Excerpts: Building use in Lebanon. IS abducts 220 Christians in Syria. Iran
re nuke deal. Yemen ex-president bribed February 26, 2015

+++SOURCE: Naharnet (Lebanon) 26 Feb.’15:”Synagogue’s Second Life as Home
for Destitute”, Agence France Presse
SUBJECT:Building use in Lebanon
QUOTE:” ‘The departure of the Jews from Lebanon was like tearing an arm from
a body’ “
In an alleyway in the Old City of Lebanon's southern city of Sidon, a
run-down synagogue that once served a vibrant Jewish community now houses
destitute Syrian and Palestinian families.

There are only a handful of signs that the building -- abandoned as
Lebanon's Jews fled the country in the last decades -- was once a house of
worship.

The sun shining on the blue paint peeling from its walls enters through a
skylight adorned with wrought-iron stars of David.

The remains of a large mural in red and gold decorate the interior, though
its Hebrew letters have been painted over.

For decades the building in the heart of Sidon's Jewish quarter was central
to the city's Jewish community, which dated to the Roman era.

But for the last 25 years, Syrian Jihad al-Mohammed has known it simply as
home.

"In 1990, the place was abandoned and infested with rats," he told Agence
France Presse. "I cleaned it up and I moved in."

Mohammed, who moved to Lebanon for work, lives in the building with his six
children, wife and mother -- one of five Palestinian and Syrian families who
have made their homes in the unlikely setting.

Built in 1850, the synagogue still technically belongs to the Jewish
community, but has played host to numerous other residents since the 1982
departure of Sidon's last Jewish family, the Levys.

During Israel's invasion of Lebanon, Israeli soldiers took up positions in
the synagogue, and later Syrian intelligence forces set up inside the
building.

"It was a house of worship, but for me it's just a house like any other. I'm
just a tenant," Mohammed said.

- Jewish visitors -

The Syrian's home is set up in the part of the synagogue where men once
prayed and includes a kitchen, a small bathroom, two bedrooms and a living
room with a television.

On the walls, Hebrew renderings of the Book of Genesis and Jewish laws have
been daubed over with red paint.

But while little remains of the synagogue's former life, its past has not
been forgotten.

"I've received visitors from Canada, France and Brazil who showed me photos
of their (Jewish Lebanese) ancestors from Sidon," said Mohammed.

In 2012, two rabbis from Neturei Karta -- a group of anti-Zionist Jews who
believe that the state of Israel should not exist -- prayed in the
synagogue, much to the surprise of its residents.

It was the first prayer held in the building for 40 years, and came as part
of a tour that also included a visit to the nearby tomb of Zebulon, one of
the sons of the biblical patriarch Jacob.

Nagi Gergi Zeidan, a specialist on the Jews of Lebanon, says the synagogue
once housed 50 Torah scrolls dating to the Roman era, which were seized by
Israelis during their 1982 invasion.

For now, there is little chance the synagogue will return to its former
purpose, though Mohammed said he would leave if asked.

"But I am attached to this place," he said.

- Only 35 Jews remain -

Separated from him by a wall is his Palestinian neighbour Warda, who has
lived for the past seven years with her children in the female prayer
section of the synagogue.

She grew up in the neighbourhood with her parents, who were expelled from
their land after Israel's creation in 1948.

"I remember playing with Jewish children and seeing Jewish women praying
here on the wooden benches," she said, showing off the living room she has
fashioned.

She recalled the kippa hats worn by the faithful, and the Sabbath, when she
would turn on the lights for observant Jews who could not operate machinery
during the day of rest.

"There was no tension. But when Israel invaded, they became afraid and they
left. There is no one left."

Lebanon's Jewish population has dwindled from 7,000 in 1967 to just 35 in
2006, according to Zeidan's research.

In Sidon, where there are still buildings bearing the names of Jewish
families like Nigri, Hadid and Balanciano, the community numbered more than
1,000 in 1956, but had disappeared completely by 1985.

Zeidan said Jews left Lebanon steadily for Israel, Brazil, Europe and the
United States, but the community's real exodus began after the 1967
Arab-Israeli war.

Now just a handful of buildings that were once synagogues remain in Lebanon,
including one in Tripoli that has been turned into a fabric dye shop, and
the Maghen Abraham synagogue in Beirut, which is being renovated.

"The departure of the Jews of Lebanon was like tearing an arm from a body,"
Zeidan said.

SourceAgence France



+++SOURCE: Naharnet (Lebanon) 26 Feb.’15:”220 Assyrian Christians Abducted
by IS in Syria”, Agence France Presse
SUBJECT: IS abducts 220 Christians in Syria
FULL TEXT:Islamic State group jihadists have abducted 220 Assyrian
Christians from villages in northeastern Syria in recent days, a monitoring
group said Thursday[26 Feb.], more than twice as many as previously
reported.

"No fewer than 220 Assyrian citizens (of Syria) were abducted by IS over the
past three days from 11 villages" in Hasakeh province, the Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said.


+++SOURCE: Jordan Times 26 Feb.’15:”World will soon know if Iran serious on
nuclear deal –US:, Agence France Presse
SUBJECT:Iran re nuke deal
QUOTE:”Kerry: Administration was clear-eyed about Iran’s global influence”
FULL TEXT:WASHINGTON — US Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday[24
Feb.] it would soon become clear if Iran is serious about ending suspicions
over its nuclear ambitions, as world powers appeared to inch towards a
historic deal with Tehran.

But under heated questioning from lawmakers, America's top diplomat insisted
the US administration was clear-eyed about Iran's global influence, blasting
Iranian leaders for seeking to foment regional unrest.

Fresh from talks in Geneva with his Iranian counterpart, Kerry sounded a
note of caution, saying he was unsure whether a comprehensive agreement
would be reached as a March 31 deadline for a political framework looms.

World powers grouped under the so-called P5+1 "had made inroads" since
reaching an interim deal with Iran in November 2013 on reining in its
suspect nuclear programme, Kerry said.

"We've gained unprecedented insight into it," Kerry told the Senate
appropriations committee at the start of two days of intense congressional
hearings.

"And we expect to know soon whether or not Iran is willing to put together
an acceptable, verifiable plan," he said, adding bluntly: "I don't know
yet."

As the talks gather pace with the Iranian and US teams due to meet again in
Switzerland on Monday, possibly with Kerry, EU foreign policy chief Federica
Mogherini insisted a deal was "at hand".

"We cannot miss this opportunity," Mogherini told Chatham House, a London
think tank.

"A good deal is at hand if the parties will keep cooperating as they did so
far and if we have enough political will from all sides to agree on a good
deal and sell it domestically," Mogherini said.

Kerry announced he would soon travel to London to meet with leaders from the
Gulf Cooperation Council, and said he also planned to have talks with Saudi
King Salman.

Kerry again stressed that US policy was that Tehran would not acquire a
nuclear weapon. And he cautioned critics to wait and see the deal before
rushing to condemn it.

The so-called P5+1 group of Britain, China, France, Russia, the United
States and Germany are trying to strike an accord that would prevent Tehran
from developing a nuclear bomb.

In return, the West would ease punishing sanctions imposed on Tehran over
its nuclear programme, which Iran insists is purely civilian.



Opposition to a deal

But many US allies, including Israel and Saudi Arabia, remain wary of the
new US outreach to Iran and its Shiite Muslim leaders. Republican lawmakers
have voiced opposition to the deal.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday[24 Feb.] he would do
"everything I can" to prevent a nuclear deal.

"This agreement, if indeed it is signed, will allow Iran to become a nuclear
threshold state," he said in a statement.

Netanyahu's government has always opposed a deal with Tehran over its
nuclear programme, and he is to address the US Congress on March 3, in a
move that has angered the White House.

Kerry insisted that Iran, still the US number one state sponsor of
terrorism, was not fooling America, acknowledging "the Iranians are reaching
into, and having an impact, and influencing a number of countries in the
region”.

Iraq, Lebanon and Syria and Yemen were all countries where Iran was seeking
to wield its sway, Kerry said.

Asked whether the Yemeni government collapsed because of Iran's support for
the Houthi, Kerry replied: "I think it contributed to it... without any
question whatsoever."

Hawkish Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, chairman of the appropriations
committee, said: "From my point of view, we're dealing with people who are
hellbent on expanding their influence in the Mideast in a destructive
fashion."

But Kerry shot back: "The most destabilising thing would be if, in fact, you
had a nuclear-armed Iran that projected even more power and influence than
it has today."

Meanwhile, an exiled Iranian group accused the country of running a "secret"
uranium enrichment site close to Tehran, which it said violated ongoing
negotiations.

"Despite the Iranian regime's claims that all of its enrichment activities
are transparent ... it has in fact been engaged in research and development
with advanced centrifuges at a secret nuclear site called Lavizan-3," said
Alireza Jafarzade, deputy director of the National Council of Resistance of
Iran




+++SOURCE: Jordan Times 26 Feb.’15:”Yemen ex-president amassed $60b,
colluded with rebels”, by Reuters
SUBJECT:Yemen ex-president bribed
QUOTE :Yemeni ex-president Saleh is suspected of corruptly amassing asmuch
as $60 billion equivalent to Yemen’s annual GPD”
FULL TEXT:DUBAI — Yemeni ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh is suspected of
corruptly amassing as much as $60 billion, equivalent to Yemen's annual GDP,
during his long rule, and colluding in a militia takeover last year,
UN-appointed investigators have told the Security Council.

The report by the world body's panel of experts on Yemen echoes criticism by
his opponents that Saleh's rule from 1978 to 2012 was marred by graft, and
that even out of office he is fomenting instability — allegations he has
consistently denied.

Presented with the experts' 54-page findings, the Security Council voted
unanimously on Tuesday to extend sanctions on Saleh and two top militia
leaders, first targeted by the world body in November for their alleged role
in destabilising the country.Repeated calls to a spokesman for Saleh were
not immediately returned.In an interview with Reuters last year, Saleh
denied any corruption during his tenure.

His party has also rejected allegations by Saleh’s critics that he or his
son Ahmad Ali, once one of Yemen’s top military commanders, had had a hand
in the fall of the capital Sanaa.

“[Saleh] is alleged to have amassed assets between $32 billion and $60
billion... partly from his corrupt practices as president of Yemen,
particularly relating to gas and oil contracts where he reportedly asked for
money in exchange for granting companies exclusive rights to prospect for
gas and oil,” write the experts, who monitor violations of UN sanctions on
Yemen.

Most of this wealth was believed to have been transferred abroad under false
names or the names of others holding the assets on his behalf, the report
said. It took the form of property, cash, shares, gold and other valuable
commodities, and was believed to spread across at least 20 countries.

Saleh was ousted in the wake of the 2011 Arab Spring protests, after 33
years at the head of one of the Arab world’s most fractious and — despite
modest energy reserves — impoverished countries.

Saleh has remained a power-broker, and frequently criticised his successor,
Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, in the months running up to the invasion of Sanaa
in September by a Shiite Muslim rebel group that eventually swept Hadi from
power and opened up a political vacuum.

Describing the Houthis’ armed surge into the capital in September, the UN
experts cited “the loyalty of large parts of the army to elements of the old
regime, in particular Ahmad Ali Saleh and former president Saleh, who
colluded with the Houthis in what resulted in a coup d’état”.


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Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA