LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِNovember 03/2011

Bible Quotation for today/Jesus and Beelzebul
Matthew 12/22-32: " Then some people brought to Jesus a man who was blind and could not talk because he had a demon. Jesus healed the man, so that he was able to talk and see. The crowds were all amazed at what Jesus had done. Could he be the Son of David? they asked. When the Pharisees heard this, they replied,  He drives out demons only because their ruler Beelzebul gives him power to do so.  Jesus knew what they were thinking, and so he said to them, Any country that divides itself into groups which fight each other will not last very long. And any town or family that divides itself into groups which fight each other will fall apart. So if one group is fighting another in Satan's kingdom, this means that it is already divided into groups and will soon fall apart! You say that I drive out demons because Beelzebul gives me the power to do so. Well, then, who gives your followers the power to drive them out? What your own followers do proves that you are wrong! No, it is not Beelzebul, but God's Spirit, who gives me the power to drive out demons, which proves that the Kingdom of God has already come upon you.  No one can break into a strong man's house and take away his belongings unless he first ties up the strong man; then he can plunder his house.  Anyone who is not for me is really against me; anyone who does not help me gather is really scattering. For this reason I tell you: people can be forgiven any sin and any evil thing they say; but whoever says evil things against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.Anyone who says something against the Son of Man can be forgiven; but whoever says something against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven—now or ever.

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
 Analysis: What may be involved in an Israeli strike on Iran/By YAAKOV LAPPIN/Jerusalem Post/November 02/11  

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for November 02/11  
 Netanyahu trying to persuade cabinet to support attack on Iran
Avi Issacharoff / With Syria on the way down, Iran needs nukes more than ever
 Israel warns West: Window of opportunity to thwart Iran nuclear program is closing
60 victims to participate in trials against STL accused
Al-Rahi from Iraq: We Look Forward to Working with Muslims in Rejecting Violence in Region
 Samir Franjieh: Uncontrolled security situation due to Syrian events
Mustaqbal Asks Govt. to Shun 'Vague Stances' over STL Funding
 Lebanese Cabinet Postpones Talks on Electoral Law to Later Sessions
 Mikati urges election law that ensures genuine representation
Mikati to meet Cameron next week for talks on Middle East
 Hariri and Hezbollah praise Palestine’s victory at UNESCO
Anti-sectarian spring ended as summer began
 Syrian response to Arabs lacks clarity
Arabs reveal Syria plan as NATO rejects intervention
US cautious on Syria, Arab talks
Syria Says Reached Agreement with Arab League on Roadmap
 Canada Disappointed at UNESCO Approval of Palestinian Membership
 Israeli ambassador to Egypt expected to soon return to Cairo
 Israel to expedite settlement construction in response to Palestinian UNESCO membership

Academic proceeds with Libya Cabinet formation
Greek Cabinet risks collapse over refendum

Analysis: What may be involved in an Israeli strike on Iran
By YAAKOV LAPPIN/Jerusalem Post
11/01/2011 10:46
Israel is believed to have a fully prepared plan to launch a strike, which would likely involve at least several hundred aircraft. Over the past several days, Hebrew media reports have been engaged in intense speculation regarding a possible imminent Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear sites. Defense Minister Ehud Barak appeared to have made a veiled reference to the issue again on Tuesday, when he told the Knesset that Israel may have to protect its vital interests alone, while other reports focused on comments by Interior Minister Eli Yishai, who stated this week that difficult decisions were “keeping him up at nights,” without elaborating further.
Israel is believed to have a fully prepared plan to launch such a strike, which would likely involve at least several hundred aircraft. Multiple aerial routes are theoretically available for Israeli aircraft to reach targets in Iran. In all those paths though, the jets would likely have to either neutralize or evade radar systems of other countries along the route, as well as face the potential fallout that could follow an intrusion of foreign airspace.
Israel also possesses the advanced midair refueling capabilities required for carrying out sorties over multiple Iranian targets situated between 1,500 and 2,000 km.
away from home. Possible targets could include uranium- enrichment sites at Natanz and Qom, the uranium- conversion plant at Isfahan, and a heavy water reactor in Arak suspected of being used to pursue a plutonium based nuclear arms program, as well as additional facilities.
But getting there is only half the story. The Air Force, which according to foreign reports has gone on dry runs to practice such an attack on previous occasions over the past decade, would first have to neutralize Iran’s aerial defense capabilities, blind Iran’s radars, destroy command and control centers and paralyze Iran’s own air force for a while, before overcoming fortifications and special aerial defense measures placed by the Iranians around their nuclear sites. The operational challenge is vast. The Air Force would in effect have to take temporary control over sections of Iran’s airspace before being able to target nuclear facilities, some of which are hidden in mountains or deep underground. The mission would require the use of powerful bunker-busting bombs, as well as possible repeated strikes to ensure success. According to a Newsweek article from September, the US has already transferred 55 such bombs to Israel. The attack would likely be coordinated with the assistance of Israeli intelligence satellites that could provide real time detailed images from the battle arena, as well as Airborne Warning and Control (AWAC) aircraft. It could also involve the use of a fleet of giant Heron 2 drones, which are the size of 737 commercial airliners.
These UAVs form the first line of defense against an expected Iranian counterstrike, involving the launch of long-range Shihab 3 missiles.
The Israeli drones can reportedly reach Iran and hover over missile launch sites. Israel’s Arrow missile defense shield would also come into play to intercept missiles heading into Israeli airspace. However, such a strike would undoubtedly touch off conflict with Iran’s proxy in southern Lebanon, Hezbollah, which is armed with tens of thousands of rockets, as well as Hamas in Gaza, and possibly with Syria. The resulting chain of events could easily lead to a major regional war and long-term instability, so much so that some senior Israeli defense figures have reportedly been rejecting the idea of attacking Iran for years.

Netanyahu trying to persuade cabinet to support attack on Iran
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who previously objected to attacking Iran, was recently persuaded by Netanyahu and Barak to support such a move.
By Zvi Zrahiya, Jonathan Lis, Barak Ravid and Amos Harel /Haaretz
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak are trying to muster a majority in the cabinet in favor of military action against Iran, a senior Israeli official has said. According to the official, there is a "small advantage" in the cabinet for the opponents of such an attack.
Netanyahu and Barak recently persuaded Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who previously objected to attacking Iran, to support such a move.
IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz watching tank exercises during a special ceremony in the Golan Heights, on Tuesday.
Although more than a million Israelis have had to seek shelter during a week of rockets raining down on the south, political leaders have diverted their attention to arguing over a possible war with Iran. Leading ministers were publicly dropping hints on Tuesday that Israeli could attack Iran, although a member of the forum of eight senior ministers said no such decision had been taken. Senior ministers and diplomats said the International Atomic Energy Agency's report, due to be released on November 8, will have a decisive effect on the decisions Israel makes. The commotion regarding Iran was sparked by journalist Nahum Barnea's column in Yedioth Ahronoth last Friday. Barnea's concerned tone and his editors' decision to run the column under the main headline ("Atomic Pressure" ) repositioned the debate on Iran from closed rooms to the media's front pages.
Reporters could suddenly ask the prime minister and defense minister whether they intend to attack Iran in the near future and the political scene went haywire.
Western intelligence officials agree that Iran is forging ahead with its nuclear program. Intelligence services now say it will take Iran two or three years to get the bomb once it decides to (it hasn't made the decision yet ). According to Western experts' analyses, an attack on Iran in winter is almost impossible, because the thick clouds would obstruct the Israel Air Force's performance. Netanyahu did not rule out the possibility of the need for a military action on Iran this week. During his Knesset address on Monday, Netanyahu warned of Iran's increased power and influence. "One of those regional powers is Iran, which is continuing its efforts to obtain nuclear weapons. A nuclear Iran would constitute a grave threat to the Middle East and the entire world, and of course it is a direct and grave threat on us," he said.
Barak said Israel should not be intimidated but did not rule out the possibility that Israel would launch a military attack on Iran's nuclear facilities. "I object to intimidation and saying Israel could be destroyed by Iran," he said. "We're not hiding our thoughts. However there are issues we don't discuss in public ... We have to act in every way possible and no options should be taken off the table ... I believe diplomatic pressure and sanctions must be brought to bear against Iran," he said.
Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Ya'alon said he preferred an American military attack on Iran to an Israeli one. "A military move is the last resort," he said.
Interior Minister Eli Yishai has not made his mind up yet on the issue. In a speech to Shas activists in the north on Monday Yishai said "this is a complicated time and it's better not to talk about how complicated it is. This possible action is keeping me awake at night. Imagine we're [attacked] from the north, south and center. They have short-range and long-range missiles - we believe they have about 100,000 rockets and missiles."
Intelligence and Atomic Energy Minister Dan Meridor said he supports an American move against Iran. In an interview to the Walla! website some two weeks ago Meridor said "It's clear to all that a nuclear Iran is a grave danger and the whole world, led by the United States, must make constant efforts to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. The Iranians already have more than four tons of 3-4 percent enriched uranium and 70 kgs. of 20 percent enriched uranium. It's clear to us they are continuing to make missiles. Iran's nuclearization is not only a threat to Israel but to several other Western states, and the international interest must unite here." Former Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer said he feared a "horror scenario" in which Netanyahu and Barak decide to attack Iran. He warned of a "rash act" and said he hoped "common sense will prevail." On Tuesday, Barak said at the Knesset's Finance Committee that the state budget must be increased by NIS 7-8 a year for five years to fulfill Israel's security needs and answer the social protest. "The situation requires expanding the budget to enable us to act in a responsible way regarding the defense budget considering the challenges, as well as fulfill some of the demands coming from the Trajtenberg committee," he said.

With Syria on the way down, Iran needs nukes more than ever
With nuclear weapons, Assad could presumably have slept well even as he continued to massacre his citizens.
By Avi Issacharoff/ Published 02.11.11/Haaretz
The deteriorating position of Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime, both at home and abroad, goes a long way toward explaining his never-ending attempts to obtain nuclear weapons. It also goes some way toward explaining the Iranian regime's stubborn determination to produce a nuclear bomb.  The goal is not only to obtain weapons that would allow them to destroy the State of Israel, but also, and primarily, to obtain an insurance policy for their decaying totalitarian regimes - one of which is already on the way out, while the other, in Tehran, is worried that the Syrian precedent will create a domino effect in its country.
Tuesday's Associated Press report that the International Atomic Energy Agency has discovered another complex that appears to be part of Syria's nuclear program merely underscores how ambitious the Syrian project is. Assad did not make do with building a plutonium production facility near Deir al-Zor, which the Syrians claim Israel bombed in 2007, but also tried to build a uranium enrichment facility in the buildings recently discovered in Al-Hasakah, in the northeast of the country.
For now, it's business almost as usual in Syria. The Syrian army is continuing its brutal violence in an attempt to suppress demonstrations all over the country; to date, between 3,000 and 4,000 civilians have been killed. Shooting from helicopters, tanks and ships has become an almost daily occurrence, as have mass arrests. On Monday, "only" 12 people may have been killed in confrontations between the army, the protestors and the armed groups that oppose Assad, but the daily average for the previous week stood at 20 to 30 people killed every day.
These worrisome numbers have prompted calls from the international community - including, perhaps surprisingly, parts of the Muslim world - for military action against Syria. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has gone a step further, saying his country cannot stand idly by in the face of the regime's ongoing repression of the Syrian people.
It's a very long way from such remarks to a Turkish declaration of war on Syria. But Erdogan's message is clear, and so is the general mood in the new Middle East: Assad must go.
Most of the moderate Sunni states agree with this position, and that is why Assad's regime went on the attack against them on Tuesday, claiming that various circles in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon are operating terrorist groups inside Syria. Damascus also rejected the Arab League's latest proposal on Tuesday: to withdraw its military forces from Syria's cities, end the violence and launch a dialogue with the opposition in Cairo.
The Syrian army also does not hesitate to go into Lebanon to kidnap opposition activists or deserters. And a few days ago, Syria's president warned that if his country is attacked, the shock waves will reverberate throughout the region. One of the considerations often mentioned in recent months to explain why the West is in no hurry to attack Syria the way it did Libya are the missiles with chemical warheads that Assad has, and the fear that he would use them if his regime were on the verge of collapse. Had he also had nuclear weapons, Assad could presumably have slept well at night even as he continued to massacre his citizens, in the full knowledge that no Arab, Muslim or Western nation would even consider attacking his country. The town of Deir al-Zor, which has turned into a focus of opposition to Syria's president, is not far from the place where the plutonium manufacturing facility was bombed. On Tuesday, a demonstration in favor of Assad's regime was held there. But Assad's supporters in Iran and Hezbollah understand the gravity of his situation.
On Tuesday, Samir Kuntar, the terrorist who killed the Haran family in Nahariya in 1978, came out in support of Assad. Kuntar said he is willing to cut off the hands of anyone who opposes the Syrian government, and that the opposition is a conspiracy to weaken Hezbollah.
The Iranians may be more cautious about speaking their minds on the matter, but they, too, understand that their Alawite ally's reign is in danger. In these troubled times, obtaining nuclear weapons has become even more critical for Tehran. If the Arab Spring turns into a broader Islamic Spring and comes to Iran as well, the regime in Tehran will also repress the opposition, using methods even more brutal than Assad has. An atomic bomb would provide it with immunity against any attempt by the international community to intervene.

Israel warns West: Window of opportunity to thwart Iran nuclear program is closing
Envoys renew diplomatic push to counter Tehran's nuclear ambitions in Foreign Ministry lobbying drive that began in mid-September.
By Barak Ravid /Published 01.11.11/Haaretz
Israeli ambassadors in Western countries have been instructed to inform high-ranking politicians that the window of opportunity for imposing effective sanctions on Iran is closing, as part of a renewed diplomatic offensive aimed at using new sanctions to stop Tehran from developing a nuclear bomb.
The Foreign Ministry campaign, which began in mid-September, seeks to convince the United States, European Union member states and other Western countries to impose the sanctions immediately because Iran is continuing to develop its nuclear program.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, flanked by security guards and advisers, arriving at a meeting of his Likud faction in the Knesset, October 31, 2011.
"The significant progress that has taken place on all the components of the Iranian nuclear program should be emphasized, especially uranium enrichment," said a classified cable sent to Israeli ambassadors in several dozen countries. "The Iranian program is military, and in light of International Atomic Energy Agency reports, there is an increased fear that the Iranians are developing a nuclear warhead for ballistic missiles."
The ambassadors were asked to tell the equivalent of the foreign ministries and prime minister's offices in the countries where they are serving that there isn't much time left to stop the nuclear program through diplomatic means.
The sanctions campaign comes ahead of the planned November 8 release of an IAEA report, which is expected to reveal new details about the scope of Iran's nuclear program. The IAEA is reportedly preparing to bring proof that Iran is attempting to build a nuclear bomb.
Israel and the U.S. are planning to use the report in a worldwide campaign to push for isolating Iran. Sanctions suggested by Israeli representatives in recent talks with the U.S., France, Britain and Germany include banning contact with Iran's central bank and banning the purchase of Iranian crude oil. Israeli officials also suggested imposing additional sanctions on Iranian airlines and ships. Israeli officials noticed last month that international interest in stopping Iran was flagging, said a senior Foreign Ministry official. "International and Israeli attention was focused on the Arab Spring, on flotillas to Gaza and on the Palestinian move in the UN," he said. Foreign Ministry officials were concerned that the reduced attention Iran was receiving made its pursuit of a nuclear program seem less urgent.
"There's a feeling that even though the sanctions are harming Iran, the technological timetable is faster than the diplomatic timetable," said another Foreign Ministry official. "Now is the time to intensify the steps against Iran. The pressure influences Iran, and the present circumstances require us to increase that pressure. The Iranians are preparing a technological infrastructure that will enable them to have a breakthrough as they head for nuclear weapons within a short time span. If Iran passes this technological threshold, the ramifications will be severe - especially in light of the weakening of regional stability following the Arab Spring." A few days ago, the ambassadors received another cable, directing them to highlight the alleged Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington. "You should emphasize that this incident indicates the need to isolate Iran," the cable said. The Israeli ambassadors were also informed that Iran is boosting arms smuggling to Syria, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah.
According to Israeli intelligence information, Iran has been carrying out low-level uranium enrichment at a stable pace, despite the existing sanctions. Iranian officials have been outspoken about their interest in tripling the pace of producing uranium enriched to 20 percent, moving the centrifuges from a non-reinforced facility in the central Iranian city of Natanz to an underground enrichment facility in Qom. At the same time, Iran is continuing to build a heavy water reactor in Arak, which would enable them to produce the plutonium needed for a nuclear bomb. One of the Foreign Ministry officials said Israel wants Western countries to impose the sanctions on their own because domestic politics and leadership changeovers in Russia and China in 2012, along with the U.S. and French presidential elections, will make it impossible to secure another UN Security Council resolution approving sanctions.
Although Israel's latest push for sanctions is new, diplomatic efforts to thwart the Iranian nuclear program are ongoing, one of the Foreign Ministry officials said. An interministerial task force headed by Yaakov Amidror, the national security adviser, meets every few weeks to coordinate the diplomatic efforts. Other members of the task force include representatives of the foreign and defense ministries, the IDF and the Mossad.

US cautious on Syria, Arab talks
November 1, 2011/The United States reacted cautiously Tuesday amid conflicting reports about talks between Syria and Arab states on a roadmap to end violence between the Syrian government and protestors. Syrian official media said Damascus and the Arab League had agreed on a plan to end the violence and a formal announcement would be made Wednesday. But the Arab League later said it had not yet received Syria's response to the plan to end the bloodletting. The White House said it had seen the reports quoting Syria's official media, but could not be sure if they were correct. "We have seen the report. We can't verify it at this point," said White House spokesperson Jay Carney, speaking before the Arab League made its announcement. "We welcome efforts by the international community to convince the Assad regime to cease the kind of violent acts that it's been perpetrating on its own people.” "What remains true today is that we continue to believe that Assad is illegitimate and should step down." State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland also could not confirm the reports but said Washington backed Arab League calls for the withdrawal of heavy weaponry, the release of political prisoners and an end to torture and extrajudicial killings. "So if, in fact, we have a Syrian regime that is accepting that full list of things, we would consider that a first step to the direction that we want to see Syria move." The Arab League wants Syria to respond to proposals to end more than seven months of bloodletting which, the UN says, have claimed more than 3,000 lives, mostly civilians killed in a government crackdown on dissent.
President Bashar al-Assad is under mounting international and Arab pressure to end the violence and implement wide-ranging political reforms to meet the aspirations of protesters who have rallied almost daily since mid-March.-AFP/NOW Lebanon

Arabs reveal Syria plan as NATO rejects intervention
November 1, 2011 / The Arab League on Monday revealed its roadmap to end violence in Syria, as NATO ruled out the possibility of a no-fly zone over the country whose regime has been waging a deadly crackdown on protesters. The roadmap calls for tanks to be withdrawn from Syrian streets and for talks between the embattled regime of President Bashar al-Assad and its opponents, Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi told AFP in the Qatari capital. NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen, meanwhile, ruled out the possibility of imposing a no-fly zone over Syria, in remarks made to AFP en route to Libya, where the alliance conducted an air war that helped to oust dictator Moammar Qaddafi. The head of the Arab League said the group's foreign ministers were awaiting a response after putting the proposals to a Syrian delegation led by Foreign Minister Walid Muallem during talks in Doha on Sunday. The talks came amid growing fears among regional leaders that unchecked Syrian bloodshed could further inflame the Arab world.
"The Arab proposal to Syria calls for withdrawing tanks and all military vehicles to bring an immediate end to the violence and give assurances to the Syrian street," said Arabi.
The peace plan also calls for dialogue to take place in Cairo between Syrian regime officials and opposition figures, he added, before leaving Doha without indicating if a response had been received from Assad.
The Syrian delegation also left Doha later without making any statements, Qatar-based Al-Jazeera news channel reported, after Muallem held talks with the Qatari emir.
En route to Libya, the NATO sectary general categorically ruled out the option of the alliance imposing a no-fly zone over Syria. "It's totally ruled out. We have no intention whatsoever to intervene in Syria," Rasmussen told an AFP correspondent traveling with him."We have no intention whatsoever to intervene in Syria," he insisted, saying the conditions there were different to those in Libya, where the coalition had a "clear UN mandate." But speaking at a joint press conference in Tripoli with Libya's interim leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil, Rasmussen said the overthrow of Qaddafi’s regime sent a signal to dictatorships worldwide. "I think what has happened in Libya has sent a very clear signal to autocratic regimes all over the world. You cannot neglect the will of the people," he said. The region is reeling from unprecedented uprisings that have since January unseated three long-time dictators in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya.
Repeating previous warnings, Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani said Assad risked forcing an international intervention if he allows the violence to continue.
"The entire region is at risk of a massive storm," Sheikh Hamad told reporters after Sunday's three-hour meeting. Assad must take "concrete steps," he said, to end the unrest that according to the United Nations has claimed more than 3,000 Syrian lives since March.Sunday's Arab ministerial meeting "agreed on a serious proposal to stop the killing and all forms of violence in Syria," said Sheikh Hamad.A follow-up meeting will be held Wednesday in Cairo, "whether or not there is an agreement," he added. Assad warned in a newspaper interview that any Western intervention in Syria would cause an "earthquake" across the Middle East. "Any problem in Syria will burn the whole region. If the plan is to divide Syria, that is to divide the whole region," Syria's embattled president told Britain's Sunday Telegraph.
The Daily Telegraph quoted Assad Monday dismissing the Syrian opposition as unrepresentative elements that did not deserve his time. "I wouldn't waste my time talking about them," he said. "I don't know them. It's better to investigate whether they really represent Syrians." The Doha talks came as Syrian activists put mounting pressure on the Arab League to suspend Syria's membership of the 22-member bloc and organized protests across Syria on Sunday calling for the League to "freeze the membership" of Syria and as the death toll in Syria rose.
On Monday, three people, including a 29-year-old man was shot dead by a sniper in the protest hub city of Homs, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Another civilian and an army deserter were killed in Hama province in a pursuit by security forces, the London-based group said in a statement.
A fourth civilian was shot dead in Harasta, a town near Damascus as security forces carried out raids and made at least 13 arrests, it added, a day after at least seven people were killed in violence in several cities. Meanwhile, dozens of students demonstrated at the University of Qalamun in the Damascus region demanding the fall of the Baath party regime.
In Damascus meanwhile, a national committee began work Monday "to draft a new constitution for Syria," the official SANA news agency reported.A new constitution was one of the key demands of the Syrian opposition at the start of the anti-government protests in March. Now they are demanding Assad's ouster.-AFP/NOW Lebanon

60 victims to participate in trials against STL accused
November 02, 2011/By Patrick Galey/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Close to 60 people either wounded or harmed in the 2005 bomb attack that killed former statesman Rafik Hariri have applied to participate in the trials of those accused of the crime, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon said Tuesday. A spokesperson for the court said it was pleased “with the significant number of victims who have applied” to take part in forthcoming trials. “We believe it shows that there are many victims who wish to have their voices heard in the proceedings before this tribunal,” spokesperson Marten Youssef told The Daily Star.
The United Nations-backed STL, established in 2009 to find and try the assassins of Hariri, is unique among international tribunals in that it includes scope within its mandate for victims of the attack to join court proceedings. A victim is defined as anyone who sustained physical, material or psychological harm from the bomb blast that killed Hariri and 22 others in downtown Beirut Feb. 14, 2005. In his June indictment accusing four Hezbollah members of the crime, STL Prosecutor Daniel Bellmare submitted a redacted list of 231 individuals wounded in the attack. It is unclear how long it will take the court to process victim applications. “The numbers are not so large as to require significant time for reviewing the applications, and once victims are accepted to participate in the proceedings they can be grouped to share legal representatives in order to ensure efficient proceedings,” he said.
Although the court has not set a definitive timeframe for the commencement of trials, it is thought they could begin as soon as mid-2012.
In the indictment, Bellemare suggested that some witnesses had been subjected to threats and intimidation after meeting with investigators. A court statement Tuesday said victims had met with the STL’s Victim Participation unit and, given that some victims are likely to be called for cross examination as witnesses, Youssef was keen to point out that the protection of applicants was a priority. “The tribunal takes issues surrounding the safety of victims very seriously. To this end the [court] can authorize measures to protect the identity of a victim during the judicial process,” he said. “It is very difficult to stop the intimidating behavior of those who may be opposed to victims participating in the judicial process, however, those victims who have applied to participate, their information is treated and handled confidentially,” Youssef added.
The STL’s Victim Participation unit is not responsible for providing the victims of Hariri’s assassination with compensation for their injuries or distress, as this will be handled in Lebanese courts after any conviction. The court’s rules state that victims, even if they have declined to participate in the trials, are still entitled to request a copy of any conviction to help with claims.
The STL will next week hold a hearing discussing the viability of pressing ahead with in absentia trials for the four suspects. The men, all Hezbollah members, have so far proved elusive to authorities in spite of being the subject of a nationwide manhunt and international arrest warrants.

Mikati to meet Cameron next week for talks on Middle East
November 02, 2011/By Hasan Lakkis/ The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Prime Minister Najib Mikati is scheduled to visit London later this week for talks with his British counterpart David Cameron on the situation in Lebanon, Palestine and the eight-month-old unrest in Syria and its repercussions in Lebanon, political sources said Tuesday. The talks will also cover the controversial issue of funding a U.N.-backed court probing the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, the sources said. Mikati leaves for Britain Thursday to spend the Al-Adha holiday with his family before meeting Cameron at 10 Downing Street Monday in the presence of Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour. He might meet the European Union’s High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton and the British foreign secretary. Mikati will also meet with Arab ambassadors. It will be Mikati’s first visit to Britain as prime minister since he formed his government in June.
Mikati’s visit to London was discussed Tuesday during a meeting with the British Ambassador to Lebanon Tom Fletcher. Fletcher said he discussed with Mikati ways of expanding Britain’s support to include the Lebanese Army and some reform plans. Meanwhile, Mikati met Tuesday with Kataeb [Phalange] Party leader Amin Gemayel who stressed the need for Lebanon to pay its share to the funding of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. Speaking to reporters after the meeting held at the Grand Serail, Gemayel said he encouraged Mikati to uphold the STL in the face of strong opposition by Hezbollah and its March 8 allies. “Our position is not related only to the issue of the tribunal’s funding and other issues. The funding is very important. But there is something which is beyond that which is relating to the conviction by the government of the need to achieve right and uphold justice in Lebanon,” Gemayel said.
He stressed that knowing the truth in Hariri’s assassination and achieving justice were the key to national unity and an inter-Lebanese reconciliation.“There should be a conviction that this tribunal is a national interest in the first place before anything else. It is a basic gateway to achieve national unity,” Gemayel said, adding: “No reconciliation unless it is based on the truth. Therefore, we adhere to the principle of the international tribunal and we hope that the prime minister will continue in this effort until all phases of this tribunal, and not only the funding phase, are achieved.” Despite a split within his Cabinet over the issue, Mikati has promised to pay Lebanon’s more than $30 million share to the STL’s funding.

Samir Franjieh: Uncontrolled security situation due to Syrian events
November 1, 2011/ Member of the March 14 General Secretariat Samir Franjieh said on Tuesday that the repercussions of the Syrian situation on Lebanon can be seen through the “uncontrolled security situation and the absence of the Lebanese government.”According to the United Nations, the Syrian regime's crackdown on protests has killed more than 3,000 people. Franjieh told Future News TV channel that due to the events in Syria, Lebanon’s government “has become lost.”“There are [security] apparatuses for Syrian authority and others for Lebanese authority [in Lebanon],” Franjieh said.  -NOW Lebanon

Al-Rahi from Iraq: We Look Forward to Working with Muslims in Rejecting Violence in Region
Naharnet /Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi hoped on Tuesday that peace would be achieved in Iraq, voicing Lebanon’s solidarity with the Iraqi people. He said after holding talks in Iraq with its Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi and Syriac Catholic Patriarch Ignatius Joseph III Younan: “We look forward to collaborating with our Muslim brothers throughout the Islamic world to reject violence, intolerance, and mistrust.”“This requires a commitment on the spiritual level and we hope politicians would work on achieving this through honest political work,” he said. “Our visit to Iraq was an occasion to demonstrate the solidarity between the church in Lebanon and that in Iraq,” he continued. “The church is at the service of the people and it seeks to build a society where all sides accept each other,” stressed al-Rahi. “We are of course obligated to establish cooperation in Lebanon and the Arab world to this end,” the patriarch remarked. For his part, Hashimi praised the first visit by a Maronite patriarch to Iraq, adding: “Iraqi society needs all of its sons, Muslims and Christians, to rise up once again.” “Terrorism does not differentiate between Muslims and Christians, which therefore places us before a joint responsibility towards the country,” he noted. “The church plays a major role in encouraging the people to remain in their homeland and avoid immigration,” he said. On Monday, al-Rahi had criticized those who are seeking to “impoverish” Christians in the East. “Those who were martyred were a sacrifice for our beloved Iraq to implement peace, justice, and stability,” he said during a mass on the first anniversary of the attack on Our Lady of Salvation church in Baghdad. The patriarch arrived in Iraq on Monday on a two-day pastoral visit that will include talks with Iraqi officials. Militants had stormed the Syriac Catholic church, killing 44 worshippers, two priests and seven security force personnel in an attack claimed by al-Qaida's local affiliate, the Islamic State of Iraq. Al-Rahi said earlier this week that he will discuss with Iraqi officials the fate of Christians there.
The Council of Maronite Bishops postponed its monthly meeting from Wednesday to Thursday over al-Rahi’s visit to Iraq.

 
Mustaqbal Asks Govt. to Shun 'Vague Stances' over STL Funding
Naharnet/The Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc on Tuesday called on Prime Minister Najib Miqati’s government to pay Lebanon’s 49% annual share of funds to the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon “as soon as possible” and urged it to address the issue “in a serious manner and away from vague stances.”“What the camp bolstered by the hegemony of weapons does not comprehend is that the issue is related to a national and ethical cause and to the reputation of the Lebanese state and institutions,” the bloc said in a statement issued after its weekly meeting. “The president of the Lebanese Republic has voiced his commitment to the issue of the tribunal and the international treaties on more than one occasion, the premier has also repeated that more than once, and both of them have reiterated (their commitment) at international forums, therefore it is not possible anymore to evade these obligations,” the bloc added. “In this regard, the current government is in a delicate and critical position that affects Lebanon’s reputation and credibility, especially that it comprises political parties that have publicly boasted that they are protecting the accused and rejecting cooperation with the tribunal,” it said.
The bloc noted that it is “neither reasonable nor acceptable” for a party whose members have been indicted by the STL to take part in shaping the government’s decisions on the U.N.-backed court. Addressing the latest accusations voiced by Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun against several Mustaqbal-affiliated civil servants, the bloc said Aoun was trying to “unduly accuse employees of corruption without a legal justification.”It accused Aoun of practicing “political spite and revenge,” and pressuring the judicial authorities to “acquit some individuals of the charge of communicating and collaborating with the Israeli enemy, like in Brig. Gen. Fayez Karam’s case.”“These practices highlight the collapse of these political parties’ ethical and patriotic standards, not to mention that they represent political reprisal against employees who have been abiding by the law and who enjoy competence and loyalty to their country and institutions,” the bloc said, stressing that “it is unacceptable to attack them without a legal justification.”

Syria Says Reached Agreement with Arab League on Roadmap
Naharnet/ Syria and the Arab League have agreed on a roadmap to end violence in the country, Damascus said, but a top official of the regional organization said it was still awaiting Tuesday the expected formal response. "Syria and the Arab League are in agreement over the final paper concerning the situation in Syria and the official announcement will be made at Arab League headquarters tomorrow (Wednesday)," Syrian state television and the SANA news agency said early Tuesday evening. Later, Arab League deputy chief Ahmed Ben Helli told Al-Arabiya television no response had yet been received. "The secretary general of the Arab League has not yet received Syria's official response to the document submitted by the ministerial committee" to end the violence, Ben Helli said. "As far as I know the Syrian delegation will give an official reply tomorrow during the (extraordinary) meeting," which the Arab League is to hold to discuss the violence in Syria, Ben Helli said. The proposal is aimed at ending more than seven months of bloodletting which, the U.N. says, has claimed more than 3,000 lives, mostly civilians killed in a government crackdown on dissent. Arab foreign ministers are due to hold a key meeting in Cairo to discuss the violence, after talks Sunday in Doha with their Syrian counterpart Walid Muallem at which they offered a plan to end the crisis. President Bashar al-Assad is under mounting international and Arab pressure to end the violence and implement wide-ranging political reforms to meet the aspirations of protesters who have rallied almost daily since mid-March.
The Arab League proposals call on Assad to pull tanks off the streets and launch a national dialogue with his opponents. Syria had been due to give its response to the plan on Monday but Muallem asked for some changes.
An Arab League diplomat told Agence France Presse in Cairo "there has been agreement on some minor amendments, but the Arab delegation demanded a final response on Tuesday to the Arab proposal." He said Syria would inform Qatar -- whose foreign minister chaired the Doha talks -- of its response.
Syria's Arab League representative Youssef Ahmed told AFP in Cairo that Damascus would respond Tuesday to the plan. "We are dealing positively with the last proposal, which was drafted (at Sunday's meeting) in Qatar." Algerian Foreign Minister Murad Medelci also sounded upbeat. "We had a good meeting in Doha and we have found some common ground with our Syrian friends. I hope this will be confirmed in Cairo," he said on Tuesday. The pro-regime Syrian daily Al-Watan said "Muallem provided the Qatari side with ideas adequate to resolve the crisis in Syria ... and requested additional time to consult (Tuesday) with his leadership." Some diplomats in Cairo expressed concern that the response from Damascus will be tied to conditions to gain time. "Syria's answer could be 'yes, but,' a maneuver to buy time," said one diplomat who attended the Doha talks.
Meanwhile, Syrian activists reported that five more people were killed in the protests-wracked country and dozens arrested, including 60 schoolchildren detained for holding an anti-regime rally in their school yard. Two civilians were killed when pro-regime militiamen opened fire in central Homs and one was shot by security forces in the northwestern province of Idlib, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. An officer and a soldier were also killed in Idlib by gunmen believed to be army deserters, the watchdog said, adding that an 18-year-old man also died on Tuesday of gunshot wounds from the previous day near Damascus.
Syrian security forces also rounded up dozens of civilians in Daraa -- cradle of the anti-regime protests that erupted March 15, the watchdog said. Pro- and anti-regime demonstrations also gripped Deir al-Zour on Tuesday, with state television reporting that thousands rallied in support of Assad while activists spoke of a counter-rally in the eastern city. Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, during a visit to the United Arab Emirates, reiterated Moscow's opposition to any Libya-style military intervention in Syria. "If it depends on us, I don't think we will allow anything of that sort to be repeated" in Syria, Lavrov said in Abu Dhabi. UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan echoed him. "We do not think that there is any party which is willing to internationalize this matter. At least we Arabs don't," he said. China, along with Russia, vetoed a Western-drafted resolution at the U.N. Security Council on October 4 that would have threatened Assad's regime with targeted sanctions if it continued its campaign against protesters. Last week activists urged the international community to impose a Libya-style no-fly zone on Syria.
Source Agence France Presse

Canada Disappointed at UNESCO Approval of Palestinian Membership
(No. 324 - November 1, 2011 - 6:15 p.m. ET) Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird today issued the following statement regarding yesterday’s vote by UNESCO members approving the Palestinian request for membership:
“Canada deeply regrets this decision.
“Unilateral Palestinian efforts to seek member- or observer-state status in the UN, UNESCO and other international organizations without a negotiated peace agreement with Israel are ultimately unhelpful. We are currently reviewing our options in response to this unilateral action.
“Canada stood and voted against the Palestinian request for membership in UNESCO.
“Under no circumstances will Canada be contributing more money to cover any budgetary shortfall that may result from this decision. Those countries that voted in favour of the Palestinian proposal ought to have known the potential financial implications this would have.
“Canada has also decided that we are currently not considering any new funding proposals for UNESCO programs.
“Canada is committed to the goal of a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East. Canada again urges the parties to resume direct peace talks, without delay or preconditions, on the basis of the September 23 Quartet Statement.”