LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِMay 12/2011

Biblical Event Of The Day
Paul's Letter to the Galatians 06/01-10: "Brothers, even if a man is caught in some fault, you who are spiritual must restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; looking to yourself so that you also aren’t tempted. 6:2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. 6:3 For if a man thinks himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 6:4 But let each man test his own work, and then he will take pride in himself and not in his neighbor. 6:5 For each man will bear his own burden. 6:6 But let him who is taught in the word share all good things with him who teaches. 6:7 Don’t be deceived. God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 6:8 For he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption. But he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. 6:9 Let us not be weary in doing good, for we will reap in due season, if we don’t give up. 6:10 So then, as we have opportunity, let’s do what is good toward all men, and especially toward those who are of the household of the faith".

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
Hezbollah caught in vortex of chance/By Nicholas Noe/Asia Times/May 11/11
EU slaps Syria’s wrist/By: Ana Maria Luca/May 11/11

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for May 11/11
Maronite Bishops Call for Forming Government Capable of Thwarting Dangers against Lebanon/Naharnet
Bellemare Spokeswoman: Amendment of Indictment Based on Course Investigation Had Taken/Naharnet
Cairo to move Meshaal's Hamas base to Gaza. Assad threatens Israel with war /DEBKAfile
Syria Intensifies Crackdown Amid Calls for New Protest/VOA
Analysis: Syria's Assad turns to tanks to put down unrest/Reuters
Lieberman to world: What about Syria/Ynetnews
Syria and Iran/ACM
EU adopts Syria sanctions, France wants more/Reuters
Measuring Lebanon's inflation/Daily Star
Ally of Assad Says Syria Will Fight Protests Till 'the End'/NYT
Latest developments in Arab world's unrest/AP
Bipartisan Resolution on Syria Emerges/Fox News
Syria Military Steps Up Shelling, Killing at Least 20/WSJ
Senators Condemn Syria and Iran, Urge Action by Obama Administration/Fox News
EU sanctions wouldn't affect Syria: analysts/Xinhua
Detained Canadian journalist deported by Syria/National Post
European Parliament calls for tougher sanctions on Syria/Wire updates
Sen. John Kerry's About-Face on Syria's Assad/NewsMax
Lebanese sending refugees back to Syria/UPI
A look at Lebanon's largest banks in terms of assets and deposits/Daily Star
March 14: March 8 Camp Won't Dare Form Government According to Hizbullah's Standards/Naharnet
Syria Pressures Lebanon to Prevent Displaced from Entering Lebanese Territory/Naharnet
March 8: Suleiman Has No Excuse to Reject Latest Hizbullah Proposal/Naharnet
Williams: Challenges Can't be Met Without Active Cabinet/Naharnet
Jumblat: Attempts to Solve Interior Ministry Deadlock Making Progress, Suggested Names 'Excellent'/Naharnet
Roumieh Inmates Continue Hunger Strike/Naharnet
Bassil Warns from Fuel Crisis if Prices Continue to Rise/Naharnet
Syrian Green Light Intensified Cabinet Formation Contacts/Naharnet
Miqati-Suleiman Meeting: Excessive Optimism on Cabinet Not Helpful/Naharnet
Juppe Awaits Cabinet Formation, Saniora Supports Arab Revolts/Naharnet
Aoun: When Dispute over Interior Ministry is Resolved, Others Will Arise/Naharnet
Russia: US had full right to kill bin Laden/Now Lebanon

Senators Condemn Syria and Iran, Urge Action by Obama Administration
by Trish Turner/May 11, 2011
Sens. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and John McCain, R-Ariz., unveiled on Wednesday a 10-page, nonbinding resolution "expressing support for peaceful demonstrations and universal freedoms in Syria and condemning the human rights violations by the Assad Regime."The bipartisan measure calls for the Obama Administration to do more to oppose the brutal crackdown on political protestors in the Middle Eastern nation. "I know that there are some who are concerned about what will happen if (Syrian President) Bashar al-Assad fails, but there simply cannot be a successor to Bashar al-Assad that is anywhere near as bad as he is," said Lieberman, calling anything to the contrary "strategic and moral nonsense."
The resolution accuses Bashar al-Assad of "launching a violent crackdown, committing human rights abuses, and violating its international obligations, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment." It warns "that international crimes are being committed by the Government of Syria against its people, for which the responsible officials must be held accountable."
And though the document "commends President Obama for authorizing targeted sanctions on human rights abusers in Syria," it goes on to urge the president "to act swiftly to expand the list of sanctioned persons to include all individuals responsible for gross human rights abuses in Syria, including Bashar al-Assad" and "to speak out directly, and personally, to the people of Syria about the situation in their country.""For a long time, Bashar al-Assad has had the blood of Americans on his hands," McCain said. "It's time we indicted the guy who's giving the orders. And it's time for the President of the United States to speak up forcefully and frequently." On April 29, 2011, the Administration authorized targeted sanctions against a number of Syrian officials for human rights abuses in that country. The senators list a number of actions they would like to see carried out by the president, including working to ensure the Syrian people have access to medical aid, human rights organizations, accurate media, and more.Senators want the president "to work with our allies and partners at the United Nations Security Council to condemn and hold accountable human rights abusers in Syria and to support the human rights of the people of Syria."
Lawmakers do not stop with Syria in their resolution, however, condemning Iran's government for "providing material support to assist the Government of Syria in its efforts to suppress peaceful protestors, including the transfer of equipment to help security forces crack down on protests and curtail and monitor protesters' use of the Internet, cell phones, and text-messaging." The resolution has gained significant bipartisan support among senior members in the chamber, Armed Services Committee member Lindsey Graham, R-SC, an Air Force Reserves military lawyer; several members of GOP leadership, like Jon Kyl of Arizona, John Cornyn of Texas, and John Barrasso of Wyoming. Five Democrats round out the list, including Foreign Relations Committee members Bob Menendez, D-NJ, Bob Casey, D-Pa., and Chris Coons of Delaware.
It is unclear, however, if the measure will be brought up for a vote. So far, the Senate has yet to consider resolutions related to Libya, aside from one introduced by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., in the midst of an unrelated bill. Leadership on both sides of the aisle, at the time, said it was too early for such a measure but that the chamber would consider resolutions at a later date.

Sen. John Kerry’s About-Face on Syria's Assad
Wednesday, 11 May 2011 /By Martin Gould
Democratic Presidential nominee John Kerry has finally realized it’s time to give up on Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad. The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee admits the Assad government is no longer willing to reform — a sharp U-turn from his views of just two months ago, reports The Cable. "He obviously is not a reformer now," Kerry said. "I've always said the top goal of Assad is to perpetuate his own regime." But The Cable points out that Kerry is rewriting history on that point. On March 16 the Massachusetts Senior Senator told the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace that he thought Syria was no lost cause. "My judgment is that Syria will move; Syria will change, as it embraces a legitimate relationship with the United States and the West and economic opportunity that comes with it and the participation that comes with it," he said at the time. Assad’s government has cracked down hard on protesters trying to force him out of office. Hundreds have been killed and thousands more arrested. Kerry has met Assad six times over the past two years, The Cable points out.
The man who followed Kerry as the loser in a presidential election claimed vindication for his view that Assad was always bad news. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said to think of the Syrian leader as a reformer was "one of the great delusionary views in recent foreign policy history."

European Parliament calls for tougher sanctions on Syria
BRUSSELS (BNO NEWS) -- The European Parliament on Wednesday called for tougher sanctions on Syria as well as a stronger and more united stance on the Arab uprisings.
Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), led by the EPP and S&D groups, met with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on Wednesday to discuss the EU actions over the unrests in Northern Africa and the Middle East. ADGRPID:|SERVTYPE:The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDR), ECR and Green groups criticized the EU's approach to the Syrian crisis and demanded that President Bashar al-Assad to be included in the list of officials sanctioned by EU.
"The situation in Syria is a huge disaster and is becoming an Arab Tiananmen", said ALDE leader Guy Verhofstadt. "President Al-Assad must be included as soon as possible on the list of Syrian officials subject to EU sanctions." On Monday, the European Council adopted a regulation that provides for an embargo on exports to Syria of arms and equipment that could be used for internal repression, as well as a visa ban and an assets freeze for 13 persons responsible for the violent repression.
Ashton said that the measures could be extended according to the developments in Damascus. The EU has repeatedly called on al-Assad to put an immediate end to violence and introduce political reforms that provide peace and stability. The Parliament adopted three resolutions after Wednesday's debate, which was held six months after the launch on December 1, 2010 of the EU External Action Service headed by Ashton. In the first two resolutions, drafted by Gabriele Albertini and Roberto Gualtieri, MEPs called for an arms embargo by EU Member States on Syria, Yemen and Bahrain and for a moratorium on the executions of four Bahraini protestors. Furthermore, Ashton announced that an EU office will be opened in Benghazi, Libya, to assist the people and the Interim Transitional National Council, the Libyan opposition force. Finally, the Parliament also urged the EU to suspend ongoing negotiations for an Association Agreement with Syria and to investigate the killing of Iranian dissidents in Camp Ashraf in Iraq and for making progress in resolving the Middle East conflict.
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Detained Canadian journalist deported by Syria: report
By Kim Covert/National Post/
A Canadian journalist who was detained by Syrian authorities after arriving in Damascus nearly two weeks ago has been deported to Iran, the news network Al-Jazeera reported Wednesday. Dorothy Parvaz, from North Vancouver, flew to Damascus on April 29 to cover anti-government protests for the network, for which she has worked since last year.
Ms. Parvaz got off her plane, but never made it to her hotel, and she has not been heard from since. “We have now received information that she is being held in Tehran,” an Al Jazeera spokesman said in a statement. “We are calling for information from the Iranian authorities, access to Dorothy, and for her immediate release. We have had no contact with Dorothy since she left Doha on April 29, and we are deeply concerned for her welfare.” In a statement Tuesday, the Syrian embassy in Washington said Ms. Parvaz had tried to enter the country illegally on an expired Iranian visa and had been extradited to Iran on May 1. Ms. Parvaz’s fiance said Wednesday Al-Jazeera, the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and the U.S. State Department have all been working hard to find out anything they can about his partner’s whereabouts. Contacted in North Vancouver, where he’s been with Dorothy Ms. Parvaz’s father for several days, Todd Barker said people at Al-Jazeera had been working “24-7” using channels not available to diplomats to try to track her down, but that so far no one had been able to confirm where she is. “I haven’t heard from my fiancee in two weeks, and sometimes the pain is just unbearable,” Mr. Barker told Postmedia News. The report from Syria stating that she’d been moved on May 1 was the first they’d heard about her since April 29, he said.
Ms. Parvaz, 39, who holds Canadian, U.S. and Iranian citizenship, moved to Canada when she was 12. Syrian officials had previously told Al-Jazeera that Ms. Parvaz was being held in Damascus and would be released. Reached in Washington, Tony Burman, managing director of Al-Jazeera English, would not elaborate on the statement from the news network.
“These things are incredibly delicate, so the only public statements we’re making are the ones that are done in writing, and there’s nothing really beyond that,” said Burman.
“Given the nature of what we’re talking about, I think our public approach is to be as careful and as cautious and as restrained as possible publicly.”
In an interview with CTV News Channel on Wednesday, the journalist’s father, Fred Ms. Parvaz, said he’d learned of his daughter’s transfer from Al-Jazeera, and that no one from Syria or Iran had contacted him with news about her. He said he was relying on the news network and the Foreign Affairs Department to work for her release. He said he has been in touch with the Foreign Affairs minister and with his MP. “I’m very worried, I’m very concerned, but I just have to wait and see the new developments.” He said his daughter was last in Iran in about six or seven years ago, on a sightseeing tour of the country of her birth. The Syrian government has been clamping down on dissidents and members of the media as demonstrations continue to spread through the country, which is in the throes of a violent civil uprising. Postmedia News

Maronite Bishops Call for Forming Government Capable of Thwarting Dangers against Lebanon
Naharnet/The Maronite Bishops Council stressed on Wednesday the need to form a government capable of tackling the citizens' concerns and thwarting dangers against Lebanon.
It said after its monthly meeting headed by Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi: "We hope that Thursday's spiritual summit will provide a push towards achieving national unity and that the gatherers would seek to bolster coexistence between all sects." "We also hope that they would respect religious diversity and commit to dialogue," the council added in a statement.
The council voiced its concern over the ongoing political crisis in Lebanon and the regional developments "that may negatively affect Lebanon on the security and economic scenes."
It therefore called on officials to speed up the formation of a new government to safeguard the country's sons and their future. Addressing the recently held Maronite summit, the statement said: "It provided a step forward towards reconciliation and will hopefully bolster the role of Christians in Lebanon." The summit brought together Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun, Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel, and Marada Movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh Beirut, 11 May 11, 12:44

Bellemare Spokeswoman: Amendment of Indictment Based on Course Investigation Had Taken
Naharnet/The Special Tribunal for Lebanon prosecutor's spokeswoman, Sophie Boutaud de la Combe, stated on Wednesday that the new elements added by Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare to the indictment in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri does not mean that what had initially been sent was not good or sufficient. She told al-Balad newspaper in remarks to be published on Thursday that Bellemare took the decision based on the course the investigation had taken and not at a request by Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen. These new elements were added because they simply weren't available earlier and the amendment has nothing to do with the developments in Lebanon and the region, she continued. She added that the investigation will continue its fieldwork even if the pre-trial judge was examining what had been previously submitted to him and therefore the timing of the amendment is only linked to recently discovered evidence, she added. On Friday, Bellemare submitted an amended indictment to Pre-Trial Judge Fransen. He had first handed in the indictment on March 11. Beirut, 11 May 11, 19:40

Berri Sites Tangible Progress in Cabinet Formation
Naharnet/Speaker Nabih Berri reassured Lebanese citizens on Wednesday that the government formation is making a "tangible progress" and the atmosphere is better than before.
There is a strong insistence to speed up the cabinet formation and intensive work is underway to reach the expected results, the speaker reportedly told lawmakers during his weekly meetings with MPs. There is "tangible progress," he said.
"The atmosphere is better than before," Berri told reporters before entering the parliament building to hold talks with MPs.
Before his meetings at parliament, Berri held talks with President Michel Suleiman at Baabda palace. The two men discussed the general situation, especially the latest cabinet formation developments.The speaker left Baabda without making any statement. On Tuesday, Berri asked all political parties to leave their alliances behind them and create a national front that speeds up the formation of the government. "The magnitude of the crisis is much smaller than the size of the conflict on the crisis," he said. The speaker said that he is working hard to bring back the planning ministry into the government. "You all know that the obstacle facing the come back of the planning ministry lies in personal interests, he said.
The Lebanese cabinet had become a "shadow government" investing its financial capabilities in favor of political interests instead of sustainable growth, Berri added.
He then stressed on the distinct role that the Lebanese Christians play in maintaining the unity of the land not only in Lebanon but in every Arab country. Beirut, 11 May 11, 10:23

Syria Pressures Lebanon to Prevent Displaced from Entering Lebanese Territory
Naharnet/A security official revealed that Syria is "exerting great pressure on Beirut to prevent displaced Syrians from entering Lebanon," reported UK's the Guardian on Tuesday.
It also urged Lebanese authorities to halt alleged arms smuggling to Syrian protesters where the demonstrations have taken on the form of a sectarian rebellion, and not a revolution similar to others that had taken place in the Arab world, it added. The border crossing between Lebanon and Syria near Wadi Khaled had witnessed the arrival of hundreds of Syrians after violence erupted in the nearby town of Tall Kalakh in Syria Last Saturday, two wounded Syrians were transported to Lebanese territory. Beirut, 11 May 11, 18:05

March 8: Suleiman Has No Excuse to Reject Latest Hizbullah Proposal
Naharnet/The March 8 forces threw the ball in President Michel Suleiman's court after Hizbullah mediated to solve the interior ministry portfolio deadlock by proposing several new names that could head the ministry. March 8 sources told An Nahar daily in remarks published Wednesday that "Suleiman has no excuse to reject it (the new proposal) and the ball is now in the court of the president." The proposal was made on Tuesday by the aides of the speaker and the Hizbullah leader respectively MP Ali Hassan Khalil and Hussein Khalil to Premier-designate Najib Miqati following their return from Damascus. Miqati, in his turn, took the proposal to Suleiman who reportedly delayed his answer on it until Wednesday.
But the premier-designate visited Baabda on Wednesday and left the palace without making any statement. As Safir newspaper said that Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun, who has been at loggerheads with the president over the portfolio, dealt positively with the new names. According to al-Akhbar daily, Miqati suggested three names to Suleiman. They include military, civilian and judicial personalities. The person who will be selected to lead the interior ministry is expected to be at the same distance from both the FPM chief and Suleiman. Miqati has also reportedly agreed to give Aoun both the energy and telecommunications portfolios in a 30-member cabinet divided as follows: 11 ministers as part of the shares of Suleiman, Miqati and Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat, 10 for Aoun and 9 for Berri and his ally Hizbullah. The FPM leader, however, has agreed to give up the energy portfolio in favor of Berri in return for getting the health ministry, said al-Liwaa daily. Beirut, 11 May 11, 08:46

Jumblat: Attempts to Solve Interior Ministry Deadlock Making Progress, Suggested Names 'Excellent'
Naharnet/Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat confirmed to As Safir newspaper on Wednesday that 'positive indications' reveal a progress in the attempts to solve the interior ministry stalemate. The names that are being studied to lead the ministry are "excellent," he said, hoping that the mediation of Hizbullah with the cooperation of Speaker Nabih Berri would succeed.  The Druze chief told the newspaper that for the best interest of the "broad alliance" that includes the March 8 forces, Premier-designate Najib Miqati, and the PSP, it was no longer acceptable to keep the country in a standstill. Meanwhile, political sources told pan-Arab al-Hayat newspaper that the PSP leader didn't consult his allies "or some of them at least" before making his latest stance over the cabinet formation delay. They stressed that the MP wanted to warn the March 8 forces that he will not be part of "the coup" on Miqati, under the pretext that he became an obstacle to the quick formation of the new government. "Overthrowing Miqati means getting rid of other centrist candidates for the premiership," the sources told al-Hayat. Beirut, 11 May 11, 09:31

Roumieh Inmates Continue Hunger Strike
Naharnet/Some 1,200 inmates in Roumieh prison have continued their hunger strike for the third day in a row demanding a general pardon and improving the conditions in the prison, reported the pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat on Wednesday. The committee charged with following up the situation in Roumieh prison held a meeting on Tuesday headed by Internal Security Forces chief Ashraf Rifi in order to address the situation in the jail and follow up on its maintenance operations and the needs of the inmates, including increasing the number of doctors at the prison. An ISF statement said that eight general medicine doctors and two dentists have started work at Roumieh prison on Tuesday. Meanwhile, a 50-member unit of police commandos from the ISF inspected the Tebnin jail in search of forbidden items, such as mobile phones, televisions, and the like. Beirut, 11 May 11, 11:44

Juppe Awaits Cabinet Formation, Saniora Supports Arab Revolts
Naharnet/French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe has stressed on France's commitment to Lebanese independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.
"We await and support a government that responds to the demands of the Lebanese people, according to the Taef accord and does not refute international agreements," Juppe said on Tuesday after holding talks with head of al-Mustaqbal Movement bloc leader Fouad Saniora in the presence of Lebanon's ambassador to Paris Boutros Assaker.
France awaits the formation of a Lebanese cabinet that would strengthen the state and thus cooperate with the international community on some fundamental issues such as the international tribunal and the implementation of Security Council resolution 1701, the foreign ministry spokesman said. From his side, Saniora stressed his support to the Arab revolutions that call for improvement in their societies.Regarding the Syrian uprising, the former premier said that "Syria is our sole neighbor and we don't want to interfere in its affairs as we don't want them to interfere in ours." Moreover, Saniora rendered the killing of Osama bin Laden and the Palestinian reconciliation as a good opportunity for the European countries in cooperation with the United States to find a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict. Beirut, 11 May 11, 13:22

Williams: Challenges Can't be Met Without Active Cabinet
Naharnet/U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams said Wednesday that "challenges cannot be met without an active government particularly at a time of dramatic and rapid changes in the Arab region." After holding talks with FPM leader Michel Aoun in Rabiyeh, Williams said: "I reiterated my belief that the formation of a new government in Lebanon is needed as soon as possible to address the many challenges that the Lebanese people face.""I was pleased that Gen. Aoun is positive that there can be progress in the formation of a government soon," he told reporters. On the situation in the Arab world, Williams said that he "underlined the importance of dialogue, of avoiding violence and of respecting human rights in all countries in the region." On Tuesday, Williams warned that opportunities would be lost and the country would face bigger dangers amid a continued deadlock on the new cabinet.
Beirut, 11 May 11, 12:02

Russia: US had full right to kill bin Laden
May 11, 2011 /Russia believes the United States was fully authorized to hunt down and kill Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview released Wednesday. Lavrov added that Russia also did not have any qualms about the fact that bin Laden had been shot dead despite being unarmed, noting that it was expecting to receive a full account of the US raid at a later date. "Our position is very simple," RIA Novosti quoted Lavrov as telling the Moskovskie Novosti paper in an interview due to be published Thursday. "After September 11, 2001, the Security Council adopted a resolution recognizing the United States right to self-defense," Lavrov said.
"That right does not presume any limits," Russia's top diplomat added. The Kremlin hailed bin Laden's elimination on its announcement, linking his terror network to militants staging attacks against Russian forces in the restive North Caucasus region. But Russian state media have questioned initial conflicts in US accounts of the special operation, with some commentators asking why Washington decided not to publish photographs of bin Laden's body. The media speculation has focused on why bin Laden had been shot dead instead of being put on trial, but Lavrov stressed that Russia did not have any serious qualms about the Al-Qaeda chief's death. "I would avoid going into the legalese of this issue," said Lavorv."No one in the world has any doubts that bin Laden is the person behind the horrific act of terror of September 11 and an entire series of other terrorist acts," he said.
"The US side is ready to offer its explanation [of what happened], and we will wait." Russia's parliament in 2006 approved legislation authorizing military strikes against suspected terrorists hiding abroad. -AFP/NOW Lebanon

EU slaps Syria’s wrist
Ana Maria Luca,
May 11, 2011
The Council of the European Union decided to impose sanctions on exports to Syria of arms and equipment that could be used for internal repression, as well as institute a visa ban and freeze the assets of 13 officials and associates of the Syrian regime.
After two weeks of silent negotiations between the 27 member countries of the EU, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s name was deleted from the suggested “list of infamy.” The EU ambassadors agreed last Friday that the list should be headed by Maher al-Assad, the president’s brother and commander of the army’s 4th division, who is believed to be overseeing the violence against anti-regime demonstrators.
The list also includes the head of the General Intelligence Services, Ali Mamlouk, and businessman and Assad’s maternal cousin, Rami Makhlouf, who “bankrolls the regime in Damascus,” according to the EU Council decision. The head of Syrian Military Intelligence Abd Al Fatah Qudsiyah and several security officials in Daraa and Banias are also being targeted by the asset freeze and travel ban.
“The aim of these measures is to achieve a change of policy by the Syrian leadership without further delay,” said Catherine Ashton, the EU’s high representative for foreign relations, in a statement released by her press office on Monday. “The EU urges Syria to put an immediate end to violence and swiftly introduce genuine and comprehensive political reform, the only way to provide peace and stability for Syria in the long term,” the statement added.
Ashton also said that if the Syrian leadership fails to stop the violence and introduce political reform, “The EU will consider extending the restrictive measures in light of the developments, including at the highest level of leadership.” EU foreign ministers will discuss situation in Syria at their meeting later this month, Ashton added.
The reaction from Brussels is vague, analysts say, but they also point out that getting 27 countries with different interests to agree on a sensitive and complicated point like their relationship with Syria is very difficult, if not impossible.
“I don’t think they were too happy to move on too quickly, first of all because they are involved in a conflict in Libya,” Heiko Wimmen, a fellow with the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, told NOW Lebanon. In his opinion the Libyan conflict already took some European states by surprise, as they were not expecting such resistance from Moammar Qaddafi’s fighters. “Getting involved in another place, such as Syria, seems very complicated to them right now.”
“I am also thinking about the European obsession about immigration and refugees,” he added, referring to Italy, which is dealing with an influx of Libyan and Tunisian refugees. He said that Cyprus and Greece might fear they will experience the same.
Nadim Shehadi, associate fellow at the London-based think tank Chatham House, told NOW Lebanon that the Arab Spring came at the wrong time for the EU.
He believes that the Europeans were very enthusiastic about democratic change in the Arab world in 2003, when Javier Solana was the head of foreign policy in Brussels. EU member states decided to put together Association Agreements designed to give financial assistance to countries surrounding Europe so they could solve problems related to human rights, freedom of the press, free elections and corruption.
“I remember Solana saying that “European security depends on a Europe surrounded by a ring of well-governed states,” Shehadi said.
Syria was in negotiations to sign an Association Agreement, but in 2005 the EU stopped its relationship with Damascus after Syria was accused of involvement in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, while the EU supported the Cedar Revolution in Lebanon. But Brussels signed the agreement in 2009, after Catherine Ashton, the new head of EU’s diplomacy, visited Damascus, and put it on the table for Syria to sign. However, Damascus never expressed intentions to sign the agreement.Syria is still part of the European Neighborhood Policy, which was launched in 2004, through which the country received financial assistance worth 130 million Euros between 2007 and 2010, and was to receive another 129 million Euros between 2010 and 2013. Moreover, until the sanctions talk began in the EU in late April, the EU countries were willing to help Syria overcome its financial troubles by giving it micro-finance assistance loans.
But Shehadi says that the EU’s relationship with Syria could be even more complicated than that, as European Union members started arguing if they should follow Solana’s idealistic democratization policy or switch to a more drastic realist stance. “The Arab Spring came when the realists had won, when the EU had decided that economic relations and money was more important than the democratization. But the Arabs decided all of a sudden that they wanted democracy,” he said.
In this context, the Europeans became worried after some countries such as Cyprus, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Spain and Portugal signed their own partnerships with the Assad regime right before the uprising began, and the regime retaliated and killed over 600 people.
Apart from the economic side of the story, “There is this north-south problem in the EU. Northern countries can afford to sit on a high horse because they are not concerned with a wave of refugees,” Wimmen said. “The southern countries are not only concerned about the refugees, but also security. Nobody knows what is going to happen in this region. Many of the countries in the south would have preferred that things had stayed the same and that the Arab Spring never happened.”

Cairo to move Meshaal's Hamas base to Gaza. Assad threatens Israel with war
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report
May 11, 2011,
Egypt's military rulers promised Hamas' political leader Khaled Meshaal to let him transfer his base, command center and residence from troubled Damascus to a new haven in the Gaza Strip as an inducement for signing the Palestinian unity agreement with Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah on May 4. This is disclosed for the first time by debkafile's intelligence sources. In Damascus, Bashar Assad's close confidante Rami Makhlouf threatened that Syria would go to war against Israel in reprisal for US and Europe backing for the uprising.
Makhlouf, an international business tycoon, is on the US and EU sanctions lists. In an interview with the New York Times Wednesday, May 11, he said: "If there is no stability here, there's no way there will be stability in Israel. No way, and nobody can guarantee what will happen after, God forbid, anything happens to this regime."
He advised the US and Europe not to "put a lot of pressure on the president, don't push Syria to do anything it is not happy to do."
The Syrian president is examining two strategic options, he said: "Going to war against Israel, and/or sending weapons shipments to the West Bank and to Israeli Arabs for use in terrorist attacks against Israel.
debkafile's military sources note that Makhlouf, who is a cousin of Bashar Assad, built up his fortune from smuggling Saddam Hussein's underground fighters, weapons and funds from their havens in Syria to Iraq, as well as al Qaeda combatants and leaders to fight Americans into the wartorn country. He therefore has excellent connections with terrorist networks and is very familiar with their requirements for pursuing suicide bombing campaigns.
The tycoon would not have made his remarks to the NYT without the Syrian president's nod. So they may be safely interpreted as a declaration that the Assad regime is holding Israel hostage for its survival against the groundswell of popular disaffection shaking it for more than two months.
Those remarks were also addressed to Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon, the sources of weapons consignments to Syrian protesters which Damascus believes Saudi Arabia as well as the US and European nations are generating. If that influx is not stopped, therefore, the Syrian government threatens to respond in kind by secreting arms and money into the West Bank and Israeli Arab districts in order to foment an armed uprising against Israel. This step would also undermine another Western interest by menacing Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
According to debkafile's intelligence sources, the transfer of Khaled Meshaal
lock, stock and barrel, from Damascus to Gaza serves the diametrically opposite interests of the current Egyptian and Syrian rulers alike. It was agreed between them - out of totally different considerations - during several visits to the Syrian capital by the new Egyptian intelligence minister Gen. Murad Muwafi from mid-March to late April:
For Cairo, the relocation of the Hamas epicenter to Gaza is pivotal to Egypt's return to an active role in the Palestinian arena, whereas Damascus sees the strengthened Hamas presence in Gaza as a key instrument for implementing Makhlouf's threats.
Our sources say that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has responded to these disruptions with two discreet steps:
1. The defense ministry's political coordinator, Gen. (res.) Amos Gilad, was removed from the Israeli-Egyptian military-cum-intelligence track. The formal reason given for his exclusion was the removal from power of Hosni Mubarak's intelligence minister, Gen. Omar Suleiman, with whom Gilad developed strong personal ties. He is now under investigation and partial house arrest in Egypt.
The real reason is that his evaluations and forecasts which formed the basis of Israel's security policy in recent years proved erroneous. The Israeli government must now go back to square one to chart new courses in the face of radical changes around its borders.
2. Gilad's place is taken by Prime Minister Netanyahu's personal political adviser, Yitzhak Molcho, who earlier this week was sent to Cairo for talks with the new intelligence minister, Gen. Muwafi, to explore the new ties between Egypt, Syria and Hamas and find out what Cairo was aiming for by the reshuffle of these relationships.
Molcho returned to home just before Independence Day (Tuesday, May 10) with a very despondent report. The only ray of light he saw was the possibility of Syria and Egypt, each for its own reasons, leaning on Hamas to climb down on its price for setting the Israeli soldier Gilead Shalit free nearly five years after he was kidnapped on the Israeli side of the Gaza border.
While Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak were putting their heads together on tactics for grappling with the explosive new situation Egypt is helping to put in place in the Gaza Strip, Makhlouf put a message from his masters up front: The real danger to Israel of a military flare-up lies in Damascus which continues to call the Palestinian shots.
 

Hezbollah caught in vortex of chance
By Nicholas Noe
Asia Times
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/ME11Ak02.html
BEIRUT - With unrest and violence growing daily in Syria, the Shi'ite movement Hezbollah now confronts a strategic challenge whose negative effects have been magnified by the sheer suddenness of it all.
Just three months ago, Hezbollah confidently precipitated the collapse of the Lebanese government led by prime minister Saad Hariri and rejoiced over the fall of president Hosni Mubarak's regime in Egypt. Together with its "Resistance Axis" allies Iran, Syria and Hamas, Hezbollah openly touted the climax of several years of hard-fought victories that had successfully cut into the preponderance of power held by the United States, Israel and most of the Sunni Arab regimes.
But that trajectory, on course since at least the start of the
insurgency in Iraq and accelerated by Israel's disastrous July 2006 war that was vigorously encouraged by the George W Bush administration, has now suddenly come to a dead halt.
Worse still for Hezbollah, the Party of God, reasonably predicting the future course that the balance of power in the region is likely to take has become a far more complicated, perhaps impossible, task.
Indeed, for all the commentary and analyses of Hezbollah as a thoroughly radical and (obtusely) totalitarian project, the reality is that the one thing Hezbollah hates perhaps as much as Zionism is the prospect of chaos - the unpredictable, the unintended consequences lying in wait - with the leadership usually preferring to pre-empt such scenarios via pragmatic concessions and the broadening of alliances that together can stabilize their understanding of the future.
This predilection means that the current situation the party faces all around it - but especially vis-a-vis its only open land border, ie Syria - is likely the main subject consuming the time of its secretary general, Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah.
You wouldn't guess this by Nasrallah's public speeches of late.
Just as Hezbollah avoided almost any public discussion of the post-election crisis in Iran - its leading patron and ultimate guide (on some occasions) when push comes to shove - Nasrallah has almost completely avoided talking about the deepening instability and brutal government crackdown in Syria.
Though a pragmatic choice not to interfere in its vital allies' internal business, Nasrallah's unwillingness to publicly explain the party's stance - to explain the apparent contradictions between his vocal criticism of the Tunisian, Libyan, Bahraini, Egyptian and Yemeni governments and his different (non-)positions on Syria and Iran - is helping to effectively undermine one of Nasrallah and Hezbollah's most important and effective weapons to date: their appeal to reason, especially when it comes to regional matters.
Although the party's many critics have long fought this notion - preferring instead to argue that it only dissimulates (it does, in part) and only bases its power on fear (it does, in part) - Hezbollah has in fact gone to great lengths to reason with a wide range of constituencies around the world that its cause, its case and its methods are essentially rational and in the interests of Lebanese, Arabs and indeed all Muslims (and perhaps even the United States!). In this Nasrallah has been a gifted narrator able to inject self-criticism into his discourse.
This effort has been capped over the last few years by Nasrallah's argument that the strengthening of the Resistance Axis actually makes sense for both those who would like to see a negotiated regional settlement (two-staters) and those who would like to see the outright end of the Jewish state of Israel (one-staters).
After all, he asserts, Israel will only negotiate minimally reasonable terms for peace if it is compelled to by the balance of power around it. Without that kind of credible, sustained pressure, Israel will simply never give up on the expansionist vision of Zionism - at least, that's what the post-Oslo period of declining Arab power has taught the region, he says.
On the other hand, as Nasrallah emphasized only last year, those who would like to peacefully promulgate a single democratic state of Palestine (which Hezbollah claims it supports, although it is vague on the idea of possibly expelling Jewish "settlers"), also rationally benefit from the growing power of the Resistance Axis since its own members' internal contradictions tick down at a far slower rate than Israel's many "existential" flaws.
"Syria is getting stronger with time," Nasrallah claimed last May. "Iran is getting stronger with time, Hezbollah is getting stronger with time. The Palestinian resistance factions are getting stronger with time. "The arc of history is on the side of a Resistance Axis", he said, which will steadily surround Israel and, with its military power (possibly with nuclear weapons) growing, thereby exacerbate Israel's vulnerabilities to a breaking point.
Over time, Nasrallah assured, demographic factors would intervene, the Israeli economy would decline, the Israel Defense Forces' (IDF's) ability to strike its enemies hard, and at will, would be voided by mutually assured destruction and enough Jews would leave Israel out of pure self-interest and fear - or agree to democratic power sharing - that a new, unified state of Palestine would come into being.
In such conditions of de-hegemonization, de-legitimization and perpetual suffocation, Zionism would be effectively finished, Nasrallah argued, with ample reference to a long litany of Israeli thinkers, leaders and intellectuals (not to mention US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's own warning last year to the annual American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference).
While his argument has indeed seemed reasonable to a great many Middle Easterners who have witnessed the steady collapse of the "Peace Process", a key problem with it is now sharply evident: the internal contradictions of the Resistance Axis, even at home in Lebanon, are stark and they are ticking down to a defining moment at a far faster rate than Israel's own bevy of contradictions.
Hezbollah therefore stands today with the potential of losing its strategic depth, it's on the wrong side of reason when it comes to the domestic turmoil in Syria and Iran and its worst nightmare of chaos surrounding it (and possibly bleeding over into Lebanon itself) is becoming more likely by the day.
Suffice it to say then, the Party of God finds itself suddenly at a very down-to-earth fork in the road.
Will Nasrallah and Hezbollah make the same mistakes now that the US, Israel and their local allies made at critical moments during the 2006-2010 period when their real power was actually in decline, but they nevertheless pushed aggressively as if their overall strategic position was actually improving - a move that produced extended violence and an eventual reversal of fortunes?
In attempting to answer this, one must first acknowledge that Hezbollah as a Lebanese party cum army does have a degree of choice.
Although Hezbollah's most important relationship with Iran constrains (and may even at certain junctures determine) its actions, Nasrallah has evidently helped move the party towards a degree of independence from both Syria and Iran that would have been unthinkable a decade ago (a view mostly buttressed by statements from top US officials in the recent past).
More to the point, the "red lines" - the junctures - that may prompt Iranian direction or outright control appeared to have been moved farther and farther out.
Indeed, just two weeks ago, Nasrallah asserted:
If someone is angry with us because we toppled his government, Iran has nothing to do with it. I am sincere in saying this. The Iranians knew from the media; we did not ask them or tell them or anything like this. The whole world has seen on television screens the news conference on the resignation of the ministers. The Iranians were just like everyone else. Nobody should hold Iran accountable just because our ministers left the government. Leave this accountability aside.
Whether Nasrallah is being truthful or not here - or in his more expansive assertions over the past few years regarding Iran's declining influence over the party - is of less importance that what his approach, his rhetoric, says about the party's willingness, in fact its evident need, to regularly proclaim its relative independence (and in slightly insulting terms no less) – a move generally reflective of the thinking of its vital constituencies without which the party simply could not operate in Lebanon.
Still, even though Hezbollah may have a wider degree of independent action than in the past when it comes to its parent/partner in Tehran, it has nevertheless helped to construct a thick wall of suspicion, resentment and outright hatred (including of a sectarian nature) with many of its adversaries, all of which greatly limits its maneuverability in this next stage.
That it would take an almost "Jumblattian" effort against Syria (exceptional even in Lebanon) to reverse course with actors like Saad Hariri, many Sunnis and others in the country, is no longer really in doubt.
But could the party, in part out of perceived necessity, take this task on effectively and in a timely manner to truly stabilize the country for a sustained period of time as its far larger neighbor descends into extended unrest? Probably not.
Though Nasrallah on one occasion denied it, the party has on several occasions before called its rivals "traitors" and "agents", only to later join hands in a national unity government, But the chasm dividing the two sides in Lebanon now has never been wider and more bitter - certainly not during the post civil war period, but also not even during worst days of the "Cedar" revolution when Hezbollah and its allies literally fought with the armed supporters of Hariri and his March 14 movement.
Adding to the difficulty in reaching a sustained national accord, Hezbollah faces the prospect of increased intervention and sectarian subterfuge by an angry and wounded Saudi Arabia; perhaps in Syria, certainly in Lebanon via Hariri and evidently in the Gulf and North Africa, all of which makes any bridge building by Hezbollah, even if it wanted to, vastly more challenging, costly and potentially dangerous.
And alongside the re-emergence of this wealthy Islamic enemy that doctrinally hates Shi'ites (and non-Wahhabis in general), there has also been the renewed public push by Israel to pave the way towards a much-anticipated, final destruction of Hezbollah and their supporters.
In fact, with the release three weeks ago of outdated and misleading IDF "maps" of Hezbollah "positions" in civilian areas (as but one example, some of the coordinates are actually bunkers that were abandoned and/or destroyed by Israel during and after the July 2006 war), the clear message to Hezbollah is not, "We have good intelligence on you so don't get into a fight with us" (ie a message of pure deterrence), but instead came across here as, "We don't really care where you are or what you think of our intentions since we are preparing the international ground for a broad strike across Lebanon that will revenge the 2006 defeat and knock you out of the military balance ... for good. We're just waiting for your optimal moment of weakness."
Given this increasingly hostile environment then, the response by Hezbollah in the near term will likely be to split the difference between a grand rapprochement (impossible at home) or a grand war (not now with its strategic depth in question) and move towards a prolonged period of digging in deeper. This could come with limited tactical moderation (facilitating the formation of a mildly pro-Syrian government able to deal with rising complaints from Damascus, entreaties to dwindling centrist constituencies and further aid and concessions for its allies) and, quite possibly, a partial deceleration in its longstanding efforts to radically challenge Israel's qualitative military edge (perhaps forestalling the "justified" military campaign which so many Israeli leaders seem to want).
In the end, it may be this last point that proves the most important for the future of Lebanon and the region.
Nasrallah well knows that he can lure the Israelis into launching a wide, pre-emptive war (which would bolster the party's domestic and regional standing) by crossing various "red lines" of military capacity. He has said that he actually "craves" this option because he thinks the Israelis won't be able to win - and that a defeat or even another occupation quagmire in Lebanon would swiftly collapse the core of Zionism's strength.
But with Syria (and the predictability of his supply lines) increasingly on fire, the sustainability of this preferred route is also now in grave doubt - just at the point when Nasrallah had most raised and radicalized the expectations of his base over the Resistance Axis's long-term internal strength, the brittleness of the Israeli socio-military apparatus and the closeness by which one could almost taste total victory-revenge ("in the next few years," he promised in 2008).
Perhaps then, the only thing that is relatively easy to discern in this next period is that Hezbollah will have to forge its course, one way or another, amid an array of different, competing hands stirring the pot, a massive quantity of arms floating around on all sides, more wide open and radicalized constituencies, less certain alliances and, crucially, none of the underlying, longstanding drivers of violence and underdevelopment engaged in any sort of meaningful mitigation process.
In this vortex of chance, impulse, choice and contradiction, Nasrallah may indeed revert to a "lite" version of his (more often than not) pragmatic approach that served the party so well since he became head of Hezbollah in 1992. But like so many involved in this next, defining stage of the post-modern Middle East, he must find particular discomfort - especially for a man dedicated to several radical goals - in one gnawing question: will it be enough?
Nicholas Noe is the co-founder of the Beirut-based media monitoring service Mideastwire.com and the Editor of Voice of Hezbollah: The Statements of Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah (Verso:2007).
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