LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِJuly 15/2011

Bible Quotation for today
 1 Corinthians Chapter 3: "1-23: "1 Brothers, I couldn’t speak to you as to spiritual, but as to fleshly, as to babies in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk, not with meat; for you weren’t yet ready. Indeed, not even now are you ready, 3 for you are still fleshly. For insofar as there is jealousy, strife, and factions among you, aren’t you fleshly, and don’t you walk in the ways of men? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” aren’t you fleshly? 5 Who then is Apollos, and who is Paul, but servants through whom you believed; and each as the Lord gave to him? 6 I planted. Apollos watered. But God gave the increase. 7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. 8 Now he who plants and he who waters are the same, but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s farming, God’s building. 10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another builds on it. But let each man be careful how he builds on it. 11 For no one can lay any other foundation than that which has been laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 But if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or stubble; 13 each man’s work will be revealed. For the Day will declare it, because it is revealed in fire; and the fire itself will test what sort of work each man’s work is. 14 If any man’s work remains which he built on it, he will receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work is burned, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, but as through fire. 16 Don’t you know that you are a temple of God, and that God’s Spirit lives in you? 17 If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is holy, which you are. 18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone thinks that he is wise among you in this world, let him become a fool, that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He has taken the wise in their craftiness.”* Job 5:13 20 And again, “The Lord knows the reasoning of the wise, that it is worthless.”† Psalm 94:11 21 Therefore let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, 22 whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come. All are yours, 23 and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
Hassan Nasrallah Exposed/By: Jonathan Spyer/July 14/11
Why are they clinging to al-Assad?/By: Dr. Hamad Al-Majid/July 14/11
Israel failed to learn lessons from Second Lebanon War/By Ari Shavit /Haaretz/July 14/11
Now you wake up/Now Lebanon/July 14/11 
Syria in books/|By: Ziad Majed/July 14/11

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for July 14/11
The Libyan War ends. Obama makes Moscow peace broker. NATO halts strikes/DEBKAfile
Kidnapped Estonian cyclists freed in Lebanon: police/AFP
Syrian Forces Kill Two Protesters in Deir al-Zour/Naharnet
Iran's Baghdad Ambassador Hurt in Accident/Naharnet
Damascus escalates its iron fist policy/The Daily Star
Blast Hits Gas Pipeline in Northeast Syria/Naharnet
Britain Calls in Syrian Ambassador over Ambassy Attacks/Naharnet
U.N. council split likely on Syria atomic issue: U.S./Reuters
Analysts: No Quick Solution Seen for Conflict in Syria/VOA
Interior Minister Marwan Charbel Slams Politicians’ Interference in Security Institutions/Naharnet
March 14: Phase to Topple Miqati’s Government Has Begun/Naharnet
Future bloc MP Ahmad Fatfat : No justice or stability without truth/Now Lebanon
Safadi accuses Hariri of inciting sectarian sentiments/The Daily Star
Lebanese envoy to U.N.hails South Sudan’s birth/The Daily Star  
The secretary general of the Association of Banks in Lebanon scoffs at huge Syrian deposit claims/The Daily Star
General Security post on agenda of Cabinet’s first session: sources/The Daily Star 
Miqati Stresses Lebanon Right to Defend Borders Against Any Violation/Naharnet
SSNP Slams Saudi Report: It is Aimed at Covering up Real Criminals/Naharnet
Lebanon's Arabic press digest - July 14, 2011/The Daily Star
Lebanon to Send Diplomatic and Legal File to U.N. on Demarcation of Maritime Border/Naharnet
Al-Rahi Holds Suleiman and Aoun Responsible of Christians’ Rights/Naharnet
Hizbullah, Aoun Agree on Keeping General Security Chief Position with a Shiite/Naharnet
Finance and Electricity Vital Issues to be Tackled by Cabinet/Naharnet
Hezbollah: Lebanon will not let Israel seize its natural gas/Haaretz

Kidnapped Estonian cyclists freed in Lebanon: police
(AFP) – BEIRUT — Seven kidnapped Estonians were freed in Lebanon Thursday, almost four months since being abducted by armed men as they entered the country on a bicycle tour from neighbouring Syria, a police official said. "The seven were returned to the town of Arsal (in the eastern Bekaa Valley) and appear to be in good health," the official said, requesting anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the press."They are now on their way to Beirut," he added. "We will have more information when they arrive."
It was not immediately clear how the seven men came to be released. Lebanon's Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said he could not confirm reports that a ransom was paid to secure their freedom. "To my knowledge they (the abductors) did not make any demands for a ransom for their release," Charbel told Lebanese television, adding the men were heading to the French embassy and were expected to return to Estonia later Thursday. "Our sole priority right now is to ensure they arrive at the embassy safe and sound, and then we will hear whatever details they have," the minister added. The abductors -- believed to be an unknown fundamentalist group called Haraket Al-Nahda Wal-Islah (Movement for Renewal and Reform) -- had reportedly demanded ransom in exchange for the release of the Estonians. The men, all in their 30s, were kidnapped on March 23 in Lebanon's lawless Bekaa Valley.
The case had for months been shrouded in mystery, but several people were arrested in Lebanon in connection with the kidnapping. The Estonians were shown appealing for help in videos posted on the Internet on April 20 and May 20 before a third video was sent to their relatives on July 8. In the first video, the seven called on the leaders of Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and France -- but not Estonia -- to help them. They did not present any demands on behalf of their captors nor did they specify what country they were in.Sources said that investigators at the time determined that the video was uploaded in the Syrian capital Damascus, leading to speculation that the men were moved across the border from Lebanon.Copyright © 2011 AFP. All rights reserved. More »

Hassan Nasrallah Exposed
By Jonathan Spyer/Gloria Centre
http://www.gloria-center.org/gloria/2011/7/hassan-nasrallah-exposed
July 13, 2011
Despite its unrivaled ability to impose its will on the country, Hezbollah’s legitimacy in the eyes of non-Shi’ite Arabs in Lebanon and beyond has significantly diminished in recent years. The issuing of indictments against four Hezbollah members for the murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri will only serve to accelerate and compound this process.
Once, Hezbollah presented itself and was seen as an Arab force concerned above all with making war against Israel. The movement’s ability to avoid humiliating defeat by the Jewish state thrilled Arab publics.
The Arab Sunni distrust of Iran and the Shi’ites was briefly trumped.
But this moment did not last. A series of events in the past three years has served to increasingly recast Hezbollah in its original colors – as a sectarian, Shi’ite creation and ally of Iran.
The pivotal moment in this transformation of the movement’s image came when it turned its guns on its domestic Sunni opponents in May 2008. This move was made to protect the boundaries of Hezbollah’s independent military and security infrastructure.
The immediate goal was achieved. But Hezbollah had maintained that its weaponry was for use against Israel alone. Its legitimacy suffered a heavy blow.
This discrepancy between Hezbollah’s matchless ability to impose its will in Lebanon and its declining legitimacy has since increased.
In recent months, the movement’s support for the regime of Bashar Assad in Syria, even as it brutally crushed an uprising by the Sunni majority, has further served to tarnish Hezbollah’s reputation. There is widespread fury and disgust among Lebanon’s Sunnis at the reports of possible Hezbollah involvement, alongside Iranian personnel, in crushing the protests.
Once again, the movement’s Achilles’ heel has been the irresolvable contradiction between its pan-Arab pretensions and its practical loyalties to the narrow, mainly Shi’ite, Iran-led bloc.
This contradiction has now been laid bare in its most blatant form.
Hezbollah members, whose guns were proclaimed as serving a notional Arab and Islamic “general will” against Israel, now stand accused of the murder of an iconic Sunni Arab politician from the very heart of the Arab mainstream.
So what is likely to happen? First of all, it is worth remembering that Hezbollah and its allies deliberately brought down the government of Saad Hariri in January in anticipation of precisely this turn of events. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah dismissed the UN tribunal investigating the Hariri killing as a mere tool of American interests. But Hariri’s government was committed to it.So Hezbollah and its allies toppled the government, and after a period of horse-trading, replaced it with a narrower cabinet consisting only of themselves.
But there are already clear indications of disagreement even within this narrower framework.
The drafting committee tasked with preparing the new government’s founding political statement found it hard to reach a consensus on the matter of its attitude toward the Hariri tribunal.
Hezbollah, according to reports, wanted the new government to cut all ties with the tribunal and declare itself in open opposition to what it describes as a “US-Zionist plan.” Newly minted pro-Syrian Prime Minister Najib Mikati evidently baulked at such an unambiguous stance.
The ministerial statement finally approved on Thursday preserves ambiguity. It declares the new government’s commitment to “the implementation of international resolutions, the Palestinian right of return and knowing the truth behind former PM Rafik Hariri’s assassination,” thus avoiding any concrete response on the matter of the indictments.
This solves little. Hezbollah has options, but none of them is particularly good.
At the moment, the accused men – Moustafa Badreddine, Salim Ayyash, Hasan Ainessi and Asad Sabra – remain at liberty. The Lebanese authorities have 30 days to arrest them. If they do not do so, the tribunal will then make the details of the indictment public and order the suspects to appear before the court.
Hezbollah has the hard power simply to refuse to cooperate with the tribunal, and to prevent by force any attempt to apprehend its members.
Such an action, however, would take the movement yet further down the slippery slope of loss of any legitimacy or consent to its domination of Lebanon, outside of its narrow Shi’ite core. This would leave it dangerously exposed in a changing Arab world.
It could, on the other hand, choose to sacrifice some or all of the accused men. But in this regard, it is worth recalling that the accused are not anonymous, outlying members of Hezbollah. Moustafa Badreddine is a brother-in-law of the slain military leader Imad Mughniyeh. And sacrificing movement members would in any case look like surrender and humiliation to a body that Hezbollah has specifically designated as an enemy.
Whichever path Hezbollah adopts, it is now confronting the contradiction at the heart of its project. The movement has sought to both serve a narrow Shi’ite, pro-Iranian and Syrian interest, and simultaneously to pose as the sword of all the Arabs and Muslims.
It will have the option in the months ahead of holding its domination of Lebanon by force, in the face of the indictments. But if it does so, the broader project for which it was brought into being will be very severely tarnished. Hezbollah’s hard power will yet more clearly be revealed as in the sole service of the Shi’ites and Iran – and directed against the Sunni regional majority. The expected furious denunciations of the tribunal as an American- Zionist plot will not serve to disguise this reality.

Lebanon's Arabic press digest - July 14, The Daily Star
Following are summaries of some of the main stories in a selection of Lebanese newspapers Thursday. The Daily Star cannot vouch for the accuracy of these reports.
Al-Akhbar: Government starts its first step … with a limp
Wednesday’s developments gave indications that the fate of the Cabinet meeting Thursday will determine the path of the new government: either it will gradually settle pending issues or postpone any issue that is likely to be subject to dispute - discussions would therefore focus on the approval of donations.
Just hours before the first Cabinet meeting at the Presidential Palace in Baabda this afternoon, two items on the agenda were already obliterated.
Under the meeting’s agenda, the Cabinet is to renew the mandate of Riad Salameh, Lebanon’s Central Bank governor, appoint a Chief of Staff for the Lebanese Army and general director for the presidency.
According to information made available to Al-Akhbar, Hezbollah and the Amal Movement are calling for a basket of appointments that would include, in addition to the three appointments, the appointment of deputy intelligence chief Brig. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim as General Security Director General, a demand rejected by both President Michel Sleiman and Free Patriotic Movement leader Gen. Michel Aoun, who insist on restoring the position to the Maronite sect.
The concerned officials found themselves confronted with a new dilemma - either to postpone appointments of the three, and thus the government will begin its work with a limp or attempt to reach a behind-the-scene agreement on the issue of the General Security Director General, especially since Sleiman and Aoun are not against Ibrahim as long as they can find a way out that would not embarrass in front of their Christian audiences.
However, intense overnight efforts failed to reach a breakthrough and amid Hezbollah’s and Amal’s stubbornness, an agreement was reached to postpone the appointments, except for Salameh’s renewal, until consensus is reached on the three posts: Army Chief of Staff, general director of General Security and general director for the presidency.
Despite this obstacle, a senior source in the majority refused to describe the situation as an “incomplete step.” The source instead called for giving the government a chance since this is “its first meeting.”
Al-Liwaa: President, prime minister and Jumblatt oppose return to false witnesses [issue]
Appointments’ equation shake Cabinet’s first session
Intense efforts were ongoing on more than one front so that the government would pass its first test without shaking the hybrid coalition.
The government Thursday will face the issue of key public appointments in the economic, administrative and security sectors after the Shiite camp made up its mind: Either Brig. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim will be appointed or no appointments altogether.
For that reason, Prime Minister Najib Mikati intensified his efforts by holding talks with President Michel Suleiman, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who is still abroad, as well as ministers from both Hezbollah and Aoun’s party in an effort to find an exit to the problem.
Mikati seemed comfortable, if not optimistic, Wednesday evening as he told Al-Liwaa that “there is a solution to every problem.”
Well-informed sources, however, suggested that Aoun’s desire to give up the Christians’ right to restore the General Security post for another key position is likely the cause of the problem.
It is also Sleiman’s desire to postpone a decision in this regard until after Saturday’s dinner in honor of Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai in Amchit, which will bring together a number of Christian leaders.
Meanwhile, public appointments and the need to maintain Christian posts in public departments should top the agenda of the Christian Reunion Committee meeting to be held in Bkirki Thursday under Rai.
Information made available to Al-Liwaa revealed that Rai told Sleiman and Aoun that he has learned that an “authoritative figure” was not enthusiastic about Ibrahim’s appointment.
Al-Liwaa has also learned that pro-Hezbollah, Amal, and Aoun ministers wanted to include the false witnesses issue on Cabinet’s agenda, only to be met with a rejection from both Sleiman and Mikati. The president and the prime minister strongly opposed the issue, arguing that there was no need to raise it up after indictments and arrest warrants had been issued by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.
Ad-Diyar: Problem in Cabinet meeting today is lack of mention of Brig. Gen. Ibrahim’s appointment on agenda
Cabinet will meet Thursday to approve key public appointments. However, the appointment of Brig. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim was ruled out for no reason since appointments to security posts should be made in one comprehensive basket. So a split is likely to happen in Cabinet today and therefore public appointments will not be approved due to the lack of agreement on a basket of security-related posts.
Mikati is either going to the abyss or he will succeed. He has two faces: a good face and another face that only he knows. However, we want to see his good face and we want him remain victorious.
The state appears incoherent and when Cabinet fails to appoint Brig. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim as head of the General Security, it is a weak government.
Remarkably enough, was a report by [Hezbollah’s] Al-Manar television, which quoted sources as saying that the appointments to be discussed at Thursday’s Cabinet meetings are likely to be postponed until agreement on a basket of appointments that will include the head of the General Security, the presidency, the Central Bank governor and the army’s Chief of Staff.

Analysts: No Quick Solution Seen for Conflict in Syria
VOA/The protests and crackdown are continuing in Syria in spite of growing international calls for an end to the violence, and an effort by the Syrian government to placate protesters with a formal “national dialogue.” Analysts say it will likely be difficult for either talks or international pressure to end the Syrian crisis anytime soon.
Pro-democracy activists in Syria remain undaunted by security forces matched against them. For months now, they have taken to the streets across the country, usually after Friday prayers. The costs are high. Rights groups say at least 1,600 civilians have died in the government's crackdown.  The government puts the blame on terrorists and Islamists. And Syrian President Bashar al-Assad refuses to give up the power his family and Baath Party supporters have held for nearly 50 years. Alia Brahimi is a Middle East expert at the London School of Economics:
“If Bashar al-Assad were to open up the political arena, were he to free up the media, were he to talk about free and fair elections, that would hasten the downfall of the regime," said Alia Brahimi. "And that is not something that he, but more importantly the people around him, would be willing to see happen.”
Yet earlier this week the government did convene a national dialogue, chaired by Vice President Farouk Al-Sharaa -- who expressed willingness to move toward a multi-party system.
Top activists boycotted the meeting... And it ended without a breakthrough, beyond a call for the release of political prisoners. Brahimi says just as Syrian officials see little room for democracy, protesters see no future for the regime.“That’s what makes the situation so unstable and so dangerous, because while they view it in these stark terms, the protesters very much have a feeling that there’s no going back and that these sorts of protests are the only option they have available to them in terms of forcing a break with the past and building a better future," she said. As the protests and repression continue, international outrage grows. "These assaults must stop," she said.
Both U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama say Mr. al-Assad has lost legitimacy.  "I think that increasingly you're seeing President Assad lose legitimacy in the eyes of his people and that's why we've been working at an international level to make sure that we keep the pressure up, to see if we can bring some real change in Syria," said President Obama. But the Syrian government is not wilting under such pressure, and has won support from Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby. He rejects what he calls "foreign interference" in Syria.
Also this week, crowds of government supporters attacked the U.S. and French embassies in Damascus after the two countries’ ambassadors visited the restive city of Hama to express their support for protesters. But while the West’s rhetoric on Syria matches what officials were saying about Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi several months ago, there is no move toward military intervention as in Libya. Richard Dalton is a former British Ambassador to Libya. He says western powers are reluctant to get involved in Syria, which has a much stronger military than Libya, and a much more central position in the volatile Middle East. “You have to face the fact that the international community can not intervene in every situation where such oppression or worse developments arise," said Richard Dalton. And even if the repression in Syria worsens, an intervention could trigger a major regional conflict, says Metsa Rahimi of the London-based Janusian Risk Advisory Group. “There’s so much more at stake in Syria should the international community intervene," said Metsa Rahimi. "If the international community intervenes, we’re going to see reactions from Iran, notably, Lebanon, Israel, all around Syria.”  So the future of Syria may remain an internal issue, analysts say, and could take a long time to resolve, with lots more bloodshed along the way.

U.N. council split likely on Syria atomic issue: U.S.
By Megan Davies
UNITED NATIONS | Wed Jul 13, 2011
(Reuters) - Divisions in the Security Council are likely to prevent any immediate concrete outcome when the body discusses Syria's alleged covert atomic work on Thursday, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said. The U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency board of governors voted in June to report Syria to the Security Council, rebuking it for stonewalling an agency probe into the Dair Alzour complex bombed by Israel in 2007. Russia and China -- both permanent council members -- were among those opposing the referral by the Vienna-based body, but were outvoted. Unlike on the council, there are no veto powers on the IAEA board. "I think as was obvious given the vote in Vienna that there are certain members of the council ... including some veto-wielding members, who did not support the referral and who are unlikely to be prepared to support a council product at this time," U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice told reporters. That could mean it might be difficult to get a statement or resolution on the issue agreed. Diplomats said the most likely first step council members could strive for is language urging Syria to cooperate with the IAEA investigation but that Damascus is unlikely to face U.N. sanctions over the issue.U.S. intelligence reports have said the complex was a nascent, North Korean-designed reactor intended to produce plutonium for atomic weaponry, before Israeli warplanes reduced it to rubble. Syria has said it was a non-nuclear military facility.The Security Council will be briefed on the subject by Neville Whiting, who heads the IAEA safeguards department dealing with Syria and Iran, officials said.
SOME SKEPTICISM
"We will hear directly from the IAEA what we hope will be a detailed summary of their report and that will begin a process of discussion within the Security Council," said Rice
There has been some skepticism about sending the nuclear issue to New York, with some arguing that whatever happened at Dair Alzour is in the past and is no longer a threat.
Russia's IAEA Ambassador Grigory Berdennikov said in June the site did not pose a threat because it had been destroyed. The Security Council has also been unable to agree on a proposed resolution condemning Syria's crackdown on opponents. The text, drafted by Britain, France, Germany and Portugal, has been blocked for more than a month under veto threats from Russia and China, both long-standing allies of Syria. Rice said she regretted that the council had not reached agreement on a "strong statement or resolution condemning what has transpired in Syria."
"We think it is not a good reflection on this council that we have not yet been able to come together on that," she said.
However she said it was "wise to treat the issues of the nuclear program and the political circumstances separately" and did not expect them to be merged on Thursday.
The Security Council, did however, unite on Tuesday to strongly condemn this week's attacks by demonstrators against the U.S. and French embassies in Damascus.
(Additional reporting by Fredrik Dahl in Vienna; editing by Christopher Wilson)

General Security post on agenda of Cabinet’s first session: sources
July 14, 2011
By Hassan Lakkis The Daily Star
BEIRUT: The government of Prime Minister Najib Mikati will discuss 71 items on the agenda of its first session Thursday, including key administrative appointments.
In its first session after winning a vote of confidence in Parliament, the new Cabinet is geared to extend the term of Riad Salameh as the governor of the Central Bank and appoint Brigadier General Walid Salman as Lebanese Army chief of staff and Antoine Chouqair as the director general of the Lebanese presidency.
In addition to the predetermined topics of the discussion, the session at the Baabda Presidential Palace will tackle the delineation of Lebanon’s maritime borders and the issuing of authorization to Lebanese Army commander General Jean Kahwagi to visit France upon an official invitation, in addition to discussing the appointment of a new head of the country’s General Security apparatus. The issue of appointing a new director general to the Directorate of General Security did not initially figure as part of Thursday’s ministerial deliberations after concerned groups failed to reach a consensus on a candidate. But ministerial sources told The Daily Star that the March 8 alliance preferred that appointments for key administrative posts, including the head of General Security, be considered as “one basket” and carried out at the same time. The sources added that in the event Mikati and President Michel Sleiman agree to the suggestion of the March 8 groups of carrying out appointments for administrative posts in one go, deputy head of the Lebanese Army Intelligence Department Brig. Abbas Ibrahim remains the favorite candidate to head General Security. Other articles on the agenda of Thursday’s Cabinet session include renewing the mandate of the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon, requesting the Finance Ministry to assess offers for a full or partial swamping of foreign currency bonds including Eurobonds, and calling on the Interior Ministry to reach an agreement with a local travel agency to provide tickets to deport foreign detainees who have completed their judicial sentences. The Cabinet will also call on the Defense Ministry to recruit 200 cadets for the Lebanese Army, the Directorate General for State Security to recruit five officers for the directorate, and the Interior Ministry to recruit cadets in the military academy for the ISF and six cadets to work for the Directorate General of General Security.

The secretary general of the Association of Banks in Lebanon scoffs at huge Syrian deposit claims
 July 14, 2011/ By Osama Habib/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: The secretary general of the Association of Banks in Lebanon, brushed off Western media allegations that Syria transferred billions of U.S. dollars to Lebanese banks as “absurd and unrealistic.” “How can some news media claim that Syria has transferred $20 billion to Lebanese banks if the total deposits in Syrian banks is little over $28.4 billion, $4.3 of which are foreign deposits or 14.3 percent of all Syrian deposits?” Makram Sader told The Daily Star. The London based Economist magazine reported two weeks ago that Syrian officials have transferred $20 billion to the Lebanese banks. “This story is absurd. The reporter who wrote the story quoted a taxi driver who claimed that billions of dollars stashed in bags have been transferred to Lebanese banks. How can a reporter use a taxi driver as a reliable source?” Sader asked.
Lebanese banks, seen as the backbone of the economy, are coming under tight US supervision since the Lebanese-Canadian Bank was formally accused by the U.S. Treasury of involvement in money laundering and connection to a terrorist organization on Feb.10, of this year. However, Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh managed to quickly to contain the ramifications of the Lebanese-Canadian Bank incident after persuading the management of the targeted bank to sell their assets and liabilities to another Lebanese bank.
SGBL made the best offer and acquired the Lebanese bank.
Since the incident, Salameh and the ABL have tried to re-assert the soundness of the Lebanese banking system.
“If we wanted to put matters and figures into a certain perspective, we can confirm based on accurate bank data that the total Syrian deposits in Lebanese banks do not exceed, in the best estimates, $3 billion or 2.7 percent of the total bank deposits which stand at $110.5 billion at the end of May 2011,” Sader said. He added that the Syrian deposits in Lebanese banks represent close to 20 percent of the total nonresident deposits which in turn represent an average of 15 percent of total bank deposits. “Some news media tried to give a caricature picture of bags filled with dollars crossing the border to Lebanon,” Sader said. He stressed that the average growth in customer deposits is less than 10 percent annually Citing figures from the Central Bank, Sader noted that M3 or money supply received by Lebanese banks in the first six months of 2011 jumped only by 2.96 percent to reach LL4.110 trillion or $2.726 billon.
Other bankers also ridiculed Western media reports, noting that any person depositing more than $10,000 in a bank without giving a sound reason for doing so, will prompt the management of the bank to investigate this case. Sader said that the balance of payment in the first five months of 2011 registered a deficit of $1.043 billion compared to $1.2 billion and $1.650 billion respectively in the past two years. “If we recoded such a deficit in the balance of payment then how can anyone claim that $20 billion entered our banking system?” Sader wondered.
He argued that the value of all bank assets and deposits in Syria at the end of 2010 represent only 78 percent and 50 percent respectively of the country’s GDP.
Sader also emphasized that the Lebanese banks operating in Syria have not been gravely affected by the political and security developments there.
“The deposits in Lebanese banks in Syria did not change dramatically since the crisis erupted more than four months ago. Lebanese banks will continue to cater to their customers irrespective who rules Syria,” he said. Six Lebanese banks entered the Syrian market when Syrian President Bashar Assad decided to liberalize the country’s economy and invited foreign banks to operate there. Sader also noted that the total assets held by Lebanese banks in Syria hardly represent 10 percent of the total assets of banks in Lebanon and abroad.

Britain Calls in Syrian Ambassador over Ambassy Attacks
Naharnet /Britain's Foreign Office summoned the Syrian ambassador on Wednesday over the attacks on the French and U.S. embassies in Damascus earlier this week, it said in a statement.
Sami Khiyami was called in over the raids on Monday by angry mobs apparently sparked by two Western envoys visiting the city of Hama, a flashpoint for protests against President Bashar Assad's regime, it said. Patrick Davies, the head of Near East and North African Department at the Foreign Office, "reiterated the UK's condemnation of these attacks", the statement said.
"Mr. Davies also condemned the Syrian government's failure to fulfill its responsibility to protect diplomatic property and personnel under the Vienna Convention, which also guarantees the right of all diplomats to free movement." He also "made clear that these were issues of direct concern for all diplomatic missions in Syria", the statement added.
The attacks by pro-regime supporters left three staff injured in the French embassy, while at the U.S. embassy about 300 demonstrators scaled the complex's high outer wall before being chased away by U.S. marines. Source Agence France Presse

Iran's Baghdad Ambassador Hurt in Accident
Naharnet/Iran's ambassador to Iraq was slightly injured in an accident at a checkpoint outside Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, a security official said on Thursday.
"The incident occurred Tuesday at the main entrance to the Green Zone, when a bomb detector reported a problem but the driver of the vehicle (carrying the ambassador) did not notice and continued on his way. The barrier then hit the vehicle," he said. An Iranian embassy spokesman said that the ambassador, Arshad Ali, sustained slight injuries to his face but was able to continue on his way. The sprawling heavily protected Green Zone houses the U.S. and British embassies, the Iraqi parliament and the office of the prime minister.
Source Agence France Presse

Syrian Forces Kill Two Protesters in Deir al-Zour
Naharnet /Syrian security forces killed two civilians when they opened fire on protesters in the eastern city of Deir al-Zour on Thursday, said Abdel Karim Rihawi of the Syrian League of Human Rights. At least five more people were wounded in the shooting, Rihawi said. "The city is tense and residents are observing a general strike," he added.The League called for cities throughout the country to strike on Thursday, in a message posted on Facebook page Syrian Revolution 2011, a driving force behind almost four months of protests against President Bashar Assad's regime.Source Agence France Presse

March 14: Phase to Topple Miqati’s Government Has Begun
Naharnet /The March 14 General Secretariat announced on Wednesday the launch of its campaign to topple Prime Minister Najib Miqati’s government “through all possible peaceful and democratic means.”General Secretariat coordinator Fares Soaid said: “We are not keen on creating security unrest and diplomatic problems in Lebanon.” “We assessed the means available to us and how we can confront the cabinet,” he revealed after the General Secretariat’s weekly meeting. “The MPs and parties will perform their duties to overthrow the government,” he said. In addition, Soaid stressed: “We not only want to topple the cabinet, but shift Lebanon from an abnormal position to a normal one where it commits to international legitimacy and where the arms rest in the hands of the state.”

Safadi: Hariri’s Remarks of Incitement Pose Security Threat to Me and Miqati
Naharnet /Finance Minister Mohammed Safadi slammed on Wednesday former Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s “inciting remarks” against Premier Najib Miqati and himself on Tuesday, saying they “will provoke people against each other in Tripoli and other areas.” “We had hoped that Hariri would have attended the parliament sessions to grant cabinet confidence instead of talking about in Paris through statements that don’t reflect his position,” said his press office in a statement. “Hariri did not have to resort to inciting sectarian instincts in order to wage a campaign against Miqati and Safadi,” it continued. “Through such practices, he is tarnishing the legacy of his father all for uncovering the truth behind his assassination,” he remarked.
“Hariri did not present an opposition plan to topple the government because he wants to do so through street action and not through parliament,” the minister added. “It’s unfortunate that Hariri had made such offensive statements against Miqati and Safadi. We can overlook personal insults, but we will not allow Tripoli’s dignity to be attacked,” the statement said. “Tripoli doesn’t belong to anyone or the Sunni sect,” it declared. “Just as no one is greater than his country, no one is greater than their sect,” it stressed. “Despite their security implications, Hariri’s statements of incitement against Miqati and Safadi also incite the residents of Tripoli and other areas against each other,” it noted. The statement added: “The history of Sunni leaders has never witnessed such remarks of incitement because the Sunnis don’t discriminate against others.” “Lebanon is in need of asserting its national unity through words and actions and not base rhetoric that takes it several steps back,” it concluded.

SSNP Slams Saudi Report: It is Aimed at Covering up Real Criminals
Naharnet
The Syrian Social National Party condemned on Wednesday a Saudi report claiming that the party was behind the assassination of former Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel and attempted assassination of journalist May Chidiac. It said in a statement: “The report is baseless. It should have investigated the facts by the concerned Lebanese judicial sides.”
“This story is part of a suspicious campaign aimed at defaming members of the SSNP and tarnishing its image before the public,” it added.
“The party is being victimized because of its history of struggle against Lebanon and the ummah’s enemies,” declared the statement.
“Al-Bilad’s report is worthless and its timing coincides with the escalatory campaign against the Resistance forces,” it stressed.
The party condemned Gemayel’s assassination and Chidiac’s attack, emphasizing the need to uncover the criminals and achieve justice.
Furthermore, the SSNP noted that accusing it of the crimes is an attempt to cover up the actions of the real perpetrators.
The party added that it reserves the right to pursue legal action against the newspaper.
On Tuesday, the Saudi al-Bilad newspaper quoted an official close to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon as saying that the vehicle used in the killing of Gemayel was found at one of the SSNP’s offices in the area of Koura in northern Lebanon.
The vehicle was allegedly owned by a Lebanese man who works at the U.N. in New York and was stolen shortly before the assassination in the Jdeideh suburb north of Beirut on November 21, 2006. A lone assailant shot the minister in the head at point-blank range from a silencer-equipped gun after stepping out of the car.
The assassins had made changes to the vehicle to resemble the car of a former Lebanese Forces official who lives in the town of Roumieh not far from the crime scene.
The official also told al-Bilad that the STL will issue new arrest warrants that would end the ambiguity over the killing of Gemayel and the assassination attempt against former LBC anchorwoman May Chidiac on Sept. 25, 2005.The warrants “accuse the SSNP of involvement in both crimes,” the official said.

Charbel Slams Politicians’ Interference in Security Institutions
Naharnet /Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said that only Internal Security Forces chief Major General Ashraf Rifi has the authority to shuffle the positions of officers in the ISF, including that of 12 officers and the appointment of colonel Naji al-Masri as caretaker judiciary police chief.
He made his statement in response to former minister Wiam Wahhab’s accusations on Wednesday that the Interior Minister had “appointed Masri as judiciary police chief by force.”
Charbel told An Nahar newspaper on Thursday that Rifi took the decision “and I agreed on it… I follow the law and this step is completely legal, and it falls under the jurisdiction of ISF chief.” He stressed: “This issue is linked to the ISF institution and we can’t allow any civilian to intervene in it; politicians have to get used to this.”
“We are bearing in mind the critical political situation in the country… However, I know how to appoint the right officer at the right place,” and politicians have to get used to stop meddling in security affairs, he noted. He added: “They can suggest names, but they can’t force us to do what they want.”
Meanwhile, As Safir quoted Charbel as saying: “It’s unacceptable to impose political disputes on the security institutions.”
He said: “I work according to my conscience… when someone imposes an issue on me that contradicts with my convictions, I won’t stay in my position a minute longer.”
The Interior Minister agreed on a decision taken by Rifi on Wednesday on appointing Masri as caretaker judiciary police chief as Brig.-Gen. Salah Eid’s successor

Hizbullah, Aoun Agree on Keeping General Security Chief Position with a Shiite
Naharnet /The appointment of army intelligence chief Abbas Ibrahim as the new head of General Security has not been included in cabinet’s agenda Thursday, reported the pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat Thursday. The necessary conditions to discuss the appointment have not been provided amid reports that Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi is keen on restoring this position to the Maronite sect. Ministerial sources told the daily that Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun has also echoed this position.
They added that he avoided bringing up this issue after the weekly Change and Reform bloc meeting on Tuesday in order to avert a dispute with Hizbullah and the AMAL party who both support the appointment of Ibrahim, a Shiite, to the post. The failure to place this matter on cabinet’s agenda prompted Hizbullah and AMAL’s to question the step seeing as speculation has surrounded restoring the position of General Security chief to a Maronite because it would create an imbalance in administrative appointments that would lead the country to an “unnecessary” political dispute. Sources from Hizbullah and the majority revealed that once the two parties approached Aoun with the suggestion that Ibrahim be appointed as General Security chief, he said that the appropriate circumstances need to be established before the appointment can take place.
The sources added to al-Hayat however that the MP soon settled the matter by proposing that the deputy General Security chief be a Christian.
An Nahar daily reported on Thursday that up until 1998, the position of General Security chief had long been assumed by a Christian figure.
Under former President Emile Lahoud, a Shiite was appointed to the position under the excuse that “no competent person should be overlooked for a position because of their sectarian affiliation.”

.Al-Rahi Holds Suleiman and Aoun Responsible of Christians’ Rights
Naharnet/The Christian meeting that will take place Thursday at Bkirki under the sponsorship of Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi is expected to address the Christian appointments in the state institutions. The appointments will be one of the highlighted issues discussed during the meeting aimed at bridging the gap between Christians.
Al-Liwaa newspaper reported on Thursday that al-Rahi slammed the stances of President Michel Suleiman and FPM leader MP Michel Aoun regarding the Christians’ positions at public institutions, who said that no one is keen on the appointment of Brigadier General Abbas Ibrahim as the head of General security. Informed sources told the newspaper on Thursday that Suleiman wants to delay the discussion of the appointment of General Security chief until after the dinner he’s holding in al-Rahi’s honor on Saturday.

Lebanon to Send Diplomatic and Legal File to U.N. on Demarcation of Maritime Border
Naharnet /The ministerial committee charged with tackling the issue of the demarcation of Lebanon’s maritime border with Israel is set to prepare a legal and diplomatic file ahead of presenting the case to the United Nations, revealed Foreign Minister Fadi Mansour to An Nahar daily in remarks published on Thursday. The daily noted that an international understanding of Lebanon’s position on Israel’s latest stand on the matter has emerged, saying that the U.N. should handle this file according to international and maritime laws. Meanwhile, widely-informed military sources told As Safir newspaper in remarks published on Thursday that the tripartite meeting held at Ras al-Naqoura between the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon and Lebanese and Israeli officers on Wednesday focused on the demarcation process. He quoted Lebanese Army Commander representative Abdul Rahman Shaitly as saying to the Israeli side: “The maritime borders approved by the Israeli government are illegal and a blatant violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty and rights.” He added: “You are playing with fire and your actions will lead to greater problems.” “We will not accept the reality you are trying to impose,” he declared. For their part, the Israeli officers deemed Shaitly’s statement’s as political, saying that the Israeli government, not the army, has jurisdiction in this case. Meanwhile, Energy Minister Jebran Bassil stressed to As Safir the importance of the new government taking swift action to protect Lebanon’s rights in this matter. Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn also told the newspaper that Lebanon will follow up on this issue through a “heated diplomatic battle until its maritime rights are achieved.” “Cabinet will take the appropriate position on the matter on Thursday where it will resort to the U.N. to combat Israel’s violations,” he added.
Minister of Economy Nicolas Nahhas stressed that the dispute over the border should not prevent Lebanon from immediately placing the necessary legal measures in order for it to invest in its offshore petroleum wealth.

Future bloc MP Ahmad Fatfat : No justice or stability without truth
July 14, 2011 /Now Lebanon
Future bloc MP Ahmad Fatfat said on Thursday that there will be no justice or stability in Lebanon if the truth behind the 2005 assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri is not revealed.
“[Opposition leader] Saad Hariri stressed that there’s no justice or stability [without] the truth. Let no one try to exchange stability with justice, and we reject trading the blood of martyr Rafik Hariri no matter what the price,” the National News Agency quoted Fatfat as saying. The Future MP addressed the issue of the UN-backed court investigating the murder of Rafik Hariri, saying, “Now, the truth has been revealed. The [Special Tribunal for Lebanon] indictment has become clear, and there are people who have been accused of killing Rafik Hariri. These people are not [considered] Muslims or Shia, and they are [not considered to] belong to any party. Yet, there are those who insist on affiliating them with [Hezbollah].”
“Why does Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah insist on protecting those accused of killing Hariri? And why is he putting himself in the position of the accused to protect criminals?”
“Whoever protects an accused person becomes an accused [individual himself].” Fatfat noted that Hezbollah claims the tribunal is an American-Israeli plot targeting the Shia group, adding that Prime Minister Najib Mikati has announced that he respected the court. “Does the prime minister then respect and American-Israeli court?”He said that Hezbollah is no longer a resistance group but a militia, adding that its weapons have been used against other Lebanese. “We will work on removing these weapons because we believe that there will be no political or democratic life with their presence.”“We won in the 2005 and 2009 parliamentary elections, and [the Hezbollah-led March 8 alliance] tried to steal our victory. They even stole the government and formed Hezbollah’s government,” referring to the newly-formed cabinet of Mikati. The Hezbollah-led March 8 coalition forced the collapse of Saad Hariri’s government in January over a long-running dispute about the STL.Last month, Najib Mikati –who is backed by the March 8 parties –formed a new government that was granted parliament’s vote of confidence on July 7.Meanwhile, the STL indicted four members of the Iranian-and Syrian-backed Hezbollah in connection to the assassination of Rafik Hariri, but Nasrallah ruled out their arrest.-NOW Lebanon

Now you wake up?
July 14, 2011 /Now Lebanon
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton finally spoke out against the Syrian regime after the US Embassy in Damascus was attacked Monday. (AFP photo/Karen Bleier)
The realpolitik, moral bankruptcy, hypocrisy—call it what you will—that has defined the West’s position on the Syrian front of the Arab Awakening was highlighted in glorious Technicolor on Tuesday, when US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave the administration’s reaction to the storming of its embassy in Damascus by what were purported to be pro-regime demonstrators.
“President Assad is not indispensable, and we have absolutely nothing invested in him remaining in power,” said America’s top diplomat. “Our goal is to see that the will of the Syrian people for a democratic transformation occurs. From our perspective, [President Assad] has lost legitimacy.” Clinton also urged America’s Western allies—presumably France, whose embassy was also attacked, and the UK, where the Foreign Office called in Syrian Ambassador Sami Khiyami—to voice their disgust at the attacks.
Why has it taken the West so long to adopt a less-than-opaque position on the Syrian regime’s four-month orgy of brutality? An attack on its embassies will do it, but the deaths of nearly 1,500 people, the vast majority of whom have been unarmed civilians simply demanding the rights these countries take for granted, were apparently simply not worth getting off the fence of international diplomacy for.
For four months, the West, and when we mean the West we mean the US, has chastised, cautioned and warned. It has told the Assad regime—one that has a history of brutal repression and political assassination—that it must listen to the demands of the protesters, that it must implement reform, and that it is out of step with the aspirations of the Arab people.
But while the protesters were being gunned down by security services and pro-government militias; while hundreds, perhaps thousands, have been rounded up and detained; and while whole families have been forced to flee, and have been harassed in some cases by murderous helicopter gunships, across their borders into neighboring Lebanon and Turkey in full view of the world’s press, it always kept the door open. Until now, that is, now that US and French property has been vandalized and these governments have to demonstrate to their own people that they will not take such an affront lying down.
But one thing is for sure. The flames of the Arab Awakening, which began with the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi in Tunisia, have been fanned by Arab determination. Like the Cedar Revolution in March 2005, it has been spontaneous, proud and brave. Unlike 2005, Egyptians, Tunisians, Yemenis, Bahrainis and, of course, Syrians, have paid with their lives during this bold bid for freedom, dignity and democracy. They have been part of a wholly homegrown affair, one in which the hand of Western influence has been too unsure, too hesitant to change the status quo, and too self-interested to have had, as President Assad keeps assuring anyone who will listen, a hand in the attempted overthrow of his regime.
But let’s not kid ourselves that the West is the only interested group. On Wednesday Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi met President Assad and voiced the Arab League’s refusal to endorse foreign intervention in Syria and its support for Assad’s proposed reforms.
Pro-democracy protesters in Syria might tell Arabi that they have no need for foreign intervention. They need the support of a world that must open its eyes more to the brutality that is being unleashed daily in the towns and cities of their country, and they need the Arab League to stop issuing bland statements of support for a process everyone knows means nothing and will go nowhere. Not unlike the Arab League, really.

Syria in books
Ziad Majed, July 13, 2011
Now Lebanon
The Baath power, clan, cult and bases
Two books had, for a long time, a front-stage importance with regard to “dissecting” the Syrian regime, its sectarian and ethnic components and their rivalries within the military institution and the Baath Party, which has been ruling in Syria since the coup of July 8, 1963. These books are Nikolaos Van Dam’s The Struggle for Power in Syria: Politics and Society under Assad and the Ba’ath Party (1979) and Patrick Seal’s Asad of Syria, The Struggle for the Middle East (1989). The first of these books was one of the earliest to explain the characteristics of the vertical (sectarian) divide underlying the regime, whereas the second one has the merit of highlighting the interdependence between the regime’s policies and its internal/external measures, even though the author often seems fascinated by Assad.
In 1999, Hanna Batatu’s Syria’s Peasantry, the Descendants of Its Lesser Rural Notables, and Their Politics developed even further the research pertaining to the political sociology of ruling elites. It reminded us how those involved in the coup managed to mobilize sectarian (especially Alawites), military (the army) and party (Baath) bases and to bring them together by unifying power centers (a majority of Alawi Baath officers). Batatu went even further by demonstrating how the alliance that led the Baath “revolution” during its early years (1963-1968) was composed of army groups that shared the same peasant origins. He thus wrote: “There were Alawis from Lattaquieh, Druze from Jabal al-Arab and Sunnis from Houran, Deir al-Zor and other rural centers. They were all sons of small farmers who sold their goods on markets monopolized by merchants from Damascus, Aleppo and Hama … These merchants had sympathetic ears in the government, which allowed them to impose their trading conditions … Their relations with peasants were relations between creditors and debtors …” Accordingly, it comes as no surprise that ruling officers are acting with a certain spirit of revenge from the “city.” Starting with the confiscation of urban properties and the nationalization of industries in major cities, this revenge changed shape a few years later when Hafez al-Assad came to power in November 1970 after having evicted his Alawi rival in the army and the Baath party Salah Jedid, who had been imprisoned with deposed Syrian President Noureddine al-Atassi for almost 25 years … The new master took into consideration the Machiavelian advice of taking and occupying “enemy” cities. In order to do so, he encouraged the movement of population from rural to urban areas and expanded industrialized suburbs. He then developed ties with merchants and businessmen and guaranteed the prosperity of their businesses in exchange for their fidelity and their keeping away from politics.
In order to complete its seizure of power through the “city,” the regime went ahead with the infiltration of the public sector by integrating its loyal supporters in it and placing them in cities, especially in the capital. The number of civil servants almost witnessed a ten-fold increase in 20 years, going from 34,000 in 1960 to 331,000 in 1980. This broadened the base loyal to the regime in public institutions thanks to its management of public affairs and its control over services to citizens. Volker Perthes’ Political Economy of Syria in 1995 sheds a relevant light on the economy under Assad’s regime, its political roles and the “classes” it creates. In order to tell the difference between these classes, Perthes classified them as follows: the “new industrialists,” the “state bourgeoisie” and the “new class,” the members of which got rich through contracts, bribes and traffics covered by officers. These categories broadened the regime’s social base and were referred to as the ruling “military-mercantile complex” in Syria or as an “entrepreneurial phenomenon” within the Syrian state. Another dimension to the analysis of the Syrian power was developed by Lisa Wedeen’s Ambiguities of domination: Politics, rhetoric and symbols in contemporary Syria in 1999. Besides using weapons, intelligence services, the Baath Party and the abovementioned economic and political measures, Assad ruled by establishing a genuine cult. This was not about the citizens’ belief in him or even in their emotional commitment toward him, but rather about defining the form and substance of civil obedience. The Assad cult aimed to impose to citizens a line of conduct compelling them to act “as if” they adore their leader (what Wedeen referred to as the “acting as if” policy). Frédéric le Grand’s saying “I do not care about people’s opinions as long as they obey my orders” thus became a key notion for Assad.
Broken mirrors
In 2007, the publication of Mostafa Khalifeh’s La Coquille, Journal of a Syrian political prisoner provided the political literature on Syria with a new prospect. This time, it is about a Syrian writer who was imprisoned by the regime for 13 years. He was from a Christian Greek Catholic family and was very close to a far-left party. However, he was arrested at the Damascus airport (on his way back from France, where he studied) and accused of being a member of the Muslim Brotherhood! This story, which comes as a journal, reconstitutes Khalifeh’s real-life experience and his years of nightmares and realities. It sheds a crude light on the jailers’ barbarism and the “process of dehumanizing prisoners and, beyond that, of society as a whole.”
The dark years of Hafez al-Assad’s regime and the violence that overwhelmed Syria in the 1980s were also addressed in Khaled Khalifa’s Éloge de la haine in 2011, in which he tells the story of clashes between Islamists and the regime, and rekindles the Syrians’ memory by recalling a period that was passed over in silence.
Bashar’s Syria
When the son succeeded to his father, following the failed Damascus spring in 2001 and way before the current spring and its revolution, several books attempted to look into the political and social realms by comparing Syria under the son’s rule to what it was like under his father.
In Commanding Syria, Bashar al-Asad and the First Years in Power (2007), Eyal Zisser described the young president’s rise to the presidency, his domestic failures (failed reforms) and the difficulties he faced on the international level (9/11, the Iraq war and the withdrawal from Lebanon). For her part, Caroline Donati started in L’Exception syrienne, entre modernisation et résistance in 2009 with a historical overview before analyzing Bashar’s era on the political, economic and social levels. The last chapter of the book is dedicated to matters directly linked to current affairs in the country, such as the opposition, individual resistance cases and the new generation’s search for identity and political reference points.
Syrian writers also came up with their own analyses and gave an account of their real-life experience. In Power and Policy in Syria, Intelligence Services, Foreign Relations and Democracy in the Modern Middle East (2011), Radwan Ziadeh tackled the “hereditary republic” in its regional context and domestic institutions, i.e. its intelligence services and power pyramid that was established under the father’s supervision. Ziadeh partly dedicated his work to the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, to political Islam in general and to the state’s policy with regard to Islamist networks (what he dubbed as “double containment”). Furthermore, he provided us with interesting thoughts on the 2006 July War in Lebanon between Hezbollah and Israel, which allowed the Syrian regime to stage its great comeback on the regional level following all the difficulties it faced in Lebanon.
Yassine Hajj Saleh, one of the most consistent Syrian writers, explained in 2010 the consequences of the death of politics in Syria in La Syrie de l’ombre, regards à l’intérieur de la boîte noire. He addressed the Syrian crisis as one that is – first and foremost – a national crisis with its share of “domestic” issues (while still making allowance for the regional situation and Middle Eastern conflicts). This book exudes a certain power. It is devoid of anger and bitterness, and reveals a great deal of intellectual honesty. It commands respect when one knows that Hajj Saleh was imprisoned for 15 years, that two of his brothers have been arrested and that, despite everything, he still is one of the most courageous and most lucid (underground) voices since the start of the Syrian revolution in March.
The state of barbarism
In De la tyrannie (1954), Leo Strauss wrote: “Our political science is obsessed by the belief that judgments of any value are inadmissible in scientific considerations, and that referring to a regime as being tyrannical is obviously tantamount to giving a judgment of some value. Political scientists who accept this vision of science will speak of a collective, dictatorial, totalitarian or authoritarian state, etc. Being citizens, they are entitled to condemn all this but in the field of political science strictly speaking, they are compelled to reject the notion of tyranny as being a myth.” Michel Seurat used this quote to start one of his texts, which he brought together in a book titled L’État de Barbarie (1989). This book was published after his death in Beirut after he was kidnapped in 1985. The book’s title and the first couple of texts in it are still regarded as part of the best descriptions of the regime, its state and its barbaric culture.
The new Syrian generation modified the “urban-rural paradox,” and Syrian society is breaking free a little more every day from the Assad cult. The walls of fear are crumbling, and the country is no longer “the kingdom of silence,” as Riad Turq – a major figure of the opposition since the 1980s – once called it. However, Assad’s declining regime remains that of barbarism and “dehumanization.” Nevertheless, thanks to the Syrian people’s outstanding courage and admirable determination, the world of books will soon be enriched with new arrivals on a new Syria in which the Assad family and its regime will be ancient history, and not just any kind of history

The Libyan War ends. Obama makes Moscow peace broker. NATO halts strikes
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report/July 14, 2011,
Bar the shouting, the war in Libya virtually ended Thursday morning, July 14, when US President Barack Obama called Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to hand Moscow the lead role in negotiations with Muammar Qaddafi for ending the conflict - provided only that the Libyan ruler steps down in favor of a transitional administration.
The US president thus accepted the Russian-Libyan formula for ending the war over the heads of the NATO chiefs who rejected it when they met Russian leaders at the Black Sea resort of Sochi last week.
debkafile's sources note that this same proposal first came from the Libyan ruler himself four months ago: On April 4, just ten days after NATO launched its air operation on behalf of the Libyan rebels, Qaddafi sent emissaries to Athens to propose Greek Prime Minister Georges Papandreou as mediator. The heads of NATO, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister David Cameron, turned him down, certain at the time they were within easy reach of a quick victory to topple him.
By the time Obama had decided to call Medvedev, individual governments which had spearheaded the anti-Qaddafi campaign were quietly melting away.
From Saturday, July 9, debkafile's military sources report, NATO discontinued its air strikes against Libyan pro-government targets in Tripoli and other places. The halt though unannounced was nonetheless an admission that 15,000 flight missions and 6,000 bombardments of Qaddafi targets had failed to achieve their object: Col. Qaddafi, without deploying a single fighter jet, firing an anti-air missile or activating terrorist cells in Europe, had waited for NATO to run out of steam and was still in power.
In an overview of the war to British air force commanders Wednesday, July 13, British Defense Secretary Liam Fox remarked that while no one knows when it will end, British ground corps, naval and air forces do not have the means to continue the war.
He admitted candidly that sustaining the high tempo of air strikes by RAF Tornado and Typhoons, as well as Navy warships and Army Apache attack helicopters, did "increase the pressure on both personnel and equipment as planning assumptions are tested, and it tests the ability of defense companies to support front-line operations."
In early June, debkafile's military sources reported that NATO was short of warplanes for enforcing the no- fly zone over Libyan air space approved by the UN Security Council, its arsenals of smart bombs and missiles were depleted and its stocks of munitions and replacement parts almost down to zero.
This has now been confirmed by the British defense secretary, who added that British and European military industries lack the capacity for supporting a war effort that goes beyond a few weeks. Our military sources disclose that Italy, a key player in NATO's military effort, last week secretly withdrew its Air Force Garibaldi-551 planes from the campaign – dealing the operation another grave setback. And in the last 10 days, France has also scaled back the military assets it had invested in the fighting after despairing of the anti-Qaddafi rebels based in Benghazi ever making headway against Qaddafi's forces. First, Paris tried to transfer its backing from Benghazi to the secessionist Berber tribes fighting Qaddafi in Western Libya. On June 30, President Nicolas Sarkozy ordered weapons to be parachuted to the tribal fighters in western Libya, contrary to UN and NATO decisions. But the Berbers preferred to use the French guns for plundering towns and villages instead of fighting government forces.
On Monday, July 11, after that experience, Defense Secretary Gerard Longuet said it was time for talks to begin between Qaddafi and the rebels. Paris, he said, had asked the two sides to begin negotiations. This was backhanded confirmation of the claim Qaddafi's son Saif al-Islam made to the French media that his father was engaged in contacts for ending the war through emissaries who met with President Sarkozy. While Minister Longuet said the Libyan ruler cannot stay in power, he refrained from demanding his ouster by force or his expulsion from the country. This formula therefore came close to Qaddafi's terms for ending the war.
debkafile's diplomatic sources hail the agreement Presidents Obama and Medvedev reached on terms for negotiating the war's end with Muammar Qaddafi as a major victory for the Libyan ruler and a resounding fiasco for NATO. It also knocks over the international war crimes tribunal's demand to extradite Qaddafi and his sons as war criminals.
Instead of sitting in the dock of the world court, they will now take their seats at the negotiating table for a deal one of whose objects will be to rescue NATO from the humiliation of defeat at war. But its main purpose will be to agree on the shape of a regime for the transition to democracy and its makeup. Qaddafi, while consenting to step down, will not doubt insist on his sons and loyalists being co-opted with full privileges to the future administration in Tripoli. The rebels will take up the offer for lack of any other options.
Libyan diplomacy is liable to be protracted and exhausting with many ups and downs and perhaps even limited military engagements on the ground.

Hezbollah: Lebanon will not let Israel seize its natural gas
Deputy secretary-general of Hezbollah says Lebanon will protect its maritime rights in face of Israeli threats as Israel-Lebanon conflict on their maritime economic border escalates.
By Haaretz
Hezbollah deputy secretary-general Sheikh Naim Qassem stressed that Lebanon will not tolerate Israel seizing its oil, gas, and water resources, Channel 10 reported on Thursday.
"Lebanon will stand guard in order to protect all its rights – no matter the cost," Qassem stressed during a speech on the Israel-Lebanon maritime border conflict.
Qassem said Hezbollah supports Lebanon's insistence to protect its maritime rights as well as the proposal it had submitted to the United Nations in August on where its maritime economic border should be.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has recently said that the maritime borders proposed by Lebanon encroach upon Israeli territory, and are significantly further south than those recognized by Israel and determined in previous deals. Qassem said Thursday that Israeli threats do not scare Hezbollah. "Israel knows its threats are worthless in Lebanon after the bitter experience it had gained in the face of Lebanon's steadfast stance," he said.
Israel plans to submit coordinates to the United Nations its take on where its maritime economic border with Lebanon should be, as the two countries scramble for gas reserves estimated to be worth billions of dollars. Last August, Lebanon submitted to the United Nations its version of where the maritime border should be - the exclusive economic zone. In November, it submitted its version of its western border, with Cyprus. The United States has endorsed the Lebanese proposal.  The Lebanese proposal does not include the large Tamar and Leviathan gas prospects, operated by Delek Energy and U.S. company Noble Energy. But the National Infrastructure Ministry found that the proposal contains reserves with a potential value in the billions of dollars. Israel has rejected the possibility of indirect talks via the United Nations to resolve the issue, calling on Lebanon to begin negotiations on all border issues, not just the maritime border. The foreign and infrastructure ministries believe that Lebanon is claiming vast offshore territories that belong to Israel under international law.
"It's important to provide the UN with the Israeli version of the border as soon as possible, to react to Lebanon's unilateral move," a senior Foreign Ministry official told Haaretz. "Not responding could be interpreted as a tacit agreement. We must act fast to ensure Israel's economic rights in these areas." Israel has become even more concerned about the positioning of the border after learning recently that a Norwegian company has begun searching for gas in the area. The search is due to be completed within months, and the Lebanese government hopes to use the findings to license international energy companies to probe areas that could be in Israel's exclusive economic zone.

Israel failed to learn lessons from Second Lebanon War
Our leader made many mistakes during the Second Lebanon War that not only stemmed from personal weaknesses, they stemmed from the Israeli leadership problem - its quality, values, conduct and the planning, administration and command institutions that serve it.
By Ari Shavit /Haaretz
The great failure of the Second Lebanon War is the failure after the war. The 2006 war was waged poorly, and its results were grave. But the five years since were worse than the 33 days of the war itself. Even after the sirens wailed and the warning lights were lit, Israel wouldn't change. It avoided internalizing the deeper meaning of the war. It didn't have the courage to confront the deep systemic and moral failures the war had exposed. Israel did not make conclusions, learn lessons or change its conduct. The war failed to wake Israel from its coma.
The Second Lebanon War exposed a failure of leadership. The leaders of the war made inconceivable mistakes. But they were not merely personal. They didn't stem only from the personal weaknesses of Ehud Olmert, Amir Peretz and Dan Halutz. They stemmed from the Israeli leadership problem - its quality, values, conduct and the planning, administration and command institutions that serve it. The leadership problem has not been addressed since the war. Olmert, Peretz and Halutz aren't there anymore, but the sickness is. A bitter personal disagreement on the personal responsibility of the leaders of this failed war prevented radical treatment of the overall leadership problem. There have been changes here and there - some for the better, some for the worse. But both the political system and the media, including yours truly, bear the responsibility for prioritizing personal over state matters.
The day after the war was a day of skirmishing and accusations, not a day of correction and amendment. The question of who leads us, where he leads us and how he leads us has been left open. Unanswered.
The Second Lebanon War exposed a grave military failure. The IDF operated as an unfocused, indecisive army, corrupted by internal politics. Immediately after the war, two major moves were made: Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi was crowned, and Brig. Gen. Gal Hirsch was demoted. The message was loud and clear. The IDF after the war will be very combative, very soldierly, but without originality, honesty or a spark. And this is how it was. Just like after the Yom Kippur War Motta Gur built a great army whose spirit was dim, Ashkenazi built a combative army whose spirit is bleak. The emergency stocks are full, the soldiers are training, but there's no spark, creativity or uncompromising values. This is why the army question also remains open. The improvements introduced into the army don't match the challenges facing Israel.
The Second Lebanon War exposed a political failure. The hardest feeling left of the war was that there's no state. There's no one to run the ghost cities in the north. There's no one to take care of the refugees from the north. There's no solidarity linking north, south and center. After the State of Israel became the Economy of Israel it was left bereft of a serious public sector, a responsible state system and without the feeling of a shared fate. It suddenly turned out that the political-consumerist ethos we developed does not match the historical reality in which we live. When the day comes, our fabled market does not protect us and does not sustain us as one society and one country. It makes us strong in some aspects and weak and vulnerable in others. In the five years since the war, this dramatic contradiction was not settled, but redoubled. The economy is blooming, while society is withering. The GDP is skyrocketing but the government cannot function. We've forgotten the trauma of 2006 and went on living as if we were in southern California.
So when the day comes again, we'll be surprise again. When it next comes, we'll once again ask what happened to us. Why we went on partying for five years on the deck of the Titanic, instead of reinforcing it and steering it away from its doomed course.

Why are they clinging to al-Assad?
By: Dr. Hamad Al-Majid
AsharqAlawsat/14/07/2011
Is it possible that the hundreds of thousands of Syrians who took to the streets in support of Bashar al-Assad's regime had all been paid to do so? Is it likely that the half a million Libyans who gathered outside the Bab al-Aziziya compound in Tripoli in solidarity with Colonel Gaddafi were all pro-regime thugs? Is it possible that the millions of Yemenis who continue to take to the streets in support of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, and who celebrate wildly whenever there is any good news about his health, have been bribed to do so? What about all of those who, even now, continue to defend former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, or wish that he had been able to bequeath power to his son Gamal Mubarak? Is it possible that they are all part of Mubarak's inner circle or interest groups close to the Mubarak family who share interests with him and his two sons?
The answer is, of course not.
What about the millions who took to the street in support of Egyptian President Jamal Abdul-Nasser, calling on him to retract his decision to resign the presidency following Egypt's defeat to Israel at the 1967 Six Day war?
The answer again is no.
Of course, this does not dismiss the existence of those serving their own interests, those who truly have been paid [by the regime to demonstrate], as well as the hypocrites, liars, and mercenaries who support the leader either out of duplicity or fear. Such hypocrites exist in all regimes and at all times, not just in the "Arab Spring" revolutions However this small number of hypocritical protestors is not sufficient to be the subject of today's article, rather what concerns us is the huge number of demonstrators who have screamed themselves hoarse by chanting in support of leaders who have already been, or will be, toppled without these demonstrators being paid or coerced to do so. An example of this was the Yemeni manual worker who I recently met in Riyadh. He works 14 hours a day at a local Laundromat in order to support his family, yet he spoke about President Al Abdullah Saleh if he were his own son, and expressed his fears for the country should the Yemeni president step down. Such people are completely indifferent to the talk of the Yemeni president monopolizing power for decades, distributing sensitive posts to his sons and kinsmen, stealing the country's wealth, repressing its citizens and shedding their blood. If you were to raise such claims to the Yemeni president's supporters they would respond by providing justifications and excuses, acknowledging that Saleh has made mistakes, but stress that these were only small "stumbles" that do not necessitate him stepping down from power. These masses believe that if the president orders demonstrations to be suppressed then that is his right. They believe that if the president grants the people anything, then this reflects on his generosity, whilst if he doesn't, then there must [also] be wisdom in this. They even believe that should a president become a tyrant, then that also is his right, for he is the leader, the strongest and the wisest.
Therefore, this is a phenomenon that deserves careful consideration, and if we look closely at this issue of Arab protestors that chant and demonstrate sincerely for their despotic and tyrannical leaders we would see that there is one common denominator, namely that the leaders in questions have been in power for a long period of time, in some cases between 30 and 40 years. There can be no doubt that the longer such leaders were in power, the more their citizens were stripped of their honor and dignity, and almost unconsciously remain prisoners of their tyranny, thereby continuing to support these leaders out of confusion or fear. These citizens cannot imagine life without their leader, and view the future as being dark and gloomy in their absence. This is like a slave who once freed continues to view the world from a slave mentality, not knowing how to live except under the yoke of their former master, no matter how oppressive or tyrannical he might have been. Therefore there are some slaves who voluntarily return to bondage, even after they have been freed, because this has become familiar to them, indeed they cannot imagine living another way. The West has long been aware of this phenomenon, and therefore worked to curb despotism and the monopolization of power by following a democratic path, and even imposing limits on democratically elected presidential terms, as in the case of the US where the president is only allowed to remain in office for two terms no matter how great or wise or popular this leader is. This is precisely what the "Arab Spring" aspires to.