Excerpts: Syrian militants mobilizing for all-out war against Assad. US adds
to Terror List. ISIS calls for Ramadan attacks on the West. US commander
secret Syria visit. World Bank creates pandemic insurance plan. US re
Hizbullah sanctions May 22, 2016

+++SOURCE:Jordan Times 12/28/’16:”Militants mobilize in Syria as peacemaking
unravels”.by Reuters

SUBJECT:Syrian militants mobilizing for all-out war against Assad

QUOTE:”The Islamist rebels still face the challenge of overcoming their own
rivalries”

FULL TEXT:BEIRUT/AMMAN – Militants in Syria including Al Qaeda are
mobilizing again for all-out war against President Bashar Assad, taking
advantage of the collapse of peace talks to eclipse nationalist rival
insurgents that signed on to a faltering truce.

Al Qaeda’s Syrian branch, Al Nusra Front, was excluded from a ceasefire put
in place in February and from peace talks that followed. The talks broke up
last month, with Assad’s government and foes blaming each other for military
escalation.

After lying low in the early days of the truce, Nusra has re-emerged on the
battlefield as the diplomacy has unraveled, spearheading recent attacks on
pro-government Iranian militias near Aleppo, Al Nusra commanders and other
rebels say.

In the latest expansion of its profile, it and other groups have revived the
Jaish Al Fateh, or the army of conquest, a military alliance of disparate
Islamist rebel groups that won big victories against government forces last
year.

Al Nusra’s resurgence could undermine the Western-backed rebel groups that
signed up to the truce and attended the peace talks, and gives Assad’s
government and its Russian and Iranian backers more reasons to press on with
a war during which they have hit insurgents of all stripes.

“Jaish Al Fateh has returned, but this time in strength, and our goal is to
spread to the major fronts in Syria,” said Abu Shaimaa, a Nusra Front
commander, speaking to Reuters from rebel-held Idlib province, of the
revival of the Islamist rebel alliance.

“We ask God that with Jaish Al Fateh’s return, the victories will also
return,” added Zaher Abu Hassan, head of a Jaish Al Fateh media organization
in Idlib.

The Islamist rebels still face the challenge of overcoming their own
rivalries. One senior insurgent source said that while Jaish Al Fateh had
made a comeback in one area, talks were still underway to relaunch the
alliance more widely.

“In southern Aleppo, yes there is an operations room, but the goal is [to
repeat it] on all the active fronts,” he said.

Recruitment drive

The insurgency against Assad is a patchwork of factions ranging from groups
linked to Al Qaeda or inspired by it, to those with a nationalist agenda
that fight under the banner of the Free Syrian Army. Some of these groups
have received military aid from the United States, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia.

The Daesh terror group, which broke away from Al Qaeda, is in conflict with
both other insurgent groups and Damascus as it fights for its self-declared
“caliphate” in Syria and Iraq. It has lost territory in recent months but
still controls much of eastern and northern Syria.

Last year the Islamist rebel factions that formed Jaish Al Fateh put aside
rivalries to drive the Syrian government out of Idlib province before
thrusting into the areas near the coastal mountains that form the heartland
of Assad’s Alawite sect. That advance helped prompt Russia’s decision to
send its air force to bomb on behalf of Assad, tipping the war his way with
the help of Iranian reinforcements on the ground.

Rebel sources gave differing accounts on how far the groups in Jaish Al
Fateh had gone toward reviving the alliance, particularly on the extent of
the involvement of Ahrar Al Sham, a powerful group widely believed to be
backed by Turkey.

Ahrar Al Sham, an important component of the alliance last year, had backed
the political track but has steadily distanced itself from UN-led diplomacy
that failed to secure a full halt to air strikes, adequate aid deliveries,
or a prisoner release.

Ahrar Al Sham and the Nusra Front, both powerful in northwestern Syria,
joined forces in an attack that resulted in the capture of a government-held
Alawite town in Hama province on May 13, though not operating under the
Jaish Al Fateh banner.

The May 6 capture of another town, Khan Touman south of Aleppo, from
pro-government Shiite militias including Iranians was openly attributed to
Jaish Al Fateh, with rebels identifying Nusra and another group, Jund Al
Aqsa, as the leading forces.

Insurgent sources said Nusra Front and its allies had deployed to southern
Aleppo from nearby Idlib, one of their strongholds, to stave off attempted
government advances that threatened to splinter rebel-held areas in two.

Hardline Islamist Sheikh Abdullah Al Mohaisany, a Saudi national, has
meanwhile been on a new recruitment drive in Idlib. At one rally, captured
in a video posted on YouTube, he urges all males over the age of 15 to join
the jihad.

A resident of the area where the rally was held said around 300 youths had
volunteered that day, and they would be funneled into Jaish Al Fateh
factions.

Al Qaeda leader Ayman Al Zawahri has also weighed in on Syria in a voice
message, lambasting the political process and urging militants to unite. His
remarks were interpreted as a directive for the group to focus more of its
attention on Syria.

‘A dangerous indicator’

Free Syrian Army (FSA) groups that played a prominent role in the diplomatic
process launched this year with US and Russian blessing say they still have
the upper hand over Nusra in important areas, notably the city of Aleppo
itself, and areas of southern Syria near the border with Jordan.

FSA groups have been battling Daesh at the Turkish border in recent weeks,
while also fending off three government offensives just north of Aleppo,
said Zakaria Malahefji, politburo chief of one such group, Fastaqim.

They say they will not return to peace talks until the situation improves on
the ground. Reflecting the dim prospects for diplomacy, no date for talks
emerged from an international meeting on Tuesday[5/17].

Another FSA commander said the prominent role played by the Nusra Front in
recent battles was “a dangerous indicator” of where the war was headed if
diplomacy failed completely.

The commander, a senior opposition official speaking on condition of
anonymity, said Nusra had seized the moment to demonstrate its value to the
insurgency and the futility of diplomacy.

“There is talk about the restructuring of Jaish Al Fateh, particularly after
the victory in Khan Touman,” he said. “The lack of a political horizon and
aid, or anything that brings relief to the people, raises the chances of the
formation of Jaish Al Fateh and the alliance with Nusra.”

Noah Bonsey, a senior analyst with International Crisis Group, said the
re-emergence of Jaish Al Fateh was an indicator of the political climate in
the opposition and its realization that the cessation of hostilities was not
sustainable.

The resumption of fighting was good for Nusra, he added: “This is giving
them credibility, whereas the cessation appeared to be diminishing their
credibility and highlighting real rifts between Nusra and the rest of the
rebellion.”

Much of the opposition believed “that the regime and the Iran-backed
militias were able to benefit from it, and that they need to join Nusra in
reasserting offensive pressure”, he said.



+++SOURCE:Al Arabiya News 5/22/’16:”Libyan,Yememi and Saudi ISIS added to US
terror list”, by Saudi Gazette
SUBJECT:US adds to Terror List
QUOTE:”The designations freeze any US assets the groups may have”

FULL TEXT:The United States has added ISIS branches in Libya, Yemen and
Saudi Arabia to its global terrorism blacklist and placed six men on its
sanctions list.

The three ISIS branches were declared “specially designated global
terrorists,” a category that imposes sanctions and penalties on foreign
persons who pose a serious risk of committing acts of terrorism that
threaten US nationals or national security, the State Department said.

The designations freeze any US assets the groups may have and make it
illegal for any American national to knowingly provide those groups or
conspire to provide them with material support or resources.

The State Department said the three groups emerged as ISIS branches in
November 2014.

The militant group’s Yemen branch claimed responsibility for suicide
bombings in March 2015 against two mosques in Sanaa, killing more than 120
people.

The Daesh affiliate in Saudi Arabia attacked mosques in the Kingdom and
Kuwait, killing more than 50. And the group’s Libyan affiliate is blamed for
kidnapping and executing 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians, as well as killing
scores of others.

The sanctions target “financiers and facilitators responsible for moving
money, weapons and people on behalf of these terrorist organizations,” said
Adam Szubin, the Treasury’s acting under secretary for terrorism and
financial intelligence.



+++SOURCE:Al Arabiya News 5/22/’16:”ISIS calls for Ramadan attacks on the
West”,by Reuters
SUBJECT:ISIS calls for Ramadan attacks on the West

FULL TEXT:A new message purporting to come from an ISIS spokesman called on
followers to launch attacks on the United States and Europe during the
Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which begins in early June.

"Ramadan, the month of conquest and jihad. Get prepared, be ready ... to
make it a month of calamity everywhere for the non-believers ... especially
for the fighters and supporters of the caliphate in Europe and America,"
said the message, suggesting attacks on military and civilian targets.

The authenticity of the audio clip, purporting to be from Abu Muhammad
al-Adnani and distributed on Saturday[5/22] by Twitter accounts that usually
publish ISIS statements, could not be verified.

"The smallest action you do in their heartland is better and more enduring
to us than what you would if you were with us. If one of you hoped to reach
the Islamic State, we wish we were in your place to punish the Crusaders day
and night," Adnani said.

The authenticity of the audio clip, purporting to be from Abu Muhammad
al-Adnani, could not be verified. (Reuters)

The militant group, which seeks to establish a caliphate across the Middle
East and beyond, has claimed deadly attacks over the past year on civilians
in France, Belgium and the United States.

But the message made no mention of the EgyptAir flight that crashed into the
Mediterranean on Thursday[5/19] in unexplained circumstances, amid
speculation by Egyptian, French and American officials that a militant
attack was the most likely cause.

A US-led coalition, which also includes European and Arab countries,
launched a campaign of air strikes against ISIS in Iraq and Syria in 2014
after the militants seized vast swathes of territory in those countries.

"Their planes do not distinguish between civilians and combatants, man or
woman," the message continued, in apparent reference to the strikes.




+++SOURCE: Al Arabiya News 5/22/’16:”US commander makes secret visit to
Syria”,by Agence France Presse
SUBJECT:US commander secret Syria visit

QUOTE:” :General Joseph Votel, head of US Central Command, met with US
military advisors working with Syrian Arab fighters. “

FULL TEXT:The leading US commander for the Middle East visited northern
Syria on Saturday[5/21], officials said.

General Joseph Votel, head of US Central Command (Centcom), met with US
military advisors working with Syrian Arab fighters and with leaders of the
Syrian Democratic Forces, a Centcom spokesman said, declining to provide
more details.

During the secret trip which lasted several hours, the Centcom commander
visited a handful of locations, CNN reported as it accompanied Votel, the
highest-ranking US military official to travel to Syria since its civil
conflict began in 2011.

US special operations forces are helping train fighters in Syria to fight
ISIS as the United States leads a coalition of countries in an air war
against the militants in Iraq and Syria.

ISIS has seized swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq to create a
self-styled "caliphate." Its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, has received
pledges of alliance from jihadist groups around the world.





+++SOURCE:Naharnet (Lebanon)5/22/’16:”After Ebola, World Bank Creates
Pandemic Insurance Plan”,by Agence France Presse
SUBJECT: World Bank creates pandemic insurance plan

FULL TEXT:The World Bank announced Saturday[5/21] a new program to mobilize
funds quickly against virulent disease outbreaks after the world was caught
unprepared in the 2014 Ebola disaster in West Africa.

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said the new Pandemic Emergency Financing
Facility (PEF) will accelerate global and national responses to disease
outbreaks that threaten large populations and fragile economies.

He said the PEF, a combination of catastrophe insurance and bonds, is a
direct reaction to the sluggish donor response to the outbreak of Ebola,
which eventually killed close to 11,000 in West Africa and shut down
economic activity for months.

"Pandemics pose a serious threat to global health and economic security,"
said Kim.

"The recent Ebola crisis in West Africa was a tragedy that we were simply
not prepared for. It was a wake-up call to the entire world."

"There is no effective international system ready to respond quickly to a
pandemic."

Kim, a medical doctor and expert on health and disease in developing
countries, put the World Bank in the lead of the response to Ebola at the
time.

But he acknowledged that it took months to bring together the hundreds of
millions of dollars needed to pay for deploying health personnel, supplies,
and other relief to Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia.

In the meantime, he said, the death toll rose ten-fold.

Kim announced the creation of the PEF at the gathering of G7 finance
ministers in Sendai, Japan.

He said the group of global powers had pressed the World Bank last year to
develop a quicker way for the world to respond to pandemics.

Kim said Japan was the first to commit support for the PEF, with a $50
million contribution.

The insurance will cover outbreaks of several classes of infectious diseases
most at risk for epidemics: new orthomyxoviruses including influenza
pandemic viruses A, B and C; coronaviruses like SARS and MERS; filoviruses
like Ebola and Marburg; and other zoonotic diseases -- those that move
between animals and humans -- including Crimean Congo, Rift Valley and Lassa
fever.

That list does not include Zika, the deadly mosquito-borne virus spreading
through the Americas. But Kim said the bank is also putting together a
separate emergency "cash window" to address that and other outbreaks not
covered.

Under the program the 77 least developed countries will be covered by the
insurance.

Unlike common insurance that repays losses after a disaster, the PEF
insurance is designed to release funds as soon as a disease outbreak reaches
a certain level as defined by specific criteria.

Kim said the World Bank has worked with insurers on the product, which will
total $500 million at first, and is confident the global financial markets
will accept it.

"If we had had the PEF up and running in mid-2014, the Ebola outbreak would
have looked very different," he said.

"The countries and the world, and the insurance industry, have the same
incentives to prevent the spread of pandemics."



+++Source;Naharnet(Lebanon)5/22/’16:”Report:U.S. Finncial Intelligene
Official in Lebanon next Week to Tackle Hizbullah Sanctions”,by Naharnet
Newsdesk
SUBJECT: US re Hizbullah sanctions
QUOTE:”adoption of an American law on imposing sanctions on Hizbullah”

FULL TEXT:U.S. Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial
Intelligence David Cohen is set to visit Lebanon next week in wake of the
adoption of an American law on imposing sanctions on Hizbullah, reported
al-Joumhouria newspaper on Saturday[5/21].

His visit reflects Washington's keenness on the implementation of the law in
Lebanon and the world, informed diplomatic and financial sources told the
daily.

He will inquire on his trip on the “Lebanese measures aimed at confronting
illegal funding and combating funding for Hizbullah, the Islamic State
group, and other terrorist organizations.”

Cohen could be accompanied by his aide Daniel Glaser, the assistant
secretary for the Department of the Treasury.

In April, Lebanese banks began taking measures against persons or
institutions in accordance to a U.S. law that imposes sanctions on banks
that knowingly do business with Hizbullah.

Last week, two Lebanese banks suspended three Hizbullah-linked accounts in
conformity with the U.S. sanctions law.
================
Sue Lerner - Associate IMRA