LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِApril 07/2011

Biblical Event Of The Day
The Good News According to Luke 7/11-17: "It happened soon afterwards, that he went to a city called Nain. Many of his disciples, along with a great multitude, went with him. 7:12 Now when he drew near to the gate of the city, behold, one who was dead was carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. Many people of the city were with her. 7:13 When the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said to her, “Don’t cry.” 7:14 He came near and touched the coffin, and the bearers stood still. He said, “Young man, I tell you, arise!” 7:15 He who was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he gave him to his mother. 7:16 Fear took hold of all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and, “God has visited his people!” 7:17 This report went out concerning him in the whole of Judea, and in all the surrounding region.

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
Muslim Gang Leader Terrorizing Christians in Egyptian Village/AINA/April 06/11
Islamists on Welfare/By Kathy Shaidle/April 06/11
Syria: Stop Shooting Protesters/Human Rights Watch (press release)/April 06/11
Why do they love us?/By: Nadim Koteich/April 06/11
To survive, Assad must stop Sunni unrest infecting army/DEBKAfile/April 06/11
In first Damascus firefight, 2 Syrian policemen, 15 demonstrators shot dead/DEBKAfile/April 06/11

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for April 06/11
More Lebanese banks in US Treasury’s crosshairs, Al-Liwaa reports/Now Lebanon
Maronite Bishops Call for Cooperation and Quick Cabinet Formation after Security Shakeups/Naharnet
Rifi Declares Full Control of Roumieh Prison as Riots Spread to Jeb Jennine Jail/Naharnet
Two Inmates Die in Raid on Roumieh Prison as Families Protest Again/Naharnet
Geagea: Syria most likely behind abduction of Estonians/Daily Star
Aoun and Nasrallah set for talks to finalize deal on Cabinet formation/Daily Star
Special Tribunal for Lebanon appoints new spokesperson/Daily Star
Lebanese Special forces put down Roumieh jail  riots/Daily Star
Lebanon is at risk of an Israeli war and a domestic street war"/iloubnan.info
Ransom demand in Lebanon for return of missing Estonians/Monsters and Critics.com
The Next Big Lebanon-Israel Flare-Up: Gas/TIME (blog)
Syria reverses ban on Islamic face veil in schools/Forbes
More Bloodshed in Syria/VOA
Last chance for Syria's Asad to reform/The Hill
Kidnapped Bikers: Is Lebanon Being Sucked Into Regional Unrest?/Time
Israel no longer able to threaten Lebanon, Gaza: Iran ambassador/Tehran Times
Hezbollah Condemns Goldstone's 'New' Pro-Israel Remarks/ABNA.ir
Roumieh prison riots aim at weakening Mikati and Baroud, 'Al Anbaa'/ iloubnan.info
Berri: An Active Government is a Must to Help Inmates /Naharnet
LF: WikiLeaks Report Confirmed that Party Doesn't Possess Weapons /Naharnet
First Ivory Coast Evacuees Arrive in Beirut from Ghana /Naharnet
Obscure Group that Claimed Kidnapping of Estonians Asks for Unspecified Ransom /Naharnet
WikiLeaks: Hamadeh Called for Employing Madina Bank File to Tarnish President Lahoud's Image /Naharnet
WikiLeaks: Jumblat Says 'We Currently Don't Need Democracy, But Money' /Naharnet
WikiLeaks: Israeli Official Called on U.S. to Support March 14 Camp instead of Lebanese Government /Naharnet
WikiLeaks: Saniora Rejected Transfer of 500 and 300 Million Dollars 'So They Don't Go to Berri's Pocket' /Naharnet
Najjar and Ofeish Suggest Solutions to Overcrowded Roumieh Prison /Naharnet
Cabinet Lineup Reportedly Awaiting Nasrallah-Aoun Meeting but FPM Leader Holds Onto Demands /Naharnet
Mustaqbal: Various Security Developments in Lebanon Aimed at Harming the State /Naharnet
Aoun: We Will Present Draft Laws on Prisons, Water Resources, and Electricity /Naharnet
U.S. Defense Secretary Visits Saudi Arabia/Naharnet
Iran condemns Saudi “crimes” in Bahrain/Now Lebanon

Obscure Group that Claimed Kidnapping of Estonians Asks for Unspecified Ransom
Naharnet/The Movement for Renewal and Reform that had allegedly claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of the seven Estonian tourists is now asking for ransom to set the men free.
The demand was made through an email sent to a local website. It said the tourists were in good condition. However, the message did not specify the amount of the ransom the group is asking for. Last week, the obscure group claimed the kidnapping of the seven Estonians in an email sent to the same website along with copies of the ID cards of three of those abducted. The three IDs shown on the website were those of Kalev Kaosaar, August Tillo and Madis Paluoja. The other kidnapped have been identified by authorities as Priit Raistik, Jaan Jagomagi, Andre Pukk and Martin Metspalu. All are in their 30s and early 40s. The seven were abducted at gunpoint in the eastern Bekaa town of Zahle on March 23 after entering Lebanon through Syria on their bicycles. Several people have been arrested so far in connection with the kidnapping, amid an intensive hunt for the abductors in the mountainous region beyond the Bekaa town of Majdal Anjar. "We cannot tell whether they are still in Lebanon or across the border," caretaker Interior Minister Ziad Baroud told a press conference on Tuesday. "The army and the Internal Security Forces are doing their best to reach a happy end to this kidnapping." Beirut, 06 Apr 11, 12:51

In first Damascus firefight, 2 Syrian policemen, 15 demonstrators shot dead
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report April 5, 2011,
The Syrian uprising took a new turn Tuesday, April 5, when armed protesters ambushed and shot dead two policemen in the Damascus suburb of Kfar Batna. Syrian troops then opened fire and killed 15 inhabitants. Monday, police opened fire on the funeral procession for 10 protesters killed in demonstrations in the Damascus suburb of Douma.
The fact that armed elements have taken over and are willing to use violence against Assad regime – and in the capital yet - marks a new and dangerous spiral of violence in the two-week long protest. Until now the violence came from regime forces against protesters. Now that the opposition is resorting to arms, the government may well escalate its crackdown on dissident demonstrations.
The Syrian uprising took a new turn Tuesday, April 5, when armed protesters opened fire for the first time on security forces from a well-laid ambush in a Damascus suburb. Two policemen were killed according to first reports. The fact that armed elements have taken over and are willing to use violence against Assad regime – and in the capital yet - marks a new and dangerous stage in the two-week long protest.
Syria's banned opposition groups and Muslim Brotherhood, under the combined new banner of "The Syrian Revolution 2011," earlier announed a fresh round of demonstrations against President Bashar Assad starting Tuesday, April 5, and lasting until next week, debkafile's Middle East sources report.
Both sides of the conflict realize that the Assad regime is not yet at the tipping-point for its survival after street protest rallies and bloody crackdowns centering on Daraa in the south and Latakia on the Mediterranean coast, in which 110 demonstrators died. However, a mass, nationwide uprising could badly shake its stability because it would seriously overtax Assad's loyal military and security troops.
The opposition and the regime are meanwhile playing cat and mouse to see which holds the balance. The protest movement has already made an important gain: Even if Assad weathers the storm, his regime will never recover its old stability, arrogance and confidence. After 11 years in power, the Syrian president's authority will be on the wane.
To knock it over completely, the Sunnis, who are 76 percent of the Syria's population of 26 million, must join the protest movement en masse. This they have so far avoided doing for fear of the bullets which Assad's loyalist forces do not hesitate to shoot.
Because it is hard to get ordinary Sunni Muslims out on the streets, the heads of Syrian Revolution 2011 have instigated a campaign of passive resistance. This week, for example, opposition leaders told the population to stop paying their electricity bills, an act of protest that has caught on in Syria's big cities. The Assad regime is therefore confronted both by the "Days of Rage" and quiet civil resistance.
Furthermore, the important port-town of Latakia has split down the middle between two opposing camps – the 300,000 members of the ruling Allawite sect fear to venture into the districts populated by the town's 400,000 Sunnis – and vice versa. Army control is reduced to keeping open the road linking the Syria's main import and export port facilities to the highway out of the city.
In the next 48 hours, the opposition is hoping to whip up mass demonstrations in Aleppo and Damascus, the capital. Aleppo, a city of 2.8 million inhabitants is the political and economic hub of the Syrian Sunni community. Therefore, major outbreaks there would produce a big crack in Assad's authority.
The Syrian ruler has tried to pre-empt the Aleppo demonstration by pouring substantial armed strength into the city, cutting its Internet links and arresting thousands of people suspected of opposition ties. But he faces a huge problem. He can't trust the Sunni rank and file to obey orders to suppress a large-scale Sunni insurrection in Aleppo - only the Allawite units which owe loyalty to the president and the Assad clan. He must therefore rely on the support of the 4th Army Division and the security and intelligence services and they may be too thin on the ground to shoulder the task. He dare not try and loose Sunni troops on the protesters of Aleppo for fear they join the protesters.

In first Damascus firefight, 2 Syrian policemen, 15 demonstrators shot dead
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report April 5, 2011, 9:05 PM (GMT+02:00) Tags: Bashar Assad protests Syria Anti-Assad protest turns violentThe Syrian uprising took a new turn Tuesday, April 5, when armed protesters ambushed and shot dead two policemen in the Damascus suburb of Kfar Batna. Syrian troops then opened fire and killed 15 inhabitants.
Monday, police opened fire on the funeral procession for 10 protesters killed in demonstrations in the Damascus suburb of Douma.
The fact that armed elements have taken over and are willing to use violence against Assad regime – and in the capital yet - marks a new and dangerous spiral of violence in the two-week long protest. Until now the violence came from regime forces against protesters. Now that the opposition is resorting to arms, the government may well escalate its crackdown on dissident demonstrations.
The Syrian uprising took a new turn Tuesday, April 5, when armed protesters opened fire for the first time on security forces from a well-laid ambush in a Damascus suburb. Two policemen were killed according to first reports. The fact that armed elements have taken over and are willing to use violence against Assad regime – and in the capital yet - marks a new and dangerous stage in the two-week long protest.
Syria's banned opposition groups and Muslim Brotherhood, under the combined new banner of "The Syrian Revolution 2011," earlier announed a fresh round of demonstrations against President Bashar Assad starting Tuesday, April 5, and lasting until next week, debkafile's Middle East sources report.
Both sides of the conflict realize that the Assad regime is not yet at the tipping-point for its survival after street protest rallies and bloody crackdowns centering on Daraa in the south and Latakia on the Mediterranean coast, in which 110 demonstrators died. However, a mass, nationwide uprising could badly shake its stability because it would seriously overtax Assad's loyal military and security troops.
The opposition and the regime are meanwhile playing cat and mouse to see which holds the balance. The protest movement has already made an important gain: Even if Assad weathers the storm, his regime will never recover its old stability, arrogance and confidence. After 11 years in power, the Syrian president's authority will be on the wane.
To knock it over completely, the Sunnis, who are 76 percent of the Syria's population of 26 million, must join the protest movement en masse. This they have so far avoided doing for fear of the bullets which Assad's loyalist forces do not hesitate to shoot.
Because it is hard to get ordinary Sunni Muslims out on the streets, the heads of Syrian Revolution 2011 have instigated a campaign of passive resistance. This week, for example, opposition leaders told the population to stop paying their electricity bills, an act of protest that has caught on in Syria's big cities. The Assad regime is therefore confronted both by the "Days of Rage" and quiet civil resistance. Furthermore, the important port-town of Latakia has split down the middle between two opposing camps – the 300,000 members of the ruling Allawite sect fear to venture into the districts populated by the town's 400,000 Sunnis – and vice versa. Army control is reduced to keeping open the road linking the Syria's main import and export port facilities to the highway out of the city. In the next 48 hours, the opposition is hoping to whip up mass demonstrations in Aleppo and Damascus, the capital. Aleppo, a city of 2.8 million inhabitants is the political and economic hub of the Syrian Sunni community. Therefore, major outbreaks there would produce a big crack in Assad's authority.
The Syrian ruler has tried to pre-empt the Aleppo demonstration by pouring substantial armed strength into the city, cutting its Internet links and arresting thousands of people suspected of opposition ties.But he faces a huge problem. He can't trust the Sunni rank and file to obey orders to suppress a large-scale Sunni insurrection in Aleppo - only the Allawite units which owe loyalty to the president and the Assad clan. He must therefore rely on the support of the 4th Army Division and the security and intelligence services and they may be too thin on the ground to shoulder the task. He dare not try and loose Sunni troops on the protesters of Aleppo for fear they join the protesters.

To survive, Assad must stop Sunni unrest infecting army
DEBKAfile Exclusive Analysis March 26, 2011,
The protest against Bashar Assad’s regime is swelling. From its first epicenter in the southern town of Deraa it spread Friday, March 25, to new cities, Homs, Aleppo, Latakia and parts of Damascus. It has quickly attained the scale unforeseen by the regime of
a popular uprising by the majority Sunni population (74 percent) against Allawite-dominated (15 percent) rule.
Army troops gunned the protesters down in what witnesses described as a massacre of scores and hundreds injured, raising calls from the opposition for international intervention.
The number of dead and injured cannot be reliably determined. debkafile’s intelligence sources report that special Syrian security clean-up units removed the bodies as they fell.
The authorities were caught unawares by the upsurge of street rallies that followed preachers’ sermons in hundreds of Sunni mosques calling on their congregations to go out and drive the Assads and the minority Allawite sect from power. The Syrian secret service missed the Muslim Brotherhood’s hand in organizing this mass street eruption. The strongest rallying cry came from the influential radical Egyptian television preacher Yussuf Qaradawi who called on Syria’s Sunni community to stand up for its rights as a majority.
Because the army’s 4th Division commanded by Bashar’s brother Maher Assad, the only unit to be manned by Allawites, is tied down in suppressing riots in the southern town of Deraa and most of the troops in all other units are Sunnis, Assad is short of trusted contingents to defend his regime. He figured that fresh outbreaks in Deraa would inflame the rest of the country and therefore kept the 4th Division in place.
But the outbreaks spread to other key cities anyway under slogans calling for solidarity with the martyrs of Deraa and threatening his power centers in Damascus and beyond.
Neither the conciliatory measures announced on Thursday nor the security crackdown against protesters has succeeded in stifling dissent and defusing the crisis.
Defiancecontinues in Deraa itself even after demonstrators were gunned down with live bullets. The al-Omari mosque, which was stormed by security forces on Tuesday night, was reported to be back in the hands of protesters.The mosque has been the focal point of dissent in Deraa.
The tipping point for the 11-year old Assad regime (which followed the one his father established after a military coup) is therefore not far off unless he makes the right decision or receives outside help.
He can either opt for the Qaddafi option, for instance, or follow the example of the King of Bahrain.
From the outset of the Libya revolt in February, Muammar Qaddafi opted for abandoning the east and focusing his military effort on preserving his centers of power in Tripoli and its outlying towns. After stabilizing his rule, he planned to set out and wrest the rest of the country from the rebels opposing his regime.
So far, his gamble has succeeded. The rebels backed by international forces have not unseated him.
Will Assad decide after Friday that he has enough loyal military strength to buttress his rule over all of Syria, or choose to pull in his horns and concentrate on saving Damascus?
Since much of his army is unreliable, the Syrian ruler may have to opt for the Bahrain remedy - namely, calling for outside help as did King Hamid al Khalifa who asked Riyadh for Saudi forces to prop up his throne against a Shiite-led uprising.
The allies who come to mind in the case of Assad are Iran, the Lebanese Hizballah, pro-Iranian Palestinian groups with bases in Damascus - Hamas, Jihad Islami and Ahmad Jibril’s Popular Palestinian Front-General Command.
It would take Tehran no more than a few hours to fly Revolutionary Guards units into Damascus. An Iranian command structure is already positioned at Syrian armed forces headquarters in Damascus. Also available to Tehran is an Iraqi Shiite militia, the Mehdi Army of the radical cleric Moqtada Sadr, a good personal friend both of Hizballah’s Hassan Nasrallah and Assad.
Saturday, there was widespread speculation that Tehran would do its utmost to rescue the Syrian ruler who only recently opened the port of Latakia for an Iranian base.
Giving Hizballah a foothold in Syria is more complicated given the unstated competition between him and the Syrian ruler and the latter’s reservations about the former’s rising military strength and effective secret and terrorist capabilities. Assad would undoubtedly take into account that once Hizballah gained a foothold in Syria, it would be hard to dislodge.
Putting the fate of the Assad regime in the hands of radical Palestinian organizations would be equally imprudent and, worse, a humiliation.
It would give Palestinians their second open door to an Arab uprising, the first of which gave Hamas undreamed of leverage in Egypt.
Assad may even stage an attack on Israel as a desperate diversionary tactic from his troubles.

Rifi Declares Full Control of Roumieh Prison as Riots Spread to Jeb Jennine Jail
Naharnet/Security forces stormed Lebanon's notorious main prison of Roumieh on Tuesday where three prison guards were being detained by inmates who have been rioting since the weekend demanding an amnesty and better conditions. "We have gained full control over the Roumieh prison after a joint operation by the army and the Internal Security Forces," said ISF chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi after his arrival at the prison to follow up on the situation. "The operation is almost over and we're inspecting all the cells," Rifi added. MTV reported that army troops and policemen had entered all the buildings and wards at Roumieh to contain the situation. "Other security personnel have deployed on the roofs of the buildings as an ISF repairs team is readying to fix the damaged facilities after the mutiny ends," the TV network added.
For its part, LBC television quoted an officer as saying that the storming of the prison was not aimed at clashing with the inmates. "Reports about the death of a prisoner have not been confirmed yet," LBC added. Father Marwan Ghanem, who is involved in negotiations to free the guards, told AFP earlier Tuesday that the detained guards were in good health and were being treated well. "Authorities have been able to contact them to make sure they are OK," he said. "The inmates consider them as brothers and are holding them just to pressure authorities to respond to their demands."
A security official said the guards were not under threat and were simply being prevented from leaving an area of the prison. Meanwhile, some 70 family members of the prisoners clashed with security forces outside the jail and burned tires while demanding they be given access to the inmates. Ghanem said the power supply to the prison had been cut off to prevent inmates from recharging cell phones introduced illegally.
The inmates began rioting on Saturday, burning mattresses and smashing windows and doors to press their demands for better conditions at the overcrowded prison, 12 kilometers northeast of Beirut. After a meeting with prisoners, a spokesman for the inmate's families held a press conference to announce the demands. "Following the pardons that had been granted to Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun, Fatah official Sultan Abul Ainein, the Dinniyeh (Islamist) detainees and others, we demand an amnesty for all the prisoners in all the jails," the spokesman said, reciting a statement issued by Roumieh inmates. Future News television quoted security sources as saying that a political decision by high-ranking officials had been taken to end the riots at Roumieh. Meanwhile, Roumieh's tensions spread to the Jeb Jennine prison in the Bekaa, where inmates set their belongings and mattresses on fire, demanding an amnesty. At once, the Internal Security Forces called in an army unit for backup as ambulances and firefighting vehicles arrived on the scene and controlled the fire. As no clashes between the security forces and the 70 inmates were reported, relatives of some inmates gathered outside the prison, carrying banners demanding an amnesty for the prisoners. Against the backdrop of the events, the ISF raised its alert level to 90 percent and reinforced its troops in prisons throughout Lebanon, state-run National News Agency reported.
Caretaker Interior Minister Ziad Baroud acknowledged at a press conference Tuesday that conditions at Roumieh were intolerable and that quick action was needed to prevent an escalation. He noted that of the 3,700 inmates currently at the prison, only 721 had been tried and convicted. "I am very supportive of their demands," Baroud said. "We are working to deal with the matter without having one drop of blood spilled." He said his ministry has been working to improve conditions at Roumieh for two years, and urged other ministries and the cabinet to follow suit by speeding up the trials process and providing finance. Poor conditions in prisons and a slow judicial process have sparked several riots in Lebanese jails. Some prisoners can be incarcerated for years before their cases come to court. Compounding the situation is the political stalemate in Lebanon which has been without a government since January, when Prime Minister Saad Hariri's cabinet was toppled by Hizbullah and its allies. Roumieh was originally built to house 1,500 inmates but is today crammed with nearly 4,000 men -- 65 percent of the country's prison population.(naharnet-AFP) Beirut, 05 Apr 11, 21:41

Two Inmates Die in Raid on Roumieh Prison as Families Protest Again
Naharnet/Two prisoners died when security forces stormed Roumieh prison to halt a riot by the inmates and secure the release of several guards, security officials said Wednesday.
The officials said one of the inmates died when a sonic bomb he grabbed from a policeman detonated in his hand. They said the other inmate died of a heart attack during the raid late Tuesday. The assault freed three or four guards who had been taken hostage by the prisoners; at least six inmates were injured.The rioting started on Saturday by prisoners demanding improved conditions. They later set a fire inside one of the buildings. The riot was over on Wednesday and security forces and the army's special forces are now in control of the prison. But the families of inmates who sought to enter the prison to visit their loved ones, pelted security forces with stones and threw empty glass bottles at them. They also blocked the main road and shouted slogans calling for an amnesty and improvement of prison conditions. Roumieh was originally built to accommodate 1,500 prisoners but its population has swelled to as many as 4,000, making conditions intolerable, authorities say. Of the 3,700 prisoners currently held there, a mere 721 have been tried and convicted. The remainder have been awaiting trial, some for months or even years.(AP-AFP-Naharnet) Beirut, 06 Apr 11, 13:20

More Lebanese banks in US Treasury’s crosshairs, Al-Liwaa reports
April 6, 2011 /The US Treasury Department is closely monitoring several Lebanese banks and may take punitive action against one of them soon, Al-Liwaa newspaper reported on Wednesday.The department has placed one Lebanese bank under “focused surveillance” due to “suspicious activities by the bank and movement of funds concerning a Lebanese party,” the daily quoted an anonymous US source as saying. The Treasury may take punitive measures against the bank as it did earlier this year against Lebanese Canadian Bank, the source said.
“The file related to [the bank] is nearly complete and includes account numbers used for extensive money laundering.”
The source said that communications are underway between Beirut and Washington in an attempt to prevent sanctions against the bank “by arranging a compromise whereby the bank in question would close all suspect accounts.”The source also said that a third Lebanese bank was under US Treasury surveillance but had “hurried a month ago to address its situation with American authorities.”“[The bank] closed 11 suspect accounts that had been used over the past five years for money laundering and the funding of suspicious operations, with value exceeding 100 million USD.”A fourth Lebanese bank has been warned that it must act against some accounts being used in the US for tax evasion purposes, the source added, but said that this issue is not connected to money laundering. In February, the US accused the Beirut-based Lebanese Canadian Bank of having ties to Hezbollah and money laundering for a drug network. It ordered US banks to cancel all payable-through and correspondent accounts linked to LCB. On March 4, Lebanon’s Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh announced that LCB would be merged with Société Générale de Banque au Liban (SGBL).-NOW Lebanon

Maronite Bishops Call for Cooperation and Quick Cabinet Formation after Security Shakeups
Naharnet/The Council of Maronite Bishops on Wednesday urged politicians to cooperate and speed up the formation of a government that is capable of dealing with the demands of citizens. Following their monthly meeting at Bkirki, the bishops stressed the need "to speed up the formation of a new cabinet capable of taking responsibility and dealing with the affairs of the nation and citizens." The statement was read by Monsignor Youssef Toq after the meeting that was headed by newly elected Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi and former head of the Maronite church Nasrallah Sfeir. He said the latest security shakeups in the country, including the Roumieh prison riot, the kidnapping of the Estonians and the bombing of the church in Zahle "are worrying and are taking place amid a paralysis in constitutional institutions." Toq reiterated that al-Rahi along with bishops and officials from different sects would visit the Vatican next week to thank Pope Benedict XVI for his support. The bishops also expressed regret at the suffering of the Lebanese community in the violence-torn Ivory Coast, hoping for an improvement in their conditions. Beirut, 06 Apr 11, 12:33

March 14: Security Incidents are Political Messages from Internal and External Sides
Naharnet/The March 14 General Secretariat commended on Wednesday the security forces' efforts in confronting the recent security incidents in Lebanon, noting that the instability "justifies the March 14 demand to end the possession of arms outside the state's authority." It said in a statement after its weekly meeting: "Besides being a threat to stability, the security incidents are political messages from internal and external sides once again aimed at using Lebanon as a vessel to deliver political messages." It also praised France, Jordan, and the United States' efforts in protecting Lebanese expatriates in the Ivory Coast, noting that their plight demands the formation of a political-social-economic crisis unit aimed at monitoring their situation. Addressing the government formation process, the March 14 general secretariat held the March 8 camp responsible for the ongoing crisis, warning that the prolonged obstruction of state institutions "may be part of the plan to establish Hizbullah's statelet."Furthermore, it condemned Hizbullah's accusations against it that it was responsible for the delay in the government formation "while in actuality its crippled and confused camp should be blamed." Turning to regional developments, the March 14 general secretariat repeated its position that true stability in the Arab world lies in establishing freedom and democracy, warning of an Iranian agenda to control the region. Beirut, 06 Apr 11, 14:23

LF: WikiLeaks Report Confirmed that Party Doesn't Possess Weapons
Naharnet/The Lebanese Forces stated on Wednesday that the WikiLeaks cable released by Al-Akhbar newspaper on Tuesday confirmed that the party does not possess weapons.
The cable claimed that LF leader Samir Geagea had informed former U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michele Sison that the party has 10,000 trained fighters ready to combat Hizbullah.
The LF statement added: "The cable, dated May 9, 2008, coincided with Hizbullah's shelling of Mount Lebanon and invasion of Beirut and therefore the statements made during the meeting could not be taken out of the context of the developments witnessed in Lebanon during the May 7."
"Geagea spoke of resorting to fighters should the army fail in protecting all Lebanese territories, which demonstrated that he placed the army as a priority," it continued.
"He also clearly demanded that the army commander be pressured to protect the people and state institutions, suggesting the deployment of an Arab deterrent force as a second resort," it added. He also made such a demand publicly, leaving self defense as the last resort, said the statement. "Geagea's implicit positions are the same he constantly makes in the open, a fact that even his political adversaries acknowledge," it noted. "This all demonstrated that the Lebanese Forces does not possess any weapons," it stressed. It criticized Al-Akhbar saying that it jumps to conclusions without taking into consideration the context in which the statements were made. Beirut, 06 Apr 11, 14:46

WikiLeaks: Israeli Official Called on U.S. to Support March 14 Camp instead of Lebanese Government
Naharnet/An Israeli official had requested in 2008 that the United States directly support the March 14 camp instead of the Lebanese state out of fears that Hizbullah may take over the cabinet, said a leaked U.S. Embassy cable published exclusively in Al-Akhbar newspaper on Wednesday. Nimrod Barkan, then head of Israel's Foreign Ministry Center for Policy Research, made his statements during a meeting with U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman in Israel.During the June 6, 2008, meeting, Barkan told Feltman that Israel and the United States should work on supporting the moderates in Lebanon, said the WikiLeaks cable. "The March 14 camp is brave, but it has been castrated," the Israeli official said. Feltman emphasized the need to support the Lebanese army against Hizbullah, to which Barkan responded that it would be useless "because it would never directly confront Hizbullah and it could eventually fall under its control."He therefore suggested that the Lebanese Internal Security Forces, which Barkan called a "Sunni militia", be backed instead. Beirut, 06 Apr 11, 12:26

WikiLeaks: Jumblat Says 'We Currently Don't Need Democracy, But Money'
Naharnet/Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat stressed in a number of leaked U.S. Embassy cables from 2006 and 2009 published exclusively in Al-Akhbar on Wednesday Lebanon's need for funds after the July 2006 war. A July 11, 2006, cable spoke of meeting between the MP and then U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Jeffery Feltman during which he told him about his July 7 visit to Saudi Arabia which he said was aimed at convincing newly crowned Saudi King Abdullah to finance the March 14 camp.
He told the monarch that the funding "was aimed at confronting the Shiite expansion in Lebanon and the region." "King Abdullah was not receptive to the suggestion … his predecessor was much more generous," noted Jumblat. During a later cable, dated August 21, 2006, he said that the Lebanese government should "act quickly to defeat Hizbullah's reconstruction efforts" after the July 2006 war. Jumblat calculated that the some 200 million dollars would be needed to rebuild the 15,000 residential units destroyed during the war, saying: "This is a tiny figured compared to Hariri's capabilities!""We currently don't need democracy, but money," the MP declared. A May 14, 2009, cable revealed that Jumblat and a number of March 14 officials "finally received Saudi funds." Beirut, 06 Apr 11, 12:55

WikiLeaks: Hamadeh Called for Employing Madina Bank File to Tarnish President Lahoud's Image
Naharnet/MP Marwan Hamadeh stressed the importance of money in confronting Hizbullah's growing influence in Lebanon, revealed a leaked U.S. Embassy cable published in Al-Akhbar newspaper on Wednesday. The August 2006 WikiLeaks cable spoke of a meeting between Hamadeh, then MP Nayla Mouawad, and then U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Jeffrey Feltman during which they hoped that the American administration would pressure Arab gulf states to transfer political funds to the March 14 camp to confront Hizbullah. Hamadeh also hoped that the U.S. would also pressure Saudi Arabia to grant Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat 3-4 million dollars to "keep the Druze aligned with the March 14 camp."The MPs suggested that the Madina Bank file and the U.N.'s oil-for-food program would be employed to tarnish then President Emile Lahoud's reputation. They made the proposal without adding further details. "The Lebanese will remember who gave them money and not who built bridges," Hamadeh and Mouawad said in reference to the reconstruction process after the July 2006 war. Hamadeh added: "We are a waging an existential war and money is the enemy's best weapon." Beirut, 06 Apr 11, 13:20

WikiLeaks: Saniora Rejected Transfer of 500 and 300 Million Dollars 'So They Don't Go to Berri's Pocket'
Naharnet/A leaked U.S. Embassy cable published exclusively in Al-Akhbar newspaper on Wednesday revealed that then Prime Minister Fouad Saniora had rejected a transfer of 500 and 300 million dollars to Lebanon aimed at rebuilding the country after the July 2006 war. The WikiLeaks cable spoke of a meeting between Saniora and then U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Jeffrey Feltman on August 18, 2006, during which the former explained that he rejected the aid money from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait "because he didn't want the money to go to Speaker Nabih Berri's pocket." Regarding the war, the premier said that the Israeli attacks are only strengthening Hizbullah and not weakening it. Furthermore, he rejected accusations that the Lebanese government was ignoring United Nations Security Council resolution 1701, asking Feltman: "Doesn't your government understand that the deployment of the Lebanese army in the South is an historic achievement?" Beirut, 06 Apr 11, 11:44

U.S. Defense Secretary Visits Saudi Arabia
Naharnet/U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates arrived in Riyadh on Wednesday to meet with Saudi King Abdullah, as the Arabian Peninsula is shaken by spiraling unrest in Yemen. The meeting, which will be Gates' first with King Abdullah since the monarch returned home in February after months of treatment abroad for a back ailment, comes amid mounting international anger over bloodshed in the kingdom's southern neighbor Yemen and pressure on its president to stand down. Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, a close U.S. and Saudi ally, has faced months of protests calling for his departure, in which around 125 people have been killed. The Gulf Cooperation Council, of which Saudi Arabia is a leading member, is seeking to mediate between the Yemeni government and the opposition in a bid to find a way out of the country's political impasse.(AFP) Beirut, 06 Apr 11, 12:33

Roumieh prison riots aim at weakening Mikati and Baroud, 'Al Anbaa'
BEIRUT | iloubnan.info - April 06, 2011Political sources told 'Al Anbaa' newspaper that the uprisings in Roumieh prison aim at pressuring Prime Minister designate Najib Mikati to meet the demands if March 8 coalition in the process of cabinet formation on one hand; and highlight outgoing Interior minister Ziad Baroud's inability to manage prisons and incompetence to keep the interior portfolio. Inmates began rioting in Roumieh prison on Saturday, burning mattresses and smashing windows and doors to press their demands for better conditions at the overcrowded prison. The delay in cabinet formation has been reportedly delayed due to a dispute over the interior ministry between President Michel Sleiman who wants to keep the portfolio to Ziad Baroud, and Change and Reform bloc head MP Michel Aoun who claims he Baroud is incompetent and the has a special reform plan to implement in the ministry

Muslim Gang Leader Terrorizing Christians in Egyptian Village
4-6-2011
By Mary Abdelmassih
Cairo (AINA) -- Ten human rights organization staged a rally on March 30 in front of the building of the Attorney General to bring to public attention the tragedy of some nine thousand Coptic villagers living in terror since end January in the Upper Egyptian villages of Badraman and Nazlet Badraman in Deir Mawas, Minya. Rights activists and Badraman villagers were joined by attorney activist Peter elNaggar, who filed a complaint with the Attorney General against 34-year-old Muslim police informer Ali Hussein, nicknamed "Holaku" after the ruthless Mongol leader. Hussein was accused of terrorizing the Copts, raping their wives, kidnapping their children for ransom and extortion. Attorney elNaggar said that I f proven these charges are punishable by the death penalty. Security forces were informed last January of the incidents in both villages, "but they just turned a blind eye," said Coptic activist Nader Shoukry, who publicized the story last week after registering all crimes against the Coptic villagers. The terror started on January 28, when Ali Hussein assaulted Copt Khalil Suweiha and his family. Mr. Suweiha filed a report with the police in Deir Mawas but was forced to drop the charges after being threatened with death by Hussein and his 200-man armed gang.
Hussein then started ?extorting money from Copts and attacking their homes. They all had to withdraw the police reports they filed against him after being threatened.
On January 29, Hussein, broke into the house of another Copt (his name is withheld), raped his wife and mother after being restrained by Hussein's men. He was too frightened to report the crime to the police after being threatened that his children would be killed, according to activist Mariam Ragy.
Alaa Yusuf Iskandar, 30, was kidnapped and his family paid a ransom of 200,000 Egyptian pounds to Hussein to set him free. Although the family reported the kidnapping to the police, no action was taken. Hanna Samuel had his 12-year old son kidnapped on March 8; the well to do Coptic family paid a ransom of nearly 500,000 Egyptian pounds to free their child.
According to Shoukry, "Ali Hussein has set himself up as governor of the two villages despite the presence of two village mayors. He is practicing injustice and tyranny only against the Copts in the villages. He walks between Christian homes, carrying a weapon on his shoulder, followed by his brothers and cousins and more than fifty armed thugs from outside the villages." He added that Hussein and his gang declared that they are the government of the Copts. The incidents of extortion, looting, crop destruction and kidnapping children for ransom have become so prevalent many families have left the villages as they have no more money to give him. "His despotism and tyranny reached the extent of imposing a curfew on the Copts from six o'clock in the evening to seven o'clock in the morning. Any Copt daring to break the curfew is beaten up and terrorized," Shoukry said.
On Saturday April 2, Ali Hussein forced twenty three Coptic villagers to go with him to Cairo to the offices of the Attorney General to withdraw their complaints against him, which they had filed on March 30. He detained their children to make sure they would follow his orders. When they arrived in Cairo the offices of the Attorney General were closed, so Hussein brought the Copts to several newspapers to say the Copts and Muslims live in harmony on Badraman. Only the semi-official newspaper Al-Ahram published his story.
On Sunday morning police and army forces stormed the village to arrest Hussein and his gang, but he was tipped off and he and most of his gang fled beforehand. Only a few members of his gang were arrested. The police stayed only three hours in the villages before withdrawing, leaving the Coptic villagers again at the mercy of a furious Ali Hussein.
Since Monday Hussein has been assaulting the Copts in the villages to force the army to release the members of his gang that were arrested on Sunday.
Today the villagers appealed to Field Marshal Mohammed Tantawi to urgently rescue them from the oppression of Ali Hussein, who is holding them as hostages in the village until the release of his men. Another rally is to be staged on April 6 by the villagers of Badraman, joined by human rights organizations, in front of the offices of the Attorney General in Cairo. After the rally the villagers will meet with the Attorney General to submit a report about the latest incidents and to demand quick action to save them from the oppression they are presently suffering at the hands of Ali Hussein and his gang.
Copyright (C) 2011, Assyrian International News Agency.

Islamists on Welfare
By Kathy Shaidle
www.pajamasmedia.com
http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/paid-to-plot-the-wests-demise/
4-6-2011
In 2008, the Toronto Sun reported [1] that "hundreds of [Greater Toronto Area] Muslim men in polygamous marriages -- some with a harem of wives -- are receiving welfare and social benefits for each of their spouses, thanks to the city and province, Muslim leaders say."
"Polygamy is a regular part of life for many Muslims," Canadian Society of Muslims president Mumtaz Ali declared bluntly. "Ontario recognizes religious marriages for Muslims and others."
Government officials quickly denied the Muslim leader's claims about immigration law and social benefits regulations. Only one public servant seemed sufficiently concerned. "This is wrong," said city councilor Rob Ford. "They should put a stop to this immediately."
Instead, welfare abuse by Muslims appears to have metastasized across the Western world. Almost three years later, news stories about radical Muslims -- often immigrants -- engaged in social benefits scams emerge regularly from Europe, Canada, and Australia. Even when they are not involved in fraud, Muslims frequently are overrepresented on welfare rolls, compared with other communities. The statistics from around the globe are jaw-dropping, especially in economically uncertain times.
According to one 2007 source [2], immigration, of which Muslims comprise a significant part, "costs Sweden at least 40 to 50 billion Swedish kroner [approximately $7 billion] every year … and has greatly contributed to bringing the Swedish welfare state to the brink of bankruptcy." Yet two years earlier, the country's finance minister [3] declared counterintuitively that "more immigrants should be allowed into Sweden in order to safeguard the welfare system."
One Iranian immigrant to Sweden expressed astonishment [2] at his new country's policies: "In Sweden my family encountered a political system that seemed very strange. The interpreter told us that Sweden is a country where the government will put a check into your mailbox each month if you don't work. She explained that there was no reason to get a job."
The statistics from Norway are even more shocking. According to a University of Oslo study [2], "non-Western immigrants" are ten times as likely to be on social assistance as native Norwegians.
In Germany, Muslims are four times as likely [4] to be receiving welfare as non-Muslims. However, unlike his counterpart in Sweden, Berlin's former finance senator Thilo Sarrazin is speaking out against the benefits system and has penned a bestselling book [5] condemning the nation's immigration policies. Sarrazin stated while in office [6] that welfare recipients could feed themselves on four Euros per day, adding that "losing weight is the least of their problems."
Research [7] by Daniel Pipes and Lars Hedegaard from 2002 reveals that mostly Muslim immigrants in Denmark "constitute five percent of the population but consume upwards of 40 percent of the welfare spending." In that country, numerous "single" women [2] who receive social assistance are really the wives of polygamous Muslim men.
Polygamy and benefits fraud go hand in hand across the continent. Last year in France, a polygamous Muslim [8] and father of 17 children was charged with welfare fraud when authorities discovered that "two of his companions lived in Dubai for a year while continuing to receive welfare benefits worth 10,000 Euros." The man did not exactly have a low profile, as he made news previously when one of his wives was fined for driving while wearing a niqab [9] that restricted her vision.
In one instance, a member of the British government, which has been known to grant additional welfare benefits [10] to cover a man's additional wives, openly promoted welfare use and abuse among her Muslim constituents. Last December, deputy Labour Party leader Harriet Harman [11] labeled Muslim immigrants who send a portion of their welfare payments to families back home "heroic." She even "called for tax refunds to encourage more immigrants to follow suit."
However, ordinary Muslims are not the only ones exploiting generous Western welfare systems for personal gain. In 2005, the UK Telegraph reported that the governor of Pakistan's Sindh province [12] had received British state benefits of around £1,000 a month for ten months, plus the rent for a northwest London house.
Even worse, many well-known Islamic radicals are on the dole. The irony of the situation is inescapable: their parasitical behavior obliges governments, through taxpayers, to subsidize their adopted country's own destruction.
For example, one of England's most notorious Muslim leaders, hate preacher and Islamic law proponent Anjem Choudary [13], has boasted about receiving £25,000 a year in benefits, explaining that the money "belongs to Allah." Membership in Choudary's Islam4UK group was criminalized [14] after he threatened to lead [15] 500 followers on a highly provocative "anti-war" march, "carrying empty coffins [13] to mark Muslims 'mercilessly murdered' in Iraq and Afghanistan." Choudary even paid the £50 fine brought down against Emdadur Choudhury [16] (no relation) for burning poppies while disrupting somber Remembrance Day services last year. It was revealed that Emdadur Choudhury, who has been dubbed "the designer label extremist [17]" for his taste in Western clothes, lives in "a free council flat and [receives] almost £800 a month [in] state handouts."
Then there is Abdul Rahman Saleem [18], who once served prison time for inciting racial hatred during London riots against the Danish Muhammad cartoons [19]. He now stands accused [20] of "fiddling the benefits system by working while claiming jobseekers' allowance." A "friend"-turned-informant told the Daily Mail, "He likes to say 'Allah provides' -- but in reality it is the state he seems to despise so much that makes the provisions for him. The Child Support Agency claim[s] there is nothing they can do to make him pay for his children because he is in receipt of jobseekers' allowance."
Meanwhile, five Muslim men [21] convicted of harassment for shouting insults during a 2009 homecoming parade for British soldiers nevertheless went unpunished, declaring that taxpayers would foot the bill for court costs because they were on welfare.
Moreover, it was revealed last year that the council house occupied by the wife and eight children of England's most infamous convicted hate preacher, the hook-handed Abu Hamza [22], received a £40,000 "makeover paid for by taxpayers." His children are British-born, the Daily Mail reported, "meaning they are entitled to support from the state, which would continue even if Hamza is extradited." This support has included close to £700 per week in rent, benefits, and allowances.
Not even revelations that some actual terrorists collect welfare payments before and after they commit their crimes have prompted sweeping reforms of the benefits system.
Two weeks after the July 7, 2005, bombings in London, four explosions disrupted the city's public transportation system once more. (Fortunately, only one injury was reported.) British authorities subsequently discovered that the Muslim radicals [23] involved in the attack had collected more than £165,000 in benefits, aided by multiple addresses and national insurance numbers [24]. Two of them originally won asylum in Britain by using forged passports and false names.
Abu Qatada [25], sometimes referred to as "Osama bin Laden's ambassador in Europe," was found guilty of plotting to plant bombs during millennium celebrations in Jordan. After his release from prison in 2008, he was granted £150 a week in "incapacity benefits" for a bad back -- despite later being photographed [26] wearing a knapsack and carrying groceries on the anniversary of the July 7 London bombings. Along with publishing that photo, the Telegraph revealed that "Qatada's family is understood to be claiming around £47,000 a year in benefits -- £500 a week in child benefits for the four of his five children under 18, £210 for income support, £150 for incapacity benefit, £45 in council tax benefit -- along with a council home worth around £800,000."
Similar situations have occurred in Australia. When Abdul Nacer Benbrika [27] stood trial on terrorism charges, it emerged that the illegal Algerian immigrant and father of seven, who had been ordered deported three times, "never worked a day" in 19 years and "has cost us millions" in welfare payments, "baby bonus" checks, and other benefits, in the words of one broadcaster.
Furthermore, Australian David Hicks [28] brazenly declared his plan to go on the dole as soon as he was released from prison. An unrepentant would-be "martyr," Hicks trained with al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and claims to have met Osama bin Laden 20 times. His father told the Herald Sun in 2007, "He's an Australian citizen. He has a right to that sort of thing."
One of Norway's most notorious welfare recipients is also a convicted terrorist: Mullah Krekar [29], who has been linked to bombings in Madrid and Iraq.
Meanwhile, Canada's most famous welfare recipients -- Muslim or otherwise -- remain the Khadrs [30]. Confessed war criminal Omar Khadr [31] still resides in Guantanamo Bay, having pleaded guilty to killing a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan in 2002. However, his extended family members, all of whom share his radical views, continue to live on welfare [32] in a Toronto suburb.
Despite the public outrage provoked by the Toronto Sun in 2008, little evidence suggests that the situation has improved in Canada. In early 2011, the Mounties charged Ahmad El-Akhal [33], a Quebec immigration consultant, with "providing Canadian citizenship documents to hundreds of people in the Middle East so they could collect benefits and tax refunds" to the tune of $500,000. Adding an original twist on the venerable scam, none of the individuals receiving benefits actually lived in Canada. According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the scheme had been going on since 1999.
This author contacted the officials originally quoted in that Toronto Sun report to ask what is being done about welfare abuse by Muslims. The office of Rob Ford, who is now Toronto mayor, never replied to inquiries. Just one individual, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Community and Social Services, responded -- but only with a boilerplate email. Rebecca MacKenzie explained that the ministry is "not able to provide comment on specific cases due to privacy concerns," adding that they "take allegations of fraud very seriously."
Seriousness is long overdue. As an Islamist Watch blog post [34] from 2009 put it, "Only one adjective properly describes a government that funds those who seek its destruction: suicidal."
URLs in this post:
[1] reported: http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2008/12/31/7891231.html
[2] one 2007 source: http://www.globalpolitician.com/22773-euroimmigration
[3] finance minister: http://www.thelocal.se/1456/20050519/
[4] four times as likely: http://www.newsweek.com/2010/09/06/the-scandal-behind-the-sarrazin-scandal.html
[5] bestselling book: http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,713796,00.html
[6] stated while in office: http://open.salon.com/blog/lost_in_berlin/2010/08/30/are_muslim_immigrants_making_europe_poorer_and_stupider
[7] Research: http://www.danielpipes.org/450/something-rotten-in-denmark
[8] polygamous Muslim: http://www.france24.com/en/20100609-suspected-muslim-polygamist-welfare-fraud-lies-hebbadj-burqa-france-crime
[9] driving while wearing a niqab: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9F8TQ380&show_article=1
[10] additional welfare benefits: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/1577395/Multiple-wives-will-mean-multiple-benefits.html
[11] Harriet Harman: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1337876/Harman-praises-hero-immigrants-send-welfare-handouts-home.html#ixzz19zbbSGZe
[12] governor of Pakistan's Sindh province: http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/2003/05/londonistan-follies
[13] Anjem Choudary: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1242704/My-benefits-belong-Allah-Hate-preacher-Anjem-Choudary-defends-25-000-year-payments-British-taxpayers.html
[14] criminalized: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8453560.stm
[15] threatened to lead: http://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/uk_national_news/4828799.Town__defiant__over_Islamic_march/
[16] Emdadur Choudhury: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1363772/Muslim-extremist-burned-poppies-Armistice-Day-fined-just-50.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
[17] the designer label extremist: http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/234098/Choudhury-Designer-label-extremist
[18] Abdul Rahman Saleem: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6903445.stm
[19] Danish Muhammad cartoons: http://zombietime.com/mohammed_image_archive/jyllands-posten_cartoons/
[20] stands accused: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1342562/Peddler-race-hate-Abu-Yahya-accused-swindling-benefits.html
[21] five Muslim men: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1242335/Muslims-called-British-soldiers-rapists-cowards-scum-exercising-freedom-speech-court-hears.html
[22] Abu Hamza: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1329276/Abu-Hamzas-home-40k-makeover-paid-taxpayers.html
[23] Muslim radicals: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-467345/Bombers-benefits-How-refugees-taking-sanctuary-Britain-betrayed-us.html
[24] multiple addresses and national insurance numbers: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article552249.ece
[25] Abu Qatada: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1028399/Muslim-extremist-Abu-Qatada-receive-8-000-incapacity-benefits-year--bad-back.html
[26] photographed: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2280412/Abu-Qatada-Osama-Bin-Ladens-right-hand-man-shopping-in-London.html
[27] Abdul Nacer Benbrika: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7MX909rkWA
[28] David Hicks: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/hicks-in-the-dole-queue/story-e6frf7l6-1111115203032
[29] Mullah Krekar: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/front/map/krekar.html
[30] the Khadrs: http://www.danielpipes.org/1639/the-khadrs-canadas-first-family-of-terrorism
[31] Omar Khadr: http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/01/13/f-omar-khadr.html
[32] live on welfare: http://www.thestar.com/news/article/208502
[33] Ahmad El-Akhal: http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/Quebec+immigration+consultant+arrested+fraud+ring/4070879/story.html
[34] blog post: http://www.islamist-watch.org/blog/2009/12/not-jolly-good-ii-islamists-funded-by-the-uk
[35] Islamist Watch: http://www.islamist-watch.org/
[36] Middle East Forum: http://www.meforum.org/
© 2011, Assyrian International News Agency. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use.

Syria… What Rejectionism and What Conspiracy?
Jameel Theyabi/Al Hayat
Whenever I speak to any of my Syrian friends, I find them disheartened and pouring their rage on President Bashar al-Assad’s last speech. The remarks and criticisms targeting this speech were numerous, but most of them focused on its reliance on old slogans, vague rhetoric and attempts to maneuver around the demands of the protesters who are seeking their rights, freedom and dignity. Al-Assad’s speech carried useless pride and sarcasm, as it covered the popular demands with the cloak of “conspiracy” which has been haunting the Syrian people for fifty years, as though each among the citizens had the expression “no rights as long as there is a conspiracy” written on his forehead. Indeed, instead of implementing the reforms and lifting the state of emergency, the promises remained an “illusion” used by the regime far from any transparency or social justice.
The Syrian people became frustrated after they waited for days for a speech which turned out to be a rejectionist and vague one, especially since the president’s advisor Buthayna Shaaban alluded in press statements to the inclination to annul the emergency law, allow partisan plurality and unleash media freedoms, which are part of the demands that will never be recanted by the protesters, and will even increase.
The people expected their president’s speech to mark the inauguration of a new stage of political, economic and social reforms and the consecration of the rights through laws, not the repetition of the resistance and conspiracy rhetoric. Al-Assad’s speech was similar to his previous ones, as he played the tune of the resistance which his country is hosting, and the foreign conspiracy theory of close and distant countries to detonate sectarian strife through their domestic agents, thus legitimizing the logic of the “infiltrators” which he is currently using, and was previously used by the “cornered” rulers!
I do not know how these presidents have not yet grown tired from linking their governments’ mistakes to conspiracy? Moreover, I do not understand the link between the domestic reforms demanded by the people, and the positions toward the political issues that are directed toward the foreign scene? These are long-standing and archaic arguments. The regimes in the Arab countries are under domestic pressures before being under foreign ones, while the positions of the Western states and foreign powers are not new to the ruling regimes in the region. So, let Al-Assad know that the Tsunami of change which is sweeping the region, will not spare his country as easily as he hopes it would through the promotion of justifications related to the presence of the resistance, the conspiracy theory and the foreign pressures. As long as he continues to reject the introduction of real reforms and refuses to listen and respond to the popular demands, he will hear the roars of the crowds yelling “The people want to topple the regime.”
In an article headlined “14 Reasons to Call for the Toppling of Bashar al-Assad’s Regime,” Syrian academician Amer al-Aazm indicated: “A regime that feels no shame in regard to the continuation of the occupation of its land while it has been boasting verbal resistance and strategic balance for forty years, does not deserve to remain in power. You cannot give a painkiller to cure someone with cancer… We have followed the speech which confirmed to each person who enjoys insight that the regime cannot be reformed. Let no one expect Bashar al-Assad to accept a reform that will affect him and obstruct his monopolization of power and wealth. Al-Assad’s speech was not successful, and the language of threats and security firsts will not protect any regime from the rebelling youth, and the lessons in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya are still vivid in our minds.”
Many know that the prisons of the Syrian regime are filled with opinion and freedom prisoners, that the rights of the Syrian Kurds are wasted, that the citizenship rights are absent, that unemployment is widespread and that the oppressive apparatuses are extremely powerful. However, the Syrian president disregarded all this and is wagering on the resistance and the confrontation of the conspiracy, as though he wanted the Syrian people to sacrifice their rights to ensure those of the others.
I believe that the Syrian president’s speech will provide justification for the fueling of the protests and the increase of the tensions, and will force the people to take to the streets and raise the ceiling of demands. Al-Assad must remember that the language of threats and the distribution of the accusations of “infiltration”, “conspiracy” and “collaboration” among the people did not prevent the Tunisians from taking to the street, did not prevent the Egyptians from upholding their legitimate demands and will not prevent the Syrians from turning into “infiltrators,” from taking to the streets from their homes, alleys, mosques, schools and universities to demand their rights, aspirations and freedom. This has already started through the campaign which was launched on Facebook and called on the Syrians to stage the “Friday of the Martyrs.” So, will the Syrian regime proclaim war against its own people?

Geagea: Syria most likely behind abduction of Estonians
By Nadim Ladki /Daily Star staff/Wednesday, April 06, 2011
Interview
BEIRUT: Lebanese Forces (LF) leader Samir Geagea said Monday that Syria was most likely behind last month’s kidnapping of seven Estonians in Lebanon, adding that an explosion outside a church in Zahle 10 days ago was linked to the abduction and meant to be a diversion.
Geagea also told The Daily Star in an interview that the failure of Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati to form a government so far showed that the Hezbollah-led March 8 coalition was fragmented and incapable of building a state.
The LF leader, a key figure in the March 14 coalition, said the Estonians, snatched at gunpoint near Zahle March 23 while cycling, were likely being held in Syria.
“I don’t want to analyze, I want to discuss the information that we got in the past 24 to 48 hours,” Geagea said of the kidnapping. “When we see that four, five days ago the Syrian brothers started telling the Estonian government through mediators that they can help in this, and crossing that with other almost confirmed information that they [Estonian hostages] are now in Syria or at the very least if they were not in Syria then the key to the hand [that is holding them] is in Syria … the issue becomes clear.”
“Until further notice, I can say that the main side behind it [the abduction] is the brothers in Syria,” he said. “How would they benefit, in what area, it is not clear yet but as long as they [Syrians] offered their services to see if the door is open [for them to negotiate], then we will find out exactly what they want.”
Lebanese security forces have made several arrests linked to the kidnapping but despite earlier reports that they were close to locating the Estonians little progress has been announced in recent days.
Geagea, speaking at his fortress-like complex in Maarab north of Beirut, said the blast outside the church in Zahle was aimed to divert attention away from the kidnapping. “It was a secondary operation and the church wasn’t the target per say. It left damages but it wasn’t a separate attack.”
Geagea said what worried him was the ease with which Lebanese sovereignty was again violated. “Is it right that six years after the Cedar Revolution, 21 years after the Civil War and nearly 68 years after independence such a thing can happen?”
But the LF leader played down fears of a sharp deterioration in the security situation in the country despite the lack of a fully functional government.
“Of course the absence of a government has repercussions and fallouts on the various elements of national life, including security, but until now it seems that all sides in Lebanon are being reasonable and no one has bad intentions,” he said.
On the political front, Geagea predicted that forming a government would eventually fall back into the hands of the March 14 coalition because the rival March 8 camp would not be able to govern Lebanon.
“What is delaying the formation of the government is that what we call the other side, are not one side. All that brings them together is their rejection of the reality that was established after the Cedar Revolution and their wish to destroy it,” he said, in reference to a series of street protests in 2005 that led to the ousting of Syrian troops from Lebanon after an almost 29-year-presence.
“Now that they have toppled the Cedar Revolution from power … they can’t agree on one thing to form the government.”
Geagea said Hezbollah and Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun could not govern or build a state: “Hezbollah, with all my due respect, is not a state builder. It is not shy with its ideology, the party wakes up on resistance and sleeps on resistance. You can’t build states on a slogan, regardless if it was a right one or not.”
“General Aoun, of course, is very far from having the mentality of building a state, or the mentality of building, full stop. General Aoun is good for opposition where he attacks all the time … He claims he has a reform project, [but] after all these days and until now I don’t know what is this project.” The LF leader said regional developments and the domestic stalemate make it very difficult to predict when the government deadlock would be broken or how instability in several Arab countries would reflect on Lebanon. “In these circumstances, it is very difficult to make predictions but my impression is it will be very difficult for the other side to form a government … and in case it managed to form a government, it would not be able to do anything.” He predicted that March 14 would eventually be entrusted with forming a government, but cautioned that it would find it difficult to govern, mainly because of Hezbollah’s weapons. “We know that nothing positive can be done in the country in this abnormal situation. There should be a solution to this abnormal situation of having an authority outside the authority of the state due to the presence of weapons outside the control of the state. “This issue must be resolved before I can have hope in delivering an actual achievement.”

Aoun and Nasrallah set for talks to finalize deal on Cabinet formation
Hezbollah steps up efforts to reduce Aoun’s demands for key ministerial positions
By Elias Sakr /Daily Star staff
Wednesday, April 06, 2011
BEIRUT: Negotiations to form a government made progress Tuesday but a final agreement over the Cabinet makeup awaits a meeting between Hezbollah secretary general Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun, a March 8 source told The Daily Star. “Things are moving positively as a formula is being ironed out,” the source said.
“The meeting between Sayyed Nasrallah and General Aoun hopefully will pave the way for the formation of a government.” The source said Hezbollah intensified its efforts to ease Aoun’s demands to facilitate an agreement with Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati over the distribution of ministerial portfolios. Mikati met last week with Nasrallah. The proposal would downgrade Aoun’s Reform and Change parliamentary bloc’s share from 11 to 10 ministers while a compromise arrangement between President Michel Sleiman and Aoun would consist of nominating an independent figure to head the Interior Ministry. As The Daily Star went to press Tuesday Speaker Nabih Berri’s aide Ali Hassan Khalil was holding talks with Mikati at the latter’s residence and Nasrallah’s aide Hussein Khalil was meeting with Aoun in Rabieh, a source close to the government formation process said.
Hussein Khalil was expected to have later joined the meeting at Mikati’s residence. Earlier in the day, FPM sources said Aoun submitted to Berri and Nasrallah’s aides a proposal consisting of his ministerial demands, leaving them to negotiate an agreement with Mikati. The source added that Aoun awaited Mikati’s response to his proposal before reconsidering his support for the prime minister-designate to form the government. However, a source close to Mikati said Berri’s aide did not come forward with one proposal but rather a basket of ideas, which was being discussed. “There is no proposal as suggested but rather several propositions which are being deliberated,” the source said.
“I can say, discussions are positive but so far nothing conclusive has been decided,” he added. The FPM sources said earlier that Aoun would regard a negative reply as an indication of Mikati’s surrender to foreign intervention which wishes to delay the formation process. Reform and Change bloc MP Fadi Aawar said Tuesday Mikati could step down to open the door for another figure to assume the responsibility of forming a new government. “Given the delay, Prime Minister-designate Mikati can step down allowing someone else to handle the responsibility,” Aawar said, adding that “a foreign agenda was behind the delay in the formation process.”
Some reports published recently by pro-March 8 media outlets said Mikati had succumbed to U.S. pressure to put off the formation of a March 8-dominated Cabinet after he promised foreign powers he would grant the key security and finance ministerial portfolios to independent figures. The FPM argue that Mikati, who was designated by the new March 8 parliamentary majority, should meet the demands of the groups, with Aoun insisting that the Interior Ministry falls under his bloc’s share of portfolios. The sources, who refrained from disclosing the details of Aoun’s proposal, said the disputed issue of the Interior Ministry could be discussed after Mikati responds to the former general’s demands with regard to the number of ministries and the makeup of portfolios to be allotted to the Reform and Change bloc.
Aoun’s insistence on nominating the new interior minister faces opposition from Sleiman, who is adamant that his minister, Ziyad Baroud, should retain the portfolio and is threatening to exercise his constitutional right by refraining from signing the Cabinet formation decree if his request is not fulfilled.
Criticizing Aoun and his allies, the Future Movement Tuesday accused March 8 groups of violating the constitutional prerogatives of the prime minister-designate and the president when it comes to the Cabinet formation. “The movement will not succumb or accept attempts by some parties to take over the prerogatives of Lebanese state officials and impose new conventions in violation of the Constitution,” a statement released by the bloc following a meeting headed by former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said.
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea told The Daily Star in an interview that Mikati’s failure to form a government so far showed the Hezbollah-led March 8 coalition was fragmented and incapable of building a state. Geagea added that the March 14 coalition would eventually regain the ability to form the Cabinet after Hezbollah and its allies prove their failure to govern Lebanon. “Hezbollah, with all my due respect, is not a state builder. It is not shy with its ideology, the party wakes up on resistance and sleeps on resistance. You can’t build states on a slogan, regardless if it was a right one or not,” Geagea said. Future Movement MP Ahmad Fatfat said the March 8 alliance was deliberately delaying the formation process to benefit from the Cabinet void to strengthen its mini-state. – With additional reporting by Hassan Lakkis

Special Tribunal for Lebanon appoints new spokesperson
By The Daily Star /Wednesday, April 06, 2011
BEIRUT: The Special Tribunal for Lebanon announced the appointment of Marten Youssef as its new spokesperson Tuesday. According to a statement released by the Netherlands-based court, Youssef, who was born and raised in Egypt, is a Canadian citizen. The new spokesperson has worked as a journalist in the Middle East and Africa, as well as in Canada.
During his three years in Abu Dhabi, Youssef worked as the senior courts and justice reporter for the English-language The National newspaper. As spokesperson, Youssef will be the point of contact for all members of the Lebanese and Arab press. He will speak on behalf of STL’s Chambers, the Defense Office and the Registry. The STL was established in 2009 to probe the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 22 others in a massive car bomb in Beirut. Chief of Public Affairs Crispin Thorold will be in charge of assisting the international media on questions related to Chambers, the Defense Office and the Registry, while Sophie Boutaud de la Combe will answer questions relating to the work of the Office of the Prosecutor. The U.N.-backed court has been at the root of a conflict between the Hezbollah-led March 8 coalition and the March 14 alliance, which is headed by Hariri’s son, caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri. The court’s indictment is widely expected to implicate Hezbollah members in the assassination but the party has denied any involvement and slammed the court as an “Israeli project,” aimed at sowing civil strife. – The Daily Star

Special forces put down Roumieh riots
High-ranking source says complex under complete control, three ISF members freed
By Van Meguerditchian
Daily Star staff
Wednesday, April 06, 2011
ROUMIEH: Security forces stormed Lebanon’s Roumieh prison Tuesday in an attempt to contain renewed riots sparked by protests against the deteriorating living conditions inside the country’s notorious detention facility. The Internal Security Forces and Lebanese Army special forces have regained complete control of the Roumieh prison complex, a high-ranking security source told The Daily Star. “Order has finally been restored in all the buildings inside the prison [complex] as many of the rioters surrendered themselves when the joint operation by the ISF and the army started,” said the source. While caretaker Interior Minister Ziyad Baroud acknowledged the demands of inmates, he said the timing of the riots was suspicious and warned against politicizing the prison uprising.More than five inmates were injured inside Lebanon’s largest prison complex Tuesday as prisoners renewed riots. Inmates set ablaze one of Roumieh’s courtyards in the morning, as reports of clashes between prisoners from different blocks in the compound emerged in the afternoon.
According to the source, no one was injured during the joint operation, which was significantly delayed following clashes between security forces and relatives of inmates, who staged a sit-in in front of the prison. “No one was injured apart from the self-inflicted injuries and other injuries resulting from disputes between prisoners,” the source added.
The three ISF members who were being held as hostages by inmates were also freed. Several inmates who had suffered burn injuries were transferred to different hospitals in Beirut.
Shortly before noon Tuesday, dozens of family members of those imprisoned closed the main road leading to Roumieh by burning tires and erecting barricades in order to stop ISF and Lebanese Army members and vehicles from entering the facility.
But members of the Lebanese Army quickly intervened to unblock the main road and promised the protesters that new negotiations between the prisoners and the ISF would take place.
Expressing their anger over deteriorating living conditions and slow-moving judicial proceedings, hundreds of prisoners staged protests Saturday by burning mattresses and bed sheets.
Considered the largest jail in Lebanon, Roumieh prison, built to host around 1,500 prisoners presently houses more than 5,000 inmates.
“My 28-year-old son has been inside his [prison cell] for four years now and there has been no proper trial to charge him of crimes [that he is accused of],” said Zeinab Allam, who made the trip from the Bekaa to join other families in their protest. Samar Kamaleddine, another grieving mother from south Lebanon, told The Daily Star that the behavior of her son, who has been in prison for a year-and-a-half, had worsened rather than improved.
Many people and human rights advocates have repeatedly warned of the excessive availability of drugs at Roumieh prison.
Human rights activist Ali Akil Khalil, who was mediating between prisoners and security forces, read out a statement by the prisoners in which they demanded that a general amnesty be issued and that a one-year prison term be reduced to nine months. “Just like [Free Patriotic Movement leader] Michel Aoun and Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea were granted amnesty … and since many of the verdicts against prisoners had been political … we demand general amnesty for all prisoners,” said the statement.
Earlier Tuesday, Baroud voiced his solidarity with “the rightful demands” of prisoners throughout Lebanon before visiting the Roumieh prison later at night to check on the overall situation there. Speaking after the meeting of the Central Security Council at the Interior Ministry in Sanayeh, Baroud rejected the portrayal of the ongoing riots in Roumieh as a confrontation between the state and the prisoners. “We are taking our time in addressing [the problem] so that not one drop of blood is shed,” said Baroud.
Baroud also warned against any attempt to politicize the Roumieh violence. “I don’t want to say that the timing [of the riots] is surprising. I will not say its strange to exploit this issue politically … but I reject the use of prisoners as fuel to deliver any political message.”

Why do they love us?
Nadim Koteich, April 6, 2011
Now Lebanon/
It is a new season of anger in the Middle East. Yet it is not America's flag that is being set on fire in the streets, but portraits of local despots. No American embassies are the target of protestors' stones and Molotov cocktails, but headquarters of internal security. The fancy facades of American chain stores are not being destroyed, but the statues of megalomaniac dictators.
Those who hate America did not vanish. However, there are many more in the Middle East who have concluded that their desperate situations are homegrown rather than caused by the bureaucrats in Washington, Paris or London.
More to the point, angry demonstrators are keen to receive Western (read: American) support in their fight for freedom or, at least, to be spared the Western inclination toward supporting dictatorial regimes, which is advised by a cold-blooded pursuit of national interest.
If anything testifies to this change in hearts and minds, it is the extent to which the freedom fighters in the Middle East keep an eye trained on reactions from Washington and other Western capitals as they fight against their oppressors.
Those who bravely went down the revolutionary road in Libya were saved the fate of the Bosnians because of the international air campaign against Muammar Qaddafi's forces, and they acknowledge that.
They celebrate every victory by thanking presidents Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy, while asking for more intervention to oust the regime. Libyan revolution supporters in the diaspora are lobbying right, left and center to provide their fellow citizens back home with suitable weaponry to continue the fight.
Even when Qaddafi called the international military support of the revolutionaries a “crusade against Islam," he failed to ignite one demonstration in any city in the Arab World.
Before the Libyans, the Tunisians and Egyptians forced Washington and Paris to drop their unambiguous backing of Zein Abedine Ben Ali and Hosni Mubarak.
Similarly, in Iran in 2009, the Green Movement put Obama on the ropes when, a couple of weeks into protests against the rigged presidential election that gave Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a second term, Iranians chanted openly in the streets, "Obama, either you’re with them or you’re with us.” It spoke of the protestors’ impatience with Obama’s policy of dialogue with the Iranian government.
Neither the Tunisians nor the Egyptians nor the Iranians are ashamed anymore to lobby Western support in their pursuit of freedom, liberty and better governance, and never are they hesitant to display their disgust with opportunistic Western backing of tyrants at the expense of the values they share with the oppressed ones.
No place illustrates the rise and fall of a relationship between Middle Easterners and the West better than Lebanon.
After Lebanon's Cedar Revolution in 2005, members of the March 14 bloc were frequent visitors to Washington and other Western capitals to lobby for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, and for help disarming Hezbollah and repairing of relations with Syria. Statements by President George W. Bush and his administration officials in support of Lebanon were music to the ears of the Lebanese.
It was due to this support that the Lebanese achieved much of what they had longed for for decades, the most crucial of which was the withdrawal of the Syrian army from the country.
Yet, on May 7, 2008, when Hezbollah and pro-Syria militias invaded Beirut, many Lebanese were wondering why Washington left them to defend themselves. It was the absence of Washington's support that hurt them the most, something that some major politicians haven’t gotten over yet, namely the Druze leader Walid Jumblatt.
In a similar vein, it is interesting to note that few statements have drawn the ire of the Syrian people as much as one made by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, when she said that the US wouldn't intervene in Syria, while calling Bashar Assad a reformer.
People in the Middle East are not natural-born enemies of the West, and Washington in particular should drop its old perception of Middle Eastern society in order to be able to play a better leadership role.
For the first time since 1956, people in the Middle East consider Washington to be tilting to their side. That year American President Dwight Eisenhower defended Egypt's Gamal Abdul Nasser against the tripartite aggression by the British, French and Israelis.
It is tempting to think that what we are witnessing in the Middle East is a fluke, and unfortunately, it could be. Nevertheless, there is a new perception of Washington and the West in the region, which could be converted from short-term gratitude to strategic conciliation between the Middle East and America.
Over the last decade, the Americans have been asking: Why do they hate us? The events in the Middle East, however, raise a new question: Why do they love us?

Iran condemns Saudi “crimes” in Bahrain
April 6, 2011 /More than 200 Iranian parliamentarians on Wednesday condemned the "frightening crimes" of Saudi troops in Bahrain and demanded their departure, state television website reported."Today the protest shouts of Muslims in Iraq, Lebanon, Kuwait, Afghanistan, even in Saudi Arabia and many other countries are being heard due to the frightening crimes of Saudi occupiers against the oppressed people of Bahrain," they said in a statement.
By doing so "the Saudi army is being portrayed as an army without culture and unIslamic, and all Muslims demand the immediate exist of occupiers from Bahraini soil."
"If the Saudi army has might then it is better to use it against the Zionist crimes... in Gaza, since attacking defenseless Bahraini peoples' homes and violating the privacies of women, children and elderly is not the sign of power but a sign of an armed force's weakness and degradation."
Reports said the statement was issued by more than 200 deputies from the 290-seat, conservative-dominated parliament.
The Iranian MPs also condemned "the cruel killings of innocent people in Libya and Yemen... by people who bear the title of leaders of Islamic nations."
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday demanded that Saudi-led forces brought into Bahrain amid protests by the Shia majority in the kingdom should leave.
Ahmadinejad's reaction came a day after the Gulf Cooperation Council – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – accused Shia Iran of plotting against the security of its Sunni monarchies and of fanning confessional discord.
In addition, seminary schools were shut across the Shiite-dominated Islamic republic on Wednesday, and their students gathered to protest over the situation in the region, especially in Bahrain. "Death to Al-Khalifa" and "Death to Al-Saud," the demonstrators shouted in reference to the families that rule Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, in a live broadcast on state television from Iran's holy cities of Mashhad and Qom.
-AFP/NOW Lebanon