LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِJUNE 20/2011

Bible Quotation for today
The Good News According to Matthew 28/16-20: "But the eleven disciples went into Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had sent them. When they saw him, they bowed down to him, but some doubted. Jesus came to them and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.  Go,* and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen."

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources 
Syria: Remaking Batman-style foreign policies of US./By: Nathaniel Sheppard Jr./June 19/11
Face the facts – Syria is an apartheid state/Nick Cohen /The Guardian/June 19/11
US aid for Hezbollah? La (No!) That means restricting aid to Lebanese government/By MUNA SHIKAKI/June 19/11

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for June 19/11
Roman ruins found along Naqoura junction in Tyre/The Daily Star
Report: Hizbullah Finds Mossad Agents within its Ranks/Naharnet
Lebanese Army to Stay in State of Alert in Tripoli for 3-6 Months to Contain ‘Lava of Syrian /Naharnet
Syrian army tightens grip near Turkish border/The Daily Star
Experts: Despite cohesion, Syria regime could fall/Ahram On Line
Afghan President Hamid Karzaslams US, links hands with Pakistan, Saudi Arabia/DEBKAfile
Lebanon: Pro-Syrian govt protest thanks Russia, China/The Daily Star
Syria: They came at dawn, and killed in cold blood/The Independent
Activists Using Video To Bear Witness in Syria/The New York Times
Report: Turkey to demand Assad's brother steps down in Syria/Haaretz
Report: Hezbollah spies nabbed/Ynetnews
Saudi approval will continue to shape Egypt’s foreign policy/ The Daily Star
Lebanon: An anachronistic government in the hands of Hizbollah and Syria/Asia News
Future bloc MP Assem Araji responds to Aoun/Now Lebanon
Suleiman Rebukes March 14, but Opposition Warns him Not to Take Sides/Naharnet
Maronite Patriarch Beshara Al Rai: give new Cabinet a chance/The Daily Star
Maronite Patriarch Beshara Al-Rahi Heads to Vatican, Says he Blessed New Cabinet when Formation Decrees were Signed/ Naharnet
Calm returns to Tripoli following deadly clashes/ The Daily Star
MP, Arslan Mum on his Vote of Confidence to Miqati’s Cabinet/Naharnet
Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Nawwaf Moussawi says “campaign” targeting army is dangerous/Now Lebanon
Ahmad Hariri sheds lights on Saad Hariri’s security situation/Now Lebanon
Lebanon's Arabic press digest/The Daily Star
Siniora: Why doesn’t Aoun buy himself a one-way ticket?/Now Lebanon
Future bloc MP Khaled al-Daher: Decisions were made to harm Lebanon/Now Lebanon
Hajjar says Aoun “belongs to mental hospital”/Now Lebanon
Allouch says Aoun may be part of “terrorist plot” against Hariri/Now Lebanon
Lebanese Forces bloc MP George Adwan says Mikati’s March 14 comments groundless/Now Lebanon

Lebanese Army to Stay in State of Alert in Tripoli for 3-6 Months to Contain ‘Lava of Syrian
Naharnet /The Lebanese army is expected to remain in a state of alert in the northern port city of Tripoli for a period of three to six months to contain the latest deadly clashes that erupted between Alawites and Sunnis over a rally against the Syrian government. Officials in Tripoli that are in contact with security authorities told An Nahar daily published Sunday that “the army succeeded in putting an end to the lava of the Syrian volcano and would continue along with the security forces to confront” a new eruption.
“The army will remain in a state of alert between three to six months until the neighboring volcano” stops from being active, the sources said. They were referring to the turmoil in Syria and anti-Assad demonstrations. The fighting erupted on Friday in Tripoli’s Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen after hundreds of demonstrators gathered for a protest against Syria's Alawite president, Bashar Assad. “It was wrong to consider the Tripoli incident as part of the local (political) crisis because it came as a result of the incidents in Syria,” the sources told An Nahar. Seven people were killed and 50 injured in the fighting.  The army command warned in a communique that the military “will respond with firmness and strength to the sources of fire from any side and will not show leniency with anyone carrying arms or jeopardizing the lives of people.”Although the army deployed heavily in the two neighborhoods of Tripoli and their surroundings, Voice of Lebanon radio station said that two hand grenades were tossed at Jabal Mohsen overnight, injuring one person.
It did not give further details.

Syrian army tightens grip near Turkish border
June 19, 2011 /By Zeina Karam, Selcan Hacaoglu Associated Press/Daily Star
BOYNUYOGUN REFUGEE CAMP, Turkey: Syrian troops are tightening their grip on villages near the Turkish border, setting up checkpoints and arresting dozens in an attempt to stanch the flow of residents fleeing into Turkey, activists said Sunday. Human rights activist Mustafa Osso said there were concerns that thousands of displaced people crowded near the border would come under attack in the coming days. The fighting in the Jisr al-Shughour area in the northern Idlib province started nearly two weeks ago, and has displaced thousands of people, including some 10,100 who are sheltered in three Turkish refugee camps.
An estimated 5,000 more people are camped out on the Syrian side of the border with dwindling resources as the army tightens its grip on the area, hoping to remain in Syria and avoid refugee status. Osso said military operations were under way Sunday in the villages of Bdama and Rihan near the border. Both villages had provided a gateway for refugees as well as medicine and foodstuffs for them. "Security forces have arrested around 100 people from those villages in the past few days. They are trying to close off border areas with checkpoints to keep people from leaving," Osso said. He added that troops were surrounding the village of al-Hamboushieh, only a few kilometers from the border encampment. "We are concerned that the thousands gathered near the border will eventually come under attack," Osso said. Another activist near the Turkish border said security forces Sunday torched a bakery in the village of Bdama, about 20 kilometers from the Turkish border, that had been the sole source of bread for the displaced. The activist, Jamil Saeb, said a man at the bakery was shot in the stomach and was evacuated to Turkey for treatment Sunday morning. The report could not be independently verified. The three-month uprising against President Bashar Assad's rule has proved stunningly resilient despite a relentless crackdown by the military, pervasive security forces and pro-regime gunmen. Human rights activists say more than 1,400 Syrians have been killed and 10,000 detained as Assad tries to maintain his grip on power. Along the border Sunday, those displaced said they were running short of supplies. "We are encircled and have been without bread for two days," said Rami Ismail, whose family fled from the village of Hambouchieh to the camp just across the Turkish border. "We are hoping for some assistance from Turkey," he added. The attack on Bdama occurred a day after Syrian forces swept into Maaret al-Numan, a town on the highway linking Damascus, the capital, with Syria's largest city, Aleppo. Bdama is next to Jisr al-Shughour, a town that was spinning out of government control before the military recaptured it last Sunday. Activists had reported fighting in Jisr al-Shughour between loyalist troops and defectors who refused to take part in a continuing crackdown on protesters seeking Assad's ouster. A Turkish villager near the border with Syria said hundreds of Syrians were crossing over Saturday afternoon, fleeing the army advance.

Roman ruins found along Naqoura junction in Tyre
June 18, 2011 /By Brooke Anderson, Mohammad Zaatari The Daily Star BEIRUT: Early Roman ruins have been discovered along a main road in the Tyre area, causing the road to be partially closed while excavations continue. The find is significant, because of the scale of the ruins, which consist so far of five Byzantine marble tombs, and the fact they were found largely intact. “This is the first such discovery this year, and the most important Byzantine ruins found in the area in the past five years,” said Nader Saqlawi, who is leading the excavation.
The team, consisting of three Lebanese archaeologists and several day laborers, has also found glassware, but nothing wholly intact so far.
The ruins, as well as an ancient road dating back to the same period, were found four meters beneath the ground during an excavation that began just over a week ago. Saqlawi says the work could continue for the next several months, depending on how much they find. Tyre, which was once a Roman province, is rich in ancient ruins, although a find of this size on a main road is considered somewhat unusual. Lebanon’s directorate of antiquities will soon decide how to proceed with the project, but it is likely that some parts of the road, which is close to a main bus station, will remain closed until the excavation is complete. One of the last major discoveries in the area was in 2003, when a Japanese archaeological mission discovered a Phoenician temple along with small figurines. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization added Tyre’s Roman Hippodrome to its list of world heritage sites in 1979. Other historical attractions in the area include Tyre’s old city, and the columns and agora at Al Mina.

Report: Hizbullah Finds Mossad Agents within its Ranks
Naharnet /Hizbullah has uncovered spies within the ranks of the party’s leadership, creating a shock to both the Shiite party and Israel, the Kuwaiti daily al-Rai reported Sunday.
The newspaper said that the discovery was made around three months ago when Hizbullah intentionally sent “fateful information” to Israelis and put the suspects under tight surveillance. Israel reacted to the info, al-Rai said. This contributed to uncovering its spies, it added. According to the daily, the number of Mossad agents discovered from within different ranks in the party is more than 10. Some of the spies are high-ranking officials, it said.

Al-Rahi Heads to Vatican, Says he Blessed New Cabinet when Formation Decrees were Signed
Naharnet/Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi said Sunday that he gave his blessing to the new cabinet when President Michel Suleiman and Premier Najib Miqati signed the decrees of its formation.Before heading to the Vatican, al-Rahi said the government should meet the expectations of the Lebanese and its top priority should be to restore trust and unity among the people.
“This cabinet is made up of Lebanese and those Lebanese are responsible for what we need in Lebanon,” he said, hoping that the government would be allowed to function.
Asked by reporters at Rafik Hariri international airport about Speaker Nabih Berri’s decision to give up a Shiite seat in favor of the Sunnis to facilitate the cabinet formation process, the patriarchate said: “If this was the major obstacle that was preventing the formation of the government and if Speaker Berri solved it, then we thank him for it.”
About the latest fighting that erupted between Alawites and Sunnis in the northern port city of Tripoli, al-Rahi said: “We support security and peace among all peoples whether it was in the north, in Syria or any other country.”Turning to drills that Israeli forces would hold on the border with Lebanon, the head of the Maronite church said he rejects violence and war. “States should respect the international legitimacy,” he said about international resolutions.

Rai: give new Cabinet a chance
June 19, 2011/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai called on political factions in Lebanon Sunday to allow the new Cabinet to do its job freely, as Lebanon is in need of partnership and love.
“I hope that the new government is given a chance to do its job,” Rai told reporters at Rafik Hariri International Airport before heading to the Vatican in his first comments regarding Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s new Cabinet. “Lebanon is in great need of partnership, love and unity as we always say. The important thing is that the new government is comprised of Lebanese and these Lebanese should be responsible. This is what we need in Lebanon,” Rai added. During the nearly five months of political and economic stagnations as a result of the delay in forming a new Cabinet, Rai had been critical of lawmakers in charge of the process, describing them, at times, as negligent, and questioning their intentions. In response to a question regarding the clashes in Tripoli Friday following a protest in support of anti-government demonstrations in Syria, which have been met with a violent crackdown by security forces, Rai voiced his support for achieving peace and stability in all countries including Syria. “We support security and peace amongst everyone, either in the north or in Syria or in any other country, and we need to have people living in peace, exercising their social rights and enjoy social justice,” Rai said. Rai also spoke about the Israeli Army boosting its presence along the Lebanon-Israel border, and urged the United Nations and the countries involved to respect international resolutions. “I do not think that war and violence can solve any issue … We wish for the international organizations such as the U.N. and the Security Council to take responsibility and respect international resolutions just as other countries should,” Rai said

Lebanon's Arabic press digest
June 19, 2011/The Daily Star
Following are summaries of some of the main stories in a selection of Lebanese newspapers Friday. The Daily Star cannot vouch for the accuracy of these reports.
Al Mustaqbal: Army restores calm to the city
Following security measures by the army and the political will of residents, calm returns to the Bab Al Tebbeneh in Tripoli. This, however, did not stop Prime Minister Najib Mikati and his team from manipulating the situation to blame the opposition, something that lawmakers of Lebanon First party in the north condemned and called for the disarmament of all areas in the north and all Lebanese territories.
Interior Minister Marwan Charbel denied rumors that Salafist and extremist groups have entered Tripoli and the north claiming various Arab nationalities.
Meanwhile, the general secretariat of the March 14 coalition reiterated its opposition toward illegitimate arm possession, condemning Mikati's accusation that the coalition interfered in Tripoli.
Mikati, however, repeated that he had not blamed anyone, saying: "They used my words to continue their campaign and their analysis is suitable for such a campaign."
An Nahar: Army threatens extreme measures, Cabinet resumes dispute
The bloody episode witnessed by the Tripoli area of Tebbeneh revealed a strict order by the army to end the conflicts supported by Tripoli lawmakers. At the same time, the incident resulted in a harsh dispute between Mikati and his ministerial team on one hand and the Future Movement on the other.
The conflict left seven dead and 50 others wounded, while security sources told An Nahar that the army will boost its presence in Tripoli for the next three to six months until the Syrian volcano has been put out.
Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt said what happened in Tripoli is an attempt to spark sectarian divide and the responsibility of the new Cabinet is to prevent such a divide from occurring.
Al Sharq Al Awsat: Political war between Tripoli factions, Kabbara: Mikati should explain himself
A political war erupted between Tripoli lawmakers when Lebanon First party, headed by former Prime Minister Saad Hariri in the north, accused Mikati of implicitly blaming the opposition for Friday’s events, while Finance Minister Mohammad Safadi described the Tripoli incident as a reaction to forming the new Cabinet.
Future Movement MP Mohammad Kabbara demanded an explanation from Mikati regarding his comments, adding that there has been a campaign to portray Tripoli as a town that does not respect the rule of law.
Youth and Sports Minister Faisal Karami defended Mikati saying: "[Mikati's] comments that a peaceful opposition should be constructive is not directed at anyone ... whoever understood differently is in fact accusing himself publicly."
Al Diyar: Army takes control in the north and areas of conflict
The Lebanese Army took control of the area and restored calm to the city of Tripoli. The army also boosted its presence in Tripoli following the bloody conflict, warning armed residents to end the clashes.
On another note, the general director of the Finance Ministry, Alan Bifani, was said to be preparing to release documents regarding lost money in an attempt to embarrass the new Cabinet and former Finance Minister Raya al-Hasan.
Meanwhile, Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun's comments over the weekend that Hariri is gone and will never return sparked fury amongst Future Movement lawmakers accusing Aoun of going beyond politics to the personal. Sources close to the Future Movement challenged Aoun to look into Jumblatt and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri's files and reveal lost money.

Calm returns to Tripoli following deadly clashes
June 19, 2011 /By Brooke Anderson The Daily Star
Lebanese citizens walk past burnt-out cars, Saturday that were damaged during clashes between Sunnis and Alawites on Friday. BEIRUT: Calm returned to Tripoli Saturday, following a night of intense fighting between pro and anti-Syrian government protests that left seven dead and 59 wounded. According to a security source, by late Saturday morning residents could be seen walking down the streets of Lebanon’s volatile northern city amid debris, rubble, shattered glass, torched cars and burnt down buildings. “People are returning, but there’s still a lot of destruction,” said the security source. On Saturday afternoon, MTV showed live footage on the streets on Tripoli, where tanks were patrolling the streets as residents were driving their cars and motorbikes through the severely damaged city. By the evening, the security source said that in light of the calm the military deployment had been pulled back, and they will now wait another 24 hours to see if the situation remains stable.
On Saturday evening Tripoli resident Layal Mourhabi, a university professor, said the events hadn't spread to rest of the city. "It's pretty normal here. There are no road blocks and everything is functioning normally."
The fighting broke out Friday night between members of Tripoli’s longtime rival communities, from the mainly Sunni Bab al-Tabbeneh district and the predominantly-Alawite Jabal Mohsen neighborhood as several dozen anti-Syrian government protesters gathered in the city’s Nour Square in support of the popular uprising in Syria clashed with Syrian government supporters.
The Lebanese Army confirmed the death of a soldier and the wounding of two others, adding that army units were carrying out raids to arrest gunmen.
“The army command warns that it will respond with firmness and strength to the sources of fire from any side and will not show leniency with anyone carrying arms or jeopardizing the lives of people,” the army said in a statement.
Mikati said the timing of the incident was suspicious and vowed to take action to restore calm to the city, stressing that security was “a red line” that will not be allowed to be crossed.
“Civil strife is wreaking havoc with the security of the city and its people,” the prime minister told a news conference from his home in Tripoli, flanked by four of his ministers.
A cease-fire deal, reached during a meeting at Mikati’s home in Tripoli, went into effect at midnight Friday. Calm returned shortly after, as the army conducted thorough weapons inspections, which they say they will continue to enforce for the time being. According to the security source, local leaders in Tripoli are forming a committee to prevent similar clashes in the future, a development local residents might welcome. "What happened yesterday is nothing new. We're hoping politicians will get together to try to solve this problem," said Mourhabi, the professor in Tripoli. "If we don't make peace, Tripoli will remain crippled."

Saudi approval will continue to shape Egypt’s foreign policy
June 17, 2011/By Barak Barfi /The Daily Star
In the months since Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s resignation, his successors have signaled a shift in foreign policy by reaching out to former adversaries.
Egypt’s government has welcomed Iranian diplomats and embraced the Palestinian group Hamas. Many interpret such moves as clear evidence of Egypt’s desire for a diplomacy that is not subordinate to American interests. But Mubarak never entirely fit his detractors’ portrayal of him as an American lackey. In fact, the former Egyptian president’s need to please his Saudi benefactors, not the United States, was paramount in his thinking.
Although he sometimes supported American policies, Mubarak frequently rebuffed Washington when its positions did not align with his own.
Since the end of the October 1973 war, Arab-Israeli peace has been a cornerstone of America’s Middle East agenda. The United States often looked to Egypt, the most important and influential Arab country, to play a leading role in promoting this goal. And, when it suited him, Mubarak played his part.
When the late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat humiliated Mubarak before the U.S. secretary of state and the international media by refusing to sign an annex to an Israeli-Palestinian accord that had been brokered in Cairo, Mubarak told him, “Sign it, you son of a dog!”
On the other hand, when Arab public opinion opposed Palestinian concessions, Mubarak remained aloof from U.S. peace initiatives.
For example, in 1996, he declined President Bill Clinton’s invitation to come to Washington, along with Arafat and the leaders of Israel and Jordan, to settle a bout of Palestinian violence. And when Clinton asked Mubarak to pressure Arafat to facilitate an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal during negotiations at Camp David in 2000, he refused.
Mubarak had a rocky relationship with Israel, and held America’s closest Middle East ally at arm’s length throughout his presidency. For almost 10 of his 30 years in office, Egypt had no ambassador in Tel Aviv.
Mubarak never made an official state visit to Israel, and he frequently refused the requests of Israeli prime ministers to come to Cairo. When the United States sought to extend the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1994, Mubarak mobilized the Arab world against the initiative, because Israel refused to sign the NPT.
Instead, Mubarak’s relationship with the Saudis usually determined the direction of his foreign policy.
When Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990 and threatened to attack Saudi Arabia, Mubarak quickly dispatched troops to defend the kingdom. He was keen to support the Saudis and their Persian Gulf allies, who provided him with a steady flow of aid and an outlet for surplus Egyptian labor.
Though Mubarak’s opposition to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1991 happened to align with U.S. policy, he was unwilling to back other American campaigns against Arab leaders.
When President Ronald Reagan’s deputy national security adviser, John Poindexter, asked Mubarak to launch a joint U.S.-Egyptian attack against Libya in 1985, the Egyptian president scolded his visitor, saying, “Look, Admiral, when we decide to attack Libya, it will be our decision and on our timetable.”
Mubarak again refused to acquiesce in Washington’s plans to isolate Libya in the 1990s for its involvement in the downing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. Instead of ostracizing Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, Mubarak welcomed him to Cairo.
After the United Nations imposed an international flight ban against Libya in 1992, its land crossings with Egypt proved crucial to sustaining Libya’s economy (and possibly Gadhafi’s political survival).
Libya withstood the sanctions in part by importing food and oil infrastructure supplies through Egypt, and by exporting petroleum and steel with Mubarak’s help.
In fact, Mubarak’s Libya policy was driven largely by economic and security concerns, and it rarely took the interests of the United States into consideration. More than 1 million Egyptians worked in Libya, which was also a large export market.
And Gadhafi was eager to help Mubarak subdue Islamist threats to the Egyptian regime. Unlike neighboring Sudan, which harbored Egyptian radicals, like the Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, who were bent on destabilizing the country, Libya turned them over to Mubarak.
While Gadhafi delivered terrorists to Mubarak, the Egyptian president declined American requests to do the same.
After Palestinians seized control of the Italian ship the Achille Lauro in 1985, killing an American, then berthed in Egypt, the U.S. asked Mubarak to extradite the men. But Mubarak refused, saying that Secretary of State George Shultz was “crazy” if he believed that Egypt would betray the Palestinian cause.
Egypt’s new leaders have inherited Mubarak’s dilemma, namely how to realize the country’s aspiration to lead the Arab world without angering its Saudi benefactors. For this reason, the Egyptian-Iranian rapprochement will yield more photo opportunities than tangible results.
On opposite sides of religious and ethnic divides, a close bilateral relationship would seem unlikely under even the best circumstances. And, with Egypt in need of massive financial aid to offset the economic losses caused by its February revolution, its leaders can ill afford to alienate the Saudis, who view Iran, not Israel, as the gravest threat to regional stability.
Egypt is entering a new era. But the radical policy upheavals predicted by analysts will prove to be small tremors. Saudi interests will continue to weigh heavily on Egyptian foreign policy. And that, above all, means preserving the status quo.
Barak Barfi is a research fellow at the New America Foundation. THE DAILY STAR publishes this commentary in collaboration with Project Syndicate © (www.project-syndicate.org).

Pro-Syrian govt protest thanks Russia, China
June 19, 2011/The Daily Star BEIRUT: Around 100 people gathered in front of the Russian Embassy in Lebanon Sunday in support of the Syrian government, thanking Russia for its intention to oppose a forthcoming U.N. resolution condemning Syria for its use of violence against protesters. The demonstrators held signs that read: "Syrian people thank the Russian government on their stands in supporting our fair issues,” while another sign thanked the Chinese government. Pictures of late Syrian President Hafez Assad, his son current President Bashar Assad and Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah were held by Syrians and Lebanese demonstrators. Britain and France have drafted a resolution which demands that President Bashar Assad end violence against the opposition and lift the siege against cities which have been the sites of protests. The resolution, which could be put to a vote in the coming days, also calls for an arms embargo on Syria. Russia has warned that it would vote against the adoption of any resolution related to Syria, and China is expected to do the same.A rally in support of Syrian anti-government protesters is expected to take place later Sunday in Beirut. A protest against the Syrian government in Tripoli’s Bab al-Tabbeneh Friday turned violent after fighting broke out between members of Tripoli’s longtime rival communities, from the mainly Sunni Bab al-Tabbeneh district and the predominantly-Alawite Jabal Mohsen neighborhood

Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Nawwaf Moussawi says “campaign” targeting army is dangerous
June 19, 2011 /Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Nawwaf Moussawi said on Sunday that there is a “dangerous campaign” targeting the army, the National News Agency reported.
“There is an attempt to harm the army’s image. This was proven by some MPs’ statements,” he said in a possible reference to Lebanon First bloc MP Mouin al-Merhebi’s last week statement. Moussawi also called on everyone to work on maintaining the army’s role. In an interview with As-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper, Merhebi called for deploying international troops on Syrian-Lebanese borders “after the Lebanese army rejected to do so and failed to protect the Lebanese and Syrian refugees from Syrian practices.”-NOW Lebanon

Arslan Mum on his Vote of Confidence to Miqati’s Cabinet
Naharnet /Lebanese Democratic Party leader Talal Arslan remained mum on Sunday on whether he would grant his vote of confidence to the new cabinet after he resigned from the government the day it was formed. Arslan is considering the nomination of his brother-in-law Marwan Kheireddine to replace him as minister of state. The MP resigned last Monday hours after the cabinet was announced, accusing Premier Najib Miqati of discriminating against the Druze community and other minority groups.
The lawmaker had repeatedly said that he wanted a portfolio, mainly the defense ministry, and rejected the allotment of a state ministry. But it isn’t clear if he has submitted his resignation in writing. Asked by reporters if he would grant his confidence vote to Miqati’s cabinet, Arslan vaguely replied that he was leaving it to the last minute although he stressed that he had no personal problem with the premier. He reiterated during a press conference that Miqati’s decision to grant him a state ministry was discriminatory, saying he backs giving portfolios to different sects and minorities.

Ahmad Hariri sheds lights on Saad Hariri’s security situation
June 19, 2011 /Future Movement Secretary General Ahmad Hariri said in an interview published on Sunday that, according to information attained by the party, former Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s convoy had been recently monitored in Lebanon.“The Lebanese authorities informed us of this information,” Hariri told As-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper, adding that precautions have been taken since the assassination of former PM Rafik Hariri, Saad’s father. The movement’s secretary general also said talk that Hariri is taking refuge in France “is inaccurate,” adding that the latter is spending time with his family, with which – he added – the former PM could not spend a sufficient amount of time since 2005. However, Hariri said that Saad will return to Lebanon when there are better political and security circumstances. French newspaper Le Monde reported on Thursday that Hariri is taking refuge in France since, according to US and Saudi intelligence, he might be killed by the Syrian regime to trigger war in Lebanon.-NOW Lebanon

Future bloc MP Khaled al-Daher: Decisions were made to harm Lebanon
June 19, 2011 /Future bloc MP Khaled al-Daher told OTV on Sunday that there decisions were made to harm Lebanon’s stability, although he was not clear to whom he was referring.
“We did not call for a protest in Tripoli on Friday,” Daher said, adding that the citizens of Tripoli reject the concept of being submissive to arms.Daher said the new cabinet is in a crisis on the domestic level, and it is a confrontational government on the foreign level. “We count on our efforts, and we will show the March 8 coalition how constructive the opposition can be.”
The new Lebanese cabinet – headed by Prime Minister Najib Mikati – was formed on Monday after almost five months of deliberations between the March 8 parties.
Meanwhile, armed clashes erupted on Friday in the Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabbaneh neighborhoods in Tripoli following a rally in support of Syrian protestors. Seven were killed and several others were injured.-NOW Lebanon

Siniora: Why doesn’t Aoun buy himself a one-way ticket?
June 19, 2011 /Now Lebanon
Future bloc leader MP Fouad Siniora responded to Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun’s statement that “he booked a one-way ticket for former Prime Minister Saad Hariri.”
Aoun’s statements are “full of hatred and tension,” said Siniora, asking, “Was it not easier for [Aoun] to book himself a ticket so he and others could rest?”
The MP also said that the newly-formed cabinet is one-sided, adding that Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s government has the largest number of ministers who failed in parliamentary elections.
However, Siniora said that some ministers are competent but “this cabinet was formed to serve interests other than Lebanon’s.”The Future bloc leader also said Friday’s Tripoli clashes were to serve political interests at the expense of the citizens’ security and stability. “The Lebanese army and security forces should address attempts to incite strife firmly,” said Siniora, calling on Mikati to make Tripoli an arms-free city. The new Lebanese cabinet – headed by Mikati – was formed after almost five months of deliberations between the March 8 parties.
Armed clashes erupted in the Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabbaneh neighborhoods in Tripoli following a rally in support of Syrian protestors. Seven were killed and several others were injured.-NOW Lebanon

Suleiman Rebukes March 14, but Opposition Warns him Not to Take Sides/
Naharnet/ President Michel Suleiman has blamed March 14 politicians over allegedly ending their support to him while the new opposition advised him to become neutral or face the consequences of its campaign against the new government. An Nahar daily said Sunday that both sides have blamed each other through common friends. Suleiman believes that March 14 stopped supporting him when it decided to boycott the cabinet. He allegedly believes that the coalition prevented some of its members to participate in Najib Miqati’s government to consolidate the centrist bloc that includes the ministers backed by Suleiman, Miqati and MP Walid Jumblat. The president also reprimanded March 14 for launching an attack on the new cabinet before taking its official commemorative photo at Baabda’s doorsteps. But the new opposition’s politicians told Suleiman through their common friends that the defense of the cabinet as ‘made in Lebanon’ should have been left for Miqati. Last week, Suleiman said that the government was 100 percent Lebanese and was not formed through a Syrian green light.
The politicians confirmed that they would continue their campaign against the cabinet and mainly Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun and Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.
They warned that Suleiman would suffer from the consequences of this campaign if he takes sides, An Nahar said, adding that the March 14 officials advised the president to become neutral.

Afghan President Hamid Karzaslams US, links hands with Pakistan, Saudi Arabia
DEBKAfile Exclusive Analysis
June 18, 2011,
Afghan President Hamid Karzai, America and NATO's key ally in the war on the Taliban and al Qaeda, turned furiously on the United States in a public outburst Saturday, June 18. He accused Washington of carrying on talks with the Taliban behind Kabul's backs and contaminating the Afghan environment with chemical pollutants used in NATO war operations.
Karzai becomes the third head of a Muslim country, after Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, to take strong exception to US foreign policy and distance himself from the Obama administration.
Addressing an international conference of young Afghans Saturday, June 18, Karzai said: "You remember a few years ago I was saying thank you to the foreigners for their help, every minute we were thanking them. Now I have stopped saying that, except when Spanta forced me to say thank you." (He was referring to Rangiin Spanti his national security adviser.)
As to the Americans, Karzai charged bitterly, "They're here for their own purposes, for their own goals and they're using our soil for that. Every time when their planes fly it makes smoke, when they drop bombs they have chemical materials in them, our people get killed but our environment is damaged… our animals, our people… They should not think we are uneducated and do not know anything."
debkafile's sources report that the Afghan president's diatribe was prompted by two developments.
1. He suspects that the United States is secretly bypassing US-Afghan-Pakistan talks with the Taliban which have been ongoing quietly for some months and opened up a direct channel to the Taliban irrespective of the interests of Kabul and Islamabad.
Karzai brought his suspicions out in the open by saying: "Peace talks are going on with the Taliban. The foreign military and especially the United States itself is going ahead with these negotiations." At the same time, he said: "The peace negotiations between the Afghan government and Taliban movement are not yet based on a certain agenda or physical [meetings]. Contacts have been established."
The implication in his words was that the Americans have already given substantially more ground to the Taliban than Kabul was willing to venture. For instance, Friday, June 17, the UN Security Council unanimously agreed to rephrase previous resolutions defining al Qaeda and Taliban as terrorist organizations subject to sanctions by omitting reference to the Taliban.
debkafile reports the conviction in Kabul and Islamabad that, less than two months after the death of Osama bin Laden, the Americans are in a hurry to draw their troops out of Afghanistan - even at the price of weakening Afghan and Pakistan bargaining positions against the insurgents.
2. Both have found a sympathetic ear for their gripes against the Obama administration in Riyadh. Afghanistan and Pakistan have begun reorienting their polices on a relationship with Saudi Arabia which has set up with the Gulf emirates a new grouping to launch a separate external and security policy in opposition to Washington's approach to the Muslim nations and the revolts against Arab rulers.
Only a week ago, at the height of the Islamabad-Washington crisis which flared in the wake of the US raid that killed Osama bin Laden, Karzai visited Islamabad for two days (June 10-11) of long private talks with Pakistan's leaders.
Some informed sources say the Afghan president also saw senior Saudi officials there on the quiet.
debkafile notes that the Saudis made offers to match suspended US assistance dollar for dollar to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak when he was still fighting the US push to evict him, then to the military junta ruling in his stead and more recently to the Pakistan government.

Lebanon: An anachronistic government in the hands of Hizbollah and Syria
Saturday, June 18, 2011
By Asia News /Beirut – Anachronistic is perhaps the best way to describe Lebanon’s new government under Nagib Mikati. A rhetorical discourse more in line with what went on before the Arab spring highlighting Syrian and Iranian influence emerges from some speeches, like those of Foreign Minister Ali Kanso. The new Lebanese government has been coolly received by the country’s opposition and the international community. Inside the country, the condemnation is without any nuance. For many, it is the government of Syria and Hizbollah, which will lead Lebanon to a confrontation with the West. At the international level, Washington has already expressed its disappointment. Paris has not reacted; nor has the Arab world.
Despite Mr Mikati’s attempt to be reassuring, the only countries to have sent congratulations to the presidential palace are Syria, Iran and Spain. On the day the decree officially announcing the new cabinet was published, the new prime minister l
eft on a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia.
The government has two components. One is radical and led by Hizbollah. The other is centrist and is led by the president, the prime minister and Walid Jumblatt, head of the Socialist Party. The latter is the weaker of the two but has a major card up its sleeves: 11 ministers that can act as a block. This should reassure Saudi Arabia. However, this block is contingent, since the Interior minister who could tip the scale, is a newcomer to politics. The cabinet has good members, but it unclear whether it can maintain its promises given the heavy baggage it carries, which can stifle change. Take for example the new Interior Minister, Marwan Charbel, who wants a new election law before the next election in 2013. Drafting a new law is easier said than done. It will be a challenge to do anything over the next two years since Hizbollah has not fully committed to accepting changes in government, as shown by what happened to the Doha accord. At the time, when the Shia party lost the support of the cabinet, it had all Shia ministers resign, and demanded a government of national unity. Hence, many are afraid that any new election law would be drafted in such a way to ensure the current ruling coalition a permanent majority or that anti-democratic behaviour would force the country to accept another fait accompli.
Conscious of this disadvantage, Hizbollah said, through one of his lawmakers, that it would respect the principle of democratic change. However, despite the reassuring words from Mr Mikati and his ministers, any judgement of the new government will have to wait to see whether words are actually turned into deeds.Lebanon’s president has also announced an informal meeting of the National Dialogue Conference, which brings together representatives of all political parties to discuss Lebanon’s national defence vis-à-vis Israel. Hizbollah’s weapons will also have to be discussed. It is a divisive issue for the Lebanese. Not all armaments are under the control of the Lebanese military, as it should be; some are under the control of a militia, and nothing indicates that Hizbollah is prepared to give an inch in the matter.
The Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) is another issue that divides the Lebanese. France, the United States and the United Nations are concerned that the new government will stop cooperating with the STL, which has been charged with investigating the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. “This will be the first test. We shall know whether Lebanon will enter into a confrontation with the international community or not,” Khatta Abou Diab, professor of international relations at Université Paris-Sud, was quoted as saying in France Presse. “The cabinet will not positively cooperate with the tribunal,” said Paul Salem, director of the Carnegie Endowment’s Middle East Center in Beirut. With a reputation as an independent, free of Hizbollah’s pressures, the new prime minister’s challenge will be to avoid conflict over this issue. Mikati will try to find some space to manoeuvre, Salem said, but given Hizbollah’s growing weight and its arsenal, analysts doubt the new prime minister will openly challenge the Shia party.
If some expectations are fulfilled, and the STL’s indictments are announced in the next weeks, the crisis will explode sooner than the Mikati government might have hoped for.
Source: Asia News

Experts: Despite cohesion, Syria regime could fall
AFP , Sunday 19 Jun 2011/Ahran Online
RelatedDeadly protests in Syria, call for tougher sanctions Syrian forces fire on protests, kill six: activists Clinton says "no going back" in Syria Syrian tanks enter border village Whereas in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and Libya divisions surfaced only weeks after popular unrest, there have been no known defections or cracks in the top-tier of President Bashar Al-Assad's regime or inside the security forces, despite a brutal crackdown on protesters and international condemnation.
Analysts say that is because of the clan structure of Assad's inner circle. "President Bashar Al-Assad does not rule Syria single-handedly," according to Exclusive Analysis, a London-based firm specialising in risk analysis.
"Certainly, such major decisions such as how to handle the ongoing unrest in the country are taken after some consultation between members of this inner circle, which is not limited to the Al-Assad family but also includes key allies in the military-security apparatus," it said in a written response to AFP.
Hafez Al-Assad, who seized power in 1970, managed to rule for 30 years, before handing over to his son Bashar, with backing from the family, clan and the Alawite minority to which he belonged."Thus far, there has been general agreement over the fundamental issues in Syrian politics: That the Alawite minority should dominate the state and economy through the Baath party and the military security apparatus," according to Exclusive Analysis.
"There is most likely no major disagreement within the elite over the necessity of using lethal force on a large scale to quell unrest," it said.
Thomas Pierret, who starts teaching a course on Syria this September at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, agrees. "All members of the clan in power know that the regime cannot be reformed, precisely because of its clan nature. You can reform an authoritarian regime if it is based on strong institutions, but not if it is based on a patrimonial system," he added.
The website of the Syrian Observatory, a rights group, said the violence has claimed the lives of 1,309 civilians and 341 security force members since it erupted in mid-March.
Some 10,000 people have reportedly been arrested, and about 15,000 sought refuge in neighbouring Turkey and Lebanon.
But experts disagree on whether the ruling clique can stay united.
"The state appears to have retained its control of the country thus far. The armed forces have not seen mass or high-level defections or desertions," according to Exclusive Analysis.
The regime "cannot maintain the status quo indefinitely," it said. "Eventually the unrest will have to die down, or the state will collapse."
It noted that Sunni reservists were currently being used alongside the more loyal Alawite troops, but said that if the trouble lasts much longer the regime will also have to rely on the Sunni forces. Sending them into Sunni areas for punitive measures could lead to desertions, defections and fragmentation of the armed forces, it said. Syria is majority Sunni, but with a large Alawite minority in power and also a minority community of Christians. "The regime could still remain in power for some time, but I think it is losing control of the country because the security forces cannot be everywhere at once," said Basma Kodmani, director of the Arab Reform Initiative. "They are losing ground because they are dealing with the uprisings piecemeal, trying to crush them one by one. That is why the opposition is trying to ignite as many uprisings as possible," she said. "In theory, the determination of the demonstrators can defeat the regime if they manage to extend the military beyond its limits," said Pierret, adding that would mean sending the whole military out of barracks, even the Sunni elements. "But for that to happen, the movement would have to get much, much bigger, and it is not certain that will happen," he said. It "seems that the regime wants to make this end last long, [it] will not give up easily," said Professor Volker Perthes, director of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs in Berlin."It is certainly not 'finished' -- it has a lot of supporters -- whereas the opposition is weak and only beginning to organise nationally and internationally," he added. "At the same time, a point of no return seems to have been passed -- too much blood has been spilt," said Volkers, author of the book Syria under Bashar Al-Assad."Even if his [Assad's] forces crush the rebellion, he will not win. Syria will be isolated and suffer," he said.

Hajjar says Aoun belongs in a mental hospital
June 19, 2011 /In an interview published on Sunday, Lebanon First bloc MP Mohammad al-Hajjar responded to Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun’s statement against former Prime Minister Saad Hariri. Hajjar told As-Seyassah Kuwaiti newspaper that Aoun should “go to a mental hospital, because that is where he belongs.”“Aoun is meant to go to a mental hospital, because ever since he returned to Lebanon, all he cared about was dividing the Lebanese people.”The FPM leader said on Friday evening that Hariri’s style of governing “impoverished” Lebanon, adding that “Hariri’s plan is over.”-NOW Lebanon

Lebanese Forces bloc MP George Adwan says Mikati’s March 14 comments groundless
June 19, 2011 /Lebanese Forces bloc MP George Adwan said on Sunday that Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s statement – in which he hinted that March 14 parties were involved in Friday’s violence in the northern city of Tripoli ¬¬¬¬– were baseless. “Mikati’s slip of tongue had nothing to do with the truth, because we belong to a political [alliance] that knows how to be an opposition and how to act democratically and decently,” Adwan was quoted by the National News Agency as saying. “We are against what happened in Tripoli and we are against any party that carries arms,” the MP added. He also called on the March 8 parties –who are represented in Mikati’s newly-formed cabinet –to “start exercising power through working on gathering [non-state] weapons.” Adwan also called on the Lebanese army to “open fire on any [non-state actor] that carries arms without exception.” Mikati said on Friday that the “opposition should be peaceful and constructive,” in reference to the violence in Tripoli. Armed clashes erupted on Friday in the Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabbaneh neighborhoods of Tripoli following a rally in support of anti-regime protestors in Syria. At least six were killed and several were injured.The new Lebanese cabinet – headed by Mikati – was formed last Monday after almost five months of deliberations between the March 8 parties.-NOW Lebanon

Future bloc MP Assem Araji responds to Aoun
June 18, 2011 /Future bloc MP Assem Araji responded on Saturday to Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun’s comments on former Prime Minister Saad Hariri.
“Aoun’s comments carry lot of incitement against Hariri, who is a former PM and the leader of a large political party and the largest parliamentary bloc,” he told Akhbar al-Yawm news agency. Aoun said on Friday evening that Hariri’s style of governing “impoverished” Lebanon, adding that “the Hariri’s plan is over.”
“What does it mean to say that we gave [Hariri] a ‘one way ticket?’ Does that mean that March 8 parties can order anyone to leave the country?” Araji asked.
The Future Movement MP also said that he knows lot of secrets about Aoun, adding that the FPM leader signed the Memorandum of Understanding with Hezbollah in 2006 only after Hariri rejected his aims to become president.  The new Lebanese cabinet—headed by PM Najib Mikati—was formed on Monday after almost five months of deliberations between the March 8 parties.-NOW Lebanon

US aid for Hezbollah? La (No!) That means restricting aid to Lebanese government
Saturday, 18 June 2011
Legislation introduced in the House this week, backed by three Lebanese-American congressmen, seeks to prohibit any US funding from reaching Hezbollah. (File photo)
By MUNA SHIKAKI
Al Arabiya Washington
Legislation introduced in the House this week, backed by three Lebanese-American congressmen, seeks to prohibit any US funding from reaching Hezbollah by restricting aid to the newly-formed Lebanese government without canceling it completely. The Hezbollah Anti-Terrorism Act, introduced by Representative Howard Berman, the ranking Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, is a middle-of-the road compromise, according to sources with knowledge of the legislation. According to the sources, it was initiated to pre-empt possible legislation by the Republican head of the committee, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who issued a statement earlier in the week calling for a complete halt of US aid to Lebanon. “The US should immediately cut off assistance to the Lebanese government as long as any violent extremist group designated by the US as foreign terrorist organizations participates in it.” The congresswoman wrote.
As of press time Ms. Ros-Lehtinen’s office would not say whether the congresswoman approved of the Berman legislation or not.
A summary of the bill says the legislation “will set rigorous requirements for the provision of foreign assistance to Lebanon during periods when Hezbollah is part of the majority coalition of the Lebanese government. The goal is to signal to American friends in Lebanon that we will continue to support them, while we vigorously oppose Hezbollah.” It is co-sponsored by Congressmen Darrell Issa and Charles Boustany, both Republicans, and by Nick Rahall, a Democrat. All three are of Lebanese heritage.
George Cody, the executive director of the American Task Force for Lebanon, an advocacy organization, says the legislation is a way to keep assistance flowing “without taxpayer dollars going to fund Hezbollah.” It also allows a national security waiver that gives the president authority to override the legislation.
The bill allows exceptions for educational, humanitarian and “democracy-building” funding, and continues to pay for training programs for the Lebanese army.
Lebanon currently receives around $200 million in US aid a year, which includes $105 million in security assistance. Lethal weapons sent to the Lebanese armed forces however, were suspended after the Hariri government fell.
Sources say, however, the amount of aid to Lebanon is likely to be cut. It is not clear if the legislation will have much effect on the administration’s policies toward Lebanon, since the US government already considers Hezbollah to be a terrorist organization. A State Department spokesperson, Mark Toner, issued a statement after the formation of the Lebanese government saying the US “would judge the Lebanese government by its actions.” Mr. Cody, of the American Task Force for Lebanon, says it’s crucial that the US continue to fund the Lebanese government, or else other actors, like Iran, would offer to replace the US. “Iran would be delighted to fill in….It is in the US interest to continue to assist Lebanon,” Mr. Cody said.
(Muna Shikaki is a correspondent for Al Arabiya News Channel in Washington, D.C. She can be followed on twitter @munashik, and can be reached by email at: muna.shikaki@mbc.net)

Report: Hezbollah spies nabbed
Relative of 'prominent' Hezbollah figure reportedly detained for collaborating with Israel/ Roee Nahmias Published: 06.18.11, 18:10 / New spy ring? Several Hezbollah members, including senior group figures, were detained in recent days on suspicion of cooperating with Israel, a Lebanese news website reported Saturday. According to the reports, one of the detainees is a relative of a "prominent" Hezbollah member while another was in charge of ties between Hezbollah, Iran and Syria.

Report: Turkey to demand Assad's brother steps down in Syria
By Avi Issacharoff /Haaretz/Turkey has dispatched a special envoy to Syria with a letter requesting the removal of Maher Assad from his position of command over Syria's Fourth Division and Presidential Guards, Al Arabiya reported on Saturday. According to the report, Turkey wants to clarify the opinion that even if reforms by President Bashar Assad are accepted, a decisive majority of the Syrian people are not ready to accept Bashar's brother Maher's military activities and command. President Assad has used Syria's vast security apparatus, including the army division led by his brother Maher Assad, to try and quell the uprising during which over 1,000 anti-government protesters have reportedly been killed. The Al Arabiya report says that in the letter, Turkey demands a series of reforms, among them the freedom to protest, freedom of expression, the lifting of a ban on creating political parties, and an end to the 1980 law making membership in the Muslim Brotherhood group an offense punishable by death. Turkey has offered to take in Maher Assad should he step down from his position or otherwise to find him a place of refuge in one of the European countries. The letter promises Maher Assad and his cronies that they will not be persecuted after they step down.

Syria: Remaking Batman-style foreign policies of US.
By Nathaniel Sheppard Jr.
Saturday, 18 June 2011 /Al Arabiya
The bloody crisis in Syria illustrates why the US cannot have a one-size-fits-all foreign policy that is consistent, evenly applied and equitable to all. Lofty national ideals are good but sobering political realities dictate who gets help, what type help, how much and when. By seeking an International Criminal Court war crimes indictment against Syrian President Bashar Al Assad, the US could deflect some criticism that it is doing nothing to stop the slaughter of unarmed pro-democracy protesters by government troops and assassins. It is not the hands-on support backed by bombs freedom fighters receive in Libya but it seems to be all the administration of President Barack Obama can offer right now, given political realities. Libya was easy. Its madcap leader, Muammar Qaddafi, has seen to it that the country has no friends and its dickweed army is no match for other than unarmed civilians.
Syria, on the other hand, has a good air defense system, lots of nasty chemical weapons and thuggish friends such as Iran and Hezbollah and could strike back, even going after coddled US ally Israel to broaden the conflict. There is less than no interest in the US for another foreign adventure, Arab or otherwise.
Syria has been a sort of rook in the Middle East chess game, though capable of helping or hindering the Arab-Israeli peace process. While posturing itself as a force for stability in the region, Syria has provided a door through which Iran could make mischief and promote its Arab ambitions by funneling arms and aid to Hezbollah and Hamas.
With members of Congress already demanding that the president justify US military action in Libya and pressuring him to speed up US troop withdrawals from Afghanistan, getting support for US involvement in yet another Arab conflict is a hard sell.Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton seemed to acknowledge this Friday in outlining US policy for Syria in an op-ed in the Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper. Isolating Mr. Assad is the name of the game. “The United States has already imposed sanctions on senior Syrian officials, including President Assad. We are carefully targeting leaders of the crackdown, not the Syrian people,” she said. “We welcomed the decisions by the European Union to impose its own sanctions and by the UN Human Rights Council to launch an investigation into abuses. The United States will continue coordinating closely with our partners in the region and around world to increase pressure on and further isolate the Assad regime.”Other US officials said these efforts would include asking the Arab League, bilateral partners and Turkey to ramp up pressure on the Assad regime, and targeting sanctions at the country’s oil and gas sector.
This approach will put the US on the moral high road of verbally supporting its principles as a nation but does little in the short run to stop the daily carnage in Syrian streets that already has claimed 1,200 lives and led to the reported detention of 10,000 people. Only Mr. Assad can do that. In fairness there are other considerations to take into account. Would Sunni fundamentalists get the upper hand? Would Al Qaeda jihadists gain a foothold? Or would the country simply go up in the flames of civil war? From the US point of view Syria without Mr. Assad could mean an end to the bloodshed and the loss of a patron saint to Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas. The question is at what cost? Mr. Obama already is walking a thin line, trying to live up to a pledge that the US will champion those seeking democracy while not getting sucked into conflicts that would require military involvement. He was forced by congressional critics just this week to explain why he was not violating the War Powers Act by committing war planes to Libya without congressional approval. America’s Cold War warriors who were quick to intervene in the affairs of other nations to block the spread of Communism and, more recently, combat radical Islamists, are dying out or stumbling now in the direction of isolationism, propelled by national fatigue with war, a crushing national debt and rising local resentment over missions gone wrong in countries cooperating with US anti-terrorists efforts like Pakistan and Afghanistan.America’s well intentioned Batmanesque image of a nation willing to respond to every bat signal in the sky is in for a makeover as the nation rethinks the limits of its power in light of harsh new economic realities. Imposing economic sanctions, building support for international isolation and appealing to the world bodies such as the United Nation and the International Criminal Court while leaving it to others to provide boots on the ground and bombs from the sky may become the mainstay of US response to Syrian style crisis, except where there exists compelling evidence of a clear and present danger to the US or its interests.
(Nathaniel Sheppard Jr. is a well-known correspondent who has worked for The Chicago Tribune and The New York Times. He can be reached at: natsheppard@gmail.com)

Face the facts – Syria is an apartheid state
The west is conniving in Bashar Assad's brutal suppression of opposition
Nick Cohen /The Guar5dian
The Observer, Sunday 19 June 2011
For a tyrant whose forces took 13-year-old Hamza Ali al-Khateeb, burned him, mutilated him, shattered his knee caps, cut off his penis and sent his corpse to his parents as a warning against participating in opposition politics, Bashar al-Assad receives remarkably forgiving treatment.
Barack Obama, who purports to be the free world's leader, proved last week that he can speak his mind when he is confronted with behaviour he believes to be truly beyond the pale when he ordered Congressman Anthony Weiner to resign for tweeting pictures of his bulging briefs to a distressed American woman.
Despite his uncompromising stance on Weiner's erect penis, Obama still cannot find it in himself to say that Assad must also resign for the slightly more tasteless offence of castrating Syrian boys. The best Obama managed since the Arab Spring reached Syria in March was a speech on 19 May in which he directed his remarks to "President Assad" – granting the dictator an unearned title that no free election has given him a right to claim. "The Syrian people have shown their courage in demanding a transition to democracy," said Obama. "President Assad now has a choice: he can lead that transition or get out of the way."
No observer of the savage rule of the Assad clan over the past 40 years should have doubted for a moment which of the options the regime would choose. There was never going to be a second's hesitation. More tellingly, ever since it ignored Obama's warning and confirmed that, rather than lead a "transition to democracy", it preferred attacking the civilian population of Jisr al-Shughour, gang-raping the wives of its opponents and ordering snipers to pick off demonstrators, the US president, the European Union, Turkey and the Gulf states have failed to turn to the democratic elements in the Syrian opposition instead.
Contrast the neglect of the Syrian opposition with the international community's attitudes to the Tunisian revolution, where Ben Ali's protectors in the Elysée Palace were shamed into abandoning him by the protesters on the streets, or to Mubarak, a brutal western ally, whom Obama nevertheless dropped, or to the need for military intervention against the Gaddafi despotism, which, for all its crimes against the Libyan people, was no longer a hostile foreign power. Syria's Ba'athists have already killed more civilians than the Egyptian and Tunisian forces combined and yet they are tolerated.
The scale of the oppression in Syria helps explain western indifference. The Ba'ath party keeps the media out and what the press does not see the world does not care about. Hozan Ibrahim, a former political prisoner who is a spokesman for the committee co-ordinating revolutionary protest, tells me that we should not only think about the past four months of oppression but the past four decades: "It's not been so easy to get ourselves organised after that."
Yet, almost miraculously, they are organising and to good effect. At a conference in the Turkish seaside resort of Antalya, the various strands of the opposition came together to agree on a programme that was multiracial – Syria's persecuted Kurdish minority was well represented; liberal – they pledged to fight for free elections, a free press and an independent judiciary; and anti-sectarian.
The last is not the smallest of the opposition's achievements. The ranks of the national initiative for change include Islamists from the Muslim Brotherhood, although, thankfully, they are in a minority. Its more secular leaders have so far rejected the temptation to turn the revolution into a communalist war.
The UN will never tell you this, but Syria is an apartheid-style state. Members of Assad's Alawite sect make up only 14% of the population, but they control government, much of business and all the forces of coercion. Even the underworld is segregated on confessional lines. The shabbiha crime gangs that run the prostitution and smuggling rackets, and whose members the Assads are letting loose on the civilian population, are Alawite mafias.
I hope that liberals of my generation who beat their chests as they protested against racial apartheid in southern Africa will soon feel as outraged by religious apartheid in the Middle East. The Syrian opposition has as much right to our support as the African National Congress did because it has not targeted Alawites because of their religion. Indeed, it places its hopes on the Alawite-led army mutinying.
Nor does it want western military intervention. In a discussion of the opposition's needs, the pro-democracy thinktank, the Henry Jackson Society, emphasised the modesty of the dissidents' requests. They need encrypted laptops and satellite phones and sim cards to circumvent the regime's media blackouts and so continue the documentation of atrocities, and support from western intelligence services as they seek to persuade sympathetic Syrian army officers to switch sides.
To date, little beyond token sanctions has been forthcoming. Western governments remain lost in the delusion that Assad is a potential reformer rather than an actual monster, on the sole grounds, as far as I can see, that he was once a student in London and that the drooling toadies of Vogue magazine hailed his glamorous wife as "the freshest and most magnetic of first ladies". They still cannot see him as an enemy.
The Obama administration in particular has fallen for the regime's line that the Ba'athists can wreck the Middle East peace process, and unleash Hezbollah in Lebanon and "insurgents" in Iraq. Like cops who protect crime bosses because "at least they keep order on the streets and only kill their own", the west thinks that the Ba'ath is better than the alternative. Our leaders do not pause to consider that Syria has already partitioned Lebanon and funnelled mass murderers into Iraq. As for the alleged "peace process" – Likud and Hamas are more than capable of killing that on their own.
A Syrian refugee in Britain called Ausama Monajed produces the invaluable daily briefing Syrian Revolution News Round-ups. He concluded one recent post by saying: "We are not fighting against the Assads alone, we're fighting against their main backers as well: not Iran, Hezbollah, Russia or China, but the gods of indifference, cynicism and senility. Heaven help us."
Until world opinion can see the absurdity of firing politicians for posting pictures of their dicks on the internet, but not for committing crimes against humanity, an indifferent heaven is all these people can appeal to.

Syria: They came at dawn, and killed in cold blood
As Syrians flee, conditions worsen in Turkey's border camps
By Kim Sengupta in Idlib province
Sunday, 19 June 2011
The Independent/
The houses looked abandoned, windows and doors locked, a broken shutter clattering in the wind. Then, one by one, they began to appear from their hiding places, mainly women and children, a few elderly people. The residents of this village had learned to their cost that being caught unawares in this violent conflict could have lethal consequences.
The raid by the secret police – the Mukhabarat – and the Shabbiha militia had come at dawn. The killings had been cold-blooded and quick, three men shot dead as, barely awake, they tried desperately to get away. A search for others had proved fruitless; they had fled the day before. The damage to homes vented the frustration of the gunmen at missing their quarries.
"They were working from a list. But they made mistakes. One of them was the wrong person. They did not even have the right name of the man they killed," said Qais al-Baidi, gesturing towards the graves on a sloping hillside. "But none of them deserved this. They were not terrorists. They had just taken part in some demonstrations. These Assad people are vicious. They have no pity. They like killing."
The three killings were among the many that had followed the ferocious onslaught launched by Bashar al-Assad against the uprising. Two centres of opposition in the north of the country had been taken after bloody clashes, Jisr al-Shughour early in the week, Maaret al-Numan falling on Friday. This village was among a cluster that had been subjected, according to a regime commander, to a "cleaning-up" operation.
The offensive had led to a terrified exodus of much of the local population, with 12,000 huddled in squalid conditions on the Syrian side of the border. Another 10,000 had made it across to Turkey, only to be herded into holding centres, locked away from the outside world, the government in Ankara making it clear that these people will be sent back at an opportune time.
The locals in the Turkish province of Hatay and the international media have been kept away from the dispossessed families. The Turkish government insists they are "guests", as accepting they are refugees could lead to legal obligations towards them. But Angelina Jolie, Hollywood actress and UN goodwill ambassador, was taken to see one of the centres after expressing a wish to help to alleviate the suffering of Syria. A banner put up by the Turkish authorities at the entrance to the camp read "Goodness Angel of the World, Welcome".
Away from the focus of celebrity attention, there is little help for those stuck at the frontier. The vast majority sleep under trees; a few have managed to drive pick-up trucks cross-country and use the trailer to sleep; others have built makeshift tents out of rags and plastic sheeting. A pond with floating rubbish and the waters of the river were being used for washing and drinking. Some of the injured had failed to survive without adequate medical help, and their funerals were held where they had died.
The only "aid" for a humanitarian crisis worsening by the day had been meagre supplies, bottles of water and loaves of bread smuggled in by groups of young men on foot across steep ridges, along the same path taken by The Independent on Sunday. Relief organisations have not been allowed access by either the Syrians or the Turks. But for those remaining in the village, the camps at the border, despite the desperate straits they are in, are the goals to reach. They offer relative safety from the savagery of a state waging war on its own people.
Hania Um Jaffar, whose 22-year-old nephew, Khalid Abdullah, was one of those killed, was convinced that the journey there was the only choice. "We had hidden in the fields the day before when we saw helicopters flying over us. But they went away and we thought it had passed. But then they came later on foot. They did not come into our home, but went to others, to the one where Khalid was staying. He was shot many times.
"I don't want anyone else in my family to die. Surely that is what will happen if we stay here. My sons have gone to the mountains, and another nephew has done the same. They cannot come back to take us to Turkey. That is too dangerous for them. We have to make our own way there."
The tiny community remaining in the dozen houses were running out of food. Bassem Mohammed Ibrahim, a 68-year-old farmer, spread his hands. "[The regime forces] did not burn the crops here like they have done in other places. But the only men left here now are old ones like me. We cannot work the fields by ourselves. Our farms will be ruined. But if we stay here, I don't think we will survive."
The journey to the border, however, is fraught with risk. The secret police and the Shabbiha, drawn from the community to which President Assad and the Syrian elite belong, had ambushed families, forcing some to turn back. A small group of opposition fighters provide protection along the route. "But we only have a few of these," said Habib Ali Hussein, holding up his Kalashnikov assault rifle. "Assad has tanks, artillery, helicopters."
Until two weeks ago Mr Hussein was part of those forces as a lieutenant in the army. He deserted, he claimed, sickened by the violence meted out to unarmed civilians. "They were shooting people who were refusing to follow orders. That is what happened at Jisr al-Shughour. I am from that area, and my people were being attacked. So I got my family away from our home and then I left. We haven't got the weapons to go forward. All we are doing is defending."
At the border camp, Isha al-Diri, a medical assistant at a clinic in Jisr al-Shugour, had been administering treatment as best he could. "The seriously injured have been taken to Turkey. But some died before that could happen. The problem here is that we haven't got enough medicine."
Rawat Khalifa had come seeking cough medicine for his six-year-old daughter. "It is the damp; a lot of the young ones are ill. We shall have to go to Turkey if they get any worse. We cannot take risks with their lives.
"We have not crossed over so far because we are Syrians. We want to stay in our own country. But we are afraid to go back home. We are afraid that our own leaders will try to kill us."
Yesterday, Syrian troops arrived with tanks at Bdama, only 12 miles from the Turkish border. Dozens were arrested and houses were burned, according to eyewitnesses. The area had been considered a key region for passing food and supplies to people who have fled the violence in their villages but have yet to cross the border into Turkey.
Foreign Office advice: Britons warned to leave Syria
British nationals were urged yesterday to leave Syria immediately, as the situation in the country deteriorated further. Updating its travel advice, the Foreign Office warned Britons to use "commercial means" to leave while they were still available. It reissued an urgent warning against all travel to the country, adding it was "highly unlikely" the embassy in the country's capital, Damascus, would be able to assist if the situation worsened.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: "Because of the current situation, we advise against all travel to Syria. We ask British nationals to heed this advice and leave the country now." He urged Britons to "take responsibility for their own safety and security".

Activists Using Video to Bear Witness in Syria
The New York Times
Jamil Saeb and his friends use their cameras to record Syria's turmoil and the violent crackdown.
By LIAM STACK
Published: June 18, 2011
KHIRBET AL-JOUZ, Syria — Jamil Saeb stared intently into the bluish light of his laptop screen, feverishly editing video as antigovernment chants rose up the hillside from the makeshift refugee camp on the valley floor below.
Daniel Etter for The New York Times
Dissidents edit videos of the Syrian government's crackdown and post them online.
The air was thick with cigarette smoke inside the concrete shack that he and a group of friends had transformed into a revolutionary media center, one bare room whose floors were covered with thin mattresses strewn with digital cameras, laptops, modems and a tangle of cords.
There have been few outside witnesses to the three-month popular uprising against the Assad family’s 40-year rule of Syria, which has unfolded behind a rolling Internet blackout and efforts to bar foreign journalists from the country. The world has depended largely on online videos of both protests and the government’s violent crackdown, which activists say has left more than 10,000 jailed and over 1,300 dead.
Many of those videos stream through this bare-bones media center in a hillside olive grove near the border with Turkey, where a group of a dozen revolutionaries-turned-refugees work, eat and sleep.
“We try to capture all the crimes committed by the government to show to the global media,” said Mr. Saeb, 34, who fled here last week after security forces attacked his hometown, Jisr al-Shoughour. They also recorded the testimonies of six army officers who had recently defected and fled for the border.
It is a risky mission that requires a modicum of technical skill and a great deal of stealth. Last week, three of their colleagues disappeared while filming a military operation in the village of Al Sarmaniyah.
“We have to hide, because as far as the security forces are concerned we are all terrorists,” Mr. Saeb said. “They think we are like Osama bin Laden.”
Most of the videos they produce are shot in their region, the poor and neglected rural northwest, as well as the busy streets of the Mediterranean port of Latakia. Their work is part of a patchwork of YouTube channels and Facebook groups, with names like SyrianRevolution, that have helped convey their country’s historic unrest to the outside world.
The operation here, which started in March, has grown in importance in the last two weeks, since Syrian forces moved into the region with tanks, artillery and helicopter gunships. By this weekend, the activists had loaded more than 250 videos onto their YouTube channel, Freedom4566, which have been viewed more than 220,000 times.
Hiding behind shuttered windows, down dark alleys or on hilltops high above besieged towns, the activists shoot video of the security forces as they push the violent crackdown across Syria’s rural northwest. The men (none of the activists in the media center are women) upload their videos to social media sites like Facebook and YouTube, which Mr. Saeb praises as “the most realistic.”
“It is like watching the security forces live,” he said.
That was especially true on Saturday, when security forces moved into Badama, a town of 10,000 about five miles from the border, with tanks, armored personnel carriers, busloads of plainclothes forces, and snipers, said a witness reached by phone.
Most residents of Badama fled to Turkey in recent days, but on Saturday, cyberactivists rushed there to take video of the military’s forces as they rolled in.
Their cameras captured armored trucks whizzing through the streets and fires burning the valley’s slender evergreens, which they said were set ablaze by the army. By afternoon the smoke could also be seen from the tent city below the media center.
Life for the activists was not always like this, they said.
For many, their cameras started to roll at the dawn of the protest movement in mid-March. Mr. Saeb used to record protests and uploaded the video using a dial-up modem. That was until he lost Internet service several weeks ago when the government cut it off in Jisr al-Shoughour and the surrounding countryside, he said.
He and the others then moved to the border zone. Here, people are as likely to speak Turkish as Arabic, and cellphones are as likely to pick up a signal from Turkcell as from Syriatel, a telecom giant owned until recently by a cousin of President Bashar al-Assad, which cut off mobile Internet 3G service here weeks ago.
Now that they are refugees they live for their media work. Their thin mattresses serve as both bed and office, and some go for days without leaving the tiny building.
Mr. Saeb fled last weekend’s military operation against Jisr al-Shoughour. Muhammad, 27, who did not want to be fully identified for fear of arrest, has been on the run for several weeks, since fleeing the port city of Latakia and abandoning his job as a cameraman and technician for the state television network. The job left him angry but equipped him with the skills for media activism.
When I see a scene I know how to approach it,” he said. “I know how to take a nice shot.”
He wants to make amends for the years he spent working for a television channel that he says “threatens people’s lives” by ignoring violence against protesters or blaming them for soldiers’ deaths. He said he believed that media reports of army deaths at the hands of “terrorists” should be attributed to fighting between military intelligence officers and conscripts who disobey orders to open fire.
“Those soldiers are shot in the back of the head by intelligence, and everyone who works in TV knows it,” he said.
Those stories — the true stories of Syria’s uprising, he says — go unreported because the intelligence services, the Mukhabarat, “control the media, the state, everything,” he said.
“The world does not know what is happening here,” he said. “The Mukhabarat are killing people without any media attention.”
Muhammad said he worried constantly about what leaving his job and fleeing to the border would mean for his family back in Latakia, where violence has flared in recent weeks. He is the only member of his family to flee, and each night he calls his parents to make sure they are safe. Worried that the Mukhabarat might be listening in, he speaks to them in code.
“We just say ‘How are you? Fine? O.K., good,’ ” he said. “Never any political language, and I never say the word ‘protest.’ ” His family knows nothing about his media activism or his current location, he said. It is safer for them that way.
Like the other men fervently typing on their laptops in this gray, concrete room on a verdant hillside, Muhammad is trapped between the violence, whose images flash before his eyes all day, and the foggy uncertainties of life as a refugee. Faced with staggering losses and unclear prospects, he focuses on the task at hand.
“Syrian media lies, lies, lies,” he said. “I had to leave my job to protect the Syrian people, here in the valley and everywhere else.”
*Daniel Etter contributed reporting.