LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِApril 03/2011

Biblical Event Of The Day
The Good News According to Mark3/1-12: "He entered again into the synagogue, and there was a man there who had his hand withered. 3:2 They watched him, whether he would heal him on the Sabbath day, that they might accuse him. 3:3 He said to the man who had his hand withered, “Stand up.” 3:4 He said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath day to do good, or to do harm? To save a life, or to kill?” But they were silent. 3:5 When he had looked around at them with anger, being grieved at the hardening of their hearts, he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored as healthy as the other. 3:6 The Pharisees went out, and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him. 3:7 Jesus withdrew to the sea with his disciples, and a great multitude followed him from Galilee, from Judea, 3:8 from Jerusalem, from Idumaea, beyond the Jordan, and those from around Tyre and Sidon. A great multitude, hearing what great things he did, came to him. 3:9 He spoke to his disciples that a little boat should stay near him because of the crowd, so that they wouldn’t press on him. 3:10 For he had healed many, so that as many as had diseases pressed on him that they might touch him. 3:11 The unclean spirits, whenever they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, “You are the Son of God!” 3:12 He sternly warned them that they should not make him known"

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
Syria: Assad's hesitation in facing extremism grave mistake/By: Huda Al Husseini/April 02/11
Israel and Hamas near a Spring war/DEBKAfile/April 02/11
Assad incapable of reform/By: Hanin Ghaddar/April 02/11

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for April 02/11
International Tribunal: Indictment Will Name Suspects but Not Parties/Naharnet
Syria Reportedly Offers Help, Rifi Says No Evidence that Estonians Crossed the Border/Naharnet
Lebanese abandoned in Ivory Coast/Daily Star
Gang leader suspected in kidnapping trying to leave Lebanon: ISF/Daily Star
Mufti Qabbani Meets Patriarch al-Rahi, Suggests Holding Spiritual Summit in Bkirki/Naharnet
Rights group: Syria security arrests 20 in wake of pro-democracy protests/Reuters
Protests ripple across Syria; at least 7 dead/CNN
US applauds courage of Syrian protesters/Now Lebanon
Syria releases Egyptian-American accused of espionage/CNN
Syria frees Reuters reporter, photographer missing/Reuters
Syria's Muslim Brotherhood Rejects Western Intervention/Wall Street Journal
SYRIA: Video footage said to show large Friday protests/Los Angeles Times
Syria dilemma/BBC
Syria: A Nuclear Plant Is Inspected, and Another Site Remains Off Limits/New York Times
Sleiman discusses Cabinet makeup with Rai/Daily Star
Hezbollah leader vows to help Mikati overcome hurdles in formation of the government/Daily Star
Hezbollah official says state should counter Israeli leaks/Daily Star
Sight of women-deminers in southern Lebanon grows more familiar/Daily Star
Israel is thinking of launching a new war in Lebanon, as usual/iloubnan.info
Miqati Says he Hasn't Yet Reached Cabinet Formation Stage/Naharnet
International Tribunal: Indictment Will Name Suspects but Not Parties/Naharnet
Suleiman: We are Confident in Syria's Ability to Overcome the Crisis/Naharnet
Report: Fatah al-Islam Members Seeking to Reorganize in Ain el-Hilweh/Naharnet
Lebanese Await Evacuation in Ivory Coast, Suleiman and Hariri Seek to Facilitate their Safe Exit/Naharnet
'Serious Progress' in Cabinet Formation Amid Report About Deal on Shares/Naharnet
Protest Turns Violent Inside Lebanon's Roumieh Prison/Naharnet
U.S. Political Attache's Vehicle Pelted with Stones in Sidon/Naharnet

US applauds courage of Syrian protesters
April 2, 2011 /The United States applauded the courage and dignity of demonstrators in Syria, renewing its frequent condemnations of political violence, which killed another nine people on Friday."We condemn and deplore the use of violence against citizens demonstrating in Syria, and applaud the courage and dignity of the Syrian people," White House spokesperson Jay Carney said in a statement. "We urge all parties to maintain calm and avoid violence, and call on the Syrian government to respect human rights and to allow for peaceful demonstrations."
Following President Bashar al-Assad's speech this week, which disappointed reform campaigners, Carney said the Syrian government had an opportunity to respond to the legitimate aspirations of its people. "President Bashar al-Assad has a responsibility to promptly take concrete steps and actions that deliver on his promises and advance a meaningful reform agenda," Carney said. "Violence is not the answer to the grievances of the Syrian people. What is needed now is a credible path to a future of greater freedom, democracy, opportunity, and justice."
Earlier, Syrian security forces opened fire on protesters north of Damascus and in the south of the country, killing at least nine people, a witness and a human rights activist told AFP.
The shootings came as thousands of Syrians staged demonstrations after Friday prayers as a deepening political crisis escalated further. An official denied any involvement by the security forces in Douma, blaming gunmen for shooting at protesters from rooftops, killing several people and wounding dozens including policemen. Assad, facing domestic pressure unprecedented in his 11-year rule, failed to lift almost 50 years of emergency rule in his first address to the nation since the protests began this week.-AFP/NOW Lebanon

Rights group: Syria security arrests 20 in wake of pro-democracy protests
Latest update  02.04.11
By Reuters
Syrian security forces arrested more than 20 people, a rights group said on Saturday, after thousands marched in pro-democracy protests in unrest that has posed the gravest challenge to President Bashar al-Assad's rule.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights named 21 people who had been rounded up by Syrian security in the southern city of Deraa, where the unrest first flared two weeks ago, and in Homs to the north of the capital.
"It is assumed their arrests are as a result of the last protests," the rights group said in a statement.
"[The rights group] demands that the Syrian authorities release all detainees of opinion and conscience and to stop the practice of arbitrary arrests against political opposition and civil and human rights activists."
Thousands took to the streets in major cities after Friday prayers, defying security forces who fired tear gas and live ammunition and used batons to try and disperse protesters who have dismissed a limited reform gesture by Assad, in power for the last 11 years.
Witnesses said security forces killed at least three protesters in the Damascus suburb of Douma on Friday, raising to over 60 the number of deaths in protests that were inspired by popular uprisings that have swept the Arab world.
The turmoil could have wider repercussions since Syria, bordered by Lebanon, Israel, Turkey, Jordan and Iraq, is in the thick of the Middle East conflict, maintaining an anti-Israel alliance with Iran and supporting militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah.
'Violence is not the answer'
The United States, which has designated Syria as a "state sponsor of terrorism" since 1979, and the United Nations, condemned the latest escalation in violence.
"Violence is not the answer to the grievances of the Syrian people," Jay Carney, spokesman for U.S. President Barack Obama, said in a statement.
An official source said via state news agency SANA that "armed groups" were responsible for the violence in Douma, Homs and Deraa, where unrest came to a head after police detained more than a dozen schoolchildren for scrawling graffiti inspired by popular uprisings in the Arab world.
Speaking for the first time since the unrest began, Assad on Wednesday declined to spell out any reforms, especially the lifting of an emergency law in force since his Baath Party took power in a 1963 coup and that has been used to stifle opposition and justify arbitrary arrest.
Assad later ordered the formation of a panel which will draft anti-terrorism legislation to replace emergency law, a move critics have dismissed, saying they expected the new legislation would give the state much of the same powers.
Ending emergency law has been a central demand of protesters, who also want political prisoners freed, and to know the fate of tens of thousands who disappeared in the 1980s.
Lawyers and activists have said arbitrary arrests have continued across the country in large numbers since the unrest.
Media operate in Syria under severe restrictions. Syria expelled Reuters' Damascus correspondent last week. One foreign journalist was released by authorities on Friday, three days after he had been detained, while a Syrian Reuters photographer remains missing since Monday. Two other foreign Reuters journalists were also expelled.

Protest Turns Violent Inside Roumieh Prison
Naharnet/Several inmates clashed with wardens after a protest against "transfer and routine inspection procedures" inside Roumieh prison turned violent on Saturday. A security source told Agence France Presse that a prisoner protested against the procedures at noon when he clashed with one of the guards. The squabble turned into rioting when the inmate threatened to harm himself if authorities do not meet his demands, the source said without saying what the prisoner was asking for. Later other prisoners joined him and broke windows and burned mattresses inside their cells, the source told AFP. Media reports said the situation was later brought under control. The same prison has been the scene of several mutinies. Two years ago, seven warders were held hostage before a peaceful resolution was negotiated. Beirut, 02 Apr 11, 15:41

International Tribunal: Indictment Will Name Suspects but Not Parties
Naharnet/Acting Special Tribunal for Lebanon Registrar Herman von Hebel has reportedly informed top Lebanese officials that the indictment in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination case would include the names of suspects but would not refer to any party or political team. An Nahar newspaper said Saturday that Von Hebel met with the officials away from the media spotlight.  As acting registrar, von Hebel is in charge of the organ of the tribunal which provides administrative, legal and other support essential for the successful completion of the institution's mandate. Last month, STL Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare filed an amended indictment based on further evidence in the probe into the 2005 killing of Hariri.
The first indictment, filed by Bellemare in January, is widely believed to name Hizbullah members. The tribunal has said that it hoped to start "at least pre-trial and some trial proceedings" this year. Beirut, 02 Apr 11, 10:06

Qabbani Meets al-Rahi, Suggests Holding Spiritual Summit in Bkirki
Naharnet/Grand Mufti Mohammad Rashid Qabbani said Saturday that he suggested to Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi to hold an Islamic-Christian summit in Bkirki. Qabbani made his remark after visiting al-Rahi at the seat of the Maronite church to congratulate him on his new post. "Bkirki has always been a national and spiritual base that unifies Muslims and Christians and has a say in spiritual and national issues," Qabbani told reporters after a 45-minute meeting with al-Rahi. He called for coordination between Muslims and Christians as the region is boiling in turmoil. Qabbani stressed that coexistence in Lebanon and national consensus should remain strong. Christianity and Islam have several points in common, mainly spiritual and moral values, he told reporters. As for al-Rahi, he said coexistence in Lebanon should be consolidated and should be an example to the rest of the Arab countries. Beirut, 02 Apr 11, 13:52

U.S. Political Attache's Vehicle Pelted with Stones in Sidon
Naharnet/Several youths pelted with stones the vehicle of the U.S. embassy's political attaché in Sidon on Saturday, the state-run National News Agency reported. NNA said the attaché was on a tourism tour in Sidon when his vehicle was attacked. The Lebanese army contained the incident and arrested several youths involved in the attack, it said. The U.S. diplomat then left the area, the agency added. Beirut, 02 Apr 11, 17:21

Miqati Says he Hasn't Yet Reached Cabinet Formation Stage
Naharnet/Premier-designate Najib Miqati said Saturday that progress was made on consultations aimed at forming the new government but stressed that he hasn't yet reached the cabinet formation stage. "The atmosphere is positive … I will continue to work on overcoming difficulties," Miqati said during a meeting of the Higher Islamic Council under Grand Mufti Mohammad Rashid Qabbani at Dar al-Fatwa. "We have made progress in our contacts and efforts but this does not mean that we are close to forming" the cabinet, he said. While expressing optimism that his latest meetings would speed up the efforts to form the government, Miqati said all parties are aware of their responsibilities that force them to cooperate in forming a productive cabinet that satisfies the Lebanese. Beirut, 02 Apr 11, 13:04

Suleiman: We are Confident in Syria's Ability to Overcome the Crisis
Naharnet/President Michel Suleiman hoped on Saturday for the return of stability to Syria and expressed his confidence in the Assad regime's ability to overcome the crisis. Suleiman made the remark during talks with the Secretary-General of the Lebanese-Syrian Higher Council, Nasri Khoury. A statement issued by the president's press office said Suleiman "reiterated hopes that things would return to stability and calm" in Syria and "expressed his confidence in the ability of the Syrian leadership to overcome this crisis." The president also voiced his confidence on Thursday that the Syrian leadership would overcome the instability that came after the recent anti-regime protests. Beirut, 02 Apr 11, 14:56

Golan Druze rally for Syria's Assad
April 2, 2011 /Now Lebanon/At least 2,000 Druze in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights demonstrated on Saturday in a show of support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Israeli news website Ynet reported. It said that marchers in the village of Buqata carried giant Syrian flags and portraits of Assad, whose security forces have been dealing harshly with protesters demanding political reform, killing at least nine people on Friday. "We came out today to support the leader of our homeland, whom people are trying to hamper in running the country," Ynet quoted Golan resident Yosef Safdi as saying. Israeli police did not intervene other than to direct traffic away from the demonstration route, it added. In the Golan Heights, which Israel occupied in the 1967 Middle East war and unilaterally annexed in 1981, there are about 18,000 Syrian nationals, most of them Druze.Syria and Israel remain technically in a state of war. Followers of a breakaway sect of Islam concentrated in Israel, Syria, and Lebanon, the Druze are not considered Muslims by most of the Islamic world.-AFP/NOW Lebanon

Assad incapable of reform
Hanin Ghaddar, April 2, 2011
The problem with the Syrian regime is that it is still using archaic language while the whole region is calling for modern rhetoric and a modern approach to politics. The relatively young president, Bashar al-Assad, has not understood that the uprising calling for greater freedoms in his country cannot be isolated from similar desires sweeping across the Middle East. Calling it a conspiracy shows that Assad is not willing to open his eyes to the reality of the future of the region. The new Middle East has nothing to do with the usual divisions between pro-Western and anti-Western countries. The West seems to be a side issue. The demands of Tunisians, Egyptians, Libyans, Yemenis, Bahrainis and Syrians are focused on freedom and internal reforms. Their problem is their leaders, not anyone else’s.
Assad knows this, but the main reason he cannot, and will not, come through on any of his promises is that if he did, it would be the end of the regime. This emergency law is not a text that can be erased with a decision or a committee; it has become a fundamental component of the regime, one that was created to protect it from the democratic impulses of the people.
Such a course of action doesn’t bear thinking about. His regime cannot and will not survive in a society that allows freedom of speech and holds free and fair elections. His regime is sectarian, one made up of Alawis, a minority in Syria. It has survived for almost 50 years because of the emergency law and a draconian security system, one that has allowed Assad and his close family members to control the intelligence and security services as well as the army. Assad could have been more subtle and dealt with the situation smoothly instead of totally discarding his people’s aspirations. He could have made major structural and legal reforms that could have eased the rage of the demonstrators.
Everybody believed Assad when he said that Syria is immune because it backs resistance forces, such as Hezbollah and Hamas, which enjoy popular support among the Syrian people. That was the first mistake. He tried to convince us that the uprisings in other countries were about the Arab-Israeli conflict. They weren’t.
His second mistake was made after the uprising started, when Assad’s spokeswoman, Buthaina Shaaban, promised that the emergency law would be lifted and other significant reforms would be announced during the speech. However, the president uttered nothing but platitudes and invalid explanations of why the reforms were over ten years late.
Instead of announcing reforms, Assad decided to face internal opposition with aggressive security measures. Instead of releasing all political prisoners, the security apparatus made more arrests. Instead of listening to the protestors, security officers killed them. Instead of opening proper dialogue channels with the people, the regime widened the gap between itself and them. Assad left the protestors no choice but to go all the way to achieve their demands.
Assad, like his father before him, has walked a thin line between war and peace for decades. The Golan Heights have been occupied for over 30 years without a shot being fired to retake them, but at the same time, Syria has sponsored resistance forces outside Syria, creating fragile friendships and kind enemies. Israel, for example, still prefers Assad to a radical Islamist alternative, but his support for Hezbollah and Hamas has hampered this relationship. At the same time, and under the illusion that Assad might distance himself from Iran, the West and some Arab countries have courted his regime as a potential ally. But today, these fragile relations, potential or otherwise, might not last if Assad keeps on turning a blind eye to the demands of his people. At some point, all those who have reassured Assad recently with letters and statements of support, such as the Saudi king and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (who called him a reformist just before his infamous speech), will eventually turn against him when he also leaves them no choice.
They turned against their ally, Hosni Mubarak, just a month ago; Assad is certainly not immune. Everybody in Syria knows that when a committee is formed to revise a law, it means that it will go into a black hole. So when the Syrian news agency SANA announced on Thursday that Assad had ordered the formation of a committee to examine the emergency law, the response was that people on Friday hit the streets across the country. This committee was created by the regime. It is not an independent or joint committee between the authorities and the people. Therefore, it will never come up with a decision that will harm the regime, such as lifting the state of emergency. Unfortunately, Assad still treats his people as stupid followers. He called their uprising a conspiracy, and at the same time made promises of reform that would probably not see the light of day. Their reaction: more anger and more demonstrations. The same happened in Tunisia and Egypt. Syria is not really that different. The people and their aspirations are the same everywhere.
**Hanin Ghaddar is managing editor of NOW Lebanon

Lebanese abandoned in Ivory Coast
Thousands still live in fear as evacuation efforts only manage to rescue a few hundred
By Van Meguerditchian /Daily Star staff
Saturday, April 02, 2011
BEIRUT: Thousands of Lebanese in Ivory Coast are living in fear as the West African nation plunges further into a catastrophic civil war, but evacuation efforts thus far have only managed to rescue a few hundred people. A Middle East Airlines flight scheduled to leave Beirut for Abidjan Friday morning was canceled when a curfew was declared as President-elect Alassane Ouattara’s forces advanced into the city. More than 90 percent of the Lebanese community lives in the country’s main city Abidjan, where clashes and riots have brought chaos to the lives of thousands of people since the conflict began in Ivory Coast. The curfew was lifted late Friday and an MEA plane is due to land Saturday morning in Abidjan, and local authorities are working with French officials to address the evacuation crisis. A high-ranking public official at the Foreign Ministry said the Lebanese community was not being singled out for acts of violence, amid reports of looting and chaos in Abidjan. “The targets of the looting are not only Lebanese but also Ivorian,” the director general of the Foreign Ministry, Haitham Joumaa, told The Daily Star Friday. “Looting and lawlessness has swept through the Ivorian cities but there is no specific danger to the Lebanese community,” Joumaa added, in response to reports that the Lebanese community was falling victim to looting and other crimes.
However, businesswoman Line Fakih said that the city was unsafe for anyone not carrying arms, and that the government has been traditionally unable to provide help. “The situation here is very dangerous, and we cannot leave our houses,” Fakih told The Daily Star in a telephone call Friday. Asked whether the Lebanese community was offered any assistance by the authorities in Beirut, Fakih said that “they [Lebanese government] have never helped us in times of war,” in reference to the civil war in Ivory Coast which started in 2002 and was resumed in November last year. “Looters and gangs are on the streets and they are breaking into houses to ask for money in return for [our] security,” Fakih added, amid sporadic reports this week that Lebanese are incurring huge financial losses amid the violence. As a “crisis group” of officials at the Foreign Ministry intensified contacts with Abidjan, caretaker Foreign Minister Ali Shami said the French military and U.N. peacekeepers have helped evacuate Lebanese from danger areas in Abidjan.
“There have been several operations in the past two days by the French forces to secure the transfer of 350 Lebanese to la Force Licorne French base,” said the assistant to the minister, Qabalan Franjieh.
Franjieh told The Daily Star once the airport becomes accessible, the Lebanese authorities and the Middle East Airlines would ensure two daily flights to Abidjan to help evacuate the Lebanese. Each flight is expected to carry around 200 people. “There are around 4,000 people already registered to flee the country [Ivory Coast], but if we need urgent evacuation measures, French ships will help the Lebanese embassy evacuate them,” Franjieh added. While contacts between Lebanese authorities, the French and the U.S. embassies were ongoing, Franjieh said that one Lebanese had been wounded Thursday by a stray bullet and is currently being treated at a hospital. “The [recent] death of a Lebanese man was a personal matter and is not related to the political bickering in the country,” he added. Last month, the body of Lebanese businessman Ali Fawwaz was found alongside a river amid reports that Lebanese were backing one of the rival presidents in the Ivorian conflict.
Around 90,000 Lebanese live in Ivory Coast and many of them are owners of important industrial businesses in the West African nation. But the security situation in Abidjan turned extremely violent Friday as rebels supporting Ouattara patrolled the streets of the city to install him by force. As they pressed through the city, fights are now believed to be concentrated around Abidjan’s Presidential Palace, a place many believe Laurent Gbagbo and his officers are holding on to. Following presidential elections in November last year, Ouattara emerged as a winner against his incumbent rival Gbagbo who has been in office since 2000. But Gbagbo clung to power and contested the election results, leaving the world’s largest cocoa producing country with two presidents. The stand-off further escalated when Ouattara laid claim to the presidency while in the same day Gbagbo took the oath to serve a new term as president in December 2010. According to several informal sources, the Lebanese community became a target within the conflict between Gbagbo and Ouattara when Lebanon’s ambassador to Ivory Coast, Ali Ajami, attended Gbagbo’s swearing-in ceremony in December. The crisis has sparked a row in Lebanon over the government’s performance during the crisis. Future Movement official and Minyeh MP Ahmad Fatfat lashed out at the Foreign Ministry Friday and blamed Shami along with Speaker Nabih Berri for the troubles the Lebanese community is facing.
“What is happening to the Lebanese is the fault of Shami and Berri,” Fatfat told a local television station. According to Fatfat, Lebanon’s ambassador was asked by Shami and Berri to attend the incumbent president’s inauguration to serve a new term in office. Bint Jbeil MP Ali Bazzi, a member of the speaker’s parliamentary bloc, later responded with a statement in which he said that Berri alone has stood up for the rights of the Lebanese nationals in the diaspora, accusing Fatfat and his allies of showing little concern for Lebanese abroad.
“Neither on the level of your government nor on your personal level have you ever tried to help the Lebanese in Abidjan,” Bazzi added.

Israel and Hamas near a Spring war
DEBKAfile Exclusive Analysis April 2, 2011, After nearly two months of rising tension, Israel and Hamas have taken a step towards a full-blown military confrontation: Before dawn Saturday, April 2, an Israeli air strike killed three senior Hamas Izz al-Din Qassam Brigades gunmen in the Gaza Strip in an operation described by an Israeli army spokesman as pre-empting a major Palestinian terror-cum-kidnap campaign scheduled for Passover. A fourth Palestinian was seriously injured by the airborne missile which struck their car between Khan Younes and Deir el Balakh. The Hamas Brigades warned Israel its "dangerous escalation" would have "consequences."
debkafile's military and intelligence sources predict that the war confrontation which Saturday brought closer to realization will be unlike any previous Israel-Palestinian showdowns in the sense that it will be less the product of the old Middle East order and fall more under the influence of the radical elements rising out of the current Arab unrest, especially in Cairo, amid the decline of Western influence. Hamas may also resort to jihad against "the Israeli enemy" as a distraction from the rising disaffection of the Gazan population against its increasingly repressive methods of enforcing ever stricter Islamic decrees.
Saturday, after nearly two months of heightened Palestinian terrorist activity and low-key Israeli reprisals, both sides dropped their long pretense of seeking calm.
Ever since the massacre of five members of an Israeli family at Itamar on Feb. 11, Israeli government leaders have tried to sell the line that Hamas was not really seeking to raise the level of violence. They continued to play down Hamas' motives through a 50-round mortar barrage in a single day (March 19) on Israeli civilian locations abutting the Gaza Strip, several Grad missiles fired at the towns Ashkelon, Ashdod, Beersheba and Netivot and a bombing attack in Jerusalem on March 23, which killed a tourist and injured 65 after two relatively terror-free years. In between major attacks, the Palestinians have maintained up until the present a steady trickle of Qassam and mortar fire against Israeli civilians. While intensifying its attacks, Hamas picked up the convenient Israeli mantra which claimed that the terrorist-rulers of Gaza wanted nothing but a ceasefire which would also embrace all the smaller terrorist organizations taking part on the shooting as well.
The Israeli army statement after the pre-dawn air strike over Gaza Saturday abruptly broke that pose by exposing Hamas's true intentions for the first time. He admitted that the Palestinian radicals had set up a major murder-cum-kidnap campaign for striking terror across the Green Line and favorite Israeli vacationing spots in Sinai, to be launched during the eight-day Passover holiday April 18-28,
debkafile's counter-terror sources add that the three gunmen killed were only one tentacle of the network Hamas has put in place in Sinai, Jordan and on both sides of the Israel-West Bank border. During the months that Israeli military leaders insisted that Hamas did not seek escalation, special Palestinian military wing squads were undergoing extensive training in methods of abduction so as to add more Israeli captives to Gilead Shalit, the Israeli soldier snatched in 2006 and held since in inhuman conditions.
The difference between the present and past conflicts is that Hamas is now drawing encouragement not just from Tehran but also from the new Egyptian regime. If the head of the military council Field Marshall Mohammed Tantawi wanted to, he could put a stop to Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Elarabi's active policy of rapprochement with Tehran and reconciliation with Hamas leaders in Damascus and Gaza. It is Elaraby's ambition to transfer Hamas's political center headed by Khaled Meshaal from Damascus to Cairo, lift the Egyptian embargo against Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip for the free movement of people and goods and transform the enclave into Egypt's launching pad for an anti-Israeli policy harking back to the hostility predating the epic peace relations President Anwar Sadat forged with Israel in 1979. The new rulers are also distancing themselves from the close alliance the deposed Hosni Mubarak maintained with Saudi Arabia. While Riyadh fights Iranian-backed insurgents in Bahrain and slams the door on further encroachments in the Arab world, Cairo is opening it wide to give the Islamic Republic a foothold both in Cairo and in Gaza. Hamas is encouraged to spread its sphere of aggression from the half million Israeli civilians within missile range to far broader regions.
When US Defense Secretary Robert Gates visited Cairo on March 24, he tried to warn the military rulers that their indulgence of Hamas was bound to end badly in an Israeli military campaign to cut short its belligerent behavior. But three days later, when he was in Israel, he had to admit to his hosts that his warning fell on deaf ears.

Syria: Assad's hesitation in facing extremism "grave mistake"
02/04/2011/By Huda Al Husseini/Asharq Al Awsat
In a speech made by US President Barack Obama last Monday evening on the situation in Libya, he alluded to Syria without explicitly mentioning the country, when he stressed the necessity of avoiding sectarian unrest, and the importance of instigating economic and social reforms. This reference came after he condemned the repressive regime in Iran.
Last week, the situation in Syria was further strained following what happened in Latakia, which was far more serious than the events in Deraa. Some Syrian figures have blamed President Bashar al-Assad's hesitation in dealing with the phenomenon of Islamist militants in Syria, who seemed to have played a key role in recent events. These figures indicated that al-Assad, prior to these events, told his aides that now was not an appropriate time to address the Islamist militants phenomenon in the country, because it may lead to conflict in Syria. This was a "grave mistake". It seems that the entity most concerned about the recent events is the Hamas leadership in Damascus, which has begun to discuss leaving the country and setting up its political headquarters elsewhere, according to an informed source.
In January 2011, Dr. Bouthaina Shaaban, an advisor for political and media affairs to the Syrian presidency, submitted a report to the Syrian President, prepared at her request by one of her aides, a professor of social sciences at the University of Damascus. The report warned of growing Islamic extremism in the country, and the figures confirmed what had earlier been indicated in a report drafted by Syrian intelligence, which was severely critical of the weak response of the regime, with regards to reducing the spread of extremism.
The Syrian President read the report but asked for it to be shelved, saying that he did not intend to adopt harsh measures, because he did not want to incite civil unrest. There were also rumours that the author of this report was later placed under house arrest.
According to the report, the regime did not make an effort to stop the spread of fundamentalism, and the president is concentrating on foreign policy rather than trying to suppress Islamist groups, including Shiite groups, which are effectively dominating people's lives in Syria. The current trend in Syria is for many citizens to embrace the Shiite sect as a result of Iranian activity, and we have seen the spread of "Hussainiyat" [Shiite Cultural Centers]; the reason that the Syrian regime has not confronted any of this is because it does not want to damage relations with Tehran.
As for the spread of Sunni religious extremism, the report said that the Syrian regime has failed to confront this because it does not want to damage relations with the wider Islamic world. This has resulted in Islamic Dawa [missionary] groups being able to recruit effectively in some regions of Syria, particularly the city of Aleppo and the surrounding areas.
The report highlighted the pressure placed upon Syria by officials in many Islamic states to give up its hard-line policy, and its pursuit of Islamic organizations. Therefore, all the procedures that were effective in the past against radical elements, including covert surveillance in mosques via hidden cameras or undercover security official, all ceased last year. As the report highlighted, this is due to agreements between Syrian – Iranian agreements on the one hand, and agreements between Syria and major figures in the Sunni Muslim world on the other.
The report said that as long as Iran remains the strategic ally of Syria, and as long as Syria considers Lebanon one of its major problems, the phenomenon of radical Islamic movements will continue to grow, particularly as the Syrian President is investing a large portion of his time and focus on the Lebanon issue. Indeed, al-Assad is particularly focused upon the pending indictments of the International Tribunal, which is tasked with investigating the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, and which may result in unrest in Lebanon.
The report assesses that the balance of power between different ethnic groups in Syria may be the main factor behind the regime's decision not to strongly combat the spread of extremism in the country.
Sources close to Bouthaina Shaaban, who have been briefed on the contents of the report, pointed out that it was clear that the Syrian President was concerned about a potential uprising due to a number of grievances regarding the situation in Syria today. Here, Bouthaina Shaaban was critical of Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi who – via the Al Jazeera satellite television channel – urged the Sunnis in Syria to revolt and take power.
The report claimed that all the apparent procedures taken by the regime to tackle the spread of Islamic extremism in Syria were superficial, aimed at improving the relationship between secular Syria and the West. In reality, these measures were extremely mild, as harsher measures might have proven detrimental to Syria's domestic and regional interests.
On the other hand, the report indicated other factors may have been responsible for Syria's muted response, most notably the deteriorating economic situation, and the failure of the regime to develop a plan to improve the living conditions of its citizens.
Even as little as a week ago, the poor economic situation that threatens the survival of the regime was not apparent to everyone, due to the lack of civil unrest. Nevertheless, the economic situation in Syria is very difficult.
The official unemployment rate for 2010 was 8.3 percent; however unofficial data indicates that the actual figure is far higher, approximately between 17 and 20 percent. A report on poverty in Syria, prepared by a UN representative to the country in September 2010, revealed that between 2 and 3 million Syrians are living in extreme poverty. Syria has reduced subsidies on fuel, and as a result there was a rise in prices of oil-based products (as indicated by an International Monetary Fund report in March 2010). In order to compensate for the subsidy reduction, vouchers were distributed to citizens; however these were only distributed in a limited manner, and only to the most poverty-stricken. This cannot be compared to the subsidies which the state used to provide for all its citizens.
There is another reason for the spread of Islamic extremism, according to the report, which relates to Sunni al-Qaeda supporters, and their acts of provocation. Incitement against the regime and against the West is increasing in the mosques, inspired by the teachings of Osama bin Laden and the beliefs of Syrian Takfirist movements, who consider "everyone else" to be infidels.
These groups carry out their activities in public, and it is not clear why the regime has been hesitant in dealing with them. There has also been a gradual rise in the number of Syrians who travel to Yemen to pursue their religious studies, or to Shiite centers in Iran and Iraq.
The regime imposed some constraints, but they were limited – such as the ban on wearing the veil in public buildings, and taking action against teachers who wear the veil in schools and colleges. President al-Assad said that wearing the veil [in school] "contrasted with academic values and traditions" and that it could be used for other objectives like violence or terrorism.
We should also consider the reactions to the Syrian television series "Ma Malakat Aymanukum" [what your right hand possesses], during the month of Ramadan. This was heavily criticized, and a number of clerics demanded that it be removed from the air, including Mohammed Saeed Ramadan Al Buti, a cleric close to the regime. Yet every episode of the series was broadcast and it was ultimately a success, which eased criticism.
The steps that the regime intends to take, according to Bouthaina Shaaban, need to be quickly implemented, particularly the abolition of the state of emergency. The situation cannot withstand more maneuvers or procrastination. The recent events may provide the President with a historic opportunity to get rid of the entrenched mindsets which surround him, and also significantly tackle the greed of his corrupt associates.
The people believe that the Syrian regime needs to rid itself of the heavy burdens of its past, in order for country to truly be how al-Assad's wife portrayed it, in an interview with "Vogue" magazine this month.

Hezbollah leader vows to help Mikati overcome hurdles in formation of government: sources
Nasrallah has promised prime minister-designate to intercede with FPM leader Aoun, says source
By Hussein Dakroub /Daily Star staff
Saturday, April 02, 2011
BEIRUT: Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has thrown his weight behind Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati’s attempts to form a new Cabinet, promising to intervene to help overcome hurdles blocking the Cabinet’s birth, political sources said Friday. A source close to the Cabinet formation process said Nasrallah decided to step in to help break the two-month-long Cabinet deadlock after his unannounced meeting with Mikati Tuesday. Nasrallah has promised Mikati to intercede with Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun whose tough demands for participation have been largely blamed for holding up the government’s formation, the source told The Daily Star. Aoun signed a document of understanding in February 2006 with Nasrallah in a move that has since sealed their political and election alliance.
A senior Hezbollah source confirmed the party’s intervention to help get the stalled government formation process off the ground. “Hezbollah is making efforts to clear the way for the government’s formation because it wants the Cabinet to be formed quickly,” the source told The Daily Star.
The source declined to say if Hezbollah’s mediation efforts were geared mainly toward Aoun, who this week renewed his insistence that the key Interior Ministry portfolio be allotted to a FPM loyalist, casting doubts about the success of Mikati’s proposed 30-member Cabinet lineup.
Mikati’s proposal calls for retaining caretaker Interior Minister Ziyad Baroud, who is backed by President Michel Sleiman and who has received support from Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai. A source close to Mikati said the premier-designate was continuing his unannounced contacts and meetings with all the parties concerned in a bid to overcome obstacles to the government’s formation. “The atmosphere is positive. The contacts have made an important headway in … Mikati’s efforts to form the Cabinet. But this does not mean that we are close to the formation,” the source told The Daily Star. He added that Mikati had not lost hope and was working to overcome the difficulties.
The source said “new ideas” to break the Cabinet stalemate were proposed during a five-way meeting held at Mikati’s office Tuesday. In addition to Mikati, the meeting was attended by caretaker Public Works Minister Ghazi Aridi, representing Progressive Socialist Party chief Walid Jumblatt, caretaker Energy Minister Jibran Bassil, representing Aoun, Marjayoun-Hasbaya MP Ali Hassan Khalil, a political aide to Speaker Nabih Berri, and Hussein Khalil, a political aide to Nasrallah.
Aridi called for a quick formation of the government. “The delay in forming the Cabinet is negatively affecting Lebanon and all the Lebanese because even if the government is formed by one political team, it will be a Cabinet for all Lebanon and the Lebanese,” Aridi said after inspecting ministry projects in Mount Lebanon. “Therefore, the presence of a government is essential to manage people’s affairs,” he said. He added that responsibility for the delay falls squarely on “the team involved in setting up this government.”
Aridi said that following the five-party meeting at Mikati’s office, Jumblatt’s meeting with Nasrallah and Mikati’s meeting with the Hezbollah leader, “things began moving in a serious, practical and positive way.” “We hope contacts will be completed in the next few days. We must reach a final [Cabinet] make-up as a result of these contacts,” Aridi said.
Mikati was appointed on Jan. 25 to form a new Cabinet to replace caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s Cabinet, which collapsed following the resignations of the ministers of Hezbollah and its allies in a long-simmering dispute over the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon. The STL is probing the 2005 assassination of Hariri’s father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Meanwhile, Saad Hariri implicitly accused Hezbollah of using its weapons to take control of the state.
“What we are facing since the toppling of the national unity Cabinet is not related to the tribunal and the indictment, which they are using as pretexts. But it is a project aimed at taking control of Lebanon and the Arab world in the context of a regional project being unveiled day after day,” Hariri told a delegation from the north town of Minyeh at his residence in Downtown.
Hariri, who has launched a fierce verbal campaign against Hezbollah’s arsenal since the collapse of his government, said: “Everyone notices that what is currently happening aims at taking control of the state and disrupting the country. This group disrupted the state because the presence of a normal state disrupts its role and the foreign intervention in the affairs of Lebanon and the Lebanese people.” He reiterated that the real problem in the country stemmed from “the logic of weapons and relying on it to confiscate the political decision and take control of the state, under the pretext of resisting Israel.” “Resistance is a national duty for every Lebanese, to liberate his country from the Israeli occupation. But we will not accept the exploitation of the resistance to point the weapons toward the Lebanese people, disable the state and confiscate its decision in favor of other countries,” Hariri said. He renewed his demand for Hezbollah to place its weapons under the control of the state, its security and military forces.

Hezbollah official says state should counter Israeli leaks
By The Daily Star
Saturday, April 02, 2011
BEIRUT: A Hezbollah official urged the Lebanese government Friday to launch a multi-front campaign to counter Israeli reports that Hezbollah has established over 1,000 military sites in south Lebanon, laying the groundwork for a future assault against Lebanon.
“Lebanon’s official institutions should respond to Israeli leaks about military and security plans to strike Lebanon with media, political and diplomatic campaigns to prevent the enemy from fabricating facts and to inform the world about Israeli massacres,” Tyre MP Nawaf Musawi said. The Israeli military released Thursday a map detailing what it said were approximately 550 underground bunkers, along with 300 monitoring sites and 100 weapons-storage facilities, saying the sites were located near homes, schools and hospitals.
“Lebanon should stress that it has always been the victim of Israeli aggression and has the right to take legal defensive measures,” Musawi said.
Despite his call for Lebanese state institutions to respond, Musawi refrained from either denying or confirming the Israeli allegations, a tactic that Hezbollah has long employed when discussing its military arsenal and capacities.
According to observers, the Israeli report was aimed at delegitimizing the party before the international community by highlighting Hezbollah’s violations of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which calls for a weapons-free zone south of the Litani River.
Musawi said the Israeli leaks should not be met with silence by Lebanese state institutions but rather with a legal, international campaign to prosecute “Israeli political and military criminal [officials].”
The Justice Ministry should assist Lebanese citizens in filing lawsuits against “Israeli criminals” before international courts, while the Foreign Ministry should direct its ambassadors to highlight criminal acts by Israel before the world,” Musawi said. State officials have yet to publicly comment on the Israeli claims, which were first published Thursday by the Washington Post.
Musawi said Lebanon should react to the Jewish state’s claims with the same tactics, by resorting to foreign media outlets to expose Israeli crimes.
“The information minister should at least write to the U.S. paper and convey the Lebanese position, underscoring that Lebanon is being attacked and subjected to Israeli crimes and is entitled to defend itself in line with international resolutions and charters,” Musawi said.
Musawi stressed that it was the resistance’s defensive capacities, rather than diplomatic efforts, that stop Israel from attacking Lebanon.
“The resistance and its people alike are aware that defending Lebanon does not take place through pleading with the international community, which is biased toward Israeli interests … instead, it is the capability of the resistance that prevents aggressions,” Musawi said.
The Israeli threats as well as internal challenges highlight the need for the formation of a new government capable of safeguarding Lebanon against diplomatic and security attempts by the U.S. to infiltrate the country and instigate sectarian strife, Musawi added.
The March 8 coalition has failed so far to reach an agreement with President Michel Sleiman and Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati over the Cabinet makeup, as caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s March 14 alliance stepped up its campaign against Hezbollah’s weapons, describing them as illegitimate.
Hezbollah and its allies ousted Hariri’s Cabinet in January after he refused to halt ties with a U.N.-backed tribunal widely expected to indict members of Hezbollah in the assassination of his father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. – The Daily Star