turkey that no blessing of Moscow, which controls bloody war with another foreign ers to bolster its proxies’ numbers. rebel told the Guardian: “I mean, force really speaks for or controls much of Syria’s airspace. Among the power claiming rights over part of Many Turkey-aligned militiamen even Bashar Assad didn’t succeed in the fighters on the ground.” Kremlin’s likely reasons for acqui- the country. have been filmed proudly declar- uniting us.” Nevertheless, Ankara remains escing to Turkey’s demands was the Turkish bulldozers cleared the ing allegiance to al-Qaeda and its af- The unnamed official said the re- victorious; its victory pried from opportunity to weaken the United main square in Afrin of any remind- the cracks between Russia and the States in Deir ez-Zor by undermin- er of the town’s erstwhile inhabit- United States’ competing war aims. ing its alliance with the Kurds. ants as fighters of the Free Syrian As Turkish forces advanced into Now, as Erdogan eyes his future in Army fired weapons into the air. Afrin with Moscow’s apparent sanc- Syria, detente between Russia and Switchable The Turkish march looks to con- tion, the United States, the Kurds’ the Trump administration risks un- sides. tinue from Afrin. Turkish President principal ally in Syria, had little dermining his victory. Turkey- Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke of choice but to watch its partners Erdogan has proceeded so far un- backed clearing the “terror corridor” along leave their positions. Abu Omar al- der Russian patronage. However, as Syrian Syria’s border to the east of Afrin as Idlibi, a Syrian Democratic Forces a former Indian ambassador to the fighters his forces advanced to “Manbij, Ayn commander, announced on March region, M.K. Bhadrakumar, wrote gather al-Arab (Kobane), Tel Abyad, Ras al- 7 the redeployment of 1,700 Kurds in the Asia Times, with US President in the Ain and Qamishli until this corridor to Afrin. More are thought to have Donald Trump talking of a summit village of is fully removed.” withdrawn unofficially to defend in the “not too distant future” that Bosoufane Little looks to be standing in their their homes against Turkish forces. Kremlin-sanctioned grace period south of way. US positions within the oil-rich may prove shorter than Erdogan Afrin, on Despite the nationalistic cre- territory east of the Euphrates look would like. March 22. scendo that accompanied Erdogan’s to have been weakened by the shift, (AFP) rhetoric, the battle was not as swift with untested Arab recruits filling Simon Speakman Cordall is the and was far from as clean as prom- gaps left by their experienced and Syria/Lebanon section editor of ised. Begun January 20, Turkey’s battle-hardened compatriots. the Arab Weekly. March 25, 2018 5 Syria The shadow of Russia’s Afghan disaster hovers over Syria

the extent of Russia’s deployment. the authoritarian state risks backfir- Viewpoint The Moscow discussion group Val- ing if the war continues for much dai said that as of 2017 Russia’s mili- longer. tary commitment to Syria extended However, Russian International only so far as special forces units, Affairs Council expert Max Suchkov 25 aircraft and helicopters, SU-35 said Russia’s peace efforts may fighter jets, air defence, police and not be entirely dead in the water. engineering troops. All told, a figure Suchkov explained via e-mail how Mona Alami markedly short of the 30,000 or so the US response to events in East- is a French-Lebanese analyst and troops sent to Afghanistan in 1979. ern Ghouta might provide observ- a fellow at the Rafik Hariri Centre The reaction of the West to Rus- ers with a “litmus test” of how a for the Middle East of the Atlantic sian intervention in Syria has been potential “post-ISIS American Syria Council. She lives in Beirut. more muted than to the Soviet policy” might pan out. intervention in Afghanistan. In the In addition, should the war Afghan war, the CIA along with continue beyond its current stage, Arab countries supplied the muja- the escalating conflict risks drawing hideen with funding and military Moscow away from its intended hardware. However, in Syria, West- surgical intervention and into a ern and Arab support has decreased much larger military commitment. hree months have significantly over the past two years Earlier this year, Turkey began passed since Russian as priority has been given to the war Operation Olive Branch in north- President Vladimir Pu- on the Islamic State (ISIS) and that western Syria, determined to tin lauded his forces’ in Yemen. reclaim the Kurdish Afrin region. victory in Syria. Yet, For Putin, the main aim of Rus- Similarly, Syria’s north-east has Moscow remains more sian involvement in Syria — the con- also proven problematic, with the enmeshed within the solidation of Assad’s rule over the United States occupying much of TSyrian quagmire than ever before, country — appears to be drawing the fertile and oil-rich territory that whether in lockstep with Syria’s near, with the Syrian president in Russia, the regime and its allies government forces battling a mostly control of about 65% of the country. sorely need. Sunni insurgency or in the north In February, heavy US artillery and south of the country where a targeted pro-government forces myriad of peripheral wars appears Moscow’s policy attempting to capture an oil refin- to be emerging. ery to the east of the Euphrates, Across Syria the stakes are ris- of ethnic divide- resulting in heavy casualties among ing, evidenced not least by Rus- and-rule and of the Russian mercenaries from the sia’s threat to retaliate in case of a bolstering the so-called Wagner group supporting US attack on Syrian government the regime forces. This, combined interests. authoritarian with the dire warning of retalia- The further Russia becomes in- state risks tion in the event of a US strike on volved within Syria’s war, however, its forces in Damascus, provides an the more vivid the public memories backfiring if the indication of how distant total vic- of the Soviet bloc’s disastrous inter- war continues for tory remains and of how tangible vention into Afghanistan become. much longer. the shadow of Afghanistan lies. Many differences exist between “That certainly is a risk that Siege tactics. A Syrian Moscow’s experiences in Syria top decision makers in Russia are soldier distributes aid from and that of the Soviet Union’s 1979 aware of and would like to avoid. Russian forces to civilians intervention in Afghanistan. Unlike Putin’s gamble appears to be pay- My sense is after the March 18 Rus- who fled Eastern Ghouta at Afghanistan, where the Soviet Un- ing off. However, as in Afghanistan, sian election, Moscow is likely to a shelter in Adra near ion was fighting several anti-Soviet several false assumptions could be amending its Syria policies; yet I Damascus, on March 20. Islamic forces, united against what return to dog his heels. In the late don’t think it would imply a depar- (Reuters) they perceived as a foreign aggres- 1970s, the Soviet Union did not ture from Assad,” Suchkov said. sor, in Syria Russia is battling differ- fully appreciate the complexities of Without reverting to a legitimate seriously ill children “who will die The violence will continue undi- ent opposition factions with various the Afghan culture and society that peace process, with or without soon if they don’t get urgent medi- minished until the regime controls and competing agendas. it was imposing its vision upon. Assad, the current situation is un- cal care.” He said there are also Eastern Ghouta. Thousands are A further complication in Syria, Likewise, in Syria, Putin believes tenable. Even if Assad is capable of 4,000 seriously injured adults in likely to die or face suffering delib- yet one that plays to Moscow’s ad- he can institute peace by force. That recapturing all of Syria, he will be need of urgent medical help. erately inflicted, consciously em- vantage, lies in its relationship with the Sochi peace process has been faced with a low-level insurgency As the regime assault continues, ployed. The survivors who do not the region’s equally diverse powers. replaced by blunt force can be seen that will do little to advance Rus- and with the prospect of ceasefires flee face deportation as the area is Countries such as Israel and Turkey, in the slaughter in Eastern Ghouta. sia’s long-term goals. cynically employed before being depopulated. The world has seen all deeply vested in the Syrian Putin has also labelled the major- As the Soviet Union learned in entirely discredited, the situation this strategy before and will short- conflict, regard Russia as a credible ity Sunni opposition as “terrorists” Afghanistan, big countries rarely facing residents of Eastern Ghouta ly bear witness to it once again in interlocutor and a buffer to Iranian and the Alawite regime as the wage small wars. For Putin and is dire. They must face regime and Eastern Ghouta. aspirations. “legitimate Syrian government.” In contemporary Russia, the gamble allied assault without aid. They Further differing the current con- doing so, Moscow’s policy of ethnic remains and the stakes are have few options. James Snell is a British journalist. flict from its Afghan predecessor is divide-and-rule and of bolstering increasing. Viewpoint Decades from now, Assad will be remembered for his bloody tactics

those atrocities at the time they oc- Ghouta, few are listening. Western curred. The Holocaust wasn’t uni- leaders can claim no excuses for versally spoken about or recognised their inaction. There is no Cold War, Stephen Starr until the 1960s. Pol Pot and Saddam no internal political strife akin to ruled for years after their worst ac- the 1940s or the collapse of com- Etched in is the author of “Revolt in memory. A Syria: Eye-Witness to the tions and were thus allowed to kill munism in the 1980s. thousands more. As civilians who oppose the wounded Uprising” and has lived in Syrian girl Syria and Turkey since 2007. In those days, the United States Damascus regime are finding out, positioned itself as the world’s the terrible reality is that Assad is receives policeman and moral authority, only now hitting his stride. Once treatment despite its involvement in violent the regime has crushed opposi- following coups across Latin America in tion elements in Idlib and Ghouta, regime the 1970s and ’80s. However, the where in the last month bombings bombard- United States didn’t act when or have killed 1,250 people and injured ments on ometimes, in the cloud shortly after the atrocities occurred thousands of others in some of the the besieged of constant news, events because it was embroiled in a worst violence of the war, it will Eastern go unnoticed: Fifty dead complex web of wars, not least the turn its sights on the autonomous Ghouta in Syria last week; 22 Cold War. Kurdish cantons of the north-west. region, on killed yesterday; another Europe was still reeling from the That could become a new chapter February 21. (AFP) 15 bombed to pieces fallout of two world wars and too of the conflict. today. preoccupied with internal troubles Years from now, it is likely the SThe mirror of history, however, to care much about murderous same gruesome scenes that il- will show that industrial killing campaigns in far-flung parts of the lustrated life in Yarmouk in 2015, is happening every day — today, world. eastern Aleppo in 2016 and Ghouta It added: “The president also in basements or cowering in fear of tomorrow and surely next month. In Syria, a very 20th-century in February and March 2018 will be registered prominently on the psy- the Syrian regime. There are thou- Events in Syria over the past seven murder campaign continues. It’s repeated in Kurdish regions. Com- chopathic subscale failure to accept sands of people alive today who years will probably turn out to be seven years this month since Bashar bine the atrocities and we’re look- responsibility. Persons who score could, with the proper international the 21st century’s worst atrocity. Assad’s regime — under the refrain ing at the actions of the century’s on this trait are usually associated response, survive this war. The political history of the past “Assad or we burn the country” — worst mass murderer. with forms of excusing behaviour, Can we still, today as in the past, 100 years is littered with murderous turned its guns on peaceful protest- What makes Assad different from rationalising behaviour or attribut- claim we didn’t know? When the dictators. Hitler killed millions of ers. Pol Pot or the Soviet Union’s Joseph ing guilt to external factors.” memorials are built decades from Europe’s Jews. Pol Pot massacred In past years Assad’s terror made Stalin? Very little. A 2015 study by There is one significant differ- now to commemorate the hundreds 1 million-3 million Cambodians in international headlines (though academics in The Netherlands said ence, however. While the lives of thousands of Syrians slaughtered the 1970s. Saddam Hussein gassed to little practical effect) but, as that “the president [Assad] has destroyed by murderous dictators at the hands of their own govern- thousands of Kurds in Halabja. the slaughter continues amid prominent psychopathic tenden- of the past cannot be saved, there ment, will there be much head No one said or did much about the smouldering ruins in Eastern cies.” is some hope for the people hiding shaking over how it all happened? 6 March 25, 2018 Opinion

Editorial Battlefield defeat doesn’t mean ISIS has gone away t has practically been crushed on the battlefield but the extremist group that grandly called itself Islamic State still poses a grave threat to the region and to the world. Most of the group’s fighters in Iraq and Syria are on the run or confined to pockets Isuch as Qadam, the district near Damascus from which they drove out Syrian Army units just days ago. However, from these tiny footholds, the Islamic State (ISIS) continues to carry out guerrilla attacks. ISIS is also looking for refuge outside the Levant with perhaps one-tenth of its fighters having left the region. Some of them are trying to sneak back into their countries of origin. Disparate governments, not least those within the anti-ISIS coalition, are faced with the dilemma of how to deal with former fighters. Even in the best of circumstances, it is not easy to reverse radicalisation. Detention centres in Syria and Iraq may not be the best places to try and may enhance the risk of the militants forging alliances with other detainees, promoting further radicalisation and mobilising them to fight another day. For Iraq, there is the memory of Camp Bucca © Yaser Ahmed for The Arab Weekly prison in which US troops held Iraqi militants after the 2003 invasion. Camp Bucca is infamous as the birthplace of ISIS. It was there that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi worked for five years to recruit and organise the leadership and rank and file of The significance of his new group. “We will never allow Bucca to happen again,” vowed an Iraqi Interior Ministry officer in Mosul. Nasiriya Central Prison, 320km south-east of Hariri’s battle for Beirut Baghdad, has about 6,000 jihadist detainees. It is grossly overcrowded and insufficiently Khairallah Khairallah supervised. This enables committed ISIS fighters is a Lebanese writer. to propagate their ideology and take charge of other detainees. Voters need to realise that their vote will be crucial to stopping There is no easy answer to the question of Hezbollah from laying its grip once and for all on Lebanon. dealing with detained jihadists. The Iraqi official in Mosul suggested they should “all receive the n May 6, Beirut will go readiness to defend itself and to development of Damascus is death penalty.” Some Western governments, in through another test choose life over death. Beirut Beirut needs intimately linked to that of Beirut fact, stated the view that it would be better if to prove that it is still voters will prove they know a team of and vice versa. If it weren’t for the their jihadist nationals died in Syria or Iraq. This standing up to those perfectly well the nature of the misguidedness of the regime, is why human rights groups expressed alarm at represen- who wished to bring challenges facing them and will Damascus would have become a the expeditious death sentences. it down on May 7, vote for Saad Hariri and his tatives like flourishing city, just as Beirut did. Whatever fate befalls the detainees, ISIS’s O2008, then moved on to destroy the companions. To beat back the In fact, all of Syria would have ideology remains a clear and present danger to that of Saad regional peace and security, as well as to impres- project of Plato’s “Republic.” Their culture of death, every single vote Hariri and flourished. However, the Syrian sionable young people. goal was quite clear: They wanted to is going to be crucial. regime was cursed by Beirut and The factors that drive youth towards ISIS’s topple the Lebanese government to The culture of death set foot in his collea- will remain so as long as it exists. perverted ideology have not gone away, whether drive a wedge between the compo- Beirut when, in the 1980s, Hezbol- gues on the Beirut had seen a lot of unfair- it’s a misconstrued idea of religion, sectarian nents of Lebanese society and usher lah militias drove Christians and ness and evil brought upon it. divides, the lack of educational and economic in another era of misery in Lebanon. other minorities out of West blue list, There were always efforts to bring opportunity or a sense of injustice — real or In that context, we need to grasp Beirut. Many people remember people who it down by breaking it into smaller perceived. the meaning of Saad Hariri’s battle how a large portion of West towns. Today, it is no different. Fighting the group’s lethal pitch is bound to be for Beirut and its importance for Beirut’s Christians fled the believe in Every Lebanese citizen in Beirut is the trickiest aspect of the war on ISIS. Lebanon and the region. It is the neighbourhoods of Mazraa, standing up targeted by the insidious new same battle for Lebanon that al-Msaytbeh, Khandaq al-Ghamiq to all aspects election law. This gives way to started with the civil war of 1975. It and many other zones after certain breaches meant to weaken Xenophobia should not was no accident that Beirut was sectarian militias kicked out the of underde- Saad Hariri in Beirut, for weaken- determine Hungary’s left in ruins after that war. Lebanese Army in February 1984. velopment ing his camp means closing the Former Lebanese Prime Minister Beirut inhabitants will always door on any bright future for election verdict Rafik Hariri was assassinated for remember how sectarian militias in Beirut. Lebanon and bringing back the his “crimes” of bringing life back to — be they Christian or Muslim, days of Syrian control, although Hungary has a general election April 8 but there Beirut and of wanting to build Lebanese or Palestinian — parti- this time wrapped in Iranian is a fatalistic sense the verdict will change nothing. bridges between different factions tioned the city and systematically clothes. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his of Lebanese society. Those steps destroyed all aspects of civilised What will the people of Beirut Fidesz political party appear to be solidly on were unforgivable in the eyes of life. The destructive hordes got do? Will they carry on resisting the course to win a third consecutive landslide the authors and sponsors of their weapons from one source: culture of death and move on victory by intensifying their road-tested xeno- Hariri’s assassination. the Syrian regime. without seeking revenge? phobic message of “ethnic homogeneity.” At the top of the list of those The Syrian regime has always In the end, only the strong will Polls indicate Fidesz will win about 50% of the traitors and assassins are the wanted to see Beirut in ruins and survive and Beirut is a survivor. It vote nationwide, which proves that migrants and vengeful Syrian regime, whose had ordered bombing operations survived the tough times of the Muslims have become a handy tool for populist hatred for Beirut was beyond carried out by proxy Palestinian civil war and regained its status as European politicians to consolidate and extend belief, and the Iranian regime, factions. It used the Palestinian “the bride of the Mediterranean.” their power. which specialises in spreading Liberation Army (PLA) to patrol the Beirut had become the favourite Although migration flows into Europe have ignorance and destruction. Just Green Line dividing Christian and destination of all Arabs until dropped off considerably since 2016, Orban look at what’s going on in Iraqi and Muslim areas in Beirut and the PLA Hariri’s assassination in 2005. continues to beat the drum against “external Syrian cities and in some Lebanese became the tool used to wipe out Beirut will rise again and shake off forces and international powers” like the Euro- and Yemeni regions. the culture of sharing and of life the bonds of backward forces. pean Union and the United Nations. Both of those On May 6, during the Lebanese from Beirut. What is required is more aware- entities, he alleges, want to force Hungary to accept migrants, weakening “our cultural identity general election, Beirut will have Little did the Syrian regime know ness of the things at stake in the (which will) slowly evaporate.” another chance to demonstrate its that the economic and social coming elections without drown- The appeal of such exclusivist rhetoric is ing in small details. puzzling at a time when migrant flows have Beirut voters need to realise that slowed everywhere in Europe. EU countries their vote will be crucial to received half as many asylum applications in 2017 stopping Hezbollah from laying its than the year before. It’s obvious that fears over Racing for grip once and for all on Lebanon. migration often bear no relation to the scale of Beirut. They need to focus on the big the problem in a particular European country. It Lebanon’s picture, which comes down to one has more to do with the way politicians present Prime question: Are Beirut voters ready the issue to voters. Minister to fight or have they decided to However, as the recent Italian elections Saad Hariri surrender to Hezbollah and its showed, xenophobic fear and fury can be a potent takes part in agents? force. The tide of xenophobia sweeping across the launch What Beirut needs is a team of Europe makes the plight of migrants more of the “Bike representatives like that of Saad precarious by far. Sharing In the final analysis, of course, Hungary’s Hariri and his colleagues on the System” blue list, people who believe in populists exploit the migration issue as much as project in they please but they will not be able to deliver on standing up to all aspects of downtown underdevelopment in Beirut. They the blithe promise of erecting barriers on every Beirut, last border. are motivated by the same desire April. (Reuters) A renewed sense of shared global and regional to recapture the city’s glorious past responsibility is the only answer. Not walls, real as a favourite Arab city. All Beirut or rhetorical. inhabitants have to do is respond en masse. March 25, 2018 7 Opinion Contact editor at: [email protected] Mohammed bin Salman trying to Published by Al Arab remake Saudi image in the US Publishing House Publisher Tom Regan and Group Executive Editor is a regular contributor to The Arab Weekly Haitham El-Zobaidi, PhD and a columnist at factsandopinion.com. Editor-in-Chief The crown prince offered a vision of the future that Oussama Romdhani most Americans would like.

Managing Editor change agent. Con- Iman Zayat troversial. Dynamic. These are just a Deputy Managing Editor few of the terms and Online Editor used by US me- Mamoon Alabbasi dia to describe Saudi Crown Senior Editor PrinceA Mohammed bin Salman John Hendel bin Abdulaziz’s first visit to the United States since he became heir Chief Copy Editor apparent. Richard Pretorius For his part, the crown prince appeared unfazed during public Copy Editor meetings and media opportunities. Stephen Quillen To observers, it seemed obvious Crown Prince Mohammed knew Analysis Section Editor why he was in the United States Ed Blanche and what he wanted to accomplish. East/West Section Editor The crown prince appeared on CBS News’ “60 Minutes,” present- Mark Habeeb ing Americans a rare view of Saudi Gulf Section Editor leaders. Young, dynamic, focused Mohammed Alkhereiji and frequently speaking English, Crown Prince Mohammed left Society and Travel viewers with the image of a leader Essential ally. Members of the US military wait for an honour cordon for Saudi Crown Prince Sections Editor preparing the country he will one Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz at the Pentagon, on March 22. (AFP) Samar Kadi day rule for a new future. The crown prince offered a Syria and Lebanon vision of the future that most It’s clear that one of the main from Uber, Amazon, the Holly- section of the Atomic Energy Act Section Editor Americans would like. He has initi- reasons for the prince’s visit is to wood film industry and General and transfer nuclear technology to Simon Speakman Cordall ated social change that resonates remake the image of Saudi Arabia Electric. Saudi Arabia. with many in the West, particularly in the eyes of most Americans. The meeting with General The Saudi crown prince’s first Contributing Editor regarding Saudi women. In a few Since the 9/11 attacks, which were Electric is meant to focus on Saudi week in the United States was not Rashmee Roshan Lall months, women will be able to carried out mainly by Saudis, Arabia’s nascent nuclear industry. without controversy. US Sena- drive, long a sore point with many many Americans have viewed the The United States desperately tor Bernie Sanders, who lost the Senior Correspondents Western observers. Women may kingdom with suspicion. While it wants to sell nuclear reactors to Democratic nomination to run for Mahmud el-Shafey (London) also attend sports events, some- was the late King Abdullah who Saudi Arabia. However, under Sec- president in 2016, introduced a bill Lamine Ghanmi (Tunis) thing they had not previously been began the transformation of Saudi tion 123 of the Atomic Energy Act that called for an end to American able to do. Arabia into a more modern society, of 1954, the United States cannot military involvement in Yemen. It Regular Columnists Last April, King Salman bin Ab- Crown Prince Mohammed, who’s transfer nuclear technology to any was defeated but only narrowly. Claude Salhani dulaziz Al Saud — no doubt at the just 32, is a more engaging fig- country without a guarantee it Some observers saw it as a warn- Yavuz Baydar urging of his son — loosened the ure for the American public and will not be used to build nuclear ing to Crown Prince Mohammed rules that regulate what women media. weapons. The crown prince has that he needs to proceed cautious- Correspondents can or cannot do without the per- During his meeting with Donald said that if Iran develops a nuclear ly on the kingdom’s involvement Saad Guerraoui (Casablanca) mission of a male guardian. Trump, the US president heaped weapon, his country will want to in Yemen or risk losing support in Dunia El-Zobaidi (London) Crown Prince Mohammed led praise on the Saudi crown prince, do so as well. This alarmed some the US Congress. Roua Khlifi (Tunis) the charge to open commercial which is bound to affect the American politicians. However, the crown prince Thomas Seibert (Washington) movie theatres in the kingdom for negative perceptions that many of Both Trump and Crown Prince quickly returned to his task of try- the first time in 35 years. While Trump’s conservative supporters Mohammed, however, regard ing to remake the image of Saudi Chief Designer the theatres may not show all the hold about the kingdom. Iran as the main adversary in the Arabia in American eyes. It will Marwen el-Hmedi blockbusters available in the West, Crown Prince Mohammed is also region. Accordingly, many experts be another few weeks before it is it is an important move in cultural in America to do business. His trip say the Trump administration will known how successful his Designers terms. includes meetings with executives find a way to waive the relevant mission was. Ibrahim Ben Bechir Hanen Jebali

Assad: The movie — Subscription & Advertising: [email protected] Journeys into Alt Reality Tel 020 3667 7249 Rashmee Roshan Lall Mohamed Al Mufti is a columnist for The Arab Weekly. Her blog can be found at Marketing & Advertising www.rashmee.com and she is on Twitter: @rashmeerl. Manager The Assads stick to a script that seems to put the war in the category of a weather Tel (Main) +44 20 7602 3999 phenomenon — unfortunate, but no matter what, always bring your own sunshine. Direct: +44 20 8742 9262 www.alarab.co.uk an there be anything Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, telling the gushing account of the official refugees lining up to face an more cynical or staged Russian President Vladimir Putin YouTube Channel for the Presi- uncertain welcome in the Middle than Syria’s president and his top generals about Syria’s dency of the Syrian Arab Repub- East and further afield. driving calmly from “gratitude for all of the efforts lic. Over the long years of this war, Damascus to Eastern that Russia made to save our Asma Assad exited the venue the Assads’ alternative reality has Ghouta on a bright day country.” with self-assured grace, navigat- acquired some purchase on the Cin March? Assad’s trademark calm ing the throng with loose-limbed collective imagination, provoking Yes, actually. There was the affability was in evidence; the strides in nude high-heeled court fascination and wonder. Did September 2016 video of Bashar camera didn’t see any sign of the shoes even as she casually Assad and his wife really not US Publisher: Assad doing much the same toll one might expect from a shrugged into a chic short notice anything amiss when they thing, tooling his car capably, leader worn down by a grinding leopard-print jacket. She wore a drove Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie Ibrahim Zobeidi confidently and with a smile, into war with its spiralling body count dark burgundy dress, its colour to lunch in Damascus? Vogue’s (248) 803 1946 Darayya, a rebellious town and grievous accounts of hun- striking the only sombre note in now-scrubbed cover story on south-west of Damascus that had dreds of thousands displaced. the symphonic display of Assad Asma Assad, headlined “A Rose in been starved into submission Assad did not show up to be family chutzpah. the Desert,” betrayed no distress after an extended siege by Syrian filmed in Darayya, Ghouta or Even those who might be at the mounting violence. government forces. Sochi as president of a country disgusted could hardly fail to be Instead, the photo shoot showed The only difference between unmoored. He played the lead amazed. It’s true that, for years, Bashar Assad serenely playing the Darayya video and that from role in a reality TV version of “The Syria has been a never-ending with his children in an apartment Ghouta is the make of Assad’s car. Syria of Assad,” a show that has series of images for the wider that was clearly not a palace. In 2016, he drove a Hyundai. This run for nearly half a century. world but they are not like these. When “Assad: The Movie” is year, it was a Honda. Both were The histrionic ability appears to The images out of Syria are not finally in the can, sometime in silver. Like Assad, the chosen run in the family. In January, sanitised but horrifying and the next decade or so, the Ghouta, Al Arab Publishing House vehicles were light, bright and Assad’s always impeccably deeply troubling — civilians Darayya, Sochi and Damascus Quadrant Building shiny, seemingly untouched by accoutred wife, Asma, starred in a choking allegedly from chlorine opera rushes will surely make the 177-179 Hammersmith Road the spreading stain of darkness video celebrating the silver gas attacks; rows of bodies in final cut. London W6 8BS after much bloodshed, unsullied jubilee of the Syrian National shrouds; 3-year-old Alan Kurdi of The Assads stick to a script that by the grief and uncertainty Symphony Orchestra. The show Kobane lying dead on a Turkish seems to put the war in the hanging heavy over Syrians at — how could it be anything but, in beach as a tragic consequence of category of a weather phenom- home and those forced to flee the capital of a country devas- his family’s attempt to reach enon — unfortunate, but no Tel: (+44) 20 7602 3999 abroad. tated by the eighth year of a civil Europe; shell-shocked children, matter what, always bring your Fax: (+44) 20 7602 8778 Then there was the November war — had “a minute of silence on such as Omran Daqneesh, 5, in own sunshine. As well as your 2017 video of Assad in the Black the souls of the martyrs.” So went Aleppo after an air strike; harried own videographer. 8 March 25, 2018 News & Analysis Egypt Hopes for better relations in the wake of Sudan’s al-Bashir visit to Egypt

Ahmed Megahid ties with Turkey and Qatar with the African Studies Programme at unease and al-Bashir had accused Egyptian think-tank Ahram Centre Egypt’s intelligence services of for Political and Strategic Studies. Cairo supporting opposition forces in “Both countries will gain nothing Sudan. There has also been pres- by escalating their verbal attacks gyptian-Sudanese rela- sure over Ethiopia’s Grand Renais- against each other.” tions were expected to sance Dam project and a renewal The panel is to convene in April improve after the coun- of tensions over the disputed bor- in Khartoum. Its most recent meet- tries’ leaders agreed to der territory known as the Halayeb ing was in early February in Cairo. enhance cooperation and Triangle. Cairo’s desire to secure stronger Esolve problems that have impeded However, Halim’s return to Cairo cooperation from Sudan was clear progress, Sudanese Ambassador augured improved relations be- during al-Bashir’s visit, not just in to Cairo Abdel Mahmoud Abdel tween Cairo and Khartoum, ana- terms of the presidential talks but Halim said. lysts said. also at the level of the reception he “Khartoum has a keen desire “The administrations in the two was given. to strengthen its ties with Cairo,” countries are discussing problems Sisi assured al-Bashir that elec- Abdel Halim said. “This is why it is in their relations with full trans- tricity could be an area for coop- open to all suggestions on achiev- parency,” said Mohamed Orabi, a eration between the two countries. ing this goal.” former Egyptian foreign minister. Khartoum expects the Grand Re- Sudanese President Omar al- “This is enough for them to reach naissance Dam project to make up Bashir visited Cairo on March 19 a settlement to these problems in an energy shortfall. for talks with Egyptian President a way agreeable to both of them.” Over the past three years, Egypt Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on bilateral co- There are hopes in Egypt that has moved from electricity deficit operation. The meetings came two improved relations with Sudan to surplus after it spent billions of weeks after the reinstatement of will lead Khartoum to change its dollars on the construction of elec- Sudan’s ambassador to Cairo fol- position on Ethiopia’s multibillion- tricity plants. The size of the elec- lowing his recall to Khartoum in dollar hydroelectric dam project tricity deficit Sudan suffers was January. which Cairo says will significantly evident in a nationwide outage “The visit [of the Sudanese pres- reduce Egypt’s share of Nile water. on January 10 while al-Bashir was ident to Cairo] reflects the positive Although Sudan has indicated it making a televised address. spirit that prevails between our is backing the Grand Renaissance Sisi also agreed with al-Bashir on two states,” Sisi said at a briefing Dam and said the project would re- enhancing consultations on Nile after his meetings with al-Bashir. sult in a net improvement, politi- water-sharing in light of a decla- He cited the importance of non- cal upheaval in Ethiopia following ration of principles both leaders interference in the affairs of other the resignation of Prime Minister signed in Khartoum in March 2015, countries and increasing coopera- Hailemariam Desalegn could mean together with Desalegn. tion. Al-Bashir acknowledged that room for manoeuvre. Sisi invited al-Bashir to a public cooperation was the only option Sisi and al-Bashir agreed to take rally at a sports stadium in Cairo for Sudan and Egypt. “There is a future cooperative steps over Nile where the Sudanese president was strong political will in both coun- water discussions, including an- met with thunderous applause tries for cooperation,” al-Bashir other meeting later this year in from the Egyptian crowd. said. “There is a need for more Khartoum. “There are many common inter- closeness and consultations as The discussions between Sisi ests between these two countries,” well.” and al-Bashir come after a January Orabi said. “These common in- Al-Bashir’s visit to Cairo came agreement to have foreign minis- terests can dwarf any differences one week after Egypt’s acting in- ters and head of intelligence ser- but it will take real work on both telligence chief, Abbas Kamel, vis- vices meet. sides to focus on these interests ited Khartoum for talks with the “This panel is a good way for and push the differences aside for Sudanese leadership after weeks the two countries to talk directly a while.” In-step, for now. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (R) walks of increased tensions between Cai- to each other and try to find solu- with his Sudanese counterpart Omar al-Bashir following their ro and Khartoum. tions to problems between them,” Ahmed Megahid is an Egyptian meeting in Cairo, on March 19. (Egyptian Presidency) Egypt views Sudan’s growing said Amani al-Tawil, the head of reporter in Cairo. Egyptians head to the polls amid tight security

Amr Emam this reality, which is why we are election is known beforehand optimistic about the turnout.” can discourage some people from The election comes after Egyp- showing up at the polling sta- Cairo tians living outside the country tions,” said Amr Hashem Rabie, voted. Long queues of Egyptian a researcher at Al-Ahram Centre gyptians head to the polls nationals formed outside Egyptian for Political and Strategic Studies. to vote in presidential embassies and consulates in coun- “This is why I think, and I hope to elections with little ques- tries where Egypt has large expat be wrong, that the voter turnout tion over the outcome communities, giving hope that will not be that great.” but trepidation over voter domestic polling would exceed ex- Sisi’s most serious rivals dropped Eturnout. pectations. from the presidential race before it Motivating voters. Egyptian expatriates living in Oman cast their Incumbent President Abdel Fat- Sisi, 63, is seeking a second presi- started for various reasons. Former ballot at the Egyptian Embassy in Muscat, on March 16. (AFP) tah al-Sisi is expected to easily de- dential term to complete projects, candidate Ahmed Shafiq withdrew feat Moussa Mostafa Moussa, head including mega infrastructure pro- in early January just a few days af- 25,000 citizens from 15 governo- 18,620 officials to polling stations of the centrist al-Ghad Party in the grammes, as well as painful eco- ter declaring a presidential bid. rates, with a minimum of 1,000 in Egypt’s 27 provinces to oversee March 26-28 election. The ques- nomic reforms that he said are nec- Former army chief of staff Sami recommendations from each gov- voting, vote counting and the dec- tion is whether voter participation essary to rescue the economy. Anan was arrested in January for ernorate. laration of election results. Vote among Egypt’s 59 million eligible Sisi appealed to Egyptians to violating army rules on election Sisi did not announce an elec- counting was to start immediately voters will eclipse the 2014 elec- vote. candidacy, forcing him to end his toral programme but said that eco- after the election ends March 28, tions, which Sisi won with 97% of “Your participation will show the campaign. nomic reforms he started over the with the results announced April 2. the vote in a turnout of only 47.5%. world that this country has a people Former presidential candidate past four years would pay off dur- The election takes place while who make decisions,” Sisi said in a and human rights lawyer Khalid Ali ing his second term. Egypt is fighting a branch of the televised address March 21, on the said he would not be standing after He took office at a time of high Islamic State (ISIS) in Sinai and occasion of the country’s Mother’s failing to collect sufficient endorse- political, economic and security wages a battle to restructure the There are Day celebration. “If all voters par- ments from voters to establish a uncertainty, a year after Islamist economy. ticipate, this will be a great thing, mooted bid. President Muhammad Morsi was ISIS released a video February 12 even if they do not select me to be “I had hoped that ten strong ousted by a popular uprising that in which it ordered militants to tar- more than president.” candidates would run against me was backed by the army. get polling stations in Egypt during 100 political parties in He vowed, if he lost the election, but this is something I cannot do Sisi is credited for improving the the election. This may explain the Egypt but most refused to peacefully transfer power to anything about,” Sisi said in a cam- economy, bringing security back to announced deployment of tens of the winner. Few, however, expect paign documentary. “We called on the streets and bringing Egypt’s re- thousands of army troops and po- to field candidates Moussa to be a major impediment political parties to submit candi- lations with most of the world back licemen outside polling stations. against Sisi. to Sisi’s re-election hopes, par- dates but the parties are not ready on track. “Measures taken to safeguard the ticularly given that he had earlier yet.” Moussa said he had a programme vote give confidence to voters that “Voter participation will make backed Sisi before filing as a last- There are more than 100 political that would solve many of Egypt’s there will be no security problems,” the election a success, regardless minute candidate. parties in Egypt but most refused problems, focusing particularly on said Saeed al-Lawindy, a researcher of who the voters will choose,” Moussa, 65 and a civil engineer to field candidates against Sisi. youth unemployment. from Al-Ahram Centre for Political said Mahmoud el-Sherif, the dep- by profession, is little known to the While high-profile opposition fig- In a previous interview with The and Strategic Studies. “This gives uty head of the National Election general public. A nationwide elec- ures, like Ali, found their attempts Arab Weekly, Moussa faulted Sisi me confidence also that the elec- Authority (NEA), the independ- tion campaign that has seen rallies to run stymied by stringent regis- for focusing on projects with long- tion turnout will be very high.” ent group of judges overseeing the and television ads failed to raise his tration criteria that required either term payoffs rather than seeking to vote. “We have confidence that election hopes. the recommendation of at least immediately fix ongoing problems. Amr Emam is a Cairo-based everybody in Egypt understands “The fact that the result of the 20 members of parliament or The NEA has said it would send contributor to The Arab Weekly. March 25, 2018 9 News & Analysis Maghreb Tunisia’s leader calls for electoral reform, acknowledges reasons for disappointment with government performance

Lamine Ghanmi estimates of losses from the tourism downturn were at $4 billion. “Together the 10 billion dinars [$4 Tunis billion] from phosphates and the 10 billion dinars [$4 billion] from tour- unisian President Beji ism would have helped us make the Caid Essebsi called for a situation much better,” said Caid Es- revision of the country’s sebsi. electoral law but refrained “We understand the frustration of from suggesting an ex- the people. The state owes them an Tpected constitutional reform to explanation.” shore up presidential powers. Tunisia had built a diverse, mar- Caid Essebsi said a small team of ket-oriented economy that had experts would study the possibil- been cited as a model of socio-eco- ity of amending the elections law nomic progress in the Middle East and report on its conclusions. Any and Africa in previous decades. It change of the law would be applied is now struggling, however, with to parliamentary and presidential an array of social and economic elections in 2019, not the municipal challenges. vote scheduled for May 6. Caid Essebsi left the future of the Electoral regulations are con- government led by Prime Minister sidered among the main causes of Youssef Chahed hanging, as specu- political instability in Tunisia since lation about a reshuffle continues. 2011. The current electoral system It was significant that the Tu- makes it difficult for large parties to nisian president uttered no word dominate the vote. of support for Chahed, who was Analysts said a change in the vot- shown on state television shuffling ing law would be a first step towards on his chair as he listened to Caid revamping Tunisia’s political sys- Essebsi. tem, which divides powers between “No official should see himself as three branches of government. A entitled to remaining forever on his new distribution of powers could position,” said the Tunisian presi- only happen through amendments Gamemaster. Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi gives a speech during a ceremony marking the dent. to the constitution. Caid Essebsi 62nd anniversary of Tunisian independence at the Carthage Palace, on March 20. (AFP) A committee with representatives categorically excluded any such from the main trade union, employ- constitutional changes. ers’ group and political parties was “What I noted with regret is that leaders he received praising Tuni- ment over the performance of the for the last seven years. recently established to mull the 79.9% of the Tunisians, especially sia’s political democratic achieve- country’s governments. “Since the The value of the dinar has depre- government’s priorities for the 20 young people, are unhappy about ments. revolution, for almost eight years ciated about 45% against the euro months before parliamentary and the situation,” Caid Essebsi told Many rights activists hail Tunisia we have fallen behind in many since 2011, he added. presidential elections. government, political, business and as a success of democratic transition fields,” he said, citing debt that has “The output of phosphates de- “The situation is difficult. The culture leaders at the presidential contrary to conflict in neighbouring soared from 40% of gross domestic clined from 8.1 million tonnes on situation is really difficult. We can- palace. Libya and bloodshed in Syria, Iraq product in 2010 to 70% early this average per year until the end of not blame one side or the other for He contrasted the dire impression and Yemen. year. 2010 to 3.1 million tonnes annually the situation. We are all responsible that most Tunisians have about the “This contrast between the view He also mentioned the burden of on average during the seven years but we must find a way out of the situation of the country since the at home and the bright picture civil service salaries. The total pay- from 2011,” Caid Essebsi said, add- crisis,” said Caid Essebsi. uprising that overthrew President abroad compels me to wonder: roll of the government’s employees ing that estimates of the losses from He added that as president, he Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali in 2011 with What is the matter here?” he said. has more than doubled since 2010. phosphates fall in productions for was bound to listen to all views, the bright image the country enjoys “Democracy is not understood by Giving even starker indications of the period were at $4 billion. including from the opposition, be- abroad. all people at the same levels and in regression in economic and social He said tourism, a key earner of fore deciding in which direction he In a speech March 20 marking the the practice of democracy we fell indicators since 2010, he noted that foreign currency with phosphate, should steer the country’s priorities. 62nd anniversary of Tunisia’s inde- behind.” economic growth rates, which aver- was adversely affected by two ji- pendence from France, Caid Essebsi Caid Essebsi said he saw reasons aged 4.5% a year until 2010, have hadist attacks in 2015 before recov- Lamine Ghanmi is an Arab Weekly quoted from messages of Western for the population’s disappoint- shrunk to an annual average of 1.5% ering since 2016. Caid Essebsi said correspondent in Tunis. Libya’s mayors attempt to move into the driver’s seat

Michel Cousins come easily. The government of of both Haftar and Fayez al-Sarraj, others in eastern Libya to attend. involved in the initiative. former Prime Minister Ali Zeidan head of the internationally recog- They did so under condition that Haftar has blown hot and cold had wanted to appoint mayors and nised, Tripoli-based Presidency no member of the GNA or anyone about elections; he is known to Tunis councillors itself and had tried to Council and its Government of Na- directly linked to the Libyan politi- want to stand as president but prevent municipal elections by not tional Accord (GNA). cal agreement attend. fears the humiliation of losing. Sar- aced with a political cri- providing sufficient funds, refus- It is inconceivable that the east- Elabbar’s move was welcomed by raj, too, has publicly endorsed elec- sis at the national level, ing to set boundaries and creating ern representatives would have UN Special Representative Ghassan tions but understands he could be Libya’s mayors and other other delaying tactics. gone to Tripoli without Haftar’s Salame, who has proposed elec- swept into political oblivion by the municipal leaders have Given the political divisions and consent, although acting Beng- tions as a solution to the Libyan results. taken it upon themselves lack of funding, it was impossible hazi Mayor Abdelrahman Elabbar crisis. However, neither he nor the There are increasing reports that Fto try to break the stalemate. to have all local elections on the played no small part in persuading UN Support Mission in Libya was both have accepted that neither is At a meeting in Tripoli, repre- same day so those tasked by the strong enough to succeed alone sentatives from 120 municipalities former parliament, the General Na- and that they need to work togeth- and towns took the unprecedented tional Congress, to supervise the er to have any chance of success. move of issuing an ultimatum to process decided to have each mu- This tentative rapprochement the House of Representatives (HoR) nicipality vote when it was ready. ties in with recent talks in Cairo on and the State Council (SC) to pass a By the end of 2014, most munici- reuniting the Libyan military be- law for elections for a new HoR and palities had functioning mayors tween chiefs of staff Abdel Razek a president and the appointment of and councillors. Nazhuri and Abdul Rahman al- an interim government. There have been backward steps. Tawil. In August 2016, the Libyan Nation- The question is whether the may- al Army, led by eastern Field Mar- ors will follow through with their shal Khalifa Haftar, replaced some ultimatum and, if they do, whether elected mayors and councillors in the Supreme Judicial Council will the area with military appointees. accept the challenge. Divisions in Misrata resulted in the Losing Another issue is how the HoR There are questions patience. about the response of the city’s mayor being killed last De- and SC will respond. For all their cember. Acting public endorsements of elections, militias, particularly the Nonetheless, the country’s may- Benghazi both State Council leader Abdul- all-powerful ones in ors and councillors are widely seen Mayor rahman Sewehli and HoR President Tripoli. as representative of the local popu- Abdelrahman Ageela Saleh are considered to be lation and legitimate in a way that Elabbar happy with the status quo. Carry- neither the elected HoR nor the speaks during ing on talking is widely viewed as a unelected SC are, which are gen- an interview delaying tactic. They said that if no action was erally viewed as self-serving and in Tunis. There are questions, too, about taken by April 18, they would call incompetent. Even the unelected (Reuters) the response of the militias, par- on the Supreme Judicial Council to military appointees in the east are ticularly the all-powerful ones in set aside the HoR and the SC, take more respected than the HoR. Tripoli. A united government and over Libya’s legislative authority, Significantly, a recent meeting in new elections would end their free- issue an elections law and appoint Tripoli included all the function- dom of action. a caretaker administration. ing elected mayors or their repre- The ultimatum is potentially The creation of a local govern- sentatives and eastern military ap- a game-changer but, as with so ment system, with some 100 mu- pointees, plus those running towns much else in Libya, it could end in nicipalities, elected councillors where elections are yet to take nothing. and mayors, is seen as Libya’s only place and delegates from a small significant political success since number of municipal subdivisions. Michel Cousins is a contributor to the revolution. Even that did not The gathering had the support The Arab Weekly on Libyan issues. 10 March 25, 2018 News & Analysis Lebanon Out with the old, in with the new: Lebanon’s elections promise changing of the guard

Sami Moubayed the republic. Additionally, there is plenty of bad blood between Aoun’s son-in- Beirut law Gebran Bassil and Berri because of a recent political feud that will ebanon is bracing itself for make cooperation between Amal parliamentary elections and the Aounists difficult. on May 6. If carried out While big names part the scene successfully, they would in this year’s parliament, several be the first legislative elec- prominent newcomers are making Ltions in the country since 2009. Vis- their debut, including three media ibly absent from the parliamentary personalities. One is George Kur- hopefuls is a long list of prominent dahi, a television presenter running politicians who have been repre- on Aoun’s list. Another is Paula sented in every chamber since the Yacoubian, another TV host run- 1990s. ning with the Hariri team. The third Among those is former Prime is Raghida Dergham, a respected Minister Fouad Siniora, an econo- journalist with the London-based mist and seasoned statesman who Al-Hayat newspaper. was exceptionally close to Leba- Several figures from military and non’s assassinated former Prime security backgrounds are bracing Minister Rafik Hariri. Siniora has themselves for the new chamber. taken a back seat in recent years af- One is former Brigadier-General ter Saad Hariri — Rafik Hariri’s son Chamel Roukoz, the son-in-law of — succeeded him in 2009, prefer- Aoun and commander of the Rang- ring the less visible post of head of ers Regiment. He was a candidate to Hariri’s Future Movement. lead the Lebanese Army. Siniora is reportedly unhappy Another is General Jamil al- with how Hariri handled his lat- Sayyed, the former head of Leba- est crisis with Saudi Arabia, when, nese General Security who was fa- some allege, he was abducted last mously accused and arrested over November and forced to announce Shifting foundations. Electoral billboards for the upcoming 2018 May parliamentary elections in the Hariri assassination in 2005. He his resignation from Riyadh, rather Lebanon by the largely Shia Amal movement with a tagline reading in Arabic “Your vote is a hope was released in 2009. A Shia officer than Beirut, on a Saudi channel, (Amal) for the borders.” (AFP) with strong ties to Iran and Syria, rather than his own Future Televi- Sayyed is exceptionally close to sion or via Lebanese state TV. Hezbollah. Siniora is also said to be unim- Movement, and Hezbollah Secre- parliamentary seats: two Christian will make or break any upcoming Running in Tripoli is Ashraf Rifi, pressed with how Hariri cannot tary-General Hassan Nasrallah. (one Maronite and one Catholic), parliamentary majority. the former director of Lebanese In- seem to make up his mind vis-a-vis Hariri and his allies had 46 seats two Sunni and two Shia seats. The The same applies to Hezbollah ternal Security. A former Hariri ally, Iran and its Lebanese proxy, Hez- in the outgoing parliament and the number of voters in Baalbak-Her- and Amal, which are deprived of he defected in recent years and is bollah. In his resignation speech, rival Iran- and Syria-backed bloc mel is: 43,000 Christians, 43,000 the backing of veteran Maronite MP leading a political movement that Hariri threatened that Hezbollah’s had 47. Those numbers will likely Sunnis and 230,000 Shias, making Suleiman Frangieh, once a main poses the most serious challenge to arms would be chopped off, only to change because Hariri no longer the Hariri plan ambitious and very player in their March 8 alliance. The Hariri. He, too, is close to the Sau- praise the group in January when has on his side the Lebanese Phal- difficult to achieve, since the lion’s grandson of a president and a presi- dis and backed by a rival branch of speaking to the Wall Street Journal. ange, headed by former President share of Shia votes will go to candi- dential hopeful himself, Frangieh the House of Saud and is reportedly Another Hariri ally who will exit Amin Gemayel. He backed out in dates running with Hezbollah and had relied on Hezbollah to put him closer to Saudi Crown Prince Mo- the Lebanese parliament is Druze 2016, furious with Hariri’s back- Amal. The numbers in the district in power in 2016 but Hezbollah hammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz. leader Walid Jumblatt, formerly ing of Michel Aoun as president, a went for Aoun. Although he hates Hezbollah, he a main pillar of Hariri’s March 14 post Gemayel wanted for himself. Frangieh won’t be running this seems to have one thing in common coalition. Jumblatt played a pivotal Gemayel has five MPs in parliament year, which is problematic for his with them — wanting the defeat of role in Hariri’s rise to power and in and that number is expected to in- allies who had relied on him within Hariri — although they remain at the creation of the political coali- crease in May. his Maronite constituency, being daggers drawn and aren’t remotely tion that ejected the Syrians in April Hariri also lacks the unwavering scion of a ranking political fam- on the same wavelength for the 2005. support of Jumblatt’s bloc, which ily who heads a prominent political next elections. Hariri badly needs both Siniora supported him in 2009, making party. Sayyed and Rifi will greatly influ- and Jumblatt to emerge victorious 85 seats out of 128 not so easy for Visibly absent from the Hezbollah and Amal will also be ence dynamics in the new chamber, in the next parliament with a two- Hariri. deprived of the direct alliance of increasing its massive polarisation thirds blocking majority. Numeri- His electoral allies are the Leba- parliamentary hopefuls the Aounists, who commanded 19 because one is a staunch ally of the cally that means at least 85 out of nese Forces of Samir Geagea, with is a long list of prominent seats in the outgoing parliament Saudis and the other of Syria and 128 MPs. Presently only two blocs whom Hariri is working to challenge politicians who have and put their full weight behind the Iran. can achieve that number. One is Hezbollah in Baalbek-Hermel. This been represented in March 8 alliance. It is far too diffi- headed by Hariri and the other is district will witness a big electoral every chamber since cult for them to do that again, hav- Sami Moubayed is a Syrian jointly led by Parliament Speaker battle in May, as Hariri tries to pen- ing to stand as more neutral players historian and author of “Under Nabih Berri, who leads the Amal etrate the Shia stronghold. It has six the 1990s. because their leader is president of the Black Flag” (IB Tauris, 2015). Viewpoint Ice cream and the Lebanese elections

1926. This majority system allowed dates, most of whom are already in transparency of the voting process, as well as 500 data entry clerks and voters, especially non-partisan power, taking part in the election. Abdel Samad asserted, “the fact 450 judges to tally the votes after.” individuals, to mix and match can- Hezbollah and its allies recently that the minister of the interior Compounding the election’s do- Makram Rabah didates and thus avoid taking sides. used the historic Baalbek citadel and 17 other cabinet members are mestic challenges is the prospect of is a lecturer at the American Under the current system, this is as the venue to announce their running for parliament voids the Lebanon’s 82,900 registered expat University of Beirut and author not an option. Each voter must cast list, a clear violation of Article 77 state’s political neutrality.” voters casting their ballots on April of “A Campus at War: Student a preferential vote, one that will prohibiting the use of public spaces Equally alarming, Abdel Samad 27 and 29, one week before the Politics at the American most probably go to the candidate for electoral meetings or promo- said, is the manner Prime Minister home vote. “The ministry needs University of Beirut, 1967-1975.” belonging to that voter’s sect. tion. Many other candidates have Saad Hariri is using the Rome and to supply these stations with the Yet the real challenge for the used their positions or financial Paris economic aid conferences, ballots and all the required voting Ministry of Interior and Municipali- resources to campaign ahead of the scheduled for next month, to resources and, more importantly, ties (MOI), the body tasked with vote, violations that, one assumes, promote his party’s standing in the ensure the integrity of the pro- s Lebanon gears up running the elections, goes beyond will go unpunished. elections. cess, especially that the counting for parliamentary educating the masses on the new For Ziad Abdel Samad, former While transparency is a concern, will take place in Beirut,” added elections May 6, the voting system and lies in ensuring secretary-general of the Lebanese the logistics involved in the com- Gebara. streets of the capital that all sides abide by the regula- Association for Democratic Elec- ing vote are also dizzying. Khalil Conventionally, elections, at and country have tions and, most importantly, the tions, an independent association Gebara, adviser to the MOI depart- least in most democratic countries, been transformed into ones related to the spending and that has monitored elections since ment charged with overseeing the are opportunities for change and aA picturesque gallery of posters and financing of their campaigns. 1996, concerns over the logistics vote, said the ministry’s overrid- renewal. However, in Lebanon, placards as veteran and aspiring These regulations are paramount. of administering the election pale ing challenges lay in the logistical neither the political class nor the politicians compete for office. They ensure the democratic next to ensuring the impartiality of administration of managing the electorate seems to be hoping for Alongside these colourful ads, playing field remains level so all campaigns. proportional voting system and the all that much. The former merely a peculiar campaign is notice- candidates, especially independent Despite the steps taken by the collection and tallying of ballots wishes to stay in power at any cost able, one that uses a single-flavour candidates from outside the tradi- Ministry of Interior to ensure the cast from abroad. Gebara said: “All while the latter hopes to capitalise ice cream cone to illustrate the tional political elite, have a chance other problems are an offshoot.” on their vote in reaping as much mechanics of the new electoral law, of making it into parliament. Gebara said the proportional reward from the system and the demonstrating how all the voters’ However, while such meas- system necessitates the use of pre- desperate politicians that control choices have been included within ures are a pillar of any successful Conventionally, printed ballots, which need to be it. a single list with no possibility of electoral system, the culture of the elections, at least delivered to 1,850 polling stations True to the MOI’s ad campaign, addition or omission of any candi- Lebanese political elite tends to in most democratic across Lebanon, a task easier to Lebanon’s democracy is like ice date’s name. regard such stipulations as merely write than accomplish. The execu- cream, as appetising and un- Any confusion over the new advisory, rather than the hard and countries, are tion of the election itself stands to healthy as it seems; the Lebanese system can be traced to its an- fast rules they are. opportunities for be a “a logistical nightmare, with will continue to vote their leaders tecedents in Lebanon’s majority Indeed, many doubt the state’s 15,000 electoral officials and more into office and hope to reap what voting system, a tradition dating ability to impose these laws on change and than 25,000 law enforcement offic- worldly rewards they can, worry- to the country’s first parliament in most of the parties and their candi- renewal. ers needed for Election Day alone, ing about the repercussions later. March 25, 2018 11 Spotlight Erdogan’s Troubles at Home, Abroad Turkey ratcheting up tensions with West over Syria incursions

Thomas Seibert no legitimate reason for Turkey’s Afrin incursion under internation- al law. The BBC reported a check Washington on Ankara’s assertion that there had been more than 700 attacks urkey pledged to extend on Turkish territory from Syrian its cross-border interven- regions controlled by the YPG last tions in Syria after taking year, saying it had found only 26 the north-western Syrian such incidents. city of Afrin but its ac- Some analysts said Turkey was Ttions are stoking tensions with key aiming to establish long-term pro- Western allies. tectorates on Syrian soil. Following Following a 2-month campaign, an incursion into the Syrian border Turkish troops and pro-Turkish town of Jarabulus in 2016, the area forces of the Free Syrian Army has been connected to the Turk- (FSA) entered Afrin on March 18, ish power grid and a Turkish post driving out fighters of the People’s office has opened there. Approxi- Protection Units (YPG), a Kurdish mately 140,000 Syrian refugees militia seen as a terrorist group by from Turkey have returned to the Ankara. The United Nations said Jarabulus area, Ankara said. Er- more than 100,000 civilians were dogan has said the Afrin operation uprooted by the fighting, which would allow more of the 3.5 million was followed by looting of shops Syrian refugees in Turkey to return and houses in Afrin. to their country. Turkish President Recep Tayyip “Ankara has two immediate goals Erdogan hailed the Afrin interven- in Syria: a cordon sanitaire en- Long-term plans. Turkey-backed Syrian rebel fighters hold a Turkish national flag (R) and a Free tion as a great success that would forced by Arab proxies to keep the Syrian Army flag at a checkpoint in Azaz on a road leading to Afrin, on February. (AFP) bring peace to that part of Syria and YPG away from the Turkish bor- secure the Turkish border. He an- der, and to prevent a contiguous nounced that Turkey’s military was and autonomous Kurdish entity Washington has publicly denied Angela Merkel told parliament on ready to enter the northern Iraqi in northern Syria,” said Aykan Er- that it has reached an agreement March 21 that Turkey’s legitimate region in Sinjar to cut YPG supply demir, a former Turkish lawmaker with Turkey on the fate of the city security interests notwithstanding, lines to strongholds of the Kurdis- who is a senior fellow at the Foun- of Manbij, 100km to the east of events in Afrin were “unaccepta- tan Workers’ Party (PKK), an anti- dation for Defense of Democracies Afrin. Ankara demanded that the ble” because “thousands and thou- Turkish rebel group whose lead- (FDD), a Washington think-tank. United States pressure the YPG to The Afrin operation has sands of civilians are being perse- ership has sheltered in the Qandil “The Afrin operation has provid- withdraw from Manbij to the east cuted, dying or forced to flee.” Mountains in northern Iraq. ed Erdogan with the golden oppor- of the Euphrates River. Talks be- provided Erdogan with Merkel’s criticism came shortly “If the central Iraqi government tunity to claim that he will resettle tween the two sides continue. the golden opportunity before EU leaders were to meet doesn’t clean out the PKK, we will Turkey’s Syrian refugees in these Turkey is facing an increas- with Erdogan in the Bulgarian Black clean Sinjar ourselves,” Erdogan regions, as part of an attempt to ap- ingly hostile atmosphere in the US to claim that he Sea resort of Varna. The summit said in a speech March 21. His state- peal to the anti-refugee sentiment Congress as well. US Senator Bob will resettle Turkey’s was designed to bring Turkish-Eu- ment came after a high-ranking among his voters,” Erdemir wrote Corker, the chairman of the Senate Syrian refugees in ropean relations back on track after PKK commander, Duran Kalkan, via e-mail. Foreign Relations Committee, ac- years of differences but Erdogan’s threatened to attack the Turkish Turkey’s forays into Syria are cused Turkey of putting “our hard- these regions. belligerent policies prompted some city of Semdinli, just over the Iraqi provoking growing criticism in the fought gains against ISIS at risk by EU officials to wonder whether the border. West. The United States, for whom drawing our local partners away meeting should be called off. Critics said Erdogan was trying to the YPG has been the most impor- from that fight.” Corker called on Erdemir said Erdogan was try- ride his way on jingoism in Turkey tant Syrian ally in the fight against the administration of US President ing to turn the push-back from the to shore up nationalist support for the Islamic State (ISIS), said the Af- Donald Trump to “compel Turkey West into an asset domestically. his re-election campaign next year. rin operation weakened the cam- to stop its offensive against our “The criticism of the Afrin op- Turkey says it has every right paign against the jihadists because partners and clearly state that no eration voiced by Turkey’s NATO to combat the YPG in Syria be- YPG fighters left their positions in further interference in the cam- allies will present Erdogan oppor- cause the group is a PKK subsidi- south-eastern Syria to confront paign against ISIS will be toler- tunities to fuel conspiracy theo- ary that threatens its national se- the Turks in the north. Erdogan re- ated.” ries, as he continues to portray curity. That, however, has been sponded by threatening to give the Germany, Turkey’s most im- developments in northern Syria challenged internationally. United States an “Ottoman slap” if portant trading partner and an EU as yet another proof of the West’s Experts working for Germany’s it moved against Turkish interests heavyweight, has also stepped up Aykan Erdemir, a former sinister plans to divide and weaken parliament concluded there was in Syria. its rhetoric. German Chancellor Turkish lawmaker Turkey,” he wrote. Viewpoint Erdogan plunges ahead as free media fades to black

urkish President Recep at least 92% of the Turkish media has been the only strong private- RTUK is notorious for aggressively Tayyip Erdogan is has fallen under the direct control sector rival to the official Anadolu handing out penalties or banning metaphorically floor- of the presidential palace. All that Agency. DHA has been crucial, as broadcasts that stray from the Yavuz Baydar ing the gas pedal as he remains is a tiny group of dailies, was CHA, to report independently government line on politics. The is a Turkish journalist and regular steers the country any a minor opposition channel and a on nationwide vote counts. new law will require that providers columnist for The Arab Weekly. which way he wants. handful of internet sites that strug- Now, DHA faces uncertainty. of online content with sound or THe is tightening his grip on the gle to make ends meet. Its new proprietors could close images seek a licence or face a ban. media and whatever remains of Apart from its loyalty to Erdog- it down or, at best, downsize it The implications are enormous independent journalism in Turkey. an, the Demiroren business family tremendously. The Demiroren as Garo Paylan, a member of par- Dogan, the country’s largest me- is known to be firmly opposed to Group’s DHA will probably be liament for the pro-Kurdish Peo- dia group, has been sold to the pro- independent journalism. When abandoned to regime-loyal editors. ples’ Democratic Party, explained: Erdogan conglomerate Demiroren the Demirorens purchased the Then there is newspaper dis- “Not only politicians but everyone Group. The $1.1 billion sale marked centre-left Milliyet and Vatan, both tribution across the country. The is trying to express themselves the end of an era. Dogan had been respected daily newspapers, there Yay-Sat distribution network is on social media these days. The prone to self-censorship in the past were mass firings and manage- a subsidiary of the Dogan Media regime has deemed even this five years but still represented Tur- ment changes. Flunkeys were Group but it, too, may either be space to be too much. If I were to key’s fragile diversity of opinion. appointed editors. closed or merged with the rival, broadcast here and write ‘Paylan The sale means the death of There are concerns that the pro-government Turkuvaz distri- TV’ in the corner, I would have to pluralism in Turkey’s mainstream Dogan media group is about to bution network. Yay-Sat has been go to one of the known platforms media, giving the government suffer the same fate. Colleagues a lifeline for secular, left-leaning, and get a licence.’ complete control of the media I talked to said they expect the pro-Kurdish newspapers willing to Paylan added: “If tomorrow we ahead of general elections in 2019. worst. Given the number of people criticise the administration. The become a country in which Netflix As Erol Onderoglu, the Turkish employed by the group, major ruc- Dogan Media Group sale multi- and YouTube are banned, it will representative for media freedom tions seem imminent in Turkish plies the inherent risks of reader have fallen into a league with the advocacy group Reporters Without journalism. outreach by such outlets. likes of North Korea.” Borders, noted: “Amid an unprece- Few doubt that the Dogan Dogan’s exit from the media There is little doubt that Turkey dented crackdown on civil society group’s sale was a significant politi- domain came alongside another is in a new era in which the free and the political opposition, only cal move by Erdogan and that it is key development for the digital media risks fading to black. a handful of low-circulation news- meant to secure an election victory sphere. Hours after news of the The question is will Turkey’s papers still offer an alternative to in 2019. This, he hopes, will pave sale broke, Turkey’s rubberstamp rather zombified opposition realise the government’s propaganda.” the way for a “super presidency” parliament passed a bill that puts the importance of recent develop- The sale of Dogan Dogan had a large stable of pub- that lasts a lifetime, brooking no digital platforms such as Netflix ments? Will it understand how gives the lications and broadcast outlets. Its separation of powers and with rule and social media networks such as greatly these developments curtail government newspapers, TV channels, periodi- of law notable by its absence. YouTube and Twitter at the mercy its chance of reaching voters? cals and a news agency gave it con- There are two possible conse- of its radio and TV watchdog. Much depends on whether the complete control trol of approximately 30% of the quences of such a turn of events. The watchdog, known by its opposition will lead a boycott of of the media ahead Turkish media sector. Based on its Since 2016, when the Cihan News Turkish initials RTUK, is tightly pro-government media outlets, print publications’ circulation, TV Agency (CHA) was closed due to its controlled by Erdogan’s Justice presenting a united front against a of general channels’ ratings and advertising it alleged links with the Gulen move- and Development Party and the regime that is increasingly seen as elections in 2019. attracted, Dogan’s sale means that ment, Dogan News Agency (DHA) Nationalist Movement Party. virulently opposed to free speech. 12 March 25, 2018 Special Focus Iran boasts tripling missile output, raising concerns about North Korean factor

Ed Blanche tiators little choice but to acquiesce to Iran’s terms. Trump has branded the agree- Beirut ment as a waste of time because, in the final analysis, Iran will likely ran claims it had tripled its mis- acquire nuclear weapons and in the sile production in the face of meantime develop long-range mis- strenuous efforts by the US and siles capable of carrying nuclear Middle East nemeses to force warheads. Tehran to abandon what they In a major policy shift in October, Isee as a dangerous threat while Iran he threatened to pull out of the deal deems its missile programme to be but the Europeans, eager to do busi- the linchpin of its defence strategy. ness with Iran now that sanctions Iran warned that any move by its have been lifted and its economy adversaries to force it to curtail its opened to outside investment, are ambitious ballistic programme — scrambling to salvage the 2015 deal, the most advanced in the Middle much to Trump’s chagrin. East after Israel’s — would be met The Iranians’ March 7 claim to by force if need be. have tripled missile production did Iran’s defiance of these efforts, not specify what types of weapons which had redoubled since the July were involved but it was widely 2015 signing of an agreement with interpreted as including medium- US-led global powers to rein in its and long-range ballistic missiles. contentious nuclear programme While it remains unclear what — which they claim is aimed at ac- current production amounts to, quiring nuclear weapons — will Western missile specialists say the undoubtedly intensify the issue of Iranians have 200-300 ballistic mis- Iran’s efforts to build up its military siles operational at launch sites capabilities. across the country, including some The latest outburst from Tehran deep inside mountains. has infuriated the US administra- Given the accelerated production tion of President Donald Trump, a of Iranian missiles, the total num- vociferous critic of the clerical re- Iran has ber of deployed missiles is probably gime in Iran and whose administra- apparently far greater. tion has tried to force the Iranians The operational weapons are be- to abandon their high-profile mili- speeded up lieved to consist mainly of Shahab-1 tary posture. its ballistic and Shahab-2 short-range ballistic The Americans and their friends missile drive missiles derived from the ubiqui- see Iran’s constant arms build-up because it is tous Soviet-era R-17/R-300 Scud B as a serious threat regionally — and possibly and R-17M Scud-C. further afield as its technology im- A longer-range variant, the Sha- proves — which keeps the Middle anticipating hab-3, capable of hitting all of Iraq, East, already beset by conflict, con- US Afghanistan and western Saudi stantly on edge. intervention Arabia from permanent bases in The latest injunction to Iran came of some kind the Iranian interior, is modelled days after French Foreign Minister by a peeved on North Korea’s Rodong weapon. Jean-Yves Le Drian visited Tehran These missile systems are road- on March 5 and urged the hard-line Trump. mobile, which makes it almost im- regime on behalf of the Europeans possible for US surveillance satel- to ditch its drive for more power- lites to determine launch sites that ful missiles capable of reaching the could be the targets of pre-emptive United States. attacks. Le Drian’s mission was also to On October 19, the Islamic Revo- reaffirm Western Europe’s sup- lutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) de- port for the 2015 agreement, under clared in a statement: “Iran’s ballis- which crippling economic sanc- tic missile programme will expand tions were lifted in return for Iran and it will continue with more curtailing its nuclear programme. speed in reaction to Trump’s hostile The Iranians told him bluntly that approach towards this revolution- the missile programme was not up ary organisation.” for negotiation under any circum- Brigadier-General Amir Ali Haji- stances. zadeh, commander of the IRGC’s Trump views the landmark deal aerospace forces, voiced Iran’s mis- concluded by the Barack Obama ad- givings about US efforts to drasti- ministration and others as too soft. cally curtail Tehran’s missile pro- The Arab countries — the potential gramme. vention of some kind by a peeved continental ballistic missile (ICBM) targets of Iran’s missiles — see it as a “In the past, we had to explain Trump. capable of carrying a nuclear war- sell-out by the Americans. our actions to various bodies but Recent developments indicate head to the continental United The United States imposed new not anymore,” Hajizadeh declared. that Iran has reached out to anoth- States and Tehran may be involved unilateral sanctions aimed at cur- “Our production has increased er pariah state, North Korea, which Iran has in that so it can acquire the know- tailing Iran’s missile development. three-fold compared to the past,” is also in Trump’s black book and apparently how to develop its own ICBM. Iran doggedly refused to discuss he boasted, but gave no time refer- with which Tehran is widely be- speeded up Recent events indicate “strong its missile programme during the ence or other details. lieved to have cooperated on mis- technical cooperation with Pyong- lengthy 2015 talks that centred sole- Iran has apparently speeded up sile development. its ballistic yang, raising concerns that Iran ly on the nuclear issue, leaving the its ballistic missile drive because Pyongyang is engaged in devel- missile might be on the path to developing United States and its fellow nego- it is possibly anticipating US inter- oping what appears to be an inter- drive. a nuclear-capable ICBM down the Viewpoint Ahmadinejad, Iran’s Robin Hood who never gave to the poor

enerations have Rey, south of Tehran, but he was open letters to Iranian Supreme government to sell Iran’s oil while grown up with a sentenced to 15 years in prison Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei evading international sanctions. heroic Robin Hood and fined $100,000. He was ar- complaining of the “lack of free- Ahmadinejad’s reaction to the Ali Alfoneh ideal of stealing from rested March 14. dom in Iran for the past 40 years!” crackdown on his allies, however, is a non-resident senior fellow at the rich and giving Ahmadinejad came to the res- Finally, Ahmadinejad disclosed appears to be a populist attempt Rafik Hariri Centre for the Middle to the poor. So did cue of his old friend, accusing the Baghaei’s letter to Soleimani after to take advantage of anti-regime GIran’s former President Mahmoud judiciary of being corrupt. More prosecution charges had been sentiments. He seems to want to East at the Atlantic Council. Ahmadinejad and his associates, remarkably, Ahmadinejad pub- brought against him. remain politically relevant, but who seem to have been inspired lished an open letter addressed to The letter, dated February 6, in so doing, is virtually taking by the first part of the legend but al-Quds Force commander Major- dwelt on money. Baghaei wrote: Soleimani and al-Quds Force not necessarily the second. General Qassem Soleimani. Urging “Mr Hossein Taeb, IRGC Intel- hostage. This much is apparent from the Soleimani not to “be guilty of in- ligence Organisation chief, claims The same people who are stream of indictments against Ah- justice,” Ahmadinejad threatened al-Quds Force, on August 5, 2013, outraged by the regime’s use of madinejad and his circle but the to disclose prior correspondence paid me [$4.3 million] to distrib- taxpayers’ money to support Half a million dollars legal and political battle is having with him. ute as a gift among certain African Bashar Assad’s regime in Syria an extraordinary effect on al-Quds Even as Ahmadinejad’s threats heads of state… of which $570,000 will probably be outraged by ac- is hardly a small sum Force of the Islamic Revolutionary appeared on a friendly web- was allegedly embezzled by me. cusations al-Quds Force sought but it is dwarfed by Guard Corps (IRGC), which Ah- site, dolatebahar.com, security This claim is a lie.” to bribe certain African heads of madinejad is trying to drag down forces arrested Esfandiar Rahim- Half a million dollars is hardly state. Disaffected sections of the the hundreds of with him. Mashaei, former vice-president a small sum but it is dwarfed population will be angered that millions, if not The scandalous affair began and a close confidante of Ah- by the hundreds of millions, if their government was engaged in billions, of dollars of last November with the Tehran madinejad. The charges against not billions, of dollars of public such activity instead of improving Justice Administration’s prosecu- him remain unclear. funds that disappeared during the lot of the average Iranian. public funds that tion on embezzlement charges of Ahmadinejad reacted to the eight years of Ahmadinejad’s Seen in this way, Ahmadinejad disappeared during Hamid Baghaei, Ahmadinejad’s Mashaei’s arrest by disclosing that presidency. Most of the money and his associates may win some vice-president. Baghaei was not the judiciary had handed him over disappeared into a complex web public sympathy for stealing from Ahmadinejad’s in court, having sought refuge at to the IRGC Intelligence Organisa- — of individuals and companies the rich despite not giving to the presidency. the Hazrat-e Abd al-Azim shrine in tion. He subsequently wrote a few established by the Ahmadinejad poor. March 25, 2018 13 Iran

How Saddam’s Iran boasts tripling missile output, raising concerns about North Korean factor ‘War of the Cities’ spawned Iran’s bility, making pre-emptive strikes by the United States or Israel ex- missile drive tremely difficult while limiting their efforts to fixed-site launch centres. Ed Blanche The ability to domestically pro- Armed and duce the multi-axle transporter Beirut dangerous. erector launchers, known as TELs, Sayyad-3 air or acquire the Chinese-built models Iran’s focus on building a power- defence missiles the North Koreans employ would ful ballistic missile arsenal, which on display at greatly enhance the Iranians’ ca- the Americans, Saudis and Israe- an undisclosed pability to evade detection of its lis, among others, see as a major location in Iran, launch sites. threat, has its origins in the 1980-88 last July. A new Iranian transporter, the war with Iraq in which major cities (Iranian Defence Ministry) 10×10 Zoljanah, was unveiled in were subjected to merciless missile May 2014 and can reportedly carry and air strikes in which thousands a 30-ton missile, which is close to of civilians were killed or wounded. the estimated launch weight of the The so-called War of the Cities Hwasong-10. involved five periods of systematic Iran does not have the technol- and intense bombardments with ogy to build such vehicles itself missiles, aircraft and even long- but Nadimi says the state-owned range artillery from February 1984, automaker Iran Khodro has signed when Saddam Hussein ordered in- a deal to distribute high-perfor- discriminate attacks on 11 Iranian mance Mercedes trucks in country. cities, through February 1987. Throughout the missile furore, In the first cluster of raids, at least the Iranians have insisted that 1,200 Iranian civilians were killed. they want their missile arsenal for All told, there were 13,000 Iranian defensive purposes and it must be casualties from those exchanges. said that there is a logical reason for The objective was to inflict large that, although it invariably gets lost civilian casualties to demoralise in the alarmist predictions of what the infant Islamic Republic but the such an eventuality will impose. Iranians, despite being outgunned, Glenn Greenwald, an American became more determined to exact journalist who has frequently ex- revenge and so was born the ballis- posed the excesses of US security tic missile industry that worries the paranoia, observed recently that Americans so much. “it’s a point that is so obvious it The Iranians had few weapons should not even need to be made. with which to retaliate with the “No rational person takes seri- same intensity as the periodic raids ously the claim that Iran, even if it mounted by the Iraqis, who had did obtain a nuclear weapon, would been aided by the United States. commit instant and guaranteed na- Eventually they acquired a handful tional suicide by using it to attack of Soviet-era R-17 (Scud-B) short- a nation that has a huge nuclear range ballistic missiles from Russia stockpile, which happens to include and Libya and began blasting Bagh- both the US and Israel. dad and Iraqi cities. “One can locate nothing in the ac- They began developing their own tions of Iran’s regime that even sug- Scud production lines and created gests irrationality on that level, let an entire industry from scratch, an alone suicidal impulses… enterprise that has become a pre- “So what, then, is the real reason dominant element in Tehran’s deal- that so many people in both the US ings with the West. and Israeli governments are so des- “The wartime need for ballistic perate to stop Iranian proliferation? missiles, as well as Iran’s histori- “Every now and then they reveal cal enmity with Israel, led Iran to the real reason: Iranian nuclear develop its own missile industry,” weapons (deliverable by interconti- observed Kyle Mizokami, a US de- nental ballistic missiles) would pre- fence expert. “The lack of accu- vent the US from attacking Iran at racy of the missiles made cities the will, and that is what is intolerable.” easiest targets and both Iranian and That is a cogent argument but it is Iraqi civilians bore the brunt of the undercut by Iran’s expansionist am- crude missile campaign.” bitions, which it is advancing hand The Iranians never forgot their over fist through proxy Shia militias sense of helplessness against road,” analyst Farzin Nadimi of the Hwasong-10 Musudan/BM-25 mis- Nadimi cautioned: “If the Khor- in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon, with Saddam’s military machine and Washington Institute for Near East sile. ramshahr is indeed a variant of the support for Bahrain’s long-margin- their inability to retaliate with long- Policy observed. Unveiled by Pyongyang in 2010, Hwasong-10, that would be a wor- alised Shia majority in the Sunni- range attacks on Iraqi cities. He said Tehran’s latest missile the 12-metre Hwasong-10 has an risome sign given reports that the ruled kingdom of Bahrain, right on “While the Scud-B was militarily — the Khorramshahr — named af- announced warhead capacity of North Korean missile uses the same the doorstep of Saudi Arabia, the insignificant due to its poor accu- ter the city in south-western Iran 1,800 kilograms. So, if Iran, which engine as its current ICBM, the other titan of the Gulf and which racy, Tehran perceived the missile where the infant Islamic Repub- is reported to have acquired ten of Hwasong-10.” has a substantial Shia minority. as a strategic success given that it lic held back a 1980 invasion by these weapons, is able to build its There are strong indications that enabled Iran to strike deep inside Saddam Hussein’s Iraq in a war that own version that would be an omi- the Iranians are seeking to acquire Ed Blanche is a regular contributor Iraqi territory,” a July 2017 report by lasted until 1988 — bears a striking nous development for the turbu- greater launch mobility that would to The Arab Weekly. He has reported the Nuclear Threat Initiative stated. resemblance to North Korea’s new lent region and beyond. give them “shoot-and-scoot” capa- on the Middle East since 1967. The false notes of Khamenei’s New Year’s address

shortcomings. preferred candidate endure house systematic corruption? because they judged it better than Ali Alfoneh He is right on the first account arrest, slander and public humili- The supreme leader struck other having no bread. and dead wrong on the second. ation? false notes in his New Year’s ad- Turning to regional issues, “Today, there is freedom of “Democracy rules in our dress. If “supporting Iranian work- Khamenei said: “International speech in our country,” Khamenei country,” Khamenei claimed but ers and Iranian products” was the busybodies, those who want to claimed but there is no freedom Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi main message, leading him to call interfere in internal affairs all over after speech. “No one is pressured, Karroubi, candidates in the 2009 for cutting unnecessary imports the world, are protesting against threatened or persecuted because presidential election and still from abroad, why does Iran con- the intervention of Iranians in the his thought and viewpoints are under house arrest, are living refu- tinue to bring in Turkish manure? affairs of Iraq, Syria and the like… opposed to the regime,” Khamenei tations of the supreme leader’s Why do regime officials import Well, that is none of your busi- said but he failed to explain the claim. luxury cars from Europe rather ness…! Our presence was solicited grounds on which thousands of With reference to social justice, than drive Iranian automobiles? by the governments and nations political prisoners are held at Evin Khamenei admitted: “Our ideal Does the supreme leader not know of the region… They asked for our Prison and detention centres all and the hope of the Muslim na- or does he not want to know? assistance and we helped them.” over Iran. What grounds could tion is not yet realised.” However, “One of our problems is con- The supreme leader’s crush- there be if not charges for oppos- instead of accepting responsibility, sumerism,” Khamenei declared. ing riposte to questions about lmost four decades ing the regime? he pointed at “certain authorities “One of our problems is waste Iran’s foreign policy may not after the Islamic “Elections in our country are of ours.” They are “lazy,” he said, and excessive spending. One of satisfy those hungry protesters Republic of Iran was among the most unique elections and not committed to the cause our problems is extreme leisure who risked life and limb even as established, Supreme in the world,” Khamenei said. and “our lack of resolve in the and aristocratic behaviour.” That they chanted: “Let Syria be, think Leader Ayatollah Ali On that count, he is right. Where fight against corruption.” problem surely lies elsewhere. about us!” Khamenei dedicated else in the world does the govern- If Khamenei tolerates social The impoverished Iranians who Almost four decades after the hisA March 21 New Year’s address to ment disqualify candidates by the injustice and widespread corrup- took to the streets in protest in 1979 revolution, Khamenei and surveying the “track record of the thousands before allowing a small tion, is he not complicit? Could December and January did not do the regime at large can no longer revolution.” Khamenei observed number of trusted apparatchiks to the supreme leader not be said so out of consumerism, wasteful- evade responsibility for the state that the regime has not reached its run for public office? Where else in to be just as guilty as those who ness, excessive spending, leisure of affairs in Iran. The supreme full potential but he exonerated the world do presidential candi- disregard the sufferings of disad- or aristocratic behaviour. They leader and the regime are to blame himself from responsibility for the dates who challenge the regime’s vantaged Iranians on account of ran the risk of being shot by police for the fiasco of governance. 14 March 25, 2018 News & Analysis Iraq ISIS seeking a comeback in Iraq

Mamoon Alabbasi

London

espite declaring victory against the Islamic State (ISIS) in December, Iraq continues to suffer from terror attacks by the Dgroup, leading to fears the militants are attempting to regroup. Civilian deaths in acts of violence have reportedly been lower in the past three months than on average since 2012 but the casualty figures are still high considering that ISIS is supposed to have been crushed. Figures published by the UN As- sistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) stated that 91 Iraqi civilians died in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict in February. The most affected governorates were Baghdad (49 killed), Anbar (14) and Diyala (12). UNAMI said the figures must be considered as the absolute mini- mum of civilian casualties. The numbers do not include members of the army, government- sanctioned militias and the police killed on duty. Last month, 27 Shia militiamen died in an attack in Kirkuk province. Attacks against civilians and the military continued in March. Lurking in the shadows. An Iraqi forces’ tank faces an ISIS mural in the city of al-Qaim in Iraq’s western Anbar province near the Syrian Civilian fatalities reported by border. (AFP) UNAMI in December (69) and Janu- ary (119) were a far cry from the militants were trying to get into An- dreds of ISIS fighters, with tonnes of extremist networks,” AP reported. “We are deeply alarmed by this 1,775 peak in June 2014 when ISIS bar province through Syria, where weapons and ammunition, to leave Some trials reportedly took less report and the Iraqi authorities’ captured Mosul. the group also appears to be trying Raqqa and spread across Syria. than 30 minutes. mass use of the death penalty and Observers, however, said they to re-emerge. Some ISIS members reached east- “The Americans freed their cap- the courts’ reliance on torture- were witnessing an attempt by ISIS Infiltration attempts into Iraq are ern Syria near the Iraqi border. tives [from 2003-11]; under Iraq, tainted ‘confessions’ to secure con- militants to regroup. likely to continue amid security There are fears that the Iraqi they will all receive the death pen- victions,” Lynn Maalouf, Middle “The fact that [ISIS] still has the concerns over ISIS fighters in Syria. prison conditions of thousands of alty,” an Interior Ministry officer East research director at Amnesty ability and opportunity to launch In February, a small number of ISIS detainees accused of having links overseeing the detention of ISIS International, said in a statement. attacks is worrying, especially after detainees escaped from a prison to ISIS could lead to radicalisation, suspects in Mosul told AP on condi- Even from a security perspective, the overwhelming defeat they have run by the Kurdish-led Syrian Dem- especially as the jails do not segre- tion of anonymity. human rights violations are likely suffered during the last year; they ocratic Forces (SDF). gate suspected terrorists and other to be counterproductive. have clearly adapted to their new “The fact that escape is possible convicts. “It’s the tortures, the ill-treat- circumstances,” wrote Mustafa Ha- has underscored the security wor- At least 19,000 people are in pris- ments, the continuous long-term bib on the website Niqash.org ries. There have been urgent and ons for terrorism-linked offences. bad conditions in detentions which Iraqi military officials confirmed growing concerns inside the US mil- More than 3,000 have been sen- have radicalised a lot of actors that ISIS was planning a comeback. itary and intelligence community tenced to death, an analysis by the Iraqi military officials which we find again as armed ac- “[ISIS] is trying to regroup in the about the security arrangements for Associated Press (AP) stated. About tors on the battlefield,” Peter Mau- eastern and northern parts of the hundreds of foreign ISIS fighters be- 100 people were hanged last year. said ISIS militants were rer, president of the International city [of Diyala] but joint security ing held by the Syrian Democratic “The mass incarceration and trying to get into Anbar Committee of the Red Cross, told forces — from the army, the police Forces,” CNN reported. speed of guilty verdicts raise con- province through Syria, AP. and the militias — have chased them An additional worry is whether cerns over potential miscarriages of where the group also off,” Mizher al-Azzawi, a senior com- the SDF would strike another deal justice — and worries that jailed mil- appears to be trying to Mamoon Alabbasi is Deputy mander in Diyala, told Niqash.org. with ISIS, such as the one in which itants are recruiting within the gen- Managing Editor and Online Editor Iraqi military officials said ISIS Kurdish-led forces allowed hun- eral prison population to build new re-emerge. of The Arab Weekly. Viewpoint 15 years on, Iraq is a failed state

he United States prom- of government forces, their allied of the country. this disgusting ideology on the peo- ised 15 years ago that it Shia jihadist militias and the Sunni This means that the supreme ple of Iraq, damning generations of would deliver democ- jihadist Islamic State (ISIS) group. leader of Iran, a position occupied girls to a lifetime of horrific abuse. Tallha Abdulrazaq racy to Iraq but Iraqis After 15 years, we can be confi- by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, can The Iraqi government is also is a researcher at the University are still reeling from dent that Iraq has not transitioned overrule the government’s elected responsible for human rights

of Exeter’s Strategy and Security the effects of the 2003 from dictatorship to democracy but officials. It does not matter what abuses, including the persecution Tinvasion. has devolved from a deeply flawed the people want. A mullah, appar- of the country’s Sunni Arabs and Institute in England. Rather than democracy, Iraq is sovereign country into a failed state ently, knows far better and can any political dissidents who oppose edging towards an Iranian-style in which terrorism, extremism and impose his will on the people while the gradual Iranification of Iraq. theocracy. Rather than freedom, radicalisation hold sway. claiming his decisions are divinely This includes Arab Shia clerics such Iraqis are beset by violence and Plainly put, Iraq does not have a ordained. as Ayatollah Mahmoud al-Sarkhi, terror. Rather than human rights, functioning democracy. The reason whose headquarters in Karbala was Iraqis are suffering from a decade- is obvious: When the United States strafed by helicopter gunships and and-a-half of abuses at the hands decided on regime change in Iraq In the his followers abducted, tortured under the Clinton administration, it absence of and arrested by former Prime Min- introduced the Iraq Liberation Act ister Nuri al-Maliki in 2014. of 1998. This legislation deter- law, order and Why was this Shia cleric at- mined that it would be US policy to justice, tacked? Simply because Sarkhi vo- seek “regime change” in Iraq and to radicalisation cally opposed the pro-Iran Maliki’s support a transition to democracy. sectarian policies and his persecu- However, this appears to have festers and tion of Sunnis. been a smokescreen to justify inter- grows. With the degradation of human ventionism, as Washington and the rights, the persecution of minori- Iraq Liberation Act officially sup- ties and political dissidents and ported groups and organisations Iraq is run by a coterie of Shia Is- the non-existence of democracy, such as the pro-Iran and Khomein- lamists in partnership with Muslim is it any wonder that Iraq has be- ist Supreme Council for the Islamic Brotherhood-aligned Sunni Islam- come fertile ground for extremist Revolution in Iraq. ists such as the Iraqi Islamic Party. ideological groups like ISIS or the Obviously, Shia Islamist parties These governments have repeated- wide variety of Shia jihadists who that follow the theocratic, funda- ly attempted to legalise paedophilia are running amok? After all, in the mentalist ideology of the founder against girls, by tabling motions to absence of law, order and justice, of the Islamic Republic of Iran, change the Personal Status Law and radicalisation festers and grows. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, have introducing laws that would allow People who feel pressed into a very little to do with democracy. men to marry 9-year-old girls. The corner react, sometimes violently, After all, their ideology calls for the most recent draft law of this sort when they feel they have no other establishment of a religious theoc- was introduced last November. choice. Without a doubt, Iraq is Under Iran’s wings. Iraqi Shia clerics look at a military drone of racy in which an unelected “guard- Attempts to undermine the rights a failed state and it will take a the Popular Mobilisation Forces at the seventh annual weapons ian jurist” has ultimate say over the of women and children will not miracle to pull it back from the exhibition in Baghdad, on March 13. (AP) foreign and domestic policy cease as long as the mullahs impose precipice. March 25, 2018 15 News & Analysis Palestine Israel Abbas’s outbursts highlight diplomatic dead ends

The Arab Weekly staff brothers (Hamdallah and Faraj) that they are safe after the sinful and despicable attack that was car- London ried out against them by the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip,” Ab- utbursts by Palestin- bas said. ian Authority Presi- He offered no evidence of Ha- dent Mahmoud Abbas mas’s involvement but said he did against Hamas and the not trust Hamas to investigate the US ambassador to Israel incident honestly. Oappear to signal that diplomatic ef- “We do not want investigation forts towards reconciliation and from them. We do not want infor- restarting the Middle East peace mation from them and we do not process hit a dead end. want anything from them because Abbas, speaking at a Palestinian we know exactly that they, the Ha- leadership gathering, lashed out mas movement, were the ones who at US Ambassador to Israel David committed this incident,” he said. Friedman because of his support “In my capacity as the president for Israeli settlers in the occupied of the Palestinian people I have tol- West Bank. Friedman said Israeli erated much to regain unity and settlers were building on “their unite the homeland and I was met land.” with rejection by Hamas and their “The son of dog says they build illegitimate authority.” [settlements] on their land? He is Hamas called Abbas’s comments a settler and his family are settlers irresponsible and said they aimed and he is the US ambassador in Tel to “burn bridges and reinforce di- Aviv. What should we expect from visions.” The group previously de- him?” Abbas said angrily. nied involvement in the bombing. Abbas criticised US President Observers said Abbas has run out Donald Trump’s recognition of Je- of diplomatic options and turned rusalem as Israel’s capital, the plan to insults and accusations out of to move the US Embassy to the city Cornered. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (C) speaks during a meeting with the Palestinian desperation. and the Americans’ cutoff of hun- leadership in Ramallah, on March 19. (Reuters) “The elderly leader’s way of es- dreds of millions of dollars in aid caping his troubles is by hurling to the UN agency for Palestinian insults at Americans and impos- refugees. US Middle East envoy Jason the point of verbal attacks on a US solution to the Israeli-Palestinian ing further sanctions on the Gaza He accused the Trump admin- Greenblatt issued a statement call- official. conflict have stalled but Israeli set- Strip,” wrote Haaretz’s military istration of being unfairly biased ing Abbas’s comment “highly inap- “For the first time in decades, tlement expansion, which is illegal correspondent and defence analyst in favour of Israel and rejected propriate.” He said the Palestinian the US administration has stopped under international law, has con- Amos Harel. the White House peace proposal, leader needed “to choose between spoiling the Palestinian leaders and tinued. “His declarations and actions which is still being developed. hateful rhetoric and concrete and tells them: enough is enough,” Net- Abbas also appears to be frus- could bring closer a military con- “Then they said, ‘Wait for our practical efforts to improve the anyahu said on Twitter. “Apparent- trated with Hamas, saying there flict between Israel and Hamas in plan.’ What shall we wait for? We quality of life of his people.” ly the shock of the truth has caused has been “zero” progress in recon- the Strip and continue to destabi- will not,” Abbas said. “Many said, US State Department spokes- them to lose it.” ciliation efforts between the rival lise already-tense relations with ‘Why don’t you go to Washington?’ woman Heather Nauert said: Peace talks aimed at a two-state Palestinian sides. Israel in the West Bank. They want us to go to Washington “President Abbas’s comments He blamed Hamas for a bomb at- “Israeli security services are to sign. We will not accept that and were outrageous and unhelpful. tack on the convoy of Palestinian concerned about the potential of we will not let it pass.” We urge the Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah two parallel processes: a military Friedman, in a speech in Jerusa- to focus its efforts on improving in Gaza. Hamdallah and Palestin- escalation with Hamas in the Gaza lem at a conference on combating the lives of the Palestinian people Observers said Abbas has ian security chief Majid Faraj were Strip and a weakening of security global anti-Semitism, said: “His and advancing the cause of peace.” run out of diplomatic among those in the convoy when it coordination with the [Palestinian (Abbas’s) response was to refer to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin options and turned to was attacked with a roadside bomb Authority] in the West Bank.” me as ‘son of a dog.’ Anti-Semitism Netanyahu said the Trump admin- insults and accusations in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip or political discourse? Not for me istration’s decisions on Jerusalem out of desperation. on March 13. They were uninjured. The Arab Weekly staff and news to judge. I leave that all up to you.” appeared to have brought Abbas to “We congratulate the two big agencies. Viewpoint Why did Israel own up to its Syria 2007 air raid?

t was meant to be a media army),” said Defence Minister ment in the attack one month While the Israeli announcement bombshell. Israel officially Avigdor Lieberman. “Everyone in after it was carried out. Former is unlikely intended solely as a confirmed that it carried the Middle East would do well to President George W. Bush con- message to Iran, as Tehran was Mamoon Alabbasi out an air raid targeting a internalise this equation.” firmed it in his 2010 memoir. aware that Israel was responsi- suspected Syrian nuclear “Israel’s policy has been and re- An investigative article pub- ble for the air strikes, it could be reactor in 2007. mains consistent — to prevent our lished by the New Yorker in 2012 a public show of support to the The announcement broke enemies from arming themselves gave an extensive account of the Trump administration, whose Ian Israeli tradition of neither with nuclear weapons,” said incident citing senior Israeli of- new members — Secretary of confirming nor denying military Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin ficials. State-designate Mike Pompeo and operations outside its borders. Netanyahu. Elliott Abrams, who served as national security adviser John Israeli commentators were pre- While Israeli censors previ- deputy assistant to the president Bolton — are foreign policy hawks occupied in analysing the events ously prohibited the national and deputy national security known for their opposition to the in the prism of domestic politics: media from freely reporting on adviser in the George W. Bush Iran nuclear deal. Was it former Prime Minister the 2007 raid, much of the outside administration, wrote his account It could also be an attempt Ehud Olmert or former Defence world had a good idea of who was of the US-Israeli discussions re- to reach out to Arab countries Minister Ehud Barak who gave behind the attack. The Israelis in- garding the strike in Commentary threatened by Iran’s expansionist the order? Both leaders will have tended for it to be an open secret. magazine in 2013. agenda. Tel Aviv hopes to normal- their memoirs published soon and Netanyahu, who then headed The Syrian regime of President ise relations with the Arab world their accounts of the incident will the opposition to Olmert’s govern- Bashar Assad chose not to make by highlighting the mutual threat reportedly vary. ment, praised the attack during an a fuss at the time because it of Iran and without making peace In addition, Israel’s intelligence interview with Israel’s Channel 1 would confirm its plans to make a with the Palestinians. agency the Mossad and the Mili- TV station a few weeks after the nuclear bomb. During that period, If that is Israel’s intention, 70 tary Intelligence Directorate made strike. there were secret and indirect years after the country’s found- competing claims over who dis- Unnamed US and Israeli officials talks between Israeli and ing, it appears it is still misreading covered the alleged Syrian nuclear were quoted in the New York Syrian officials over a possible the region. Because of Israel’s programme, which was provided Times confirming Israel’s involve- rapprochement deal. mistreatment of Palestinians, it to Damascus by North Korea. struggles to maintain “normal” Domestic politics aside, the ties with states that have long announcement was framed as a made peace with it: Egypt and warning message to Iran. Jordan. “The courageous decision of the Over the past seven decades, Israeli government almost 11 years numerous ideologies have come ago to destroy the nuclear reactor and gone, many alliances have in Syria and the successful op- been formed and fallen yet public eration following it sends a clear sympathy with the Palestinians message: Israel will never allow has remained. nuclear weapons to countries like Without addressing the real Iran that threaten its existence,” issue — the plight of Palestinians said Israeli Intelligence Minister — the best Israel can hope for is Yisrael Katz in a post on Twitter. secretive relations and shambolic “That’s the message from [the diplomatic ties in the region. 1981 Israeli raid against a nuclear Not being Assad is a virtue that reactor in Iraq], that’s the message Israel can boast of but it’s not from 2007 and that’s our future enough. If Israel invests as much message to our enemies,” said Is- effort in the Middle East peace Not being Assad is raeli Defence Forces Chief of Staff process as it has invested in side- a virtue that Israel Lieutenant-General Gadi Eisenkot. stepping it, it would make greater “The motivation of our enemies Whispers no more. Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu (R) progress in forging relations with can boast of but has grown in recent years, but listens to Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz during a cabinet meeting both governments and peoples of it’s not enough. so too the might of the (Israeli in Jerusalem. (AP) the region. 16 March 25, 2018 News & Analysis When Bannon visits his far-right friends in Europe

Justin Salhani economy and expelling immigrants. Salvini sees himself as a warrior against the “Islamic invasion” of Milan Europe. In 2017, he visited and vowed to shut down a small Bang- hortly after the Italian elec- ladeshi community centre in Milan. tions, Stephen Bannon, a “The League is the most danger- former adviser to US Presi- ous, anti-democratic force in Italy dent Donald Trump and right now and naturally well placed head of the far-right news to be riding the anti-immigrant, an- Soutlet Breitbart, visited Rome to ti-Muslim wave that’s buoying the level praise on Italy’s far-right can- right in Europe,” said Ruth Ben-Ghi- didate for prime minister, Matteo at, a professor of history and Italian Salvini. Studies at New York University. Bannon’s trip included stops in “Salvini has capitalised on the France and Germany. He addressed League’s historic hatred of ‘others’ France’s nativist National Front par- and racist ideologies of Northern ty, saying “let them call you racist” superiority. Those ‘others’ used to Deeper into the fringes. France’s far-right party Front National (FN) leader Marine Le Pen (R) stands and “wear it as a badge of honour.” be Southerners. Now they are the with former US president adviser Stephen Bannon after his speech at the Grand Palais in Lille, on He praised Hungary’s Islamophobic immigrants whom he accuses of be- March 10. (AFP) leader Viktor Orban as a “real patri- ing responsible for crime in Italy.” ot and a real hero.” During the US election in which Bannon’s trip brings attention Trump moved from pop-culture fig- success in Amsterdam, a feat that they think he still has a close con- balise via Trump has not spread. to the connections that have been ure to president, candidate Trump the right wing, the Trump-friendly nection to President Trump.” Salvini’s relative success is a partial forming between racist, xenopho- accused Mexican immigrants of be- party of Geert Wilders never even Bannon’s trip to Europe probably testament to that. bic and anti-Muslim parties and fig- ing rapists and claimed, “I think Is- attempted. doesn’t mean much. It’s a mutual “No wonder [Salvini] praised Vik- ures in Europe and beyond. lam hates us.” Bannon’s warm welcome in those back rub between nativist populists tor Orban just after the election and Anti-EU parties have often coa- Salvini took note of Trump’s suc- European circles shows a coalesc- who want to make each other feel admires Putin. Both these leaders lesced around shared platforms. cess and tried to follow suit. ing around anti-Muslim and nativist validated. are open in their attempts to restore One of the prime locations they “He has repeatedly talked about sentiments over any other sort of That, however, doesn’t mean the Europe as a white Christian space,” have done so is in the European Par- ethnic cleansing and just before the platform. Bannon, however, also is far right is not impactful or that the Ben-Ghiat said. “The League is the liament. election said Italy needed a ‘mass recovering from a rather rough few rhetoric that Bannon helped glo- biggest symptom of the disease of This is the platform Salvini and cleansing, street by street, neigh- months: After being jettisoned from racism that’s gotten worse in recent his party, the League, used to attack bourhood by neighbourhood’,” the White House he returned to Bre- years.” European values. Salvini’s success Ben-Ghiat said. itbart, the platform for the alt-right, This racism isn’t a complete sur- in Italy’s March 4 election in Italy, Salvini, like Bannon, is fond of before being told he was not needed prise. It’s been just below the sur- where his party received 18% of the Orban, whom he praised after the there, too. face and recent elections reinforced vote and surpassed Silvio Berlusco- election. All three men are fond of “It seems that Bannon is mainly The trip brings attention that sentiment. ni’s Forza Italia to become the lead- Russia’s newly re-elected President touring to support himself rather to the connections that “Regarding the latest results, ing party in the centre-right coali- Vladimir Putin. than the European far right,” said we learned that the far right is still tion, is largely due to rhetoric that While in Europe, Bannon met Cas Mudde, a scholar at the Univer- have been forming strong in Europe,” Mudde said. nearly mirrored that of Bannon’s with Alice Weidel, leader of Alterna- sity of Georgia who focuses on polit- between racist, “Particularly in countries where former boss Trump during the US tive for Germany, a far-right party ical extremism and populism in Eu- xenophobic and it has been strong for a while, like elections in 2016. that is vehemently anti-immigra- rope and the United States. “Many anti-Muslim parties Austria and Italy.” Salvini ran a platform of “Italy tion and anti-Islam. In Holland, a of the more marginalised European and figures in Europe first” and made grandiose prom- right-wing party of white suprema- far right will embrace him as he is Justin Salhani is an Arab Weekly ises to Italians about revitalising the cists is expected to claim electoral still less ostracised than they are or and beyond. contributor in Milan, Italy. Viewpoint What’s ahead in the Middle East with six more years under Putin?

lthough the result to avoid war with it, this offer might and unwilling to fund this effort on Another initiative that Putin was never in doubt, be highly appealing. its own, Putin wants to enlist oth- might undertake is the acquisition Vladimir Putin was In addition, now that the Russia- ers — particularly the United States, of a naval base at the southern Mark N. Katz re-elected to an- and Iran-backed Assad regime is no Europe and Gulf Arab countries — end of the Red Sea. This would be other 6-year term as longer in danger of being over- to contribute to Syrian reconstruc- considered another sign of Russia’s is a professor of government president of Russia. thrown by its internal opponents, tion. Convincing them to do so will expanding influence. Putin may see and politics at George Mason What, if anything, Moscow’s attention has become not be easy. this as more important just to keep University in the United States does this mean for Russian foreign more focused on the post-war If Putin cannot persuade them to up appearances. and a Fulbright Scholar at the A policy towards the Middle East? Is reconstruction effort in Syria. Putin contribute voluntarily, he may seek With China and the United Arab School of Oriental and African Putin likely to undertake any more is probably less interested in this to do so by continuing his “threats” Emirates acquiring naval bases Studies (SOAS) in London. surprise moves like his military out of humanitarian concern than to withdraw from Syria to con- in the region and India becom- intervention in Syria that began in out of a desire to stabilise the Assad vince others that they are better off ing more assertive in the western 2015? regime and minimise the possibility paying Russia to stay in Syria than Indian Ocean, he might fear that Putin seems to relish making sur- of renewed opposition arising. leaving Iran as the predominant Russia risks looking less important prise moves, so this cannot be ruled However, since Moscow is unable power there. if it does not do so, too. Adding to out. It is not clear, though, that Putin’s motivation for acquiring a Putin has any sort of “master plan” base in that region is that the Soviet for the Middle East. In general, he Union used to have them there and can be expected to preserve what Putin seems to want to reacquire influence Russia has gained and to everything that the USSR had but take advantage of opportunities — lost. especially negative reaction to US Putin’s most important goal in foreign policy moves — to expand the Middle East, though, may sim- Moscow’s influence. What does this ply be to preserve Russia’s rebuilt mean specifically? influence there at a cost that is not If, as seems increasingly likely, too expensive for a still economi- the Trump administration with- cally weak Moscow. draws from the Iranian nuclear This may only be possible if the agreement, Putin, who supports it, region’s many tensions and con- can be expected to seize on this as flicts remain relatively contained. an opportunity to isolate the United The outbreak of one or more major States diplomatically. This is more conflicts (such as between Iran and relevant for Russia’s ties with West- Israel and/or the Gulf Arabs or an ern and other governments outside expanded Turkish-Kurdish conflict) the Middle East since they are also may make playing the role of great supportive of the Iranian nuclear power in the Middle East much accord whereas it is mainly certain more costly without any guarantee Putin’s most that Middle Eastern governments of being successful. important goal in (Israel as well as Saudi Arabia and It is perhaps, then, the desire other Gulf Cooperation Council to avoid this that motivates Putin the Middle East members) oppose or are wary of it. to offer Moscow’s services as a may simply be to Putin’s Middle East diplomacy, mediator. For even if Russian diplo- preserve Russia’s then, is likely to warn about how macy cannot resolve the region’s Trump administration policy risks fractious conflicts, Putin’s hopes rebuilt influence war in the region and to offer Rus- for Russia playing the role of great at a cost that is not sia’s services as a mediator between power in the Middle East at a rela- Iran and its regional opponents. For Weaponised influence? A Russian soldier stands near a poster of tively moderate cost may depend too expensive those Middle Eastern governments Russian President Vladimir Putin at Wafideen camp in Damascus, on these conflicts not spinning out for Moscow. that are fearful of Iran but also wish Syria, on March 2, 2018. (Reuters) of control. March 25, 2018 17 East West

Viewpoint

Mark Habeeb is East-West Editor of The Arab Weekly and adjunct professor of Global Politics and Security at Georgetown University in Washington. Sarkozy allegations point to dark side of transactional politics

estern democ- ing to facilitate the illicit transfer racies have of funds. 4) Do I need to explain been shaken further? by evidence This affair — assuming Sarkozy of Russian is convicted — makes one won- interference der: How often has this happened in their elec- without it being discovered? How Wtions and political processes. In have illicit transfers from foreign Washington, two congressional governments to Western leaders committees and a special prosecu- affected Western foreign poli- tor are investigating allegations of cies? Did Sarkozy send the French subversive Russian involvement Air Force to help free the Libyan in the 2016 US presidential race. people or to ensure that Qaddafi New headaches. A 2007 file picture shows then French President Nicolas Sarkozy (R) and late Libyan Across Europe charges have been did not live long enough to squeal leader Muammar Qaddafi during the signature of trade contracts in Paris. (AFP) made concerning Russian ties with on him? and financing of nativist political It must be acknowledged that parties. Western powers have had few scru- However, if French investigators ples about intervening in elections prove correct, Moscow’s activities and political processes in Mid- Sarkozy’s investigation over will seem downright amateurish dle Eastern and other countries, compared to the help that Libya’s including providing support for late dictator Muammar Qaddafi political parties. When the West purportedly provided former does this, it is called “democracy campaign financing hands French President Nicolas Sarkozy. building.” In the final analysis, the Sarkozy spent two days in police desired outcome is the same: A custody being questioned over sympathetic if not compliant gov- claims he received as much as $60 ernment with which it is easy and Qaddafi revenge from the grave million from the Qaddafi regime profitable to work. during his presidential campaign The cold, hard fact is that politics in 2007. He won the election and is transactional and global actors The Arab Weekly staff state funds. He was questioned by was based on his declining popu- served as France’s president until will use whatever powers they police over two days last week. larity ahead of the 2012 presiden- 2012. At the time, the legal cam- have to influence other global ac- It is alleged that Sarkozy secretly tial elections and competition from paign funding limit in France was tors to act in a way that is benefi- London received 50 million euros ($62 mil- far-right candidate Marine Le Pen. $25 million and foreign funding of cial to them. Some transactional lion) from the Qaddafi regime to “Sarkozy’s sudden zeal for the campaigns was illegal. deals are, however, less legitimate ormer French President help finance his 2007 election cam- cause of democracy in Libya comes The allegations were made than others. Nicolas Sarkozy is under paign, more than double the legal as his popularity is at record lows in 2012 by Mediapart, a French The Sarkozy allegations point to formal investigation re- campaign funding limit at the time. just 13 months before the first investigative website, and denied the possible dark side of trans- garding allegations he re- Sarkozy’s long-serving chief of round of the 2012 presidential elec- by Sarkozy. The investigation was actional politics. They may be, ceived millions of dollars staff and former interior minister tions,” Kern wrote in a report for reopened when Ziad Takieddine, however, a mere drop in the bucket Ffrom the Qaddafi regime, returning Claude Gueant is also under inves- the Gatestone Institute. a French-Lebanese businessman, — we will never know how many the 2011 French-led military inter- tigation for his alleged role in the told Mediapart in 2016 that he re- instances are never uncovered — vention in Libya to the spotlight. scandal. Brice Hortefeux, another ceived suitcases stuffed with cash but they are a stark reminder, a Sarkozy, president from 2007-12, former minister and close ally of from Libya’s military intelligence splash of cold water that should is facing allegations of illegal cam- Sarkozy, has also been questioned chief that he personally delivered lead to closer scrutiny and vigi- paign financing, accepting bribes by police. Sarkozy denies any to Sarkozy’s campaign in 2007. lance. and the misappropriation of Libyan A French inquiry into illegal If the allegations are proven true, campaign funding from Libya was wrongdoing and claims it is unclear what Qaddafi received opened in 2013 but no names were he is being accused in exchange for the money. Soon disclosed at the time. Questions without physical after his election, Sarkozy invited over Sarkozy’s role intensified af- evidence. Qaddafi to Paris for a state visit ter investigative website Media- with the accompanying pomp; part published a report in 2016 in perhaps this gesture of legitimacy which French-Lebanese business- “With polls showing that Sarkozy is what Qaddafi craved after years man Ziad Takieddine claimed to is the least popular president since of being a pariah. To the dismay have personally delivered suitcases the founding of the Fifth Republic and horror of the French people, stuffed with cash from Libya leader in 1958, he is betting that French however, the mercurial Libyan Muammar Qaddafi to the Sarkozy voters will appreciate his efforts in leader camped out in a tent on the campaign. Libya to place France at the centre grounds of Elysee Palace. France’s ties with Libya improved of the world stage,” he added. Undoubtedly, Sarkozy hoped following Sarkozy’s election vic- Comments in March 2011 from that French firms would be given tory in May 2007, with Qaddafi Saif al-Islam Qaddafi, the former an advantage in pursuing projects visiting Paris seven months later. Libyan leader’s son, indicate that in Libya. On that front, he was, for During the visit, France and Libya witnesses who could testify against the most part, disappointed and signed several agreements, includ- Sarkozy are former Libyan intelli- felt that the Libyans had reneged ing Libya’s purchase of 21 Airbus gence chief Abdullah Senussi and on contracts. aircraft and a nuclear cooperation Takieddine. By 2011, Sarkozy had soured on accord. The value of the deals was “Sarkozy has to give back the the Libyan leader and ordered the estimated at $14.7 billion. money he accepted from Libya to French Air Force to play a major Sarkozy, facing criticism at home finance his electoral campaign. We role in the NATO-led strikes against and abroad for Paris’s warm wel- financed his campaign and we have Qaddafi’s forces, greatly contribut- come of the controversial Libyan the proof… The first thing we’re de- ing to their defeat and the extraju- leader, said at the time that “France manding is that this clown gives dicial execution of Qaddafi. must speak with all of those who back the money to the Libyan peo- Following his father’s death, Saif want to return to the road of re- ple,” Saif al-Islam told Euronews in al-Islam Qaddafi told Euronews: spectability and reintegrate the in- 2011. “Sarkozy has to give back the ternational community.” Sarkozy, in his court statement, money he accepted from Libya to Sarkozy, 63, denied any wrong- sought to discredit Senussi and finance his electoral campaign.” doing and claimed he is being ac- Takieddine as unreliable witnesses. While Saif al-Islam may not be cused without physical evidence. BBC Paris correspondent Hugh the most reliable source, French He said his Libyan accusers are Schofield described the allegations police apparently had further evi- seeking vengeance for his role in as a “hammer blow” to Sarkozy. dence to order Sarkozy’s detention. the 2011 NATO-led military inter- “The implications are devastat- Nothing has been proven but vention in Libya, during which ing. If the charges are true, then several things are clear: 1) Western Qaddafi was killed. the whole story of Sarkozy’s presi- election campaigns cost large sums In his court statement, Sarkozy dency will have to be reassessed,” of money to run and the best-fund- said: “It was I who obtained the UN he said. ed candidate often is the winner. 2) mandate to strike Libya [in 2011]. “More importantly, what would Foreign leaders and governments Without my political commitment, it say about the French-led cam- often have access to large sums of the Qaddafi regime would probably paign to topple Qaddafi in 2011? money and almost always have still be in place… How can anyone A campaign in which the United a favoured candidate in Western say that I favoured the interests of Kingdom was persuaded by France political contests. 3) There are an the Libyan state?” to take part. Big questions — if the infinite number of potential go- Stormy days. Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s former Writing at the time, Libyan ana- charges are true — but don’t expect betweens and “bagmen” — such communication adviser Veronique Wache (R) and cabinet director lyst Soeren Kern speculated that any quick answers. This case could as Takieddine claims to be — will- Michel Gaudin arrive at Sarkozy’s house in Paris, on March 22. (AFP) Sarkozy’s about-face on Qaddafi drag on for years.” 18 March 25, 2018 Economy

Egypt, UAE agree to forge stronger economic ties

Amr Emam strength and stability following the “Arab spring” and the ouster of Muslim Brotherhood President Cairo Muhammad Morsi. The UAE, together with Saudi gypt and the United Arab Arabia, offered billions of dollars Emirates have agreed in aid to Egypt following Morsi’s to forge stronger eco- ouster in 2013. Apart from eco- nomic, trade and invest- nomic support, Abu Dhabi also of- ment cooperation after fered unlimited political support EUAE Economy Minister Sultan bin to Cairo. Saeed al-Mansoori’s visit to Cairo. Both countries agreed to enhance The pledge for greater Egyptian- trade and investment cooperation, UAE cooperation comes in a broad- including custom duty exemptions er move to greater Arab economic and facilitating investment. integration. “The current environment is “Egypt is well-placed to play a fully conducive to the transition role in formulating a comprehen- of a new phase of cooperation and sive strategy for economic coop- partnership between the brotherly eration among Arab states,” Man- countries, realising our future as- soori said. “At the bilateral level, piration for prosperity,” Mansoori Cairo and Abu Dhabi need to locate said. industrial capacities on the ground There were talks on how Egyp- to move ahead with satisfying the tian-UAE cooperation could acti- needs of their peoples.” vate greater Arab economic coop- Mansoori was in Cairo for a eration across the region. March 17 meeting of the Joint “The two countries also have ma- Egyptian-UAE Economic Commit- jor cooperation chances by work- tee, in which the Egyptian and UAE ing in doing business in other Arab governments reflected on bilateral countries like Iraq where massive economic cooperation and plan war-torn areas need reconstruc- for future cooperation. It was also Opportunities. UAE Economy Minister Sultan bin Saeed al-Mansoori (R) attends the meeting of the tion,” said Egyptian economist a chance for the private sector of Joint Egyptian-UAE Economic Committee in Cairo, on March 17. (WAM) Fakhri al-Fiqqi. “This will ensure both countries to explore further that cooperation between Egypt business opportunities. and the UAE will morph into a re- Trade and investment relations in the UAE and many Egyptians gic point, not only on economic ganised a meeting of Egyptian and gional activity.” between Egypt and the UAE made work in the UAE. interests, said Ahmed al-Wakil, the UAE businessmen. However, success in securing unprecedented strides in the past During the economic committee head of the Federation of Egyptian “Arab countries can only survive greater regional economic coop- three years, including a 20% in- meeting, Kabil called for removing Chambers of Commerce, which or- if they join hands economically,” eration will require extra effort crease in trade, Egyptian Trade and obstacles to economic cooperation Wakil said. “The presence of will from Egypt and the UAE, including Industry Minister Tarek Kabil said. with the UAE. He said Cairo had on the part of both states opens the moves to reduce red tape. The UAE became the world’s taken measures to encourage UAE door for unlimited cooperation op- “These challenges include slow largest importer of Egyptian goods businessmen to invest in Egypt, portunities.” procedures, especially in Egypt in 2017, buying $2.5 billion worth of including facilitating industrial li- Nearly 900 This political will was high- where administrative procedures its products. The UAE also invested censing measures and establishing UAE companies operate lighted by UAE Foreign Minister related to investments continue to $6.2 billion in Egypt in 2017. There an industrial investment map of Abdullah bin Zayed during a news take a long time,” said Mohamed are nearly 900 UAE companies op- 4,800 potential industrial projects in Egypt and UAE conference with Egyptian Foreign Abou el-Enein, an Egyptian tycoon erating in Egypt and UAE nationals for investment. nationals provide vital Minister Sameh Shoukry. who attended the March 17 meet- provide vital investment in several Cairo and Abu Dhabi are seek- investment in several He confirmed that the two coun- ing. “There is an urgent need for Egyptian sectors, notably real es- ing to promote strategic political tries were facing the same chal- overhauling administrative regula- tate. and security cooperation. They Egyptian sectors, lenges and aggression from Iran tions to encourage UAE investors to Egyptians invested $826 million view their relations from a strate- notably real estate. and Turkey and asserted Egyptian come here.” Viewpoint Iraq’s untapped economy of remittances

emittance money erate returns beyond the domes- that could be fed into reconstruc- a legal basis back home. is an unextractable tic realm remain unrecognised. tion projects. Still, without foreign links and thread woven into More impressive than welfare Without fail, the foreign aid connection to the governments Nazli Tarzi the life fabric of di- effects is the use of remittances to Iraq does receive is siphoned by of host countries the intricate aspora communities drive infrastructural development local actors seizing opportunities transnational money transferring is an independent journalist worldwide. In times in Nepal, Ghana, Kenya and Nige- to tighten the screws of their pa- operation would not have been whose writings and films focus of war and econom- ria. By generating much-needed tronage networks. Sending home possible. The entitlements these on Iraq’s ancient history and ic downturn, remittances open revenue, record drops in youth remittances is only advantageous groups have been granted in the contemporary political scene. R a lifeline on which thousands of unemployment were experienced if the revenue does not fall into new Iraq allowed this process to Iraqis relied before indiscriminate in these countries. the same hands. continue. Large transfers extract- violence and occupation broke A similar stride of progress Complicating matters further ed using religious taxing systems their country. by India’s diaspora has driven is Iraq’s diversity, culturally and can either be an incentive for Individual families benefited knowledge and business ex- intergenerationally in absence of confessional communities or most but were also hardest hit, change between host countries a uniting nucleus. discourage those who distrust the unable to save or boost their and their own, contributing to the The effects of the invasion in handling of this revenue. income and living standards rapid growth of India’s software 2003 on various economic classes Abuse of office exhibited by the with private transfers. Old power industry. In Egypt, technol- are missing from the debate. political class of dual nationals structures built anew in 2003 ogy transfer and much-needed Beneficiaries who rode the chosen to lead the post-Saddam heavily altered the nature of financial capital are the benefits coattails of occupant powers have regime has repulsed Iraqis from diaspora engagement as droves that are reaped from its Western- been stashing stockpiles of cash investing their hard-earned cash. of Iraqis forced out by the US-led educated diaspora. elsewhere. “Substantial sums continue war 15 years ago broke ties with- In Iraq, the potential remains Fifteen years on, few incentives to leave the country,” an Iraqi in out which there is no need for untapped. Steadily mounting to spur the economy exist. London said. “Abuse of pension remittances. military expenditures have seen Sectarian cleansing, land grabs, laws by dual citizens has gone Money earned abroad and sent Iraq slide deeper into a recession confiscation of homes and the undetected” by authorities but home sharply declined due to that remittances could lift the return of the power-hungry, not the wider diaspora commu- economic lapses and the shocks country out of by shielding the whose slice of the Iraqi cake is nity. that punitive sanctions caused. economy against external shocks. compromising growth, make the He explained how many indi- Emigration was activated not in It seems that financial advisers potential of remittances harder to viduals were unlawfully receiving 2003 but a decade earlier as the have not looked hard enough into actualise. two pensions. Circumvention sanctions regime offered little for remittance flow as an alternative Migrating classes have taken requires careful scheming, “some strongly educated classes. to foreign creditors and official what capital they could extract. careful not to fly Iraqi airways so An estimated 400 000 Iraqis aid, when channelled effectively Ties were gradually severed al- no lull appears on their records applied for asylum in developed into the national economy. The though not altogether as families and they can avoid detection.” countries between 1990 and channelling of funds, whether put down roots abroad. The phenomenon, he explained, 2002 and their potential to drive from foreign aid or an inflow from This had been happening is rife among British-Iraqis. development using remittances external economies, becomes before the US-led war by the class The potential for remittance- The potential for — unburdened by the constraints a strong determinant of remit- of political refugees, religious induced growth is eroded by remittance- of foreign aid — remains unful- tance behaviour. Institutionalised association and outlawed groups perpetual warfare, political filled. In the United Kingdom, out corruption has given diaspora welcomed with open arms by chess games, emigration and the induced growth is of 1,844 Iraqi asylum applicants communities greater cause for Britain and the United States. blanket of corruption smothering eroded by only 368 were granted residence concern and less cause to send Surviving exile was an advan- growth. in 2017. funds home. tage religious associations and The combined sum will deter- perpetual warfare, It might be logical to conclude Beneath frequently waged outlawed organisations capital- mine whether remittances in the political chess that remittance patterns are wars and the costly defeat of the ised on, using their connections Iraqi context can smooth over the games, emigration dictated by whether physical and Islamic State, economic self- to funnel money from Iraq and cracks of its retracting economy. emotional links with one’s home- sufficiency is a hazy dream for other exilic centres — Syria and Limitations of existing options and the blanket of land remains intact. As distance poverty struck families. Increased Iran — to establish bases abroad. should have dealt a slap hard corruption grows, there might not be any one income from remittances would Al-Khoei Foundation is among a enough to awaken those in power to cushion from negative income uplift those communities morally handful of exiled political organi- to the benefits of Iraq’s untapped smothering shocks. The potential to reduce and economically and stimulate sations that exerted their political economy of remittances but growth. the foreign exchange gap and gen- more income at the macro level presence in London in absence of has not. March 25, 2018 19 Economy

Briefs

Abu Dhabi signs $1.45 billion deal with oil giant Total

The state oil company of the en- ergy-rich capital of the United Arab Emirates said it signed a $1.45 billion deal with French oil giant Total SA, granting it stakes in offshore fields. The Abu Dhabi National Oil Com- pany said Total would be granted Growing demand. An a 20% stake in the Umm Shaif and employee grasps a Nasr concessions and a 5% stake in handful of phosphate the Lower Zakum concession, pay- pebbles at a storage ing participation fees of $1.15 billion facility. (Reuters) and $300 million, respectively.

(The Associated Press)

US issues new Algeria ramps up phosphate production sanctions to block smuggling giving Maghreb dominant role in industry of Libyan oil The United States sanctioned sev- Lamine Ghanmi tonnes and Tunisia produces up to The ministry said Algeria planned dal and Manal are working with two eral Maltese, Libyan and Egyptian 8 million tonnes annually. to increase phosphate production Chinese firms to develop el Hadba firms, traders and ships allegedly in- Scientists say rock phosphate to 15 million tonnes per year in mine and the crop nutrition ferti- volved in smuggling oil out of Libya Tunis is uniquely capable of process- 2020 by exploiting the reserves of el liser complex, said Ould Kaddour. in violation of UN sanctions. ing fertiliser and replacement is Hadba of 2 billion tonnes and other The three Algerian companies Libya has been in chaos since lgeria is looking to in- expected in the near future. Phos- mines. have a 51% stake in the venture. The a NATO-backed uprising toppled crease phosphate pro- phorous — an early element of rock “With this mine of 2 billion China International Trust and In- leader Muammar Qaddafi in 2011, duction from 2 million phosphate — is needed by animals tonnes of reserves, Algeria can be vestment Corporation (CITIC) and with rival administrations and mul- tonnes per year to 15 and humans to maintain a healthy the leader in the processed phos- Wengfu Group own the remaining tiple militias vying for control. million tonnes per year metabolism, the FAO said. phate industry in Africa,” Industry 49%. Part of the international response byA 2020 and position itself as one Experts said demand for fertilis- and Mines Minister Youcef Yousfi CITIC is involved in several con- has been to crack down on the illicit of the world’s premier phosphate ers would grow at least 2% per year said. struction and engineering projects export of oil by factions other than exporters. as the world’s population rose and Other phosphate mines with sig- in Algeria. the UN-backed unity government The plan, which includes a $6 the amount of arable land declined. nificant reserves are Betita, Djebel Wengfu specialises in phospho- struggling to assert control from billion plant under construction in Algerian officials said they are op- Onk, Djemi Djema and Kef Snoun. rus mining and fertiliser produc- Tripoli. partnership with China, could help timistic they can expand their share Sonatrach and Algerian state- tion, providing chemical processing The US Treasury alleges that a meet growing global demand for of the growing market with the new owned phosphate companies Asmi- services for phosphorus, sulphur, Malta-based network earned more phosphate, which is expected to plant. coal, fluorine and iodine, as well as than $36 million in 2016 shipping oil rise to 49 million tonnes by the end “Apart from providing thousands research and technical services in out of the western Libyan port of Zu- of this decade, data from the UN of jobs, (the plant) will bring Alge- the phosphate industry. wara to Europe. Food and Agriculture Organisation ria export earnings of between $1 “I think we are open to being (FAO) and US Geological Survey billion and $1.5 billion per year,” helped by everyone to develop our (Reuters) stated. said Abdelmoumen Ould Kaddour, fertiliser industry, which will per- If Algeria meets target outputs, chairman and chief executive of- mit Algeria to end its dependency the Maghreb would have the poten- ficer of Algeria’s oil and gas state More on oil and gas,” said Ould Kaddour tial to supply the world more than group Sonatrach. after touring the project’s building Baghdad resumes 35 million tonnes of phosphate per Ould Kaddour said the phos- than site. year by 2020. phoric acid complex, being built in Oil and gas account for more than paying salaries More than 80% of the world’s the eastern province of Souk Ahras, 80% 94% of Algeria’s exports and ap- rock phosphate reserves are in the would be open at the end of 2019 proximately 60% of state revenues. of Kurds frozen Maghreb, with an estimated 50 and will be fed from the Bled el Algeria’s reliance on hydrocarbon billion tonnes in Morocco, includ- Hadba phosphate mine in Tebessa and the state’s command economy over referendum ing more than 5 billion tonnes in province. The mine has approxi- prevented Algeria from exploiting the disputed Western Sahara terri- mately 2 billion tonnes of reserves, and benefiting from its large re- Iraq’s federal government said tory. Morocco’s annual phosphate the Algerian Ministry of Energy and of the world’s rock phosphate serves of minerals and metals, in- it resumed paying the salaries of production capacity is 12 million Mining said. reserves are in the Maghreb. cluding gold and zinc. Kurdish civil servants and peshmer- ga security forces. The pay had been frozen for months because of the in- Africa’s priorities discussed at Crans Montana Forum in Dakhla dependence referendum. The announcement was the latest sign of easing tensions between the Saad Guerraoui removed from the stereotypes and Former French President Nicolas “The need for all kinds of support two sides and came after Baghdad negative cliches it has been labelled Sarkozy outlined his vision for Af- to ECOWAS is proving increasingly lifted an air blockade of the autono- with,” the king’s message said. rica’s development, calling on Eu- urgent. That said, the problems mous Kurdish region in northern Casablanca “To achieve progress, however, rope to play an important role in it. faced by this regional organisa- Iraq. Africa needs to muster all its energy “The failure of Africa will be the tion in the integration process are frica and south-south and build on innovative, win-win tragedy of Europe,” Sarkozy said. numerous,” he warned, emphasis- (Agence France-Presse) cooperation were among partnerships.” “There is nothing more important ing the political instability and bad the main agenda items for the 500 million Europeans that governance that have marked the of the fourth Crans Mon- we will be in 2050 than to be con- history of many countries in the tana Forum (CMF) in the cerned with an absolute priority of subregion.” southernA Moroccan city of Dakhla what will be the economic future ECOWAS includes 15 West Afri- and Casablanca. of the 2.5 billion Africans, half of can countries, none of which shares US restricts More than 1,000 participants whom will be under 20.” a border with Morocco. Rabat, how- trade with South from 100 countries, including for- The need for all kinds He proposed the establishment ever, is an ECOWAS “privileged mer ministers, leaders of parlia- of a European Marshall Plan to de- strategic partner.” Sudanese oil firms ments, policymakers, parliamen- of support to ECOWAS velop Africa’s economy through The results of a study of Moroc- tarians and international experts, is proving increasingly giving a competitive priority to Eu- co’s potential membership were attended the forum. ropean companies in exchange for favourable for the North African The United States imposed re- This year’s theme focused on is- urgent. funds. country. strictions on exports of US technical sues such as the future of Africa, Sarkozy lamented the closing of Discussions at the forum also ad- support to the South Sudanese oil sustainable development, the con- Moustapha Cisse Lo, the borders between Morocco and dressed illegal immigration, region- industry, warning that it is fuelling tinent’s challenges in globalisation speaker of the parliament Algeria and called for the revival of al cooperation on public health and the country’s civil war. and cooperation among African of ECOWAS the Arab Maghreb Union. global urban management as Afri- US State Department spokes- countries. Moustapha Cisse Lo, speaker of ca’s new challenge, climate change woman Heather Nauert said export- Moroccan King Mohammed VI the parliament of the Economic and women and youth. ers would need a licence to export, sent a message to the CMF via Ynja King Mohammed VI urged all Af- Community of West African States Sarkozy, who was very strict re-export or transfer US technology Khattat, president of the Dakhla- ricans, especially young people, to Commission (ECOWAS), spoke of on immigration during his presi- or equipment to 15 South Sudanese Oued Ed-Dahab region, in which mobilise resolutely and effectively Morocco’s possible accession to the dency, stressed that the freedom oil-related entities. he described Africa as “a land of to address the challenges Africa fac- West African market. of movement should not break the The companies will be added to a opportunities” that should be max- es and to embrace shared growth. “The agreement in principle of established balance and called for US Commerce Department list but imised for the continent’s develop- The CMF, which was established the heads of state being acquired, the urgent establishment of an in- South Sudan’s oil is largely exploit- ment. in 1986 in Switzerland, is a non- there remains only a few technical ternational institution to study the ed though joint ventures involving “Africa is at a crossroads. The governmental organisation that and operational adjustments for demographic problem. state-owned Nilepet and Chinese, profound changes under way in the focuses on fostering international Morocco’s accession to ECOWAS,” Indian and Malaysian firms. continent are multidimensional. cooperation, dialogue, develop- said Cisse Lo, who was awarded the Saad Guerraoui is a contributor They point to a rapidly changing ment, stability, peace and security Crans Montana Foundation Prize to The Arab Weekly on Maghreb (Agence France-Presse) Africa — a continent increasingly in the world. 2018 for his work at ECOWAS. issues. 20 March 25, 2018 Society Saudi Arabia vows to eradicate Muslim Brotherhood’s influence on education

The Arab Weekly staff

London

audi Arabia is overhauling its education curriculum, feared of being a source of breeding intolerance, to remove content deemed Sinfluenced by Muslim Brotherhood ideology. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz has said the Saudi educational system had been infiltrated by extremists. Saudi Education Minister Ahmed bin Mo- hammed al-Issa said the kingdom was seeking to purge its educational curriculum of Muslim Brotherhood influence and would dismiss em- ployees sympathetic to the group, which is banned in the kingdom. Issa said members of the Broth- erhood’s Egyptian branch who left Egypt in the 1960s and ’70s trav- elled to Saudi Arabia and infiltrated its public schools and universities, the Dubai-based Al Arabiya news channel reported. Brotherhood members influenced officials and educational professionals, compro- mising the kingdom’s educational curricula. Seeds of tomorrow. Saudi students sitting for their final high school exam in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah. (AFP) Saudi Arabia’s education over- haul is to include redeveloping cur- ricula to guarantee that textbooks said in an interview with MBC that “Saudi schools have been invaded completely,” the crown prince said. view, Crown Prince Mohammed ad- are free of Muslim Brotherhood a publishing house was ordered to by many elements from the Muslim He resolved that Saudi Arabia dressed the “extremism” label Sau- concepts. Books written by or sym- close its stand. Brotherhood organisation, surely to would eliminate extremism from di Arabia was tagged with following pathetic to the Muslim Brotherhood He said that any publishing house a great extent. Even now, there are its educational system. He said: “No the September 11, 2001, terrorist will be banned, Issa said. caught selling illegal books would some elements left. It will be a short country in the world would accept attacks, saying the goal of al-Qaeda He added that eradicating Broth- be banned from events in Saudi Ara- while until they are all eradicated that its educational system be in- leader Osama bin Laden had been to erhood ideology would require con- bia and other Gulf Arab countries. vaded by any radical group.” drive a wedge between Riyadh and tinued efforts and vigilance from He said more than 80 monitors Efforts to stamp out extremist Washington. the Education Ministry. worked around the clock at the Ri- thought come as the kingdom un- “Osama bin Laden recruited 15 Muslim Brotherhood supporters yadh book fair to ensure regulations dergoes significant reforms to open Saudis in the 9/11 attacks with a have an entrenched influence in the were followed. Saudi Arabia’s education it to the world. It has made major clear objective,” he said. “According kingdom. During this year’s Riyadh In an interview with CBS News’ overhaul is to include strides in women’s rights and start- to the CIA documents and congres- International Book Fair, event mon- “60 Minutes,” Crown Prince Mo- redeveloping curricula to ed allowing more recreational op- sional investigations, Osama bin itors discovered a stall selling books hammed said extremist Islamic guarantee that textbooks tions for citizens, changes frowned Laden wanted to create a schism sympathetic to the Muslim Brother- groups such as the Muslim Brother- are free of Muslim upon or rejected by religious ex- between the Middle East and the hood. Abdulrahman al-Assem, the hood had infiltrated Saudi society, tremists. West, between Saudi Arabia and the general supervisor of the event, including the kingdom’s schools. Brotherhood concepts. During the “60 Minutes” inter- United States of America.” Egyptian project seeks to revolutionise urban slums

Hassan Abdel Zaher “We can see an end to the pres- Apart from offering marginalised ence of the slums very soon,” he citizens safe and clean housing, the said. slum eradication project gives work Cairo Some reports said that goal could to residents, especially construc- be reached by the end of this year, tion workers. Most of the money ife in the southern Cairo although many say that timeframe spent on the project comes from area of Tal al-Aqarib — Ara- is unrealistic. ordinary Egyptians who contribute bic for “Scorpions’ Hill” Slums formed in Egyptian cities to the national “Long Live Egypt — will never be the same. over the last four decades with mas- Fund,” which was begun by Egyp- Beautiful modern homes sive migration from rural areas, es- tian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi Lare being constructed to replace pecially the southern provinces to in 2014. the corrugated metal shacks people Cairo and the coastal cities. Many of who lived in the 2.5-hectare slum those who migrated from underde- used as housing for decades. veloped areas found it hard to keep Nearly 4,000 people lived in the up with the high cost of housing in area before they were removed, the cities, which was why they lived Some estimates put provided with alternative tempo- in makeshift homes. the number of slum rary housing and the slum razed to “This is why it is necessary to ad- dwellers nationwide make way for the new homes. dress the root causes of the disease, at 18 million. These residences are turning the A new life. Tal al-Aqarib, a southern Cairo slum now being not its symptoms,” Alayli said. “The area into a compound that will in- demolished and reconstructed. slums are only the expression of a In Tal al-Aqarib, thousands of clude almost everything its long- (The Head of the Engineering Section of the Egyptian Army) bigger problem that is the lack of de- people have benefited from the time residents will need when they velopment in some parts of Egypt.” fund. Alayli’s fund has spent $17 return in May. Egypt’s economic plan has fo- million on new home construction Tal al-Aqarib is one of dozens of Canal City of Port Said. hopes to end. cused on the equal distribution of to replace makeshift shacks. There slums that have either been demol- There are 289 slums in Cairo, Slum residents have been offered development among the nation’s will also be commercial shops, ished or upgraded as the govern- reported the Slum Development housing in safer areas. Apartments provinces. Development projects, green spaces and other facilities. ment seeks to clear all such blighted Fund, the section of the Hous- offered to slum residents within the especially industrial ones, have The residents of the slum agreed areas nationwide. Egypt is allocat- ing Ministry responsible for them. project are usually fully furnished been constructed in southern Egypt, with the fund to change the area’s ing billions of pounds to eradicate Some estimates put the number of and free. seeking to catch up with decades’ name. One of the suggested names the slums. slum dwellers nationwide at 18 mil- However, the project is not with- worth of development concentrated is “Sayeda Zeinab Garden.” Saye- “There are too many slums in our lion. out its detractors, including some in Cairo and the coastal cities. da Zeinab is the historical district country and their presence has been Surrounded by waste, cut off who would rather remain in the “These projects will encourage where the slum is located. a big problem to all governments,” from services and suffering extreme slums than be relocated far away. workers in these provinces to stay “This is not merely a new name said Sameh al-Alayli, a professor poverty, slum dwellers have dreamt “I have to spend more money because there are opportunities but an expression of a new life,” of urban planning at Cairo Univer- of living in modern homes that pro- now to get to and from work every there,” Alayli said. said Sayed al-Assuiti, a 40-year-old sity. “The extent of work done now vide basic amenities. day,” said Ali Abuleish, a 35-year-old One of the results of fair distri- construction worker who arrived in shows that the current administra- The precarious nature of slum life Cairo restaurant worker who was re- bution of development has been Tal al-Aqarib 20 years ago and has tion is taking the issue of slum erad- was tragically demonstrated in Sep- cently moved from Manshiet Nasser migrants leaving Cairo and coastal been living there since. “We can ication very seriously.” tember 2008 when a rockslide bur- to al-Asmarat, a new urban com- cities for developing areas in south- now raise our children in a clean There are hundreds of slums ied homes in the sprawling south- munity kilometres away. “This, of ern Egypt and the Nile Delta. This is environment and build on what we across Egypt; most of them are dan- ern Cairo slum of Manshiet Nasser. course, costs me more money.” helping lower the price of housing already have.” gerous to live in and fail to provide Dozens of people were killed and The Slum Development Fund in Egypt’s big cities, with the hope residents with basic necessities. many others trapped for days. This has approximately $1 billion in its that slum-dwellers will be able to Hassan Abdel Zaher is a Most of the slums are concentrated is the type of tragedy Egypt’s na- coffers, fund Executive Director afford better living conditions as a Cairo-based contributor to in Cairo, Alexandria and the Suez tional slum eradication project Khaled Sadek said. result. The Arab Weekly. March 25, 2018 21 Society Making Jordan accessible for wheelchair users

Nazli Tarzi as access to infrastructure, ser- vices and information are yet to see greater material sacrifices from London Jordan. Central planning is dominated oundabouts in Amman not so much by the people’s needs ease the flow of traffic as their movement. Wheelchair- but there are notice- friendly venues and facilities are able problems of access few. The path towards accessibility across the city. Mobility is not paved with criticism but with Rproblems are likely to be worse for suggestions for a way forward. people with disabilities. Relaying a message of positivity If difficulties are felt by able-bod- is what people respond better to, ied people, “imagine how impos- Aghabi said. Her energies are infec- sible it is to get around for wheel- tious and encouraged businesses Equal opportunity. chair users,” said Aya Aghabi, who and individuals to ally themselves Aya Aghabi, founder uses a wheelchair following a life- to the greater cause, while grant- of Accessible Jordan. changing accident in 2009 that led ing people “positive press and rec- (Aya Aghabi) her to recast her thinking. ognition.” Motivated by the lack of acces- Amman’s expansion over the sibility and resources in Jordan years has forced changes in the to aid wheelchair users, Aghabi city’s landscape but enabling tech- Aghabi said “perpetuate[s] people who sustained various rely on social media” for ac- founded Accessible Jordan, an nologies are underdeveloped. the isolation of those who are injuries or had certain medi- cess. online platform that catalogues An effort announced last No- unlike ‘us.’” cal conditions. Not everyone Added to that is the lack wheelchair-friendly spaces around vember between the European She used the challenges uses a foldable wheelchair of disability allowance from the country. bank and Greater Amman Munici- and limitations she encoun- and not everyone can afford the state, which offers much- Improving physical mobility, she pality promises to modernise mu- tered as inspiration for Acces- electric wheelchairs. Expo- needed social security to Am- said, is just one of her aims. It co- nicipal infrastructure and gradual- sible Jordan. After returning sure to online tools allows man’s most vulnerable. exists alongside the need to trav- ly transform Amman into a “smart from the United States where users to plan their day, avoid Beyond online resources, erse retrograde attitudes. On her city.” The idealist scheme is part of she studied in 2010 and with- unexpected disappointment the promotion of inclusive hit list is the “less than” gaze soci- a greater vision that citizens hope out the option of accessi- and navigate undiscovered learning, accessible vehicles ety holds towards individuals with is more than a rebranding exercise Accessible ble transportation, which is parts of their city — and re- and policy changes helps physical and mental disabilities. to stimulate tourism growth. Jordan is heavily taxed, if available at claim some autonomy. to dismantle the “us versus The ill-treatment that inspired a Aghabi’s project, inspired by an online all, Aghabi experienced feel- “I am one of many people them” dichotomy, Aghabi state-led drive to deinstitutional- communal needs for people with platform ings of isolation and depend- in Jordan who face this chal- said. It serves as a guide that ise people with disabilities to en- disabilities, the elderly and buggy ency on others, eroding much lenge daily,” she said. serves the people rather than sure equality and prohibit disabil- users, offers more than smart solu- that of the independence she had “So far the most challeng- placing commercial interests ity-based discrimination. tions. The project’s main pillar, the catalogues become used to abroad. ing thing has been reaching first, she said. A disabilities law aiming to do philosophy of mindfulness, places wheelchair- In Amman, however, re- the underprivileged areas The next stop for Aghabi exactly that was passed by parlia- the community at the heart of its friendly liance on either family or in Jordan to raise awareness will be the development of ment last June to reverse stereo- considerations. Interactions she spaces public transport, Aghabi ex- about accessibility and the “accessible tourism,” dream- types and pejorative attitudes and shared with people with disabili- plained, is difficult largely rights of people with disabili- ing of an accessible Petra and establish inclusive education. ties, particularly the youth, eroded around due to the lack of suitable ties. Even for me, those areas Wadi Rum for wheelchair Obstacles litter the road ahead, any discriminatory attitude that Jordan. vehicles needed to transport are inaccessible and I can’t users. Competing to reduce air pollution at Beirut Urb-Hackathon

Samar Kadi level. The jury looks at different as- IBC Household Solid Waste Man- coastal plain and high mountains Tondaf team won first prize at the pects of the proposed projects such agement Centre. that block the air from circulating Beirut Urb-Hackathon for its pro- as feasibility, innovation, sustain- He said that, while emissions easily.” ject “Smarter Bus.” Beirut ability and the possibility of turning were inevitable by-products of fuel Burning garbage in open munici- “Our idea provides for purchas- them into start-ups in the future. combustion, their concentration is pal dumping grounds across the ing used smartphones and install- ollution in Lebanon has They should be simple solutions magnified by driving patterns, the country is another source of air ing them on buses. Each driver many causes, including that people individually can start high rates of congestion in cities, pollution, Hammoud said. would know the exact position of car-jammed roads, un- using to reduce the emissions from the age of the vehicle fleet and the “It is very dangerous because we other drivers and at the same time, controlled dumping of transport,” e-EcoSolutions CEO Gil- absence of proper public transport. do not know exactly what kind of passengers would know when to garbage and lack of proper bert Tegho said. “We have a large number of cars pollutants it is producing. We do expect the bus. It is a way to fa- Pwaste management, which deeply “While the government works on the road. Buses and trucks oper- not know if they are burning plas- cilitate and organise the buses affect the air, soil and water. on the infrastructure, the people ate on dirty diesel, which is highly tic or whether the waste contains and the services they provide,” ex- The issue of air pollution caused will be able to accelerate, adopt and pollutant, and regular cars are a cancerous material; this is relative plained Shadi Farah, a member of by transport in urban centres was even implement some changes.” problem as well because they pro- to the type of garbage you are deal- the team. the focus of the recent Beirut Urb- More than 27% of air pollution in duce carbon dioxide and carbon ing with,” he said. Hackollution, which won second Hackathon, in which young profes- Lebanon is from means of transpor- monoxide,” Hammoud said. However, much can be done prize for “Safayna” (“We Parked”), sionals met to tackle the problem. tation, UNDP studies stated. “Other sources of air pollution specifically through revitalising focused on finding parking places. The event, under the theme “Definitely, the transportation are mostly industrial. We have a the public transport system, re- The group devised an application “Data-Urbanism: Reducing City sector is one of the main contribu- number of plants near the coast newing the vehicle fleet, adopting like Google Maps that people could Air Pollution from Transport,” tors to CO2 [carbon dioxide] emis- that are known to be big pollutants eco-friendly driving patterns in ad- use to spot free parking spaces was the first hackathon in the re- sions and other criteria pollutants in Lebanon, like cement factories dition to monitoring and managing and reserve them 5 minutes be- gion and the third worldwide after in Lebanon,” said Karim Ham- and power plants. The problem in air quality. fore arrival, saving time and cut- Paris and Seoul. It was organised moud, deputy general manager of Lebanon is that we have narrow The Detox Beirut — Beirut Rah ting back on CO2 emissions. Third by e-EcoSolutions and IPT Energy prize was awarded to Breathe for Centre (IPTEC) with the support of the “Breathe App,” which informs Berytech Digital Park, the Order of commuters about air pollution lev- Engineers & Architects of Beirut, els and traffic conditions around the UN Development Programme the city to help them choose routes (UNDP), the Global Compact Net- and means of transportation to work Lebanon (GCNL), Universite use. St Joseph and the French Institute Exhaust emissions from vehicles in Lebanon. exacerbate air pollution in Leba- Organisers explained that hacka- non, where more than 1.5 million thon participants collaborate to re- cars circulate in an area of 10,452 solve problems and find innovative Creative sq.km, a figure that is considerably solutions to a specific issue. In the solutions. higher than it could be if a good case of Beirut’s Urb-Hackathon, in- Winners of the public transportation system were novators brainstormed on how to first prize, the in place. reduce air pollution in Beirut and Detox Beirut “It is extremely urgent that Leba- other major cities, with the support — Beirut Rah non takes measures to stem pollu- of experts from La Cite Des Scienc- Tondaf team, at tion. The government should have es et De L’Industrie in Paris. Beirut acted yesterday, like 20 years ago. University students, coders, pro- Urb-Hackathon. Unfortunately, today the problem (Beirut Urb-Hackathon) grammers, architects, artists, envi- is not being handled by technical ronmentalists, designers and oth- professionals but by politicians ers broke into teams that debated who are not really the right people solutions to the problem over three to handle such a technical issue,” days. They delivered their propos- Hammoud said. als to a jury, which selected three winners. Samar Kadi is The Arab Weekly “The thinking is done on a group Travel and Society section editor. 22 March 25, 2018 Culture Tunis Culture City Tunisia inaugurates mega-centre for culture and arts

Lamine Ghanmi of cultural democratisation,” Zine el-Abidine said. “They are two prin- ciples that are not always easy to fit Tunis together.” Zine el-Abidine, who holds three new arts complex in doctorates from Paris’s Pantheon- Tunis is set to restore Sorbonne University and previ- Tunisia’s place as a lead- ously served as the director of the ing cultural player in Higher Institutes of Music of Tunis North Africa and the and Sousse and the director of the ArabA world, Tunisian Culture Min- 2016 International Carthage Festi- ister Mohamed Zine el-Abidine val, said part of the centre’s aim was said. to provide cultural opportunities to Named “the City of Culture,” the all citizens. 9-hectare facility includes numer- To do so, the City of Culture ous art venues and cultural spaces, and its branches are creating pro- including state-of-the-art theatres, grammes with civil society groups museums, cinemas and art galler- to empower artists to develop and ies. showcase their talent, he said. “Every Tunisian should be proud “Through our policies, we are of this project,” said Tunisian trying to express the idea that cul- President Beji Caid Essebsi at the ture is the confirmation of artists’ March 21 opening ceremony. “Cul- rights to express their singularities ture is the main tool with which we and uniqueness through what they will fight terrorism. Tunisians have produce,” he said. to dream and have confidence in “There are no pre-established themselves.” judgments and predetermined cri- terion for cultural creation and pro- duction. With the idea of culture democracy, all types of cultural ex- pression have the right to exist and are provided the opportunity to flourish by the Ministry of Culture.” Zine el-Abidine said: “Cultural I do not hesitate to say democratisation means the state that this ministry is the must be committed to ensuring the guarantor of freedom of right to artistic education, (artists’) right to create, the public’s right to expression, the right to enjoy culture, all of which is impor- the culture and all that tant to supporting cultural expres- sion.” helps culture bloom This applies even when artists and thrive. challenge social norms or make provocative statements with their Tunisian Minister of work. Culture Mohamed Zine “I do not hesitate to say that this we have no ideology.” selves in the capital and ignoring in Tunis is to be integrated to the el-Abidine ministry is the guarantor of free- The City of Culture received a the regions,” Zine el-Abidine said. other regions. This is our idea and dom of expression, the right to the warm reception from artists and in- “Our policy is that culture is made policy in developing culture. This Zine el-Abidine, in an interview culture and all that helps culture tellectuals but there were concerns and produced in the capital and is a city that helps regions express with The Arab Weekly, said the pro- bloom and thrive,” he said. “Cul- that it was too costly and benefited outside the capital by all the re- themselves and this city lends ject aimed to promote the values ture is a right everywhere and a only Tunis. gions. means and possibilities to these re- of culture and free expression en- right for all people. Zine el-Abidine said that, though “It is unthinkable to have a na- gions to develop culture.” shrined in the constitution. “So, since culture is a right, the complex is in the capital, there tional project for culture and this Plans to construct the complex “We are trying to reconcile and a commitment, a freedom and are plans to develop and support right to culture if we focus on de- began under former Tunisian Presi- combine two fundamental con- emancipation, we work for its cultural projects around the coun- veloping culture in the capital and dent Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali but cepts of cultural policies: citizens’ development without ideo- try. forget the other regions.” stalled after the 2011 revolution. rights to culture and the principle logical bias. Our ideology is that “We are not entrenching our- He added: “The City of Culture The project was revamped in March Inside Tunisia’s City of Culture

Stephen Quillen freedom and one of the achieve- that a press club would be set up ments of the revolution is freedom on the complex. of expression and creation,” Caid Also in the City of Culture is the Tunis Essebsi said. National Museum of Modern and Zine el-Abidine said the media Contemporary Art, which hosts rom cinemas to art galler- played no small part in safeguard- a permanent exhibition of plas- ies to an opera-ballet, Tu- ing that tradition. tic arts. In partnership with the nisia’s newly inaugurated “Media [are] the foundation of Ministry of Education and other City of Culture boasts a cultural expression…We want to institutions, the museum aims to range of independent cul- have a constructive relationship “establish interactions with the Ftural and artistic spaces. with the press,” he said, adding connoisseur and layman public of One of the first to open its doors all ages through adapted teaching was the Tunisian Cinematheque, tools,” with a special focus on Tu- an audiovisual library dedicated to nisia’s young. preserving Tunisian cinema. Inau- The mega-centre will host the gurated March 21, featuring Italian- House of Poetry, House of the Nov- Tunisian actress Claudia Cardinale el and the Tunis Institute of Trans- Tunisian singer Lotfi Bouchnak performs at the opening concert as the guest of honour, the centre lation, each acting as a resource for of the City of Culture in Tunis. (City of Culture) stores an extensive database of au- authors, creators, researchers and diovisual references. readers. “It is very important to have Zine el-Abidine said the literary such a library for the history of the The mega-centre centres would put Tunisia on track country and the national record,” will host the to “become a leader of culture in said Tunisian Minister of Culture House of Poetry, North Africa.” Mohamed Zine el-Abidine at a House of the Music and dance have promi- news conference. “Culture should Novel and the nent places in the City of Culture, bring back the positive image of with a choir and Opera Orchestra Tunisia.” Tunis Institute of of Tunis to “bring together a core Also on display during the at- Translation, each of the best instrumentalists and traction’s opening week was the acting as a choristers of the country,” and the exhibition “A Tunisian Modernity resource for Tunis Opera Ballet, the New Tu- 1830-1930,” a retrospective on Tu- authors, creators, nisian Dance Ballet, the National nisia’s cultural and intellectual Troupe of Popular Arts and the contributions during the period. researchers and Choreographic Centre to be estab- Among the items showcased was readers. lished. the founding text of the abolition Zine el-Abidine said the groups of slavery, written by Ahmed I Bey represented “an important on January 23, 1846. achievement for the local Tunisian Tunisian President Beji Caid Es- music scene” and the country’s sebsi, who toured the exhibit fol- broader goal of becoming a cul- lowing the inaugural ceremony, tural hub. emphasised the role of the “City of “It’s not enough that we create Culture” in promoting freedom of an opera house… We also want to Visitors look at movie posters at the City of Culture complex in expression. create cultural reference points,” Tunis. (City of Culture) “There is no creativity without he said. March 25, 2018 23 Culture

Tunisia inaugurates mega-centre for culture and arts Emerging artists in UAE offer different takes on language A culture quest. Tunisian N.P. Krishna Kumar very broad basis,” he said. “I selected Culture this theme because language is kind Minister of an essential feature of the land- Mohamed Zine Dubai scape here in the UAE. And also be- el-Abidine cause of the fact that the three major speaks to n Arabic, “Ishara,” denotes cities — Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Shar- reporters “sign,” the most basic form of jah — are port cities with people from during the communication and refers to the all over the world. official opening linguistic marks, gestures and “Each artist thinks of language in a ceremony of indications, as well as commonly very different way and how it comes the City of Iused signals that transcend language. together to create structures and Culture, on It is also the theme of the exhibi- meaning.” March 21. (AFP) tion at Concrete in Dubai’s Alserkal The artists responded to the theme Avenue: “Ishara: Signs, Symbols and through diverse practices and ap- Different approaches. Artworks on display at the “Ishara: Signs, Shared Languages.” proaches, from drawing and print- Symbols and Shared Languages” exhibition at Concrete in Dubai’s Curated by Karim Sultan with making to immersive video works Alserkal Avenue. (Mustafa Abou Bakr) Laura Metzler, curator of Maraya Art and responsive installations. Centre, the show is part of the UAE Dabbagh selected ten poems from Unlimited exhibition annual pro- the pre-Islamic era called the “Al tively, in addition to an important cate creates a new opportunity. gramme, which rotates between Abu Mu’allaqat” for an interpretive instal- speech by Sheikh Zayed, which Lee, in “Mycelial Meshing,” uses Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah. lation titled “The Hanging Odes.” The the artist used to create 3D objects. the materials of infrastructure — steel In this year’s edition, ten UAE- verses were recited orally in Mecca The speech, as well as the texts, is pipes, concrete and electrical cables. based artists — Amna al-Dabbagh, and suspended in the holy city. Dab- read out and the data converted into The work mimics the networks of Cheb Moha, Chndy, Dina Khorchid, bagh used machine embroidery on an algorithm to produce a physical communication through the overlay Farah al-Qasimi, Flounder Lee, Nasir men’s clothing fabric and assembled interpretation of the contents. of “mycelial networks.” The work re- Nasrallah, Saba Qizilbash, Salem al- and braided them “to basically make Khorshid’s “In Through a Trail” acts to the audience, seemingly com- Mansoori and Shaikha al-Ketbi — cre- them unreadable as language and looks at elements of her own kind municating about the visitor’s intru- ated works that are thematically in- render them more as sculpture,” Sul- of heritage by reinventing them in sion. formed by the understanding of the tan said. a different way. Textile patterns are Nasrallah, in “Forgotten Title,” en- meaning and use of language. Being mostly concealed due to the important for the Palestinian identity cases 100 everyday objects in enve- Chndy and Moha are local innova- form of the installation, the words of and this is what she drew on for her lopes with a coded description on the tors running digital experiments that the poems are read in a different way installation. surface. The code does not have a key look at how language functions in so- that creates new meaning. Khorchid used prints and hang- and will be forgotten completely over cial media and through the internet. Qizilbash’s 100 small technical ing scrolls to add, subtract, hide and time and left undecipherable. “These are emerging artists,” drawings titled “Land Marks” depict reveal information that is layered as Nasrallah creates his own system Sultan said. “The UAE Unlimited in-between places such as borders though waiting to be unfolded. of communication-based on more platform, for which I am the guest and no-man’s lands but this could Qasimi’s “Everybody was Invited philosophical ideas of language and curator for this year’s edition, pri- also be read as spaces in between lan- to a Party” pulls inspiration from whether it is possible to have a pri- 2016 and ended up costing an esti- marily focuses on emerging artists. guages. the 1980s Arabic version of “Sesame vate language. There is no transla- mated $54 million. So mostly they are young and even Mansoori’s “Going Inside,” “In Street” (“Iftah Ya Simsim”), using tor. There is just this one person and Zine el-Abidine, speaking at those who are more experienced are The Dictionary” and “Body Lan- puppets to present language and let- when he forgets, the meaning is lost. March 21 news conference, said the new to the context or are developing guage” are works based on texts ters as malleable objects without a long-awaited project is an example their practice.” by Hassan Sharif, Abbas Kiaros- fixed meaning. The video seeks mo- N.P. Krishna Kumar is an Arab to the world of Tunisia’s values and “It is looking at language but on a tami, and Hassan Madan, respec- ments in which failure to communi- Weekly contributor in Dubai. ambitions. “Tunisia is very proud today,” he BOOK REVIEW said. “This project expresses the will and patriotism of all Tunisians. It is an expression of who we are to Rediscovering Ibn Khaldun, a the world.” pioneering Arab medieval mind Francis Ghilès

bn Khaldun was born in Tunis Prolegomena.” After completing ing. The rise and fall of Maghrebi Arnold Toynbee found Ibn Khaldun’s in 1332 and lost his parents, as his celebrated study on the laws of dynasties seven centuries ago has pessimism attractive as much as his well as many of his teachers, history, he moved to Cairo where he no bearing on our understanding of moralising portrait of the inevita- at the age of 17 to the Black was chief judge of the Maliki rite of the region today but demonstrates ble cycle of political decay brought Plague, which claimed tens of Islam. that there are other ways of looking about by luxury and greed. thousands of lives in North The first question Ibn Khaldun at the world than the ones we in the The prize for quoting Ibn Khaldun Africa as it did in Europe soon asks is why do historians make mis- West take for granted. to serve their own purposes must, Iafterwards. The author of “Ibn takes? “Three things lead to error in By the early 19th century, Ibn however, go to Ronald Reagan who, Khaldun: An Intellectual Biogra- writing history. First, partisanship. Khaldun’s ideas regained their rel- at a news conference in October phy,” Robert Irwin, reminds us that Second, gullibility. Third, ignorance evance. “Muhamad Ali, the ruler of 1981, quoted the medieval philoso- Ibn Khaldun grew up in the shadow of what is intrinsically possible.” Egypt between 1805 and 1848, read pher in support of what is known as of ruins, which he compared to It was this third issue he sought Ibn Khaldun and had him retranslat- supply-side economics. Though Ibn “faded writing in a book.” to address since earlier chroniclers ed into Turkish. Together with the Khaldun was almost unique among Leptis Magna, Dougga and Timgad had not given serious consideration writings of Machiavelli and accounts Arab medieval thinkers in writ- were relics of an older Carthaginian to the general laws that govern the of the campaigns of Napoleon, the ing about economics, Irwin pithily and Roman civilisation, symbols of a formation and dissolution of human political and social thought of Ibn remarks that it is quite “marvellous region that was far more populated societies. Khaldun may have had a role in that he should have anticipated and prosperous a millennium earlier. The most famous concept he shaping Muhamad Ali’s statecraft,” American Republican party fiscal This led to his attempt to explain the developed was that of “assabiyya” Irwin writes. policy.” general laws that govern the forma- (social solidarity) among nomads, The early 19th-century Austrian Irwin wears his erudition of tion and dissolution of societies. what their virtues were and their orientalist Joseph von Hammer medieval Arab culture lightly. He Irwin explains that Ibn Khaldun place in history. He argued that, af- likened Ibn Khaldun to “an Arab demonstrates that comparisons be- had only a slight influence on his ter a newly triumphant ruler and his Montesquieu.” Emile-Felix Gauthier, tween Ibn Khaldun and Machiavelli contemporaries and immediate tribal following had installed them- who taught at the University of make little sense, even though the successors but was rediscovered and selves in a city, an inevitable decay Algiers a century ago and “deployed latter’s masterpiece, “The Prince,” appropriated by European think- would set in over three or his scholarship to dispar- is as gloomy a work as “Al Muqaddi- ers in the 19th and 20th centuries. four generations, as the age both Arab and Ber- mah” and both were born of political Since then he has been seen as a regime came to indulge in ber culture,” stripped disappointment. precursor to Niccolo Machiavelli, luxury and extravagance. Ibn Khaldun of what he “Machiavelli’s interested himself Montesquieu, Karl Marx and Emile As the bonds created saw as his “superficially in the psychology of rulership, the Durkheim. by tribal solidarity and medieval identity (to quest for glory and the role that Having written extensively on nomadic austerity weak- reveal him) to be in real- personality played in high politics. medieval Arab history, Irwin is ened, the ruler came ity a modern Frenchman These things did not interest Ibn uniquely suited to unravel the to rely on mercenaries and one moreover who Khaldun,” Irwin writes. “Machiavelli complexity and ambiguity of Ibn and, to pay his troops, would have approved argued that vices had their virtues Khaldun’s world where “causation is imposed taxes that of the French empire in and that the ruler might act immor- underpinned by God’s will and the were not sanctioned North Africa.” He detected ally if necessity demanded it. The primary purpose of social organisa- by Islam. “a perfume of Renais- intensely religious and moralistic tion is religious salvation.” The pessimism of sance” about him. Ibn Khaldun would have found such In 1377, tiring of the violent twists Ibn Khaldun has a Irwin insists this is cynicism abominable.” and turns of politics in the region, moral and religious, a travesty of a deeply “Ibn Khaldun: An Intellectual where he had acted as adviser to not a sociological, religious man who, Biography,” Robert Irwin, Princeton the rulers in Tunis, Tlemcen, Fez basis. Irwin argues Fresh look. Cover throughout his life, University Press, 2018. and Granada, Ibn Khaldun retired that Ibn Khaldun’s of Robert Irwin’s expressed great admi- A sculpture on display at the City of to the fortress of the Banu Salama irrelevance to our “Ibn Khaldun: An ration for the Berber Francis Ghilès is an associate Culture complex in Tunis. tribe near Frenda, in western times is what makes Intellectual Biography.” monarchs he served. In fellow at the Barcelona Centre for (City of Culture) Algeria, to write “Al Muqaddimah: him so interest- the 1930s, historian International Affairs. 24 March 25, 2018 Travel www.thearabweekly.com

Agenda

Haifa: Through March 27

The Marrakech Festival of Popular Arts and Folklore showcases traditional Moroc- can music, dance and customs from through the ages. Visitors are invited to attend concerts, exhibitions and Moroccan street troupe performances.

Dubai: Through April 7

Global Village is a large cul- tural event that offers festivals, shopping and entertainment in an open-air theme park. This entertainment and shopping destination involves more than 70 countries with presentations in dozens of pavilions. Par- (Saad Guerraoui) A general view of the southern side of the lagoon. ticipants can enjoy more than 50 rides and 26 restaurants offering food from around the Oualidia, Morocco’s unusual seaside world. Doha: Through April 25 village for the laid-back travellers Souq Waqif Spring Festival brings together street perform- ers, puppet and musical shows, Saad Guerraoui lagoon, the ruined summer palace of along with African circus late King Mohammed V, the grandfa- performers, magicians and a ther of King Mohammed VI, appears range of slightly surreal one-off Oualidia as merely a skeleton. It has been events, including a human can- abandoned for more than 50 years nonball and bungee jumping. ooking for peace and quiet but is still heavily guarded. and breathtaking views? I wanted to take a picture of the Amman: Morocco’s coastal Western remaining arches and roofless stair- Through May village of Oualidia is the cases but was abruptly halted by place to be. Ghouass: “Please do not take pho- As part of Friends of Jordan LForget about monuments and the tos! I will be penalised if they see Festivals, Al Hussein Cultural hassle of souvenir and handicraft us,” he warned with a serious tone. Centre will host a Classical vendors in Morocco’s imperial cities. Almost above the palace stands Concerts Cycle with acts from Forget about the stressful urban life a decaying kasbah, built in the 17th Japan, France, the Czech Re- that drains energy. The clock in Oua- century by the village’s namesake, public and other countries. lidia ticks slowly. Sultan El Oualid. It is the only his- The El Jadida-Safi motorway has toric monument in the village. Gammarth, Tunisia: eased access to Oualidia. For those Heading towards the northern April 5-15 who choose to use public transport edge of the lagoon, adorned by col- from Casablanca, there are a few ourful fishing boats, oyster beds The 13th Jazz à Carthage, an coaches that serve this itinerary. were visible across the banks due to Tourists on a boat in Morocco’s coastal village of Oualidia. (Saad Guerraoui) annual music festival, brings However, they make many stops, low tide. A fisherman threw his net together renowned internation- which means it might take four and, as we approached, I wanted to al and local musicians and fans hours to reach Oualidia, instead of take a closer picture but he angrily for concerts, lectures, exhibi- a 3-hour journey via the motorway. waved at me: “No photos!” tions and nightly jam sessions. Ghouass explained that the fisher- man was not allowed to catch fish Dubai: with the net in the lagoon but he April 6-9 There are plenty of said with a sigh: “This is their only outdoor activities in bread and butter. How do you want The Middle East Film and them to survive?” Comic Con (MEFCC) is a multi- Oualidia, including Oualidia inhabitants live mostly genre event at the Dubai World surfing, bird watching on fishing and agriculture. Tourism Trade Centre. The MEFCC and quad bike riding on is seasonal in the village, which dou- showcases comic books, mov- the beach. bles in population in the summer as ies, television programmes and mainly local tourists enjoy its golden related pop culture elements, Nevertheless, the journey is worth sandy beach. such as anime, manga, collect- it because Oualidia is not a usual After we reached shore, I decided ible card games, video games, coastal resort. Some celebrities to try one of the fancy restaurants webcomics and fantasy novels. choose to spend time in the village overlooking the beach but Ghouass The event focuses on regionally of more than 15,000 inhabitants and proposed a walk down the beach to created content. famous for its 1protected lagoon and the fishing village. The 10-minute A tourist throws fish leftovers to birds. (Saad Guerraoui) oysters. walk was well worth it. The smell Beirut: Canadian actress and model Shay of fresh fish on the grill filled the air April 14-15 Mitchell stayed last May at Oual- while seagulls desperately waited than triple in a restaurant. A few minutes later, a much idia’s kasbah-like La Sultana Hotel, for leftovers thrown to them by tour- While having lunch, a man in his younger person arrived with a bas- Dedicated to dogs and their the only five-star hotel in the village ists. 80s approached politely with a small ket of oysters that were very tempt- people, WoofFest celebrates and just above the lagoon. A young fisherman politely asked basket half holding sea urchins and ing while we were still having lunch. dogs with games, pampering, I decided to take a small boat with if we were going to have lunch. He razor clams. “It’s 2 dirhams per “Six dirhams per oyster,” he said. beauty contests and talent a friend to look for flamingos and took me to the barbecue next to piece. Why don’t you take all of I had indulged in Oualidia’s trade- shows. There will also be enter- stilts migrating from Spain to sub- which were a mouth-watering va- them?” asked Lhaj Lfatmi, whose mark, which had earned it the title tainment areas, bands and food Saharan Africa. I had to haggle with riety of fresh fish, including lobster bent back was the proof of tough “oyster capital,” a reference to the courts. the boat owner, bringing the price and king prawns. years of labour. major role shellfish harvesting plays down from 250 Moroccan dirhams We had a tomato-and-onion salad, “I used to grow tomatoes and in the local economy. Dubai: to 200 dirhams (from $27 to $22) for four willows, one pandora, one lob- jumped to this business. Praised be Freshly made mint tea was a must May 9-13 a 1-hour ride on the lagoon. ster and half a kilo of king prawn for God, fishermen give half a basket ur- to digest the fish (the teapot cost As boat owner Mohammed 250 dirhams ($27) with a sea view, chin and razor clams for free to earn $2.20 for two people) while watch- The tenth Dubai Tango Festival Ghouass was sailing us through the a price that could have been more a bit of money,” he said. ing waves crashing against the rocks. will include tango workshops Next to us were tables filled with with milongas for famous tango 60-something tourists who drove dancers and singers. from Europe with their caravans that filled the campground a few Rabat: June 22-30 metres from the beach. As we walked to downtown, oys- The 17th Mawazine Festival will ter vendors on motorbikes roamed take place in Rabat and feature Oualidia’s dormant streets. international and local musical Most of the houses are painted in performances. blue and white, which gave the im- pression of being in a northern sea- We welcome submissions of side resort. calendar items related to Oualidia is the perfect place for cultural events of interest to those seeking a laid-back break. travellers in the Middle East There are plenty of outdoor activi- and North Africa. ties, including surfing, bird watch- ing and quad bike riding on the Please send tips to: beach (a quad bike can be rented for [email protected] A young fisherman cooks and grills fresh fish in Morocco’s coastal village of Oualidia (Saad Guerraoui) $22 an hour).