LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِApril 16/2011

Biblical Event Of The Day
Paul's Letter to Titus 2/1-14: "But say the things which fit sound doctrine, 2:2 that older men should be temperate, sensible, sober minded, sound in faith, in love, and in patience: 2:3 and that older women likewise be reverent in behavior, not slanderers nor enslaved to much wine, teachers of that which is good; 2:4 that they may train the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, 2:5 to be sober minded, chaste, workers at home, kind, being in subjection to their own husbands, that God’s word may not be blasphemed. 2:6 Likewise, exhort the younger men to be sober minded; 2:7 in all things showing yourself an example of good works; in your teaching showing integrity, seriousness, incorruptibility, 2:8 and soundness of speech that can’t be condemned; that he who opposes you may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say about us. 2:9 Exhort servants to be in subjection to their own masters, and to be well-pleasing in all things; not contradicting; 2:10 not stealing, but showing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God, our Savior, in all things. 2:11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, 2:12 instructing us to the intent that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we would live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world; 2:13 looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ; 2:14 who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good works. 2:15 Say these things and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no man despise you". ُ
 

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources 
Israel, Saudi Arabia should form alliance of necessity vis-à-vis Iran’s nuclear threat//By: Shoula Romano Horing/April 15/11
Never Forgotten: Lebanon's Missing People/Amnesty International/April 15/11
Syria: Rampant Torture of Protesters/HRW/Press Release/April 15/11
Reaching Lebanon’s disenfranchised majority/Rabeh Ghadban/April 15/11 
An Open Letter to Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah/By: Nadim Koteish/April 15/11

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for April 15/11 
Haaretz: Mideast Turmoil Boosts Iran's Regional Arms Smuggling/Naharnet
Al-Rahi Meets Pope Benedict XVI: Christian Meeting to Be Held Next Week, Muslim-Christian Summit on May 12/Naharnet
Hoff in Fleeting Visit to Lebanon, U.N. Awaiting Israel's Position on Demarcating Maritime Border/Naharnet
Protests erupt across Syria/Now Lebanon
Saudi Shia protest for release of prisoners/Now Lebanon
Syrian security beats protestors marching in Damascus/Now Lebanon
Iran urges UN to help stop killing of Bahrainis/Now Lebanon
'War still on' for families of Lebanon's missing/National
Hundreds of trucks delayed at Lebanon-Syria border/Ahram Online
Syria tortures protesters, beats journalists: HRW
Syria's President Announces New Cabinet/VOA
US Says Iran Helping Syria Quell Protests/VOA
Syria urges legal action against Lebanon MP/Ya Libnan
Syria: How Many Bad Fridays Can Assad Afford?/Time
Aoun says Sleiman's demands for shares is not constitutional/iloubnan.info
Mikati postpones cabinet formation upon request of Amal and Hezbollah, report/iloubnan.info
Rifi denies reports on arms smuggling from Lebanon to Syria/iloubnan.info
Syria wants Lebanon to censor Lebanese media/Ya Libnan
Government Formation Back to Square One, Al-Rahi Suggests Issuing Call to Speed up Formation/Naharnet
Rifi Denies Confiscation of Two Cars Smuggling Weapons to Syria/Naharnet
Lebanese Expatriates Continue to Arrive From Abidjan/Naharnet
Newborn Child Dead in Nylon Bag, Two Grenades Set Off in Ouzai/Naharnet
Al-Rahi Meets Pope Benedict XVI: Christian Meeting to Be Held Next Week, Muslim-Christian Summit on May 12/Naharnet
WikiLeaks: Former MP Ahdab: March 14 Forces Not United, Lahoud Must be Toppled/Naharnet
WikiLeaks: Hariri Urged Ending Assad Regime, Khaddam and Muslim Brotherhood to fill Void/Naharnet
WikiLeaks: Fatfat Said Hizbullah is a Regional Problem/Naharnet
Trucks Delayed at Lebanon-Syria Border as Damascus Toughens Security Measures/Naharnet
Syria Urges Action after Lebanon MP 'Implicated' in Protests/Naharnet
Two Israeli Tanks Enter Disputed Area with Lebanon/Naharnet
Loyalty to the Resistance: Problems Plaguing Lebanon are a Result of Mustaqbal's Practices/Naharnet
Hizbullah Denies Role in Libya Uprising/Naharnet
Lebanese Army and UNIFIL Perform Combined Artillery Exercise/Naharnet

Syria tortures protesters, beats journalists: HRW
2011-04-15
AMMAN — Syria's security forces have arrested hundreds of people arbitrarily since pro-democracy protests erupted a month ago and subjected them to torture and ill-treatment, a Human Rights Watch report said Friday.   The forces, which include al-mukhabarat (secret police), also detained and tortured rights campaigners, writers and journalists who have reported or supported the protests against President Bashar al-Assad's rule, the international New York-based organization said. "There can be no real reforms in Syria while security forces abuse people with impunity," Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.
"By silencing those who write about events, Syrian authorities hope to hide their brutality. But their crackdown on journalists and activists only highlights their criminal behavior," he added.
The group said at least seven journalists were detained.
There was no immediate comment from the Syrian authorities, who have come under mounting Western criticism for using force to put down protests that have spread across several parts of Syria since they erupted in the southern city of Deraa on March 18. An estimated 200 people have been killed.
Human Rights Watch interviewed 19 freed detainees, including three teenagers. All but two detainees said mukhabarat operatives beat them and that they witnessed dozens of other detainees being beaten or heard screams of people being beaten.
."In addition to three children interviewed by Human Rights Watch, witnesses reported seeing children detained and beaten in the facilities where they were held," the report said.
Many described how they were tortured with electro-shock devices, cables, and whips and held in overcrowded cells while being deprived of sleep, food, and water. Several were blindfolded and handcuffed the entire time, the report said.
A Syrian writer told Human Rights Watch he was "kidnapped" off a Damascus street after he commented critically about the government's response to the protests in the media.
"I saw a white unmarked van on the street, and when I came directly beside it, the sliding door opened and three big men grabbed me," he told Human Rights Watch.
His captors, who were State Security agents, beat and kicked him on the way to and during interrogation, using a whip, the report said. It added that a non-Syrian Arab journalist said that he was also beaten during interrogation.
FORCED CONFESSIONS
Assad has ordered the release of detainees who have been arrested during the protests except those who committed crimes "against the nation and citizens."
A human rights lawyer said several hundred have been released but they were just "a drop in the ocean" compared with the thousands of political prisoners in Syria, whose numbers have swelled since the protest began. The report said most detainees interviewed were forced to sign confessions without being allowed to read them, and sign pledges not to participate in protests. "None were allowed to have any contact with relatives or lawyers ... and their families were not informed of their whereabouts. One, a 17-year-old, could hardly move -- he needed assistance sitting down and standing up," the report said. Human Rights Watch said it reviewed video footage showing evidence of severe beatings to the face and arms of a 12-year-old from Douma, a suburb of Damascus. The report quoted a protester from Tel, a town just north of Damascus, describing his experience at a State Security branch on Baghdad Street. "They lined us up in the corridor along the wall, and beat us. Then they dragged us to the basement -- I lost consciousness for some time, they beat me very hard on my head," the freed protester was quoted as saying. "I was hooded at the time," he said. "They first kept all 17 of us in one room, and took (us) out for interrogations from there -- they beat us with a cable, and accused us of being Israeli and Lebanese spies."Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters.

Protests erupt across Syria
April 15, 2011
Thousands of protestors massed in the restive Syrian city of Daraa after weekly Muslim prayers on Friday as a global outcry widened over a deadly crackdown on anti-regime demonstrators. Activists said up to 3,000 protestors marched to the center of Daraa and more were on their way to the southern city, where security forces shot dead at least seven people last Friday. Meanwhile in the Kurdish east of the country, Hassan Berro, a rights activist in Qamishli, said some 5,000 people emerged from a mosque there on Friday to demonstrate in solidarity with the people of Daraa and Banias. Banias, home to Sunnis, Alawite Muslims and Christians on the Mediterranean coast, is another key protest center where government forces killed at least four people when they strafed a residential area with bullets on Sunday. "With our souls and our blood, we sacrifice ourselves for you Daraa," the protestors shouted in Qamishli, waving Syrian flags. Another 4,500 people also demonstrated against the regime in the three Kurdish neighbourhoods of Raas al-Arab, Amuda and Derbassiye, near Qamishli, Berro told AFP. In Homs, baton-wielding police waded into a crowd of around 4,000 people who had begun demonstrating after prayers and chanting "freedom, freedom," political activist Najatai Tayara told AFP by telephone. And about 50 protestors clashed with police in Barazah, near Damascus, throwing stones at them before scuffles broke out, said rights activist Abdel Karim Rihawi. The latest demonstrations came a day after Syria announced an amnesty for scores of prisoners detained since the protests erupted and as it unveiled a new cabinet to replace the one that quit last month.-AFP/NOW Lebanon

Syrian security beats protestors marching in Damascus
April 15, 2011 /Reuters reported on Friday that Syrian security beat back protestors marching from Damascus’ suburbs toward the capital’s Abbasid Square. The agency quoted a witness as saying that there were 15 buses full of secret police who chased the protestors and fired tear gas on them and beat them with batons. Another witness told Reuters that the protestors called for the overthrow of the regime and “tore down numerous posters of President Bashar al-Assad plastered along the way.”Protests erupted across Syria earlier in the day following the weekly Muslim prayers, following a month of unrest that has wracked the country.-NOW Lebanon

Saudi Shia protest for release of prisoners
April 15, 2011 /Hundreds of Saudi Shia Muslims demonstrated Friday in the oil-rich eastern province demanding the release of prisoners, more human rights and in support of fellow Shia in Bahrain, witnesses said. Protestors took to the streets in Al-Qatif, Awamiya and Rabeeiya amid increased security measures. Helicopters flew over Rabeeiya where Shia Muslims protested immediately after Friday prayers, one witness told AFP. The protestors called for the release of nine Shia inmates who have been in prison in Saudi Arabia without trial since 1996 and of more than 100 others arrested during protests in the past few weeks. They also carried banners demanding more rights. The demonstrators also carried Bahraini flags in a sign of support for fellow Shia Muslims in the neighboring kingdom where authorities have clamped down on Shia-led protests, another witness said. The witnesses also said that Shia staged protests on Thursday and made similar demands. Most of the estimated two million Saudi Shia Muslims live in the eastern province.-AFP/NOW Lebanon

Iran urges UN to help stop killing of Bahrainis
April 15, 2011 /Iran has demanded intervention from the United Nations Security Council "to stop the killing of the people of Bahrain," state media reported on Friday. Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi made the demand in a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, news agency IRNA said. It said that in his letter, Salehi "regretted the inaction of the Security Council, while in similar situations in the region, the council's attitude was different." "The revolt of the people of Bahrain is identical to the revolts in Tunisia, Egypt and the revolt of the majority of the people [in Bahrain] aims to meet legitimate rights." Salehi also criticized the sending of Saudi troops to Bahrain to suppress the revolt. Iran, like Bahrain a predominantly Shia country, has repeatedly condemned the suppression of protests and the deployment of Saudi forces in the Sunni-ruled country. Manama has accused the Iranian authorities of supporting the events led by Bahraini Shia who form the majority of the population in the country. Tehran's position has created tensions not only with Manama, but also with other Arab monarchies, particularly with Saudi Arabia, led by Sunni dynasties.-AFP/NOW Lebanon

Haaretz: Mideast Turmoil Boosts Iran's Regional Arms Smuggling
Naharnet/Iran has smuggled more weapons to Hizbullah, Syria, and Palestinian groups in recent months, taking advantage of the wave of unrest in the Middle East, reported the Israeli newspaper Haaretz on Friday. Because international attention is focused mainly on regime changes and local intelligence services are busy protecting their rulers, the Iranians have been able to act with greater impunity, it said According to western intelligence, only a relatively small quantity of smuggled Iranian weapons is currently being intercepted, it noted.
Senior Israeli government officials told Haaretz: "Iran is inciting the entire region, from Afghanistan and Yemen to Egypt and Morocco."
At least seven cases of weapons smuggling led by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards have been reported during the past two months.
In mid-March, Israel Navy commandos stopped the Victoria off the coast of Israel carrying weapons and ammunition sent from Iran and bound for Islamic Jihad activists in the Gaza Strip, the newspaper continued. Shortly after the Victoria was intercepted, Turkey announced it had stopped two Iranian planes, one after the other announcing that the planes had been carrying mortars bound for Syria, Haaretz stated. According to western intelligence sources, the weapons were bound for groups in Lebanon or Gaza. In addition to the northern smuggling route via Turkey and Syria, Tehran is also operating a southern route, through Sudan and Egypt to Sinai and Gaza, it continued. Despite the regime change in Egypt, the Egyptian security forces have been concerned enough over the smuggling (and particularly over the possibility that some of the weapons could be handed over to extremists within Egypt) to act against it.
The most recent incident took place last week in Sudan, when two people were killed in an air attack on the road between the Khartoum airport and the city of Port Sudan.
The Sudanese government accused Israel of being behind the attack, which Israel neither confirmed nor denied, said Haaretz. According to a Kuwaiti newspaper report, one of the men was Abdul-Latif Ashkar, a Palestinian who played a central role in Hamas weapons smuggling and purportedly the successor to Hamas weapons procurer Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, whom Hamas accused the Mossad of assassinating in January 2010.The Iranians are also smuggling large amounts of money to Hamas in Gaza. Last month the Israel Air Force attacked a car carrying several Hamas operatives near Rafah. The car was carrying as much as $18 million, according to various sources. Senior government officials in Israel told Haaretz: "Iran is inciting the entire region, from Afghanistan and Yemen to Egypt and Morocco." Beirut, 15 Apr 11, 13:02

Urges Action after Lebanon MP 'Implicated' in Protests
Naharnet/Syria's ambassador to Beirut urged Lebanese authorities on Thursday to take legal action following allegations a deputy was funding and arming protesters in Syria.
Ali Abdul Karim Ali "requested Lebanon's authorities and judiciary take action ... in order to preserve brotherly ties between the two countries," according to the transcript of an interview with Hizbullah's Intiqad website. Ali's comments came a day after Syrian state-run television aired "testimonies" of three people saying they had received funds and weapons from a Sunni Lebanese lawmaker to fuel a wave of protests against the ruling Baath regime. Anas al-Kanj, who presented himself as the head of an "armed terrorist group," said on camera that he received money and arms from MP Jamal al-Jarrah through an intermediary, Ahmed al-Uda. Uda also appeared in a pre-recorded segment, identifying himself as a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is banned in Syria. "The Syrian ambassador confirmed that interference by some Lebanese parties in the events in Syria and the confessions aired on television are very dangerous and could harm ... brotherly ties between Lebanon and Syria," Intiqad's transcript read.
Ali confirmed to AFP that agreements signed between Lebanon and Syria dictated that the judiciary should automatically take action in the case. However, he stopped short of openly accusing Jarrah of inciting dissent in Syria. Jarrah, a member of Caretaker Prime Minsiter Saad Hariri's Mustaqbal Movement, has denied the allegations. "We have neither the desire nor the capacity or means to interfere in Syrian affairs. I neither know Ahmed al-Uda nor have any ties to him," he said. Protests erupted in Syria on March 15 calling for an end to a decades-old state of emergency and demanding sweeping political reforms. Authorities have repeatedly accused "armed groups" of fuelling unrest in the country. Damascus was forced to pull its troops from Lebanon under massive international pressure following the 2005 assassination of ex-premier Rafik Hariri, Saad's father, after a 29-year deployment. Lebanon and Syria agreed to establish diplomatic ties in October 2008, for the first time since their independence 60 years ago.(AFP) Beirut, 14 Apr 11, 16:44

Rifi Denies Confiscation of Two Cars Smuggling Weapons to Syria
Naharnet/Internal Security Forces chief Ashraf Rifi denied on Thursday that the security forces had confiscated two cars on the Lebanese-Syrian border that were attempting to smuggle arms to Syria, said media reports on Friday. Reports said on Thursday that the border patrol had arrested a Lebanese and Syrian while they were trying to cross the border to Syria in cars loaded with arms in the eastern Bekaa region. Meanwhile, a prominent ISF source denied to the daily An Nahar in remarks published on Friday that any arms were confiscated on Thursday. LBC had reported that members of the Nasserddine family, who are part of the border patrol at the Lebanese-Syrian border, had apprehended individuals trying to smuggle five hunting rifles to Syria, three of which were handed over to Lebanese intelligence. Hundreds of trucks have been held up at a border crossing between Lebanon and Syria amid heightened security measures enforced as the Syrian regime faces unprecedented protests. "Between 400 and 500 trucks, most with Syrian or Jordanian license plates, have been held at the Abboudiyeh border crossing for hours for inspection by Syrian security forces," a Lebanese security source told Agence France Presse. Beirut, 15 Apr 11, 09:34

Trucks Delayed at Lebanon-Syria Border as Damascus Toughens Security Measures
Naharnet/Hundreds of trucks have been held up at a border crossing between Lebanon and Syria amid heightened security measures enforced as the Syrian regime faces unprecedented protests. "Between 400 and 500 trucks, most with Syrian or Jordanian license plates, have been held at the Abboudiyeh border crossing for hours for inspection by Syrian security forces," a Lebanese security source told Agence France Presse. "The inspection of each truck is taking about one hour," he added. "These measures have been in place for three days."
The Abboudiyeh crossing in northern Lebanon leads to the central Syrian industrial city of Homs. Thursday's security measures, the toughest in years, come amid accusations by Damascus that members of caretaker premier Saad Hariri's Mustaqbal Movement have been funding and arming anti-government protesters in Syria. Syrian state television on Wednesday aired "testimonies" of three people saying they had received funds and weapons from MP Jamal al-Jarrah to fuel a wave of protests against the ruling Baath regime.
Jarrah has denied the allegations.
Protests erupted in Syria on March 15 calling for an end to a decades-old state of emergency and demanding sweeping reforms. Activists and human rights groups estimate more than 100 people have been killed and scores wounded in the demonstrations, which have spread to cities across the country. Damascus was forced to pull its troops out of Lebanon in 2005 following a 29-year presence. The withdrawal came in the face of massive international pressure over the February 14, 2005 assassination of ex-premier Rafik Hariri, Saad's father. Syria has denied accusations it was involved in the killing. In 2006, trucks along the Syrian-Lebanese border were also held up in what was thought to be a retaliatory measure by Syrian authorities amid tension between the two countries. Lebanon and Syria agreed to establish diplomatic ties in October 2008, for the first time since the two countries' independence from France 60 years ago.(AFP) Beirut, 14 Apr 11, 20:14

WikiLeaks: Former MP Ahdab: March 14 Forces Not United, Lahoud Must be Toppled
Naharnet/Former MP Misbah al-Ahdab said that divisions were beginning to emerge in the March 14 camp, according to a WikiLeakes cable published exclusively in al-Akhbar newspaper on Friday. "We're not a united team, we only gather to have our pictures taken," Ahdab told then U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Jeffery Feltman in a meeting on August 17, 2006.
The cable revealed that Ahdab expressed his anger from the March 14 forces and the way they handle issues, saying that then MP Saad Hariri "should stop living in the past and start taking steps to reform Lebanon." The former MP was quoted as saying that Hariri "is surrounded by a group of obedient people who convince him that his performance is excellent."
Ahdab also mocked the campaign promoted by Hariri's media that he represents the "diplomatic resistance." Addressing the dispute over then President Emile Lahoud's term in office, he said that the only way to oust him was to "link him and his son in the Bank al-Madina scandal and the U.N. Oil for Food Program" even if some March 14 figures were found to be involved in them. "Some sacrifices need to be made to topple Lahoud," he stressed. Feltman mentioned that overthrowing the President without the consent of Speaker Nabih Berri will lead to disrupting the political scene for a month or two in Lebanon, which will be a positive development since it will weaken Hizbullah. Beirut, 15 Apr 11, 13:07

WikiLeaks: Hariri Urged Ending Assad Regime, Khaddam and Muslim Brotherhood to fill Void
Naharnet/Caretaker PM Saad Hariri believed that the Syrian and Iranian regimes are the obstacles behind the deteriorating peace process in the Middle East, revealed a WikiLeakes cable published in al-Akhbar newspaper on Friday. Hariri stated that Israel is "protecting" the Syrian regime because it fears the unknown. The leaked U.S. Embassy cable dated August 24, 2006, reported that he believed "weakening Syria will force Iran to work on its own." Hariri said during a meeting with a U.S. foreign ministry official and another diplomat in the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon, that isolating Syria and imposing a siege on it would cut Iran's link to Lebanon and Palestine "where it is creating problems." He stressed: "Saudi Arabia and other Arabian countries have gotten fed up with Bashar… and are not interested in getting engaged in a dialogue with Damascus." "We need to put an end to the Syrian regime… All conflicts will end when this regime is abolished," he continued. When asked about who can fill the void if the regime falls, he stated that "collaboration between the Muslim Brotherhood and some of the officials that were part of the old regime, such as former Syrian Vice President Abdul Halim Khaddam and former Syrian Chief of Staff Hikmat al-Shihabi" could assume control in Syria.
Hariri stressed that the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria is similar to the moderate Islamists in Turkey, explaining: "They will allow a Christian or a woman to become president. They even support a peace agreement with Israel." He expressed fears over Iranian intervention in the region, saying: "Syria is only part of a bigger problem which is Iran, which supports Islamist groups like Hizbullah and Hamas." The Mustaqbal Movement leader said that Iran and Syria are smuggling arms to Hizbullah through land borders not by sea or air. Hariri questioned the usefulness of providing the Lebanese army with weapons to serve as an obstacle to Hizbullah when "its ammunition won't last more than four hours." He added that he will cut all ties with Hizbullah, saying: "We want it to change its behavior and hand over its weapons, or it will have a problem with me." In another leaked cable dated September 27, 2006, Hariri noted that Lebanon only requires "light weapons and some helicopters to impose its sovereignty over all its territory." He believed that the residents of the South will turn against Hizbullah once the Lebanese army is deployed in the area as they will realize that the Lebanese authorities can help resolve their problems, not Hizbullah, which is only "an Iranian infiltrator." Beirut, 15 Apr 11, 10:47

Aoun Responding to Miqati's Statements that he Will Not Surrender: His War is with Himself
Naharnet/Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun called on Friday Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati to take his time in the government formation process, saying that he should not be given any deadlines in this issue. The MP made his statements in response to Miqati's announcement from Baabda on Thursday that he will be giving himself more time in the government formation. Commenting on the premier-designate's statements that he will not give up in the formation, Aoun said: "His war is with himself." The MP made his statements before journalists after holding talks with Faisal Karami, the son of former Prime Minister Omar Karami. "The government has not been formed because the conditions for it are not yet available," he noted. Aoun stressed that he does not have demands, only rights. Addressing media reports that President Michel Suleiman is still insisting on maintaining the Interior and Defense Ministries, he stated: "Review the constitution. Rights are not opinions, but written words. I always speak based on the written word, which I respect.  "They are violating my rights and those launching the aggression should make concessions," he concluded. Beirut, 15 Apr 11, 14:27

WikiLeaks: Fatfat Said Hizbullah is a Regional Problem
Naharnet/Former minister Ahmed Fatfat said Hizbullah is valuable in solving internal conflicts but becomes a problem when dealing with regional issues, revealed a leaked U.S. Embassy cable published exclusively in Al-Akhbar on Friday. The WikiLeaks cable dated May 23, 2006, spoke of a meeting between then Acting Interior Minister Fatfat, then U.S. State Department Coordinator for Counterterrorism Henry Crampton, then U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Jeffrey Feltman, ISF chief Ashraf Rifi, and an American diplomat. Crampton advised Fatfat to form an intelligence council responsible for guiding political authorities to control terrorism. He explained that the council would be aimed at presenting guidance to Lebanese politicians because it seems that they probably don't understand the nature of the dangers of combating terrorism. It seems there is no communication between Lebanese politicians and the security forces authorities, Crampton added. For his part, Fatfat stated that social and economic issues are behind the presence of extremists in North Lebanon and the only solution to halt any terrorist act is to provide Palestinian refugees with a better standard of living. Beirut, 15 Apr 11, 09:20

Government Formation Back to Square One, Al-Rahi Suggests Issuing Call to Speed up Formation
Naharnet/Hopes that a new government will be formed soon have disappeared in light of the recent contacts and meetings regarding the formation, reported the daily An Nahar Friday.
It appears that matters have returned to square one, especially given the fragile trust between Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati and Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun.
Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi even suggested issuing a call to speed up the government formation, which will be made later on Friday. He made his position during a meeting with a Lebanese political delegation as part of his ongoing visit to the Vatican. An Nahar reported that Miqati's announcement from Baabda on Thursday that he will be giving himself more time to form the government has not "sat well" with some of his allies in the new majority, especially Aoun and Hizbullah to some extent given that the four meetings held between Speaker Nabih Berri's advisor MP Ali Hassan Khalil, Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's advisor Hussein Khalil, and Aoun had failed to achieved any progress.
Furthermore, the daily said that Miqati and the mediators' suggestion to grant President Michel Suleiman, the premier-designate, and PSP leader MP Walid Jumblat 11 ministers while the March 8 camp would be granted 19 was met with Aoun's rejection, who is insistent on acquiring 10 portfolios, including the Interior Ministry. A leading figure in the March 8 camp told the pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat daily in rearks published Friday that Miqati made a mistake when he announced that he had given himself more time to form a new government seeing as the constitution does not impose a deadline in the formation process. He instead interpreted the announcement as an attempt to grant his allies and those who backed his appointment as prime minister more time, otherwise he would resort to forming a technocratic government. "Miqati took this position to counter the pressure his allies had imposed on him," he added. Meanwhile, President Michel Suleiman's visitors told As Safir in remarks published on Friday that he is insistent on maintaining the Interior Ministry portfolio and its minister Ziad Baroud. He justified his choice by saying that Baroud succeeded in building trust with the Lebanese people. Suleiman added the minister should not be held accountable for the flaws and shortcomings in the ministry, stating that they are the products of the current political situation in Lebanon. Furthermore, he said that it's normal that the Interior and Defense Ministries remain under the president's authority seeing as he is the high commander of the country's armed forces. Beirut, 15 Apr 11, 11:30

An Open Letter to Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah
Nadim Koteish, April 15, 2011
Dear Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah:
I will not waste your time with the tedious game of answering your accusation against more than half the Lebanese people: that they conspired against you and Hezbollah during and after the 2006 July War. This would require delving into partisan responses, challenging accusations of treachery, denying the grounds for such accusations, and unearthing – from the past, present and perhaps even the future – testimonies, events, and evidence in order to try to out-bid you in Resistance – perhaps even to argue over who was the first to bear arms against Israel.
I will set this aside, not because of any lack of credibility in this argument (some of those making it were in fact involved in Resistance early on),but because the nature of the crisis we are now facing requires frankness of a different kind. I permit myself, dear Sayyed, to tell you frankly: Much of what you said about the intentions, wishes, feelings, and dreams (and perhaps actions) of some Lebanese toward Hezbollah is true. They are not a transient minority of little weight. Yes, dear Sayyed. There are Lebanese who gambled that Hezbollah would be defeated in the July War as much as they feared that the party would win it. There are Lebanese who did not understand why they and their state should bear the burden of a war when they did not share in its decision and could not question those who had plunged into it. They did not understand why they had to take on the costs of rebuilding after the war’s frightening destruction. Moreover, there are many Lebanese who wished that Hezbollah’s masses would be punished for the results of the war, after they left the battlefield waving white flags and returned to it raising victory signs and chanting “we would die for you, Sayyed Hassan.” They are the same Lebanese who opened their homes, schools, and village and city squares to receive more than one million people displaced from the south by that war’s fire and destruction.
Yes, dear Sayyed. There are Lebanese who fear Hezbollah and would not mind if the object of their fear were removed in any available way. They are the ones who discover daily that this frightening party has no trouble proving their fear’s legitimacy to them. How would you expect them to react when this party brings down the means of its own destruction upon itself and the country? These Lebanese did not say anything more than what Minister Mohammad Khalifeh said when he expressed his conviction that Hezbollah was involved in assassinations and explosions in Lebanon. This testimony is more valuable politically than any forthcoming indictment. Khalifeh said, “If Syria fails to make an arrangement with UNIIIC and the Hariri tribunal, Hezbollah will make our life hell. There will be a return to car bombs and terror attacks.”
These Lebanese did not strive for anything more than what the minister and MP Yassine Jaber mentioned: To create ways to stop arms smuggling, not because they were conspirators, but because they, like Mr. Jaber, believe that Hezbollah has “destroyed livelihoods.”Yes, dear Sayyed: There are many Lebanese who won two consecutive victories in legitimate parliamentary elections and do not share Hezbollah’s view on the quality of the struggle with Israel. Moreover, I tell you frankly that what I have heard from many of these people proves that their sensitivity toward Hezbollah’s weapons is immeasurably greater than their sensitivity toward Israel. This is because they are convinced that Israeli aircraft will not strike vote counting committees in the polling stations if it appears that the result will not be to Tel Aviv’s liking, just as they are convinced that Hezbollah will not hesitate one moment to use its weapons to change the results of the democratic process. It has not hesitated.
These people, dear Sayyed, feel in fact that the true danger to our political, social and moral system today does not come from any potential Israeli attack. Yes, the system itself: shabby, weak, non-modern, and preventing the achievement of less repulsively sectarian representation though it is. This is the system that, even if it does not bring us into the sought-after paradise of modernity, is still able to protect us from the hell of statelessness.
Dear Sayyed, there are Lebanese today who honestly feel that these weapons themselves are what brings down Israeli wars upon Lebanon. This is not because Israel does not want evil, but because Lebanon – very simply – has ended, via a complicated chain of political and military dynamics since 1985, what could be termed the “political gamble on the Israeli military adventure in Lebanon.” Yes, dear Sayyed, much of what you said accurately described the reality among the people. Most of them no longer feel that the Resistance represents a national manifestation whose function is to defend Lebanon while the state is weak, as expressed in the president’s inaugural speech. Rather, they have become certain that the Resistance has transformed into a separate project and a closed creed that they are daily forced to find ways to live with.
I tell you surely, dear Sayyed, that among these there are indeed collaborators and traitors who wished evil for Hezbollah for vulgar material reasons, or because of a dangerous lack of patriotism. No society in the world is completely free of such people. Yet I also tell you, with the same surety, that the majority of these people are worthy Lebanese citizens who love their country and its people and only wish good for it. They are patriots unsullied by any suspect relationship with any embassy or foreign intelligence agency. They are just people, dear Sayyed, who reached a moment where they lost faith in one of the most important foundations of the social contract among a human group: the principle of social solidarity.
These are people who, in their current stances and feelings, do not differ from the milieu of Hezbollah itself in 1982 – a milieu that welcomed Israel when it appeared that the Israeli choice would save it from the armed Palestinian power that had too long violated its dignity, lands, sustenance, and future. They are no different from the milieu that openly flirted with Israel for ten months following the Israeli invasion of Lebanon – the same milieu that, on the eve of Imam Moussa Sadr’s disappearance, was clashing daily with Palestinian militants and not with Israel, on the closest line to occupied Palestine. Thus, dear Sayyed, I think that in your recent speech, you posed – to us and to yourself – the basic and perhaps most important question of all, not just since the liberation of 2000, but since Hezbollah was founded in 1982: “How can a country be built facing this kind of logic?”
This question must take precedence over all other questions today. The answers to it must not be tinged by any subterfuge, ingratiation, appeasement, or wishful wagers.
Of course, this letter is not the appropriate place to propose answers. However, it is the place to say that the solution to this puzzle is certainly not more “mustering” or calls to arms. It is no coincidence that Hezbollah’s institutions that interpret the “party mind” are always affiliated with a “mobilization” group, whether in media, student, or women’s activism. Similarly, the solution is not crafting and honing arguments in order to rally people behind the Resistance. It is certainly not jumping above the national consensus that the Resistance arrogantly thinks it does not need. Your honest and accurate question, dear Sayyed, points out that that nations are not built without foundational consensuses. Reaching understanding with Hezbollah on the present and future of its weapons and project cannot occur outside such foundational consensuses. This kind of dispute is certainly not the kind of argument that the parliament, courts, and army undertake to address in democratic states.
These people, dear Sayyed, are not a wayward, seduced group. They are citizens who won a parliamentary majority twice in a row. A great many of them are compelled today to ask you: “Why did we get here?” instead of simply accepting that “our God” alone is the pretext for bullying and accusations of treachery, a foregone conclusion in a country fated to remain divided into two camps – traitors and resisters.
- A Journalist
This letter was published in An-Nahar newspaper and has been translated with the author’s permission.

Reaching Lebanon’s disenfranchised majority
Rabeh Ghadban/April 15, 2011
Lebanon is the Middle East’s most invisible authoritarian regime. Often praised for its culture of democracy, Lebanon’s leaders have proved unwilling to reform the sectarian state that has left this country, which promises so much, routinely offering so little. Saad Hariri and the March 14 movement represent the latest leaders to follow this trend, as their recent rally commemorating the death of former PM Rafik Hariri showed their inability to inspire those outside their voting bloc. Though he attempted to cast himself as a political leader with national appeal, Saad Hariri only succeeded in heightening his image within a select segment of Lebanese society, rather than utilizing the opportunity to deal with the root causes of Lebanon’s instability: poor governance, fractured leadership and Lebanon’s sectarian political system.
In his speech and in the weeks since the rally, Hariri has attacked Hezbollah’s arms, asserted his support for the Special Tribunal investigating his father’s death, and offered up an obscure vision for Lebanon’s democratic future. The central problem, however, is that to achieve his goal of disarming Hezbollah and creating a better system of government, Hariri must reposition himself as a man of reform, moving away from the very political structure that has served as the foundation of his success. If he is to move forward, he must mobilize a new base of supporters outside the lifeless March 14 movement and become a true statesman with national appeal.
The widely-held belief that Lebanon is deeply loyal to sectarian communities is flawed and outdated. The equally-false notion that most of Lebanon’s population remains divided between the March 14 and March 8 coalitions has pervaded much of the media coverage of Lebanon, simplifying the country’s more factionalized conflict. This superficial narrative of allegiance overlooks the disenfranchised majority, a constituency that lies somewhere in the middle between these two political poles and represents the biggest voting block yet to be captured by any political party.
In Lebanon, unemployment is high, poverty is extensive, and confidence in the economy is low. This has led to an increased recognition that the system of patronage between politician and citizen has not benefited the society at large, giving way to a growing discontent toward political elites. Less worried about Hezbollah’s weapons or the Special Tribunal, the disenfranchised majority represents the huge bloc of Lebanese who believe their country is heading in the wrong direction. They are primarily made up of Lebanon’s lower-middle class, but also include parts of the middle-upper income bracket and educated citizens who are absent from the political process and have begun to mobilize.
To become an effective statesman, Hariri must incorporate civil society demands into his democratic vision while also taking pointers from Interior Minister Ziad Baroud. While Lebanese civil society was previously suppressed by Syrian tutelage, it has made small achievements that have advanced transparency in the budgetary process, furthered operational efficiency within government bureaucracies and raised the standard of accountability for public officials, all of which should serve as the outline for the sovereign state Hariri aspires to. Unlike its Arab neighbors, which have systematically crippled civil society and have had minimal exposure to representative government, Lebanon is blessed with a politically sophisticated citizenry, experienced in the practice of democracy. Though imperfect and prone to abuse by sectarian opportunists, Lebanon’s democratic tradition has laid a foundation on which an effective and inclusive state can be built.
Baroud, a long-time civil society activist himself, has built on this foundation by successfully enacting sections of the proposed electoral-reform package, which seeks to gradually secularize governance through the creation of a bicameral administration. Indeed, Baroud has pushed forward a culture of responsibility in government and was credited with overseeing Lebanon’s most transparent round of elections to date in 2009. With a reputation for implementing change, rather than merely speaking of it, Baroud has gained popular support by being an impartial but principled decision maker within Lebanon’s cabinet. It is this commitment to the state and its citizens over sectarian loyalties that should serve as the model for political leadership.
In times of crisis, the public looks to the government for clarity. Today, Hariri faces a critical decision between two options: to revert to the familiar system of sectarianism that ensures him limited power and short-term survival, or to become a national leader by advancing a new outlook that embraces the demands of the disenfranchised majority while engaging with civil society activists who will increasingly settle for nothing less than true democratic reform away from Lebanon’s sectarian system.
Simply repeating the same tones of triumphalism that we saw in the 2005 Cedar Revolution without a decision to commit to the process of state building will leave Hariri at the same point he is in today: a Sunni Muslim leader indistinguishable from his feudal peers. To ensure long-term political survival and to become a leader who transcends sectarian divides, Hariri must stop offering empty rhetoric that panders to Lebanon’s worst sectarian instincts, and start providing clarity on the details of his vision for a democratic Lebanon.

Prison pathologies
Talking to Roumieh Prison Psychologist Rudy Abi Habib
Aline Sara, April 15, 2011
For the 4,000 inmates residing in Roumieh, a prison originally built to hold 1,500, there are 10 working psychologists. One of them is 30 year-old Rudy Abi Habib, who counsels the inmates as part of a program organized by the NGO Association of Justice and Mercy (AJEM). Following last week’s violent riots by detainees and their families demanding better living conditions, NOW Lebanon sat down with Abi Habib to talk about the treatment of prisoners in Roumieh, common mental health problems many suffer from, and the prospects for change.
How are inmates selected for treatment?
Rudy Abi Habib: Our NGO works according to different projects, one to support the refugees, one to support drug addicts, one dedicated to rehabilitating torture victims.
We are a team of doctors, lawyers, psychologists, social workers and nurses, divided between the prison’s four buildings.
We prioritize projects according to funding, which comes from the UN, [Swiss foundation] Drosos, the EU and our own fundraising efforts. Patients are also transferred from a jail doctor or prisoners themselves, who see another inmate doing “crazy stuff.”
What are the most common psychological problems among inmates?
Rudy Abi Habib: To begin with, there are prisoners who enter prison with a psychological problem. In other countries, many would be taken to an asylum, or for clinical treatment — they shouldn’t be in prison.
Secondly, there are those who suffer psychological trauma from the crime and its ensuing incarceration. Somewhere they are feeling guilty.
The third category is those who are neither sick in the prison nor out of it. They are resilient but suffer from the more typical everyday stresses from prison.
And then you have drug addicts, who are a category of their own – approximately 1,500 cases.
Is drug use in Roumieh common?
Rudy Abi Habib: Yes, and it’s well known. Probably people are benefitting somewhere; we are not sure who. It’s a business.
In the UK, if I’m caught for small drug use, I go to an open jail for a few months. I can still work, and sleep in prison at night because they know that if I am incarcerated, I lose my job, I lose my family, I come out worse.
Here it’s the opposite.
What are some of the most severe cases you have seen as a psychologist?
Abi Habib: The most mindboggling stuff is not psychological. It’s the injustice. Someone who should be in jail for a month and stays three years, an illegal refugee eternally waiting for a settlement.
The government hardly provides them with a mattress or edible food. They and/or NGOs have to provide their own blankets, food, [certain] medicines. Medical care is a mess. They have to wait weeks.
Elsewhere, the government provides or hires an NGO that provides the prisoners with these necessities.
We are currently working on a project to prevent incarceration of people who have schizophrenia and committed crimes upon their hallucination, because the court doesn’t psychologically assess the accused.
What is your take on the recent riots? What is the cause?
Abi Habib: It definitely has a social basis. The prisoners’ living conditions are absurd.
In jail, there are simply no options. For example there are not enough cars to transport the prisoners to the court, so a judge adjourns the trial, and [increases the inmate’s prison stay] by six months. They sleep five on the same mattress. In Lebanon, things ignite. It was probably 20 to 30 prisoners [who started the riot] and broke everything, burned chairs, mattresses, clothes, fuel used to light the oven. Two of the buildings are now empty from inside. Conditions are bad to an extent that is unbelievable. How are the prisoners feeling post-riot?
Abi Habib: They have anger, frustration. But what do you tell them? Nothing is going to change because the government doesn’t have the means. I just let them talk. They are just living a stress. But they adapt. If they don’t break, they adapt and live on their basic human instinct for survival. What do you mean by “break?”Abi Habib: Break meaning becoming mentally ill with a psychopathology.
The intent of prison is twofold: incarceration, i.e. taking away one’s freedom — the ultimate punishment – and rehabilitation. The prison has a responsibility and obligation to rehabilitate the detainees. But you don’t see that here. You see the opposite. There have been reports of prisoners injuring themselves in Roumieh. Why do you think they do this, and do they receive proper medical and psychological treatment after such incidents? Abi Habib: It’s actually usually a sort of “sick strategic move.” It’s impulsive. It is unrelated to suicidal tendencies, and it is not a cry for attention. For example, a prisoner has been requesting to see a dentist for months, with no response, so he hurts himself to access a doctor. How would you characterize the relationship between guards and prisoners? Abi Habib: Complicity . How else? There is a whole dialectic in prison you can’t believe until you see it, regardless of the country, even though elsewhere, it is within limits. There’s a reality you can’t deny. You can’t blame the prisoners for rioting; they are not getting the basics. But you can blame them in the way they do it. And you can’t blame the cops for using force to calm them either.
Where do we begin to help change the situation? Abi Habib: There is no solution, except changing the reality – building more prisons, properly training security guards. You might see the police traffic guy at a street corner one day, and that same officer managing the prison the next day. Space would be one of the major starting points. Simply having two more buildings would make a difference. You bring a psychologist to treat a depression whose cause is still present. It’s like beating a dead horse. If you don’t change the system, nothing will.
People ask me, “How do we resolve this psychological problem?” I say it’s not psychological. It’s social. Psychological treatment precludes some form of opening and possibility for change. But there is no way out for the prisoners, like treating a broken leg without a cast. How do you personally manage? Abi Habib: The minute I back out of the prison, I have to act like I’m leaving another world behind and block it out, otherwise you can’t. This interview has been condensed and edited


Our Saudi Arabian allies
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4056900,00.html
Op-ed: Israel, Saudi Arabia should form alliance of necessity vis-à-vis Iran’s nuclear threat
Shoula Romano Horing Published: 04.15.11, 00:02 / Israel Opinion
Finally, Saudi Arabia and Israel have common ground for establishing a temporary strategic alliance, similar to the one that existed during World War II between the Soviet Union and United States against the Nazi regime. Both countries mistrust President Barack Obama as a reliable ally and fear the prospect of a nuclear Iran.
Despite the major differences in values and a history of enmity, it seems only rational that Saudi Arabia should seek the unthinkable and cooperate with the Jewish state in order to preserve its survival and political independence. Otherwise, the Saudis and other Persian Gulf states will be the first victims of a nuclear Iran, without a capable, strong and reliable ally to come to their aid. British Defense Secretary Liam Fox told the House of Commons in January that Iran may be capable of developing nuclear weapons by the end of 2012. By then, most US and Western military forces will be leaving the Middle East, and Israel will be the only remaining military power capable and motivated to militarily solve the Iranian problem.
However, Israel needs strategic cooperation from Saudi Arabia to succeed, including permission to fly over Saudi territory and emergency logistical support. Most importantly, Israel needs Saudi Arabia to delay any international or Arab plan to pressure Israel on establishing a Palestinian state. While the world will be dangerously distracted and waste months with on the Palestinian issue, Iran will be off the world radar and much closer to attaining its goal. The Saudis should be aware by now of the following truths:
First, Israel’s leadership is more loyal to its Arab allies than President Obama. While Israel stood by Mubarak, it took Obama three days to call for Egypt’s president, a long term US friend, to leave office and to threaten him with foreign aid cuts. It seems that Obama only confronts and abandons allies, but prefers not to meddle in the internal revolts of enemies like Syria and Iran. Second, an ongoing state of war or a campaign of hatred and anti-Semitism against the Jewish state no longer guarantees an Arab regime‘s political survival, we saw in Syria, Libya and Yemen. Third, Iran is the main danger to Saudi Arabia and Persian Gulf states, not Israel, as the WikiLeaks cables revealed, with Saudi King Abdullah repeatedly imploring Washington to “cut off the head of the snake” (Iran) while there was still time.
Fourth, Obama will never advocate a military solution against Iran, as we saw in the last two years with his futile policy of engagement and economic sanctions. Only Israel has the will, the self-interest and the know-how to stop the Iranian menace. Israel already demolished the nuclear reactor in Iraq in 1981 and a Syrian reactor in 2007. After the US withdraws most of its armies from the Middle East, Obama’s ideology will negate the possibility of sending US troops to eliminate the Iranian threat.
Fifth, establishing a Palestinian state is not in the best interest of Saudi Arabia or Israel. As previously happened after Israel withdrew its military forces from Gaza in 2005, Hamas will be able to take over the new state by winning subsequent Palestinian elections, as it did in 2006, or by militarily defeating the PA,
as it did in 2007. Such state would become another Iranian base, threatening Israel but also destabilizing Jordan next door and encircling the Saudis from the northwest.
Instead of considering initiatives to rally Western countries, including the US, against International recognition of a Palestinian state, Israel’s leadership should look into creating new alliances, even with traditional enemies. As the Arab proverb says, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
Shoula Romano Horing was born and raised in Israel. She is an attorney in Kansas City and a national speaker. Her blog: www.shoularomanohoring.com