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Hello Jammu News at 8:39:00 PM 0


Beirut, Jun 23 :    Lebanon's Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said Sunday that the country will not be "tempted" by money into giving up Palestinian rights, criticising the Trump administration's USD50 billion investment proposal that comes as part of its recently unveiled Middle East peace plan.

Berri said in a statement carried by the state-run National News Agency that although Lebanon is currently dealing with an economic crisis, it would be a mistake to think that billions of dollars could convince the government to abandon Palestinians' rights as refugees.

The 10-year plan calls for projects worth USD6.3 billion for Palestinians in Lebanon, as well as USD27.5 billion in the West Bank and Gaza, USD9.1 billion in Egypt and USD7.4 billion in Jordan.

The large sums for Jordan and Lebanon, countries with substantial Palestinian refugee populations, were an apparent attempt to have them absorbed into these nations, rather than allow them to maintain their refugee status and the hope that they could someday return to their homeland in what is now Israel.

Many of the 175,000 Palestinians in Lebanon live in squalid camps with no access to public services, limited employment opportunities and no right to own property. 

Naturalising Palestinians, the vast majority of whom are Sunni Muslim, would disrupt Lebanon's very delicate sectarian balance between the country's 18 religious sects.

President Donald Trump's senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner faces high hurdles and low expectations as he looks to build support for the initiative ahead of a two-day conference in Bahrain later this week.

Palestinian leaders in the West Bank, angered by what they and their supporters see as blatant US bias toward Israel, want nothing to do with the workshop and will not participate. 

The conference will also ignore the core political issues that are key to resolving the dispute, such as borders, the status of the holy city of Jerusalem, Israel's security and the fate of Palestinian refugees.

Berri said that Lebanon will resist, along with the Palestinians, the naturalisation of Palestinians "through all legitimate means." 

He added that Palestinians should have the right to return to their land and set up a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.

"Mr. Kushner, Lebanon and the Lebanese will not be false witnesses for selling Palestine," Berri said.

Trump and his aides have refused to endorse a two-state solution to the conflict, a path that has long been seen as the only viable option for lasting peace.

The scheme, which calls for a mix of public and private financing and intends to create at least a million new jobs for Palestinians, was posted to the White House website.

Lebanon has already said it will not take part in the Bahrain conference. Jordan and Egypt, the only two Arab countries with peace deals with Israel, are sending mid-ranking officials from their finance ministries and not Cabinet ministers to Bahrain.

Christian legislator Nadim Gemayel also criticised the plan, saying in a tweet that the Lebanese did not give thousands of "martyrs" in order for Palestinians or others to be naturalised in Lebanon.

"The causes of people are not solved with money but by giving them rights, sovereignty and independence," Gemayel said.                                   [Agencies]
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Hello Jammu News at 12:57:00 PM 0

Beirut, Aug 10: Syria's civil registries recorded 68,000 deaths in the war-torn country in 2017, pro-regime daily Al-Watan reported its head as saying yesterday.

"Last year, we confirmed 68,000 without specifying the nature of their death and 32,000 this year," civil registries chief Ahmad Rahal said.

He did not provide any additional details about those who had died, including in what part of Syria they had lost their lives or whether they had been victims of the ongoing conflict.

The news come after activists accused authorities of quietly updating civil records to mark detainees in regime jails as "deceased" -- some backdated by several years.

Human rights defenders say tens of thousands of Syrians are held in government jails across the country.

Relatives and advocates say they are often tortured, denied a fair trial, and deprived of contact with their families. But Rahal said employees at the civil record did not have a "missing" box to tick.

"If a document comes through from any government body -- whether a hospital or another -- to confirm a death, it is confirmed without specifying if they were missing or not."

The Syrian Network for Human Rights has documented around 400 cases in recent months, including those of nine children, where civil registry employees have told family members that their detained relative has died.

There could be further such instances which are yet to be documented.

Around 80,000 remain forcibly disappeared by the government, the rights group says.

More than 3,50,000 people have been killed since Syria's civil war started in 2011, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor says.

More than 33,000 were killed last year alone, including more than 10,000 civilians and 7,000 pro-regime fighters, it says.

During the first seven months of this year, at least 14,000 people lost their lives among them more than 5,000 civilians and 7,000 soldiers and loyalists. (AFP)
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Hello Jammu News at 1:01:00 PM 0

Beirut, Jul 25: At least 32 people including several civilians have died in a string of Islamic State group suicide attacks against a regime-held area of southern Syria, a war monitor said today.

"Three bombers with explosive belts targeted Sweida city alone, while the other blasts hit villages to the north and east," said Syrian Observatory for Human Rights chief Rami Abdel Rahman.

He said the jihadists then followed up with further attacks in the province. (AFP)
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Hello Jammu News at 6:17:00 PM 0

BEIRUT, May 9: U.S. President Donald Trump is not fit for his job, the speaker of Iran's parliament said on Wednesday, in Tehran's most personal criticism since Trump's decision to withdraw from a 2015 nuclear pact between Tehran and six world powers.
Trump pulled the United States out of the deal on Tuesday, raising the risk of conflict in the Middle East, upsetting European allies and casting uncertainty over global oil supplies.
"Trump does not have the mental capacity to deal with issues," parliament speaker Ali Larijani told the assembly, broadcast live on state TV.
Members of parliament burned an American flag and a symbolic copy of the Iran deal, known officially as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as a session of parliament began. They also chanted "Death to America".
"Trump's abandoning of the nuclear deal was a diplomatic show ... Iran has no obligation to honour its commitments under the current situation," Larijani said. "It is obvious that Trump only understands the language of force."
General Mohammad Baqeri, the chief of staff of Iran's military, said Iran did not have to sign the deal. "But that arrogant country (America) did not even stand by its signature," the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) quoted him as saying.
President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday Iran would remain committed to the deal without Washington despite Trump's decision to withdraw from it. The pact was designed to deny Tehran the ability to build nuclear weapons.
"If we achieve the deal's goals in cooperation with other members of the deal, it will remain in place. ... By exiting the deal, America has officially undermined its commitment to an international treaty," Rouhani said in a televised speech.
"I have ordered the foreign ministry to negotiate with the European countries, China and Russia in coming weeks. If at the end of this short period we conclude that we can fully benefit from the JCPOA with the cooperation of all countries, the deal would remain," he said.
Under the deal, struck between Iran, the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France and Germany, Tehran curbed its nuclear programme in return for them lifting sanctions.
'SHENANIGANS'
Trump's decision sets the stage for a resurgence of political infighting within Iran's complex power structure, Iranian officials told Reuters. It could tip the balance of power in favour of hardliners looking to constrain Rouhani's ability to open up to the West.
"They will blame Rouhani. ... They will continue their shenanigans at home and abroad. And they will have the U.S. to blame for the failure of the economy," said Abbas Milani, director of the Iranian Studies programme at Stanford University.
Rouhani assured ordinary Iranians, frustrated by high unemployment and stagnant living standards, that Trump's decision would have no impact on Iran's oil-reliant economy.
"Our heroic people will not be affected by this psychological attack ... Iran's economic progress will continue. Our people should not be worried at all," he said.
Iran's ruling elite fears a revival of anti-government protests in January that revealed the establishment was vulnerable to popular anger fueled by economic hardship. At least 21 people were killed in the protests.
TOUGH STATEMENT
Trump said in a tougher-than-expected statement he would reimpose economic sanctions on Tehran immediately. His decision puts pressure on his European allies, which are key backers of the deal and are reluctant to join the United States in reimposing sanctions on Iran.
The U.S. Treasury said in a statement on its website the United States would reimpose a wide array of Iran-related sanctions after the expiry of 90- and 180-day wind-down periods, including sanctions aimed at Iran's oil sector and transactions with its central bank.
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whose hostility towards Washington is the glue that holds together Iran's faction-ridden leadership, had said Iran would "shred" the deal if the U.S. pulled out.
Rouhani warned that Iran was ready to resume its curbed nuclear activities if Iran's interests were not guaranteed under a deal without the United States.
"If needed, we will resume our nuclear enrichment at the industrial level without any limit," Rouhani said. "From now on, everything depends on Iran's national interests."
Under the 2015 deal, Iran stopped producing 20 percent enriched uranium and gave up the majority of its stockpile in return for most international sanctions on it being lifted.
"In response to U.S. persistent violations & unlawful withdrawal from the nuclear deal, as instructed by President Rouhani, I'll spearhead a diplomatic effort to examine whether remaining JCPOA participants can ensure its full benefits for Iran. Outcome will determine our response," Iran's foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said on Twitter.
Trump's announcement was hailed by Washington's principal allies in the Middle East, Israel and Saudi Arabia, both sworn foes of Iran. REUTERS
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Hello Jammu News at 8:06:00 PM 0

BEIRUT, May 3: Buses arrived in south Damascus on Thursday to transport Syrian rebels from an enclave they have surrendered there, but some fighters in another besieged area near Homs kept fighting despite an agreement to quit, a war monitor said.
The opposition still holds two large areas in the northwest and southwest bordering Syria's international frontiers, neither of which are under siege by the Syrian army. But President Bashar al-Assad is pushing to retake two other rebel-held areas that are entirely surrounded by government-held territory. Syrian state television showed footage of the buses arriving at Beit Sahm, driving through narrow streets surrounded by soldiers and with concrete buildings above showing scars of war. Some 5,000 fighters and their family members are expected to leave for the opposition areas in northern Syria, it reported, following an earlier group who left the enclave on Monday.
Islamic State fighters holding another part of the same enclave are still fighting after weeks of intense bombardment in the area of al-Hajar al-Aswad and Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp.
On Wednesday, insurgents in the biggest of the remaining besieged areas, located between the cities of Hama and Homs around the towns of Rastan, Talbiseh and Houla, also agreed to surrender.
However, some of them rejected the deal and shelled government areas late on Wednesday and early on Thursday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said. REUTERS
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Hello Jammu News at 6:33:00 PM 0

BEIRUT, Oct 23: The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Monday that Islamic State killed at least 128 people in a Syrian town in central Homs over a three-week period before the Syrian army recaptured it on Saturday. There was no immediate comment from Syrian government officials or state media on the report by the Observatory, a Britain-based war monitor. Syrian troops and allied forces regained control of al-Qaryatayn town "after eliminating terrorist Daesh (Islamic State) groups that had infiltrated it," state media said on Saturday. Earlier this month, the Observatory said IS fighters had seized the town from government forces, part of a counter-attack by the jihadists who have come under intense pressure in eastern Syria. At least 83 people were killed in the 48 hours before the Syrian army retook the town, the war monitor said, adding that IS had accused the civilians of being "agents of the regime". The town lies nearly 300 km (190 miles) from Deir al-Zor city in the east, the current focus of the government offensive, with Russian jets and Iran-backed militias, against Islamic State.
REUTERS
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Hello Jammu News at 2:39:00 PM 0

BEIRUT, Aug 29: A convoy of Islamic State fighters and their families reached an exchange point in eastern Syria on Tuesday, a Hezbollah military media unit said, where they will be transferred into IS-held territory under a ceasefire deal. The convoy of buses and ambulances left the Lebanon-Syria border region on Monday under Syrian military escort after a ceasefire took effect on Sunday. The deal ended a week-long offensive with the Lebanese army on one front and Hezbollah with the Syrian army on the other against Islamic State's mountainous enclave straddling the Lebanon-Syria border. REUTERS
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