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Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Excerpts: Jordan tops Arab achievers in democracy. Iran-China bank. Jordan's Queen Rania speaks out. Abbas condemns Jerusalem attack. Obama, Russia re Jerusalem synagogue attack. Israel blocks access to Gaza via Israel November 18, 2014

Excerpts: Jordan tops Arab achievers in democracy. Iran-China bank. Jordan's
Queen Rania speaks out. Abbas condemns Jerusalem attack. Obama, Russia re
Jerusalem synagogue attack. Israel blocks access to Gaza via Israel November
18, 2014

+++SOURCE: Jordan Times 18 Nov.’14:”Jordan tops Arab achievers in democracy”
SUBJECT: Jordan tops Arab achievers in democracy
FULL TEXT:AMMAN — Jordan has come top among Arab countries that have seen
progress in democratic reform, while it is still ranked after Morocco in
terms of overall score, a survey has shown.

In the fourth edition of the Arab Democracy Index, conducted by the Arab
Reform Initiative (ARI), Jordan scored 645 points, up by 58 points from
2011, the base year, as the report surveyed developments for the past three
years, according to a summary e-mailed to The Jordan Times on Monday.[17
Nov.]

ARI is a consortium of policy analysis institutes, founded in 2005, that
mobilises research capacity to advance democratic change in Arab countries.

Morocco went down by 21 points, leaving Jordan on top of the list of
achievers, which included Algeria, Tunisia, Palestine and Egypt — while the
score has fallen for four others — Bahrain, Lebanon, Morocco and Kuwait.

The new edition uses data collected between 2011-2013, measuring for the
first time the changes since the 2011 “Arab Spring”, progress towards
democracy, its significance and its sustainability.

Jordan ranked second among the nine states and showed progress in all areas.

The legal or constitutional reform process in the Kingdom is now showing
results at the level of practices. Progress is particularly evident in the
area of respect for freedoms, such as reduced censorship of publications and
Internet sites, increased space for criticising government and the
expression of political opposition in the local media, the report said.

It added: “Progress is also clear in the indicators related to strong and
accountable public institutions, with increased initiatives from civil
society to hold government accountable and the setting of periodic
elections. There is also a noticeable improvement in the education sector
and in the participation of women in the labour force.”



+++SOURCE: Al Arabiya 18 Nov.’14:Report: Iran uses China bank to transfer
funds to Quds-linked companies


By Louis Charbonneau, Jonathan Saul and James Pomfret | Reuters
Tuesday, 18 November 2014

There is no trace of Shenzhen Lanhao Days Electronic Technology Co Ltd at
its listed address in the beige and pink-tiled “Fragrant Villa” apartment
complex in this southern Chinese city. The building’s managers say they’ve
never heard of it.

But a Western intelligence report reviewed by Reuters says Shenzhen Lanhao
is one of several companies in China that receives money from Iran through a
Chinese bank. Such transfers help to finance international operations of the
Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ elite Quds Force, the report said.

The Quds provides arms, aid and training for pro-Iranian militant groups in
the Middle East, such as Hezbollah, Hamas and Shi’ite Muslim militias in
Iraq. They have also armed and trained government forces in Syria’s civil
war in violation of a U.N. arms embargo, U.S. and European officials say.

Washington designated the Quds a supporter of terrorism in 2007. The
European Union sanctioned them in 2011.

The report said that the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) holds accounts with the
Bank of Kunlun Co Ltd, a China National Petroleum Corp unit. Quds-controlled
Iranian companies, including one called Bamdad Capital Development Co,
initiate transfers from these accounts to either Chinese entities directly
controlled by the Quds or to Chinese entities owed money by the Quds, such
as Shenzhen Lanhao.

“The money transfers from accounts held by the CBI with Bank Kunlun are
initiated by the Quds Force and transferred to Chinese companies connected
to the Quds Force in order to meet its financial needs,” the seven-page
report said. Reuters could not independently verify the claims in the
report.

The suspected movement of Iranian funds linked to the Quds Force through a
Chinese bank and Chinese companies is a reminder of the difficulty of
enforcing sanctions on Iran at a time when the United States and other world
powers hope to clinch a nuclear deal with Tehran by Nov. 24.

The U.S. Treasury sanctioned Kunlun in 2012 for conducting business with
Iran and transferring money to an entity linked to Iran’s Revolutionary
Guards, but there was no mention then of any link to the Quds.

Once the money is transferred from Kunlun to other entities, the
intelligence report said, the Quds can use it for acquisitions in China and
to finance all sorts of covert activity in other countries. The report does
not say how specific funds moving out of the CBI’s accounts at Kunlun would
be used by the Quds.

The report does not suggest that either the Chinese government or Bank of
Kunlun were aware of the possibility that there could be a Quds Force
connection to Kunlun’s transactions.

But the report’s assertions underline Tehran’s complex and economically
close relationship with Beijing: Iran is China’s third-largest crude oil
supplier, making China the Islamic Republic’s biggest oil client.

Beijing picked Kunlun
The exact amount of money the Quds could have received from the Kunlun
channel is unclear. But the sums flowing from the Iranian central bank to
Kunlun over the past year have been in the hundreds of millions of dollars,
the report said.

As Western sanctions tightened on Iran in 2012, Beijing picked Kunlun as its
main bank to process billions of dollars in oil payments to Iran, shielding
other banks from penalties. Kunlun had assets of 246.5 billion yuan ($40
billion) at the end of 2013, according to its annual report.

The U.S. Treasury’s 2012 sanctions targeted money Iran was being paid for
oil exports, including $22 billion held at Kunlun.

However, there was an easing in the restrictions on Iran’s access to the
money in November 2013 under a bilateral agreement with China, and as an
interim nuclear deal was reached with six world powers in the same month.

The deal between Iran and the United States, Britain, France, Germany,
Russia and China gave Tehran access to several billion dollars in assets
frozen at banks worldwide in exchange for assurances it would curtail a
nuclear program that Western powers suspect will give it the ability to
build nuclear weapons.

Negotiators gather in Vienna this week to try to reach a comprehensive deal
that would prevent Iran from building a nuclear bomb while eventually
lifting sanctions that have badly hurt its economy. Hopes of a breakthrough
are slim.

Metals purchase
Officials at Kunlun did not respond to Reuters requests for comment, nor did
CNPC, China’s biggest oil and gas company.

The Chinese government said China’s trade relations with Iran and other
countries do not violate international laws.

“China maintains normal trade relations with relevant countries, including
Iran,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in a statement in response
to queries from Reuters. “This does not violate any international law or
(U.N.) Security Council resolution, and does not harm the interests of other
countries or the international community.”
Iran’s U.N. mission declined to comment.

Reuters viewed a payment transfer order from 2014 showing Bamdad requesting
Iran’s central bank transfer 1.45 million euros ($1.81 million) from an
account at Kunlun to Shenzhen Lanhao for a payment “related to purchasing
metals.” While it was unclear how and whether the Quds Force received any
funds through the transaction, it appeared to show the movement of funds as
described in the report.

The report says other companies also initiate and receive transfers from the
central bank’s Kunlun accounts in this way.

Bamdad’s website said it is engaged in pharmaceutical and base metals
trading. Its Iranian telephone number was out of service. It lists an
address in a non-existent Iranian province.

A person listed as a general manager in a directory for Shenzhen Lanhao said
he does not work for the company when contacted by telephone.

The apartment complex listed as the business address for Shenzhen Lanhao in
Shenzhen’s western suburbs is occupied by a family. They told a Reuters
reporter they hadn’t heard of the company, nor of its general manager.

Last Update: Tuesday, 18 November 2014 KSA 13:04 - GMT 10:


+++SOURCE: Al Arabiya News 18 Nov.’14:” Jordan’s Queen Rania: ISIS using
media to ‘hijack Arab world”, by Asma Ajroudi and Ben Flanagan
SUBJECT: Jordan’s Queen :ISIS using media to hijack Arab world
QUOTE:”Queen Rania: ‘the ‘silence’ of moderate Arabs made them complicit in
ISIS success’ “
FULL TEXT:Queen Rania of Jordan has called on the Arab media to fight
attempts by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) to ‘hijack’ the
region via social channels like Facebook and Twitter.

Speaking on Tuesday[18 Nov.] during her opening speech at the Abu Dhabi
Media Summit, Queen Rania also raised of the role of education in thwarting
the threat posed by extremists.

“A minority of irreligious extremists is using social media to rewrite our
narrative and hijack our anatomy,” Queen Rania said. “That’s what ISIS is
doing to the Arab world and all of us.”

ISIS, which now controls large swathes of Iraq and Syria, is notorious for
its use of sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, through which it
has lured foreign fighters to join their self-proclaimed “Islamic
caliphate.”

Hundreds of photos and videos emerged on social media highlighting the
atrocities committed by the terrorist group, including street beheadings,
mass executions, enslavements and crucifixions.

With images of violence and destruction from the Arab world projected on
screen, Queen Rania said the images were not a reflection of the vast
majority of Arabs.

“These images don’t represent me anymore than they represent you. They’re
alien and abhorrent to the vast majority of Arabs – Muslims and Christians.
And they should make every Arab across this region seethe. Because they’re
an attack on our values as a people and on our collective story.”

“This is their [ISIS’] version of the Arab world’s story, their plot, their
narrative, their heroes, and the rest of the world is listening and
watching,” Queen Rania said, adding that the “silence” of moderate Arabs
made them complicit in ISIS’ success.

“At the heart of the assault is an ideology. And if you think you can defeat
an ideology with a bullet, think of what happened when Osama Bin Laden was
killed,” Queen Rania said. “Sure he died, but his legacy is an even
stronger, more twisted extremist movement.”

“We must create a new narrative and broadcast it to the world. Because if we
don’t decide what our identity is and what our legacy will be the extremists
will do it for us,” she added.

Queen Rania is a prominent advocate for women’s rights, education and
employment of the youth in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

Presenting the audience with the options facing the region today, Queen
Rania said: “We either develop our region, or we let others dismantle it;
find solutions to the challenges, or watch the challenges avalanche; harness
the tools to drive the Arab world forward in the 21st century, or let others
use those tools to drag us back to the dark ages.”

Hundreds of key regional and international media players flew to the UAE
capital to attend the fifth edition of the three–day Abu Dhabi Media Summit.

They are set to discuss the biggest challenges facing the industry in the
MENA region and beyond and brainstorm ways to sustain the future of the
media.

The focus of the summit will be “content, distribution, and financing of the
media,” said Khaldoon al-Mubarak, chairman of the summit.

Al-Mubarak pointed to research unveiled at the event, which found that
regional spending on media is set to rise to $24bn by 2019, from $16bn today

“At the heart of this growth lies the relentless increasing in connectivity
in the region,” he said, referring to the rise of smartphones and
mobile-data networks in the region.

“That will make the people of our region one of the most well-connected on
earth,” he said.

Al-Mubarak praised Queen Rania as “one of the strongest advocates of
education in the Middle East and North Africa.”

Other high-profile speakers at event Ahmad Julfar, chief executive of
Etisalat Group; JB Perette, president of Discovery Networks International;
and Raghav Bahl, founder of Network 18.

This year’s Abu Dhabi Media Summit is set to run until Nov. 20.

Abu Dhabi has hosted the summit annually since March 2010, as part of its
ambition to become a hub for regional and global media.

Previous keynote speakers included Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the
World Wide Web; Andy Bird, chairman of Walt Disney International; Microsoft
co-founder Bill Gates; and media mogul Rupert Murdoch


+++SOURCE: Saudi Gazette 17 Nov.’14:”Abbas condemns deadly attack on
Jerusalem synagogue”, Reuters
SUBJECT: Abbas condemns Jerusalem attack

FULL TEXT:RAMALLAH, West Bank - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
condemned an attack by two Palestinian men in a Jerusalem synagogue which
killed four people on Tuesday[17 Nov.].

"The presidency condemns the attack on Jewish worshippers in their place of
prayer and condemns the killing of civilians no matter who is doing it," his
office said in a statement to Reuters.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Abbas of inciting
deadly violence in Jerusalem. — Reuters


+++SOURCE: Naharnet (Lebanon) 18 Nov.’14:”Obama Calls for Calm After
‘Horrific’ Jerusalem attack, Russia Urges Measures against, Extremists” ,
SUBJECT: Obama, Russia re Jerusalem Synagogue attack

FULL TEXT:President Barack Obama condemned an "horrific attack" on a
Jerusalem synagogue Tuesday[18 Nov.] that left four people, including three
U.S. citizens, dead and urged Israelis and Palestinians to calm tensions.

"At this sensitive moment in Jerusalem, it is all the more important for
Israeli and Palestinian leaders and ordinary citizens to work cooperatively
together to lower tensions, reject violence, and seek a path forward towards
peace," Obama said.

Obama identified the three Israeli-Americans who died in Tuesday's[18 Nov.]
attack by two Palestinians armed with a gun and meat cleavers as Aryeh
Kupinsky, Cary William Levine and Mosheh Twersky

"There is and can be no justification for such attacks against innocent
civilians," he said.

"The thoughts and prayers of the American people are with the victims and
families of all those who were killed and injured in this horrific attack
and in other recent violence."

The fourth Israeli victim has been identified as a British national. Eight
more people were wounded.

The attack began shortly before 7:00 am (0500 GMT) when assailants burst
into a Jewish seminary [IMRA: Synagogue] in Har Nof. Police exchanged
gunfire with the attackers, killing them. Two police were wounded, one
critically.

Meanwhile, Russia on Tuesday[17 Nov.] condemned the Palestinian attack on a
Jerusalem synagogue as an inhumane crime, warning of a dangerous build-up of
tensions and calling for both sides to rein in extremists.

"We decisively and unambiguously condemn this terrorist act," the Russian
foreign ministry said in a statement after two Palestinians armed with a gun
and a meat cleaver burst into a synagogue and killed four.

"Killing peaceful citizens is an inhumane crime, whatever its motivations,"
the ministry said.

"... We call on Palestinians and Israelis to take urgent measures to rein in
extremists, whose actions threaten to explode the situation entirely,"
Moscow said.

Russia urged the two sides to "renew the talks process... on the established
basis of international law" and to "resolve all the questions on the status
of the Palestinian Territories, including finding a mutually acceptable
solution to the problem of Jerusalem."

SourceAgence France Presse



+++SOURCE: Jordan Times 18 Nov.’14:”Israel bars Norwegian doctor, but denies
life ban”, Agence France Presse

SUBJECT: Israel blocks access to Gaza via Israel

QUOTE:”Israel…denied Monday (17 Nov.] it had imposed a lifelong ban”

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Israel has blocked Norwegian doctor Mads Gilbert from
entering the country and thereby accessing the Gaza Strip, but denied
Monday[17 Nov.] it had imposed a lifelong ban on the outspoken medic.

"He has been banned from entering Israel," foreign ministry spokesman Paul
Hirschson told AFP, categorically denying reports Gilbert had been blocked
from entering Gaza.

Access to the Gaza Strip, which has been under an Israeli blockade since
2006, is possible only through the Erez crossing from Israel, or the Rafah
terminal on the Egyptian border.

But Rafah has been blocked by Cairo since a deadly suicide bombing in the
northern Sinai on October 24, leaving Erez as the only point of entry to the
Palestinian territory.

News of the ban was first reported last week by Norwegian media which said
Israel had barred Gilbert from Gaza for life………….

Hirschson, at the Israeli foreign ministry, denied the ban was a punitive
measure, saying it was "exclusively a result of security considerations". He
did not explain further.

"The decision is exclusively a result of a security consideration. It is not
a punishment, and therefore it has no time frame," he said.

"It is not 'forever' as some have implied, but for as long as the security
considerations which have led to it remain the same.

…………………………………………………."
Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA

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