Excerpts: Syrian rebels to attend Astana peace talks. Saudi deal for 80
Airbus planes. China holds firm on Taiwan. Egypt Court says no transfer of
islands to Saudi Arabia. SA sets condition for aid to Lebanon January 16,
2017

+++SOURCE:Al Arabiya News 16 Jan.’17:”Syrian rebels to attend Astana peace
talks”,by Reuters
SUBJECT:Syrian rebels to attend Astana peace talks

FULL TEXT:Syrian rebel groups have decided to attend peace talks backed by
Russia and Turkey in Kazakhstan to press for implementation of a widely
violated ceasefire, rebel officials said on Monday[16 Jan], in a boost for
Moscow-led diplomacy.

Russia, President Bashar al-Assad's most powerful ally, set the new
diplomatic effort in motion after the Syrian opposition suffered a major
defeat last month when it lost the rebel-held districts of eastern Aleppo.

Rebel groups took the decision at meetings that are underway in Ankara, and
are now working to form a delegation that will be different to one sent to
peace talks in Geneva last year by a Saudi-backed opposition group.

The talks are scheduled for Jan. 23 in Astana.

"The factions will go and the first thing they will discuss will be the
matter of the ceasefire and the violations by the regime," said an official
in a Free Syrian Army rebel group who declined to be identified because the
rebel groups had yet to appoint a spokesman.

A second official, Zakaria Malahifji of the Fastaqim rebel group, said: "The
majority of the groups decided to attend. Discussions will be on the
ceasefire - the humanitarian issues - aid deliveries, release of detainees."

Turkey has been a major backer of the rebellion against Assad, but its
priorities in Syria appear to have shifted away from toppling Assad towards
combating both Kurdish groups and Islamic State in areas of northern Syria
near its border.

The Saudi-backed opposition body, the High Negotiations Committee, said on
Saturday[14 Jan} that it had supported efforts towards the planned peace
talks in Kazakhstan, and viewed the meeting as a preliminary step for
resuming the next round of political negotiations in Geneva.

The HNC, formed in Riyadh in December 2015, includes both political and
armed opponents of Assad.

Malahifji said the new delegation would be formed in coordination with the
HNC, but it would differ from it because "the Russians are focusing very
much on the military factions".


+++SOURCE:Naharnet(Lebanon) 16 Jan.’17:”Saudi Carrier Flynas Signs Deal for
80 Airbus Planes, by Agence France Presse
SUBJECT:Saudi orders 80 Airbus planes
Low-cost Saudi carrier flynas on Monday[15 Jan] signed an $8.6 billion deal
with European plane manufacturer Airbus to purchase 80 A320neo single-aisle
jets.

Flynas chairman Ayed al-Jeaid said at the signing ceremony in Riyadh that
the deal includes an option for 40 more of the short to medium-haul planes
in what airline executives said is a growing domestic market.

Bander al-Mohanna, the chief executive of NAS Holding, signed the agreement
with Fouad Attar, Middle East director for the European Aerospace company.

Mohanna told a news conference following the ceremony that the deal was made
for flynas "to play a leading role in the market".

Delivery would begin next year and continue until at least 2026, flynas
executives said.

+++SOURCE:Naharnet(L ebanon) 16Jan.’17: “China Will ‘Take the Gloves Off’
over Taiwan”,by Agence France Presse
SUBJECT: China holds firm onTaiwan

FULL TEXT:China is running out of patience with Donald Trump's stance on
Taiwan, state media said Monday16, and will "take the gloves off" if he
keeps challenging the One China policy.

The US president-elect told the Wall Street Journal over the weekend the
longstanding policy was up for negotiation, in his latest comment on the
issue.

Trump had already irked China by accepting a congratulatory phone call from
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-Wen after he won the presidential election,
upending decades of diplomatic precedent in which the US avoided direct
public communication with the island's leader.

The foreign ministry, for the second time in two days, warned Trump
Monday[ the One China policy was non-negotiable.16Jan]

Anyone who tries to use it as a bargaining chip will be met with "common
opposition" and will ultimately "shoot oneself in the foot", foreign
ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a regular briefing.

The China Daily said in an editorial earlier Monday that Trump "will seldom
be given the benefit of the doubt twice, because doing the same thing for a
third time shows intent".

The Taiwan issue is a "Pandora's box of lethal potential", it added.

While the president-elect had been given the benefit of the doubt so far, it
said, if he is "determined to use this gambit on taking office, a period of
fierce, damaging interactions will be unavoidable as Beijing will have no
choice but to take off the gloves."

Trump has threatened to get tough with what he sees as unfair Chinese trade
practises and suggested that the One China policy could become a bargaining
chip in this.

"Everything is under negotiation, including One China," he told the Journal
in the interview published Friday.

Beijing considers Taiwan to be a breakaway province to be brought back
within its fold, by force if necessary, and the United States switched
diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979.

China first warned Trump on the issue last month after he said he did not
see why Washington must "be bound by a One China policy unless we make a
deal with China having to do with other things, including trade".

But he has less leverage than he might think, warned the Global Times, a
nationalistic tabloid thought to have close ties to hawkish elements of the
ruling Communist Party.

China will "mercilessly combat those who advocate Taiwan's independence", it
said in an editorial Monday.

If Trump chooses to use the island as a bargaining chip, it added, it "may
be sacrificed as a result of this despicable strategy".

Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen made two stops in the US this month while in
transit to diplomatic allies in Central America, despite Beijing's
objections.

On her return to the island Sunday she said its "new direction" of diplomacy
was clear.

"We must all continue to work to let Taiwan be seen, to let Taiwan make its
contribution to the world."

SourceAgence France Presse

+++SOURCE: Naharnet(Lebanon)16 Jan.’17:”Egypt Court Upholds Barring Islands
Transfer to SaudiArabia”,by Agence France Presse
SUBJECT:Egypt Court says no transfer of islands to Saudi Arabia

FULL TEXT:Egypt's High Administrative Court upheld on Monday[16 Jan] a
ruling voiding a government agreement to hand over two Red Sea islands to
Saudi Arabia in a deal that sparked protests.

The government had appealed against a lower court ruling in June that found
the controversial border demarcation agreement was illegal.

The latest ruling may further complicate ties between Egypt and Saudi
Arabia, a main financial backer of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi since the
former army chief toppled his Islamist predecessor in 2013.

But relations have cooled over Egypt's stance on Syria, which is seen as
closer to Russia which backs President Bashar al-Assad than Saudi Arabia
which supports rebels fighting to topple his regime.

The courtroom erupted in cheers as the judge delivered the verdict, with
lawyers and activists chanting: "These islands are Egyptian."

The deal to hand over the islands, signed during an April visit by Saudi
King Salman in which Riyadh showered Egypt with aid, provoked accusations
that Cairo had "sold" the strategic islands.

Cairo said the islands were Saudi to start with, but had been leased to
Egypt in the 1950s.

But the court on Monday[16 Jan] said it was its "unanimous" decision that
the two islands, Tiran and Sanafir, were sovereign Egyptian territories

+++SOURCE:Naharnet(Lebanon)16 J an.’17:”Report:SA Sets Conditions in Return
for Reactivating Aid ,by Programs for Lebanon”,by Naharnet Newsdesk
SUBJECT: SA sets conditions for aid to Lebanon

FULL TEXT:Saudi Arabia has set some conditions in return for reconsidering
the activation of military and economic aid programs for Lebanon that have
been halted in 2016, media reports said Monday[16 Jan].

Al-Joumhouria daily said that senior Saudi officials told President Michel
Aoun during his visit to the Kingdom last week, that in order for SA to
revitalize relations with Lebanon, it is crucial that the term of Aoun
demonstrates “independence” away from any Lebanese parties' attempt to
control it.

They pointed out that Aoun's term is “promising and positive, especially
that the direct contact between King Salman bin Abdul Aziz and President
Aoun was good.”

The conditions reportedly set by Riyadh are:

1:Iran and Hizbullah's behavior on the Lebanese arena in the upcoming
months, mainly that the negotiations for a settlement in Syria began in
parallel with the war ravaging there.

2: Conducting the parliamentary elections in order for Saudi Arabia to know
whether Prime Minister Saad Hariri will be chosen to head the next cabinet,
or if his earlier endorsement was a temporary procedure that came to
guarantee the election of President Michel Aoun.

3:Inquiring the future of the Lebanese army leadership, after reports leaked
that certain changes will be introduced. Knowing that the latest military
achievements under Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji impose the need to
keep this leadership instead of changing it.

4:The fate of the governorship of the Central Bank of Lebanon, since the
previous and future Saudi donations are usually made through the central
bank. Knowing that a relationship of trust connects Governor Riad Salameh
and Saudi Arabia. But, Saudi officials received information last week from
the PM that Salameh will remain in his post to ensure the safety of the
Lebanese currency.
==============
Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA