LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِApril 20/2011

Biblical Event Of The Day
Luke13/22-30: "He went on his way through cities and villages, teaching, and traveling on to Jerusalem. 13:23 One said to him, “Lord, are they few who are saved?”
He said to them, 13:24 “Strive to enter in by the narrow door, for many, I tell you, will seek to enter in, and will not be able. 13:25 When once the master of the house has risen up, and has shut the door, and you begin to stand outside, and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ then he will answer and tell you, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ 13:26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 13:27 He will say, ‘I tell you, I don’t know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity.’ 13:28 There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets, in the Kingdom of God, and yourselves being thrown outside. 13:29 They will come from the east, west, north, and south, and will sit down in the Kingdom of God. 13:30 Behold, there are some who are last who will be first, and there are some who are first who will be last.”


Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
More Hypocrisy From the UN, This Time About Terror and Syria/By Anne Bayefsky/April 19/11 
Iran and the Arab Spring/By: Hussein Ibish/April 19/11

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for April 19/11 
Maronite Patriarchate: Christian meeting was ‘brotherly and patriotic/Now Lebanon
Lebanese Maronite Christian Officials Hold 'Friendly' Meeting in Bkirki but Fail to Agree on Date for Future Talks/Naharnet
Bahrain Returns Confiscated Lebanese Passports/Naharnet
Syria regime demands end to anti-Assad protests/AP/Haaretz
Miqati Telephones Bahraini PM Thanking him for Ending Procedures against Lebanese/Naharnet
US Reported to Have Funded Syrian Exile Opposition/VOM
Syria protesters take over square/BBC
Syria: Shooting in Homs at latest anti-government protest/The Guardian
More deaths as Syria cracks down on dissent/ABC
Stability in Lebanon depends on that of Syria: Pro-Assad gathering/Zawya
Jumblatt: Lebanon's and Syria's stability and security are linked/Ya Libnan
Syria's muted Easter celebration/The Guardian
Lebanon: March 14 defends Jarrah, Hezbollah calls for his prosecution/Zawya
Lebanon: Nabatieh residents start campaign to shut down liquor stores/Zawya
Mikati is bound to Dar al Fatwa principles, Houri says/iloubnan.info
Pro-Syria Parties Voice Support for Assad and Allegedly 'Instigate' Damascus against March 14/Naharnet
Suleiman Meets Estonian Foreign Minister: Capture of Kidnappers Would Clear Everything/Naharnet
Fatfat Slams Berri's Shortcomings in Dealing with Syria's Accusations against Jarrah/Naharnet
4th Roumieh Inmate Dies, Clashes at Nabatiyeh Police Station Injure 2/Naharnet
Paris: Juppe in Lebanon in May, Aoun an Obstacle to Cabinet Formation/Naharnet
Suleiman Reiterates to Assad that Lebanon Supports Syria's Stability/Naharnet
Miqati: We are Keen on Abiding by Constitution in Forming New Government/Naharnet
Jumblat to those Hoping for Instability in Syria: Lebanon's Security is Linked to Syria's/Naharnet
Franjieh: Bkirki Meeting Won't Achieve Reconciliation, Which Needs Roadmap/Naharnet
Lebanese Safe as Postelection Riots Erupt in Nigeria/Naharnet
Phalange Calls for Establishing Joint National Agenda that Preserves Christians' Role in the State/Naharnet
Qaouq: Judiciary Should Uncover Extent of Mustaqbal's Involvement in Conspiring against Syria/Naharnet
Accusations Against al-Jarrah Move to Judicial, Prosecution Levels/Naharnet

Saudis give up on US, instigate direct Gulf action against Iran
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report April 19, 2011,
http://www.debka.com/article/20858/
After giving up on US and Israel ever confronting Iran, Saudi Arabia has gone out on a limb against the Obama administration to place itself at the forefront of an independent Gulf campaign for cutting down the Islamic Republic's drive for a nuclear bomb and its expansionist meddling in Arab countries, debkafile's Middle East sources report.
Two US emissaries sent to intercede with Saudi King Abdullah – US Defense Secretary Robert Gates on April 6 and National Security Adviser Tom Donilon, who arrived in Riyadh six days later – were told that Saudi Arabia had reached a parting-of-the ways with Washington, followed actively by Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman.
Abdullah said he could not forgive the Americans for throwing former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to the wolves in Cairo and for the unrest they were promoting against Arab regimes.
Saudi Arabia was therefore determined to lead the Gulf region on the road to a confrontation with Iran – up to and including military action if necessary – to defend the oil emirates against Iranian conspiracies in the pursuit of which the king accused US-led diplomacy of giving Tehran a clear field.
Monday, April 18, the foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council, GCC, asked the UN Security Council to take action for stopping Iran's "provocative interference in their countries' domestic affairs." This "flagrant interference" posed a "grave security to, and risked flaring up sectarian strike, in the GCC countries."
The resolution went on to state: "The GCC will not hesitate to adopt whatever measures and policies they deem necessary vis-à-vis the foreign interferences in their internal affairs."
The phrase "measures and policies deemed necessary" is diplomatic parlance for a military threat. It implies that Saudi Arabia and the rest of the regional group are confident that together, they command the strategic resources and assets necessary for a military strike against Iran. Our military sources report that the Saudis are convinced that their combined missile, air force and naval strength is fully capable of inflicting in-depth damage on mainland Iran. Their message to Washington is that the Gulf nations are now making their own decisions.
Iran has taken two steps in response to the Saudi-led Gulf challenge: Thousands of Iranian students, mobilized by the Revolutionary Guards and Basijj voluntary corps have laid the Saudi embassy in Tehran to siege for most of the past week, launching stone and firebomb assaults from time to time, but so far making no attempt to invade the building.
Then, Saturday, April 16, the Iranian foreign ministry summoned the Pakistani chargé d'affaires to warn him sternly against allowing Saud Arabia and Bahrain to continue conscripting Pakistani military personnel. Tehran claims that by offering exorbitant paychecks, Riyadh has raised 1,000 Pakistani recruits for its military operation in support of the Bahraini king and another 1,500 are on their way to the Gulf.
Iran also beefed up its strength along the Pakistani border to warn Islamabad that if it matters come to a clash with Saudi Arabia, Pakistani and its military will not escape punishment.
King Abdullah first defied the Obama administration's policy of support for popular uprisings against autocratic Arab regimes on March 14 by sending Saudi troops into Bahrain to prop up the king against the Shiite-led disturbances organized by Tehran's Lebanese surrogate, Hizballah.
This force has been expanded continuously, split now between units suppressing the uprising and the bulk deployed on the island's coast, 320 kilometers from the shore of Iran. Saudi ground-to-ground and anti-air missiles have been transferred to the Bahraini capital of Manama and naval units, including missile vessels, positioned in its harbor.
Monday, April 18, Bahraini Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa announced that Saudi and allied GCC troops would stay in the kingdom until Iran no longer poses a menace. "Gulf force is needed to counter a sustained campaign by Iran in Bahrain," he said.
Tehran-Riyadh tensions are rippling into other arenas: On April 11-12, the chronically disaffected Sunni Arabs of Ahwaz in the western Iranian province of Khuzestan (1.2 million inhabitants) staged a two-day uprising against the Iranian government. In their first crackdown, government forces killed at least 15 demonstrators before cutting off Ahwaz's links with the outside world. Since incoming flights were cancelled, roads to the town blocked and telephone and Internet communications discontinued, no independent information is coming out of the province.
Tehran accuses Saudi and United Arab Emirate undercover agencies of fomenting the unrest in one of its oil centers.
So too does Syrian president Bashar Assad, who claims the spreading revolt against his regime, now entering its second month, was instigated from Riyadh.
debkafile's Gulf sources report that King Abdullah has placed himself at the head of the Saudi-GCC political and military campaign against Iran. His team consists of Interior Minister, second-in-line to the throne Prince Nayef; Director of General Intelligence Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz; National Security Adviser Prince Bandar bin Sultan; Deputy Defense Minister Prince Khaled bin Sultan; and the king's son, Commander of the National Guard Prince Muttab.
According to our sources, Riyadh has not just given up on American action against Iran but also despaired of Israel and its passive acceptance of a nuclear-armed Iran and the hostile military noose the Islamic Republic is drawing around its borders from Lebanon, the Gaza Strip and Syria.
In the view of Saudi policy-makers, the effect of the Stuxnet cyber war on Iran's nuclear facilities and the targeted assassination of some of the program's key executives has been overrated. They characterize the two covert campaigns as causing limited damage at first and then acting as a fillip for accelerating Iran's drive for a nuclear bomb.

Meeting of rival Maronite leaders ends
April April 19, 2011
By Elias Sakr /The Daily Star BKIRKI, Lebanon: Rival Christian leaders Tuesday agreed to “meet whenever the need arises,” following talks held at Bkirki under the sponsorship of Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai. The meeting began at 9 a.m. shortly after the arrival of Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun, Kataeb Party head Amin Gemayel, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and Marada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh. Rai is sponsoring the high-profile icebreaker gathering at the seat of the Maronite patriarchate in Bkirki.
Beirut Maronite Bishop Boulos Matar and Youssef Beshara, Maronite archbishop of Antelias, were also attending the meeting. Photographers were briefly allowed in to take pictures around 12:30 p.m., after which Rai hosted a luncheon for his guests. Television footage following the meeting showed Geagea and Gemayel sitting at a large table facing Aoun and Franjieh, with Rai at the head of the table. Lebanon’s leading Maronite parties are divided between the Future Movement-led March14 alliance and the Hezbollah-led March 8 coalition.
Issues of mutual concern among Lebanon’s Christian factions will be the focus of Tuesday’s meeting in an effort to reach an agreement over political strategies.
A source close to Bkirki said the meeting was expected to address shared concerns, including high emigration rates and the inclusion of Christians in state administrative positions, as well as large-scale property and land sales to non-Christians. Property sales and high emigration rates have raised fears over organized efforts to alter the country’s demographic balance, as Lebanon’s Christian community has fallen to almost 40 percent, threatening the continued viability of a power-sharing system based on parity between Muslims and Christians.
As for discussions over deeply divisive political issues, including Hezbollah’s weapons and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, the source said the gathering was expected to see leaders come forward with broad proposals to lay the foundations for a future road map. The STL is the U.N. backed tribunal tasked with bringing to justice those responsible in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005. Bkirki’s attempt to ease tensions within the Christian community reportedly stems from its fear of the widening schism between the two camps, one siding with the U.S.-French-Saudi axis and the other with the Syrian-Iranian axis. While March 14 Christian factions have recently escalated their campaign against Hezbollah’s weapons after boycotting the new Cabinet, Hezbollah’s ally, Aoun, continues to quarrel with President Michel Sleiman, a Maronite, over shares in the new government.

Patriarchate: Christian meeting was ‘brotherly and patriotic’
April 19, 2011 /Maronite Patriarch Beshara Boutros al-Rai chaired on Tuesday a meeting between leading Christian politicians. The Tuesday meeting between Lebanon’s Christian leaders at the Bkirki Maronite Patriarchate was “brotherly and patriotic par excellence,” said a statement issued by the patriarchate. “The meeting was brotherly and patriotic above all. An atmosphere of love and brotherhood prevailed,” the statement said. It added that those who took part in the sit-down, which was chaired by Maronite Patriarch Beshara Boutros al-Rai, addressed the general situation in the country. There may be other such meetings in the future, the statement added. Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, Kataeb Party leader Amin Gemayel, Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun and Marada Movement leader MP Sleiman Franjieh all took part in the sit-down. Rai said last week that the meeting will be spiritual and will not discuss political details. The four Christian political leaders are mainly split between two rival blocs in Lebanon. Geagea and Gemayel take part in the Western-backed March 14 alliance, while Aoun and Franjieh support the Iranian-Syrian backed March 8 coalition.-NOW Lebanon

Syria regime demands end to anti-Assad protests
By The Associated Press /19.04.11
Syria issued a stern warning to the nation Tuesday to stop protesting, hours after security forces opened fire with live ammunition and tear gas on hundreds of anti-government demonstrators during a pre-dawn raid that killed at least one person, witnesses said. The statement raised the specter of an increasingly violent crackdown on the month-long protest movement against President Bashar Assad's authoritarian regime. The uprising is posing the most serious threat to the Assad family's ruling dynasty. Syrian anti-regime protesters waving their national flag and holding a sign that reads in Arabic 'Sunni, Alawi, Christian, Druze, I am Syrian' during a demonstration in Homs, late on April 18, 2011.The death toll from a security crackdown over the past four weeks has topped  200, human rights groups say. The Interior Ministry called on Syrians to assist authorities in preserving national security by refraining from taking part in any protests or sit-ins under any pretext. In a statement broadcast on Syrian Television, the ministry said all laws will be implemented to safeguard the people's security and the country's stability.
Hours earlier, security forces fired on anti-government protesters staging a sit-in in a square in the central city of Homs, chasing them through the streets for hours.
Witnesses said at least one person was killed and many others wounded. "They shot at everything, there was smoke everywhere," an activist in Homs told The Associated Press by telephone, asking that his name not be used because he feared for his personal safety. "I saw people on the ground, some shot in their feet, some in the stomach."
The streets were largely deserted by early afternoon, with people staying inside their homes. Hundreds of people had gathered Monday at Clock Square in the center of Homs, bringing mattresses, food and water to the site for an Egypt-style standoff. They vowed to stay until President Bashar Assad is ousted - a brazen escalation of the month-long uprising against the country's authoritarian regime. Syrian anti-regime protesters demonstrating in the central town of Homs, late on April 18, 2011. An eyewitness said police used loudspeakers to call on protesters to evacuate the area around 2 a.m. Shortly afterward, security forces moved in, firing first tear gas, then live ammunition at fleeing protesters.
"They went up to people's homes, they arrested many," a Homs resident said by telephone. "We heard ambulances all night."
Three people in Homs confirmed the account, all of them asking for anonymity for fear of government reprisals. The witnesses' accounts could not be independently confirmed because Syria has placed tight restrictions on media outlets and expelled foreign journalists. At least 200 people have been killed over the past month as security forces have launched a deadly crackdown on a growing protest movement, human rights groups say. The government has coupled dry promises of reform with brutal tactics to quell the unrest, using the widely despised security forces and unleashing pro-regime thugs known as shabiha. On Monday, the government blamed the weeks of unrest on ultraconservative Muslims seeking to establish a fundamentalist state - the latest effort to portray the reform movement as populated by extremists. Assad has been playing on fears of sectarian warfare as he works to crush any popular support for the uprising. The Egypt-style standoff in Homs followed funeral processions by more than 10,000 mourners for some of those killed in clashes Sunday that a rights group said left at least 12 people dead. The protesters, mostly young men but including women and children, had set up tents, bringing in mattresses, food and drinks. One tent was named National Unity Tent. Another Martyrs tent was set up to offer condolences for those killed a day earlier, according to an eyewitness. "Please Go," one banner implored Assad. The government has in the past blamed armed gangs seeking to stir up unrest for many of the killings.

Iran and the Arab Spring
Hussein Ibish, April 19, 2011
As anti-government protests are sweeping the Arab world, it's easy to forget that less than two years ago Arabs looked on in amazement as the people of Iran took to the streets to demand their rights. Following an obviously rigged election in the summer of 2009, the Iranian "Green Movement" – which united conservatives, and even Islamists, disenchanted with the regime with opposition groups of various kinds – formed as a nonviolent civil rights movement. Many Arab commentators, myself included, wrote about why this apparently could happen in Iran but not in Arab states, and asked what it would take for Arabs to emulate the Iranian example.
Iran's Green Movement has been successfully repressed, while the momentum of popular struggle for political freedoms unexpectedly shifted to the Arab world at the end of last year. And while the Iranian movement appears dormant, at least for now, patience is the watchword of opponents of the regime.
I recently took part in a panel in Washington DC on a new book, The People Reloaded: The Green Movement and the Struggle for Iran's Future, an important collection of contemporaneous responses and interventions to four different stages in Iran's Green Movement, edited by Nader Hashemi and Danny Postel. Joining me were BBC World Service reporter Mohammad Ayatollahi Tabaar and Trita Parsi of the National Iranian American Council.
The most interesting part of the conversation, for me at least, was our discussion about the relationship between the Arab uprisings and both Iranian foreign policy and the future of the Green Movement.
Parsi offered a fairly subtle analysis that focused on the rise of Turkish influence in the Middle East as a rival, but not an outright enemy, of Iran. He suggested that a combination of competition and cooperation between those two states could offer a degree of stability in the region, especially since, he argued, they had a history of managing disputes by containing them and avoiding outright confrontation.
Parsi also suggested that not only might the rule of hard-liners in the Iranian government be undermined by democratization in the Arab world, it could also be weakened by an application of Turkish “soft power” in the region. Here he saw powerful implications of ongoing events in the Middle East for the Green Movement over the long run, and potential opportunities to push reform in Tehran.
Tabaar emphasized the patience of the Green Movement and the commitment of almost all of its factions not to push the country into chaos or uncontrolled revolutionary change. He also noted that, partly because of the fallout from the Green Movement, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was becoming increasingly isolated from the ruling faction and shifting his positions in an effort to avoid marginalization.
Both Parsi and Tabaar agreed that the Iranian ruling faction views the Arab uprisings as part of an “Islamic awakening” and expects to benefit greatly from changes in the Arab world. I suggested there were many reasons to doubt this.
Islamist ideology has not informed most of the Arab uprisings so far.
While Sunni Arab Islamists might benefit from opened political space and elections in countries like Egypt, they might well not come to power. If they do, they might be politically or constitutionally constrained in their use of it. Even if they are unimpeded, they might nonetheless not be particularly friendly toward Tehran because of sectarian suspicions or national interests. The idea that Islamists will cooperate across ideological and national divisions no matter what isn't any more realistic than the early 20th century fantasy that all Communist states would pursue harmonious foreign policies.
Moreover, the latest wave of the “Arab Spring” is rapidly threatening the stability of the government of Iran's closest and most important Arab ally, Syria. Everything is in play in the Arab world. All groups in power, and all assets every party believes it possesses, are potentially at risk because most of this change is uncontrolled and undirected. Even Iran's most obvious new opportunity for advancing its interests in the Arab world – Bahrain – has yet to deliver much to Tehran other than the embarrassment of invoking the rights of Bahraini protesters with memories of the violent crushing of the Green Movement so fresh.
The fact is that in spite of Arab unrest and the optimism of the Iranian ruling faction, they have not yet accrued a single tangible, strategic or stable benefit from these uprisings. The entire panel agreed that, whatever the fantasies or expectations of the Iranian regime, the “Arab Spring” offers at least as many challenges to their agenda as it does opportunities. And, in the long run, it may well help breathe new life into the dormant Green Movement. The demand for reform, which spread from Iran to the Arab world, may soon enough swing back in the direction of Tehran.
**Hussein Ibish is a senior research fellow at the American Task Force on Palestine and blogs at www.Ibishblog.com.

Christian Officials Hold 'Friendly' Meeting in Bkirki but Fail to Agree on Date for Future Talks
Naharnet/A meeting held between the country's top Christian officials in Bkirki on Tuesday was "friendly," said a statement released after the talks but failed to say when the foes would meet again. The four leaders "discussed the proposed issues by differentiating between what is agreed on and what is subject to legal political differences in a democratic nation that respects freedoms and distinctions," Bkirki spokesman Walid Ghayad said. The statement stressed the need to preserve the country's unity and basic interests. The conferees agreed to hold "more meetings as the need arises," Ghayad said without setting a date for the next meeting. Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, Free Patriotic Movement chief Michel Aoun, the leader of the Phalange party, Amin Gemayel, and Marada movement chief Suleiman Franjieh joined Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi for prayers at 9:00 am before the meeting. In addition to al-Rahi, several bishops attended the talks which were followed by a lunch banquet thrown by the patriarch in the honor of his guests. Former Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir was also present at the luncheon.  The talks were held away from the media spotlight. Journalists and reporters were prevented from entering the patriarchate's premises when the officials arrived in the morning. The Christian leaders entered the premises of the seat of the Maronite church in their convoys and did not make statements to the reporters standing outside Bkirki's main gate. However, Geagea had told al-Joumhouria daily on Monday that he wouldn't hesitate to shake hands with his foes Aoun and Franjieh. The LF leader made good on his promises and shook hands with the two men ahead of Tuesday's meeting. "We shook hands and talked too," Franjieh confirmed to reporters after the meeting. Journalists were later allowed to go in to take photos of the conferees. Television footage showed them sitting at a rectangular table chaired by al-Rahi. Aoun, Franjieh, and Bishops Boulos Matar and Samir Mazloum set on one side. While Gemayel, Geagea, and Bishops Roland Abou Jaoudeh and Youssef Beshara at the other. Aoun told reporters that each two persons disagreeing with each other were seating in front of each other. An Nahar daily said Tuesday that discussions would focus on general issues, and mainly Christian issues such as rejection to naturalize Palestinians, the voting of expatriates, decentralization, the election laws, corruption and the Christian presence in state institutions. Al-Rahi would also seek to find common ground between the officials, it said. Beirut, 19 Apr 11, 09:37

Suleiman Meets Estonian Foreign Minister: Capture of Kidnappers Would Clear Everything
Naharnet/President Michel Suleiman held talks with Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet in the Baabda palace on Tuesday. Paet expressed his gratitude to the Lebanese security forces' efforts in searching for the seven kidnapped Estonian cyclists. Moreover, he expressed his condolences over the death of an Internal Security Forces member who was killed while chasing one of the suspects in the crime. For his part, Suleiman promised Paet that the Lebanese authorities will not stop their search to find the cyclists. "We hope that the capture of the kidnappers would clear everything", the president said. Suleiman later met with caretaker Minister of Communication Charbel Nahhas who briefed the president on plans to develop the communication sector. He also held talks with MP Jamal Jarrah on accusations against the MP that he is funding a terrorist cell in Syria. Beirut, 19 Apr 11, 14:02

Miqati Telephones Bahraini PM Thanking him for Ending Procedures against Lebanese
Naharnet/Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati telephoned on Tuesday his Bahraini counterpart Prince Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa, thanking him for his efforts to halt procedures taken against some Lebanese residing in the Gulf state. He assured him of his keenness of Bahrain's stability and bolstering ties between the two countries. Miqati said: "The Lebanese living Bahrain are keen on its security and sovereignty." They are grateful for Bahrain for harboring them and providing them with work opportunities "and they will definitely not abuse this trust", he continued. Beirut, 19 Apr 11, 14:06

Cabinet Formation Efforts Make Progress as New Suggestions Await Consensus
Naharnet/Discussions on the formation of the cabinet made progress in the past 24 hours amid a report that Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun would get 10 ministers and the interior minister would be a consensual figure. An Nahar daily said Tuesday that efforts are underway to convince Aoun into accepting a 10-minister share among which two are state ministries. As for the interior ministry, President Michel Suleiman would name a neutral minister who gets the consent of Aoun and other March 8 forces. Under this proposal, Aoun's Change and Reform bloc would get 10 ministers, including 8 portfolios and 2 state ministers. A Sunni former opposition minister would be named and another Catholic from the March 8 forces. As for the Shiites, six ministries would be divided among Hizbullah, Amal and the Syrian Social National Party. Furthermore, Suleiman, Premier-designate Najib Miqati and MP Walid Jumblat would get 11 ministers. Miqati's circles confirmed to As Safir daily that contacts between involved officials made major progress, saying discussions reached the stage of distribution of portfolios except for continued disagreement on the interior ministry portfolio. While they denied that foreign interference was delaying the formation of the cabinet, they stressed that the interior ministry obstacle should not be underestimated. Beirut, 19 Apr 11, 09:12

Pro-Syria Parties Voice Support for Assad and Allegedly 'Instigate' Damascus against March 14
Naharnet/Syria's allies in Lebanon have expressed their firm support for Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime, as the neighboring country faces unprecedented protests demanding the end of nearly 50 years of emergency rule. "Today, we stand yet again by our sister Syria ... and by Syria's leaders who have refused to give into pressure or ... to conspire against the resistance," Hizbullah MP Nawaf Moussawi said on Monday during a press conference entitled "In solidarity with Syria against the American-Zionist-Western plot to undermine its national, pan-Arab and resistance role." "We are certain Syria will overcome this passing phase," he said at the Commodore Hotel in Beirut. "There is no stability in Lebanon without stability in Syria, no security in Lebanon without security in Syria." The conference was attended by pro-Syrian Lebanese politicians of all faiths. Speaker Nabih Berri's aide, Amal MP Ali Hassan Khalil, said Syrian support for Lebanon had allowed the country to deal with any obstacle it might face. "If it wasn't for Bashar Assad's Syria and Hafez Assad's Syria, Lebanon would not be a country of resistance," said Khalil. Syrian Ambassador Ali Abdul Karim Ali also attended the conference. He warned on Friday that "any harm done to Syria will also harm Lebanon with the same magnitude or even more" -- a statement that provoked the ire of the March 14 forces. An Nahar daily on Tuesday quoted sources as saying that the March 8 forces present at the conference instigated Damascus against March 14 on one side and sought to put President Michel Suleiman in a difficult situation by urging him to "assume his national responsibilities by putting a stop to dangerous violations." The conferees were referring to allegations that al-Mustaqbal MP Jamal al-Jarrah was funding and arming anti-Assad protesters in cities across Syria. The statement of the March 8 forces urged Suleiman to give orders to the judiciary to investigate the issue with "the involved Lebanese political parties," in reference to Caretaker Premier Saad Hariri's al-Mustaqbal movement. Among the speakers at Monday's news conference were former Deputy Speaker Elie Ferzli and former head of the Phalange Party Karim Pakradouni.(Naharnet-AFP) Beirut, 19 Apr 11, 08:28

Fatfat Slams Berri's Shortcomings in Dealing with Syria's Accusations against Jarrah
Naharnet/Mustaqbal MP Ahmed Fatfat criticized House Speaker Nabih Berri's handling of the case of Syria's accusation against MP Jamal Jarrah of funding a terrorist cell seeking to destabilize the Arab state. He told al-Mustaqbal newspaper in remarks published on Tuesday: "An accusation was directed against a member of parliament and his refusal to respond to the allegations means that he is allowing Jarrah's blood to be spilled." "Berri's behavior is not unusual, especially considering that he allowed armed men to violate the houses of MPs during the May 7, 2008, unrest," the MP continued. "He is making these stands based on his political position, not his official one," Fatfat stressed. Moreover, the speaker should have summoned Syria's ambassador to Lebanon, ordering him to present evidence of Syria's claims, he added. "Berri has a moral and political responsibility to defend members of parliament and protect their dignity in this case," he said. Furthermore, if the accusations are valid, then the necessary measures should be taken against Jarrah, Fatfat noted. Beirut, 19 Apr 11, 12:01

4th Roumieh Inmate Dies, Clashes at Nabatiyeh Police Station Injure 2
Naharnet/A Roumieh prison inmate has died after suffering from a shortness of breath, al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Tuesday, raising the toll of prisoners who died in the past month to four. Human Rights activist Ali Khalil confirmed that Hatem al-Zain, 78, died because his health deteriorated after inhaling smoke during the riots at the prison earlier in the month.
"The Internal Security Forces neglect the inmates' health condition, which helps in worsening their state," Khalil told the daily. A high-ranking security official told al-Akhbar, however, that al-Zain died due to natural causes. "Two forensic doctors confirmed this." Two inmates died earlier in the month when police stormed Roumieh prison to secure the release of several guards detained by prisoners rioting for better conditions. Another prisoner died on Saturday from burn injuries he had suffered during the raid. Meanwhile, inmates told al-Akhbar that some prisoners who are suffering from dangerous injuries aren't being given the appropriate healthcare. In another case, the National News Agency reported on Tuesday that three inmates at Roumieh prison's bloc B tried to cut themselves with sharp objects. "The wounded inmates were transferred to Dahr al-Basheq hospital for treatment," NNA said. In another incident, the ISF contained a clash between prisoners at the Nabatiyeh police station. "A clash erupted among prisoners … which forced the ISF to interfere," al-Akhbar said, adding that two inmates were wounded. Beirut, 19 Apr 11, 10:41

More Hypocrisy From the U.N., This Time About Terror and Syria
By Anne Bayefsky
Published April 18/11/Foxnews
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/04/18/hypocrisy-time-terror-syria/
There's breaking news from the United Nations on Syria. Democracy-seekers are dying all over the country. Meanwhile, at the United Nations, negotiations over what would be the organization’s first-ever definition of terrorism ended with deadlock on Friday after fifteen years of talking about it.
Leading the naysayers from the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) was Syria, a country that claimed that murdering its preferred antagonists doesn’t count. That might be just a bad joke, except for the fact that the Obama administration has made the U.N. the centerpiece of its national security policy
Friday marked the last day of a week-long effort by the U.N. ad-hoc Committee on Measures to Eliminate International Terrorism to finalize a comprehensive convention on international terrorism. Negotiations began back in 1996, and courtesy of American taxpayer dollars, they pick up now and again about every six months. Back in 2003, there was a draft put forward by a coordinator charged with bridging gaps, but the OIC objected because a definition of terrorism should “distinguish it from the legitimate struggle of peoples against foreign occupation.” Then again in 2007 a draft compromise failed because the OIC said the proposed definition failed to draw a “distinction between terrorism and peoples’ struggle for self-determination and against foreign occupation
On Friday, with four more years of diplomatic lunches under their belt, the OIC and its Syrian spokesperson said no deal because there is a “distinction between terrorism and the struggle for the rights of self-determination by people under foreign occupation and colonial or alien domination.” Representatives from Egypt, Iraq and Saudi Arabia immediately voiced their wholehearted agreement. In plain language, Islamic states including Muslim “allies” of the United States, insist that all Israelis, Americans who get in their way, or anybody else nowadays who objects to President Bashar Assad’s idea of “self-determination,” are fair game.
And Syria’s run at the U.N. on Friday didn’t end there.
Syria is currently running for a seat on the U.N.’s flagship “human rights” body, the Human Rights Council. Seats are allocated to five regional groups, and just to make sure Syria’s ascendancy is unimpeded, the Asian group has only nominated the same number of states as they have seats. So barring any unexpected additions, Syria will join fellow U.N. human rights authorities like Saudi Arabia on the Council in May.
The U.N. does have a “test” for Human Rights Council wannabes. They call it a pledge system – candidates should
promise to protect human rights. In the words of the 2006 General Assembly resolution that created the Council (the Bush administration and Israel casting a negative vote), when electing candidates “voluntary pledges and commitments made” “to the promotion and protection of human rights” should be “taken into account.”
Syria has been a quick study. Its pledge, obligingly posted on the U.N. website, says: “Promotion and protection of human rights are of highest importance to Syria…Syria’s candidature to the Human Rights Council signifies its commitment to respect and to support the inalienable and indivisible nature of all human rights.”
That might be another bad joke. Except that the Obama administration announced on March 30 that it was so “pleased to note the landmark achievements of the most recent session of the U.N. Human Rights Council” that it was going to seek a second term. That characterization of the Council’s main March session is somewhat dubious, at least if the administration cared at all about the concept of equality and the welfare of Israel. The last session was the worst on record for the demonization of the Jewish state, the Council adopting more anti-Israel resolutions in one sitting than ever before. The wildly premature announcement – the U.S. term will end in December 31, 2012 according to a new General Assembly deal – erases any possibility of using prospective U.S. membership or associated dollars as clout.
Which brings us back to Syria. Obama diplomats have been making tiny noises about attempting to institute criteria for belonging to the Council that have something to do with a country’s actual human rights record. On Friday, Syrians diplomats treated the toothless Obama speechifying with the ridicule it so richly deserved.
Syrian U.N. Ambassador Bashar Ja’afari warned “those who call for reviewing membership criteria” that the move “would bring unpleasant surprises.” In addition to his country’s penchant for bashing heads, what he meant by this threat was a list of seventeen membership “criteria that have to be met in case this matter is re-visited.”
Syrian thugs think these states should be disqualified from Human Rights Council membership: “colonial states,” states which “…have taken part in the slave trade and not apologized,… propagate Islamophobia…and all forms of cultural discrimination, …ignore international legitimacy,…interfere in the internal affairs of other UN members,…foster state terrorism,…and cause greenhouse effects and global warming.”
However ludicrous, make no mistake about how this classic U.N. debate will turn out. The U.S. idea of caring about human rights as a qualification for membership will be set off against Syria’s list and result in maintaining the status quo – namely, the laughable pledge. There is no possibility whatsoever, that the same countries who comprise the majority of members of the U.N. General Assembly – only 87 of 192 are fully free democracies according to Freedom House – are going to police themselves. Even if the Syrian candidacy is eventually challenged, there is no shortage of like-minded comrades to join Cuba, China, Russian and the Saudis on the U.N.’s idea of a human rights body.
Sadly, none of the above stopped United States Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice from telling lawmakers on Capitol Hill a week ago that “the U.N. promotes universal values Americans hold dear” and “the United Nations… make[s] Americans safer.” With the Obama administration looking to the U.N. for guidance on protecting “human rights” and combating “terrorism,” Americans are in serious trouble.
Anne Bayefsky is a Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute and director of the Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust.

US Reported to Have Funded Syrian Exile Opposition
Gary Thomas April 18, 2011 /VOA
Published reports of newly leaked U.S. diplomatic cables say Washington has financed Syrian exile opposition groups and their satellite TV station. Analysts say the effort, which appears to have started during the Bush administration, was designed to warn Syria against helping jihadist insurgents in Iraq. But, the effort may give the Syrian government ammunition to try to discredit the domestic democratic opposition.
Citing leaked cables released by the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, The Washington Post newspaper reported Monday that the United States funneled at least $6 million to the Movement for Justice and Development, a London-based umbrella group of Syrian exiles. The report quotes diplomatic cables as saying some of the funds went to TV Barada, a satellite TV channel also based in London that began beaming anti-government programming to Syria in 2009.
From what is publicly known, none of the money actually went to the political opposition groups inside Syria. Groups appear to have shied away from such financing for fear of being linked to the United States. A 2006 cable from the U.S. Embassy in Damascus said that "no bona fide opposition member will be courageous enough to accept funding."
Murhaf Jouejati, a Syrian-born analyst at the Middle East Institute, says just the news of the funding will give Syrian President Bashar Assad ammunition to try to discredit the growing anti-government movement and stem the protests gripping the country.
"I think that it is significant in as far as the Syrian government is probably going to use this in order to show its people that, yes, not only is this unrest foreign-backed, but foreign-sponsored," said Jouejati. "And so the unrest that is taking place in Syria, which is obviously a home-grown affair, may or may not lose steam as a result."
Analysts say the financing of opposition groups began during the Bush administration. The U.S. accused Syria of shepherding jihadist insurgents, along with arms, into Iraq to fight U.S. forces. Jouejati, who is also a professor at the National Defense University, says the U.S. was at first trying to warn Syria not to meddle in Iraq and U.S. efforts there.
"So it is in response [to Syria in Iraq] that the Bush administration set out, I think, to first scare Syria and threaten the leadership, but then, I think, to go on to want regime change in Syria," he said. "But by then, of course, the Bush administration was over. So, again, this is a byproduct of the bad blood between the Bush administration and Syria with regard to especially Iraq.
Analysts point out that the Syrian exile opposition movement is loosely organized and not strong. But they add that such groups can be both a nuisance to Syria and a bargaining chip for the U.S.
Reva Bhalla, Middle East analyst for the private intelligence firm Stratfor, says the U.S. has had a long history of helping exile groups in various countries over the years.
"Really it’s not all that out of the ordinary," said Bhalla. "There are a lot of different organizations within Washington that support these pro-democracy groups. It may not be very significant support. But it’s something to just show that the U.S. has that option, that it’s promoting these different values and that if push came to shove and it felt the need to, it could theoretically push for regime change. It’s sort of a pressure lever. We see that in a lot of different countries that the United States is involved with."
A U.S. spokesman denied Monday that Washington is trying to undermine the Syrian government.
Analyst Reva Bhalla says that, even with the wave of change sweeping across the Middle East, the U.S. may not want regime change in Syria.
"The Syrian case is very complicated, especially given how fractured the country is between various sectarian groups; the United States trying to close up its war in Iraq right now; dealing with a huge situation right now that is left unresolved with Iran; and this ongoing rivalry playing out between the Saudi-led GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] states and Iran," she said. "I just don’t see the U.S. imperative here to force regime change in Syria."
Reva Bhalla believes that even Israel does not want to see regime change in Syria. She says Israel prefers the predictability of the Assad government over the unknown of what might take over in Damascus afterward.