LCCC
ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِAugust
06/2011
Bible Quotation for today
ٌRomans Chapter
6/1-14: "1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may
abound? May it never be! We who died to sin, how could we live in it any
longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were
baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him through baptism
to death, that just like Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of
the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life. For if we have
become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will also be part of his
resurrection; knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that
the body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be in
bondage to sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. But if
we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him; knowing
that Christ, being raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no more has
dominion over him! For the death that he died, he died to sin one time;
but the life that he lives, he lives to God. Thus consider yourselves also
to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore
don’t let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.
Neither present your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but
present yourselves to God, as alive from the dead, and your members as
instruments of righteousness to God. For sin will not have dominion over
you. For you are not under law, but under grace".
Latest
analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases
from
miscellaneous
sources
Cracks in the armor of the
Resistance/By: Nadine Elali and Shane Farrell/August 5/11
President Amin Gemayel's Speech of
August 05/Now Lebanon/11
Our dictator, our fault/Michael
Young, /August
05/11
Lebanon’s YouTube/Hazem al-Amin/August
05/11
Latest News Reports From
Miscellaneous Sources for August 05/11
Russia: NATO close to military
steps in Syria for beachhead to attack Iran/DEBKAfile
At Least 10 Dead as Thousands March
against Assad in Syria/Naharnet
Turkey Says Syrian Violence
Unacceptable
/Naharnet
Prominent Syrian Poet Urges
Assad to Step Down
/Naharnet
Syria Brotherhood to Miqati: You're
Bargaining on Your Political Future by Siding with Our Children Killers/Naharnet
Libya Rebels Say NATO Strike Kills
Gadhafi Son, Regime Denies/Naharnet
Cyprus President Appoints New
Cabinet/Naharnet
President Amin
Gemayel Rejects Hizbullah Threats
to Turn Arms Against its Foes/Naharnet
Blast, Followed by Fire, Hits
Iran Oil Pipeline
/Naharnet
STL to Unveil New List of Suspects
by End of August/Naharnet
Huge Blaze Breaks Out at Building
in Salim Salam Area, Residents Flee on Fire Ladders/Naharnet
Beirut:Prisoners Relatives Block
Airport, Akkar Roads over Demands/Naharnet
Assassination Attempt on
Palestinian Commander in Ain al-Hilweh/Naharnet
MP Marwan Hamadeh condemns
Tuesday’s attack on anti-Syrian regime rally/Now Lebanon
Leader of major Lebanese
auto theft gang arrested/The Daily Star
Movement MP Mohammed Kabarra:
Lebanon shares responsibility for bloodshed in Syria/The Daily Star
Lebanon’s U.N. vote on
Syria ignites debate/The Daily Star
Russia: NATO close to military steps in Syria for beachhead
to attack Iran
DEBKAfile Special Report
http://www.debka.com/article/21183/
August 5, 2011/ Twelve hours after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned
Assad he faced a "sad fate" if he failed to introduce reforms, Moscow's envoy to
NATO Dmitry Rogozin accused the Western alliance of planning a military campaign
against Syria to help overthrow the Assad regime "with the long-reaching goal of
preparing a beachhead for an attack on Iran."
In an interview published by Izvestia Friday, Aug. 5, the knowledgeable and
high-placed Rogozin added: "This statement means that the planning [of the
military campaign] is well underway. It could be a logical conclusion of those
military and propaganda operations, which have been carried out by certain
Western countries against North Africa."
Thursday, as the Syrian military crackdown in Hama reached a new level of
ferocity with public executions in the town square, the Russian president warned
Assad: "We are watching how the situation is developing. It's changing and our
approach is changing as well."
debkafile's Moscow sources note that the Rogozin added Yemen to his remarks on
NATO: He said he agreed with the opinion that Syria and later Yemen could be
NATO's last steps on the way to launching an attack on Iran.
"The noose around Iran is tightening," he said. "Military planning against Iran
is underway. And we are certainly concerned about an escalation of a large-scale
war in this huge region."
The Russian envoy made a point of citing NATO – never once mentioning the United
States in his remarks. However, they were definitely meant to clarify to
Washington that Moscow is fully updated on the next American military steps in
the Middle East and Persian Gulf. debkafile's military
sources add: The Libyan campaign taught NATO that without US military strength,
alliance members were incapable of defeating even a small army on the scale of
Muammar Qaddafi's six brigades, much less muster the ground, air and sea forces
for striking Syria and Iran. The only power with the requisite military strength
is the United States, which was therefore the unspoken address of Rogozin's
warning. Russian diplomats have repeatedly cautioned
Tehran that it incurs the danger of American attack on its nuclear facilities.
Now Syria has been included. Rogozin remarked that having "learned the Libyan
lesson, Russia will continue to oppose a forcible resolution of the situation in
Syria."
MP Marwan Hamadeh condemns Tuesday’s attack on anti-Syrian
regime rally
August 5, 2011 ظMP Marwan Hamadeh condemned the attack
against the anti-Syrian regime rally held in Hamra, Beirut near the Syrian
embassy on Tuesday, adding that the “Embassy acted with protesters as if it is a
security directorate in [Syria’s] Hama or Daraa.”The Syrian Embassy in Beirut
transformed into a security zone, Hamadeh told Al-Arabiya television, adding
that some parties are “using the excuse of protecting the embassy to prevent any
action to voice solidarity with the Syrian people.”
Dozens of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad supporters attacked a small rally
held in Hamra, leaving at least five injured. He added
that Lebanon’s decision to abstain from voting on the UN Security Council
presidential statement pertaining to the crisis in Syria is “dishonorable.”The
UN Security Council on Wednesday condemned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's
deadly crackdown on protests and called for those responsible for violence to be
held "accountable."Lebanon did not block the adoption, but disavowed the
document.-NOW Lebanon
President Amin Gemayel's Speech of August 05/11
August 5, 2011
On August 5, Kataeb Party leader Amin Gemayel delivered a speech on the occasion
of the 29th annual conference of his party:
“We have made the people feel that they are renewing their trust in the [Kataeb
Party], which [is preserving the] Christian presence, guarantees the national
pact [of coexistence], and protects the belief in sovereignty. The Kataeb does
not bargain or change its principles, it does not divert from its environment,
does not sell the Christians and does not [seek] personal gain [at the expense
of the country]. Our conference coincides with a
crucial phase on the local, regional and international levels. On the Lebanese
level we can see that the sectarian-system formula is collapsing, on the
regional level we watch autocratic regimes falling, and on the international
level we witness a shaken financial system.
The change in the Middle East is bloody, whereas the change in the west takes
place peacefully in [the framework of] institutions. We stand beside the Arab
people on the path to change and to autonomy and condemn all violent acts
against innocent people. But any change that comes at the expense of principles
and that does not result in a true democracy does not concern us. A military
dictatorship and a religious extremism are the same.
We would have wished for Syria to follow Lebanon’s democratic system instead of
fostering strife. While Arab groups are aiming for progress and seeking
democracy, some Lebanese parties intend to drag Lebanon into a different
atmosphere. Is it right that Lebanon become a model of the past, when a century
ago it constituted a model of the future?
The Kataeb Party calls on all of the Lebanese to be aware and to unite in order
to prevent the occurrence of regional and international developments at our
expense. Lebanon is suffering a great crisis, almost a war. If all the Lebanese
parties do not fulfill their historical responsibilities, nothing will guarantee
that the country does not move to the stage of war, with all the dangers against
the existence [of Lebanon] that it carries.
It is planned for Lebanon to participate in the war for two reasons: either to
establish a mini-state or to take over the whole state. And in both cases this
puts the Lebanese in two kinds of danger: open strife or final division. Let
everyone know that our choice is that of unity and state [building]. The
Lebanese, Muslims and Christians, will not allow anyone to change the identity
of Lebanon. We will not let anyone have what we refused to grant Israel, the
Syrian regime and Palestinian factions.
We are the masters of the Lebanese, pure and independent Resistance. We are the
parents of the thousands of martyrs killed for the sake of Lebanon. Before
reaching the point of no return, Hezbollah must realize that its project is
doomed to failure. Regardless of the probe of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL)’s
investigation, we assure Hezbollah that no one in Lebanon wants its head to be
cut off, but we do not accept [the Shia group] to threaten our heads with its
arms. We understand the [fears] of Hezbollah, and we are ready, as national
partners, to reassure each other through [drafting a] new national pact when the
circumstances allow it.
The greatest danger to Hezbollah is [its policy of] borrowing the Israeli
“security” logic to protect itself. Stability is guaranteed by the logic of the
state, politics, cooperation, openness and peace. Israel is adopting the
“security” logic against its enemies and Hezbollah is adopting it against the
people of his country. Is that possible?
The glory of Hezbollah does not only result from its combatting Israel.
Hezbollah must triumph on itself. Being allied to external countries will not
guarantee the permanence of Hezbollah. What guarantees it is the [co-existence]
with other Lebanese. We suggest for Hezbollah to acknowledge the Lebanese state
and its democratic system as the only source of authorities and public
decisions.
Granting the state authority over the use of arms is an implementation of the
Lebanese constitution and is the simplest form of belonging to the state.
Turning over those accused [of murdering former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in
2005] to the STL should be the responsibility [of Hezbollah]. No for Hezbollah’s
arms’ use of arms outside state authority. Yes for state weapons. Those arms
have become a [barrier] between Hezbollah and the rest of the Lebanese and have
turned [the Shia group] into their enemy. The state should also acquire the arms
of the Palestinian factions inside and outside Lebanon’s refugee camp and have
full authority over its territory.
Four characteristics marked our existence in the Middle East: Freedom, security,
resistance and impartiality. This combination constitutes Lebanon’s
independence, sovereignty and the people’s development and dignity. If some
people have a problem with the word “impartiality,” I say that every party
expresses it in a different way: neutralizing Lebanon, nonalignment, avoiding
getting involved in the crises of others, not intervening in others’ internal
affairs…
Security, freedom and resistance are… natural tendencies for the Lebanese
people. And impartiality is a constitutional position that guarantees the first
three characteristics and protects them from power-balance changes and
[international machinations]. It also protects internal security and external
sovereignty. So far, there is an agreement between the Lebanese on three main
issues: keeping a parliamentary democracy, establishing a civil state and having
administrative decentralization.
We reiterate our call to implement administrative decentralization and ensure
balanced development across the country. There is hesitation [in the
government’s] implementation of reforms based on disagreement on details. This
issue causes Lebanon’s government to lose the ability to make decisions. And the
people will submit to being terrorized by the use of [non-state] arms. The
presence of half a million Palestinians on Lebanese soil is a national and
humanitarian problem. Lebanon can neither afford this number [of refugees] nor
can the Palestinians afford their quality of life inside the camps. A solution
must be reached regarding this issue, and we refuse to naturalize the
Palestinians in Lebanon.
We also suggest to speed up the ratification of relevant laws in order to move
toward a civil society in which we separate religion from the state. This should
come along with the establishment of a senate that will have [specific]
functions and powers. A new electoral law should also be finalized. In this
transparent atmosphere, and after the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA)
failed to carry out its work and the Arab countries turned their backs on the
Palestinian case, and after the [Israeli-Arab] negotiations focused only on the
Israeli settlements and not on Palestinians refugees, we demand the United
Nations and specifically the UN Security Council to hold a conference that
studies the fate of Palestinian refugees and takes effective decisions regarding
this issue after the project of Palestinians’ return to their homeland failed.
This development worries us. We fully support the Palestinian case, but we are
also completely against all forms of settlement of Palestinians in Lebanon. We
do not support the UN-backed STL just because [our relatives] have been
martyred, but because we believe in justice and we want stability. We want to
live [with other parties] transparently and without avenging anyone. We do not
believe in revenge because we are the sons of God, not the Party of God
[Hezbollah].
After the forming of the new cabinet, [which is dominated by the Hezbollah-led
March 8 coalition], Lebanon needs a new revolution to restore its democracy. If
those who reject the STL try to rebel against the achievement of justice and try
to harm security, they will be further charged and [confirm] their current
charges. The new Lebanese cabinet has put Lebanon in the eye of the storm and in
confrontation with most of Lebanese people as well as the international
community.
[Former Prime Minister] Saad Hariri’s cabinet was not brought down because it
failed to lower national debt, but because it protected the STL and guaranteed
the implementation of international resolutions. Resuming the national dialogue
requires all Lebanese parties to believe in the state of law and justice and in
state power only. No one in Lebanon refuses the principle of dialogue,
especially the Kataeb Party, which devoted itself for the dialogue and always
calls for [making] Lebanon a message of dialogue, to the extent that some people
blame us for adopting a policy of openness in the most difficult circumstances.
What is the benefit of dialogue if [Hezbollah] considers its arms to be sacred,
if they consider that they have their own republic and if they are abolishing
democracy by staging a coup? [What is the point of having dialogue] regarding
the STL if they consider the accused to be saints? If the accused were saints,
we would not have martyrs.”
Only 25% of a given NOW Lebanon article can be republished.
Movement MP Mohammed Kabarra: Lebanon shares responsibility for bloodshed in
Syria:
August 05, 2011/ The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Lebanon must now claim some responsibility for violence in Syria, after
it distanced itself from a U.N. Security Council condemnation of the violent
crackdown in the country, Future Movement MP Mohammed Kabarra said Friday.
"Lebanon today, after the disgraceful position at the U.N. Security
Council, became a Syrian regime partner and is now also responsible for every
drop of blood and every fall of a martyr in the massacres committed against the
Syrian people," Kabarra told visitors in Tripoli.
He slammed Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s Cabinet for defending Syria’s bloody
crackdown on protesters. "The government claims to be
committed to protecting Lebanon's interests and international reputation, yet
the country's stance at the U.N. yesterday accomplished the opposite," Kabbara
added. Lebanon’s deputy U.N. Ambassador Caroline Ziade
carried out an infrequently used procedure, disassociating the country from the
statement after it was approved and read out verbally at the council’s meeting.
Lawmakers in the Hezbollah-led March 8 camp have expressed different
views on the issue, stressing the need to stay out of Syria’s internal affairs.
Lebanon’s top officials and lawmakers meeting Thursday at Parliament
disputed the decision to disassociate itself from the statement.
Mikati and Speaker Nabih Berri sought to justify Lebanon’s position as a
decision to refrain from intervening in Damascus’ internal affairs, which would
benefit the country’s bilateral relations with Syria.
“Let the world know that the Lebanese people are with a free Syria and that they
have nothing to do with the [Lebanese] government’s stance which dissociated
itself from a position condemning violence and massacres,” Kabarra said Friday.
Our dictator, our fault?
Michael Young, /Now Lebanon
August 5, 2011
The images of a fallen autocrat defending himself from within a chicken coop can
be enthralling. Watching Hosni Mubarak on trial earlier this week, Arabs all
over must have superimposed a face of their own choosing on that of the dying
man lying in his bed.
The killing of the father is a favorite theme in literature and psychology, but
its most forceful manifestations can usually be witnessed in politics. A
democratic Egypt, if one emerges, will need to transcend Mubarak—not to mention
the garland of fathers in the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. However, a
warning is in order. Those Arab societies that have rejected their regimes and
are going through revolutionary transformations today should also address
seriously why they remained for so long under the boot of absolute, kleptocratic,
usually homicidal leaderships.
If events in Egypt end mainly with punishment of Mubarak and his sons and
cronies, then Egyptians will have achieved relatively little. Getting rid of a
dictator is no substitute for the overhaul of the deeper infrastructures of Arab
societies facilitating authoritarian rule.
Take the Arab reaction to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s overthrow in 2003.
Overwhelmingly, the peoples of the Middle East condemned the American invasion
of Iraq, coloring their views of Saddam. The region’s worst mass murderer
somehow received a dispensation because no one could stomach his enemy. Saddam
became associated with what was soon perceived as a legitimate resistance,
despite its systematic murder of innocents.
A personal episode helps illustrate how warped was the reasoning in those days.
When Saddam was caught in his “spider hole,” an Arab academic living in the
United States explained to me how much he regretted the development. “Bush will
benefit from it,” he groaned.
When observers can take such a functional view of what was, in its own way, a
moral accomplishment, you know there is a problem. Saddam Hussein’s crimes,
regardless of who removed him from power or benefited from his capture, were
sufficiently monstrous for sensible Arabs to consider them independently of
context, on their own terms. The region is indeed a better place without a man
who butchered nearly half a million Iraqis, and provoked a war against Iran
leading to the death or injury of well over a million others.
Instead of turning Saddam Hussein’s downfall to their own advantage in battles
with their homegrown greater or lesser Saddams, many Arabs talked only about
America. What they could have said was that it was up to the Iraqis themselves,
and Arabs in general, to depose such an odious individual, not the Americans.
They could have said that, with Saddam gone, it was incumbent upon Arabs to help
rebuild a postwar Iraq, thereby accelerating an American withdrawal. They could
even have said that, American intervention aside, Saddam was a victim of his own
hubris and egoism, the same hubris and egoism saturating their own leaders, so
that any strike against hubris and egoism was for the greater good of the Arab
world.
Yet a crushing majority of Arabs said no such things.
As Egyptians debate the meaning of Mubarak’s trial, shouldn’t they be engaging
in greater introspection? Shouldn’t the Iraqis or the Tunisians, too, like the
Yemenis, Bahrainis and Saudis? Or the indomitable Syrians? That entire countries
were governed for decades by despots and their families, whose mere presence was
a daily insult to citizens, was—and in many places still is—quite troubling.
Nor can this flaw be washed away solely by the trial or execution of a former
leader. Removing the father is only one step in a liberal revolution. Unless
societies build institutions to preserve and enhance democratic behavior and
individual freedom, revolutions replace one despot with another, one
authoritarianism with another.
Syrians are paying an intolerable price for 40 years of dismal, stifling Assad
rule. It would be unfair to portray the ongoing carnage as penance for having
permitted a single family to humiliate Syria for so long. By pursuing their
struggle peacefully and avoiding the sectarian traps set by the regime, the
demonstrators have grasped that the essence of their democratic renaissance must
be to embody the antithesis of what Bashar al-Assad and his acolytes represent.
When the Syrians finally do overcome the beast, and provided they do so without
violence by way of sectarian inclusiveness, they may be better placed than Egypt
to move toward a democratic order.
Despotism is a frame of mind as much as it is an individual imposing his writ on
all. Arabs striving to regain their liberty and impose the rule of law will have
to break down complex structures of obedience and conformity that were, or still
are, manipulated by their leaders. These structures include fear of violent
repression, but also oppressive ideologies, sectarian prejudices, social and
financial dependencies, a tendency to engage in self-censorship, and much else.
Congratulate Egyptians for putting Hosni Mubarak before a judge. However, they,
like all Arabs, should also place their society before a severe
judge—themselves—and determine what responsibility they bear for Mubarak. The
answer will truly set them free.
**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.
Lebanon’s U.N. vote on Syria ignites debate
August 05, 2011/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s top officials and lawmakers meeting Thursday at Parliament
disputed Lebanon’s decision to disassociate itself from a U.N. Security Council
statement condemning violence in Syria. Speaker Nabih
Berri and Prime Minister Najbi Mikati sought to justify Lebanon’s position in
the Security Council as a decision to refrain from intervening in Damascus’
internal affairs, which would benefit the country’s bilateral relations with
Syria. Meanwhile, Chouf MP Marwan Hamade questioned
Lebanon’s decision to disassociate itself from the formal statement condemning
Syrian President Bashar Assad’s deadly crackdown on protests, which the other 14
members of the U.N. Security Council agreed on.
“Isn’t it a shame that Lebanon [disassociates] itself from the statement of the
Security Council?” asked Hamade during Thursday’s legislative session in
Parliament.
But Berri said that Lebanon’s stance was being “unjustly” judged.
“Lebanon’s position was not against the international community. Let’s
continue to adhere to the policy that saves our country,” Berri noted.
Between 1,600 and 1,900 Syrian civilians and around 500 members of the
military are believed to have been killed in the Syrian government’s crackdown
on the popular uprising, which is in its fifth month.
On his way out of Parliament following the session, Mikati told reporters that
Lebanon’s position was based on the government’s policy to refrain from
interfering in Syria’s internal affairs as well as the Cabinet’s conviction that
the Security Council’s statement would fail to solve the crisis in Syria.
“Lebanon’s position took into consideration the particularities of the
country,” Mikati added. Separately, Lebanon’s stance
sparked disapproving reactions by a number of lawmakers from the March 14
coalition who blasted it as shameful decision as it fails to support the Syrian
people’s human rights.
However, MPs of the March 8 alliance defended Lebanon’s position, saying it was
based on the Cabinet’s policy not to intervene in Syria’s internal affairs.
However, members of the country’s opposition described the government’s stance
as shameful, saying that the country had failed to voice support for human
rights.
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea criticized Lebanon’s decision at the U.N,
saying, “We as Lebanese are not proud of Lebanon’s decision at the Security
Council.”
“How is it in Lebanon’s interest when it disassociates itself from voters?” the
LF leader asked.
Speaking to a local radio station, Geagea said that he did not believe a vote at
the U.N. would have fallen “within the framework of interfering in Syria’s
affairs.”
Chouf MP Mohammad Hajjar, a member of the Future parliamentary bloc, said that
“the opposition had hoped that Lebanon would come out with a position that
expresses the desires and aspirations of the majority of both the Lebanese and
Syrian peoples, as well as Syrian people’s right to reject violence, oppression
and injustice in order to live in dignity, freedom and democracy.”
“The March 14 alliance will issue an official stance on the Lebanese
government’s position toward Syria’s bloody tyranny,” Hajjar told a local radio
station.
Hajjar said the March 14 coalition, led by former Prime Minister Saad Hariri,
would issue a response to the stance by Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s Cabinet on
the events in Syria.
Hariri, who has made only a few public appearances since his government
collapsed in January, condemned last week what he described as a “massacre” in
the Syrian city of Hama and urged Arabs to break their silence on events in
Syria.
Opposition and human rights groups estimate that between 1,600 and 1,900
civilians have been killed since March when protests began in a deadly crackdown
launched by President Bashar Assad. Damascus blames “terrorist gangs” for the
deaths and says the unrest in the country is part of a foreign conspiracy.
Beirut MP Nabil de Freij, also a member of Hariri’s Future parliamentary bloc,
said Lebanon’s position was not unexpected.
“Lebanon’s stance was expected since the Lebanese government is one-sided and
close to Syria,” de Freij said.
However, de Freij expressed his belief that the Cabinet’s stance “will not
ignite problems with the opposition [March 14]” and ruled out it having any
negative impact on Lebanon’s relations with the international community.
While Lebanon didn’t vote against the statement, Lebanon’s deputy U.N.
Ambassador Caroline Ziade carried out an infrequently used procedure,
disassociating the country from the statement after it was approved and read
aloud at the council’s meeting.
Lawmakers in the Hezbollah-led March 8 camp expressed different views, stressing
the need to stay out of Syria’s internal affairs.
Zahrani MP Michel Musa, a member of Speaker Nabih Berri’s parliamentary bloc,
said “Lebanon has no interest in antagonizing Syria and, therefore, there is no
interest in taking a position in the Security Council to condemn Syria, given
the brotherly ties as well as political, security and economic agreements.”
Musa stressed “the need for Lebanon to distance itself from any internal
conflict in Syria.”
Lebanon’s YouTube
Hazem al-Amin,/Now Lebanon
August 5, 2011
YouTube has so far scored three achievements in Lebanon. Or at least that’s what
observers note. The latest such achievement is the pictures published on the
site, showing the attack on Lebanese youths on Hamra Street as they tried to
hold a protest in front of the Syrian Embassy. The pictures revealed the faces
of the attackers, thus allowing us to confirm what Lebanese parties allied with
the Syrian regime had been denying about themselves, namely that those people
are not members in them. Prior to this achievement, YouTube had done well by
showing us a Baath Party official attacking a pharmacy in Saida, saying foul
words to a lady in it and trashing its contents.
The first achievement was smarter than the previous ones, since its strength is
not only derived from the scene displayed in the video, but also from the idea
of adding an ordinary violation that could be filmed anywhere to a package of
other violations. A local magazine (Shou’oun Janoubiyya) took pictures of
building contraventions in the South at a time when the South was witnessing a
building frenzy. These pictures were displayed on YouTube in order to portray
these contraventions as violations that are secretly filmed and broadcast on the
site. The person who did this job wanted to portray those who violate public
spaces and domains as resembling those who violate human rights and attack
protesters in other YouTube videos. They are similar as proven by their presence
on the same website.
A new expression went along with YouTube’s few achievements in Lebanon, namely
using the word “shabiha” (or thugs) to describe those who attacked the youths on
Hamra Street and broke their ribs. These are truly thugs and now we truly
understand what Syrians mean by describing their attackers as thugs. We now know
who their thugs and ours are. They are cowardly human beings who do not reveal
their identities and whose parties would not acknowledge them as members even
though they sent them on their missions. The ambiguity shrouding this phenomenon
has been suddenly revealed. Thugs actually live in the vicinity of power and
defend it, but power later kills them. They are faceless individuals even though
their faces appeared on YouTube. They defend a power they are ashamed of and
that is ashamed of them, hence the fact that they appear with no faces and no
names.
Something has started in Lebanon in this respect. Indeed, YouTube corrupts and
ruins powers, and power in our country is more fragile than powers, which
YouTube speedily brought down. Let us imagine, for instance, that someone had
took pictures of the Black Shirts who took to Beirut’s streets at dawn to change
a political reality resulting from legislative elections that reflected the
Lebanese people’s will as best as possible, and that these pictures had been
displayed on YouTube.
Things would have been different had this happened. The Black Shirts’ strength
is imaginary and lies in the mystery shrouding their deeds. Had this scene been
filmed and displayed on YouTube, the violation would have been documented and
brought closer to the Lebanese whose vote was targeted. The “Black Shirts” are
no more immune than their fellows in other countries. Following the “Baath in
Saida” movie, security forces arrested the perpetrator, knowing that the film
was aired about a week following the incident during which time he remained
free. This would probably have still been the case had the movie not been
displayed. The embassy movie may not result in arresting the perpetrators, but
it does reveal their faces.
This article is a translation, which was originally featured on the NOW Arabic
site on Friday August 5, 2011
At Least 10 Dead as Thousands March against Assad in Syria
Naharnet/Syrian security forces killed at least 10 demonstrators on Friday as
they opened fire to disperse protests near Damascus and in the central city of
Homs, a human rights activist said, as thousands of Syrians took to the streets
to rally against President Bashar al-Assad on the first Friday of Ramadan in
support of the protest hub of Hama. "Seven people were killed in Irbin, another
in Maadamiya (both towns near the capital) and two in Homs," Rami Abdul Rahman,
head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told Agence France Presse by
telephone, adding many others were wounded by gunfire.
Fellow activist Abdul Karim Rihawi, who heads the Syrian League for the Defense
of Human Rights, said earlier five people were shot dead in Irbin but cautioned
the toll was likely to rise due to sustained gunfire. Meanwhile, state news
agency SANA said two members of the security forces were killed and eight
wounded in an ambush on a road in the Idlib region of northwest Syria, near the
Turkish border.
Gunmen posted on an apartment block rooftop in Douma, near Damascus, shot and
wounded two other members of the security forces, it said, while assailants also
opened fire in Homs.
Security forces used cluster ammunition in Douma, according to the head of the
Britain-based Observatory.
Communications were completely cut off as the army stepped up an operation to
crush dissent in Hama, north of Damascus, where security forces killed at least
30 civilians and wounded dozens more earlier in the week. "Thousands of
demonstrators marched in Deir Ezzor, Daraa and Qamishli in support of the city
of Hama despite the extreme heat," Rihawi said, adding that they numbered 30,000
in Deir Ezzor alone. Abdul Rahman said that "more than 12,000 people" also
marched in Bench, in Idlib province, "to demand the fall of the regime and
express their support for Hama and Deir Ezzor."
"Hundreds of people came out of the Al-Mans Uri mosque in Jableh, chanting 'God
is with us,'" he told Agence France Presse.
The call for Friday's protests came from activists on Facebook group The Syrian
Revolution 2011, a driving force behind the demonstrations calling for greater
freedoms since mid-March.
The Assad regime has sought to crush the democracy movement with brutal force,
killing more than 1,600 civilians and arresting thousands of dissenters, rights
activists say.
Its latest crackdown has centered on Hama, where at least 30 people were killed
on Wednesday by tanks shelling the city center.
The city was isolated on Friday, and the military continued an operation to
combat what Assad's regime calls "armed terrorist gangs" responsible for the
deadly unrest.
State media reported that army units were removing "roadblocks set up by
terrorist groups that have blocked roads and damaged public and private
property, including police stations, using various weapons."
The crackdown on Hama has prompted harsh words from Washington and Moscow, with
Russia hinting at a possible change of heart after stonewalling firm U.N. action
against Syria, its ally since Soviet times.
The White House said the deadly crackdown has put Syria and the Middle East on a
"very dangerous path," as Washington extended a raft of recent sanctions to
include a businessman close to Assad and his family. President Barack Obama's
administration appeared to be moving toward a first direct call for Assad to go,
a step it has so far resisted, following the escalation of violence in Hama.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States would urge the
Europeans, Arabs and others to do more to press Syria to stop its deadly
crackdown.
Clinton said Assad's regime was responsible for the deaths of more than 2,000
people, repeating that Washington believes the embattled president has "lost his
legitimacy to govern."
The U.S. Treasury Department froze the U.S. assets of Mohammed Hamsho and his
company, Hamsho International Group, and prohibited U.S. entities from engaging
in any business dealings with them.
Meanwhile, activists and analysts have dismissed as a ploy a new law allowing
the creation of political parties alongside the Baath party, as decreed by Assad
on Thursday.
The decree came after the U.N. Security Council condemned the crackdown and said
those responsible should be held accountable, in a non-binding statement rather
than a resolution.
Western powers had hoped for stronger action but were rebuffed by veto-wielding
members Russia and China, who feared doing so would pave the way for another
military intervention like the one in Libya. But Russian President Dmitry
Medvedev spoke forcefully about the situation on Thursday and called on Assad to
"carry out urgent reforms" warning otherwise "a sad fate awaits him and in the
end we will have to take some decisions."
And Kuwait on Friday urged a halt to the crackdown, expressing its "extreme
pain" and calling for dialogue and a political solution to allow for "true
reforms that meet the demands of the Syrian people". Turkish Foreign Minister
Ahmet Davutoglu said developments in Syria "are unacceptable.""Operations with
heavy arms and tanks in densely populated residential areas like Hama are not
legitimate at all," he was quoted by Anatolia news agency as saying.*Source
Agence France Presse
Syria Brotherhood to Miqati: You're Bargaining on Your
Political Future by Siding with Our Children Killers
Naharnet /Syria’s banned Muslim Brotherhood on Friday lashed out at Prime
Minister Najib Miqati, accusing him of “siding with the killers of Syrian
children.” In a statement published by the Italian news agency AKI, the
Brotherhood’s official spokesman Zuheir Salem said “the Syrian people would
never compromise, no matter the sacrifices, the blood of our brothers in
Lebanon, whether in Tripoli, Beirut, Sidon … or anywhere in Lebanon.” On
Wednesday, Lebanon disassociated itself from a U.N. Security Council
presidential statement condemning Syria's crackdown on opposition protests.
Normally the document is adopted unanimously. Lebanon did not block the
adoption, but disavowed the document after. "Whatever affects Lebanon, affects
Syria, whatever affects Syria will also affect Lebanon," Lebanon's deputy
ambassador Caroline Ziade told the Security Council meeting. Describing Miqati
as “the son of Tripoli,” the Brotherhood condemned the premier’s “siding with
the perpetrators of genocide crimes against the Syrian people.” “We did not
expect PM Miqati to bargain on the premiership with the blood of Syria’s
children,” Salem said, adding that “through this deplorable and appalling
stance, Miqati is bargaining on his political future and on the future of the
relation between him and the Syrian and Lebanese people.” The Brotherhood also
accused Miqati of being in the service of “those who are seeking to destroy
Lebanon and Syria.”
Libya Rebels Say NATO Strike Kills Gadhafi Son, Regime
Denies
Naharnet /Libya's rebel forces on Friday said a NATO strike killed Moammer
Gadhafi's youngest son Khamis and 31 others in the disputed town of Zliten, in
what would be a severe setback for Tripoli's military leadership. The claim was
denied by government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim, who said "the news about the
killing of Khamis by a NATO air strike are very dirty lies to cover the murder
of civilians in the peaceful city." A rebel military spokesman said NATO had hit
a military operations center overnight in the western town killing 32, including
Khamis, a feared military commander. "Overnight there was an aircraft attack by
NATO on the Gadhafi operations room in Zliten and there are around 32 Gadhafi
troops killed. One of them is Khamis," Mohammed Zawawi, a spokesman for
revolutionary militias, told Agence France Presse. Zawawi cited spies operating
among Gadhafi's ranks and intercepted radio chatter as sources. There was no
independent verification of Khamis's death, which has been rumored a number of
times during Libya's five month-long civil war.
From the Naples headquarters of NATO's Libya operations an official confirmed
the alliance's warplanes had hit at least two targets in Zliten overnight, but
made no comment about the reports of Khamis's death. "We are aware of the news
reports," the official told AFP.
"NATO struck an ammunition storage at around 8:15 pm (1815 GMT) in Zliten and a
military police facility within a combat area at around 10:45 pm in the area of
Zliten yesterday," he added. If confirmed Khamis's death would be a huge blow to
both the regime's military and the morale of Gadhafi's inner circle.
The 28-year-old Khamis trained at a Russian military academy and commands the
eponymous and much-feared Khamis Brigade -- one of the regime's toughest
fighting units.
The brigade took part in the assault on the rebel enclave of Misrata, which has
been bombarded from three sides and has seen some of the fiercest fighting of
Libya's civil war.
Abdel Hafiz Ghoga, vice chairman of the rebels' de facto government, the
National Transitional Council, told AFP Khamis's death would be a major victory.
"If his death is confirmed then the death of this tyrant is a victory for our
revolution and our youth, especially in the west," he said.
The Zliten strike came just hours after the regime took journalists on an
escorted tour of the center of Zliten, an effort to rubbish rebel claims the
town was under attack.
Fighters from the rebel enclave of Misrata, 60 kilometers (37 miles) to the
east, announced this week they had made progress in Zliten, a strategic coastal
town on the road to Tripoli.
But authorities in Tripoli quickly denied that, saying they controlled the
entire town.
On Thursday an AFP journalist saw the town center was in the hands of regime
forces, although intensive artillery fire was heard in the distance.
Residents said the frontline is located at a distance of 10 to 15 kilometers
(six to nine miles) east of the town center while rebel official said they
control three eastern neighborhoods.
Meanwhile, state television reported that NATO warplanes struck Tripoli early on
Friday, as the regime accused rebels of sabotaging a key pipeline feeding the
country's sole functioning refinery. About 10 loud explosions rocked the Libyan
capital around 1:30 am (2330 GMT), an AFP journalist said.
Shortly afterwards, Libyan television said "civilian and military sites" in the
southeastern suburb of Khellat al-Ferjan had been targeted by "the colonialist
aggressor."
Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaaim said late Thursday that rebel forces had
sabotaged a pipeline in the strategic Nafusa mountains, southeast of Tripoli.
"The rebels turned off a valve and poured cement over it," he said, adding that
this would lead to a shortage of electricity in the capital as oil and gas were
used at the Zawiyah refinery to generate power. Kaaim said food and medicine
supplies were spoiling in the capital due to long power cuts. Tripoli residents
complained Thursday of extensive blackouts and an acute shortage of gas
canisters. **Source Agence France Presse
Medvedev Says Assad Risks 'Sad Fate' if He Fails to Reform
Naharnet /Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday called the situation in
Syria "dramatic" and expressed "enormous concern" over the deadly violence in
the country.
"Unfortunately, people die there in large numbers. This arouses enormous concern
from us," the Russian leader said in an interview given to Russian media in the
southern resort Sochi.
Syria's President Bashar al-Assad needs to "carry out urgent reforms, come to
terms with the opposition, restore peace and create a modern state," Medvedev
said as quoted by the Interfax news agency. "If he cannot do this, a sad
fate awaits him, and in the end we will have to take some decision. We are
watching the way the situation develops. As it changes, some of our perspectives
also change." Medvedev's remarks follow a foreign ministry statement Monday
strongly criticizing the government's crackdown on demonstrations in Syria in a
sign of a shift in Russia's rigid position on the conflict in the U.N. Security
Council. Russia together with China, both of which hold veto power in the U.N.
Security Council, have persistently blocked a Western-drafted resolution on
Syria to the irritation of other world powers. Moscow has repeatedly stressed
that it was firmly opposed to foreign interference in Syria, its ally since
Soviet times, and believed its regional ally could find a political solution to
its crisis. **Source Agence France Presse
STL to Unveil New List of Suspects by End of August
Naharnet /The Special Tribunal for Lebanon probing the assassination of
ex-Premier Rafik Hariri will take new procedures before the end of August, al-Liwaa
newspaper reported on Friday. STL’s Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare obtained new
information on the case, the daily said. It revealed that General Prosecutor
Saeed Mirza contacted several Lebanese officials in the light of the new
information. According to the newspaper, the STL is expected to release a new
list of suspects in the assassination. Al-Liwaa remarked that the new measures
will highlight other crimes executed in Lebanon. The tribunal will unveil links
between the assassination of Hariri and mainly the assassination attempts of
then Defense Minister Elias Murr on July 12, 2005 and MP Marwan Hamadeh on
October 1, 2004. It added that there is information that links Hariri’s murder
with the assassination of then Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel on November 21,
2006.
Gemayel Rejects Hizbullah Threats to Turn Arms Against its
Foes
Naharnet /Phalange party leader Amin Gemayel warned Hizbullah on Friday against
attempts to target the March 14-led opposition saying its project is doomed to
failure.
“Hizbullah should be aware that its project is doomed to failure,” he said at
the opening of the 29th Phalange conference. “We stress to Hizbullah that no one
in Lebanon wants to target it but we don’t accept that it turns its arms against
us.” He accused the Shiite party of adopting the security logic of Israel to
preserve its existence. “What guarantees its presence is the logic of
legitimacy, politics, coordination and openness.” “If Israel is adopting the
logic of security against enemies, then Hizbullah is adopting it against the
citizens of its nation,” Gemayel told the conference. He urged Hizbullah to
unite with the Lebanese, saying “what guarantees the sustainability of Hizbullah
is partnership with the Lebanese and not alliances” with regional countries.
Neither Christians nor Muslims will allow anyone to change Lebanon’s identity,
the Phalange leader warned. He reiterated his call for Hizbullah to recognize
the legitimacy of the Lebanese state, put its arms under the control of the
Lebanese army and hand over the four suspects in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s Feb.
2005 murder case to the Lebanese authorities. “If the accused are saints then we
wouldn’t have had martyrs,” Gemayel quipped. He stressed that his party backs
the Special Tribunal for Lebanon because it believes in justice and wants
stability.
Turning to President Michel Suleiman’s invitation for dialogue, the former
president said: “Dialogue requires that all parties believe in the state of law
and legitimate authorities.”
“The Phalange doesn’t reject dialogue,” he said, wondering “what benefits the
dialogue would have, if they consider the arms sacred.”
Prisoners Relatives Block Airport, Akkar Roads over Demands
Naharnet /Dozens of relatives of Islamist prisoners detained in Lebanon's
notorious main prison of Roumieh on Friday blocked the international highway
linking the northern city of Tripoli to neighboring Akkar and the Syrian border,
demanding the government to urgently “settle the cases of their detained
relatives, who have been in jail for four years without a trial.”
The protesters called for “filling the vacancies in the Judicial Council panel,
to which the Fouad Saniora government had referred dozens of cases following the
al-Tal and al-Bohsas bomb attacks” against army troops. They stressed that a lot
of detainees “have nothing to do whatsoever with the bomb attacks,” noting that
“many of them should not be jailed for more than one or two years, in line with
the verdicts issued last year by the Military Court in similar cases.”
Meanwhile, relatives of other prisoners blocked the airport highway with burning
tires to protest the parliament’s recent rejection of a bill on lowering prison
year to nine months. Security forces managed later to reopen the road after
dispersing the protesters, MTV reported.
Huge Blaze Breaks Out at Building in Salim Salam Area,
Residents Flee on Fire Ladders
Naharnet/A huge fire broke out at around 6:00 am Friday in Souk al-Rawshi
building at the Hawd al-Welaya-Salim Salam area of Beirut. Firefighters finally
doused the blaze at midday.
In the morning, firefighters evacuated people from their apartments on an
emergency fire ladder. The firefighters later brought in a new ladder that fits
for 5 people at a time.
Several families fled to the rooftop of the 8-storey building which has 6-7
apartments on each floor. Sources told Naharnet that the blaze broke out in
depots containing furniture and carpets. The residents weren’t able to flee from
the building entrance because of the smoke. The fire caused a huge traffic jam
on the Salim Salam highway in the morning rush hour. Security forces later
closed the Salim Salam highway, blocking the traffic coming from the Mazraa
area. The side linking downtown to Mazraa is still open.
Assassination Attempt on Palestinian Commander in Ain al-Hilweh
Naharnet /Two members of the Islamist Jund al-Sham group on Friday made an
attempt on the life of the chief of Palestinian Armed Struggle in the Ain al-Hilweh
refugee camp Mahmoud Issa, aka al-Lino, Voice of Lebanon Radio (93.3) reported.
“While Palestinian national Mahmoud Abdul Qader and another Jund al-Sham member
were planting a bomb near al-Lino’s house in the camp, they were spotted by the
latter’s bodyguards, who shot and wounded the two,” the radio network added.
Armed factions in the camp immediately went on alert, Voice of Lebanon said,
adding that Palestinian intelligence agents and the Armed Struggle had opened a
probe into the incident.
Maritime Border Law Awaits Decrees to Start Oil Exploration
Naharnet /Energy Minister Jebran Bassil described parliament’s adoption of a
draft law on the delineation of Lebanon’s maritime border as an “achievement,”
saying however, it was now time for the cabinet to issue decrees paving way for
the exploration of oil and natural gas in the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone.
Bassil told As Safir daily published Friday that Premier Najib Miqati’s
government should commit to its policy statement and issue the decrees that
would give licenses for international companies to explore oil.
The cabinet should also resolve its problem with Cyprus and work on rectifying
Israel’s latest map, he said. Tensions rose last month after Israel's cabinet
approved a map of the country's proposed maritime borders with Lebanon and
submitted it to the U.N., which has been asked to mediate. The map conflicts
with one submitted by Lebanon to the U.N. last year and that gives Israel less
territory. Lebanon also challenges Israel's assertion that an accord signed in
2007 between Cyprus and Lebanon sets the same boundaries as those agreed between
the Jewish state and Cyprus in 2010. The disputed zone consists of about 854
square kilometers, and important energy reserves there could generate billions
of dollars.
An involved parliamentary source confirmed Bassil’s assertion that Lebanon
should now negotiate with Syria and Cyprus, telling al-Liwaa newspaper that the
country should also adopt a series of laws on fisheries, maritime environment
and maritime activities of warships. Bassil vowed to refer to the cabinet all
the decrees of his ministry on oil exploration as soon as the decree of the
maritime border delineation is issued. It shouldn’t take more than ten days, he
said.
Cyprus President Appoints New Cabinet
Naharnet /Cyprus' embattled president reshuffled his 11-member cabinet on
Friday, in an attempt to combat a political and economic crisis spawned by a
deadly blast that wrecked the island's main power station and sapped confidence
in the government. President Dimitris Christofias appointed longtime ally and
former communications minister Kikis Kazamias to the key finance ministry post.
Kazamias, who has also served on the European Court of Auditors, has his work
cut out for him to shore up public finances amid growing speculation that the EU
member country may be forced to seek a bailout. The island's €17.4 billion
($24.76 billion) economy has already been shaken by a string of credit rating
agency downgrades mainly because of the banking sector's large exposure to
crisis-afflicted Greece. But the detonation of dozens of seized containers
packed with Iranian munitions at a naval base last month — that killed 13 people
and cut the island's power supply by half — is pushing the economy to the brink.
So far, EU officials say there are no plans for any Cyprus bailout. But a
University of Cyprus study released this week said the economy will contract by
2.4 percent of gross domestic product this year and push unemployment up by a
percentage point. The EU had projected growth of 1.5 percent of GDP for Cyprus
this year. Boding well for Kazamias are signs that after much wrangling, the
island's powerful trade unions are falling in line with calls for bigger cost
cuts, especially in the public sector that takes up more than a quarter of all
government spending. Negotiations on a package of spending cuts and tax hikes
are expected to wrap up by the middle of next week. Career diplomat Erato
Kozakou-Marcoullis moves over from the communications ministry to foreign
affairs which she headed briefly in the previous administration. She takes over
from Markos Kyprianou who resigned in the wake of the explosion which many
Cypriots saw as a result of official negligence. The defense minister also quit
after the blast and Christofias has rebuffed calls for his own resignation.
Christofias' woes were compounded this week when Kyprianou's center-right DIKO
party walked out of the ruling coalition, citing strong disagreements over the
president's handling of talks with breakaway Turkish Cypriots to reunify the
divided island.
The move left Christofias with only the backing of his communist-rooted party
AKEL which holds 19 of the 56 parliamentary seats, hobbling his ability to pass
legislation for the remaining 18 months of his five-year tenure. However,
opposition parties have indicated they would throw their support behind
legislation aimed at saving the economy from ruin.
Interior Minister Neoklis Sylikiotis keeps his portfolio, as does Justice
Minister Loucas Louca and Labor Minister Sotiroulla Charalambous. Agriculture
Minister Demetris Eliades shifts to Defense. New faces include Giorgos
Demosthenous, Efthymios Flourentzos, Praxoulla Antoniadou, Stavros Malas and
Sofoklis Aletraris who take over the education, communications, commerce, health
and agriculture ministries respectively.**Source Agence France Presse
Turkey Says Syrian Violence Unacceptable
Naharnet /Turkey said Friday the Syrian regime's deadly crackdown on civilian
protestors is "unacceptable" and "illegitimate", Anatolia news agency
reported."The developments in Syria as I emphasized before are unacceptable,"
Anatolia quoted Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu as saying. "Operations with
heavy arms and tanks in densely-populated residential areas like Hama are not
legitimate at all," Davutoglu told reporters as he left a mosque after the
Friday prayer in Ankara. "Syria should take the messages from Turkey and the
international community very seriously and put an end to this violent
environment as soon as possible," he said. The regime of Syrian President Bashar
al-Assad has sought to crush weeks of protests with brutal force, killing more
than 1,600 civilians and arresting thousands of dissenters, rights activists
say. Its latest crackdown has centered on the flashpoint protest hub of Hama,
north of Damascus, where at least 30 people were reported killed on Wednesday by
tanks shelling the city center. Ankara, whose ties with Damascus have flourished
in recent years, has stepped up pressure on Assad to initiate reform but has
stopped short of calling for his departure. But Turkey is showing mounting
frustration with his foot-dragging on reform.
*Source Agence France Presse
Cracks in the armor of the Resistance?
By: Nadine Elali and Shane Farrell, August 5, 2011
Now Lebanon
An explosion in the Hezbollah-controlled area of Dahiyeh last week gave birth to
a host of speculation. Initially brushed off as a gas canister explosion by
Hezbollah’s media relations department, which also stated that no one was
injured, suspicions were raised by heightened security measures taken in the
aftermath of the blast.
Hezbollah members reportedly forbade locals from loitering in the area and
repaired the apartment where the blast took place in the immediate aftermath of
the explosion.
Meanwhile Lockman Slim, founder of NGO Hayya Bina and a Dahiyeh resident, told
NOW Lebanon that “phones were no longer working in the area.”
An-Nahar reported that the explosion, which was in the Rweissat neighborhood,
was caused by either a bomb or grenade. News reports speculated that Samir
Kuntar, a former prisoner in Israel who returned to Lebanon during a prisoner
exchange between Hezbollah and the Jewish State in 2008, was the target of the
blast.
Israel’s Channel 10, meanwhile, said the blast targeted Mustapha Mughniyeh, the
son of slain Hezbollah military commander Imad Mughniyeh, at his office and that
his bodyguard was killed by the explosion.
While the nature of the incident remains a mystery, Hezbollah members cordoned
off the area around the apartment where the blast took place, preventing
people—including Lebanese security officials—from gaining access to the
building, and residents have reported a heightened level of security in the
neighborhood.
Journalist Mustapha Fahs told NOW Lebanon that there have been immense security
procedures implemented in Dahiyeh recently, including patrols and police dogs.
According to Slim, the levels of nightly deployment in the area have reached
levels unprecedented since the 2006 war with Israel.
This has come at the back of a sharp rise in security within Dahiyeh following
allegations of Hezbollah members spying for the US Central Intelligence Agency.
Hezbollah reportedly arrested more than 50 members, including three sons of
high-ranking commanders, on suspicion of treason, and some have been transferred
to Tehran for questioning.
The organization reportedly suspects they were involved in the assassination of
Imad Mughniyeh in 2008 and that they supported the anti-government protests in
Iran.
Some feel that these latest two incidents are evidence that Hezbollah does not
exert complete control over Dahiyeh and is a blow for the image it seeks to
portray.
“For me the most important issue [surrounding the] explosion is that Dahiyeh is
not as [secure] a stronghold as Hezbollah tries to describe,” said Slim. “It is
an image that was breached.”
Fahs believes that this is nothing new, and that there is already “chaos on the
level of social security, [including] thefts, drugs and abuse by thugs among
each other in Dahiyeh itself,” which, he said, is damaging to the party since
“it reflects that Hezbollah does not have control over its own area and its own
security.”
A Dahiyeh resident who spoke on condition of anonymity, on the other hand,
believes that moderates, intellectuals and opponents of Hezbollah are reading
into the events. He believes that the views of Hezbollah supporters have not
changed.
Ali al-Amin, a journalist at al-Balad newspaper, put forward another
explanation. “In the party itself,” he said, “there may be a group of a
different political vision than the prevalent one, reflecting also the different
visions currently present in Iran: one in favor of some settlement with the US
and another against. So the two events may be a matter of settling accounts, to
face this group and get rid of it, and what other way to do it then refer to it
as treachery.”
However due to Hezbollah’s intense secrecy, Amin said that no one really knows
the true answer.
He added, though, that the party is being severely tested by local and regional
events. At a national level, people are anxious about the indictments of the
Special Tribunal for Lebanon and what it will mean for the party and its four
named members.
Internally, as a party in power, Hezbollah is now more accountable to the people
and cannot blame March 14 for government failures. Externally, with the
uncertainty in Syria, people are worried about how events there will affect the
Party of God. He said the party is trying to control the first two factors, but
is severely challenged by the third, which is out of its control.
“I believe that Hezbollah is currently going through the toughest phase of its
existence,” he added.
Preventing Civil War in Syria
By Elliott Abrams/Wall Street Journal
Syria remains rocked by anti regime protests that have endured since March, and
the country may be headed for civil war. That's because unlike in Egypt or
Tunisia, sectarian rivalries are central to Syrian politics. That adds an
element of danger to the situation—but also points the way toward how dictator
Bashar al-Assad may fall, especially if the West takes the proper initiative.
Syria's population is 74% Sunni Muslim. Yet the Assad regime is Alawite, an
offshoot of Shiite Islam—often considered heretical by orthodox Sunnis—that
comprises only 10% or 15% of Syrians. The best-armed and best-trained divisions
of the Syrian army are Alawite.
As President Assad has cracked down on protesters with violent force, killing
roughly 2,000, Washington's reaction has been slow and unsteady. On May 19,
President Obama called for a "serious dialogue" between the regime and the
protesters in a speech at the State Department. Yet on July 31, he said "the
courageous Syrian people who have demonstrated in the streets will determine its
future." Which is it? U.S. Ambassador Robert Ford's July visit to the city of
Hama—where he was received by the crowds with bouquets of flowers—is a reminder
that U.S. actions remain critically important to any chance of a less violent
outcome.
There appears to be no U.S. strategy except prayers that Syria doesn't turn into
Libya: a full-fledged civil war. With the NATO military action in Libya now a
source of contention both in the U.S. and among NATO allies, the last thing the
White House likely wants is increased violence in Syria. Washington's inaction
would then make it appear callous and inept—and could eventually lead to calls
for a no-fly zone, arming the rebels, or even some form of military
intervention.
American leadership can help avoid civil war. Our goal should be to separate the
Assad family and its closest cronies from the rest of the Alawite community.
Across Alawite society there are varying degrees of loyalty to the Assads. There
are close supporters who know their fate is tied to that of Assad, but there are
many others who care little about the ruling family but are paralyzed by fear of
vengeance against the entire community after President Assad is gone. The
Alawite generals in the Syrian Army should be key targets for a campaign of
psychological warfare urging them to salvage their community's post-Assad future
by refusing now to kill their fellow citizens. The U.S. should address them
publicly, but also reach out to them privately through whatever intelligence or
military channels are available.
Here the Turkish government may be able to help, for they turned against Assad
even before the U.S. did. The Turks were pursuing their own interests, seeking
to displace Iran as the outside power most influential in Syria. But they also
don't want to see a Syrian civil war that could, among other things, produce a
massive refugee flow across their borders. Messages from Turkish officials to
the Alawite military establishment can help persuade them not to sacrifice their
future in a vain effort to save the Assad mafia. The message, and the tougher it
is the better: "Make your choice now. Are you going to be war criminals or
survivors?"
For this to work, the U.S. should stop speaking about "the regime" and speak
instead about "the Assads." We should end the American equivocation and say
clearly that Assad must and will go. The Alawites, and the generals in
particular, won't think hard about their place in Syria's future until they are
convinced Assad is finished.
For this reason, Ambassador Ford should be recalled now, to demonstrate a final
break with the Assads, or he should be deployed repeatedly, as he was in Hama,
to symbolize America's support for the opposition. For the same reason the U.S.
should be far more active in turning Assad and his closest supporters into
international pariahs, using whatever multilateral bodies are available and
employing far sharper presidential rhetoric than we have yet seen. Assad and his
family should be offered one last chance to get out now before the wheels start
turning that will make him an international outlaw forever.
Second, we should put far more pressure on the Syrian business community—Sunni,
Christian and Alawite—so that it increasingly sees the Assads as a bottomless
drain on the nation, not a bulwark against chaos. This means working harder to
get international cooperation on additional sanctions that would hit Syrian
imports and exports, rather than targeting only the finances of a few top
officials close to Assad.
Finally, the U.S. should be pressing the Syrian opposition—the traditional
leadership inside the country (at least those still out of prison), and the new
groups such as those that met recently in Turkey—to state with greater clarity
their commitment to civil peace when the Assads are gone. They should pledge
that post-Assad Syria will protect all minorities—the Alawites, Kurds and the
very nervous Christian communities. They should agree now to an international
role in providing these protections and guarantees. The more detailed these
pledges are, and the more publicity and international support they get, the more
good they will do inside Syria.
But for all the justified focus on Syria, the single event that would most help
bring down the Assads would be the fall of Moammar Gadhafi in Libya. It still
isn't clear today if the lesson of the Arab Spring is that dictators are doomed
or that dictators willing to shoot peaceful protesters can win. Once Gadhafi
goes, the oxygen Libya is sucking from the Arab struggle for democracy will
circulate again. The NATO effort—however poorly implemented—will have finally
been a success, and threats of possible military action to protect civilians,
especially refugees, will have some credibility.
Meantime, much can be done to avoid a sectarian war in Syria if the Assad mafia
can be separated from much of its own sectarian support. We can use our voice
and influence to persuade Syria's minorities that they have a secure future
after Assad is gone—and help all of Syria's communities agree on the rules for
the post-Assad era that is coming.
**Mr. Abrams, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, handled Middle
East affairs at the National Security Council from 2001 to 2009.