LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِApril 10/2011

Biblical Event Of The Day
The Good News According to Mark 7/31-37: "Again he departed from the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and came to the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the region of Decapolis. 7:32 They brought to him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech. They begged him to lay his hand on him. 7:33 He took him aside from the multitude, privately, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat, and touched his tongue. 7:34 Looking up to heaven, he sighed, and said to him, “Ephphatha!” that is, “Be opened!” 7:35 Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was released, and he spoke clearly. 7:36 He commanded them that they should tell no one, but the more he commanded them, so much the more widely they proclaimed it. 7:37 They were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He makes even the deaf hear, and the mute speak!”

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
Three Churches Attacked, Egyptian Military Sides With Radical Muslims/AINA/April 09/11

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for April 09/11
Syrians prepare to bury their dead in Daraa/Now Lebanon
E.U. Ambassador to Lebanon Meets with Hizbullah Officials: STL was Established to Stay/Naharnet
Demonstrations sweep Middle East, sparking violence in Syria and Yemen/Washington Post
Over 20 killed in fresh Syria protests/ABC
Obama calls on Syria to stop violence/USA Today
Police beat protesters at Damascus mosque -witness/Reuters
On Facebook and Twitter, spreading revolution in Syria/Christian Science Monitor
Syria: government troops in violent reaction to fresh protests/Telegraph.co.uk
Syria says 19 police killed in southern city/Washington Post
Syrian protesters met with gunfire; clashes leave 13 dead, hundreds wounded/Los Angeles Times
Lebanon Seeks to Resume Egypt Gas Imports After Payment Deadlock/Bloomberg
Lebanon charges 11 with kidnapping Estonians/iloubnan.info
Review over three soldiers' 1989 death/Irish Times
Jumblatt disturbed by Hezbollah-Hariri exchange of statements/iloubnan.info
Foreign investments in Lebanon see decline/Daily Star
Aoun says Mikati should form next Cabinet or step down/Daily Star
Hariri seeks to ease tensions with Bahrain as expatriates to be expelled/Daily Star
Hariri slams Iran interference/Daily Star
Lebanon Files Complaint to U.N. over Israel's Planting of a Spy System on its Territory/Naharnet
Hariri-Iran Dispute Reaches Government Formation /Naharnet
New Structure for Miqati's Cabinet, Defense and Interior Ministries Portfolios Must Remain under President's Authority /Naharnet
WikiLeaks: Israeli Official: U.S. Support for Lebanese Army Weakens Israel /Naharnet
Miqati from Tripoli: Situation in Region Requires All Political Forces to Calm Their Rhetoric /Naharnet
Hariri Telephones Bahraini King, Urges him Not to Consider Stands Taken by Any Lebanese Political Group /Naharnet
Aoun Says National Unity More Important than Presidency: Miqati Should Take Risks or Resign /Naharnet
Mirza Allows Committee of Journalists and Inmates' Families to Enter Roumieh Prison /Naharnet
France Sets Up Air Bridge for Lebanese Fleeing I. Coast /Naharnet
Lebanese Ambassador to Bahrain: Bahraini Authorities Asked 10 Lebanese to Leave /Naharnet
Aridi: No Convincing Justification for Delay in Government Formation /Naharnet
Jumblat Calls on Hariri to Understand Hizbullah's Structure: March 14's Campaign against Arms Will Fail /Naharnet
Haaretz WikiLeaks exclusive/Assad didn't deny Syria arms transfer to Hezbollah

Syrians prepare to bury their dead in Daraa /Naharnet
April 9, 2011 /The southern Syrian town of Daraa was braced for a further wave of unrest on Saturday as residents prepared to bury their dead after Friday's shootings when government troops cracked down on protestors. Daraa, the center of a wave of protests against Syria President Bashar al-Assad, was due to come to a standstill during the afternoon as 17 people killed in the violence were laid to rest. A father 10 died in the surrounding villages and it was anticipated that the burials would become an occasion for renewed protests against the regime.
"After midday prayers, they are getting ready to bury at least 17 of the dead from Friday and with the surrounding villages that number rises to 27," a human rights activist in the town, 100 kilometers south of Damascus, told AFP by telephone. "The burial of each of the martyrs will become a demonstration against the regime and in favor of freedom, even if the [Syrian] Interior Ministry statement warns there will be further violence," another local activist said. All shops were closed for the day in the southern agricultural town with a population of 85,000, and the streets were deserted in the morning. Ammar Qurabi, chairman of the Syrian National Human Rights Organization, speaking from Cairo, said there had been 30 deaths in Daraa, three in the central industrial town of Homs, as well as three in Harasta and one in Douma, both suburbs of the capital Damascus. "I fear the reaction of the authorities if the people of Daraa express their feelings too vociferously during the funerals, and it could turn into a bloodbath," he told AFP.-AFP/NOW Lebanon

E.U. Ambassador to Lebanon Meets with Hizbullah Officials: STL was Established to Stay
Naharnet/The European Union's ambassador to Lebanon, Angelina Eichhorst revealed that she had met with Hizbullah officials who informed her of the party's positions on international resolutions on Lebanon. She told the daily An Nahar in remarks published on Saturday that the U.N. Security Council resolutions cannot be addressed selectively, but they should be viewed as a whole package. Hizbullah is maintaining its positions because of the reasons that are driving it to be what it is today, she added. Asked if she believed that the Arab revolts may alter the E.U.'s position on Hizbullah, she replied that Hizbullah is not on the European Union's terrorist list. Addressing the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, Eichhorst said that the tribunal was established and it is here to stay. She said that she was not sure when the contents of the indictment in the investigation into the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri would be released. She added that the STL and economic reform in Lebanon are at the heart of discussions with officials, hoping that Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati would succeed in forming a new government. The E.U. will assess the government based on its priorities and ministerial statement and not who it consists of, Eichhorst stressed. Regarding financial aid from the E.U. to Lebanon, she said that Lebanon receives some 200 million euros a year in the form of loans and donations. She warned that should these funds not be employed by the end of the year, then the European Union may consider sending them to other countries, noting that Lebanon lost some 40 million euros because it did not utilize them. Beirut, 09 Apr 11, 11:54

New Structure for Miqati's Cabinet, Defense and Interior Ministries Portfolios Must Remain under President's Authority
Naharnet/The daily An Nahar reported on Saturday that the latest government structure that was agreed upon called for granting Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun ten ministers, President Michel Suleiman and Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat eleven, and the rest of the March 8 camp nine ministers. The Interior Ministry portfolio would be granted to a figure agreed upon by all sides and who is not affiliated with any of the political powers. The portfolio is likely to be given to Lebanon's Ambassador to the Vatican Georges Khoury who used to be the head of army intelligence. Circles who participated in the Doha agreement stated that the interior and defense ministries portfolios should create accord and not disputes among politicians. They told As Safir in remarks published on Saturday: "The March 14 camp's boycott of the new Cabinet does not mean that the circumstances surrounding the government formation have changed.""The constitution was clear in stipulating that the President is the head of the armed forces which include the army, Internal Security Forces, and the Higher Defense Council that encompasses the defense and interior ministers," they continued. "These facts alone mean that the interior and defense ministries portfolios should be under the President's authority," they stressed.This affair should not be at the center of petty disputes, but the political powers should take into consideration the benefits of keeping the interior and defense portfolios under Suleiman's jurisdiction, they stated. "Appointing consensual interior and defense ministers should decrease the various attempts at targeting the military institution and the security forces," the circles added. "Furthermore, various elections are expected to take place soon in Lebanon, which require keeping the concerned institutions away from the political division," they said. Beirut, 09 Apr 11, 13:36

Jumblat Calls on Hariri to Understand Hizbullah's Structure: March 14's Campaign against Arms Will Fail
Naharnet/Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat voiced his annoyance with the renewal of the political and media dispute between Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Hizbullah. He told the daily An Nahar in remarks published on Saturday: "Based on my experience with Hizbullah and the Shiite sect, Hariri must understand the party's cultural and ideological structure and its connection with Wilayat al-Faqih." The MP revealed that during his latest contact with Hariri, he had requested him to reopen communication with Speaker Nabih Berri and the Hizbullah leadership, advising him against ending contacts with the Shiites. According to Jumblat, Hariri responded: "Don't forget what Nasrallah and Berri did to me."
He made the statement in reference to the resignation of opposition ministers from Cabinet earlier this year that forced his government to resign. In addition, Jumblat criticized the March 14 camp's campaign against Hizbullah's ongoing possession of arms, saying that it will not yield any results. "Hariri and others must realize that these arms are aimed at protecting the residents of the South," he stressed. Beirut, 09 Apr 11, 11:22

Lebanon Files Complaint to U.N. over Israel's Planting of a Spy System on its Territory
Naharnet/Lebanon filed a complaint to the United Nations on Saturday over Israel's planting of a spy system on its territories. The Foreign Ministry urged in a letter to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to pressure Israel to cease its espionage activity in Lebanon seeing as this is the second such system that was discovered in Lebanon. The recently discovered spy system located in southern Lebanon was camouflaged as rocks in a second such incident in less than a year. The letter added: "Israel's planting of the system so deep into Lebanese territory is a blatant violation of Lebanese sovereignty and laws and U.N. Security Council resolution 1701." Furthermore, the Foreign Ministry letter called on the United Nations to assume its responsibility in "maintaining international peace and pressuring Israel to abandon its hostile and provocative policy towards Lebanon." Beirut, 09 Apr 11, 13:58

Michel Samaha on the back burner?
Hanin Ghaddar , April 9, 2011
If former Information Minister Michel Samaha were a Sunni, he would have been Hezbollah and Syria’s number-one candidate for the premiership after the toppling of Prime Minister Saad Hariri. If he were a Shia, he might have replaced Speaker Nabih Berri, who is not as cherished as he once was by Damascus and the Party of God. Sadly, he is a Greek Catholic, so he can’t even be president. What to do in that case? He managed to become minister of information in 1992, and again in 2002, after presenting himself to the Syrian regime as an information-gathering and -disseminating tool. Now he enjoys a very special relationship with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, handling his PR in both the US and France. Samaha also played a very important role in bringing MP Michel Aoun into Assad’s camp while Aoun was in Parisian exile.
Samaha’s ambition, according to news reports earlier this year, is to succeed Nasri Khoury as the head of the Syrian-Lebanese Higher Council, a decaying symbol of Syrian hegemony.
Why are we mentioning Samaha today? He – in addition to other Syrian mouthpieces in Lebanon, such as former MP Nasser Kandil and former Minister Wiam Wahhab – might be looking at the Syrian people’s uprising and be mildly concerned about his reputation as a Lebanese who is close to the Assad regime.
Whether the Syrian regime falls or not, the recent protests taking place in the country will change its dealings with Lebanon; it will have to make compromises.
The West has so far protected the Syrian regime. The US and European states that backed the toppling of the Tunisian and Egyptian presidents, and that are supporting the fight against Libyan leader Moammar Qaddafi, are remaining cautious when it comes to Syria.
If this does not change soon, and Assad manages to survive the uprising in Syria, there will nonetheless be a lot of compromises, including his meddling in Lebanon. If so, what will happen to Samaha and his ilk? The Syrian regime will probably hold onto its allies in Lebanon, at least to Hezbollah and Aoun, but Samaha, Kandil and Wahhab will be stripped of all credibility. The main conflict will be between Hezbollah and the international community, possibly after the Special Tribunal for Lebanon hands down its indictment.
Samaha, who has been running Assad’s media campaign in Paris and the US, was successful as long as the West was still ready to be open to the Syrian regime. However, there comes a time when these people will have to withdraw to a corner in the Lebanese political scene, as their services won’t be needed anymore.
Their role has been to deliver messages and threats, and in Samaha’s case, create mediation channels between Assad and Christian leaders in Lebanon, and between him and the former head of General Security, Jamil Sayyed. Even Assad advisor Buthaina Shaaban might not be enough to safeguard Samaha’s position.
What about Syria’s other sidekicks in Lebanon? Speaker Nabih Berri, a long-time Syrian ally, recently tried to use his usual tactic of playing the middleman. He said on Wednesday that his Development and Liberation bloc “is no longer part of the March 8 coalition. We became part of a large national front that comprises parliamentary blocs and [public] figures that all believe in the unity and liberation of Lebanon.”
Although this announcement does not signal a clear cut with his March 8 allies, which includes Hezbollah, it does imply a certain disconnect. The Syrian regime sent Berri a message earlier this week via Kandil, who criticized Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Shami over the handling of the Ivory Coast crisis. Shami was appointed as part of Berri’s share in the government, so when a Syrian mouthpiece accuses him of doing a bad job and asks him to resign, it cannot be considered a good point for Berri, who is also aware of the role Turkey is playing in the region with American, European and Arab support.
And let’s not forget that Hezbollah is feeling major pressure from the international community.
Some Lebanese banks are being forced by the US Treasury to cease dealing with Hezbollah, otherwise they might face the fate of the Lebanese Canadian Bank. As for the Shia community, the pressure is building up on them in the Gulf as they are being forced to pay the price of the escalating struggle between Iran and the Gulf states, mainly Bahrain.
There is also the government-formation crisis, which clearly shows that March 8 is not as unified as many would have us believe, and also that a one-sided government with Iranian sponsorship could face more international and Arab pressure.
All these issues will eventually coalesce into something greater, but not to the advantage of March 8 and its regional allies. Berri has not defected, and he probably cannot do so for the time being, but he has a support base that he can use to protect himself. People like Samaha and Kandil, if Syria is forced to back off Lebanon, will have no one.
**Hanin Ghaddar is managing editor of NOW Lebanon

Hariri seeks to ease tensions with Bahrain as expatriates to be expelled
By The Daily Star /Saturday, April 09, 2011
BEIRUT: Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri intensified his diplomatic talks Friday to contain the ramifications of mounting political tensions between Hezbollah and Arab states as the cold war pitting Iran against Gulf countries takes its toll on Lebanese expatriates. The Bahraini government has decided to expel 10 Lebanese expatriates, according to Lebanon’s ambassador to the kingdom, Aziz Qazzi, who was speaking to a local radio station. Lebanese official sources feared the number would increase in the coming few days. The sources told The Daily Star that the status of Lebanese expatriates throughout the Gulf, not only in Bahrain, was threatened amid Hezbollah’s part in the confrontation between Tehran and the Saudi-led Gulf coalition. In a bid to spare Lebanese expatriates in Bahrain the repercussions of the crisis, Hariri distinguished between Lebanon’s official positions and that of Hezbollah during a telephone conversation with Bahraini King Hamad bin Issa al-Khalifa. “Prime Minister Hariri asked King Hamad not to consider any stance taken by any political group in Lebanon as being the stance of the Lebanese state or the Lebanese people, who insist on having the best brotherly relations between the two countries,” a statement from Hariri’s press office said.
The Bahraini Foreign Ministry last month warned of deteriorating Lebanese-Bahraini bilateral ties after Hezbollah accused the kingdom’s Sunni monarchy of seeking the intervention of a Saudi-led Gulf force to oppress the mainly Shiite-led popular opposition. The ministry described Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah as the “representative of a terrorist organization with a known history in destabilizing security in the region” and added that his remarks were aimed at serving Iranian interests.
Hariri voiced hope the Bahraini leadership spares Lebanese expatriates the repercussions of Hezbollah’s position. – The Daily Star

Hariri slams Iran interference
Hezbollah hits back at caretaker prime minister, accusing him of parroting U.S. stances on region
By Hussein Dakroub /Daily Star staff
Friday, April 08, 2011
BEIRUT: A war of words erupted between caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Hezbollah Thursday after Hariri accused Iran of “a flagrant interference” in the internal affairs of Lebanon and Arab Gulf states. The verbal exchanges shattered Hezbollah’s silence on Hariri’s fierce campaign against the party’s arsenal. Since the collapse of his government in January, Hariri and his March 14 allies have launched scathing attacks on Hezbollah, accusing it of using its weapons to influence political life in Lebanon. They have demanded Hezbollah put its weapons under state control.
Addressing a Lebanese-Saudi economic forum in Beirut, Hariri vowed not to let Lebanon become an Iranian protectorate, saying Tehran’s policy in the region was no longer acceptable. Hariri’s speech drew a swift response from Hezbollah, which accused Hariri of serving the U.S. policy in the region.
Rejecting growing Iranian influence in Lebanon, Hariri said: “We in Lebanon do not accept to be an Iranian protectorate, just as we don’t accept for our brothers in Bahrain, Kuwait or any other country to be an Iranian protectorate. We are part of an integrated Arab society.”
Hariri said that while Saudi Arabia helped maintain stability in Lebanon, other regional powers and states, namely Israel and Iran, were spreading chaos and turmoil in the region.
“Saudi Arabia is the biggest and first investor in Lebanon’s stability. This investment is priceless. It is the basis for Lebanon’s progress and its economic growth,” Hariri said.
Saudi Arabia and Syria, which back rival factions, coordinated their efforts in the past to defuse political and sectarian tensions in Lebanon.
“On the other hand, there are regional states, powers and parties that invest in chaos by exporting various means of political, civil and security turmoil with the aim of undermining the unity of our Arab societies,” Hariri said.
“It is well known that Israel is the largest investor in regional chaos and in causing violence and unrest in different directions. It is also known that Lebanon has paid heavily for such policies, which resulted in devastating wars,” he added.
Hariri, whose Cabinet was brought down in January by the Hezbollah-led March 8 alliance in a dispute over the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon, accused Iran of meddling in the internal affairs of Lebanon and Gulf states in an attempt to expand its influence in the region.
“At this stage, we are all witnessing the exploitation of sectarian instincts which want to make Lebanon or Bahrain or the Gulf an arena for spreading political and security influence. In this regard, frankness requires us to say things as they are: Lebanon and several Arab countries, in the Gulf and probably outside the Gulf, are suffering from a flagrant Iranian interference at the political, economic and security levels,” he said. “One of the biggest challenges facing the Arab societies, including Lebanon, is Iran’s mounting violations of the social fabric in the Arab region.” Responding to Hariri’s speech, Hezbollah said in a statement: “Hariri’s provocative attitudes against the Islamic Republic of Iran honestly reflected the latest attitudes of U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates in Riyadh about Iran’s role in the region.” “Hariri’s stances … were in conformity with the objectives of the U.S. design to spread dissension and strife among the region’s states and peoples and deflect the struggle from its original direction with the Israeli enemy to serve the American design which has begun to fall apart since the defeat of the [Israeli] enemy’s army in July 2006,” the statement said.
It added that WikiLeaks documents detailing private meetings between Lebanese politicians and U.S. Embassy officials have revealed “the size of Hariri’s bets on [the 2006 Israeli] war in order to make Lebanon an American-Israeli protectorate.”
Gates sharply criticized Iran while in Saudi Arabia Wednesday. “We already have evidence that the Iranians are trying to exploit the situation in Bahrain and we also have evidence that they’re talking about what they can do to create problems elsewhere,” Gates said, referring to Shiite-led protests that were crushed by Bahrain’s Sunni monarchy.
Later Thursday night, Hariri’s Future Movement issued a statement hitting back at Hezbollah, saying the party’s statement has proved to all Lebanese that it is Iran’s official spokesperson in Lebanon. The statement said that while the party was not surprised by Hezbollah’s treason charges, it was strange that the party, which is hostile to America, based its charges on “leaked American documents.” Hariri’s remarks came as tension was rising between Iran and Gulf states after Tehran objected to the Saudi dispatch of troops to Bahrain to quell the protests there and a spying row with Kuwait raised tension. In a statement after their meeting in Riyadh last week, the foreign ministers of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council condemned Iran’s “continuing interference” in GCC states’ affairs. The GCC comprises Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain.
The GCC’s position came a few days after the Iranian Parliament’s national security committee had said in a statement that Saudi Arabia was “playing with fire” by sending troops to Bahrain to quell weeks of public protests by the majority Shiites demanding political reforms. The GCC ministers also condemned “the blatant Iranian interference in Kuwait through planting spy cells on its territory.” Iran has denied the allegations. Hariri said Arab countries did not address the issue of the growing Iranian influence in a hostile manner because they considered Iran a brotherly and friendly state. “But it seems, with great regret, that the Iranian leadership understood this responsible Arab attitude and the successive invitations for openness as signs of weakness and surrender, so it decided to go to the extreme in infiltrating the Arab societies one after the other, starting with Lebanon, Bahrain and other countries,” he said.
“We say with all sincerity and responsibility that this Iranian policy is not acceptable anymore and that the gradual abduction of Arab societies under any slogan will not be in the interest of Iran or Arab-Iranian relations,” Hariri added.

Foreign investments in Lebanon see decline
Cabinet collapse, turmoil across region, expected Tribunal indictment to blame, experts say
By Dana Halawi /Daily Star staff
Saturday, April 09, 2011
BEIRUT: The delay in forming the Cabinet, local security issues and regional turmoil are weighing heavily on foreign investors’ interest in Lebanon, industry leaders say.
The Investment Development Authority of Lebanon reports a slowdown in new projects, when compared to the same period last year, according to IDAL chairman Nabil Itani.
“We received only two foreign investment projects in the first quarter of 2011 compared to nine projects during the same period of 2010,” Itani told The Daily Star.
He noted the lack of a new government as a clear obstacle to attracting investors: “How can we attract foreign investments when all the necessary government procedures are put on hold due to the absence of a Cabinet?”
Speaking at the Lebanese Saudi Forum Thursday, Itani emphasized the need for political and security stability to attract foreign direct investment, which accounts for 15 percent of Lebanon’s gross domestic product.
Itani noted that foreign direct investments dropped by 2 percent in 2010 to $4.650 billion compared to $4.8 billion in 2009. This follows consecutive years of growth from 2002 to 2009 with average yearly increases of 16 percent. Itani said recent growth rates demonstrated the country’s resilience in the face of the global economic crisis but noted that regional instability would affect Lebanon’s ability to draw foreign investors, whom he said often view the region as a package.
And while real estate transactions were up 40 percent in 2010, transactions had dropped by 21 percent in the first two months of 2011, Itani explained.
Karim Makarem, managing director of Beirut-based RAMCO Real Estate Advisors, agreed that foreign investments were down.
“I am confident that no real estate transactions have been recently taking place by foreigners on a continuous basis in Beirut,” he told The Daily Star.
He attributed the slowdown, which he said could largely be found in the residential sector, to the turmoil across the region, as well as local political instability. “Lebanese expatriates represent a large proportion of remittances and they are the ones who usually buy expensive apartments, but the regional turmoil is encouraging them to adopt a wait and see approach,” he said.
The problem of attracting foreign nationals has also been felt in the tourism industry, with occupancy rates at hotels dropping.
“Occupancy rates stand at 64 percent today,” Pierre Ashkar, head of the hotels owners association told The Daily Star on the sidelines of the Lebanese Saudi Forum.
He said the kidnapping of seven Estonians in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley on March 23 was a bad start to 2011, compounded by the lack of a government and pressure from regional tensions.
In January the tourism sector also suffered a setback when the Saudi Arabian government asked its citizens to avoid Lebanon, following the collapse of Saad Hariri’s government.
Beirut hotel occupancy rates dipped as low as 37.4 percent in February according to international consultancy STR Global, as reported by Byblos Bank. STR said the fall in Beirut occupancy rates registered a 46.7 percent year-on-year drop, the second steepest decrease in the Middle East after Egypt. It added that the average daily room rate regressed by 22.7 percent in February, the steepest year-on-year contraction in the region. STR also attributed the situation to the collapse of the government and the expected impact of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon’s indictment.
Former Finance Minister Jihad Azour also weighed in on the impact of regional events during the Saudi-Lebanese forum. He urged the country to undertake reforms, mainly in the telecommunications and electricity sectors which are “the main drivers of the Lebanese economy.”
He said that these steps are necessary to preserve the high economic growth recorded in previous years. “We cannot create additional job opportunities without undertaking major reforms in the main sectors of our economy,” he told attendees.

Question: "Why did God harden Pharaoh’s heart?"
Answer: Exodus 7:3-4 says, “But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt he will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring out my people the Israelites.” It seems unjust for God to harden Pharaoh’s heart and then to punish Pharaoh and Egypt for what Pharaoh decided when his heart was hardened. Why would God harden Pharaoh’s heart just so He could judge Egypt more severely with additional plagues?
First, Pharaoh was not an innocent or godly man. He was a brutal dictator overseeing the terrible abuse and oppression of the Israelites, who likely numbered over 1.5 million people at that time. The Egyptian pharaohs had enslaved the Israelites for 400 years. A previous pharaoh—possibly even the pharaoh in question—ordered that male Israelite babies be killed at birth (Exodus 1:16). The pharaoh God hardened was an evil man, and the nation he ruled agreed with, or at least did not oppose, his evil actions.
Second, before the first few plagues, Pharaoh hardened his own heart against letting the Israelites go. “Pharaoh's heart became hard” (Exodus 7:13, 22; 8:19). “But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart” (Exodus 8:15). “But this time also Pharaoh hardened his heart” (Exodus 8:32). Pharaoh could have spared Egypt of all the plagues if he had not hardened his own heart. God was giving Pharaoh increasingly severe warnings of the judgment that was to come. Pharaoh chose to bring judgment on himself and on his nation by hardening his own heart against God’s commands.
As a result of Pharaoh’s hard-heartedness, God hardened Pharaoh’s heart even further, allowing for the last few plagues (Exodus 9:12; 10:20, 27). Pharaoh and Egypt had brought these judgments on themselves with 400 years of slavery and mass murder. Since the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), and Pharaoh and Egypt had horribly sinned against God, it would have been just if God had completely annihilated Egypt. Therefore, God’s hardening Pharaoh’s heart was not unjust, and His bringing additional plagues against Egypt was not unjust. The plagues, as terrible as they were, actually demonstrate God’s mercy in not completely destroying Egypt, which would have been a perfectly just penalty.
Romans 9:17-18 declares, “For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: ‘I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.’ Therefore God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and He hardens whom He wants to harden.” From a human perspective, it seems wrong for God to harden a person and then punish the person He has hardened. Biblically speaking, however, we have all sinned against God (Romans 3:23), and the just penalty for that sin is death (Romans 6:23). Therefore, God’s hardening and punishing a person is not unjust; it is actually merciful in comparison to what the person deserves.

At least 10 Iranian exiles killed in clashes with Iraqi forces
U.S. voices concern over reports of deaths and wounded, urges Baghdad to show restraint
Saturday, April 09, 2011
By Muhanad Mohammed
Reuters
BAGHDAD: At least 10 Iranian exiles were killed in Iraq Friday, a hospital source said, after security forces clashed with residents of an Iranian dissident camp north of Baghdad overnight.
An Iraqi government spokesman said five members of the Iraqi security forces were wounded in the incident at Camp Ashraf, at which he said residents pelted security forces with rocks.
Representatives of the camp said 31 residents were killed and 300 wounded in what they called a “criminal attack.”
“There are 10 bodies of Iranians and 40 people wounded in the hospital, most of them killed or wounded by bullets,” a medical source at nearby Baquba hospital said. He requested anonymity since he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Ali al-Moussawi, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s media adviser, said clashes broke out after government forces tried to reclaim land from camp residents and return it to the farmers who owned it.
“The forces tried yesterday … to give back these lands … They [Ashraf residents] objected to that, and clashes erupted. They assaulted the security forces, which led to a number of the residents and security personnel being injured,” he said.
Visiting U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates urged the Iraqi government to show restraint.
“We’re very concerned with reports of deaths and injuries resulting from this morning’s clashes … I urge the Iraqi government to show restraint and to live up to its commitments to treat residents of Ashraf according to Iraqi law and their international obligations,” he said.
Asked about any U.S. military role, Gates said nearby forces might render medical help “but that’s about the extent of it.”
Ashraf has been a sore point for Washington, Baghdad and Tehran for years. The 25-year-old camp, home to some 3,500 people, is the base of the People’s Mujahideen Organization of Iran, a guerrilla group that opposes Iran’s Shiite religious leaders.
Iran, Iraq and the U.S. consider the PMOI a terrorist organization.
Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Ashraf had residents thrown rocks at security forces in what he called a “riot.” He denied troops had opened fire.
“The security forces have pushed back residents of Camp Ashraf inside the camp by force,” Dabbagh said. “The situation is now controlled.”
The National Council of Resistance of Iran, the PMOI’s political wing, said Iraqi forces were ordered by Maliki to attack the camp, in restive Diyala Province about 90 kilometers northeast of Baghdad, a remote location largely inaccessible to journalists.
“Forces under his command used Colts, automatic weapons and machineguns installed on armored vehicles to open fire on residents,” the group said in a statement.
The fate of Ashraf’s residents has been in question since Iraq took over the camp from U.S. forces in 2009 under a bilateral security pact.
Rights advocates said earlier this year the U.N. and the U.S. should take on protection of the camp to head off a tragedy which could lead to the deaths of residents. Ad Melkert, U.N. special envoy for Iraq, urged the country at Friday’s Security Council debate to allow the United Nations UNAMI mission to monitor the situation at the camp.

Aoun says Mikati should form next Cabinet or step down
By Hussein Dakroub /Daily Star staff
Saturday, April 09, 2011
BEIRUT: Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati should either form a new Cabinet or step down, Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun said Friday.
Aoun’s remarks came as Mikati said his consultations with the main parties to the Hezbollah-led March 8 alliance have made “important progress” toward forming the government.
Aoun, whose tough demands for participation have largely been blamed for the two-month-long Cabinet deadlock, was asked by a delegation of university students who visited him at his residence in Rabieh about the reasons holding up the government’s formation.
“If I wanted to tell you about the hurdle to the formation, there is something that I know and there is the conclusion. What I am talking about today is something I did not invent but I have been through. In fact, there are taboos and in principle, taboos are unacceptable,” Aoun said, apparently referring to his demands for the lion’s share of Christian participation in the next government, including the key Interior Ministry portfolio.
“They say today that the prime minister designated to form the government is threatened over his wealth. He has one choice: Take the risk [to form the Cabinet] or step down,” Aoun said.
Apparently referring to the dispute over the distribution of shares in the government, Aoun, addressing Mikati, said: “You have said that you want your share according to norms. Take the share you want but don’t take away the others’ share. There are things that cannot be accepted. These are the declared reasons.”
Aoun, who has the largest bloc in Parliament after caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s Future bloc, said the Cabinet’s formation could be waiting for “certain events.” He did not elaborate, but said that such expectations did not materialize in the past.
In addition to his tough demands, Aoun said that representation of the “Sunni opposition,” or Sunni groups and politicians who oppose Hariri, was one of the problems facing Mikati’s efforts to form the government.
Earlier Friday, Mikati said his talks on the Cabinet’s formation have made “important progress” and were held in a positive atmosphere.
“All the parties realize the need to speed up the Cabinet’s formation according to constitutional rules on the basis of representing political parties and qualified people so that it can be a homogeneous government capable of doing its job at the social, living, service, economic and developmental levels,” Mikati told supporters who visited him at his residence in Tripoli.
“The consultations are proceeding in steady steps toward accomplishing the Cabinet lineup awaited by the Lebanese,” he added.
Mikati, who was appointed on Jan. 25 to form a new government to replace Hariri’s toppled Cabinet, said his approach to the Cabinet makeup did not emanate from the number of ministers and shares, “but from the need to come up with a Cabinet comprising the best qualified people and experts from all political trends.”
Mikati called on rival factions in the March 8 and March 14 camps to cool down their political rhetoric and avoid anything that leads to tension.
Mikati has presented to the main parties – the FPM, Hezbollah and the Amal Movement – a 30-member Cabinet lineup, which allotted Aoun 10 instead of 12 portfolios that he has demanded. However, a final agreement on a Cabinet lineup is waiting for a crucial meeting between Aoun and Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.
Nasrallah promised Mikati during their meeting last week to intercede with Aoun in a bid to make him soften his tough demands. Aoun is also locking horns with President Michel Sleiman over the Interior Ministry portfolio.

Iran and Hariri exchange verbal salvos
Daily Star/BEIRUT: A war of words erupted Friday between Iran and caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri, one day after Hariri accused Tehran of engaging in “flagrant interference” in the internal affairs of Lebanon and Arab Gulf states.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry Friday dismissed as “unfounded” Hariri’s accusations that Tehran was meddling in Beirut’s affairs and holding Arab societies “hostage.”
Hariri’s press office responded by urging Tehran to halt its intervention in other countries’ affairs and drop the tactic of masking the Islamic Republic’s own domestic problems.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast was quoted by the Iranian state television’s website as saying that Hariri’s “unfounded and divisive remarks … are not in the interests of Lebanon.”
“Adopting such deceitful stances is in line with the interests of an American-Zionist axis,” Mehmanparast said, warning that such comments would destabilize the region.
Mehmanparast advised Hariri to “properly understand the teachings of the popular uprisings in the Arab world” and to avoid relying on the West, particularly the U.S. and Israel.
In response to the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Hariri’s press office said accusing him of serving Israeli-U.S. interests was an attempt to cover up for “real problems” by resorting to misleading rhetoric. Hariri’s office said “that what is required from the Iranian regime, instead of dedicating its time and efforts to respond to the officials in Lebanon, Bahrain, Iraq, Palestine, Kuwait, Egypt, Yemen, Morocco, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, is to stop interfering in the affairs of these countries.”
Meanwhile, Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumbaltt warned against deepening divisions between rival Lebanese camps taking sides with opposed regional axes as he called on Lebanese political leaders to resume dialogue with each other in order to avoid domestic strife. – The Daily Star, with agencies

Three Churches Attacked, Egyptian Military Sides With Radical Muslims
 4-9-2011
Assyrian International News Agency
By Mary Abdelmassih
(AINA) -- In the last two weeks three attacks on churches were undertaken by Salafis or Islamic Fundamentalists in Egypt. The Salafis demanded churches move to locations outside communities and be forbidden from making repairs, "even if they are so dilapidated that the roofs will collapse over the heads of the congregation," says Father Estephanos Shehata of Samalut Coptic Diocese.
The latest of these incidents took place in the village of Kamadeer, in Samalout, Minya province on April 5, which escalated to the point where it was feared the church would be torched and demolished, as was done in the case of St. George and St. Mina Church in village of Soul, Atfif, on March 5 (AINA 3-5-2011). For three days Muslims occupied the entrance to St. John the Beloved Church in the village of Kamadeer with their mats, praying and sleeping there while thousands of village Copts staged a sit-in for three continuous days in front of the Minya governorate building, vowing not to leave until they got their church back. "Even if it takes one year, we will still be here," said Fr. Youssab in the rally. The Coptic demonstrators demanded the reopening of their church and prosecution of the squatters (video of Coptic sit-in).
When the priest arrived at St. John the Beloved church on April 5 he found hundreds of Salafis, who told him and the parishioners that arrived for mass they are "not allowed" to pray at this church any longer.
The problem started when the heavy rain in January 2011 caused the church, which is built of clay bricks and has a timber roof, to suffer severe cracks. The Copts requested from the military permission for repairs. Last week inspectors from the local council visited the church and confirmed the church is dilapidated and poses a threat to the parishioners and must be repaired.
"This has angered the Muslims," said attorney Hani Labib from Kamadeer, "who saw the Copts were going to get permission for renovation because of the state of the church. They told us 'we allowed you to pray here, but there is no question of any building work to be done, this will have to be over our dead bodies.'" He added that police officers summoned a number of Copts from the Kamadeer village and ordered them to sign affidavits not to pray at the church in "deference to the wishes its Muslims." But the Copts refused to sign.
"Salafi Sheikh Mohamad Saleh, called on Muslims to prevent the restoration of the church," said Fr. Estephanos. He added the Muslims said we have to move the church to another location, which was refused. "Because they have built a mosque five meters away from the church, this means that of course the church, which has been there for twelve years, has to move." He said relationships between Copts and Muslims in the village are usually amicable but the Salafis stepped in and incited Muslims from other villages to besiege the church.
After several calls to the military governor and the governor of Minya and following several meetings, the problem was resolved "to the satisfaction of the Muslims, as usual," said Coptic activist Wagih Yacoub.
On April 7 an "unofficial reconciliation" meeting was held between the two parties, and according to the signed agreement, The Copts are to relocate the church about 200 meters away from the old church and the new mosque, by exchanging plots of land with one of the Coptic parishioners. Although the new plot of land is 550 meters, Copts are allowed to build on only 175 meters. The new church must be one story high and not two as the old one was, and must not have any manifestations of a church, i.e., a dome, a cross or a bell.
The military governor and the head of Minya security knew of the details of the agreement. "This will set a precedent in Egypt," said activist Nader Shoukry. "Now this will be used everywhere, since the law is never applied when it comes to Copts. Instead we get those Bedouin 'unofficial reconciliations.'"

In a second incident, on Sunday March 27 nearly 500 Salafis, armed with swords, batons and knives, stood in front of St. Mary's church in the Bashtil district of Imbaba, Giza demanding its closure because "this is a Muslim area and no church should be allowed here." They closed the church door and held a number of the parishioners inside, including children. The terrorized Copts called the army to get them out, especially the children, who were traumatized. The military police arrived, freed the congregation and dispersed the Muslim mob, who lurked nearby "to see if they need to attack again in case the Copts returned to the church," said a Coptic witness.
St. Mary's church, which serves 800 Christian families, is a prayer hall inside a services center which includes a kindergarten and a free clinic. It had obtained the approval to operate by the disbanded State Security Intelligence (which operates now under the new name of National Security) in December 2010 and which was until the "January 25 Revolution" the only authority responsible for issuing approvals for churches, even if they had a Presidential decree.
Two Salafi imams, sheikh Gamal and sheikh Mohammad Farag (an auto mechanic by trade), incited Muslims to carry out this siege by claiming Copts wanted to turn the center into a Church without a proper license. The two priests of the church were taken to the Giza Security Directorate to forge an unofficial "reconciliation." According to Dr. Naguib Ghobrial, head of the Egyptian Union of Human Rights, the police told him they took the priests away because of concerns for their safety.
A few days before this incident, four Salafis from the neighborhood filed a complaint with the local police claiming "the sound of hymns during mass 'makes their ears ache,'" according to Coptic lawyer Peter el-Naggar. "Fact is the center, which used to be a clothing factory before being bought by the church in 1990, is in the middle of agricultural land."
After the reconciliation meeting at the Giza Security Directorate, services at the Bashtil center were halted until the church acquires a license to operate, according to Father Hermina, who is in charge of the center.
In the third incident, three days before the Bashtil center incident, St. George's Church in Beni Ahmad, 7 KM south of Minya was also subjected to Muslim intimidation. The 100 year-old church received three years ago an official permit from Minya governorate allowing for the expansion of its eastern side as well as the erection of a social services center within a small plot of land belonging to the church. Three Salafis together with a large crowd of village Muslims visited the church on Wednesday, March 23 and ordered the church officials to stop construction immediately and undo what they had completed, otherwise they would demolish the church after Friday prayers. They also demanded the church priest, Father Georgy Thabet, leave the village with his family.
Muslims were invited from all neighboring village to be ready for Friday's demolition if their demands were not met. It was reported the village Coptic youth stood guard inside the church to prevent any Muslim demolition, and Salafis were standing outside church calling for the priest to leave the village as well as hurling insults. Beni Ahmad village has a population of 8,000 Copts and 23,000 Muslims.
The Diocese stepped-in and contacted the authorities who in turn asked them to contact the military governor. A meeting was held between representatives from the church, the Salafis, the army and security in Minya. The Salafis requested the demolition of what was built and the departure of the priest and his family. In the end the military told the Copts they cannot interfere in this case. "In other words the authorities have sold the Copts to the Salafis, to do what they like with them and the church," commented local Coptic activist Mariam Ragy.
The expansion work has stopped but church services continue with the same priest. The Salafis asked for a "donation" from the church for a so-called kidney dialysis center, "which is not even suitable for animals to live in, let alone being a medical center," said Ragy.

Haaretz WikiLeaks exclusive / Assad didn't deny Syria arms transfer to Hezbollah
By Sefy Hendler /French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s adviser on Middle East affairs, Boris Boillon, was also sent, at the beginning of December 2008, to brief the Americans after his meeting, at the end of November, with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus, together with Sarkozy’s senior diplomatic adviser Jean-David Levitte and general secretary of the Elysee Claude Gueant.
Boillon told the Americans that, when “asked point blank whether Syria would end its support for Hizballah in exchange for Israeli territorial concessions on the Golan Heights, al-Assad made a somewhat astonishing statement ...: ‘For the moment I am not playing the role of policeman with regard to the arms going through Syria to Hizballah. But I understand Israel’s security requirements.’”
The Americans call his comments in the cable “a tacit admission that he is aware of, and facilitates, arms shipments to Hizballah.” According to Boillon, however, “the meaning was that in exchange for peace with Israel, al-Assad would be willing to turn off the arms flow to Hizballah.”
To date, nearly two and a half years later, the transfer of weapons to the Islamic organization has not been stopped.
The French were surprised at the Syrian president’s apparent bitterness when the discussion turned to matters of Iran. “The only high-level Iranian to visit Damascus in recent months was [then-] Foreign Minister [Manouchehr] Mottaki,” said Assad, with what the French perceived as “some annoyance” with Tehran. Assad added he was not prepared to transmit any more messages concerning the nuclear program to Tehran. “He seems to have been affected by Iran’s propaganda,” noted Boillon.
According to him, another topic on the agenda was the matter of the site suspected as being the location of a nuclear reactor at Deir al-Zur, which, according to foreign reports, Israel had bombed in September 2007. Assad repeatedly denied to the French that the facility had been a nuclear plant. The French warned him that the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency is “like a pit bull” and urged him to cooperate with it. Boillon said: “If we take too hard a line ... then the Syrians may pull back into their shell and turn again to Iran.”

Inseparable from Syria
Saturday, 09 April 2011
Camelia Entekhabifard
Iranians know little about the fate of the opposition leaders who disappeared over six weeks ago. People have seen photos of Mir Hussein Mossavi's home, which has now been gated and barred. Even less is known about Mehdi Karobi, but it is thought that both he and Mossavi and their wives are under carefully supervised house arrest.
Apparently, it was an angry supreme leader who decided to insult the former Prime Minister and head of Parliament like this.
These two revolutionary figures, close to Ayatollah Khomeini who launched the Islamic revolution, are now being accused of high treason and plotting against national security!
Strangely, the Iranian Foreign Minister has claimed that Karobi and Mossavi are living freely in their own homes and can do whatever they want, denying that they have been arrested.
Perhaps the regime thinks that, by basically burying these two people alive, they can put an end to the anger which erupted in Iran in the summer of 2009, wildly influencing the whole of the Middle East and the Muslim world.
This ‘semi-revolution’ started with disputed presidential elections and swiftly spread to the whole nation.
It hasn’t yet succeeded, but the seed has been sown, influencing other nations with or without their opposition leaders.
The Iranian revolution back in 1979 made many Muslim countries unhappy because of the way people sought freedom and democracy; neither did the demonstrations in the summer of 2009 please many Arab rulers.
When the pictures of young people beaten to death by the security forces were broadcast around the globe, none of the Muslim nations condemned the regime. They kept silent, because they were afraid that something similar might happen in their own countries.
But when the anti-regime protest started in Egypt, they were wildly covered by Iran state media and described as a kind of anti-Israeli/American movement, while portraying the Egyptians as wanting an Islamic republic.
But when trouble erupted in Bahrain, the Iranian state media were silent to start with. They only started talking about it when the Saudis sent troops to Bahrain, which gave them the opportunity to talk of an anti-Shia confrontation.
When the crisis started in Syria, Iran’s big regional ally, there was an even greater silence. The media only showed the demonstrations in support of Bashar Asaad. They never showed the people protesting against the Syrian government and claimed that only four people were killed during the demonstrations!
Even the Syrian government has admitted that 25 people died, while international media estimated that around 50 protesters were shot dead by the security forces.
The Iranian regime may happily claim that the protests in Egypt were anti-Israeli and the Egyptians want an Islamic state, while in Bahrain the Shiites want to take power, but what about Syria?
Iran cannot just stand by while its most trusted Arab ally in this region collapses. Iran and Syria need each other because they have much in common – for example, they both support Hizbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.
Of course, it is more tricky for the international community to deal with Iran and Syria than Libya. If there is any kind of military action against Syria, Iran will retaliate, along with their allies, especially Hizbollah and Hamas.
It is therefore hard to believe that change in Syria will happen as easily as in Tunisia or Egypt.
On March 29, a conference was held in London to discuss a post-Gaddafi Libya and negotiating with his opposition leaders, in order to prepare them for a transitional government.
Qatar, one of the leading Arab nations at this conference, will even host the next conference on Libya. Qatar was one of the first Arab nations to fly its F16 fighter jets over Libya, encouraging other Arab nations to follow suit.
Qatar, a modern, leading Arab nation, realises how vital it is to support the wave of change in the Middle East, if the region’s rulers want to survive and enjoy the popularity of their own people and other nations.
Opening the door to democracy is something urgently needed by hundreds of millions of people living under dictatorship, corruption and poverty.
Iran and Syria can't separate. They might crush the protesters, but that wouldn't be the end. The most senior Shia clergyman in Iran, Ayatollah Vahid Khorasani, second only to Ayatollah Sistani, recently asked his students at the seminary Qom, “How only do you think that Ayatollah Khamenei and I will live? Forever?!"
*Published in the EGYPTIAN GAZETTE on Apr. 7, 2011.