LCCC
ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِFebeuary
20/2011
Bible Of The
Day
The Good News According to John 13/13-20: "You call me, ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord.’
You say so correctly, for so I am. 13:14 If I then, the Lord and the Teacher,
have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 13:15 For I
have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. 13:16
Most certainly I tell you, a servant is not greater than his lord, neither one
who is sent greater than he who sent him. 13:17 If you know these things,
blessed are you if you do them. 13:18 I don’t speak concerning all of you. I
know whom I have chosen. But that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats
bread with me has lifted up his heel against me.’* 13:19 From now on, I tell you
before it happens, that when it happens, you may believe that I am he. 13:20
Most certainly I tell you, he who receives whomever I send, receives me; and he
who receives me, receives him who sent me.”
Latest
analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases
from
miscellaneous
sources
Israel on high alert for Iranian
warships' Suez transit. Kharg brings missiles/DEBKAfile/February
19/11
Will Cabinet formation drag on for
months given Aoun's tough demands?/By Hussein Dakroub/February 19/11
Strategic Puzzle Shifts in Mideast/Wall Street Journal/February
19/11
Can the Muslim Brotherhood really
take over in Cairo?/By David Ignatius/February
19/11
Muslims Abduct Coptic Christian
Woman in Egypt/AINA/February
19/11
Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for February
19/11
EU Foreign Ministers Reject
Resolution Condemning Attacks on Middle East Christians/AINA
Church
Sources: Closed-Door Meeting between Sfeir and Pope in Rome to Agree on his
Resignation/Naharnet
Catholic council calls for
cooperation with Arab League, UN/Now Lebanon
Israel 'deeply appreciates' U.S.
veto on UN resolution condemning settlements/News Agencies/Haaretz
Suez Canal Authority: No military
approval yet for Iran warships/Reuters/Haaretz
Nadim Gemayel: March 14 cabinet
participation gives Mikati guarantees/Now Lebanon
Hariri slams Hezbollah's arms as
March 14 steps up rhetoric/Daily Star
Talks on Cabinet hit brick wall
over Aoun's demands/Daiy Star
Israeli Defense Minister Calls Iranian Attempt to Cross Into Syria a
Provocation/Fox News
Exiled Syrian: 'We Don't Want a Violent Revolution/Voice
of America
Tensions rise as Hezbollah and Israel exchange threats/Ahram Online
Aoun and Hezbollah both benefit from hindering the formation of
.../iloubnan.info
Protests' shockwave hit Syria, Kuwait and Djibouti/Al-Arabiya
Syria Protest Video Shows Unprecedented Crowd of 1500 in Damascus/The
Epoch Times
Nadim Gemayel
says March 14 gives cabinet guarentees/iloubnan.info
Gharios slams
Mikati's "dual stances"/iloubnan.info
Moussawi: We Managed to Achieve the Change We are Witnessing in Our Political
Life/Naharnet
Hariri Says Rival Camp
Wants Partnership in Everything but Arms Issue/Naharnet
Formation of Cabinet
Process Reportedly Goes Back to 'Square One'/Naharnet
Connelly Meets Miqati and
Geagea, Stresses Need to Form Government Away from External Influence/Naharnet
Asarta: Major Challenges
Lying Ahead, Permanent Peace is Possible/Naharnet
Sources Monitoring STL:
Indictment to be Released in Two Weeks/Naharnet
STL Public Affairs Chief
Says Indictment Release Date Unchanged/Naharnet
Miqati's Government Teetering
between Aoun's Demands and Berri's Proposal
/Naharnet
Geagea Doesn't Deny Wikileaks
Report: Popular Movements are Not against U.S.
/Naharnet
Shami to Ban: International
Resolutions Call for Demarcating Security Line in Lebanon's Regional Waters
/Naharnet
Syrian Baath bloc MP Qassem Hashem
: Negotiating with March 14 is ‘a waste of time’/Now Lebanon
EU Foreign Ministers Reject Resolution Condemning Attacks on Middle East
Christians /Naharnet
http://www.aina.org/news/20110217205717.htm
(AINA) -- At their recent meeting in Brussels on January
31, EU Foreign Ministers rejected a draft resolution condemning recent
atrocities against Christian minorities in Egypt and Iraq. Although preceded by
the unequivocal resolution of the European Parliament (EP) on January 20
condemning the increase of attacks on Christian minorities in the Middle East,
Africa and Asia, and following an equally explicit recommendation by the Council
of Europe (CoE) on January 27, the Council of Ministers could not agree on the
inclusion of the word 'Christian' in their draft statement on the issue, saying
they wanted to avoid saying anything "politically incorrect". Although most
religious violence in recent years has been perpetrated against Christians (with
hundreds of Christians cruelly murdered during Christmas) and despite the clear
statements of the EP and the CoE, EU High Representative Lady Catherine Ashton
refused to make explicit reference to the "Christian" victims of these attacks
in the ministerial statement that was supposed to condemn such religious
persecution. Her position was endorsed and supported by five Foreign Ministers:
Luís Amado (Portugal), Trinidad Jiménez (Spain), Jean Asselborn (Luxemburg),
Brian Cowen (Ireland, represented by his permanent representative) and Markos
Kyprianou (Cyprus). Italy, France, Hungary and Poland strongly supported efforts
to explicitly condemn the persecution of Christians.
The subject will be discussed again in the Council of Ministers on February 21.
© 2011, Assyrian International News Agency. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use.
Muslims Abduct Coptic Christian Woman in Egypt
http://www.aina.org/news/20110218224244.htm
GMT 2-19-2011 4:42:54
Assyrian International News Agency
(AINA) -- Muslims broke into the home of a Coptic family this afternoon and
abducted their 18-year-old daughter Nesma Sarwat. The home belongs to the
building contractor who built the controversial St. Mary and St. Michael church
in Talbiya, within the Omraniya neighborhood of Giza. The abductors wrote
messages on the home's wall, the messages said "Islam is the solution" and "The
Church has to be demolished." The abductors also wrote the names of the other
family members on the wall.
Neighbors heard voices, but no one saw the abductors as the whole operation took
less than ten minutes and blood was found on the stairs and in the flat,
reported Coptic activist Mariam Ragy of Free Coptic Voice advocacy. "I believe
writing the names of the rest of the family might mean that their turn is
coming," said the neighbor.
The Family of the abducted woman called the security forces to the scene.
St. Mary and St. Michael church was the scene on November 24, 2010 of severe
clashes between State Security forces and Copts protesting over the closure of
their church, during which the forces used tear gas and live ammunition against
the protesters, resulting in the killing of three Copts, hundreds of injuries
and the arrest of 176 Copts (AINA 11-27-2010);
During the protests in Tahrir Square which, culminated in the ousting of
President Mubarak, a period which witnessed the complete absence of the security
forces from the streets, the congregation of St. Mary and St. Michael church was
guarding the church, which was closed on November 24. On February 6, as soon as
a few security officers came back on duty, they stormed the church and evicted
the priest and the congregation who were keeping vigil there and holding
services praying for peace in Egypt.
On September 15, 2010, an Islamic Jihadist Forum called Islamic Atahadi
(Challenge) Network, which is said to be an affiliate of Al-Qaida, published on
its website under the title "Images of the Church under construction in the
Pyramids and how to demolish it." The Forum showed photos of St. Mary and St.
Michael church in Talbiya, which was still under construction, gave its members
instructions on how to demolish the church by using sugar; "An easy and
affordable way for the demolition of the church before its completion, no need
for demonstrations, no need for the use of weapons or explosives, you only need
to introduce certain quantities of sugar, yes normal sugar." They went on to
explain how to introduce reasonable quantities of sugar inside the forms
prepared for pouring the columns, "because sugar affects concrete and cancels
the chemical reaction which makes the sand and gravel hold together with the
cement." They advised in their step by step instructions that timing was very
important in the process; the best time being immediately before pouring the
roof.
Dr. Naguib Gabriel, head of the Egyptian Federation for Human Rights
Organization, presented on February 10 a complaint to the Attorney-General on
behalf of the people of the Omraniya area, against the Governor of Giza, and the
former director of security in, Giza accusing them of being the cause of the
murder of three of the Ormaniya Copts and causing sectarian strife.
On February 8 sectarian violence broke out in the hamlet of Elias Hanna, in
Samalut, Minya province when some 80 Muslims attacked a number of Copts because
they attempted to pray in a house belonging to the Diocese since 2007. The
Muslim attack resulted in the injury of 5 Copts. Nearly 6000 Copts living in the
hamlet of Elias Hanna and three other neighboring villages have no church.
On February 16 the Church of St. George in Rafah was torched, the walls of the
church had writing saying "No to Christians in Muslim Land" (video).
Sectarian tensions broke out on February 17 when Muslims attacked Christians
inside the church of Saint Georges in the village of El-Hathatah near Samalout,
Minya. This was prompted by the church building a roof over the courtyard
between the church and its community services building within the fenced church
compound, in order to make more space for its congregation. Muslims surrounded
the church and hurled stones. The armed forces were called but without response,
prompting the Coptic youth to defend their church.
By Mary Abdelmassih
Copyright (C) 2011, Assyrian International News Agency. All Rights Reserved.
Terms of Use.
Talks on Cabinet hit brick
wall over Aoun's demands
By Hussein Dakroub /Daily Star staff
Saturday, February 19, 2011
BEIRUT: Attempts to bridge the gap over Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel
Aoun’s tough demands for Christian representation in the new government and his
insistence on the Interior Ministry portfolio have failed, raising fears of a
prolonged Cabinet crisis, political sources said Friday. During talks with
Mikati, who is backed by the Hezbollah-led March 8 alliance, Aoun, the head of
the second largest parliamentary bloc after caretaker Prime Minister Saad
Hariri’s Future bloc, has demanded a large Christian representation in the
government commensurate with the size of his bloc, Baabda MP Alan Aoun told The
Daily Star. “General Aoun is also demanding the Interior Ministry portfolio,”
said Aoun, a nephew of Michel Aoun and a member of his parliamentary Change and
Reform bloc. “Negotiations will continue [with Mikati] to resolve the problem of
Christian representation in the new government.”
Asked about the size of Christian representation his uncle is demanding, Alan
Aoun said: “If it is a 32-member government, General Aoun will ask for 13
ministers. If it is a 30-member Cabinet, he will ask for 12 ministers. If it is
a 24-member Cabinet, he will ask for 10 ministers.”
This is more than double the five ministers Aoun currently has in Hariri’s
30-member national unity Cabinet, which was toppled by the Hezbollah-led March 8
alliance on Jan. 12 in a long-running dispute over the U.N.-backed Special
Tribunal for Lebanon (STL). In the latest attempt to narrow differences over
Aoun’s demands, a meeting was held at Mikati’s residence in the Beirut
neighborhood of Verdun Thursday night attended by caretaker Energy Minister
Jibran Bassil, Aoun’s son-in-law, MP Ali Hassan Khalil, a political aide to
Speaker Nabih Berri, and Hussein Khalil, a political aide to Hezbollah leader
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. An offer was made during the meeting to allot the
Foreign Ministry portfolio to Aoun’s bloc in exchange for Aoun dropping his
demand for the key portfolio of the Interior Ministry, a political source said.
But Aoun rejected the offer, insisting that the Interior Ministry portfolio be
allotted to a member of his bloc, the source added.
A source close to the Cabinet formation talks said the meeting at Mikati’s
residence was not positive “because General Aoun, through Bassil, adopted a
tough stance, insisting on the interior portfolio and other demands concerning
the Christian representation.” But the source said that allotting the Interior
Ministry to Aoun’s bloc was not negotiable because this portfolio has been set
as part of President Michel Sleiman’s share in the Cabinet. Sleiman was reported
to be insisting on retaining the portfolio for the current caretaker Interior
Minister Ziad Baroud.
Mikati, who has tried but failed to make Aoun reduce his demands, is losing
patience with the Free Patriotic Movement leader, the source said.
Mikati met with Berri Friday to discuss possible solutions for Aoun’s demands,
the source said. The prime minister-designate will continue his contacts to try
to find a solution for the problem of Aoun’s demands, he added.
Aoun’s Shiite allies, Hezbollah and the Amal Movement led by Berri, who have
intervened in the past few days in a bid to soften Aoun’s tough stance, were
reported to be displeased with the general’s inflexibility, a political source
said.
Mikati’s brother, Taha, who has been instrumental in trying to reconcile the
rival parties’ conflicting demands for participation in the new government, left
for Paris Friday. The purpose of his visit was not immediately known.
Also, Mikati’s attempts to include March 14 groups in the new Cabinet have
failed after rejecting their demands concerning the STL and Hezbollah’s weapons.
March 14 groups and Hariri’s Future bloc have called on Mikati to make a public
commitment not to end Lebanon’s cooperation with the STL. The tribunal, which is
probing the 2005 assassination of Hariri’s father, former Prime Minister Rafik
Hariri, is at the root of political tension between the March 8 and March 14
camps.
Although Hariri declared Monday that he and his March 14 allies will join the
opposition against what the coalition calls “Hezbollah’s government” to be
formed by Mikati, the Kataeb (Phalange) Party and caretaker Labor Minister
Butros Harb have said they were still holding talks with Mikati about the
coalition’s possible participation in the new Cabinet.
Meanwhile, Mikati discussed his efforts to form the government in separate
meetings with the U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly and the French
Ambassador to Lebanon Denis Pietton. Both Connelly and Pietton stressed the need
for Lebanon’s commitment to the STL. “The United States believes the way forward
for U.S.-Lebanese relations will be guided by how the new government determines
its program of work and implements its policies. Ambassador Connelly reiterated
to Mr. Mikati that the U.S. hopes that he will preserve the government formation
process from outside influence,” according to a statement released by the U.S.
Embassy.
“Ambassador Connelly also expressed the United States’ expectation that the
ministers in the new Lebanese Cabinet will continue to work to uphold the
government’s responsibilities both to its own people and constitution as well as
to the international community,” it said. “Lebanon’s continuing commitment to
its international obligations will be judged in the actions taken by the next
government in regard to the relevant UN resolutions, beginning with the content
of the next government’s ministerial statement. A government that is truly
representative of the interests of the people of Lebanon will continue to
support and sustain the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.” During the meeting with
Mikati, Pietton restated France’s commitment to Lebanon’s independence and
sovereignty, through its commitment to the French forces working within UNIFIL
in South Lebanon, according to a statement issued by Mikati’s media office.
Pietton also stressed that “France and the international community expect
Lebanon to respect its commitment to international resolutions, especially the
Special Tribunal for Lebanon.”
Will Cabinet formation drag on for months given Aoun's tough demands?
By Hussein Dakroub /Daily Star staff
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Current affairs by hussein dakroub
Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun will probably go down in the annals
of Lebanon’s political history as one of the most controversial leaders for his
often tough and stubborn stands on crucial issues, even if these stands threaten
to destabilize the country.
The officer-turned-politician, who also heads the Change and Reform bloc, the
second largest parliamentary bloc after caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s
Future bloc, is now at the center of a heated controversy as Prime
Minister-designate Najib Mikati is running into trouble trying to form a
government to replace Hariri’s toppled Cabinet.
Hariri’s declaration Monday that he and his allies in the March 14 coalition
would join the opposition against what the coalition calls “Hezbollah’s
government” to be formed by Mikati was supposed to speed up the Cabinet
formation efforts. But it didn’t.
Instead, all signs indicate that the Cabinet formation process will remain
stalled, marking time until the dispute over Aoun’s conditions for participation
in the government is settled.
This situation has prompted Aoun’s Shiite allies, Hezbollah and the Amal
Movement, to intervene in recent days in an attempt to soften the FPM leader’s
tough demands and subsequently get the Cabinet formation process off the ground.
But no results so far.
At the root of the problem is that the FPM leader is demanding most Christian
Cabinet seats for his bloc, ignoring any share for President Michel Sleiman.
He is also locking horns with Sleiman over the key portfolio of the Interior
Ministry, which Aoun wants for a member of his bloc, while the president was
reported Friday to be insisting on retaining Ziad Baroud as interior minister.
Worse still, Aoun does not want Sleiman to be represented in Mikati’s government
with any key portfolio.
He has already signaled his unwillingness to make concessions over his share of
portfolios in the next Cabinet, and lashed out at Sleiman accusing him of losing
his status as a neutral player.
A source close to Mikati said Aoun’s demands “could not be implemented,” adding
that if talks with Aoun reach a dead end, the prime minister-designate would
face two options.
“Mikati will either announce the government formula he agreed on with the
president or quit the process altogether bringing matters back to square one,”
the source said.
In the latest attempt to narrow differences over Aoun’s demands, a meeting was
held at Mikati’s residence in the Beirut neighborhood of Verdun Thursday night,
attended by caretaker Energy Minister Jibran Bassil, Aoun’s son-in-law, MP Ali
Hassan Khalil, a political aide to Speaker Nabih Berri and Hussein Khalil, a
political aide to Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. An offer was made
during the meeting to allot the Foreign Ministry portfolio to Aoun’s bloc, in
exchange for Aoun dropping his demand for the interior portfolio, a political
source said. The source added Bassil was supposed to convey Aoun’s response to
the offer to Mikati later Friday.
The Foreign Ministry portfolio has been held by a Shiite loyal to Berri. If Aoun
accepts the Foreign Ministry portfolio, Berri’s bloc will be allotted the
Defense Ministry portfolio, the source said. That Aoun is holding up the
Cabinet’s formation with his tough demands is not new. Following the 2009
parliamentary elections in which Hariri and his March 14 allies won the
majority, Hariri was appointed to form a new government. It took Hariri more
than five months to form a national unity Cabinet, which included five ministers
for Aoun.
The delay was mainly caused by Aoun’s insistence that Bassil, who failed to win
a parliamentary seat in his home district of Batroun, retain his post as the
telecommunications minister.
This was staunchly rejected by Hariri and his March 14 allies who even rejected
the idea that Bassil be included in the government, after having lost in the
elections.
However, Aoun was backed by Hezbollah, which said it would not join Hariri’s
government without Aoun – this held up the Cabinet’s formation for months until
his demands were met by allotting the telecommunications portfolio to Charbel
Nahhas, to represent Aoun, while Bassil was alloted the Energy and Water
ministry, despite the March 14 bloc’s opposition.
The question now is: Will it also take Mikati, who is backed by the
Hezbollah-led March 8 alliance, months to form the government in view of Aoun’s
tough demands?
Hariri slams Hezbollah's arms as
March 14 steps up rhetoric
Future condemns criticism by March 8 against Sleiman’s role in Cabinet formation
By Elias Sakr /Daily Star staff
Saturday, February 19, 2011
BEIRUT: Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri lashed out Friday at Hezbollah’s
weapons as the March 14 alliance stepped up its rhetoric ahead of a planned
rally to voice support for the U.N.-backed tribunal and opposition to weapons in
the hands of non-state actors.
“Some want to see partnership in all matters but want to monopolize the issue of
weapons under the pretext of resisting Israel, and when necessary, they turn the
weapons inward, as it happened on May 7, 2008, and on other occasions,” Hariri
told delegations from the capital at his residence in Downtown Beirut.
“National partnership means partnership between all Lebanese over all issues. No
group or party should be excluded. Partnership should not be limited to certain
issues, as some people are doing today,” Hariri added, referring to the ongoing
negotiations to form a new government.
Separately, members of Hariri’s Future Movement and its allies also condemned
March 8 criticism against President Michel Sleiman’s role in the Cabinet
formation process, as bickering among March 8 groups over the allocation of
shares continue to delay an agreement over the Cabinet’s make-up.
Caretaker Minister of State Jean Hogassapian said March 8 parties were
attempting to form a Cabinet contrary to constitutional norms by disregarding
the president and Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati’s prerogatives in the
formation process.
“The president is a patriotic person who has always put Lebanon’s higher
national interests at the top of his priorities,” he said.
Hogassapian lashed out at Hezbollah’s weapons and called for restricting the
possession of weapons to the Lebanese state.
“We used to support the resistance’s weapons in the past when they were pointed
against Israel rather than Lebanese parties. But today we demand that all
weapons be under the state control. The so-called resistance’s weapons no longer
exist, since those weapons are used in politics and non-politics,” he said.
Echoing Hogassapian, Future Movement official and Tripoli MP Samir Jisr said the
alliance’s participation in the government would “legitimize Hezbollah’s coup.”
Jisr said Sleiman’s role in the Cabinet formation could not be disregarded and
condemned the change in the parliamentary majority.
“What happened in the past period is not a change from one position to another
but a change that was preceded by a wave of direct threats to use violence for
more than five to six months,” Jisr said in an implied reference to Progressive
Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt’s parliamentary bloc decision to side with
Hezbollah.
“The Constitution grants the president the right to sign the government decree
and this issue is not merely a mechanism – the president must achieve balance
[among parties] and act on his convictions, in the interest of Lebanon,” Jisr
said.
Sleiman, whose signature alongside Mikati is needed to form the Cabinet,
continues to bicker with Hezbollah’s ally Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel
Aoun over his share of portfolios in the government. Despite Hezbollah’s efforts
to promptly form a Cabinet ahead of the release of the Special Tribunal for
Lebanon indictment, widely believed to implicate Hezbollah members in the
assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, Baabda MP Alain Aoun
dismissed the possibility of the Cabinet’s formation over the weekend.
Aoun, an FPM official, said the dispute over the Interior Ministry’s portfolio
remains unresolved as his party insists on being granted a key portfolio.
“Talks have yet to reach a solution to the disputed issues, to the conflict in
demands [over portfolios], and the disputed size of representation,” Aoun said
in reference to the FPM leader’s demand to name, in agreement with Christian
allies, all Christian ministers. The FPM argues that the president, given his
“biased positions alongside March 14 parties,” should be granted minimum
representation in the Lebanese Cabinet. The president, a Maronite figure, wants
to name Christian ministers, which under Lebanon’s confessional power sharing
system would end up at the expense of Michel Aoun’s share with Hizbullah and the
Amal movement set to choose Shiite ministers and Mikati to name Sunni figures.
Can the Muslim Brotherhood really take over in Cairo?
By David Ignatius /Daily Star
Saturday, February 19, 2011
For much of the past 30 years, the shadowy Muslim Brotherhood was almost a
raison d’etre for the regime of President Hosni Mubarak: Egypt needed a strong
authoritarian regime, the argument went, or it would be hijacked by Islamic
radicals. That bugaboo went out the window with Mubarak’s ouster just over a
week ago.
It’s easy now, in the afterglow of the revolution that toppled Mubarak, to
believe that such warnings were self-serving nonsense. The “Ikhwan,” as the
Muslim Brotherhood is known in Arabic, is out of the closet and doesn’t look so
scary. Its young militants have linked arms with secular protesters; its leaders
talk of competing with other parties in a democratic Egypt; the movement
actually seems to be fracturing a bit, now that it’s out in the sunlight.
The Egyptian people are making a bet that the Muslim Brotherhood won’t wreck
their new experiment in democracy. But as is always the case with real political
change, it’s impossible to be sure. The new Egypt will need a strong
constitution to protect human rights, and a strong army to back it up. But even
with these checks, there will always be a risk that the country could veer
toward a dangerous Islamic radicalism.
It was unnerving to see mass prayers in Tahrir Square at a “Victory March”
Friday, an image that evokes Tehran more than Cairo. But the crowd was as
nationalistic as religious, and as soon as the Muslim prayers ended the Egyptian
flags began to wave.
To get a sense of the Muslim Brotherhood’s power and intentions, I met with
several of its leaders and visited a poor Cairo slum where militants might have
a foothold. What I found was reassuring. The leaders talk a conciliatory line;
more important, they don’t seem menacing out in the streets. Like the rest of
Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood’s members seem to be reaching for a more modern
identity.
But a caution: The rhetoric of accommodation could change. Abdel Moneim Abou al-Fotouh,
one of the group’s more moderate members, warned me that if democracy fails,
“silent cells may rise again, and we may suffer again from violence.” He said
this jihadist resurgence would be “bad for Egypt and the world,” and he’s
certainly right – but the point is that it’s not an impossibility. Issam
al-Erian, the group’s spokesman, has an office on the banks of the Nile with a
notice on the door that says: “Muslim Brotherhood.” He’s hardly an underground
figure, in other words. His statements are mostly soothing: He says the group
won’t run a candidate for president and isn’t seeking a majority in Parliament;
he predicts that it will probably get between 30 percent and 35 percent of the
votes; he says the Muslim Brotherhood will abide by Egypt’s international
agreements, including the peace treaty with Israel.
Erian knows that his world has been changed by the Tahrir Square revolution that
shattered its nemesis, the Mubarak regime. The official Muslim Brotherhood
leadership was actually slow to understand the importance of the protest, and
Erian sounds a bit defensive in explaining why they were late to the revolution:
“We’re busy in other business. To stay and protest in Tahrir is not useful to
us.”
The youth members of the Muslim Brotherhood got it, however, and they defied
their elders and went to Tahrir. The moderate leader Abou al-Fotouh says the
kids were right to ignore the leadership. There is a “calcified mind in Egypt,”
he says, apparently including some of his colleagues. Abou al-Fotouh says the
Muslim Brotherhood should stay out of party politics. Its support would only be
20 percent to 25 percent, he predicts, and he would prefer to form a new party
like Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party. Listening to these moderate
Muslim Brothers, you want to get a reality check out on the streets. A serious
investigation would take months, but I was able to visit a poor neighborhood of
unpaved paths called Ezzbet Khairallah in the hills south of Downtown Cairo. The
slum is a breeding ground for Muslim militants, you might think. But my guide,
an activist named Yasmina Abou Youssef who runs a neighborhood program here
called “Tawasol,” said few people seem connected to the Muslim Brotherhood. She
introduced me to three veiled women who said the Ikhwan had little influence.
It’s a roll of the dice, creating a fully democratic Egypt where the Muslim
Brotherhood could become a dominant force. But from what a visitor can see and
hear, it’s a wager the Egyptian people are determined to make – and one that
deserves American support.
**Syndicated columnist David Ignatius is published twice weekly by THE DAILY
STAR.
Gemayel says March 14 gives
cabinet guarentees
BEIRUT | iloubnan.info - February 19, 2011Kataeb bloc MP Nadim Gemayel said on
Saturday that the participation of the March 14 coalition in Najib Mikati's
cabinet gives it an international guarantee that the international community
will deal with Lebanon’s new government. “A one-colored cabinet will be of no
credibility to the international community,” Gemayel said during an interview
with ‘LBCI’ channel. Najib Mikati was appointed for premiership after the
resignation of Hezbollah and its allies from Saad Hariri cabinet on January 12.
March 14 have refused to take part in a Hezbollah backed cabinet; yet, they
await the stance of PM Designate Mikati on non-state weapons and the Special
Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) to make their final decision. Outgoing premier Saad
Hariri had announced earlier at Biel, during the commemoration of the sixth
anniversary of his late father's assassination, Rafik Hariri, that March
coalition will join the opposition ranks; however, he did not indicate if the
opposition will be inside the cabinet or outside
Aoun and Hezbollah both
benefit from hindering the formation of the cabinet
BEIRUT | iloubnan.info - February 19, 2011“Change and Reform bloc leader MP
Michel Aoun’s campaign against the minister of Interior implicitly targets
President Michel Sleiman and reflects the bloc’s discontent with Baroud’s
growing popularity among the Lebanese,” sources told ‘As siyasa’ daily. “Aoun
has s et a political agenda, he is implementing the below items on his agenda:
1- Returning from France following a deal with Syria and Former President Emil
Lahoud to end his criticism against Syria and its allies and receive support
during the 2005 parliamentary elections.
2- Weakening March 14 forces and dividing the Christians in Lebanon, well known
for opposing Syria.
3- Searching for a Lebanese ally that would help him put an end to Hariri’s
policies in Lebanon and thus weaken the Sunni powers. As a matter of fact, he
allied with Hezbollah, turning a blind eye to his historical refusal of
anti-state weapons.
4- With Hezbollah’s arms, Aoun succeeded in ousting Saad Hariri and weakening
President Sleiman. As his ultimate goal is to oust the President.
5- Drafting a law to highlight the constitutional breach of electing General
Michel Sleiman for presidency, as the Lebanese constitution does not approve
electing an army chief for presidency.
6- Hezbollah watches Aoun hinder the formation of the cabinet for two reasons:
The first being Hezbollah’s interest in delaying the formation of the cabinet so
the Special Tribunal for Lebanon will not find an authority to deal with upon
the issuance of its indictment, and the second reason is the approval of Sleiman
and Mikati’s to ending cooperation with the STL due to Aoun’s pressure.
Question: "Do faith in God and
science contradict?"
GotQuestions.org
Answer: Science is defined as “the observation, identification, description,
experimental investigation, and theoretical explanation of phenomena.” Science
is a method that mankind can use to gain a greater understanding of the natural
universe. It is a search for knowledge through observation. Advances in science
demonstrate the reach of human logic and imagination. However, a Christian’s
belief in science should never be like our belief in God. A Christian can have
faith in God and respect for science, as long as we remember which is perfect
and which is not. Our belief in God is a belief of faith. We have faith in His
Son for salvation, faith in His Word for instruction, and faith in His Holy
Spirit for guidance. Our faith in God should be absolute, since when we put our
faith in God, we depend on a perfect, omnipotent, omniscient Creator. Our belief
in science should be intellectual and nothing more. We can count on science to
do many great things, but we can also count on science to make mistakes. If we
put faith in science, we depend on imperfect, sinful, limited, mortal men.
Science throughout history has been wrong about many things, such as the shape
of the earth, powered flight, vaccines, blood transfusions, and even
reproduction. God is never wrong.
Truth is nothing to fear, so there is no reason for a Christian to fear good
science. Learning more about the way God constructed our universe helps all of
mankind appreciate the wonder of creation. Expanding our knowledge helps us to
combat disease, ignorance, and misunderstanding. However, there is danger when
scientists hold their faith in human logic above faith in our Creator. These
persons are no different from anyone devoted to a religion; they have chosen
faith in man and will find facts to defend that faith.
Still, the most rational scientists, even those who refuse to believe in God,
admit to a lack of completeness in our understanding of the universe. They will
admit that neither God nor the Bible can be proved or disproved by science, just
as many of their favorite theories ultimately cannot be proved or disproved.
Science is meant to be a truly neutral discipline, seeking only the truth, not
furtherance of an agenda. Much of science supports the existence and work of
God. Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim
the work of His hands.” As modern science discovers more about the universe, we
find more evidence of creation. The amazing complexity and replication of DNA,
the intricate and interlocking laws of physics, and the absolute harmony of
conditions and chemistry here on earth all serve to support the message of the
Bible. A Christian should embrace science that seeks the truth, but reject the
“priests of science” who put human knowledge above God.
Recommended Resource: Surprised by Meaning: Science, Faith, and How We Make
Sense of Things by Alister McGrath.
Nasrallah is full of hot air: Chamoun
National Liberal Party leader MP Dori Chamoun said on Saturday that Hezbollah
Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is “full of hot air.” (Ahlul Bayt News
Agency) - National Liberal Party leader MP Dori Chamoun said on Saturday that
Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is “full of hot
air.”“Nasrallah is either laughing at the Lebanese people or at himself or is
full of hot air,” Chamoun told the Voice of Lebanon (100.5) radio station, in a
reference to the Hezbollah chief’s Wednesday speech. “If [Nasrallah] thinks he
can take the Galilee [region in northern Israel], then what is he waiting for?”
Chamoun also said that Change and Reform bloc leader MP Michel Aoun “developed
hatred toward President Michel Sleiman.” “Aoun developed hatred toward Sleiman
because he considers the latter [to have taken] the presidency from him,”
Chamoun said. On Wednesday, Nasrallah threatened to “target” Israeli officials
and “liberate the Galilee” in the event of war. March 14 figures have slammed
Aoun over his demands for shares in a new cabinet headed by Prime
Minister-designate Najib Mikati. Aoun is demanding the Interior Ministry
portfolio – which is currently part of Sleiman’s share.
Aoun said on Wednesday that Sleiman “broke the conditions of his election and
went down into the [political] square.” The president reportedly insists on
keeping the Interior Ministry as part of his share.
Israel on high alert for Iranian warships' Suez transit. Kharg brings missiles
DEBKAfile Special Report February 19, 2011,
Cairo's approval Friday, Feb. 18 for two Iranian warships to transit the Suez
Canal on their way to the Mediterranean has brought Israel and Iran closer than
ever before to a naval collision at sea. debkafile reports: Israel has learned
that the Iranian cruiser Kharg is carrying long-range missiles for Hizballah
which it plans to unload at a Syrian port or Beirut harbor.
US State Department spokesman P.J Crowley said he was "highly skeptical" of the
Syrian claim that the two ships' visit was for training. "If the ships move
through the canal, we will evaluate what they actually do. It's not really about
the ships. It's about what the ships are carrying, what's their destination,
what's the cargo on board, where's it going, to whom and for what benefit,"
Crowley told a news conference.
He was responding to questions in the wake of debkafile's disclosure that the
Karg was carrying missiles for Hizballah and indicating that the US and all
other UN members were authorized by UN sanctions against Iran to board and
search Iranian ships suspected of carrying illegal weapons.
The war ships' passage through Suez has been delayed as Cairo and Tehran spar
over an Egyptian navy inspection of the vessels' cargoes.
In Israel, government and military officials were urgently casting about for a
way to prevent those missiles reaching the Lebanese terrorists. Heavy US and
Israeli pressure failed to dissuade Egypt's military rulers from letting the
Iranian flotilla through Suez. So now the waterway has been opened wide for Iran
to consign heavy weapons deliveries to Syria and Lebanon - in the first
instance, and eventually to try and break Israel's naval blockade on the Gaza
Strip and bring Hamas the heavy munitions that were impossible to transport
through smuggling tunnels.
On February 16, debkafile reported:
Twenty-four hours after Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said the Egyptian
upheaval had no military connotations for Israel, Tehran applied for the Iranian
frigate Alvand and cruiser Kharg to transit the Suez Canal on their way to Syria
Wednesday night, Feb. 16. Their passage was termed "a provocation" by Israeli
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. In Beirut, Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah
said he was looking forward to Israel going to war on Lebanon because then his
men would capture Galilee.
Israel was closely monitoring the Iranian flotilla, whose visit to the Saudi Red
Sea port of Jeddah on Feb. 6, preparatory to transiting Suez, was first revealed
exclusively by DEBKA-Net-Weekly481 on February 10.
Up until now, Saudi Arabia, in close conjunction with Egypt and its President
Hosni Mubarak, led the Sunni Arab thrust to contain Iranian expansion –
especially in the Persian Gulf. However, the opening of a Saudi port to war
ships of the Islamic Republic of Iran for the first time in the history of their
relations points to a fundamental shift in Middle East trends in consequence of
the Egyptian uprising. It was also the first time Cairo has permitted Iranian
warships to transit Suez from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, although Israeli
traffic in the opposite direction had been allowed.
Iran made no secret of its plants to expand its naval and military presence
beyond the Persian Gulf and Red Sea to the Mediterranean via Suez: On February
2, Iran's Deputy Navy Commander Rear Admiral Gholam-Reza Khadem Biqam announced
the flotilla's mission was to "enter the waters of the Red Sea and then be
dispatched to the Mediterranean Sea."
However, Israeli military intelligence which failed to foresee the Egyptian
upheaval and its policy-makers ignored the Iranian admiral's announcement and
its strategic import, just as they failed to heed the significance of the
Iranian flotilla's docking in Jeddah.
debkafile's military sources report that Iran is rapidly seizing the fall of the
Mubarak regime in Cairo and the Saudi King Abdullah's falling-out with President
Barack Obama (see debkafile of Feb. 10, 2011) as an opportunity not to be missed
for establishing a foothold along the Suez Canal and access to the Mediterranean
for six gains:
1. To cut off, even partially, the US military and naval Persian Gulf forces
from their main route for supplies and reinforcements;
2. To establish an Iranian military-naval grip on the Suez Canal, through which
40 percent of the world's maritime freights pass every day:
3. To bring an Iranian military presence close enough to menace the Egyptian
heartland of Cairo and the Nile Delta and squeeze it into joining the radical
Iranian-Syrian-Iraqi-Turkish alliance;
4. To thread a contiguous Iranian military-naval line from the Persian Gulf to
the Red Sea through the Suez Canal and the Gaza Strip and up to the ports of
Lebanon, where Hizballah has already seized power and toppled the pro-West
government.
5. To eventually sever the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, annex it to the Gaza
Strip and establish a large Hamas-ruled Palestinian state athwart the
Mediterranean, the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea.
By comparison, a Fatah-led Palestinian state on the West Bank within the
American orbit be politically and strategically inferior.
6. To tighten the naval and military siege on Israel.
Suez Canal Authority: No military approval yet for Iran warships
By Reuters /CAIRO - Egypt's Suez Canal Authority has not yet received military
approval to allow two Iranian navy ships to pass north into the Mediterranean, a
source at the authority said Saturday. "The two ships have not reached until now
the southern entrance of the Canal and are not even in the waiting area," the
source said. Once approval arrives, the ships will be able "to enter with the
first convoy coming from the south,"the source said. It is believed to be the
first time since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution that Iranian warships are
attempting to pass through the Suez Canal. Israel has called the move a
"provocation," with Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman hinting at an Israeli
response. "To my regret, the international community is not showing readiness to
deal with the recurring Iranian provocations. The international community must
understand that Israel cannot forever ignore these provocations," the foreign
minister said Wednesday
Israel 'deeply appreciates' U.S. veto on UN resolution condemning settlements
By News Agencies /Israel said it was deeply grateful to the United States on
Saturday after it vetoed a United Nations resolution put forward by the
Palestinian leadership condemning Israeli settlement activity. "Israel deeply
appreciates the decision by President Obama to veto the Security Council
Resolution", Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement.
Israel was "prepared to pursue negotiations vigorously" and was "eager to get
on" with Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, the premier's office said. The
"decision by the US makes it clear that the only path to such a peace will come
through direct negotiations and not through the decisions of international
bodies," it continued.
The United States voted against a United Nations Security Council draft
resolution on Friday that would have condemned Israeli settlements as illegal.
The veto by the U.S., a permanent council member, prevented the resolution from
being adopted. The other 14 Security Council members voted in favor of the draft
resolution. But the U.S., as one of five permanent council members with the
power to block any action by the Security Council, struck it down. The
resolution had nearly 120 co-sponsors. The Obama administration's veto is
certain to anger Arab countries and Palestinian supporters around the world. The
U.S. opposes new Israeli settlements but says taking the issue to the UN will
only complicate efforts to resume stalled negotiations between Israel and the
Palestinians on a two-state solution. Palestinians say continued settlement
building flouts the internationally-backed peace plan that will permit them to
create a viable, contiguous state on the land after a treaty with Israel to end
its occupation and 62 years of conflict. Israel says this is an excuse for
avoiding peace talks and a precondition never demanded before during 17 years of
negotiation, which has so far produced no agreement. Peace talks between Israel
and the Palestinians began in September but collapsed just three weeks later
when a partial Israeli freeze on construction of Jewish settlements in the West
Bank expired. The Palestinians have said they will not return to the negotiating
table until Israel renews the freeze