LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
December 31/2011
Bible Quotation for today/The
Temptation of Jesus
Luke 04/01-13: "Jesus returned from the Jordan full of the Holy Spirit and was
led by the Spirit into the desert, where he was tempted by the Devil for forty
days. In all that time he ate nothing, so that he was hungry when it was over.
The Devil said to him, If you are God's Son, order this stone to turn into
bread. But Jesus answered, The scripture says, Human beings cannot live on bread
alone. Then the Devil took him up and showed him in a second all the kingdoms of
the world. I will give you all this power and all this wealth, the Devil told
him. It has all been handed over to me, and I can give it to anyone I choose.
All this will be yours, then, if you worship me. Jesus answered, The scripture
says, Worship the Lord your God and serve only him! Then the Devil took him to
Jerusalem and set him on the highest point of the Temple, and said to him, If
you are God's Son, throw yourself down from here. For the scripture says, God
will order his angels to take good care of you. It also says, They will hold you
up with their hands so that not even your feet will be hurt on the stones. But
Jesus answered, The scripture says, Do not put the Lord your God to the test.
When the Devil finished tempting Jesus in every way, he left him for a while
Is
Lebanon going to face the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah
Elias Bejjani/30.12.11/The level and depth of corruption, humiliation for the
human dignity, detachment from God and disrespect for His Commandments in all
domains that Lebanon has reached is not that much different from the evil status
of the ancient cities of Sadom and Gomorrah. One wonders if the same disastrous
fate is going to be replicated with... Lebanon. In Christian and Islamic
traditions, Sodom and Gomorrah have become synonymous with impenitent sin, and
their fall with a proverbial manifestation of God's wrath.[2][Jude 1:7] Sodom
and Gomorrah are used as metaphors for vice and deviation from all that is
righteous. Who can save Lebanon from its vice clergy, politicians and officials?
Are we hoping God will send a holy profit like Lot to save the country and its
people?. There is no doubt that the current status of Lebanon is as bad as was
that of Sodom and Gomorrah. Why? Simply because the rich Lebanese people are
spending five thousand dollars for a New Year party ticket while the majority of
the Lebanese people are living under the poverty line. Because the top Lebanese
clergymen are preaching corruption, Because the officials are mercenaries and
the politicians turn the holy country into a market for evilness. The conduct of
all these top notch leaders is not that much different from the conduct of the
people Sodom and Gomorrah. So why not facing the same fate? Below is an Arabic
report that tells the whole story of vice and distortion
http://www.kataeb.org/News/258495
اضغط على الرابط في اسفل لقراءة تاريخ ومصير سدوم وعمورة
http://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B3%D8%AF%D9%88%D9%85_%D9%88%D8%B9%D9%85%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%A9
Latest analysis,
editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
Sunnis, Shia, and Saad/BY: Michael Young/December 30/11
Now Lebanon/New Year Resolutions/December 30/11
Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for December
30/11
Iran to Test-fire Missiles in Hormuz as Horns Locked with
U.S.
Iran
raises anti-US threat level. Israel's C-of-S warns of potential for regional war
Report: Iran ex-President's Website Shut Down
Saudi Says U.S. Jet Deal Aims to Maximize Defense
EU envoy: Israel has nothing to fear from regional rise of Islamists
U.S. finalizes $30 billion weapons deal with Saudi Arabia
Egyptian Bishop Warns of Another Massacre in Nag Hammadi
France urges Egypt to respect rights groups after raids
Germany Summons Egyptian Envoy over 'Unacceptable' Raids
U.S. cautious in face of mounting criticism on Arab League monitors in Syria
Leading Syrian citizen journalist killed
Future bloc MP Ahmad Fatfat: Central Security Council
meeting inadequate
Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rai calls for
“preserving Christian presence” amid Arab revolts
US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs
Jeffrey Feltman worried about Lebanon’s sovereignty
LF: Govt. Must Request Clarification from Syria over
Lebanese Deaths at Wadi Khaled
March 14: HDC Ignored Ghosn’s ‘Mistake’ to Salvage Lebanon
from ‘Dangerous Slope
Rallies, Blood Drives in N. Lebanon to Aid Syria Refugees
President Michel Suleiman Hopes for Year of Dialogue,
Stresses Coordination with Syria to Control Border Security
Report: Lebanon's Shura Council Considers Cabinet Wage
Hike Illegal
Suspect in al-Lino Bodyguard Murder Released
Lebanon: Security Forces Close Roads to American Embassy
over U.S. Iraq Withdrawal Sit-in
Lebanese Interior Minister, Charbel, Says Lebanon Couldn’t
be Base for Qaida
Damascus envoy visits Aoun, says Syria “will pull through”
NGO urges Arab League observers to visit jailed
bloggers, journalists
Lebanon:
Brawl turns into
shootout in Faraya, 3 wounded
Status quo set to hold until iIn Lebanon Syria
turns corner
Protesters in Lebanon approach to U.S. Embassy blocked
Iran raises anti-US threat level. Israel's
C-of-S warns of potential for regional war
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report December 29, 2011/
Thursday afternoon, Dec. 29, Tehran raised the pitch of its threats to the
United States when Dep. Chief of the Revolutionary Guards Gen. Hossein Salami
declared: "The United States is in no position to tell Tehran what to do in the
Strait of Hormuz," adding, "Any threat will be responded [to] by threat… We will
not relinquish our strategic moves in Iran's vital interests are undermined by
any means."
The Iranian general spoke after the USS John C. Stennis aircraft carrier and its
strike group passed through the Strait of Hormuz to the Sea of Oman and into the
area where the big Iranian naval war game Veleyati 90 is taking place.
At around the same time, Israel's chief of staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz spoke of
"the rising potential for a multi-arena event," i.e. a comprehensive armed
conflict. Facing in several directions as we are "between terrorist
organizations and Iran's progress toward a nuclear weapon… we can't afford to
stay on the defensive and must come up with offensive measures," he said.
Earlier Thursday, Dec. 29, debkafile reported that an Iranian plan to mine the
Strait of Hormuz had put US and NATO forces in the Persian Gulf on the alert.
US and NATO task forces in the Persian Gulf have been placed on alert after US
intelligence warned that Iran's Revolutionary Guards are preparing Iranian
marine commandos to sow mines in the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
The new deployment, debkafile's military sources report, consists of USS
Combined Task Force 52 (CTF 52), which is trained and equipped for dismantling
marine mines and NATO Maritime Mine Counter measures Group 2 (SNMCMG2). The
American group is led by the USS Arden mine countermeasures ship; NATO's by the
British HMS Pembroke minesweeper. Other vessels in the task forces are the
Hunt-class destroyer HMS Middleton and the French mine warfare ships FS Croix du
Sud and FS Var.
Also on the ready are several US Expeditionary Combat Readiness units of the US
Fifth Fleet Bahrain command. Seventeen of these special marine units are
attached to the Fifth Fleet as America's answer to the Iranian Navy's fast
assault boats and marine units.
US military sources told debkafile Wednesday, Dec. 28, that United States has
the countermeasures for sweeping the waterway of mines and making it safe for
marine passage after no more than a 24-48 hour interruption.
At the same time, leading military and naval officials in Washington take
Tehran's threats seriously. They don't buy the proposition advanced by various
American pundits and analysts that Iran would never close the Strait of Hormuz,
though which one third of the world's oil passes, because it would then bottle
up its own energy exports. Those officials, according to our sources, believe
that Tehran hopes the mines in the waterway will blow up passing oil tankers and
other shipping. It doesn't have to be sealed hermetically to endanger
international shipping; just a few mines here and there and an explosion would
be enough to deter shippers and crews from risking their vessels.
As Adm. Habibollah Sayari commander of the Iranian Navy put it Wednesday, Dec.
28: "Shutting the strait for Iran's armed forces is really easy – or as we say
in Iran, easier than drinking a glass of water." He went on to say: "But today,
we don't need [to shut] the strait because we have the Sea of Oman under control
and can control transit."
debkafile's Middle East marine sources said the Iranian admiral's boast about
the Sea of Oman was just hot air. For the big Iranian Velayati 90 sea exercise
which began Saturday, America has deployed in that sea two large air and sea
strike groups led by the USS John C. Stennis aircraft carrier and the USS Bataan
aircraft amphibious ship.
And they are highly visible: Thursday morning, Dec. 29, Iranian Navy's Deputy
Commander Rear Adm. Mahmoud Mousavi reported an Iranian Navy aircraft had shot
footage and images of a US carrier spotted in an area where the Velayat 90 war
games were being conducted – most probably the Stennis. Its presence, he said,
demonstrated that Iran's naval forces were "precisely monitoring all moves by
extra-regional powers" in the region.
Clearly, the US navy is very much on the spot in the Sea of Oman and other areas
of the Iranian war game.
Middle East sources warn however that the repeated threats to close the Strait
of Hormuz coming from Tehran this week and the framework of its naval exercise
clearly point to the manner in which Iran intends to hit back for the tough new
sanctions which the West plans to approve next month. The new round is expected
to shear off 80 percent of the Islamic Republic's revenues.
The European Union's 27 member-states meet in January to approve an embargo on
Iranian oil, with effect on 25 percent of Iran's energy exports. Next month,
too, President Barack Obama plans to sign into law an amendment authorizing
severe penalties for foreign banks trading with Iran's central bank, CBI,
including the loss of links with American banks and financial institutions.
Tehran is expected to strike back hard by sowing mines in Hormuz and in the
waters opposite the oil fields and terminals of fellow Persian Gulf oil
producers, including Saudi Arabia.
It would not be the first time. In 1987 and 1988, sea mines were sown in the
Persian Gulf for which Iran never took responsibility. It was generally seen as
Tehran's payback for US and Gulf Emirates' backing for Iraq in its long war with
the Islamic Republic. A number of oil tankers and American warships were struck
by mines, including the USS Samuel B. Roberts. Such disasters can be averted
today by means of the sophisticated countermeasures now in US hands.
Egyptian Bishop Warns of
Another Massacre in Nag Hammadi
12-29-2011 /Assyrian International News Agency
(AINA) -- Bishop Kyrillos, the Coptic Orthodox bishop of Nag Hammadi, received
last week several threats of attacks to be carried out on churches in Nag
Hammadi, either on New Year's Eve or Christmas Eve on January 6. "I do not want
another Nag Hammadi Massacre to happen again," he said in an interview on the
Egyptian independent TV Channel Al Tahrir. On January 6, 2010 6 Copts were
killed and more than 15 injured in a drive-by shooting of worshippers as they
left church after celebrating the Coptic Orthodox Christmas Eve's mass, which
falls on January 6 according to the Julian Calender (AINA 1-7-2010).
The Nag Hammadi diocese will cancel all festivities for New Year's Eve and
Christmas Eve, and will end the midnight service early and not after midnight as
is the norm.
"I have reported to the police all the threats received and asked for
protection. I told them that I am ready to ask our youth to organize committees
to protect the churches," said Bishop Kyrillos. "Yesterday I sent an appeal to
Field Marshall Tantawi, head of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces,
the prime minister and the interior minister, asking them to secure Nag Hammadi,
which has experienced repeated acts of violence."
At the end of 2009, despite warnings by local church authorities in Nag Hammadi
of possible violence during the Coptic festivities in January 2010, police had
not bolstered security for Christmas.
Bishop Kyrillos believes that the reason behind these new threats is his
unwavering support for the Copts of his diocese, who are plagued by an
escalating series of kidnappings. The Bishop councils his parishioners not to
give in to the kidnappers by paying the ransoms, but instead to report the crime
to the police. "I cannot and will not stay inactive while I see the terrified
Coptic families paying all what they have, and sometimes what they do not have,
to get their children back."
The leader of the kidnapping gang, Ahmed Saber, who lives in Samasta village in
Bahgoura, threatened to carry out a massacre in Nag Hammadi after the security
forces attempted to arrest him and his gang, but were not successful.
From August 11 until December 24, eleven kidnappings took place in Nag Hammadi
and neighboring Farshout and Bahgoura, part of the parish of Nag Hammadi, and
this has "escalated recently to the extent that not one week passes without
kidnapping, sometimes even taking place at mid-day," said Bishop Kyrillos. "Some
families report the kidnapping to the police, some are returned without paying
ransoms and some families pay huge sums of money for their loved ones."
Only in 4 out of the 11 cases did families recover their children without paying
ransom. Some ransoms went as high as 630,000 Egyptian pounds, paid for the
release of a physician and a pharmacist, while 17-year old friends Girgis and
Mina Dawood, kidnapped together on December 24, were released yesterday for a
smaller ransom. "Contrary to my advice, their families paid a ransom of 130,000
for both lads." He said he does not believe the kidnappers would slaughter the
children as they threaten, but they do it for the high ransoms they are
demanding and eventually getting.
Bishop Kyrillos is very pessimistic regarding the threats of attacks on
churches. The Nag Hammadi Massacre of 2010, was one in a series of attacks on
churches during the Coptic festivities. A similar incident took place in April
2009 when Muslims opened fire on worshipers as they left the prayer service on
Easter Eve in the village of Higaza, Qena Governorate, resulting in the death of
Amir Stephanos (36), Ayub Said (22), and the injury of Mina Samir (35).
On New Year's Eve 2011, a bomb detonated outside the Two Saints Church in
Alexandria, killing 23 and injuring 96 parishioners who were attending a New
Year's Eve Mass (AINA 1-2-2011).
By Mary Abdelmassih
US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs
Jeffrey Feltman worried about Lebanon’s sovereignty
December 30, 2011 /US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs
Jeffrey Feltman said in an interview published Friday that he’s “worried about
Lebanon’s sovereignty amid the Syrian army’s violations.”“We are concerned about
any attempt made by [Syrian President] Bashar al-Assad to transfer his problems
to Lebanon,” Feltman told An-Nahar newspaper.
Asked about the Syrian regime’s claims that Al-Qaeda is behind the explosions in
Damascus, Feltman said “those who sleep with dogs will rise with fleas.”“If it
was true that Al-Qaeda is behind the explosions, then the Syrian regime must
[remember] that it collaborated in bringing the organization to the country.”
Over 40 people were killed last week by suicide bombers in Damascus. Bashar al-Assad’s
regime has blamed the attacks on “terrorist organizations,” including Al-Qaeda,
although it has not said how it reached such a conclusion. The bombings were the
first against the powerful security services in the heart of the capital since
the uprising against Assad began in March.
The US envoy also said that the Arab observers should be given time to observe
the credibility of the Syrian regime’s implementation of the Arab League’s
protocol.“If the Arab mission’s report is negative, then the international
community will have to study other options that can stop the violence,” Feltman
added. Three Lebanese shot and wounded by Syrian troops as they were crossing
into northern Lebanon died of their injuries overnight, a medical official said
on Wednesday. In a similar incident, Syrian troops on October 6 shot and killed
a farmer near the Bekaa town of Aarsal. The United Nations estimates more than
5,000 people have been killed since mid-March in the Syrian regime’s crackdown
on dissent.Damascus blames the unrest on "armed terrorist groups" and has
unleashed military operations against border towns and protest hubs.-NOW Lebanon
Iran to Test-fire Missiles in Hormuz as Horns Locked with
U.S.
by Naharnet /Iran, which has been carrying out war games in the Strait of Hormuz
over the past week, is to test fire shorter- and longer-range missiles in the
key oil waterway on Saturday, the navy said. "Shorter- and longer-range,
ground-to-sea, surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles will be tested on
Saturday," the ISNA news agency quoted navy spokesman, Commodore Mahmoud Mousavi,
quoted as saying on Friday. The move is likely to stoke tensions between Tehran
and Washington, already running high over a warning by Iran this week that "not
a drop of oil" would pass through the strait if Western governments followed
through with planned additional sanctions over its nuclear program.The U.S.
State Department said on Thursday that Iran's threat to close the waterway,
through which more than a third of the world's tanker-borne oil passes,
exhibited "irrational behavior" and "will not be tolerated."
The naval maneuvers launched by Iran in the strait on December 24 have so far
included mine-laying and the use of aerial drones, according to Iranian media.
Analysts and oil market traders have been watching developments in and around
the Strait of Hormuz carefully, fearing that the intensifying war of words
between arch foes Tehran and Washington could spark open confrontation.Source/Agence
France Presse.
March 14: HDC Ignored Ghosn’s ‘Mistake’ to Salvage Lebanon from ‘Dangerous
Slope’
by Naharnet /The Higher Defense Council shied away from the claims made by
Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn about the presence of al-Qaida in Lebanon in a sign
that the state is aware of the dangers of such allegations, high-ranking
opposition sources said. “The disregard for the claims made by the defense
minister about the presence of al-Qaida in the Bekaa (valley) proves their lack
of credibility and the awareness of the state through its entire constitutional
and security institutions that this political mistake could lead it down a
dangerous slope particularly at the international level,” the March 14 sources
told An Nahar daily published Friday. The HDC convened at Baabda palace on
Thursday. While not mentioning the word al-Qaida, it said in a statement that
the conferees agreed to tighten security and prevent arms smuggling, and asked
security agencies to take stronger measures to “fight terrorism.” The
meeting came after Ghosn’s statements about the operations of al-Qaida members
in the eastern border town of Arsal in the Bekaa drew controversy and criticism
about a multifaceted government. Premier Najib Miqati and Interior Minister
Marwan Charbel refuted the claims.
But the opposition sources stressed that the HDC’s statement won’t prevent a
parliamentary grilling of Ghosn in particular and the cabinet in general early
next year over the issue of the security along the border with Syria. The
sources also criticized the HDC and Miqati for ignoring the infiltrations of
Syrian troops and intelligence agents into the Wadi Khaled area in northern
Lebanon. They accused the cabinet and security and military agencies of “burying
their heads in the sand.” Earlier in the week, three Lebanese men were killed
when Syrian troops opened fire on their vehicle from across the border. The
March 14 general-secretariat is scheduled to meet at 11:00 am Saturday and will
issue a statement to announce its stance from the latest developments.
President Michel Suleiman Hopes for Year of Dialogue,
Stresses Coordination with Syria to Control Border Security
by Naharnet /President Michel Suleiman on Friday congratulated the Lebanese on
the occasion of the New Year, hoping 2012 would be a year of dialogue,
understanding and stability.
In a statement issued by his press office, Suleiman hoped “2012 would bring
happiness and stability for the nation and would be a year of dialogue and
understanding” that would contribute to the productivity of public
institutions.The president also hoped that Lebanon would enjoy stability next
year amid the ongoing upheaval in the region, the statement said.He hailed the
role played by Lebanon’s mission at the U.N. headquarters in New York, reminding
the Lebanese that Beirut’s membership in the Security Council ends at the start
of 2012.
Lebanon has presided the Council twice during its two-year membership.
Also Friday, Suleiman discussed with Syrian Ambassador Ali Abdul Karim Ali
bilateral ties and the situation in Syria after an Arab League observer mission
began its work there.
The statement said that the two men stressed “the importance of coordination to
control the situation as far as border violations are concerned.”
They also stressed “the cooperation in the investigation into the murder of
three Lebanese nationals near the border with Syria to avoid a repetition (of
such incident) on one side and end the violation on the other through measures
aimed at controlling the border.”Three Lebanese men were killed in the northern
border region of Wadi Khaled earlier in the week when Syrian troops opened fire
on their vehicle from across the border.A controversy also erupted this month
after Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn said al-Qaida fighters were operating in the
eastern border town of Arsal. Arsal has in recent months witnessed a string of
deadly incursions by the Syrian army in an alleged bid to crack down on arms
smuggling.
Rallies, Blood Drives in N. Lebanon to Aid Syria Refugees
by Naharnet /Hundreds of protesters hit the streets in north Lebanon Friday to
support the revolt against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, organizing
blood drives and marching towards the volatile border.Some 500 Lebanese and
Syrians rallied near a border crossing in the Akkar district of Wadi Khaled,
which straddles the Syrian border, amid tight security.
Around 500 others, mainly Islamists, staged a sit-in in the northern port city
of Tripoli, which has witnessed clashes between Sunnis and minority Alawite
Muslims loyal to the Assad family.
Student activists across Tripoli also set up a handful of tents to host blood
drives and gather donations to aid injured Syrian refugees who have regularly
crossed into Lebanon in recent weeks to seek medical care."We began this
campaign after it became clear that the Lebanese government and the institutions
that should be concerned with this cause were not doing their job," said
Mohammed Taha, a Lebanese student who was helping set up the makeshift donation
centers. "All the money we gather here will be donated to Syrian refugees in
Lebanon, and only to these refugees." Ahmed Moussa, another student activist in
Tripoli, said the grassroots campaign to aid refugees had begun weeks ago."We
started by setting up donation booths outside mosques after Friday prayers and
distributing discs documenting human rights violations in Syria to passers-by
for free," Moussa told Agence France Presse. Thousands of Syrian refugees have
fled to Lebanon as the state cracks down on a popular revolt against the Assad
regime, now in its tenth month. The Syrian army last month laced the Lebanese
border with landmines in a bid to curb arms smuggling and hampering army
defectors and refugees from fleeing. Syrian troops have also staged deadly
incursions into border villages in neighboring Lebanon, the last of which was on
Tuesday, when three Lebanese men were killed by Syrian gunfire in Wadi Khaled.
The United Nations estimated earlier this month that more than 5,000 people have
been killed in the crackdown since protests against the Assad regime began in
mid-March.Source/Agence France Presse.
Report: Lebanon's Shura Council Considers Cabinet Wage Hike
Illegal
by Naharnet /The Shura Council has described a cabinet decision on a wage hike
as “illegal” after Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas proposed it to the government,
knocking down a last-minute deal made between the General Labor Confederation
and the Economic Committees, ministerial sources said. In remarks to pan-Arab
daily al-Hayat on Friday, the sources expected the Shura Council to refer the
decision back to the cabinet. The Council believes that Nahhas’ proposal is
“illegal” and stresses that it does not have the authority to issue a stance on
a suggestion made by the labor ministry against the deal made between the GLC
and the Economic Committees, the sources said. Their deal lied on setting the
minimum wage at LL 675,000 without the transportation allowance. However, their
agreement was dealt a blow when the cabinet approved Nahhas’ proposal of
LL868,000 – a sum that includes a LL236,000 transportation allowance.
The government decision also says that workers earning less than LL1.5 million
should receive an 18 percent increase while salaries between LL1.5 million and
LL2.5 million should receive an additional 10 percent on the second salary
bracket. Wages above LL2.5 million will not earn an additional raise. The raise
is effective as of December 1, 2011. The Shura Council is expected to issue its
verdict on the wage hike next week to allow the government to have its final say
on it, informed sources told An Nahar daily. Al-Hayat’s sources said that Nahhas
has been informed about Shura’s expected decision. But they stressed that they
were not aware of his reaction. On Thursday, the Economic Committees hoped that
the government would retract its wage boost decree and return to the agreement
that was reached between them and the GLC. The head of the Beirut Merchant
Association Nicolas Shammas said after holding talks with Premier Najib Miqati
at the Grand Serail that his visit at the head of a delegation was aimed at
renewing the commitment of the Committees to the agreement. “We cannot return to
negotiations over the wage hike because the deal over the matter has already
been reached,” he stressed.
Future bloc MP Ahmad Fatfat: Central Security Council
meeting inadequate
December 30, 2011 /Future bloc MP Ahmad Fatfat said on Friday that the Central
Security Council did not tackle the raised issues as well as expected.
However, Fatfat told the Voice of Lebanon (93.3) radio station that “the
statement issued following the meeting refuted the allegations of Defense
Minister Fayez Ghosn regarding the presence of Al-Qaeda members in the Bekaa
town of Aarsal.”“This is not the first time Ghosn behaved irresponsibly.”Fatfat
added that the residents of the northern town of Wadi Khaled and Aarsal are
calling on the army to deploy along the border with Syria and to protect the
Lebanese citizens.Last week, Ghosn warned that Al-Qaeda members are present in
Aarsal. A few days after his comments, 44 people were killed in Damascus
bombings that Syrian regime blamed on terrorist organizations. The United
Nations estimates more than 5,000 people have been killed since mid-March in the
Syrian regime’s crackdown on dissent.Damascus blames the unrest on "armed
terrorist groups" and has unleashed military operations against border towns and
protest hubs.-NOW Lebanon
Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rai calls for
“preserving Christian presence” amid Arab revolts
December 30, 2011 /Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rai called for
“preserving the existence” of Christians in the Middle East amid anti-regime
uprisings that erupted in Arab countries.
“All the events happening in the Arab world require more cooperation in order to
preserve the Christians’ presence and existence in the region,” Rai was quoted
as saying by LBC television.
The patriarch added that the Christians in the Arab world “play a fundamental
role.”The Arab Spring, also known as the “Jasmine Revolution,” is a
revolutionary wave of protests that has stormed the Arab world since December
18, 2010. There have been revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt; a civil war in
Libya; civil unrests in Bahrain, Syria, and Yemen.-NOW Lebanon
France urges Egypt to respect rights groups after raids
December 30, 2011 /France on Friday urged the Egyptian authorities to respect
the work of rights groups and said it was concerned by raids on more than a
dozen offices belonging to civil society organizations. "France is concerned by
the raids on the offices of several non-governmental organizations in Egypt.
Such initiatives do not encourage the peaceful atmosphere needed for the success
of the democratic transition that is under way," Foreign Ministry spokesperson
Bernard Valero said. Paris "calls on the Egyptian transitional authorities to
respect Egypt's international commitments in protecting human rights," he added.
Civil society groups "play an important role in all democracies, must be able to
work without hindrance, in a free, independent and responsible way, in
accordance with Egyptian law," he said. Egyptian police raided the offices
belonging to rights organizations on Thursday as part of what authorities called
an investigation into alleged illicit foreign funding. The raids, in which no
arrests were reported, came as the authorities blamed foreign-funded groups for
political unrest in the country after the uprising that ousted veteran president
Hosni Mubarak in February. The European Union, Germany and the United States
have also voiced concern at the raids.-AFP/NOW Lebanon
Damascus envoy visits Aoun, says Syria “will pull through”
December 30, 2011 /Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdel Karim Ali on Friday
visited Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun and said in a reference to
the Syrian crisis that his country “will pull through.”“Syria will come out more
confident… and the crisis [that has currently overcome the country] was caused
by media [outlets] that intend to incite strife,” Ali was quoted as saying by
the National News Agency. He added in a possible reference to western powers
that “those gambling on the [collapse of] the Syrian [regime] will fail.” Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad’s troops have cracked down on protests against almost
five decades of Baath rule which broke out mid-March, killing over 5,000 people
and triggering a torrent of international condemnation.-NOW Lebanon
Sunnis, Shia, and Saad
Michael Young , December 30, 2011
It will soon be a year since Hezbollah and its allies brought down the
government of Saad Hariri, through fair means and foul. But no one walked the
former prime minister to Lebanon’s door and told him to get lost. That decision
he appears to have implemented freely. Last April, Hariri left Beirut, allegedly
for security reasons. Yet even those in his circle no longer employ that lame
excuse when justifying why Hariri has been gone for so long. Explanations abound
and some may be true: Hariri’s patronage power is not what it was because of
cash flow problems; the former prime minister’s Saudi patrons do not want him in
Lebanon while the situation in Syria festers, to avoid his being dragged into
the conflict, and they with him; or, more prosaically, Hariri prefers to be
outside Lebanon while Najib Mikati is prime minister, to return in strength if
the government falls. Whatever the answer, or combination of answers, there is a
far more serious problem that Hariri, and Hariri alone, must address: A good
chance exists, if the vacuum in the Sunni community persists, that extremist
elements will emerge to seize the communal initiative. Already, in Saida a
hitherto unknown cleric, Ahmad Assir, is bringing in the crowds with worrisome
anti-Shia rhetoric, and will almost certainly have to be reckoned with in future
elections.
That may not bother the Saudis, but it really should bother Hariri. Any form of
religious fanaticism challenges the vision that he and his father purported to
champion--that of a free-wheeling Lebanon, open in all directions, pluralistic,
tolerant, and stable. The principal beef leveled by the Future Movement against
Hezbollah, and a legitimate one, is that the party has in one way or another
undermined all those qualities depending on the circumstances.
What are Saad Hariri’s options? He surely recognizes that his absence is harmful
to his political prospects. If the Saudis are behind his decision to stay away,
then he has to choose between being a Lebanese politician and a Saudi ally. If
Hariri opts for the first choice he may lose in the short term; but he has
enough political capital in his community to then impose his choices on the
Saudi sponsors.
In the end, Hariri was elected by Lebanese in 2005 and 2009. There are those who
paid a price for their allegiance during the unsettled period in between. The
former prime minister owes something to his political base, and that obligation
cannot be repaid from afar.
Then there is the patronage pretext. The Future Movement’s finances have been
under stress in the last year and more. Projects that were to be financed by
Hariri money have been on hold, and the former prime minister’s political debts
are said to be substantial. Saad Hariri will not soon be dining in soup
kitchens, but personal wealth and political money are not the same thing, even
if they do overlap.
Then there is the question of what Hariri’s cash flow problems tell us about
Saudi attitudes toward him. There was much idle speculation in the past that the
Saudis had turned against the former prime minister, only for them to award him
a lucrative contract soon thereafter. The relationship is doubtless a complex
one, rendered more complex by the changes in the kingdom resulting from
succession questions. If so, Hariri may be right not to rock the boat, but that
calculation is made on Saudi, not Lebanese, time.
His supporters in Lebanon would again reply that the last they heard, and voted,
Hariri was Lebanese. Patronage goes a long way in our political system, but
given the polarization in the country, Hariri can offer something else that is
compelling, by way of ideas. That he has limited financial reserves to toss
around may not be so damaging if he recasts his role, depicting himself as the
head of an apprehensive Sunni community which he intends to guide through hard
times.
For Hariri and his acolytes to contemplate such a project, they must break away
from their focus on the shortcomings of Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s
government, and clarify what they stand for, not against. Their being reactive
has allowed Mikati to retain the upper hand, the dysfunctional nature of his
cabinet notwithstanding. March 14 has offered no credible riposte to the fact
that Mikati has delivered precisely where the previous majority said he could
not deliver. But one thing Mikati does not have is the political weight to
reassert control over the menacing fringes of his community. Only Hariri can do
that, and the effort requires him to be in Lebanon, working his networks
carefully to compensate for the fact that many of the Islamists are funded by
Gulf countries. The uprising in Syria has become sectarian, with ominous
repercussions for the Lebanese communities, among them greater tension between
Sunnis and Shia.
And that’s not all. If Hariri’s uneasy Christian partners see the Sunni
community drifting toward the zealots, they will begin re-examining their
political alliances. This may conceivably shatter the coalition Hariri spent
years trying to build and hold together.
Hariri and his entourage insist the former prime minister is not down and out.
Politically he has no reason to be, not least if the regime of Bashar Assad
disintegrates in the coming months. But Hariri can’t afford to be Godot--someone
many Lebanese will wait for, without assurances that he will reappear. Serious
politics is about the here and now, not an indefinite future. Hariri must come
home, whatever the cost, to help contain the sectarian antagonisms rising all
around.
*Michael Young is opinion editor of the Daily Star newspaper in Beirut and
author of The Ghosts of Martyrs Square: An Eyewitness Account of Lebanon’s Life
Struggle. He tweets @BeirutCalling.
New Year Resolutions
December 29, 2011
Now Lebanon
The Arab League’s delegation to Syria may have already come under attack for not
being robust enough in its condemnation of the nine-month long violence that has
plagued the country, but Lebanon’s decision to not participate in the mission
nonetheless highlights everything that is wrong with the current government.
Indeed, it reflects the nation’s warped mindset on what is right and wrong.
“Lebanon does not want to isolate itself from other Arab League members or the
international community,” an unnamed government ‘official’ was quoted as saying,
“But at the same time, we are trying to avoid allowing Syria’s crisis to have
negative repercussions on Lebanon.”
But surely as an independent country and a member of the Arab League, Lebanon
has a duty to its fellow members and its people to behave as such. By erring on
the side of caution (read cowardice), the country styles itself as nothing more
than a meaningless outpost, a good time entrepot with little or no credibility
on the international, let alone regional, stage. If we are to harbor any New
Year resolutions, all this must change in 2012. The government, at the urging of
the Lebanese people, must loosen the bonds that tie it so tightly to Damascus.
For a start, it must renew its insistence that Damascus demonstrate full
transparency on the issue of the 600 or so Lebanese whose last known whereabouts
were in Syrian custody. Lebanon must also seek to stop border violations on the
Syrian frontier. This has been a priority for years now, but in the last nine
months, the urgency has become even greater as events in Syria have threatened
to spill over into Lebanon. The last thing this country needs is another refugee
crisis with the Syrian army chasing so-called insurgents into Lebanon with
impunity. Furthermore, Lebanon cannot continue to ignore these issues in the
name of “brotherly relations” or any other of the supine terms it has used to
justify its slack behavior when it comes to its dealings with its
neighbor.Elsewhere, the issue of non-state weapons is still the proverbial
elephant in the Lebanese sitting room. Those Lebanese who have accepted
Hezbollah’s huge arsenal because it is either a symbol of pride, or an effective
deterrence against a belligerent enemy, or the only solution in the absence of a
strong army, must also recognize the undeniable fact that Lebanon cannot move
forward as a country while this bizarre status quo exists.
The so-called Resistance and its weapons are not only unacceptable to those who
believe in the role of the state, but as long as they exist, all other
priorities – the economy, infrastructure, education, environment and health –
remain secondary and will continue to be so as long as the government’s
priorities are seen through the prism of Israel and all it purportedly stands
for.
In short, the Lebanese must adopt the attitude of the Arab Spring. They must not
let their lives be shaped by the battle for Palestine. They must demand their
basic rights: 24-hour electricity, sufficient water, a clean environment, good
roads and above all security provided by the sanctioned offices of the state.
It is not acceptable that, 20 years after the civil war, areas outside central
Beirut still do not have power with many rural communities sitting in darkness
every other night. Ditto water. Countless reports have stated that if harnessed
correctly, Lebanon would have enough water, not only for its own needs, but
enough to sell to other nations, most notably Cyprus. And yet billions of cubic
liters of water are washed away into the sea every year. The government cannot
crow over any other so-called successes until both these scandals are resolved.
Lebanese business also need an environment in which to flourish. Our banks, at
the insistence of the government, should lend more money to small and medium
enterprises instead of living on deposits and buying treasury bills. The private
sector, which essentially keeps the country economically afloat, must lobby the
government to create a genuinely attractive investment climate, one that offers
more long-term growth than say, the construction sector. The state must
recognize that there is a brain drain that needs to be stemmed if we don’t want
to lose our best and brightest to foreign job markets where their talents and
efforts are appreciated.Clearly, there is much work to be done.