Author: Théophile Niyitegeka

{Israel’s military chief claims Hezbollah military commander in Syria was killed by members of his own group.}

The chief of Israel’s armed forces has said that the death last year of a top Hezbollah commander in Syria was an assassination by the Iranian-backed Lebanese group itself.

Hezbollah maintains that Mustafa Badreddine was killed near Damascus by artillery fire from rebel groups fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. But a war monitoring group said no rebel shelling occurred in the area at that time .

Israeli Lieutenant-General Gadi Eisenkot told an academic conference on Tuesday that Badreddine’s death last May illustrated “the depth of the internal crisis of Hezbollah”.

He said Israel “believes that he was killed by his own officers”.

“Those findings show to what degree relations between Hezbollah and its patron Iran are tense and complex.”

Hezbollah has deployed thousands of fighters in Syria, where Badreddine had led its intervention in support of Assad’s forces, which are also backed by Russia and Iran.

Israeli intelligence claims Badreddine had been feuding with Iranian military commanders in Syria over the heavy losses his group had suffered on the battlefield.

In Beirut, Mohammed Afif, a Hezbollah spokesman, said Israel’s allegations were “lies that do not deserve comment”.

The US government has said Badreddine, 55, was in charge of Hezbollah’s military operations in Syria.

He was one of five Hezbollah members indicted by the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon in 2005 in connection to the killing of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik al-Hariri and 21 others.

Hezbollah denied any involvement in Hariri’s killing and said the charges were politically motivated.

For years, Badreddine masterminded military operations against Israel from Lebanon and overseas, and managed to evade capture by Arab and Western governments.

Israel, which invaded Lebanon in 2006 to fight Hezbollah and has targeted the group in Syria over alleged arms transfers, called his death good news but stopped short of claiming responsibility.

Badreddine was a student of Imad Mughniyeh, Hezbollah’s previous military chief, who was considered one of the world’s most-wanted terrorists by Israel and the United States. Mughniyeh, who was Badreddine’s brother-in-law, was killed in a 2008 car bombing in Damascus that Hezbollah blamed on Israel.

In a letter written shortly after Baddredine’s death, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif extended condolences “for the martyrdom of this great jihadist … who embodied devotion and vigour and was legendary in his defence of high Islamic goals and his defence of the Lebanese people who resist oppression and terrorism”.

Source:Al Jazeera

{Neil Gorsuch responds to Democratic senators questioning whether he would be willing to hold the president accountable.}

US Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch pledged independence from President Donald Trump during his confirmation hearing, as Democratic senators expressed concerns he would be beholden to the man who selected him.

Answering questions during a more than 11-hour session on the second day of his Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday, Gorsuch said Trump never asked him to overturn the 1973 Supreme Court ruling legalising abortion nationwide, saying if the Republican president had done so, “I would have walked out the door”.

Trump promised during last year’s presidential campaign to appoint an anti-abortion justice who would overturn the landmark Roe v Wade ruling, which many conservatives want reversed.

If confirmed by the Senate as expected to fill a 13-month-old vacancy, Gorsuch would restore the nine-seat court’s conservative majority at a time when Republicans control Congress and the White House.

But the conservative federal appeals court judge from Colorado repeatedly said he was beyond politics.

“When I became a judge, they gave me a gavel not a rubber stamp,” Gorsuch said. “I am my own man,” he added.

{{Trump attacking judiciary}}

Trump has assailed the judiciary both as a candidate and since taking office on January 20. He condemned federal judges who put on hold his two executive orders to ban the entry into the United States of people from several Muslim-majority countries, calling one a “so-called judge” and suggesting that blame for a future terrorist attack should go to the courts.

“When anyone criticises the honesty or integrity or the motives of a federal judge, well I find that disheartening, I find that demoralising, because I know the truth,” Gorsuch said.

When Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal asked if that included Trump, Gorsuch said, “Anyone is anyone.”

Trump indicated in a speech on Tuesday night that his approach was unlikely to change.

“The courts are not helping us, to be honest, it’s ridiculous,” he said.

Republicans have praised Gorsuch, 49, as highly qualified for a lifetime appointment as a justice.

Democrats, who have slim chances of blocking his nomination, have questioned his suitability, with some portraying him as favouring corporate interests and insufficiently independent from Trump.

Al Jazeera’s Mike Hanna, reporting from Washington, DC, said Gorsuch’s testimony may have swayed a number of Democrats. But there are still a substantial number of Democrats who are angry at the fact that former president Barack Obama’s choice as Supreme Court judge, Merrick Garland, was never given the opportunity of a hearing by the Republicans last year.

“Some of the Democrat senators have made very clear that regardless of Neil Gorsuch’s abilities, they will fight every attempt to get him approved,” our correspondent said. “In the Supreme Court justice appointment, you need 60 votes in the Senate. That means the Republicans need to get a number of Democrats to vote with them if Neil Gorsuch is to be approved.”

Republicans hold 54 seats in the Senate.

‘Nobody above the law’

Democrats probed Gorsuch on whether he would be willing to hold Trump accountable. Asked by Senator Patrick Leahy whether a president has the power to violate a law on surveillance of Americans, Gorsuch said, “Nobody is above the law in this country, and that includes the president of the United States.”

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said if Trump resumes the use of waterboarding, a prohibited form of simulated drowning, on detainees, he “may get impeached.” Gorsuch said he would not speculate on whether Trump could be prosecuted if he authorised waterboarding, but repeated, “No man is above the law.”

Gorsuch refused to offer his opinion of Trump’s travel ban, saying it was an ongoing case.

Democrat Senator Richard Durbin pressed Gorsuch on claims by a former student at the University of Colorado Law School who said Gorsuch implied in a legal ethics class in April that he believes many female job applicants unfairly manipulate companies by hiding plans to begin families. She remembered him saying that many accept job offers but quickly leave with maternity benefits.

“Those are not my words and I would never have said them,” Gorsuch said. He later said he was trying to teach students about inappropriate questions from prospective employers, not endorsing such inquiries.

Source:Al Jazeera

{US president says lawmakers could face ‘political problems’ if they fail to pass bill repealing Obamacare.}

US President Donald Trump has warned Republican lawmakers that voters could punish them if they do not approve a plan he favours to dismantle Obamacare, as pressure grows on him to win the first major legislative battle of his presidency.

In one of the few visits he has made to the US Capitol since taking office, Trump told fellow Republicans in the House of Representatives they would face “political problems” for opposing the bill that takes apart Obamacare and partially replaces it.

His comments were interpreted by lawmakers speaking to reporters as a threat that they would lose their seats in the next elections.

Some conservative lawmakers believe the healthcare bill does not go far enough, while moderate Republicans worry that millions of Americans will be hurt by the dismantling of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, Democratic former president Barack Obama’s signature healthcare legislation.

“If we fail to get it done, fail to [meet] the promises made by all of us, including the president, then it could have a very detrimental effect to Republicans in ’18 who are running for re-election,” said Republican Congressman Mike Conaway. “If it fails, then there will be a lot of people looking for work in 2018.”

Party leaders hope to move the bill to the House of Representatives floor for debate as early as Thursday. But the administration and House leadership can afford to lose only about 20 votes from Republican ranks or risk the bill failing since Democrats are united against it.

Republican Congressman Mark Meadows, chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, said the caucus has decided not to vote as a bloc on the bill, meaning Republican leadership could still win votes from some of the group’s roughly three dozen members.

In a tweet, NBC news channel listed 26 House Republicans who have said they cannot support the measure.

Repealing and replacing Obamacare was one of Trump’s main campaign promises and has been a goal of Republicans since it was enacted.

While Trump predicted that Republicans could face challenges in primary contests ahead of the 2018 midterm elections if they do not gut Obamacare, there is also danger to them in doing so. If the Republican bill is passed, millions of voters might lose their healthcare coverage.

The Congressional Budget Office said last week that 14 million people would forfeit coverage under the House bill over the next year, although that number could change based on the most current version of the legislation.

Republican leaders tweaked the bill this week to try to satisfy critics, mainly from their own party.

Republican chairmen for two key committees said late on Monday they proposed more funding for tax credits, which conservatives have opposed, that would give the Senate flexibility to help older people afford health insurance. Additionally, Obamacare’s taxes would be eliminated in 2017 instead of 2018.

The amendments also addressed Medicaid, which is the country’s largest health insurance programme and covers about 70 million people, mostly the poor. The changes would allow states to implement work requirements for certain adults, an idea championed by many conservatives, and to decide how they receive federal funds.

Source:Al Jazeera