LCCC
ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِJuly
31/2011
Bible Quotation for today
Isaiah 9/12-20: "12 The Syrians in front,
and the Philistines behind; and they will devour Israel with open mouth. For all
this, his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. Yet the
people have not turned to him who struck them, neither have they sought Yahweh
of Armies. Therefore Yahweh will cut off from Israel head and tail, palm
branch and reed, in one day. The elder and the honorable man is the head,
and the prophet who teaches lies is the tail. For those who lead this
people lead them astray; and those who are led by them are destroyed.
Therefore the Lord will not rejoice over their young men, neither will he have
compassion on their fatherless and widows; for everyone is profane and an
evildoer, and every mouth speaks folly. For all this his anger is not turned
away, but his hand is stretched out still. For wickedness burns like a
fire. It devours the briers and thorns; yes, it kindles in the thickets of the
forest, and they roll upward in a column of smoke. Through the wrath of
Yahweh of Armies, the land is burnt up; and the people are the fuel for the
fire. No one spares his brother. One will devour on the right hand, and be
hungry; and he will eat on the left hand, and they will not be satisfied.
Everyone will eat the flesh of his own arm: Manasseh, Ephraim; and
Ephraim, Manasseh; and they together shall be against Judah. For all this his
anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
Latest
analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases
from
miscellaneous
sources
Ban Lebanon’s sillier laws/By:
Michael Young/July 30/11
In Washington, the Arab Spring has
ended/By: Hussain Abdul-Hussain/July
30/11
Hundreds of Al Qaeda gunmen kill at
least 7 in rampage through Sinai town/DEBKAfile/July
30/11
Latest News Reports From
Miscellaneous Sources for July 30/11
Doubts Raised on Nature of Deadly
Dahieh Explosion
/Naharnet
Turkey's Military Police Leader New
Chief-of-staff
/Naharnet
Syrian Troops Storm Two Towns,
Killing 5 People
/Naharnet
Syria's exiled opposition senses
historic moment/Reuters
Syria: 3000 disappeared in
Assad's crackdown/GlobalPost
Mass protests staged again across
Syria/BBC
Hizbullah Sources: Fransen’s
Decision Aimed at Igniting Lebanon
/Naharnet
Bellemare explains lifting of STL
indictment confidentiality/Now Lebanon
Sleiman, Aoun discuss re-launching
of national dialogue/Now Lebanon
Armed men rampage through Sinai
city/Now Lebanon
Kurdish rebels kill Iranian Basij
militiaman/Now Lebanon
Lebanon army says it can defend oil
reserves without Hezbollah'/Haaretz
Lebanon's Arabic press digest -
July 30, 2011/The Daily Star
Hezbollah asked Aoun not to defend
Fayez Karam, source says/Now Lebanon
Sleiman meets with Siniora/Now
Lebanon
Nasrallah meets Wahhab/Now Lebanon
Harb: Nasrallah linking oil file to
conflict with Israel/Now Lebanon
Report: Samir Kuntar injured in
Beirut/Ynetnews
Miqati: Social Issues, Living
Conditions Are Priority for Cabinet
/Naharnet
Austria May Contribute Troops to
UNIFIL /Naharnet
Al-Mustaqbal Warns of International
Relations Crisis in Case of Noncooperation with STL
/Naharnet
Jumblat, Gemayel Hold ‘Important’
Talks on Major Controversial Issues/Naharnet
Gas pipeline to Israel attacked again
Egyptian officials blame fifth pipeline attack since Egypt uprising on militant
Bedouin group
Associated Press /07.30.11, 15:11 / Israel News /Egyptian security officials say a militant Islamist group has blown up a
terminal along the Egyptian natural gas pipeline to Israel in the northern Sinai
Peninsula. Officials say Saturday's attack on the terminal in al-Shulaq
destroyed the last terminal before the line enters the sea on its way to Israel.
It is the third attack on the pipeline this month and the fifth since the 18-day
uprising toppled President Hosni Mubarak in February. While no one claimed
responsibility, officials accused a militant Bedouin group for the attack.
Clashes between the group and security forces killed five people Friday. The
officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to
brief the media.
Turkey's Military Police Leader New Chief-of-staff
Naharnet/Turkey's military police chief was named acting chief-of-staff late Friday, after the country's top military command resigned in a row with the government, the prime minister's office said. "The president has approved the assignment of military police chief General Necdet Ozel as the land forces commander. General Ozel is deployed as acting chief-of-staff," it said in a statement. Turkish President Abdullah Gul, commander-in-chief under the constitution met with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Ozel on Friday evening, leading analysts to speculate that Ozel was likely to become the new chief-of-staff. According to previous army practice, an officer should serve as commander of land forces before becoming chief-of-staff, media reports said. NATO member Turkey's entire military top brass, including the chief-of-staff General Isik Kosaner and the commanders of the army, air force and navy resigned Friday in a row with the government over generals jailed for an alleged coup plot. Kosaner stepped down after several meetings with Erdogan in recent days ahead of an early August meeting of the army's high command which decides on promotions for senior officers. Media reports blamed tensions between the military and Erdogan over army demands for the promotion of dozens of officers being held on suspicion of involvement in an alleged anti-government plot. Forty-two generals and dozens of officers are in jail in a probe of alleged plots to unseat the government led by the Justice and Development Party (AKP), the moderate offshoot of a banned Islamist movement.Source Agence France Presse
Bellemare Says Publishing Accused Details Aims to 'Increase Likelihood' of Arresting Them
Naharnet /Special Tribunal for Lebanon Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen’s decision to lift the confidentiality on the full names and aliases, biographical information, photographs and charges against the individuals named in the indictment “has been taken to increase the likelihood of apprehending the accused in case any of them is seen by the public,” STL Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare said Friday, hours after Fransen’s ruling was announced. “The Prosecutor reiterates that the named individuals are innocent until the Tribunal has reached a final verdict after the completion of the trial and any appeals,” the Office of the Prosecutor said in a statement. “Indeed, the arrest of the four accused is only a first step in the process of uncovering the truth,” the OTP added. “While the Lebanese Authorities persist in their efforts to arrest the accused, the Office of the Prosecutor continues to investigate and prepare for trial,” it noted.
Fransen has ordered confidentiality around the charges against Salim Ayyash, 47, Mustafa Badreddine, 50, Hussein Anaissi, 37 and Assad Sabra, 34, be dropped, STL’s press office said earlier on Friday. Prosecutor Bellemare alleged the four men named in the indictment were involved in the February 14, 2005 attack that killed former premier Rafik Hariri and 22 others in a bomb blast. The four are operatives of Hizbullah, including Badreddine, a brother-in-law of Hizbullah military commander Imad Mughniyeh who was assassinated in Damascus in 2008.
Ayyash and Badreddine face five charges, the STL said, including "conspiracy aimed at committing a terrorist act; committing a terrorist act by means of an explosive device; intentional homicide of Rafik Hariri with premeditation by using explosive materials; intentional homicide of 21 persons in addition to Rafik Hariri with premeditation by using explosive materials; and attempted intentional homicide of 231 persons with premeditation by using explosive materials."
Anaissi and Sabra also face a charge of conspiracy to commit a terrorist act and are accused of being accomplices in the other four other charges leveled against Ayyash and Badreddine.
The names of the four, whose whereabouts are not known, were revealed by the Lebanese government late last month after being leaked to local media following a tribunal confirmation on June 30 that it had submitted a confidential indictment and arrest warrants to Lebanese authorities.
On July 8, the judge issued an international arrest warrant against the accused and it authorized the prosecutor's office to give it to Interpol to issue a "red notice" on the suspects.
"The order states that prosecutor Daniel A. Bellemare, after consultations with the Lebanese prosecutor general, indicated that lifting the confidentiality of this information 'does not contradict Lebanese law with regards to the executed arrests'," the STL said. Bellemare first submitted his indictment for review by Fransen on January 17, 2011. Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said earlier this month he would never hand over the four members of his group, adding that The Netherlands-based tribunal was heading for a trial in absentia.
Doubts Raised on Nature of Deadly Dahieh Explosion
Naharnet/Doubts were raised on Saturday on the nature of the blast that shook Beirut’s southern suburbs, which the National News Agency said was the result of a gas canister explosion.
But An Nahar and al-Liwaa dailies said that a small bomb or a hand grenade could have been the cause of the blast which triggered a huge fire at an apartment building in Dahieh’s Rouwais neighborhood, a Hizbullah stronghold. They said the Shiite party’s gunmen raced to the scene of the blast which took place at around 11:00 pm on the 10th floor of the building and prevented curious onlookers and reporters from reaching the area.At one point, the gunmen opened fire in the air to disperse the crowds. Given the sensitive location of the blast scene, security forces and investigators were also prevented from reaching the area. The reports said one person was killed in the explosion and that firefighters worked on dousing the fire well after midnight. However, al-Liwaa said that two explosions shook Rouwais and not one
Hizbullah Sources: Fransen’s Decision Aimed at Igniting Lebanon
Naharnet /Sources close to Hizbullah have accused the Special Tribunal for Lebanon of seeking to ignite the situation in Lebanon and did not rule out the release of new names in the indictment in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s murder case to create instability in the country. The sources told pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat that Pre-trial judge Daniel Fransen ordered confidentiality around the charges against Salim Ayyash, 47, Mustafa Badreddine, 50, Hussein Oneissi, 37 and Assad Sabra, 34, be dropped so that he can serve the United States.
“We have other and more important concerns at this stage. Mainly the protection of oil resources,” the sources said. Hizbullah’s al-Manar TV station also said that Fransen’s decision “did not bring anything new.” The publication of the names of the four Hizbullah members was a “copy of what had previously been leaked.” Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare alleges the four men named in the indictment were involved in the Feb. 14, 2005 attack that killed Hariri and 22 others in a bomb blast. The four are operatives of Hizbullah, including Badreddine, a brother-in-law of Hizbullah commander Imad Mughniyeh who was assassinated in Damascus in 2008. Ayyash and Badreddine face five charges, the STL said, including "conspiracy aimed at committing a terrorist act; committing a terrorist act by means of an explosive device; intentional homicide of Rafik Hariri with premeditation by using explosive materials; intentional homicide of 21 persons in addition to Rafik Hariri with premeditation by using explosive materials; and attempted intentional homicide of 231 persons with premeditation by using explosive materials."
Oneissi and Sabra also face a charge of conspiracy to commit a terrorist act and are accused of being accomplices in the other four other charges leveled against Ayyash and Badreddine.
Jumblat, Gemayel Hold ‘Important’ Talks on Major Controversial Issues
Naharnet/Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat and Phalange party chief Amin Gemayel have met over dinner in Bikfaya on Thursday night, An Nahar newspaper said.
The dinner banquet held for Jumblat came after Gemayel attended a similar dinner at Jumblat’s residence. Sources following up their talks told An Nahar Saturday that the atmosphere of the latest meeting was “important.” “There is an intersection in the point of view of both sides in the support for liberation movements in the Arab world without interference in the affairs of Arab countries, the backing of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, the continued calm in the south, the commitment to resolution 1701, the rejection of naturalization (of Palestinians) and the importance of dialogue,” the sources said. “Jumblat appreciates Gemayel’s stances from the cabinet in return for an appreciation by the Phalange of the PSP ministers’ reservations on the word ‘in principle’ in the policy statement,” they added.
Bassil Hits Back at Geagea: Who Allowed You to Renounce Our Rights
Naharnet /Energy and Water Minister Jebran Bassil on Friday hit back at Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, without naming him, over remarks made by the latter earlier in the day on the issue of Lebanon’s maritime resources. “Who allowed him (Geagea) to renounce our rights and jeopardize Lebanon’s borders, sovereignty and resources?” Bassil asked rhetorically.
Earlier on Friday, Geagea slammed Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s recent speech in which he vowed that his party would retaliate against any Israeli attack on Lebanon’s future oil and gas installations. “Who appointed you, Sayyed Nasrallah, as the guardian of the Lebanese people’s rights?” Geagea said. “I agree with Sayyed Nasrallah on several points, but only the Lebanese state institutions can defend my rights and not an illegitimate power,” Geagea added. Defending Nasrallah, Bassil said “the question should not be addressed to someone who is trying to defend these rights, but to those who are squandering these resources.” Following talks with Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain al-Tineh, Bassil added: “We have not started oil exploration since 2010 until now because a law” on oil exploration has not been approved up till now. He also accused Saad Hariri’s government of intentionally delaying the drafting of the law. “Under the new government, a new law is being drafted without delay, that’s why no one should … start launching accusations in this regard,” Bassil noted
Miqati: Social Issues, Living Conditions Are Priority for Cabinet
Naharnet/Prime Minister Najib Miqati vowed on Saturday to improve the people’s living conditions by implementing social and development projects. During a meeting with a delegation from the General Labor Confederation headed by Ghassan Ghosn at the Grand Serail, Miqati said: “Involved ministers will follow-up social issues, particularly those that directly affect people’s daily lives.”The issues include salaries, health, food safety and prevention of monopoly on prices, he said. “There will also be intensified meetings to solve the electricity and water and social security problems.”“Social security goes in parallel with political and military security,” the premier said. “It is our duty to care for the Lebanese.” He told the delegation that the cabinet will cooperate with parliament to approve draft laws, some of them linked to the economic and social sectors. “Social issues should be solved through full partnership between the cabinet, state institutions and civil society,” Miqati added.
Aoun Remembering Army Martyrs: We'll Pursue Struggle Path to Build Country They Dreamed of
Naharnet/Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun has stressed during a ceremony to commemorate the army martyrs that “we will pursue the path of struggle in order to build the country that they dreamed of and were martyred for its sake.”In a ceremony organized by the FPM in Northern Metn’s Dbaye district, Aoun added: “We had fought along their side not to meet death, but rather to live freely on this land, and we had always known that some of us would sacrifice to salvage the others.”“They fell in the arena of honor, giving value to our existence, a meaning to our lives and a symbol to our dignity,” Aoun, the former army commander, added. Lebanon will celebrate its 66th national Army Day on Monday
Miqati: Social Issues, Living Conditions Are Priority for Cabinet
Naharnet /Prime Minister Najib Miqati vowed on Saturday to improve the people’s living conditions by implementing social and development projects.
During a meeting with a delegation from the General Labor Confederation headed by Ghassan Ghosn at the Grand Serail, Miqati said: “Involved ministers will follow-up social issues, particularly those that directly affect people’s daily lives.”The issues include salaries, health, food safety and prevention of monopoly on prices, he said. “There will also be intensified meetings to solve the electricity and water and social security problems.”“Social security goes in parallel with political and military security,” the premier said. “It is our duty to care for the Lebanese.”He told the delegation that the cabinet will cooperate with parliament to approve draft laws, some of them linked to the economic and social sectors.
“Social issues should be solved through full partnership between the cabinet, state institutions and civil society,” Miqati added.
In Washington, the Arab Spring has ended
Hussain Abdul-Hussain, /July 30, 2011/Now Lebanon
The Obama administration’s response to the uprising in Syria has been lacking.
While many might attribute the discrepancy in Washington's positions on the Arab Spring to a conflict between America's principles and its interests, one should not disregard the fading popular interest of the events in the Middle East among Americans. Tunisia, a country with little strategic significance for the United States, saw a revolution that deposed President Zeineddine Ben Ali so swiftly that America and the world could barely catch a glimpse of what had happened. Tunisia's events, however, alerted Americans and the world to a brewing revolution in an Arab country much more strategically important: Egypt. By the time Egyptians had taken to the streets, the world had already and correctly anticipated the contagious effect of the Arab Spring. From the very first hours of Egyptian protests on January 25, the world was watching. For 18 days, the world—including America—was focused on Egypt. Primetime talk shows, whether MSNBC's Rachel Maddow on the left or Fox's Sean Hannity on the right, suspended their scheduled rundowns and started broadcasting live from Cairo's Tahrir Square. Over the span of three weeks, Egypt's events also dominated the front pages of leading American dailies, such as the New York Times and the Washington Post. So interested was America in Egypt's revolution that the popular comedian Stephen Colbert questioned on his show how a single news item could command the usually short attention span of most Americans.
The surge in popular interest, and sympathy with the Egyptian revolution, forced the hand of President Barack Obama, who found himself with little choice other than to search for post-Mubarak alternatives. He quickly found the military. Washington asked Mubarak to leave immediately. "When we said now, we meant yesterday,” former Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters. Mubarak stepped down on February 11.
Six days later, the flames of the Arab Spring reached Libya. Even though Moammar Qaddafi was—like Mubarak—just another Arab autocrat, he proved to be incomparably brutal and smashed protests with tanks, forcing his militarily ill-prepared opponents to respond in kind.
By the time Qaddafi's forces were preparing to invade the rebel stronghold of Benghazi, undoubtedly to go on a punitive killing spree, the Americans had lost interest in the Arab Spring. America helped launch the international military operation against Qaddafi's forces, but only after the whole world had OK’d the campaign. Coverage of the Libyan war still found its way to the front pages, but only intermittently. By mid-March, the Syrians had started their revolt. The Arab Spring was now raging in four countries: Yemen, Syria, Libya and Bahrain, with scattered protests in Morocco, Jordan and Iraq.
The various revolutions then started competing for American attention. In newspapers, reports on one revolution would make it to the front page, with teasers about other revolutions inviting readers to look inside for more Arab Spring coverage. This bundle-style coverage persisted until about 10 days ago, when the Arab Spring suddenly vanished, almost completely, from newspapers and talk shows. Before disappearing, news about the Syrian revolution would sometimes creep onto the front page, especially on Saturdays, to tell the story of the atrocities the regime had committed during the protests the day before. Often, Anthony Shadid of the New York Times and Liz Sly of the Washington Post would file features about Syria from Beirut.
Debra Amos of National Public Radio was allowed into Damascus and reported on the regime-sponsored dialogue sessions. But when the so-called dialogue failed, Amos fell silent.
In Washington, the Arab Spring has come to an end. Unlike in Egypt, America is not putting pressure on the Obama administration to take a position, let alone act, in favor of the people revolting against the brutal tyrants leading their countries, even in a place with as large a death toll as Syria.
To add insult to injury, even though Assad's supporters in Washington's think tank community have distanced themselves from him, at least for now, none of them seems willing to hold panel discussions, debates or lectures that could raise public awareness and turn the heat up on Assad.
So far, Assad and his regime have killed around 1,500 people out of a population of 22 million. If one applied the ratio of Syria's death toll to America, it would be the equivalent of 55,000 US citizens killed. That is 14 times that of 9/11. And yet reporting on Syrian deaths has vanished in the American media.
Americans have lost interest in the Arab Spring. This frees Obama of any need to intervene politically in Syria.
When Washington was about to let go of its longtime ally, Hosni Mubarak, the Obama administration argued that America stands for its principles, which should come before its interests. With Americans not watching Syria, it is back to its realist calculations. Principles, for now, are on the shelf.
**Hussain Abdul-Hussain is the Washington Bureau Chief of Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Rai
Hundreds of Al Qaeda gunmen kill at least 7 in rampage through Sinai town
DEBKAfile Special Report /July 30, 2011,
In a Taliban-style raid, at least 150 masked, uniformed al Qaeda gunmen rode into the Sinai capital of El Arish on pickups and motorcycles Friday, July 29, shooting up the desert town with heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and automatic rifles. Before they rode out six hours later, at least seven people were killed, and upward of 30 injured.
Egyptian police and troops pulled back to their fortified station as terrified citizens of this desert town of 150,000 inhabitants fled the rampage. At least two of the dead were Egyptian civilians, a man of 70 and a 13-year old boy shot while take a cell phone picture.
debkafile's military sources report that round about 1800 hours, the assailants split into two groups, one keeping up the street attacks, the other heading for the police station.
Witnesses said the masked gunmen were not local because they lost their way several times and asked for directions to the police station. They then attacked the building with rockets and a battery of five mortars - the first time al Qaeda in Sinai is known have procured mortars, setting a police armored truck and other vehicles on fire. Rather than capturing the police station, the gunmen appeared concerned to keep the police pinned down in a shootout and to prevent from interfering with the deliberate occupation of the town.
The Egyptian news agency reported an Egyptian lieutenant colonel and captain died in the shootout . The number of dead and injured may be higher than reported. Two military planes were sent out from Cairo to evacuate the casualties. After nightfall the gang withdrew to central Sinai. El Arish townsmen are convinced that the black-uniformed jihadis, having demonstrated that they can't be stopped, will be back and next time, stay to proclaim Sinai a Muslim caliphate.
debkafile notes that El Gorah, 20 kilometers to the west, houses the international MFO established there nearly three decades ago to monitor the Sinai demilitarization provisions of the Israel-Egyptian peace treaty. Attached to the force are 1,000 troops, most of them American and Canadian marines.
This command center has been on supreme alert for an al Qaeda threat for seven months. Since President Hosni Mubarak was overthrown, Hamas, al Qaeda and Bedouin gunmen have been running riot through Sinai, while Egyptian security officers stay holed up in their bases.
Israeli forces deployed the length of the Egyptian border likewise stood aside while El Arish was occupied and terrorized by al Qaeda. According to debkafile's counter-terror sources, none of the Egyptian, Israeli or American intelligence agencies monitoring the desert peninsula were prepared for al Qaeda to raise a force of hundreds of men, oufit them with uniforms, heavy arms and vehicles and train them in the military skills and disciplines required for capturing a complete town two and-a-half hours drive from Tel Aviv and five hours from Cairo.
Until July
29, al Qaeda in Sinai was believed to be no more than a handful of cells mostly
working with local Bedouin dope and arms smuggling rings. None suspected them of
acquiring quasi-military competence. This evaluation will have to be urgently
revised now that the Egyptian authorities have lost their grip on Sinai. The
lawlessness reigning today in this strategic territory, which abuts on Israel,
the Red Sea and Suez Canal, is cause for Israeli and US alarm.
Lebanese website cites residents of Hezbollah stronghold who say
arch-terrorist was hurt by blast
Roee Nahmias 07.30.11, 13:25 /Israel News
The website 'Lebanon Files' reported Saturday that residents of a Hezbollah
stronghold in southern Beirut say Samir Kuntar, a terrorist released by Israel
three years ago, was injured in a blast in one of the buildings. The marginal
website has conceded that the report could not be conformed and is based on
rumors in the suburb of Dahiya. In addition, the report cites witnesses as
saying that a dead body has been found on location. A Hezbollah source told the
site that the blast was a gas tank explosion. According to the Lebanese paper
al-Nahar, the explosion occurred Friday evening in southern Beirut. Sources told
the paper it was not a result of a gas tank explosion but rather "an explosive
device or hand grenade". Hezbollah was quick to close off the area, the report
adds. The blast apparently occurred on the tenth floor of a building near the
group's central mosque. Police forces have been kept out of the area by armed
Hezbollah guards, but the paper learned that one person was killed in the
explosion. The paper's sources, however, rejected the notion that the location
was being used for weapons storage, and said it was more likely an explosive
device or hand grenade "went off by accident". Hezbollah remains silent on the
matter. Samir Kuntar was part of a cell of four terrorists that entered Israel
on April 22, 1979. They came to a Nahariya beach and fired on a police cruiser,
killing Eliyahu Shahar. Afterwards they broke into the home of Danny and Smadar
Haran, kidnapping Danny and his 4-year old daughter, Einat, while Smadar and
another daughter, Yael, hid. The terrorists took the Harans back to the beach,
where clashes ensued with police and IDF soldiers. Two terrorists were killed,
but Kuntar succeeded in murdering Danny and Einat before he was arrested. Yael
Haran choked to death while Smadar attempted to keep her quiet, so as not to be
caught as well.
Hezbollah asked Aoun not to
defend Fayez Karam, source says
July 30, 2011 /Kuwaiti newspaper As-Seyyasah said on Saturday that Hezbollah
asked Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun not to defend Fayez Karam, who
was arrested last August on suspicions of collaborating with Israel. Hezbollah
also asked Aoun not to let Karam rejoin the FPM in case he is released, sources
told the daily. The paper added that Hezbollah requested the FPM to “wage a
cleaning campaign” inside the party to make sure there are no more Israeli spies
within it. Karam, who is a FPM official, was arrested by the Internal Security
Forces (ISF) Information Branch last August for his alleged espionage on behalf
of the Jewish State. -NOW Lebanon
Sleiman meets with Siniora
July 30, 2011 /President Michel Sleiman met on Saturday with Future bloc leader
MP Fouad Siniora at the Baabda Presidential Palace. The two addressed the issue
of the national dialogue and the means to launch it, the website of the
presidency reported. 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
Nasrallah meets Wahhab
July 30, 2011 /Arab Tawhid Party leader Wiam Wahhab visited on Saturday
Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. The meeting was lengthy and
addressed the situation in Lebanon and the Arab region, the National News Agency
reported. -NOW Lebanon
Harb:
Nasrallah linking oil file to conflict with Israel
July 30, 2011 /March 14 MP Boutros Harb said in an interview published on
Saturday that Hezbollah’s chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’ Tuesday speech linked
Lebanon’s oil file to the conflict with Israel. Harb also told Al-Liwaa
newspaper that “this issue is [being used] by Hezbollah as a pretext to keep its
weapons away from the state’s authority.”
Israel's cabinet approved in July a map of the Jewish State's proposed maritime
borders with Lebanon, which is to be submitted to the UN. The Lebanese
Parliament in August 2010 passed an oil exploration bill, which calls for the
establishment of a treasury and a committee to oversee exploration and drilling
off Lebanon. Nasrallah on Tuesday warned Israel against “stealing” Lebanon’s
offshore resources/ -NOW Lebanon
Lebanon's Arabic press digest - July 30, 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.
Al-Akhbar: Next week: the parliamentary and ministerial journey begins Tuesday
The coming week will be tense, as Monday begins with the celebration of the
army, which will be followed Tuesday by a marathon session of the Council of
Ministers, a legislative meeting on Wednesday and Thursday, which might be the
start of a draft law for oil.
After a day spent celebrating the army at the beginning of August, on Tuesday
politicians will discuss 161 items on the government agenda, of which 65 were on
the December 2010 agenda, and returned to the ministries after the formation of
the new government. Some of the items relate to the ministry of energy,
including filling vacancies at Electricite du Liban. The issue of the oil law
will most likely be resolved in the legislative session held next Wednesday and
Thursday.
Other items will be proposed solutions to the increase in building violations in
the southern suburbs and refugees camps of Shatila and Burj al Barajneh, as well
as a request to allow for the restoration of old buildings.
Regarding the demarcation of the maritime borders, Lebanese Forces Leader Samir
Geagea said the solution should be for successive governments to prepare
whatever is necessary to follow up on the matter, adding the Lebanon should
uphold the right to benefit from its full oil potential.
Al-Liwaa: The court embarrasses the government: these are the names and pictures
of the four most wanted
The lifting of the partial confidentiality ban on the charges of the four men
accused in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri is a landmark
development in progress toward justice.
According to a source who follows the work of the court, this step comes in the
context of pressure on the Lebanese government, which has not located the
accused. The suspects might have left the country, in which case the trial would
take place in absentia – the court’s last option, a month after the publication
of their names and profiles in the Lebanese media.
The announcement of the full text of the indictment is expected at the end of
August.
Regarding the indictments, MP Butros Harb said he would prefer if Hezbollah
handed the four accused over to the court, without clashing with any political
party, especially as the presumption of innocence is available, according to the
court system. He said that Nasrallah, in his speech linking oil to the conflict
with Israel, sought to justify the continued use of his non-state weapons.
Ad-Diyar: [Pre-trial Judge Daniel] Fransen publishes pictures of the wanted, the
media describing them as Hezbollah resistance fighters
With the return of political activity expected Monday, as well as the beginning
of the holy month of Ramadan, the Council of Ministers will be meeting Tuesday
with more than 150 items on the agenda. There will be the possibility of the
adoption of new appointments, specifically from the Energy Ministry.
In addition to the meeting yesterday, the release of the names, photographs and
profiles of the STL suspects was a striking development in the work of the
international tribunal.
Al Manar station described the four defendants, and discussed the context of the
campaign against the resistance and its role after the defeat of its’ enemy’s
army.
On the domestic front, President Michel Sleiman continued with his consultations
with political leaders on a national dialogue, meeting Amin Gemayel. The
president will meet with all political leaders who participated in the dialogue.
Meanwhile, March 14 is hoping to set a deadline to resolve the issue of
Hezbollah’s weapons under the supervision of the Arab League.
Al-Mustaqbal: Declassified Hariri killers
The international tribunal has taken a new step on the path of truth and justice
in the assassination of the martyr Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Fransen released the full names, photographs and profiles of the defendants,
revealing their full charges and their involvement in the February 14, 2005
attack.
The move comes just days before the end-of-the-month deadline for Lebanon to
share information with the court.
Meanwhile, international prosecutor Daniel Bellemare, according to the court’s
website, said that the step was taken “to strengthen the possibility of arrest.”
He stressed that the suspects had the “presumption of innocence… until the final
ruling, after the completion of the trial or any appeals.” He added that efforts
to arrest those accused will continue as they prepare for trial.
Lebanon army says it can defend oil
reserves without Hezbollah'
The Lebanon's Daily Star says Samir Geagea was responding to Nasrallah's warning
to Israel.
By Haaretz /Christian Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea retorted Hezbollah
leader Hassan Nasrallah Friday, saying the Lebanese army would defend alone any
future oil installations put to risk by Israel, according to a report in the
Lebanese Daily Star. “The Lebanese Army, not you, will deal with our oil
installations in the event they were exposed to risk,” Geagea told a news
conference, according to the report. Nasrallah warned Israel on Tuesday against
trying to steal Lebanon's maritime resources and said it would retaliate against
any Israeli attack on the country's oil and gas installations, in light of a
dispute building between Israel and Lebanon over their maritime border and huge
natural gas and oil reserves beneath the Mediterranean Sea. The countries are
longtime enemies and do not have diplomatic relations. "Those who harm our
installations will have their own installations harmed," Nasrallah warned on
Tuesday.
According to the Daily Star report, Geagea accused Hezbollah of “usurping the
state.” Geagea said that despite political disagreements with the March 8
Alliance oppositional group - of which Hezbollah is a member – "We stand behind
the government on the issue of the oil wealth.” According to the report, Geagea
slammed Nasrallah for stepping over the line of his authority, saying Nasrallah
is not entitled to look after the Lebanese peoples' rights, and that there are
Lebanese institutions in place to fulfill on that role. He stressed that the
Hezbollah leader knew what he was doing and acted as he did "because he
considers himself to be the ruler of Lebanon.” Geagea, however, said Nasrallah’s
acts were “rejected because the rules of Lebanon are the Constitutional
institutions,” said the report. The Daily Star also reported that Future
Movement MP Hadi Hobeish voiced a similar position to that of Geagea, saying
“Who asked you [Nasrallah] to set out a strategy, rather than the Lebanese
state, under the pretext of protecting maritime resources?”
Question:
"What does the Bible say about a Christian going into debt?"
GotQuestions.org
Answer: Paul's charge to us in Romans 13:8 to owe nothing but love is a powerful
reminder of God's distaste for all forms of debt that are not being paid in a
timely manner (see also Psalm 37:21). At the same time, the Bible does not
explicitly command against all forms of debt. The Bible warns against debt, and
extols the virtue of not going into debt, but does not forbid debt. The Bible
has harsh words of condemnation for lenders who abuse those who are bound to
them in debt, but it does not condemn the debtor.
Some people question the charging of any interest on loans, but several times in
the Bible we see that a fair interest rate is expected to be received on
borrowed money (Proverbs 28:8; Matthew 25:27). In ancient Israel the Law did
prohibit charging interest on one category of loans—those made to the poor
(Leviticus 25:35-38). This law had many social, financial, and spiritual
implications, but two are especially worth mentioning. First, the law genuinely
helped the poor by not making their situation worse. It was bad enough to have
fallen into poverty, and it could be humiliating to have to seek assistance. But
if, in addition to repaying the loan, a poor person had to make crushing
interest payments, the obligation would be more hurtful than helpful. Second,
the law taught an important spiritual lesson. For a lender to forego interest on
a loan to a poor person would be an act of mercy. He would be losing the use of
that money while it was loaned out. Yet that would be a tangible way of
expressing gratitude to God for His mercy in not charging His people “interest”
for the grace He has extended to them. Just as God had mercifully brought the
Israelites out of Egypt when they were nothing but penniless slaves and had
given them a land of their own (Leviticus 25:38), so He expected them to express
similar kindness to their own poor citizens. Christians are in a parallel
situation. The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus has paid our sin debt to
God. Now, as we have opportunity, we can help others in need, particularly
fellow believers, with loans that do not escalate their troubles. Jesus even
gave a parable along these lines about two creditors and their attitude toward
forgiveness (Matthew 18:23-35). The Bible neither expressly forbids nor condones
the borrowing of money. The wisdom of the Bible teaches us that it is usually
not a good idea to go into debt. Debt essentially makes us a slave to the one
who provides the loan. At the same time, in some situations going into debt is a
“necessary evil.” As long as money is being handled wisely and the debt payments
are manageable, a Christian can take on the burden of financial debt if it is
absolutely necessary.
Bellemare explains lifting of STL indictment confidentiality
July 29, 2011 /Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) Prosecutor Daniel Bellamare on
Friday said that the decision to lift the confidentiality of the STL's
indictment “was taken to increase the likelihood of apprehending the accused in
case any of them is seen by the public.”He reiterated that the indicted suspects
“are innocent until the Tribunal has reached a final verdict after the
completion of the trial and any appeals,” according to a statement issued by the
STL’s Office of the Prosecutor. STL Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen ordered the
lifting of confidentiality on the full names and aliases, biographical
information, photographs and charges against the individuals named in the
indictment for the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
-NOW Lebanon
Sleiman, Aoun discuss re-launching of national dialogue
July 29, 2011 /President Michel Sleiman met with Change and Reform bloc leader
MP Michel Aoun at Baabda Presidential Palace on Friday to discuss the
re-launching of national dialogue, the National News Agency reported. Many March
14 figures have said that they are against national dialogue unless it addresses
the issue of non-state arms, in reference to Hezbollah’s weapons. -NOW Lebanon
Armed men rampage through Sinai city
July 29, 2011 /Two people were wounded as dozens of armed men in cars waving
flags with Islamic slogans rampaged through the North Sinai city of Al-Arish on
Friday, Egypt's state news agency MENA and witnesses said. Around 150 men in
trucks and on motorbikes fired their assault rifles into the air, forcing
terrified residents into their homes, witnesses told AFP.
Waving black flags which read "There is no God but God," the men stormed through
the city and tried to force their way into a police station but were confronted
by policemen and soldiers.
MENA said two people, including an 11-year-old child, were wounded by the
gunfire of the armed men. -AFP/NOW Lebanon
Kurdish rebels kill Iranian Basij militiaman
July 29, 2011 /Kurdish rebels have killed a member of Iran's Basij militia after
attacking a rural base in the western province of Kurdistan, Mehr news agency
reported on Friday.
Mehr, quoting a local governor, said rebels of the Party of Free Life of
Kurdistan (PJAK) targeted the Basij base of Selin, near the town of Sarv-Abad,
on Wednesday night.
"The terrorists attacked the base ... killing one Basij member and injuring four
others," Sarv-Abad governor Ahmad Mohammad-Rezaei told the agency. He said PJAK
rebels also "suffered heavy losses" but did not give details. The agency said
the rebels had killed another Basij member as well as a police officer in the
town over the past two weeks.
On July 16, Iranian troops launched a major offensive against PJAK compounds,
with the elite Revolutionary Guards claiming to have killed more than 50 rebels
in the ongoing fighting.
At least eight Guards have been killed, including a senior officer, in clashes
on the border with Iraq, where PJAK rebels operate out of bases in its
autonomous Kurdish region.
A 10-year-old Iraqi Kurd was killed late Thursday evening by Iranian forces, who
regularly shell border districts of the Kurdish region of northern Iraq
targeting PJAK bases.
On Wednesday, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari called for Iran to stop
shelling positions of Kurdish rebels inside Iraq, warning it was damaging ties
between Baghdad and Tehran.
But Iranian media reported the same day that Tehran would keep up its operations
until Iraq deployed security forces along the border to prevent cross-border
attacks by PJAK rebels.
-AFP/NOW Lebanon
Ban Lebanon’s sillier laws
Michael Young, July 29, 2011
Now Lebanon
The arrest this week of singer Zeid Hamdan for allegedly defaming President
Michel Sleiman provides a good example of why Lebanese law can, now and again,
be an inexhaustible fount of amusement. Wednesday, Hamdan was taken into custody
on orders from the interior minister, Marwan Charbel, before later being
released. The reason was that in 2010 he recorded the music video of a tune he
wrote in 2008, in which he sang, “General Sleiman, you’re a mean old man,”
before inviting him to “Go home, General Sleiman.”
The remarkable promptness of our security agencies in detecting this year-old
violence directed against the presidential office was only marginally less
peculiar than Hamdan’s oddly respectful use of the word “general” in addressing
our head of state. Genuine insolence would have dictated ignoring rank
altogether and dangling Sleiman by his last name. But indeed nothing is more
odious to Lebanese presidents than a request to go home. Even when
constitutionally obligated to abide by that command, most prefer to linger.
This is not the first time that someone has been arrested for showing disrespect
to Sleiman. A year ago, several supporters of Michel Aoun were detained for
doing so on Facebook, before the incident petered out. We can expect the same
thing with Hamdan. His arrest has sparked outrage; observers have decried the
absence of freedom of speech; the courts may take up the matter, or pretend to;
and in the end the dispute will slide off the radar, with no one punished.
In a sense such an ending is fitting. It would be an embarrassment to the
president if a private citizen were to spend any lengthy period of time behind
bars for saying unkind things about him. After all, many a politician has done
so publicly, without paying a price. The third paragraph of the preamble of the
constitution describes Lebanon as a democratic republic that is “based on
respect for public liberties, especially freedom of opinion and belief, and
respect for social justice and equality of rights.” That’s why it is neither
sensible to apprehend people for expressing reservations with Sleiman, or anyone
else, nor fair to sanction only those who are not politically connected.
There are many constraints in our “democratic republic,” both official and
unspoken. One cannot attack “friendly” Arab countries, and for a long time one
took a risk by criticizing Syria or Saudi Arabia publicly. Yet no policeman was
dispatched to haul in Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, when he condemned
Bahrain’s regime some months ago. And while the Lebanese can call politicians
all sorts of names, and mock them on satirical programs, this is off limits when
it involves Nasrallah himself, because his supporters might block the airport
road and deploy toughs to register their discontent.
In 1998, Emile Lahoud was appointed president (the word “elected” seems so
inappropriate), and for a moment naïve Lebanese imagined that humility and
integrity had entered Baabda Palace. Usually bright people would
enthusiastically mention the president’s simplicity, the fact that he drove his
own car without bodyguards. Whether these stories were true, no one could
affirm. However, soon military officers were calling newspapers to point out
that they were better off not depicting the president in political cartoons. The
purportedly simple man was apparently soaking with vanity. And even when Lahoud
was on the ropes in 2005, the intelligence services were still active in
protecting the sacred icon. At the March 14 rally that year, a group of agents
forced demonstrators to take down a large sign poking fun at the president. You
had to admire their tenacity in the midst of a colossal, unfriendly rally,
though they didn’t quite work up the nerve to arrest those slandering “sisterly
Syria.”
Lebanon is not alone in restricting certain types of activities in ways that
transcend social necessity to sometimes verge on the petty. In Singapore, for
example, chewing gum is prohibited. In the United Kingdom, engaging in loud sex
can earn you a citation for anti-social behavior. More seriously, in France it
is illegal to deny the Holocaust. Each case is considerably different from the
other, but all in their way reflect an intention of the state to enforce
behavior deemed desirable, but where the law also jars with freedom of action
and expression.
The same logic has gone into Lebanese laws to prevent offending this politician
or country or that. As in Singapore, the UK or France, we can see that the urge
to write into law specific conduct—including conduct deemed to be moral—extends
the state’s power to domains that citizens are better off managing informally,
between themselves. It is not up to the state to tell people what they must
think and say, any more than it is to instruct them what to consume.
The impulse to over-legislate also rarely works well. You still cannot chew gum
in Singapore. However, in the UK the wide dissemination of so-called anti-social
behavior orders under previous governments provoked a negative backlash. The
French Holocaust law has also sparked controversy, regardless of the vileness of
Holocaust deniers.
Lebanon merits some credit. Hamdan’s tribulations will end up being a tempest in
a teapot. It’s a relief that Lebanese still react with indignation to arrests
like his. But Michel Sleiman would gain much by recommending that the law
justifying them be banned altogether. Among his roles is safeguarding the
constitution, and the preamble is clear about freedom of expression.
Representatives of the state should stop wasting their time and ours by keeping
on the books silly legislation that their self-respect prevents them from
applying.
*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.
Syria: 3,000 disappeared in Assad's crackdown
July 30, 2011 08:02/GlobalPost
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/middle-east/110729/syria-disappearances-uprising-protest
BEIRUT, Lebanon — For the past two months the widowed woman has scoured the
Syrian city of Homs, a mother looking for her missing son.
Yazan, 16, was last seen being bundled into a white van by men from Syria’s
security forces who had battered him with sticks until his nose and ears bled
and he lost consciousness, according to his friends.
Yazan had been protesting with thousands of others in Homs for an end to the
Assad family’s 41-year dictatorship.
“He did not vanish,” said Yazan’s mother. “The security forces have him, and I
want him back.”
Yazan is a pseudonym, used at the request of the mother who fears for her son’s
safety. Desperate to find her younger son, the woman has visited all the Homs
branches of Syria’s notorious security agencies, numbering at least 17 different
divisions.
“We do not know where Wissam is. I am scared for his life and scared that
security comes and raids our house”
~Alaa Araji, Wissam’s brotherMore From GlobalPost in Syria: A Syrian soldier
speaks
But in a country where security officers arrest and torture citizens with
impunity, a single mother visiting the smoky offices receives no help. Time and
again the men in leather jackets and pistols tell her they don’t have Yazan.
When she keeps demanding, they warn her to stop looking, threatening that they
will arrest her older son who is 19 if she keeps asking them questions.
But the mother won’t stop asking.
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can it be done? And can Europe handle... .Voting Ends:
This week's winner revisits Iran's revolution. Check the membership site in
early August for a link to completed piece.
.“If my son is dead, I want to bury his body,” she told a human rights
researcher. “And if he is alive I want to see him and smell him again.”
Enforced disappearances like Yazan’s have been occurring at the rate of one
every hour since Syria’s uprising began in mid-March, according to the
international rights group Avaaz, which has now documented almost 3,000
individual cases.
Under the terms of an international treaty, enforced disappearance is defined as
the arrest, detention or abduction of a person by the state or agents of the
state followed by the refusal of authorities to acknowledge the whereabouts of
the missing person, thereby placing that person outside the protection of the
law.
Enforced disappearance is a crime against international law, according to
Amnesty International.
“We are not counting people who we know have been detained. We are strictly
talking here about people whose families do not know if they are dead or alive.
People who have disappeared,” said Wissam Tarif, director of Insan, a Syrian
human rights organization that has worked with Avaaz to document cases of
enforced disappearances.
The rights groups and their network inside Syria have spoken to close family
members of all missing persons, all of whom have been told by authorities that
their relative was not being held.
“Family members have been shouted at, abused, beaten and even detained when
asking at security branches for the whereabouts of their relatives,” said Tarif.
Abdel Aziz Kamal al-Rihawi, an 18-year-old Syrian, went missing during a protest
in Harasta, a town in the Damascus countryside. Rights groups have now
documented 3,000 cases of enforced disappearance since the Syrian uprising
began.(Insan/Courtesy)Many of the 3,000 people went missing during anti-regime
protests, but others have simply disappeared while walking the streets of their
neighborhood, snatched by members of Syria’s fractious security forces, which
include plain-clothes thugs, secret police and local members of the ruling Baath
Party.
A lack of communication between rival security branches means a person can be
released by one branch after interrogation only to be arrested by a different
security branch for the same interrogation, say activists. This makes tracking
down the missing all the more difficult.
Since March 15, Avaaz has documented the killing of 1,634 people in the regime’s
crackdown, with a staggering 26,000 people arrested, of whom nearly 13,000
remain in detention. The Assad regime contests figures of those killed and
arrested, saying that over 500 members of the security forces have been killed
attempting to restore order.
The sweeping campaign of arrests and disappearances has targeted a wide cross
section of Syrian society in what several of those affected have described as “a
campaign of terror.” Not only have security forces rounded up street protesters,
but they have also arrested doctors, engineers and students, anyone seen to be
active in society.
Avaaz said citizens from Daraa have been a particular target for regime forces,
which blame the city’s people for igniting the popular uprising.
Enforced disappearances in Syria began when Hafez al-Assad, President Bashar
al-Assad’s father, ordered a bloody clampdown against an armed uprising by the
Muslim Brotherhood in 1979.
About 17,000 Syrians disappeared between 1980 and 1987, according to a written
statement to the United Nations Human Rights Council by Radwan Ziadeh, head of
the Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies.
In comparison, as many as 30,000 people disappeared during Argentina's Dirty War
under the military junta from 1976 to 1983, according to human rights groups. As
many as 17,000 people disappeared in Algeria's civil war from 1992 to 1997,
activists claim.
Wissam Araji, one of Syria’s disappeared, was last seen late on the night of
April 21 in Duma, a town close to Damascus that had become a focus for protests.
“We do not know where Wissam is. I am scared for his life and scared that
security comes and raids our house and takes me or any other family member,”
said Alaa Araji, Wissam’s brother, in a case documented by Insan. “Since Wissam
disappeared my mother did not stop crying and my Dad does not know what to do.
His disappearance has paralyzed us.”
Abdel Aziz Kamal al-Rihawi, an 18-year-old Syrian, went missing the following
day in Harasta, a town in the Damascus countryside.
A relative told Insan that Rihawi had contacted him by phone, saying, “They are
shooting at everyone. I will go home as soon as we can get out of here.” That
was the last time family heard anything from him.
“We expect that some of the people on the list are dead. We know there are
bodies being held in Tishreen military hospital and in the military hospital in
Aleppo,” said Tarif.
Since July 21 Avaaz has documented more than 1,000 arrests with the number of
enforced disappearances rising rapidly, as the regime steps up its efforts to
repress dissent in the build-up to Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting,
which is expected to fuel further opposition protests as large groups of people
gather together at homes and in mosques.
More from GlobalPost Casbah Blog: Child victims of Syria
Avaaz has launched a petition among its 10 million members to urge key
governments with influence in Syria — South Africa, India, Brazil, Kuwait and
Qatar —to send human rights delegations to pressure the Syrian government to
release the disappeared.
“Hour by hour, peaceful protesters are plucked from crowds by Syria's infamously
brutal security forces, never to be seen again,” said Ricken Patel, Executive
Director at Avaaz. “President Assad's attempt to terrorize Syrians into
submission isn't working, but they urgently need the international community to
demand the release of the disappeared and a transition to democracy.”
When Ahmad noticed he was being followed by the men from Syrian security, he
called his daughter, Lila, to warn her he wouldn’t be coming home.
A respected figure in his Damascus neighborhood, Ahmad had been helping doctors
who were treating wounded protesters, many of whom were receiving medical care
in private homes after secret police began arresting the injured from their
hospital beds.
For that, Ahmad, whose name along with his daughter’s has been changed for their
protection, had attracted the attention of Assad’s enforcers. As they followed
him into his office on July 2, Ahmad asked their names, jotting them down on a
piece of paper for Lila to find, before submitting to arrest.
The names on the paper lead nowhere. The security branch said they’d never heard
of Lila’s father and instead began asking Lila’s friends about her. She’s now in
hiding, fearing arrest, moving between safe houses every two days.
“I feel insecure, angry, disrespected, humiliated, and most of all worried to
death about my father,” said Lila, 25, in a case documented by Avaaz.
“I am afraid that he might get hurt, or they might kill him, God forbid, or that
he might end up with a permanent injury. He is old, and they are torturing
people all the time. … I hope we will see him again, but we cannot expect
anything from this regime. My friend’s father was taken in 1983 and nothing has
been heard of him since.”
*More from GlobalPost in Syria: Aleppo, Syria’s sleeping giant, stirs and Nearly
3,000 Syrians "forcefully disappeared"