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Wednesday, July 27, 2016
Excerpts: Israel responds to errant fire from Syria.US.Russia disagree re Syria action.Lebanon 'dissociates' itself from GCC Hizbullah named 'terrorist'. KING::Arab League reform indispensable July 26, 2016

Excerpts: Israel responds to errant fire from Syria.US.Russia disagree re
Syria action.Lebanon 'dissociates' itself from GCC Hizbullah named
'terrorist'. KING::Arab League reform indispensable July 26, 2016

+++SOURCE:Al Arabiya 26 July’16:”News:”Israel:Aircraft strikes in Syria
after errant fire”,by Reuters
SUBJECT:Israel responds to errant fire from Syria

FULL TEXT:Israeli aircraft attacked a target in Syria on Monday[25 July]
after errant fire from fighting among factions in Syria struck inside
Israel, Israel’s military said.

The Syrian fire had hit an open area near the border causing no injuries,
and in retaliation the air force “successfully targeted the source of the
fire in Syria”, said an army spokeswoman.

The Syrian army said two missiles from Israeli reconnaissance planes hit a
residential building in Baath City in the Syrian Golan Heights, near the
border with Israel.

The army statement, carried on state news agency SANA, said the strikes on
the city caused “material damage” and said they were aimed at “raising the
morale of terrorist groups it (Israel) supported” after losses inflicted by
the Syrian army.

The town is held by pro-Syrian government forces, including the army and
Hezbollah fighters. The al Qaeda offshoot the Nusra Front, Western-backed
rebels, and groups which have pledged allegiance to ISIS also operate in the
region.

Though formally neutral in the civil war, Israel has targeted Hezbollah
officials and arms convoys inside Syria several times during the conflict.

Syrian rebels and a monitoring group said two explosions that struck the
same town on Wednesday[20 July] were caused by an Israeli air strike but
Lebanon’s Hezbollah blamed rocket fire by al Qaeda-linked militants. Israel
declined to comment at that time.

Israel captured the western Golan in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed
it, a move not recognized internationally.

+++SOURCE:Naharnet(Lebanon) 26 July’16:”U.S.Sec.Defense Carter: Russia,U.S.
Not on Same Page on Syria”, by Agence France Presse
SUBJECT:US,Russia disagree re Syria action
FULL TEXT:Russia, now discussing a military cooperation agreement with the
United States in Syria, is still far from American positions, U.S. Defense
Secretary Ashton Carter said Monday.[25 July]

Talks led by Secretary of State John Kerry are aimed at seeing if "it's
possible... for the Russians to begin to do the right thing in Syria,"
Carter said.

In other words, Russia's policies that have prolonged the war should end, he
said.

"We had hoped that they would promote a political solution and transition to
put an end to the civil war which is the beginning of all this violence in
Syria," Carter said referring to the regime of President Bashar Assad.

But "they're a long way from doing that," Carter stressed. "But that's what
Secretary Kerry's trying to promote. And getting the Russians to do the
right thing."

Russia and the United States back opposing sides in Syria's five-year war,
which has left 280,000 people dead and forced half the population to flee
their homes.

Multiple rounds of international negotiations to end the war, which erupted
in 2011 after Assad's regime unleashed a brutal crackdown against a
pro-democracy revolt, have so far failed.

Kerry held marathon talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow last week, striking an agreement on
"concrete steps" to salvage a failing truce and tackle jihadist groups in
Syria.

Details of the deal have not been made public but some U.S. officials have
voiced concerns about the effort.

U.S. intelligence chief James Clapper was quoted in a Washington Post story
on Thursday[21 July] as saying: "I've expressed my reservations about, for
example, sharing intelligence with (the Russians)... which they desperately
want, I think, to exploit, to learn what they can about our sources and
methods and tactics and techniques and procedures," he said.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joe Dunford said Monday[25
July], "we're not entering into a transaction that's founded on trust.

"There will be specific procedures and processes in any transaction we might
have with the Russians that would -- that would account for protecting our
operational security."

Damascus-backer Russia and the United States, which supports moderate rebels
seeking to unseat Assad, co-chair a 22-member group working to end the war
in Syria.

A ceasefire they brokered in February -- which did not include the Islamic
State group or Syrian al-Qaida branch al-Nusra -- has since all but
collapsed amid continued heavy fighting.

U.S. President Barack Obama has insisted on keeping dialogue with Moscow
open on Syria, Kerry has said.



+++SOURCE: Naharnet (Lebanon) 26 July’Lebanon Reservations on Summit’s
Hizbullah Text, GCC ‘Dissociates’Itself from Solidarity Clause”, Naharnet
Newsdesk
SUBJECT: Lebanon ‘dissociates’ itself from GCC Hizbulah named ‘terrorist’

FULL TEXT:Lebanon voiced reservations over a phrase in the closing statement
of the Arab League Summit that labeled Hizbullah “terrorist,” as the
majority of Gulf states “dissociated themselves” from endorsing a clause
expressing “solidarity with Lebanon.”

The Lebanese reservations were over two clauses condemning “Iranian
interference” in the affairs of some Arab countries. The two clauses refer
to Hizbullah as a “terrorist” organization.

The member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council – except for Kuwait and
Oman -- meanwhile “dissociated themselves” from a clause voicing “solidarity
with the Lebanese republic”, as Bahrain went a step further and expressed
reservations over the text.

The solidarity clause urges the international community to push for the
implementation of U.N. resolutions related to ending Israel's occupation of
the Shebaa Farms and the northern part of the Ghajar village.

Saudi Arabia has recently led the Arab League, the GCC and the Organization
of Islamic Cooperation in labeling Hizbullah “terrorist” over alleged
militant activities in some Gulf states and Yemen.

+++SOURCE:Jordan Times26 July’16:””Arab League reform indispensable –King”,
by JT

SUBJECT:King:Arab League reform indispensable

QUOTE:” His Majesty King Abdullah has renewed his call to reform the Arab
League and breathe new life into joint Arab action”.

FULL TEXT:AMMAN:In a speech at the Nouakchott-hosted 27th session of the
Arab League summit, delivered by Prime Minister Hani Mulki, His Majesty
thanked Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz for hosting the summit
and congratulated former Egyptian foreign minister Ahmad Aboul Gheit, for
his election to the post of Arab League secretary general, replacing Nabil
El Araby.

His Majesty said that history has proven that joint Arab action is essential
for the security and stability of our region and the prosperity of our
peoples, stressing that Jordan has, for decades, sought to develop the joint
Arab action and make a qualitative leap in the performance of pan-Arab
institutions, hoping that this reform would lead to increasing their
achievements and empowering them to confront the massive challenges and play
more effective roles in international arenas.

“This reform is needed today more than ever,” he said, adding that it is
time for the Arab League and its institutions to start a new era that
reflects Arab peoples' hopes and aspirations.

“… Our challenges are the same and our security and futures are connected,
making joint Arab action indispensable”.

The King said the winds of terrorism that are blowing in the region do not
recognise borders or nationalities, stressing that terrorists seek to
distort the image of Islam and its message of tolerance and, therefore, the
anti-terror fight is the fight of Muslims against the khawarej (outlaws of
Islam) of this age.

“It is a war in defence of our faith and future. We can either rise to face
terrorism as individual states, or we take the right decision and face it
collectively, following a holistic approach,” he said, urging close
coordination with the international community.

Regarding the Syrian crisis, the King noted that consequences have been
mounting and affecting the region and the world, let alone the catastrophic
situations under which Syrians are living.

“As we stress on the inevitability of an inclusive political solution, which
ensures the participation of all the components of the Syrian population, I
would like here to commend the great efforts that have been and are being
exerted by the sisterly Saudi Arabia, under the leadership of my brother,
the Custodian of the Two Holy Shrines Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, to unify
the ranks of the [Syrian] opposition and form its negotiating delegation, in
addition to its efforts to bring about a political solution that ends the
suffering of the Syrians and ensures the integrity of their lands,” the
Monarch told the summit.

His Majesty stressed that despite the interlacing issues that are
overwhelming the region and the shift in priorities, the Palestinian issue
remains the central cause and the primary challenge in the Middle East.

He warned that while the world is preoccupied with other issues and
conflicts, Israel is taking advantage of the situation to continue its
aggression on the Palestinian people, through settlement expansion in
occupied lands and repeated transgressions on the Islamic and Christian holy
places in Jerusalem, which he vows to continue efforts to protect.

“In accordance with the Hashemite custodianship over Jerusalem’s holy sites,
and in coordination with my brother His Excellency Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas and our brothers in Palestine, we affirm our commitment to
upholding our religious and historical duty in protecting the holy sites in
Jerusalem and standing up to Israeli violations, especially those that
target Al Aqsa Mosque/Al Haram Al Sharif, using all available means.”

He urged the international community to shoulder its moral and legal
responsibilities and work on ensuring that Israel ceases its illegal
policies and practices, particularly those to do with settlements and its
attempts to change the status quo.

On a different note, the King commended the efforts of Kuwait, in hosting
the Yemeni peace negotiations.

“We also reaffirm our full support for the legitimacy in Yemen, represented
by His Excellency President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, and for the Arab
coalition and its efforts to shore up legitimacy and restore security and
stability in Yemen, ensuring its geographic unity.”
================
Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA

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