Excerpts: Christians fleeing Syria. : Jordan cannot fight on multiple
fronts. Jordan gives Lebanese army military weapons. Jordan fights extremist
ideologies. Iran war games military muscle. Egyptians leave Libya via
Tunisia. Saudi calls for UN reforming February 25, 2015


+++SOURCE: Naharnet (Lebanon) 25 Feb.’15:”Christians Flee Jihadists after
Syria
Kidnappings”, Agence France Presse

SUBJECT: Christians fleeing Syria

QUOTE:”kidnapping of dozens of Assyrian Christians by the IS jihadist group
has prompted an exodus of terrified families”

FULL TEXT:The kidnapping of dozens of Assyrian Christians by the Islamic
State jihadist group in Syria has prompted an exodus of terrified families
fleeing their homes, activists said Wednesday[25 Feb.].

The United States condemned the mass abduction of Christians -- the first of
its kind in the war-torn country -- and demanded the release of the 90
hostages.

Nearly 1,000 Assyrian Christian families have fled their villages in the
northeastern province of Hasakeh since Monday's [23 Feb.]kidnappings, said
Osama Edward, director of the Sweden-based Assyrian Human Rights Network.

About 800 families have taken refuge in the city of Hasakeh and 150 in
Qamishli, a Kurdish city on the border with Turkey, Edward said.

Most of the hostages were women, children or elderly, he added.

Edward told AFP he believed the mass abduction was linked to the jihadists'
recent loss of ground in the face of US-led coalition air raids against IS
that began in Syria in September.

"IS has been losing territory because of the international coalition's
strikes and they took the hostages to use them as human shields," the
activist said.

The jihadists, who are battling Kurdish fighters on the ground, may try to
exchange the Assyrian Christians for IS prisoners, according to Edward.

He said the aim of the jihadists is to take over the Assyrian Christian
village of Tal Tamer, which is located near a bridge over the Khabur river
that links Syria to Iraq.

IS, which also holds swathes of Iraq, last year declared an Islamic
"caliphate" in areas under its control and has committed widespread
atrocities.

Assyrian Christians, who are from one of the world's oldest Christian
communities, have been under increasing threat since IS captured large parts
of Syria.

The jihadists have destroyed Christian shrines and churches in territory
they control.

Last week, the group's Libyan branch released a video showing the gruesome
beheading of 21 Coptic Christians, mostly Egyptians.

Edward, a native of an area of Hasakeh province where 35 Assyrian villages
are located, said the jihadists broke into houses during the night while
everyone was asleep.

Since Monday[23 Feb.], IS has captured at least a dozen villages in the
area, Edward said, including his wife's hometown of Tal Shamiram.

"When she tried to reach her uncle by telephone, a man replied and said:
'This is the house of the Islamic State,'" he said.

He said the hostages were taken to Shaddadi, an IS stronghold in Hasakeh
province.

The jihadists had been intimidating the Assyrian villagers for several
weeks, he said, including by threatening to remove crosses from their
churches.

"People were expecting an attack, but they thought that either the Syrian
army -- which is just 30 kilometers (20 miles) from there -- or the Kurds or
the (U.S.-led) coalition's strikes would protect them," he added.

The United States on Wednesday[25 Feb.] condemned the abductions as "brutal
and inhumane".

"ISIL's latest targeting of a religious minority is only further testament
to its brutal and inhumane treatment of all those who disagree with its
divisive goals and toxic beliefs," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen
Psaki said, using another acronym for IS.

She added: "To bring an end to these daily horrors, we remain committed to
leading the international coalition to degrade and defeat ISIL."

A prominent bishop meanwhile accused Turkey of allowing jihadists
responsible for the persecution of Syrian Christians to cross its border
unchecked, while preventing Christians from fleeing the war-torn country.

Jacques Behnan Hindo, the Syrian Catholic Archbishop of Hasakeh-Nisibi, made
the remarks on Vatican Radio.

"In the north, Turkey allows through lorries, Daesh (IS) fighters, oil
stolen from Syria, wheat and cotton: all of these can cross the border but
nobody (from the Christian community) can pass over," he said.

There were 30,000 Assyrians in Syria before the country's conflict erupted
in March 2011. At that point Syria had an estimated total Christian
population of around 1.2 million people.



+++SOURCE:Jordan Times 25 Feb.’15:”Expanded anti-Daesh Arab front not
workable
for Jordan –experts”,by Khetam Malkawi
SUBJECT: Jordan cannot fight on multiple fronts

QUOTE:” Jordan’s decision makers are ‘certainly aware’ of the country’s
resources and will make sure that they are not used up. “

FULL TEXT:AMMAN — Although Jordan is in the forefront of regional efforts to
eradicate the Daesh terrorist group, the country cannot expand its military
operations and fight on multiple fronts, experts said Tuesday[24 Feb.].

Military analysts and opinion leaders interviewed by The Jordan Times
explained that if Jordan wants to join Egypt in the fight against Daesh in
Libya, this must be restricted to cooperation in the field of logistics,
intelligence, planning and, to a certain limit, aerial attacks.

In reference to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi’s call for Arabs to
field a united force against Daesh, military and political experts said
forming an Arab coalition now to fight the threat of Daesh might not be
workable.

They noted that few armies in Arab countries are well equipped and trained
for a ground fight, and neighbours of Libya should be involved in the war
against the terrorist group on that front.

As for Jordan’s capabilities, military and strategic expert Fayez Dwairi
said Jordan can still only use air attacks and special operations without
going into a ground war.

“Jordan cannot lead the war against terrorists on more than one front,”
Dwairi told The Jordan Times.

However, he said, Jordan’s intelligence and military planning capabilities
are strong and so some help can be offered to Egypt in these fields.

Retired major general and strategic analyst Mamoun Abu Nowar agreed.

He said expanding the war to fronts other than the ones affecting those
across borders would adversely affect the country’s security.

He added that Jordanian and Egyptian forces are the best qualified among
Arab militaries for this kind of war.

Abu Nowar also noted that in terms of numbers, the Egyptian forces are the
largest in the region and Jordan can support them in logistics and planning
without sending troops.

“The immediate threat is at our border… that is why we have to protect the
home front,” the expert said, referring to the Kingdom’s borders with Syria
and Iraq. He added: “We cannot fight three fronts… such a role is connected
with internal security as we will become vulnerable from inside if we expand
outside.”

He said Jordan cannot also go on in a long battle without all kinds of
support from partners.

Political analyst and columnist Oraib Rantawi also agreed with the experts.
He noted, however, that if Arab countries did form a “genuine and
effective” coalition with real, rather than symbolic, participation from
stakeholders, Jordan would not hesitate to be part of it.

He said Jordan’s decision makers are “certainly aware” of the country’s
resources and will make sure they are not used up.

“We have realised many achievements in our war against Daesh with the
support of all Jordanians… but the situation might change if Jordan expanded
its role and spread itself thin,” Rantawi told The Jordan Times.

This was also echoed by Al Ghad columnist Fahed Khitan who noted that it is
obvious that Jordan’s offer to help Egypt is to show support and that we
fight in the same camp, but it would not be sending troops to fight in Libya
or any front other than the one in its neighbourhood.

Both Khitan and Rantawi agreed that the recent visits of some of the Gulf
countries’ leaders to Jordan are to show support to the Kingdom in its war
against terrorism.

“It is also an acknowledgement of Jordan’s role in maintaining the security
and stability of the Gulf countries,” Khitan commented.



+++SOURCE: Jordan Times 24 Feb.’15:”Jordan donates heavy weapons to Lebanon”,
by JT
SUBJECT: Jordan gives Lebanese army military weapons
FULL TEXT:AMMAN — Under directives from His Majesty King Abdullah, Supreme
Commander of the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army (JAF), the army has provided
the Lebanese army with artillery weapons and tanks.

The military assistance was part of cooperation between the two armies, a
military source said, quoted by the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

A ceremony was held in Beirut on Monday to[23 Feb.] receive the Jordanian
donation, attended by a JAF delegation, the source said.

Earlier this month, King Abdullah met with Lebanese Interior Minister Nouhad
Machnouk over “means to strengthen bilateral ties in a manner that serves
the interests of the two countries and their people”.


+++SOURCE: Jordan Times 23 Feb.’15:”Nationwide activities ‘to counter
extremist
ideologies’ “, by Mohammad Ghazal
SUBJECT: Jordan fights extremist ideologies
AMMAN — Jordan will soon launch a plan to fight extremist ideologies and
raise awareness among all segments of society of their dangerous impact,
according to an Awqaf Ministry official.

Under the projected plan, several activities will be launched starting in
May to highlight that extremist ideologies have nothing to do with Islam,
Hassan Kureira, head of the guidance and preaching department at the
ministry, said in a recent interview with The Jordan Times.

“It is very important to raise awareness among people from all walks of life
on how such ideologies are far from being part of Islam, especially at this
critical time that is witnessing the emergence of several radical and
terrorist groups in the region,” Kureira said.

“We decided to launch the project with a view to strengthening the community
to make it immune to any extremist ideologies or terrorist group that seeks
to brainwash people, especially youths,” he added.

As part of the plan, the ministry will host Muslim scholars from several
countries who will hold seminars, workshops and lectures on the principles
of Islam, a religion of moderation and tolerance, Kureira noted.

“Several activities will be held across Jordan — in governorates, towns,
districts and remote areas.”

“Terrorism and extremist ideologies should not only be confronted
militarily, but also through moderate ideologies that denounce violence,
hatred and promote acceptance of others,” the official noted.

“At present, we believe that we need to exert more efforts and that the
responsibility is greater than before when it comes to defending Islam and
facing extremist ideologies.”

+++SOURCE:Al Arabiya News 25 Feb. ’15: “Iran stages war games,attacks mock
U.S. warship”,Staff Writer with Reuters

SUBJECT: Iran war games military muscle

QUOTE:”The move was the elite Revolutionary Guards latest display of
military muscle in a Gulf shipping channel, which is crucial to the world’s
oil exports”

FULL TEXT:Flexing its military muscle, Iran on Wednesday[25 Feb.] staged war
games in the Strait of Hormuz.

The move was the elite Revolutionary Guards' latest display of military
muscle in a Gulf shipping channel, which is crucial to the world’s oil
exports.

The ceremony was attended by commanders of the Guards, an influential
military force led by anti-Western hawks, as well as by parliament speaker
Ali Larijani, according to Reuters news agency.

The exercises included a gunboat attack on a model U.S. warship.

"With attention to the situation in the region, we have noticeably expanded
the defence budget of the armed forces to ensure the stable security of the
region," Larijani told a news conference before the exercises, according to
Fars News.

The "maquette of an American aircraft carrier" was built to scale and
targeted with cruise missiles and ballistic missiles, according to Fars
News.

During the broadcast, one scene showed a banner reading "If the Americans
are ready to be buried at the bottom of the waters of the Persian Gulf - so
be it", a quote from Iran's first Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah
Khomeini.

Some 30 percent of all seaborne traded oil flows through Hormuz, according
to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, and U.S. officials have
expressed concern in the past that Iran could try to disrupt the oil flow or
even attack American warships patrolling the waters of the Gulf.

Iran, whose entire southern border runs along the Gulf and the adjacent Gulf
of Oman, has often said it could block Hormuz, which connects the two
waters, if Tehran came under military attack over its disputed nuclear
program.

Talks on the program between Iran and the United States, Russia, China,
Britain, France and Germany are intended to ensure the country's nuclear
program is not aimed at developing nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear
work is entirely for peaceful purposes.


+++SOURCE: Saudi Gazette 25 Feb.’15:”1,000 Egyptians evacuated from Libya
via Tunisia”, By Agence France Presse

SUBJECT: 1,000 Egyptians leave Libya via Tunisia

QUOTE:”Egyptians make their way to a bus in Ras J Tunisia”

FULL TEXT:TUNIS — At least 1,000 Egyptians have been evacuated from Libya
through Tunisia since Friday[20 Feb.], the Tunisian transport ministry said,
following the murder of Coptic Christians by the self-proclaimed Islamic
State group.

Last week Egyptian and Libyan warplanes hit IS targets inside Libya after
the jihadists released a video showing the beheadings of 21 Christians, most
of them Egyptian.

Since then Egypt has urged the hundreds of thousands of Egyptians who work
in Libya to leave and chartered planes to ferry them home from Tunisia.

At least 1,000 Egyptians who fled to Tunisia have been airlifted home since
the first flight was set up on Friday, a spokeswoman for the Tunisian
transport ministry said. She told AFP that 250 more Egyptians were expected
to leave from the southeastern Djerba-Zarzis airport by 1600 GMT.

A Tunisian customs official said that an unspecified number of Egyptians
were also waiting on the Libyan side of the border, hoping to cross the
frontier.

In July last year, thousands of Egyptians fleeing violence in Libya were
stranded for days at the border with Tunisia, as authorities refused to let
them in until Cairo had arranged for their transport home.

Tunisia was flooded by expatriates fleeing Libya during the 2011 uprising
that toppled and killed dictator Muammar Gaddafi, and struggled to cope with
the massive exodus. — AFP


+++SOURCE: Saudi Gazette 25 Feb,’15:”KSA: UN in need of thorough reform”, by
Abdullah Al Mo’allemi

SUBJECT:Saudi calls for UN reforming

QUOTE:”The Kingdom has called for reforming the UN to meet the challenges
facing the world today”

NEW YORK — The Kingdom has called for reforming the UN to meet the
challenges facing the world today.

Addressing the Security Council on “maintenance of international peace and
security,” the Kingdom’s Permanent Representative to the UN Abdullah Al-Mo’allemi
said here on Monday night[23 Feb.] that UN agencies in their current form
continue to fall short of achieving the aspirations and hopes of member
nations and effectively addressing current issues and problems.

“The most important matter we need today is to review some concepts and
institutions. It is important to realize that what was suitable for the
mid-20th century is no longer appropriate for this century,” he said.

“We must recognize that the UN system is currently in urgent need of a
comprehensive reform to rejuvenate and restore its vitality. Accordingly, it
is reasonable to say that your esteemed Council should start considering how
to increase its efficacy, credibility, and the legitimacy of its
representation.”

He said the Middle East region has witnessed in the past seven decades at
least 15 wars, most of which were associated in one way or another with the
Palestinian question.

These wars and atrocities prove that the international community,
represented in the Security Council, has failed to end the Jewish
occupation.

The Palestinian people are still deprived of self-determination and
establishing their independent state in accordance with international
legitimacy resolutions adopted by the UN.

The international community has failed to protect people from massacres
committed by authorities that have lost their legitimacy. Rwanda was an
example of paralysis and the inability to contain horrific incidents that
are still a heavy burden on the conscience of the world. Similar is the case
with Syria today where the killings and intimidation of the Syrian people
continue unabated.

These violations occur while the international community is unable to
achieve any progress in delivering humanitarian assistance, let alone
achieving a fair political settlement.

The international community has failed to address current dangers that have
taken new forms, such as the threat of international terrorism. Combating
this phenomenon has often been in the form of interim and regional solutions
that have not dealt with the fact that terrorism is a global phenomenon,
disappearing from one place only to appear elsewhere. Furthermore, terrorism
is not solely a security issue, but an intellectual issue as well, said
Al-Mo’allemi.

He said the international community has not yet been able to lay down the
foundations and rules capable of helping countries to overcome post-war and
turmoil phases. “We have taken note of countries, such as Liberia and Sierra
Leone, which keep oscillating between phases of war and peace. Other
countries, such as Afghanistan and Libya, have fallen into turmoil,” he
said.

============
Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA