LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِJuly 13/2011

Bible Quotation for today
Psalms/Chapter 109/1-31: "O God, whom I praise, do not be silent, for wicked and treacherous mouths attack me. They speak against me with lying tongues; with hateful words they surround me, attacking me without cause. In return for my love they slander me, even though I prayed for them. They repay me evil for good, hatred for my love. My enemies say of me: "Find a lying witness, an accuser to stand by his right hand, That he may be judged and found guilty, that his plea may be in vain. May his days be few; may another take his office. May his children be fatherless, his wife, a widow. May his children be vagrant beggars, driven from their hovels. May the usurer snare all he owns, strangers plunder all he earns. May no one treat him kindly or pity his fatherless children. May his posterity be destroyed, his name cease in the next generation. May the LORD remember his fathers' guilt; his mother's sin not be canceled. May their guilt be always before the LORD, till their memory is banished from the earth, For he did not remember to show kindness, but hounded the wretched poor and brought death to the brokenhearted. He loved cursing; may it come upon him; he hated blessing; may none come to him. May cursing clothe him like a robe; may it enter his belly like water, seep into his bones like oil. May it be near as the clothes he wears, as the belt always around him." May the LORD bring all this upon my accusers, upon those who speak evil against me. But you, LORD, my God, deal kindly with me for your name's sake; in your great mercy rescue me. For I am sorely in need; my heart is pierced within me. Like a lengthening shadow I near my end, all but swept away like the locust. My knees totter from fasting; my flesh has wasted away. I have become a mockery to them; when they see me, they shake their heads. Help me, LORD, my God; save me in your kindness. Make them know this is your hand, that you, LORD, have acted. Though they curse, may you bless; shame my foes, that your servant may rejoice. Clothe my accusers with disgrace; make them wear shame like a mantle. I will give fervent thanks to the LORD; before all I will praise my God. For God stands at the right hand of the poor to defend them against unjust accusers.

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
Only timing, trigger unknown in next Hezbollah-Israel war/By Nicholas Blanford/ July 12, 2011
Five years after war, Israel-Lebanon border is quieter than ever/By Amos Harel/July 12/11
The Long Pursuit of Justice in Lebanon/The New York Times/July 12/11
The Assad regime and the wisdom of Muawiyya/By Tariq Alhomayed/July 12/11
Murder of Afghan President's brother parades Taliban capabilities/DEBKAfile/July 12/11
Blockage/Hazem Saghiyeh/July 11/11

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for July 12/11
WikiLeaks: Murr Said Hizbullah Part of Syrian Plot to Kill him/Naharnet
Bellemare hopes Interpol help will facilitate arrests/The Daily Star
STL Announces Applications for Victims Affected by Hariri Assassination/Naharnet
Clinton says Syria's Assad has lost legitimacy/Reuters
Syria accuses Clinton of 'incitement/Now Lebanon
Syria Accuses Clinton of 'Incitement'/Naharnet
France says Syrian leader struggling to hold power/The Daily Star
Iran warns of Israeli, U.S. 'plots' amid Arab world unrest/By Haaretz and DPA
Quiet Holds 5 Years after Israel-Hizbullah War/Naharnet
U.S., France officials slam Syria for failing to protect embassies from attacks/Haaretz
Crowds in Syria Attack US and French Embassies/NYT
STL should be deemed as politicized if proven: Rai/Daily Star
Canada Boycotts UN Conference on Disarmament Under North Korea’s Presidency/Canadian Government
Berri wants top Lebanese Army post for Shiites: report/The Daily Star
Aoun and Jumblat Ministers in Cabinet Confrontation over Corruption File, Wissam al-Hassan/Naharnet
Jumblatt says he opposes severing ties with STL/The Daily Star
Nine Lebanese banks among Top 1,000 banks in the world/The Daily Star
Lebanon's Arabic press digest - July 12, 2011/The Daily Star
Fire destroys Minister Abboud’s plastic factory/The Daily Star
Lebanese press round-up: July 12, 2011/Now Lebanon
Change and Reform bloc leader MP Michel Aoun speaks following his bloc’s weekly meeting/Now Lebanon

WikiLeaks: Murr Said Hizbullah Part of Syrian Plot to Kill him
Naharnet/ Former Defense Minister Elias Murr accused Hizbullah of being part of a Syrian plot to murder him, revealed a leaked U.S. Embassy cable dated November 14, 2005.
The WikiLeaks cable spoke of the then defense minister’s fear that the Hizbullah would adopt a more aggressive position after the release of Detlev Mehlis’ report on the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on December 15, 2005. Murr stressed that the party would seek to create Sunni-Shiite strife in Lebanon at Syria’s behest, adding that he became aware of these plans after intercepting a phone call between Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and As Safir newspaper journalist Ibrahim al-Amin. “Syria still controls a number of terrorist groups in Lebanon, including armed Palestinian ones inside and outside refugee camps, as well as Hizbullah and its army,” he continued.
“Lebanon will not enjoy stability unless real change takes place in Syria,” he stressed.

STL for justice, only politicized if proven to be so: Rai
July 11, 2011/ The Daily Star
BEIRUT: The aim of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon is to achieve justice and should only be deemed as politicized if proven so, the head of the Maronite Catholic Church said Monday.
“Everything in Lebanon is politicized and politics [in Lebanon] spoils everything. From this stems the positions on the court which was established to achieve justice … Until we can prove that the tribunal is politicized, we have to accept the decisions it issues,” Beshara Rai told reporters at Diman, the summer retreat of the Maronite leader in the north.
On June 30 indictments and arrest warrants were issued against four members of Hezbollah by the STL, The Netherlands based court established in 2007 to try those involved in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Lebanon has 30 days to carry out the warrants. Hezbollah has repeatedly denied involvement in the assassination of Hariri and its leader, Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah, has accused it of being part of “American-Israeli project” aimed at targeting the resistance. Nasrallah said the four members of his group would not be apprehended but would be tried in absentia. Commenting on developments in the region, Rai, who held talks with Lebanese Forces MPs Strida Geagea and Elie Kayrouz in Diman, warned that there was a “Sunni-Shiite struggle and Christians should play the role of a bridge and mediator to prevent the escalation in events.”Rai, who succeeded former Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir earlier in the year, questioned the motives behind attacking the credibility of the court and urged that matters relating to justice be separated from politics.
“We are with achieving justice. But some say that the court is politicized. Who among us would accept that the court be politicized or fabricated? We have to separate law from politics. There are people and officials that have been killed and there would be lawlessness and justice will not be served if there were no courts.”

Bellemare hopes Interpol help will facilitate arrests
July 12, 2011
By Patrick Galey/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: The involvement of Interpol in the hunt for the alleged assassins of statesman Rafik Hariri will maximize the chances of apprehending suspects, the office of the prosecutor at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon said Monday. Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare’s spokesperson told The Daily Star international arrest warrants would seek to prevent accused individuals from fleeing the countries in which they reside. “The [STL] Pre-Trial Judge [Daniel Fransen] issued international arrest warrants to expand their reach to all member states of Interpol so that Interpol can help to implement them,” the prosecutor’s spokesperson Gregory Townsend said. “Interpol has an existing coordination and communications network to achieve this.”
The STL issued international arrest warrants over the weekend against those accused of killing Hariri in 2005. Interpol, as an international policing organization, will now transmit information to all states, Lebanon included, that these warrants exist. The warrants were issued “with the request to national police forces that the wanted person be arrested with a view to transfer or extradition,” Townsend said.
Information obtained by The Daily Star suggests that of the individuals named on the court’s first indictment, delivered recently to authorities in Beirut, some are non-Lebanese. Judicial sources indicated that the names of four Hezbollah members were named secretly in the indictment, although it is not clear where the men currently are.
Townsend said warrants would only ask authorities to prevent the wanted individuals from leaving their countries of residence. “International arrest warrants are not concerned with the citizenship of individuals – they are rather concerned with their movements across national borders,” he added. “The office of the prosecutor cannot comment further as [this] relates to a sealed, confidential indictment and relates to ongoing, operational matters.”
Townsend said the warrants were issued with a view to getting suspects indicted to The Hague to stand trial.
“An international arrest warrant calls on all states to apprehend the accused. Upon arrest, the tribunal will request the authorities of the state of arrest and to transfer the accused to the custody of the tribunal in The Netherlands,” he said.
The STL is allowed by mandate to try individuals in absentia if suspects cannot be located in a timely manner.
Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah has vowed that party members would not be apprehended, raising the possibility of in-absentia proceedings. The court may choose to start such trials when or if authorities prove unable or unwilling to arrest the accused. However, Townsend said that the warrants would remain valid even after trial for as long as a suspect remains at large.“An arrest warrant remains valid even upon the start of a trial in absentia. Only the tribunal can revoke or quash tribunal-issued arrest warrants,” he said. “Arrest warrants are not subject to a time limitation.”Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb military commander accused by an international tribunal of war crimes was arrested recently on a warrant dating back to 1995. A similar denouement could therefore occur with Hariri suspects, well after their trials.

STL welcomes victims to join legal proceedings
July 12, 2011 /People harmed in the attack that killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri can join the legal proceedings, the tribunal investigating the 2005 killing said Tuesday.
"Individuals who have suffered physical, mental or material harm can apply to participate in the proceedings as victims," the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) said in a statement.
"Through this process the voices of victims will be heard," it said. "They will be able to fully participate in the trial before the tribunal."
After a request, submitted on a form available on the tribunal's website, is accepted "the victim is entitled to a number of rights similar to those of the prosecution and the defense," said the tribunal. Unless judges decide otherwise, victims must be assisted by a lawyer and expenses linked to the representation by a legal counsel can be paid by the tribunal.
Under tribunal statutes no damages are paid but if a suspect is convicted victims may ask to be compensated by national jurisdictions. The UN-backed court last month issued a long-awaited indictment and arrest warrants for Hariri's murder, naming four Hezbollah members. Their whereabouts are unknown.-AFP/NOW Lebanon

Clinton says Syria's Assad has lost legitimacy
12/07/2011
WASHINGTON/AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has lost legitimacy and is "not indispensable," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Monday as tension soared over an assault by Assad loyalists on the U.S. and French embassies in Damascus. Clinton condemned the Syrian attacks and said Washington did not believe the long-time Syrian ruler would follow through on his promises to reform in the face of escalating protests against his rule."From our perspective, he has lost legitimacy, he has failed to deliver on the promises he's made, he has sought and accepted aid from the Iranians as to how to repress his own people," Clinton told reporters in an appearance with European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton in Washington. Clinton's comments marked a significant sharpening of U.S. rhetoric on Assad, whose security forces have waged an increasingly brutal crackdown against protesters inspired by pro-democracy movements elsewhere in the Arab world.
Several Assad loyalists broke into the U.S. embassy in Damascus on Monday and security guards used live ammunition to prevent hundreds from storming the French embassy, Western diplomats in the Syrian capital said. They said the attackers tore down U.S. embassy plaques and tried to break security glass in protests fueled by the government against a visit by U.S. and French ambassadors to the city of Hama, focus of protests against Assad's rule.One of the diplomats said: "This is a violent escalation by the regime. You do not bring busloads of thugs into central Damascus from the coast without its consent."
A French foreign ministry official said the Syrian authorities had done nothing to stop the assault.
"(France) reminds (Syria) that it is not with such illegal methods that the authorities in Damascus will turn the attention away from the fundamental problem, which is to stop the repression of the Syrian population and to launch democratic reform," foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said. France has led Western attempts to pass a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Syria's hierarchy for cracking down on protesters. It says the president has lost legitimacy because of the number of killings to try to quell the protests demanding political freedoms after 41 years of Assad family rule. "Four buses full of shabbiha (Alawite militia loyal to Assad) came from Tartous. They used a battering ram to try to break into the main door," a resident of Afif, the old district where the French embassy is located, told Reuters by telephone.
The United States, which sees Syria as a fragile but crucial element of any lasting Middle East peace equation, had been reluctant to take that step, but Clinton's comments on Monday indicated Washington's patience had run out. "If anyone, including President Assad, thinks that the United States is secretly hoping that the regime will emerge from this turmoil to continue its brutality and repression, they are wrong," Clinton said. "President Assad is not indispensable and we have absolutely nothing invested in him remaining in power."
The United States condemned Syria for "refusing" to protect the embassy from an assault it said had been encouraged by a pro-government television station, and called in a senior Syrian diplomat to deliver a formal complaint.
EMBOLDENED OPPOSITION
Human rights groups say at least 1,400 civilians have been killed since an uprising began in March against Assad's autocratic rule, posing the biggest threat to his leadership since he succeeded his father 11 years ago.
Assad loyalists also attempted to attack the U.S. ambassador's residence in Damascus on Monday after assaulting the embassy compound but failed to gain entry.
A businessman whose office overlooks the residence said about 50 youths carrying posters of Assad on sticks stopped traffic and started smashing two U.S. embassy cars parked outside with sticks and climbing the walls of the compound.
"One of them stole the headlights as if they were war spoils. The street was full of secret police and military intelligence personnel. They stood just looking and some joined the thugs in shouting abuse directed against the ambassador," the Syrian businessman said.
A U.S. official said U.S. Ambassador Robert Ford was at the embassy compound when the assaults occurred, not at the residence several blocks away.
Emboldened by the spreading demonstrations, leading Syrian opposition figure Haitham al-Maleh said an opposition conference in Damascus later this month would form a shadow government of "independent, non-political technocrats" to prepare for when Assad loses authority.
The former judge was among 50 leading opposition figures who refused to accept Assad's invitation to enter what the authorities termed a 'national dialogue' that mostly brought handpicked Assad supporters. He issued a statement earlier this month announcing plans for a "National Salvation" government.
Maleh said the conference would take place in Damascus on July 16 and would choose the shadow ministers.
"It won't be an actual government, it will be a shadow government. It will be a regional government. Each minister will operate as a leading figure for his region," Maleh said.
Its aim would be to guide opposition movements and anti-Assad protests, and ensure the country had an alternative administration ready for what Maleh said he saw as Assad's inevitable removal. While using military assaults in towns and cities to try to crush the protests, Assad has also called for talks on reforms. But the opposition refused to attend a two-day conference in the capital this week, saying it was futile as long as violence continued. Mostly Assad supporters were taking part.
Vice President Farouq al-Shara, whose role is ceremonial, told the conference's opening ceremony on Sunday the authorities would 'turn the page', hinting that political parties other than the ruling Baath party would be allowed to operate. In other violence on Monday, security forces killed one civilian and wounded 20 in machinegun fire on Homs, Syria's third city, and went house-to-house arresting suspected opponents in Hama, human rights activists said. Mostafa Abdelrahman, a preacher at a mosque in Hama, met Assad on Sunday to demand the release of 1,000 political prisoners and offer to remove makeshift roadblocks if given guarantees there would be no more assaults, they added.

Syria accuses Clinton of 'incitement'
July 12, 2011/Syria on Tuesday accused US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of "incitement" after she said President Bashar al-Assad has lost legitimacy and the right to remain in power.
"Syria vigorously condemns the remarks of the US secretary of state that amount to further proof of the flagrant interference of the United States in the internal affairs of Syria," the foreign ministry said in a statement. "These remarks are an act of incitement aimed at continuing the internal crisis and for objectives which do not serve the interests of the Syrian people or their legitimate ambitions," it said. Clinton said on Monday, after the French and US embassies in Damascus were targeted in angry pro-regime demonstrations, that Assad had "lost legitimacy," four months into a deadly revolt against his regime. "President Assad is not indispensable and we have absolutely nothing invested in him ... remaining in power," the secretary of state said. "From our perspective, he has lost legitimacy. Syria's foreign ministry stressed that ties were now in crisis. "The political leadership (of Syria) does not draw its legitimacy from the United States but solely from the will of the Syrian people who express their support and backing each day for the leadership" and its proposed reforms, it said. Syria expects the United States "to respect this principle and abstain from behavior that is liable to provoke the sentiments of Syrians and their attachment to their national independence.AFP/NOW Lebanon

France says Syrian leader struggling to hold power
July 12, 201/By Zeina Karam/Daily Star
BEIRUT: France’s prime minister said Tuesday the attacks by pro-government demonstrators on the U.S. and French embassies in Damascus show President Bashar Assad’s hold on power is slipping. Speaking on Europe-1 radio, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said Monday’s attacks show that “each passing day makes it more and more difficult” for the authoritarian leader to remain in power. Mobs smashed windows and spray-painted obscenities and graffiti on the walls of both embassies Monday to protest visits last week by the American and French ambassadors to Hama, an opposition stronghold in central Syria. Three French Embassy workers were injured in the melee, the French Foreign Ministry said.
Syrian authorities called the ambassadors’ visits to Hama interference in the country’s internal affairs and accused the envoys of undermining Syria’s stability.
Police Tuesday beefed up their presence outside both missions in the capital, Damascus. At the French embassy, workers were cleaning the walls outside and painting over red graffiti.
The U.S. and France accused Syrian forces of being too slow to respond to the violence and demanded the government abide by its international obligations to protect diplomatic missions. The U.S. formally protested, calling the attacks “outrageous,” and saying protesters were incited by a television station heavily influenced by Syrian authorities.
Assad has been trying to contain a four-month-old uprising that has posed the gravest challenge to his family’s 40-year dynasty in Syria, one of the most tightly controlled countries in the Middle East. He has tried to crush the unrest using a mixture of brute force and promises of reform, but the uprising has only grown more defiant. Enraged by a government crackdown that activists say has killed some 1,600 people – most of the unarmed activists – the protest movement is now calling for nothing less than the downfall of the regime.
The crackdown has led to international condemnation and sanctions.
In some of her harshest criticism yet, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Assad had “lost legitimacy” and was “not indispensable,” but stopped short of calling on him to step down. Syria’s Foreign Ministry lashed back, saying Clinton’s comments are “additional evidence about the United States’ flagrant intervention in Syria’s internal affairs.” Also Tuesday, France urged the United Nations Security Council to take action on Syria.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said France was trying to convince the Russians in particular “that it is not acceptable for the Security Council to allow what’s happening in Syria to happen without reacting.” China and Russia are seen as blocking the adoption of a U.N. resolution against Syria.

Berri wants top Lebanese Army post for Shiites: report
July 12, 2011/ The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has reportedly requested that the Lebanese Army commander post, which is traditionally allocated to a Maronite Christian, be given to a Shiite.
Berri’s proposal was made during talks with Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun, Al-Liwaa newspaper reported Tuesday.
It said Berri pointed out to Aoun that there are three top security positions in Lebanon – army commander, and the heads of General Security and the Internal Security Forces.
Berri reportedly suggested to Aoun that he was willing to give the General Security post to a Maronite in return for the army commander position, currently headed by Gen. Jean Kahwaji.
When contacted by The Daily Star, Berri’s office declined to comment on the report.
Al-Liwaa, citing ministerial sources, ruled out the possibility that Brig. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim could be appointed General Security chief. Ibrahim, who is currently deputy army intelligence chief, was recently suggested for the post by Hezbollah. Al-Liwaa reported that Berri, had also rejected the appointment.
Meanwhile, Deputy Speaker Farid Makari said it was a mistake to give the General Security post to a Shiite and called for “fixing the error.”
“We should fix the error of the previous years that resulted in giving the General Security director general post to the Shiite community, and return it to Christians, as was the case in the past," Makari said in a statement issued Tuesday.
Makari, a Greek Orthodox himself, stressed that the “appointment of a Greek Orthodox to the post of General Security director general would be giving the Greek Orthodox sect an equal opportunity given that it had been excluded from leadership positions in recent years.”

Jumblatt says he opposes severing ties with STL
July 12, 2011
By Wassim Mroueh The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt said Monday it was a “mistake” to confront the international community by severing Lebanon’s ties with the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, adding that justice, which he linked to stability, could be postponed.
“It will be a big mistake if we [Lebanon] cut ties with the tribunal, halt funding the body and withdraw Lebanese judges, the tribunal is functioning with or without us,” Jumblatt said in a televised interview.
The PSP leader called for holding a conference for reconciliation between the Future Movement and Hezbollah. “Is there a way for holding a conference or a meeting for reconciliation, transparency or maybe forgiving?”
Jumblatt, who called upon former Prime Minister Saad Hariri to talk with Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah and Speaker Nabih Berri, voiced his fear that the STL would be used by western and regional powers to crush Hezbollah. “I am afraid that this will lead to strife.”
“Why won’t any individual feel suspicious about the tribunal when all its secrets are leaked?” Jumblatt asked.
The STL, established by the U.N. to try the assassins of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and others issued its indictment and arrest warrants against four Hezbollah members on June 30.
Hezbollah has over a year dismissed the court as an “Israeli project” targeting the resistance. The party had repeatedly denied any involvement in the assassination. Following the release of the indictment, Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah refused to hand the indicted members, saying no one could reach them even after “300 years.”
“I am against this language, Nasrallah should tell them present me with evidence you have.”
Addressing MP Bahia Hariri, the sister of late Rafik Hariri, Jumblatt said that “it is right that tons of hatred have killed Rafik Hariri, but now the indictment was released and I have to warn that there might be a bigger gap that would incite more hatred.”
“There are two types of justice, that of international tribunals that might be affected by states’ interests, and there is the justice of fate, I believe in the justice of fate,” he said.
“No right could be lost and justice could be postponed, the tribunal is for achieving justice but I link justice to stability,” Jumblatt said.
The PSP chief said that the policy statement of Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s Cabinet was clear in its commitment and respect of international resolutions.
“There is a campaign to take Prime Minister Mikati away from his nationalism and consider him not a Sunni,” he said.
“Before Mikati, someone had minimum accepted to contain the repercussions of the indictment,” he added.
Jumblatt called upon Lebanese factions to resume dialogue to tackle thorny issues, and especially Hezbollah’s arms.
“You have to sit with a fundamental component in Lebanon [Hezbollah] and engage in dialogue [to reach a solution for the arms],” he said.
“The issue of arms should be discussed quietly and is aimed at Israel,” Jumblatt said.
As for the unrest in Syria, Jumblatt highlighted the significance of the dialogue conference which was held Sunday in Damascus, stressing the need for reform in Syria

The Long Pursuit of Justice in Lebanon
Published: July 11, 2011
The New York Times
An international tribunal has called on Lebanon’s government to arrest four suspects indicted in the 2005 car-bomb killing of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 21 others. All four of the accused are members of Hezbollah, the militant Shiite movement whose cynical mix of politics and armed intimidation helped bring Prime Minister Najib Mikati to power.
Carrying out these arrests will require extraordinary political courage. Failure to do so would cost Lebanon dearly, threatening its civil peace and leaving no doubt that the real powers in Lebanon are Hezbollah and its backers in Syria.
The reverberations of Mr. Hariri’s murder have rocked Lebanon for the past six years, threatening its recovery from the disastrous 1975-1990 civil war. Mr. Hariri was a symbol of that recovery. Popular fury over his killing helped force out Syrian occupation troops. But the failure to bring his killers to justice has revived the bitter mistrust among Lebanon’s main confessional groups — Sunnis, Shiites, Christians and Druse — opening the way for Hezbollah’s alarming rise.
Other countries have important roles to play in urging Mr. Mikati to turn over the indicted suspects. That goes especially for members of the United Nations Security Council, whose authority stands behind the international tribunal. The United States, the European Union and Russia have issued helpful statements. Saudi Arabia and Egypt have spoken less emphatically. All need to raise their voices in the weeks ahead.
Lebanon has until early August to arrest the four men. If it does not, the international tribunal has the authority to try them in absentia. If convicted, they would become international outlaws, subject to future arrest and punishment. Any Lebanese government that continued to shelter them could be subjected to international sanctions, including suspensions of economic assistance. Lebanon should do its duty now, and arrest the four indicted suspects and turn them over to the tribunal.

Five years after war, Israel-Lebanon border is quieter than ever
Hezbollah has not made a single aggressive move since the war ended five years ago, but the deterrence established in that conflict may not be the only reason.
By Amos Harel /Haaretz
Only a few hundred meters separate an Israel Defense Forces post on the northern end of Kibbutz Misgav Am from the main road of the Lebanese town of Al-Adisa. Last August, this was the scene of the worst border incident since the end of the Second Lebanon War: Lieutenant Colonel Dov Harari, commander of a reserves battalion, was killed by a Lebanese army sniper. The IDF retaliated with a massive strike on Lebanese positions, killing several soldiers.
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Today, July 12, is the fifth anniversary of the war's outbreak. The incident in which Lt. Col Harari was killed is the exception that proves the rule. It was preceded by local tension over Israel's insistence on exercising its sovereignty "down to the last millimeter," based on one of the war's lessons. Before the war, Israel had given up access to small enclaves that were supposed to remain under its control but stayed on the Lebanese side of the border fence after the IDF's 2000 withdrawal.
The Lebanese, for their part, saw a limited IDF attempt to clear vegetation from the fence as a challenge to their sovereignty. A Lebanese intelligence officer incited the troops on the other side and his soldiers opened fire, killing the Israeli officer.
But since that killing, the Lebanese army is doing all it can to keep the border calm. The Shia commander of the Ninth Division, which killed Harari, was reassigned. The Lebanese army and UNIFIL have reinforced their border presence. During the Nakba Day protests in May, Lebanese soldiers went as far as using life fire to drive demonstrators away from the fence.
Hezbollah monitoring IDF
Visiting the border this week, you could see UN soldiers next to a huge road sign bearing the face of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, a short distance from a Lebanese Army checkpoint. On the hill above them was a luxurious black SUV with civilian license plates. It appeared to be Hezbollah members monitoring an IDF patrol on the other side of the fence.
"What may seem as petty insistence to enter every meter of Israeli territory sends a sharp message to the other side," said a senior officer in the 91st division, which is in charge of the border. "I served here before the war, and looking back, I'm ashamed at how we conducted ourselves. At the time we would tell soldiers our goal was to create no targets for Hezbollah abductions. There's been a tremendous psychological shift in our border activity since."
Hezbollah's behavior is no less interesting. Military Intelligence asserts that the organization had nothing to do with the sniping incident last year, and that moreover, Hezbollah has not made an aggressive move at Israel since the war. In the six incidents of Katyusha rocket fire on the Galilee - which wounded one person - those responsible were Sunni groups inspired by Al-Qaida, not Hezbollah.
Five years later, Lebanon is one of Israel's quietest borders. For the first time in 40 years, Kiryat Shmona first-graders never will have experienced sirens or Katyushas, said former Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi. The IDF believes that its blow to Lebanon and Hezbollah, as well as the recent turmoil in the Arab world, reduce the chances of a flare-up on the Lebanese front in the near future.
The quiet in the north is the main defensive argument of the war's commanders - then-Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, then-Defense Minister Amir Peretz and then Chief of Staff Dan Halutz, as well as the officers. The longer the quiet lasts, the stronger Israel's deterrence seems and the more we are inclined to forgive the mistakes of that summer.
But the quiet is partly due to developments in the Arab world: Syrian President Bashar Assad is concerned mostly with outlasting his opponents, while Hezbollah is tied up in internal disputes. Even though it effectively controls the new Lebanese cabinet, the organization is concerned by the Hague's indictment of four members for allegedly assassinating former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri.
Is that enough to retroactively legitimize the moves of the IDF and the Israeli government? Former Air Force commander Maj. Gen. (res. ) Eitan Ben Eliyahu wouldn't hear of it.
"That war was an unforgivable scandal because of how it was managed and especially because the actual war was justified," he said. "It's dangerous to use the quiet to blur the war's conclusions. Let's see what Hezbollah achieved: Nasrallah ordered an abduction in order to force Israel to carry out a prisoner swap, and he was 100 percent successful. Hezbollah wanted to harm Israel's strong image and succeeded there as well. It has since equipped itself with tens of thousands of missiles and completely took over South Lebanon. The war was a stunning success for Hezbollah and a bitter failure for us."
Since the war, the IDF has worked hard to fix its weaknesses, including intelligence, ground forces and home front preparedness. It can be seen as a tactical failure that brought about a partial strategic success, in terms of the quiet.
Hezbollah's situation is more complex than Ben Eliyahu's comments would suggest. It's true the organization tripled its rocket arsenal and improved its quality, but its decision to move the launchers and dumps from open grounds into the villages may yet backfire in the case of war - if Israel responds strongly, this could wreak havoc on Hezbollah's political base.

Murder of Afghan President's brother parades Taliban capabilities
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report
July 12, 2011,
Tuesday July 12, the day French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrived for an unannounced visit to Afghanistan and stated that a quarter of France's 4,000-strong contingent would be pulled out by the end of 2012, Afghan President Hamid Karzai's younger half-brother, Kandahar strongman Ahmad Wali, was shot dead by a bodyguard at his home.
This was no coincidence, debkafile's military and intelligence sources note: It was Taliban's way of refuting once again the accounts of the situation in Afghanistan presented by US, British and French leaders after more than a decade of relentless warfare as having little resemblance to reality. This was the object of four insurgent terrorist attacks in the two weeks since June 28, as demonstrated by the following six points:
1. America's signal feat in wiping out the al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Abbotsville, Pakistan on May 2 has very little bearing on the Afghan war because US intelligence has not made comparable progress in piercing the Afghan insurgents' inner counsels.
2. Taliban, in contrast, has attained a superior ability to plumb secret US and NATO (ISFA) moves.
3. On June 28, the insurgents struck one of the most heavily-guarded sites in the country, the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul: Between 7 and 10 gunmen, some with bomb vests, and a bomb car, made their way past check posts and security inspections into the hotel, captured the building and killed several senior Afghan security officers preparing to attend a secret security conference the following day. This conference was to discuss the handover of seven areas including three provinces to the Afghan national security forces (ANSF) in the coming days.
Afghan security forces in several hours of combat failed to dislodge the Taliban fighters. In the end US attack helicopters were called in. By targeting the gunmen from above, the helicopter shooters ended the hotel siege.
By this incident, the Afghan army and police showed they are nowhere near ready to shoulder the burdens of security in the absence of foreign forces. Taliban for its part demonstrated the futility of US and NATO leaders discussing timetables for the security handover to President Karzai's regime because the insurgents were fully capable of derailing them.
4. A week after the hotel attack, British Prime Minister David Cameron arrived at Lashgar Gah, the British base in the southern province of Helmund. The date of his arrival, like those of other Western leaders' visits to this country, was kept secret. Nonetheless, a few hours before he landed, Taliban abducted a British soldier from that base and murdered him.
According to debkafile's sources, Taliban chose to prove by this act that it was in possession of top British secrets like Cameron's movements and that its combatants were able to make free of British bases at any time for terrorist attacks. The British government was meant to infer that it would be best advised to remove its forces from Afghanistan with all possible speed.
Cameron used the visit to announce that British forces faced "two more fighting seasons." In the face of evidence to the contrary, he also said the campaign against the Taliban in the Helmand province was having "success" and the transition to Afghani security control was "on track."
5. Saturday, July 9, three days after Leon Panetta moved from the CIA to the Pentagon, the new defense secretary paid his first unannounced visit to Afghanistan. As he landed in Kabul, one of the bodyguards of a high-ranking deputy of Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security opened fire on a group of US military advisers and killed two of them.
Here, too, the Taliban was directing a clear message to Washington: There was no way Afghans would be ready to take over the burdens of security and enable a US military drawdown in 2014. 6. Tuesday, June 12, French President Sarkozy was handed the same message in yet another deadly wrapping: The assassination of President Karzai's brother. This time, Taliban was demonstrating that no top member of the Karzai regime would ever be safe – even in his home, and that a single targeted murder could undo two years of strenuous US, British and Canadian efforts to draw even one stable front line against Taliban in South Afghanistan.

Iran warns of Israeli, U.S. 'plots' amid Arab world unrest
By Haaretz and DPA
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has warned Turkey of "plots" by the United States and Israel in the ongoing unrest in the Arabic world, the ISNA news agency reported Tuesday.
"We should be careful not to follow the U.S. plans and plots as all the Americans are after is their own economic interests and saving the Zionist regime (Israel)," Ahmadinejad was quoted as having told Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in a meeting late Monday.
Davutoglu was in Tehran to discuss the latest developments in the Arab world and Syria in particular. Syria is a strategic partner of Iran and its main ally against Israel.
"All states should try their best in limiting the activities of the Zionist regime (Israel) as otherwise they would commit political suicide," Ahmadinejad said.
With the exception of Syria, where it supports the government of Bashar Assad, Tehran has sided with protesters in the Arab world.
Davutoglu was quoted by ISNA as saying that the Islamic world was "going through a special crisis" and Iran and Turkey therefore had a "heavy responsibility."
Davutoglu and his Iranian counterpart Ali Akbar Salehi earlier called for closer cooperation with Damascus to help bring an end to the unrest.
Meanwhile, Iran's foreign minister said on Tuesday he had held "very fruitful" talks with U.N. nuclear chief Yukiya Amano and that the two sides had agreed to work together to help resolve outstanding issues.
Foreign Minister Salehi said "very positive" conclusions were reached at the meeting with Amano, who has repeatedly urged Iran to step up cooperation with his agency to help address international concerns about Tehran's nuclear work.
"Both sides have promised that their experts will sit together and think of a new mechanism... of continuing our work vis-a-vis this issue," Salehi told reporters after the meeting at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna. Western powers suspect Iran is seeking to develop a nuclear weapons capability while Tehran rejects the charge, saying its nuclear program is aimed at generating electricity. Iran announced last month it would shift its production of higher-grade uranium to an underground bunker and triple output capacity in a defiant move that further fueled Western unease about Tehran's intentions. Iran's refusal to halt enrichment has led to four rounds of U.N. sanctions on the major oil producer, as well tighter U.S. and European Union restrictions. Salehi said, without giving details: "We have promised each other to keep our consultations and think of an innovative way of doing business with each other, work with each other, so that we are able to resolve this issue."

U.S., France officials slam Syria for failing to protect embassies from attacks
By Natasha Mozgovaya
U.S. and French officials slammed the Syrian government for failing to protect their countries’ diplomats Monday, following attacks by Assad loyalists on U.S. and French embassies in Damascus. A U.S. State Department statement confirmed that both the embassy as well as the Chief of Mission residence were attacked, adding that no staff were injured or in imminent danger, however the embassy itself sustained damage
Earlier Monday protesters loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad broke into the U.S. embassy compound in Damascus, and attempted to break into the French embassy as well, where guards opened live fire on protesters to prevent them from entering the compound. Syrian security did nothing to stop the attack, and three French nationals were wounded in the fray.
U.S. officials had asked that Syria increase security to protect embassy workers following two days of violent demonstrations in front of the embassy on Friday and Saturday, but to no avail.
"The Syrian authorities were slow to respond with the extra security measures that were needed", a U.S. official said Monday, adding that “the Syrian government has assured us that it will provide the protection required under the Vienna Convention, and we expect it to do so.”
The Vienna Convention mandates that a government protect diplomatic facilities. The official spoke out against Syrian authorities, saying that “on this, as in other areas such as protection of human rights, the Syrian government failed.”
The official condemned the Syrian government for failing to protect the U.S. embassy, demanding compensation for damages, calling on it to fulfill its obligations to its citizens as well.
We strongly condemn the Syrian government's refusal to protect our embassy, and demand compensation for damages. We call on the Syrian government to fulfill its obligations to its own citizens as well".
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland condemned Syria’s handling of the situation as well, discussing the ruckus over the weekend in which vegetables and other things were thrown at the embassy and its workers. The Syrian Foreign Minister pledged to U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford that he would do a better job protecting American diplomats, a promise Nuland said he clearly did not make good on.
Nuland discussed the extent of the damage to the embassy, saying there were close to 300 protesters around the building at the height of the incident.
“Our main concern here,” Nuland said, “is that the Syrian government, rather than dealing with its own internal problems, and rather than addressing the grievances of its own people, is seeking to make distractions around our embassy.”
The French Foreign Ministry issued a statement Monday in a similar vein, slamming the Syrian government for doing nothing to stop the attack on its diplomats.
The statement said the attack was executed by “well-organized groups under the eyes of Syrian security forces, who were clearly not in a hurry to halt the violence”.
The ministry accused protesters of using a battering ram in an attempt to break down the doors of the French diplomatic mission, breaking windows, wounded three employees and destroying the French ambassador’s car.
The statement called the Syrian security forces’ failure to act on their diplomats’ behalf calling it a “flagrant breach of Syria’s obligations under international law”.
It then accused authorities in Damascus of attempting to distract attention from the “fundamental problem, which remains the end of the crackdown against the Syrian population and the implementation of democratic reforms”.

The Assad regime and the wisdom of Muawiyya!
11/07/2011
By Tariq Alhomayed/Asharq Al-Awsat
Bouthaina Shaaban, advisor to Syrian President Bashar al Assad, appeared on the BBC and attacked the US and its ambassador to Damascus, following his recent visit to Hama. However, Shaaban then added, “Syria does not want to cut Muawiyya's hair with the US administration!”
Glory be to God! Is the Syrian regime – a close ally of Iran – only now remembering the wisdom of Muawiyya? Has Muawiyya's wisdom only now become an objective for the Assad regime, which has not missed a single opportunity to eradicate the features of Muawiyya, and others, from the history of Syria? If the regime and the president's advisors truly understood the wisdom of Muawiyya and his famous dictum that reads “even if there is one hair binding me to my people, it will not break; when they pull, I will loosen, and if they loosen, I will pull,” then the regime would not have cut the binding hair between it and its defenceless people, who demanded nothing but their rights to be respected and to be protected. Moreover, if the regime understood the wisdom of Muawiyya's hair, then it would not have killed approximately 72 Syrian children!
If the regime truly believed in Muawiyya's dictum, then the people of Hama would have enjoyed the protection of the Syrian security services, rather than the American ambassador. One of our readers was absolutely correct when he commented on the Syrian regime on our website, in response to the news that the regime had criticised the American ambassador for visiting Hama: “Isn't this the ambassador who [Syria] worked hard to reinstate to Damascus? Isn't this the ambassador who Obama sent, bypassing Congress?” Then the reader added, “It seems that the magic has turned on the magician!”
The problem for the Syrian regime is that it is dealing with its domestic situation using the same methods it has used over the past four decades i.e. tricks and promises. Moreover, the regime is dealing with the Syrians today using the same methods that it used, and still uses, in Lebanon and in the wider region: promises, blackmail, deception and shuffling the cards. The Syrian regime has never shown to have honoured a promise except in one rare case, namely [achieving] calm on the Syrian-Israeli borders. When the regime wanted to break that promise (when it sent Palestinians to the border a few weeks ago) it gave a semi-notification to the Israelis through Rami Makhlouf, who said that Israel would not be secure unless Syria is secure. Apart from this case, Damascus, over the past ten years in particular, has not fulfilled the promises it made internally or externally!
It is sad that Damascus, and of course Syria as a whole, is rich in history, experience and intellect, which could make the country more civilised, more humane and merciful towards it citizens, and more rational politically like Muawiyya Ibn Abi Sufyan and not Bouthaina Shaaban. However, the regime has opted to make Syria just another tale of torture and repression in our modern history! There is a striking difference in outlook and appearance between the few defending the Assad regime in the Western media today and those protesting against it, and that is another story altogether...but what I want to say here is that if the regime truly understood the wisdom of Muawiyya, then Syria and the Syrians would not have reached the state they are in today, and the Syrians would not have sought protection in the US ambassador, especially as they were wholeheartedly against America when it occupied Iraq. Today however they are throwing flowers at the US ambassador in their own country. It really is astonishing how things change!

Only timing, trigger unknown in next Hezbollah-Israel war
July 12, 2011
By Nicholas Blanford/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Five years ago Tuesday, a squad of Hezbollah fighters penetrated the border with Israel and blasted two Israeli army Humvees with rocket-propelled grenades and machine-gun fire, snatching two of the soldiers and killing another three.
Within hours, five more Israeli soldiers were dead, four of them the crew of a Merkava tank that was completely destroyed when it hit a massive bellycharge inside Lebanese territory.
Israel had suffered its highest single day fatality toll in Lebanon since the bungled naval commando raid in Ansarieh in September 1997.
Hezbollah believed it had mounted a highly successful kidnapping operation and was looking forward to negotiations with Israel to secure the release of Lebanese and Arab detainees. But Ehud Olmert, the then Israeli prime minister, decided instead to launch a war.
As Hezbollah miscalculated the response of the Israeli government to the kidnapping operation, so Israel misjudged the enemy it faced in south Lebanon. In the six years between Israel’s troop withdrawal from south Lebanon in 2000 and the outbreak of war, Hezbollah had evolved from a fluid guerrilla group skilled in hit-and-run operations into a crack infantry brigade that had learned how to control and defend ground and was armed with weapons and communications systems that would not look out of place in a medium-sized European army.
During the same period, the Israeli Army’s main focus was on suppressing the Al-Aqsa intifada where the enemy consisted of disorganized gunmen, suicide bombers and stone-throwing children. When Israeli troops were sent into south Lebanon in 2006, the vast majority simply were not trained to cope with a determined enemy that fired back and operated from hidden bunkers and tunnels.
Hezbollah today is described by military analysts as a “hybrid force” – a nonstate military group simultaneously employing both irregular and conventional weapons and tactics. The U.S. has shown particular interest in how Hezbollah fought the war, assessing that hybrid-style forces may present a challenge to its forces in the years ahead.
“The conflict … that intrigues me most, and I think speaks more toward what we can expect in the decades ahead, is the one that happened in Lebanon in the summer of 2006,” said General George Casey in May 2009 when he was U.S. army chief of staff.
The war ended inconclusively after a month of fighting. Hezbollah celebrated a “divine victory” over Israel, but it came at the cost of yielding the southern border district to the Lebanese Army and a strengthened UNIFIL.
Since then, Hezbollah has established new lines of defense, recruited and trained thousands of new fighters, devised fresh battle tactics and augmented its arsenal with guided rockets capable of striking almost any target in Israel. In a series of speeches over the past three years, Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s secretary-general, has made the concept of reciprocity a cornerstone of the party’s deterrence strategy toward Israel.
Nasrallah has warned Israel that Hezbollah can demolish entire buildings in Tel Aviv with its rockets, strike shipping along the length of Israel’s coastline and dispatch its fighters into Galilee if the Jewish state should be so rash as to launch an attack on Lebanon.
As for Israel, it faced the humiliation of a poor military performance in 2006 and a weakened deterrence posture. It has since retrained its army and introduced new weapons systems geared toward the asymmetrical conflict with Hezbollah, including a multi-tiered anti-rocket shield and a tank protection system. It also has developed its own deterrence strategy, the so-called “Dahiyah doctrine” that promises the destruction of any area from which Hezbollah operates in the next war.
Furthermore, the Lebanon-Israel border has enjoyed its longest period of calm since the late 1960s which some Israeli politicians have cited to suggest that the 2006 war was not a complete failure after all.
Despite the upheavals roiling the region this year, particularly the unrest in Syria, the recent indictments targeting members of Hezbollah for their alleged role in the killing of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and now renewed tensions over the maritime border between Lebanon and Israel, neither Hezbollah nor the Israelis have any appetite for another confrontation.
Both sides are aware that should another war break out, it will be of a magnitude unparalleled in the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Instead of confined to the traditional theater of south Lebanon and northern Israel, the next war will likely encompass the territories of both countries. The heart of Israel will become a front line for the first time since the 1948 war.
While this “balance of terror” helps preserve a modicum of stability, it remains inherently unstable and still prone to miscalculation, even if both sides have learned lessons about underestimating each other. Furthermore, none of the fundamental drivers that led to war in 2006 have been resolved.
“Deterrence is by default a [temporary] solution, not a lasting one,” said Bilal Saab, a Middle East analyst and expert on Hezbollah at the University of Maryland.
It has become customary in late spring and early summer for pundits and politicians in Lebanon and Israel to begin the annual speculation over whether the next war is imminent. So far both countries have survived four summers without another war. But many analysts believe that another confrontation between Hezbollah and Israel is all but inevitable in the absence of a major region-shaping development such as comprehensive Middle East peace or an entente between the U.S. and Iran.
Barring such developments, the only unknowns are the timing of the next war and the trigger factor.

Lebanon's Arabic press digest - July 12, 2011
The Daily Star
Following are summaries of some of the main stories in a selection of Lebanese newspapers Tuesday. The Daily Star cannot vouch for the accuracy of these reports.
Al-Akhbar: Roadmap to accuse Hezbollah of Hariri assassination
Since 2005, before investigators brought up the issue of accusations against Hezbollah in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, politicians and diplomats pointed their fingers at Hezbollah: it has carried out previous assassinations and is preparing to kill those still alive!
It came as no surprise for all those who viewed WikiLeaks documents before indictments were issued [by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon] and before the Der Spiegel report. Fingers were pointed at Hezbollah even before completion of the criminal investigation. The roadmap outline to target Hezbollah had been facilitated by French diplomats, Lebanon’s former justice minister and the STL Prosecutor. PM Saad Hariri, however, continued to link Hezbollah to al-Qaeda.
An-Nahar: Government kick-starts with appointments, recruiting
After a record seven-month government vacuum where dozens of issues – relating to social, economic administrative and living conditions – have accumulated, Cabinet will hold its first ordinary meeting under Prime Minister Najib Mikati at Baabda Palace at 4:30 p.m. Thursday.
Even though the government has many hot issues on its agenda – including political and judicial topics, let alone the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and the urgent matter represented by a confrontation with Israel as a result of a dispute over offshore gas and oil reserves between the two countries – preparations were under way to tackle economic and administrative issues.
On Thursday's agenda were 71 items, most prominent being a request to extend the mandate of the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon for one year, the renewal of Central Bank Goveror Riad Salameh’s term and the appointment by consensus of Walid Salman as Lebanese Army chief of staff and Antoine Choucair as the director general of the presidency. The agenda also includes requests for military recruiting.
As-Safir: Clinton responds to assault on [U.S., French] embassies: Assad lost legitimacy
Damascus: Consultation meeting different from closing statement
The United States accused Syria and France of failing to protect embassies in Damascus, which were attacked by protesters angered by a visit to Hama by the U.S. and French ambassadors. The protest has led to the destruction of the facade of the U.S. embassy building. It also resulted in the wounding of six people – three French Embassy staff and three Syrian nationals – by gunshots fired by embassy guards.
A closing statement prepared by the country’s Dialogue Supervisory Board gained little support from the participants of the national dialogue meeting, with many describing the session as “disappointing,” “frustrating” and “unacceptable,” prompting an agreement after a lengthy debate on the formation of a drafting committee to tackle the outcome of today’s [Monday’s] meeting which has been extended by a day.
Al-Mustaqbal: Government loyalists attack U.S., French, Qatar embassies in Damascus
Washington: Assad lost legitimacy, dispensable
Hariri speaks today about past, present and future
In the first such stance since the start of the popular movement [uprising] in Syria four months ago against the regime of President Bashar Assad, the United States Monday said the Syrian President has "lost his legitimacy and is not indispensable."
Meanwhile, all eyes turn to former Prime Minister Saad Hariri who is expected to appear in a television interview with the local channel MTV from Paris via satellite.
Hariri is expected to outline a roadmap to steer the opposition action at the present stage, and will speak about the latest developments and key issues such as the STL and the government. He will also touch on the previous stage and what it had witnessed.
Ad-Diyar: Jumblatt: Wissam al-Hasan uncovered spy networks
Mansour: Israeli threats, intimidation will not affect us
The head of the Progressive Socialist Party Walid Jumblatt outlined a series of positions late Monday, hailing efforts of Col. Wissam al-Hasan, the head of Internal Security Forces’ Information Branch [police intelligence bureau], for uncovering the spy networks [working for Israel].
On the gas and oil dispute between Lebanon and Israel, Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour told Ad-Diyar: “Threats and intimidation by Israel are useless since they aim to cover up its violations and breaches of the exclusive economic zone.”“They have no technical effect at all,” Mansour said.

Fire destroys Minister Abboud’s plastic factory
July 12, 2011 /The Daily Star
BEIRUT: A plastic factory owned by Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud went up in flames Sunday night, forcing the minister to leave the jury panel of the Miss Lebanon contest.
No injuries were reported from the fire at the five-story factory in the Metn region of Mazraat Yachouh, which was still raging Monday morning.
Sources told The Daily Star that the Lebanese Civil Defense dispatched fire departments from across the country to fight the blaze when it broke out around midnight.
Abboud was on the panel judging the Miss Lebanon beauty contest at the time, and withdrew when news of the fire reached him, the sources said.
In his comments to Al-Markazia Monday, Abboud said that the incident was caused by a fire started in the UPS room and which could not be put out by using internal fire extinguishers, which prompted the factory’s employees to ask for the help of the civil defense. “We thank the civil defense for risking their lives for the sake of putting out the fire,” he said.
However, the minister expressed his disappointment over the fact that Lebanese civil defense is in great need of advanced equipment and training for them to succeed in their job.
“They also need to work under the supervision of a leader who properly allocates their tasks,” he said.
Abboud could not give any comments to The Daily Star about the volume of losses caused by the incident.
“I really cannot comment for now, I am devastated,” he said.
Civil Defense official George Abu Musa told The Daily Star via telephone from the scene Monday morning that fire squads had managed to distinguish parts of the fire.
“Crews are still battling to put out the fire,” Abu Musa said.
Industry Minister Vreij Sabounjian commented by saying that any such incident tends to negatively impact the national economy. “The industry sector contributes to attracting investments to the country and creating job opportunities. Hence, any such incident is bad for our economy.”

Crowds in Syria Attack U.S. and French Embassies
By NADA BAKRI
Published: July 11, 2011
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Pro-government demonstrators attacked the American and French embassy compounds in Damascus on Monday and tried to break into their buildings. The crowd expressed anger over visits by the French and American ambassadors to a central Syrian city that has emerged as a flashpoint of the popular uprising against the Syrian government, now nearly four-months old.
The demonstrators threw rocks, eggs and tomatoes at the two buildings and tried to storm both compounds. But American Marine guards blocked their way at the United States embassy, and French guards at one point fired live ammunition in the air to drive the attackers away, according to witnesses and activists. There were no reports of casualties. French guards briefly detained one of the protesters, according to witnesses.
The attack on the embassies is the second since Robert Ford, the American ambassador, and his French counterpart, Eric Chevallier, visited Hama, which has become a hub for demonstrations against the government of President Bashar al-Assad. On Monday, protesters also attacked Mr. Ford’s residence several blocks from the embassy.
A State Department spokeswoman, Victoria Nuland, rejected the suggestion by some in Syria that Mr. Ford provoked the attacks by visiting Hama. “Ambassador Ford is doing his job as a witness, as an observer,” she said. “Our main concern here is that the Syrian government, rather than dealing with its own problems, and rather than addressing the grievances of its own people, is seeking to make distractions around our embassy.”
The diplomats went to Hama, Syria’s fourth-largest city, last Thursday and stayed until Friday afternoon, in a show of support for the tens of thousands of antigovernment protesters who took to the streets there. The Hama demonstrations were among the largest since the popular uprising started in mid-March, and the diplomats were warmly received there. Scenes from last Friday evoked memories of demonstrations earlier this year in Tunisia and Egypt that brought down the authoritarian regimes there.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry summoned both diplomats on Sunday to condemn the visit to Hama.
For their part, the two Western governments expressed fury on Monday over the attacks, which were widely assumed to have taken place with the government’s tacit approval. “We strongly condemn the Syrian government’s refusal to protect our embassy, and demand compensation for damages,” the State Department said in a statement on Monday. “We call on the Syrian government to fulfill its obligations to its own citizens as well.” The French government also complained about lack of protection from the Syrian authorities, and said the attacks on its embassy were recurring.
France said in a statement that “well-organized groups” had attacked the embassy with a battering ram in an attempt to storm the embassy. The statement by Bernard Valero, the spokesman for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the attackers destroyed the ambassador’s vehicle and wounded three guard, “and this in front of Syrian security forces manifestly in little hurry to stop these violent acts.” Security guards at the embassy fired three warning shots during the incident, he said.
The State Department also accused a television channel that it said was close to the government of helping to incite “the violent demonstration.” It did not name the channel.
In a message posted on the embassy’s Facebook page on Sunday, Mr. Ford condemned the Syrian authorities’ crackdown on protesters, which has led to the deaths of at least 1,300 people, according to human rights activists. He called on the government to respect basic human rights as a way to resolve the crisis.
“We respect the right of all Syrians — and people in all countries — to express their opinions freely and in a climate of mutual respect,” Mr. Ford said in his message. “We wish the Syrian government would do the same — and stop beating and shooting peaceful demonstrators.”
He added: “How ironic that the Syrian Government lets an anti-U.S. demonstration proceed freely while their security thugs beat down olive branch-carrying peaceful protesters elsewhere.”
The American embassy in Damascus and the ambassador’s residence have been attacked before by angry protesters. In 1998, men threw stones and burned flags and a car in demonstrations against air strikes in Iraq. The Syrian government at the time expressed regret for the violence, which also struck the British Embassy.
Scott Sayare contributed reporting from Paris, Brian Knowlton from Washington and J. David Goodman from New York.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: July 11, 2011
An earlier version of this article misstated the number of deaths estimated to have occurred in the government's crackdown. Human rights activists put the figure at 1,300; 12,000 was the estimate for arrests.

Standing Up for Canadian Values on the World Stage:
Canada Boycotts UN Conference on Disarmament Under North Korea’s Presidency
(No. 198 – July 11, 2011 – 1 p.m. ET) John Baird, Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister, today announced that Canada will temporarily boycott the United Nations Conference on Disarmament to protest North Korea’s term as president.
“Our government has consistently taken a principled approach to dealing with North Korea’s nuclear aspirations. As a result, today we are suspending our participation in the UN Conference on Disarmament.
“North Korea is simply not a credible chair of this UN body. The regime is a major proliferator of nuclear weapons and its non-compliance with its disarmament obligations goes against the fundamental principles of this committee. This undermines the integrity of both the disarmament framework and the UN. Canada will not be party to that.
“Canada will resume its engagement in the Conference on Disarmament following the end of North Korea’s presidency on August 19, 2011.
“Our government received a strong mandate to advance Canada’s values—freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law—on the world stage.
“As the Prime Minister said recently, Canada will no longer simply ‘go along to get along.’ Canada will not hesitate to take principled stands with respect to our foreign policy decisions.”
The United Nations Conference on Disarmament, established in 1978, is intended to be the UN’s single multilateral disarmament negotiating forum. The UN Conference on Disarmament currently has 65 member states, which rotate alphabetically for four-week terms as president.
North Korea’s term as president began on June 28, 2011. Soon thereafter, Minister Baird expressed Canada’s disappointment that a known proliferator and possessor of nuclear weapons now presides over a forum dedicated to advancing disarmament.

Forgiveness
Bishop Rick Thomas
rsantaniello@abundantlife.tv
We’re starting a brand new week and we want to talk to you about some principles and issues that we need to examine in our lives so that we can walk in victory. This year God has talked to us clearly that there is a river that He’s formed from the latter and the former rain; that they are forming these tributaries which forms a River of Life; if we get into this river the enemy cannot operate, if we get into this river and flow in this river and not allow the enemy to get us back to the shore line, because in the river he can’t move, he loses his ability to affect our lives; it’s only when he can get us to come back to him… we know there are variables that he uses thus we’ve been talking about the importance of unity, we’ve talked about our place in the body of Christ. Now this week let us examine some things that I believe that as we do an inventory of these principles and get these corrected we will be able to stay in the flow of the River of Life and no matter where we are we are going to activate the presence, the power, the glory, the favor of God in our lives and in our family’s life.
Mark 11: 25“And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.
Understand something, if you live in trespasses and sins, God will not hear your cry or prayer but if you live in purity and righteousness the Bible says that God’s ears are open to the cry of the righteous and “His eye is forever upon them”. Here it tells us that if we’re going to live that kind of life and we want our prayers to be heard, then we have to live a life that is forgiving – boy that’s something difficult in our world today; it seems like no one wants to forgive anyone of anything. But as we’ve been forgiven we are to forgive others also and if we live in that place of forgiveness the Father will forgive us which means our prayers cannot be altered, God will always hear our prayers because we’re living in righteousness. You’ve got to activate (key part) the power of forgiveness! As God activated the power of forgiveness in Christ now we must activate the power of forgiveness of Christ to the people in the world in which we live; and if we’re willing to walk in forgiveness, so are we forgiven; because we’re forgiven our prayers become “weapon” that the enemy cannot stop, handle, alter – it’s a weapon that will destroy the kingdom of darkness. Remember this, if you will walk in forgiveness you will always find forgiveness for yourself!
God Loves You, I Love You and that’s Enough!
Bishop Rick Thomas
Declare: To walk in unity I have to learn to walk in forgiveness. I thank God for the Blood of Christ that washes me, cleanses me and forgives me. Having moved into the place I have been forgiven, I am now able to forgive others. Today I sow my seed, and as I’ve been forgiven, I will activate that forgiveness in my life to forgive others because I want to live and dwell in that forgiveness. I never want to doubt whether or not I’ve been forgiven and the way I solidify that truth is to forgive others also in the Name of Jesus, AMEN.
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Commitment
Bishop Rick Thomas
rsantaniello@abundantlife.tv
Sunday morning! This is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and I will be glad in it! You know me with Sundays, my favorite day of the week, it’s the day we demonstrate our unity in the body of Christ by all coming together. It’s a day that we can bring friends, not only feel the spirit of unity and the power of the anointing of unity but they can find Christ because they’ve been placed in that atmosphere of the supernatural presence of God in the body of Christ – so get into your House of Worship today! Let’s go to our scripture for today as we continue talking how important it is for us to be in Unity, to be one, not to be separated from that:
Philippians 1: 27Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel,
Stand fast in one Spirit and in one mind; stay focused on the things God has placed in your life for your life. Dwell in unity; bring what God has given you as a gift or a talent to the body of Christ, follow the protocol by doing that which has blessed you to do and let the rest of the body begin to receive from you that blessing; and as you come together in unity the blessing of life is commanded. So many times people say, yes God then three weeks later they’re doing just the opposite and they come up with every excuse in the world. The reality is that you are going to have to learn to stay committed to what God has called you to do in order to walk in unity. You have to stay committed no matter what situation you face; I don’t care what it is. I was talking to someone the other day, I thought it was fascinating, that they had lost their job and they said they had made some commitments to the House of God, they had made some commitments in our walk in Christ and they continued living it. It was very difficult, very difficult and they said they were concerned financially because they had lost their job, they weren’t able to find another job, but they even took in a person who was homeless for a while, they had no income but they took them in and took care of them and fed them and blessed them. Little things would come up along the way but at the end of a period of time of over a year, they were amazed but their finances had never gone down; God had supernaturally brought things in. I asked them how do you think that happened? He said, because I stayed committed to what I told God I would do, no matter what it looked like, felt like, sounded like – I still did what God called me to do. He said at times it took everything they had but they did what they committed to do and he said all of a sudden a door would open with a little job would open up here, something else would happen there… at the end of the year he had been out of work but because they stayed committed their finances in their bank account was exactly where it was when they started. I asked him, how are you doing now? He said, he had the best job he ever had, he was making more money than he ever made before. Wow, this is a recession. God is not moved with recession, He’s moved by your commitment to walk in unity in the body of Christ and if you’re willing to dwell in unity God is willing to command blessings upon your life forevermore! Be committed to do what God has called you to do no matter what. If this is your commitment, if this is the way you’ve made up your mind that you will live your life, get ready, God’s about to command something over you that’s going to be more than you can contain, it’s called the blessing of life! Get into your House of Worship, celebrate the presence of God, get committed to walking in unity and watch how God is going to do the impossible for you!
God Loves You, I Love You and that’s Enough!
Bishop Rick Thomas
Declare: To see God move I must be totally committed to doing what God has called me to, no matter what. I will be committed to where God has placed me. I sow my seed because God has given seed to the sower and on Sunday I recognize that which I’ve sown flows from the hand of God but as I release what’s in my hand, God releases what’s in His hand. I will never live in lack because I have the blessing and the promise from God. My family will never be forsaken and they will never be begging for bread because I have sown this seed and I walk in the blessing of the Kingdom of God; I am a man or women of unity therefore I have certain things that the world cannot alter and that’s the blessing of life forevermore, in Jesus Name, AMEN
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Patience
Bishop Rick Thomas
rsantaniello@abundantlife.tv
Today is the day we recognize that every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of Lights are available to us! He will not withhold any good thing from us; it’s what Saturdays are all about! I don’t know about you but I enjoy good things, I enjoy the blessings of the Lord, I enjoy the presence of God, I enjoy the healing power, I enjoy the favor that He gives to me, I enjoy the fact that He’s a provider (the righteous shall not be forsaken nor their seed begging for bread); I enjoy the fact that God has planned good gifts for me, gifts that He’s created for me and I have a right to enjoy them (it’s not a matter of selfishness or greed). When my kids were growing up in the house that whatever we had in the house was theirs and they could enjoy it. My wife would go to the store and she had bought some kind of desert, cookies or ice cream and it was amazing because when the kids got it they really enjoyed it because they thought it was great, something over and above over food or sustenance, it was something that they really enjoyed! I think our Father feels that way about the things He’s prepared for you, every good gift, He will not withhold any good thing from you – I think He gets excitement over providing that which is over and above just life itself. Today we want to recognize those good things that God has for us. Look at this following verse as we continue our thought about the importance of unity and what it requires from us to walk in unity and what unity will establish in our lives:
Acts 1: 14These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.
They stayed in UNITY in their prayer. This is so important folks. We all need to be praying the same thing. Yesterday we found out if any two shall agree… stay in unity. So many times people come and say let’s get together in unity and then we pray and then they go out and do something totally opposite. Folks, we have to stay focused! You cannot afford a ‘broken focus’ in our society today. Be careful when you pray that you truly pray with faith and knowing that whatever it takes you’re willing to pray a prayer and walk in endurance because once you’ve prayed God hears you and He says if you ask according to His will He will answer you – it’s not a matter if you’re going to have what you’ve prayed for, it’s a matter of will you be there when the answer comes. Are you going to be there when God manifest those things you’ve prayed for? I remember what Oral Roberts said to me on a plane one day coming from Tulsa when I asked him where has the body of Christ missed it? He answered that they leave their harvest in the field. They do not endure long enough to get the full harvest and that’s why there’s lack in the body of Christ. I believe that we have to stay in unity; we cannot allow division. When I pray with you and if you say something that I don’t understand after we pray or maybe you do something that I don’t like, I won’t be offended with you because I won’t allow offense to come in to separate what we’ve just prayed for. It’s important to me (as we’ve talked about this week) that we learn to die to self. My Father used to say “you need to look at things and yet not see them; hear things and not listen sometimes); I used to think that’s weird but now as I’ve gotten older I understand what he meant by that – it’s that people say some of the most foolish things, don’t they? Art Linkletter had a show on TV called “Kids Say the Darndest Things”. He would interview kids and they would say the most bizarre, wildest things… their parents would sit out in the audience totally petrified and embarrassed but the kids were just talking. You have to understand that the body of Christ is no different; we’ll come into agreement for something and because they go and say something foolish later, don’t allow disunity to come, stay in unity. This doesn’t mean that you accept or like it but it means that “you hear and you don’t hear; and you see and you don’t see”; I don’t allow that to separate me from unity with what we’ve been agreeing with God for. You have to be willing to endure – endurance means you will go through some stuff; endurance means you will have some storms; endurance means there might even be some disagreements but at the end of the day we’re on the same page, we pray the same prayer, we are believing for the same miracle. Continue to walk in the good things that God has prepared for you; don’t look to your left or right, stay focused on the PRIZE!
God Loves You, I Love You and that’s Enough!
Bishop Rick Thomas
Declare: To have unity in the Body I must develop patience and endurance; not changing at every whim. Today I will sow my seed and I declare Father that I will not let anything separate me from the body of Christ. I will not let any situation or any circumstance or any words separate me from the body of Christ because as we dwell in unity I have the blessing of life and I will not forfeit that blessing because someone else does something foolish, in Jesus Name, AMEN.
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Change and Reform bloc leader MP Michel Aoun speaks following his bloc’s weekly meeting
July 12, 2011 /Now Lebanon
- We discussed exceptional situations in some administrations and the illegal status of [some] employees. We also discussed… the Finance Ministry and how
- Monitoring bodies must be linked to the Parliament because it is the highest authority that monitors ministries in the country .
- Internal Security Forces (ISF) Information Branch chief Wissam al-Hassan’s presence [in his post] is against Article 8 [of the law] pertaining to the ISF. There is no body called the Information Branch. Who is it formed of? What are its foreign connections?
- I do not engage in Hassan’s work. When the false witnesses’ issue was raised, he knew what he did. The [Information Branch] is a branch that does not legally exist. The violations were covered up by a prime miniter.
- I am requesting to restore the position of the General Security chief [to Maronites]. I have not met with Speaker Nabih Berri until now, and we are not in a disagreement with Berri.
- Whether the position is [for Maronites] or for the Shia, it is not the end of the world.
- [Asked about the post of a General Security chief, which is currently granted to a Shia but originally used to be granted to a Maronite before the period of Syrian tutelage in Lebanon:] When all the [Christian figures] address it through the media and nobody discusses it with me, [it will not] create any battle among the [March 8 parties] which is the new majority.
- I warn against any talk about malicious behavior or pre-emptive battles.
- [Asked about March 14 statements about overthrowing Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s cabinet:] Restoring something is harder than defending it.

Blockage!
Hazem Saghiyeh, July 11, 2011
The two parties to the current Lebanese struggle seem to be lacking something, or “their cases” seem to be lacking something. One party, the March 8 forces, is controlling the Lebanese domestic stage through the threat of force and, as of late, through the Mikati cabinet that was formed under that threat.
In contrast, the second part, March 14, has gained with the Syrian uprising a strong foreign bartering chip. The indictment in the case of former PM Rafik Hariri’s assassination also gave it another chip: the world’s stance on past and current events in Lebanon.
Yet, for all its domestic might, the first party remains unable to lay the foundations for a serious foreign investment. Its foreign ties, including with Iran, were undermined when the Syrian bridge broke. The indictment as such is a prelude to a foreign siege on the party’s domestic hegemony.
On another level, the second party, March 14, seems unable to exploit its foreign bartering chips domestically, even though its domestic strength, which has won it general elections twice over the past few years, is an encouraging factor to be exploited.
In truth, it is genuinely astonishing for March 14 not to be able to take advantage of two transformations as important as the indictment and the Syrian uprising, thus transforming its strong foreign bartering chips into nothing more than theories and principles.
In this sense, the horizon of the March 8 “project” remains blocked. The North Korean option—secluding oneself from the world and living in isolation—will be anything but easy for a country like Lebanon. Large pro-March 8 swathes (Aoun’s Christians and the socially-ascending Shia, etc.) will have a hard time accepting a North Korea-like option.
Yet the March 14 horizon will remain blocked as well if it does not come along with self initiative, the existence of which seems to be unproven so far. This March 14 relaxation resembles something out of old-era Lebanon, whereby we do nothing for ourselves but rather wait for the world to do it for us. This is added to the voices that claim that what is happening in Syria “is none of our concern” and that “we do not interfere in other people’s business,” thus deepening the major gap that is likely to grow even wider.
Is there anything to bring this blockage to an end?
This article is a translation of the original, which appeared on the NOW Arabic site on Monday July 11, 2011