LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِMay 26/2011

Biblical Event Of The Day
Paul's Letter to the Ephesians 02/01-10: " You were made alive when you were dead in transgressions and sins, 2:2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the children of disobedience; 2:3 among whom we also all once lived in the lust of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. 2:4 But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us, 2:5 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 2:6 and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 2:7 that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus; 2:8 for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 2:9 not of works, that no one would boast. 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them"

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
Lion's Den: ‘Fin de Régime’ in Syria/By: DANIEL PIPES/May 25/11
Conversion, Adultery and Savagery Strike Egypt/By Raymond Ibrahim/May 25/11
U.S. Shouldn't Abandon Religious Minorities in Iran/By Paul Marshall and Tina Ramirez/May 25/11
Muslims Surround Church in Egypt, Prevent Its Reopening/AINA/May 25/11
Michel Aoun’s not happy with PM-designate//Now Lebanon/May 25/11
US Aid to Protesters Should Foster Democracy — Not Radicalism/By: Walid Phares/May 25/11

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for May 25/11
US: Hezbollah has more missiles than most states/Ynetnews
Canada imposes economic sanctions on Syria in response to crackdown/Washington Post
Turkey ditches Assad, calls off participation in Gaza flotilla/DEBKAfile
Turtle Bay: Britain and France to press for UN Security Council condemnation/Foreign Policy
Nuclear report on Syria may augur punitive action/LAT
Rights group calls for UN resolution on Syria/Fox News
Obama Speech Sparks Iran, Syria Crackdowns/NewsMax
1100 civilians dead in Syrian crackdown: activists/ABC
Property sales down 21 percent this year/Daily Star
Lebanese Leaders call for national unity on Liberation Day/Daily Star
Activists hold rally in support of Syrian protests/Daily Star
Ohio Couple Pleads Guilty To Conspiring To Finance Hezbollah/WSJ
Lebanon must take care of its water resources: expert/Daily Star
PM greets caretaker PM of Republic of Lebanon on Independence Day/AP
Mikati reportedly says he will not form federal cabinet/Now Lebanon
Army Ends Deployment along Northern Border Despite Security Fears/Naharnet
Speaker Seeks to Launch New Initiative to Solve Cabinet Deadlock/Naharnet
Al-Mustaqbal: Responsibility of Crisis Lies on those who Toppled Hariri's Cabinet/Naharnet
Netanyahu: Tyranny Imposed Hizbullah's Medieval Rule on Lebanon/Naharnet
Bahraini Group Cuts Ties with Lebanon for 'Meddling in the Kingdom's Affairs'/Naharnet
Lebanese Back Syrian Protesters from Warehouse after Rejection of 28 Hotels to Host them/Naharnet
Aoun: Miqati Doesn't Want to Form Cabinet, He Has Made Impossible and Inappropriate Demands/Naharnet
Israeli Troops on Alert along Border ahead of Liberation Day/Naharnet
Hariri on Liberation Day: National Unity Should Get Greater Credit for Liberating South/Naharnet
U.S. Makes Equipment Delivery to Lebanese Army at Hamat Airfield/Naharnet
Suleiman on Liberation Day: Israel is Maintaining its Refusal to Implement International Resolutions/Naharnet
Williams: It's Very Important for All Parties to Commit to Resolution 1701/Naharnet
Geagea: Situation in Lebanon Increasingly Linked with Regional Developments/Naharnet
Al-Rahi: Lebanon is Ill and in Need of Treatment/Naharnet
Lebanon.s Mufti condemns Aoun’s criticism of Sleiman, Mikati/Now Lebanon

US: Hezbollah has more missiles than most states
Ynet 05.25.11,/Hezbollah is armed with more missiles and rockets than most states, according to outgoing US Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
In a speech to the American Enterprise Institute, Gates warned against the Shiite group's arming methods and the possibility that it owns chemical and biological weapons, CNN reported Wednesday. The US official made similar statements last year, but did not back them up with proof. "Hezbollah cruise missiles could threaten US ships with anti-ship missiles with a range of 65 miles," he added. Two months ago, an Israeli security official provided the Washington Post with a map detailing no less than 550 bunkers, 300 surveillance sites and 100 other facilities the Jewish state believes belong to Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon. Most of the sites marked on the map, which appeared in the American newspaper on Wednesday, are located south of the Litani River. Ten arms caches are marked on another map featuring an aerial view of the Al Khiyam village in south Lebanon. The weapons storage facilities are located in close proximity to medical centers and schools. The daily quoted a senior Israeli commander as saying, “Our interest is to show the world that the Hezbollah organization has turned these villages into fighting zones.”

U.S. Makes Equipment Delivery to Lebanese Army at Hamat Airfield
Naharnet/The United States delivered on Tuesday equipment to the Lebanese army at the Hamat Airfield via C-130 aircraft, the first time an aircraft of this size and type has landed at Hamat Airfield.
U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly and senior Lebanese army and U.S. military officers were on hand to observe the delivery.
This delivery contained infrastructure for the construction of a 150 by 50 foot maintenance tent that the Lebanese army helicopter mechanics can use to conduct maintenance on helicopter engines.
The maintenance tent is part of a broader project to provide hangars for the army's helicopter fleet at Hamat to protect them from high winds, and install flood lighting for the airfield to facilitate safer flying in periods of darkness.
This delivery comes as part of the United States' ongoing support for the Lebanese army at Hamat Airfield.
The U.S. military has also helped the army with improving the training facilities at Hamat, providing over $1.5 million for the construction of a facility for army units to conduct military live fire training. Beirut, 24 May 11, 18:23

Netanyahu: Tyranny Imposed Hizbullah's Medieval Rule on Lebanon
Naharnet/Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hailed the "courageous Arab protestors" battling tyranny which has inflicted "the medieval rule of Hizbullah" on Lebanon.
"The brief democratic spring in Iran was cut short by a ferocious and unforgiving tyranny. This same tyranny smothered Lebanon's democratic Cedar Revolution," Netanyahu said in an address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress on Tuesday. He was referring to the movement that started after the assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri which drew Syrian forces out of Lebanon in April 2005. According to the Israeli prime minister, that same tyranny "inflicted on that long-suffering country (Lebanon) the medieval rule of Hizbullah.""An epic battle is now unfolding in the Middle East, between tyranny and freedom. A great convulsion is shaking the earth from the Khyber Pass to the Straits of Gibraltar," he said.
The Middle East stands at a "fateful crossroads," with pro-democracy revolutions shaking Arab nations which hold "the promise of a new dawn of freedom and opportunity," the Israeli premier said in a speech punctuated by warm applause and standing ovations. "Yet, as we share their hopes, we must also remember that those hopes could be snuffed out as they were in Tehran in 1979," he said, referring to the revolution that deposed the shah but brought in a strict Islamic republic.(AFP-Naharnet) Beirut, 25 May 11, 07:31

Al-Mustaqbal: Responsibility of Crisis Lies on those who Toppled Hariri's Cabinet
Naharnet/Al-Mustaqbal bloc sources have blamed the parties who were behind the toppling of Caretaker PM Saad Hariri's cabinet for the current government formation impasse.
"The actual responsibility of the crisis lies on those who toppled Caretaker Premier Saad Hariri's government and claimed that his presence in Lebanon was hindering the formation of the new cabinet," sources told An Nahar daily about the March 8 forces. Hariri "is currently outside Lebanon and the formation crisis continues," they stressed.
Asked about reports that Hariri would return to Lebanon to reactivate the work of the caretaker cabinet, the sources said: "The issue is linked to the constitution which has a narrow definition of caretaking." But "if there are certain events such as the appointment of a new governor for the Central Bank, then it exists a solution to confront it," they added.
On Speaker Nabih Berri's efforts to hold a parliamentary session to appoint the governor or resolve the crisis of overcrowded prisons, they said that such a move was only aimed at turning a blind eye to the differences between Premier-designate Najib Miqati and Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun. The Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc urged Miqati on Tuesday to reject the formation of a "confrontational cabinet" that deepens internal divisions. The bloc blamed the "unjustified delay" on the March 8 alliance. It met for the first time at al-Qantari palace, the former residence of ex-Presidents Beshara al-Khouri and Camile Chamoun. Beirut, 25 May 11, 09:58

Jumblat on Liberation Day: Resistance is the Best Way to Deter Occupation
Naharnet/Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat addressed the Lebanese on the occasion of Liberation Day, greeting all the "martyrs" and those who fought for freedom.
"Greetings to the thousands of martyrs" who adopted the cause of "the resistance politically, militarily and intellectually," al-Liwaa newspaper quoted the PSP leader as saying.
He added: greetings to all "those who took Lebanon and the South to the Liberation anniversary." The PSP leader stressed that "May 25 is an occasion for all the Lebanese regardless of their affiliations." Jumblat said that the resistance is the best way to "prevent the occupation and give Lebanon strength and immunity." On Wednesday, Jumblat held a meeting with Tawhid movement leader Wiam Wahhab at his residence in Clemenceau. The officials discussed the current Lebanese and Arab situations, and stressed the importance of speeding up the cabinet formation to consolidate Lebanon. Beirut, 25 May 11, 11:45

Bahraini Group Cuts Ties with Lebanon for 'Meddling in the Kingdom's Affairs'
Naharnet/An influential Bahraini business group decided Tuesday to freeze ties with Iran, Iraq and Lebanon in response to what it claims is foreign meddling during Shiite-led protests in the Gulf kingdom. The move by the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry is likely to ratchet up tensions between the small island nation — which is ruled by a Sunni monarchy and is home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet — and Shiite powerhouse Iran and its allies. The group last month called for a boycott of goods from Iran, which has criticized the crackdown by Bahrain's government on Shiite protesters demanding greater rights. Shiites account for 70 percent of Bahrain's population, but complain of widespread discrimination that includes being excluded from top political or military posts. In freezing ties, the chamber said it acted to highlight its displeasure toward "some countries that have intervened in the kingdom's affairs during its crisis," according to a report on the official Bahrain News Agency. But it's unclear what practical impact a boycott would bring. The countries are not among Bahrain's top trading partners, although Iran has stepped up efforts to greater commercial ties. The chamber specifically blamed Iran for "continued interference" and criticized groups in Lebanon for creating "an atmosphere of chaos and tension and division among the people" — an apparent reference to Hizbullah. Backers of Iraq's Shiite-led government also have expressed support for Bahrain's protesters. Bahrain's minority Sunni rulers and their Gulf Arab allies have accused Iran of fueling and seeking to benefit from the unrest. Tehran denies the charges.
At least 30 people have been killed since protests broke out in February, and hundreds of demonstrators have been detained.
The London-based rights group Amnesty International has urged Bahrain's king to overturn the death sentences against two people arrested during the protests.
The sentences were upheld by a special closed-door appeals court presided over by military and civilian judges on Sunday. The defendants were convicted of killing two policemen during a government crackdown on the unrest in March. A top official said this week that 515 detainees have been released since martial law-style emergency powers were put in place during the crackdown. Although the government has lifted some restrictions such as an overnight curfew, rights groups say the government continues to intimidate and silence those it sees as a threat to its more than 200-year rule. Mazen Mahdi, a Bahraini journalist who works for the German news service DPA, was briefly detained by Bahraini authorities Sunday, the press agency said Tuesday. Mahdi, who also works as a photographer for the European Pressphoto Agency, said he was abused while in custody for about two hours, according to DPA spokesman Christian Roewekamp. A government spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment. A Reuters correspondent was expelled by Bahrain earlier this month after officials complained about the news agency's reporting in the kingdom.(AP) Beirut, 25 May 11, 07:28

Mufti condemns Aoun’s criticism of Sleiman, Mikati
May 25, 2011 /Mufti of the Lebanese Republic Sheikh Mohammad Rashid Qabbani condemned on Tuesday Change and Reform bloc leader MP Michel Aoun’s criticism of President Michel Sleiman and Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati.“We condemn the [verbal attacks] against the country’s president, and against the Muslims, especially the Sunnis,” Qabbani was quoted by the National News Agency as saying. “[Aoun’s] remarks are not fit for a politician or for any public figure,” the Mufti added.
He said that Aoun “should know that assaulting any sect in Lebanon would be an assault on all of the country’s sects.”Aoun has repeatedly slammed Sleiman and Mikati and accused them of delaying the formation of a new cabinet. Mikati, who was appointed to the premiership in January with the backing of the Hezbollah-led March 8 coalition, has not yet formed a new cabinet. -NOW Lebanon

Michel Aoun
May 24, 2011
Now Lebanon
Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun held a press conference in Rabieh following the weekly meeting of his parliamentary bloc, Change and Reform. He said:
“We addressed different issues [in our meeting today]. To start with, I will refer to the [verbal attacks] launched by Prime Minister-designate [Najib Mikati against me] through the media. I am not happy with these rumors that are unfounded. [Mikati] should not mention my name anymore [to justify the delay in cabinet formation].
Also, [our bloc] has made concessions and named [candidates for ministries]. When we gave [Mikati the] names of candidates, [he started] imposing more conditions. He is demanding the impossible [from us]. When we name someone to handle a ministry, our candidate is competent. The PM-designate is [disrespecting] the path of cabinet formation, and this issue has become a source of amusement [for him]. We told [Mikati] to announce the cabinet formation from wherever he wants.
Those who neglect [their duties] would be violating their power. It is a problem if [Mikati] does not know that the MPs are the ones who nominated [him] and can withdraw their vote of confidence [and stop backing him]. Also during our [bloc meeting], we addressed other issues happening in the Finance Ministry.
The latter prevents the Director of Finance from appearing before the [Parliamentary Budget and Finance] Commission and answering its questions. This is a rebellion, in a addition to many breaches, like the violation of Article 88 [of the constitution], which forbids placing financial burdens on the government if they were not carried out in accordance with the law.
The person responsible for these violations is the one who is delaying the formation of the cabinet. The formation of the cabinet has become dependent on many [events] occurring in the Middle East.
Regarding the regional developments: there are many international interferences taking place in Syria. It is unacceptable for [US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs] Jeffrey Feltman to impose on us certain conducts in order to form the cabinet. This violates Lebanon’s sovereignty.
It is also unacceptable for Feltman to object on violence taking place in Syria while [he does not have any stance] on what Israel is doing. [US President Barack] Obama rejected his promise to form a [Palestinian] state 24 hours after he vowed so.
Regarding Israel, it is a US-European comedy that I live in. The international battle is sometimes launched against us, other times against Iran and other times against Syria. If we question who are the US’ friends, and how much democracy they enjoy, we know that the US supports crime if they benefited from it.
The US is not a model of democracy, and neither is the UN Security Council. We hope that the votes of Russia and China [who are permanent members of the Security Council] would be the beginning of the rise of awareness. We in Lebanon are doomed because the Special Tribunal for Lebanon [probing the 2005 assassination of former PM Rafik Hariri] is illegitimate on account of the Security Council trespassing its powers [in the decision to form the STL] under Chapter VII of the UN Charter.
About the US Cables, WikiLeaks, that were pertaining to [myself and the Change and Reform bloc figures]: I was hoping that they included something that was not groundless. We exchange ideas with ambassadors but we do not comment on the behavior of people. We say that we fight corruption and theft. I object on the WikiLeaks [about me] and I will file a lawsuit against the source that published it. We are fed up with [such] talks… Do not be afraid, the cause will not end but with the triumph of the Resistance and the loss of Israel.”

Lion's Den: ‘Fin de Régime’ in Syria?
By DANIEL PIPES
05/24/2011 /J.Post
The time has come to brush aside fears of instability and push Assad from power.
The ongoing revolt in Syria offers great opportunities, humanitarian and geo-political. Western states should quickly seize the opportunity to dispatch strongman Bashar al-Assad and his henchmen. Many benefits will follow when they land in their appointed dustbins. FOREIGN: The malign but tactically brilliant Hafez al- Assad blighted the entire Middle East with disproportionate Syrian influence for decades. His son, the feckless Bashar, has continued this pattern since 2000 by sending terrorists to Iraq, murdering Lebanon’s prime minister Rafik al-Hariri, overthrowing his son Saad, aiding Hezbollah and Hamas, and developing chemical and possibly nuclear weapons.
His disappearance will be a universal boon. But Bashar’s main role internationally is serving as Tehran’s premier ally. Despite Westerners usually seeing the Syrian-Iranian alliance as a flimsy marriage of convenience, it has lasted over 30 years, through shifts in personnel and circumstances, due to what Jubin Goodarzi in 2006 called the two parties’ “broader, long-term strategic concerns derived from national security priorities.” The Syrian intifada has already weakened the Iranian-led “resistance bloc” by politically distancing Tehran from Assad and fomenting divisions in the Iranian leadership. Syrian protesters are burning the Iranian flag; were (Sunni) Islamists to take power in Damascus, they would terminate the Iranian connection, seriously damping the mullahs’ grandiose ambitions. The end of Assad’s rule can also have other important consequences. Bashar and the ruling Islamist AK party in Turkey have developed such close relations that some analysts predict the Assad regime’s removal will lead to a collapse of Ankara’s entire Middle East policy. Also, unrest among the Kurds of Syria could lead to their greater autonomy, which would in turn encourage co-ethnics in Anatolia to demand an independent state – a prospect that so worries Ankara, it sent a stream of high-level visitors to Damascus to urgently push a counter-insurgency accord.
Turmoil in Syria also offers relief for Lebanon, which has been under the Syrian thumb since 1976. Similarly, a distracted Damascus permits Israeli strategists – at least temporarily – to focus on the country’s many other foreign problems.
DOMESTIC: In a smug interview discussing developments in Tunisia and Egypt just weeks before his own country erupted on March 15, Bashar al-Assad explained the misery also facing his own subjects: “Whenever you have an uprising, it is self-evident that... you have anger [which] feeds on desperation.”
The word desperation nicely summarizes the Syrian people’s lot; since 1970, the Assad dynasty has dominated Syria with an iron Stalinist fist only slightly less oppressive than that of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. Poverty, expropriation, corruption, stasis, oppression, fear, isolation, Islamism, torture and massacre have been the hallmarks of Assad rule.
Thanks to Western greed and gullibility, however, outsiders rarely realize the full reality. On one hand, the Syrian regime financially supports the Center for Syrian Studies at the University of St. Andrews. On the other, an informal Syria lobby exists. Thus, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton refers to Assad as a “reformer,” and Vogue magazine publishes a puff-piece on the tyrant’s wife titled “Asma al-Assad: A Rose in the Desert” (calling her “glamorous, young, and very chic – the freshest and most magnetic of first ladies”).
One potential danger of regime change must be noted. We can expect not a relatively gentle coup d’état as in Tunisia or Egypt, but a thoroughgoing revolution directed not only against the Assad clan but also the Alawi community from which it comes. Alawis, a secretive post-Islamic sect making up about one-eighth of the Syrian population, have dominated the government since 1966, arousing deep hostility among the majority Sunnis. Sunnis carry out the intifadas and Alawis do the dirty work of repressing and killing them. This tension could fuel a bloodbath and even a civil war – possibilities that outside powers must prepare for.
As the current impasse persists in Syria, with protesters regularly filling the streets and the regime regularly killing them, Western policy can make a decisive difference. Steven Coll of The New Yorker is right that “The time for hopeful bargaining with Assad has passed.”
The time has come to brush aside fears of instability for, as analyst Lee Smith rightly observes: “It can’t get any worse than the Assads’ regime.”
The time has come to push Bashar from power, protect innocent Alawis, and deal with “the devil we don’t know.”
*The writer (www.DanielPipes.org) is director of the Middle East Forum, Taube distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution, and the author of three books on Syria.

Turkey ditches Assad, calls off participation in Gaza flotilla
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report May 25, 2011,
Syrian President Bashar Assad's Arab and Muslimsupport is melting fast. debkafile's intelligence sources report that his second most steadfast supporter after Iran, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, has secretly ordered his government officials to dump Ankara's ties with Damascus with all speed.
This change has several consequences which may also indirectly affect Turkey's relations with Israel. For now, Erdogan has given Syrian opposition leaders permission for the first time to hold a meeting in Anatalia from May 31 to June 2 to turn over ways of intensifying the three-month popular uprising to the right pitch for finally toppling Bashar Assad.
After three months of unstinting support for the Assad regime, Turkish government circles seek to shun finding themselves "backing a regime which shoots to kill Muslims in the street." After the number of Syrian deaths rose past 1,100, one high-ranking official commented to debkafile, "Turkey is a Muslim democracy. It must not lend support to dictators who murder their citizens." This change of policy has taken form in three additional steps:
1. The following message was posted to Damascus on Tuesday, May 24: Turkey is not a member of the European Union and is therefore not bound by its sanctions it has imposed freezing Assad's assets and barring him and his regime heads from travelling. Nonetheless, the Syrian ruler is advised not to try and test its intentions by trying to visit Turkey.
2. Assad's repression of the uprising in the Kurdish regions of northern Syria is causing ferment among the Kurds of southern Turkey. Unless it is stopped forthwith, Ankara will take overt action against the Syrian ruler. 3. Erdogan has discontinued his almost daily phone conversations with Assad. In any case, his advice to the Syrian ruler on how to overcome the uprising against him was never heeded.
Our sources report that he also ordered the Hakan Fidan, chief of Turkish MIT intelligence service, to stop traveling to Damascus with updates on Syrian opposition activities. Assad has thus lost his key source of information about what the opposition is up to.
As a by-product of this radical policy change in Ankara, the Turkish Prime Minister is reported by our sources to have reconsidered the dispatch from Turkish ports of a large anti-Israel flotilla for breaking the Gaza blockade. It was scheduled for the last week of June.
Fifteen vessels carrying 1,500 activists from several countries were due to take part, led by the Mavi Marmara, the Turkish vessel aboard which nine people were killed in a violent clash with Israeli commandos a year ago. Erdogan decided to withdraw Turkish participation lest Syria exploit another possible Israel-Turkish clash at sea to launch an attack on Israel's northern border as a show of Syrian-Turkish solidarity. These days, Ankara is working hard to avoid any suggestion of solidarity with Syria.
 

Britain and France to press for U.N. Security Council condemnation of Syria, risking a Russian veto/Naharnet
By Colum Lynch
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
France and Britain will press for the passage of a U.N. Security Council vote on a mild, but legally-binding, resolution condemning Syria for its bloody repression of anti-government protesters, and demanding Damascus show restraint and provide access to U.N. humanitarian aid workers, according to U.N. diplomats.
The decision sets the council's Western powers on possible collision course with China and especially Russia. Moscow has signaled it may be prepared to veto a Security Council resolution on Syria, diplomats say. The standoff is coming to a head as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's crackdown on demonstrators entered its ninth week with little sign of an end to the violence. The Syrian uprising represents the greatest threat to the Assad dynasty's control over the country since it came to power in a 1963 military coup.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister David Cameron will make one last effort at a G-8 Summit in Deauville, France, Thursday and Friday, to persuade Russian President Dmitry Medvedev not to veto the resolution, according to council diplomats. Diplomats are confident that China will not veto the resolution if Russia doesn't.
After weeks of behind the scenes lobbying, Britain and France say they are confident that they have secured the minimum nine votes required for passage of the resolution in the 15-nation council. They are hoping to increase that number. But they said they intend to press for a vote later this week even if Russia threatens to block the vote.
On Twitter, Britain's Foreign Minister William Hague wrote today that the "rising death toll in Syria is worrying and unacceptable." He said Britain "is calling for more international pressure on Syrian authorities, including at [the] UN."
France's Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said recently that the "threat of a Russian veto" looms over the council deliberations on Syria but that prospects for a majority of supporters for council action is improving.
The United States had been initially reluctant to support the European initiative on the grounds that a blocked resolution would strengthen the Syrian governments hand by showing the council is politically divided.
But American diplomats have assured their European counterparts that they will support the push for a resolution. Bosnia, Colombia, Gabon, Germany, Nigeria and Portugal have also assured the Europeans they will vote in favor of the resolution.
The Security Council's western powers have already encountered stiff resistance from China, Russia and Lebanon to criticizing Syria in the Security Council. Last month, the three countries helped block a French and British initiative to adopt a non-binding council statement condemning Syria's conduct.
Russia is concerned that once the council weighs in on the Syrian crisis it will be only a matter of time before the council's western powers begin to demand tougher action, including sanctions and possibly even the use of force. Moscow has already expressed concern that the West exceeded its mandate to protect civilians in Libya by taking sides in the country's civil war. The United States and its coalition allies maintain that they are faithfully implementing their mandate to protection civilians. And none of the Western powers have threatened the use of force against Damascus.
Brazil, India and South Africa have also voiced concern about a new resolution, though New Dehli has indicated to some colleagues that it would be prepared to support a modest resolution that criticizes Syria's conduct. Human Rights Watch, meanwhile, appealed to South Africa to rally behind the resolution.
"South Africa has said behind closed doors in the Security Council that they would not support Security Council action on Syria because they feel NATO abused the mandate the council gave it on libya," said Philippe Bolopion, Human Rights Watch's U.N. representative, who is visiting South Africa. "Wwhat we are teling them is do not punish Syrian civialins for what NATO is doing in Libya."
He also challenged the U.S. rationale for not pressing more aggressively for action on Syria. "The argument that a Russian veto would somehow expose the divisions of the Security Council cuts both ways," he said. "You could also argue that the complete silence is emboldening the Syrian regime."
As the Europeans sought to build greater support for the resolution the International Atomic Energy Agency issued a statement today saying that it was "very likely" that a Syrian facility bombed by Israeli war planes in 2007 was "very likely" a nuclear reactor.
U.N. diplomats said the Europeans were unlikely to immediately raise concerns about the development in the Security Council, saying they fear it might complicate ongoing efforts to secure adoption of its resolution condemning Syria for its bloody crackdown.

Canada imposes sanctions on Syria
DANIEL LEBLANC
Globe and Mail /, May. 24, 2011
Ottawa will bar senior members of the Syrian government from Canada as part of sanctions to punish the country for an “abhorrent” crackdown on civilian protests.
The new measures, including a ban on arms exports to Syrian security forces, were adopted on Tuesday by the new cabinet committee on national security chaired by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Ottawa imposes sanctions on Syria At a news conference on Parliament Hill, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird called the current wave of repression in Syria a “grave breach of international peace.” “This abhorrent crackdown must end,” he said. Mr. Baird said the move is designed to punish the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, and to support demonstrators seeking democracy and the protection of human rights. “We urge Syrian authorities to respect the rights of people to freedom of assembly and to freedom of expression,” Mr. Baird said. “We call on certain authorities to immediately stop using force against peaceful demonstrators.”
While the United States and the European Union have already taken action against Syria, Mr. Baird said that Canada’s decision was delayed by the campaign for the May 2 election.
The current wave of democratic unrest in the Middle East and in northern Africa will be on the agenda when the leaders of the G8 gather in France for a summit on Thursday and Friday. In a statement, Mr. Harper said the Syrian government’s actions, which have led to hundreds of deaths and thousands of arrests, are destabilizing the entire region.
“The sanctions being announced today are a repudiation of Syria’s blatant violation of its international human rights obligations that threaten the security of the entire Middle East,” Mr. Harper said. The Canadian government is trying to ensure that members of governing families in dictatorships do not seek refuge in Canada or use the country’s banks to hide their wealth. The government is still trying to find a way to confiscate funds in Canada that belong to the former ruling family of Tunisia.
“Canada will ensure that persons associated with the Syrian government who are believed to be inadmissible to Canada are prevented from travelling to Canada,” the government in the statement that laid out the latest sanctions. “Canada will impose an asset freeze against people associated with the current Syrian regime and entities involved in security and military operations against the Syrian people.” Recent statistics show that Canada’s exports to Syria totalled about $60-million in 2009.

NNA: IDF on alert at Lebanon borders on eve of Liberation Day
May 24, 2011 /The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are on alert at the northern borders with Lebanon on the eve of May 25, which marks the 11th anniversary of Israel’s withdrawal from South Lebanon; known as “Liberation Day.”The National News Agency reported that IDF is mobilized along the northern area near the Lebanese borders. The report also noted Israeli aerial activity over the Shebaa Farms. Hezbollah will celebrate “Liberation Day” on Wednesday during an event organized in Baalbek. The party’s secretary general, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, will deliver a speech to mark the occasion. -NOW Lebanon

Future bloc labels Liberation Day as “a pride”
May 24, 2011 /The Future bloc issued a statement on Tuesday saying that the Liberation Day, which marks Israel’s withdrawal from South Lebanon on May 25, 2000, “is a big pride.”
“The Lebanese people stood behind the arms that fought the Israeli enemy…those weapons are definitely not the same ones that were used against the Lebanese [during the 2008 May violence in Beirut],” the statement said, in a reference to Hezbollah’s arms. It also said that the delay in forming a cabinet headed by Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati resulted in “more suspicion, frustration and hesitation” in the country. The bloc said that Mikati should form a cabinet in light of the unrest taking place across the Middle East. It also said that US President Barack Obama’s Sunday comments regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict “were somehow biased in favor of Israel.”In a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee on Sunday, Obama pledged the US’s commitment to Israeli security. He said that his country “will stand up to groups like Hezbollah, who exercise political assassination and seek to impose their will through rockets and car bombs.” In Lebanon, Najib Mikati, who was appointed to the premiership in January with the backing of the Hezbollah-led March 8 coalition, has not yet formed a new cabinet. -NOW Lebanon

All Aoun’s battles are international, says Zahra
May 25, 2011
Lebanese Forces bloc MP Antoine Zahra on Wednesday said that all Change and Reform bloc leader MP Michel Aoun’s political battles are international. “All Aoun’s of battles are international… and he does not [care] about domestic matters,” he told Voice of Lebanon (100.5) radio. “The [cabinet-formation issue] is domestic and regional at once, and no one is dealing with it [properly],” Zahra said, adding that the regional balance led to the collapse of outgoing Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s cabinet. The delay in the cabinet formation shows that the other team does not have the national and moral responsibility to deal with the crisis, he also said. The March 14 backed MP added that his coalition has nothing to do with the cabinet formation and can only submit proposals, such as forming a technocratic or national-salvation cabinet. Zahra also said that his party want stability in Syria and does not hope for a regime change, calling on the Syrian regime to establish state-to-state relations between the two countries. PM-designate Najib Mikati, who was appointed to the premiership in January with the backing of the Hezbollah-led March 8 coalition, has been working since January to form a government. More than 1000 people have been killed and thousands have been arrested since the pro-democracy protests began in Syria mid-March, rights groups have said.-NOW Lebanon

On Liberation Day, Hariri calls for a stronger Lebanon
May 24, 2011 /Outgoing Prime Minister Saad Hariri said on Tuesday that Lebanon “should be strengthened” to confront the current unrest in the Middle East, according to a statement issued by his office. On the eve of Liberation Day, which marks the withdrawal of the Israeli army from southern Lebanon in 2000, Hariri said that the Lebanese people should strengthen national unity “more than ever.”He said that “the primary [factor] that led to Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon was national unity.” The outgoing PM saluted “all the Lebanese who were united and took part in the occasion, especially the families of the martyrs who defended Lebanon against Israeli attacks.”-NOW Lebanon

Wahhab praises Hariri’s Liberation Day statement
May 25, 2011 /Arab Tawhid Party leader Wiam Wahhab on Wednesday said that outgoing Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s statement on the occasion of Liberation Day is “a positive indicator that should be [well] received by [March 8].”“I back the formation of a national-unity cabinet, because we need a safety network amid the [developments] in the region,” he told LBC television. Wahhab also said that Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati’s problem is that he is unable to form a cabinet or step down, adding that a cabinet might not even be formed by October. The March 8 figure called on Mikati to respect Change and Reform bloc leader MP Michel Aoun and deal with him politely. Wahhab also called for respecting President Michel Sleiman’s positions when it comes to the Resistance and relations with Syria, but added that “[Sleiman] shouldn’t have interfered in domestic details.”“Syria will always be a [key] player in the region and [Syrian] President Bashar al-Assad should be given a chance to implement reforms.” Hariri said on Tuesday that Lebanon “should be strengthened” to confront the current unrest in the Middle East Mikati, who was appointed to the premiership in January with the backing of the Hezbollah-led March 8 coalition, has been working since January to form a government. More than 1000 people have been killed and thousands have been arrested since the pro-democracy protests began in Syria mid-March, rights groups have said.
-NOW Lebanon

March 8, Mikati responsible for cabinet crisis, says source
May 25, 2011 /A Future bloc source said in remarks published Wednesday that March 8 is responsible for the cabinet-formation delay. “[March 8] claimed that [outgoing Prime Minister-Saad] Hariri’s presence in Lebanon was blocking the cabinet formation; but now that he is outside Lebanon the formation crisis is [still] continuing,” the source told An-Nahar newspaper. The source also said PM-designate Najib Mikati is also responsible for the failure to form a government . Mikati, who was appointed to the premiership in January with the backing of the Hezbollah-led March 8 coalition, has not yet formed a new cabinet. -NOW Lebanon

Mikati-Aoun war of words adds to Cabinet woes
25 May 2011
http://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidDS25052011_dsart-139521
BEIRUT: Efforts to form a new Lebanese government plunged into further disarray after a war of words flared Tuesday between Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati and Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun, suggesting deepening divisions between the two officials. Sources close to Mikati were quick to respond to accusations by Aoun that the prime minister-designate was intentionally delaying the formation of a Cabinet, describing the allegations as unfounded and reiterating Mikati’s commitment to the Constitution. A source close to Mikati told The Daily Star that the prime minister-designate was still waiting for parliamentary groups to come forward with the names of their candidates to join the new government. “The process of government formation has been frozen since last week when the prime minister-designate requested that parliamentary groups come forward with the names of their candidates to take part in the government,” the source said. The source added that Mikati had reached an understanding over the request for names with March 8 groups last week, with the exception of Aoun. Aoun had accused Mikati earlier Tuesday of devising “imaginary battles” to increase his popularity within the Sunni community and justify his unwillingness to form a government. “We made concessions in regard to the Interior Ministry and gave names … and when we did, he [Mikati] imposed other conditions,” Aoun said, in reference to a battle over who will nominate the interior minister, a dispute which pits Aoun against President Michel Sleiman and Mikati.
The former general’s remarks drew sarcasm from the source close to Mikati, who voiced surprise over Aoun’s description of his acceptance to name candidates for the Interior Ministry as a “concession.” “Another point that drew our attention in General Aoun’s speech was his statement on ‘making concessions by suggesting names’ to nominate in the government. So we thank him for making concessions and we hope it will speed up the formation process,” the source said, tongue-in-cheek.
Aoun said Mikati was intentionally delaying the government’s formation, awaiting an outcome of regional developments. “Mikati has no intention to form a Cabinet and is living in a waiting phase,” Aoun said. The FPM leader added that the U.S. Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman, during his visit to Beirut, sought to impose a Lebanese government that upholds U.S. policies against March 8 parties. “We believe Mikati is [acting] outside the formation framework and deems it a source of amusement rather than a serious matter,” Aoun said, threatening to withdraw the parliamentary majority’s nomination of Mikati as a prime minister-designate. The source close to Mikati said Aoun’s remarks would fail to provoke the prime minister-designate to take part in a “media debate.”
“Prime Minister-designate Mikati still insists on the path that he has followed since he became involved in public affairs and will not be dragged into media debates. If General Aoun believes that Mikati’s commitment to the Constitution is an imaginary battle, then he got it wrong,” the source said. Meanwhile, the Future Movement piled more pressure on Mikati, urging him to hold to his constitutional prerogatives and to reject the formation of a “confrontational Cabinet.” “The developments in the Arab world require the prime minister-designate to commit to constitutional mechanisms to form a government and reject the path of confrontation that deepens internal divisions,” a statement released by the group’s parliamentary bloc said.
Absolving Mikati from the responsibility of delaying the Cabinet’s formation, the bloc blamed the “unjustified delay” and “its negative repercussions” on the March 8 alliance, describing the failure to form a government as stoking internal divisions. In a separate statement, Future Movement leader caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri said “unprecedented Arab developments” required all Lebanese to seek unity and overcome divisive issues in a bid to confront political unrest sweeping the Middle East. Hariri made his remarks in a statement to commemorate the 11th anniversary of the liberation of south Lebanon from Israeli occupation. © Copyright The Daily Star 2011.

Michel Aoun’s not happy with PM-designate
May 25, 2011
Change and Reform bloc leader MP Michel Aoun on Tuesday lashed out at Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati and said that the latter should not blame him for the delay in cabinet formation. “Mikati should not mention [my] name anymore to justify the delay in cabinet formation,” Aoun said from Rabieh following his bloc’s weekly meeting.
“[Our bloc] has made concessions and named [candidates for ministries]. When we gave [Mikati] the names of candidates, [he started] imposing more conditions.”
“Mikati is demanding the impossible from the bloc,” Aoun also said and accused the PM-designate of “[disrespecting] the path of cabinet formation.”
“It is a problem if [Mikati] does not know that the MPs are the ones who nominated [him] and can withdraw their vote of confidence [and stop backing him].”
However, according to various reports last night, a source close to Mikati fired back at Aoun, saying, “The PM-designate still insists on following the same path he did before and will not be dragged into media disputes [with anyone].” The anonymous source said that Aoun’s rhetoric “will never be the behavior of Mikati.”
Meanwhile, a UN mission to evaluate humanitarian conditions in Daraa, where hundreds are said to have been killed in a Syrian government crackdown, has not been allowed to enter the country, a top UN official said Tuesday. "We have not managed to get an access for the mission," said Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos. "We will continue to push for access; it's very important that we have a sense of what is going on," she said.
The United Nations said in early May that Syria agreed to let a UN team visit Daraa after UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon appealed directly to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad.
Ban also urged Assad to cooperate with a UN Human Rights Council inquiry into the clampdown on protests. But the UN team has yet to be allowed entry.
According to Syrian officials, "this is a domestic situation which the Syrian authorities feel that they have themselves the capacity to deal with," she said.
Lebanese activists gathered in a warehouse on Tuesday in a show of support for anti-regime protesters in Syria despite severe difficulties finding a venue.
"Twenty-eight hotels in Beirut and across the country refused to allow us to rent a hall to hold a private gathering in support of the Syria protests," said Saleh Mashnouk
The group – Lebanese in solidarity with the dignity and freedom of the Syrian people – was obliged to hold their gathering in a warehouse instead.
"This was the only space we could find," Mashnouk told AFP in the unfinished warehouse with unpainted cement walls and bare concrete floors in Sin al-Fil, a suburb east of the capital.
The warehouse had been hastily filled with chairs and a table to host around 100 journalists, along with MPs and politicians of Lebanon's "March 14" camp.
"We had been turned away by the Bristol Hotel," a major hotel in the capital Beirut, Mashnouk said.
The Bristol Hotel last week released a statement explaining it had declined to host the group to "ensure the safety of the hotel's guests and staff."
The organizers of Tuesday's conference said that the hotel had canceled their reservation after management had received threats from activists supportive of Assad.
"Today's conference shows that threats and intimidation will not scare us," said Mashnouk. Also in today’s news, Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is expected to address the latest developments – including the situation in Syria – to mark Lebanon’s Liberation Day when Israeli troops withdrew from the South in 2000.  Syria has been rocked by unprecedented protests for two months that have threatened Assad's authoritarian regime. Rights groups say more than 850 people have been killed and at least 8,000 arrested. Ban has appealed for an end to the deadly crackdown on anti-regime demonstrators across Syria. According to rights groups, since protests broke out in Syria around 1,000 people have been killed and at least 10,000 people have been detained.-AFP/NOW Lebanon

Mikati reportedly says he will not form federal cabinet
May 24, 2011
Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati was quoted by visitors as saying that he will not form a federal cabinet and “will not grant portfolios to anyone who would make them his fief,” Al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Tuesday. Mikati was quoted as saying that everyone was asked to suggest certain names for ministerial portfolios, not only Change and Reform bloc leader MP Michel Aoun as some claim, from which he would later appoint individuals based on his and President Michel Sleiman’s powers. The PM-designate was also quoted as saying that there is an agreement between himself, Speaker Nabih Berri, Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt and Marada Movement leader Sleiman Franjieh with respect to their shares in the new cabinet. “An agreement remains to be made with Aoun,” he was quoted as saying. According to the daily, Mikati’s visitors said that Hezbollah is ready to submit a list of nominees regarding their share in the cabinet and that the party is “now in solidarity with Aoun.” The PM-designate also called for actions to be made based on the Taif Accord and said that the Doha Agreement was made in exceptional circumstances, according to his visitors. “US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman told me that he has nothing to do with [our] cabinet formation,” Mikati was quoted as saying. Feltman arrived in Beirut on Thursday and left on Saturday, during which time he met with Lebanese politicians and officials. Mikati, who was appointed to the premiership in January with the backing of the Hezbollah-led March 8 coalition, has not yet formed a new cabinet. Cabinet formation is reportedly being delayed due to Aoun’s ministerial demands. -NOW Lebanon

Muslims Surround Church in Egypt, Prevent Its Reopening
By Mary Abdelmassih
5-24-2011 /(AINA) -- On the morning of May 19 two Coptic priests went to St. Mary and St. Abraham Church in Ain Shams and opened it together with some of the Coptic residents, but later in the day thousands of Muslims surrounded the church to protest its opening, hurled stones at the church building and the Copts, who responded by throwing stones. The army and the police stood there watching and did not intervene (video). Unable to secure the church, the army and police closed it and arranged for a "reconciliation" meeting between the Coptic priest and the Salafi sheikhs. They also arrested eight Copts, one of them 13-years old, and three Muslims. They were all charged with rioting, violence and causing injury to citizens. Three Copts were also charged with having cartridges but no guns and one 15-year-old boy with possessing two knives. The 3 Muslims were charged with throwing stones at the army.
Father Filopateer Gameel, one of the organizers of the Maspero sit-in, said that during a meeting with the Minister of Interior he was told he cannot choose the churches to be reopened because it was all "planned with the Salafis and the security authorities so that when we go, there will be no problems." He confirmed the minister had himself suggested the names of the three churches to be reopened.
The "reconciliation" session was held in a tent by the Islamist imam Kerdassi, the main opponent of the reopening of the church, who also recently built a mosque facing the church. Next to the tent was another one hosting Muslim Brotherhood and Salafi sheikhs, among them the renowned Salafi sheikh Hassan and over 3000 guests all chanting "Islamic, Islamic."
The session lasted for 5-hour, and was attended by sheikhs, imams, priests, lawyers and members of the Muslim Brotherhood, in which the Muslims insisted the church was a factory and the Christians explained that it was a church, although it has no dome or bell, and has been used as a place for worship and has a consecrated alter.
The Coptic diocese bought the building, which used to be a clothes factory, in 2004 and used it for worship until November 22, 2008, when it was closed by State Security after nearly 3000 Muslims surrounded the church, pelting it with stones and terrorizing thousands of parishioners inside.
"The atmosphere of the meeting was belligerent," said attorney Ashraf Edward, "and one of the sheikhs threatened us by saying that should the church be opened without their permission it would end up like the church in Soul which was demolished by Muslims." He said the church was offered a larger place to relocate to away from the Muslim families as the imams said. "They presented us with a petition from the Muslim families against the opening of the church."
The representative of the Ministry of Endowment suggested the church be closed until permission is granted for its opening from the relevant authorities, to which all sides agreed.
At the end of the session a joint statement was read by the Imam Kerdassi, which said "It was decided to close the place and no Christian prayers is to take place there until permission is granted. If there is permission then we should respect it and since there is no permit at present then all parties agreed to close the place permanently, no one to approach it and no one of us to harm it until the authorities have issued a ruling. We all have to love each other, so that Egypt would remain strong and secure as Allah wanted it to be."
The Muslims demanded that should the church be reopened, it should be without cross and dome.
Coptic attorney Dr. Ihab Ramzy said the army and the police did not participate in the "reconciliation" meeting. "This shows the government is ignoring the problem. Am I there to get the Salafis' permission to open the church? If they say no, does this mean I should not open the church?" "The joint statement linked the opening of the church with the consent of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces," said activist Mark Ebeid, "so the military council has to know that if the church is not opened, this means the dignity of the State has been lost in front of the Salafis. Everyone believes the government should have carried out its decision to open the church whatever the outcome. The big question now is will the government give us a written permission or not?"

Conversion, Adultery and Savagery Strike Egypt-
5-25-2011 6:21:2
By Raymond Ibrahim/Frontpage Magazine
The true story behind the recent Islamist attacks on Egypt’s Copts--wherein over a dozen Christians were killed, hundreds wounded, and their churches torched--is as illuminating as it is sordid. To recap, Islamists--or “Salafists,” as many in the Egyptian media are referring to the “Taliban-looking guys in slippers”--demonstrated before St. Mark Cathedral, insisting that their “Muslim sister” Camelia Shehata be released by the Coptic Church, which was supposedly holding and torturing her, a Copt, for converting to Islam. So Camelia once again appeared announcing unequivocally that she never converted to Islam, and would live and die as a Christian.
Not ones to be deterred, Islamists immediately began rioting about how another Coptic girl, Abeer Talaat, had converted to Islam and was abducted and imprisoned by the Coptic Church--hence the violent rampage (which continued into the weekend, when Christians demonstrating against the attacks were attacked again, with one killed and over 100 injured).
In fact, Abeer did convert to Islam. However, her family did not know; all they knew was that their married daughter had run off with another man. They brought her to stay at a guest house belonging to the church, designed to help separated couples reconcile. According to the priest, she left the guest house well before the Islamists began insisting that she was being held “against her will” in the church. More telling is why Abeer converted to Islam: to get an instantaneous divorce from her husband. A Muslim cabdriver she knew told her that if she converted to Islam and “married” him (i.e., lived with him), that would automatically annul her marriage from the Christian. This of course is a Sharia stipulation, though one that (currently) contradicts Egyptian law, which views her as a bigamist for marrying another man while still being legally wed (she is currently in jail under investigation).
Asked in a recent interview if she converted to Islam for its own appeal, or simply to get rid of her Coptic husband, Abeer said “No, I had a lot of problems with my husband and that’s what caused me to do this [convert to Islam]. I asked ‘How can I be rid of him [her husband]‘ and was told to ‘be done of him by changing your religion’ [to Islam], so I did this to be rid of him.” Asked “Do you want to stay a Muslim, Abeer?” she responded with a small “Well, it’s something that there’s no return from.”
As we have seen, and as Abeer knows, Islam’s views on conversion are dramatic: Muslims who convert out, the apostates, are to be put to death according to Sharia; non-Muslims who convert in--sincerely or not--are a source of great pride and parade. In short, all the death and destruction recently visited upon the Copts was performed in the name of a “convert” whose only motivation for converting to Islam was to gain an advantage against her Christian husband. Even the Islamist Muhammad al-Awwa, an inciter against Copts, recently confirmed that Abeer “has no connection with Islam” and does not know the first thing about it. Many Egyptian media commentators have rightly asked: what sort of Muslims are these who kill and destroy on behalf of an adulterous and bigamist woman--two great crimes in Islam? Apparently for some, gaining converts is more important than actually upholding Islamic principles; for others, any excuse to attack Christians and churches, even in the name of a nominal Muslim, is good enough. Finally, this entire affair is a reminder of the continuity of Islam’s supremacist history. Despite the apologetics and white-washing, anyone who has studied the historic spread of Islam knows that most of the conquered, indigenous peoples who converted to Islam throughout the centuries did so, like Abeer, for the temporal benefits and advantages--including sloughing off dhimmi status--that come with joining the “winning team,” and not for anything intrinsic. Perhaps this also explains why the Muslim world’s “inferiority complex” is directly tied to the issue of conversion.

U.S. Shouldn't Abandon Religious Minorities in Iran
By Paul Marshall and Tina Ramirez
National Review Online
5-24-2011 22:19:35
If Rep. Lamar Smith (R., Texas), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, does not quickly make some changes, one casualty of the current budget debates could be Iran's heavily persecuted religious minorities. At issue is a humanitarian program authorized by something called the Lautenberg Amendment, a mechanism that has been renewed with bipartisan support for over 20 years. Iran has persecuted its religious minorities since 1979, but in recent years, under Ahmadinejad, the repression has increased. In April, seven leaders of Iran's Baha'i community were told that their 20-year prison sentences, previously reduced by an appeals court, had been reinstated; hundreds of Christians have been arrested in the last few months; and Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani faces a possible death sentence for apostasy.
Iran has been certified under the U.S. International Religious Freedom Act as a "Country of Particular Concern" because of its religious repression. Yet, as this crackdown on religious minorities escalates, Congress is about to end one of the few diplomatic tools we have to protect Baha'is, Christians, Jews, and others targeted by the regime.
The Lautenberg Amendment works like this: Since the U.S. does not have an embassy in Tehran, the Austrian government has been helping the American embassy in Vienna process refugee applications from Iranian religious minorities. The Austrians issue special visas that allow minorities into Austria so they can be interviewed by American officials; in turn, the Austrians seek assurances that applicants will not be left stranded in Vienna. The amendment establishes a clear standard for processing nationals and residents of the Islamic Republic of Iran, who, as members of a religious minority in Iran, "share common characteristics that identify them as targets of persecution."
The Lautenberg Amendment does not, repeat not, require the expenditure of funds, nor does it increase the number of refugees admitted to the U.S. or change the requirements for admission. It simply provides a definition that helps assure third-party countries that the U.S. will have a consistent policy of processing Iranians that are members of a persecuted religious group. Previously, the Lautenberg Amendment has been attached to the annual foreign-affairs budget and received widespread bipartisan support. However, despite pleas from religious organizations and members of Congress, Congressman Smith is resisting the program, since he believes he should have oversight over this and all other programs relating to immigration.
Smith's colleagues have prevailed on him to have the program extended, but so far only to June 1, 2011. If is not renewed until 2012, or even if there is a hiatus, Austria may stop issuing visas and persecuted minorities will be trapped or forced to pursue more dangerous options in neighboring countries, which often shift refugees back to Iran.
There are currently at least 688 Iranians who have begun the refugee applications process and who may remain trapped in Iran unless the program is renewed, and this number is increasing. If Lautenberg is not renewed, then Iranian Baha'is, Christians, and Jews will not only have to flee to countries bordering Iran, but they will also have to face the United Nations, which is the refugee gatekeeper and is frequently hostile to non-Muslim applicants.
At a time when the Middle East is in ferment, this is an opportunity to support human dignity and religious freedom. Those who support religious liberty should press Congressman Smith to end his opposition. **Paul Marshall is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute's Center for Religious Freedom. Tina Ramirez is director of government relations at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.

A Reset to Pakistan's Blasphemy Laws?
http://www.aina.org/news/20110523134524.htm
By Doug Bandow/American Spectator
 5-23-2011
The president is trying to reset his earlier reset of America's relationship with the Muslim world. But any genuine transformation requires action by both sides. Unfortunately, there is little evidence that Muslim states like Pakistan want to change their hostile behavior.
As a modern Western republic, Washington focuses on geopolitical issues while assuming all religions can reason together. Not so most Islamic states.
About the only Muslim nations that can be described as anything vaguely resembling a modern republic might be Turkey and Indonesia. Unfortunately, the Islamic world features medieval monarchies, militarized autocracies, democratic quasi-theocracies, brutal dictatorships, and a couple nations, like Egypt, in transition. Most Islamic states flavor their political repression with religious persecution. So it is with Pakistan, perhaps America's most dangerous "frenemy." Islamabad's problems are many. Perhaps most fundamental is a dangerous intolerance that pervades this self-proclaimed Islamic republic. Individual life is cheap if one is anything other than a professing Muslim.
The latest State Department report on religious liberty observed: "the number and severity of reported high-profile cases against minorities increased during the reporting period." Not only did "organized violence against minorities" rise, but "there were instances in which law enforcement personnel abused religious minorities in custody." The government failed to adequately respond to attacks on Christians, Ahmadis, and others.
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom was even blunter in its new survey: The status of religious liberty had deteriorated "greatly." Overall, "Pakistan continues to be responsible for systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of freedom of religion or belief." The state is complicit in brutal persecution: "Sectarian and religiously-motivated violence is chronic, and the government has failed to protect members of the majority faith and religious minorities. Pakistani authorities have not consistently brought perpetrators to justice or taken action against societal leaders who incite violence."
However, the government's failure included commission. Added State: "Discriminatory legislation and the government's failure or delay in addressing religious hostility by societal actors fostered religious intolerance, acts of violence, and intimidation against religious minorities." Among Islamabad's worst practices are "the blasphemy laws which provided the death penalty for defiling Islam or its prophets."
The latter is not just an esoteric administrative matter. Noted the Commission: "Blasphemy laws are used against members of religious minority communities and dissenters within the majority Muslim community, and frequently result in imprisonment on account of religion or belief and/or vigilante violence." These and other statutes "have created an atmosphere of violent extremism and vigilantism."
International Christian Concern includes Pakistan among the 11 members of its "Hall of Shame." ICC highlights the impact of the blasphemy laws, which are routinely used to silence and oppress: "Several Christians were killed in 2010 as a direct consequence of these laws and many more have been imprisoned."
THE BLASPHEMY LAWS originally were instituted by colonial overlord Great Britain. People were prohibited from interfering with religious services and hurting religious feelings. The occupiers wanted to maintain social peace.
Unfortunately, over the years the laws were Islamacized and expanded, more for political than religious reasons. In particular, military dictator Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq used Islamic fundamentalism to his political advantage. He expanded the law to include desecration of the Koran and later added death as a penalty for blasphemy. The Federal Sharia Court then ruled that the punishment "is death and nothing else."
Moreover, there are no procedural safeguards. The law is vague, penalizing anyone who through word or visual depiction "by any imputation, innuendo, or insinuation, directly or indirectly, defiles the sacred name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad." No warrant or preliminary investigation is required before an arrest is made. Pastor Zulfikar from Gojra explained: "The injustice is that if two people get together and accuse one of us, we are sentenced to death. There's no need for any proof, just one person's testimony."
Thankfully, "only" 40 to 50 people a year are typically charged and no one has yet been executed under the law. Still, that is small comfort. The majority of those prosecuted are Muslims, but Christians suffer disproportionately. They are much more likely to be arrested for blasphemy and, if charged, much more likely to be murdered. At least 35 have suffered deadly vigilante injustice since 1986. "Many others have endured brutal rapes and beatings, while churches, homes and businesses have been ransacked, looted and burned," wrote author Lela Gilbert.
Mounting a defense is not easy, since lawyers and judges often are intimidated. Christian Solidarity Worldwide noted that "[t]his has an impact on the impartiality of local court rulings -- convictions are likely in the first instance." Nor is the testimony of Christians typically accorded the same weight as that of Muslims. Thankfully, more distant appeals courts often overturn convictions and the government usually commutes any death sentences.
However, those charged can spend many years in jail awaiting trial. There they are vulnerable to retaliation. Earlier this year Qamar David, a Pakistan Christian sentenced to life imprisonment and jailed since 2002. mysteriously died in a Karachi jail. The government claimed it was a natural death; his family said David had no known health problems. Like so many other cases, his prosecution arose from business disputes.
Finally, reported CSW: "even if acquitted, the accused is marked for life in the eyes of extremist groups. Many former blasphemy prisoners and their families live the remainder of their lives in hiding."
The potential for abuse is enormous. Eric Rassbach of the Becket Fund argued that "blasphemy laws are laws in name only -- in fact, they encourage lawlessness and disorder." Ali Hasan Dayan of Human Rights Watch in Pakistan explained simply: the measures are "designed as an instrument of persecution." The way the laws operate, noted Lela Gilbert: "invites shocking abuses and fabricated accusations, frequently motivated by business competition, personal grudges, property disputes or religious fanaticism."
INDIVIDUAL STORIES ILLUSTRATE how these laws have been misused. Two years ago in the town Gojra Christians were accused of desecrating the Koran at a wedding. The local police chief said the charge was false, but told the BBC "the rumor spread and the issue became politicized." A Muslim mob burned buildings in the Christian enclave and murdered nine people, including children. One of the demonstrators explained: "We Muslims are the victims." He told the BBC that Christians "provoked the Muslims here."

International Christian Concern highlights the case involving Pastor Rashid Emmanuel and his younger brother Sajid, an MBA student. Last year they were accused of writing blasphemous remarks in a pamphlet about the Prophet Muhammed. Reported ICC: "The charges were based on handwritten and photocopied pamphlets with remarks about the prophet Muhammad that the Muslims consider offensive. Rashid and Sajid Emmanuel's names and phone numbers were printed on the pamphlets. Expert witnesses for the police indicated that the handwriting on the pamphlets didn't match Rashid or Sajid's handwriting." Observers pointed out that no blasphemer would make his prosecution easy by including his name.
Alas, while the Emmanuels were being transported back to jail from court last July, masked gunmen killed both. The real cause of the charges apparently was a land dispute. Their family has gone into hiding. Their mother, Rani Emmanuel, asked: "Why do they kill us Christians?"
In mid-April Mushtaq Gill and his son Farrukh were accused of desecrating the Koran in Gujranwala, near Lahore. Although the police rejected the allegations, under mob pressure the two Gills were arrested. Released the next day, the police rearrested them, again under pressure from militants. At the end of April a Muslim mob attacked homes, school, and seminary in the same Christian community. The protestors accused the Presbyterian pastor of burning the Koran, and he was arrested. Police stopped the destruction but most of the Christians left the area for safety.
In mid-May Christian businessmen Gulzar Masih and son Suleman Masih found themselves accused of blasphemy by employees of Muslim rival Abdul Rauf. A decade ago Gulzar Masih and Rauf opened a bookstore as partners. Two years ago they divided the business and Rauf grew jealous of Masih's success.
Earlier this month the Suleman Masih found burnt pages of the Koran under the security shutter when he went to open their store. Rauf's employees accused the Masihs of burning the Koran, generating a mob which forced the younger Masih to flee. Only police intervention prevented destruction of the Masihs' store. But the Masihs fled their town of Sialkot and face an uncertain future. Observed Father Naeem Taj, a priest working to defend the two Christian businessmen: "The blasphemy law is being [used] once more as a pretext to settle a personal score."
An acquittal does not end the nightmare. Eight years ago Anwar Masih was accused by a neighbor with whom he'd had an argument. Acquitted the following year, he continued to receive death threats. He left his town for a time. After returning to his factory job he was fired when threats were made against his employer.
No one is safe. In November Asia Bibi, a Christian mother of five, became the first woman sentenced to death for blasphemy. An illiterate farmworker in Punjab, hers was the only Christian family in the village. An argument erupted when Muslim women refused to drink water she had been asked to retrieve. They later accused her of defaming the prophet. She was beaten by her neighbors; the police rescued her from death and then charged her with blasphemy. Her case is on appeal, but the village imam promised that "we will also take the law in our own hands" if she is pardoned; he even offered a reward for anyone willing to "finish her." Her family has received death threats and must move constantly.
Overall, a Catholic priest, Father Javed Gill, complained, "The abusive use of the blasphemy law has increased in the past few years." Action is needed, he warned, since "extremist elements are becoming stronger in our society."
So they are.
EVEN MORE FRIGHTENING than these prosecutions was the assassination of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer in January and Religious Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti in March.
Taseer was a moderate Muslim, jailed by Zia for opposing religious parties. Taseer criticized the blasphemy law and visited Bibi in prison. He received death threats for his trouble and was assassinated by one of his bodyguards, who after being captured denounced Taseer as a "blasphemer" for wanting to change the law. Demonstrators celebrated the murder and few government officials attended his funeral.
Bhatti was a high-profile Christian in an increasingly Islamic environment. In a video that he prepared in the event of his death, he said he was "speaking for the oppressed, marginalized and persecuted Christians and other minorities." One of his priorities was the reform of the blasphemy laws. Denied use of an armored vehicle or a home in a secure neighborhood available for other federal ministers, he was gunned down. His killers left leaflets denouncing him as "a Christian infidel."
One of Pakistan's most important faces to the world, Bhatti attended the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington. He was scheduled in early April to be the keynote speaker at a conference of the Religious Liberty Partnership, a gathering of groups from around the world dedicated to protecting religious freedom.
Both Taseer and Bhatti visited Gojra after the Muslim rampage. Father Zulfikar said, "The two men who came here to speak for us… have both been killed." Another Pakistani Christian said that the murderers intended to "kill the voice of Pakistani Christians," but vowed that "the voice will be raised ten times."
Perhaps, yet other Pakistani voices are being lowered. Worried Father Zulfikar: "This country's leaders are no longer safe, so how will they protect us?"
Taseer and Bhatti's murders mean more than the death of a person. They suggest the death of a nation, at least one that respects human values.
Three leading Pakistani Christian churchmen issued a statement after Bhatti's death: "We would also like to appeal to the federal and provincial governments to wakeup to the challenge of protection of the citizens of Pakistan. If the country becomes a killing field of the democrat and liberal individuals who exercise their freedom of conscience and expression, it would embolden the criminals trying to take charge of the country."
However, Pakistani moderates are in retreat. Former President Pervez Musharraf planned on amending the law but backed down when faced with strong opposition from Islamic fundamentalists.
When the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racism considered Pakistan's blasphemy law in 2009, Islamabad acknowledged the potential for abuse, but claimed to be adjusting the measure in response. The ruling Pakistan People's Party did form a commission, chaired by Bhatti, to consider legal revisions. Parliamentarian (and former information minister) Sherry Rehman introduced legislation to amend the statute.
But under intense political pressure Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani retreated, explaining: "we have no intentions to amend this law." After Bhatti's death the government disbanded the commission. Rehman dropped her legislation, saying it had no chance of passage.
IN PUSHING HER BILL, Rehman, who regularly received death threats, did not emphasize the rights of religious minorities. Rather, she explained that she wanted to protect "our great Prophet's name against injustices done via procedures introduced by" Zia and protect "our citizens from injustice done in the name of a religion that values peace and tolerance more than anything else."
Her comments are sadly necessary in Pakistan. Anywhere else they can bring only laughter. If Islam really does value peace and tolerance, why are so many of its adherents so quick to use violence?
The challenge to U.S. policy is obvious. One anonymous administration official told the New York Times that the Taseer killing was "a reminder of how we're still losing ground in Pakistan." But no "reset" there is in the offing.
Obviously, the Pakistani population is not liberal in any sense of the word. And the war spilling across the border Afghanistan only further radicalizes people. Catastrophe impends for the nuclear-armed power.
Some brave Muslims remain willing to speak out. Pakistan's Ambassador, Husain Haqqari, organized a memorial service for Bhatti in Washington, concluding: "it is time for us to stand up, courageously against intolerance, against discrimination and against extremism." We must hope and pray, against all odds, that there are enough Husain Haqqaris to rescue Pakistan.
**Doug Bandow is a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute and the Senior Fellow in International Religious Persecution at the Institute on Religion and Public Policy. A former Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan, he is author of Beyond Good Intentions: A Biblical View of Politics (Crossway).
© 2011, Assyrian International News Agency. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use.
http://www.aina.org/news/20110523134524.htm

US Aid to Protesters Should Foster Democracy — Not Radicalism
25 May 2011
By Walid Phares/NewsMax.com
President Obama's grand plan to provide U.S. financial aid to emerging democracies in the Middle East, Egypt and Tunisia now, and possibly later a post-Saleh Yemen and post-Assad Syria, may be commendable but could bring catastrophic results.
If the billions in foreign debt-to-be-forgiven or granted in cash to be invested will be used by democratic governments in the region to move their societies away from fundamentalism, radicalism and inequality toward secular, liberal democracy, then the financial support is commensurate with American ideals, the will of the American people and their elected leaders.
If the aid will be used to fund programs instituted by the Islamists and their movements, old and new, then the Obama administration’s new Middle East initiative will cause greater injustice for the peoples of the region, and eventually produce greater conflicts for future American generations.
President Obama’s speech and comments by his advisers attempted to liken the alleged “historic” aid package for the countries arising out of the Middle East revolts, to the Marshall Plan which helped many European countries cope with post-World War II economic stresses.
The major difference then and now between Europe and the Middle East is that European societies had already experienced and were returning to democracy after a few years of fascism and most of the Arab world has no experience with liberal democracy and those societies that have arisen against authoritarianism are still threatened by jihadi fascism.
A “Marshall Plan” for the Arab world should come after the defeat of that region’s version of fascism, not before. The aid should reward societies for defeating the Salafist and Khomeinist ideologies, not fund their ascendance.
It was secular youth and minorities in Egypt who triggered the popular uprising. The Muslim Brotherhood, a movement dedicated to a theocratic regime and the elimination of liberal democracy, quickly — and with Washington's stealthy backing — seized the revolution’s microphone, positioned itself at the center of the uprising, and branded itself as the “soul” and “future” of the movement, even though the Muslim Brotherhood did not make up more than 15 percent of the mass of demonstrators in Tahrir Square.
Protesters in Tahrir Square (AP)
Well organized and funded, the Ikhwan, will insert themselves into the electoral process as part of the youth majority. The Christian minority is disorganized and politically marginalized.
By any analysis, short of massive support for democratic forces in Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood will acquire significant influence in the next parliamentary election and thus the lion’s share of posts in the ensuing Cabinet. This would mean that Mr. Obama has sent billions in economic aid to a government controlled or significantly influenced by Islamists who have not abandoned, but remain loyal to jihadi ideology.
The administration's intellectuals have been arguing that the Muslim Brotherhood are undergoing transformation and becoming reformers. If the Ikhwan were to reform ideologically, those most targeted by their Islamist agenda — secularists, women, liberals, youth and Copts — would be the first to know it. The news coming from those interests in Egypt does not endorse this claim.
In Washington, academics and advisers have convinced the Obama administration that a post-Gadhafi Libya, a post-Saleh Yemen, and eventually, a post-Assad Syria will make the Islamists the new U.S. partners in the region. Thus, Mr. Obama’s speech on future U.S. Middle East policy reflects an adaptation to these anticipated changes. The U.S. will recognize the Islamists and try to ingratiate them with a “Marshal Plan” to solidify their rule even if they only pay lip service to “representative democracy.”
The Islamists’ voices are not the only ones seeking to be heard in the region. Other voices are speaking out against the alliance between the greatest democracy in history and the Islamists.
Liberal voices of the Egyptian, Tunisian, and Syrian uprisings have been signaling an urgent SOS to the free world over the Arabic airwaves: “Do not abandon us for a pragmatic alliance with the Islamists.”
An Egyptian youth made a very concerning comment on Al-Hurra television this week, revealing that the Obama administration has cut off all funding in support of liberal and democratic NGOs in the region: “How come the Islamists will be gratified with a huge Marshall Plan while those who want to build a true democratic Middle East are ignored? Is the Obama administration replacing old authoritarians with new ones, and with U.S. taxpayer dollars?”
Dr Walid Phares is the author of "The Coming Revolution: Struggle for Freedom in the Middle East." He teaches Global Strategies in Washington and advises members of Congress and the European parliament.
© Newsmax. All rights reserved.

Sayyed Nasrallah's Speech: No One Will Be Able to Grab Resistance Missiles
Local Editor /Manar Hezbollah Web Site 25/05/11
Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah denied on Wednesday charges by US President Barack Obama that the Resistance was behind what he called political assassination as baseless and said the remarks proved that the so-called Special Tribunal for Lebanon was politicized. His eminence said that the United States was the most terrorist state carrying out political assassinations in the world.
His eminence expressed belief the nation was very close to achieve victory and to change the equations. He reiterated some of his well-known terms: “Time of victories has started” and “Israel is weaker than spider web”, and said that May 25 has changed the face of the region.
Responding to rumors targeting Hezbollah, Sayyed Nasrallah highlighted that the Resistance party has the courage to tell where its heroes fight, where they kill and where they are martyred, “because the arena in which we fight is to be a square of honor.” Hezbollah Secretary General said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s information is too old, while commenting his claims that Hezbollah has 12 thousand missiles. His eminence said these missiles will remain present in the equation of the region, and no one will be able to grab them, neither in Lebanon nor in the world
Sayyed Nasrallah stressed the need to maintain stability, security and safety in Syria. His eminence called on Syrian to safeguard their country and stand at the side of the regime in the face of the conspiracy targeting them. Sayyed Nasrallah also said that the statistics reveal that the majority of the Syrian people still supports this regime and believes in President Assad’s ability to introduce reform.
Sayyed Nasrallah was speaking through a large TV screen as he marked Liberation and Resistance Day in the Nabi Sheet town of Bekaa.
NATION NEEDS TRIUMPHS
Starting his speech, Sayyed Nasrallah said that choosing the location of the festival had a message. “We chose to celebrate the occasion in the Bekaa, in the town of Nabi Sheet, because we want to stress on the partnership of the Bekaa in the liberation of the South. This town was one of the first towns to believe in the Resistance”.
Sayyed Nasrallah recalled the sacrifices of martyr Sayyed Abbas Mousawi, the former Secretary General of Hezbollah, who was from Nabi Sheet.
Assuring that the ceremony doesn’t concern certain people; Sayyed Nasrallah said that Resistance and Liberation day is not an occasion for a particular group or sect, adding: “it’s a national occasion; it’s for all Lebanese people… It also must be a day for Palestinians and all the Arab world”.
His eminence stressed on the importance of May 25, by saying: “This day changed the face of Lebanon and that of the region. In modern history, there is the Nakba day and the Naksa day, and our nation needs triumphs in order to get rid of the black days like An-Nakba and An-Naksa”.
POPULAR ARMED RESISTANCE CORRECT CHOICE
Sayyed Nasrallah moved then to talk about the latest speeches of US President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “When we listen to these speeches we become more certain of our choices. The developments in the last three decades proved that the correct choice and the realistic one is that of the popular armed Resistance”.
“The unrealistic, maddening, depressing…humiliating choice is that of negotiations”, he added.
Sayyed Nasrallah said that if the resistance waited for concessions or international interference then “our territory would have been occupied by now. Israel would have built settlements that will have reached as far as the Litany River”.
His eminence pointed out that some Lebanese still “cannot realize the greatness of the divine victory in 2006”, adding that the resistance victory of May 25 is “the result of sacrifices of all categories that have stood and fought since 1948 until today”.
ISRAELIS WERE THE ONES TO RUN AWAY
Hezbollah SG then talked about that the Israeli strategy which was used in the past years to make the Arabs think their only option was to run away.
His eminence said that this strategy was collapsed, adding: “in 2000, the Israelis were the ones that ran away. In 2000, the equation was changed. Israel, in the eyes of the world, is no longer unbeatable”.
Sayyed Nasrallah quoted Netanyahu as saying in the Congress that "the historic path of the Israeli entity has been turned upside-down since the beginning of the withdrawal from Lebanon in the year 2000 all the way passing by the "Israeli" withdrawal from the Gaza strip, until July war in 2006”.
“I saw the fear in Netanyahu’s eyes while speaking in Congress on Hezbollah, Gaza’s rockets, Iran and Syria”.
ARABS SHOULD WITHDRAW PEACE INITIATIVE
Still talking about Netanyahu’s speech, Sayyed Nasrallah said that the Americans stood and applauded for him in Congress, “which means that all the Americans, including the Democrats and the Republicans, totally agree on what he said. Netanyahu said he wants al-Quds as an eternal capital to the Zionist entity, and that the Palestinian refugee issue should be discussed outside the borders, wants an acknowledgement to a Jewish “state” and "Israeli" military presence at the Jordan River, and a Palestinian armless State with total rejection to the 1967 borders. He also asked (PA Chief Mahmoud) Abbas to tear apart any agreement with Hamas and return to negotiations".
Moving to Obama’s speech, Hezbollah SG said: “Obama renewed his commitment to Israel's ‘security’ and its prevalence over the region. He pushed the US-Israeli relations and cooperation to an unprecedented level. He declared his rejection to a Palestinian State and rejected the reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas”.
“His earlier speech about establishing a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders did not even last for 2 days”, Sayyed Nasrallah added.
Finally in the Palestinian issue, Sayyed Nasrallah called on the Palestinians and the Arab nation to adopt the choice of resistance. “Again, on May 25, on the Day of Liberation, I tell the Palestinians they only have the choice of Resistance to liberate their territory. I call on the entire nation to adopt the choice of the Resistance, because what is happening is not a threat against the Palestinians only, but against the nation as a whole”.
He also called on the Arab League to withdraw the Arab “Peace” Initiative. “On your behalf, I call upon the Arab League to declare a serious response against Obama's and Netanyahu's speeches, and to take the Arab initiative off the table permanently. We should be a nation that rejects negotiations and backs the Resistance”.
ARENA WHERE WE FIGHT IS TO BE SQUARE OF HONOR
Hezbollah Secretary General denied, meanwhile, any role in unrest in several Arab countries.
In this context, Sayyed Nasrallah denied accusations by Libyan long-time ruler Muammar Gaddafi's government a few weeks ago of participating in the fighting in Libya. His eminence also denied accusations by some Iranian opposition websites two years ago, of the presence of 1500 Hezbollah fighters in Tehran to suppress the demonstrations there.
Sayyed Nasrallah said that also in Yemen, during the so-called sixth war between the regime and Houthis, it had been said that Hezbollah was fighting and 50 Lebanese were martyred there, which is also incorrect.
According to Sayyed Nasrallah, a Syrian dissident claimed in the early days of the unrest on Al Arabiya TV Channel that Hezbollah sent to Syria 3000 men to defend the Syrian regime. “This is a lie which the Head of Media Relations denied then,” his eminence said.
His eminence also noted that Lebanese Forces website talked about snipers of Hezbollah in Homs and that Hezbollah has 10 martyrs there, which is untrue. He thanked God that no military action has been yet carried out in Bahrain to accuse Hezbollah of it. “People of Bahrain are still protesting peacefully despite demolition of mosques and arrests,” his eminence emphasized.
Addressing all those liars of satellite channels, newspapers, internet websites and reporters, Sayyed Nasrallah said that any military intervention in any of the Arab countries won't be Hezbollah responsibility at all. “We in Hezbollah have the courage to tell where we fight, where we kill and where we martyred, because the arena in which we fight is to be a square of honor.”
NO NETANYAHU… LEBANESE ARE FREE OF WORLD
Turning to the situation in the Arab region, Sayyed Nasrallah said that Hezbollah is to consider each Arab revolution from two angles: the stance of that Arab regime towards the Arab-Israeli conflict and the Palestinian cause, and the absence of any hope for reform at the domestic level.
His eminence said that some Arab revolts were victorious by principle (Egypt and Tunisia), while others like Libya, Yemen, and Bahrain are passing through difficult times. “We want the Arab and Islamic world to live in stability, but given the current situation, it is our duty to warn that the US and Israel are seeking to exploit the Arab wealth.”
Sayyed Nasrallah said that the Arab world would have been in an uproar had an Iranian official spoken against them, but no one said a word when Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu insulted the entire Arab population when he claimed that 300 million Arabs are not living in freedom.
“No Mr. Netanyahu. We in Lebanon are the free of this world. We made our democracy by our blood. We triumphed over your sword. We are part of the Arab nation, the Arab peoples and the Arab youth.”
Addressing Obama, Sayyed Nasrallah went on to say: “Get out of Iraq and don’t leave behind 50,000 soldiers. If you respect the will of the Arab people, then turn to Palestine.”
Addressing the revolutionist people, he said: “Beware of the US administration and do not throw yourselves into its arms again.”
MAJORITY OF SYRIANS SUPPORT REGIME
Turning to the Syrian issue, Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah stressed that Hezbollah stance from the latest developments in Syria is based on a number of factors. “First, we, in Lebanon and especially in Hezbollah, are grateful to Syria, its leadership and to the Syrian resistant people as well as to the Syrian army because they paid lots of sacrifices throughout long decades. Syria prevented divisions in Lebanon and the region. Syria helped maintain Lebanon’s unity and halted the deadly Lebanese civil war. It also supported the Resistance in Lebanon, which resulted in the liberation of 2000 and the victory of 2006. We cannot forget how Syria backed Lebanon, its resistance and people in July 2006. Therefore, when we are concerned with the Syrian developments, we are worried about the Syrian regime and people over what is being planned for them.”
Sayyed Nasrallah said that no one is denying that Syria made mistakes in Lebanon, but it contributed a lot to its unity. “What Syria has achieved for Lebanon was historic and fateful at the national level,” his eminence emphasized.
After pointing to Syria’s stance towards Israel and the Palestinian resistance as well as its steadfastness in the face of all pressures, Sayyed Nasrallah highlighted Syria’s position towards the new Middle East scheme which was toppled by the Resistance in Lebanon.
Among the factors dressing the final stance was the fact that the Syrian leadership is convinced with its people that implementing reform and fighting corruption was a must, Sayyed Nasrallah said. His eminence expressed belief that Syrian President Bashar Assad is determined to introduce reform, unlike Egyptian ousted leader Husni Mubarak and Libyan long-time ruler Muammar Gaddafi who rejected reform.
Sayyed Nasrallah also said that the statistics reveal that the majority of the Syrian people still supports this regime and believes in President Assad’s ability to introduce reform. His eminence pointed out that toppling the regime in Syria was an American and Israeli interest. “Toppling the regime in Syrian and exchanging it with another regime, similar to the Arab regimes ready to sign a peace agreement with the Israeli enemy, is after all an American and Israeli interest,” his eminence added.
Sayyed Nasrallah said that Lebanon’s commitments towards Syria, based on the Taef agreement in addition to mutual interest, require from the Lebanese in general and the Resistance in particular to take a responsible and huge stance. “First, we should be committed to Syria’s stability, security and safety. Second, we call upon the Syrian people to maintain their resistant and reluctant regime, as well as to give way to the Syrian leadership to implement the required reforms and to choose the course of dialogue. Third, we as Lebanese shouldn't interfere in what is going on in Syria, but let the Syrians themselves to deal with the issue. Fourth, we should reject any sanctions led by US and the West asking Lebanon to abide by them against Syria, which is the most important goal of Feltman's recent visit to Lebanon.”
OBAMA’S ACCUSATIONS BASELESS
Moving on to the Lebanese file, Hezbollah Secretary General first tackled US President Barack Obama’s latest speech in which he accused Hezbollah of carrying out what he called “political assassinations” through missiles and car bombings.
Sayyed Nasrallah said that such accusations are baseless and aimed at pleasing the Israeli enemy. “Obama accusations for Hezbollah of political assassination and booby-trapped cars are not based on any evidence, but came in the context of the conspiracy of the International Tribunal,” his eminence said. “The American enmity towards Hezbollah is not new. Perhaps, its political and judicial content is new. However, its occasion shows it is aimed at pleasing Israel.”
Hezbollah Secretary General said that Obama’s accusations confirm Hezbollah's assertion that the Special Tribunal for Lebanon was politicized and part of an international plot against the region. “We thank Mr. Barack Obama because he confirmed the accuracy of what we used to say that the STL is an American-Israeli tribunal in which the American is playing judge and jury,” his eminence pointed out.
US MOST TERRORIST STATE INVOLVED IN POLITICAL ASSASSINATION
Addressing Obama, Sayyed Nasarallah emphasized that the US, which is speaking of political assassination, is the most terrorist country that has been involved in political assassinations. His eminence recalled that documents have shown how the CIA targeted through a car bombing in 1985 Grand Ayatollah late Sayyed Mohamad Hussein Fadlallah, which resulted in the martyrdom of more than a hundred civilians, mostly women and children. When a killer, the killer of hundreds of thousands in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, the co-killer of hundreds of thousands killed by Israel, accuses us, we don’t feel concerned.”
Hezbollah Secretary General stressed that the Resistance feels honored by Obama and Netanyahu’s attack. “We are proud of this badge of honor when the US and Israel attack us before the AIPAC,” Sayyed Nasrallah said. “Our enemy recognizes us as a key influential part of conflict in the region. This is an honor for Lebanon, as for Hezbollah,” his eminence added. Iran, Syria, and Hamas should be honored by this too, Sayyed Nasrallah emphasized.
PREVIOUS GOV’T WAS FORMED AFTER ASSAD, ABDULLAH INTERFERED
Turning to the cabinet formation process, Sayyed Nasrallah remarked that the delay in the government formation demonstrates how the other camp deals with Hezbollah. His eminence rejected exclusively holding the new majority responsible of the delay, and noted that this new majority was not forming the new government alone, as President Michel Sleiman and Prime Minister-Designate Najib Miqati are taking part in this process.
“We wanted to form the government since day one. However, one benefit of the delay was that it demonstrated how the other bloc deals with Hezbollah in particular. Its claims of a coup have been refuted because the government has not been formed yet.”
Hezbollah Secretary General said there were American and Western pressures preventing the birth of the government and admitted there were some internal demands also delaying the process, and this is normal. His eminence revealed that previous Lebanese government had been formed after 5 months, only when President Bashar al-Assad and King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz personally intervened. “Today however, no one is interfering in the process,” his eminence said. “This is the nature of the complications in Lebanon,” his eminence added. “Here again, accusations that Hezbollah has taken control of the country and that it isn’t pressuring its allies demonstrate that the other camp does not have a clear position on current affairs.”
THERE’S NO SUBSTITUTE TO CABINET
Sayyed Nasrallah expressed belief in the necessity of forming the new government as soon as possible, and that formation is one of the most important duties. “There’s no substitute to cabinet, because we want a state and not a substitute to it. We are the first resistance in history which triumphs and does not ask for a share in authority.”
His eminence said Hezbollah will continue its efforts to resolve the cabinet formation deadlock. However, he made it clear Hezbollah would not pressure any of its allies. “At the end, we will reach the desired result.”
Sayyed Nasrallah stressed that the proposal of a technocrat government came from the US and the Future Movement, upon which the new majority didn't agree.
Ending the Lebanese file, Hezbollah Secretary General said he certainly supports the Parliament speaker's initiative in activating the House of Representatives, and will participate in the meetings of the General Authority.
OUR MISSILES REPRESENT HONOR, DIGNITY
In conclusion, Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah said no one scares the Resistance. “We belong to the land which defeated the fleets in 1982,” his eminence said. “We are not afraid of the threats, accusations and intimidation of anyone.”
“Yesterday, Netanyahu has increased our conviction of our missiles. What he said should be a message to the dialogue table and to all of those who discuss the Resistance weapons.
Addressing Netanyahu, Sayyed Nasrallah said: “Our missiles are not 12 thousand; your information is too old.” His eminence vowed, meanwhile, that these rockets are ready and will remain in place. “They will remain effective and will protect Lebanon. They will remain present in the equation of the region, and no one will be able to grab them, neither in Lebanon nor in the world,” his eminence pledged.
“Our missiles today, which Netanyahu talked about before Congress, represent our honor, our blood, our money, our dignity and our pride,” Sayyed Nasrallah said, and added that this resistance will remain faithful to its goals, to its path, to its hopes, to its sufferings and to the blood of its martyrs.
WE ARE VERY CLOSE TO ACHIEVE VICTORY
“Again on May 25, 2011, I reiterate that Time of Defeats Has Gone, and Time of Victories Started,” Hezbollah Secretary General highlighted. His eminence reiterated, in light of the events in Gaza, Maroun al-Ras and Majdal Shams, that Israel is weaker than the spider’s web.
“Imagine if many millions of Arabs gathered at the entire borders with the Occupied Palestine at one time to cross the fence, what will Israel do then?” Sayyed Nasrallah wondered, after remarking how some hundreds of Palestinian youth scared the Israelis.
“We believe we are very close to achieve victory and to change the equations. The US-Israeli counter-attack will be in vain,” Sayyed Nasrallah concluded.