LCCC
ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِJUNE
01/2011
Biblical Event Of The
Day
James 4/1-10: " Where do wars and
fightings among you come from? Don’t they come from your pleasures that war in
your members? 4:2 You lust, and don’t have. You kill, covet, and can’t obtain.
You fight and make war. You don’t have, because you don’t ask. 4:3 You ask, and
don’t receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it for
your pleasures. 4:4 You adulterers and adulteresses, don’t you know that
friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a
friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 4:5 Or do you think that the
Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who lives in us yearns jealously”? 4:6 But
he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace
to the humble.”* 4:7 Be subject therefore to God. But resist the devil, and he
will flee from you. 4:8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse
your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 4:9 Lament,
mourn, and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to gloom.
4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will exalt you."
Latest
analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases
from
miscellaneous
sources
Syria to Become Iranian Vassal or Saudi
Ally/By Robert Rabil and Walid Phares/May 31/11
Iran sees threat to its clout amid
Arab Spring/By Scott Peterson,/May
31/11
Tempest over telecoms/Matt
Nash/May 31/11
Latest News Reports From
Miscellaneous Sources for May 31/11
Israel/IDF chief: Israel faces
growing range of threats, from knife to nuclear/Haaretz
UN blasts Syria crackdown as
death toll rises/Daily Star
Estonian Muslims urge release of
abducted cyclists/Daily Star
Storm brews over telecoms controversy/Daily Star
Syria's Assad issues amnesty:
state TV/Reuters
Video of Tortured Boy's Corpse Deepens Anger in Syria/NYT
Syria's crackdown/IT
Syrian refugees begin to trickle
back across the border/Daily Star
UNIFIL undeterred by attack: Asarta/Daily
Star
Lebanon freezes assets of
Tunisia's former first lady/Daily Star
Berri: The Cedar Revolution took Lebanon
60 years back/Ya Libnan
Riyadi beat holders Mahram at the thrilla
in Manila/Daily Star
Lebanese fear further attacks on UNIFIL troops/Daily
Star
Lebanon's trade deficit up by 8
pct in first four months of 2011/Daily Star
Telecoms incident political par excellence: Fatfat/Daily
Star
Key hydro-agricultural project
announced/Daily Star
Hamas-Gaza's missile stock passes
10,000 - and going up/DEBKAfile
Geagea Calls for Ending Campaign against Rifi:
Cedar Revolution Set Berri, his Allies Back 60 Years /Naharnet
March 14 Warns Against Attempts to Put STL on
Parliament Session Agenda /Naharnet
Aoun: Dispute between Security Forces, Nahhas Has
Taken Legal Course /Naharnet
Gemayel Meets Berri: Developments in Lebanon are
Suicide /Naharnet
Maqdah Says Palestinians to 'Peacefully' March on
Israel Borders Sunday /Naharnet
Rifi: Suleiman Was Not Fully Informed of What
Happened at Telecom Ministry Building /Naharnet
Jumblat Says he ‘Gave Up,’ Hints Aoun Behind
Cabinet Delay /Naharnet
Geagea Calls for Ending Campaign against Rifi: Cedar
Revolution Set Berri, his Allies Back 60 Years
Naharnet Newsdesk 8 hours agoLebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea praised on
Tuesday Internal Security Forces chief Major General Ashraf Rifi, saying that
the ongoing campaign against him “is targeting the last free position in the
Lebanese state.”He demanded during a press conference an end to the campaign
against him, noting: “His tenure at the Interior Ministry contributed to the
international investigations for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and uncovered
tens of Israeli spy networks.”“Do they want to put Rifi on trial? Do they want
to try him for increasing the percentage of Christians at the ministry from 30
to 40 percent? Or do they want to try him because the security forces don’t
follow Syria’s orders?” he asked. “Is ISF chief Rifi, who is the most ethical
officer, the only person to be blamed for the illegal construction, al-Sharawneh
clashes in Baalbeck, and Estonians’ kidnapping?” the LF leader wondered.
Commenting on the incident at the Telecom Ministry building at al-Adliyeh on
Thursday, Geagea said: “We don’t understand the ministerial uproar regarding
last week’s events. We would have understood it had it been over the Nakba Day
clashes or during a natural disaster.”He added: “It seems that several people
have forgotten that the current government is a caretaking one. Some sides now
want to perform actions that they didn’t carry out before Cabinet’s
resignation.”Addressing Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi’s statements that he
does not oppose amending the Taif Accord, the LF leader remarked: “Lebanon’s
system is under constant study and discussion, but now is not the time to tackle
the Taif Accord.” “We have more immediate issues at hand, such as forming a
government,” he continued. On Speaker Nabih Berri’s comment that the Cedar
Revolution has set Lebanon back 60 years, Geagea responded: “The Cedar
Revolution set Berri and his allies back 60 years, but it sent the Lebanese 60
years forward in freedom and democracy.”
March 14 Warns Against Attempts to Put STL on Parliament Session Agenda Naharnet
Newsdesk
March 14 lawmakers have accused Speaker Nabih Berri of putting the speakership
in confrontation of not only the March 14 forces but also the Cedar Revolution
after he said it took Lebanon back 60 years on the democratic level. In remarks
to An Nahar daily on Tuesday, the sources warned that Berri was making attempts
to put on the agenda of a parliamentary session on June 8 the issue of the
Special Tribunal for Lebanon and Lebanon’s commitment to it. Berri called for
the session next week to vote on important issues such as the renewal of Central
Bank governor Riyad Salameh’s mandate. The March 14 forces are rejecting such a
move for fears that the speaker would give parliament executive authorities amid
the absence of a cabinet. If Berri’s move on the tribunal was proved, then this
means his group is continuing to carry out its “coup against the national unity
government and pushing Lebanon towards a dangerous unknown.” The March 14
coalition accused the Hizbullah-led alliance of carrying out a coup against
Caretaker Premier Saad Hariri in January by nominating Premier-designate Najib
Miqati. The March 14 MPs told An Nahar that they will decide on their next move
when parliament’s bureau committee meets to decide on the items that would be
put on the session’s agenda.Al-Liwaa daily said, however, that centrists are
seeking to clinch a deal between the March 8 and 14 forces to limit the
session’s agenda to the renewal of Salameh’s mandate without discussing other
draft-laws.
Gemayel Meets Berri: Developments in Lebanon are Suicide
Naharnet Newsdesk 6 hours agoPhalange Party leader Amin Gemayel condemned on
Tuesday last week’s incident at a Telecommunications Ministry building at al-Adliyeh,
describing it as “unacceptable.” He stressed after holding talks with Speaker
Nabih Berri: “Blame in this issue cannot be made based on media reports.” “We
are more concerned with the vacuum in Lebanon … and there are other issues in
Lebanon, such as economic and social ones, that are not being addressed,” he
stated. “There is a scary and destructive vacuum and the developments in Lebanon
are suicide,” he stressed. “The president’s role has been obstructed because the
government’s functioning has been obstructed, while parliament cannot assume
Cabinet’s role,” he continued. “All state apparatuses are in a state of
confusion in this governmental vacuum,” the Phalange leader said. A government
should be formed as soon as possible, because once it is established, all
pending issues can be addressed, Gemayel noted. Commenting on Berri’s statement
that the March 14 camp has set the country back 60 years, he said: “If only we
could go back 60 years, at least back then, decisions in the country were taken
through state institutions and not from across the border.”
Jumblat Says he ‘Gave Up,’ Hints Aoun Behind Cabinet Delay
Naharnet Newsdesk /Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat denied
that his latest stance from Hizbullah was aimed at requesting a “political
asylum back to the March 14 forces,” As Safir newspaper reported on Tuesday. “I
am frustrated and depressed. I gave up,” Jumblat said. He stressed that his last
cry didn’t lead to any result. The newspaper quoted him as saying that “I won’t
repeat it, I can’t and I don’t want to disagree with them, I refuse to do
anything.” Jumblat was referring to his remarks about Hizbullah’s rejection to
form the new cabinet. He told al-Akhbar daily last week that the Shiite party
was putting Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun at the forefront of the
government formation problems.
The PSP leader noted that the cabinet formation obstacle is local and “Hizbullah
can sort it out especially with Michel Aoun.” Hinting that Aoun was behind the
delay in the cabinet formation, he said: “It’s wrong to say that (PM-designate)
Najib Miqati is the obstacle. He seems to be giving up just like me, and he is
frustrated.”
“He already answered to all Aoun’s terms what more can he do?” Jumblat wondered.
He rejected accusations that his meeting with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State
for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman during his last visit to Beirut was a “conspiracy.”“Feltman
came to Lebanon to try putting some pressure on Syria,” he stressed, refusing to
reveal the details of his closed-door meeting with the U.S. official. The MP
told the newspaper that “some parties are busy with their personal wars, while
the administration, army, and security are handicapped.” He hoped that Saad
Hariri would carry out his duties as caretaker PM. When asked about the
repercussions of the indictment that will be issued by the Special Tribunal for
Lebanon, he said that “even if the indictment was issued nothing will change.
It’ll be forgotten after a while.”As Safir reported that the PSP leader came
back from Doha overnight, feeling more concerned after he saw a decisive Qatari
decision refusing to resume the dialogue and contacts with the Syrian
leadership. Jumblat held a meeting with Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa
al-Thani, who held the Syrian president responsible for abolishing the Doha
agreement.
Tempest over telecoms
Matt Nash, /May 31, 2011
(NOW Lebanon)
A turf battle over the use of mobile phone network equipment is exploding into a
fierce national debate that prompted a caretaker minister to resign and
seemingly could cost the head of the Internal Security Forces his job. On one
level the argument is yet another dispute between the Ministry of
Telecommunications and Ogero, a state-owned company, but it has become one of
the most talked-about topics in the country, as politicians have seized on it to
level accusations of illegal conduct against one another.
This third mobile network, under Ogero’s control, was built in 2007. March 14
says caretaker Telecom Minister Charbel Nahhas secretly wants to hand the
network to Hezbollah, despite the fact that he says he wants it as part of an
upgraded network managed by MTC Touch. Syria’s Sham press, which is close to the
regime, has accused March 14 of letting protesters use the network to
communicate within Syria. Nahhas has accused Ogero of operating the network with
the ISF Information Branch, hinting, but not directly saying, they are up to no
good.
It is no secret that Nahhas does not get along with Ogero’s director general,
Abdel Monem Youssef, who also serves as the director general of operations and
maintenance within the ministry, something Nahhas says is both illegal and a
conflict of interests.
Ogero is a state-owned company that former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri gave the
power, through cabinet decrees, to rebuild and upgrade Lebanon’s fixed line
telephone network after the civil war – power taken from the Ministry of
Telecom. The company and its high-level employees are seen as loyal to Hariri
and the political allies who survived him.
Today Ogero controls the fixed-line phone network, offers Internet services and
sells bandwidth to private Internet and data services providers, though the
ministry has to approve those sales. Speaking earlier this month before the
Youth Shadow Government, Nahhas argued that Ogero has no legal right to exist or
operate in the telecom sector. He also said that during his tenure as minister,
Ogero employees broke into a ministry building in the middle of the night and
took fiber optic cables that Nahhas said belonged to the ministry.
In this context, last week Nahhas tried to enter a Ministry of Telecom building
in Beirut’s Adlieh neighborhood to take mobile phone network equipment Ogero
says it rightfully owns. Under a never-fully-implemented law from 2002, the
telecom sector, now entirely in state hands, is supposed to be privatized.
Part of the law calls for Ogero to become a private company called Liban Telecom
that will run the fixed line network and operate a third mobile phone network.
In 2007, the Chinese government donated equipment to Lebanon made by the Chinese
company Huawei that could be used to build a small, 3G mobile phone network.
At the time, the cabinet issued decrees accepting the gift and allowing Ogero to
use the equipment to build a test network capable of serving 50,000 customers in
preparation for the eventual creation of Liban Telecom. The idea behind this was
to give Ogero employees – who, it is assumed, will likely stay on as employees
of Liban Telecom when it is created – experience operating and maintaining a
mobile network, said Riad Bahsoun, vice chairman of the board of directors of
the IT industry group SAMENA Telecommunications Council.
The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority in 2008 authorized Ogero, on a
temporary and non-commercial basis, to use radio frequencies necessary to
operate the network and gave Ogero 1,000 phone numbers for their test network.
“The network itself is not a secret, but the operation of it is,” Bahsoun said.
Because the network is 3G, it is more difficult to spy on than Lebanon’s
current, older mobile phone networks, as 3G networks have higher levels of
encryption than their predecessors. One conspiracy theory NOW Lebanon has heard
is that some March 14 politicians are using it as their own private, secure
phone network.
An Ogero employee, speaking anonymously as he is not authorized to talk to the
press, told NOW Lebanon that the network covers almost the entire country. But,
he said, only 15 subscribers were ever allowed to access the network for testing
purposes and denied any illegal use of it.
Ogero says it is no longer being used, and Nahhas wants to give the equipment to
MTC Touch, which operates and manages one of the two state-owned mobile
networks. The MTC Touch network is being upgraded to a 3.5G network by Huawei,
which provided the equipment for the Ogero network.
Nahhas argues the equipment belongs to the ministry, and therefore he should be
able to take it, while Ogero says it belongs to the company. The Ogero employee
said that the company’s problem is that the minister cannot unilaterally tell
Ogero what to do. Ogero can only act based on commands from the entire cabinet.
“It’s our equipment,” the employee said. “We can’t just give it to the minister.
There needs to be a Council of Ministers [cabinet] decision.”
On May 20, when Ogero director Youssef went on vacation, he asked the ISF to
protect the equipment because, the employee said, “It was clear Nahhas was going
to try to take it.”
A press release from Nahhas confirms that as of May 20, the equipment was being
guarded by the Information Branch of the ISF, which is the force’s
intelligence-gathering body. When asked why the Information Branch took the
task, the Ogero employee said that decision was made by ISF Director General
Ashraf Rifi, likely because it is the ISF unit closest and most loyal to him.
Rifi could not be reached for comment.
On May 26, with a television crew in tow, Nahhas went to the building to
dismantle the network and take the equipment only to be stopped by the
Information Branch. Caretaker Interior Minister Ziad Baroud, Rifi’s boss with
whom he has publically clashed before, ordered Rifi to remove the Information
Branch officers. Rifi did not, so Baroud resigned. Rifi has subsequently said he
did not get the order before Baroud’s resignation.
President Michel Sleiman has called for judicial action to be taken against Rifi,
and the army is now in control of the building in Adlieh. A parliamentary
committee, meanwhile, is supposed to appoint a team to investigate how the
network is being used. The committee meeting ended Monday in acrimony over a
dispute concerning who – Nahhas or Orgero’s Youssef – should appoint Ogero’s
representative on the investigation team
Syria decrees general amnesty, opposition says “too little”
Now Lebanon/May 31, 2011
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad Tuesday decreed a general amnesty for members
of the banned Muslim Brotherhood and for political prisoners, but the opposition
swiftly dismissed the measure as "too little too late.""President Assad has by
decree issued an amnesty on all [political] crimes committed before May 31,
2011," the official SANA news agency reported.
"The amnesty applies to all political prisoners as well as to the Muslim
Brotherhood." The announcement, which comes after two months of deadly
anti-regime protests, was shrugged off by Syrian opposition activists gathered
in Turkey to discuss democratic change and voice support for the revolt. "This
measure is insufficient: we demanded this amnesty several years ago, but it's
late in coming," said Abdel Razak Eid, an activist from the "Damascus
Declaration," a reformist group launched in 2005 to demand democratic change.
The release of political prisoners has been a central demand of protesters who,
inspired by uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, have since March 15 been staging
almost daily demonstrations against Assad's autocratic government. The
announcement of the amnesty came soon after a senior official in Syria's ruling
Baath party reportedly said that a committee for national dialogue in the
troubled country would be set up within 48 hours. Al-Watan daily, which is close
to the government, quoted party number two Mohammed Said Bkhetan as telling a
Baath party meeting that the committee's members would be wide-ranging. "The
committee for dialogue is composed of all political currents, and people from
political and economic life and society in general will take part," it quoted
him as saying. The opposition has previously dismissed calls for dialogue,
saying that this can take place once only the violence ends, political prisoners
are freed and reforms adopted. More than 1,100 civilians have been killed and at
least 10,000 arrested in a brutal crackdown by the regime on the protests, human
rights organizations say.
-AFP/NOW Lebanon
Berlin Summons Iran Envoy for Closing Airspace to Merkel Plane
Naharnet Newsdesk/Iran briefly closed its airspace to German Chancellor Angela
Merkel's plane as she flew for a visit to India on Tuesday, delaying her arrival
and sparking a diplomatic row. Merkel was held up as she flew overnight on
Monday-Tuesday for a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and
President Pratibha Patil in New Delhi.
"Hindering the German chancellor's passage over Iran is absolutely unacceptable.
It shows a lack of respect towards Germany that we will not accept," Foreign
Minister Guido Westerwelle said in a statement. He summoned the Iranian
ambassador in Berlin to "make it very plain that such a breach of international
conventions will in no way be tolerated by Germany."
The reasons for the delay were not immediately known and a second plane with
four of Merkel's ministers and other delegation members was not held up.
Merkel, speaking at a news conference with Singh, declined to go into detail
about the inconvenience, which saw her plane circle for two hours over Turkey
before receiving permission to cross Iran, according to reports. "I am very glad
I arrived safely here," she said. "Everything has turned out excellently. We got
to hold the Indo-German consultation. That is the most important thing." Her
troubled arrival overshadowed the meeting with Singh, during which the two
leaders agreed to strengthen economic ties between Europe's biggest economy and
one of the world's fastest-growing markets.
They also discussed regional security and Afghanistan, where Germany has been
reported to be helping mediate secret, direct talks between the United States
and the Taliban.
Merkel stressed that Germany would host the next Afghanistan conference at the
end of the year and was seeking reconciliation of all forces in the country "if
those forces fulfill all conditions such as renouncing the use of force." The
German leader also pressed the case for the Euro fighter Typhoon fighter jet,
made jointly by a European consortium including Germany, which is competing for
a $12 billion deal up for grabs in India. "We are convinced that we have the
best product on offer compared with others," she told reporters.
The Euro fighter is up against the France-made Rafale produced by defense
contractor Dassault.
Germany is India's biggest trading partner in Europe, with bilateral trade at
15.4 billion Euros ($21 billion) in 2010. Indian officials forecast that this
figure will grow to 20 billion Euros by 2012. The meeting came a day after
Germany announced it would phase out its atomic plants by 2022, a global first
by a major country in the wake of the disaster in March at Japan's Fukushima
plant. India, meanwhile, has announced plans to dramatically increase its
nuclear power capacity and has been in talks with Russian, French, Japanese and
US groups to build new plants across the country. At present, three percent of
India's electricity comes from nuclear power but the government wants to
increase that to six percent by the end of the decade and 13 percent by
2030.Source Agence France Presse
IDF chief: Israel faces growing range of threats, from 'knife to nuclear'
By Jonathan Lis /Haaretz/The Israel Defense Forces will ask the state to
increase its defense budget significantly to contend with the growing terror
threats in the region, Chief of Staff Benny Gantz said on Tuesday. "The spectrum
of threats in light of the changes in the Middle East is growing," Gantz told
the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. "These threats range from
knife to nuclear – from the knife used in a single terror attack to a nuclear
Iran." "The threats of the past are still in force, but new threats are
developing that require the ability to operate in a number of different theaters
with strength and determination," Gantz said, adding that this "new spectrum of
threats requires a new and broader budget framework for the defense
establishment." One such threat was the upcoming aid flotilla bound from Turkey
to the Gaza Strip, one year after the deadly Israeli raid on the Mavi Marmara
ship. "The flotilla organizers are working to inflame hatred and provocation
against Israel and not out of desire to help the population in Gaza."
"There is no humanitarian crisis" in Gaza, Gantz declared. "Every day, hundreds
of trucks enter filled with food and materials. The IDF will work to stop any
attempt to break through the naval blockade." The international community has
recognized the validity of this blockade, said Gantz, adding that even United
Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon recently defended its legality while
blasting the illegality of the aid flotillas.
Syria to Become Iranian Vassal or Saudi Ally
By Robert Rabil and Walid Phares
American Thinker
http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/05/syria_to_become_iranian_vassal.html
The Arab popular movements clamoring for reform in the Middle East have not only
reached the shore of Syria, but have also spread throughout the country. The
initial attitude of the regime, as expressed by Syrian President Bashar al-Asad,
that Damascus is immune to Arab protests sweeping the region, has been turned on
its head. The Syrian regime is deeply concerned about the growing protests in
the country, which have been gradually but steadily breaking new taboos. The
unheard of call for the removal of the regime has become a rallying cry for
protesters, who have been smashing statues of the Asad family.
The gravity of the unfolding situation is symbolized by the reach of the
protests to the heart of Damascus, the Maydan, despite attempts by the Syrian
security forces to check the expansion of the protests to urban areas,
especially Damascus. The Maydan in Damascus symbolizes the pillar upon which the
power of the regime rests. It is where the Alawi military-Sunni merchant complex
thrives as a ballast for the Asad regime. After all, it was the Damascene
merchant class in the early 1980s that saved the regime of late Syrian president
Hafez al-Asad from the rebellious Muslim Brotherhood. Since then, this alliance
between Sunnis and Alawis has grown in intermarriages, wealth, but also in
corruption. It is this hybrid class that supported the regime's erratic, and in
most cases, insignificant reforms, for the sake of stability.
But this time around, the protest movement has grown beyond the grasp of the
Syrian bureaucracy and the country's fearsome security services. It has taken a
multi-dimensional character hardly possible for the regime to subdue, but also
difficult for the opposition to mold into a singular leadership. No longer can
the regime successfully single out, clamp down on, or divide the leadership of
the opposition, as it had done since President Asad assumed power in 2000.
Thanks to social media, the leadership of the opposition has become a collective
one. Opposition members, such as Ammar abd al-Hammid, have interfaced and
mobilized Syrian youth from the diaspora through Facebook. They have also helped
create in Syria a multitude of leadership groups guided by seasoned activists
from diverse backgrounds. Conversely, as a consequence of both the regime's
superficial policies and harsh actions the opposition has become linked to a
broad societal group that cuts across sects, gender, and class.
By firing at protesters, even as they mourn the loss of their loved ones, the
regime has not only created a cycle of revanchism, but also a crucible of common
grievances shared by inter- and intra-communal groups and sects. The expansion
of the protests throughout Syria, in spite of the regime's concessions of
repealing emergency rule and abolishing security courts, is undoubtedly both a
product and a growth of common grievances and the collectiveness of the
opposition's leadership. Simply put, the regime has de-legitimized itself by its
brutal actions. But this does not mean that the Syrian regime will not fight for
its survival or the opposition will not create the critical mass needed to
overpower the regime. Arguably, inasmuch as the protest movement grows bolder,
the regime may use indiscriminate and brutal power to fight for its survival.
True, the regime may have prevailed over the Alawi community by convincing it
that its survival is linked to that of its own; yet it has not irreversibly
secured the critical allegiance of the merchant class, especially in Damascus
and Aleppo. Reportedly, this merchant class has become nervous about the
regime's growing recourse to violence and de-legitimization on the domestic and
international levels. As one pre-eminent Damascene reformer told me: Syrian
authorities are acting as outlaws and are being perceived as outlaws.
But, most ominously for the protest movement in the time being is the emergence
of Damascus as the battle grounds for Iran to re-assert its regional authority
and policy. Tehran can ill afford the loss of the Syrian regime as a regional
ally and a nodal point for its projection of power and deterrence strategy
against Israel. Hezb'allah, Iran's proxy militia, can also ill afford a regime
change that may put the Islamist party far out on a limb by severing the
overland weapons supply from Tehran and denying the party Syria's strategic
depth. In his recent speech, Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary General of Hezb'allah,
asserted that "the downfall of the Asad regime is an American and Israeli
interest," and added that "we should all be protective of the security and
stability of Syria." Consequently, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and
Hezb'allah's militants have systematically expanded their operations in Syria in
order to protect the regime.
No less significant, Iranian involvement in Syria has been counteracted by Saudi
support of Syrian opposition groups. In fact, the Saudis, and by extension the
Hariri's Mustaqbal party, had politically supported opposition groups following
the murder of Lebanon's former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri in 2005 up until the
beginning of the rapprochement between King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and
President Asad in 2009. True, the monarchy does not like to see radical changes
in Syria; yet its concern about Iran's regional projection of power partly
through mobilizing Arab Shi'a has emboldened some Saudi leaders, including
Interior Minister Prince Nayef, who practically runs the daily affairs of the
kingdom, to try to frustrate Iranian regional policies and activities.
Consequently, certain Saudi leaders associated with the conservative Saudi
religious establishment, in conjunction with Islamists and activists from
Tripoli in northern Lebanon, have supported religious scholars as a conduit for
channeling domestic opposition to the Syrian regime. It is no coincidence that
some mosques have emerged as a rallying place for protesters. The Saudis and
their allies are apparently trying to shake the merchant-military alliance by
putting communal pressure on the Sunni merchant class.
The protest movement in Syria has become inadvertently associated with a grim
battle of wills between Iran and its allies on one side, and Saudi Arabia and
its allies on the other. This battle may not only decide the future of Syria,
but also the future of the region. The international community's approach
towards Syria has been thus far cautious and reserved, despite targeting the
senior figures of the regime with sanctions. Barring a concerted international
effort to support the Syrian opposition and to pressure the Syrian merchant
class, there is little chance the regime may change its horrific policies. In
fact, the current international policy is only deepening Iranian influence in
Syria and turning Damascus into an Iranian vassal state paying tribute to
Tehran.
Army may prevent June 5 protesters reaching border fence
Mohammed Zaatari The Daily Star SIDON:
The Lebanese Army may hold back protesters planning to demonstrate on the border
with Israel Sunday to mark Naksa for fear of a repeat of the events of Nakba
Day, when at least 15 people were killed by Israeli gunfire, security sources
said Tuesday. “The army has reservations about allowing protesters to reach the
border,” one source told The Daily Star Tuesday.
“We won’t allow a repeat of what happened on Nakba Day in terms of killings of
Palestinians,” the source added, in response to Facebook campaigns which have
called for Arabs to march to the Israeli border in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza in
order to commemorate the Naksa. Eleven people died after being shot by Israeli
soldiers while on the Lebanese side of the border during protests on Nakba Day
on May 15. The Nakba, or "Catastrophe," refers to establishment of the Jewish
state in 1948 which led to the forcible displacement of hundreds of thousands of
Palestinians from their homeland. The source said that protesters might be
allowed to demonstrate as close as the southern village of Khiam, about four
kilometers from the Israeli border, but not any closer.“From Khiam, they [the
protesters] would be able to see Palestine and express their opinion [without
getting into trouble],” the source added.
While Palestinian factions in Lebanon have yet to set the location for the
protest, the sources told The Daily Star that Syrian-backed Palestinian groups
were readying to mobilize for a massive demonstration Sunday. The sources,
however, said they learned that Lebanon-based Hamas and the Palestine Liberation
Organization will not take part in demonstrations outside the refugee camps. A
Hamas official in Sidon told The Daily Star that Palestinian factions would soon
hold a meeting to announce plans for Naksa day commemorations which marks the
exodus of some 300,000 Palestinians during the 1967 Mideast war between Israel
and Arab countries.