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Wednesday, May 27, 2015
Excerpts: Saudi led heavy Yemen naval base attack. Plague Iran encouraged:Daesh. Erdogan's ambition heralds turbulence. EU residents lose Swiss banking secrecy. Swiss arrest FIFA officials. Vatican concern:Lebanon Presidential crisis. Egypt seeks help against militants May 27, 2015

Excerpts:Saudi led heavy Yemen naval base attack. Plague Iran
encouraged:Daesh. Erdogan's ambition heralds turbulence. EU residents lose
Swiss banking secrecy. Swiss arrest FIFA officials. Vatican concern:Lebanon
Presidential crisis. Egypt seeks help against militants May 27, 2015

+++SOURCE: Al Arabiya News 27Saudi led strikes target Yemen naval base”
Staff writer with Reuters & Associated Press
SUBJECT:Saudi-led heavy Yemen naval base attack

QUOTE: “large parts of it were destroyed

FULL TEXT:Saudi-led strikes targeted a naval base in Yemen's Red Sea city of
Hodaida on Wednesday[27 May], Al Arabiya News Channel reported.The port had
been held by Iranian-backed Houthi militiamen, which have been the target of
the Saudi-led coalition’s air campaign since March 26.

"The naval base was bombed by aircraft and ships. Large parts of it were
destroyed and two warships were hit, and one of them, named Bilqis, was
destroyed and sank onto its side, and five gunboats shelled the
administrative buildings of the base," an official told Reuters news agency.

Meanwhile, residents of the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa reported air
strikes on military camps loyal to the group on Wednesday.

The strikes hit a sprawling police commando camp in Sanaa sending black
smoke billowing into the air in the early hours of the morning.

Houthi forces meanwhile shelled the southern city of Aden, a bastion of
resistance against their advances into Yemen's south, and local fighters
built on gains against the Houthis in recent days by seizing their last
military post in the nearby city of Dalea.

The United Nations said on Tuesday U.N.-backed negotiations which were set
for May 28 in Geneva had been postponed.

"The secretary-general is disappointed that it has not been possible to
commence such an important initiative at the soonest possible date and
reiterates his call for all parties to engage in United Nations-facilitated
consultations in good faith and without preconditions," U.N. spokesman
Stephane Dujarric said on Tuesday.

The U.N. estimates that at least 1,037 civilians, including 130 women and
234 children, have been killed in the fighting.

(With Reuters and AP)


+++SOURCE:Saudi Gazette 27 May’15:”Editorial:The plague Iran encouraged”
SUBJECT: Plague Iran encouraged:Daesh

QUOTE:”Tehran’s role in perpetuating the disaster in both Iraq and in Syria
has done more than anything to foster Daesh terror”

FULL TEXT:The Iranian regime has described Daesh (the self-proclaimed IS)
terrorists as a "plague” and accused the United States of failing to stop
their advance across Iraq.

The American-led ouster of Saddam Hussein may indeed have plunged Iraq into
chaos, but Tehran’s role in perpetuating the disaster in both Iraq and in
Syria has done more than anything to foster Daesh terror.

By supporting Syria’s Basher Assad regime in its effort to bludgeon its
population into submission, the Iranians created the space in which Daesh
grew, initially as part of the revolution.

But it did not take long before this evil spawn of Al-Qaeda threw off its
revolutionary mask and began to turn on the real fighters for Syrian
freedom.

Aided and abetted by elements within Turkey, who did little to curb the
cross-border flow of arms and Daesh recruits, drawn from dupes and bigots
from all over the world, the terrorists have grown strong sucking on the
blood of Syrians who for over four years have longed for peace.

Then the scourge spread to Iraq. The head of Iran’s foreign military
operations Qasem Soleimani was right to describe Daesh as a "plague”. But
that was all he was right about.

The Iranian regime refuses to acknowledge its complicity in the growth of
Daesh. As part of their war against the US “Great Satan”, the Iranians
built up the Shia militias whose murderous activities did so much to
alienate moderate Sunni opinion, even during the US-led occupation.

Then Tehran proceeded to “run” Iraq’s corrupt, incompetent premier Nouri
Al-Maliki. Seeking to extend its malevolent influence further into the Arab
world, the Iranian leadership encouraged Maliki’s Shia triumphalism.

It sought, with tragic success, to promote policies that rejected an Iraq
based on mutual respect for its three core communities, the Shia, Sunni and
Kurds.

Its purpose was clear from the outset. The last thing Tehran wanted was a
united and prosperous Iraq. Iranian interference can even be seen behind the
pathetic failure of the Iraqi army to hold first Mosul a year ago and then
this month Ramadi.

Around 200 Daesh fighters appear to have overcome a defensive force ten
times their size. As in Mosul, the regular army in Ramadi abandoned tons of
war materiel which will now be used against it by the terrorists.

The Iraqi army cut and ran for three reasons. The first was the deliberate
campaign of terror that Daesh has pursued with awful success.

By beheading or shooting every soldier they capture, the Daesh butchers have
undermined the morale of the supposedly highly trained and vastly better
equipped regular troops who face them.

The second has been the quality of the army leadership. Most commanders are
political placemen selected by the old Maliki government.

They are incapable of inspiring their troops to do their duty, simply
because the great majority of them are incompetent.

They have also failed to build up a warrant officer cadre which can be
relied on to lead their men in the tactical business of fighting on the
front line.

The third reason that Iraqi troops have chosen to flee instead of fighting
is that there is little confidence in the political leadership that is
expecting these men to lay down their lives for a unified Iraq that now
barely exists. Tehran, therefore, has everything to do with Iraq’s failure
as a coherent multi-community state


+++SOURCE: Saudi Gazette 27 May’15:”Erdogan’s ambition heralds turbulence
after
Turks vote”, Reuters
SUBJECT: Erdogan’s ambition heralds turbulence
QUOTE:”Erdogan:’You will not take me away from these stages, you will not
silence me’ “
FULL TEXT:ISTANBUL — Turkey’s general election looks likely to push Tayyip
Erdogan’s dream of an all-powerful presidency further from his reach, and
usher in a period of turbulence as its most divisive modern leader jockeys
to maintain his dominance.

Barred by the constitution from party politics as head of state, Erdogan has
nonetheless campaigned across Turkey before the June 7 parliamentary vote in
a sign of how much he has riding on the outcome.

“You will not take me away from these stages, you will not silence me,” he
told a rally in the central city of Kirikkale this month, explaining why the
presidency should get greater powers.

Constitutionally, most authority has lain with the Turkish prime minister,
an office Erdogan held from 2003 to 2014. But since becoming head of state
last year, he has pushed hard for an executive presidency akin to the United
States or France. However, the AK Party which he founded looks unlikely to
win two thirds of the seats in parliament, the majority needed to change the
constitution without putting the plan to a referendum.

A referendum is also beset by problems. The Kurdish opposition, once seen as
a possible ally on a new constitution if it also boosted Kurdish rights, has
come out against a stronger presidency.

Erdogan’s polarizing style of leadership, which alienates those Turks who
are suspicious of his conservative ideals, means he is unlikely to persuade
the secularist opposition CHP or the nationalist MHP to back his plans in a
popular vote.

The election has therefore taken on almost existential importance for
Erdogan, who has tightened his grip on the judiciary, police and media in
recent years. Should the AKP’s majority weaken, the aftermath will be marked
by his struggle to keep control.

“Erdogan is aware that every passing day his power is being eroded, that’s
why he is pushing so hard for the presidential system,” said Sinan Ulgen,
head of the Istanbul-based EDAM think-tank and a visiting scholar with
Carnegie Europe.

“What empowers him is the existence of that prospect. Once that is no longer
realistic, the balance of power will start to turn against him.”

INTERNAL DIVISIONS

Erdogan is a political fighter hardened by a childhood in Istanbul’s rough
Kasimpasa district and a champion of Turkey’s religious working classes. As
such, he is unlikely to sit back and watch influence slip from his hands.

In the past two years alone, he has seen off mass protests and a corruption
scandal, either of which might have brought a lesser politician down. He
bounced back to win the presidency last August with 52 percent of the vote.

The AKP is putting on a united face for the election next month, but his
intrusion in what should be the prime minister’s responsibilities - Erdogan
has chaired several cabinet meetings and gets involved in detailed
government affairs - is already creating tensions.

“Erdogan is the leader of this movement. Those in the AK Party know this
very well ... But bit by bit, some have started to feel uncomfortable about
his persistence on the executive presidency,” said one senior source close
to the party.

“There are people who are open to the president’s directions, but not his
closeness to the everyday flow.”

A number of senior AKP figures, barred from standing for re-election in
parliament under the party’s three-term limit, are expected to assume roles
as presidential advisers in Erdogan’s vast new palace complex. Some
officials are already privately calling it a “shadow cabinet” and fear a
struggle for influence with Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s team. A source
in Erdogan’s office played down that risk.

“This is not personal and not something he wants for himself. He has thought
there were serious problems with the parliamentary system since he started
in politics, and he wants to find a solution,” the source said. “He doesn’t
view it as a step against Davutoglu.”

Erdogan’s rhetoric and common touch nonetheless give him the upper hand with
the party grass roots, where he commands the sort of devotion that
Davutoglu, a more reserved academic, has yet to achieve.

Some supporters at Erdogan rallies have worn death shrouds to symbolise
their willingness to die for him. In a video that went viral on social
media, one said he liked Erdogan so much he wanted to bite and lick him. “He’s
a lion. My baby,” the man said.

OVER-CONFIDENCE AND PARANOIA

Erdogan bristles at accusations of authoritarianism and was once seen in the
West as a model Muslim democrat. As prime minister he established civilian
dominance over a military that had forced out Turkey’s first Islamist-led
government in 1997 and had staged three outright coups in the second half of
the 20th century.

He also oversaw Turkey’s opening up to new trade markets and reforms aimed
at closer integration with the European Union, as well as a peace process
with Kurdish militants.

But Turkey’s democratic credentials have suffered as he tightened his grip.
Court cases have been opened against those accused of insulting Erdogan,
including a 16-year old high school student, and Twitter and Facebook have
periodically been blocked. Thousands of police officers and prosecutors were
reassigned after the 2013 corruption scandal involving his inner circle.
Erdogan blamed the “parallel state,” a term he uses for the network of
U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, a former ally who Erdogan says unlawfully
exerts control over followers within institutions including the police and
judiciary.

Ekrem Dumanli, editor-in-chief of the Zaman newspaper which is close to
Gulen, said over-confidence after a 2010 referendum in which
government-backed changes to the constitution won 58 percent support was the
beginning of a change in Erdogan.

Mass protests at home in the summer of 2013 and the overthrow a few months
later of Egyptian president Mohamed Mursi, whose Muslim Brotherhood has
close ties with the AKP, then fuelled a sense of paranoia, Dumanli said.

The smart-suited editor was once so close to Erdogan that he was asked to
write the script of a film portrayal of the leader. Now, Dumanli is pending
trial on accusations of belonging to a terrorist group for his links to
Gulen.

“He lost just when he was winning,” Dumanli said. “A more pluralistic,
participatory democracy would have made him a hero in the Middle East.” —
Reuters


+++SOURCE:Naharnet (Lebanon)27 May ’15:”EU-Swiss Accord to End Banking
Secrecy,
Curb Tax Evasion”.Agence France Presse
SUBJECT:EU residents lose Swiss banking secrecy,2018

FULL TEXT:The European Union and Switzerland signed a major accord
Wednesday[27 May] that will end banking secrecy for EU residents and prevent
them from hiding undeclared income in Swiss banks, the European Commission
said.The agreement deals "another blow against tax evaders, and (represents)
another leap towards fairer taxation in Europe," said Pierre Moscovici, the
EU commissioner for tax issues.

Moscovici signed the accord, which takes effect in 2018, along with Jacques
de Watteville, the Swiss secretary of state for international financial
matters and Latvian Finance Minister Janis Reirs, whose country currently
holds the EU presidency.

"The EU led the way on the automatic exchange of information, in the hope
that our international partners would follow," Moscovici said in a
statement."This agreement is proof of what EU ambition and determination can
achieve."

Under the accord, the EU and Switzerland will automatically exchange
information on the bank accounts held by their respective residents
beginning in 2018.

"This new transparency should not only improve member states' ability to
track down and tackle tax evaders, but it should also act as a deterrent
against hiding income and assets abroad to evade taxes," the European
Commission said.

The EU executive is negotiating similar accords with Andorra, Liechtenstein,
Monaco and San Marino that are expected to be signed by the end of the year.

SourceAgence France Presse

+++SOURCE: Jordan Times 27 May ’15:”Swiss police detain football officials
ahead of FIFACongress”, Associated Press
SUBJECT:Swiss arrest FIFA officials

QUOTE:”Six football officials were arrested and detained by Swiss
police[26May] pending extradition at the request of US authorities”

ZURICH — Six football officials were arrested and detained by Swiss police
on Wednesday[26May] pending extradition at the request of US authorities
after a raid at a luxury hotel in Zurich. Sepp Blatter was not among them.

The case involves bribes "totaling more than $100 million" linked to
commercial deals dating back to the 1990s for football tournaments in the US
and Latin America, the Swiss Federal Office of Justice said in a statement.

It was unclear if the probe was linked to the 1994 World Cup hosted by the
US.

The officials are in Switzerland for the FIFA congress and presidential
election, where Blatter is widely expected to win a fifth term at the helm
of the governing body of world soccer.

"He is not one of the ones arrested. He is not involved at all," FIFA
spokesman Walter de Gregorio told The Associated Press. "We are trying to
find out more from the police."

Blatter is scheduled to attend a meeting of the Confederation of African
Football at 10:30 a.m. (0830 GMT) in a different downtown Zurich hotel.

FIFA called a news conference for 11:00 a.m. (0900 GMT) at its headquarters
and the Swiss justice department said it expected to confirm the
nationalities of those detained later Wednesday[26 May] morning.

The arrests were made at the lakeside Baur au Lac Hotel in downtown Zurich,
long favored as a place for senior FIFA officials to stay. It was the stage
for intense lobbying for votes ahead of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosting
decisions in December 2010.

Among the people arrested in Zurich was Costa Rica soccer federation
president Eduardo Li, according to the New York Times. He was later seen
leaving the hotel in a car with law enforcement officials.

Li was elected to the FIFA executive committee in March and will formally
join the Blatter-chaired panel on Friday.

The North American regional body, known as CONCACAF, reported itself to US
tax authorities in 2012. Then based in New York, the organisation had not
paid taxes over several years when its president was Jack Warner of Trinidad
and Tobago and secretary general was Chuck Blazer of the United States.

Warner left football in 2011 to avoid FIFA sanctions in a bribery scandal
during that year's presidential election. Blazer left in 2013 and is
reported by the New York Daily News to be cooperating with the FBI in a
probe of corruption in soccer.

Warner's successor as CONCACAF leader and FIFA vice president, Jeffery Webb
of the Cayman Islands, was staying at the Baur au Lac this week. It was
unclear if he was detained.

The Swiss Federal Office of Justice said in its statement that US
authorities suspect the six arrested officials of having received or paid
bribes totaling millions of dollars and that the crimes were agreed to and
prepared in the US, and payments carried out via U.S. banks.

The FOJ said the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York
is investigating the individuals on suspicion of the acceptance of bribes
and kick-backs between the early 1990s and now.

"The bribery suspects — representatives of sports media and sports promotion
firms — are alleged to have been involved in schemes to make payments to the
soccer functionaries (FIFA delegates) and other functionaries of FIFA
sub-organisations - totaling more than $ 100 million," the FOJ statement
said. "In return, it is believed that they received media, marketing, and
sponsorship rights in connection with soccer tournaments in Latin America."

A statement in German added that the probe involved tournaments in the US.

The Zurich Cantonal Police were questioning the detainees.

International media gathered at the street entrance of the Baur au Lac in
scenes reminiscent of the World Cup votes won by Russia and Qatar more than
four years ago.

Then, former President Bill Clinton was inside meeting FIFA voters who later
rejected the American bid in favor of Qatar, and Britain's Prince William
was part of the losing English bid team.

Suspicions of vote-buying and wrongdoing in those bidding contests have
dogged FIFA ever since.



+++SOURCE: Naharnet (Lebanon) 27 May ’15:”Vatican Dispatches Envoy to
Lebanon to Tackle Presidential Crisis”
SUBJECT: Vatican concern:Lebanon Presidential crisis
QUOTE:”A Vatican envoy…at the head of a Papal delegation[to Lebanon] with
an agenda focusing on the presidential vacuum”

FULL TEXT:A Vatican envoy will reportedly visit Lebanon on Friday[29 May] at
the head of a Papal delegation, with an agenda focusing on the presidential
vacuum.

Vatican's former Foreign Minister Monsignor Dominique Mamberti will
underline during his meetings the importance of ending the presidential
stalemate, local newspapers reported on Wednesday.[27 May]

The delegation will also be briefed on the work of the Christian spiritual
courts in Lebanon.

Media reports said recently that the Vatican is seeking to press forward the
election of a new head of state amid the sharp rift among the political
arch-foes over a consensual candidate.

Lebanon has been without a president since May last year when the term of
Michel Suleiman ended without the election of a successor.

Ongoing disputes between the rival March 8 and 14 camps over a compromise
candidate have thwarted the election.

Hizbullah's Loyalty to the Resistance and MP Michel Aoun's Change and Reform
blocs have been boycotting the polls over the dispute



+++SOURCE: Jordan Times26 May ’15:”Libyan tribes meet inCairo as Egypt seeks
allies against militants”,Reuters
SUBJECT:Egypt seeks help against militants

QUOTE”Egypt President Sisi sees the rise of Islamists in Libya as a major
security threat”:

FULL TEXT:CAIRO — Hundreds of Libyan tribal leaders met in Cairo on
Monday[25 May] with Egyptian authorities hoping to enlist their help in
preventing Islamist violence from spilling over their shared border.

Islamist militants have thrived in the chaos of Libya, a North African oil
producer that now has two competing governments backed by armed factions
that four years earlier joined in an uprising that toppled autocrat Muammar
Qadhafi.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi sees the rise of Islamists in Libya
as a major security threat and is trying to secure the cooperation of tribal
leaders to tackle it.

Analysts say that Sisi would like Arab states to carry out a Yemen-type
intervention in Libya to combat Daesh fighters and other radical factions
that have taken advantage of the lawlessness to recruit and train in the
vast desert country.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri inaugurated the tribal conference,
which runs through Thursday[28 May], by highlighting the positive role the
tribes could play in restoring stability to Libya.

Egypt had invited the tribal leaders to talks because they were the
"backbone" of society and main guarantor of Libyan stability, security and
territorial integrity, Shukri said.

"Egypt will not hesitate to support her brother Libyans until they achieve
security and reconciliation among themselves," he said.

But achieving consensus among the hundreds of tribal leaders on how to
tackle Islamic extremism could be a long process.

Libya's two governments depend on various tribes and militias to support
their claims to power.

The country's internationally recognised government, which Egypt backs, has
operated out of eastern Libya since a rival armed faction called Libya Dawn
seized the capital Tripoli in August and set up its own government.
====================
Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA

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