The Wall Street Journal - 31.10.2019

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. ** Thursday, October 31, 2019 |A

BYNANCYA.YOUSSEF

WORLD NEWS

U.S. Leveled Baghdadi Compound

Islamic State leader

tried to shoot at the

U.S. forces, military

commander says

A screenshot from a video released on Wednesday of the raid on Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s compound near Idlib, Syria.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

WORLD WATCH

NORTH KOREA

Sanctions Reported to

Cause Civilian Deaths

A new report says the global
sanctions regime against North
Korea has directly contributed to
the deaths of innocent civilians
and calls for the removal of re-
strictions on the delivery of hu-
manitarian assistance.
Sanctions imposed by the
United Nations Security Council,
the U.S. and other countries in re-
sponse to North Korean nuclear-
weapons development have re-
sulted in a “ban on any DPRK-
related trade, investment, and
financial transactions,” the report
states, referring to the country’s
formal name, the Democratic
People’s Republic of Korea.
Citing findings by U.N. entities
on the effects of sanctions on ci-
vilian populations, the report was
commissioned by Korea Peace
Now, an international organiza-
tion of women seeking an end to
the Korean War, and conducted
by an outside panel composed of
academics and humanitarian and
medical workers.
The report estimates more
than 3,968 people died in
2018—3,193 children under age 5
and 72 pregnant women among
them—“as a result of sanctions-
related delays and funding short-
falls” that affect U.N. programs,
especially those dealing with mal-
nutrition; vitamin A deficiency; wa-
ter, sanitation and hygiene issues;
and the need for emergency re-
productive health kits.
The State Department and
the North Korean mission to the
U.N. didn’t respond to requests to
comment.
—Courtney McBride

CHINA

Factory Output Drops

To Eight-Month Low

Chinese manufacturing activity
fell to an eight-month low in Oc-
tober, raising another warning
signal as hopes for a temporary
truce in the U.S.-China trade talks
were dealt a further blow.
China’s official gauge of fac-
tory activity, the manufacturing
purchasing managers index,
dropped to 49.3 in October
from 49.8 in September, the
National Bureau of Statistics
said Thursday.
The index has stayed below
the 50 mark, which separates ex-
pansion from contraction, for six
straight months, indicating wors-
ening business sentiment despite
the government’s efforts to spur
economic growth.
Economists were expecting
factory activity to have held
steady this month, partly due to
easing trade tensions between
China and the U.S. But the can-
cellation of the Asia-Pacific Eco-
nomic Cooperation summit has
complicated efforts by the two
nations to sign a limited trade
agreement.
Even if a partial trade deal
were reached, that alone probably
wouldn’t help China’s economy in
the absence of other policy sup-
ports, said Serena Zhou, an econ-
omist at Mizuho Securities.
—Liyan Qi

BRAZIL

Central Bank Cuts

KeyRateto5%

Brazil’s central bank cut rates
for the third time in as many
months, extending a period of
historically low borrowing costs
that is changing consumers’ and
investors’ behavior in a country
long accustomed to high infla-
tion and expensive credit.
The bank’s monetary policy
committee cut its benchmark
Selic rate to 5% from 5.5% and
said the benign outlook for con-
sumer prices means at least one
more half-point cut is probably in
store.
—Paulo Trevisani

INDIA

Nuclear-Power Firm

Finds Malware Attack

India’s state-run nuclear-power
producer said malware was dis-
covered on a computer at its
largest facility this year but the
computer wasn’t connected to
the plant’s operations, which it
said were unaffected.
The Nuclear Power Corpora-
tion of India Ltd., or NPCIL, said it
was alerted of the malicious soft-
ware in its system by the gov-
ernment’s cybersecurity agency
on Sept. 4. The Department of
Atomic Energy, which works un-
der Prime Minister Narendra
Modi’s office, then carried out an
investigation by specialists, the
power producer said.
The investigation revealed
that the infected personal com-
puter was part of the company’s
network for administrative pur-
poses, the statement said.
—Rajesh Roy

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia—

Saudi Arabia, Qatar and four

other Gulf nations joined the

U.S. in imposing sanctions on a

financing network controlled by

Iran’s military and several men

linked to the Tehran-backed

Lebanese group Hezbollah.

Top U.S. Treasury Depart-

ment officials said the action is

the largest ever by the Riyadh-

based Terrorist Financing Tar-

geting Center, whose member-

ship also includes the United

Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain

and Kuwait.

The action is viewed by U.S.

officials as a strategically im-

portant regional collaboration

in the Trump administration’s

“maximum pressure” campaign

effort against Iran, as well as a

milestone in regional govern-

ments cracking down on local

terror networks.

The move is likely to also re-

assure Israel after President

Trump’s decision to pull U.S.

troops out of northern Syria

rattled the close U.S. ally over

concerns that the pullback was

a gain for Iran.

Specifically on Wednesday,

the Gulf nations blacklisted a

multibillion-dollar network of

Iranian companies, banks and

funds sanctioned by the U.S.

last year for allegedly financing

the clerical regime’s paramili-

tary unit called the Basij. Hu-

man rights groups say the unit

enforces oppression through

beatings and training child sol-

diers sent to fight as Iranian

proxies in regional conflicts.

Basij troops are largely directed

by the regime through Iran’s

elite military unit and the Is-

lamic Revolutionary Guard

Corps, a U.S.-designated terror

group.

The Gulf countries also tar-

geted four men linked to Hez-

bollah, which the U.S. and many

Iran-watchers say is a key tool

of Tehran’s foreign policy

abroad, funded and directed by

the regime. The U.S. says the

four lead the group’s opera-

tional, intelligence and financial

activities in Iraq.

Iran’s mission to the United

Nations didn’t respond to a re-

quest for comment.

BYIANTALLEY

Gulf States Impose Iran Sanctions

WASHINGTON—U.S. mili-

tary special operations forces

destroyed the compound

where a raid last weekend led

to the death of Islamic State

founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

to assure that the site didn’t

become a shrine to the ex-

tremist leader, a top com-

mander said Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters at

the Pentagon for the first time

since the weekend raid in

northwestern Syria, Marine

Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of

U.S. forces in the Middle East,

released a series of videos

showing the launch of the raid

and the subsequent destruc-

tion of the compound in a gi-

ant cloud of smoke and de-

bris.

Adding new details about

the raid, Gen. McKenzie said

Baghdadi apparently tried to

shoot at the U.S. forces closing

in on the tunnel where he hid

with two children believed un-

der the age of 12 years, before

detonating a suicide vest.

Earlier, President Trump

and other U.S. officials said

there were three children in

the tunnel with Baghdadi. It

wasn’t known whether the two

children were related to him,

defense officials said..

Eleven other children were

taken into U.S. custody follow-

ing the raid, along with two

adults, Gen. McKenzie said.

The children are no longer in

U.S. custody, defense officials

said, but wouldn’t specify

where they were or whether

any were related to Baghdadi.

Gen. McKenzie said he was

unable to confirm Mr. Trump’s

description of Baghdadi as

whimpering and crying in his

last moments.

Earlier this week, Army

Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of

the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said

he also was unable to confirm

that detail.

The U.S. commander shed

new light on how the Defense

Intelligence Agency concluded

that the raid had killed Bagh-

dadi, saying U.S. military tech-

nicians compared the extrem-

ist leader’s remains to a DNA

sample collected when he was

held in a U.S. prison in Iraq in

2004.

The U.S. raid on Baghdadi’s

compound led to recovery of a

“substantial” amount of infor-

mation about the terror group,

Gen. McKenzie said. U.S. offi-

cials earlier said they removed

data storage devices and other

material.

Since then, there have been

at least two other assaults

targeting top Islamic State

leaders, according to U.S. offi-

cials. In one, Mr. Trump said a

strike led to the death of Abu

Hassan al-Muhajir, a top Is-

lamic State spokesman who

was believed to be among

possible successors to Bagh-

dadi.

Officials couldn’t provide

details of the third operation,

including whether it resulted

in a successful strike or cap-

ture.

The raid on Baghdadi came

amid shifting U.S. military de-

ployment plans in Syria. Mr.

Trump in early October or-

dered all of the approximately

1,000 U.S. troops out of north-

ern Syria, but soon after said

about 200 would remain and

help Kurdish allies defend oil

fields in the northeast.

Days later, military officials

said several hundred U.S.

troops would remain in the

area, backed by armored vehi-

cles and tanks.

Subsequently, military offi-

cials said the forces would

both defend oil fields and

counter any efforts by Islamic

State to regain territory in the

area.

Gen. McKenzie said

Wednesday that officials are

still discussing plans for the

U.S. deployment, but said oil

fields near Deir Ezzour in

eastern Syria had been se-

cured.

Supreme Leader Khamenei, center, joins Iranian generals at an army graduation ceremony in Tehran.

IRANIAN SUPREME LEADER/EPA/SHUTTERSTOCK

economic ones, the new pro-

tests have brought together

people who are typically di-

vided by religion, ethnicity and

wealth, particularly in Leba-

non.

The mood on the streets of

Beirut is reminiscent of the ju-

bilation that swept through

the Arab world in 2011 as au-

tocratic leaders in Tunisia,

Egypt, Libya and Yemen were

forced from power. But the

Arab Spring celebrations soon

gave way to the instability of

what has been called the Arab

Winter.

“Many people expected the

protests of 2011 to result in

swift changes in the political

systems across the region, but

democracy is not born over-

night,” Ms. Khatib said. “The

whole region is still undergoing

an awakening because political

Continued from Page One

transformations are not linear.”

Nowhere is that more evi-

dent than Egypt, where mas-

sive Arab Spring-era protests

ended President Hosni Muba-

rak’s 30-year rule. Years of un-

rest followed as Egypt elected

Muslim Brotherhood leader

Mohammed Morsi, who was

ousted by the military in a

2013 coup and replaced by

Gen. Abdel Fattah Al Sisi.

Since then, Mr. Sisi has tight-

ened his grip on power and is

now cracking down on a wave

of antigovernment protests by

detaining thousands of people,

some of whom say they were

tortured.

While the Arab Spring was

largely defined by efforts to

topple authoritarian rulers

who used fear and intimida-

tion to retain their grip on

power, the continuing protests

in Lebanon and Iraq are fo-

cused on demands for an end

to endemic political corrup-

tion that has eroded confi-

dence in their elected leaders.

In Lebanon, protests were

triggered by a tax on Whats-

App calls but was seen as em-

blematic of economic misman-

agement, dovetailing with

frustration with the govern-

ment’s inability to contain its

biggest wildfires in decades.

In Iraq, protesters expressed

their frustration with succes-

sive government’s inability to

spread the country’s oil wealth

and create a vibrant economy.

Tens of thousands of activ-

ists returned to Lebanon’s

streets Wednesday night to

press the country’s rulers to

form a government run by

technocrats who can quickly

enact the kind of economic,

political, social and environ-

mental overhauls they are de-

manding.

Firas Bou Hatoum, a Leba-

nese activist, described Mr.

Hariri’s resignation as the re-

moval of one block in a cor-

rupt system. “We need to tear

it down one stone at a time,”

he said.

President Michel Aoun offi-

cially accepted Mr. Hariri’s

resignation on Wednesday and

said the prime minister would

oversee a caretaker govern-

ment with limited powers

while he tries to forge a new

political coalition.

The task is daunting. Leba-

non is defined by a tenuous

power-sharing system that has

divided key posts among Chris-

tian, Sunni Muslim and Shiite

Muslim groups for decades.

The regional protests pose a

challenge for President Trump,

who has tried, with limited

success, to disengage from the

Middle East. He has repeatedly

tried to pull all U.S. forces out

of Syria, but then backtracked.

He has railed against “endless

wars” in the Middle East, but

sent more troops to Saudi Ara-

bia to counter Iran’s influence.

During the Arab Spring, the

Obama administration strug-

gled to craft a coherent ap-

proach to the demonstrations,

while using different tools to

pressure autocrats in Egypt,

Syria and Libya to leave.

This time, the U.S. should

focus on strengthening govern-

ment structures rather than

choosing political sides, said

Jasmine El-Gamal, a nonresi-

dent senior fellow at the Atlan-

tic Council, a nonpartisan

Washington think tank.

“What’s happening today in

the Middle East should be a

huge wake-up call,” she said.

“What we should learn from

this round of protests is that

you cannot get away with sub-

jugating and prosecuting and

humiliating the people that

you were elected to serve.”

The protests in Iraq repre-

sent the largest outpouring of

opposition since the U.S.-led

invasion of Iraq 16 years ago.

Despite the violence, activists

have sought to replicate the

festive atmosphere of demon-

strations in Lebanon with

dance and music, including

embrace of the unlikely chil-

dren’s tune “Baby Shark” as an

anthem.

The regional protests have

also posed challenges for an-

other power broker in the

Middle East: Iran.

The U.S. and Israel are

working together with Saudi

Arabia and other allies in the

region to contain Iran’s influ-

ence. But street protests in Iraq

and Lebanon suggest that pop-

ular anger might more effec-

tively blunt Tehran’s power.

Protests

Rattle Arab

Leaders

Theprotestshave

united people often

divided by religion,

ethnicity and wealth.

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