LCCC
ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِOctober
15/2011
Bible Quotation for today/Jesus
Calms a Storm
Mathhew 08/23-27: 23 Jesus got into a boat, and his disciples went with him.
Suddenly a fierce storm hit the lake, and the boat was in danger of sinking. But
Jesus was asleep. The disciples went to him and woke him up Save us, Lord! they
said. We are about to die! Why are you so frightened? Jesus answered. What
little faith you have! Then he got up and ordered the winds and the waves to
stop, and there was a great calm. Everyone was amazed. What kind of man is this?
they said. Even the winds and the waves obey him!
Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from
miscellaneous sources
Lebanon: As Syria retreats, Iran
advances/By: Amir Taheri/October
14/11
New Opinion: Double
interference/Now Lebanon/October 14/11
The Syrian wounded/By: Hazem
al-Amin/October 14/11
Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for October
14/11
Iranian radicals look for a limited
armed clash with the US
Iran could try to sabotage Gilad
Shalit swap deal, mediator says
Report: Saudi officials warned of
Iran plot to attack Israel embassy in Argentina
U.N. urges world to
protect civilians in Syria
Seven months of upheaval in Syria
UN rights chief: Death toll in
Syria protest crackdown exceeds 3,000
U.S. warns all Iran
options on table
US in “direct contact” with Iran
over alleged plot
Gulf States Call for Emergency Arab
Meeting on Syria
Arab Foreign Ministers to hold meeting on Syria in Cairo
U.S. lawmaker urges delay in arms sales to Bahrain
Arab League condemns “sinful murder
plot” against Saudi envoy
Hard evidence backs up Rifi’s
remarks on abducted Syrians
Syrian Ambassador Denies Rifi’s
Accusations
Syrian ambassador calls on
Rifi to present evidence over kidnappings
Lebanon First bloc MP Okab Sakr
explains absence from Lebanon
Syria Forces Kill 10 Protesters
during Friday Demonstrations
U.S. Abides by Decision to Freeze
Military Assistance to Lebanon
Wage Hike Dispute Grows as Miqati
Rejects a Revision of Cabinet Decision
Nasrallah, Jumblat Hold Talks on
Eve of Druze Leader’s TV Appearance
Army, UNIFIL on Alert as Israel
Approached Fatima Gate
2 Men Found Shot Dead in Antelias
and Sin el-Fil
Charbel: Travel Advisories Don’t
Imply All of Lebanon Under Threat
Israel Says Shalit to Return Home
on Tuesday
Syrian, Lebanese military meeting
held at Al-Dabbusiyah
Hariri rules out relations with
“dictatorial regime”
President Michel Sleiman Sleiman
meets with Greek FM, Saudi envoy
Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya bloc MP Imad
Hout calls for comprehensive wage raise
Greek FM in Beirut to enhance economic, political ties
Rai
says disputes between rivals should not paralyze government
Failure to pay STL dues may subject Lebanon to U.N. action
Hard evidence backs up Rifi’s remarks on abducted Syrians
October 14, 2011/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Allegations against the Syrian Embassy by ISF commander Maj. Gen. Ashraf
Rifi of involvement along with ISF personnel in the kidnapping of Syrian
opposition figures in Lebanon were based on concrete and indisputable evidence,
security and political officials told The Daily Star Thursday.
The sources said that members of the ISF and the Syrian Embassy were involved in
the kidnapping and the disappearance of at least four Syrian opposition figures
in Lebanon.
During a meeting of the Parliamentary human rights committee Monday, Rifi
briefed MPs on two high-profile kidnapping cases he said had been carried out
this year by personnel from the Syrian Embassy in Beirut.
Three Syrian brothers from the Jasem family disappeared in February, after two
of them went to pick up their brother, Jasem Merii Jasem, from a police station
east of Beirut.
Human Rights Watch said in March that Jasem was originally picked up by military
intelligence agents in Beirut after he was seen handing out flyers calling for
democratic change in Syria.
Rifi said Monday that a car belonging to the Syrian Embassy in Beirut had been
used to kidnap the brothers, according to participants in the session.
He also told the committee that he had collected “dangerous information”
pointing to the embassy’s involvement in the May disappearance of Shibli Aisamy,
an 86-year-old Syrian dissident and former high-ranking Baath Party official who
was abducted in the town of Aley.
The ISF commander also expressed his belief that the kidnappings had been
undertaken by Lebanese ISF personnel working in the embassy.
Security sources told The Daily Star Thursday that Rifi’s evidence was based on
documents, information from secret service agents, photographs, video from
surveillance cameras installed in the Syrian embassy parking lot and along roads
surrounding the embassy, as well as witness testimonies.
Metn MP Sami Gemayel, who was among the lawmakers who attended Monday’s session,
said Rifi had provided “dangerous information that implicates the Syrian Embassy
in Aisamy’s kidnapping.”
Several lawmakers attending Monday’s session, including Sami Gemayel and Baabda
MP Hikmat Deeb, have questioned the military prosecutor’s failure to apprehend
those involved in the abductions.
“The committee at Parliament agreed to invite [State Prosecutor Saeed] Mirza for
the next session to look into the reasons the Military Tribunal has failed to
uncover the perpetrators,” Deeb said.
Judicial sources, however, defended the Military Tribunal, telling The Daily
Star that the probe into the abduction of Syrian opposition figures was ongoing.
They said both the ISF and judicial authorities had conducted separate
interrogations with the head of the Syrian Embassy guard unit, Lebanese First
Lt. Salah Hajj after they received information that implicates the Syrian
delegation in Lebanon.
Hajj is the son of Maj. Gen. Ali Hajj, Lebanon’s former ISF chief who was held
along with three other Lebanese generals for four years for alleged involvement
in the 2005 Hariri assassination.
Al-Rahi: State Institutions Alone Can Protect
Citizens
Naharnet /Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi stated on Wednesday that one cannot boast of
his power if he lives in closed security zones.
He said: “Administrative, judicial, and military institutions alone can protect
citizens.”
He made his statements at a dinner banquet thrown in his honor in Houston, Texas
as part of his ongoing tour of the United States.
“One cannot boast of his power by standing before a crowd and accusing the other
of treason,” he continued.
“Many figures in Lebanon don’t see past their own noses and they only work to
achieve their petty interests, which is unacceptable in our world,” the
patriarch stressed.
“No one is above his country’s institutions as they alone ensure the citizens’
rights,” al-Rahi said.
Addressing regional developments, he said: “Lebanon is an effective member of
the United Nations and it is unacceptable for it to be closed off from the
world.”
Rai says
disputes between rivals should not paralyze government
October 14, 2011/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Political bickering between Lebanon’s rival camps shouldn’t paralyze
state institutions, Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai told Lebanese expatriates
during a pastoral visit to the U.S.
“You won’t accept that a disagreement between two powerful individuals or
parties leads to the closure of Parliament and the obstruction of presidential
elections and paralysis in the government,” Rai said at a dinner in Texas.
Conflicting agendas between the March 14 and 8 coalitions led in 2006 to a
two-year paralysis in government and Parliament before clashes broke out in May
2008 between pro-government and Hezbollah gunmen over the Cabinet’s decision to
dismantle Hezbollah’s telecommunication network.
The clashes that saw Hezbollah emerge victorious, paved the way for the Doha
accord that led to the election of President Michel Sleiman as a consensus
figure and the formation of a national unity government. “No one should
overpower state institutions … institutions are a guarantee to citizens. No one
is entitled to paralyze administrative, judicial and military institutions
irrespective of the circumstances,” Rai added. Rai said Lebanon was in need of
its expatriates’ contribution to its growth, urging them to register at
embassies abroad in order to preserve the demographic balance among Lebanon’s
confessional communities. High emigration rates among Christians have raised
concerns of a shift in the country’s demographic balance in favor of Muslims.
Lebanon’s Christian community has fallen over the past few decades to under 40
percent, threatening the continued viability of a system of power-sharing based
on parity between Muslims and Christians. “We need you to come back to Lebanon
to help it by investing your money despite difficulties. You can help with the
growth of the Lebanese economy and tourism,” Rai said. “Whoever doesn’t have the
nationality of his nation is an orphan … I urge you to pass on [Lebanese]
nationality to your children because in this way you contribute to preserving a
diverse culture in the Arab world and particularly Lebanon and you help us
maintain our demography in the East,” Rai added. Rai said the Church sought a
civil state in Lebanon that separates religion and the state but added that
unlike the West the state should recognize God. “We want to separate between the
state and religion, but not between God and the state. This is the particularity
of Lebanon,” Rai said. Conveying the aspirations of Maronite expatriates, head
of the Maronite World League, Sami Khoury, said Lebanese factions should
maintain the country’s commitment to international resolutions and refuse
attempts to tie its fate to foreign powers.
Syrian, Lebanese military meeting held at Al-Dabbusiyah
October 14, 2011 /The Lebanese army issued a statement Friday that the joint
military committee between the Lebanese and the Syrian armies held a meeting on
Friday at the Al-Dabbusiyah border crossing. The participants discussed means to
control borders between the two countries and agreed to activate bilateral
coordination and take more measures to prevent smuggling through illegal border
crossings. The 1991 Lebanese-Syrian Defense Coordination Treaty stipulates that
neither country can be the source of instability for the other.
-NOW Lebanon
Hariri rules out relations with “dictatorial regime”
October 14, 2011 /Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Friday issued a statement
that it is impossible for him to establish relations “with a dictatorial regime
that does not [stop] using suppressive and bloody means against its people and
which actions are contrary to the simplest standards of freedom and democracy,”
in a possible reference to Syria.
According to the United Nations, the Syrian regime's crackdown on protests has
killed more than 3,000 people. -NOW Lebanon
President Michel Sleiman Sleiman meets with Greek FM, Saudi
envoy
October 14, 2011 /During his meeting with Greek Foreign Minister Stavros
Lambrinidis, President Michel Sleiman reiterated Lebanon’s commitment to
Palestinians’ right of return and right of full membership at the UN, the
National News Agency reported on Friday. Sleiman thanked Lambrinidis for Greek’s
support of Lebanese causes, the report also said, adding that Lambrinidis told
the president that Greece wants to strengthen bilateral cooperation. The NNA
added that Sleiman discussed bilateral relations with Saudi Ambassador to
Lebanon Ali Awad Assiri.In September, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called
on the UN to recognize the state of Palestine as a full member based on the 1967
borders, before the Six-Day war with Israel. -NOW Lebanon
Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya bloc MP Imad Hout calls for
comprehensive wage raise
October 14, 2011 /Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya bloc MP Imad Hout on Friday called on the
Lebanese government to approve a “comprehensive wage increase that helps the
worker, but does not exhaust the [resources of] employers and force them to
dismiss employees.”Hout also said that “the government should control prices and
punish [merchants] who raise them as well as avoid tax increases such as the
Value Added Tax and the tax on fuel.”The cabinet decided on Tuesday night to
raise the minimum wage from 500,000 LL of 700,000 LL, add an amount of 200,000
LL to wages up to 1 million LL and 300,000 LL to wages ranging from 1 million to
1.8 million LL. The economic committees voiced their reservation over the
cabinet’s decision and the GWU suspended the strike that was planned for October
12. -NOW Lebanon
Arab League condemns “sinful murder plot” against Saudi
envoy
October 13, 2011 /The Arab League condemned an alleged Iranian plot to kill the
Saudi ambassador to Washington as a “sinful attempt,” without naming the Islamic
Republic.
The report, however, did not elaborate any further. Iran has strongly denied any
involvement in what the US says was a plot by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards'
elite Quds force to kill the Saudi ambassador by hiring assassins from a Mexican
drug cartel for $1.5 million. US President Barack Obama on Thursday demanded
answers from the pinnacle of Iran's government over an alleged plot and said the
facts of the plan “were not in dispute.”-NOW Lebanon
US in “direct contact” with Iran over alleged plot
October 13, 2011 /The United States said Thursday it has been in "direct contact
with Iran" over the alleged plot to kill the Saudi ambassador to Washington.
"We have had direct contact with Iran," State Department spokesperson Victoria
Nuland told reporters when asked about communication between the two sides,
adding the contact took place Wednesday and not in Iran. A senior US State
Department official told reporters later on the condition of anonymity that the
contact took place at the US initiative.
US President Barack Obama on Thursday demanded answers from the top layer of the
Iranian government over the alleged plot and said the facts of the plan were not
in dispute.
But he also declined to say whether US officials believed the alleged scheme was
endorsed at the very highest levels of the Iranian regime, though ascribed it to
a pattern of "dangerous and reckless" behavior by Tehran. "We believe that even
if at the highest levels there was not detailed operational knowledge, there has
to be accountability with respect to anybody in the Iranian government engaging
in this kind of activity," Obama said. "The important thing is for Iran to
answer the international community, why anybody in their government is engaging
in these kinds of activities?" Iran has strongly denied any involvement in what
the US says was a plot by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' elite Quds force to
kill the Saudi ambassador by hiring assassins from a Mexican drug cartel for
$1.5 million.-AFP/NOW Lebanon
Gulf States Call for Emergency Arab Meeting on Syria
Naharnet /The oil-rich Gulf States have called for an emergency Arab foreign
ministers' meeting on the mounting bloodshed in Syria as Damascus shows no
let-up in its deadly crackdown on protests. In a statement received by Agence
France Presse late Thursday, the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council said the
meeting should address "the situation in Syria, which has deteriorated sharply,
particularly in its humanitarian dimensions, and steps that could help end the
bloodshed and halt the machine of violence."The GCC suggested no date for the
meeting and made no specific proposals as to the actions it should take. Arab
foreign ministers already met in Cairo on September 13 and called on the Syrian
authorities to "immediately stop the bloodshed," drawing a testy response from
Damascus. Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi had met Syrian President Bashar Assad
three days earlier and presented him with a 13-point document outlining Arab
proposals for reform. More than 2,900 civilians have been killed in Syria since
mid-March, when nationwide protests erupted against Assad's regime, according to
U.N. figures.**Source Agence France Presse
Syrian Ambassador Denies Rifi’s Accusations
Naharnet/Syrian ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdul Karim Ali on Friday denied
reports that his embassy was behind the disappearance of Syrian opposition
members who have gone missing in Lebanon, calling such accusations "unfounded."
"I am puzzled by these unfounded claims that have been attributed to the police
chief," Ali told reporters after meeting Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour. "Such
accusations affect coordination between the two countries as concerns security
issues," he added. He accused some Lebanese officials and MPs of seeking to
undermine his country, where the regime of President Bashar Assad is in the
throes of a brutal crackdown aimed at crushing an eight-month-long revolt.
Ali was referring to Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi who
said on Monday that the ISF collected "dangerous information" linking the Syrian
Embassy to the disappearance of Shebli al- Aisamy. Aisamy, 86, is a co-founder
of Syria's ruling Baath party who fled his native country in 1966 over political
differences. He was last seen in May in the eastern Lebanese region of Aley. On
his part, Mansour also noted that Lebanese police in recent weeks had arrested
several traffickers sending weapons to Syria."All these issues need to be dealt
with so that they don't affect security in Lebanon or Syria," he said. Source
Agence France Presse
Syria Forces Kill 10 Protesters during Friday
Demonstrations
Naharnet /Syrian security forces killed 10 people on Friday when they opened
fire on protesters in several cities, Rami Abdul Rahman of the Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights told AFP by telephone. "Ten demonstrators were
killed today," said Rahman. The toll included seven in Dael on the outskirts of
Daraa, a flashpoint town in the south, a demonstrator in Saqba on the outskirts
of Damascus a demonstrator in the al-Qadam neighborhood of Damascus and another
on the outskirts of Aleppo. "There were massive demonstrations in several Syrian
cities despite a significant deployment of security forces," Rahman said,
including a rally in Deir al-Zour, "the largest since military operations ended
there in August." Syrians also staged demonstrations in the northwestern
province of Idlib, the central region of Homs, the coastal city of Latakia, and
the capital Damascus, the Observatory said. Pro-democracy activists called for
nationwide demonstrations on Friday in support of "free soldiers" -- a reference
to defectors -- after 36 people, including 25 soldiers, were killed in clashes
across the country on Thursday. Over 3,000 people have been killed in the unrest
in Syria since popular protests broke out in mid-March, the U.N. human rights
chief said Friday, urging international action to prevent civil war in the
country. "The number of people killed since the violence started in March has
now exceeded 3,000, including at least 187 children. More than 100 people have
been reported killed in the last 10 days alone," said the U.N. High Commissioner
for Human Rights Navi Pillay. The heavy death toll arose from the "sniping from
rooftops and indiscriminate use of force against peaceful protestors," noted
Pillay. "The government of Syria has manifestly failed to protect its
population," she said. The international community should therefore step up to
do so, urged the U.N. rights chief. Meanwhile, 25 soldiers were among 36 people
killed in violence in Syria on Thursday as the army met mounting armed
resistance to its crackdown on dissent, a human rights group said. Of the
civilians killed, one died in the flashpoint central city of Homs while 10 were
killed, one of them a child, in Banash, a town in Idlib province in the
northwest, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Friday. *Source
Agence France PresseNaharnet
Nasrallah, Jumblat Hold Talks on Eve of Druze Leader’s TV
Appearance
Naharnet /Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Progressive Socialist
Party chief Walid Jumblat held talks on Thursday night in what sources said was
a coordinated meeting ahead of the Druze leader’s expected interview with al-Manar.
Hizbullah’s TV station said the two officials discussed the latest developments
but a source close to the two parties told al-Liwaa newspaper that the meeting
and Jumblat’s TV appearance on Friday night are part of coordinated joint
stances. Hizbullah and the PSP have agreed to steer Lebanon clear of the crises
in the region, the source said. Al-Liwaa quoted informed sources as saying that
the Nasrallah-Jumblat meeting would set the stage for improved ties between the
PSP chief and the Shiite party.
Relations were lately frigid over Jumblat’s stance from the Arab revolutions,
mainly the events in Syria, and his demand for the funding of the Special
Tribunal for Lebanon that is set to try ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s suspected
assassins.
Wage Hike Dispute Grows as Miqati Rejects a Revision of
Cabinet Decision
Naharnet /Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas was on Friday drafting the decree of
wage hikes approved by the cabinet earlier in the week despite opposition by the
General Labor Confederation and the Economic Committees. Nahhas told As Safir
daily he was obliged in accordance with the law to prepare the decree as called
for by the government although the ministers of the Change and Reform bloc
rejected it. The cabinet on Tuesday increased the minimum wage to LL700,000 from
LL500,000. It also raised by LL200,000 the wages of workers earning less than
LL1 million and by LL300,000 those earning between LL1 million and LL1.8
million. The ceiling set for those entitled to the wage hikes angered labor
unions which also called for increases for workers earning more than LL1.8
million. The salary boost also drew condemnation from the private sector which
expressed fears that companies will have to lay off workers or shut down. GLC
chief Ghassan Ghosn told An Nahar newspaper that he urged Premier Najib Miqati
on Thursday to revise the plan. But sources close to the prime minister said
Miqati didn’t promise the GLC to resolve the issue. They stressed that the wage
boost will be implemented as approved by the cabinet. “There won’t be any
revision.”
Nahhas also confirmed that the decree would be ready and referred to the cabinet
during its next session. But the private sector that includes the Economic
Committees has fears that the implementation of the government decision will
deal a blow to the Lebanese economy. The large-scale condemnation led Speaker
Nabih Berri to hint at the possibility of implementing a deal that he had
brokered to increase by LL200,000 the salaries of workers earning between
LL500,000 and LL1 million and LL300,000 for those earning more than LL1 million.
Berri told Miqati about his proposal during a telephone conversation on Thursday
night, An Nahar said. But the premier is not likely to approve any new mediation
and suggestions. His sources stressed that a government decision would only be
annulled by a new decision taken by the council of ministers, an unlikely move.
Army, UNIFIL on Alert as Israel Approached Fatima Gate
Naharnet /Tensions were high at the Fatima gate border crossing in southern
Lebanon on Friday when an Israeli army unit approached the border to inspect a
suspicious object, reported the National News Agency. The Lebanese army and
United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon promptly went on alert in response to
the Israeli activity. NNA said that an Israeli unit of 30 soldiers accompanied
by police dogs approached the area to inspect a green plastic box, which they
suspected to contain explosives.It soon withdrew from the area after ensuring
that it carried no explosives.
Aoun:
Countries Which Tried to Seize Lebanon are Being Punished
Naharnet /Change and Reform bloc leader MP Michel Aoun stressed on Thursday that
"all countries who attempted to put its hands on Lebanon are being punished
today."
During the October 13,1990 Memorial, Aoun said that the Free Patriotic Movement
is "determined to continue on the martyrs' path which had been entrusted to
them", adding that "we will never bow down to any intimidation.""The present
confirms that every country who tried to put its hands on Lebanon is being
punished," he said, stressing that "we have never been aggressors. We always
were defending ourselves and our existence against aggressors, and our
conscience is clear."Aoun added: "The power of Christianity does not come from
tanks and weapons, but rather from not fearing tanks." "Today we are obliged to
build a state on moral, ethical, and legal standards", the FPM leader said,
pointing out that "some people who hold certain responsibilities have no respect
for these standards, which makes it hard to build the state."Aoun hoped that the
church "will offer us the necessary help to ensure these obligations."
The MP pointed out that FPM never treated people with hatred and "never did seek
vengeance."
Baalbek Clash Leaves 2 Dead
Naharnet /Two people were killed in a clash between Jaafar and Rifai Families in
Sharawineh Neighborhood in Baalbak on Thursday. According to NNA, a person from
Jaafar family was shot dead as youths from his family were trying to kidnap a
youth from Rifai family in Sharawinah neighborhood in Baalbek, while a ten year
old child was killed by stray bullets. " A Palestinian Child was killed by stray
bullets in the armed clashes," MTV reported, adding that "the army intervened to
control the situation." PM Najib Miqati followed-up on the clash and contacted
Interior Minister Marwan Charbel and the Lebanese army Chief of Staff Gen. Walid
Suleiman, demanding radical measures to contain the situation. *Source Agence
France PresseNaharnet
2 Men Found Shot Dead in Antelias and Sin el-Fil
Naharnet/The bodies of two middle-aged men who had been shot in the head were
discovered in two regions near Beirut early Friday, the National News Agency
reported.
NNA said the body of Albert Ramez al-Nashar, 52, was found under a bridge in the
town of Antelias. It was taken to Haroun hospital in Zalka.
Voice of Lebanon radio station (93.3) quoted a security source as saying that a
speeding car dropped the body at around 3:00 am.
The second victim was identified as 48-year-old Shaker Saeed Abdul Nour. His
body was found near a marble factory in the Jisr al-Wati area of the town of Sin
el-Fil.
Preliminary investigation showed that the man was killed after his taxi was
stolen. A shell casing lied next to his body which was taken to the Lebanese
Canadian hospital in Sin el-Fil, NNA said. It was not yet clear whether there
was a connection between the two murders.
U.S. Abides by Decision to Freeze Military Assistance to
Lebanon
Naharnet /Army chief Gen. Jean Qahwaji’s visit to Washington did not result in
any change in the United States decision to halt military assistance to the
Lebanese army, As Safir newspaper reported on Friday. The relations between the
U.S. and Lebanese army “are strong and we support the funding of the aid program
to the Lebanese army,” a source in at the State Department told the daily.
However, sources remarked that during a meeting between deputy Secretary of
State William Burns, assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey
Feltman and Qahwaji, the U.S. officials stressed on the message conveyed by U.S.
Ambassador Maura Connelly. Earlier this month, Connelly told Lebanese officials
that the Obama administration expects from Lebanon to protect members of Syria's
opposition living in the country and committing to the Special Tribunal for
Lebanon probing the assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri.
U.S. sources told As Safir that the two sides understand the nature of this
matter. Qahwaji held meetings with U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
General Martin Dempsey and with central Command Chief General James Mattis. The
sources noted that the meetings between Qahwaji and the U.S. military command
were “amicable.” The U.S. has provided about $100 million annually in military
assistance to Lebanon since 2005. Prior to the recent developments the funds
were temporarily put on hold last year. U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton
told Prime Minister Najib Miqati, during the premier’s visit to New York in late
September, that while the U.S. was aware of the necessity of continuing
assistance to the Lebanese Army, armed groups could not carry out the role of
the state or the government, a reference to Hizbullah.
Charbel: Travel Advisories Don’t Imply All of Lebanon Under
Threat
Naharnet /Interior Minister Marwan Charbel stressed on Friday that travel
warnings for Lebanon issued by Western embassies are routine procedures that
don’t imply a dangerous situation in the entire country. In remarks to al-Joumhouria
daily, Charbel said the warnings “don’t mean that the situation in Lebanon as a
whole is under threat.”
He said that Lebanese nationals should as well abide by the precautions that the
embassies are advising their citizens to take. Several embassies have tightened
travel warnings for Lebanon, advising their nationals to avoid parts of the
country due to unrest in Syria and the kidnapping of Estonian tourists. The
British embassy has advised its nationals to avoid travel to Lebanon's eastern
and southern borders with Syria following incursions by Syrian troops into the
country. Embassies including those of the United States, Australia, Britain,
Canada and France have also warned of the risk of abduction after seven
Estonians were kidnapped at gunpoint in the Bekaa Valley in March. The U.S.,
Canadian and Australian embassies cite in their warnings the international
Lebanon. "U.S. citizens in Lebanon should monitor ongoing political
developments, particularly in relation to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, as
Lebanese political leaders have warned publicly that the tribunal's findings
could spark civil unrest," said a U.S. embassy travel advisory.
Israel Says Shalit to Return Home on Tuesday
Naharnet/Captured soldier Gilad Shalit is to return to Israel on Tuesday at the
same time as 450 Palestinian prisoners are freed if the terms of a swap deal are
respected, a senior Israeli official said on Friday. "We hope that the timetable
laid out in the agreement will be respected and that Gilad Shalit will return
home on Tuesday," said the official from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's
office told Agence France Presse, saying a first tranche of prisoners would be
released at the same time.
Israel's chief negotiator David Meidan is due to return to Cairo on Saturday
evening to finalize the details of the prisoner swap deal with Hamas, working
through Egyptian mediators, public radio said. The Israel Prisons Authority is
expected to publish on its website the official list of Palestinian detainees to
be freed on Saturday or Sunday, the radio said, in a move which will give the
public 48 hours to lodge any legal appeals before the Supreme Court. The court,
Israel's highest judicial authority, has never before challenged any
government-approved deal for the exchange of prisoners. The handover can only
take place after the appeals period has expired. Details of the mechanics
remained sketchy on Friday, with Israeli press reports saying Shalit was likely
to be taken from Gaza into the Sinai Peninsula, from where he would be
transferred to Israel via one of the crossings.
Haaretz newspaper said 27 women prisoners would be freed as Shalit crossed into
Sinai, while the main group of 450 would be released as he crossed the border
into Israel.
Shalit was then expected to be flown to a military base to be reunited with his
family and undergo an initial medical check before returning to his home in
northern Israel.
Shalit has been held in captivity since he was snatched by militants from three
Gaza-based groups including the armed wing of Hamas in June 2006. The
long-awaited deal for his freedom was announced late on Tuesday, when Israel
announced a prisoner swap agreement with Gaza's Hamas rulers which will see
1,027 Palestinian detainees released -- 450 of them in the coming week, and
another 550 within two months. Another 27 female prisoners will also be
released, officials said.*Source Agence France Presse
New Opinion: Double interference
Now Lebanon/October 14, 2011
Lebanon has become a country of breathtaking double standards. At a time when
Lebanese civil society activists and bloggers are being harassed and detained
for supporting the Syrian uprising—activity that is referred to as “interfering
in Syrian affairs”—many of the country’s politicians are doing their bit to
ensure the perpetuity of the Assad family and the Baathist government next door
with apparent impunity. On Wednesday, Loyalty to the Resistance MP Walid
Succariyeh praised those who turned out in Damascus that day to support Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad, to thank Russia and China for their support at the
UN, and to denounce the Syrian National Council, the body formally set up on
October 2, comprised of most of the groups opposing the Syrian leader. “These
rallies reflect the reality in Syria and its genuine people who were not
affected by the misleading media campaigns or the crimes that were committed,”
said the Lebanese lawmaker. Three days earlier, Samar al-Hajj, wife of General
Ali al-Hajj, one of the four security chiefs detained in the aftermath of the
assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, led Mariam 2, a “convoy” of
151 Lebanese women, into Syria to show support for and praise the “wisdom” of
President Assad, whose security forces have killed over 2,500 pro-democracy
demonstrators in the past seven months.
It is the second time Hajj has rallied the ladies for the Assads. In July, she
led the first Mariam convoy of 400 women to Damascus to stand against what she
called the “conspiracies” working against the regime. The gung-ho group of women
had previously planned to take part in the embargo-busting flotilla destined for
Gaza, but the ship—yes, The Miriam—never left port.
Back in July, Hajj expressed her appreciation for the Lebanese and Syrian
security forces, both of which had “facilitated the convoy’s passage at the
border, and congratulated it.”
Clearly, hers was a crusade for what she saw was right, but it is hard to
imagine the same Lebanese security forces being so accommodating should an
anti-regime convoy decide to head across the border to help their like-minded
comrades face off against the repressive crackdown. This would be “interfering”
in Syrian affairs, a term bandied about by a government that is incapable of
condemning a regional ally that has clearly passed its sell-by date.
Voicing support for a government that has murdered its own people, has been
condemned by the international community and has violated Lebanese sovereign
territory by murdering an innocent civilian who was supposedly under the
protection of the Lebanese state, is ok, it appears. Organizing a bus convoy to
travel the length and breadth of Syria is apparently not “interfering” in Syrian
affairs.
It would be naïve to assume given the color of this particular government that
the raft of support for the Assad regime will stop any time soon. But given
Lebanon’s democratic credentials and its proud history of freedom of speech in
the region, these double standards have to be addressed. Detentions and
harassment have to stop, while the thugs who have brutally set upon the
demonstrators who gathered peacefully outside the Syrian Embassy in Hamra must
be reined-in. How can it be that a demonstration supporting Syrian democracy
ends in violence—in full view of the security forces—while those who march for
the regime can do so “peacefully”?
The last time we looked, Lebanon was a sovereign country with laws that protect
all citizens. They should be enforced. If politicians such as Succariyeh and the
Samar Hajjs of this world want to back a brutal dictator and campaign for the
perpetuity of a regime that has no place in the modern Middle East, then others
who stand for change and greater freedoms should also be allowed to spread their
message without hindrance.
The Syrian wounded
By: Hazem al-Amin, October 14, 2011
Can providing aid to a wounded person become a matter for political
condemnation? Families from Akkar and the Bekaa were “accused” of welcoming
wounded Syrian nationals and helping to provide them with treatment. These
accusations were made by pro-Hezbollah press outlets, which imputed their
information to official security sources.
According to these outlets, sources close to the March 14 coalition asked the
administrator of a Bekaa hospital to facilitate the treatment of wounded Syrian
nationals, but the latter refused to do so! This came within the framework of
condemning the March 14 coalition and glorifying the “patriotism” of the
hospital administrator. The journalist who conveyed this information was not
appalled by the hospital’s failure to welcome the wounded, and neither
professional conscience nor even his conscience as a human being compelled him
to head to the hospital in question and investigate this event.
“A hospital refused to welcome wounded people.” A Lebanese journalist who
received such information is not responsible for heading immediately to that
hospital and inquiring about the truth behind the security information that
reached him. Isn’t that a shame for the press, as shame we as journalists should
all feel?
This same press was behind the campaign against ISF Director General Major
General Achraf Rifi over statements imputed to him in the Lebanese Security and
Defense Committee, whereby the security services attached to the Syrian Embassy
in Beirut kidnapped four Syrian nationals and took them in an embassy vehicle to
an unknown destination. How dare Rifi say something like that?
This press did not even bother to hide its condemnation behind some insinuation;
rather, it came out loud and clear, unaware that it is condemning what is right
at some point at a time when few are supporting it, much like the performance of
March 14 forces were condemned at rare rightful stage.
In reality, Lebanon is experiencing an unprecedented stage of chaos with regard
to standards and ethics. Many are blinded by their partiality to the Syrian
regime. Their minds are blinded so they cannot see a bloody victim or a civilian
kidnapped in broad daylight. Their minds are also blocking the fact that they
are siding with the killer beyond the shadow of a doubt. Indeed, is there
anything clearer than blood in the equation pitting the perpetrator against the
victim?
The press, which should be more sensitive regarding the bloody scenes in Syria,
is wholly insensitive today due to Lebanese division. Yes, this Lebanese
division is preventing eyes from actually seeing the wounded Syrian national who
found refuge in Lebanon. This same Lebanese division had already called on the
press to picture itself as the defender of the rights of Syrian workers in
Lebanon and of the injustice committed against them back when the perpetrators
were the March 14 forces.
*This article is a translation of the original, which appeared on the NOW Arabic
site on Friday October 14, 2011
Lebanon First bloc MP Okab Sakr explains absence from
Lebanon
October 14, 2011
Lebanon First bloc MP Okab Sakr on Friday attributed his absence from Lebanon to
his keeping in touch with Lebanese communities abroad.
Sakr, however, told the Voice of Lebanon (100.5) radio that “he would always
follow up on the situation in Lebanon and the Arab world,” adding that “the Arab
Spring, which originated from the Lebanese Spring, will change the region’s
image,” in reference to the 2005 Cedar Revolution.
Asked about his ties with the Future movement, Sakr said that “he keeps in touch
with former Prime Minister Saad Hariri,” and that “he is part of the Future
Movement and the March 14 coalition irrespective of the rumors spread by the
media.”
He also commented on the Lebanese government’s stance regarding the Syrian
army’s violations of the Lebanese border.
“There is no government in Lebanon; [Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s] government
is a puppet in the hands of the Syrian regime and covers up for Shabeeha’s
(thugs) doings inside Syria and Lebanon.”On October 4 Syrian army tanks crossed
the Lebanese border near the town of Aarsal and fired several gunshots on
Lebanese territory. Then two days later, the Syrian troops shot and killed a
farmer near Aarsal.Thousands of Syrians have fled to Lebanon in recent months,
often using illegal border crossings, to escape the unrest gripping their
country.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s troops are engaged in a deadly cracked down
on protests against almost five decades of Baath Party rule which broke out
mid-March, killing over 3,000 people according to the UN Human Rights Committee,
and triggering a torrent of international condemnation.
Regarding the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) probing the 2005 assassination
of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, Sakr said that that “the government will
not fund it, and Mikati’s statements are nothing but maneuvers.”The
Hezbollah-led March 8 parties – which currently dominate Lebanon’s cabinet –
have opposed a clause in the Lebanese annual state budget pertaining to the
funding of the UN-backed court, while Prime Minister Najib Mikati has repeatedly
voiced Lebanon’s commitment to the tribunal.
Four Hezbollah members have been indicted by the STL in the case of Hariri’s
assassination. However, the Shia group strongly denied the charges and refuses
to cooperate with the court.
Lebanon contributes 49 percent of the STL’s annual funding.-NOW Lebanon
Lebanon: As Syria retreats, Iran advances
By Amir Taheri/AsharqAlawsat
While President Bashar al-Assad is killing people to maintain power in Damascus,
his regime may be losing the grip that Syria had built over Lebanon since the
1970s.
As Syria’s influence in Lebanon wanes, that of Iran, already significant,
increases.
There are several reasons behind Syria’s declining power in Lebanon.
To start with, there is the perception, growing by the day, that Syria is so
mired in domestic troubles that it would not be able to meddle in Lebanese
affairs for some time.
Then there is the decline in Syria’s ability to be generous with its “allies” in
Lebanon.
In fact, the regime in Damascus never had real friends in Lebanon. Those who
befriended it did so either out of fear or greed.
The fear factor was established with over 100 political assassinations,
including those of two Lebanese presidents, one prime minister, and dozens of
parliamentarians.
The greed factor operated by giving pro-Syrian figures a share in racketeering
activities orchestrated by Damascus in Lebanon.
Today, however, fear of Syria is less pungent than before while its racketeering
activities are being taken over by the Lebanese branch of Hezbollah.
One sign of changing times is the increase in the number of prominent Lebanese
calling on the Iranian embassy in Beirut. Bureaucrats in search of advancement,
diplomats hoping for a juicy posting abroad, and businessmen looking for plum
contracts know that getting a nod from Tehran could do the trick.
Iran, using Hezbollah and the Maronite bloc led by ex-General Michel Aoun as
cover, has been moving its pawns at all levels of the Lebanese administration.
The appointments of General Jean Kahwaji as Army Chief and of General Abbas
Ibrahim as Chief of Intelligence, and of Ali Hassan Khalil as Health Minister
all went ahead with Tehran’s approval as did that of Adnan Sayyid Hussein as
[Lebanese] university president.
Pro-Iranian figures are also moving into key positions within the civil service.
This is of crucial importance as the service is preparing the country’s new
electoral map. The idea is to do enough gerrymandering to ensure a clear
majority for Hezbollah and its Aounite allies in the next parliament to be
elected in 2012. Because the unicameral parliament chooses both the prime
minister and the president, its control would enable Hezbollah to stage a
constitutional coup and establish a pro-Iranian regime.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah claims that his group does not intend to
establish an Iranian-style “Islamic” regime. However, he has publicly stated his
allegiance to Iranian “Supreme Guide” Ali Khamenei as “our leader and master”.
An egomaniac, Nasrallah might not realise that his Iranian masters regard him as
little more than a pawn in their “global” power game. But even he knows that
Tehran would not tolerate the slightest divergence from its strategy for
regional hegemony.
In a recent speech in Tehran, Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Hassan
Firouzabadi spoke of Iran’s “advance military positions” in Lebanon. These
include much of southern Lebanon, northern Bekaa valley, West Beirut and parts
of Mount Lebanon especially Jubeil. It is no accident that both President Michel
Suleiman and the Maronite Patriarch Bechara el-Rahi hail from Jubeil.
Iran is now busy linking those areas together with a parallel communications
system ultimately controlled by General Firouzabadi in Tehran.
There are other signs of Iran’s heightening profile in Lebanon.
Last week, the Lebanese government banned an Iranian film because it was
sympathetic to Iran’s anti-mullah opposition. Iran’s official news agency IRNA
had no qualms about boasting that the film was banned “after intervention by the
Iranian ambassador in Beirut.”
Then we had the announcement by President Suleiman that Lebanon had submitted a
formal demand for Iran to train and arm the Lebanese army. Suleiman told IRNA
that Lebanon “no longer counted on getting arms from the United States” and
regarded Iran as “our strongest ally.”
Beirut and Tehran have also announced the abolition of visas. Before the current
turmoil started, over a million Iranians visited Syria each year. Some of them
added Lebanon to their itinerary. With Syria now regarded as a dangerous
destination, Tehran claims that many Iranian tourists might turn to Lebanon as
an alternative destination. However, not all Iranians are allowed to leave the
country.
Since Hezbollah already controls the airport at Beirut, the abolition of visas
could enable the Islamic Republic to send political, economic and military
personnel to Lebanon in large numbers with greater ease.
All this does not mean that Syria is completely shut of Lebanon. Damascus still
has some high profile allies including Prime Minister Najib Miqati, a wealthy
contractor with business ties to the al-Assads. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri,
a Shi’ite, is also a long-established Syrian ally and, deep down, an opponent of
Iran’s rising power in Lebanon.
However, neither Miqati nor Berri could do much for their Syrian patrons when
the al-Assad regime itself is challenged by a resilient popular uprising.
For the time being, therefore, Lebanon seems to be on the way to becoming a
satellite of the Islamic Republic. The only caveat is that the Khomeinist regime
in Tehran may be exposed to the same pressures that have shaken the Baathist
regime in Damascus.
Iranian radicals look for a limited armed clash with the US
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report /October 14, 2011/The motivation for the foiled
Iranian-instigated plot to murder the Saudi ambassador to Washington at his
favorite eatery, Café Milano in Georgetown, is revealed by debkafile's Iranian
sources as a bid by a super-radical faction at the top of the Iranian regime to
draw the United States into a limited military clash. Supreme Leader Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei approved the plot when his son and heir Mojtaba, 42, and the Al
Qods Brigades commander Gen. Qassem Soleimanipresented him with their "grand
plan."
US President Barack Obama said Thursday, Oct. 13 that a person charged with
plotting to assassinate Saudi Arabia’s US ambassador “had direct links, was paid
by” and “directed by individuals in the Iranian government. He also said he
would not take any options off the table in dealing with Tehran.
The American UN ambassador Susan Rice later met with her Iranian counterpart
about the plot. The contents of their conversation were not revealed.
debkafile's Iranian sources disclose how the "grand plan" was intended to
unfold. The first stage was kicked off last week with the flare-up of new
Shiite-led riots in Bahrain which Iranian agents helped to expand into the
neighboring Qatif oil region of eastern Saudi Arabia.
This week, Revolutionary Guards and Al Qods experts in mayhem organized pilgrims
heading for the Umrah, the little pilgrimage, in Mecca starting on Nov. 4, as
agents provocateur for stirring up riots among the massed pilgrims. The first
batch of 20,000 Iranian pilgrims is already in the shrine cities of Mecca and
Medina.
Ambassador Adel Al-Jubeir's assassination was planned to coincide with riots in
the holy cities and disturbances in the oil regions and so cause a breakdown in
national security and shake the throne to its foundations.
The Americans would then come running to save the kingdom, Mojtaba (picture on
the left) and Soleimani figured, and head straight into a limited armed clash
with Iran. This is what the pair was aiming for to further the following
objectives:
1. To head off the spread of unrest in Syria into the Iranian Republic. The
downtrodden ethnic and religious minorities which make up 60 percent of the
population would not venture to rise up against the minority Persian rulers at a
time of war for fear of being punished as traitors.
2. To push the controversial Iranian nuclear program down to the bottom of the
international agenda and stop in its tracks the US-led campaign to halt its
development.
3. To win international Muslim acclaim for diverting the military focus of the
West away from Syria and saving President Bashar Assad's regime.
4. By sacrificing a few of Iran's warships and planes in a limited clash, Tehran
would win support from Russia and China, which are both strongly opposed to
Western military intervention in Syria or any other part of the Middle East.
5. They would produce a Tehran-led anti-American Muslim military line-up to
stand up against the pro-American Sunni Muslim military bloc sponsored by the
West, which Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan is assembling.
debkafile's intelligence sources say there is nothing paradoxical about the
super-efficient professional Al-Qods Brigades enlisting a Mexican drug cartel
for a hit squad to assassinate Ambassador al-Jubeir. For at least 20 years,
Iran's Lebanese proxy Hizballah has kept itself in funds by drug trafficking,
gunrunning and fencing stolen goods and today controls entire networks in Latin
America and Africa.
This fact is well known, fully recorded and easily available to anyone
interested.
The most competent clandestine organizations often use inept losers like the
Iranian-born New York American Mansour Arbabsiar for "dirty operations." They
tend to be a far cry from the high-IQ superspies of film and fiction. In this
case, he may have been the best foot soldier available. Al Qods maintains small
sleeper cells among the 900,000 Iranian expatriates living in the United States,
more than half of them in California and Texas. But its active agents are by and
large of the same substandard caliber as Arbabsiar.
There is another possibility: His Al Qods controllers expected the plot to be
foiled. They knew Arbabsiar was under FBI surveillance after an unsuccessful
attempt to enter the drug market, and watched him walk into a trap when he tried
to hire a DEA agent posing as a member of the Mexican drug cartel.
Had the assassination taken place, it would have been treated as an act of war
by the United States, Saudi Arabia and Israel. (The Saudi and Israeli embassies
were to be bombed at the same time in Buenos Aires.)
Mojtaba and Soleimani did not intend to go that far or provoke a full-blown war.
A foiled plot was to be the cue for a limited armed confrontation which was all
their "grand plan" required – and that result appears to be building up
International Christian Union
31 Portland Ave. Bergenfield NJ 07621
Press Release:
International Christian Union Calls for International Tribunal and Suspension of
Military Aid to Egypt
13 October 2011
The International Christian Union (ICU) calls for an international Tribunal to
investigate the “Black Sunday” massacre of Christians on October 9. Thirty-five
Copts were killed and 300 were injured. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces
(SCAF) held a news conference to deny its responsibility for the violence,
claiming that Egyptian soldiers protecting protesters and had not used live
ammunition or armored personnel vehicles to attack the Christian protestors.
Al-Arabia TV, the state-run Egyptian television said that armed Coptic
protesters killed 3 soldiers and injured 20. However, the coordinators of the
peaceful protest which drew 150,000 Christians said that there were no weapons,
only wooden crosses.
The Copts had announced the protest which was the culmination of months of
escalating attacks on Christians by Muslim radicals. According to one of the
activists involved, as reported by the Assyrian International News Agency, army
drew them into a confrontation when they arrived at Maspero near the state
television building. Father Filopateer argued, "They arranged a trap for us,"
"As soon as we arrived they surrounded us and started shooting live ammunition
randomly at us. Then the armored vehicles arrived and ran over protesters in
Sunday’s violence.
The International Christian Union strongly condemns the actions by the Egyptian
army to suppress the peaceful protest by the Christian community. Increasingly
extremists act with impunity against the Christian minority in Egypt, and it is
becoming clear that the Egyptian military is complicit in this violence. ICU
calls upon the U.S. Congress to withhold military assistance to the Egyptian
government until there is a thorough and transparent investigation of the
violence of October 9. “The incident smacks of a Syria-like suppression of
protest,” noted Joseph Hakim, President of ICU. He added, “The failure of the
transitional SCAF to punish perpetrators for numerous attacks against Christians
and their institutions has emboldened radical Muslims to further marginalize and
terrorize Egypt’s Christians.”
God Bless
Joseph Hakim
International Christian Union (ICU) US non profit& UN ngo
31 Portland Avenue
Bergenfield, NJ 07621
201-387-1867 phone
201-387-0782 fax
201-832-8058 cell
International Christian Union (ICU) : JHakim.ICU@gmail.com
President