LCCC
ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِAugust
21/2011
Bible Quotation for today.
Psalm 101/God hates those who are haughty
and conceited
I will sing of loving kindness and justice. To you, Yahweh, I will sing praises.
I will be careful to live a blameless life. When will you come to me? I will
walk within my house with a blameless heart. I will set no vile thing
before my eyes. I hate the deeds of faithless men. They will not cling to me.
A perverse heart will be far from me. I will have nothing to do with evil.
I will silence whoever secretly slanders his neighbor. I won’t tolerate one who
is haughty and conceited. My eyes will be on the faithful of the land,
that they may dwell with me. He who walks in a perfect way, he will serve me.
He who practices deceit won’t dwell within my house. He who speaks falsehood
won’t be established before my eyes. Morning by morning, I will destroy all the
wicked of the land; to cut off all the workers of iniquity from Yahweh’s city.
Latest
analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases
from
miscellaneous
sources
The battle to defend al-Assad/By
Tariq Alhomayed/August
20/11
Zvi Bar'el / Israel must act
quickly to end the crisis with Egypt/Haaretz/August
20/11
The cost of revolution,Facts
and figures of the Arab Spring/Aline Sara/August
20/11
Latest News
Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for August 20/11
UN official: There’s evidence of
crimes against humanity in Syria
Eight killed in Syria crackdown,
activists say
Lebanon blocks UN “terrorism” label
on Israel attacks '
Assistant priest assaulted in
Lassa late Friday
in North Lebanon
Israel strives to avert Egyptian
ambassador's recall. US in mediation bid
Arab League to hold emergency
meeting over IDF strikes on Gaza
Israel has Received 'No
Notification' of Egypt Envoy Recall
Egypt: Verbal apology from Israel
for policemen deaths not enough
Israeli leaders meet to halt
deterioration in ties with Egypt
Egypt lodges formal complaint over
Israel killing three Egyptian security forces
Israel and Egypt to hold joint
probe into deaths of Egyptian policemen
Israel:
Grad rocket
directly strikes home in Be'er
Sheva; one dead, three seriously wounded
Egypt tells Israel to stop Gaza
attacks
Turkey warns ties will worsen
without Israeli apology
Egypt Tells Israel to Stop Gaza
Attacks
Iran Sentences U.S. Hikers to 8
Years for Spying
STL Assigns Lawyers to Defend Four
Suspects
Geagea Calls for Cabinet Action,
Questions Hizbullah Leadership Role in Hariri Murder
Nadim Gemayel: Arresting Hariri
murder suspects requires a ‘political decision’
Hezbollah: Hariri rushed to believe
TIME interview
Hariri Murder Suspect: Lebanese
Authorities Know Where I live
Hariri Slams Hizbullah over Time
Interview
Hezbollah: Hariri rushed to believe
TIME interview
If TIME interview is true then
Hezbollah is defying the state, MP Ahmad Fatfat Says
Hizbullah Criticizes Hariri’s
Statement on Time Interview
Miqati Tasks Qortbawi with
Following up TIME Interview with Hariri Murder Suspect
Hizbullah Says Time Magazine
Interview ‘Fabricated’ by STL
March 14 General Secretariat
coordinator Fares Soueid: Interview of Hariri murder suspect is a provocation
Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya MP Imad
al-Hout : Nasrallah’s recent statement aims to ‘provoke Sunnis’
Lebanese Forces bloc MP George
Adwan says electoral law based on proportionality is “best option”
Lebanon:
Assistant priest assaulted in Lassa late Friday
August 20, 2011 /The Daily Star /BEIRUT: Two persons, a deacon and a television
station staff member, were assaulted in two separate incidents in the village of
Lassa, Jbeil, Friday.
At around midnight Friday, villagers from Lassa assaulted Deacon Tony Halim who
was later treated at Saint George Ajaltoun hospital in Ajaltoun. Lebanese
authorities have questioned the assistant priest on the circumstances of the
incident, security sources told The Daily Star.In a separate incident, a group
of unidentified individuals from Lassa assaulted an employee of the Lebanese
Forces’ Television Station (LFTV) Friday night. At around 8 p.m. 39-year-old
Roger William Hannah was beaten up and the group that assaulted him went on to
smash the windows of his car, the security source said.Hannah managed to flee to
safety and sought shelter at a local army checkpoint where security personnel
then escorted him out of the village, the source added.
Lebanon blocks UN “terrorism” label on Israel attacks
August 20, 2011 /Lebanon, the Arab member of the UN Security Council, on Friday
blocked a statement which would have called deadly attacks in southern Israel
terrorism, diplomats said.The move brought criticism from the United States that
said the terrorism label is a "standard" Security Council description after such
an attack.Islamist militants killed eight Israelis in attacks on two buses on
Thursday. In retaliation, Israeli military planes have killed 14 Palestinians in
Gaza. The UN Security Council regularly uses the phrase "terrorist attack" to
condemn such acts around the world. Lebanon opposed the use of the phrase this
time because one of the buses was carrying Israeli soldiers, diplomats said.
Lebanon had also wanted a reference in the statement, or a separate statement,
which condemned Israel's expansion of settlements in Palestinian territories
that were announced this week.A council statement requires unanimity to be
passed. "This is standard language on terrorist acts, which this council has
adopted many times," US deputy ambassador Rosemary DiCarlo said of the blocked
draft statement. "We think the council has to speak out on this issue. We find
it regrettable that because of one delegation we could not issue that in a
timely manner," she told reporters. Israel's UN ambassador Ron Prosor reacted
with anger. "It is outrageous that the Security Council did not clearly condemn
the deliberate and appalling murder of many innocent Israeli civilians, which
occurred yesterday in a series of coordinated terrorist attacks," Prosor said in
a statement. "It is no coincidence that Lebanon –the only member of the council
that obstructed this statement –is itself dominated by a terrorist
organization," he said referring to the Hezbollah party, the strongest political
and military group in Lebanon. Palestinian envoy to the UN, Riyadh Mansour, said
"we condemn the killing of innocent civilians regardless of where they are." But
he said the council should also condemn the deaths of civilians in Gaza and the
Israeli settlements."It is very unfortunate that the Security Council was unable
to reach a common understanding in a balanced way," he told reporters.
-AFP/NOW Lebanon
UN official: There’s evidence of crimes against humanity in
Syria
August 19, 2011 /The United Nations chief human rights official said Friday that
there was evidence of widespread human rights abuses including torture and
killings by Bashar al-Assad's Syrian regime.UN High Commissioner for Human
Rights Navi Pillay said in an interview with France 24 television that her body
had drawn up a list of 50 Syrians in senior positions that she said were
responsible for violent repression. She said she had asked the UN Security
Council to refer the allegations to the International Criminal Court but
admitted that she was "not optimistic" as many member states would prefer to put
Damascus under diplomatic pressure.
Instead, she said, the UN Human Rights Council would meet on Monday to see if
member states on this less senior body could agree on action to take.
"Atrocities are continuing. There continue to be violations," she said, citing
"credible corroborated evidence" that regime forces have shot demonstrators and
tortured prisoners – including young children. In some cases, the government
closed hospitals before launching its assaults on protests in order to deny
medical treatment to the wounded.
"The evidence points to crimes against humanity having been committed. I called
on the United Nations Security Council to refer the matter to the International
Criminal Court," she said.
Syria has not ratified the ICC statutes and thus theoretically is not subject to
investigation by the UN-backed tribunal, but precedents have recently been set
in Darfur and Libya for the Security Council to demand action.The country is in
the grip of a violent crackdown on pro-democracy protests, and Assad's regime is
facing international diplomatic pressure – backed with sanctions – to reform his
rule or step down. Pillay said Damascus had refused to allow her investigators
into the country to probe alleged rights abuses but said they had interviewed
many witnesses, including defectors from the security forces who witnessed
killings. Syria did respond to a questionnaire sent by the UN, and admitted
1,900 had died in the protests, insisting this figure includes 350 members of
the security forces and blaming violence on criminal and extremists. But Pillay
said the regime had provided no evidence to support its claims.-AFP/NOW Lebanon
Nadim Gemayel: Arresting Hariri murder suspects requires a
‘political decision’
August 20, 2011 /Kataeb bloc MP Nadim Gemayel said on Saturday that Interior
Minister Marwan Charbel and the Internal Security Forces (ISF) know where the
four men indicted by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) are, adding that
arresting them requires a “political decision.” “The interior minister and the
cabinet are incapable of making such a political decision,” Gemayel told LBC
television, adding that he was convinced that the evidence used to indict the
four Hezbollah members is “clear.”“There are no false witnesses in the STL’s
indictment.”
Four Hezbollah members have already been indicted in the 2005 assassination of
ex-Premier Rafik Hariri by the UN-backed STL. However, the Shia group strongly
denied the charges and refused to cooperate with the court.According to TIME,
one of the suspects accused of participating in the Hariri murder said that the
Lebanese authorities know where he lives, adding that if they wanted to arrest
him, “they would have done it a long time ago.” Gemayel also addressed the 2008
assassination of Wissam Eid, an ISF-Information Branch officer, and said that no
cellular phones were used to carry out the operation.“When Hezbollah knew that
the telecommunication [sector] will reveal that it is responsible for
assassinations, it began carrying out assassinations without using
telecommunications.”The MP also said that he supports the cabinet’s resignation,
and not only Hezbollah’s ministers “because the cabinet is Hezbollah’s cabinet.”
Commenting on the situation in Syria, Gemayel said the Lebanese people must take
a stance regarding the “massacre” happening in Syria, adding that freedoms are
being suppressed there.Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s troops have cracked
down on protests against almost five decades of Baath Party rule which broke out
in mid-March, killing over 2,000 people and triggering a torrent of
international condemnation.-NOW Lebanon
Egypt tells Israel to stop Gaza attacks
August 20, 2011 /Egypt called on Israel Saturday to immediately halt punitive
strikes on the Palestinian Gaza Strip after militants carried out deadly attacks
in Israel.
"Egypt denounces the use of force against civilians in any circumstance and
strongly advises Israel to immediately stop its military operations against
Gaza," an Egyptian Foreign Ministry statement said. Relations between Egypt and
Israel are at the lowest point in years after five Egyptian policemen were
killed on Thursday along the border as Israeli troops pursued attackers who
carried out a deadly ambush in its Negev Desert. Eight Israelis were killed in
the attack, which Israel blamed on Palestinians militants from Gaza who it said
had slipped into Israeli territory through Egypt.Egypt has asked Israel for an
apology and an investigation into the deaths. Its state television reported
early Saturday that Cairo would recall its ambassador from Tel Aviv, but no
official announcement has been forthcoming. Israel and the Palestinians were
battling each other for a third day on Saturday, as rockets fired from Gaza
wounded three Palestinian workers in southern Israel and Israeli planes attacked
the coastal enclave. Palestinians say the strikes on Thursday and Friday killed
a total of 14 people and wounded over 40.On Saturday, rockets fired from Gaza
wounded three Palestinian workers in southern Israel and Israeli planes attacked
the coastal enclave. Egypt shares a border with Gaza as well as Israel, but it
has denied that Palestinian militants used its territory to stage
attacks.-AFP/NOW Lebanon
If TIME interview is true then Hezbollah is defying the state, MP Ahmad Fatfat
Says
August 20, 2011 /Future bloc MP Ahmad Fatfat said on Saturday that if the TIME
magazine interview with one of the people indicted by the Special Tribunal for
Lebanon (STL) probing the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri is
true, “this means that Hezbollah is defying the Lebanese state and the Special
Tribunal for Lebanon.”Fatfat told LBC television “he hopes the interview is
untrue, because if it is true this would be an additional accusation against
Hezbollah.”The MP also criticized Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s political
handling of the STL, asking, “If Mikati really supports the STL then why has
[the government] not yet paid Lebanon’s financial dues to it?”Four Hezbollah
members have already been indicted by the STL. However, the Shia group strongly
denied the charges and refused to cooperate with the court.According to TIME
magazine, one of the suspects accused of participating in the Rafik Hariri
murder said that the Lebanese authorities know where he lives, adding that if
they wanted to arrest him, “they would have done it a long time ago.” -NOW
Lebanon
Hezbollah: Hariri rushed to believe TIME interview
August 20, 2011 /Hezbollah issued a statement Saturday that Saad Hariri rushed
in his judgment to believe the TIME magazine interview with one of the people
indicted by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) probing the 2005
assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, the National News Agency
reported. “Hariri rushed… to adopt the content of a fabricated and false
interview in TIME magazine, which increases our suspicion that his statement is
a part of the stale stories fabrication led by the STL,” the statement added.
Hezbollah also said that Hariri’s “conclusions and political assessments are
void” because they are based on the disputed interview. Hariri earlier in the
day issued a statement condemning Hezbollah over Time magazine’s interview with
one of the party’s members. Four Hezbollah members have been indicted by the STL.
However, the Shia group strongly denied the charges and refused to cooperate
with the court.According to TIME magazine, one of the suspects accused of
participating in the Rafik Hariri murder said that the Lebanese authorities know
where he lives, adding that if they wanted to arrest him, “they would have done
it a long time ago.” -NOW Lebanon
Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya MP Imad al-Hout : Nasrallah’s recent
statement aims to ‘provoke Sunnis’
August 20, 2011 /Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya MP Imad al-Hout said on Saturday that
Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s recent statements in which
he transferred the accusation of the four Hezbollah members to the entire Shia
sect, aims to provoke the Sunni sect “even though the former is not accused in
the Rafik Hariri murder.”It is Hezbollah’s duty to “legally” defend those
accused, Hout told MTV, adding that individuals and not Hezbollah were indicted
by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL).Nasrallah on Wednesday dismissed the
STL’s publicized indictment and reiterated that the international court is a
US-Israeli plan to incite sectarian strife in the country. The STL indicted four
members of the Iranian- Syrian-backed Hezbollah group in connection to the 2005
assassination of Hariri and 21 others, but in July, Nasrallah ruled out their
arrest. Commenting on the interview of one of the suspects indicted by the STL,
which was published Friday in TIME magazine, Hout said “if what was published in
TIME is proven right, the cabinet’s credibility will be doubted.”According to
TIME, one of the suspects accused of participating in the Hariri murder said
that the Lebanese authorities know where he lives, adding that if they wanted to
arrest him, “they would have done it a long time ago.”-NOW Lebanon
The cost of revolution /Facts and figures of the Arab
Spring
Aline Sara, August 20, 2011/Pinning down the facts and figures of the now
9-month-old Arab Spring is difficult. In Tunisia, the first of the Arab
countries to have ousted its president, an adequate investigation into the exact
number of victims is lagging, according to Achref Aouadi, who works with the NGO
I-Watch. “There is a lack of accountability and proper transitional justice,” he
says. Unlike former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, currently on trial for his
brutal crackdown on Egypt’s revolution, members of Tunisia’s ruling class are
free and able to access their formerly frozen assets, notes Aouadi. In Egypt,
which is currently dealing with transitional struggles, the government has sent
a fact-finding mission to tally the revolution’s death toll, as there is still
no official count of those who were arrested and disappeared during the
three-week uprising. It is a challenge to find accurate estimates of the numbers
of dead and missing in Libya, now in its fifth month of civil strife, as well as
in Yemen, a failed state with numerous and constantly-warring tribes. “The
Yemeni people are being hit on all sides—by bullets and batons, and by acute
shortages of food, fuel and other basics,” Human Rights Watch’s Letta Tayler
told NOW Lebanon. Though Bahrain’s uprising was crushed in part due to the
military intervention of the Gulf Cooperation Council, minor demonstrations are
still occurring. HRW reported that many people who had engaged in protests had
lost their jobs, in addition to systematic attacks on medical providers tending
to those injured in demonstrations. As for Syria, the government’s media
blackout has not prevented activists both in and out of the country from
tracking the figures. Last week, AVAAZ averaged the rate of disappearances in
Syria at one per hour, and the global organization estimates that since March
15, over 25,000 people have been arrested, many of whom have been tortured.
Twelve thousand are still in custody, it said. With this in mind, NOW Lebanon
has compiled the most reliable statistics on the major uprisings to occur in the
Arab world so far to give readers an idea of the cost of revolution.
Turkey warns ties will worsen without Israeli apology
August 20, 2011 /Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu warned Saturday that
relations with Israel will further deteriorate without an apology over a deadly
2010 flotilla raid.
"There can be no normalization with Israel if Turkey's demands are not met," the
Anatolia news agency quoted him as saying during a visit to South Africa.
Diplomatic ties between Israel and Turkey have been in crisis since Israeli
commandos staged a deadly raid on the international aid flotilla trying to reach
Gaza in defiance of an Israeli naval blockade on the Palestinian territory. Nine
Turkish nationals were killed in the operation, and Turkey says its once-close
relationship with the Jewish state can only be restored with an apology for the
deaths. Until now, Israel has refused. A United Nations report into the flotilla
affair, whose publication has been postponed at least twice this year to allow
time for the two sides to reconcile their differences, was due to be released
soon.Davutoglu said that relations between his country and Israel would only
worsen if an apology was not forthcoming following the report's release.
"Relations will not remain as they are now, they will deteriorate even more...
The current situation cannot be sustained," he said. According to Turkish
diplomats, Ankara could further downgrade its representation in Tel Aviv. It
maintained a charge d'affaires there after recalling its ambassador following
the May 2010 raid.-AFP/NOW Lebanon
March 14 General Secretariat coordinator Fares Soueid: Interview of Hariri
murder suspect is a provocation
August 20, 2011 /March 14 General Secretariat coordinator Fares Soueid said
Saturday that the interview of one of the suspects indicted by the Special
Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), which was published Friday in TIME magazine, aims to
provoke the international community. The aim of the interview is for the suspect
to say “I am here, and no one can stop [me],” Soueid told Akhbar al-Yawm news
agency. He also said that the interview with the suspect is “a huge scandal,”
and called on Prime Minister Najib Mikati “to arrest this suspect, explain the
background of this interview or resign.” Four Hezbollah members have already
been indicted in the 2005 assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri by the
UN-backed STL. However, the Shia group strongly denied the charges and refused
to cooperate with the court. According to TIME, one of the suspects accused of
participating in the Hariri murder said that the Lebanese authorities know where
he lives, adding that if they wanted to arrest him, “they would have done it a
long time ago.” -NOW Lebanon
Lebanese Forces bloc MP George Adwan says electoral law
based on proportionality is “best option”
August 20, 2011/Lebanese Forces bloc MP George Adwan said on Saturday that an
electoral law based on the proportional representation system “is the best
option” for Lebanon.
“Proportionality is the best representation system…it secures diversities’
[rights], although we need a clarification regarding how it will be
implemented,” the MP told LBC television.
He added that Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rai wants Lebanon’s
Christian parties to have a unanimous position regarding a new electoral law.
Christian parties’ representatives met on Friday with Rai at his summer
headquarters in North Lebanon’s Dimane to discuss the suitable electoral law for
a just Christian representation.
The meeting included Rai, Adwan, former Interior Minister Ziad Baroud, Kataeb
bloc MP Sami Gemayel , Change and Reform bloc MP Alain Aoun and Marada Movement
official Youssef Saadeh, along with other political figures and Maronite
Bishops.-NOW Lebanon
Iran
Sentences U.S. Hikers to 8 Years for Spying
Naharnet /Iran has sentenced two American hikers to eight years in prison for
illegally entering the country and spying for a U.S. intelligence agency, state
television said on Saturday.
"According to an informed source with the judiciary, Shane Bauer... and... Josh
Fattal, the two detained American citizens, have been each sentenced to three
years in prison for illegal entry to the Islamic Republic of Iran," the
television reported on its website. It further said the two have been "sentenced
to five years in prison on charges of espionage for the American intelligence
agency," without saying when the verdict had been reached. "The case of Sarah
Shourd, who has been freed on bail, is still open," the report said referring to
the third hiker who is being tried in absentia. The verdict is expected to
further raise tension between Washington and Tehran at a time when the animosity
between the two has deepened under the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The
lawyer for the three Americans, Masoud Shafii, told Agence France Presse that he
had not been informed of any decision since their trial ended on July 31.
According to the report, the two men have 20 days to appeal against the verdict.
Bauer and Fattal, both 29, were arrested along with Shourd, 32, on the unmarked
border between Iran and Iraq on July 31, 2009, with the trio claiming they were
hiking in Iraq's northern province of Kurdistan when they innocently strayed
into the Islamic republic. The last hearing in the case was held behind closed
doors without the presence of Shourd who is being tried in absentia after she
returned to the United States when she was freed on humanitarian and medical
grounds in September 2010, paying bail of around 500,000 dollars. The trio has
pleaded not guilty to spying charges. Shafii had expressed hope for the release
of his clients after Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said on August 6
he hoped the trial of Bauer and Fattal would lead to their "freedom."Salehi also
said the judiciary would announce the verdict in due course for the case which
he added "is being pursued with justice and fairness."
The report on Saturday comes after Iran's Prosecutor General Gholam Hossein
Mohseni Ejeie said last Monday that the verdict of the trial would be issued
"soon."When asked whether there was a possibility of pardoning the three during
the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, which ends late August, he said he had
"not heard such a rumor."Washington has vehemently denied Tehran's charge that
the three are spies and has called on the Islamic republic to release Bauer and
Fattal.
**Source Agence France Presse
Israel has Received 'No Notification' of Egypt Envoy Recall
Naharnet /Israel said on Saturday it had received no official notification from
Egypt that it was recalling its ambassador to Tel Aviv after Egyptian state
television reported that claim earlier in the day."At no time has Israel been
officially notified of a recall of the Egyptian ambassador," foreign ministry
spokesman Yigal Palmor said.
State television said Cairo had decided to recall its ambassador to protest
against the deaths of five of its policemen at the Israeli border on Thursday.
Cairo believes they were killed by Israeli forces pursuing militants who killed
eight Israelis nearby earlier in the day. "Israel deeply regrets the loss of
lives of members of Egyptian security forces" during the attacks on the
Israeli-Egyptian border, said the Israeli spokesman. "We are fully committed in
maintaining the peace agreement with Egypt and in this spirit we will conduct a
joint investigation" into the incident with Egypt, said Palmor. Earlier Israeli
Defense Minister Ehud Barak "regretted" the death of Egyptian policemen. The
deaths of cause the first diplomatic crisis between the two countries since the
fall of the regime of Hosni Mubarak in February. Egypt was the first Arab
country to make peace with Israel, in 1979. In 2000, it called its ambassador to
protest against "excessive use of force" by Israel against the Palestinians
after the outbreak of the second Intifada.**Source Agence France Presse
Geagea Calls for Cabinet Action, Questions Hizbullah
Leadership Role in Hariri Murder
Naharnet /Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea criticized the March 8 forces on
Saturday for discrediting the case against four Hizbullah members in ex-Premier
Rafik Hariri’s murder and hinted that the suspects had acted under orders from
the party leadership. The evidence provided by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon
prosecutor in the indictment draws question marks on the role of Hizbullah,
Syria and Iran in Hariri’s Feb. 2005 assassination, Geagea said at a press
conference he held in Maarab. The government should either convince Hizbullah to
hand over the suspects or with regards to the tribunal it would truly become the
cabinet of Hizbullah, he said. “How would this cabinet continue to survive?” he
wondered. The government includes parties that are accused of involvement in the
assassinations of Hariri and former communist party leader George Hawi and the
murder attempts of ex-Minister Marwan Hamadeh and Elias Murr, Geagea said. The
Hizbullah-led March 8 forces have said that the indictment published by the
international tribunal is only based on circumstantial evidence such as mobile
phone records and analysis. Secretary-General Sayyed Nasrallah also said Israel
bugged the mobile phones of Hizbullah members, allowing it to make false phone
calls, send false text messages and track the users' movements. However, Geagea
ruled out the ability of Israel or the U.S. to manipulate telecom data as
claimed by Hizbullah. Telecom uncovered 90% of Israeli spies, he said. “Had it
(Israel) been able to control the telecom sector it would have protected its
agents.”The indictment is based on circumstantial evidence, documents and
witness accounts, he stressed. The indictment alleges the plot's mastermind is
Mustafa Badreddine, a Hizbullah commander and the suspected bomb maker who blew
up the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983, killing 241 Americans. The other
suspects are Salim Ayyash, also known as Abu Salim; Assad Sabra; and Hassan
Oneissi, who changed his name to Hassan Issa. Geagea wondered whether Badreddine
could have carried out Hariri’s assassination without instructions from anyone.
The indictment confirms that Badreddine didn’t act alone, he said. “How could he
have mobilized 15 to 20 people without the (Hizbullah) leadership’s awareness?”
the LF leader asked. He added that a few people couldn’t have received 2,500
kilograms of TNT without the knowledge of anyone.
Miqati Tasks Qortbawi with Following up TIME Interview with
Hariri Murder Suspect
Naharnet /Premier Najib Miqati has “no comment” on a TIME magazine interview
with one of the four suspects named in the international tribunal indictment,
his sources told An Nahar daily published Saturday. But Miqati tasked Justice
Minister Shakib Qortbawi with following up the issue in accordance with
appropriate legal measures. Qortbawi called General Prosecutor Saeed Mirza
asking him about the allegations of the Hizbullah suspect, said a statement
issued by the minister’s office. Mirza denied that he had any knowledge about
the suspects’ whereabouts, it said. The suspect has said that the Lebanese
authorities would have arrested him if they wanted to. The Special Tribunal for
Lebanon indictment alleges the mastermind in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s
assassination is Mustafa Badreddine. The other suspects are Salim Ayyash, also
known as Abu Salim; Assad Sabra; and Hassan Oneissi, who changed his name to
Hassan Issa. "I don't care about the indictments. Let them come to arrest me,"
the man told TIME in an exclusive interview, which he gave on condition of
anonymity despite having been publicly named by the STL among the four suspects.
STL Assigns Lawyers to Defend Four Suspects
Naharnet /Head of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Defense office Francois Roux
will task a lawyers for each suspect named in the indictment to examine the
charges against them, the Central News Agency reported on Saturday. “Each lawyer
will head a team to build a case to defend the suspects and examine the
indictment and the charges formed against them,” informed sources told the news
agency. The STL on Wednesday unsealed large parts of an indictment accusing four
Lebanese citizens with close ties to Hizbullah in the February 14, 2005 bombing
that killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 21 others in Beirut. However,
the indictment draws extensively on "circumstantial" evidence against Mustafa
Amine Badreddine, Salim Jamil Ayyash, Hussein Hassan Oneissi, and Assad Hassan
Sabra, all of whom remain at large. The sources said: “The lawyers will have all
the legal facilities to complete their cases.” They stressed that the lawyers
will have a certain timeframe to carry out their tasks. “They can ask any
country to cooperate with them to obtain any necessary information, where all
the procedures applied in the court will apply on them,” the sources added. “Any
refusal to cooperate (with the lawyers and their teams) will be considered as
lack of cooperation with the international tribunal,” they remarked. The four
suspects face charges that include conspiracy aimed at committing a terrorist
act and intentional homicide.Hizbullah's leader Hassan Nasrallah has ruled out
the arrest of the four suspects, hinting that the STL was heading for a trial in
absentia.
Hizbullah Says Time Magazine Interview ‘Fabricated’ by STL
Naharnet /Hizbullah denied on Saturday that the Time magazine had interviewed
one of the suspects named in the indictment issued by the Special Tribunal for
Lebanon probing the assassination of ex-Premier Rafiq Hariri. Hizbullah’s media
department issued a statement saying “the Time magazine reporter claimed that he
met a high-ranking source from Hizbullah, then found himself introduced to the
suspect.”“No official from Hizbullah met with the Time magazine reporter… the
report is completely false,” the statement added.It stressed that the report is
“fabricated by the STL.”Time magazine published on Friday an interview with one
of the four Hizbullah members accused of involvement in Hariri’s assassination.
The suspect said that the Lebanese authorities would have arrested him if they
wanted to. Four Hizbullah members have been indicted in the 2005 assassination
of Rafik Hariri by the U.N.-backed STL. Prosecutors have indicted Salim Ayyash,
47, Mustafa Badreddine, 50, Hussein Anaissi, 37 and Assad Sabra, 34, for the
murder. However, the whereabouts of the four are currently unknown.
Hizbullah Criticizes Hariri’s Statement on Time Interview
Naharnet /Hizbullah said on Saturday that Al-Mustaqbal movement leader Saad
Hariri had rushed with his conclusions on the Time interview with one of the
four suspects named in the Special Tribunal for Lebanon indictment.“Hariri
hastened, as his usual habit and the habit of officials (affiliated in his
party), to claim the content of the fabricated and false interview in the Time
magazine,” a statement issued by Hizbullah’s media department said. A man
suspected of killing former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri told the Time
magazine on Friday that the Lebanese government knows his whereabouts and would
have arrested him a long time ago if it could. conclusions and political
assessments are void Hizbullah’s statement added: “He (ex-Premier Saad Hariri)
based his conclusions and political assessmentson misleading reports, which
makes us more convinced that his statements are part of the media fabrication by
the STL to cover up the truth.” Hariri earlier in the day issued a statement on
Saturday condemning Hizbullah over Time magazine’s interview. The STL on
Wednesday unsealed large parts of an indictment accusing four Lebanese citizens
with close ties to Hizbullah in the February 14, 2005 bombing that killed former
Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 21 others in Beirut. However, the indictment
draws extensively on "circumstantial" evidence against Mustafa Amine Badreddine,
Salim Jamil Ayyash, Hussein Hassan Oneissi, and Assad Hassan Sabra, all of whom
remain at large.
Hariri Murder Suspect: Lebanese Authorities Know Where I live
Naharnet /One of the four Hizbullah members accused of involvement in ex-Premier
Rafik Hariri’s assassination has said that the Lebanese authorities would have
arrested him if they wanted to."I don't care about the indictments. Let them
come to arrest me," the man told TIME in an exclusive interview, which he gave
on condition of anonymity despite having been publicly named by the Special
Tribunal for Lebanon among the four suspects. The STL indictment alleges the
plot's mastermind is Mustafa Badreddine, a Hizbullah commander and the suspected
bomb maker who blew up the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983, killing 241
Americans. The other suspects are Salim Ayyash, also known as Abu Salim; Assad
Sabra; and Hassan Oneissi, who changed his name to Hassan Issa. “The Lebanese
authorities know where I live, and if they wanted to arrest me they would have
done it a long time ago. Simply, they cannot,” he said. During a recent
conversation with a Hizbullah source, the TIME reporter found himself introduced
to the suspect who arrived alone aboard a scooter at the home of his Hizbullah
comrade. While discussing the indictments, he revealed his true identity and
confirmed it by showing an old ID card, but agreed to be interviewed only on
condition that neither his nor the location be revealed. The suspect said
Hizbullah would have turned him over from the first day to the so-called
international justice if he was involved in Hariri’s Feb. 14, 2005 assassination
in a suicide truck bombing at the Beirut seafront. Time said that the four
accused Hizbullah men are rumored to be living openly and without fear of arrest
in areas under Hizbullah’s control. When the suspect was asked why he agreed to
the interview, he said: “I want to send a message to the world that I wasn't
involved in the assassination of Rafik Hariri and that all the charges
attributed to me are empty.”
The suspect played down the circumstantial evidence in the indictment such as
mobile phone records. “Everyone knows that the Mossad can manipulate the
cellphone data with the help of spies, and some of the spies were arrested which
gives clear evidence that Israel can manipulate the telecommunications data,” he
said. When asked where he was on the day Hariri was assassinated, the suspect
said: “I was carrying out my (military) work and I cannot reveal where, but I
can prove that I wasn't in the area of (the) Saint George (Hotel), the place of
the assassination, and I was at least an hour-and-a-half away from that
area.”The suspect accused Israel of assassinating Hariri, saying the STL should
“go to Israel which has the first and only interest in the killing of
Hariri.”“Can't you see that the only beneficiary from this assassination is
Israel and its allies?” he asked his interviewer.
Woman in Labor Killed in Road Crash
Naharnet /A woman was killed in a car crash in Nabatiyeh as she was heading to
hospital to give birth, the state-run National News Agency reported Saturday.
It said Fatima Afif Noureddine, 32, died after the Toyota that her husband Staff
Sergeant Wissam Rida Farhat was driving crashed into an electricity pole on the
Hboush-Nabatiyeh road after midnight. Fatima and the baby were killed instantly
while her husband and her 60-year-old mother, Manahel Hilal, were injured, NNA
said.
The three were heading from their town of Arabsalim in Iqlim al-Tuffah to the
state hospital of Nabatiyeh because she was about to give birth, NNA added.
Israel strives to avert Egyptian ambassador's recall. US in
mediation bid
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report August 20, 2011
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak held intensive
consultations Saturday, Aug. 20, on the sudden sharp downturn in relations with
Egypt and ways to prevent its government going through with a decision announced
earlier to recall its ambassador from Israel.Netanyahu contacted the White House
and Barak, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Leon
Panetta. They replied that without an immediate Israeli apology to Cairo, there
was no point in them interceding with Egyptian rulers to reverse their decision.
The defense minister thereupon issued a public statement of Israeli regret for
the deaths of Egyptian policemen in the course of a terrorist attack on the
Israeli-Egyptian border.
He said he had ordered the IDF to investigate the incident and then conduct a
joint probe with the Egyptian military to determine the circumstances of the
incident. Israel attaches the highest importance to its peace accord with Egypt
and its value for Middle East stability, Barak said.By Saturday evening, Cairo
had not responded to this statement or altered its decision to recall the
ambassador. In Cairo meanwhile the Israeli embassy was besieged for the second
day by angry protesters demanding the ambassador's expulsion, while the Egyptian
media carried hostile reports on relations with Israel.
Cairo announced that due to the strained ties, it was suspending talks with
Israel on the resumption of gas supplies at revised prices.
Back now to debkafile's first report on the episode earlier Saturday.
Egypt is to withdraw its ambassador to Israel to protest what it calls "breach
of the peace treaty" over the deaths of five Egyptian security personnel. In its
statement Saturday morning, Aug. 20, Cairo referred to an incident alleged to
have occurred Thursday as Palestinian terrorists coming from Sinai attacked
Israel's Eilat highway.
The cabinet emergency committee meeting in Cairo said: "Egypt will withdraw its
ambassador to Israel until it receives an apology and the results of an official
investigation into the killing of five Egyptian policemen near the border.
Israel will be held responsible for political and legal implications of the
incident which was a violation of the Camp David Treaty."
The second part of the Egyptian statement demanded an Israeli apology for the
"hasty and regrettable statements about Egypt."
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak at the scene of the terrorist attack
commented that it reflected "the weakening of Egypt's hold in the Sinai and the
broadening of activities by terror elements."
He thoughtlessly pointed at Egypt to redirect domestic criticism of the army for
not adequately responding to an intelligence warning of the coming attack, which
left eight Israelis dead and 40 injured.
The Cairo rejoinder: "Egypt will also take protective measures and strengthen
security at the border with the necessary forces capable of deterring alleged
infiltrators as well as responding to any activity by the Israeli military."
This statement contained a direct threat to set aside the decades-long peace
treaty with Israel which mandates the demilitarization of Sinai as a buffer zone
between the two countries.
Angry demonstrations outside the Israeli Embassy in Cairo and other towns were
sparked Friday night by Barak's comment and the testimony of witnesses at the
scene of the deadly multiple Palestinian attack alleging that Egyptian soldiers
on the Sinai side of the border had aimed fire at Israeli targets and terrorists
in Egyptian army uniform were seen near Egyptian military positions just across
the unfenced border.
There were also reports that Egyptian soldiers were attacked and killed by
masked men in Sinai, which is known to be infested with terrorists including al
Qaeda.
But the Egyptian military rulers' step means that Cairo is suspending the Camp
David peace treaty and will not consult Israel as mandated before transferring
as many troops as it likes into Sinai until an Israeli investigation throws full
light on the events that unfolded around Thursday's deadly terrorist attack.
debkafile's Egyptian sources report that Cairo is planning to inject substantial
military strength into the Sinai Peninsula in the coming hours, forcing Israel's
army to confront the Egyptian army on its southwestern border for the first time
in three decades.
This diplomatic misfortune is the direct consequence of a grave misjudgment by
the Israeli military. Despite a timely and specific intelligence warning, the
high command especially in the South failed to take seriously the possibility of
a minor Palestinian terrorist group in Gaza, the Popular Resistance Committees,
mounting what was the most sophisticated, coordinated terror operation Israel
has ever suffered in its long experience of Palestinian violence.
The PRC did more than sow death on a major Israeli highway and disrupt life and
traffic in the whole of its southern region. It has driven cracks in the
Egyptian-Israeli peace which altered the face of the Middle East and held up for
32 years against attempts by most of the Arab world to overturn the epic Camp
David treaty
In Cairo, Alexandria and Suez, the three Egyptian cities in the forefront of the
revolution which toppled Hosni Mubarak, the Muslim Brotherhood organized
anti-Israel rallies Friday and Saturday. The demonstrators shouted that Egyptian
blood would not be spilled in vain and called for a strong reprisal.
The incident is fast becoming an issue in Egypt's presidential campaign among
the Brothers and other contenders.
Israel's decision-makes missed the train badly on Thursday by failing to take
one of two obvious courses:
1. Proposing directly to Egypt's rulers that if indeed Egyptian servicemen were
hit inadvertently during the IDF operation to end the terrorist attack on its
citizens, Israel apologized and would be willing to set up a joint panel with
Egypt to probe the alleged incident and make sure there would be no recurrence.
2. Alternatively, Israel had every reason to be first to lodge a protest – both
with Egypt and the United Nations - after 15-20 heavily armed Palestinian gunmen
laid up for weeks in Egyptian Sinai carried out a series of deadly terrorist
attacks on an Israeli road.
However, our sources report that in the first hours after the attack, the
Israeli government and high command were too bewildered to think clearly and
react rationally.
Now it is too late. Egypt's ruling generals are beyond heeding testimony,
however credible, demonstrating that al Qaeda – not Israeli troops or
helicopters – was responsible for the Egyptian deaths. Egged on by the Muslim
Brotherhood, they have taken the first step on the road to revoking the historic
Camp David peace accords.
They can only be turned back if the United States intercedes and urges them to
think again and abandon this radical and hazardous course.
The battle to defend al-Assad
20/08/2011/By Tariq Alhomayed/ Asharq Al-Awsat
It is clear that the battle to defend the Bashar al-Assad regime has begun in
our region, led by Iran, however what is interesting is that Tehran – until now
– has played all of its cards, except for Hezbollah. We witnessed the Eliat
attack, and the movement along the Gaza front, despite Hamas denying its
involvement. In addition to this, we can add the statements made by [Iraqi Prime
Minister] Nouri al-Maliki and Moqtada al-Sadr, and the escalation carried out by
the Shiite opposition in Bahrain; this is precisely what those affiliated to the
al-Assad regime threatened following Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz’s address
on Syria. However the attempts to ignite the Sinai represent a new development
and a grave danger. This is not to mention the intensification of Kurdish
attacks against Turkey, which may explain Ankara’s reluctance to take a firm
stance against al-Assad until now.
Iran utilizing all of its cards to defend al-Assad – all the while Hezbollah
remains noticeably calm – means that Iran is not confident with regards to the
resilience of the al-Assad regime, not for external reasons, but rather because
of the pressure of the Syrian people. Therefore Iran is today doing the
impossible in order to alleviate the pressure on the al-Assad regime, but
without risking one of its most important tools in the region, namely Hezbollah.
For Iran knows that Israel will not pass up the chance to destroy Hezbollah if
it takes action today along the Lebanese front, despite the Israeli eagerness to
see the survival of the al-Assad regime, which represents its best line of
defense along its Syrian border.
Iran – and also Israel – are both aware that it would be fatal if Hezbollah took
action today, for the Lebanese group has lost a lot of popular support, whether
in Lebanon or the region, after the game has been exposed. The story is no
longer that of there being a moderate camp and a resistance camp, for the
sectarian dimensions of the situation have been made clear; for it is Iran and
the Shiite ruling elite who are standing with al-Assad today, in addition to
those who fall within Iran’s sphere of influence in Iraq, as well as Hezbollah
and the Bahraini Shiite opposition. As for those in Gaza – whoever they might be
– they are nothing more than cards in the “Abu Adas Axis” [in reference to the
Lebanese citizen who appeared in a video allegedly claiming responsibility for
the assassination of Rafik Hariri]. Therefore Hezbollah entering the game at
this stage would only hasten its destruction. As for the opening of an Egyptian
front, this represents a gain for Iran on multiple levels, for it harms Egyptian
stability, and also represents an opportunity to establish Iranian political
influence on Egyptian soil, under the pretext of fighting Israel. Therefore
Tehran has been compensated for Hezbollah’s loss of reputation and popularity in
the Arab world, for Israeli aggression against Egypt – should this occur – will
affect the Arabs far more than it will Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Therefore, we are facing a complex operation that aims to alleviate the pressure
on Bashar al-Assad, and defend him, in light of a clear Turkish failure to pay
back Iran twofold. Tehran today is throwing rocks at the region whilst living in
the proverbial glasshouse, particularly in terms of the Arabs in the Iranian
city of Ahwaz, and elsewhere. What is most important today is for Egypt not to
be dragged into this battle which only serves sectarian interests. As for the
Arabs, it is their mission, particularly the capable amongst them, to confront
Iran on the ground, and not just in speeches, for Tehran is aware that it is
facing a decisive moment in terms of its foreign policy, namely the collapse of
the Bashar al-Assad regime. This is something that would make it easier than at
any time before for the Arabs to clip Iran’s wings in terms of its regional
ambitions.