LCCC
ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِJuly
24/2011
Bible Quotation for today
Isaiah 3/12-15: " As for my people,
children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. My people, those who
lead you cause you to err, and destroy the way of your paths. Yahweh
stands up to contend, and stands to judge the peoples. Yahweh will enter
into judgment with the elders of his people, and their leaders: “It is you who
have eaten up the vineyard. The plunder of the poor is in your houses.
What do you mean that you crush my people, and grind the face of the poor?” says
the Lord, Yahweh of Armies.
Latest
analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases
from
miscellaneous
sources
Sami Gemayel and Christian
insecurity/By: Michael Young/July 22/11
The opposition is paralyzed/By:
Hazem al-AminJuly 22/11
Is Iran helping Syria squelch
dissent?/By: Aline Sara/July
23/11
(with a Youtube Report)
Latest News Reports From
Miscellaneous Sources for July 23/11
UN alarmed by possible crimes
against humanity in Syria/Now Lebanon
Syrian forces kill 11 people during
mass protests/Reuters
Eight killed at Syria rallies
attended by '1 million'/The National
At least 91 dead in Norway
shooting, bomb attack/The Daily Star
Security Tightened in Oslo as Twin
Attacks Toll Rises to 91/Naharnet
Syria Accuses Saboteurs of Train
Derailment /Naharnet
France Stresses Keenness on
Supporting Lebanese Army/Naharnet
Qabalan: Al-Rahi Must Tackle Lassa
Case, I Will Confront Any Conspiracy against it/Naharnet
March 14 Slams Qabalan’s ‘Verbal
Provocation’ on Dispute over Lassa/Naharnet
PSP Sources Reject ‘Crippling
Conditions’ on National Dialogue/Naharnet
New Bristol Meeting Under Slogan of
‘Justice for Stability’/Naharnet
Suleiman Mulls to Invite for
National Dialogue with Radical Changes/Naharnet
Jumblat Seeks to Bridge Gap between
al-Mustaqbal and Amal-Hizbullah Alliance/Naharnet
Charbel: Al-Hassan Political Role
Won't Go On, Mustaqbal to Be Forbidden from Meddling in ISF/Naharnet
What is the use of re-launching
dialogue, President Amin Gemayel asks/Now Lebanon
Information Branch director to be
included in ISF shake-up/The Daily Star
Lebanon's Arabic press digest -
July 23, 2011 July 23, 2011 /The Daily Star
Turkish PM: No normalization with
Israel without apology, end of Gaza blockade/Haaretz
UN: Syrian repression may amount to
serious crimes against humanity/Haaretz
Syrian forces kill 11 people
during mass protests
23/07/2011/AMMAN, (Reuters) - Syrian forces shot dead at least 11 people during
mass protests on Friday against President Bashar al-Assad, rights activists and
witnesses said.
Five civilians were killed overnight in Homs, 165 km (100 miles) north of the
capital Damascus, when tanks were deployed to halt protests in the besieged
city, residents said.
Six more people were later shot dead in protests in the Damascus suburb of
Mleeha, in Homs and in the Idlib area in the northwest, the Syrian Observatory
for Human Rights and the National Organisation for Human Rights said.
"So far we have six martyrs across the country. All six were killed today," said
Ammar Qurabi, head of the National Organisation for Human Rights.
The 4-month-old uprising, mirroring unrest and dissent elsewhere in the Middle
East and North Africa, is the biggest challenge to Assad's authority since he
succeeded his father 11 years ago and it is spreading.
Rights groups say Assad's forces have killed more than 1,400 civilians since the
uprising began. U.N. human rights advisers said on Friday the crackdown might
amount to crimes against humanity.
Activists reported protests after Friday prayers in several places -- the Medan
district of Damascus, Latakia on the coast, Deraa in the south and Deir al-Zor
in the east -- as well as Homs, the latest focus of the armed crackdown.
"Tanks and armoured vehicles have deployed in Homs thoroughfares but in every
street adjacent to them there are people in the streets," a resident of Homs,
who gave his name as Osama, said by telephone.
Once confined to outlying towns and rural regions, the uprising has now taken a
firm hold in cities such as Homs and Hama, scene of a 1982 massacre by the
military.
In the first crackdown on Kurds since the uprising began, dozens of people were
wounded when police and militia used batons and teargas against protesters in
the mainly Kurdish northeastern city of Qamishli, witnesses said.
The protesters demanded political freedoms and an end to state-endorsed
discrimination against Syria's 1 million Kurds. They also voiced solidarity with
the protesters elsewhere.
ASSAD'S ISOLATION GROWS
Assad, 45, has described the uprising as a foreign conspiracy intended to sow
sectarian strife.
Opponents say he has played on sectarian fears to maintain support of the
minority Alawite sect and keep power for his family, which has ruled Syria for
41 years.
Two special human rights advisers to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called
for an "independent, thorough and objective investigation" of events in Syria.
"The scale and gravity of the violations indicate a serious possibility that
crimes against humanity may have been committed and continue to be committed in
Syria," Francis Deng, adviser on prevention of genocide, and Edward Luck,
adviser on the responsibility to protect, said on Friday.
Once courted by the West to break Syria's alliance with Iran and militant
groups, Assad is becoming increasingly isolated internationally. Iran's Shi'ite
clerical rulers are maintaining their support, to the disquiet of Syria's
majority Sunnis.
Rights groups say the killings of civilians are causing a backlash against Assad
among the mostly Sunni rank and file in the army.
Activists say several tank crews defected this week and joined protesters in the
eastern town of Albu Kamal bordering Iraq's tribal Sunni heartland, prompting
the deployment of Alawite forces who surrounded the town and demanded the army
defectors be handed over.
Diplomatic pressure on Assad mounted this week after Qatar, previously a
supporter, shut its embassy in Damascus and the European Union said it was
considering tougher sanctions.
Relations with Qatar deteriorated when Sunni Muslims were among those killed by
Assad's security forces, whose leaders, like the president, are Alawites.
Assistant U.S. Secretary of State Jeff Feltman told U.S. based Al Hurra TV that
fear of a sectarian crisis was being instigated by Assad to sow fear among the
population.
"They are trying to raise the specter of the ghost of a civil war but it's clear
from the majority of demonstrations that everyone is protesting without concern
about the dangers confronting them for the sake of a better future for Syria,"
Feltman said.
Eight
killed at Syria rallies attended by '1 million'
The National/Jul 23, 2011
DAMASCUS // At least eight civilians were killed by security forces in protests
yesterday, human-rights groups said, with opposition activists claiming more
than a million people taking part in demonstrations nationwide.
Hama in central Syria and Deir Ezzor in the eastern Arab tribal heartlands saw
the largest rallies for the second week in a row, according to campaigners, with
more than 500,000 claimed to be participating in each. Syrian state-run media,
which have started to acknowledge protests, said no more than 2,000 were
involved in Deir Ezzor.
Many of the killings, blamed on security services by activists, took place in
Homs - where sectarian violence flared during the week - as well as Idleb and
the Damascus suburb of Mleeha.
Human-rights monitors also reported sweeping arrests and bloodshed in Aleppo,
Syria's second largest city, which has been comparatively insulated from a
widespread citizens' uprising.
Two activists were stabbed to death by pro-regime gangs in the street outside an
Aleppo mosque, rights campaigners said.
Damascus, the centre of bloodshed for the first time last week, was relatively
quiet, with a massive security clampdown. Checkpoints were set up on roads into
the city centre and restive working-class areas, including Hajar Aswad, Ruken el
Deen, Midan, Qadam and Qaboun, were sealed off by army and plainclothes security
units.
Communications in the capital were also heavily disrupted, with land telephone
lines, mobile networks and internet connections shut down in some areas. Public
transport was also halted, with buses commandeered by security agencies to ferry
manpower to trouble spots.
Despite those measures, and the now usual presence of security officers armed
with clubs and rifles waiting to confront opposition activists at the start of
marches, thousands joined protests in some Damascus neighbourhoods. Most areas
of the capital remained quiet, however, with a majority of city residents
staying at home behind locked doors from midmorning to early evening, preferring
to watch developments on television rather than take part.
Now in its fifth month, the uprising shows no sign of coming to a close and
there is little indication of how or when it will be resolved.
"Neither side is willing to talk to the other side and with every extra death it
gets harder to find a solution," said a Damascus resident, on condition of
anonymity. "This is just going to go on and on."Protesters in Homs similarly
defied a powerful security presence, including armoured military units, to
continue their now regular demonstrations. Violence involving members of the
Sunni majority and Alawite minority in Homs this week has driven fears that the
situation might yet escalate into a sectarian war.
Activists have been at pains to highlight the non-sectarian nature of the
uprising and accuse the authorities, which are dominated by Alawites, of playing
on minority groups' fears in order to cling to power. Pro-regime militia groups
have also been accused of trying to start an internecine conflict in order to
derail the popular uprising.
"It is true that Alawites were brutally murdered in Homs this week, but no one
actually knows who did it," said one civil-rights monitor in Damascus. "It could
have been gangs linked to protesters or it could have been pro-regime gangs.
Anything is possible now in Syria, except reliably finding out the truth."
More than 1,400 civilians have been killed by security forces since the uprising
began in mid-March, according to human-rights groups, with many hundreds wounded
and more than 10,000 suspected activists arrested. Such deadly security
measures, in conjunction with promises of political reform and the opening of
government-orchestrated national dialogue talks, have done nothing to quell
demonstrations. While protesters once called for piecemeal political
liberalisation, they are now demanding nothing short of dismantling the
decades-old autocratic system of government and toppling the regime. Protesters
have failed to reach the critical mass needed to obtain that goal however, and
the president, Bashar Al Assad, in his second decade as leader, retains
significant public support and command over ultra-loyalist security units
Question: "What are the lost books of the Bible?"
GotQuestions.org
Answer: There are no “lost books” of the Bible, or books that were taken out of
the Bible, or books missing from the Bible. Every book that God intended and
inspired to be in the Bible is in the Bible. There are many legends and rumors
of lost books, but there is no truth whatsoever to these stories. There are
literally hundreds of religious books that were written in the same time period
as the books of the Bible. Some of these books contain true accounts of things
that actually occurred (1 Maccabees, for example). Some contain good spiritual
teaching (the Wisdom of Solomon, for example). However, these books are not
inspired by God. If we read any of these books, the Apocrypha as an example, we
have to treat them as fallible historical books, not as the inspired, inerrant
Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
The gospel of Thomas, for example, was a forgery written in the 3rd or 4th
century A.D., claiming to have been written by the apostle Thomas. It was not
written by Thomas. The early church fathers almost universally rejected the
gospel of Thomas as heretical. It contains many false and heretical things that
Jesus supposedly said and did. None of it (or at best very little of it) is
true. The epistle of Barnabas was not written by the biblical Barnabas, but by
an imposter. The same can be said of the gospel of Philip, the apocalypse of
Peter, etc.
There is one God. The Bible has one Creator. It is one book. It has one plan of
grace, recorded from initiation, through execution, to consummation. From
predestination to glorification, the Bible is the story of God redeeming His
chosen people for the praise of His glory. As God’s redemptive purposes and plan
unfold in Scripture, the recurring themes constantly emphasized are the
character of God, the judgment for sin and disobedience, the blessing for faith
and obedience, the Lord Savior and sacrifice for sin, and the coming kingdom and
glory. It is God’s intention that we know and understand these five themes
because our lives and eternal destinies depend upon them. It is therefore
unthinkable that God would allow some of this vital information to be “lost” in
any way. The Bible is complete, in order that we who read and understand it
might also be “complete, and equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
UN
alarmed by possible crimes against humanity in Syria
July 23, 2011
UN special advisers on human rights have said that violations reportedly
committed by security forces in Syria may qualify as crimes against humanity.
Francis Deng, the special adviser to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on the
prevention of genocide and Edward Luck, the special adviser on the
responsibility to protect, said Friday that Syrian security forces have
reportedly continued to kill civilians and make arbitrary arrests. "Based on
available information, the Special Advisers consider that the scale and gravity
of the violations indicate a serious possibility that crimes against humanity
may have been committed and continue to be committed in Syria," said Deng and
Luck.
They called for an "independent, thorough, and objective investigation" of the
events in Syria, where demonstrations by civilians calling for greater democracy
have been brutally suppressed.
The UN advisers echoed calls by the secretary general to the Syrian government
to allow humanitarian access to areas affected by the unrest and to facilitate
the visit of the UN Human Rights Council-mandated fact-finding mission to the
country. "Without these steps, it will be very difficult to defuse existing
tensions and to prevent the escalation of violence," they said.
"All actors involved in the current crisis in Syria are urged to refrain from
the use of force, from acts of violence, or from incitement to violence."
Amnesty International earlier this month described an assault by Syrian forces
against pro-democracy protestors in the border town of Tall Kalakh as crimes
against humanity.
-AFP/NOW Lebanon
Syria Accuses Saboteurs of Train Derailment
Naharnet /A passenger train has derailed and caught fire in central Syria,
killing the driver and wounding several passengers, after "saboteurs" tore out
part of the tracks, the state-run news agency, SANA, said. The train with 480
passengers on board was traveling Saturday from the northeastern city of Aleppo
to the capital Damascus.
SANA said the saboteurs targeted the train, ripping up a section of the tracks
at al-Souda near the central city of Homs. That caused the train to derail and
the front carriage to catch fire.
Syria is in the throes of an uprising against President Bashar Assad's rule.
Activists say more than 1,600 civilians have died in the government crackdown
since the revolt began in mid-March. The government blames the unrest on
terrorists and foreign extremists, not true reform-seekers.
Source Agence France Presses
Security Tightened in Oslo as Twin Attacks Toll Rises to 91
Naharnet /Twin shooting and bomb attacks left at least 91 dead in western
Europe's deadliest carnage since the 2004 Madrid bombings as a Norwegian gunman
opened fire at a youth camp and a bomb tore through central Oslo.
The suspect was a 32-year-old Norwegian who posted anti-Muslim rhetoric online,
police commissioner Sveinung Sponheim told the NRK television channel, but
added: "It's too early to say if this was a motive behind the act."
Police voiced fears that the toll could rise as they searched for victims of the
shootings at a summer school meeting organized by Prime Minister Jens
Stoltenberg's ruling Labor Party on Utoeya, an island outside the capital.
Security was meanwhile tightened across potential target sites in the capital,
police said Saturday, but they lifted an advisory that had urged residents to
stay home.
According to the TV2 channel, the arrested suspect has links to right-wing
extremists and possessed two weapons registered in his name.
Western leaders denounced the attacks and vowed solidarity with NATO member
Norway -- an enthusiastic participant in international military missions that
has forces in Afghanistan and is participating in air strikes in Libya.
Stoltenberg had been due to give a speech on Saturday to the 560 people
attending the youth camp on the island.
Witnesses described scenes of panic and horror after the gunman, who police said
was disguised as a police officer but had never worked for the police force,
opened fire on the youth gathering.
"I saw a lot of people running and screaming, I ran to the nearest building and
hid under a bed," Emilie Bersaas, 19, told Britain's Sky News.
"It is kind of unreal, especially in Norway... This is something we hear about
happening in the US."
Another young survivor, Jorgen Benone, said: "People were hiding behind stones.
I saw people being shot... I felt it was best to stay quiet, not to run into the
open.
"I saw (the gunman) once just 20 to 30 meters away from me," Benone said, adding
that he then swam to safety and was rescued by a boat.
Norwegian police said they feared there could also be explosives on the island.
Reports of the island shooting emerged shortly after a blast tore through the
government quarter in central Oslo. Police said a "bomb" had been behind the
"powerful explosion.”
"There are good reasons to believe that there is a link between the events,"
police commissioner Sponheim told reporters in Oslo.
Mayor Fabian Stang said the capital was struggling to come to terms with the
idea that it had joined the list of cities targeted by bombers.
"Today we think about those people living in New York and London who have
experienced this kind of thing," he told Sky.
The prime minister's office and other buildings were heavily damaged, while
pavements were covered in broken glass as smoke rose above the wreckage.
A police spokesman said a vehicle had been seen driving at high speed in the
area just before the explosion, but did not confirm that the blast had been
caused by a car bomb.
Police had sealed off the area and urged residents to stay in their homes.
U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon and the EU condemned the attacks and the NATO chief
denounced them as "heinous.”
U.S. President Barack Obama called the attacks "a reminder that the entire
international community has a stake in preventing this kind of terror from
occurring."
The Norwegian capital is a well-known symbol of international peace efforts,
home to the Nobel Peace Prize and the birthplace of the 1993 Israeli-Palestinian
Oslo Accords.
The attacks were the worst in western Europe since the 2004 train bombings in
Madrid, which left 191 dead and nearly 2,000 injured.
Source Agence France Presse
Qabalan: Al-Rahi Must Tackle Lassa Case, I Will Confront Any Conspiracy against
it
Naharnet /The Vice President of the Higher Islamic Shiite Council Abdul Amir
Qabalan stated on Friday that facts and documents prove that the land in and
around the town of Lassa belongs to its residents. He demanded during Friday
Muslim prayers that no one get involved in the matter and that all the residents
be treated fairly.
“I will confront any conspiracy against the town,” he stressed. “We don’t want
anyone’s land to be seized and we won’t allow any Lassa resident’s property to
be seized,” Qabalan declared. In addition, he said that Maronite Patriarch
Beshara al-Rahi should handle this case. “We don’t want to create a problem with
any one. We have enough problems with Israel to contend with,” he continued.
Last week, Lassa residents prevented a Maronite League delegation from
conducting a survey of land belonging to the Patriarchate in Jounieh.
An MTV crew was also prevented from filming in the area. A meeting at Bkirki
this week demanded that this issue remain restricted to legal circles
March 14 Slams Qabalan’s ‘Verbal Provocation’ on Dispute
over Lassa
Naharnet/March 14 general secretariat coordinator Fares Soaid snapped back at
the deputy leader of the Higher Islamic Shiite Council, Abdul Amir Qabalan,
saying Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi should put an end to the “verbal
provocation” over the dispute on the sectarian identity of the town of Lassa.
Qabalan said during Friday prayers that documents prove that the land in and
around Lassa in the district of Jbeil belongs to its residents. Lassa’s
population is mainly Shiite. Soaid said, however, that Qabalan made a “media
violation” by bringing up the subject despite a statement by Bkirki on Thursday
urging the Lebanese not to tackle the issue through the media. The March 14
official said that al-Rahi should “end the verbal provocation to preserve
coexistence in Jbeil.” Meanwhile, the mayor of Amhaz, which lies near Lassa,
told An Nahar daily published Saturday that “the village is 100 percent
Maronite.” He expressed regret that Qabalan brought up the subject without
having documents or information on the issue. On Saturday, Qabalan telephoned
al-Rahi to extend his condolences over the death of the patriarchate’s secretary
Monsignor Youssef Toq
PSP Sources Reject ‘Crippling Conditions’ on National
Dialogue
Naharnet /Sources close to Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat said
in reference to the March 14 forces that they reject any attempt to put
obstacles to the national dialogue.
“We had always called for calm and rational dialogue to limit the tension in the
country and prevent further political divisions among the Lebanese that threaten
civil peace,” the sources told As Safir daily published Saturday. “Dialogue is
now more important than ever,” they said about President Michel Suleiman’s
invitation for all-party talks at the Baabda palace.
“We support anyone who pushes (for dialogue), particularly the president,
Speaker Nabih Berri and Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah,” the sources told the
newspaper.
“We are against the rejection of dialogue by any side,” the sources said.
Without referring to March 14, they said they denounce “crippling conditions.”
A minister close to Jumblat told al-Liwaa daily that dialogue consolidates the
local political situation to avoid any deterioration given the upheaval in
Syria.
Meanwhile, an informed source said that Jumblat might visit Turkey next week
after a trip he made to Russia.
New Bristol Meeting Under Slogan of ‘Justice for Stability’
Naharnet /Former ministers, MPs and around 300 personalities will attend a legal
conference organized by the March 14 forces next week under the slogan of
“Justice for Stability.”
March 14-led opposition sources told An Nahar daily that the meeting, which will
be held at the Bristol hotel in Beirut on Tuesday evening, will stress the need
to remain committed to the international tribunal and continue funding it.
The organizers of the conference will invite Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi
and General Prosecutor Saeed Mirza to implement the cooperation agreement signed
with the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and execute the arrest warrants issued
against four suspects in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s Feb. 2005 assassination case.
According to the sources, the organizers will also urge the Beirut and Tripoli
Bar Associations to take a “historic stance to safeguard justice and the truth.”
At the end of the meeting, one of the organizers will read a message urging U.N.
chief Ban Ki-moon to consolidate and protect the court. The message includes a
statement that says “security stability cannot spread in Lebanon without justice
and without putting the Lebanese in front of two choices: justice or chaos
because only justice guarantees stability.”
Jumblat Seeks to Bridge Gap between al-Mustaqbal and
Amal-Hizbullah Alliance
Naharnet/Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat is seeking to bridge
the gap between ex-PM Saad Hariri’s al-Mustaqbal movement and the two main
Shiite parties Amal and Hizbullah. A minister close to Jumblat told al-Liwaa
daily published Saturday that Jumblat, through his meetings in Lebanon and
abroad, is seeking to revive contacts between al-Mustaqbal as the main
representative of Sunnis in Lebanon and both Amal and Hizbullah.
“Contacts should not remain cut because this is unprecedented in Lebanese
political life,” the minister said.
He unveiled that during Jumblat’s latest phone conversation with Hariri, the
officials touched on the issue of reviving contacts. The minister refused to
unveil whether the two men would meet upon Hariri’s return to Beirut from
France. But media reports said that the telephone conversation came to
compensate a meeting that was scheduled to be held between the Druze leader and
the Mustaqbal chief in a European capital but was cancelled the last minute.
Meanwhile, Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is scheduled to make a speech
on Tuesday on the occasion of the party’s victory in the 2006 war against
Israel.
Charbel: Al-Hassan Political Role Won't Go On, Mustaqbal to
Be Forbidden from Meddling in ISF
Naharnet /Interior Minister Marwan Charbel on Friday said “the Mustaqbal
Movement and any political party will be forbidden from interfering in the
Internal Security Forces’ affairs.”
In an interview with Hizbullah’s Al-Manar television, Charbel added that he will
not allow ISF Intelligence Bureau chief Col. Wissam al-Hassan to carry on with
playing a “political role.”
ISF chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi “will not make statements without permission”
anymore, Charbel told his interviewer, in response to a question.
Addressing the issue of administrative appointments, the minister stressed that
“no dispute will erupt between the president (Michel Suleiman) and (Free
Patriotic Movement leader) General Michel Aoun or among any of the political
leaders over any administrative posts in my ministry.”
“I will not approve any appointment to a security post done without my consent
and hadn’t I been convinced with the appointment of Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim as
General Security chief, I would’ve told Hizbullah and AMAL that I would not
accept him,” Charbel added.
Asked about accusations against the Lebanese authorities of standing idly by
concerning the case of seven Estonians released recently after a four-month
kidnap ordeal, Charbel said: “Kidnap operations happen all over the world, not
only in Lebanon, so let’s await the judiciary’s probe.”
“We have arrested nine people so far and a policeman was martyred. Had it not
been for the Intelligence Bureau, we would’ve not known who abducted the
hostages,” he added.
Charbel said the Lebanese authorities had asked the Syrians for help in the
case. “The French only helped logistically and they had nothing to do with the
negotiations” to release the seven tourists, he added. “Estonia played the
main role in the release (of the seven cyclists) and I don’t know if the
abductors were (Islamist) fundamentalists or whether a ransom was paid,” Charbel
went on to say.
Suleiman Mulls to Invite for National Dialogue with Radical
Changes
Naharnet /President Michel Suleiman is mulling to invite Lebanese leaders to
all-party talks at Baabda palace next month as presidential sources said that
the dialogue table could witness radical changes. The sources told As Safir
daily published Saturday that some personalities would be left out while the
dialogue would witness new faces.
They stressed that the national dialogue’s agenda is limited to the country’s
defense strategy but Suleiman does not mind to include other topics upon the
request of the political parties.
The president is planning to throw an Iftar banquet on August 11 as a foundation
for the national dialogue invitation that he plans to make, As Safir said.
But March 14 MP Butros Harb reiterated that the opposition rejects to sit at the
dialogue table with the new parliamentary majority “to waste time.”
The conferees should discuss the issue of Hizbullah’s arms and implement
previous agreements reached at the dialogue such as disarmament of Palestinians
outside the camps, the demarcation of the border with Syria and the commitment
to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, Harb told Voice of Lebanon radio station
(100.5).
Suleiman can’t launch the dialogue on the same foundations of the previous
all-party talks, he said. The president should review the agenda because “we
don’t accept for the talks to be postponed every month,” Harb added.
What is the use of re-launching dialogue, President Amin Gemaye asks
July 23, 2011
Kataeb Party leader Amin Gemayel asked what the use of re-launching the national
dialogue sessions is when some categorize the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL)
as a tool of “ruling and vengeance,” according to a statement issued by his
press office on Saturday.
He also asked what the use of dialogue is when non-state arms – a reference to
Hezbollah’s weapons – are “described as everlasting.”
Addressing an expatriates’ delegation, Gemayel said President Michel Sleiman
should form a “party of experts to look into controversial issues and find ways
to resolve them.”
The STL indicted four members of the Iranian-and Syrian-backed Hezbollah in
connection to the 2005 assassination of ex-premier Rafik Hariri, but Hezbollah
Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has ruled out their arrest.
Nasrallah has repeatedly said that the tribunal is a US-Israeli tool that aims
to target the Resistance.
-NOW Lebanon
Is Iran helping Syria squelch dissent?
Aline Sara , Now Lebanon/July 23, 2011
In this video, a Syrian soldier explains that he defected from the army after he
realized that Iranian snipers were shooting at his troops to dupe them into
thinking the bullets were from Syrian protesters. (Youtube)
In the amateur video above, a former soldier explains why he defected from the
Syrian army.
Though originally sent to “protect” anti-regime protesters in Rastan, a town in
the Homs governorate, he says his troops were ordered to shoot at civilians
during a melee that left “about 500 people killed.”
“We entered their homes and found the protesters had no weapons,” he told the
camera. “The bullets were coming from Iranian snipers, trying to trick us into
thinking they were from the protesters.”This is not the first account of Iranian
involvement in Syria’s bloody crackdown on a four-month-old uprising. Given 30
years of close ties between Iran and Syria, how taxing would Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad’s fall be for Iran, and to what extent is the Islamic Republic
involved in quelling the anti-government upheaval?
Though more than 2,000 people have died, with tens of thousands arrested and
tortured since the beginning of the revolution last March, the UN Security
Council has still not denounced the Syrian government’s crushing of protesters,
with just this week France pointing the finger at Russia and China for
preventing any UNSC condemnation. Damascus, in turn, continues to bash the West,
particularly the US and France, for allegedly meddling in its domestic affairs.
The Syrian opposition, meanwhile, is concerned about the Islamic Republic’s role
in the crackdown.
“While we have not seen any documented proof, there is circumstantial evidence
of Iranian interference,” said Murhaf Jouejati, a Syrian-born expert on Middle
East affairs who specializes in Syrian politics and the Levant at the Middle
East Institute in Washington. “Stakes are high if Iran is to succeed in its
regional hegemony as it aspires to, and Iran needs Syria,” he said.
Back in April Washington began to accuse Iran of aiding Syria’s repression of
protests, and the EU imposed sanctions on three members of the Iranian
Revolutionary guards in June.
Diplomatic sources in Damascus accused Teheran of having its personnel on Syrian
grounds, of advising the Syrian regime on ways to monitor telecommunications
between dissidents, and of supplying Syrian police with batons and helmets.
“There is more than one source, including the soldier [from the above video],
who has seen Iranians instruct Syrian officers on what to do,” Jouejati told NOW
Lebanon. “People have heard Persian spoken between the men, and there is
circumstantial evidence that Iran has shipped equipment to Syria to block
communications, all of which are apparently [from] lessons learned in Iran
during its crisis two years ago,” Jouejati said in reference to the so-called
Green Revolution that the Iranian security forces squashed.
“Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and Quds Force are known for their excellent
surveillance techniques,” said Mehdi Khalaji, an Iranian scholar from the
Washington Institute, during a phone conversation with NOW Lebanon. “Syrians
aren’t as good [as the Iranians,] and I can believe they are giving them advice
and even technology.”
“In fact, given the enormously high stakes for Iran, it would be odd if Teheran
were not doing its utmost to make sure [Assad] stays in power,” echoed Karim
Sadjapour, an associate from the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace. “Syria has been Iran’s only reliable ally since the 1979
Islamic Revolution and provides a crucial logistical bridge between Tehran and
Hezbollah,” thus providing Iran’s main conduit into the Arab-Israeli conflict,
he added.
Assad’s fall would affect Iran’s relations with the whole region, said Khalaji,
and in spite of a seemingly similar political agenda to that of Turkey, Damascus
and Ankara have many conflicts of interests, he stressed.
Turkey, over the course of the Syrian uprising, has taken a clear stance against
Assad’s maneuvering. The NATO member has also received tens of thousands of
Syrian refugees. Turkey was also warming its relations with Iran before the
Syrian uprising and has now expressed its displeasure with Tehran’s support of
Assad’s crackdown.
What would be the effect of Assad’s fall on Iran’s other regional ally,
Hezbollah?
“Given the fact that Iran has direct flights between Beirut and Tehran, I think
that it should not represent a significant problem in terms of Iran’s direct
contact with Hezbollah, but obviously, it would be very harmful to the interests
of both powers,” said Khalaji. “Both countries, in the case of Assad’s fall,
will try to use Syrian territory for their benefit as much as they can.”
Assad’s ouster might even make Iran stronger in Lebanon, said Jouejati, as it
would have an even bigger stake in the country.
Sami Gemayel and Christian insecurity
Michael Young, July 22, 2011 /Now Lebanon
Kataeb MP Sami Gemayel has made a case for a federal state in which Christians
live separately from their Muslim compatriots.
The “false witnesses” controversy is back on the table. According to news
reports, the justice minister has devised a formula to transfer the matter of
alleged false witnesses in the investigation of Rafik al-Hariri’s murder to the
Justice Council, long a Hezbollah demand.
Maybe this was a consequence of the ridicule Sami Gemayel heaped on the
government recently during the parliamentary debate prior to a vote of
confidence; or maybe it was not. However, when Gemayel accused the new cabinet
of hypocrisy for failing to mention false witnesses in its policy statement,
even though Saad al-Hariri’s government had been brought down because the prime
minister had resisted transferring the matter to the Justice Council, he hit a
nerve.
In fact, go back to Gemayel’s speech, and you will notice that he hit quite a
few nerves. For some time, I’ve been uneasy about the young parliamentarian’s
exclusivist Christian nationalism. It’s fair to say, and his speech and previous
remarks have implied this, that Gemayel aspires to a Lebanon where Christians
live largely among Christians; where they remain as shielded as possible from
the political zephyrs affecting their Muslim countrymen. This may mean creating
a federal structure, a confederal one, or what have you. But Gemayel plainly
believes that the Lebanon of 1943, based on a centralized system of
power-sharing between religious communities, can no longer work.
The problem with this is that Gemayel’s views are almost certainly shared by a
majority of Christians. Return to that parliamentary session a second time.
Recall that as Gemayel was orating, the Hezbollah parliamentarians looked on in
stony silence, while the Aounist representatives were equally subdued. I will
wager that Hezbollah’s bloc knew very well that it was listening to views widely
held by the followers of its own Aounist allies—and that includes Gemayel’s
references to the double standards enjoyed by the party and the Shia community
when it comes to abiding by the law.
This is a reality Hezbollah should heed. Despite five years of political
collaboration between Michel Aoun and Hezbollah, the partnership has not
percolated down in any significant way to influence social relations. The
supporters of Aoun and Hezbollah still live in separate worlds. The party has
benefited from Christian, particularly Maronite, fears when it comes to the
Sunni community, but this has not translated into a long-term embrace of Shia
aspirations, let alone a willingness to pay a heavy national price for
Hezbollah’s pursuit of an armed struggle.
Never have Lebanon’s Christians been as closed in upon themselves as they are
today. In light of this, the future of the community may be determined much more
by exclusivists such as Sami Gemayel than by defenders of the 1943 formula. This
would be a pity and would show the Christians at their worst in terms of
self-confidence. However, it’s also true that Lebanon’s Muslim communities have
a responsibility to show that they respect the institutions of Lebanese
coexistence.
Hezbollah has consciously exacerbated Shia misgivings about Lebanon. As
Hezbollah’s parliamentarians heard Gemayel speak, they must have sensed a double
irony. On one level, here was a great skeptic when it comes to the traditional
Lebanese power-sharing arrangement, yet he was badgering Hezbollah for refusing
to bend to a more equitable power-sharing arrangement. And on another level,
Gemayel, otherwise a member of the March 14 coalition, was voicing reservations
about Hezbollah that the Christian partisans of Michel Aoun haven’t dared voice
because their movement’s leadership is in bed with the party.
One can challenge Gemayel, but it’s rather difficult to point to anything in
Lebanon today that would prove how wrong he in pursuing, effectively, greater
Christian isolation. Take the false witnesses dispute. Hezbollah wants to force
down everybody’s throat that the party is the victim of an Israeli and American
conspiracy. This will only further enrage Sunnis, who are being asked to adopt
under duress an entirely spurious hypothesis to explain the murder of their
onetime communal champion. In that context, and most unfortunately, it’s not
difficult to see why someone like Gemayel will affirm that Christians are better
off distancing themselves from Sunnis and Shia.
The Lebanon of 1943 is certainly in need of profound reform. However, greater
communal segregation cannot be in the country’s best interest. When people like
Sami Gemayel condemn, quite rightly, the perils of a Hezbollah-dominated state
within a state, they should also be aware that their own doubts about Lebanon as
it is today will encourage many of their coreligionists to aspire to a Christian
state within a state—even if Gemayel personally has no desire to go that far.
Gemayel’s speech before parliament was an important moment both in the budding
politician’s own career and in bringing to light Christian insecurity in a
Lebanon shaped mainly by the interaction between Sunnis and Shia. This will not
go away. Muslim representatives should be conscious that whatever the Christians
choose will have a significant impact on Sunni-Shia relations. It may be easy to
dismiss Sami Gemayel and those like him as inexperienced diehards, but in times
of uncertainty they are the kind of people who set the agenda.
**Michael Young is opinion editor of the Daily Star newspaper in Beirut and
author of The Ghosts of Martyrs Square: An Eyewitness Account of Lebanon’s Life
Struggle. He tweets @BeirutCalling.
The opposition is paralyzed
Hazem al-Amin, /Now Lebanon/July 22, 2011
It is now possible to define the general outline of the approach adopted by the
new majority and its cabinet. For instance, one can say that Hezbollah will keep
on facilitating the mission of PM Najib Mikati’s government, which helps to
consolidate his position as a Sunni alternative to former PM Saad Hariri. This
will encompass all issues, including administrative appointments, the manner of
dealing with the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and issues such as releasing
Islamic prisoners from the North. The party may even undertake measures, such as
disarmament in cities in the North and Beirut, in order to produce an
alternative Sunni leadership.
In contrast, the new opposition, spearheaded by the Future Movement, does not
seem to have a clear plan in this respect. Hezbollah’s “offerings” look like
disappointments for Future Movement figures, as all they can do to counter them
is to question the extent of their seriousness and the party’s underlying
intentions. Indeed, the opposition is abiding by a logic based on reactions. For
instance, it waited for the promulgation of the ministerial statement in order
to launch a campaign against the cabinet, thus overlooking or forgetting
something that should have preceded the statement, namely objecting to the fact
that the cabinet formation was a masquerade, militia-like affair.
When the ministerial statement was issued, the opposition expected that it would
not mention the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. However, it was taken by surprise
by the compromise solution, which was expressed by the expression “in
principle”, and focused its campaign on this particular expression.
According to the opposition, the next showdown was supposed to be fought under
the banner of administrative appointments, the indictment and arrest warrants,
and the STL funding. The opposition was also betting on Michel Aoun’s
impetuousness to embarrass Mikati. However, it seems that a plan has been
devised in order to absorb these issues. This plan may well work; rather, it is
expected that it will be productive given the logic of reactions to which the
opposition has confined itself.
Clearly, the opposition’s capacity to come up with initiatives is almost totally
paralyzed. Hezbollah can predict the shape of the upcoming showdown and define
its limits since it knows the limits of the opposition’s plan.
This, in reality, has tied the opposition’s hands and frozen its capacity to
deal with obvious and minor events it had not expected to happen. For instance,
the opposition’s mouthpieces and TV figures, whether in Lebanon or abroad,
failed to use the scandal of the Estonians’ release as a controversial issue and
to question the cabinet in this respect. Instead, what we heard majority MPs say
and what we read in pro-majority newspapers is far more strongly-worded than
what we heard from opposition MPs and read in pro-opposition newspapers with
regard to condemning this scandal and demanding that the truth be revealed in
this respect.
Moreover, there have been security incidents pertaining to Hezbollah and the
influence and violations of its allies, ranging from the incident in a Saida
pharmacy to breaking into the Lebanese University in Hadath. These events took
place at a time when opposition leaders were vacationing abroad. In the
meantime, Speaker Nabih Berri managed to transform opposition MP Mohammad
Qabbani into the official spokesman for his plan to control the oil issue
through “cooperation with the cabinet.” Not too long before that, Speaker Berri
had also “convinced” Michel Murr of granting his confidence to the cabinet.
Still, these are merely details compared to the fact that the opposition does
not have any plan based on an interpretation of the extremely deteriorated state
of Mikati’s cabinet. Hezbollah is actually making profuse offers, as it knows
that Mikati needs huge doses of oxygen just to stand on his own two feet.
The Syrian regime is worn out. Hezbollah is besieged by the indictment and the
chaos over its weapons. Mikati is orphaned within his own community, and the
cabinet is besieged on the regional and international levels.
These are evident realities regarding which it may be useful to refresh the
Future bloc’s memory before its weekly meeting.
This article is a translation of the original, which was published on the NOW
Arabic site on Friday July 22, 2011
Lebanon's Arabic press digest - July 23, 2011
The Daily Star /Following are summaries of some of the main stories in a
selection of Lebanese newspapers Saturday. The Daily Star cannot vouch for the
accuracy of these reports.
Ad-Diyar: Politics: The U.S. Embassy has nothing to do with the demarcation of
maritime borders and the situation between Lebanon and Israel.
The country entered the holiday summer season with plenty of issues which will
continue through to the end of August. A notable event will be the August 2
Council of Ministers sessions of Parliament and the August 3 and 4 oil law and
demarcation of maritime borders.
In addition, the first of August will see the end of month deadline set by the
international tribunal. In commemoration of the July 2006 War, which will be
broadcast on Manara TV station, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah will discuss
the developments of the country and the Arab region.
Many were amazed at community efforts made to resolve the issue of Lassa. The
committee headed by the Maronite patriarch to solve the problem was held in
Bkirki in the presence of representatives from Hezbollah and the Maronite League
and others in the town of Lassa, and the agreement was to resolve the matter
legally with the blessing of Speaker [Nabih] Berri, the patriarch, Hezbollah and
the Free Patriotic Movement. The Maronite Patriarchate also issued a statement
saying that the dispute over the real estate is not political.
In other news were the recent statements of the Representative of the Secretary
General of the United Nations in Lebanon, Michael Williams, saying that he
feared sectarian clashes in Lebanon.
As for the maritime borders, the U.S. Embassy in Beirut said that the U.S. has
never been a party to the maritime dispute between Lebanon and Israel, releasing
a statement saying that U.S. envoy Frederick Hof does not have any plans to
visit Lebanon at the present time. Najib Mikati met with Energy Minister Gibran
Bassil, and they said the government is taking all necessary actions to complete
the process with the U.N. and Cyprus as a first stage.
Al-Mustaqbal: The United States says it is not a party to the maritime dispute
All the domestic issues seem frozen by politics. The representative of the
Secretary General of the United Nations in Lebanon Michael Williams has shown a
strong presence in terms of his warning of a possible sectarian conflict in
Lebanon due to regional events.
Minister of Social Affairs Wael Abu Faour informed Mustaqbal that President
Michel Sleiman will not call for dialogue before the issue of political forces
is complete.
Furthermore, the Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi denied what has been announced
by the Lebanese authorities regarding the issuing of arrest warrants by the
international tribunal. He said in a media statement that his office
"categorically denies the issuance of such warrants.”
Qortbawi said he did not want to delve into the so-called “false witness” files,
emphasizing that "the Council of Ministers is to decide the issue of arrest
warrants issued by the international tribunal.”
Regarding the maritime borders, Mikati and Energy Minister Bassil declared that
"the government is moving quickly," adding that the Lebanese government was
working seriously on this issue with the U.N. and Cyprus in this initial stage.
As-Safir: Fneish addresses the issue of appointments
Next month, an official ceremony will bring together government officials and a
legislative session will be held in Parliament regarding the issue of maritime
borders. Sleiman is expected to announce a meeting at Baabda for the
continuation of national dialogue.
The maritime border issue has been at the top of the government agenda, to
protect Lebanon’s oil and gas. And the issue of government appointments is
likely to heat up next month.
Minister of State Mohammad Fneish stressed the importance of adopting a
mechanism for making qualified appointments, where efficiency, eligibility and
merit is taken into account.
Fneish, who has submitted a draft strategy to the prime minister and a plan for
administrative reform, urged the ministers to move forward. He said he would
start identifying vacancies in ministries so that qualified candidates could
submit their CVs to the Cabinet. So far, no timeframe has been set.
Al-Jamhouria: Hof will not visit Lebanon
Following rumors that the United States would intervene in the maritime dispute
between Lebanon and Israel, the U.S.Embassy in Beirut has denied that Frederic
Hof has any plans to visit Beirut in the near future. The statement said that
any talk the U.S. has taken a position on this is untrue, and the U.S. will not
be party to this conflict.
On Friday, all eyes were on Syria, where 1.2 million anti-government
demonstrators took to the streets, facing unprecedented security measures,
including military deployment and raids on neighborhoods throughout the country,
as the government tries to quell the revolution before the holy month of
Ramadan.
In other security news, there was the attack on government offices in Oslo,
Norway, where there was a series of explosions leaving 87 dead. This was
followed by global condemnation.
The weekly Friday anti-Syrian government demonstrations in Tripoli proceeded
peacefully this week, focusing this time on Iran and President Bashar Assad.
Al-Jamhouria has learned that there will be a new set of appointments in the
second session of August.
Meanwhile, the U.S. says it is not a party to the maritime borders issue and the
Lebanese government says it is working on the issue with the U.N. and Cyprus as
a preliminary stage.