LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِMay 15/2011

Biblical Event Of The Day
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 16,13-19. When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?"They replied, "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter said in reply, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."Jesus said to him in reply, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
Syria's Refugees from Terror - By Hanin Ghaddar/Foreign Policy/May 14/11
Starving the Rebellion: Syria's Brutal Tactics/Time/May/11
Minefields of North Lebanon/By: Shane Farrell/May 14/11
President Michel Sleiman's speech  at the Saint Joseph University/Now Lebanon
Open letter to the political representatives of March 14 Christians/By: Michel Hajji-Georgiou/ May 14/11

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for May 14/11
Hundreds in Jaffa take to the streets to mark Nakba Day/Haaretz
Muslim contender for Egyptian presidency designed for US approval/DEBKAfile
Dozens of Syrians cross into Lebanon to escape tank shelling in southern town/Haaretzs/DPA
Iraqi Christian Kidnapped for $100,000 Ransom/Naharnet
Ahmadinejad Sacks 3 Ministers to Shrink Cabinet/Naharnet
6 Killed in Syria's Anti-Government Protests/VOA
Syrian forces kill at least four/Now Lebanon
Dozens of Syrians cross border into Lebanon to avoid tank shelling in south/ (DPA)
Latest developments in Arab world's unrest/AP
WSJ: Six Killed In Syria Protests, But Government Calls For Restraint
Death Toll Mounts as Syria Extends Crackdown on Protesters/Bloomberg
UN human rights office extremely concerned by Syria crackdown, number of 850/Washington Post
Thousands protest across Syria/Washington Post
Assad regime may be gaining upper hand in Syria/CMP
UK summons Syrian ambassador over violence/AP
Syria offers 'dialogue' to opposition as protests continue/Washington Post
Protests erupt in Hama, eastern Syria as death toll rises/J.Post
More Syrians flee across Lebanese border/Daily Star
The Devil in the Lebanese Cabinet details/Daily Star
Lebanese Cabinet formation paralyzed/Daily Star
Geagea: Hezbollah's arms hinder solutions/Daily Star
Muslim Brotherhood leader meets with Lebanese prime minister/Al Masry Al Toum
Inked communiqué at religious summit stained by discord/Daily Star
European Union financially supports Lebanese economic development: EU commissioner/Daily Star
Change and Reform bloc wants more than Interior Ministry, Gharios says/Now Lebanon
President Gemayel renews calling for national salvation cabinet/Now Lebanon

Jumblat Criticizes Cabinet Delay: Majority is Retarded/Naharnet
Geagea Accuses Hizbullah, Syria of Forming Confrontational Cabinet
/Naharnet
Juppe Fears the Syrian Uprising Would Impact Lebanon
/Naharnet
March 8 Refutes Claims of Deadlock, Says Portfolio Distribution Nearly Settled
/Naharnet
Syrian Green Light Turns Orange but Miqati Stresses Obstacles are Local
/Naharnet
Rahi Says Officials Must be Speechless, Meets Iranian Ambassador
/Naharnet
Suleiman: Interior Minister Should Stand at an Equal Distance from All Sides
/Naharnet
Higher Islamic Shiite Council Objects to 'State's Right to Liberate its Land'
/Naharnet

 

Hundreds in Jaffa take to the streets to mark Nakba Day
Haaretz/Israeli Arabs participate in protests to mark Palestinian day of mourning of establishment of Israel; some 2,000 people carry Palestinian flags and call out, 'the Israeli government - a terror government.'
By Ilan Lior /Hundreds in Jaffa took to the streets Saturday to participate in protests in honor of Nakba Day, the Palestinian day of mourning of the creation of Israel in 1948.
According to the protest's organizers, some 2,000 people were participating in Saturday's protests, many of which are not residents of Jaffa but come from other Arab cities and villages throughout Israel.  Protesters marched across Jaffa raising Palestinian flags and called out, "the Israeli government – a terror government." One of the protest's organizers, Gabi Abad, head of the Arab Jaffa organization, told Haaretz that the purpose of the protest is first and foremost to return and talk about the Palestinian Nakba and about the expulsion of an entire nation out of its land. "The message of our protest is to aim for a just, sustainable peace, with two states for two people and a divided Jerusalem," he added. "We are stressing the need for the right of return and an end to the occupation." Nakba is an Arab term meaning "catastrophe" and was devised by Palestinian Arabs to commemorate the establishment of the State of Israel on May 15, a day after Israel declared its independence and many Arabs fled or were expelled from the country. Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino evaluated the state of affairs ahead of Nakba Day on Saturday, after receiving a summary of police activities in East Jerusalem from the city's district commander Niso Shaham. Danino emphasized in his evaluation that the police will show restraint while allowing protests to go ahead, however will not permit disorderly conduct. He added that the detention policy regarding disorderly conduct will remain in place. There will also continue to be increased police presence in East Jerusalem and other districts over the coming days.

Dozens of Syrians cross into Lebanon to escape tank shelling in southern town

Haaretzs./ DPA
Tags: Israel news Syria Lebanon Around 12 Syrian families, among them two badly-wounded people, fled Saturday to Lebanon's border town of Wadi Khaled, after the Syrian army reportedly started shelling their southern village of Tal Kalakh.
The fleeing Syrians told residents in Wadi Khaled that the Syrian army started attacking the village early Saturday.
Syrian soldiers patrol streets in an undisclosed location in Syria, May 13, 2011.
A resident in Wadi Khaled told the German Press Agency DPA "we can hear huge blasts rocking the village of Tal Kalakh, (located 5 kilometers from Wadi Khaled)."
One of the Syrians told DPA by phone, "Tal Kalakh is now being attacked by the Syrian army, we brought with us two wounded, but there are many more still stuck inside their houses because of the heavy shelling."
"The army is now shelling the village and will start in the afternoon their arrest raids.." the man, who did not wish to reveal his name for fear of retribution, said.
Around 1000 Syrian refugees fled to Wadi Khaled on April 28, after Syrian troops backed by tanks confronted protesters in Tal Kalakh with gunfire and tank shells.
The border between northern Lebanon and Syria and is predominantly Sunni Muslim - the same sect as the Syrian protesters who have been demonstrating on a daily basis since March 15th to demand more freedoms and protest repression under the regime of President Bashar Assad.
Syrian Human rights activists said more than 750 civilians have been killed since the uprising started.
The United Nation's refugee agency (UNHCR) and the Lebanese Ministry of Social Affairs is currently working on a backup plan to deal with a possible large rise in Syrian families entering Lebanon. Syrian security forces opened fire on thousands of protesters Friday, killing at least six people as soldiers tried to head off demonstrations. Government forces first fired in the air, then shot directly into the crowd as protesters continued their way. In Damascus, security forces fired tear gas in the Zahra neighborhood, forcing scores of people to disperse. In nearby Mazzeh, protesters ran away when security forces arrived. In Muhajereen, security forces used batons to scatter dozens of people, activists said.
On Friday, Britain summoned Syria's ambassador to warn that new sanctions will target the regime's hierarchy if Assad does not halt the country's violent crackdown on protesters.

Syrian forces kill at least four

May 14, 2011 /Syrian troops killed at least four people and wounded several others on Saturday in the western border town of Tall Kalakh, according to a witness and a hospital official.
"The security forces, who had been encircling Tall Kalakh since the morning, fired machine guns. At least three people were killed and several were wounded," the witness said.
A hospital source in Lebanon said that a man, Ali Basha, who was admitted to hospital earlier Saturday after fleeing from Syria with gunshot wounds had died of his injuries.
The deaths came a day after thousands of people took to the streets following the main weekly Muslim prayers for anti-regime protests in the town, which lies about 160 kilometers.
Hundreds of Syrians, most of them women and children, fled across the border from Tall Kalakh for Lebanon on Saturday, an AFP correspondent and a local official said. Some of them had gunshot wounds. At least five people who entered the area of Wadi Khaled in northern Lebanon on Saturday had been shot and an AFP correspondent said he saw two women and a man rushed away by ambulance to Lebanese hospitals. Fleeing violence in their hometowns, hundreds of Syrians have since last week crossed into Wadi Khaled by foot from villages near the border, bringing with them mattresses and other basic provisions.
-AFP/NOW Lebanon

Change and Reform bloc wants more than Interior Ministry, Gharios says

May 14, 2011 /Change and Reform bloc MP Naji Gharios said Saturday that his bloc must control the Interior and Finance ministries in the next cabinet. “The Interior Ministry belongs decisively to the team with the largest representation among the Maronites. We are not content with the Interior Ministry alone – we must also take the Finance Ministry, because we have a reform program,” he told Akhbar al-Yawm news agency. “There was no atmosphere of optimism about the cabinet and the problem was not with the Interior Ministry,” he also said, referring to reports earlier in the week that agreement had been reached on potential candidates to head the Interior Ministry. “Those whom the Change and Reform bloc and [bloc leader MP] Michel Aoun choose to be ministers are not subject to a test, since their performance appeared in practice.” Aoun has “not objected to any of the names presented” as potential candidates to head the Interior Ministry, he added. He also said that President Michel Sleiman and Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati “want to form the cabinet by themselves.”
“Mikati is the premier-designate and must therefore hold consultations with the blocs that appointed him […] we are using our prerogative and will not concede it.” Lebanon’s cabinet has still not been formed despite reports earlier in the week that Sleiman and Aoun had agreed on the names of three candidates for the Interior Ministry portfolio. Cabinet formation has reportedly been delayed by a dispute over the portfolio, which is currently part of Sleiman’s cabinet share. -NOW Lebanon

Gemayel renews calling for national salvation cabinet

May 14, 2011 /Kataeb Party leader Amin Gemayel on Saturday renewed his call for the formation of a national salvation cabinet. “We called for a national salvation cabinet in order to face the degrading economic and social situation in the country, and the events in the neighboring countries,” a statement issued by Gemayel’s office quoted him as saying. Gemayel also said that the question is no more about a cabinet being formed or not, rather on the fate of the state’s institutions, according to the statement. “If the state’s institutions collapse then no cabinet will be able to rebuild it,” he added. The former president said that while people in other countries are rallying against their regimes and asking for their removal, the Lebanese people are hoping that their current regime will be saved from some bad policies used by some parties. For almost two months, protests have railed against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
Between 600 and 700 people have been killed and at least 8,000 arrested since the start of the protest movement in mid-March, human rights groups say. Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati was appointed on January 25 with the Hezbollah-led March 8 coalition’s backing and is working to form his cabinet. According to published reports, both President Michel Sleiman and Change and Reform bloc leader MP Michel Aoun have agreed on the names of three candidates for the Interior Ministry portfolio. A dispute over the ministry has reportedly been behind the delay in cabinet formation. -NOW Lebanon

Minefields of North Lebanon

Shane Farrell, May 14, 2011
“A local hunter picked up a mine and took a photo of it,” said John Hare, pointing to a picture of a brick-sized mine resting on an open palm. “He was extremely lucky. Had he put pressure on the top of the mine, he would have been killed.”Hare is head of operations at Handicap International, an NGO working on demining in Lebanon. In 2010, the organization established the only humanitarian demining capacity in northern Lebanon, a region that, unbeknownst to many, remains contaminated by landmines and unexploded ordinance (bombs, bullets, shells, etc.) left over from the Lebanese civil war. The territory that is currently being demined is located in the Chibtine area of Batroun. On Wednesday, the four sites that have been cleared since the demining operations began, covering a combined surface area of 4677 m2, were officially handed over to the proprietors.
“We are extremely happy that this land has been cleared,” said Naoum Klim, head of the Chibtine municipality, before describing to NOW Lebanon how, as a result of demining operations, the municipality was able to expand a road and a bridge in the area. In addition, in two sites in the area, a potential water and sewerage pipeline infrastructure project may be initiated in the future, according to Handicap International.
While working in the area, deminers discovered two mines, one rifle grenade, two mortar bombs and four booby trap switches, all of which were produced by the former Soviet Union and Israel and used by Syrian forces and Lebanese militias during the civil war. Most of these explosive devices have been destroyed by the Lebanese Armed Forces. While progress has been significant, the actual process of demining is extremely slow.
“Each deminer covers a territory of approximately 10 meters per day,” Hare explained. “But depending on the land surface, they can cover more than twice that.” A great challenge for the operation is the rocky, uneven territory and the fact that many of the areas Handicap International is working on are dense with shrubs and trees.
This terrain makes it impractical to use dogs or mechanical devices to test for mines, Hare told NOW Lebanon. Instead, much of the vegetation is removed or burned off before the deminers can scour the area using hand-held metal detectors. For safety reasons, depending on whether the area is suspected of containing anti-personnel explosives or larger, anti-tank mines, deminers keep a distance of between 25 and 50 meters between one another.
Wearing a helmet and a light protective jacket that covers little more than their torso, the deminers painstakingly carry out their potentially fatal duties. All 12 on the team come from South Lebanon and are experienced deminers. Many have worked near the southern border, uncovering cluster munitions and other explosive devices that were left over from the 2006 July War between Israel and Hezbollah. During the week, they reside at an unused school in the nearby village of Toula, where Handicap International’s local office is, returning to the South only on weekends.
Although no casualties by a mine or unexploded ordinance in the area have been reported since the end of the civil war, the work of the deminers is potentially lifesaving, especially for people outside the local community who sometimes enter potentially contaminated areas in search of firewood. Local residents avoid the areas, which remain a socio-economic burden, often preventing infrastructural development and rendering agricultural land unusable.
The program, which is funded by a grant by the European Union and the French Development Agency of over $1.75 million, aims at improving the socio-economic environment of local inhabitants. The funding lasts till late 2012, though Hare believes that it will take much longer to clear the region of mines.
Handicap International coordinates its efforts with the Lebanon Mine Action Center (LMAC), a body of the Lebanese Armed Forces. LMAC decides which plots of land may contain mines and the order in which they are to be cleared, prioritizing this list based on proximity to local population centers and the economic importance of the land, the LMAC operations officer, who could not give his name in accordance with the group’s policy, told NOW Lebanon. As of early this year, 132.5 million square meters, or 49.2 percent of the country’s contaminated land, remains to be cleared.

Michel Sleiman

May 13, 2011
President Michel Sleiman delivered a speech on Friday at an inauguration of new campus for Saint Joseph University:
“Today, we inaugurate this scientific edifice, open to modernity and home. We reiterate our faith in the university and stand against challenges, and we take this occasion to affirm international cooperation to improve the university and education in Lebanon. The spiritual meeting at Bkirki expressed the essence of the true spirit that cares for spiritual relations. We are pleased that the spiritual meeting assigned a place for the youth’s affairs, calling on them to not migrate and to not be caught up in politics that are closed in upon the self.
We fear the consequences of the events that are shaking the Arab world, the seeds of sectarianism and division. We hope for stability. Lebanon is distinguished by its respect for constitutional process, the alternation of power and consensus among differing sides. But in spite of this, the Lebanese have not succeeded in the exercise of these things – the most obvious sign is taking more than nine months to form governments. This is an additional burden placing pressure in more than one area due to the emergence of problems and because of prerogatives, as well as ongoing disputes. We have no choice but to begin deep dialogue, not just about the defensive strategy but to move forward in implementing the Taif Accord.
As soon as the cabinet is formed, long-awaited developmental projects must be formed and the electoral law must be passed, as well as the administrative decentralization project. As well as the role to be played by the independent committee for the elections that we want to establish, the electoral process will also be the concern of the interior minister, who must be at once distance from all. We have had a successful experience in this ministry, and we are proud of it.
On the eve of Liberation Day, I call on Lebanon’s youth, who were able to liberate most of their lands from occupation, to contribute to building the nation’s elements.”
-NOW Lebanon

Open letter to the political representatives of March 14 Christians

Michel Hajji-Georgiou, May 13, 2011
Ladies and gentlemen,
Current events in Syria have added emphasis to an important factor, namely the excessive communitarian drifting of Lebanon’s Christians. I can merely put my indignation into words today when hearing my co-religionists use all kinds of arguments to justify the massacres committed by the Syrian regime all over Syria.
Have we started to lose our humanness? Should our survival in the East be secured to the detriment of what was, in principle, our characteristic trait, i.e. the promotion of freedom, democracy and human rights as values and – above all – respect of human dignity? What use would winning some (illusory) “protection” of our identity be if we were, in return, to renounce the very essence of that identity? What use would our existence still be if we renounce what we have always been (I am not talking here about some “role” or “function” ascribed to us by this or that community or party, but rather about what we have always wanted to be by choice), i.e. witnesses to freedom and humanism and promoters of democracy and human rights?
In truth, we have started sinking into unspeakable hypocrisy in the name of the so-called “preservation” or “protection” of Eastern Christians. Do we want to live as free and responsible citizens, or as servile and frightened subjects? Is a life spent terrified of the other while renouncing our humanness and our freedom still worth anything? Do we want to live like vegetables? Are we aware that this, in the middle run, is the best strategy to ensure the extinction of Eastern Christians?
The current rhetoric used by Lebanon’s Christians is horrifying and disgusting. It amounts to a fundamental departure from essential Christian values, which are – in theory – the rejection of violence and the promotion of a culture of peace on the one hand and, on the other, the condemnation of all kinds of servitude and the spread of an inclination towards the other’s freedom. Like many of Syria’s Christians, Lebanon’s Christians are having a reaction of communitarian withdrawal as dhimmis when confronted to the horrors of the Syrian regime all over Syria, knowing that this regime indiscriminately massacred Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese of all religions and communities. The fact that Syria’s Christians chose to hide under the cloak of the Assad regime is by no means a surprise. For the past 40 years, the regime has been stirring in them fears regarding its own end. Likewise, it had cultivated in each of Lebanon’s communities the obsessive fear that the end of the regime’s presence in Lebanon would mean an all-out war. Yet everyone knows quite well that the Syrian regime was fostering hatred and grudges among the various Lebanese communities, thus implementing two of Machiavelli’s principles: “divide and rule” and “if he exalts himself, I humble him. If he humbles himself, I exalt him.” This break in the unity of the national territory and social network is of fundamental importance in order for the regime to continue to rule, hence this wish to terrorize Christians – as it did in Lebanon – by evoking Islamism, terror, the Muslim Brotherhood and (now) Salafism as scarecrows.
Nevertheless, the existence of such dhimmi mentality in Lebanon is unacceptable. It will clearly endure within Christian movements, the political fate of which is linked to the fate of the Syrian regime and which will go out of their way to defend this regime out of some interest, blindness, ideology or compulsive lying. Yet the worst thing of all is that this mentality exists within the March 14 coalition, a place where we’re supposed to have learned the lessons of 30 years of Syrian regime propaganda and scheming, a place where we’re supposed – above all – to have recanted this logic of an alliance of minorities. This logic was promoted by the Syrian regime for 30 years, especially within the Christian community, and enabled this regime to crush us, manipulate us and set us against one another.
Despite all of the above, some March 14 Christians are still abiding by this communitarian withdrawal. Some Christian party officials did not even think twice before proclaiming on TV their support of the Syrian regime’s stability out of “concern for the protection of Christians” in Syria! Such rhetoric is based on abject and hypocritical communitarianism and sectarianism, even though those using it know quite well that Syria’s Christians are nothing but puppets showcased by the regime to stock passersby and improve its public image.
Other figures abide by a more prudent stance and remain silent, but still hold similar beliefs, namely that anything would be better for the Christian community than the potential chaos in Syria if the Baath regime were to be brought down.
The appalling thing about this Christian stance is that it actively or passively justifies the current massacres in Syria in the name of “protecting a Christian minority” (because it is indeed acting like one), at a time when we are confronted to a bloody Stalin-like crackdown. Syrian nationals are dying to break free from the tyrants and peacefully marching towards certain death for the sake of freedom and democracy, i.e. the same values for which we have always fought in Lebanon and which we have always wanted to share with other communities. These Syrians are being treated by this particular Christian stance as a sub-category of human beings who are not worthy of these fundamental rights, always out of so-called “concern for protecting” a minority.
Are we aware of the injustice we are inflicting not only upon others, but also – and more importantly so – upon ourselves and upon this cultural heritage we brandish at all times as a source of pride? Are we aware of the violence inflicted onto others due to this criminal passive stance instead of denouncing – as any Christian should – injustice, violence, repression and violation of human dignity anywhere and anytime? Are we aware that that this stance is, slowly but surely, causing us to drift into an identity of minorities, thus taking us progressively from a liberal culture to a fascist culture of promoting human disparities?
Ladies and gentlemen,
Speaking as a Lebanese and in the light of the current events in Syria, I will make no secret out of the fact that today, and probably so for the first time ever, I am ashamed – terribly ashamed – of being a Christian.

Ahmadinejad Sacks 3 Ministers to Shrink Cabinet

Naharnet/Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Saturday dismissed three ministers whose portfolios are being merged with other ministries as part of a cabinet streamlining, his office's website announced. Those who lose their jobs include Oil Minister Masoud Mirkazemi whose responsibilities are being merged with the energy ministry. Iran is OPEC's second largest crude exporter and currently holds the cartel's presidency. Welfare Minister Sadeq Mahsouli and Industries Minister Ali Akbar Mehrabian also go, as their responsibilities are merged with the labor and commerce ministries respectively. The departures are part of a streamlining of the cabinet provided for under Iran's development plan for 2010-2015, which requires the number of posts to be cut from 21 to 17. Transport minister Hamid Behbahani already lost his job in February when he failed to survive an impeachment motion in parliament. His responsibilities have been merged with the housing ministry. The mechanics of the downsizing have been a source of tension for weeks between the president and parliament.
Ahmadinejad says that cabinet appointments are his prerogative but parliament insists it must approve the new portfolios and who holds them.
A widely reported war of words erupted this week between Ahmadinejad and parliament speaker Ali Larijani on the issue, before Iran's powerful Guardians Council intervened and sided with parliament on Thursday. The Guardians Council is the body that oversees elections, interprets the constitution and vets parliamentary legislation.(AFP) Beirut, 14 May 11, 14:47

Iraqi Christian Kidnapped for $100,000 Ransom

Naharnet/A Christian man in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk has been kidnapped and is being held for a $100,000 ransom, police said Saturday. Kirkuk deputy police chief Maj. Gen. Torhan Abdul-Rahman said the victim is a construction worker who did not come home from work Friday night. When officials called his mobile phone on Saturday, the kidnappers answered and demanded the money. Parliament lawmaker Imad Yohanna, a Christian from Kirkuk, said the man was kidnapped because he is Christian. Yohanna said Christians are seen as easy targets because they usually pay ransom without a fight, as opposed to Arabs whose tribes generally attack to free the victim. Abdul-Rahman said 43 people from different ethnic groups have been kidnapped in Kirkuk this year.(AP) Beirut, 14 May 11, 15:55

Jumblat Criticizes Cabinet Delay: Majority is Retarded

Naharnet/Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat criticized the new majority for its disability to form the cabinet, accusing it of being paralyzed. Jumblat said on Friday during the opening ceremony of the National Center for Development and Rehabilitation that the politicians are the "retarded" ones for disagreeing over shares in the government while "the country is on the verge of collapse." Jumblat stressed that the Arab world is witnessing "revolutions and the future is unknown." Informed sources told al-Liwaa newspaper on Saturday that the PSP leader is dissatisfied with the current cabinet formation deadlock. "Jumblat said that the political class is paralyzed. It failed to provide (the country with) the slightest means of stability and security… not being able to form the new cabinet," the sources said. Beirut, 14 May 11, 09:58

Geagea Accuses Hizbullah, Syria of Forming Confrontational Cabinet

Naharnet/Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said on Saturday that the main parties involved in the cabinet formation, especially Hizbullah and Syria, want a confrontational government.
"Hizbullah and Syria are heading towards a confrontational cabinet, while President Michel Suleiman and Premier-designate Najib Miqati want a cabinet that is closest possible to the Lebanese reality," Geagea told Free Lebanon radio. President Michel Suleiman hinted that the other team didn't succeed in forming the government, that's why he claimed that foreign intervention was behind the delay, Geagea said. Before entering the seventh session of the LF general congress in Maarab, he stressed that although there is a "deadly" standstill in the country, the LF intended to discuss its by-laws. "Three days have passed on discussions and we're about to enter the fourth. The reason is that we're carefully discussing the by-laws and every article is being examined," Geagea told the radio station.‏ Beirut, 14 May 11, 13:31

Juppe Fears the Syrian Uprising Would Impact Lebanon

Naharnet/French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe called the Lebanese to speed up the formation of the cabinet in order to guarantee the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country.
"Keeping our contacts with our Lebanese allies" is our sole key to help in the cabinet formation, Juppe said in an interview with pan-Arab daily al-Hayat published on Saturday.
He feared that the Syrian uprising would have a negative effect on the Lebanese situation for both countries share a heritage of close ties. Juppe hoped that the impending government would respect the independence of the international tribunal that will try ex-premier Rafik Hariri's suspected assassins. Moreover, he considered the presence of peacekeeping forces in southern Lebanon as a stabilizing factor for the region and Lebanon. "It is necessary today to adjust the specific role of this force and its relationship with the Lebanese army," Juppe said. Regarding a possible visit to Lebanon, the minister told al-Hayat that he did not schedule any visit yet but he might come to Beirut soon. Beirut, 14 May 11, 13:01

Muslim contender for Egyptian presidency designed for US approval

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report May 13, 2011,
Notwithstanding the official Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood's promise not to seek the presidency or any other positions of power, Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, 60, member of the MB's Shura Council and head of the Egyptian Doctors' Union, has announced he would run for president in Egypt's coming election. He claimed he would be running as an "independent," but no one doubts whom he represents. April 29, DEBKA-Net-Weekly 490 revealed that Fotouh was MB's presidential candidate, the first publication to do so.
Recently discovered by the American media, the contender is depicted as a progressive and moderate Muslim figure whose views on equal rights for women and non-Muslims should lay to rest Western fears of the Muslim Brotherhood as a radical movement.
debkafile's sources report that Fotouh's decision to stand for election has persuaded Egypt's military rulers to back off from running one of their own or a secular contender against him. The Chairman of the Supreme Military Council Field Marshall Muhammad Tantawi and his fellow (25) members are inclined to wind up their transitional tenure by organizing orderly elections to parliament and the presidency in the coming months, handing over the reins of government, quitting politics and returning to their military duties.
This is bad news for Israel, which has maintained amicable ties with Egypt's military and intelligence authorities for many years in contrast to the hostility it has encountered in Cairo's political and religious circles.
The Muslim Brotherhood was encouraged in its power bid by the March 19 referendum on constitutional changes held after Hosni Mubarak's fall. More than 14 million Egyptians, 77 percent of its participants, favored the Brotherhood's demand for changes against only 4 million (23 percent) who did not. The ayes proved to represent a large proportion of members of the MB and allied Islamic parties. Its leaders were convinced that that a moderate candidate for president would draw even more substantial support.
The liberal and democratic parties which led the Tahrir Square movement against Mubarak were shocked when tests run by the public opinion experts they hired confirmed this finding. They were forced to accept that full democracy in Egypt would raise the Muslims to the center of power with a majority in parliament and a better-than-good chance of winning the presidency and virtually eclipsing them as a force in Egyptian politics.
On Feb. 9, two days before Hosni Mubarak stepped down, Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh wrote in an article run by the Washington Post:
"Contrary to fear-mongering reports, the West and the Muslim Brotherhood are not enemies. For Muslims, ideological differences with others are taught not to be the root cause of violence and bloodshed because a human being's freedom to decide how to lead his or her personal life is an inviolable right found in basic Islamic tenets, as well as Western tradition. Our track record of responsibility and moderation is a hallmark of our political credentials and we will build on it."
Our Middle East sources detect in those words echoes of the sentiments heard in the speech US President Barack Obama delivered at Cairo University in June 2009 about the common basis for a new relationship between America and the Muslim world.
Then, on Feb. 22, 2011, two days after the Mubarak regime was overthrown, the Muslim Brotherhood announced: "It's not our aim to take power, it is just to participate."
debkafile reports that the MB issued this assurance to allay Western fears of a Muslim grab for power in Cairo. But on the quiet, in the second week of April, the Brotherhood leaders picked Fotouh as their candidate for future president of Egypt.
He is depicted as devoting himself in recent years to promoting liberal ideas within the Muslim movement, having published books and articles urging its members to accept the opening of the presidency to women and Coptic Christians.
Towards the end of 2009, Fotouh and other moderates were suspended from the Muslim Brotherhood's leadership bodies. However, since his run for president was announced, it turns out that he enjoys high standing in its ranks. His reputation was certainly enhanced by the book he published in March 2010: A Witness to the History of Egypt's Islamic Movement, in which he made a prediction which looked wholly unrealistic at the time that in the coming moment in the movement's history, thousands of Egyptian students would join a relatively moderate Muslim Brotherhood.
Today, he is credited with extraordinary foresight

Guardian commentator praises ‘religious tolerance of Islam’ for treatment of Copts

Thurs. 12 May 2011 @ 13.14 –
http://justjournalism.com/the-wire/guardian-commentator-praises-‘religious-tolerance-of-islam’-for-treatment-of-copts/
Art critic’s blog piece on Egyptian Copts describes their survival as ‘tribute’ to ‘religious tolerance of Islam’, despite ongoing persecution by Islamic extremists.
Writing on his Guardian art blog yesterday, Jonathan Jones’ ‘Who are the Coptic Christians?’ examines the history of the minority group via the prism of its contribution to Egyptian culture. Jones opens the piece by acknowledging there have been some recent difficulties for Copts:
‘Attacks on churches, communal divisions – Cairo has recently seen conflicts between some Muslims and Coptic Christians.’
He immediately moves on to discussing the cultural history of Copts in Egypt, and no further mention is made of their current situation until the final paragraph. However, rather than discussing the longstanding persecution of the religious minority, Jones instead chooses to portray the treatment of Copts as a ‘tribute’ to the ‘religious tolerance of Islam’:
‘Their survival is a tribute to the religious tolerance of Islam. How many Islamic communities survived in medieval Christian Europe?’
Having skirted over the issue of Christian ill-treatment, Jones then makes it clear that nobody in Europe is qualified to highlight the human rights abuses of minorities in Muslim countries anyway, due to the Holocaust:
‘As for modern times, a Europe that murdered six million Jews less than a century ago is in no position to vaunt its tolerance.’
Jones’ decision to praise Islamic tolerance comes at a time when Christians are leaving Egypt in droves, due to their fears of ever-increasing violence and discrimination. Following the New Year’s Eve bomb attack on a church in Alexandria that left 23 dead and around 100 injured, further examples of Muslim hostility include church burnings, targeted shooting-sprees, and the protests for the removal of a Christian governor.
The emphasis on how Copts have survived while Islamic communities in medieval Christian Europe apparently did not is especially noteworthy, given that Christian populations are rapidly diminishing in every Muslim-majority country in the Middle East. Just Journalism has highlighted this issue in its ‘Christians in the ME’ coverage.

Starving the Rebellion: Syria's Brutal Tactics

By Rania Abouzeid/ Jaber border crossing Friday, May 13, 2011
TIME
Abu Ibrahim, a stocky, bespectacled Syrian from the besieged southern city of Dara'a, bounded into the general store on the Jordan-Syria border in his white plastic sandals, grasping his daughter Noor's hand as the 6-year-old struggled to keep up. He'd left Dara'a, the center of a two-month-old antigovernment uprising, just a few hours earlier and was desperate to get back before the end of Friday midday prayers — and the start of the weekly nationwide protests that have always followed. "I left because we need to find food," he said in a hurried tone. "We've all been sharing what we have with our neighbors, but now we're starving. They have starved us."
It was the first time that Abu Ibrahim, who did not want his full name published, said that he'd dared to venture out in the 18 days since Syrian security forces cordoned off the city and used tanks, snipers and gunfire in a bid to pummel its people into submission. Dara'a is about 11 kilometers from Jordan's Jaber border crossing in the north, which has remained open despite the fact that the larger, nearby Ramtha transit point — just a few kilometers from Dara'a — was sealed on April 25 by Syrian authorities. "It's now a village of only women and children. The men are gone — slaughtered or detained," Abu Ibrahim said of his hometown. "They want to eliminate us, the Sunnis." The city — or rather half of it — was without electricity and water. He claimed that there were incentives to collaborate with the regime, alleging that the Mahata neighborhood (less than a kilometer from his home) had "surrendered" and was rewarded with restored electricity and water.
In the past few weeks, the Syrian protest movement has morphed from a ripple cautiously calling on President Bashar al-Assad to undertake reforms to a wave of nationwide anger demanding the overthrow of Assad and a decades-old regime stacked with loyalists from his minority Alawite community, which makes up about 12% of Syria's population, which is largely Sunni. The unrest has taken on an increasingly sharp and bitter sectarian tone in what was (at least outwardly) a strictly secular state.
Thousands of protesters once again poured into the streets on Friday, despite a ongoing government crackdown that Syrian human-rights activists say has left anywhere from 680 to 800 people dead — hundreds in the last week alone. The protests are an unprecedented act of defiance for a once apolitical, long-cowed populace afraid to speak against, let alone call for the ouster of, their longtime Ba'athist, Alawite rulers.
At least six demonstrators were killed on Friday, according to reports out of Damascus, despite President Assad's reported call for no violence from security forces. More than 9,500 people have been rounded up, the activists say, in mass arrests that have overstretched prisons and prompted authorities to turn stadiums into makeshift jails.
Syria's Information Minister, Adnan Hassan Mahmoud, told reporters in Damascus that a national dialogue with the opposition would begin within days. Earlier on Friday, the Interior Ministry said that 5,077 people connected "with riots turned themselves in to date," just days before a May 15 amnesty for "those who were misled into participating in or committing unlawful acts," according to the state news agency SANA. They were "released immediately after pledging not to repeat any act that harm security of the homeland and citizens."
Amnesty is one thing. Some Syrians — like Abu Hamza, a rail-thin man with a wispy moustache — appear in no mood to excuse the regime for its repression. The young man, who asked that neither his name nor his hometown on the outskirts of Dara'a be mentioned, stood at the Jaber crossing (86 kilometers north of the Jordanian capital, Amman) waiting for a ride across the border back into Syria. A small black suitcase lay at his feet. The mobile-phone salesman said he hadn't been home since the uprising began and was worried about his family, given that landline and mobile-phone communication in many parts of Syria has been cut. "There's just been too much blood," Abu Hamza said as he lit a cigarette and peered out across a rain-drizzled patch of road. Several freight trucks crossed from Syria to Jordan, but there were precious few cars traveling in either direction. (Jordanian border guards at both the Jaber and Ramtha crossings say there's been a massive slowdown in traffic.) "We can't just forgive them for spilling so much blood," Abu Hamza said. "What was our crime? Tell me, what did we do to deserve this?" A Jordanian border guard looked at him sympathetically. "Inshallah kheir," the guard said, which roughly translates as "God willing, things will be good."
There are close blood, marital and trade ties straddling the border in these Sunni towns and villages. On Friday the previous week, hundreds of people from Ramtha marched to the border crossing to express their solidarity with friends and family in Dara'a. The protest was not repeated this week, although according to the local Jordan Times newspaper, many Ramtha residents have taken in Syrian refugees but are loath to publicize the hospitality, given their heavy reliance on trade with Syria. The daily quoted a 45-year-old Jordanian trader who said he had secretly taken in several Syrian members of his tribe but feared being blacklisted by Syrian authorities should they find out. "It's a shame, but our lives depend on traveling to Syria," he said. "This regime never forgets, and it doesn't look like it will fall either."
Back at the general store, Haithem al-Zaibe stood behind the counter of his cousin's shop. The 21-year-old from Ramtha also has family across the border in Dara'a, and says he wishes he could do something to help them. It's not as if he doesn't have time. Business is down 40%, he said, and before Abu Ibrahim rushed in, he hadn't seen a single customer for several hours. His Syrian family (several of whom own Jordanian SIM cards that have enabled them to maintain communications) are terrified to attempt to leave their home, let alone try and cross the border. "They're running out of food," he said. "I've seen Syrians park their cars out here," he gestured, pointing outside his store, "and smuggle bread, I've seen it with my own eyes. You won't believe where they hide it. Even milk, they will pour powdered milk into a bag and hide it in the undercarriage of their vehicle. They're desperate."
Abu Ibrahim, who had just hurried in and caught Zaibe's last comments, nodded his head. Cars are searched entering and exiting Dara'a, he said, not just for weapons, but for anything that may alleviate the people's suffering. A friend, he claimed, was detained for trying to smuggle in a dozen candles. "That was last month, and nobody's heard of him since," Abu Ibrahim said. "I have most of what I need now, I've hidden it. I have been reduced to acting like a thief, look at my hands! Look!" he said as he thrust his thick, greasy fingers forward. He wouldn't say where he'd hidden his food supplies, for fear that it would jeopardize further attempts. He looked down at his watch. It was almost noon. "I have to get there soon, before demonstrations start and I can't get back into the city," he said.
(See why Assad's supporters are turning against him.)
Zaibe handed the Syrian a bag full of flat, Arabic bread. "God be with you," he said, refusing payment. The stocky man thanked him, and quickly ushered his shy daughter out the door toward their white station wagon. It was an overcast, chilly day. The wind outside had picked up, kicking swirls of gritty sand into the air. "They're probably hoping for a storm to wash away all the blood in the streets," Abu Ibrahim said wryly, referring to the Syrian security forces. "They've butchered people," he said, shaking his head. "I'm telling you, they have butchered people."
 

Syria's Refugees from Terror
BY HANIN GHADDAR |
MAY 13, 2011
Foreign Policy
The northern Lebanese village of Wadi Khaled is so close to Syria that its residents can hear gunfire from across the border as the regime of President Bashar al-Assad attempts to put down a persistent revolt from his long-oppressed citizens. And as violence in nearby Syrian cities of Tal Kalakh and Homs has worsened, it has also been a refuge for fleeing Syrians.
More... According to Sheikh Abdullah, a prominent religious figure in the village, Wadi Khaled has received more than 1,350 refugees from Syria in the past 10 days, most of them women and children. More are expected to arrive in the coming days. Protesters took to the streets by the thousands again on Friday, reportedly flooding the streets of Damascus, Hama, and Homs in defiance of Assad's crackdown. Human rights organizations have reported that up to 850 people have been killed so far during the uprising, while more than 10,000 have been arrested.
With a media blackout in place across Syria, Wadi Khaled, a predominantly Sunni village of around 30,000 people, is also one of the best locations to learn what's occurring across the border. The news is grim: The Syrian refugees there tell a story of state-sponsored violence and oppression that suggest Assad will stop at nothing to keep his grip on power.
Munther, a 35-year-old chain-smoker, answered our questions without taking his eyes off the BBC Arabic report on Syria playing on a television overhead. He escaped with his family from the Bab Amr neighborhood of Homs on Saturday. He had been participating in the protests every Friday for two months since the uprising took hold in mid-March. "They were shooting at us to disperse the protests, but it was still manageable because you can hide as soon as they start shooting," he said. However, he decided to flee when Assad sent in tanks on May 7. "I have children and I have to protect them."
Munther, like many other Syrian refugees, came to Wadi Khaled because he has relatives there. It is only a 15-minute car ride from Homs, and the Lebanese-Syrian border has done little to hinder ties between the villages on either side of the international line. Most Wadi Khaled residents are originally Bedouins with tribal links to those in Homs and Tal Kalakh, and the last of them was given Lebanese nationality in 1994. Inter-marriages between the two communities are also common.
There is no official crossing between Wadi Khaled and the Homs Governate on the Syrian side of the border. A concrete bridge over the Southern Kabir River links the two regions, but Lebanese or Syrian checkpoints are nowhere to be found; refugees simply cross the border on foot. Lebanese residents buy cheap bread and vegetables from neighboring villages in Syira and cross back into Wadi Khaled unmolested. Gasoline smuggling is rampant.
That has left village notables with the task of caring for the needs of their newly arrived quests. Sheikh Abdullah is taking care of the refugees' logistics and safety. "Many families coming from Syria have relatives here and they are staying at their houses, but at one point, if they keep coming, there might be a humanitarian crisis," he said.
Refugees describe a government crackdown so severe that it makes normal life impossible. "The first thing the security forces do when they besiege the city -- and this happened in Daraa, Jasem, Enkhel, Tel Kalakh, and Homs -- is to cut the electricity, the phones, and the Internet. Then they shoot at water tanks situated on the rooftops to cut the water," said Abed, a 30-year-old man from Tel Kalakh.