LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِMarch 05/2011

Bible Of The Day/Trust in Almighty God
The Good News According to Luke 12/22-34: " He said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, don’t be anxious for your life, what you will eat, nor yet for your body, what you will wear. 12:23 Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. 12:24 Consider the ravens: they don’t sow, they don’t reap, they have no warehouse or barn, and God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than birds! 12:25 Which of you by being anxious can add a cubit to his height? 12:26 If then you aren’t able to do even the least things, why are you anxious about the rest? 12:27 Consider the lilies, how they grow. They don’t toil, neither do they spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 12:28 But if this is how God clothes the grass in the field, which today exists, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith? 12:29 Don’t seek what you will eat or what you will drink; neither be anxious. 12:30 For the nations of the world seek after all of these things, but your Father knows that you need these things. 12:31 But seek God’s Kingdom, and all these things will be added to you. 12:32 Don’t be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom. 12:33 Sell that which you have, and give gifts to the needy. Make for yourselves purses which don’t grow old, a treasure in the heavens that doesn’t fail, where no thief approaches, neither moth destroys. 12:34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
Hezbollah’s weapons of mass disputation/By: Michael Young/March 04/11
Tehran's hands-off threat to Riyadh incites Saudi Shiites to revolt/DEBKAfile/March 04/11
Mubarak faces corruption probe on gas to Israel, warrants for Israeli, US partners/DEBKAfile
Islamists and democracy/Jonathan Schachter/March 04/11
Canadian Government  Introduces Freezing Assets of Corrupt Regimes Act/March 04/11
ICC: Ethiopian Muslims Burn Down Five Churches, More Attacks Feared/March 04/11
America's end, or its democratic moment?/By Michael Young/March 04/11
The Syrian regime could be the next Middle Eastern domino to fall/By Ribal al-Assad/March 04/11
Opening salvos/Now Lebanon/March 04/11
The Ayatollah and Machiavelli/By: By Amir Taheri/ March 04/11

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for March 04/11
Saudi Shiites Call for 'Day of Anger' in Kingdom /Naharnet
Bellemare's Requests Included Names of Electric Meter Owners, Copies of Telecommunications Data /Naharnet
U.N. Sources: No Discussions on Non-cooperation of 4 Lebanese Ministers /Naharnet
France and Britain: Lebanon Should Cooperate with STL Investigators /Naharnet
Hariri Rejects Partnership with 'Arms Put in the Face of Lebanese' /Naharnet
NLP: Refusing STL requests violates Ministerial Statement/Now Lebanon
Baroud: I supplied Bellemare with some fingerprints/Now Lebanon
Miqati Surprised by Bellemare's Requests after Draft Indictment Submittal /Naharnet
Aounist, MP Ziad Aswad: The STL has turned into an intelligence agency/Now Lebanon
Sfeir Slams Hizbullah's Arms and Denies Accusations of Bias /Naharnet
Hizbullah Urges Non-Cooperation with STL, Says Bellemare's Requests Contradict with Protoco/Naharnet
Williams: Government Formation Shouldn't Overshadow Security Issues/Naharnet
Lebanese bank for sale after US laundering claim/Reuters
Libyan Minister Impersonated As Imam Sadr in Rome, Then Assassinated/ABNA.ir
MP Sakr: Time to change Lebanon speaker/Ya Libnan
Lebanon's LCB to merge with Societe Generale unit/Reuters
Iranian Naval Ships Re-Enter Suez Canal/VOA
Mikati: Some parties want to put Lebanon under Chapter 7/Daily Star
SGBL to merge with Lebanese-Canadian Bank/Daily Star
Miqati Surprised by Bellemare's Requests after Draft Indictment Submittal/Naharnet
Gemayel Says Situation Delicate, Warns Over Return of Hegemony Era/Naharnet
Netanyahu praises pope for exonerating Jews for death of Jesus/Haaretz
Jumblat Warns Against 'Destructive Calculation' of Resolution Under Chapter 7 /Naharnet
WikiLeaks: Qatar Supported Former Minister Boueiz for President /Naharnet
British Ambassador Hints that Hizbullah's Arms Scared Jumblat /Naharnet

Tehran's hands-off threat to Riyadh incites Saudi Shiites to revolt
DEBKAfile Special Report March 3, 2011, Ahead of the first Day of Anger planned in Saudi Arabia for March 11, a senior Iranian figure close to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned Riyadh Wednesday, March 2, against launching preventive security measures against, or cracking down on, the kingdom's two million Shiites who live and work in the oil regions of the east.
The world's biggest oil exporter, Saudi Arabia covers 40 percent of the world's oil needs.
Saudi and other Gulf security sources called the Iranian warning unprecedented interference in the domestic affairs of Saudi Arabia and a call to the Shiite minority to rise up against the throne under the shield of Iran's protection. It also struck the match for reigniting Shiite riots in Bahrain, fomenting the Shiite minorities in other Gulf emirates and further complicating the explosive situation in Yemen.
In Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton came forward for the first time in the three-month wave of Arab uprisings to accuse Iran of using its Lebanese surrogate Hizballah to shape events in the Arab world. Addressing the Senate Budget Committee Wednesday, March 2, she said "They are doing everything they can to influence the outcomes in these places," she said, citing Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen and the Palestinians, though not Saudi Arabia. "They are using Hizballah to communicate with counterparts. … in (the Palestinian movement) Hamas who then in turn communicate with counterparts in Egypt."
debkafile's Washington sources note that the allegations she leveled against Iran contradicted the position taken by the Chairman of the US Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen, who has said repeatedly in the last couple of weeks that the uprisings had domestic origins and Iran was not stirring the pot.
Clinton's words also countered the view presented by Defense Secretary Robert Gates on March 1that the unrest in Arab countries was a major setback for Iran and al Qaeda.
The Obama administration is clearly divided on its reading of the upheavals in Arab countries and the role played in them by Iran, indicating that as the disturbances go into their third month, a consistent policy has yet to be formulated in the White House.
The warning to Riyadh came from Iranian parliament Mohammed Dehgan, one of the closest and most influential members of the Ahmadinejad circle. It was couched in stark and brutal terms: "The Saudi leadership should know that the Saudi people have become vigilant and do not allow the rulers of the country to commit any possible crime against them," said Dehqan. "Saudi Arabia should account for the suppressions of the Shiite and Sunni people in the country for numerous years."
He went on to threaten that Saudi Arabia, whose Shiite minority accounted for at least 15 percent of its population, could be the next target of the revolution engulfing the Arab world. The Iranian lawmaker went on to warn Saudi Arabia against interfering in the course of events in Bahrain and Yemen.
Dehqan and other senior Iranian officials have also warned Saudi Arabia to stop taking the fingerprints of Iranians entering the kingdom - or face reprisals.
debkafile's Gulf sources find three major implications in the harsh Iranian warning to Riyadh:
1. Tehran is for the first time taking an overt stand on the Arab uprisings, using their Shiite minorities as levers of manipulation.
2. Iran is flexing muscle for the first time in the role it covets of regional superpower which calls the shots for the oil states and challenges US supremacy.
3. Iran wants Riyadh to call off the preventive measures Saudi security and intelligence have been conducting for some days to offset a Shiite uprising on the Day of Anger, including the arrests of political and religious activists.

Saudi Shiites Call for 'Day of Anger' in Kingdom
Naharnet/Cyber activists have created a group on Facebook calling for a "Day of Anger" on Friday in the eastern Shiite-majority Saudi region, following the arrest of a Shiite cleric. The group of more than 500 members is calling for protests after Friday prayers in Al-Hufuf, in Eastern Province's Al-Ihsaa governorate, to demand the release of Sheikh Tawfiq al-Amer.
Amer was arrested after calling for a "constitutional monarchy" in the Sunni-dominated kingdom, according to the Rasid website, which specializes in Shiite Saudi news. It said that Amer has been held several times in the ultra-conservative absolute monarchy over his calls "for giving Shiites further freedom to exercise their religious rights."
The Shiites, who are mainly concentrated in the oil-rich Eastern Province, and make up about 10 percent of the Saudi population as a whole, complain of marginalization in the kingdom.
The Eastern Province has common borders with Shiite-majority Bahrain, where protests, also organized via social networking site Facebook, against the ruling Sunni dynasty have raged since February 14 demanding reforms.(AFP) Beirut, 03 Mar 11, 18:13

SGBL to merge with Lebanese-Canadian Bank
By Osama Habib /Daily Star staff
Friday, March 04, 2011
BEIRUT: Societe Generale has won a bid to merge with Lebanese-Canadian Bank, the target of recent accusations by the U.S. Treasury of involvement in money laundering and connection to a terrorist group, Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh said Thursday. Speaking to LBC TV station, the governor said that Societe Generale made the best offer to acquire the assets and deposits of the bank and assured the public that the bank has a clean balance and is well managed despite the accusations leveled by the U.S. Treasury.
“We had assurance from the French who own a share in SGBL to support the merger of both banks. This reflects the big confidence in the Lebanese banking sector,” Salameh said.
He did not disclose the value of the transaction but sources told The Daily Star that offers ranged between $550 million and $620 million.
The governor also denied that the Central Bank had offered a loan to SGBL to acquire LCB. Societe Generale, which is affiliated to the French Societe Generale, has pledged to keep on all current employees of LCB. But Salameh admitted the decision to merge LCB had come at the request of the U.S. Treasury as a way to remove the scandal-hit administration and resume confidence in the bank. “We discussed many choices to save the bank and the best way was to merge the Lebanese Canadian Bank with another bank because defending the reputation of this bank may take several months and this is not suitable to the management of the Lebanese Canadian Bank,” Salameh said. An informed source told The Daily Star that the fact Societe Generale is part-owned by the French will give LCB some political protection, at least temporarily, from the U.S. campaign against banks suspected in illegal activity and in connection to terrorist groups.
He added that the French group which owns 19 percent of SGBL have promised to increase their share in the bank, a move that would provide additional coverage and liquidity to LCB.
SGBL is one of Lebanon’s Alpha Group banks, the 12 largest banks in terms of customer deposits (over $2 billion).
Somewhat ironically, Lebanese-Canadian Bank has bigger customer deposits and assets than SGBL. The Lebanese-Canadian Bank has $5.88 billion in customer deposits up to 2010, an increase of 19 percent compared to 2009. The bank’s net profits last year reached $60 million, but even more impressively has no bad debts or acid assets. On Feb. 10 the U.S. Treasury said LCB, through management complicity and a failure of internal controls, was used “extensively” to move as much as $200 million a month in proceeds from illicit drug deals. Salameh stressed that all deposits in the bank are intact and there is no threat against them, reiterating that the Central Bank’s main concern is to protect the banking sector and depositors.
Fransabank, Banque Libano-Francaise and Byblos Bank also made offers to acquire the Lebanese Canadian Bank.
Asked if the Central Bank will treat Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, as it is viewed by the U.S. administration, Salameh emphasized that Hezbollah is a Lebanese party and “we have to follow the Lebanese law in this regard.” “They [the U.S.] are free to think whatever they want. We only comply with U.N. Security Council resolutions and we have always abided by these resolutions especially when there was a decision not to deal with Iranian banks,” Salameh said. He added that the U.S. Treasury has accused certain Lebanese individuals of drug-related money laundering. “We did not look at the evidence which the U.S. Treasury has concerning this case with the exception of what was mentioned in the press. We are currently conducting an investigation to check if these violations took place,” Salameh said. He added that the Central Bank intends to strengthen measures to improve banking supervision and ensure that all banks are complying with these directives. Salameh said that the Central Bank will organize the cash which flows to the country and its banks and most notably the cash which is being carried and deposited by combos and exchange dealers. “The Lebanese banking sector is in a sound position and there is no threat against these banks,” he argued.

Sfeir Slams Hizbullah's Arms and Denies Accusations of Bias
Naharnet/Outgoing Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir denied that he had been biased during his 25-year tenure and reiterated that only the Lebanese army should carry arms. "I support things that I see beneficial to the sect and the nation," Sfeir told An Nahar daily in an interview published Friday. "I am neither with them nor against them," he said about the different factions in the country. Sfeir unveiled that he was worried over bickering among the political leaders of his sect, saying other confessions weren't divided as much as the Maronites were.
He warned that Lebanon's independence was in danger because all factions were seeking to govern their country according to their own rules. They should forget about their personal interests and make "sacrifices for the nation's independence," the patriarch added. Asked about the obstacles facing the government formation process, Sfeir said: "We hope that the cabinet would be formed and the country would become stable … so that the people could live in security, tranquility and peace." Denying that he was forced to quit, Sfeir said he would put himself in the service of the new patriarch. The synod of bishops will begin meetings next Wednesday to elect the new spiritual head for Lebanon's Maronite church. The meetings are expected to start with several days of spiritual retreat followed by discussions and the election of Lebanon's 77th patriarch. The process may take up to 15 days. In another interview with al-Mustaqbal newspaper, Sfeir said: "Unfortunately, the Lebanese are divided between March 8 and 14. But as citizens, they should hold onto national principles."He advised the Lebanese "to hold onto freedom." Sfeir also criticized Hizbullah's arms saying: "Why do countries have governments?" if other factions would also have weapons. "It is the job of every government to carry arms alone to defend citizens and the land," he added. Beirut, 04 Mar 11, 08:12

Hariri Rejects Partnership with 'Arms Put in the Face of Lebanese'
Naharnet/Caretaker Premier Saad Hariri reiterated that he rejects to become a partner with Hizbullah's arms that have allegedly turned against the Lebanese. "Former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and I preserved the resistance," Saad Hariri told An Nahar daily in an interview published Friday but said he would no longer defend it "after it put arms in the face of the Lebanese.""The other team hasn't done a thing to help the partnership succeed," Hariri said, adding that he "exerted every effort to have a national unity cabinet based on several principles mainly reconciliation and real partnership."The caretaker prime minister vowed not to back off from his demands to find a solution to illegitimate arms and keep Lebanon committed to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. "The country would not resurrect as long as a team carries weapons," he told An Nahar ahead of a private visit to Riyadh.Snapping back at officials who claim that the arms belong to the resistance, Hariri said: "We are all strugglers." Asked why he didn't blame Syria for allegedly toppling his government in his latest speeches, the caretaker premier said he sought to consolidate the state-to-state relations between the two countries."I didn't want the improvement made in the ties to go backwards," Hariri added. Beirut, 04 Mar 11, 09:03

Bellemare's Requests Included Names of Electric Meter Owners, Copies of Telecommunications Data
Naharnet/Special Tribunal for Lebanon Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare's requests from the ministries of interior, public works, telecommunications, and energy have become the center of attention of the concerned sides, as it was revealed that he had also requested official copies of telecommunications data from the Alfa and MTC mobile phone providers, as well as the fingerprints of Lebanese individuals and information on electric meter owners.Ministerial sources in the caretaker government told the daily An Nahar in remarks published on Friday that these requests are being studied under legal experts, adding that the Ministry of Justice contacted the prosecutor to determine the consequences of the ministries' refusal to cooperate with him.Caretaker Interior Minister Ziad Baroud's sources informed the daily that he was unable to fulfill the request of providing the fingerprints of all the Lebanese, but that he was able to reach an agreement with the international investigators to hand them the prints of about a 1,000 individuals. The sources stated that this was one request of 20 received by the ministry from Bellemare's office all of which are connected to the internal security forces, civil defense, and traffic stations. They stressed that all of these demands have been fulfilled except for two that are being studied, prompting them to question the debate over Baroud's lack of compliance with Bellemare.
For his part, caretaker Minister of Transportation and Public Works Ghazi Aridi revealed that he had received a request from the international investigation to meet with the director of Land and Maritime Transport, which he had approved "immediately."Later after examining the request, he said that he sensed a contradiction in it, noting that it seemed like an interrogation of the General Directorate of Land and Maritime Transport, reported An Nahar. "When a new request was made in the matter, I did not respond," he said.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati revealed to al-Manar television that he had received information that some international sides are seeking to issue an international resolution under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter over how to deal with Bellemare's recent requests. Miqati questioned such demands, pointing out that the indictment in the investigation into the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri has been prepared, meaning that the phase of investigation and requests is over.The prosecutor's requests were also addressed during meetings between U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams with President Michel Suleiman and caretaker Energy Minister Jebran Bassil on Thursday. Informed sources told the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat in remarks published on Friday that Williams' meeting with Bassil was scheduled before the uproar caused by Bellemare's demands, revealing that the STL had requested information related to electric meters owned by a number of individuals and information about these people. The U.N. official also met with Baroud on Friday at the minister's request. The sources said that the cooperation protocol signed between Lebanon and the STL means that the tribunal does not need the government's approval over its requests, noting that in the past, Lebanon and the STL cooperated without referring to the government. Beirut, 04 Mar 11, 12:07

U.N. Sources: No Discussions on Non-cooperation of 4 Lebanese Ministers
Naharnet/The U.N. chief's spokesman and other diplomats denied that Lebanese officials had discussed with Ban Ki-moon the issue of the non-cooperation of four caretaker ministers with Daniel Bellemare, the prosecutor of the international tribunal. "I am not aware of any such contacts between Bellemare and the secretary-general either," Ban's spokesman, Martin Nesirky, told As Safir daily in remarks published Friday.Lebanon's U.N. envoy Nawaf Salam told the newspaper that "no one brought up the issue at the Security Council.""This is an internal issue and the Lebanese government is responsible for dealing with it," Salam said after it was revealed that four ministers had refused to provide information requested by Bellemare.The spokesman of the French delegation in New York also said that he was not aware of the issue. "It's obvious that it hasn't been officially discussed. However, it could have been discussed bilaterally behind the scenes." The newspaper quoted western diplomatic sources as saying that the Security Council's agenda is packed with the developments in the Arab world, mainly Libya.The sources ruled out the possibility of discussing Lebanon for now "unless something big happens." Beirut, 04 Mar 11, 10:18

Miqati Surprised by Bellemare's Requests after Draft Indictment Submittal
Naharnet/Premier-designate Najib Miqati said Thursday he had information suggesting that some parties were urging world powers to issue a U.N. Security Council resolution under Chapter 7, after four Lebanese ministers turned down requests from the Special Tribunal for Lebanon prosecutor to provide information and documents, Al-Manar TV reported.
Al-Manar quoted Miqati as saying that he was surprised by STL Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare's recent requests given that a draft indictment had been already submitted by Bellemare to STL Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen on January 17. The period of investigations and requests should have ended with the draft indictment's submittal, Miqati noted. The PM-designate told Al-Manar that he was not worried concerning the course of cabinet formation, admitting that "major challenges" were facing his mission. "I'm dealing with them in a serious manner," Miqati added, stressing that he will not be dragged into any verbal clash. He said that he was seeking a cabinet formula that would best serve Lebanon in confronting the challenges it is facing. Quoting sources close to the STL, Lebanese English-language newspaper The Daily Star reported Tuesday that four caretaker ministers had turned down requests from the STL prosecutor to provide information and documents, in breach of the cooperation protocol signed with the U.N. The requests made by Bellemare were sent last month from his office in Beirut to caretaker premier Saad Hariri, who passed them on to Ministers Ghazi Aridi, Jebran Bassil, Ziad Baroud and Charbel Nahhas on February 24, the newspaper said. But the four ministers have not yet complied with the requests, the sources told The Daily Star. The STL has requested a meeting with Lebanon's ambassador to The Hague, Zeidan Saghir, on March 7 to discuss the issue, they said. According to the daily, Bellemare is mulling to take measures against the ministers who declined to cooperate with him, such as listing them by name as uncooperative. Beirut, 03 Mar 11, 21:49

France and Britain: Lebanon Should Cooperate with STL Investigators
Naharnet/The French and British foreign ministers have stressed that the Special Tribunal for Lebanon should continue to operate despite rejections by the March 8 forces to cooperate with the court. "France has clearly stated that the STL should continue its work, and Lebanon should keep on cooperating with investigators" in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination case, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said during a press conference he held with his British counterpart William Hague in Paris on Thursday. Juppe reiterated that France will take a stance from Najib Miqati's cabinet according to its deeds. "There should be no impunity" in Hariri's murder case, Hague said in his turn. "We are convinced that justice should continue to take its course," he added. Beirut, 04 Mar 11, 09:15

Hizbullah Urges Non-Cooperation with STL, Says Bellemare's Requests Contradict with Protocol
Naharnet/Loyalty to the Resistance bloc leader MP Mohammed Raad urged Lebanese leaders on Friday not to cooperate with the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, saying Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare's requests contradict with the cooperation protocol signed between Lebanon and the tribunal. During a press conference he held at the parliament building, the Hizbullah lawmaker said Bellemare's requests from four caretaker ministers for information and documents came seven years after ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination and amid turmoil in the Arab world. "This reinforces the suspicion of the politicization of the STL," he said. The requests of the tribunal prosecutor contradict with the cooperation protocol signed between Lebanon and the international tribunal and violate Lebanese sovereignty, the MP told reporters. "Providing such information to Bellemare is in violation of the people's privacy protected by Lebanese laws," he said. He called on supporters not to respond to Bellemare's requests and for "freezing the memorandums of understanding between the court's agencies and Lebanon pending the formation of a new government that would take the appropriate national decision." Raad ridiculed Bellemare for asking for the fingerprints of all the Lebanese, including the president, current and former officials, sheikhs, nuns and priests.  "Who can give us guarantees that the data requested by Bellemare would not be delivered to Israeli intelligence services?" Raad asked. Beirut, 04 Mar 11, 11:59

Williams: Government Formation Shouldn't Overshadow Security Issues
Naharnet/U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams expressed hope on Friday that the government formation process "would not overshadow the issues that affect the daily lives of Lebanese people, especially in the field of security.""I expressed my belief as the U.N. Special Coordinator that any new government should try to meet the aspirations of all the Lebanese people," Williams said following talks with caretaker Interior Minister Ziad Baroud. Premier-designate Najib Miqati's cabinet should also respect Lebanon's international obligations, he said. "I commended the minister and the ministry for their efforts to promote a secure environment for all Lebanese," Williams said. He added that both men discussed the domestic situation in Lebanon and the dramatic developments in the Arab world in recent days. Beirut, 04 Mar 11, 14:44

NLP: Refusing STL requests violates Ministerial Statement
March 4, 2011 /Ministers’ refusal to cooperate with Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) information requests is a “political stance that contradicts the cabinet’s commitments expressed in the Ministerial Statement,” the National Liberal Party said on Friday. The party said in a statement that such non-cooperation is due to the “speech of the secretary general of the party of guardianship of the jurisprudent,” in a reference to Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. “It is clear that the ministers’ stance caused the logic of the [Hezbollah] statelet and its leader to prevail over the logic of the state and its institutions.” “Guardianship of the jurisprudent” is the Iranian regime’s religio-political doctrine.The Daily Star newspaper reported on Wednesday that four ministers – including Baroud – have not complied with information requests from STL Prosecutor-General Daniel Bellemare. Hezbollah MP Mohammad Raad condemned the requests on Friday and said that cooperation with the STL must be frozen until the next cabinet addresses the matter.-NOW Lebanon

Baroud: I supplied Bellemare with some fingerprints
March 4, 2011 /Interior Minister Ziad Baroud said in remarks published Friday that he has supplied Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare with fingerprint records, but added that it was not possible to give him the fingerprints of all the Lebanese. Baroud told The Daily Star newspaper that he had “clearly replied” to outgoing Prime Minister Saad Hariri before the end of February and that he was waiting for the appropriate time to respond to accusations that he was not cooperating with the STL.He also said he that he had complied with “at least twenty” requests from Bellemare before the recent request for fingerprints. The Daily Star newspaper reported on Wednesday that four ministers – including Baroud – have not complied with information requests from Bellemare. The report said that Hariri had written to the ministers urging them to comply with Bellemare’s requests. Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Mohammad Raad condemned the requests on Friday and said that cooperation with the STL must be frozen until the next cabinet addresses the matter.-NOW Lebanon

Aounist, MP Ziad Aswad: The STL has turned into an intelligence agency
March 4, 2011 /“The Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) has turned from an objective tribunal […] to an office of intelligence agencies investigating the entire Lebanese people,” Change and Reform bloc MP Ziad Aswad said on Friday. “This is unacceptable and creates a very great question mark about the course of this tribunal,” he told Akhbar al-Yawm news agency.
It is a bad idea to give documents and information to the STL, he added. “We understand the tribunal’s investigating some individuals tied to phone calls, but we do not understand why the tribunal has requested the fingerprints of all the Lebanese.”“Nor do we understand [why the tribunal is privy] to phone documents of the entire Lebanese people.”
The Daily Star newspaper reported on Wednesday that four ministers have not complied with information requests from STL Prosecutor-General Daniel Bellemare.
Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Mohammad Raad said on Friday that the operation of Lebanon’s memoranda of understanding with the STL must be frozen until the next cabinet addresses them.-NOW Lebanon

MP Sakr: Time to change Lebanon speaker
March 3, 2011 /Lebanon First parliamentary bloc MP Okab Sakr told Future News TV on Thursday evening : “ [Lebanon Speaker Nabih] Berri is one of the symbols of power who has exceeded the term of the Arab rulers, which makes the [parliamentary] administration flabby,”  Lebanon has had various premiers and presidents since 1992 but there has not been any change in the parliamentary speakership since then, Sakr said “Speaker Nabih Berri has monopolized this seat and MPs either pledge allegiance to him or wait to pledge. This has made him a king,” he said. “It is also notable that Berri has headed the Amal Movement for 35 years,which is longer than Hosni Mubarak was president of Egypt, than the rule of the house of Assad in Syria, and the rule of Prince Hamad bin Khalifah in Qatar.” Now Lebanon

Jumblat Warns Against 'Destructive Calculation' of Resolution Under Chapter 7
Naharnet/Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat has warned that efforts by some Lebanese parties to resort to Chapter 7 of the U.N. charter would have dangerous consequences on Lebanon. "This is a destructive calculation," he said about Premier-designate Najib Miqati's allegation that some Lebanese were seeking for a U.N. Security Council resolution on Lebanon under Chapter 7. "This would have dangerous consequences on Lebanon. Let's not forget that resolution 1559 put Lebanon somehow under international tutelage," Jumblat told As Safir daily in remarks published Friday. Chapter 7 allows the Council to "determine the existence of any threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression" and to take military and nonmilitary action to "restore international peace and security." The Druze leader accused officials at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon of seeking to put Lebanon under "full international tutelage." He wondered why the court was suddenly seeking for the fingerprints of 4 million Lebanese and for data of all phone calls made among the Lebanese since 2004. Jumblat announced his backing for the four caretaker ministers who have refused to provide information requested by STL Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare. "Well done," he said, adding that the data and information had nothing to do with the investigation into ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination. Without mentioning Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri, Jumblat advised him to "accept the concept of rotation of power." Beirut, 04 Mar 11, 09:25

WikiLeaks: Qatar Supported Former Minister Boueiz for President
Naharnet/A leaked U.S. Embassy cable released on February 14, 2008, revealed that Syria was working against having Prime Minister Fouad Saniora represent Lebanon at the Arab League Summit and that Qatar had proposed former minister Fares Boueiz as a compromise choice for president. During a meeting with U.S. Ambassador Adam Ereli on February 13, Bahrain King Hamad bin Issa al-Khalifa discussed at length a visit he received the previous day from Saudi Arabia's intelligence chief, Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, said the cable. Prince Muqrin had come to brief the Bahrainis on recent developments between Syria and Lebanon, and to encourage Bahrain's continued support of the Arab League initiative, it continued. King Hamad said the Syrians were making a "concerted effort" to prevent Saniora from representing Lebanon at the Arab League Summit, hoping to have House Speaker Nabih Berri fill that role, it said. "Both the King and Muqrin agreed that this was a non-starter and that any attempt to undercut Saniora's authority or legitimacy must be resisted," it added. The cable reported that Saudi Arabia was "particularly angry" over Qatari mediation efforts in Lebanon, and according to Muqrin, Qatar was advocating Boueiz as a compromise candidate with the Syrians and Lebanese in order to resolve the political impasse over then Army Commander Michel Suleiman's selection as president. Suleiman's election in 2008 marked the end of a political crisis in Lebanon that started in late 2006 when then opposition ministers resigned from Cabinet over demands for greater representation in government. "King Hamad said that he had called the Emir of Qatar, who replied that this was an issue between Syria and Saudi Arabia, rather than Saudi Arabia and Qatar. King Hamad rejoined that, to the contrary, it was an issue between Syria and the Arab world," the cable revealed. King Hamad then stated that Bahrain would support the Arab League and that it would continue to advocate respect for all U.N. Security Council resolutions and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon "as the only way of pressuring Syria to do the right thing." Beirut, 04 Mar 11, 15:06

Mikati: Some parties want to put Lebanon under Chapter 7
By Hussein Dakroub /Daily Star staff
Friday, March 04, 2011
BEIRUT: Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati warned Thursday that some Lebanese parties were seeking international help to place Lebanon under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which would force it to comply with the requirements of a U.N.-backed court probing the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
In an interview with Al-Manar television, Mikati said he had received information that some parties have approached international quarters to have a U.N. resolution issued under Chapter 7 after four Lebanese ministers rejected requests for information from Daniel Bellemare, prosecutor general of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.
Expressing surprise over Bellemare’s requests, Mikati said: “As far as I know, and according to what has been made public, the indictment has been handed over [to pre-trial Judge Daniel Fransen], pending its issuance. This means that the phase of investigations and requests has ended.”
Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter sets out the U.N. Security Council’s powers to maintain peace. It allows the Council to “determine the existence of any threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression” and to take military and nonmilitary action to “restore international peace and security.”
Sources close to the STL told The Daily Star Tuesday that four caretaker Cabinet ministers had turned down requests from Bellemare to provide information and documents, in breach of the cooperation protocol signed with the U.N. The ministers are caretaker ministers of public works (Ghazi Aridi), energy (Jibran Bassil), interior (Ziyad Baroud) and telecommunications (Charbel Nahhas). Meanwhile, caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri arrived in Riyadh Thursday night for talks with senior Saudi officials on the situation in Lebanon, Saudi sources said.
The Netherlands-based STL was set up by the U.N. Security Council in 2007 to probe the assassination of Rafik Hariri and 22 others killed in a massive bombing in Beirut on Feb. 14, 2005. Under the cooperation agreement signed with the U.N., Lebanon promised to provide any assistance, information, data and documents requested by the tribunal for its investigation into Hariri’s assassination. The STL has been at the root of political tension for months between the March 8 and March 14 groups. The STL’s indictment is widely expected to implicate some Hizbullah members in Hariri’s assassination, raising fears of sectarian strife.
A March 8 lawmaker told The Daily Star that some parties in and outside Lebanon were working to place Lebanon under Chapter 7 in an attempt to “exert pressure on the new parliamentary majority and the [Mikati] government.”
Meanwhile, Mikati’s efforts to form a new government marked time Thursday, with no word as to when the Cabinet lineup could be announced.
Mikati met President Michel Sleiman to brief him on his consultations concerning the government’s formation, the state-run National News Agency reported. Mikati did not speak to reporters after the meeting. “Contacts are continuing to overcome obstacles standing in the way of the government’s formation. But no results so far,” a source close to Mikati told The Daily Star. In the interview with Manar TV, Mikati said the Cabinet formation efforts were proceeding according to a drawn-up plan, without being hasty.
“The atmosphere is positive and meetings are taking place in an excellent way. What I am facing are various demands as is the case in the formation of governments,” Mikati said.
He added that he was working to form the best Cabinet make-up in order to confront challenges facing the country. “Lebanon is facing many challenges. I am dealing seriously with these challenges,” Mikati said. He said he had made contacts with some Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia. “No one should think that they have a monopoly on international and Arab contacts,” Mikati said. He added that Lebanon was going through “a delicate stage” that called on rival factions to act wisely.
For his part, Aridi said that after the March 14 coalition decided not to participate, there were no reasons for a delay in the Cabinet’s formation since the government would be made up of members of the political team who backed Mikati for the premiership. “Therefore, the Cabinet formation should be accomplished as soon as possible so that it can move to shouldering responsibility for running the country’s affairs,” Aridi told a news conference. Although the March 14 groups decided last week not to participate in the government, Mikati’s bid to assemble a homogeneous Cabinet team has hit snags, mainly over Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun’s tough demands for participation. Aoun is insisting on a large Christian participation in the new government commensurate with the size of his Change and Reform bloc, the second largest bloc in Parliament after Hariri’s Future bloc. He is also locking horns with Sleiman over the key Interior Ministry portfolio. Several attempts to convince Aoun soften his demands have failed.

America's end, or its democratic moment?
By Michael Young /Daily Star/Thursday, March 03, 2011
That the American empire is declining is an argument that won’t soon disappear. In recent years it has gained further traction, especially in the aftermath of the financial crisis that began in 2007. Empires run on money, skeptics will insist, and the United States simply doesn’t have as much as it once did to spread around.
But there is more to empire than money. As James Morris demonstrated in a three-volume masterpiece on the British Empire, there is also an aesthetic to imperial rule, as well as a swagger and sense of purpose that buttress domination. America may or may not be on the wane, but using Morris’ yardstick, its sponsorship of a decades-old political order in the Middle East – what some have referred to as a Pax Americana – is nearing an end.
Paradoxically, this realization may revive American fortunes. The popular upsurges taking place throughout the Arab world, and which have wreaked havoc on Washington’s allies, compel the U.S. to reinvent its regional role. As the historian Niall Ferguson recently wrote in Newsweek, Americans, in their fondness for revolution, tend to overlook how revolutions by and large produce terrible bloodshed. But if the U.S. can assist in obtaining liberal outcomes from the current Arab revolts, then this could benefit everyone, above all itself.
One thing is certain, America’s old ways in the Middle East are floundering. What are the foundations of Pax Americana? They have changed depending on the timeframe, but from the mid-1940s on a principal pillar was access to cheap oil and the stability of the oil markets. Today, American reliance on Gulf oil has been reduced, but Saudi Arabia, with its spare capacity, is still regarded as a significant stabilizing force (even if leaked American diplomatic cables cast doubt on the volume of spare capacity the kingdom really enjoys).
From the late 1960s onward, a second pillar of America’s Middle Eastern order was the defense of Israel and a guarantee of Israeli military superiority. During the Cold War, Israel was partly viewed through the prism of a containment strategy against communism, as a valuable ally against Arab states supported by the Soviet Union. But there was also a deeper commitment to the idea that the Jewish people must never again face an existential threat. That is why after the Soviet breakup the U.S. continued, and continues, to confer on Israel a status that sometimes appears to transcend its strategic value.
And a third pillar of Pax Americana, especially after the Cold War, was American reliance on partnerships with friendly Arab states at peace with Israel, whether formally or implicitly. This, in turn, afforded the U.S. paramount authority in the Middle East, so that it became the axial state in regional affairs, through which most major policies had to pass. America was uncircumventable and its edicts could only be rejected at great risk. There was one downside, but it never seemed important enough amid the regional status quo: the U.S. system rested exclusively on authoritarian regimes.
Each of these pillars has eroded in the last decade. Saudi intervention in the oil markets remains a matter of great import in Washington, but the U.S.-Saudi relationship, particularly after the 9/11 attacks and the American invasion of Iraq, has deteriorated. Israel still enjoys American backing and remains the largest recipient of American foreign aid, but the relationship has been increasingly costly, because of a widespread Arab conviction that the U.S. will never push Israel to make concessions on behalf of a settlement with the Palestinians.
As for American supremacy in the Middle East, it has sprung a leak from both ends. American mismanagement of postwar Iraq and stumbling in Afghanistan have played to Iran’s advantage. The region has also witnessed the rise of another non-Arab actor, Turkey, which has taken a firm distance from Washington. These dynamics, in turn, fed off and accelerated the relative decay of America’s prominent Arab allies such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan, whose brand of leadership seemed to stifle any regeneration of their states and societies, and who were seen as neutered on the Palestinian issue.
It’s not obvious where the Arab uprisings will lead. Perhaps understandably, given the speed of events, President Barack Obama and his administration are still functioning according to the old paradigm of American influence over the region. Their catchword continues to be stability, even as instability proliferates. However, now seems a necessary time for the U.S. to prepare a new approach to the region, one in which Washington accepts that the days of Pax Americana are over, but also devises a new framework to facilitate the emergence of democratic, pluralistic, secular Arab societies, even if American paramountcy suffers as a consequence.
The tradeoff may not be as straightforward as it seems. American military strength will remain unrivaled, and the antagonism with Iran in particular will persist. Power politics will not suddenly end in the Middle East. However, democracy and pluralism, as concepts, are valuable weapons. The U.S. now has an opportunity to deploy them, and doing so means ensuring that the Arab uprisings do not engender flawed, illiberal orders far worse than what we had before.
If not quite a pillar, there has been a fourth American preoccupation in the Arab world since the 1990s: the suppression of terrorism. Washington’s thinking on that front has been fixated on the use of military countermeasures. But only healthy societies can lastingly eliminate terrorism. And healthy societies are generally open societies that enforce the rule of law. It is America’s moment to recognize this.
**Michael Young is opinion editor of THE DAILY STAR and author of “The Ghosts of Martyrs Square: An Eyewitness Account of Lebanon’s Life Struggle” (Simon & Schuster).

The Syrian regime could be the next Middle Eastern domino to fall
By Ribal al-Assad
Daily Stare/Thursday, March 03, 2011
With the Tunisian and Egyptian regimes gone and street protests roiling cities from Algiers to Tehran, many people are now wondering which domino might fall next. Syria, whose secular, militarized dictatorship most closely resembles the fallen regimes of Tunisia and Egypt, may not be next in line, but appears nonetheless to be approaching a tipping point.
Of course, the old “domino theory” in international relations was only a crude way of emphasizing that different parts of any region are linked to each other. For today’s Arab world, a better metaphor might be a chessboard, from which the removal of even a pawn inevitably alters the relationships among all the other pieces.
Today, as protests mount and multiply, the government of every Arab state in the Middle East and North Africa probably believes that, if left to its own devices, it can contain internal dissent.In Syria, it seems inevitable that protest may soon crack the regime’s brittle political immobility. Most ordinary Syrians face extremely difficult economic and social conditions, including high unemployment, rising food prices, constraints on personal freedom and endemic corruption. These factors are no different from those that brought people on to the streets in North Africa and the Middle East. What began as protests over living conditions became full-scale demands for freedom and democracy.
The regime in Damascus is fearful of similar unrest, as it should be. The best way to avoid a confrontation between the people and the security forces is a process of genuine reform leading to elections and a government of national unity. The ingrained inertia of the current regime, however, seems to preclude any early move toward that.
Instead, Syria’s rulers are offering inducements to ensure that key constituencies remain in line – laptops for teachers, subsidies for public-sector workers, and empty reformist rhetoric. But the current situation calls for far more serious measures. Lifting the state of emergency that has been in force since 1963 – giving sweeping powers to the regime and its security services – would be both a symbolic and tangible step in the right direction.
Unless Syria’s rulers, like other leaders in the Arab world, begin to appreciate that freedom is a fundamental human right, even the most quiescent people’s patience may wear dangerously thin. High food prices may have served as a trigger in North Africa, but the speed with which the protesters turned their attention to political reform caught everyone off guard.
Putting this genie back in its bottle would be virtually impossible without bloodshed of the type we are now witnessing in some parts of the Arab world. So the Syrian leadership knows that it must respond – hence the half-hearted reform agenda that it recently outlined. But trying to address deep-rooted popular grievances with flowery language and a bouquet of subsidies is like trying to extinguish a forest fire with a water pistol. The solutions to Syria’s problems must be as substantive as the problems are serious.
Until now, Syria’s rulers have relied on their anti-Israel, anti-Western rhetoric to protect themselves. But cries about the Israel-Palestine conflict were rarely heard in the protests in Tunis and Cairo. Furthermore, in the last few years, when Israeli planes struck targets in Syria, there was no answer from the regime – and still none when Israeli planes flew over the presidential palace. The regime claims that it is part of the “resistance” with its senior partner Iran. However, the WikiLeaks cables show that the Syrian leadership told the Iranian regime not to count on it in any war against Israel because the country was too weak. So the regime is making a fatal error if it thinks that its old diversionary tactics will continue to provide it with immunity. On the contrary, with a young, well-educated population unable to find suitable work, the regime has created its own cadre of potential protesters, who are aware that it is using empty slogans to keep the state of emergency and stay in power. The Syrian people are strong, patient, resilient, and resourceful. Family and social bonds remain potent in the face of adversity. When food is scarce, people share. When the regime cracks down on the Internet, people use proxy servers.
But they should not have to make do. They should not have to risk their safety when they seek to engage with the world online. No one wants to see the streets of Damascus consumed in protest, or a violent confrontation erupt between protesters and security forces. What the Syrian people want is a meaningful dialogue with the regime.
The regime must appreciate that, despite its best efforts, Syrians have been watching events in the region with as much interest as the rest of the world. Syria’s people may have no predilection for violence, but the birth of freedom, once witnessed, is not easily forgotten – or trumped by state handouts and vacuous statements by a distant, self-isolated leadership.
People said that the Berlin Wall would not fall. They said that Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak would not stand down. And still some say that Syria cannot change. But Syria will change, and I, like my compatriots, pray that when change comes, it is peaceful and harmonious.
**Ribal al-Assad is director of the Organization for Democracy and Freedom in Syria. THE DAILY STAR publishes this commentary in collaboration with Project Syndicate © (www.project-syndicate.org).

ICC: Ethiopian Muslims Burn Down Five Churches, More Attacks Feared
http://www.persecution.org/2011/03/03/developing-ethiopian-muslims-burn-down-five-churches-more-attacks-feared/
Church Leaders Ask for Government Protection from the Ongoing Muslim Attacks
Washington, D.C. (March 3, 2011)-International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that in the past two days, thousands of Muslims have razed five churches and the homes of two evangelists in Asendabo, Ethiopia. Christian leaders are asking for protection after the Muslim attackers continued burning churches even after the federal police were sent to the town.
The Muslims started the attacks yesterday after falsely accusing the Christians of desecrating the Qur'an. More than ten thousand Muslims shouted "Allah Akbar" (Allah is great) as they burned down five evangelical churches. The government sent the federal police force to protect the Christians after the Muslims burned down the first three churches. The Muslims overwhelmed the police force and burned down two more churches today.
Speaking with ICC, Christian leaders expressed their fear that Muslims will start killing the Christians unless the government sends more security forces to contain the Muslim attackers.
At the time of the writing of this report, none of the Muslim attackers have been arrested. The government officials detained some Christians and took them to the nearby Jimma town stating that they need to do that for their own security.
Ethiopia is a Christian majority country and was one of the first nations to accept Christianity. However, in the areas of the country where Muslims are the majority, Christians face attacks.
"We urge Ethiopian government forces to send reinforcement to protect the Christians in the city of Asendabo from the Muslim attacks. We ask Christians around the world to prevent any further attacks by calling the Ethiopian officials in their countries and asking them to protect the Christians and their property," said ICC's Regional Manager for Africa, Jonathan Racho.
Please urgently contact the Ethiopian officials in your country and urge them to send more security forces to protect the Christians from the Muslim attacks.
Ethiopian Embassies:
USA 202 364 1200
Canada 416 482 6637
Germany 493077206
UK 020 78383897/020 7838 3898

Harper Government Introduces Freezing Assets of Corrupt Regimes Act
(No. 89 - March 3, 2011 – 11:35 a.m. ET) The Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Honourable Rob Nicholson, Minister of Justice, today tabled the Freezing Assets of Corrupt Regimes Act in Parliament aimed at freezing assets that former repressive foreign leaders may hold in Canada.
“Today I tabled the Freezing Assets of Corrupt Regimes Act in Parliament to give the Government of Canada new and more robust tools in our fight against corruption and the misappropriation of state funds by repressive foreign leaders,” said Minister Cannon.
This legislation will allow Canada to act upon the request of a foreign state to freeze the assets that their former leaders and members of their entourage, including family members, senior officials and associates, may have placed in Canadian financial institutions. It will also give Canada the authority to seize any property such individuals may own in this country.
“Recent developments in the Middle East and North Africa have shown the world how important it is to have legislation in place to allow for a quick response to ensure that foreign dictators cannot hide their ill-gotten wealth in our country,” added Minister Cannon.
Economic sanctions are not always an appropriate response for those seeking to establish democracy and responsible governance.
This new legislation will allow Canada to support democratic reforms and accountability by ensuring that any misappropriated property can be frozen immediately once a written request is received from a foreign state.
“We urge all members of Parliament to support this important bill so that Canada can move to freeze the assets of corrupt and repressive leaders in a timely manner,” said Minister Nicholson.

Netanyahu praises pope for exonerating Jews for death of Jesus
By Barak Ravid /Haaretz/Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday for his exoneration of the Jewish people for the death of Jesus Christ.
In Benedict's new book, portions of which were published on Wednesday, he tackles one of the most controversial issues in Christianity, using biblical and theological analysis to discredit the belief that the Jewish people as a whole were responsible for Jesus' death. Netanyahu sent a message to the pope on Thursday, thanking him for dispelling the belief "which was used as a basis to hate Jews for hundreds of years." "It is my hope that this display of clarity and courage will strengthen the relations between Jews and Christians around the world," the prime minister's message stated. Netanyahu also expressed hope that Benedict's exoneration would "aid the advancement of peace" for generations to come. Jewish scholars also praised the argument laid out in Benedict's new book. While the Vatican has for five decades taught that Jews weren't collectively responsible, Jewish scholars say that the pope's exoneration would help fight anti-Semitism today. The prime minister concluded his message to the pope by expressing hope that he would see him in the near future so that he could express his appreciation personally. Benedict's book is the second installment to Jesus of Nazareth, his first book as pope, which offered a very personal meditation on the early years of Christ's life and teachings. This second installment, set to be released March 10, concerns the second half of Christ's life, his death and resurrection.

Islamists and democracy
Jonathan Schachter
03.03.11, 23:23 / Israel Opinion
After weeks of nervous speculation, now we know exactly when and how the Mubarak era ended in Egypt. The more important – and still unanswered – question is, what will the new Egyptian government (and possibly other regional regimes) look like?
Dominating the headlines is the ostensible democratic dilemma whereby free and fair elections would bring an Islamist party to power. Contrary to the claims coming from tired (though evidently inexhaustible) post-modernist circles, the issue is not whether Arabs are seen as deserving of or inherently able to handle democracy, but rather, misgivings relating to the quality of nascent local democracies. This apprehensiveness is well-founded, given the history of weak Islamist commitment to democratic principles.
Examples of the latter abound, and relate to both how Islamists govern and for how long. The status of human and political rights under Islamist rule in Iran and Gaza, the indictment of Sudan’s president Omar al-Bashir on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur, and Hezbollah’s undisguised efforts to subvert the judicial process in Lebanon – after the party’s alleged involvement in political murder – all more than suggest that the fundamental protection of individual liberty that is the cornerstone of successful democracy ranks low on Islamist parties’ political agendas.
No less important is the question of the democratic, peaceful transfer of power. It is well understood that Islamist parties can succeed in gaining power through the ballot box. Less clear is whether these parties would be willing to relinquish political power at the end of their legally defined terms of office, if that were the will of the people. The concern, variously attributed to historian Bernard Lewis and to former US diplomat Edward Djeredjian, is that under Islamist rule, democracy would be limited to “one man, one vote, one time.”
Here too, the examples are discouraging. The memory of the corrupt 2009 Iranian elections is still fresh and the subsequent brutal suppression of dissent is ongoing. Just last month Hamas, lagging in the polls behind its Fatah rival, announced its refusal to participate in this year’s long overdue presidential and legislative elections announced by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, whose own term officially should have ended two years ago.
Arabs deserve better
None of this is to say that the Mubarak, Gaddafi, or other regimes in the region are necessarily more democratic than the Islamist governments that could replace them. Individual and political rights and regular, meaningful, free, and fair elections have long been in short supply. The use of force - reportedly including air power - against demonstrators in recent days and weeks shows how far some of the current regimes are willing to go to maintain their grip on power.
Replacing one kind of seemingly interminable non-democratic regime with another, however, will not address the demands of the publics, who deserve better. On the contrary, such a development could provide the fuel for a much larger political conflagration later.
It is too soon to say what the new Egyptian constitution and government will look like and how genuine and vigorous Egypt’s democratic institutions will be. For its part, the Muslim Brotherhood has announced that it will not field a presidential candidate in the upcoming elections, perhaps because it shares Hamas’ fear of electoral embarrassment and/or because it is always easier and often more popular to criticize from the opposition than it is to solve difficult political, social, and economic problems like those plaguing Egypt.
Less encouraging are the protesters' posters of Mubarak and Gaddafi with Stars of David on their foreheads and the recent announcement by the secular, liberal head of the Party of Tomorrow, Ayman Nour, himself a candidate for president, that “the Camp David agreement is over.” Nour reminds us that pointing the finger at Israel apparently remains an appealing populist tool in the hands of regional politicians, whether Islamist or not.
**The author is a research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) at Tel Aviv University

Opening salvos
March 3, 2011
Now Lebanon/So now it appears that at least one Lebanese government minister is taking his orders from Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah when it comes to matters of national interest.
On Wednesday, it was reported that in late February, four ministers – Ghazi Aridi, Gebran Bassil, Ziad Baroud and Charbel Nahhas – had turned down requests to provide information and documents to the prosecutor of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), the UN-established court based in The Hague to bring to justice those behind the February 14, 2005 murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 22 others. The refusals are a clear breach of the cooperation protocol signed between Lebanon and the UN. Most interest has focused on caretaker Telecom Minister Charbel Nahhas, who has been asked to provide phone records seen as crucial to the investigation. He has not done so, and while he has stated that he prefers to wait “until the legal debate over the STL is settled by cabinet,” his reason may be nothing more than a convenient red herring.
Arguments over the so-called false witnesses and the STL’s validity may still be ongoing, but Nahhas is also understood to have told Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri that he had stopped meeting the STL’s requests since last year’s speech by Hassan Nasrallah in which the Hezbollah secretary general called on all Lebanese, including government officials, to boycott the investigation. We can only infer, therefore, that he considers the authority of Nasrallah, who holds no public office and whose party has held the state hostage for more than four years, as greater than that of the prime minister and the Lebanese constitution.
Given all this, one cannot help but sense that the first salvo in March 8’s war on the STL has been fired. Baroud, who is a member of the president’s bloc – has since denied any deliberate obstruction, declaring that he has in fact cooperated in 22 out of the 24 requests made by the STL and that the two pending matters are being addressed. But the pro-Syrian March 8 grouping – to which Bassil, Aridi and Nahhas belong – has stated that its aim is to snuff out the tribunal, a court that it alleges is nothing more than an Israeli-American tool to break Hezbollah.
Nahhas’ admission that he is following Nasrallah’s diktat is surely beyond the pale and must call into question not only his credibility but his suitability to hold further portfolios. These calls will surely fall on deaf ears (the new government is, after all, expected to be handpicked for its ability to resist the STL) but those moderate supporters of the Free Patriotic Movement, the party to which he belongs, will surely be privately worried, both by Nahhas’ remarks and the obstructive behavior of his party colleague, Gebran Bassil.
Nahhas is a respected economist, and it is sad to read that he appears to have bought into Hezbollah’s conspiracy theory. Not only did the FPM play a major part in the popular movement that unseated the Syrian-backed government of Omar Karami and successfully campaigned for the expulsion of Syrian troops and security agents from Lebanese soil, it is also apparently committed to transparency and the role of the state.
His refusal to cooperate and his endorsement of Nasrallah’s calls to reject the court is a clear indication of how the FPM has been dragged into March 8’s fiendish agenda, one that not only intends to do away with the STL but which also will allow no further debate on Hezbollah’s weapons (another of the FPM’s goals) and whose ultimate aim is to make Lebanon a strategic pawn in the Syrian-Iranian axis.
What next from the FPM, we wonder?

Hezbollah’s weapons of mass disputation
Michael Young, /Now Lebanon
March 4, 2011
A young Hezbollah member holding a rocket launcher. The party’s refusal to give up its arsenal has created political turmoil in Lebanon for years. (AFP photo/Anwar Amro)
In the wake of Saad Hariri’s speech on Monday in which he described Hezbollah’s arsenal as a national problem, it is apparent that March 14 has decided to pick a fight over the party’s weapons and indeed make this a cornerstone of its future political strategy.
There is deliberate ambiguity within March 14’s ranks. In his speech on the sixth anniversary of Rafik al-Hariri’s assassination, Samir Geagea, the head of the Lebanese Forces, reiterated his support for the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1559. The resolution does not differentiate between so-called weapons of resistance and other weapons outside the control of the state.
Saad Hariri and the Future Movement have been more ambiguous. While not disagreeing with Geagea, they have continued to declare the resistance “sacred,” focusing their criticism on how Hezbollah has turned its arms against other Lebanese. But this ambiguity conceals another: For as long as Hezbollah holds any weapons at all, Hariri and his acolytes have implied, the party will be tempted to deploy them against all those holding contrary political positions.
That’s unless agreement can be reached on preventing this, which is the essence of the approach now embraced by March 14. It appears that when Saad Hariri realized that the Special Tribunal for Lebanon was likely to accuse Hezbollah members, he saw an opening to use the opportunity as leverage to bolster the sovereignty of the Lebanese state, especially to give it a monopoly over the exercise of violence.
Last summer, Hezbollah’s secretary general, Hassan Nasrallah, disclosed that Hariri had approached him with an offer ahead of the tribunal’s probable indictment of Hezbollah members. Hariri and Nasrallah could together agree to blame supposed Hezbollah rogue elements of involvement in Rafik al-Hariri’s killing, the prime minister purportedly proposed, and in that way shield the party’s leadership. When Nasrallah asked just who might be identified as a rogue element, Hariri is said to have replied Imad Mugniyah.
This was Nasrallah’s version, so it must be taken with some question marks. However, there is a fundamental truth in that Hariri had an incentive to seek a quid pro quo. Interestingly, Nasrallah never revealed what its components would be. What might the prime minister have demanded in exchange for endorsing a narrative that Hezbollah’s leadership was innocent in the murder of his own father?
No one in the Future Movement has ever said so plainly, but it was always evident that in Hariri’s mind, as well as in that of the former prime minister, Fouad al-Siniora, who heads the prime minister’s parliamentary bloc, a deal would have to address weapons. And while neither Hariri nor Siniora appeared prepared to insist on the total disarmament of Hezbollah, it was a different matter when it came to the party’s domestic employment of arms. Had Nasrallah been willing to bargain with Hariri, we can guess that one of the prime minister’s principal stipulations would have been that Hezbollah present tangible guarantees not to turn its guns on other Lebanese.
We got an inkling of this last summer, following the fighting between Hezbollah and Ahbash gunmen in the Bourj Abi Haidar quarter of western Beirut. At the time, Hariri had floated the idea of demilitarizing the capital. In a meeting with Bashar al-Assad a few days later, however, the prime minister heard the Syrian president declare that while it was important to maintain calm in Lebanon, it was also necessary to protect the resistance. This was Assad’s way of telling Hariri that he should stay away from Hezbollah’s weapons.
Today, Hariri has no such constraints. Sources close to the March 14 leadership have indicated that the coalition will take a much firmer stance on weapons at their Martyrs’ Square gathering in just under two weeks, one that may involve asking for United Nations assistance. If this information is confirmed, it would mean that the former majority is preparing to internationalize the controversy over Hezbollah’s arms – or rather, is preparing to set up a domestic pole to echo and reinforce international requests that the party disarm.
The venture is risky, but it also goes to the core of Lebanon’s malaise in the six years since the Hariri assassination. A truly sovereign state cannot coexist with an independent armed militia that is, in many respects, stronger militarily than the state. Either the state must prevail or Hezbollah must. But it is an illusion to imagine that the logic of a state and the logic of a political-military organization whose very nature is that of an anti-state can be made compatible.
Saad Hariri’s decision to admit this is significant, after he had approved of formulas for the previous three governments that effectively sanctioned Hezbollah’s weapons. This transformation, like a possible tribunal indictment of party members, means we should brace for messy quarrels ahead in the divided Lebanese household.
**Michael Young is opinion editor of the Daily Star newspaper in Beirut and author of The Ghosts of Martyrs Square: An Eyewitness Account of Lebanon’s Life Struggle (Simon & Schuster).

The Ayatollah and Machiavelli
04/03/2011
By Amir Taheri/Asharqalawsat
Having danced around the issue for months, Iran's 'Supreme Guide' Ali Khamenei has, at last, ordered the arrest of the top leaders of the opposition 'Green' movement. Reports from Tehran indicate that former Prime Minister Mir Hussein Mousavi and former parliament Speaker Mehdi Karrubi have been transferred to the Heshmatieh prison in eastern Tehran. The two men who continue to challenge the legality of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election in 2009 are accompanied by their wives. Mousavi and Karrubi had been trying to create a loyal opposition, something impossible in a system like that of the regime in Iran. The basic principle of the Khomeinist system is that of Walayat al-Faqih, or rule by the theologian. Under it, the 'Supreme Guide' has the final word on all issues, both sacred and profane. If he deems fit, he could even suspend the principles of Islam. In 2009, the ' Supreme Guide' endorsed Ahmadinejad's re-election even before the votes had been counted.  Mousavi and Karrubi were left with a dire choice: act within the Khomeinist system and swallow Ahmadinejad's re-election or reject the ruling by the 'Supreme Guide' and become opponents of the system.
They knew that politically active Iranians are divided in two camps. One camp belongs to those who hope for change within the regime. The other is that of regime change.
Supporters of ' change within the regime' argue that a strong president, for example Mr. Mousavi, backed by a massive mandate could restore the prestige of the state vis-à-vis the parallel authority of the Faqih, and introduce social and political reforms demanded by the people. Those who argue for 'regime change' claim that the Khomeinist system cannot be reformed.
Thus the stark choice is: change within the regime or regime change?
Mousavi and Karrubi tried to avoid the choice for as long as they could. For a while they came close to rejecting the system, thus attracting a mass following. Soon, however, their fear of embarking on the unknown persuaded them to step back and reassert their 'faith in the Constitution of the Islamic Republic.'It is interesting that they are sent to prison at a time that they are further than ever from a 'regime change' position.Why did Khamenei decide to sent the two historic figures of Khomeinism to prison at this time?
One reason is his growing fear that the wave of unrest that has unfurled over the region might reach Iran. In that case, Mousavi and Karrubi could serve as iconic figures in the first phase of an uprising.
The Tehran leadership has been watching the events of the past two months in the region with acute interest. It has noted the total absence of religious themes and xenophobic tones with the emphasis put on social and political demands. It has also noted that the young educated urban middle classes provided the backbone of the uprisings with the so-called 'Mustazafin' (the Downtrodden) watching on the sidelines. It was also clear that the rebellious youth used tactics and techniques first tested in Iran during the 2009 uprisings against Ahmadinejad's re-election.
Khamenei may have decided that it was time to re-unite the factions still loyal to him. Part of the price for that was the removal of Mousavi and Karrubi from the chessboard.
The regime is also nervous about next year's parliamentary elections.
Mousavi and Karrubi had threatened a boycott, a move that would have stripped the exercise of whatever credibility it might have claimed. With Mousavi and Karrubi in prison, and unable to communicate with the outside world, the exercise could go ahead without being challenged by former grandees of the regime. The problem, however, is that Mousavi and Karrubi have not been removed from the chessboard. They have been moved sideways. Even in prison they remain a thorn in the side of the regime.
The two prisoners of Heshmatieh, together with two former presidents Hashemi Rafsanjani and Muhammad Khatami provided a valuable interface that helped protect the system from collision with the underlying currents of 'regime change.'
There are signs that Khamenei is preparing to move against Rafsanjani and Khatami as well. Rafsanjani's most important position, the Speakership of the Assembly of Experts, is already in ejection mode. By the end of March, he will be replaced by Ayatollah Mahdavi Kani. There is also talk of pushing him out of his second position as Chairman of the Expediency Council.
Rafsanjani has tried to wiggle his way back into official favour. He has used the religious term 'fitnah' (sedition) to describe the ' Green' movement and reasserted his ' absolute obedience ' to the 'Supreme Guide'.
Nevertheless, don't be surprised if, within the next few months, he finds himself rubbing shoulders with Mousavi and Karrubi in Heshmatieh. A campaign has also been launched against Khatami, accusing him of involvement in all sorts of foreign plots. The daily Kayhan claims that the former president received vast sums of money from a neighbouring country to help overthrow the regime.
Almost no one, including those who don't like Khatami, would believe such claims. However, at least part of the regime is preparing the ground for Khatami's arrest and imprisonment.
Mousavi and Karrubi, and to a lesser extent Rafsanjani and Khatami, have acted as shock absorbers for the regime. They have fostered the dream, some may say illusion, that the regime, though absolutist, is open to reform nevertheless. The four men have also claimed that non-violent opposition is still possible within a regime that has always dealt with its opponents with violence.
The removal of the four men from the equation is bound to have two immediate effects. First, it will encourage supporters of 'regime change'. Their argument would be simple: a regime that cannot tolerate mild criticism from its own former top officials is unlikely to listen to tougher criticism from the masses. Mousavi, Karrubi, Rafsanjani and Khatami have never demanded any major reform such as reducing, if not abolishing, the powers of the Faqih. Nor have they called for open elections in which every citizen and every political party would be allowed to participate without the prior approval of the Council of Guardians.
Their removal could radicalise the opposition by opening a greater space for groups that preach armed struggle which, in most cases, could mean terrorism. Another effect of the latest move by Khamenei would be to intensify the power struggle that has been going on among regime loyalists. Divisions exist within the regime's political façade as Ahmadinejad's faction comes under pressure from the faction led by Chief Justice Sadeq Larijani and the coalition led by Tehran Mayor Muhammad Baqer Qalibaf.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is also split into factions with a growing number of mid-ranking officers demanding that the force distance itself from partisan politics.
The removal of the Mousavi-Karrubi challenge could further encourage that position. By sending Mousavi and Karrubi the regime acted out of fear. Students of history know that whenever a ruler acts out of fear he ends up with even greater fear. Machiavelli identified fear as one of the two instruments of rule, the other being persuasion. What he meant was that the ruler should be feared by his subjects, not the other way round. In Iran today, the ruler is in fear of those supposed to be his subjects.

Mubarak faces corruption probe on gas to Israel, warrants for Israeli, US partners
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report March 4, 2011, The prospects of Egypt resuming its gas supplies to Israel dropped to zero Thursday, March 3 when Egypt's state security prosecutor Abdel Magid Mahmud announced that deposed president Hosni Mubarak would be summoned for questioning next week about allegedly corrupt deals for selling Israel Egyptian gas at knock-down prices, debkafile's Cairo sources report. Mahmud claimed he had documentary evidence that Egypt lost more than half a billion dollars on its gas sales to Israel and sought to follow up suspicions that the difference was shared out between the Mubarak family and the Israeli and American partners in the transaction.
The flow of gas to Israel was suspended on Feb. 5 when Hamas blew up the pipeline running through Sinai during the Egyptian uprising. Our sources confirm that supplies will not be renewed until the end of the corruption inquiry which could go on for years.
In response to a statement by the Merhav company, the Israeli partners of the joint company EMG, that supplies would be resumed Friday, March 4, word came from Cairo that there is no such intention (as debkafile predicted immediately after the explosion.)
The damage to Israel's power supply is substantial. Egyptian gas fueled 40 percent of Israel's electricity requirements. In the meantime, world fuel prices have shot up and Israel has been forced to convert its power stations from gas to heavy fuel, incurring extra outlay running into hundreds of millions of dollars a month.
The new military rulers of Egypt, headed by Defense Minister Field Marshal Mohammed Tantawi, appear helpless to halt the corruption probe against the former president and his family.
It had been hoped in Washington and Jerusalem that, in the meantime, the generals would at least get the pipeline repaired and the gas flowing again to Israel, in accordance with Cairo's international contract obligations. But the army chiefs refrained from doing so, just as they allowed Prosecutor Mahmud to place the Israel gas deal at the top of the corruption file against Mubarak.
The prosecutor evidently intends to press ahead with the investigation and release findings scandalous enough to throw Egypt's relations with the United States and Israel into deep crisis.
Whereas the Americans involved in the gas deal were private businessmen, the Israelis were government officials from the infrastructure ministry in the governments headed by Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert.
The Egyptian prosecutor is already seeking to question Hussein Salem, 83, a close friend of Mubarak and one of the richest men in the country who escaped to Dubai at the start of the uprising; also Yossie Maimon, head of Merhav Sam Zell, the American financier who invested in EMG by buying out some of Hussein Salam's shares in 2007.
For now, debkafile's Cairo sources add, the military junta has no intention of interfering in the prosecutor's case or plans to summon to Cairo for questioning the Israel and American representatives of the firm. If they refuse to come, he is considering issuing international arrest warrants through Interpol, thereby curtailing their travel plans.
The military junta, by permitting the prosecutor to inflate the gas deal with Israel to scandalous proportions, has darkened the hopes entertained in Jerusalem until now that the new rulers will provide Egypt and its relations with stability and show an interest in preserving the thirty-year old peace treaty with Israel.
But now, the generals demonstrating that if peace relations with Israel do not serve their ends, they are have no compunctions about sacrificing their peace partner's interests in order to pander to Egyptian public opinion - even at a loss of the desperately needed $2 billion a year which the gas deal brought the Egyptian treasury.

Question: "What does it mean to have the fear of God?"
Answer: For the unbeliever, the fear of God is the fear of the judgment of God and eternal death, which is eternal separation from God (Luke 12:5; Hebrews 10:31). For the believer, the fear of God is something much different. The believer's fear is reverence of God. Hebrews 12:28-29 is a good description of this: “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our ’God is a consuming fire.’” This reverence and awe is exactly what the fear of God means for Christians. This is the motivating factor for us to surrender to the Creator of the Universe.
Proverbs 1:7 declares, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.” Until we understand who God is and develop a reverential fear of Him, we cannot have true wisdom. True wisdom comes only from understanding who God is and that He is holy, just, and righteous. Deuteronomy 10:12, 20-21 records, “And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Fear the LORD your God and serve him. Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name. He is your praise; he is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes.” The fear of God is the basis for our walking in His ways, serving Him, and, yes, loving Him.
Some redefine the fear of God for believers to “respecting” Him. While respect is definitely included in the concept of fearing God, there is more to it than that. A biblical fear of God, for the believer, includes understanding how much God hates sin and fearing His judgment on sin—even in the life of a believer. Hebrews 12:5-11 describes God’s discipline of the believer. While it is done in love (Hebrews 12:6), it is still a fearful thing. As children, the fear of discipline from our parents no doubt prevented some evil actions. The same should be true in our relationship with God. We should fear His discipline, and therefore seek to live our lives in such a way that pleases Him.
Believers are not to be scared of God. We have no reason to be scared of Him. We have His promise that nothing can separate us from His love (Romans 8:38-39). We have His promise that He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). Fearing God means having such a reverence for Him that it has a great impact on the way we live our lives. The fear of God is respecting Him, obeying Him, submitting to His discipline, and worshipping Him in awe.