LCCC
ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِAugust
01/2011
Bible Quotation for today
Isaiah Chapter 55/1-12: "1 “Come, everyone
who thirsts, to the waters! Come, he who has no money, buy, and eat! Yes, come,
buy wine and milk without money and without price. 2 Why do you spend money for
that which is not bread? and your labor for that which doesn’t satisfy? listen
diligently to me, and eat you that which is good, and let your soul delight
itself in fatness. 3 Turn your ear, and come to me; hear, and your soul shall
live: and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of
David. 4 Behold, I have given him for a witness to the peoples, a leader and
commander to the peoples. 5 Behold, you shall call a nation that you don’t know;
and a nation that didn’t know you shall run to you, because of Yahweh your God,
and for the Holy One of Israel; for he has glorified you.” 6 Seek Yahweh while
he may be found; call you on him while he is near: 7 let the wicked forsake his
way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to Yahweh, and he
will have mercy on him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. 8 “For my
thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” says Yahweh. 9
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your
ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 For as the rain comes down and the
snow from the sky, and doesn’t return there, but waters the earth, and makes it
bring forth and bud, and gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater; 11 so
shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth: it shall not return to me
void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the
thing I sent it to do. 12 For you shall go out with joy, and be led forth with
peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing;
and all the trees of the fields shall clap their hands. 13 Instead of the thorn
shall come up the fir tree; and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle
tree: and it shall be to Yahweh for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall
not be cut off.”
Latest
analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases
from
miscellaneous
sources
Christians and Syria/By:
Hazem al-Amin/July
31/11
The Hezbollah
connection/By:
Ana Maria Luca/July 31/11
Latest News Reports From
Miscellaneous Sources for July 31/11
Iranian Revolutionary Guards train
new Hamas commando brigade in Gaza/DEBKAfile
45 Killed as Syrian Army Attacks
Hama/Naharnet
Dozens killed as Syria
army storms Hama: doctor/The Daily Star
Mufti
Qabbani Declares Monday
First Day of Ramadan
in Lebanon/Naharnet
Turkey's Gul says no
crisis as top generals quit/The Daily Star
Libyan rebel commander killed by
allied militia/The Daily Star
Syria's exiled opposition senses
historic moment./Reuters
Syrian Troops Kill 3 Stone-Throwers
as Tanks Storm Deir al-Zour/Naharnet
Rights group says 20
protesters killed across Syria/The Daily Star
Syrian forces open fire on
refugees fleeing to Lebanon/The Daily Star
Detained in Israel: 'flytilla'
activist recounts ordeal/The Daily Star
Jumblat, Gemayel Hold ‘Important’
Talks on Major Controversial Issues/Naharnet
Al-Mustaqbal Warns of International
Relations Crisis in Case of Noncooperation with STL/Naharnet
Hizbullah Says Dahieh Explosion
Caused by Gas Canister as Reports Question its Nature/Naharnet
Miqati Vows to Protect the Army's
Needs, Meets with Berri/Naharnet
Austria May Contribute Troops to
UNIFIL in South Lebanon/Naharnet
Wahhab Meets Nasrallah, Urges
Suleiman to End U.S. Assets Freeze ‘Mockery/Naharnet
Strong 6.4 Quake Shakes
Japan's Fukushima/Naharnet
Jumblat to Meet Nasrallah to
Explain his Foreign Visits, Latest Positions/Naharnet
Al-Rahi: We Cannot Accept Crippling
of Political Life/Naharnet
Roux: Too Soon to Verify Viability
of Nasrallah’s Evidence in Hariri Murder/Naharnet
Hizbullah Prevents Official
Security Apparatuses from Investigating Rouwais Blast/Naharnet
Saniora Meets Suleiman: We Back
Dialogue that Has a Goal, Not Just Holding Talks for Sake of it/Naharnet
Lebanon's Arabic press digest -
July 31, 2011 The Daily Star/The Daily Star
Hezbollah will relinquish weapons once Israel does: Musawi
July 30, 2011/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Loyalty to Resistance Bloc MP Hussein Musawi, said Saturday that
Hezbollah would relinquish their weapons to the Lebanese government once the
Israeli army hands in theirs, reported Lebanon’s National News Agency. "Tell
[the Americans] that we will hand in our weapons to the Lebanese government once
Israel hands in its arms," Musawi said during a commemoration of the July 2006
war in the Bekaa valley. Such an exchange would prove that the resistance’s
weapons were not for use inside Lebanon, Musawi said. "Our weapons are for
facing Israeli arms." The politician also said the fight against Zionism
extended beyond Lebanon to the entire Islamic world. He accused the March 14
opposition of being under the command of the American ambassador. The
opposition, namely the Future bloc, was also accused by Musawi of betting on
Syria's demise, and the possibility of an Israeli war. "If they have a problem
with weapons, we have a problem with submission," declared the MP.
Syrian forces open fire on refugees fleeing to Lebanon
July 30, 2011 /The Daily Star
Syrian army soldiers are seen reinforcing the village of Arida near Tal Kalakh
opposite the Lebanon-Syria border, in Wadi Khaled, north Lebanon, on Friday May
20.
BEIRUT: Syrian forces opened fire on refugees fleeing into Lebanon early
Saturday morning, a security source told the Daily Star.
The source said that around 30 families entered Lebanon between 3 a.m. and 4
a.m. through the unofficial border crossing at Lebanese border town of Kneisseh
in the Wadi Khaled area in the north. The gunfire lasted about 20 minutes.
Refugees began fleeing into Lebanon in large numbers two months ago following a
crackdown on anti-government demonstrators in Syrian frontier towns.
Since then, Syrian troops have tightened security along the Lebanese borders,
preventing people from fleeing to Lebanon. However, many Syrians continue to
cross into Lebanon through, often in the middle of the night. Some have been
killed or wounded in the process.
It is not known how many Syrian refugees have fled into Lebanon since the
beginning of the uprising. There are 2,000 registered Syrian refugees in the
country, according to the UNHCR, but it is believed the real numbers are
significantly higher. Syria's four-month-long popular uprising, its largest
since Hafez Assad took power 40 years ago, has claimed the lives of more than
1,400, say activists. Friday saw the largest show of demonstrators to date, with
more than 1.5 million anti-government demonstrators taking to the streets across
the country.
Roux: Too
Soon to Verify Viability of Nasrallah’s Evidence in Hariri Murder
Naharnet /Head of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Defense Office Francois Roux
stated that nothing is off limits in defending suspects in the trial of the
assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, saying that their lawyers
can bring up any matter related to the case, especially regarding the legitimacy
of the court and the prosecutor’s evidence.
He noted however to the Kuwaiti al-Rai newspaper in remarks published on Sunday
that the transparency of the court should not be questioned at the moment
because it hasn’t conducted its judicial work yet. The investigations in the
murder should be addressed instead, he added. The Defense will have the
opportunity to question the credibility of the investigations and evidence,
stressing that the arguments should be judicial and not political. Contrary to
what has been reported, the STL will take the right decision, Roux continued.
Asked if Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s evidence in the assassination
is viable, he relied that it is impossible at this point to determine the
viability of his evidence. Only the Defense team can make that conclusion and
present evidence that can acquit their clients, he said. Pre-Trial Judge Daniel
Fransen only has what the head of the investigation has presented him, he
remarked
The defense lawyer is responsible for determining whether this evidence can be
used to defend the innocent, Roux stated.
Asked about his alleged comments that he described STL Prosecutor Daniel
Bellamre as his enemy, Roux clarified that he had simply labeled him as an
opponent.
The judicial debate is not a battlefield, he emphasized. On Bellamare’s alleged
ruling of Israel of being behind Hariri’s murder, Roux denied that the
prosecutor had eliminated that possibility.
He explained that he does not have any information on his investigation in that
possible lead, adding that the Defense can carry out the necessary
investigations in that matter.
In August 2010, Nasrallah unveiled in a press conference several undated clips
of aerial views of various areas in Lebanon, including the site of the Hariri
assassination in west Beirut.
Nasrallah, who has accused Israel of the February 14, 2005 bombing which killed
Hariri and 22 others, said the footage was intercepted from unmanned Israeli MK
surveillance drones.
He conceded the images were not conclusive proof but noted that his party --
which is believed constantly under surveillance by its arch-foe Israel -- had no
offices, positions or presence in the areas surveyed.
*Source Agence France Presse
Saniora Meets Suleiman: We Back Dialogue that Has a Goal, Not Just Holding Talks
for Sake of it
Naharnet /The head of the Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc former Prime Minister
Fouad Saniora stated that the bloc supports national dialogue, but on condition
that it have a purpose and be able to achieve its goals. He told An Nahar daily
in remarks published on Sunday: “This matter calls for restricting the talks to
addressing Hizbullah’s possession of arms according to the dialogue that was
held in March 2006.” This entails setting a deadline to achieving this goal, as
well as the participation of the Arab League based on previous agreements.
He made his statements in light of holding talks on Saturday with President
Michel Suleiman. Saniora said that the president is currently invested in
garnering opinions over the national dialogue from all political camps, “and for
our part, we support dialogue that has goals and not just holding talks for the
sake of it.” Meanwhile, Baabda Palace sources told the daily that resuming
dialogue is aimed at allowing Lebanon to overcome this current phase and reach
understanding among Lebanese.
Syrian Colonel Claims Defection, Warns Regime
Naharnet /A Syrian army colonel said on Saturday that he has defected with
"hundreds" of soldiers and warned the regime against launching a crackdown on
the eastern oil hub of Deir al-Zour. The man, identifying himself as Colonel
Riad al-Asaad, said in a telephone call to Agence France Presse in Nicosia that
he was speaking from inside Syria "near the Turkish border."
"I am the commander of the Syrian Free Army," he said. "We are hundreds," he
added of the number of troops under his command. The claim could not be
independently verified. But the caller warned the Syrian regime against carrying
out any security operations in Deir al-Zour, where activists said a massive
military convoy, including tanks, deployed on Saturday. "I warn the Syrian
authorities that I will send my troops to fight with the (regular) army if they
do not stop the operations in Deir al-Zour," Al-Asaad said. Earlier the head of
the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights based in Britain said soldiers shot dead
three stone-throwers as a convoy of 60 military vehicles made its way towards
Deir al-Zour. Rami Abdel Rahman, quoting witness in the city, said the troops
deployed in Deir al-Zour, with some of them taking positions near the offices of
the governor. Deir al-Zour is at the forefront of more than four months of
anti-regime protests and scene of a deadly crackdown by the Syrian authorities
against dissent.
*Source Agence France Presse
Hizbullah Prevents Official Security Apparatuses from Investigating Rouwais
Blast
Naharnet/The blast that took place in the Rouwais area in Beirut’s southern
suburbs was targeting former detainee in Israeli jail, Samir al-Qontar, revealed
the daily An Nahar on Sunday from official security information. It noted that
the blast, which Hizbullah’s media department said was caused by the explosion
of a gas canister, erupted in the neighborhood where the former prisoner lives.
The media department said that only material damage was incurred in the blast.
The pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat meanwhile reported on Sunday that Hizbullah
is preventing the official Lebanese security apparatuses from entering its
stronghold of Dahieh. The apparatuses were prohibited from entering the area
where they were seeking to conduct the official investigation to determine the
causes of the incident, a security source told the daily. A prominent judicial
source told the daily that a military tribunal official managed to reach the
scene of the accident, refusing to add information on the matter. Asked if the
blast was caused by a gas canister, the judicial source replied: “No comment.”
Asharq al-Awsat reported that witnesses, who managed to reach the scene before
Hizbullah drove them away, stated that the accident “was caused by a blast
larger than the explosion of a gas canister.” They revealed that four cars were
nearly completely destroyed by the explosion with broken glass strewn all over
the street. Furthermore, they revealed that civil defense teams that hurried to
the area were prevented from accessing the scene.
Al-Rahi: We Cannot Accept Crippling of Political Life
Naharnet /Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi criticized on Sunday the political
disputes in Lebanon that have crippled the country on the social and economic
levels. He said during his Sunday sermon: “We cannot accept the crippling of
political life and its consequences on other fields in Lebanon.” “All disputes
must be overcome,” he demanded. “We should not obstruct the functioning of
constitutional institutions every time a dispute erupts,” the patriarch
stressed. “The Christians must also maintain their message in the East and in
Lebanon,” al-Rahi declared.
Jumblat to Meet Nasrallah to Explain his Foreign Visits, Latest Positions
Naharnet /Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat is preparing to
hold a meeting with Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah to
inform him of his foreign visits and explain his recent positions that
contradict Hizbullah’s, reported the Kuwaiti al-Anbaa newspaper on Sunday. A
leading March 14 camp official noted however that it is too soon to talk about
Jumblat shifting his political positions. “We cannot talk about this issue until
the direction which Syria is headed to is clear,” he remarked. He pointed out
that the MP took positions on Syria that have gone beyond the March 14 camp’s
stances. Jumblat went so far as to describe the anti-regime protests in Syria as
a revolution. He predicted that the Druze leader will likely shift his political
stances due to the “deepening of the crisis in Syria.” The MP has realized that
he is in need of holding a reconciliation with the Sunni sect because of its
strong demographic role in parliamentary elections, said the March 14 official.
In addition, Jumblat is worried that the Druze in Syria may soon be dragged into
the unrest in Syria as part of “the regime’s plan B” to create sectarian strife
to prolong its stay in power, stated the March 14 official. The MP voiced his
fears over a recent clash that took place between Druze and Sunnis in the town
of Qatna in Syria, he added. It was followed by suggestions to arm the Druze in
Lebanon and Syria in order to defend the Resistance agenda in both countries,
“which is a line of action that Jumblat vehemently opposes,” revealed the
official.
Lebanon's Arabic press digest - July 31, 2011 The Daily Star
Following are summaries of some of the main stories in a selection of Lebanese
and pan-Arab newspapers Sunday. The Daily Star cannot vouch for the accuracy of
these reports.
An-Nahar: Moving ahead with national dialogue
After protest yesterday by officials over the publication of the names,
photographs and profiles of the four men accused in the assassination of former
Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, it appeared that this is a routine procedure in
foreign courts, and is thus not “extraordinary.”
Also yesterday, President Michel Sleiman continued his national dialogue
meetings with Lebanese leaders. He received the head of the Future Movement
Fouad Siniora at Baabda Palace. Sources said the aim of the dialogue is to
"enable Lebanon to pass through the current phase and ensure a future of
national cohesion and understanding among the Lebanese."
Siniora said the meeting offered “a variety of topics related to the elections
and dialogue, while focusing on the role of the state and the challenges it
faces.” He added that he believes “for dialogue to be meaningful and worthwhile,
it requires an infinite line of discussion.” He said this includes the subject
of Hezbollah’s arms. He added that a timetable would be set for the
implementation of decisions made at the dialogue meetings.
Regarding security, Hezbollah’s media office said that the explosion that
occurred the day before yesterday in Rweis was caused by a gas bottle explosion,
which caused no injuries and only minor damage in the surrounding area.
Meanwhile, several media outlets reported that the explosion was aimed at the
former prisoner Samir Kantar, who lives in the area where the blast took place.
Asharq Al-Awsat: The “ghosts” accused of assassinating Hariri
In televised interviews with Beirut residents following the news of the charges
of the Hariri assassination and the release of the names, photos and profiles of
the accused, those interviewed said they didn’t know anything about the four men
or their family backgrounds.
And when visiting the towns of residence of the men, residents said they knew
nothing of the suspects. A source pointed out that “these are often silhouettes
or ghosts, able to hide their identities” for security reasons, making the
posting of the photos and the dissemination of the information of these
characters obsolete. What is known is that all of the suspects are from
Hezbollah strongholds.
According to the source, the accused are counting on the support of the party to
protect them indefinitely. He pointed out that the possibility of dealing with
Hezbollah in this matter is seemingly impossible due to several factors, most
importantly geographically, psychologically and in terms of security. It would
be difficult to arrest the accused without the consent of the party.
Al-Hayat: Siniora announces the need to start dialogue on arms
Former Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and President Michel Sleiman
yesterday said that the Future bloc is calling for the resumption of national
dialogue, including addressing the issue of Hezbollah’s weapons. They said that
this was the remaining item on the agenda of the national dialogue that began in
2006.
Meanwhile, it appears that France might be considering the withdrawal of its
troops from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon following an attack on
their convoy on Tuesday July 26 in Sidon, wounding five.
French sources told Al-Hayat that withdrawal of French troops from Lebanon is
now on the table.
The source noted that Paris is awaiting the results of the Lebanese government
and United Nations investigation into the incident. The source added that “the
bombing took place in the south, and everyone knows who controls the south.”
The source said there was a feeling that French participation in UNIFIL was a
kind of trap for France, saying that questions still remained over guarantees
over U.N. resolution 1701.
On the domestic front Lebanese leaders are continuing the process of national
dialogue, working on demarcating their maritime borders and celebrating the 66th
anniversary of the Lebanese Army.
On the occasion of the anniversary, Prime Minister Najib Mikati said, “The first
and last thing is to protect Lebanon and defend all its land, its people and
their dignity.”
Christians and Syria
Hazem al-Amin,/Now Lebanon
July 30, 2011
On the first real setback plaguing Syria’s Baath regime after more than 40 years
in power, a weighing Christian Lebanese group decides that it is the appropriate
moment to display its total affiliation to this regime. This group is Aoun’s
partisans who, ever since the start of protests in Syrian cities, have made no
secret of their partiality towards the criminals in Syria.
Over the past week, the first Aounist minister Gebran Bassil visited Damascus
and met with the Syrian president. On the same day, the Aounist TV hosted the
Syrian ambassador in Beirut while their “authors” in the written press profusely
explain the Baath Party’s protection of minorities.
Aoun’s partisans have a long history in short-term exploitation. The issue, for
them, is no more than calculations over the next few weeks. Hence, it dawns on
them that partiality towards a crumbling regime is in their interest and leads
to securing the position of director general of the Ministry of Social Affairs
for instance. Such a reward would justify sacrificing the future of a whole
community.
The expression “cunning of minorities” has been created to counter that of
“tyranny of minorities.” Reality, however, calls nowadays for creating a new
expression: we propose “minority stupidity.”
Yet once again, this is not the case with Aoun’s partisans. Indeed, what is at
hand is full hypocrisy that is devoid of any pretense. It may well be useless to
despair of these people.
Still, it would be useful to wonder if the Aounist partiality towards the
executioners’ in Damascus expresses some of the Lebanese Christians’ feelings at
this moment in Syria’s history. The answer, unfortunately, is yes. Non-Aounist
parties in Lebanon have expressed their concerns regarding “minorities” in Syria
under the wave of protests. Similar statements have been voiced within the
Kataeb and the Church also sang the Syrian regime’s praise. The regular
Christian opinion, which is not affiliated to parties and – by and large –
traditionally not in sync with the Syrian regime’s status is silent and confused
today, and is even one step closer to supporting its former foes. Moreover, some
Lebanese Christians who oppose the Syrian regime suffer from schizophrenia and
hallucinations, as they establish a difference between the benefits of the
[Syrian] regime’s fall as far as they are concerned in Lebanon and the dangers
entailed by this fall on the Christian minority in Syria. It is as though they
are telling Syrian citizens: “We want your regime to remain for your sake, but
we hate it as far as we are concerned.”
The Lebanese “Christian” stance on the Syrian uprising describes the issue of
defending the rights of regional minorities as being a genuine moral dilemma. In
fact, the protection of minorities has for long been a criterion for gauging the
respect of regimes for the rights of their communities. However, we stand before
the opposite case here, i.e. the respect by minorities of national unanimous
decisions pertaining to the interests of the state and society.
Accordingly, when the majority of the Syrian people say “the people want to
topple the regime,” Gebran Bassil’s visit to the People’s Palace in Damascus is
not in the interests of Christians in Lebanon and Syria.
Mansour: There are No Weapons in Dahieh
Naharnet /Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour criticized on Saturday claims of the
widespread possession of arms in Lebanon, adding that “there are no weapons in
Beirut’s southern suburbs.” He said: “When we speak of weapons possession, it is
as if we are saying that cities in Lebanon are filled to the brim with them.”
“Some disputes happen, but where are the weapons in Dahieh?” he asked. “I am
prepared to visit the area to demonstrate that there is nothing to be found,” he
stressed.
On Lebanon’s commitment to United Nations Security Council resolution 1701, the
minister stated: “Lebanon is implementing and respecting it, but who is stopping
Israel’s thousands of violations of Lebanon’s sovereignty?”
Detained in Israel: 'flytilla' activist recounts ordeal
July 30, 2011/By Brooke Anderson The Daily Star
The airport immigration officials, whom the activists later learned had been
arresting people all day, pulled aside dozens of the fly-in passengers, putting
them into an airport waiting room normally used for detaining migrant workers.
BEIRUT: When Laura Durkay attempted to travel to Palestine earlier this month
along with dozens of other activists, she hoped to raise awareness of the
humanitarian crisis there. When she arrived, she discovered Israel would be the
one to raise this awareness after the group was detained at the airport.
“The point was to highlight movement restrictions. If you want to work with
Palestinians, you have to lie about it. We did the opposite,” says Durkay,
during a recent trip to Beirut for a weeklong Palestine conference at the
American University of Beirut, adding that she still would have preferred to
reach her destination of Bethlehem.
“From a PR perspective it worked. We were denied entry for saying we were going
to Bethlehem. If that wasn’t going to happen, then we were going to expose
Israel’s restrictive border policies.”
Durkay, 29, an executive assistant in New York who has been active in human
rights since college, first heard about the trip back in February through
friends. Five months later the group had grown to around 600.
The “flytilla,” a take-off on the word “flotilla” was a commemoration of the aid
ships bound for Gaza in May last year that Israel intercepted, leading to the
death of nine activists after the army boarded the boat. This time, hundreds of
activists planned to enter Palestine through the Tel Aviv’s airport.
Shortly after landing at the Ben Gurion International Airport on July 8, Durkay,
along with a group of about 120 other international activists, were placed into
an overcrowded detention center, where they stayed four days, with bad food, no
air conditioning and almost no access to the outside.
“Anyone saying they were going to Bethlehem got pulled aside immediately. And
when I said I’d be staying at the Ayda Refugee Camp, that’s it, they knew,”
Durkay recalls.
The airport immigration officials, whom the activists later learned had been
arresting people all day, pulled aside dozens of the fly-in passengers, putting
them into an airport waiting room normally used for detaining migrant workers.
There, they were held for three hours, during which time the authorities tried
to pull aside a French man of Arab descent. When the activists refused to allow
the man to be separated from them, a scuffle ensued, at which point Durkay says
the guards began filming the detained foreigners.
“They filmed the whole thing to show we were violent without showing their
aggression that started it,” says Durkay. “After that, they didn’t try to take
away anyone alone.”
From there, the guards took about 40 activists onto a bus, where they stayed for
three hours until they reached the Givon Detention Center, 30 kilometers from
the airport. At 1 a.m., the detainees were given food, an event that was filmed.
They were then put in their cells at 2:30 a.m. and woken up at 6:30 a.m. the
following morning, and waited two hours before being given breakfast. . This
routine would continue for the next four days.
While Durkay says the guards refrained from violence, she says they issued
repeated threats, and describes her detention as a game of control.
Still, she emphasizes that their treatment was “nothing compared with what
Palestinians endure.”
The detainees were able to see counsels from their respective embassies, they
were visited by Palestinian lawyers (who were harassed by guards), and were at
times allowed to use their phones and Internet , allowing them to reach their
families and the media.
Despite their relatively humane treatment, the activists never got a deportation
hearing, which the guards said was because they’d never officially entered
Israel – even though the detention center was located in the West Bank. After
four days, the guards began to release the detainees in different groups based
on their nationalities.
On her fourth and final day, Durkay, along with other detainees, were sent on a
bus to the airport, where they were surrounded by 20 armed guards upon arrival.
“You can go to Bethlehem now,” one of the guards told the activists, again with
an Israeli guard filming the scene.
But Durkay and her comrades were convinced the offer was either a lie or came
with conditions. She wondered: Why would they bring us to the airport if they
weren’t planning on putting us on the plane? And what kinds of restrictions
would we face if we agreed to go to Bethlehem? The activists had already agreed
in advance that they wouldn’t accept conditions or get separated.
“We said no,” says Durkay. “It was hard to believe the offer was genuine with 20
armed guards surrounding us.”
The group was then put onto an EasyJet flight, the same carrier they’d taken to
Tel Aviv. Durkay suspected there were still Israeli agents on the plane with
them.
Despite the fact the Durkay never reached her destination of Bethlehem, she
believes the trip was a success because the detention of the activists exposed
to the world Israel's mistreatment of civilians, including peaceful protesters
and Palestinians. Durkay wonders, “Where else in the world do you get detained
for saying you want to go to a certain city?”
Lebanon faces diplomat shortage: Mansour
July 30, 2011/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: There is a significant shortage of Lebanese diplomats, Foreign Minister
Adnan Mansour said in a radio interview Saturday. There are currently no
ambassadors for Lebanon in Russia, the EU, Canada, China and Spain Mansour was
reported as saying by the National News Agency. The minister said all
appointments made to fill the posts would not be political. He also denied
political pressure was put on his work in the ministry. Shortly after his
appointment in June, Mansour vowed to fill the vacant posts of Lebanese
diplomats abroad
Syria's exiled opposition senses historic moment
30/07/2011
ISTANBUL, (Reuters) - When former Syrian diplomat Bassam Bitar was stationed in
Paris three decades ago, a secret policeman from the embassy knocked at his
apartment door to deliver a thinly veiled death threat if he did not stop
criticizing the ruling Assad family.
"The embassy's operative, known as Lieutenant Colonel Ghayath Anis, which was
not his real name, said he was advising me as a 'friend' to shut up or face
consequences," said Bitar, 55, recollecting the day when Anis visited his
suburban home just after he was sacked from his embassy job in May 1987.
"I spoke out against the Assads' racket of blackmail and illegal businessdeals.
I lost my job and was deprived of seeing my country. Now Syrians are braving
bullets for freedom and paying a much dearer price," Bitar told Reuters.
He was talking in an Istanbul hotel lobby on the sidelines of a meeting this
month that brought together opponents of President Bashar al-Assad from outside
and inside Syria.
Assad, who succeeded his late father, President Hafez al-Assad, in 2000, is
struggling to crush a four-month-old revolt that is galvanizing exiles to link
up with underground street leaders and lend them organizational and moral
support.
From Saudi-based Islamist scholars to savvy businessmen in Western capitals, and
jeans-clad women activists living in Canada and the United States, the exiles
mirror the diverse cultural, religious and social mix of Syria's population.
Today's protesters, braving bullets in the streets, have inspired Syria's
traditional opposition figures, sometimes seen as fractious, hidebound and cowed
by memories of a bloody crackdown on an armed Islamist uprising in Hama in 1982.
The Istanbul conference was the latest in a series of gatherings in Western
capitals aimed at forging links between the street leaders in Syria and exiled
dissidents abroad, who are under pressure to set aside their differences and
unite.
Bitar, a Christian from Aleppo, now sees an opportunity for real political
change for the first time during his decades in the political wilderness. His
hope of returning home has been rekindled as he organizes protests in front of
the White House.
"It's a very different opposition. The opposition today are all united in their
goal of getting rid of this regime," said Bitar, who has also been lobbying the
U.S. administration to tighten sanctions on the Assad family.
BLOODY CRACKDOWN
Efforts to draw exiles and street leaders together have not gone unnoticed by
Assad's security apparatus, which on July 15 cracked down in the Damascus suburb
of Qaboun, where activists had hoped to join the Istanbul conference via video
link. They gave up the idea after security forces killed 14 protesters.
The uprising in Syria has helped resurrect a moribund opposition. It has also
stimulated exiled dissidents to seek innovative ways of bankrolling the revolt
and to coordinate with local pro-democracy protest organizers on the ground.
Exiles based in countries as far-flung as Australia, Saudi Arabia, Canada and
Kuwait, sat around an Istanbul conference table with laptops and iPads, planning
meetings and chatting on Skype with local coordination committees inside Syria.
Yasser Saadeldine, an independent Islamist-leaning commentator based in Qatar,
said exiles could redeem themselves politically by acting as "servants to the
revolution."
The exiles received a boost when a travel ban was lifted this month on Haitham
al-Maleh, a former judge who has spent a decade in jail for resisting the Assad
family's monopoly on power and the ruling Baath Party's takeover of the
judiciary.
Maleh, who appeared at the Istanbul meeting to acclaim as a statesman only three
months after his release, is playing a leading role in linking Assad's domestic
and exiled foes.
"The opposition abroad is raising funds to sustain the rebels and help in
broadening the civil disobedience that has already made some cities like Hama
and Homs liberated areas," said Maleh, as he lunching at the five-star hotel
near the Bosphorus where the exiles were meeting.
The venue showcased the financial and organizational clout of a prosperous
younger generation of exiles who have escaped curbs at home to run businesses in
the Gulf and Europe.
Among the activists is Osama Shorbaji, 32, who interrupted his studies for a
doctorate degree in microbiology at Paris University to attend. He was arrested
in 2003 with a group of young activists after campaigning to clean the streets
of Daraya, a suburb of Damascus -- an initiative viewed as a subversive attempt
to disrupt the municipality's work.
"I find the new generation of Syrian exiles much more liberated from the
political and dogma the older generation cling to," Shorbaji said.
Expatriate Syrians, who have run anti-Assad websites and supplied smuggled
satellite phones to protest organizers in Syria, say they are also finding
clandestine ways to finance disobedience campaigns in cities such as Hama and
Homs, which they hope will accelerate the fall of the Assad family.
"The opposition inside is in the driver's seat. We are the echo, but we have
mobility. They are encircled and if any opposition figure speaks he either gets
a bullet or gets arrested," said Saleh A. Mubarak, a U.S.-educated academic
heading the engineering faculty at Qatar University.
LEARNING DEMOCRATIC ROPES
In another sign of political maturity, debates over the shape of post-Assad
Syria have induced the Muslim Brotherhood openly to embrace democratic
principles and accept a civil society with a pledge that Islamic law would not
be imposed.
"The pluralistic democratic state is our goal. We reject all forms of the
tyranny of the majority. We have suffered for so long and we seek to dispel all
the fears of a democratic future we want to share with everyone," said Ali
Sadreddin Bayanouni, the former head of Syria's Muslim Brotherhood
In recent years, Syria's intelligence agents have worked to divide the various
opposition groups, playing on their rivalries to plant doubt and leaving a
legacy of suspicion still evident in their responses to an uprising that seems
to have started as a spontaneous reaction to the Arab Spring.
Imadeddin al-Rashid, an Islamic law professor who recently left Syria and
represents the latest wave of exiles, said a "long legacy of terror" against
opposing views had left Syria without grassroots political activism for the last
50 years.
"The regime thrives on its fragmentation of the opposition," said Rashid, who
was jailed briefly during the uprising and left the country as soon as he was
released.
Many exiles acknowledge they lack a united leadership, but say the Muslim
Brotherhood and secular leftists can agree on two main goals -- Assad's
overthrow and a democratic future.
"They managed to unify their goals because the protesters have one goal: the
downfall of the regime," said Radwan Ziadeh, a well-known Syrian scholar and
activist based in Washington.
He said the exiled opposition was under pressure not to air its disagreements
while people were being killed in Syria, but it would take time to create an
alternative to Assad's rule.
"It's quite difficult to get a united leadership after 48 years of dictatorship.
It takes time for the opposition to develop and for the opposition to make
alliances," Ziadeh said.
The
Hezbollah connection
Ana Maria Luca, July 31, 2011
Now Lebanon
It was just an undercover operation meant to lead to the arrest of an Iranian
drug dealer in Bucharest, Romania. But it developed into one of the largest
operations the American Drug Enforcement Agency initiated in the last decade. It
ended with the arrest of a Lebanese weapons dealer who claimed he was buying
weapons, including surface-to-air missiles, worth $9.5 million for Hezbollah.
The American Drug Enforcement Agency announced last Tuesday that it had arrested
Lebanese citizen Bashar Wehbeh in the Republic of Maldives for trying to
purchase weapons from two undercover agents who were posing as dealers. As a
result of the same operation, Cetin Aksu and Siavosh Henareh, Turkish and
Iranian citizens, respectively, were arrested in Romania.
An international network of security institutions from Interpol to the
Maldivian, Romanian Turkish, Greek and Malaysian police kept the suspects under
surveillance, recorded conversations, intercepted phone calls and e-mails, and,
on Monday, arrested the suspects. No Lebanese authorities were involved in the
investigation, although the down payment for the transaction had been
transferred from Beirut, DEA spokesman Rusty Payne told NOW Lebanon.
“The operation is very significant because it links global drug traffickers and
weapons traffickers,” he said. “We don’t seek to do this, but during the course
of drug investigations we often have opportunities to see where the money goes,
and we are able to acquire intelligence that curbs criminal associations,” he
stressed.
According to the published DEA indictment NOW Lebanon obtained from the case
prosecutor in New York, the operation started in June 2010 when the agents
started following Siavosh Henareh, an Iranian whom the DEA had under
surveillance for drug smuggling from Eastern Europe to the United States. The
man pretended to be a doctor and had been living in a luxurious apartment in
Bucharest for 20 years, where he would meet his clients.
But the story took a different turn when the undercover DEA agents posed as
Hezbollah operatives trying to raise money from drug dealing in the United
States in order to buy weapons for the Lebanese party. For the United States
security agencies this is already a crime, since the US designated Hezbollah a
foreign terrorist organization in 1999.
Henareh introduced the two undercover agents to two other arms dealers: Lebanese
Bashar Wehbeh, who introduced himself as a Hezbollah associate, and Turkish
Cetin Aksu, an intermediary.
After meetings in February 2011 in Romania, Cyprus, Malaysia and several other
countries, Aksu and Wehbeh agreed to purchase military grade weaponry from other
undercover agents posing as intermediaries on behalf of Hezbollah. According to
the DEA, the agents had developed the initial story and were now acting as
intermediaries selling weapons acquired from a US military base in Germany.
The agents recorded phone calls and conversations, filmed the meetings and kept
e-mails in which they negotiated selling to Wehbeh 48 American-made Stinger SAMs,
100 Igla SAMs, 5,000 AK 47 assault rifles, 1,000 M4 rifles and 1,000 Glock
handguns for a total price of approximately $9.5 million.
Aksu and Wehbeh signed a written contract in June 2011 in Malaysia.
“During a meeting on June 12, 2011, Wehbeh stated that he was purchasing the
weapons on instructions from Hezbollah,” the indictment reads. “On June 28,
2011, in Beirut, Lebanon, Wehbeh and co-conspirators not named as defendants
herein caused approximately $50,000 as a down payment for the weapons purchase…
to be sent to the [DEA agents].”
The next day, an additional $ 50,000 was sent to the DEA agents’ undercover
account from Beirut.
A video released by the Romanian police showing Siavosh Henareh and Cetin Aksu
meeting with undercover agents in Bucharest (Courtesy of the Romanian
Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism)
Henareh, the Iranian drug dealer, and Aksu, the Turkish middleman, were arrested
in Bucharest on Monday. Wehbeh, wanted by Interpol, was caught the same day in
the Maldives and appeared in Manhattan District Court in New York on Tuesday. He
was charged with terrorism and faces life in prison.
"These DEA operations starkly illustrate how drug trafficking is a double threat
that fuels both addiction and terrorism,” DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart
said in a press release. “We have successfully targeted, and substantially
dismantled two dangerous and complex networks,” she added.
Although it is the first time the American security agencies arrest an alleged
Hezbollah operative dealing illegal weapons, and, moreover, link him to a drug
dealing network, the case is not the first time Hezbollah has come up in the
American justice system. A Hezbollah political official and his son-in-law were
indicted in 2009 in Philadelphia for smuggling 1,200 machine guns from the
United States to Lebanon via Syria. Two other men, Hassan Hodroj and Dib Hani
Harb, were charged with smuggling the weapons, but were never caught. Hodroj was
identified in court documents as a member of Hezbollah's political council and
has been identified in news reports as a spokesman for and head of its
Palestinian issues portfolio.
Iranian Revolutionary Guards train new Hamas commando brigade in Gaza
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report
July 31, 2011,
A team of Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) officers has just finished setting
up Hamas' first commando unit especially trained to combat any Israel military
force entering the Gaza Strip, debkafile's military sources report. The new "Al
Qods Brigades" unit of 400 men is to be the first of three. A week ago, July 23,
the first unit held a passing-out parade and leave-taking ceremony from its two
Iranian instructors. debkafile's intelligence sources report that the pair
arrived in the Gaza Strip in the latter half of May on Iranian passports which
gave their cover names as Morteza Rahban and Hojjat Safar-Zadeh. Their journey
took them from Sudan through Egypt and Sinai where they were led by Bedouin
smugglers to the contraband tunnels accessing the Gaza Strip. They went back to
Tehran by the same route. The two officers were members of the IRGC's notorious
Al Qods Brigades which undertakes overseas terrorist and covert activities on
behalf of the Iranian regime. For the Al Qods commander Gen. Qassem Suleimaini,
setting up a Hamas commando force in Gaza was a high and immediate priority.
This information reached the desk of US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who
passed it on to Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak when they met in Washington
Friday, July 29. Panetta has scheduled a visit to Israel in October. The urban
guerrilla combat tactics which the Iranian instructors imparted to their Hamas
trainees drew heavily on the experience al Qods is gaining in Syria, where its
experts are helping President Bashar Assad crack down on protest – especially
accentuating advanced disguise and camouflage techniques for striking at the
enemy under cover.Many of the weapons handed out to trainees came from Libyan
rebels who received them from British and French intelligence for their war on
Muammar Qaddafi. The rebels sold the arms to the purchasing agencies Iran,
Hizballah and Hamas maintain secretly in Benghazi. The weapons were then
smuggled to the Gaza Strip via Egypt.
The Gaza passing-out parade marked the end of an exercise the Hamas graduates
carried out, which their Iranian instructors praised as "most successful."
The new Hamas commandos were also given a cover name – The Brigades for
Reconstruction and Challenge – under which they will set up more brigades in the
coming six months. The newly-trained units will then fan out to the areas
bordering on Israel, armed with techniques and weapons for inflicting the
highest possible number of casualties on any invading force.