LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِMarch 24/2011

Biblical Event Of The Day
Luke 10/38-41:" It happened as they went on their way, he entered into a certain village, and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. 10:39 She had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word. 10:40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she came up to him, and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister left me to serve alone? Ask her therefore to help me.” 10:41 Jesus answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 10:42 but one thing is needed. Mary has chosen the good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
Escalating Palestinian missile-mortar fire on Israeli cities boosts tension/DEBKAfile/March 23/11
Now let's have a no-fly zone for Syria and Yemen/Telegraph/March 23/11

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for March 23/11
France urges Syria to make immediate political reforms/Reuters
Bomb explodes in central Jerusalem; 25 wounded/Haaretz
Jerusalem bus blast was bomb attack, Israel says/Now Lebanon
Report: Bahrain Detains Five Lebanese for 'Contacting Foreign Parties'/Naharnet
Bahrain Warns Citizens against Travel to Lebanon/Naharnet
Turkey Seizes Rifles on Grounded Iranian Plane/Naharnet
Syria security forces kill 12 in attack on Daraa mosque, witnesses say/Haaretz
New clashes in south Syrian city kill 6, activist says, deadliest day since protests began/Washington Post
IDF: Syria may provoke Israel to distract from domestic unrest/Ha'aretz
Syria unrest: Activist arrested on fifth day of protest/BBC
Amnesty Calls on Syria to Probe Deaths of Six Demonstrators
Israel Preparing for Possible Provocation on Border, Peres Says Iran Spending $1 Billion on Hizbullah /Naharnet
March 14: Hizbullah Linking Lebanon to Iranian Agenda that is Threatening Lebanese-Arab Ties /Naharnet
Report: U.S. Delayed Release of Indictment to Guarantee Success of Objective /Naharnet
Bahrain bans Lebanon travel, sectarian tension rises/Reuters
Lebanon's real GDP set to rise 5.5 percent/Daily Star
Mikati presents his first draft government lineup to Sleiman/Daily Star
Tit-for-tat lawsuits as debate over U.S. cables heats up/Daily Star
Future MP: Safadi is vying to replace Mikati as prime minister/Daily Star
Hezbollah blames U.S. for Florida Quran burning/Daily Star/Bloomberg
Target of Deadly Protests In Syria Has US Investments/Forbes
Patriarch Raei will bring new hope and help reunite Lebanese Christians
Berri Calls Speeding up Government Formation to Achieve Lebanon's Interests/Naharnet
Cabinet Looming on the Horizon as Miqati Presents Draft Lineup to Suleiman/Naharnet
Report: Hariri Calls Bahrain's King to Condemn Nasrallah's 'Irresponsible Remarks/'Naharnet
Bahraini Airlines Suspend Iran, Iraq, Lebanon Flights/Naharnet
Israel Releases 2 Lebanese Shepherds/Naharnet
WikiLeaks: Khalifeh Says Berri Deceived Nasrallah Who Believes he is Salaheddine/Naharnet
WikiLeaks: Berri Asks Who Will Need Hizbullah if Shabaa Farms are Liberated?/Naharnet
Hizbullah and Amal Condemn 'Criminal Act' of Qoran Burning/Naharnet
Aoun Denies Obstructing Govt Formation, Accuses Suleiman of Crippling Institutions/Naharnet
2 Percussion Bombs Tossed near Free Lebanon Radio Adonis HQ/Naharnet

Bomb explodes in central Jerusalem; 25 wounded
Blast caused by explosive device placed next to telephone pole, two buses hit; four people seriously hurt; entrance to the city has been closed.
By Nir Hasson and Haaretz Service /An bomb exploded Wednesday at a crowded bus stop outside the International Convention Center in Jerusalem, just opposite the central bus station. At least 25 people were wounded in the incident, four of them seriously. All of the casualties have been evacuated to the Hadassah Hospital in Ein Karem. The Magen David Adom emergency services said that there were no fatalities. The crowded bus stop in central Jerusalem hit by a bomb on March 23, 2011/The blast could be heard throughout Jerusalem and blew out the windows of two crowded buses, No. 74 and No. 14. The explosive device was apparently hidden in a bag next to a telephone pole. An eyewitness in the area at the time of the explosion told Haaretz that she heard a loud blast close to the central bus station and second later sirens began to wail and security forces rushed to the scene. Meir Hagid, one of the bus drivers, said he heard a loud explosion as he drove by the site, located near the main entrance to Jerusalem and its central bus station. "I heard the explosion in the bus stop," he said. He halted his vehicle and people got off. He said nobody in his bus was hurt.

Syria security forces kill 12 in attack on Daraa mosque, witnesses say
23 March/2011/Haaretz
Among victims is a doctor from a prominent Daraa family who arrived at the protest hub to help victims of the attack.
Syrian forces killed 12 people on Wednesday in an attack on a mosque in the southern city of Daraa, site of unprecedented protests challenging President Bashar Assad's Baathist rule, residents said. Those killed included Ali Ghassab al-Mahamid, a doctor from a prominent Daraa family who went to the Omari mosque in the city's old quarter to help victims of the attack, which occurred just after midnight, said the residents, declining to be named.
A Syrian soldier, checks his AK-47 as he stands in front the burned court building that was set on fire by Syrian anti-government protesters, in the southern city of Daraa, Syria, March 21, 2011. Before the attack, electricity was cut off in the area and telephone services were severed. Cries of "Allahu Akbar [God is the greatest]" erupted across neighborhoods in Daraa when the shooting began. It was not immediately clear whether the protesters had any weapons. The attack brought the number of civilians killed by Syrian forces to 10 during six days of demonstrations calling for political freedoms and an end to corruption in the country of 20 million. The ruling Baath Party has banned opposition and enforced emergency laws since 1963.
No comment was immediately available from the government of Assad, facing the biggest challenge to his rule since succeeding his father Hafez Assad in 2000. A wave of Arab unrest has toppled leaders in Tunisia and Egypt. "Dr. Mahamid was shot by a sniper. The phone networks have been disrupted but we got through to people near the mosque on Jordanian mobile phone lines," said one resident. Daraa is on the border with Jordan. A political activist, who also declined to be identified, said: "The old quarter is in total darkness and it is still difficult to know exactly what happened." The attack occurred a day after the UN Office for Human Rights said the authorities "need to put an immediate halt to the excessive use of force against peaceful protesters, especially the use of live ammunition."
Reform pledge
The protesters, who erected tents on the mosque's grounds, said earlier they were going to remain at the site until their demands were met. The mosque's preacher, Ahmad Siasneh, told Arabiya television on Tuesday that the mosque protest was peaceful.
On Tuesday, Vice President Farouq al-Shara said Assad was committed to "continue the path of reform and modernization in Syria", Lebanon's al-Manar television reported.
A main demand of the protesters is an end to what they term repression by the secret police, headed in Daraa province by a cousin of Assad.
Authorities arrested a leading campaigner who had supported the protesters, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. It said Loay Hussein, a political prisoner from 1984 to 1991, was taken from his home near Damascus.
Syria has been under emergency law since the Baath Party took power in a 1963, banning any opposition and ushering in decades of economic atrophy characterized by nationalization.
Assad has lifted some bans on private enterprise but has ignored demands to end emergency law, curb a pervasive security apparatus, develop rule of law, free political prisoners, allow freedom of expression, and reveal the fate of tens of thousands of dissenters who disappeared in the 1980s.
He has emerged in the last four years from isolation by the West over Syria's role in Lebanon and Iraq and backing for mostly Palestinian militant groups.
Assad strengthened Syria's ties with Shi'ite Iran as he sought to improve relations with the United States and strike a peace deal with Israel to regain the occupied Golan Heights, lost in the 1967 Middle East war. Limited economic liberalization in the last decade has been marked by the rise of Rami Makhlouf, another cousin of Assad, as a business tycoon controlling key companies. Makhlouf, under U.S. sanctions for what Washington deems public corruption, has been a target of protesters' anger. They describe him as a "thief". He says he is a legitimate businessman helping to bring economic progress to Syria.

Escalating Palestinian missile-mortar fire on Israeli cities boosts tension
DEBKAfile Special Report March 23, 2011, Palestinian missiles, rockets and mortar shells fired from the Gaza Strip have rained down on Israeli towns and villages relentlessly for the past ten days. The mayor of the Negev city of Beersheba ordered schools to remain closed Wednesday, March 23, after the second heavy (Iran-supplied) Grad rocket in a month hit a residential district, injuring five people and causing heavy damage. As he spoke, another Grad exploded in Beersheba. Overnight, two Grads were aimed at the port towns of Ashkelon and Ashdod. The villages abutting on Gaza were told to stay close to bomb shelters Tuesday night after taking some 56 mortar rounds in three days. Wednesday morning, another seven exploded in the Eshkol farm region, finding the IDF Home Front Command unready for the proliferating attacks..
The Palestinians said they were punishing Israel for hitting back at the sources of previous Palestinian attacks, some admitted by Hamas, others by the Iranian surrogate Jihad Islami. Tuesday, one of four Israeli tank shells hit a Palestinian building near the source of mortar fire and accidentally killed three civilians, including a youth and a boy, as well as one of the shooters. Israel apologized for civilian deaths, stressing they were inadvertent whereas the Palestinian terrorists of Gaza deliberately targeted Israeli civilians.
Following this exchange, the leaders of the targeted Israeli cities and villages called loudly for another Cast Lead operation as limited military, responsive action was clearly of no use. Some urged the new chief of staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz to lead a campaign to remove Hamas rule, saying it is at least as repressive, belligerent and dangerous to its neighbors as other Arab regimes currently targeted by Western armies.
However, the Netanyahu government has tied itself in knots.
Last Saturday, March 19, the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas said in an interview: "The Israelis should be negotiating peace with me." Brushing aside the fact that he only speaks for the West Bank segment of the Palestinian people – not the Gazans who overthrew his Fatah - he said: "Leave the Hamas to me."
Hamas responded to this claim by stepping up its attacks on Israel to underline its independence of PA chairman. Whereas Abbas' Fatah is seeking reconciliation with its rival in secret talks led by Nabil Shaat, Hamas much strengthened by the Muslim Brotherhood's successes in Egypt is playing hard to get. Hamas leaders in Gaza and Damascus are more interested in throwing their weight around for all fellow-extremists to see and show them an example by attacking Israel.
In addressing Israeli complaints, it suits Hamas to pin the blame for shooting heavy rockets on Iran's Palestinian surrogate Jihad Islami. However, debkafile's military sources report that the Jihad only strikes with Hamas' blessing.
Much harder to understand is the Netanyahu government's failure to smack down the authors of this relentless punishment which has been going on for almost a decade, except for the single limited Cast Lead operation of 2008-9, which too was interrupted prematurely under international pressure drummed up by the Palestinians and their backers.
Israeli leaders continue to pretend that "neither side seeks escalation" – which no one believes.
They still don't appreciate that the military attack staged by Western nations on Muammar Qaddafi's regime has changed the rules for dealing with harmful rulers. Rather than going for the top of the Hamas pyramid, Israel has just marginally sharpened its counter-attacks against its troops, only to bring forth heavier Palestinian missiles smashing into its cities.
Tuesday, an Israeli tank shell killed two Palestinian boys aged 11 and 16 and a man of 50, following a string of Palestinian mortar and missile attacks on their Israeli neighbors. Earlier that day, an Israeli air strike hit four members of a Palestinian team about to shoot a missile. Other Palestinian teams responded swiftly with attacks further afield on Beersheba and Israeli coastal cities using Grad rockets which have a range of at least 40 kilometers.
The latest escalation in a long Palestinian campaign against Israel from Gaza, boosted by the successful popular uprising in Egypt, was prompted by Mahmoud Abbas' interview to Israeli television – a public gesture that was accompanied by his secret wooing of Hamas.

Report: Bahrain Detains Five Lebanese for 'Contacting Foreign Parties'
Naharnet/Bahrain authorities detained on Tuesday five Lebanese residents from the Fneish family for allegedly contacting unidentified foreign "parties," a clear reference to Hizbullah.
Al-Akhbar newspaper on Wednesday quoted informed sources as saying that "Bahraini security forces raided the 'Beiruti' restaurant in central Manama at 10:00 am, detained five Lebanese employees, and confiscated documents and computers." The five Lebanese were "transferred to military prosecution, which means they're in a dangerous status," the source said.
Meanwhile, the undersecretary of the Interior Ministry for Passport Affairs, Sheikh Rashed al-Khalifah, denied in a statement to al-Akhbar that Bahrain had stopped issuing visas to the Lebanese. "Officials are examining applications thoroughly. This procedure isn't applied on the Lebanese only but on all foreigners and Arabs," al-Khalifah said. The report in al-Akhbar came as Bahrain warned its citizens against travel to Lebanon following comments by Hizbullah's Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on the Shiite-led protests in the Gulf kingdom. Bahrain also urged its citizens in Lebanon "to leave immediately." Beirut, 23 Mar 11, 09:39

Bahraini Airlines Suspend Iran, Iraq, Lebanon Flights
Naharnet/Bahraini airlines have suspended flights to Iran, Iraq and Lebanon, where Shiite communities have criticized the kingdom's response to Shiite-led protests in the Gulf state, the airlines said Wednesday. On Friday, Bahrain carried out a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy activists demonstrating since February 14 in the tiny Shiite-majority, Sunni-ruled kingdom.
Iran condemned last week's intervention of troops from neighboring Gulf States in support of Manama, while Hizbullah has offered unspecified support for the Shiite-led Bahraini opposition.
And thousands of protesters have turned out in Iraq in shows of support for Bahraini Shiites.
One Gulf Air booking agent told Agence France Presse by telephone that cancellations to Iran and Iraq were due to "operational reasons." Another said: "What we know is that Gulf Air cancelled the flights. We don't know the reason." But another agent said: "Services have been cancelled by (the) Bahrain government for security reasons. You know the situation in Bahrain ... We don't have (any) idea" when they will resume. National carrier Gulf Air's website says its operations are "suspended until and including 31 March, 2011" of flights to Tehran, Mashhad, Shiraz and Isfahan in Iran, and Baghdad, Najaf, Arbil and Basra in Iraq. Gulf Air and budget airline Bahrain Air have both called off flights to Lebanon "until further notice," the official BNA news agency said. An official of Bahrain Air said the airline does not have services to Iran or Iraq, while the company's website said flights to Lebanon have been called off until at least March 30.(AFP) Beirut, 23 Mar 11, 14:13

Bahrain Warns Citizens against Travel to Lebanon
Naharnet/Bahrain on Tuesday warned its citizens against travel to Lebanon following comments by Hizbullah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on the Shiite-led protests in the Gulf kingdom. "Due to threats and interference by terrorists," the foreign ministry said, "it warns and advises its citizens not to travel to the Republic of Lebanon as they might face dangers threatening their safety." Bahrain also urged its citizens in Lebanon "to leave immediately," in the statement carried by state news agency BNA. Nasrallah on Saturday pledged support for the Arab uprisings in Libya, Bahrain and Yemen, saying his movement could provide unspecified help. "We are here to tell them: 'We are with you, we support you ... We are ready to come to your aid in your best interests and ours, to the best of our ability'," he told a crowd in Beirut's Southern Suburbs. On Sunday, Sunni-ruled Bahrain hit back by branding Hizbullah a "terrorist organization" and slammed Nasrallah's comments as "blatant interference," warning they could damage Lebanon's interests in the Gulf. Security forces in Bahrain on March 16 crushed a month-long pro-democracy protest at Manama's Pearl Square. Fifteen Bahraini Shiites have been killed since the protests erupted last month, according to a toll from Bahrain's main Shiite bloc, Al-Wifaq. The interior ministry has reported the deaths of four policemen.(AFP) Beirut, 22 Mar 11, 21:52

Report: Hariri Calls Bahrain's King to Condemn Nasrallah's 'Irresponsible Remarks'
Naharnet/Caretaker Premier Saad Hariri telephoned Bahrain's King Hamad reiterating to him his condemnation of all acts that harm the interests of the Lebanese either in Bahrain or in the rest of Arab and Gulf countries. An Nahar newspaper said Wednesday that Hariri held the telephone conversation with King Hamad on Tuesday.
Hariri strongly condemned "the irresponsible remarks of (Hizbullah leader Sayyed) Hassan Nasrallah and their repercussions on the Lebanese working in Bahrain and the flow of investments and tourists from Bahrain towards Lebanon," An Nahar said. Hariri's telephone call came after he told delegations from his al-Mustaqbal movement that Hizbullah is using Lebanon as an arena for exporting revolutions to Arab countries. He also warned against the danger of using Lebanon to ignite internal conflicts in Arab countries. Bahrain on Tuesday warned its citizens against travel to Lebanon following comments by Nasrallah on the Shiite-led protests in the Gulf kingdom. "Due to threats and interference by terrorists," the foreign ministry said, "it warns and advises its citizens not to travel to the Republic of Lebanon as they might face dangers threatening their safety." Bahrain also urged its citizens in Lebanon "to leave immediately," in the statement. Nasrallah on Saturday pledged support for the Arab uprisings in Libya, Bahrain and Yemen, saying his movement could provide unspecified help. Beirut, 23 Mar 11, 08:47

March 14: Hizbullah Linking Lebanon to Iranian Agenda that is Threatening Lebanese-Arab Ties
Naharnet/The March 14 General Secretariat warned on Wednesday that any compliance with Hizbullah's agenda will place Lebanon at odds with the Arab world that is yearning for freedom, justice, and democracy. It said in a statement after its weekly meeting: "Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah proved that Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati is not playing a centrist role in Lebanon when he stated that the next government will be subject to his conditions on the arms and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon."
Such positions will set Lebanon in a confrontation with the international community, which may label it as a failed state, it added. The General Secretariat questioned Hizbullah's latest positions which it said "place Lebanon in a position that contradicts its Arab identity and instead link it to an Iranian agenda that is threatening Lebanese-Arab ties."In addition, its positions are harming Lebanese interests abroad and "burdening Lebanon's Shiites with a load they cannot bear." Beirut, 23 Mar 11, 13:58

Israel Preparing for Possible Provocation on Border, Peres Says Iran Spending $1 Billion on Hizbullah
Naharnet/The Israeli army is reportedly preparing for the possibility that Syria might use Hizbullah to launch attacks on the Jewish state to divert attention from the growing protests against President Bashar Assad's regime. The Israeli daily Haaretz on Wednesday quoted intelligence officials as saying that despite their earlier assessments that the Syrian regime was stable, and the unrest sweeping the Arab world would not affect it, they now believe it will be very hard for Assad to restore the status quo ante. But one senior Israeli officer said that the Syrian president appears to be too busy suppressing the domestic unrest to have time for a provocation on the Lebanese-Israeli border. "So for now, most preparations are at the intelligence level, and there is currently no plan to beef up IDF forces along the border," the officer told Haaretz. Israeli President Shimon Peres, who toured the northern border with senior Israeli army officials on Wednesday, said: "The Iranians are investing $1 billion a year to bolster Hizbullah, at a time when there is unemployment and poverty in Iran."  "They only seek to strengthen the Shiites in Lebanon. They have only one goal," he said. Beirut, 23 Mar 11, 07:46

Kerosene Spill off Dora Threatens Environment
Naharnet/The leakage of kerosene from a ship unloading its cargo off the coastal town of Dora caused an environmental crisis in Lebanon on Wednesday as authorities mulled ways to contain the incident. The ship was unloading kerosene to gas and oil companies on the Dora shore when the leakage began due to a malfunction in the pipeline of the vessel's tank, said LBCI TV network. It reported that the environment ministry sent experts to the area to assess the environmental damage. According to LBCI, the kerosene spread to the entire Dora coast amid fears that the spill could reach other areas due to strong currents. The spill also caused bad smells in the area. Meanwhile, caretaker Minister of Environment Mohammed Rahhal arrived at Dora to assess the damage, saying: "The ministry had previously warned companies of the possibility of such a gas leak."He also held the concerned companies responsible for the leak. Beirut, 23 Mar 11, 14:01

WikiLeaks: Khalifeh Says Berri Deceived Nasrallah Who Believes he is Salaheddine
Naharnet/A leaked U.S. Embassy cable published exclusively in Al-Akhbar Wednesday revealed that Health Minister Mohammed Jawad Khalifeh had informed then U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Jeffrey Feltman that House Speaker Nabih Berri was disputed with Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. The WikiLeaks cable dated August 19, 2006, reported Khalifeh as saying that Nasrallah believes himself to be "greater than Salaheddine and all of us." The minister said that Berri was upset with Nasrallah over his victory speech marking the end of the July 2006 war. The speaker also deceived two Hizbullah ministers when he agreed to the August 16 government decision to deploy the Lebanese army in southern Lebanon, which according to Khalifeh violated some "red lines" that Nasrallah and Berri had agreed upon. The red lines maintained between the two officials included the rejection of the deployment of NATO forces in Lebanon, as well as the rejection of the deployment of international forces along the Lebanese-Syrian border. The cable reported Khalifeh as saying that he "recorded a small victory" after his tour of hospitals and clinics in southern Lebanon, which he said restored the Lebanese government's control over them after Hizbullah tried to occupy them. The minister estimated that some 300-400 Hizbullah fighters were killed during the war, adding that the "atmosphere of victory" that followed the war will wane when the residents of the South will realize the size of the damage that was incurred in the area. He stressed however that hatred towards Israel and the United States exists throughout the South and it will never fade.Khalifeh later denied on Wednesday the WikiLeaks report saying that he sought to record the various meetings he held. "The Lebanese media is free and every person with a free opinion can analyze the cables," he told Future News. Beirut, 23 Mar 11, 12:07

WikiLeaks: Berri Asks Who Will Need Hizbullah if Shabaa Farms are Liberated?
Naharnet/Speaker Nabih Berri believed that liberating the Shabaa Farms would eliminate the reasons for maintaining the Resistance, revealed a leaked U.S. Embassy cable published exclusively in Al-Akhbar Wednesday. A WikiLeaks cable dated July 25, 2006, reported on a meeting between the speaker and then U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Jeffrey Feltman during which Berri voiced his opposition to Hizbullah's disarmament if the Shabaa Farms remained occupied. He asked: "Who will need Hizbullah if they are liberated?"An August 5, 2006, cable reported on Berri's assertion that the Lebanese army will be deployed in the South, saying that he would personally drive a jeep at the head of the Lebanese tanks ahead of the deployment. He also rejected the possibility of Israel remaining on Lebanese soil, noting that such a development will not end the hostilities between the party and the Jewish state. In addition, Berri rejected the idea of the deployment of international troops in southern Lebanon, said a cable date August 9, 2006.
He said that if there was an insistence on their deployment, then they should be placed in Israel. Two days later, he told the Assistant to the U.S. Secretary of State David Welsh that "history should note his position" that maintaining the occupation of the Shabaa Farms will not end disputes with Israel. Berri maintained his position throughout the July 2006 war that the Resistance will be victorious, adding that Israel will fail "as long as it continues its air and land operations." Beirut, 23 Mar 11, 11:39

Report: U.S. Delayed Release of Indictment to Guarantee Success of Objective
Naharnet/The United States sought to use the indictment of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon to back Caretaker Premier Saad Hariri after his government was toppled by the Hizbullah-led alliance, As Safir daily reported Wednesday. The newspaper said that the U.S. administration contacted tribunal officials immediately after the toppling of the cabinet to use the indictment as a political pressure aimed at bringing back Hariri to power and sidelining Hizbullah. As Safir said that the indictment would have been issued under U.S. pressure after STL Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare filed an amended indictment earlier in the month for confirmation by the pre-trial judge. But developments in the Arab world, including the fall of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's regime thwarted what the daily said was a U.S. "plan to issue the indictment as a prelude to a change in the political balance of power in Lebanon."
U.S. priorities in the region changed after the tumult in Arab countries, As Safir reported, saying that the release of the indictment at this stage would have made it ineffective amid the ongoing turmoil. Western diplomats informed March 14 officials that the indictment and Lebanon are currently at the bottom of their priority list, hinting that the release of the charges could be delayed for a few months, the daily said. It quoted March 14 officials as saying that the indictment could be issued in June. Beirut, 23 Mar 11, 10:46

Berri Calls Speeding up Government Formation to Achieve Lebanon's Interests
Naharnet/Speaker Nabih Berri stressed on Wednesday the need to speed up the government formation in order to achieve Lebanon's interests. He said during his weekly meeting with his parliamentary bloc that a national salvation cabinet should be formed soon to confront the major internal and external challenges facing Lebanon. Meanwhile, MTV reported that the meeting addressed the government formation process, adding that no deadline was placed for Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati to form the cabinet. The MPs did not specify when it might be formed, noting that regional and international efforts are encouraging speeding up the process. Beirut, 23 Mar 11, 14:33

New clashes in south Syrian city kill 6, activist says, deadliest day since protests began
DARAA, Syria — New violence in a restive southern Syrian city killed as many as six people early Wednesday, making it the deadliest single day since anti-government protests inspired by uprisings across the Arab world reached this country last week, an activist said
The activist told The Associated Press that six people died in Daraa when security forces launched an attack near the al-Omari Mosque, where anti-government demonstrators have taken shelter. He said a paramedic was among the dead. The activist spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing reprisals.
The weeklong standoff and violence in Daraa is remarkable in a country like Syria, where security is tightly controlled and state allegiance is expected. So far, the protests have been confined to Daraa and a few surrounding areas — as well as small protests in the capital — but that could rapidly change, particularly if the violence continues.
Groups on social networking sites have called for massive demonstrations across the country Friday, dubbed “Dignity Friday.”
Syria’s state-run TV reported that four people died when “an armed gang” attacked an ambulance in Daraa. The dead included a doctor, a paramedic, a driver and a policeman, the TV said. It showed footage of guns, AK47s, hand grenades and other ammunition as well as stashes of Syrian money which it said was seized from inside al-Omari mosque.
The conflicting information and the discrepancy in the toll of the dead could not be immediately reconciled.
The latest attack is likely to raise tension in Daraa as security forces are now expected to intensify their crackdown on anti-government activists.
The Syrian government has sought to contain the first serious intrusion of the Arab world’s political unrest by firing the governor of the southern province of Daraa, where security forces killed seven protesters over the weekend. But the dismissal failed to quell popular anger and the protests reached the province’s village of Nawa, where hundreds of people marched demanding reforms on Tuesday, activist said.
The TV said security forces were able “to kill and wound” some of the attackers in Wednesday’s violence and are chasing those who were able to flee. The report didn’t provide more details.
A video posted on Facebook by activists showed an empty street, purported to be near al-Omari Mosque as shooting could be heard in the darkness. In the footage, a voice is heard shouting: “My brother, does anyone kill his people? You are our brothers.” The authenticity of the videos could not be independently verified.
State TV denied that security forces had stormed the mosque. Syria, a predominantly Sunni country ruled by minority Alawites, has been spared the wave of uprisings in the Middle East until now. Part of the reason is that the protesters know there will be a swift crackdown. It is not clear why Daraa, a province of some 300,000 people near the Jordanian border, has become such a flashpoint for protests. The capital city — also called Daraa — is an agricultural hub that has suffered greatly from years of drought. It also is home to ultra-orthodox Sunni Muslims.
In 2006, security agents arrested 16 Syrians during a three-day sweep in Daraa province, accusing them of membership to the banned Muslim Brotherhood.
Last week’s unrest started with the arrest by security forces of a group of students who had sprayed anti-government graffiti on walls in Daraa city, some 130 kilometers (80 miles) south of the capital Damascus. Security troops trying to break up demonstrations calling for the students’ release and for political freedoms killed seven people over several days.
So far, none of the slogans used by protesters have called for the ouster of President Bashar Assad, who took power in 2000 after the death of his father and predecessor, Hafez. Despite political repression and rights abuses, Assad remains relatively popular among some in the Arab world, in particular because he is seen as one of the few Arab leaders willing to stand up to Israel. The demonstrators have been calling for reforms and political freedoms, and demanded the removal of the provincial governor, Faisal Kalthoum. Kalthoum was sacked Tuesday, but that failed to quell the protests.
On Wednesday, Abdul-Karim al-Rihawi, head of the Arab League for Human Rights, said several prominent activists have been arrested in the past two days, including well known writer Loay Hussein. Hussein had issued a statement calling for freedom of peaceful protests and expressed solidarity with the Daraa protesters. Al-Rihawi said security agents picked up Hussein from his home in Damascus on Tuesday and confiscated his computer. He said another activist, Issa al-Masalmi, was arrested in Daraa. Meanwhile, authorities said that six women who were detained last week after protesting in front of the Syrian Interior Ministry in central Damascus would be released Wednesday.
The women were among 32 people, most of them relatives of political detainees in Syria, who were detained last Wednesday and charged by a prosecutor with hurting the state’s image.
Al-Rihawi said the women would still have to stand trial despite their release.**AP Writer Zeina Karam contributed from Beirut, Lebanon.

IDF: Syria may provoke Israel to distract from domestic unrest
Defense officials have been following events in Syria closely over the last few days, especially after the violence in the southern town of Daraa.
By Anshel Pfeffer/Haaretz /Dara’a, Syria, March 22, 2011. The Israel Defense Forces is readying for the possibility that Syria might create a provocation along the northern border to divert attention from the growing protests against President Bashar Assad's regime. Nevertheless, the defense establishment views this as unlikely. Defense officials have been following events in Syria closely over the last few days, especially after the violence in the southern town of Daraa. Intelligence officials said that despite their earlier assessments that the Syrian regime was stable, and that the unrest sweeping other Arab countries would not affect it, they now believe it will be very hard for Assad to restore the status quo ante.
The IDF is also preparing for the possibility that Damascus might use Hezbollah or other militant organizations in Lebanon to heat up that front to divert attention from events in Syria. But one senior officer said that Assad and his people appear to be too busy suppressing the domestic unrest to have time for that. So for now, most preparations are at the intelligence level, and there is currently no plan to beef up IDF forces along the border.
The defense establishment attributes the unrest in Syria mainly to the country's poor economic situation and the feeling that the government isn't doing enough to improve ordinary people's quality of life, being more concerned with enriching the Assad family's cronies.
President Shimon Peres, who toured the northern border with senior IDF officials yesterday, echoed this view.
"We're always talking about politics, but the reality is that Syria is a very poor country with a very low standard of living and [high] unemployment," he told soldiers. "The moment the younger generation opens its eyes - and it has many means by which to do so, like Facebook - someone has to provide answers to this. That's the problem of the entire Arab world: to escape from poverty, to escape from oppression."
Referring to what he heard in his briefings from senior officers, Peres added, "The Iranians are investing $1 billion a year to bolster Hezbollah, at a time when there is unemployment and poverty in Iran. It would be one thing if they wanted to improve the masses' situation, but they only seek to strengthen the Shi'ites in Lebanon. They have only one goal."

Bahrain bans Lebanon travel, sectarian tension rises
Reuters/ MANAMA | Tue Mar 22, 2011 6:10pm
Bahrain complained to the Arabsat broadcaster Sunday over "abuse and incitement" on Iran's Arabic-language Al Alam television, Hezbollah's Al-Manar and Shi'ite channel Ahlulbayt, which are all carried by Arabsat. Bahrain's political crisis has been the subject of a media war between pro-Iranian channels and Bahraini state television. Both have accused the other of incitement. Bahrain also condemned a protest outside the Saudi consulate in Tehran, after reports Saturday that some 700 demonstrators broke windows and raised a Bahraini flag over the gate. One Lebanese resident of Bahrain said Tuesday he had initially been denied entry to the country when he tried to return from a brief business trip.At least 1,500 Lebanese live in Bahrain and a group of expatriates issued a statement Sunday, distancing the community from Nasrallah's comments. (Editing by Ralph Boulton and Janet Lawrence)

Hezbollah blames U.S. for Florida Quran burning
By The Daily Star /Wednesday, March 23, 2011 /BEIRUT: Hezbollah condemned the burning of a copy of the Quran by a U.S. evangelical preacher as an “abominable crime” Tuesday, holding the U.S. administration responsible. The party said in a statement that the act was “an invitation for strife and religious conflicts,” aimed at driving attention from the real struggle that is taking place between the “arrogant” forces and the oppressed people. The Quran was burned by Pastor Wayne Sapp in a small Florida church under the supervision of Preacher Terry Jones Sunday. The burning was carried out after finding the Muslim holy book “guilty” of crimes. Hezbollah held the U.S. administration responsible “because it serves its arrogant projects by fueling conflicts and divisions while Muslims and Christians are concerned with cooperating.” – The Daily Star

Rights activists interrogated over EU-backed report
By The Daily Star /Wednesday, March 23, 2011
BEIRUT: Human rights campaigners were summoned by the Justice Ministry Tuesday for their role in a EU-funded report and released after three hours of interrogation but still face the threat of further action. The investigation into the two activists, who belong to the Lebanese Center for Human Rights (CLDH), has been transferred to State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza, who will now determine whether to proceed with the lawsuit, CLDH said. The charges against the group have been filed by the Amal Movement over alleged defamation, although an exact list of the charges has not been made public. According to unconfirmed reports by investigations, the lawsuit was personally filed by Amal head and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. CLDH’s February “Arbitrary detention and torture: the bitter reality of Lebanon” report alleged that Amal and Hezbollah routinely detained and tortured those suspected of spying for Israel before handing them over to Lebanese authorities. – The Daily Star

Patriarch will unite Lebanon: conference
Delegates say newly elected church leader will bring hope and help reunite Christians
By Van Meguerditchian /Daily Star staff
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
JAL AL-DIB: The newly elected Maronite Patriarch will bring new hope and help reunite the Christian community in Lebanon and abroad, a Kataeb (Phalange) Party official said Tuesday.
Speaking at a conference at Jal al-Dib’s Catholic Information Center which was dedicated to the challenges facing the newly elected patriarch, Sejaan Qazzi said that “[Patriarch Beshara Rai’s] initial role has to be centered on making all Maronites and Christians love him.” The conference, titled “Anticipations of the new Patriarch,” tackled issues related to the Christian presence in Lebanon and the wider region following the election of a new Maronite patriarch to succeed Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir.
Last week, Maronite bishops elected Rai as the new head of Lebanon’s influential Maronite Church. He will assume his post in an official inauguration Mass Friday.
Speaking at the conference, Qazzi called on Rai and the Maronite Church to help bridge the gap between the Lebanese and the country’s diaspora. “We should work on the re-naturalization of the expatriates through a decree as the majority of the second generation expatriates are not able to obtain their nationality documents,” Qazzi added.
Around four million Lebanese Maronites and more than eight million other Lebanese are thought to be living abroad, due to an extended period of emigration throughout the 20th century.
Qazzi also stressed on enacting reforms in the Maronite Church on various levels, in order to strengthen the church’s role in Lebanon. He called for reform in the church’s judicial sector, its media outreach and the Maronite League.
“There should be properly defined criteria for choosing members of the Maronite League,” said Qazzi. “Whoever aims to head the association should also pledge that he will not pursue any ministerial or presidential seat until three years” after he ends his tenure at the association. According to Qazzi, the Maronite Church’s media outreach should not only be religious but should also spread a national spirit. Simon Abi Ramia, a Free Patriotic Movement MP who also attended the conference, said the road map of the newly elected Patriarch should be free of national political bickering. Following the 2005 elections, the rivalry between the two-biggest Christian blocs in the Lebanese Parliament led to the FPM distancing themselves from the church leadership at Bkirki over Sfeir’s stances regarding Lebanon’s political disputes. “Rai’s election is a great achievement for Lebanon … and he has a strong relationship with everyone in the country,” said Abi Ramia. The election of Rai has led to uncertainty within the country as to how the policies of the church’s leadership will respond to the country’s major issues.
“Bkirki should be completely removed from the competition between political parties, which drag the church into routine conflicts resulting from the rivalry of parties to attract electoral votes,” Abi Ramia added. Abi Ramia also proposed the establishment of a clear plan to administer the capital and land resources which belong to the Maronite Church.
“This committee would work on a well-studied plan to help with the social and financial needs of the population in a bid to avoid further emigration,” he added.
While the newly elected patriarch would work on strengthening the faith of the Lebanese, Abi Ramia called for the recognition of civil marriage. “The church should have a role in passing this right [civil marriage] to its people and educating the new generation to reach a democratic and secular society,” he said. President of the Catholic Information Center, Father Abdo Abu Kassm, described Rai as the guardian of the freedom, sovereignty and independence of Lebanon, who is at an equal distance from all groups and political parties. “Rai chose the ‘love and partnership’ slogan because he believes in openness and dialogue with everyone without exceptions,” Abu Kassm added.

Mikati presents his first draft government lineup to Sleiman
By Hussein Dakroub /Daily Star staff
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
BEIRUT: Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati presented his first draft Cabinet lineup to President Michel Sleiman Tuesday, raising hopes for the formation of the government this week, a source close to Mikati said. In the meantime, a senior March 8 source said a new government was likely to be unveiled this week after most hurdles have been overcome.
“Prime Minister[-designate] Mikati presented to President Sleiman a draft Cabinet lineup which, it is hoped, will meet the parties’ demands and be satisfactory to them,” the source close to Mikati told The Daily Star. The proposed Cabinet list is a mix of politicians and technocrats, the source said. He declined to give the number of the new Cabinet members.
Asked if Sleiman signaled his approval of the proposed Cabinet makeup, the source said: “The atmosphere between Sleiman and Mikati was positive.” Mikati did not speak to reporters after the 45-minute meeting with Sleiman.
Shortly after the meeting, Mikati met with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri at the latter’s residence in Ain al-Tineh to brief him on the draft Cabinet list.
A senior March 8 source said that intensive consultations held by Mikati with the main three parties who will join the government – the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) led by MP Michel Aoun, Hezbollah and the Amal Movement led by Berri – in the past two days have made significant progress toward the formation of a 26-member Cabinet.
“Prime Minister Mikati has for the first time proposed a draft government. Now there is a basis from which he can move swiftly to form his Cabinet,” the source told The Daily Star. “This draft has not yet been agreed to by Aoun but hopefully after minor alternations, a Cabinet could be announced later this week.”
Under the proposed government formula, Aoun’s Change and Reform bloc, which is the second large bloc in Parliament, will be allotted eight portfolios, including the Justice and Energy Ministries. Mikati was proposing caretaker Minister Ziyad Baroud, a Sleiman loyalist, would maintain the Interior Ministry portfolio, which was the main remaining hurdle, the source said.
The Telecommunications Ministry, currently held by Charbel Nahhas, who is loyal to Aoun, will go to a Mikati loyalist, the source added.
Syria, which supports Hezbollah and its March 8 allies, appears to have given the nod to the swift formation of the Cabinet.
After meeting Mikati, Sleiman called on rival factions to put aside their political animosity and “selfish and personal interests” to help the formation of a government that can “gain confidence and work to resurrect ministries and state institutions and departments.”
“The Lebanese need and deserve to have a government that can work to meet their needs, run state affairs and face the forthcoming challenges in the region which is witnessing turmoil, protests and disturbances,” Sleiman said in a statement. He stressed that unity of the Lebanese was essential for keeping the country away from the turmoil in the region.
The Cabinet crisis was sparked by the collapse of caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s government in January following the resignations of ministers of Hezbollah and its March 8 allies in a long-running feud over the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which is probing the 2005 assassination of Hariri’s father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Mikati’s attempts to form an all-embracing government have failed after the March 14 coalition decided not to participate. The delay in forming the government has been blamed mainly on Aoun’s insistence on the lion’s share of Christian participation in the Cabinet, including the Interior Ministry portfolio.
Meanwhile, Bahrain warned its nationals Tuesday not to travel to Lebanon for their own safety, after Hezbollah came out in support of the Shiite-led protests. “Due to the threats and interference that Bahrain has faced from terrorist elements, it warns and advises its nationals not to travel to Lebanon because of the dangers they may face that may affect their safety, and it advises nationals in Lebanon to leave immediately,” the Bahraini Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, in a speech Saturday, had lashed out at Bahrain’s rulers for bringing in troops from neighboring Gulf countries to help put down Shiite-led protests there, when it should have used dialogue. “There is particular injustice in Bahrain,” Nasrallah told a Hezbollah rally in support of popular uprisings in the Arab world.
Hariri responded to Nasrallah, accusing Hezbollah of using Lebanon as an arena for exporting revolutions to Arab countries. He also warned against the danger of using Lebanon to ignite internal conflicts in the Arab countries.
Addressing delegations from the “Future Movement youth” Monday night, Hariri said: “We heard a few days ago declarations by major leaders in Hezbollah, which involve Lebanon in the heart of movements taking place in some brotherly Arab countries. These declarations show that there are double standards in dealing with the ongoing movements, in a way that what is acceptable in Tehran, Arabistan, Qom and Mashhad is unacceptable in Manama and other capitals, and what is rejected in Tehran is acceptable in other places.”
“Some want to use Lebanon as an arena to export revolutions to the Arab countries, and act as if they are the spiritual and intellectual fathers of the Arab popular movements. This not only contradicts truth and reality, but also tries to present the Arab popular movement as what it is not, in a way that surpasses the limits of support and solidarity, and makes Lebanon a card in the internal disputes of several Arab countries,” he added.
Hariri, who has launched a fierce verbal campaign against Hezbollah’s weapons since the collapse of his government, said the majority of the Lebanese opposed turning their country into a venue for exporting revolutions to Arab countries. “Hezbollah’s leadership calls for change the Iranian way in Arab countries, and wants the Lebanese to agree on turning their country into an arena for exporting revolutions, so that Hezbollah’s flags and banners rise in Arab capitals just as is the case in Beirut,” Hariri said. “We say frankly and clearly that this policy is rejected by the majority of the Lebanese, who do not want Lebanon to get involved in the policies of axes.” “This is an invitation, from the leadership of Hezbollah, for Lebanon to be a partner in many Arab divisions,” Hariri said. “Lebanon will not be the bridge on which conflicts will cross to any Arab country.” He said the campaign against Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and other GCC countries was the result of “external orders, which aim to implicate Lebanon in futile regional paths that only seek to harm the interests of the Lebanese people and their historical relations with their Arab brothers.” Tensions have been building up between Tehran on the one hand, and Bahrain and Saudi Arabia on the other, since the Saudi-led Gulf force marched into Manama last Monday to help protect the ruling Sunni monarchy.

Tit-for-tat lawsuits as debate over U.S. cables heats up
By The Daily Star /Wednesday, March 23, 2011
BEIRUT: A Future Movement MP said Tuesday that families of victims slain in Beirut clashes involving pro-Hezbollah gunmen are preparing to file lawsuits against their killers, as the war of words between the two parties continued. MP Ammar Houri’s announcement came three days after Hezbollah said it would lodge lawsuits against officials whose “incitement” against the resistance during Israel’s 2006 war on Lebanon was exposed in recently published WikiLeaks cables. The Future MP also questioned Hezbollah’s reliance on the leaked cables, despite the fact that they were written by U.S diplomats. “I learned that some parents of martyrs who fell during the May 7, May 11, Jan. 23, Jan. 25, Burj Abi Haidar and Aisha Bakkar incidents are preparing to file lawsuits against those who killed their children,” Houri told Ash-Sharq radio station.
The lawmaker was referring to the May 2008 clashes between pro-Hezbollah and pro-government gunmen that erupted after the Cabinet of then-Prime Minister Fouad Siniora moved to dismantle Hezbollah’s telecommunications network. Lebanon’s Al-Akhbar newspaper has been publishing WikiLeaks documents since last week, some of which revealed that a number of March 14 officials have urged U.S. diplomats to ask Israel to prolong its summer 2006 war against Lebanon in a bid to deal a blow to Hezbollah. Houri said Hezbollah’s actions in response to the cables aimed at helping the party escape the pressures and complications of the Cabinet formation and of the awaited indictment of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. The indictment is widely expected to implicate Hezbollah members. He also expressed surprise that the party was relying on the U.S. cables.
“It seems that Hezbollah is adopting all what is American, and this raises questions,” he said. He added that Al-Akhbar’s Arabic translation of the cables had distorted their content.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah’s deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem said the cables indicated that some Lebanese were serving the Israeli project. “WikiLeaks documents reveal that some Lebanese [are serving] the Israeli project … during these difficult and complicated circumstances [the summer 2006 war], some in Lebanon behaved as part of the American-Israeli project rather than part of the national project and choices,” he said during a ceremony in Beirut’s southern suburbs. Separately, the Future parliamentary bloc lashed out at the Hezbollah-led March 8 coalition and held it responsible for “this decline” in the standards of political rhetoric, in reference to remarks made by former Minister Wi’am Wahhab in which he harshly criticized caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri over the weekend. Wahhab’s remarks were welcomed with gunshots by his supporters. The statement attributed “this increase in cursing campaigns [against Future]” to Hezbollah’s “excessive” feeling of strength provided by its huge arsenal. The party’s arms, the Future bloc said, were pointed at the chests of fellow Lebanese. – The Daily Star

Future MP: Safadi is vying to replace Mikati as prime minister
By The Daily Star /Wednesday, March 23, 2011
BEIRUT: Future Movement MP Mohammad Kabbara lashed out Tuesday at Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati’s ally, caretaker Economy Minister and Tripoli MP Mohammad Safadi, whom he accused of seeking to win the approval of Hezbollah to substitute for Mikati as head of the new Cabinet. Kabbara said Safadi’s campaign against caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri was an attempt to win the approval of the Hezbollah-led March 8 coalition to head the new government if Mikati fails to form one. Safadi accused Hariri Sunday of fueling Sunni-Shiite sectarian tension by attacking Hezbollah’s weapons. He said the attacks were a bid to put pressure on Mikati to refrain from forming a government after the March 8 coalition ousted Hariri. March 14 parties have accused Hezbollah of intimidating lawmakers to guarantee a parliamentary majority to name Mikati rather than Hariri, after the latter refused to sever Lebanon’s ties with the U.N.-backed tribunal investigating the assassination of his father, statesman Rafik Hariri.
“Minister Safadi is speaking only because he feels Prime Minister-designate Mikati is finding difficulties in forming a government, so Safadi is marketing himself to inherit Mikati[’s position],” said the Tripoli MP. “[Safadi is telling March 8] I am here, do not forget about me if Mikati fails.” Kabbara also accused Mikati of turning against his former allies in March 14. He said the telecoms tycoon succumbed to “Iranian will” after Tehran’s influence in Lebanon has grown greater than Damascus’ influence in the country. – The Daily Star

Will the U.N. Human Rights Council Do the Right Thing and Keep Syria Out of Its Ranks?
By Daniel S. Mariaschin/Published March 22, 2011/| FoxNews.com
We should probably be grateful that the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) finally took a stand and suspended Libya from the global human rights watchdog body—the first such suspension of one of its 47-members since the council was established in 2006. But in what looks like a bid to replace one oppressive, terror state with another, the Human Rights Council (via the General Assembly) is now considering Syria for a seat. After suspending Libya, the UNHRC has a chance to continue its “streak” of making good choices by denying Syria a seat judging other nations on their human rights record and commitment. Syria competes for a spot in May overseeing other nations’ commitments to universal human rights. Will the U.N. do the right thing?
Having just returned from a series of meetings in Geneva in conjunction with the 16th council session, I am not entirely optimistic that the HRC can learn from its own mistakes.
It was only after the Libyan government brutally and viciously attacked its own people that the council finally acted against one if its own members, formally suspending Libya on March 1.
Decades of state-sponsored terror, the jailing of dissenters, torture as a standard police tactic and countless other denials of freedom weren’t enough to disqualify Libya from a seat on the world body’s premier mechanism for protecting and advocating for human rights. So while we are relieved Libya was suspended, we have to point out the deep faults of a U.N. system that allows such a country to be included in the first place. According to the resolution that created the HRC, "members elected to the Council shall uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights." Could anyone truly believe Syria meets that criteria? The HRC blatantly disregards its own mandate time and again. Unfortunately, with the council’s track record and membership (notorious human rights abusers such as North Korea are scarcely mentioned by the panel; Zimbabwe was once a member) it wasn’t a foregone conclusion that it would act against Libya and it was encouraging to see the council took this quick and decisive step.
Syria is a one-party state with no free elections. Sound familiar? Syria is a major supporter of international terrorism—backing Hezbollah and hosting some of the leaders of Hamas.
Government critics and human rights activists are routinely jailed in Syria. There are an estimated 2,500-3,000 political prisoners in Syria’s jails who have never been tried. The country has been under emergency rule since 1963, the better to allow the state to use excessive force and power to oppress its people.
Syria tightly controls internet access and blocks such social networking sites as Facebook and YouTube.
The independent Freedom House, which for 70 years has observed global human rights and democracy issues, in its 2010 annual “Freedom of the World” survey, included Syria near the bottom of the rating scale for both political rights and civil liberties issues. Does this sound like a government that should be determining which nations are committed to universal human rights? Every four years, the United Nations’ Universal Periodic Review process reviews the human rights record of each of the 192 member nations. A frightening number of nations use the opportunity to praise their rights-abusing allies. Reviewed in November, Libya was commended for its human rights record by nations including Syria:
“[Libya] has a unique experience in democracy based on the people’s authority…this has allowed for the growth and development, promotion of human rights, which is in full conformity with its commitments under international law and in full conformity with its cultural and religious specificities,” a Syrian representative said.
The report is now stalled due to Libya’s suspension. But Syria’s on-the-record praise is telling of its commitment to human rights.
There are very serious and compelling human rights issues in the world today. By admitting offender after offender, the United Nations is demonstrating that perhaps actually protecting human rights is not as important as talking about protecting rights. In the council’s five years, as a rule, politics trump human rights. Our delegation just met with senior officials in the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights as well as with ambassadors from more than 25 countries. During some of our meetings with council leaders, we addressed key obstacles inhibiting the world body, including ending the anti-Israel permanent agenda item and the special rapporteur on Israel. B’nai B’rith also reiterated that Israel is the only country denied inclusion in Geneva in its natural regional group. Also its membership in New York in the Western European and Others Group, known as WEOG, does not extend to Geneva. Acting on these issues would demonstrate the HRC’s renewed commitment to living by its stated principles.
It is our hope that in bringing the council face to face with some of its major faults, it will begin to see its inherent hypocrisy. An important step is to not admit Syria to its ranks.
Daniel S. Mariaschin is B’nai B’rith International Executive Vice President.

When victims speak up
Ana Maria Luca, March 23, 2011
When the actress Angelina Jolie wanted to travel to Sarajevo to shoot a love story for her debut as a director last October, she faced trouble. The actress’ permit to film in the Bosnian capital was revoked after groups representing Bosnian war rape victims pressured the authorities because they were unhappy with the “misleading” plot of Jolie’s film, described as a love story between a Serbian man and a Bosnian woman who met on the eve of the war in the country in the early 1990s.
To the victims it was more a story of a Serbian rapist and his Muslim victim, and they pressured authorities to refuse to grant a permit. It was a small victory for the NGOs representing the victims of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Before that, in 2010, several NGOs took to the streets to ask for the prosecutor’s office to start investigating the rape victims’ cases in order for them to be able to file lawsuits against the perpetrators.
While in Bosnia victims organized themselves as early as the mid-1990s and often took to the streets asking for justice and to participate in the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, in Lebanon there is no NGO representing the victims of political assassinations the Special Tribunal for Lebanon is investigating. The STL has a Victim Participation Unit that gives victims the right to be part of the trials and then use the sentences to file their own lawsuits in order to get compensation from the perpetrators. But officials told NOW Lebanon that some victims in Lebanon might be afraid to speak up or get involved in the tribunal’s investigations for fear of retribution.
Some of the relatives of victims of assassinations targeting politicians and journalists in Lebanon since 2004 said that they do feel the need to organize and speak up. “I do feel the need for an NGO to speak in my name and call for a collective right that maybe I alone cannot fight for,” said Linda Daou, the mother of a 23-year-old man who died in the explosion targeting Kataeb politician Antoine Ghanem in September 2009. “In an NGO there would be many of us sharing the same suffering, and through group effort we can achieve something that one alone cannot, and make ourselves heard,” she added.
Others say they are either afraid they might be used politically or feel that their relatives’ lives are simply not important enough for the Lebanese authorities. “Who am I to ask for justice?” said Krikor Sogomanian, the son of 75-year-old Haigaz Sogomanian, who died in a bomb attack in Geitawi, Achrafieh in September 2005. “What am I going to ask? ‘We want the truth?’ Who are we to ask? Who are we? Justice is something, but if I would like to know who did it is something else. I would like to know. But how would I find out? I'll go file a lawsuit against an unknown person? Where would I file a lawsuit?” He recalled how, after the bomb that killed his father exploded, he had to fight with security forces simply to let him into the coffee shop where his father and four of his friends had been sitting to see if they were alright.
“We, as civilians, do not matter much for the tribunal, and therefore the current quarrels about it being politicized or not are not of much concern to us,” said Elias Azar, the 33-year-old son of a state prosecutor who was killed in an explosion targeting ISF Captain Wissam Eid in 2008. Civilian casualties got the least attention from the Lebanese security forces, the international investigation committee and the media, he told NOW Lebanon.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina the sectarian and ethnic situation is not much different from Lebanon’s. While over 6,000 NGOs in Bosnia and Herzegovina represent war victims or deal with the protection of victims' rights, according to a report by the International Institute for Middle East and Balkan Studies, the groups are divided along national grounds. Some represent victims from the federation inhabited by Croats and Muslim Bosniaks, and others from Republika Srpska, inhabited by Serbs.
Despite their divisions, NGOs keep pressuring their governments. Many of them are women’s rights groups representing rape victims and relatives of massacred Bosnians. “The first victims to speak up were women victims in Srebrenica,” Bosnian journalist Nidzara Ahmetasevic told NOW Lebanon. “For 15 or 20 days after the fall of Srebrenica, they went out on the streets and they asked to know where their husbands and their children were. They stayed on the streets for a long time, because nobody could give them the answer, but they were asking, they were demanding because they were desperate. This was the beginning of the whole movement,” she said.
Ahmetasevic added that some women’s organizations started offering psychological help to victims suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome as early as 1993, though the government, as in Lebanon, doesn’t offer any kind of access to counseling. “The government does not help the victims at all. Some survive with money from international donors, but never from the Bosnian government, unfortunately. The state just doesn’t care about the rights of these people,” Ahmetasevic said.
**Nadine Elali contributed reporting to this article.