LCCC
ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِJuly
26/2011
Bible Quotation for today
Matthew 11/25-30: "At that time Jesus said
in reply, "I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although
you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed
them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things
have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the
Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son
wishes to reveal him. "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and
I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and
humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves. For my yoke is easy,
and my burden light."
Latest
analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases
from
miscellaneous
sources
Slain Iranian scientist
was working on a nuclear bomb detonator/DEBKAfile
Exclusive Report/ July 25/11
Latest News Reports From
Miscellaneous Sources for July 25/11
Hillary's Syria sellout/New York
Post
Syria's Assad replaces two
provincial governors amid continued protests/Haaretz
Lebanon requests extension of
UNIFIL mandate/The Daily Star
Lebanon cannot survive without
Hezbollah: Aoun/The Daily Star
US keeps to middle in
Israel-Lebanon gas dispute/The National
Victims of 2006 war should sue
Lebanese officials: Hezbollah/The Daily Star
Raad: Resistance Ready to Perform
its Duty if Maritime Zone Threatened/Naharnet
Opposition Sources: Riyadh Informed
Miqati that He is Not Welcome in Saudi Arabia/Naharnet
Pro, Anti-Assad Protesters Clash
near Kuwait Embassy in Beirut/Naharnet
Al-Rahi: We Can’t Live in Peace
without Achieving Justice/Naharnet
Lebanese Forces bloc MP Antoine
Zahra: Some aim to use the army for the benefit of the Resistance/Now Lebanon
Lebanese Forces MP George Adwan
discusses upcoming March 14 gathering/Now Lebanon
Slain
Iranian scientist was working on a nuclear bomb detonator
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report July 24, 2011,
http://www.debka.com/article/21146/
Daryush Rezaee-Nejad, 35, who died Saturday, July 23, when two motorcyclists
shot him in the head and throat in front of his home in Tehran, was a rising
star of the new generation of Iranian nuclear scientists. debkafile's Iranian
sources disclose he was attached to one of the most secret teams of Iran's
nuclear program, employed by the defense ministry to construct detonators for
the nuclear bombs and warhead already in advanced stages of development. This
was another in the series in the past year of mysterious attacks of top-flight
scientists attached to the Iranian nuclear program.Our sources disclose that
while he may have fit the Iranian media's description of "a university student
studying for a master's degree in electricity at the Khajeh-Nasser University,
one of the defense ministry's Institutes of Hydraulic Engineering and Structural
Engineering," that description applied only to one part of his work.
He was also to be found daily at the top secret Parchine nuclear and military
laboratories in northeast Tehran, where most of the work on nuclear bomb
components and operational warheads is conducted.
His employment in this dual capacity helped Tehran keeping these activities
under deep cover. It also accounts for the Iranian media's conflicting accounts
of Razaee-Nejad's role.
Initially, he was described as "a nuclear scientist working for the Atomic
Energy Organization of Iran." That was Saturday shortly after his death. Sunday,
they changed the story and called him "an electronics master's student."
However, the Iranian Fars news agency alone suggested. "…the media had made a
mistake in reporting Rezaee-Nejad's specialty" and went on to insist that he had
links with the defense ministry. Further belying the claim that he was only a
student, Iran's parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani Sunday delivered a furious
diatribe against "the American-Zionist terrorist act "against one of the
country's scientists as yet another sign of the degree of American animosity."
He said: "America should think carefully about the consequences of such
actions," and urged Iranian security sources "to deliver a strong response to
these evil moves."
debkafile's intelligence sources report that Tehran appears to have got in a
muddle over the dead scientist's job description after realizing that disclosing
his connection with the nuclear program betrayed how deeply the scientific teams
employed in uranium enrichment - and even the scientific manpower directly
engaged in building a nuclear bomb - had been penetrated.
Iranian media experts tried hard to undo the damage by retooling that
description for an additional reason: They needed to reassure the scientists
employed on nuclear work and their families that they were not in danger lest
they take fright and run for their lives. Furthermore, neither the experts nor
the public has forgotten that only nine months ago, on November 27, 2010, two
leading lights of Iran's nuclear program were targeted for assassination by the
same method in the middle of Tehran: Prof. Fereydoon Abbassi, whom debkafile
identified at the time as director of the uranium enrichment centrifuge facility
at Natanz, and Dr. Majid Shariari, whom our sources revealed as in charge of the
cyber war against the Stuxnet virus attacking the same facility. Dr. Shariari
died on the spot. Prof. Abbasi survived the attack and was appointed Vice
President for nuclear affairs and Chairman of the Atomic Energy Organization.
Since Saturday, security has been tightened for Iranian nuclear experts and
their families, using special units established for the purpose, according to
debkafile's sources. But this last assassination indicates that the security
belt designed to protect them may too have been penetrated.
Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi : We Can’t Live in Peace
without Achieving Justice
Naharnet /Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi stressed on Sunday that the truth
is the primary element for peace “as we cannot live in peace without finding out
God’s truth.”
He said during the Sunday sermon from his hometown of Himlaya: “History does not
belong to war, destruction, and oppression … but the ultimate truth alone can
set the people free.”
“Man cannot live in peace if he is not free,” he continued. “Freedom signifies
the ability to judge what is fair and just,” he added. “Whoever does not know
freedom does not know peace,” the Patriarch said. Furthermore, al-Rahi stressed
the need to grant people their rights, including justice. “We cannot live in
peace if we don’t achieve justice,” he concluded. The Patriarch arrived in
Himlaya Sunday morning to a popular celebration and reception, which was also
attended by a number of political figures.
Lebanon
requests extension of UNIFIL mandate
July 24, 2011/The Daily Star /BEIRUT: Lebanon submitted a request to extend the
mandate of UNIFIL forces for a year to U.N. Secretary General Bank Ki-moon,
sources said Sunday. The mandate as laid out in United Nations Security Council
Resolution 170, which established the U.N. Interim Forces in Lebanon and ended
the 2006 July war between Lebanon and Israel, ends on Aug. 30. The Security
Council is expected to discuss the issue and extend the mandate in late August
after Ban submits an official letter to the council. There are 15,000 UNIFIL
troops from 36 countries and 11,832 uniformed personnel currently in south
Lebanon to monitor the cessation of hostilities between Lebanon and Israel and
to accompany and assist the Lebanese Army in deploying its troops in the south
and securing its borders.
Lebanon cannot survive without Hezbollah: Aoun
July 24, 2011/ The Daily Star
Aoun, a close ally of Hezbollah, noted that Lebanon’s future was closely tied to
the permanence of the resistance, describing Israel as an aggressive state that
only wants to “control and expand.” BEIRUT: Lebanon needs Hezbollah in order to
survive against Israel, Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun said Sunday.
“We cannot survive as a country without this resisting strength or without the
support of the resistance,” Aoun told a local radio station during a discussion
about the July 2006 war between Lebanon and Israel. “This is where formula of
the people, the army and the resistance comes from. [Those three] are united and
connected to each other against the enemy.”
Aoun, a close ally of Hezbollah, noted that Lebanon’s future was closely tied to
the permanence of the resistance, describing Israel as an aggressive state that
only wants to “control and expand.”Aoun also said that Israel’s defeat in the
34-day war, which resulted in the death of 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and
160 Israelis, mostly soldiers, would remain in Israeli consciousness for a long
time, and ruled out the possibility of any attack from Israel in the near
future.
The FPM leader also said that Israel’s strength has been declining since 2006.
“As long as Israel has not created peace with its surroundings … 2006 marked the
beginning of the collapse and you can't stop this collapse because it is really
difficult to bring back morale to Israelis.”
He also criticized Israel for having no intention of creating peace, adding that
the Jewish state has been talking about peace for over 63 years with no results.
“There is no doubt that the Israeli people want peace because no human being can
live to only fight placing [their] life at risk. But the Zionist leadership is
thinking of something else [other than peace]. This is why they talk about peace
but they really don't want to achieve it,” Aoun added. Aoun’s comments come amid
escalating tensions between the March 14 coalition and the March 8 alliance over
Hezbollah’s weapons. March 14 has repeatedly demanded that Hezbollah surrender
their weapons to the state and that a national dialogue be restarted to discuss
only the issue of the party’s arsenal. However, Hezbollah Saturday announced
that the issue of its arms was not up for discussion if the national dialogue
committee is to resume its work, as President Michel Sleiman has requested.
Raad:
Resistance Ready to Perform its Duty if Maritime Zone Threatened
Naharnet/Head of Hizbullah’s Loyalty to Resistance parliamentary bloc, MP
Mohammed Raad, stressed Sunday “the Resistance’s readiness to perform its duty.”
“We’re not the side entitled to demarcate our territorial waters, the (Lebanese)
State is rather the side entitled to do that, but should this maritime zone come
under any threat, danger or attack from the Israeli enemy, the Resistance will
be ready to perform its duty,” Raad vowed.
“We had performed this strategy and it had proven its effectiveness and the
enemy was disappointed in the July War, but some have not acknowledged it until
now,” he added.
Last week Raad warned Israel against developing "a single meter" of disputed
waters in the eastern Mediterranean to search for offshore gas deposits.
The Lebanese government “will restore the sovereignty of our waters in their
entirety," said Raad.
"The Israeli enemy cannot drill a single meter in these waters to search for gas
and oil if the zone is disputed ... No company can carry out prospecting work in
waters whose sovereignty is contested," he said. Hizbullah in 2006 fought a
deadly war with the Jewish state in which most of Lebanon's major infrastructure
was destroyed.
Lebanon's Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour has said the maritime border as
proposed by Israel posed a threat to regional security.
The proposed frontier cuts through Lebanon's economic zone, Mansour said, adding
that Lebanon would "turn to the United Nations."
The feud over offshore gas fields has deepened since Israel's cabinet on July 12
approved a map of the country's proposed maritime borders with Lebanon to be
submitted for a U.N. opinion. The proposed map lays out maritime borders that
conflict significantly with those suggested by Lebanon in its own submission to
the United Nations.
Energy and Water Minister Jebran Bassil has said Lebanon will not give up its
maritime rights, and accused Israel of "violations of (Lebanese) waters,
territory and airspace, and today our oil rights."Israel has for months been
moving to develop several large offshore natural gas fields, some which are
shared with Cyprus, that it hopes could help it to become an energy exporter.
But its development plans have stirred controversy with Lebanon, which argues
the gas fields lie inside its territorial waters.
Israel does not have officially demarcated maritime borders with Lebanon, and
the two countries remain technically at war.
Victims of 2006 war should sue Lebanese officials:
Hezbollah
July 24, 2011/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Victims of the July 2006 war with Israel should file lawsuits against
Lebanese officials and Western governments for assisting the Jewish state during
the conflict, Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc MP Nawaf Mousawi said Sunday.
“Those who were harmed from the Israeli aggression should file lawsuits in
Lebanese courts and international courts against those who colluded with Israel
against them in 2006 and against Western governments, especially the U.S.
government, who provided the enemy with missiles to be fired at our
neighborhoods and homes,” Mousawi said during a ceremony organized by Hezbollah
to commemorate those who died during the war. “Starting from tomorrow, every
victim should ... file lawsuits in courts against the names that were mentioned
in the documents and be persecuted on charges of treason and complicity with
Israel,” Mousawi said, referring to Lebanese officials whose names were quoted
in WikiLeaks cables by then U.S. Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman as being against
Hezbollah during the war.
Mousawi also urged victims to file lawsuits in international courts against the
British government for allegedly opening up its civil airports to facilitate the
transfer of missiles from the U.S. to Israel. On March 20, Hezbollah's Secretary
General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah vowed to take legal action against Lebanese
officials who collaborated with foreign diplomats to incite Israel to prolong
the war. Mousawi Sunday also touched upon the Special Tribunal for Lebanon
indictments against four Hezbollah members for involvement in the2005 car bomb
which killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 21 others. “Any name that
the indictments or what comes after it attempt to taint with false shameful
accusations will be turned into sacred icons ... each [person] mentioned in the
indictment will be turned into a saint,” he said. Hezbollah’s secretary-general,
Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah, has said that the four suspects would not be arrested
“in 300 years.” The party has repeatedly questioned the credibility of the
tribunal and described the United Nations-backed court as a thing of the past.
“We tell you to increase the number of names because then we wouldn't have only
four names, but 20 or 70 names because these names will be stars shining bright
in our skies,” Mousawi said, describing the court as a conspiracy against the
party.
Opposition Sources: Riyadh Informed Miqati that He is Not Welcome in Saudi
Arabia
Naharnet /Riyadh has informed Prime Minister Najib Miqati that he is not welcome
in Saudi Arabia, revealed opposition sources to the daily Ad Diyar on Sunday.
They added that Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat was charged
with relaying this message to the premier. They stated that the Kingdom, which
has supported Lebanon on numerous occasions on the political, economic, and
financial levels, withdrew from the S-S equation that was aimed at helping
Lebanon end its political crisis. This was implied by Saudi Foreign Minister
Prince Saud al-Faisal, they continued. Meanwhile, Qatar is also “upset” because
the Doha agreement, which it sponsored to end Lebanon’s dispute in 2008, was
violated by Hizbullah and the March 8 camp. “The sides that had previously
lifted slogans of ‘Thank you, Qatar’ have started launching political and media
campaigns against it,” said the sources.
“The time is therefore inappropriate for Miqati to go on tour of the Arab
world,” they continued. Furthermore, they sited the developments in Syria as
being another hindrance to his mission.
“It appears that the Arab world is adopting a cautious approach with Lebanon
until a clear image of Syria’s fate is reached,” they said. “It’s impossible for
Miqati to garner Arab support given the developments in Syria, the fact that he
is heading a one-sided cabinet, and political campaigns launched against some
Gulf states,” they added. “Should he head on an Arab tour, the talks would be
strictly part of protocol visits,” they stated.
US keeps to middle in Israel-Lebanon gas dispute
Agencies Jul 25, 2011 /BEIRUT // The United States has said it will back neither
Israel nor Lebanon in a dispute between the two nations tied to offshore
economic zones where oil and gas have been discovered. "The US notes that
Lebanon in October 2010 and Israel in July 2011 have submitted to the United
Nations claims to their adjacent exclusive economic zone limits," the US Embassy
in Beirut said in an e-mailed statement over the weekend. "The United States has
not and will not endorse either Israel or Lebanon's claim. We are not a party to
this issue, which must be resolved diplomatically by the parties themselves."
The embassy also said the US "would like to see Israel and Lebanon arrive at a
common understanding" of the division of their exclusive economic zones.
The comments came several days after Michael Williams, the United Nations co-ordinator
for Lebanon, urged both countries to promote oil and gas exploration off their
coasts despite the dispute over their maritime border. Lebanon is seeking to
catch up after Israel in 2009 discovered enough fuel off its northern coast to
supply itself and potentially start exports. Lebanon passed a petroleum law last
year, paving the way for assigning exploration areas.
Israel has discovered two fields off its Mediterranean coast, naming them Tamar
and Leviathan, which together hold an estimated 25 trillion cubic feet of gas.
For comparison, Qatar has 899 trillion cubic feet of proved reserves. The finds
set off arguments between Lebanon and Israel, still technically at war, over the
rights to the resources.
Lebanon will start to auction oil and gas-exploration licences in its
territorial waters at the end of this year after the necessary decrees and
procedures are complete, Prime Minister Najib Miqati told parliamentarians this
month. In his comments to reporters last week, Mr Williams said Lebanon was
about seven years behind Israel in exploring the gas fields.
Gas production would allow Lebanon to cut power costs. It provides as much as
US$1.5 billion a year in subsidies to the state electricity company, which
supplies more than 90 per cent of the power and suffers regular blackouts.*
Bloomberg News and the Associated Press
Syria's Assad replaces two provincial governors amid continued protests
Syrian president appoints new executives in the Deir al-Zour and Quneitra
provinces.
By DPA /Haaretz/Syrian President Bashar Assad appointed two new provincial
governors Sunday, in his fourth decree replacing governors since the civil
unrest began March.
Assad appointed Samir Othman al-Sheikh governor of the eastern province of Deir
al-Zour bordering Iraq. There have been mass protests in the province over the
past month.
Al-Sheikh's appointment came after the province former governor, Hussein Arnous,
was appointed governor of the south-western province of Quneitra bordering the
Golan Heights.
On Saturday, about 15,000 people took part in a sit-in at Deir al-Zour's Madalji
roundabout. They called for the government's resignation and remembered those
killed in the protests.
More than 1,480 civilians and 365 security personnel have been killed since the
pro-democracy protests calling for Assad's deposition began in mid-March,
according to local human rights advocates. Assad had already replaced the
governors of the provinces of Hama in central Syria, the Daraa in the south of
the country, and the Homs in the west. Meanwhile, Cyprus revoked the citizenship
granted to Assad's cousin, the well-known businessman Rami Makhlouf, Syria News
said Sunday. Makhlouf obtained the citizenship last January. The Syrian tycoon
controls companies with outright monopolies on duty-free goods, airlines,
telecoms, real estate, oil, and construction, across Syria. The decision is part
of sanctions imposed by the European Union on prominent Syrians. In May, the
United States imposed sanctions on Assad and six other senior officials,
including Makhlouf. The EU followed the US decision a few days later.
Hillary's Syria sellout
July 24, 2011/New York Post
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/editorials/hillary_syria_sellout_IkmhYUy4ngU4H9TrfYeQlO
More Print President Obama won’t take meaningful action to speed the fall of
Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. But that doesn’t mean his secretary of state
should profane the situation with Orwellian distortions and contradicting
demands.Alas, that’s what Hillary Clinton’s been doing. And it just makes
matters worse. For example, after Damascus allowed a street mob to attack the US
embassy this month, Clinton declared that Assad had “lost legitimacy.” But wait
a minute: When, exactly, did he acquire legitimacy? He’s a dictator, plain and
simple, “elected” in a 2007 “landslide” in which he was the only candidate.
Then, a few days later, Clinton asserted that protesters were “providing a
pathway, hopefully in peaceful cooperation with the government, to a better
future.” OK, so did Assad lose all his legitimacy — or does he still have some
left, enough maybe to reach a “peaceful” resolution?
Please. Assad’s henchmen have murdered 1,500 protesters — and arrested and
tortured thousands more.
Clinton’s linguistic perversions don’t end there. Trying to distinguish Assad
from Libya’s Moammar Khadafy (the Arab butcher whose removal the White House
does support), Clinton insisted the Syrian is different — more like “a leader
who has not fulfilled the promises that have repeatedly been made over his term
in office.”
Hello? There are no terms of office in Syria — just decades of bloody rule by
tyrants who have no need to fulfill promises.
And how can she (and her boss in the White House) expect Assad to “host [a]
dialogue properly” with opposition leaders, as she’s suggested — when he’s dead
set on wiping them all out?
Fact is, Assad won’t launch any serious “dialogue” until he’s lost all his power
(not to be confused with “legitimacy”) and is left with no other choice.
Yes, Clinton’s got a tough job.When your orders are “Do nothing! Fast!” — you’ve
got to wing it. (Or, as The Washington Post put it, resort to “diplomatic
improvisation.”) Which is why she insisted recently that “none of us really have
influence” in Syria. But pretending that Assad retains any legitimacy only gives
him greater standing and more power.
And makes Washington look cynical, disingenuous — and, frankly, ridiculous.
Folks may debate the wisdom of letting Syria fester. But wouldn’t it be nice if
America’s top diplomat didn’t embolden and empower its dictator by adopting his
fantasy language? Sure seems that way to us.
Pro, Anti-Assad Protesters Clash near Kuwait Embassy in Beirut
Naharnet /A clash erupted on Sunday in the capital Beirut between anti-Syrian
regime protesters and demonstrators loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad,
MTV reported.
The two sides used batons and rocks in the confrontation that broke out in the
vicinity of the Kuwaiti embassy in Beirut, MTV added.
OTV had earlier reported rival pro- and anti-Assad demonstrations near the
Kuwaiti embassy. Earlier on Sunday a motorcade roamed Beirut’s Hamra district in
support of Assad, a Naharnet journalist at the site reported. Demonstrators were
carrying Syrian and Iranian flags and the pictures of Assad, Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.
Lebanese Forces bloc MP Antoine Zahra: Some aim to use the
army for the benefit of the Resistance
July 24, 2011 /Lebanese Forces bloc MP Antoine Zahra told Future News television
on Sunday that some of the new majority figures aim to “recruit” the army and
the people for the benefit of an armed group called the “Resistance.”“Where is
the army and people’s role when the Resistance decides [on everything]?” he
asked.Asked about national dialogue, Zahra asked “What ignorant believes that
there is an issue other than that of non-state arms that needs to be
resolved?”The MP also said that Prime Minister Najib Mikati cannot make his
cabinet adopt what he announces because the cabinet is Hezbollah and Syria’s
cabinet and will only serve those behind it.-NOW Lebanon
Lebanese Forces MP George Adwan discusses upcoming March 14 gathering
July 24, 2011 /Lebanese Forces MP George Adwan said on Sunday that the upcoming
March 14 meeting at Le Bristol Hotel will gather 300 legal experts to discuss
Lebanon’s commitment to international obligations and “reiterate that the
Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) [will continue] and that justice is a key to
stability.” “The government can evade the STL with words for a short time, but
it cannot evade it with actions for long,” he told MTV. Adwan added that his
party would not join the national dialogue unless the session discusses “how to
integrate Hezbollah’s weapons… according to a specific schedule President Michel
Sleiman has been calling for a new national dialogue session, while March 14
figures have said they only want to attend a session that tackles the issue of
non-state weapons.-NOW Lebanon