LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِMarch 01/2011

Bible Of The Day
The Good News According to Luke 12/1-12: "12:1 Meanwhile, when a multitude of many thousands had gathered together, so much so that they trampled on each other, he began to tell his disciples first of all, “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 12:2 But there is nothing covered up, that will not be revealed, nor hidden, that will not be known. 12:3 Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness will be heard in the light. What you have spoken in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops. 12:4 “I tell you, my friends, don’t be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. 12:5 But I will warn you whom you should fear. Fear him, who after he has killed, has power to cast into Gehenna. Yes, I tell you, fear him. 12:6 “Aren’t five sparrows sold for two assaria coins? Not one of them is forgotten by God. 12:7 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Therefore don’t be afraid. You are of more value than many sparrows. 12:8 “I tell you, everyone who confesses me before men, him will the Son of Man also confess before the angels of God; 12:9 but he who denies me in the presence of men will be denied in the presence of the angels of God. 12:10 Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but those who blaspheme against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. 12:11 When they bring you before the synagogues, the rulers, and the authorities, don’t be anxious how or what you will answer, or what you will say; 12:12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that same hour what you must say.”

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
Interview with Mar Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir/Now Lebanon/February 28/11
A Few Characteristics of the Current Confrontations/By: Abdullah Iskandar/February 28/11
March 14 has no choice/Now Lebanon/February 28/11
In Lebanon, Hezbollah is watching, and waiting out, the Arab uprisings/Washington Post/February 28/11
Congress reject CAIR's pressure to block Phares from testifying on Jihadism/al Qanat, Cairo/February 28/11
Statement by Rep King regarding Professor Walid Phares/ February 28/11

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for February 28/11
Barak: Assad ready to consider Israel-Syria peace deal/By Haaretz
Egypt freezes Mubarak’s assets, bans his travel /Now Lebanon
Top two Iranian opposition leaders secretly jailed. West fails to act/DEBKAfile
US ready to help Libya's insurgents/AFP
Sfeir Returns from Rome: Call for Electing New Patriarch Imminent/Naharnet
Hariri: We will not participate in a cabinet which cancels the STL/Now Lebanon
Hero's welcome for escaped Hezbollah leader/Daily Star
Sleiman meets with Assad, other regional and international leaders in Kuwait/Daily Star
Lebanese dentist confesses to spying for Israel/Daily Star
March 14 shuns Mikati Cabinet, vows to confront 'coup'/Daily Star
The Syrian Style of Repression: Thugs and Lectures/Time
Barak says Assad might be ready for peace with Israel/Now Lebanon
Hundreds of Lebanese rally against sectarian regime/Daily Star
Miqati's Circles Snap Back at al-Mustaqbal Movement/Naharnet
Arslan Urges Miqati to Ward Off Local-Foreign Pressure and Form the Cabinet/Naharnet
March 14 Declares Refusal to Join New Govt: We Reject to Legitimize Coup/Naharnet
Lebanese Youth Brave Rain to March against Confessional Regime/Naharnet
Hariri Thanks Erdogan for Turkish Efforts to Evacuate Lebanese from Libya/Naharnet
Scores of Lebanese Flee Libya Violence Via Amman, Urge for Help/Naharnet
Geagea: Things Couldn't Straighten up as Long as there is No Single State/Naharnet

Barak: Assad ready to consider Israel-Syria peace deal /Naharnet
28.02.11/By Haaretz Service
Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Monday that Syrian President Bashar Assad is prepared to consider a peace agreement with Israel. In an interview with Israel Radio, Barak said that it seems that the Syrian president is ready to consider a peace deal and that if Assad will indeed reach out to Israel regarding a peace agreement, he will find a willing partner. On Friday, it was revealed that U.S. Senator John Kerry, the chairman of the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee and a close associate of U.S. President Barack Obama, has been working together with Syrian President Bashar Assad over the last few months on a plan to restart negotiations between Syria and Israel. But apparently, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been briefed on Kerry's talks with Assad, opposes the plan, since he does not believe Assad is serious about making peace with Israel. Last week, Barak stressed the importance of a peace deal with Syria. "I, as well as others in the defense system, believe negotiations with the Syrians are a positive step for the state of Israel, but of course we need a mutual agreement for such negotiations." In the interview to Israel Radio on Monday, Barak added that Israel must try and strengthen the peace process with the Palestinians, but refused to comment on whether a new plan is in the making. Barak stressed that Israel will protect its security interests in any possible agreement. Over the weekend, Haaretz revealed a telephone conversation between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in which Netanyahu promised Merkel that he intends on presenting a new peace plan next month, after Merkel reportedly chided him for failing to advance peace. Barak also said Monday that he does not see a radical Islamist movement arising in Egypt at this point or an immediate military threat to Israel coming from Egypt.

Top two Iranian opposition leaders secretly jailed. West fails to act
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report February 28, 2011, The White House on Monday, Feb. 28, said the U.S. "strongly condemns the Iranian government's organized intimidation campaign…" After a human-rights group reported that two opposition figures had been moved from where they were detained under house arrest to an unknown location, the White House accused the Iranian government in general terms of, "blatant violation of the universal rights of its citizens…" as well as "blocking Internet sites and jamming satellite transmissions." The disappearance of Iran's two most prominent opposition figures, Mir-Hossein Moussavi and Mehdi Karroubi, was not mentioned in the White House statement. debkafile's Iranian sources reveal here that both have been secretly jailed at the infamous Parchin prison. Thursday night, Feb. 24, they were taken from their Tehran homes, beaten, concealed in large sacks and carried in armored police vehicles to one of Iran's hellhole prisons. Inmates of Parchin are rarely seen again. Their wives have also disappeared to "an unknown location." They were seized so suddenly that their fellow activists thought they were still at home under protracted house arrest. They soon discovered that the Moussavi and Karroubi residences were dark and deserted and their families nowhere to be seen. The guards were also gone.
The dreaded "top security" Parchin prison is reserved for the regime's boldest political and ideological dissidents, as well spies accused of threatening Iranian state security and foreign captives of the regime. According to reliable intelligence sources, the Israeli navigator captured in Lebanon 25 years ago and abducted to Iran was held at Parchin prison and never seen again. So too was the American Robert Levinson, who was arrested four years ago on a trip to Kish Island, although the Iranians deny they know what happened to him..
Situated almost next door to Iran's most secret nuclear laboratories, the prison's vicinity is one of the most heavily guarded sections of Tehran.
Before the arrests, large numbers of security and special forces agents cordoned off entire blocks and placed guards armed with anti-riot gear along the streets through which the opposition leaders were driven to the prison. Their wives were taken with them but their whereabouts have not been established. Our sources have learned that when they were unloaded in the prison forecourt, the two men could not stand unaided and their faces were streaked with blood. Our sources report Moussavi and Karroubi must have been seriously weakened by enforced hunger while still at home. They and their wives were not allowed to shop for food and obliged to eat food supplied by their guards. They refused for fear of poison. Their children and other relatives sent many letters to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei expressing deep concern about their state of health and complaining that they were barred from visiting them, but were never answered. March 1 is Mousavi's 69th birthday and the two leaders' followers are preparing to launch broad demonstrations in Tehran and other cities to protest the cruel mistreatment they are suffering at the Islamic regime's hands. The authorities plan to crack down on their protest with their habitual harshness, encouraged - the Iranian opposition movement is convinced - by the Obama administration's failure to take action strong enough to save their leaders. Its activists were asking this week how come Western leaders are so ready to push for Muammar Qaddafi's ouster and offer the Libyan opposition every assistance, when Ayatollah Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad rate no more than a slap on the wrist for the savage repression they mete out at the slightest expression of dissent. They point to the orchestrated demands coming from regime extremists in the last ten days for the two opposition leaders to be hanged, including a collective call from 200 deputies of the Iranian parliament.

Interview with Mar Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir
February 28, 2011 /On February 27, the Lebanese National News Agency carried the following Q&A with Maronite Patriarch Mar Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir upon his return from the Vatican, where he participated in the celebration that was organized to unveil the statue of Saint Maron in St. Peter's Basilica:
What can you tell us about the acceptance of your resignation from the Patriarchate by His Holiness the Pope?  
After the resignation, I will remain the way I am.
At the level of the election of the new patriarch, who will be the 77th patriarch of the Maronites of the East?
God only knows. I have no idea.
What is the mechanism which will be adopted to define the date of the election of a new patriarch?
This was provided for by the Church’s governing law.
When will this happen and will you call for elections soon?
Yes, imminently I think.
Will the white smoke soon come out from Bkirki in regard to the name of the new patriarch?
Of course it will.
How true is the information regarding your [prior] nomination of one of the bishops?
Who did I nominate? This is completely false.
Did His Holiness the Pope ask you to show patience at the level of your resignation before he accepted it?
No, he accepted it the way it was presented.
Were you expecting its acceptance so fast?
Of course. I presented it so that it is accepted.
Did you explain your motives and was His Holiness the Pope convinced?
I placed all the reasons in the letter I presented to His Holiness?
What was the position in regard to Lebanon as a whole and in regard to the Christians in particular?
The position toward Lebanon is the same and is known by all.
You met with the president of the republic in Rome. Did you tackle the formation of the upcoming government?
Yes, I did meet the president in Rome and the results are still the same. We discussed Lebanon of course and hoped everything will turn out for the best.
What are the ideas you put forward regarding the new government?
No ideas were presented to me so that I could present them to someone else.
Today, Lebanon witnessed a demonstration staged with the participation of one thousand people. It was launched from the Mar Mikhael Church and moved toward the National Museum to demand the abolishment of the sectarian regime. Minister Baroud was quoted as saying that had he not been in an official position, he would have participated in such a demonstration. How do you comment on that?
This is the first I hear of it.
Do you support the calls for the toppling of political sectarianism?
How can I support something I have never heard of? This is their opinion and maybe other people have another opinion.
Do you support everyone’s participation in a national unity government, especially since Prime Minister Mikati called for such participation from Tripoli today?
It has become customary – during the last few years – to see all the politicians participating in the government that is formed.
Tonight, there is a meeting for the March 14 forces in Bristol. Is there any message you would like to address to them to get them to cooperate with Prime Minister Mikati’s call and participate in the government?
I do not think there is any message to be addressed to them. They do not need such a message.
What is the responsibility which you place on the upcoming patriarch? What do you say to him?
We will see once he is elected.
There are slogans being raised in the revolutions witnessed in some Arab countries saying “we want to topple the regime.” Who would the patriarch wish to topple if he were to raise this slogan?
We wish to topple strife, wars and anarchy.
Some media information mentioned today that the president of the republic preferred to see the election of a patriarch from the Jbeil area. How do you comment on this information?
“I have no comment. The president of the republic is free to have such a wish, just like other people want the new patriarch to be from their region.
We also heard information saying that the Pope wants to see the election of a patriarch who is not one of the bishops of Lebanon. How do you comment?
I have no idea. You seem to know better.

Hariri: We will not participate in a cabinet which cancels the STL
February 28, 2011 /Outgoing Prime Minister Saad Hariri said in an interview published on Monday that the March 14 alliance will not participate in a cabinet that cancels the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL). March 14 parties have realized that it is in Lebanon’s interest to move into a “real national opposition,” which responds to the requirements of the democratic system and protects the country from violations of the constitution and the Taif Accord, he told Al-Mustaqbal newspaper. Hariri also said that March 14’s reasons to not participate in the cabinet are objective, adding that they are related to March 14’s questions to Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati about the STL and non-state weapons.
“[Mikati’s] responses to these questions are foggy. [His answers regarding the STL] are made in a [manner] which manipulates [statements] and invents terms about achieving justice. The same manner is adopted [when responding to the issue of] non-state arms.” They simply want us to engage in a cabinet that would cancel the UN-backed probe in the Ministerial Statement and ask the Lebanese people to become part of a foreign axis that is not linked to Lebanon or Arabism, Hariri added.
March 14 alliance MPs met at the Bristol Hotel in Beirut on Sunday evening and issued a statement afterward announcing that they reject participation in Mikati’s cabinet.
Mikati was appointed to the premiership on January 25 with March 8’s backing and has called on all sides to join his cabinet. His appointment followed the January 12 collapse of Hariri’s unity government due to a long-running controversy over the STL – probing the 2005 assassination of former PM Rafik Hariri. Although March 14 leaders announced on February 14 that they would enter the opposition, other March 14 figures have continued contacts with Mikati regarding cabinet participation. -NOW Lebanon

Egypt freezes Mubarak’s assets, bans his travel
February 28, 2011
Egypt on Monday slapped a travel ban on ousted President Hosni Mubarak and his family, and also imposed a freeze on his assets, judicial officials said. Besides Mubarak, who resigned on February 11 following weeks of protests, the decision also applied for his wife Suzanne, his two sons, Ala and Gamal, and their wives, the same source said. Mubarak stepped down after three decades of iron-fisted rule, handing control over to the army and heading to the Egyptian Red Sea resort town of Sharm al-Sheikh. On February 21, Egyptian Prosecutor General Abdel Magid Mahmud requested a freeze on the foreign assets of the former president and his family. The prosecutor charged Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abu al-Gheit with contacting foreign countries to seek the assets freeze. A judicial official said at the time that the prosecutor's office had received several complaints regarding Mubarak's wealth being outside the country, "which necessitates an investigation." Mubarak is widely thought to have grown wealthy during his rule, but an unidentified legal adviser has been quoted as saying talk of a multi-billion-dollar fortune was nothing but "a groundless rumor.” France said on Wednesday last week that it would back the Egyptian request. "We are also working with our European partners to respond best to the request from the Egyptian authorities," said French Foreign Ministry spokesperson Bernard Valero. Switzerland, which froze Mubarak's assets within hours of his resignation, previously said the former president had "tens of millions of francs" in Swiss financial institutions. Mubarak, 82, has not been seen publicly since he stepped down, amid speculation about his health.-AFP/NOW Lebanon

Sfeir Returns from Rome: Call for Electing New Patriarch Imminent
Naharnet/Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir on Sunday noted that he had mentioned the reasons behind his resignation in a letter he had submitted to Pope Benedict XVI, adding that the pope has accepted the resignation. "The call for electing a new patriarch will be made very soon," Sfeir told reporters at the Beirut Rafik Hariri International Airport upon his return from the Vatican. Sfeir denied remarks that he has already named his successor. Asked about the ongoing efforts to form a new government in Lebanon, the patriarch said: "As has been the norm, all political parties would usually take part in the cabinet." Asked whether he had any message to send to the March 14 camp, which held a broad meeting at the Bristol Hotel on Sunday to announce its official boycott of the new cabinet, Sfeir said: "They don't need a message from me to know what to do." As to his stance on Sunday's youth demonstration which called for abolishing the sectarian regime in Lebanon, the patriarch told reporters: "I didn't know about the demonstration, do you want me to blindly support it?" "This is their opinion and maybe others would have a different opinion," Sfeir added. Beirut, 27 Feb 11, 19:41

Miqati to Confront Demands of Allies as he Faces Difficult Task of Forming One-Sided Cabinet
Naharnet/Following the March 14 alliance's official decision to become the country's new opposition, Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati now faces the difficult task of meeting the demands of some members of the March 8 forces that brought him to power. Miqati's circles told An Nahar daily in remarks published Monday that the premier-designate will seek to form a mixed technocrat-politicians cabinet. "Miqati's next step after (the March 14) decision is to come up with an acceptable cabinet line-up that relieves the public," informed sources told pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat. While stressing that Miqati was not under pressure to form the cabinet, the sources expected the government to be formed quickly.
However, the prime minister-designate faces the major hurdle of meeting the demands of Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun who is seeking to get the interior ministry portfolio and rejecting to give President Michel Suleiman seats in the one-sided government. The portfolio was part of Suleiman's share in Saad Hariri's national unity cabinet. March 8 sources told As Safir daily that Miqati will now face the difficult task of pleasing both Aoun and Suleiman. Aoun's allies are negotiating with Miqati on the MP's demands after contacts between the premier-designate and the FPM leader came to a standstill. Beirut, 28 Feb 11, 08:09

Geagea: Things Couldn't Straighten up as Long as there is No Single State
Naharnet/Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea lamented on Monday that the situation in Lebanon wouldn't improve as long as there isn't a single state. "Things couldn't straighten up in a country where there is no single state," Geagea said in reference to Hizbullah which the March 14 forces accuse of forming a state within the Lebanese state. He made his remark after meeting Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir in Bkirki. The LF leader described the situation as "sensitive" and said: "I don't know if the other team will be able to form the government. But it has become unacceptable for things to continue this way." Geagea said the election of a new patriarch following the resignation of Sfeir was the concern of bishops. "We won't interfere in this issue." Beirut, 28 Feb 11, 13:27

Miqati's Circles Snap Back at al-Mustaqbal Movement
Naharnet/Premier-designate Najib Miqati's circles criticized al-Mustaqbal movement saying "it knew who to choose to snap back at us because it is aware that we don't argue with our friend Samir al-Jisr."Al-Mustaqbal bloc MP al-Jisr accused Miqati in remarks published Sunday that the premier-designate wasn't extending his hand to the March 14 forces.
Miqati's alleged policy of openness should come through providing answers to March 14 demands on the commitment to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and finding a solution to the illegitimate arms, the lawmaker told An Nahar. Al-Jisr and Miqati hail from the northern port city of Tripoli. The circles told An Nahar and As Safir newspapers on Monday that there was nothing new in the statement of March 14 MPs that announced the coalition would be the new opposition. "Everyone has the right to express his or her opinion," they said.
Miqati will now intensify his contacts to form the cabinet, the circles added. Beirut, 28 Feb 11, 09:29

Scores of Lebanese Flee Libya Violence Via Amman, Urge for Help
Naharnet/Scores of Lebanese returned home from strife-torn Libya via Jordan on Sunday, urging Beirut authorities to facilitate the evacuation of other Lebanese citizens there, said the state-run National News Agency. The Lebanese came aboard a Jordanian plane along with several members of their family holding Libyan passports, said NNA. On Friday, an official at Middle East Airlines, Lebanon's flag carrier, said Libyan authorities had refused to allow one of their planes to land. The plane was intended to evacuate between 60 and 100 Lebanese nationals stranded at the airport in the Libyan capital. Tens of thousands of foreigners have so far fled Libya by air, land and sea as world governments scrambled to pull their citizens out amid escalating violence. "The situation of the Lebanese there is tragic," said Mustafa al-Hassan, 50, upon arriving at Rafik Hariri international airport. He accused head of the Lebanese diplomatic mission in Libya, Nazih Ashour, of neglect. "We didn't feel he wanted to cooperate with us." Another passenger, Iman Hadraj who is married to a Libyan, said: "There are a lot of Lebanese waiting to be transported to Tripoli's airport in order to come to Lebanon." Beirut, 27 Feb 11, 13:26

Hariri Thanks Erdogan for Turkish Efforts to Evacuate Lebanese from Libya
Naharnet/Caretaker premier Saad Hariri on Sunday held phone talks with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Hariri and Erdogan "discussed the ongoing efforts to evacuate Lebanese citizens from Libya," the premier's press office announced in a communiqué. "Hariri thanked PM Erdogan for the efforts exerted by Turkey in this regard," the communiqué added.
The phone conversation also tackled "the latest regional and international developments." Scores of Lebanese returned home from strife-torn Libya via Jordan on Sunday, urging Beirut authorities to facilitate the evacuation of other Lebanese citizens there, said Lebanon's state-run National News Agency. The Lebanese came aboard a Jordanian plane along with several members of their family holding Libyan passports, said NNA. On Friday, an official at Middle East Airlines, Lebanon's flag carrier, said Libyan authorities had refused to allow one of their planes to land. The plane was intended to evacuate between 60 and 100 Lebanese nationals stranded at the airport in the Libyan capital. Tens of thousands of foreigners have so far fled Libya by air, land and sea as world governments scrambled to pull their citizens out amid escalating violence. "The situation of the Lebanese there is tragic," said Mustafa al-Hassan, 50, upon arriving at Rafik Hariri international airport. He accused head of the Lebanese diplomatic mission in Libya, Nazih Ashour, of neglect. "We didn't feel he wanted to cooperate with us."
Another passenger, Iman Hadraj who is married to a Libyan, said: "There are a lot of Lebanese waiting to be transported to Tripoli's airport in order to come to Lebanon." Beirut, 27 Feb 11, 18:50

March 14 has no choice
Now Lebanon/February 28, 2011
Countless column inches have been given over to the wisdom, or lack thereof, of March 14’s decision to not participate in any March 8-led government. But the fact remains that, as long as Prime Minister-elect Najib Mikati remains opaque on key issues that are essential to Lebanon’s future – issues to which March 14 is committed and for which it has shed blood – the coalition really has no choice but to stay out of it. That said, to be an effective opposition it must have a clear agenda of what it stands for (not just what it opposes) and avoid being sucked into populist scraps, such as we saw with the knee-jerk decision to drop the price of gasoline – a move that will surely eventually backfire economically.
But back to government participation: As former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said in a statement issued by March 14 on Sunday, Match 8 has been imposing “crippling conditions” that “violate constitutional principles and norms.” It is not enough that the manner in which March 8 elbowed its way into power in January was nothing short of a coup; the absence of assurances to, as Siniora said in the same statement, “preserve the political regime, establish the role of legitimate [state] authority in exclusively possessing weapons and commanding their use in confronting any Israeli aggression against Lebanon, and restore the strategic decisions [on war and peace with Israel] to the state,” is unacceptable. Equally of concern for a party that has thrown its weight behind the legitimacy of international justice, is the fact that March 14 has also received no assurances that the new government will support the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, the court established to bring to justice the killers of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 22 others on February 14, 2005.
In short, Mikati has not committed to anything, which, given the fact that he has still been unable to form a government, says much about what we can – or should we say cannot – expect from any future administration.
It says that January’s collapse of the government was nothing about the interests of the country and everything about the consolidation of power. Not only have the sovereign and democratic issues championed by March 14 – issues that were at one point part of the so-called National Dialogue – been swept under the carpet, the shameful horse trading over ministerial portfolios has once again tarred Lebanese politics with the brush of self interest. Who would want to be in Mikati’s shoes?
In two weeks, March 14 supporters will once again gather in Martyrs’ Square to revive the flame of optimism that six years ago promised to light the way to a new dawn. If March 14 is to reclaim the spirit of those heady weeks in 2005 and bring pressure to bear on those who would see Lebanon’s sovereignty further eroded by dangerous alliances with Iran and Syria, it needs to have a wider manifesto, one that has more to offer than just opposition to Hezbollah’s weapons and the STL.
It must have a credible economic and social reform manifesto, one from which it can base its opposition. What it must not do is play partisan politics with issues that will have a direct impact on the people. The damage from the drop in petrol prices has been done, but in all probability the budget deficit will rise as a result. It was hardly the move of a party that has prided itself on its astute fiscal management. Lessons hopefully will have been learned. The mood in the region is ready to re-embrace the spirit of March 14, 2005. Syria and Iran must be more than a little concerned about the winds of change that are blowing across the Middle East. In this light, March 14 has an opportunity to remind the world that Beirut was the Ground Zero of the Middle East’s democracy movement and that it lit the flame.

A Few Characteristics of the Current Confrontations
Sun, 27 February 2011/Abdullah Iskandar/Al Hayat
The movement of Arab protests is taking a course of escalation. And if some of them have been able to introduce change at the level of those in power, in Tunisia and Egypt, while some are still demanding change, in Yemen, Bahrain and Jordan, and others are facing terrible bloody repression, in Libya, the features of the next phase in each of these countries remain vague, as they remain open to every possibility, including the worst.
It is clear that those in power in all of these countries are trying to resist change, despite the particularities of each of them. It is also clear that the protest movement still has great power in terms of objections, of demonstrations and of proclaiming its demands, which are taking on more radical characteristics with time. Yet neither the authorities nor the protest movements have a clear roadmap for emerging from the crisis and resolving the difficult issues. This is why dialogue between the two sides has broken down, despite the fact that all demand it and declare their willingness to participate in it. Indeed, there are no common grounds for such dialogue that would make it start from a specific point. Moreover, there is a complete lack of mutual trust, in view of the long years of oppression and caution, voiding any promises of their content.
Consequently, the situation in both Egypt and Tunisia is marking time. Demonstrations and protests continue in Yemen, Bahrain and Jordan, recently joined by Iraq as well. Meanwhile, the situation in Libya excludes any dialogue, in light of the purely bloodthirsty tendencies of Colonel Gaddafi, whose delusions of grandeur are increasing as his collapse draws near.
Thus the lack of dialogue represents the first characteristic of the current confrontation between Arab authorities and protest movements. And while the security situation remains under control, except in Libya, any slipup involves the danger of the outbreak of wide-ranging violence, which would do away with the function of any subsequent dialogue, as is the case in Libya.
Another characteristic of the situation is the fact that only one side, that of the authorities, is subjected to the influence of foreign, and especially American, stances and pressures. Indeed, the United States, ever since the situation erupted in Tunisia, has been defending the necessity of meeting the demands of protesters, especially in terms of political change. Its role has become clear in the way former President Zine El-Abidne Ben Ali was toppled and former President Hosni Mubarak resigned. In other words, it is only putting pressure on the authorities. This kind of unilateral pressure is connected to a US strategy based on abandoning obsolete regimes for the benefit of what it considers to be regimes capable of containing their citizens’ popular culture, on the basis of the desire repeatedly expressed by President Barack Obama to open up to Islamic culture. This is what US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed when she spoke of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and the possibility of their participation in government.
In other words, the United States is interested in imposing concessions from the authorities for the benefit of the protest movement, according to a notion that assumes that ensuring US strategic interests goes through associating itself with a popular state of affairs, at the cultural, religious and perhaps sectarian (as is the case in Iraq) level, not facilitating dialogue between the authorities and protest movements, reaching common grounds that support democracy, peaceful alternation of power and heading towards sustainable growth that would ensure natural economic cycles. Washington’s inspiration in this comes from non-Arab experiences, such as Turkey, Indonesia and Pakistan, without stopping at Arab experiences and at the conclusions one might draw from them. And as the movements of moderate political Islam advance to the forefront of the protest movement, by virtue of their ability to organize and also of US pressure on authorities, the radical trend that accuses others of disbelief, which seems detached from the popular movement and its direct concerns, is receding, even if temporarily, especially as the predominantly peaceful nature of the protests has shown an effectiveness terrorism has failed to achieve, despite all the ruckus and suicide bombings. This is to such an extent that Al-Qaeda, which holds the theory of “entrenchment” and “immersion”, has become concerned about the lives of civilians, as Ayman Al-Zawahiri recently advised.

US ready to help Libya's insurgents
28/02/2011/WASHINGTON (AFP) – The United States said it was prepared to offer "any kind of assistance" to Libyans seeking to overthrow the regime of strongman Mummer Gaddafi as they set up a transitional body. As forces opposed to the longest-serving Arab leader took control of several western Libyan towns, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton echoed the calls of world leaders, including President Barack Obama, for him to quit. "We are just at the beginning of what will follow Gaddafi," she said Sunday.
"First we have to see the end of his regime and with no further bloodshed," she continued, noting Washington is eager for his ouster "as soon as possible."
The top US diplomat spoke as she prepared to leave for a ministerial-level meeting of the UN Human Rights Council on Monday, and for bilateral talks with many of her counterparts about the crisis in Libya. Meanwhile, The New York Times reported late Sunday that US and European officials discussed plans to impose a no-fly zone over Libya to prevent further killings of civilians by troops loyal to the country's embattled leader. The newspaper cited an unnamed senior administration official as saying that no decision had been made.
Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said Sunday that a key friendship treaty signed between Italy and Libya in 2008 was "de facto suspended."
According to The Times, the accord contains a non-aggression clause that some analysts said complicated Italy's position in the event of international military intervention in Libya.
The chaos engulfing the oil-rich North African state of 6.3 million has fanned fears that Gaddafi's hold on power could descend into civil war as the United Nations said nearly 100,000 people have streamed out of the country. More than 1,000 people are believed to have been killed in a government crackdown on the protests.
"I think it is way too soon to tell how this is going to play out. We are going to be ready and prepared to offer any kind of assistance that anyone wishes to have from the US," Clinton told reporters, noting Washington was in touch with the Libyan opposition.
Protest leaders established a transitional "national council" in eastern cities seized from the Gaddafi regime and called on the army to help them take the capital Tripoli.
Two senior US lawmakers urged Washington to recognize any transitional government and supply it with weapons and humanitarian assistance to oust Gaddafi, who has ruled Libya with an iron fist for four decades. "We ought to recognize the provisional government as the legitimate government of Libya and we ought to give that government certainly humanitarian assistance and military arms... to give them the wherewithal to fight on behalf of the people of Libya against a cruel dictator," Senator Joe Lieberman told CNN.
Lieberman was speaking alongside Republican Senator John McCain from Egypt, where a popular uprising swept President Hosni Mubarak from power earlier this month after nearly 30 years of autocratic rule. McCain urged Obama, his former rival in the 2008 presidential campaign, to "get tough" and make it clear that Libyan officials involved in attacks on their own people would face prosecution for war crimes.The war hero and former naval aviator also called for a no-fly zone over the country so that "Libyan pilots won't fly" and shoot on civilians.
But he stopped short of calling for a military intervention with ground forces in the oil-rich North African country, though he did not rule out that possibility.
Lieberman, an independent who used to be a Democrat, said he understood the Obama administration's initial hesitation in speaking out strongly against Libya's crackdown due to concerns over the safety of US citizens in the country. But, he added: "Frankly I wish we had spoken out much more clearly and early against the Gaddafi regime... The fact is now is the time for action, not just statements." The UN Security Council has imposed a travel ban and assets freeze on Gaddafi's regime and ordered an investigation into possible crimes against humanity by the Libyan leader, the first time such a decision has been made unanimously. On Friday, Obama announced unilateral sanctions targeting Gaddafi and his inner circle in a move intended to encourage defections and peel away loyalists defending the Libyan's 42-year rule. Clinton has signed an order revoking the US visas of Libyan officials and others linked to the violence against civilians. New visas will now be denied as a matter of policy.

March 14 shuns Mikati Cabinet, vows to confront 'coup'
By Hussein Dakroub/Daily Star staff
Monday, February 28, 2011
BEIRUT: The March 14 coalition announced Sunday it would boycott the government to be formed by Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati and vowed to confront what it called the Hezbollah-orchestrated “coup” that led to the ouster of Saad Hariri.
In a strongly worded statement issued after a special meeting held at the Bristol Hotel and attended by caretaker Prime Minister Hariri, who is also an MP, and 54 of the coalition’s 60 lawmakers, the March 14 groups said they will move to “a peaceful opposition” to defend the Lebanese Republic and protect the Constitution. Mikati refused to comment on the March 14 coalition’s statement. “Prime Minister [designate] Mikati said that each party has the right to express the views it wants,” a source close to Mikati told The Daily Star. But earlier Sunday, Mikati said he would consider other options with President Michel Sleiman if the March14 coalition decided not to participate in the government. A source close the Cabinet formation process said the March 14 coalition’s statement would lead to “an intensification of contacts between Mikati and [March 8] parties in order to speed up the government’s formation.” Meanwhile, Hariri will address the Lebanese at 6 p.m. Monday to talk about Hezbollah’s weapons, a major divisive issue between the March 8 and March 14 groups, a March 14 source said.
The statement, read out by former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, accused the Hezbollah-led March 8 alliance of staging a “coup” with the resignations of its ministers that led to the toppling of Hariri’s Cabinet on Jan. 12 and later to Mikati’s nomination to form a new government. The March 14 coalition accused the March 8 groups of violating constitutional traditions and rules by putting conditions on the government’s formation. It also accused Mikati, who is backed by the March 8 alliance, of failing to respond positively to the coalition’s demands for making a public commitment not to end Lebanon’s cooperation with the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), which is probing the 2005 assassination of Hariri’s father, statesman Rafik Hariri.
“In light of these dangerous developments represented in the March 8 groups’ insistence on a coup against the institutions, and the prime minister-designate’s failure to adopt a clear stance on constitutional and procedural issues, the March 14 groups announce their rejection to participate in the proposed government because they refuse to legitimatize the mentioned coup and refuse to serve as a witness unable to stop deviations, excesses and violations,” the statement said. “In their confirmation to confront and thwart the coup and amid the prime minister-designate’s inability to provide clear answers, the attending lawmakers have decided to refuse to participate in the next government and to launch a peaceful democratic opposition to defend the republic and protect the Constitution,” it added.
The statement said that instead of reacting positively to the March14 coalition’s demands, “the country has been witnessing practices by March 8 groups amounting to a continued violation of constitutional norms and rules and an imposition of conditions on the shape and policy of the government.” It added that the March 8 groups’ actions also trespassed on the prerogatives of both the president and the prime minister-designate that threatened to plunge the country into “a constitutional and national crisis whose consequences the Lebanese cannot bear.”
The statement was clearly referring to Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun who is demanding a large Christian representation in the government, including the key Interior Ministry portfolio.
“While registering their condemnation and rejection of these ongoing practices, the March 14 groups would like to confirm that they consider what happened in the designation process and what is happening in the formation process is a coup against the Constitution and the democratic system carried out with the force of arms and its luster,” the statement said.
“Therefore, the March 14 groups cannot accept nor keep silent on what has happened and is happening. They will confront it with all available means in the framework of their commitment to all means of democratic practices. They hold all the parties concerned responsible for this coup and its consequences,” it added.
Referring to the circumstances that led to the toppling of Hariri’s Cabinet, the statement said: “The manner in which [Hariri’s] national unity government was toppled and the atmosphere of intimidation with the threat of arms used by the March 8 groups and the subsequent intimidation that accompanied the consultations [to name a new premier] and [Mikati’s] appointment, have confirmed doubts that the March 8 groups are bent on consolidating their coup and undermining all attempts to form a balanced government by putting conditions that cannot be fulfilled and that run contrary to constitutional principles and traditions and contradict with the March 14 groups’ principles.”
It said the March 14 groups’ principles were aimed at defending the Constitution and maintaining national unity and the parliamentary democratic system which protects the citizens’ freedoms and rights. The March 14 groups are also demanding that “justice be served and putting an end to terrorist crimes that targeted distinguished leaders in the country by upholding the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and putting an end to non-state arms, which are spread in neighborhoods, towns and villages and which are threatening the citizens’ lives and the country’s security and stability,” the statement added. Asked to comment on the March 14 camp’s decision to boycott his government, Mikati said in Tripoli earlier in the day: “My firm position is to call on all [parties] to participate in the government. This participation is not a personal issue as much as it is necessary to resurrect the country and its institutions and cooperate to solve the many problems we are suffering from.”
He added that one of the options he had in mind was to form a government comprising the March 8 and March 14 groups.“But if the March 14 team decided to boycott, I will discuss with the president the other options and choose what’s the best for the country’s interest,” Mikati said. A senior March 8 source said the March14 coalition’s decision to become an opposition would undoubtedly facilitate the government’s formation. “The March 14 decision will help Mikati’s Cabinet formation efforts,” the source said.

Lebanese dentist confesses to spying for Israel
By The Daily Star /Monday, February 28, 2011
BEIRUT: A man who was arrested last week on suspicion of spying for Israel confessed over the weekend to collaborating with the Jewish state, according to a statement from the Internal Security Forces (ISF). Farouq Choucair, a 55-year-old dentist, was arrested by the ISF’s Information Branch in the southern village of Mais al-Jabal on suspicion of collaborating with Israel. He has since confessed that he worked for the Israeli intelligence services between 2004 and 2009 with the help of his brother, who had fled to Israel following its withdrawal from south Lebanon in 2000, according to the statement. Choucair’s brother was a member of the disbanded South Lebanon Army, which fought alongside Israel during its occupation of south Lebanon before May 2000. It was his brother who helped Choucair get in contact with an Israeli intelligence officer. A judicial source told The Daily Star that the detainee’s wife and son were interrogated by the Information Branch Sunday. The detainee confessed that he provided Israel with the coordinates of Hezbollah members and the party’s headquarters in Mais al-Jabal and surrounding areas. He also provided Israel with the coordinates of Lebanese Army posts, mosques, schools, medical centers, public facilities and other places in his and nearby villages before and after Israel’s 2006 war against Lebanon. Choucair was also provided with a phone that operates within the Israeli telecommunications network which he used to inform Israeli authorities about the movements of a specific Hezbollah MP and other officials from the party whenever he spotted them in Mais al-Jabal. More than 150 individuals were arrested last year in a nationwide crackdown on those suspected of collaborating with Israel. Many of the detainees were high ranking army officers and senior employees in telecommunication companies. – The Daily Star

Hundreds of Lebanese rally against sectarian regime
By Van Meguerditchian and Ashraf Monzer
Daily Star staff
Monday, February 28, 2011
BEIRUT: Hundreds of people braved a cold, driving rain Sunday to march in support of toppling the country’s sectarian political system, which the demonstrators blame for corruption and impoverishing the public. Protestors held banners reading “The people want to topple the sectarian regime,” and chanted “Revolution has arrived in Lebanon,” hoping to capitalize the wave of pro-change fever sweeping the Arab world. “We no longer believe in a system that has not given us throughout the years except corruption and hate for each other, we are sick and tired of poverty and very few job opportunities, we want equality between the people,” said Yara, a 20-year-old journalism student. Lebanon is governed by a delicate power-sharing system to maintain the balance between the country’s many sects. By long-standing convention the president must be a Maronite Christian, the prime minister a Sunni Muslim and the Parliament speaker a Shiite Muslim. For the several groups that called for the march, and used Facebook to spread their message, the turnout for the first such protest was encouraging.
“I believe that what happened today is an achievement on the road to demolishing this sectarian system,” said Nehmat Badreddine, the spokesperson for the demonstration organizers.
“We believe that things will improve. We haven’t yet decided when our next move is, but we will announce it soon.”
The organizers distributed a leaflet saying they demanded a “secular, civil, democratic, socially just and equal state” and called for an increase in the minimum wage and lower prices for basic goods.
Although the effort was markedly critical of the March 14 and March 8 camps, the Future Movement fielded a small group of protestors, in a “symbolic” participation.
“We in the Future Movement are against this sectarian regime, although some sides in the country are trying to manipulate us in order to be involved in the sectarian game that is going on in the country,” said Wissam Shibli, the general coordinator of Future’s youth section. Protestors walked the distance from the Mar Mikhael Church in the southern suburb of Shiyyah to the Museum area in Beirut, a route that was a green line during the country’s 1975-90 Civil War.
While protesters chanted the now-popular refrain of “The people want to bring down the regime,” other held banners that read: “Enough lies and politics, we want to eat,” “You made us hate the month of March … We want to fight Israel and have a drink at night,” “Leave religion to clergymen, and politics to politicians …We want to live.”
“We come here today asking for the downfall of the sectarian regime which, along with the sectarian leaders, has been manipulating our future,” said Walid Obeid, 40, employed in the banking sector. For Nassib Lobani, 71, Lebanon’s sectarian regime has proven to be useless. “We are here to topple the sectarian system, I have been living in this country enough to realize that this system is useless” he said. “I hold the Holy Bible and the Holy Quran these two books call for peace and love.”
The actual steps required to bring about the demonstrators’ goal might not be clear, but the end result is. “We want a secular system that ensures justice and freedom and democracy, and we want to be able to live a decent life,” said one protester, who declined to give his name. Demonstrators emphasized that they were independent people who want to make a change, affirming that they represented diverse political affiliations and different parts of the country. They said they set all of their differences aside in order to combine their efforts to try to change the system regime. “For the first time ever, a demonstration this big takes place in the street, in this bad weather. We aren’t March 8 or March 14, we are Lebanese citizens who want to live and have social justice and equality,” said Rawad Shami, on behalf one of the Facebook groups that mobilized people for Sunday’s march.

Sleiman meets with Assad, other regional and international leaders in Kuwait
By The Daily Star /Monday, February 28, 2011
BEIRUT: President Michel Sleiman held talks Saturday with a number of Arab and international leaders on the sidelines of an official visit to Kuwait to participate in ceremonies marking the 50th anniversary of the Persian Gulf country’s independence. Sleiman held talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad, his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul, Qatari Prince Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, Spanish King Juan Carlos and Iraqi President Jalal Talbani. Sleiman’s discussions with the Syrian, Turkish and Qatari heads of states follow the failure of efforts mediated by them, as well as Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdel Aziz, to break the deadlock between rival Lebanese camps over the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. A failed Saudi-Syrian initiative led to the collapse of caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s 14-month-old national unity Cabinet last month and the decision of the Hariri-led March 14 alliance to boycott the new government to be formed by Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati. Mikati failed to convince March 14 groups to join the government after he refused to voice commitment to maintaining support for the STL or seeking the restriction of weapons to state authorities. – The Daily Star

Hero's welcome for escaped Hezbollah leader
By Mohammed Zaatari /Daily Star staff
Monday, February 28, 2011
HADATHA: The leader of a Hezbollah cell in Egypt who escaped jail during the country’s popular uprising received a hero’s welcome in his hometown of Hadatha in south Lebanon Sunday.  Mohammad Youssef Mansour, a Lebanese national who also goes by the alias Sami Shehab, was received with chants, candy and flowers. Sources said Mansour returned to Beirut on Feb. 3 after fleeing Egypt during a mass prison break. Hundreds of residents from Hadatha and other surrounding villages attended the ceremony, where Mansour was greeted with traditional chants and the sacrifice of animals in the town’s main square. Arrested in 2008, Mansour and his 22-member cell were awaiting trial in Egypt following their indictment for plotting several attacks in the country. “We are here to celebrate the freeing of the resistance member who fought for Lebanon and Palestine on Egyptian land,” said Loyalty and Resistance bloc MP Hassan Fadlallah in a speech at the ceremony. The lawmaker also granted Mansour Hezbollah’s honorary shield and commended his sacrifices and efforts. “The liberation of our member who fought for Palestine is not a surprise because we deeply trust in the Egyptian people who have repeatedly stood by the resistance in the summer 2006 war with Israel,” said Fadlallah. “This liberation came in line with the liberation of the Egyptian people from a regime that has only stood with the enemy,” he added, in reference to the government of ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Hezbollah officials have rejected the Egyptian allegations against the ringleader and his team, claiming that Mansour was in Egypt for a logistical mission to transport arms and other supplies across the Egyptian-Gaza border in order to assist the Palestinians who have been under Israeli blockade since 2006. Fadlallah also warned of any foreign intervention in the achievements made by the Egyptian people during last month’s upheaval. “This is a true opportunity for the people [Egyptians] to have sovereignty over their decision and return back to the true Arab spirit of refusing all forms of foreign hegemony,” he added

Congress reject CAIR's pressure to block Phares from testifying on Jihadism
al Qanat, Cairo/Feb 27th 20100
"In an article published this morning, Pan Arab media al Qanat reported that Rep Pete king (R-NY), Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security Committee of the US House of Representatives, rejected a demand by the Council on Islamic American Relations (CAIR) to block Professor Walid Phares from presenting his testimony about the forces producing radicalization and extremism within Arab and Muslim communities in the United States. This rejection came through a Press release posted on the US Congress web site early Saturday in which Rep King praised Professor Phares considering him a main advisor to the committee and asking him to present his testimony about the ideologies and strategies of the Terrorists.
Nihad Awad, director of CAIR had based his demand of blocking on the fact that Professor Phares was a member of the leadership council of the Lebanese Forces (LF) in the 1980s (a coalition of parties and movements that resisted and opposed the Syrian occupation and Hezbollah during that decade), Awad arguing that members of the LF were accused in Sabra and Shatila massacres in September of 1982. Al Qanat underlined that Phares during that time wasn't in the institution but was a practicing lawyer and author of books.
Well informed sources in Washington, indicated that Phares had featured in the Movie Iranium, which was released lately and had called for a regime change in Tehran. Which could indicates that Iran is involved in blocking its opponents from their activities in Washington, including with regard educating legislators." http://www.alqanat.com/news/shownews.asp?id=121845

U.S. Rep. Peter T. King (R-NY), Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Statement on Professor Walid Phares
Feb 25, 2011 /Today, ­U.S. Rep. Peter T. King (R-NY), Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, issued the following statement on Professor Whalid Phares:
"Professor Walid Phares is a respected author, scholar and expert on Islamist Jihadism. For several months Professor Phares has been advising the Homeland Security Committee staff and me in preparing for Committee hearings on Islamist or Jihadi radicalization. Professor Phares has been extremely helpful and cooperative, even agreeing to my request that he consider being a witness at a hearing, should the need arise. His only caveat was to warn me that certain elements would charge that as a Christian he is not qualified to testify as a representative from Muslim communities. I assured him that would not stop me from asking him to testify. "I did, for a time, consider asking Professor Phares to be a witness at the first hearing to provide an overview of Jihadi ideologies. Approximately three weeks ago, however, I decided to focus that first hearing on specific instances of radicalization within the American Muslim community from an American Muslim perspective. While Professor Phares will not be a witness at the first hearing on March 10, I certainly expect to call him to testify at future hearings regarding Jihadi ideologies and strategies. My staff and I will also continue to rely upon Professor Phares for his advice and counsel as these hearings go forward."
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