LCCC
ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِMay
01/2011
Biblical Event Of The
Day
The Good News According to Matthew 5/38-41: “You
have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’* 5:39
But I tell you, don’t resist him who is evil; but whoever strikes you on your
right cheek, turn to him the other also. 5:40 If anyone sues you to take away
your coat, let him have your cloak also. 5:41 Whoever compels you to go one
mile, go with him two. 5:42 Give to him who asks you, and don’t turn away him
who desires to borrow from you"
Latest
analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases
from
miscellaneous
sources
Pro-Iranian officers in Syria's
ruling clique plot coup against Assad/DEBKAfile/April
30/11
Inside Syria's torture chambers:
'This regime is brutal but also stupid/guardian/April
30/11
The Syrian uprising’s refugees/By:
Ana Maria Luca and Nadine Elali/April 30/11
Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for April
30/11
Egypt warns Israel: Don't interfere
with opening of Gaza border crossing/Haaretz
Syria tanks enter Daraa, residents
report heavy shooting/Reuters/Haaretz
Frattini: UNIFIL's Mission Should
Change if Hizbullah Became Hostile over Syria's Weakness/Naharnet
Top Military Officer: Gulf Belongs
to Iran/Naharnet
Experts: Syria Unrest Could Spill into Lebanon/Naharnet
Syria troops, snipers kill six in
Daraa, activists say/Now Lebanon
Grenade Shakes Tripoli, 2
Others Found in Hermel/Naharnet
Obama Extends National
Emergency on Syria over Lebanon Meddling/Naharnet
Syrian forces kill 62, US tightens
sanctions/Reuters
Israel's 'Syria option' was
never one/The Guardian
UN council issues tepid rebuke
of Syria. Does it want to avoid another Libya?/Christian Science Monitor
US Imposes New Sanctions Against
Syria Over Crackdown/VOA
Witnesses: 26 die in clashes in Syria/CNN
Israel Watches Events in Syria
Carefully/VOA
Escaping Assad: Syrians Bring Tales
of Gunfire and Defiance/Time
Life in Syria's psychological
prison of fear/The Guardian
EU member states reach preliminary agreement to impose arms embargo on Syria/Haaretz
Biggs Looking for 'Regime Change' in Syria
Before Investing/Bloomberg
Aoun, Hezbollah reveal
conditions for cabinet formation/Ya Libnan
Report: Hamas leadership to
relocate from Syria to Qatar/Haaretz
'Hamas denies reports it plans
to relocate leadership from Syria to Qatar'/Haaretz
Lebanon's foreign policy cast
adrift in a sea of change/Zawya
Syrian
Families Seek Refuge in Wadi Khaled/Naharnet
ISF, Army Put End to
Construction Violations around Airport Fence/Naharnet
Geagea Opens 2-Day
Congress: LF Not Party of Single Person/Naharnet
Al-Rahi Heads to the
Vatican: Cabinet Formation Should be Speeded Up/Naharnet
Like Rats, Inmates
Languish in Roumieh Prison/Naharnet
Baroud Confirms Illegal
Construction on Public Property will Lead to Demolition/Naharnet
Wahhab Apologizes Over Checks
Scandal: We Were Hoaxed/Naharnet
Suleiman Holds onto Interior
Ministry Amid Sign that Appointments Are Among Cabinet Obstacles/Naharnet
Grenade Shakes Tripoli, 2 Others
Found in Hermel/Naharnet
Pro-Iranian
officers in Syria's ruling clique plot coup against Assad
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report April 30, 2011
US President Barack Obama signed an executive order Friday April 29 imposing
sanctions on members of the Assad family for brutality against civilian
protesters after learning that pro-Iranian officers and intelligence chiefs
within the ruling family and top military command were conspiring to overthrow
President Bashar Assad.
They accuse him of being too slow and too soft (sic) in suppressing the popular
uprising and are pushing for more direct Iranian intervention before it develops
into a full-blown armed rebellion. The conspirators targeted by the new American
sanctions are the president's brother Maher Assad, commander of the Republican
Guard and the Army's 4th Division, which is responsible for the ongoing massacre
in Daraa; Bashar's cousin Atif Najib, head of the Political Security Directorate
for Daraa Province; and Gen. Ali Mamluk, director of the Syrian General
Intelligence Directorate. The sanctions order also named the Iranian
Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) for aiding the Syrian crackdown.
Mahar Assad claims his brother should have rooted out the uprising against the
regime much earlier on by swifter and harsher physical action before its
ringleaders had a chance to turn to armed rebellion, debkafile's intelligence
sources report. He has warned the president that the level of suppression
pursued in the last six weeks has left the dissidents able to set up armed cells
in Syrian cities and bring their defiance of the authorities to a standoff.
Before long, he says, armed resistance will take hold in Damascus too.
Already Friday, protesters took on troops in at least two places, debkafile's
military sources report. In Daraa, which is still fighting after weeks of brutal
repression, protesters were able to kill at least six officers and troops and
take two hostage; in Homs in the north, three Syrian police officers went down
under demonstrators' bullets.
Those centers of unrest also felt the hard edge of the military savagery which
Friday left at least 62 demonstrators dead and hundreds injured in more than 50
cities across the country.
But the conspirators insist it is not enough: They want Assad to crack down
harder with the help of intensified Iranian intelligence and logistical
intervention. The opposition is already receiving a constant flow of weapons
organized by Saudi intelligence and smuggled in from Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon.
The quantities are beyond control of Syrian army and security forces. More
direct help from Iran is essential.
debkafile sources report that until now Assad has restricted incoming Iranian
aid to ammunition and anti-riot equipment – fresh supplies of which Iranian
military aircraft landed in Damascus in the last 24 hours. But he denied landing
permission to another Iranian flight which carried 200 members of Revolutionary
Guard special units trained to break up demonstrations in urban areas. That
plane returned to Tehran. According to our Washington sources, Atif Najib, the
former Horon Baath party's security chief whom Assad named to suppress the Daraa-centered
uprising, and Ali Mamluk, back Maher in pushing hard for tougher action against
the uprising. They are clamoring for direct Revolutionary Guards intervention
and are in direct communications with IRGC officers over the president's head.
debkafile's Iranian sources name their Iranian contact as Brig. Gen. Qassem
Suleimani, who has set up a secret operational base close to the Syrian border –
either in Iraq or Lebanon – to keep Iran's hand on developments in Syria and
watch out for a military coup in Damascus.
These events prompted the US president to link Syrian and Iranian intelligence
for the first time in a single executive order. Administration officials in
Washington admitted that the new sanctions were symbolic more than practical
since none of the officers named have bank accounts, property or business ties
in the US. It was a signal, they said, to Tehran and the plotters in Damascus
that the US was onto the schemes taking shape in the hidden corners of the
Syrian regime and keeping a close watch on events
Egypt warns Israel: Don't interfere with opening of Gaza border crossing
Haaretz/Rafah's opening would be a violation of an agreement reached in 2005
between the U.S., Israel, Egypt, and the EU; Israel official tells the Wall
Street Journal developments in Egypt could affect Israel's national security.
By Haaretz Service /Tags: Israel news Gaza Egypt Middle East peace
Chief of Staff of the Egyptian Armed Forces General Sami Anan warned Israel
against interfering with Egypt's plan to open the Rafah border crossing with
Gaza on a permanent basis, saying it was not a matter of Israel's concern, Army
Radio reported on Saturday. Egypt announced this week that it intended to
permanently open the border crossing with Gaza within the next few days. The
announcement indicates a significant change in the policy on Gaza, which before
Egypt's uprising, was operated in conjunction with Israel. The opening of Rafah
will allow the flow of people and goods in and out of Gaza without Israeli
permission or supervision, which has not been the case up until now.
An Israeli official on Friday told The Wall Street Journal that Israel was
troubled by the recent developments in Egypt saying they could affect Israel's
national security at a strategic level.
Israel's blockade on Gaza has been a policy used in conjunction with Egyptian
police to weaken Hamas, which has ruled over the strip since 2007.
Rafah's opening would be a violation of an agreement reached in 2005 between the
United States, Israel, Egypt, and the European Union, which gives EU monitors
access to the crossing. The monitors were to reassure Israel that weapons and
militants wouldn't get into Gaza after its pullout from the territory in the
fall of 2005.
Before Egypt's uprising and ousting of longtime leader Hosni Mubarak, the border
between Egypt and Gaza had been sealed. It has occasionally opened the passage
for limited periods.
Syria tanks enter Daraa, residents
report heavy shooting
By Reuters /The Syrian government ordered more tanks into Daraa on Saturday and
heavy gunfire was heard in the city as security forces tried to crush a revolt
against President Bashar Assad, residents said. Syrian troops and tanks first
swept into Daraa on Monday to quell pro-democracy protests against Assad that
have spread across the country of 20 million, posing the biggest challenge to
his rule and prompting Western powers to impose sanctions. Syrian
anti-government protesters holding banners calling for an end to a military
siege in Nawa near the southern town of Daraa, on April 28, 2011.Daraa, a
southern city of 120,000 people, is the cradle of a six-week-old uprising which
started with demands for more freedom and an end to corruption. It developed
into a movement to overthrow Assad following a violent crackdown by authorities.
Residents said they could hear heavy gunfire, mostly from Daraa's old quarter,
which is situated on a hill near the Jordanian border and is mostly residential.
"Since dawn, we've been hearing a heavy exchange of gunfire that is echoing
across the city and you do not know what's happening," Abu Tareq, a resident,
told Reuters by phone.
"I saw more than 15 tanks that had entered from the Damascus highway heading in
the direction of the Old City."
It was not immediately clear whether tanks and mounted armored carriers were
shelling the city or agricultural land near the border.
Another resident, Abu Ahmad, told Reuters he had heard tanks had stormed areas
in the old city, where the Omari Mosque, which has been a focal point for
protests, is located.
"It looks like they (security forces) want to finish their campaign today. From
the new tank deployments, it looks as though they are intensifying their
operations today."
Despite the heavy military deployments and mass arrests, demonstrators again
took to the streets calling for Assad's overthrow on Friday.
Soldiers in Daraa killed 19 people on Friday when they fired on protesters who
were trying to enter the city from nearby villages in a show of solidarity, a
medical source said.
Syrian rights groups put Friday's death toll at 62, pushing the number of deaths
since an uprising that has posed the biggest challenge to the Assad dynasty's
four decades in power, to more than 500. The crackdown prompted Western powers
to take their first concrete steps in punishing Syria for the bloodshed.
Washington imposed new sanctions on government figures, including Assad's
brother, who commands the army division which stormed Daraa on Monday.
Assad's cousin, Atif Najib, was also targeted as was Ali Mamluk, director of
general intelligence and Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard, accused of helping
the Syrian crackdown.
Syria has denied Iran was helping it quell protests. European Union diplomats
said they had reached preliminary agreement to impose an arms embargo on Syria
and would urgently consider further measures.
Syria blames armed terrorist groups
More demonstrations flared on Friday in the central cities of Homs and Hama,
Banias on the Mediterranean coast, Qamishly in the east, Harasta, a Damascus
suburb, and the capital itself.
Syrian rights group Sawasiah said this week at least 500 civilians had been
killed since the unrest broke out. Authorities dispute that, saying 78 security
forces and 70 civilians died in violence they blame on armed groups. State news
agency SANA said on Friday "armed terrorist groups" had killed eight soldiers
near Daraa. It said groups had opened fire on the homes of soldiers in two towns
near Daraa and were repelled by guards. But a witness in Daraa said Syrian
forces fired live rounds at thousands of villagers who descended on the besieged
city.
A rights campaigner in Daraa said on Friday makeshift morgues in the city
contained the bodies of 85 people he said had been killed since the army stormed
the city on Monday. Residents say a humanitarian crisis is growing. The
repression has brought condemnation from Western powers which for several years
had sought to engage Damascus and loosen its anti-Israel alliances with Iran and
the militant groups Hezbollah and Hamas.
Top Military Officer: Gulf Belongs to Iran
Naharnet/A top Iranian military officer on Saturday denounced what he called an
"Arab dictatorial front" and claimed that the "Persian Gulf has belonged to Iran
forever", media reports said.
"The Arab dictatorial regimes in the Persian Gulf are unable to contain the
popular uprisings," General Hassan Firouzabadi, the chief of staff of Iran's
armed forces, was widely quoted as saying by Iranian media on Saturday. "Instead
of trying and failing to open an unworkable front against Iran, these dictators
should relinquish power, end their savage crimes and let the people determine
their own future," Firouzabadi said. He also denounced "plots" by the Gulf Arab
petro-monarchies to "carve out an identity for themselves by rejecting the
identity of others," referring to Iran. "The Persian Gulf has always, is and
shall always belong to Iran," the general said. Firouzabadi, speaking on the
annual "National Day of the Persian Gulf", also condemned the regional Arab
monarchies for refusing to call the waterway between Iran and its Arab neighbors
by its "historical name." "With the arrival of the British and later the
Americans in the region, plots were hatched to try and change the name with fake
identities... to distort the history and identity of the Persian Gulf,"
Firouzabadi said. Relations between Iran and its Gulf Arab neighbors have
deteriorated sharply, with the latter accusing Tehran of seeking to destabilize
Arab regimes in favor of popular unrest that has erupted in many Arab countries.
Iran has strongly criticized Saudi Arabia's military intervention in Bahrain
aimed to help crack down on a Shiite-led uprising there. Iran says it gives
"moral support" to Bahrainis but is not involved in the protests there. Bahrain
and Kuwait have in turn expelled Iranian diplomats, accusing them of espionage.
Iran has in the past claimed Bahrain as part of its territory, and it controls
three islands in the southern Gulf that are also claimed by the United Arab
Emirates.(AFP) Beirut, 30 Apr 11, 12:11
Obama Extends National Emergency on Syria over Lebanon Meddling
Naharnet/U.S. President Barack Obama has extended the national emergency with
respect to the actions of the Syrian government, saying that its support for
Hizbullah and Hamas and meddling in Lebanon makes it a threat to national
security. Syria's ongoing pursuit of weapons of mass destruction, support for
anti-Israel groups and interference in Lebanon make it a "continuing unusual and
extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of
the United States," said a White House statement. The emergency, which was
declared in 2004, was to have expired on May 11. Friday's announcement, in
addition to financial penalties against three top Syrian officials, Syria's
intelligence agency and Iran's Revolutionary Guard, came as Syrian security
forces opened fire on demonstrators trying to break an army blockade on Daraa,
while thousands across the country defied a protest ban and denounced
Assad.(AP-Naharnet) Beirut, 30 Apr 11, 09:30
Syria troops, snipers kill six in Daraa, activists say
April 30, 2011
Syrian troops and snipers shot dead six people Saturday in the flashpoint
southern town of Daraa, a rights activist told AFP in a telephone interview.
"There are six dead" in Daraa, an activist said, quoting witnesses in the town,
the epicenter of nationwide protests that erupted in mid-March against the
regime of President Bashar al-Assad. "They were killed as the army began
pounding the town at dawn and snipers opened fire," said the activist. The army
has besieged Daraa since Monday, preventing anyone from entering or leaving the
town where there are huge shortages of water, food and medicine, activists said.
Snipers positioned on rooftops were targeting anyone leaving their homes, the
sources said. "The town is besieged. Food, water and medicine are running out,"
one activist said quoting a witness. Residents have also said troops were
"defecting" in protest at a deadly crackdown on protests in Daraa.
"Some [soldiers] refuse to obey orders to fire and are breaking ranks and
seeking refuge with residents," the activist said, citing reports from Daraa.
According to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 66
people were killed by security forces during massive protests across Syria on
Friday, including 33 who died in Daraa alone. The death toll from six weeks of a
security crackdown against protests that erupted March 15 now stands at 539,
according to the Observatory, while the Martyrs of the 15 March Revolution say a
total of 582 people died.-AFP/NOW Lebanon
Inside Syria's torture chambers: 'This regime is brutal but also stupid'
guardian.co.uk, April 29, 2011 /Adnan was arrested last Friday in Moudamiyeh, a
town near Damascus, after protests in which he did not take part. "We saw about
a thousand protesters come out of the mosque and then more people came to join
them. The mosque was surrounded by riot police and troops, but it was peaceful
until the protesters tried to start marching, chanting "God, Syria, Freedom,
that's all!". Some protesters threw stones, then we saw the security forces open
fire. One seemed to target the protest leader; they shot him in the head.
We were trying to leave the town when someone shouted "Stop!" and ordered us to
kneel down. It was troops from the Fourth Division [the elite unit commanded by
President Bashar al-Assad's brother Maher, which has been involved in
suppressing protests in Deraa, the south-western town that has become a focus
for unrest].
We have always regarded the security forces with fear, but not the army. They
are conscripts – even in the lower ranks of the Fourth Division. They pulled our
tops over our heads so we couldn't see clearly and pinned our arms behind our
backs. Then they hit us on the back and head, sometimes with the butts of their
guns. They accused us of being foreign agents, and of trying to film protests to
send to the media.
We were thrown in the back of an army truck and taken to the base on the
outskirts of Damascus. We were put in a room and beaten from 4pm to 4am. Can you
imagine? For 12 hours without sleep. It would stop for 15 minutes and then
someone else would come in and start. They accused us of working for [former
Lebanese prime minister] Saad al-Hariri and the Saudi prince Bandar bin Sultan.
There was no point in arguing – they would only beat us more.
In the morning we were taken to the Air Force Intelligence. We were put in a 15
metre square cell with more than 50 people. There were 15-year-old boys and
80-year-old men. We could only stand up; there was no space to sleep. I thought,
why are they locking these people up? This is why protests first started. None
of them had been at protests. Some were arrested just because they were from
Deraa. Many were fathers and sons. People were covered in blood: they had bad
bruising and cuts on their bodies or bashed in faces.
I tried to lift the spirits of the young people by talking to them. One
15-year-old boy asked me why we were there if the president had lifted the
emergency law. I didn't know what to say: this country doesn't run on law. A man
my age was crying. I asked him why. He told me he had heard his elderly father
being beaten and he had begged them to beat him instead. 'He is old, he can't
take it like I can,' he said. 'But they ignored me'. Another man with cancer
asked if he could go home. They replied: 'We don't care about your illness. If
you die, we will dig a grave for you here.'
The whole experience is built around humiliation. We were blindfolded. We were
shouted at. We were only allowed to the toilet once a day, for three seconds. We
had to strip down to our underwear and someone would stand outside the door
counting. If you didn't finish within three seconds you were beaten. I often
didn't go; I was too worried. We were given water and food, but you don't want
to drink when you can't go to the toilet.
We were taken out of the cell to be beaten and I was interrogated several times.
One time they took us to a room with an electric chair. I said no, this is too
much, not this. They didn't use it but they have one – I saw it with my own
eyes. They accused me of working for foreign gangs. They were angry about videos
of the protests being leaked and they searched everyone's phones. They finally
decided to let me go in the early hours of the morning, exhausted and bruised
and battered. It was a horrible experience. This regime is brutal but also
stupid. Everyone in there said they were angrier, not more afraid. You cannot
forgive a regime that does this to you."
*Adnan's name has been changed to protect his identity.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/29/inside-bashar-al-assad-torture-chambers?INTCMP=SRCH
The Syrian uprising’s refugees
Ana Maria Luca and Nadine Elali, April 30, 2011
Syrians cross on foot through an unofficial border between Syria and Lebanon on
April 29, 2011. (AFP photo /Anwar Amro)
The tall woman in her 40s says she is from Tal Kalakh, a Syrian town three
kilometers away from the northern Lebanese border. She tells us to call her
Nawal and that she is too scared to disclose her real name. One of the other
women carefully closes the door of the bedroom where their relatives in the
northern Lebanese village of Mkaybleh have sheltered them, before sitting down
on the mattress and sipping from a glass of tea.
“We have to bring down the regime, or else. We’re either dead now or we die
later,” Nawal says after faltering for a while. “We started demonstrating a
month ago because of the hunger. We’re poor people. We want to have our rights,
our freedom. We want them to release our men from prison. We can’t stop
[demonstrating] now. If they stay in power, they’re going to kill us all,” she
adds.
Nawal and her two daughters are among the Syrians from Tal Kalakh who left their
houses and crossed Nahr al-Kabir, the river that separates Akkar in North
Lebanon from the district of Homs in Syria. The people started showing up at the
small crossing in Wadi Khaled on Thursday morning. Many women and children were
in their slippers and carrying blankets, seeking shelter with their Lebanese
relatives and friends.
According to Mohammad Ahmad Ahmad, mayor of Mkaybleh, approximately 1,000
Syrians crossed the border and took refuge in Lebanese villages in recent days.
He says he is hosting two families in his own house, while every family in the
village has taken in 10 to 12 refugees. “The village is overcrowded. We can’t
host people anymore. But there are still people coming through the border, and
we’re sending them to Tripoli,” he tells us.
Nawal eventually decides to talk about what happened in Tal Kalakh and why they
had to flee. Other refugee women gather around her and sip from their tea and
puff from a rose-flavored arguileh. “Yesterday they gave us one hour to evacuate
the town. They said they were going to raid the town in an hour,” she says.
Tal Kalakh was to be raided by troops from the Forth Brigade, what the Syrians
call the “moukhabarat al-jawiyeh” or the “air intelligence agents,” whom the
refugee women say are a constant menace to the townspeople. “They always show up
in the middle of the night out of nowhere with their helicopters and their
tanks. They storm the town, go inside people’s houses at 4 a.m. looking for
smuggled guns, although they know nobody would dare smuggle weapons into Syria,
and they take the money and the gold,” a young woman bursts out. “They arrested
the men in the town, they killed many of them. Half of our cemetery is young
men’s graves. They put them in prison, and when they come home they’re not human
beings anymore,” she shouts. Nawal and the young woman say they have many
relatives who were taken for alleged weapons smuggling by the Fourth Brigade,
which is under the command of Maher al-Assad, the Syrian president’s brother.
“We are Sunnis there, they are all Allawites. The fear is implanted in our
hearts,” Nawal says. “I saw once with my own eyes, about a year ago, how they
chased a young man, hit him with a rifle and asked him to pick a charge for
himself. We never saw him again. His wife went looking for him, and they told
her to forget about him.”
A young man comes in and sits with the women. He is Lebanese, but he says he has
relatives and friends in Tal Kalakh. “We made a video with all the young men who
were killed in Tal Kalakh over the past two years,” he says while playing us a
short movie on his mobile phone. “I had a friend whom they hanged. They were
looking for his brother for smuggling merchandise over the border, but they
couldn’t find him. So they killed his brother instead. Look, this is him.” He
shows us footage of a man in his 20s dancing at a party.
“So we took to the streets about a month ago when we heard about Daraa,” he
says, referring to the town where the Syrian uprisings started.
“The young men of the town talked about [demonstrating] at the mosque, because
there they are only Sunnis, no Allawites to tell on them. They started
protesting, asking for their rights and in support of the people in Daraa,” the
young woman next to Nawal says. She adds that since Monday their town has been
under attack by snipers. “We had to sit on the floors with the lights off so
they wouldn’t see us. They were shooting at us like we were pigeons! To them we
are not humans.”
Most of the men in town refused to leave; they sent their wives and children to
Lebanon on Thursday while they stayed behind for what they called the “Friday of
blood.” Two of the women refugees tried calling their brothers in Tal Kalakh
several times after the Friday prayer, but their calls did not get through.
They have no idea what the police’s response was to the demonstrations, but at
least nine people were killed Friday in the district of Homs.
Syria: Unrest Could Spill into Lebanon
Naharnet/Unrest in Syria could spread to neighboring Lebanon at any moment in
light of charges by Damascus that the March 14 forces are backing anti-regime
protesters, analysts say.
"Merely stating that Lebanese parties are interfering in Syrian affairs is
equivalent to threatening to destabilize Lebanon, irrespective of whether
charges of funding and arming the protesters are accurate," said Ghassan el-Ezzi,
professor of political science at the Lebanese University.
"This could well be an attempt to transfer the crisis from one country to
another," Ezzi told Agence France Presse.
Damascus and Beirut have a turbulent history. Syria first sent its troops into
Lebanon at the height of the country's 1975-1990 civil war, where they remained
for 29 years.
Syria withdrew its forces from Lebanon in April 2005, following the
assassination of ex-premier Rafik Hariri, father of the current acting Prime
Minister Saad Hariri.
The two countries formally established diplomatic ties for the first time in
October 2008, and along with Iran Syria continues to back Hizbullah.
Syria has accused Saad Hariri's alliance, which has the support of the United
States and Saudi Arabia, of backing Syrian protesters who have taken to the
streets since March in increasingly angry rallies demanding an end to 48 years
of Baath party rule.
Experts say the charge may be an early sign that Lebanon could suffer the
consequences of unrest in Syria. "Undermining stability in Lebanon is an easy
matter: any dispute here will turn into sectarian strife in which Arab states,
Iran, Turkey and Western countries, such as France and the United States, get
involved," Ezzi said. State-run Syrian television aired alleged confessions by
three members of a "terrorist group" who said they had received funds and arms
from Lebanese MP Jamal Jarrah, to rise up against the regime of President Bashar
Assad. Damascus's ambassador to Lebanon, Ali Abdelkarim Ali, has called for a
local investigation into the case.
Al-Manar television also reported that Syrian authorities confiscated drugs,
money and arms on seven boats that had been heading from northern Lebanon to the
Syrian port city of Latakia.
Syria "suspected the boats were tied to the Future Movement," Al-Manar said.
Some analysts say there is no smoke without fire. "While there is no concrete
evidence, I do not think it is a totally far-fetched notion that there are arms
and cash smuggling from Lebanon to Syria with the help of Saudi Arabia," said
Karim Makdisi, a political science professor at the American University of
Beirut. But, Makdisi said, whatever aid made it across the border could not be
significant enough to play a crucial role in the current events in Syria.
"These are exaggerated scenarios, and more likely part of the ongoing dance
between Hizbullah and Hariri," he told AFP.
Hundreds of Syrians have also fled on foot across the border into northern
Lebanon, after violence broke out in the Syrian town of Tall Kalakh, a majority
Sunni area notorious for cross-border smuggling. Lebanon has also been the scene
of rallies both against and in support of Assad, with security forces dispersing
two opposing gatherings in Beirut on Tuesday night.
Around 300 supporters of pan-Islamic group Hizb ut-Tahrir also rallied last week
in Tripoli after Friday Muslim prayers to show support for protesters in Syria.
As the Syria uprising shows no sign of fading, members of Hariri's alliance fear
developments in their northern neighbor could harm an already tense situation in
Lebanon.
"Syria should first and foremost stop the bloodshed within its borders, rather
than broadcast fabricated lies that only serve to tarnish what is left of its
government's image," MP Oqab Saqr told AFP. "And Hizbullah's participation in
these lies only serves to further divide Lebanon politically."(AFP) Beirut, 30
Apr 11, 14:16
Baroud Confirms Illegal Construction on Public Property
will Lead to Demolition
Naharnet/Caretaker Interior Minister Ziad Baroud has said that the government is
taking responsibility for removing all illegal construction on state property.
"The state institutions did their duties. This issue isn't targeting the
residents, but it is against those who are violating the public right," Baroud
told As Safir newspaper. Violating state property will not result in issuing a
"settlement law later on," but in bringing down the illegal constructions, he
said. The minister stressed that this process was a necessary decision taken by
all parties to end illegal construction and remove any violation. "This is part
of a plan that will be continued by the army and ISF… Knowing that no one
declared he is covering up these violations," Baroud remarked.
Meanwhile, security forces managed to put an end to construction violations
around Beirut airport fence in Ouzai area with the support of Hizbullah and AMAL
officials after clashes with some of the residents. Three officers were
reportedly wounded and three citizens suffered minor injuries. An Nahar daily
said that the construction violations reached Burj al-Barajneh camp where the
construction work neared the old airport road near the refugee camp entrance,
the newspaper reported. While in the south, Internal Security Forces gave a
grace period of one week to more than 150 violators to avoid judicial
prosecution, the newspaper added. Beirut, 30 Apr 11, 09:55
Suleiman Holds onto Interior Ministry Amid Sign that Appointments Are Among
Cabinet Obstacles
Naharnet/President Michel Suleiman reportedly is still holding onto the interior
ministry portfolio as part of his share in the new government but could agree
that a personality other than Ziad Baroud heads the ministry, media reports said
Saturday. An Nahar daily said that Suleiman won't give up the portfolio "at all"
but might not hold onto Baroud who headed the ministry in Caretaker Premier Saad
Hariri's cabinet. Sources involved in the government formation efforts said the
new development could push for progress in Premier-designate Najib Miqati's
mission particularly after the aides of the speaker and the Hizbullah leader
respectively MP Ali Hassan Khalil and Hussein Khalil met with Suleiman and then
held talks with Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun. MP Khalil told As
Safir daily that the meeting with the president was aimed at bridging the gap
between him and Aoun who is also asking for the portfolio as part of his share.
According to pan-Arab daily al-Hayat, Suleiman informed the envoys of Speaker
Nabih Berri and Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah that he would nominate
three candidates for the interior ministry portfolio and allow Miqati, the FPM
leader and other major parties to choose the person they see most fit for the
post.
The president also told MP Khalil and Hussein Khalil that Baroud could be tasked
with heading a ministry other than the interior ministry, al-Liwaa newspaper
said. He suggested former Brig. Gen. Paul Matar or retired Brig. Gen. Nabil
Ghafri to replace Baroud. Meanwhile, An Nahar quoted March 8 officials as saying
that appointments of employees to top government posts that are pending for
years are one of the reasons behind the cabinet deadlock. They said the FPM,
backed by Hizbullah, is pressuring Miqati into striking a deal on the
appointments before forming the government. The alleged agreement consists of
giving Aoun's party the right to name the Christian candidates for the post.
Beirut, 30 Apr 11, 10:41
Wahhab Apologizes Over Checks Scandal: We Were Hoaxed
Naharnet/Tawhid movement leader Wiam Wahhab has apologized for the checks
scandal that he raised two weeks ago and said he had the guts to say it out
loud. Those "who don't have the guts to take a stance, don't have the guts to
apologize, and I have both," Wahhab told Voice of Lebanon radio station (100.5)
on Saturday. Wahhab revealed on April 16 photos of checks addressed to MP Jamal
al-Jarrah and former minister Abdul Hamid Baydoun signed by Saudi Prince Turki
bin Abdul Aziz. He also uncovered similar checks addressed to Jamal Khaddam, the
son of former Syrian Vice President Abdul Halim Khaddam. He said the Saudi money
was aimed at funding anti-Assad regime protestors. Wahhab's press office
said Friday that the Tawhid movement leader was hoaxed by a man called Ibrahim
Baydoun who handed the copies of the checks to him. Baydoun, who used to work at
one of the offices of the Saudi Prince, had reportedly replaced the names
endorsed on the checks by the names of al-Jarrah, Abdul Hamid Baydoun and
Khaddam. We have the courage today to say that "this young man hoaxed us, for
reasons we do not know," the Tawhid movement said. "So we apologize to the
people whose names appeared on the fake checks," the statement added.
Former minister Baydoun, whose name was revealed on one of the checks, thanked
Wahhab for expressing regret. "I thank Wiam Wahhab for apologizing and I accept
it," he told VDL (100.5). Beirut, 30 Apr 11, 14:19
Grenade Shakes Tripoli, 2 Others Found in Hermel
Naharnet/A hand grenade shook the Boulevard area of the northern port city of
Tripoli at dawn Saturday, causing no material damage, the state-run National
News Agency reported.
NNA said that the grenade was tossed by unknown assailants near al-Baba building
at 2:00 am. The blast did not cause any injuries or material damage, it added.
Grenade attacks are becoming frequent in Tripoli. In another incident, two hand
grenades were found near the house of Hassan Allam in Hermel. An army bomb
disposal expert disposed of one of them and took the other to another nearby
military base, NNA said. Also Friday night, an unknown assailant threw a Molotov
cocktail on a tent belonging to anti-confessional regime protestors in Dahr el-Wahesh
after a dispute between Wael Jaber and several activists. A man called Shebli
al-Khaleq fired gunshots in the air to end the clash. No injuries were reported,
NNA said. Beirut, 30 Apr 11, 12:26
ISF, Army Put End to Construction Violations around Airport Fence
Naharnet/Internal Security Forces and army troops on Friday managed to put an
end to construction violations around the Beirut airport which, according to
Lebanese ministers, had posed a threat to the safety of civil aviation. "An
Internal Security Forces unit, backed up by army troops, has been carrying out a
mission since today morning, which has led to curbing construction violations
near the fence of the Beirut Rafik Hariri International Airport, after clashes
with the violators," state-run National News Agency reported.
"Work is underway to demolish and remove these violations in the framework of
preserving the safety of civil aviation and passengers and the reputations of
Lebanon and its airport," NNA added. Caretaker Interior Minister Ziad Baroud was
directly in charge of the mission, the news agency reported. "A group of youths
and women pelted the ISF members with stones while they were demolishing
buildings built next to the airport's fence in a manner that affects the control
tower's visibility," NNA reported later Friday.
It identified three ISF officers wounded in the clashes as Lt. Col. Joseph al-Naddaf,
Captain Suleiman Zaineddine and Second Lieutenant Nabil Oueidat. They were
rushed to Al-Maqassed Hospital for treatment. Meanwhile, another group of youths
and women blocked the nearby al-Ouzai highway with rocks and burning tires to
protest the crackdown.
An Nahar newspaper reported on Wednesday that violators had built illegally on
state property near the new 16th seaside tarmac of the airport and the old
number 17 runway, warning that such a move could go all the way towards putting
the facility on the international blacklist.
Caretaker Public Works and Transport Minister Ghazi Aridi confirmed to An Nahar
that illegal construction was flourishing despite the authorities' recent
crackdown.
Caretaker minister Baroud also warned against "the disastrous results of this
encroachment on aviation safety." He told An Nahar that the illegal buildings
should be "immediately torn down."
"Let those who covered up or turned a blind eye to them take responsibility for
what Aridi is warning of," Baroud said.
He blamed years of lax security measures for the boom in illegal construction in
the past weeks. Baroud also said that violators are taking advantage of the
absence of a government and the political vacuum to carry out more illegal
construction work. Beirut, 29 Apr 11, 22:50
Frattini: UNIFIL's Mission Should Change if Hizbullah Became Hostile over
Syria's Weakness
Naharnet/Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini revealed on Thursday that his
country agreed with French President Nicolas Sarkozy to propose imposing strict
sanctions against Syrian military and intelligence officials responsible for the
violence against Syrian protestors. He said that the proposal will be made
before the European Union. Frattini told il Foglio Italian newspaper that the
crisis in Syria may have a major effect on Hizbullah and Hamas' activity. "Hizbullah
may become more hostile if it felt that Syria has grown weaker and in that case
the United Nation Interim Force in Lebanon's mandate must be changed," he said.
"The role Syria is playing with Hizbullah may cost UNIFIL one of the reasons of
its existence in southern Lebanon," he continued. Frattini stressed that he will
highlight these issues before the European Union's foreign ministry council in
mid-May. "UNFIL has played a good role in settling the crisis in Lebanon after
2006 and it can act as a deterrent force in any new conflict in the region," the
Italian official stated. Beirut, 28 Apr 11, 18:54
4 Killed as Syrian Troops Take Key Daraa Mosque
Naharnet/Syrian army troops backed by tanks and three helicopters on Saturday
took a prominent mosque that had been controlled by residents in a besieged
southern city killing four people, a witness said. The operation in the town of
Daraa came a day after President Bashar Assad unleashed deadly force to crush a
months-old revolt, killing at least 65 people, mostly in the border town. Daraa
resident Abdullah Abazeid said the assault on the mosque lasted 90 minutes
during which troops used tank shells and heavy machine guns. Three helicopters
took part of the operation dropping paratroopers on to the mosque itself, he
said. The Omari mosque, in Daraa's Roman-era old town, had been under the
control of the residents.
Daraa is the heart of a six-week-old uprising against the government and has
been under siege since Monday when the government first sent in tanks to crush
the daily demonstrations.
Abazeid said that among the dead was Osama Ahmad, the son of the mosque's imam,
Sheik Ahmad Sayasna. The other three were a woman and her two daughters who were
killed when a tank shell hit their home near the mosque, he said. In the early
hours of the morning, military reinforcements poured into Daraa, including 20
armored personnel carriers, four tanks, and a military ambulance, a resident of
the city told The Associated Press. The head of the Syrian Observatory for Human
Rights, Rami Abdul-Rahman, said 65 people were killed Friday. with 36 deaths in
the Daraa province, 27 in the central Homs region, one in Latakia and another in
the Damascus countryside. Total civilian deaths since the uprising began has
reached 535, he said.(AP) Beirut, 30 Apr 11, 15:31