DAILY SCOPE: ’ISIL’ Accuses Jumblatt, Geagea Responsible for Lives of Policemen

Local Editor

NEWSPAPERS HEADLINES:

ASSAFIR:

Insects, Birds and Stagnant Water in and around Wheat

Lebanese Bread Contaminated ... Corruption Devours Customs

AL-AKHBAR:

Saja Dulaimi Funded "Azzam Brigades"

AN-NAHAR: 

Salam at Council of Ministers: Crisis Cell Continues its Mission

DAILY STAR:

Iraqi Kurdish Fighters Reach Besieged Sinjar Mountain

Health minister Wael Abu Faour continues his work on uncovering more companies related to food and water production, and sets the conditions for those to resume work.

According to aS-Safir newspaper, the companies are given a chance of 6 months to obtain the required licenses and health certificates for working, the workers at every company have to be registered to the Social Security treasure, food and beverages of children (age-range day 1 until 3 years) shall be directly supervised by the ministry of Health, energy drinks and food supplements are to be put under regular tests, last but not least putting an eye on the bread industry.

According to the daily, the wheat import process does not imply to any of the health conditions that should be implemented in the process. The equipment used to transport the wheat, the process of packaging is not in accordance with the regulations, especially that the wheat is left in open air somehow, not to mention the presence of insects, birds, rats, stagnant filthy water accumulated from rain and other sources, and by that the process is not in conformity with the least required conditions.

On another note, sources from Arsal told al-Akhbar newspaper that the Daesh terrorists are determined to takeover al-Qalamoun, especially as they are entangled with the winter frost and harsh conditions and in light of dire need to good and aid.
The sources noted there is great possibility that the two terrorist groups, Daesh and al-Nusra might clash soon in the coming few days.

Moreover, "ISIL" is holding former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, MP Walid Jumblatt and Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea responsible for the lives of the 25 Lebanese hostages, the terrorist group said in a recent video.

"To France's allies: Hariri, Geagea and Jumblatt. Listen to me carefully. You certainly are criminals, and today you added a new crime to your crimes through your cooperation with [Hizbullah] and by turning the Lebanese Army into a puppet in its hands, targeting the Sunni people through them," local newspaper As-Safir Friday quoted an ISIS member as saying in a fresh video.

The video which was handed over to Tripoli Sheikh Wissam Masri. "Therefore you are solely responsible for the future of your fellow citizens [hostages], their fate - the decision between life or death - is in your hands," ISIS threatened.
Masri, who claims that he has been appointed as a mediator by militants holding the Lebanese servicemen, said Thursday that he checked on the hostages held on the outskirts of the northeastern border village of Arsal.

Al-Akhbar newspaper for its part said that Sheikh Wisam Masri failed in obtaining a guarantee from the terrorist groups in Arsal to stop more killing [of the Lebanese army hostages]. Masri declared yesterday that went to Arsal, where he saw the abducted soldiers and made sure they were fine. He assured that he has not been assigned as mediator by the Lebanese government and that it was a personal initiative. Masri came back with a video tape that had further threats and accusations to Lebanon and its parties, claiming they are supporting Hizbullah and cooperating with it.

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It is no surprise that Barack Obama is attempting to make use of his final two years in the Oval office to try to polish his legacy, especially in foreign policy. Other US presidents have gone down this road. Bill Clinton tried desperately to clinch a deal on the "Israeli"-Palestinian issue during marathon talks in Camp David - to no avail.

George W Bush tried to erase some of his earlier unilateralism by reaching out to Europe - but then left it to deal mostly on its own with the outbreak of war in Georgia. In the aftermath of midterm elections that handed Mr Obama's Republican adversaries control of Congress, it was anticipated that the president would seek some solace on the international stage. What came as a surprise was that this should happen so spectacularly over Cuba.

And if the president is now ready to act boldly, what other thorny issues might be tackled with a big dose of creative diplomacy? It is tempting to draw a wish list, from the Iran nuclear talks to Syria, to Russia's relationship with Europe. The paradox of Mr Obama's Cuba success is that many of the crises that have led to much criticism of his leadership style now appear, in contrast, even more painfully unresolved.

Yet decisive action is what we have seen on several occasions recently. Liberated from electoral constraints, Mr Obama has made swift moves on some of the trickiest issues. This is a "lame duck" president who has made use of the powers that the constitution bestows on him to try to find solutions and get things done. There was the unexpected bilateral agreement with China on limiting carbon emissions. There was the executive order on immigration. And now Cuba.
This has been a clear illustration of Mr Obama's preferred way of doing things on the world stage. The thaw in relations with Cuba comes as a vindication of his initial policy of the outstretched hand towards hostile regimes or rogue states.

It demonstrates that patience and secrecy can bring results - as it took two years of hidden negotiations, and the help of the pope, to get this far. It is also about pragmatism: it made no sense indeed to pursue a US policy of 50 years that has brought none of the desired results. Now the Obama administration will be on a better footing with Latin America, in the runup to the 2015 summit of the Americas.
Can such an approach now be applied to other intractable problems? We know there has been much bilateral contact - some of it secret - between US and Iranian officials. The ongoing nuclear talks are about stopping proliferation but there is also a larger historical ambition at stake. Mr Obama would certainly like to make history with Iran in much the same way that Richard Nixon did with Mao's China in the early 1970s. At this stage, and although the deadline for reaching a nuclear agreement has been pushed back, there are still powerful reasons to doubt he can pull this off.

Creative diplomacy is still much required in the Middle East, where it is hard to see how a dominantly military strategy against Islamic State can in itself, and even over time, bring a solution to the region's woes. It might be a good time to rekindle the idea of genuine political transition in Syria, and make use of Russia's recent economic weaknesses to try to persuade President Vladimir Putin to deliver on this. That, after all, was the Russian promise in 2012 during international negotiations in Geneva to try to find a solution to the Syrian impasse. Mr Obama can only be aware that the failure to resolve the Syrian crisis and to prevent the mass atrocities will weigh heavily on how history judges his presidency. Mr Clinton wrote in his memoirs that his biggest regret was his failure to intervene to stop the Rwandan genocide.

The wish list could go on, of course. If the US joined the UN convention of the law of the sea it might find it easier to get China to adhere to an agreed set of rules as it pursues its power games in the Asia-Pacific region. Mr Obama could also do more to make the US part of the international criminal court, giving a major boost to the fight against impunity. But a lot of this would depend on the acquiescence of the Senate.
It was one of Mr Obama's younger, less experienced advisers on security matters, Ben Rhodes, who did the groundwork on the Cuban deal. There was certainly audacity there. And now there is hope for more.

Source: al-Ahed news