LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِMay 07/2011

Biblical Event Of The Day
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 21,20-25. Peter turned and saw the disciple following whom Jesus loved, the one who had also reclined upon his chest during the supper and had said, "Master, who is the one who will betray you?" When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, "Lord, what about him?" Jesus said to him, "What if I want him to remain until I come? What concern is it of yours? You follow me."So the word spread among the brothers that that disciple would not die. But Jesus had not told him that he would not die, just "What if I want him to remain until I come? (What concern is it of yours?)"It is this disciple who testifies to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true. There are also many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
Hezbollah Setting Up Operations Near the Mexico Border/10News Room/Fox News/May 06/11
Middle East-Latin America Terrorism Connection/FPRI/By: Vanessa Neumann/May 06/11
Can Terrorist Groups Live Without Their Leaders?/By: Max Boot/May 06/11
New Opinion: Let�s end all the delusion/Now Lebanon/May 06/11
The Christians and the lions/By: Michael Young/May 06/11

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for May 06/11
Al-Qaida confirms death of Osama bin Laden/AP
Activists: 6 killed in Syria by security forces/Associated Press/Daily Star
Lieberman Sen. Joe Lieberma Calls Syria's Assad a 'Thug,' Urges Tougher U.S. Stance/Fox News
EU to decide whether to sanction Syria's Assad/Now Lebanon
Middle East In Transition Clinton Urges World Reaction to Syria's 'Brutallity/VOA
US defends against charges it is to o soft on Syria/AFP
Singh Denies UNIFIL had Decreased its Patrols after Bin Laden's Killing /Naharnet
Hariri on Martyrs Day: We Hope Lebanon Will Remain a Beacon for Democracy and Freedom/Naharnet
Saqr: Aoun will Burn his Fingers/Naharnet
Al-Rahi Calls for Forming Neutral Govt: Unacceptable to Cripple Country over Certain Portfolio/Naharnet
Roumieh Inmates Begin Hunger Strike: We are Preparing for a Bloody Massacre at the Prison/Naharnet
Hizbullah Slams Bahrain Arrests: Part of Oppressive Crackdown/Naharnet
Williams Stresses after Meeting Franjieh Need to Form New Government as Soon as Possible/Naharnet
Report: Lebanese Officers Training in Syria Return Upon Regime's Request /Naharnet
Miqati Promises Berri to Put off Announcement of De Facto Cabinet Amid Full Discretion on New Proposal/Naharnet
Williams Meets Berri: Exploiting Resources in Territorial Waters Very Important Reason to Form Government/Naharnet
Omar Bakri Calls for Prayers for Bin Laden /Naharnet
Singh: UNIFIL is Cooperating with Lebanese Army to Implement Resolution 1701/Naharnet
WikiLeaks: Hariri Urged U.S. to Provide Military with Helicopters to Defeat Hizbullah/Naharnet
WikiLeaks: Geagea Says Hariri and Jumblat Might Make Deals at March 14 Expense/Naharnet
Saqr: Aoun will Burn his Fingers /Naharnet
Al-Rahi Calls for Forming Neutral Govt: Unacceptable to Cripple Country over Certain Portfolio/Naharnet
Hariri: STL seeks to prevent recurrence of heinous crimes/Daily Star
Syrian ambassador holds �good� talks with Aoun/Daily Star

Sen. Joe Lieberma Calls Syria's Assad a 'Thug,' Urges Tougher U.S. Stance
Published May 05, 2011/FoxNews.com
May 5, 2011: /Naharnet
Sen. Joe Lieberman called Syrian President Bashar al-Assad a "thug" on Thursday as he added to intensifying calls on Capitol Hill for President Obama to get tougher on Assad amid a crackdown on dissent. Lieberman said it�s �time for him to go� during a speech about the Assad regime on the Senate floor. �Unfortunately, there are still many in Syria and throughout the Middle East who believe the United States is hedging its bets,� he said. �It is time to put these doubts to rest." Lieberman�s comments come a week after he joined Republican Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham in issuing a statement telling Obama to �state unequivocally� that Assad must step down. They warned the situation had reached a �decisive point,� urging the U.S. to isolate the regime. Assad has faced increasing domestic and international pressure over a bloody crackdown against protesters who are calling for democratic reforms. More than 550 people have been killed during the six-week revolt. The leader has used a combination of brute force, intimidation and promises of reform to quell the unrest, but his attempts have failed so far. The United States and Italy warned Syria on Thursday that it will face penalties and increasing isolation if it does not halt its violent crackdown.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Syria had to know that there would be "consequences for this brutal crackdown."
Speaking at a news conference with Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, Clinton said the U.S. is looking at boosting sanctions it has already imposed on Syrian leaders. Frattini said Italy would support similar measures by the European Union. Last month, the Obama administration imposed financial penalties on three top Syrian officials, including Assad's brother, Maher, as well as Syria's intelligence agency and Iran's Revolutionary Guard over the crackdown. At U.N. headquarters in New York, spokesman Martin Nesirky said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon spoke with Assad by telephone Wednesday and told him "now is the time for bold and decisive measures, for political reforms." Nesirky said the U.N. chief also asked that Syria cooperate with the commission set up by the U.N. Human Rights Council, and "allow in a humanitarian assessment team given the widespread concerns in the international community." Syria blames the unrest on a foreign conspiracy and "terrorist groups" that it says have taken advantage of protests.**The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Al-Rahi Calls for Forming Neutral Govt: Unacceptable to Cripple Country over Certain Portfolio
Naharnet/Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Thursday returned to Beirut from the Vatican, after participating in the beatification of the late Pope John Paul II on Sunday.
Flanked by President Michel Suleiman's representative, caretaker Interior Minister Ziad Baroud, al-Rahi told reporters at the Beirut Rafik Hariri International Airport that the minister's latest decision to refrain from participation in the new cabinet reflected his "culture of sacrifice and giving," lauding Baroud for "putting public welfare above all private interests."
Asked about the cabinet formation impasse and whether he supported the formation of a "de facto" government, al-Rahi said: "I don't want to discuss the technicalities of politics, but � if it was difficult to reach a coalition government, nothing prevents the formation of a neutral technocrat cabinet that oversees the interests of the people."
The patriarch stressed that it was "unacceptable" to cripple citizens' interests for the sake of "a dispute over a certain portfolio or a certain candidate."
"This is against all principles and against (good) governance and democracy," he noted. Beirut, 05 May 11, 19:27

Miqati Promises Berri to Put off Announcement of De Facto Cabinet Amid Full Discretion on New Proposal
Naharnet/Premier-designate Najib Miqati has for now shelved efforts to form a de facto government and vowed to give the cabinet formation process more time after talks with Speaker Nabih Berri, Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat and other mediators. As part of intensified efforts to end the row between Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun and President Michel Suleiman over the interior ministry portfolio, Miqati met Thursday night with Berri, Jumblat, the speaker's advisor MP Ali Hassan Khalil, and Hussein Khalil, a political aide to Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. Miqati also held talks with former MP Nazem Khoury, a political adviser to Suleiman, to discuss new ideas to end the deadlock. Baabda palace sources refused to discuss the details of the proposal, but told As Safir newspaper that "things began to heat up."
Berri told An Nahar daily after his meeting with Miqati that he "won't say a word." But the newspaper said that the speaker will continue his efforts to bring the viewpoints of different parties closer.As for Jumblat, he said his talks with the prime minister-designate focused on "the formation of the government which has become necessary at the level of the economy, politics, security and the region."According to An Nahar, Jumblat tasked Caretaker Minister Ghazi Aridi with making the necessary contacts to contribute to the cabinet formation process.
Despite the meetings held between Miqati and the different parties in the past 24 hours, informed sources told the newspaper that each side is still holding onto its stance.
But the biggest achievement for the premier-designate was his promise to Berri to hold off the announcement of a de facto cabinet, they said.
According to Aoun's circles, the FPM leader reacted positively to a new proposal by mediators of new names to head the interior ministry to replace Caretaker Minister Ziad Baroud.
According to al-Liwaa, three personalities are suggested as possible interior ministers but the involved officials have vowed full secrecy to guarantee the success of the initiative. Beirut, 06 May 11, 08:28

Omar Bakri Calls for Prayers for Bin Laden
Naharnet/Radical cleric Omar Bakri, on bail in Lebanon on charges including incitement to murder, has called for prayers to mourn Osama bin Laden in Lebanon and outside U.S. embassies around the world. "We call on our followers in Europe, Canada and especially Britain to pray for his soul outside American embassies," Bakri, who was based in Britain for nearly two decades, told Agence France Presse. "We will hold prayers for his soul in the Khulafa al-Rashidin mosque and receive condolences here in Tripoli, and there will be prayers for his soul in mosques in Beirut and Sidon," added the preacher, who is now based in Tripoli, Lebanon's main northern city. Bakri was banned from returning to Britain in 2005 under government curbs introduced following the London underground and bus bombings that year. He earned notoriety by praising the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States and hailing the hijackers as the "magnificent 19." Last November, a Lebanese court sentenced him to life in prison on charges including incitement to murder, theft and the possession of arms and explosives. But a retrial was ordered as he had not been present in court and the 50-year-old was released on bail. Bakri has appointed Hizbullah Member of Parliament Nawwar Sahili as his defense lawyer and has appealed to the leader of the Shiite group Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah for help. The Syrian-born cleric, who also holds Lebanese nationality, has denied he has any links to al-Qaida although he says he believes in "the same ideology." The al-Qaida leader was killed in a U.S. Special Forces raid in Pakistan announced by President Barack Obama in a late-night White House address on Sunday. (AFP) Beirut, 06 May 11, 14:50

Saqr: Aoun will Burn his Fingers
Naharnet/Lebanon Now MP Oqab Saqr has accused Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun of relying on militias on the street to achieve his political objectives. Saqr told the Kuwaiti al-Seyassah daily in an interview published on Friday that Aoun's latest statements were "very dangerous." They give an impression that Premier-designate Najib Miqati is his "employee."On Wednesday, Aoun warned Miqati against announcing a de facto cabinet, saying such a government was doomed to failure. He also slammed President Michel Suleiman and Miqati for the delay in the cabinet formation. "We will reach a stage when Aoun will burn his fingers," Saqr warned saying that the FPM leader would implicate his ally Hizbullah in his plan to resort to the street to "stop the democratic process." He advised Miqati to review his mission, which according to Saqr has become a "gamble." Saqr added that the premier-designate is being held "captive" by Aoun at his residence in Rabiyeh. The lawmaker told LBCI's Kalam al-Nass talk show on Thursday night that Syrian accusations against him of providing military and financial support to the country's opposition were "part of the Syrian regime's week imagination." He unveiled that the Syrian intelligence had hacked his email. "Congratulations. Let them search in it for 10 years and let them tell me if they find anything in it." Saqr also advised Damascus and its backer Hizbullah to "stop their childish acts." Beirut, 06 May 11, 10:18

Singh: UNIFIL is Cooperating with Lebanese Army to Implement Resolution 1701
Naharnet/The spokesman for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon Neeraj Singh stressed on Friday the close cooperation between the Lebanese army and international troops in order to implement U.N. Security Council resolution 1701. He said that the army holds the main responsibility of maintaining security, the laws, and order in the area. UNIFIL is maintaining its joint effort with the Lebanese authorities in order to guarantee that any threat in their areas of operation will be dealt with accordingly, Singh stated. The international troops and Lebanese army and people have a joint interest to maintain the stability in the South and prevent violations of resolution 1701, he added. Beirut, 06 May 11, 16:57

WikiLeaks: Hariri Urged U.S. to Provide Military with Helicopters to Defeat Hizbullah
Naharnet/In a WikiLeaks cable dated May 24, 2008, caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri seemed defeated, distressed and still indecisive about announcing his candidacy for the premiership. Hariri complained how the international community was ignoring Hizbullah's ability to take control of most of Beirut in May 7, 2008. "When we were under fire, everyone (international community) was in a coma," he told then U.S. Charge d'Affaires Michele Sison during a meeting in Qoreitem. According to the cable, Hariri said the only success that the Doha agreement was able to achieve was bringing a new president, "but Suleiman is facing a huge problem: After he was beloved by all Lebanese, he became hated following his failure to confront Hizbullah." The Caretaker PM said that "it's up to him" to decide who the next prime minister will be. The cable also quoted him as saying that "we will do everything we can to preserve the country's stability." Hariri complained that it was not enough for U.S. officials to make statements that Hizbullah was losing its supporters. "This doesn't help us� What we need is a Paris 3 conference and an urgent military aid." "We need combat helicopters if we want to defeat Hizbullah," he stressed. Sison said in the cable that Hariri was determined to face the political challenges in the parliamentary elections in 2009. Beirut, 06 May 11, 09:13

WikiLeaks: Geagea Says Hariri and Jumblat Might Make Deals at March 14 Expense
Naharnet/Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea expressed fear over carrying out deals under the table to form the new government and said that caretaker PM Saad Hariri might drop the agenda of the March 14 forces, a WikiLeaks cable published in al-Akhbar newspaper on Friday said. The cable dated May 15, 2008 said that the LF leader described the caretaker PM's words as "nonsense" and said that Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat is "scared" so they're seeking a way out. "Jumblat shouldn't attend" the Doha meeting, Geagea told then U.S. Charge d'Affaires Michele Sison because he was certain that the PSP leader "will carry out deals behind everyone's back." Geagea said that Hariri wanted to make deals to ensure his nomination for the premiership. The cable quoted him as saying that "the LF will withdraw from the camp (March 14) if any deal was held under the tables." He said that the March 14 forces will not agree on a 10-10-10 equation to form the cabinet or any agreement that might give Hizbullah the right to veto the government's decisions. "Hizbullah had lost more than it had won because of what it did," Geagea stressed. The LF leader recommended that the army seizes any ammunition or weapons stored in Hizbullah-controlled areas, warning the U.S. from providing Army Intelligence chief George Khoury with surveillance equipment "he might use against the Lebanese Forces." Geagea told Sison that military officers are cooperating with "extremists" to develop and monitor the organizations that have arms. "The weakest link is Syria, which should be targeted with new international resolutions," he said, urging the U.N. Security Council to threaten to interfere indirectly if Hizbullah used its arms. Beirut, 06 May 11, 10:49

Activists: 6 killed in Syria by security forces
May 06, 2011 04 /Associated Press/Daily Star
BEIRUT: Syrian security forces opened fire on protesters Friday, killing at least six people as thousands joined demonstrations across the country calling for an end to President Bashar Assad's regime, witnesses and activists said. Syrian authorities also detained Riad Seif, a leading opposition figure and former lawmaker who has been an outspoken critic of the regime during the seven-week uprising, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Five people were killed in the central city of Homs and one was killed in Hama, said a senior member of a human rights group that compiles death toll figures in Syria.
Like most activists and witnesses who spoke to The Associated Press, he asked that his name not be used for fear of reprisals by the government.
"We were chanting, peaceful, peaceful, and we didn't even throw a stone at the security forces," said a witness in Homs. "But they waited for us to reach the main square and then they opened fire on us." From Hama, footage posted on YouTube showed protesters frantically trying to resuscitate a man lying on the ground with a bloodied face and shirt, while people shouted "God is great!" The protesters turned out Friday despite a bloody crackdown on the uprising. More than 565 civilians and 100 soldiers have been killed since the revolt began in March, according to rights groups.
Rallies were held in major areas including the capital, Damascus, and its suburbs, the central city of Homs, Banias on the coast and Qamishli in the northeast.
"The people want to topple the regime!" protesters shouted, echoing the cries heard during the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia.
Witnesses also reported some of the tightest security seen since the protests began in mid-March. In the Damascus suburb of Douma, scene of intense protests over recent weeks, security forces cordoned off the area to prevent anyone from entering or leaving.
A witness near Douma said he saw a train carrying about 15 army tanks heading north Thursday evening toward the central province of Homs, another site of recent violence.
Another activist in Damascus said hundreds of people marched in the central neighborhood of Midan. In Banias, witnesses said more than 5,000 people carrying olive branches and Syrian flags also were calling for regime change.
They were among several demonstrations and marches planned for Friday, the main day of protests in the Arab world, for what activists were calling a "Day of Defiance." More than 565 civilians and 100 soldiers have been killed since an anti-regime uprising, inspired by revolts in Tunisia and Egypt, began in March, according to rights groups.
The activists said security forces set up checkpoints and closed some areas that experienced protests in recent weeks.
In the southern city of Daraa, where the army announced the end to an 11-day military operation Thursday, residents said troops were still in the streets, causing some would-be demonstrators to be wary of taking part in a planned protest Friday.
"There's a tank stationed at each corner in Daraa. There is no way people can hold a protest today," a resident said by telephone. "It means more killing. Daraa is taking a break. We don't want to see more killing or face tank guns." The activists spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of government reprisals.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said a medical team reached Daraa on Thursday with trucks carrying humanitarian goods and medical supplies. The ICRC's head of delegation in Damascus, Marianne Gasser, said helping people in Daraa is a priority "because it is the city that has been hardest hit by the ongoing violence."
The ICRC had appealed to Syrian authorities earlier in the week to allow it to access to Daraa after being unable to reach the city previously while it was under siege by security forces.
Assad is determined to crush the revolt that has now become the gravest challenge to his family's 40-year dynasty. He has tried a combination of brute force, intimidation and promises of reform to quell the unrest, but his attempts have failed so far.
Security forces have repeatedly opened fire on protesters during rallies around the country in the past week and last Friday at least 65 people were killed, according to rights groups.
The mounting death toll -- and the siege in Daraa -- has only served to embolden protesters who are now demanding nothing less than the end of Assad's regime. There also has been growing international condemnation of the government's tactics. Syria blames the unrest on a foreign conspiracy and "terrorist groups" that it says have taken advantage of protests.
The uprising in Syria was sparked by the arrest of teenagers who scrawled anti-regime graffiti on a wall in Daraa. Protests spread quickly across the nation of some 23 million people.
Assad inherited power from his father in 2000.

Hariri: STL seeks to prevent recurrence of heinous crimes
May 06, 2011/ By Rima Aboulmona The Daily Star
Hariri paid tribute to the fallen members of the press in Lebanon, describing them as �the martyrs of the free word and Lebanese journalism.� BEIRUT: The Special Tribunal for Lebanon was established to achieve justice and prevent a repeat of the heinous crimes that have plagued Lebanon since 2004, caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri said in a statement Friday on the occasion of Lebanon�s Martyrs Day. �From 2004 until today Lebanon has witnessed a wave of assassinations, most notably the massive earthquake on Feb. 14, the day martyr Rafik Hariri was assassinated,� the prime minister said, referring to the 2005 Beirut bombing which killed his father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. "The Special Tribunal for Lebanon was not only set up to uncover the truth and achieve justice, but to prevent the recurrence of these heinous crimes in Lebanon in the future," Hariri added. He paid tribute to the fallen members of the press in Lebanon, describing them as �the martyrs of the free word and Lebanese journalism,� adding that they had �paid with their lives for liberty and free expression.�
Hariri hoped Lebanon would continue to be a �platform for democracy and freedom and the pioneer of the free press in the Arab world.�

Syrian ambassador holds �good� talks with Aoun
May 06, 2011 /By Rima Aboulmona /The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Syria�s Ambassador to Lebanon Abdel Karim Ali described talks Friday with Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun as �good,� the National News Agency reported. The visit comes just two days after the Lebanese Christian leader warned Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati against announcing a de facto government.
The morning meeting at Aoun�s residence in Rabieh, just north of Beirut, was also attended by Aoun�s son-in-law, caretaker Energy Minister Jibran Bassil, the NNA said. Ali described the meeting as �good,� but declined to provide further details of the meeting. Meanwhile, a member from Berri�s parliamentary bloc, MP Ali Khreiss, said Lebanon was on the brink of the abyss.�Lebanon, a nation that has suffered a lot, is today on the brink of the abyss due to the political vacuum as a result of the failure to form a national salvation government,� Khreiss said in a statement. He said Mikati was not willing to form a de facto government, adding that a decision to appoint a military officer to the Interior Ministry portfolio was not problematic to the Hezbollah-led March 8 coalition. Lebanon has been under a caretaker government since Jan. 12 after March 8 coalition ministers resigned from Prime Minister Saad Hariri�s Cabinet, causing its collapse. On Jan 25, Mikati was appointed prime minister-designate and has spent over three months trying to form the new Cabinet, which many believe has been stalled because of a dispute between Aoun and President Michel Sleiman over the Interior Ministry portfolio. Sources close to Mikati signaled Wednesday that the prime minister-designate would announce a de a facto government if the row over the Interior Ministry was not resolved soon. During an interview on FPM-affilitated OTV television station Wednesday night, Aoun warned Mikati against announcing a de facto Cabinet, saying such a government was doomed to fail. He also lashed out at Sleiman and Mikati, blaming them for the delay in the government formation process.Aoun also renewed his demand that the Interior Ministry portfolio be allotted to a member of his bloc, claiming that the performance of caretaker Interior Minister Ziyad Baroud was unsatisfactory. Berri has reportedly convinced Mikati to put off plans to announce a Cabinet during the weekend come what may, pending a new round of consultations to break the three-month-long deadlock, a source close to the government formation talks said Thursday.

Hizbullah Slams Bahrain Arrests: Part of Oppressive Crackdown
Naharnet/Hizbullah on Thursday condemned the arrest of Sheikh Mohammed Ali al-Mahfouz, secretary-general of Bahrain's Islamic Action Society, describing it as part of "an unjust arrest campaign conducted by the Bahraini authorities against national, religious, medical and professional figures in Bahrain.""These continuous arrests are part of an oppressive crackdown � that includes the burning of Korans and the desecration of mosques and (Muslim) scholars' tombs," the party said in a statement. It called on the international human rights organizations to defend "basic human rights" in Bahrain, condemning the "suspicious media blackout regarding the violations taking place in Bahrain and the silence of the international community, which sees events in our Arab region through one eye." Beirut, 05 May 11, 22:28

Williams Meets Berri: Exploiting Resources in Territorial Waters Very Important Reason to Form Government
Naharnet/U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams stressed on Friday the need for the formation of a functioning government "the sooner the better."He said after holding talks with Speaker Nabih Berri: "There are many concerns of importance to ordinary Lebanese people that need to be addressed, irrespective of their confession or their politics." "The Speaker and I also discussed the developments in the Arab world, the changes that have been taking place and the emphasis that the Secretary General has put on the need for dialogue and reforms, whether in Syria or Libya or Bahrain and to refrain from violent responses to legitimate expressions of popular aspirations," he added."All governments need to respect basic human rights and to engage in dialogue," Williams noted. The meeting also addressed maritime issues and resources, reiterating the U.N.'s position that "Lebanon was fully entitled to take the necessary measures to explore and exploit such resources within its territorial waters.""This is one more reason, a very important reason, why a new government should be formed as soon as possible," he stressed. Beirut, 06 May 11, 16:30

Report: Lebanese Officers Training in Syria Return Upon Regime's Request
Naharnet/Lebanese army officers who were on training programs in Syria have returned to Lebanon upon the request of the Syrian authorities, al-Liwaa daily reported on Friday.
The newspaper said several agreements signed between the Lebanese and Syrian armies stress on the exchange of expertise and attending training courses. There were six Lebanese officers in Syria divided between the Aleppo and Homs military schools, al-Liwaa added. More than 550 people have been killed in Syria since security forces began cracking down on anti-regime protesters. Scores of soldiers have also been reported killed. Beirut, 06 May 11, 08:47

Hezbollah Setting Up Operations Near the Mexico Border
Hezbollah Considered To Be More Advanced Than Al-Qaida
10News Room/Fox News
http://www.10news.com/news/27780427/detail.html
May 4, 2011/SAN DIEGO -- A terrorist organization whose home base is in the Middle East has established another home base across the border in Mexico. "They are recognized by many experts as the 'A' team of Muslim terrorist organizations," a former U.S. intelligence agent told 10News. The former agent, referring to Shi'a Muslim terrorist group Hezbollah, added, "They certainly have had successes in big-ticket bombings." Some of the group's bombings include the U.S. embassy in Beirut and Israeli embassy in Argentina. However, the group is now active much closer to San Diego. "We are looking at 15 or 20 years that Hezbollah has been setting up shop in Mexico," the agent told 10News. Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, U.S. policy has focused on al-Qaida and its offshoots. "They are more shooters than thinkers � it's a lot of muscles, courage, desire but not a lot of training," the agent said, referring to al-Qaida.
Hezbollah, he said, is far more advanced. "Their operators are far more skilled � they are the equals of Russians, Chinese or Cubans," he said. "I consider Hezbollah much more dangerous in that sense because of strategic thinking; they think more long-term." Hezbolah has operated in South America for decades and then Central America, along with their sometime rival, sometime ally Hamas. Now, the group is blending into Shi'a Muslim communities in Mexico, including Tijuana. Other pockets along the U.S.-Mexico border region remain largely unidentified as U.S. intelligence agencies are focused on the drug trade. "They have had clandestine training in how to live in foreign hostile territories," the agent said. The agent, who has spent years deep undercover in Mexico, said Hezbollah is partnering with drug organizations, but which ones is not clear at this time. He told 10News the group receives cartel cash and protection in exchange for Hezbollah expertise. "From money laundering to firearms training and explosives training," the agent said. For example, he tracked, along with Mexican intelligence, two Hezbollah operatives in safe houses in Tijuana and Durango "I confirmed the participation of cartel members as well as other Hezbollah individuals living and operating out of there," he said. Tunnels the cartels have built that cross from Mexico into the U.S. have grown increasingly sophisticated. It is a learned skill, the agent said points to Hezbollah's involvement.
"Where are the knowledgeable tunnel builders? Certainly in the Middle East," he said. Why have Americans not heard more about Hezbollah's activities happening so close to the border?
"If they really wanted to start blowing stuff up, they could do it," the agent said. According to the agent, the organization sees the U.S. as their "cash cow," with illegal drug and immigration operations. Many senior Hezbollah leaders are wealthy businessmen, the agent said. "The money they are sending back to Lebanon is too important right now to jeopardize those operations," he said. The agent said the real concern is the group's long-term goal of radicalizing Muslim communities. "They're focusing on developing � infiltrating communities within North America," the agent told 10News.

Middle East-Latin America Terrorism Connection
AnalysisWritten by: FPRI
May 5, 2011
By Vanessa Neumann
http://www.eurasiareview.com/middle-east-latin-america-terrorism-connection-analysis-05052011/
In a global triangulation that would excite any conspiracy buff, the globalization of terrorism now links Colombian FARC with Hezbollah, Iran with Russia, elected governments with violent insurgencies, uranium with AK-103s, and cocaine with oil. At the center of it all, is Latin America�especially the countries under the influence of Venezuelan President Hugo Ch�vez.
The most publicized (and publicly contested) connection between Hugo Ch�vez and the Colombian narcoterrorist organization Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) was revealed after the March 2008 Colombian raid on the FARC camp in Dev�a, inside Ecuador, where a laptop was discovered that apparently belonged to Luis Edgar Dev�a Silva (aka, �Ra�l Reyes�), head of FARC�s International Committee (COMINTER). The Colombian government under then-President �lvaro Uribe announced that Interpol had certified the authenticity of the contents of the computer disks, whose files traced over US$ 200 million funneled to the FARC through the Venezuelan state-owned, and completely Ch�vez-dominated, Petr�leos de Venezuela (PDVSA). On May 10th, 2011, the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) will publish one of its strategic dossiers based on a study of the computer disks entitled The FARC Files: Venezuela, Ecuador and the Secret Archives of �Ra�l Reyes� that purports to elucidate the organization�s development and internationalization.
According to some already leaked documents, Venezuelan General Hugo Carvajal and other members of the armed forces were in direct contact with and lending financial support to the late FARC leader Antonio Mar�n, aka �Tirofijo� (�Sure Shot�) and �Manuel Marulanda.� Of the fact that the FARC enjoys at least ideological support from the governments of Ecuador and Venezuela, there can be no doubt: Venezuelan President Hugo Ch�vez and Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa have both argued that the FARC should not be considered a terrorist organization.
While support of the insurgents next door is certainly nothing new, Venezuelan military and terror alliances are spanning the globe and expanding at a worrying rate for all, especially US interests in the region.
As I wrote in The Weekly Standard last October[1], Venezuelan President Hugo Ch�vez and Russian President Dimitry Medvedev jointly announced that they had reached an agreement for Russia to build two 1200-megawatt nuclear reactors in Venezuela. Also part of the deal was the latest installment of $6.6 billion of conventional weapons purchases since 2005: ninety-two T-72 and T-90 tanks that will replace the aging French MX-30s, ten Ilyushin Il-76MD-90 planes, two Il-78MK refueling aircraft, as well as five S-300 missile systems. Iran had also sought the S-300 but Medvedev banned the sale for fear of violating U.N. Security Council Resolution 1929, concerning sanctions on Iran. The S-300 missiles and their attendant Smerch multiple rocket launchers are considered far more powerful than the Tor M-1 missile systems that both Venezuela and Iran have previously purchased in the past five years. Caracas has also confirmed plans to purchase up to 10 Mi-28NE attack helicopters on top of the 10 Mi-35M helicopters purchased in the past half-decade. That is an awful lot of weaponry for a country that has not fought a war since its independence from Spain in 1821.
While Ch�vez has said that he is arming his citizen militias, known as Bolivarian Circles, rumor has it that the weapons may also be going to agents and fighters from the Colombian FARC, the Iranian-backed terrorist group Hezbollah and Cuban security and intelligence services, whose numbers, according to many think tanks and U.S. security sources, have swelled in Venezuela. Interpol has confirmed evidence that Venezuela has funneled well over $300 million to the FARC and has built an ammunition plant to supply AK-103s, the FARC weapon of choice.
That is only one piece of the puzzle; the other is Iran, where Venezuelan money has also been flowing.
Venezuelan President Hugo Ch�vez and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad publicly call each other �brothers� and last year signed 11 memoranda of understanding for, among other initiatives, joint oil and gas exploration, as well as the construction of tanker ships and petrochemical plants. Ch�vez�s assistance to the Islamic Republic in circumventing U.N. sanctions has got the attention of the new Republican leadership of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Connie Mack (both R-FL) have said they intend to launch a money-laundering investigation into the Venezuelan state oil company Petr�leos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA). In July 2010, the EU ordered the seizure of all the assets of the Venezuelan International Development Bank, an affiliate of the Export Development Bank of Iran (EDBI), one of 34 Iranian entities implicated in the development of nuclear or ballistic technology and sanctioned by the Treasury Department. In the meantime, Tehran and Caracas have announced that PDVSA will be investing $780 million in the South Pars gas field in southern Iran.
Uranium, sought by both Iran and Russia, is a key aspect of the two countries� strategic relationship: Iran is reportedly helping Venezuela find and refine its estimated 50,000 tons of uranium reserves.
So, on one side Venezuela is funding and arming the FARC; on the other it is purchasing nuclear reactors and weapons from the Russians; on yet another, it is sending money to Iran and helping it find and enrich uranium. And then there is Hezbollah, Iran�s Lebanon-based asset.
Reports that Venezuela has provided Hezbollah operatives with Venezuelan national identity cards are so rife, they were raised in the July 27, 2010, Senate hearing for the recently nominated U.S. ambassador to Venezuela, Larry Palmer. When Palmer answered that he believed the reports, Ch�vez refused to accept him as ambassador in Venezuela. Meanwhile, Iran Air, the self-proclaimed �airline of the Islamic Republic of Iran,� operates a Tehran-Caracas flight commonly referred to as �Aeroterror� by intelligence officials for allegedly facilitating the access of terrorist suspects to South America. The Venezuelan government shields passenger lists from Interpol on that flight.
Iran, meanwhile, has developed significant relationships elsewhere in Latin America � most prominently with Ch�vez�s allies and fellow Bolivarian Revolutionaries: Bolivian President Evo Morales, Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa and Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega.
In December 2008 the EDBI offered to deposit $120 million in the Ecuadorean Central Bank to fund bilateral trade, and Iran and Ecuador have signed a $30 million deal to conduct joint mining projects in Ecuador through the Chemical-Geotechnical-Metallurgical Research Center in Ecuador. Even as that deal carefully avoids mentioning uranium, the IAEA�s March 2009 plans to help Ecuador explore its vast uranium reserves were largely intended to highlight and preclude Iranian involvement. In February 2010 the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force, a multilateral organization that combats money laundering and terrorist financing, placed Ecuador on a list of countries that failed to comply with its regulations.
Middle Eastern terrorism, however, is not new to Latin America and has been on the US Army�s radar for many years. [2]
Latin America�s Tri-Border Area (TBA), bounded by Puerto Iguazu, Argentina; Ciudad del Este, Paraguay; and Foz do Iguacu, Brazil, has long been an ideal breeding ground for terrorist groups. The TBA, South America�s busiest contraband and smuggling center, is home to a large, active Arab and Muslim community consisting of a Shi�a majority, a Sunni minority, and a small population of Christians who emigrated from Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, and the Palestinian territories about 50 years ago. Most of these Arab immigrants are involved in commerce in Ciudad del Este but live in Foz do Iguacu on the Brazilian side of the Iguacu River.
In 2005, six million Muslims were estimated to inhabit Latin American cities. However, ungoverned areas, primarily in the Amazon regions of Suriname, Guyana, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil, present easily exploitable terrain over which to move people and material. The Free Trade Zones of Iquique, Chile; Maicao, Colombia; and Col�n, Panama, can generate undetected financial and logistical support for terrorist groups. Colombia, Bolivia, and Peru offer cocaine as a lucrative source of income. In addition, Cuba and Venezuela have cooperative agreements with Syria, Libya, and Iran.
Argentine officials believe Hezbollah is still active in the TBA. They attribute the detonation of a car bomb outside Israel�s embassy in Buenos Aires on 17 March 1992 to Hezbollah extremists. Officials also maintain that with Iran�s assistance, Hezbollah carried out a car-bomb attack on the main building of the Jewish Community Center (AMIA) in Buenos Aires on 18 July 1994 in protest of the Israeli-Jordanian peace agreement that year.
Today, one of the masterminds of those attacks, the Iranian citizen and Shia Muslim teacher, Mohsen Rabbani, remains not only at large, but extremely active in recruiting young Brazilians, according to reports in Brazilian magazine Veja. [3] �Now based in Iran, he continues to play a significant role in the spread of extremism in Latin America,� prosecutor Alberto Nisman, head of the special unit of the Argentine prosecutors charged with investigating the attacks, said to VEJA. The enticement of Brazilians for courses abroad has been monitored for four years by the Federal Police and the ABIN, the government�s secret service.
One hundred eighty kilometers away from Recife, in rural Pernambuco, the city of Belo Jardim remains the most active center for the recruitment of extremists in Latin America. [4] Along with the recruits in Belo Jardim, youth from Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Mexico also travel to Iran for religious instruction under Rabbani.
The Federal Police has information that Rabbani has been to Brazil several times in recent years. In one of those visits, almost three years ago, he boarded the Iran Air flight from Tehran to Caracas, Venezuela and then from there, entered Brazil illegally.
So while ungovernability through either government weakness (or lack of will) to exert controls over immigration and the flows of money, drugs and weapons has always been an issue, it is the new government complicity that makes it all the more dangerous.
Even ahead of the IISS dossier�s publication, the most shocking revelations into the global interconnectedness of Latin American governments and Middle Eastern terrorist groups have come from Walid Makled, Venezuela�s latter-day Pablo Escobar, who was arrested on August 19, 2010 in C�cuta, a town on the Venezuelan-Colombian border. A Venezuelan of Syrian descent known variously as �El Turco� (�The Turk�) or �El Arabe� (�The Arab�), he is allegedly responsible for smuggling 10 tons of cocaine a month into the US and Europe � a full 10% of the world�s supply and 60% of Europe�s supply. His massive infrastructure and distribution network make this entirely plausible, as well as entirely implausible the Venezuelan government did not know. Makled owned Venezuela�s biggest airline, Aeropostal, huge warehouses in Venezuela�s biggest port, Puerto Cabello, and bought enormous quantities of urea (used in cocaine processing) from a government-owned chemical company.
Indeed since his arrest and incarceration in the Colombian prison La Picota, Makled has given numerous interviews to various media outlets, in which he has claimed that he paid more than a million dollars a month to various high-ranking Venezuelan government officials who were his partners in trafficking FARC cocaine � amongst the named: Venezuelan Minister of the Interior and also Minister of Justice, Tarek El Aissami, the General-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Unified Command, General Henry Rangel Silva, and the Director of Military Intelligence, General Hugo Carvajal.
Although the US had issued an arrest warrant and subjected him to sanctions under the Kingpin Act, Makled is being extradited to Venezuela, not the US. While the US dithered on Colombia�s offer of extradition to the US, Venezuelan President Hugo Ch�vez requested Makled�s extradition to Venezuela, where he is (in the ultimate ironic twist) wanted for cocaine trafficking and at least two murders.
When asked on camera by a Univisi�n television reporter whether he had any relation to the FARC, he answered: �That is what I would say to the American prosecutor.� Asked directly whether he knew of Hezbollah operations in Venezuela, he answered: �In Venezuela? Of course! That which I understand is that they work in Venezuela. [Hezbollah] make money and all of that money they send to the Middle East.� [5]
Makled�s extradition to Venezuela rather than the US is thus a terrible loss for both the United States�s Global War on Terror (GWOT) and the world�s intelligence communities: in Venezuela�s heavily politicized judicial system Makled will never receive a fair trial and any testimony he might give will certainly be concealed.
The problem now is that Latin American support for terrorism has growing state support�and this should worry everyone.
Vanessa Neumann is an Associate of the University Seminar on Latin America at the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University. A native Venezuelan, Dr. Neumann has worked as a journalist in Caracas, London and the United States. She is Editor-at-Large of Diplomat, a London-based magazine to the diplomatic community and a regular contributor to The Weekly Standard on Latin American politics.
Notes
1. http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/hugo-ch-vezs-military-buildup-and-iranian-ties_511234.html
2. http://www.army.mil/professionalWriting/volumes/volume3/january_2005/1_05_4.html
3. http://veja.abril.com.br/blog/reinaldo/geral/brasil-vigia-suspeitos-de-elo-com-extremistas-no-ira/ http://veja.abril.com.br/blog/reinaldo/geral/quantos-sao-os-aneis-que-separam-o-pt-dos-terroristas-islamicos-que-atuam-no-brasil/ http://veja.abril.com.br/blog/reinaldo/geral/acordem-senhores-congressistas-ja-o-governo-nao-da-bola-terrorista-alicia-homens-pobres-do-interior-do-brasil-para-fazer-%E2%80%9Ccurso-de-religiao%E2%80%9D-no-ira/
4. http://interamericansecuritywatch.com/2011/04/20/the-terrorist-%E2%80%9Cprofessor%E2%80%9D/
5. http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/15355-venezuela-houses-farc-and-hezbollah-drug-lord.html
About the author:
FPRI
Founded in 1955, FPRI is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization devoted to bringing the insights of scholarship to bear on the development of policies that advance U.S. national interests and seeks to add perspective to events by fitting them into the larger historical and cultural context of international politics.

Killing Terror Leaders: Israel's Experience
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703834804576301313997281974.html
The elimination of an organization's leader tends to paralyze the group in the short term, but it sometimes results in the rise of an even more dangerous successor.
By RONEN BERGMAN
Before most Americans had heard the name Osama bin Laden, Israel's Mossad was on to him. In 1995, when unknown assailants tried to kill then-Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Ethiopia, the CIA and the Egyptian intelligence service requested the Mossad's assistance in investigating the incident. The Mossad discovered that Iran and a hitherto unknown mujahedeen group were jointly responsible for carrying out the attempted assassination. Notable among these mujahedeen�veterans of the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan who had found refuge in Sudan�was a certain wealthy Saudi by the name of bin Laden.
The Mossad was sufficiently concerned by this development that it set up a Global Jihad desk�the first Western intelligence organization to do so�in a bid to gather information on the new phenomenon of scattered terrorist cells lacking a hierarchical structure and regular state assistance. The Mossad was also the first to attempt, unsuccessfully, to assassinate bin Laden: In 1995, it recruited his secretary to poison him.
It has long been evident that killings of this kind are an invaluable component of the military arsenal in the fight against terrorism. The country that has carried out more targeted killings than any other since the end of World War II is Israel. Though it officially denies responsibility for most of the killings it has carried out, the Jewish state has repeatedly eliminated field operatives and military, political and ideological leaders of organizations it has deemed dangerous.
.While formally opposed to Israel's actions, U.S. administrations have turned a blind eye. And since the mid-1990s, Israel has shared a great deal of technology that it developed in its use of drones with the U.S. Today, drones are America's primary weapon in its own targeted killings. Israel also trained U.S. special forces in penetration and ambush techniques in urban environments�techniques that were later put into practice in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
With Osama bin Laden dead, the question facing Western intelligence services is what direction al Qaeda will take next. The lesson that the Israeli intelligence community has learned the hard way is that targeted killings, as often as not, have the effect of shuffling the deck in undesirable ways. The elimination of an organization's leader tends to paralyze the group in the short term, but it sometimes results in the rise of an even more dangerous successor.
On the afternoon of Feb. 16, 1992, Israeli Air Force Apache helicopters hit a convoy of vehicles in Lebanon, killing Abbas Mussawi, one of the founders and the secretary-general of Hezbollah. A successful operation in itself, Mussawi's assassination led to the retaliatory bombing attack on the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, in which 29 civilians lost their lives. In the long run, the killing resulted in the rise of Hassan Nasrallah as the new leader of Hezbollah. Talented and charismatic, Nasrallah turned Hezbollah into a dominant political and military force in Lebanon. He also changed the organization's goals, prioritizing the struggle against Israel instead of the domestic Lebanese power struggle, which was his predecessor's focus. (Nasrallah has largely remained underground since Israel's war against Hezbollah in 2006.)
Similarly, in 2004, Israel's then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon approved the assassination of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the leader of Hamas, based on the Israeli intelligence community's consensus that eliminating Yassin would cripple Hamas's future growth. This was also the view of the U.S. administration, which received prior notice of the intended killing.
Indeed, the killing of Yassin caused considerable immediate damage to Hamas and its ability to reorganize. But in the long term, the demise of Yassin�a devout Sunni who categorically refused to cooperate with Shiite Iran�made possible the rise of Khaled Meshaal, who had no such compunction. As a result, Hamas became, and remains, a much more dangerous organization�one that receives massive military and financial support from Tehran.
In 1988, Israel eliminated the military leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Khalil al-Wazir (Abu Jihad) in Tunis. The reason was his involvement in a series of fatal terrorist attacks and his superior ability to plan and carry out terrorist operations. Abu Jihad's death was a serious military blow, and it had a considerable effect on the organization's morale. But Israeli leaders hoped that eliminating Abu Jihad would help bring an end to the popular uprising, the first Intifada, that had broken out a short time before. In this, of course, they were to be profoundly disappointed.
.There are those in Israel who have come to regret the assassination of Abu Jihad. Many political observers believe that had the charismatic leader been alive today he might have been able to unite the Palestinian people and fulfill the agreements with Israel that Yasser Arafat systematically violated.
The case of Arafat is complicated. Israel first tried to assassinate him in March 1968 in Jordan. He escaped, and many Israeli soldiers were killed. Countless other attempts were made on his life, including by shelling his bunker during the war in Beirut in 1982.
Over the years, there was much debate in Israel's intelligence community about what to do with Arafat. Officials eventually decided that he had ceased to be a target from the moment he received international legitimacy as a political leader (including among sections of the Israeli public).
But when he openly supported the waves of Palestinian terror that hit Israel starting in September 2000, his legitimacy was tarnished. Israel once again began examining the possibility of killing him. One suggestion was to capture him and deport him to Lebanon. This idea was vetoed by Mr. Sharon, who feared that Arafat would become a symbol and a rallying point. Mr. Sharon also vetoed all proposals to eliminate Arafat in a military operation. The issue was resolved when Arafat died in a hospital in Paris after a mysterious illness. Many of his followers blamed the Mossad.
Arafat's death has had a certain beneficial effect both on Israel and on the West Bank. His successors, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad, have acted with determination against terror and have brought an improved quality of life and economic growth to inhabitants of the West Bank. On the other hand, where Arafat was strong Mr. Abbas has been weak, failing to prevent the split between the Fatah-led West Bank and the Hamas-led Gaza.
There is no doubt that the killing of bin Laden, like that of other terrorist leaders, was justified. But it remains to be seen who and what will eventually rise to take his place, and whether the apprentice will be more awful than the master.
**Mr. Bergman is a senior military and intelligence analyst for Yedioth Ahronoth, an Israeli daily. He is currently working on a book about the Mossad and the art of assassination.

New Opinion: Let�s end all the delusion
Now Lebanon
May 5, 2011
Hezbollah-backed PM-designate Najib Mikati called the party a �cancer� in a meeting with US officials in 2008.
Hezbollah is a �tumor that must be removed.� Lebanon cannot survive with Hezbollah�s �mini-state,� and Hezbollah will bring the country to a �sad ending.�
These three sound bites were neither uttered by a White House spokesperson, an Israeli general, nor, for that matter, a member of the March 14 opposition � all people we might expect to hold such views.
But if we are to believe the validity of the by-now-infamous Wikileaks files, they were the words of Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati, talking to US officials in 2008.
Indeed, those Lebanese who believe in the notion of the state would agree with Mikati, with some even applauding him for his forthright views at a time when many Lebanese politicians might have wanted to play it safe.
We must also bear in mind that the comments were made on January 14, 2008, four months before March 8�s attempted coup, when Hezbollah-led opposition gunmen overran West Beirut and attacked areas of the Chouf. It was a time when many of us still believed that whatever we thought of the so-called Resistance, it would never turn its guns on its own people.
So it is unlikely that these shameful actions did anything to change Mikati�s opinion. Indeed, since then, the party has only further demonstrated that it has nothing but disdain for the offices of state or the wellbeing of the Lebanese people. Furthermore, let us not forget the judicial indictments that are expected to be handed down to Hezbollah members for their alleged involvement in the 2005 murder of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
This is hardly a party poised to lead Lebanon into the Arab world�s bright new summer, one defined by democracy, freedom of expression, self determination and all the other principles for which blood has been shed in the previous three months.
In fact, if we are to look at how Hezbollah brought down the freely-elected March 14-led government in January, not to mention how, by all accounts, it �convinced� Progressive Socialist Party leader Wald Jumblatt to jump ship, Mikati�s opinion, if we are to believe it, can only have hardened.
Mikati�s words are, as the leaked cable describes, those of a �statesman.� (He was speaking as a former prime minister, after all). Mikati should recognize that this reputation was forged before he agreed to helm the disastrous conglomeration of political dinosaurs and opportunists, one which, after three months, is still unable to form a government.
Mikati should look back to the time when he made his comments and recognize that unless he acts soon to resolve this shameful crisis, he will be tarred with the same cancerous brush as Hezbollah. If, as is looking increasingly likely, the issue is beyond his control, he should do the statesmanlike thing and withdraw his candidature. Then, and only then, his reputation may be salvaged.
Staying with delusions, most people probably did not catch Syrian Social Nationalist Party MP Marian Fares saying that �Syria will end the siege� and come out victorious because it wants to implement international resolutions,� in an interview with the National News Agency on Sunday. Fares added that Syria is not alone in its battle to champion the oppressed people and that the country would �emerge stronger to support the Syrian, Palestinian and Lebanese people.�
It was an insignificant statement from a now insignificant party, but it spoke volumes about how the Arab world has been fed an opiate for the past 60 years. For it defined in spectacular fashion the illusion of what it means to live under the autocratic Arab yoke.
Lebanon has thankfully been spared the bloody excesses of what has become known as the Arab Spring, but what it must do is rethink its assessment of its so-called leaders. Should we really tolerate a political grouping that cannot organize itself even after three months and which is led by a man, who on record, called his major political partner a national cancer? And must we listen to the outdated statements trotted out by meaningless parties who owe their survival to a regime for whom suppression and repression are the answers to everything? Probably not.

Can Terrorist Groups Live Without Their Leaders?
By: Max Boot
May 5, 2011
What will the death of Osama bin Laden mean for the future of al Qaeda? The terrorist organization may be dealt a crippling blow by bin Laden�s loss, but the larger Islamist terrorist network will surely survive his death.
ForeignAffairs.com
What will the death of Osama bin Laden mean for the future of al Qaeda? That depends on whether al Qaeda more closely resembles the Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso) and the Kurdistan Workers� Party (PKK) -- or Hamas and Hezbollah.
The former two groups were crippled by the capture of their leaders. Peruvian authorities apprehended the Shining Path head Abimael Guzm�n in 1992, virtually eradicating the group. Turkish authorities arrested the PKK leader Abdullah �calan in 1999. Although the PKK continues to exist, it lacks the operational capacity it once had under �calan�s direction.
Hamas and Hezbollah, in contrast, have flourished despite the past loss of their top brass. In 2004, Israel eliminated Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, Hamas�s founder, and then his successor, Abdel Aziz Rantisi, employing helicopter-fired missiles in both cases. Israel killed Hezbollah's secretary-general, Abbas Mussawi, in a helicopter strike in 1992, and its director of military (i.e., terrorist) operations, Imad Mughniyeh, with a car bomb in 2008. Yet both organizations are stronger today than when they lost their respective leaders. Hamas now controls the Gaza Strip. Hezbollah recently managed to topple the pro-Western government of former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri and install Najib Mikati, a candidate more to its liking. Both movements are quickly becoming quasi-regular forces, armed with a frightening array of missiles provided by their patrons in Damascus and Tehran.
Why do some terrorist organizations wilt from a decapitation strategy, while others manage to flourish? In the aforementioned cases, much of the answer has to do with the fact that the Shining Path and the PKK, although large movements, were built around a cult of personality. Remove that personality, and it becomes difficult for followers to fill the gap. Hamas and Hezbollah, however, have always had a more collective leadership that could better survive losses at the top. Both groups also control substantial territory, which makes it harder to uproot them no matter how many leaders they lose.
Why do some terrorist organizations wilt from a decapitation strategy, while others flourish? That points to another major difference: in the case of the Shining Path and the PKK, the capture of their leaders represented only one part of a concerted (and often brutal) counterinsurgency strategy to root out those organizations. Israel, by contrast, has never made a real attempt to eradicate either Hamas or Hezbollah. Instead, it has been content to strike them periodically in the hope of establishing a degree of deterrence. To go further would involve having to occupy territory -- something most Israelis are loathe to do after the end of their traumatic 18-year experience in southern Lebanon from 1982 to 2000.
At which end of the spectrum does al Qaeda fall? Osama bin Laden had at least as much of a grip on his group as Guzm�n and �calan had on theirs. He represented the face of al Qaeda and his removal constitutes a serious blow. Many experts doubt that Ayman al-Zawahiri, al Qaeda�s longtime deputy, will be able to replace bin Laden successfully, because he is not as charismatic or popular.
Al Qaeda is also hurt by the fact that it does not truly control any territory -- not the way it once did in Afghanistan. Today, it is able to operate in places such as Pakistan and Yemen but only by staying on the run. It cannot plant its flag over "liberated" territory, as its Iraqi affiliate, al Qaeda in Iraq, once attempted to do in the Sunni Triangle. As a result, al Qaeda is more vulnerable to being uprooted than Hamas or Hezbollah.
Yet the United States is unable to conduct a real counterinsurgency campaign in countries such as Pakistan and Yemen that would root out the remnants of al Qaeda. Those countries are considered off-limits to most U.S. forces, save for occasional commando raids of the kind that targeted bin Laden. Meanwhile, the leaders of those nations are at best ambivalent about the U.S.-led war on terror, as demonstrated by the fact that bin Laden was able to live for years in an opulent mansion in a military garrison town just 35 miles north of Pakistan�s capital, Islamabad. The U.S. inability to target al Qaeda in such areas is a critical shortcoming in U.S. efforts to dismantle not only al Qaeda but also related groups such as the Pakistani Taliban, the Haqqani network, the Somali al Shahab, and others that operate in ungoverned or misgoverned space. Under those conditions -- which more closely resemble Lebanon or Gaza than Peru or Turkey -- it is hard for the United States to prevent a terrorist group from regenerating itself.
Al Qaeda may be dealt a crippling blow by bin Laden�s loss; it remains too soon to tell. But the larger Islamist terrorist network, with far-flung affiliates in countries such as Algeria, Yemen, and, of course, Pakistan, will surely survive his death. Bin Laden�s demise could even provide an opportunity for a new group or leader -- someone like Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born chief of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula -- to step forward and assume the leadership of the global jihad.
In the final analysis, targeting the leadership of an insurgent group is important but not sufficient. Defeating a terrorist or guerrilla organization requires a comprehensive approach that provides ground-level security and basic governance to prevent a shadow regime from taking root. That was the approach taken by the United States in Iraq and now in Afghanistan. Because the United States is not willing or able to make a similar commitment in Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen, or other chaotic societies, Islamist insurgencies are likely to flourish long after bin Laden�s demise.

Al-Qaida confirms death of Osama bin Laden
By The Associated Press/Al-Qaida has issued its first confirmation of Osama bin Laden's death in an Internet statement posted on militant website Friday's statement by the terror network says bin Laden's blood "will not be wasted" and it will continue attacking Americans and their allies. Bin Laden was killed Monday by U.S. commandos during a raid on his hideout in Pakistan. Also on Friday, U.S. drone aircraft fired missiles into a house in Pakistan's North Waziristan region, killing at least eight suspected militants

EU to decide whether to sanction Syria's Assad
Now Lebanon/May 6, 2011
The European Union is to decide whether to directly target Syrian President Bashar al-Assad at talks Friday to fine-tune a range of punitive measures due to his regime's savage crackdown on protests."One point is left outstanding," a European diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity: whether to put Assad on a list of around 15 Syrian officials facing an assets freeze and travel ban, a European diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity.
EU ambassadors from the 27-nation bloc meet later Friday to secure a final agreement on measures against Damascus and to set a date for them to come into effect.
The talks will be held as Syria braces for a "Day of Defiance" by opponents of Assad despite a deadly crackdown that has drawn international outrage. Human rights groups say more than 600 people have been killed and 8,000 have been jailed or gone missing.
Among EU sanctions already agreed in principle are an embargo on the sale of weapons and equipment that might be used for internal repression as well as a review of the bloc's cooperation with Syria. The EU is expected for instance to put the brakes on an association agreement opening the way for preferential EU-Syria trade deals and suspend cooperation program worth $310 million in grants and loans each year. But European nations have been split over taking punitive measures against Syrian officials blamed for the brutal repression of recent weeks, and particularly over whether to target Assad. Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain have argued in favor of a swift and clear message while a handful of smaller states, including Cyprus, Portugal and Greece were reticent over targeting Assad. Estonia for its part is concerned over the fate of seven of its nationals kidnapped in Lebanon.
Asked Tuesday whether France wanted Assad to be specifically named in the measures, Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said "France wishes so."
President Nicolas Sarkozy was later quoted as saying that "for Syria we are going to push for the adoption of the harshest possible sanctions."
But an influential Brussels-based think-tank, the International Crisis Group, warned this week that there was little scope for the international community to influence Syria.
"Outside actors possess little leverage, particularly at a time when the regime feels its survival is at stake. It has survived past periods of international isolation and likely feels it can weather the storm again," the ICG wrote. "The sanctions targeting individual officials involved in acts of repression that have been announced are unlikely to have any effect," it added.
"Broader sanctions run the dual risk of serving the regime by bolstering the claim that it is facing a foreign conspiracy and of harming ordinary citizens."
-AFP/NOW Lebanon

The Christians and the lions
Michael Young, May 6, 2011
Now Lebanon/Strangely, there has been uneasiness among some Lebanese Christians at the prospect that the Syrian regime might collapse amid popular discontent. Strange, because if anything has devastated Lebanese Christian power and confidence in four decades, other than the Christians� own abysmal choices, it is the Assad presidencies.
Those anxious about the possible downfall of the Assads have generally raised the same argument: Bashar al-Assad heads a minority Alawite regime that has been good to the Christians of Syria. His ouster would benefit the Sunnis, above all Sunni Islamists. This would not only hurt Syrian Christians, it would also have terrible repercussions in Lebanon, where Christians could find themselves coping with an Islamist leadership in Damascus.
Of course, not all Lebanese Christians, or even necessarily most of them, subscribe to this view. But it is also true that the nervousness is not limited to Syria�s local allies. There is still a strong sense in a country with a deeply confessional mindset that minorities ultimately have an interest in siding with other minorities, against potentially hegemonic majorities. And this reasoning has never been reassessed, despite the somewhat disturbing detail that in Iraq under Saddam Hussein, like in Syria under the Assads, the Christian communities have tended to side with repressive minority regimes.
A fear of Islamists was, for example, the gist of a revealing recent expression of Christian fright about events in Syria. In a Foreign Policy web article in late April, one May Akl, a Yale-based press secretary of Michel Aoun, went out of her way to argue that the revolt in Syria was different from that in other Arab countries. Why? Because the Syrian army had come under attack. A purported ambush of troops near the city of Banias, she wrote, proved that �a Jihad-like approach is a force behind the movement demanding reforms.�
Akl then went on to explain, �In the context of these leaderless revolutions that stemmed from rightful social, economic, and political demands, the only organized and well-structured group has been the Muslim Brotherhood. For 83 years now, the aim of this widespread movement has been to instill the Quran and Sunna as the sole reference for ordering the life of the Muslim family and state.�
What evidence did Akl present for her extraordinary claim that the Syrian army had been targeted by jihadists? She provided a link to an article from The Independent in London, which merely cited Syrian state television to that effect. How persuasive, or surprising, from an official outlet that has been a wellspring of disinformation during the weeks of dissension in Syria, overseen by a regime that has portrayed the domestic unrest as a rebellion by armed Islamists.
In fact, all the signs, if one bothers to look, have suggested the precise contrary. The anti-regime demonstrations have not been led by Islamists; they have been peaceful, despite the brutality of the regime�s security apparatus and praetorian guard; and the Muslim Brotherhood appeared to join the demonstrations relatively late, at least organizationally, only issuing a statement on participation two weeks ago. But Akl�s flimsy assertion was good enough in the service of a parochial Lebanese agenda feeding off communal paranoia.
The Alawite regime has felt far less comfortable in overtly accentuating sectarian relations in Syria than the Lebanese have in Lebanon. The Assads have created safety nets to protect their coreligionists, but they have also downplayed the Alawites� minority status, by allying themselves with a Sunni business class and by embracing an Arab nationalist identity transcending communal solidarities. The fiasco of Baathist rule has been a decisive blow against that strategy. However, in general, the two Assad regimes never allowed any fanciful notion of an �alliance of minorities,� especially with Christians, to check their determination to preserve themselves with a bodyguard of Arab nationalist credentials.
Moving beyond the Christians, however, how many Lebanese can honestly look back upon four decades of the Assads with any sense of warmth? Yes, the Syrians did impose an end to the cycle of Lebanese wars in 1990, but the onerous price that Lebanon had to pay was a decade and a half of a near-total Syrian domination. And even this should not blind us to the reality that during our 15-year conflict, Syrian officials usually worked heroically to keep the violence alive. On numerous occasions their army bombarded civilians of all persuasions and religions, while the Golan Heights front remained dead quiet, reminding us of where the priorities of Arab militaries lie.
It�s a bad idea for the Lebanese to turn the events in Syria into grist for their domestic political disputes. Syrian society may be a mosaic of communities, just like Lebanese society, but it is also quite different in many respects. To interpret everything occurring there through the narrow prism of confessional politics is a mistake. Hopefully, democrats will emerge triumphant in Syria. They alone are the ones we Lebanese should consider with any feelings of sympathy.
**Michael Young is opinion editor of the Daily Star newspaper in Beirut and author of The Ghosts of Martyrs Square: An Eyewitness Account of Lebanon�s Life Struggle , which the Wall Street Journal listed as one of its 10 standout books for 2010. He tweets @BeirutCalling.

Question: "How should Christians react to the death of evil people?"
GotQuestions.org
Answer: With the recent death of Osama bin Laden, many Christians are wondering how they should feel about such an event. Are we to rejoice/celebrate when evil people die / are killed? Interestingly, the authors of the Bible seem to have struggled with this issue as well, with different perspectives being presented in different passages.
First, there is Ezekiel 18:23, ��As surely as I live,� declares the Lord God, �I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live.�� Clearly, God does not take pleasure in the death of evil people. Why is this? Why wouldn�t a holy and righteous God take pleasure in evil people receiving the punishment they deserve? Ultimately, the answer would have to be that God knows the eternal destiny of evil people. God knows how horrible eternity in the lake of fire will be. Similar to Ezekiel 18:23, 2 Peter 3:9 states that God is �not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.� So, in terms of the eternal destiny of evil people, no, we should not rejoice at their eternal demise. Hell is so absolutely horrible that we should never rejoice when someone goes there.
Second, there is Proverbs 11:10, �When the righteous prosper, the city rejoices; when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy.� This seems to be speaking of the death of evil people in an earthly/temporal sense. When there are fewer evil people in the world, the world is a better place. We can rejoice when justice is done, when evil is defeated. A mass murderer being removed from the world is a good thing. God has ordained governments (and the military) as instruments of judgment against evil. When evil people are killed, whether in the judicial system via the death penalty, or whether through military means, it is God�s justice being accomplished (Romans 13:1-7). For justice being done, and for evil people being removed from this world, yes, we can rejoice.
There are many other scriptures that could be discussed (Deuteronomy 32:43; Job 31:29; Psalm 58:10; Proverbs 17:5, 24:17-18; Jeremiah 11:20; Ezekiel 33:11), but Ezekiel 18:23 and Proverbs 11:10 are likely sufficient to help us achieve this difficult biblical balance. Yes, we can rejoice when evil is defeated, even if that includes the death of evil people. Ridding the world of evil people is a good thing. At the same time, we are not to rejoice at the eternal condemnation of evil people. God does not desire that evil people spend eternity in the lake of fire, and He definitely does not rejoice when they go there. Neither should we.