LCCC
ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِSeptember
05/2011
Bible Quotation for today.
Luke 12/8-12: "I tell you, everyone who
confesses me before men, him will the Son of Man also confess before the angels
of God; 12:9 but he who denies me in the presence of men will be denied in the
presence of the angels of God. 12:10 Everyone who speaks a word against the Son
of Man will be forgiven, but those who blaspheme against the Holy Spirit will
not be forgiven. 12:11 When they bring you before the synagogues, the rulers,
and the authorities, don’t be anxious how or what you will answer, or what you
will say; 12:12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that same hour what you
must say.”
Latest
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Oh Muslims, where are you? The
Syrian regime has dug its own grave/By
Dr. Aaidh al-Qarni/September 04/11
Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources
for September 04/11
Iran's Nuclear Plant Linked to
National Grid
US sources: Turkey's sharp economic
downswing undercuts its regional status
'Israel hopes to overcome crisis
with Turkey, but won't apologize for Gaza flotilla raid'
Report: U.S. trying to stall
Palestinian statehood bid at UN
Israel deploys third Iron Dome
anti-rocket battery near Ashdod
Report: Turkey seeking strategic
alliance with Egypt
Home Front Minister: Sinai-based
cell may try to attack Israel in coming days
Netanyahu and Barak withheld
information from MKs on latest Israel terror attacks
Libya rebels say talks to end
standoff around besieged Gadhafi town failed
At least 24 killed as Syria cracks
down on dissent
Russia Says Determined to Prevent
Libyan Scenario in Syria
Syria Agrees to Arab League Chief
Visit
In France, Al-Rahi Voices Concern
over Mideast Turmoil
Hizbullah, Iran Won’t Take
‘Suicidal’ Stand in Defending Syria
Hezbollah blasts March 14, says
patience wearing thin
Miqati’s Vow to Fund STL to Create
New Govt. Crisis
Jumblatt: Cabinet has no
option but to fund STL
Charbel: Rifi, Hassan to Remain in
their Posts
Court sentences Karam to 2 years
prison with hard labor
Karam’s Conviction Proves
Credibility of Intelligence Bureau as FPM Slams Verdict
Hoss praises Turkey, urges
Arabs to boost ties with Ankara
Suleiman, Berri, Miqati, Jumblat
Reach Agreement on Electricity File, Await Aoun’s Reply
Hizbullah,
Iran Won’t Take ‘Suicidal’ Stand in Defending Syria
Naharnet /Hizbullah and Iran will not go out of their way in defending the
Syrian regime given the international pressure it is being subject to and the
likelihood that it will soon be overthrown, diplomatic sources told the daily An
Nahar in remarks published on Sunday. They added that the international pressure
on Syria to halt its crackdown against anti-regime protests is also weighing on
its allies in Lebanon, especially Hizbullah. They noted: “The party always
resorted to stirring security or military unrest whenever it faced internal
pressure and the situation in Syria is a major cause of concern for it because
the regime has and still is its primary supporter in the region.” However, in
light of recent Iranian remarks on the situation in Syria, questions have been
raised over whether it and Hizbullah will keep on supporting the Arab state
until the very end. Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi had stated in late
August that the Syrian government should recognize the "legitimate demands" of
its people. The sources said: “Regardless of the extent of its support for the
Syrian regime, Iran will not jeopardize Hizbullah’s position in Lebanon.”
“Sacrificing its position is out of the question if it believes that the regime
will be overthrown,” they added. “The West believes that Iran and Hizbullah
won’t take suicidal stands towards Syria and they may even have started planning
their steps after the fall of the regime even if statements by their various
officials indicate otherwise,” stated the sources.
At Least 24 Dead as Red Cross Chief Starts Syria
Naharnet /At least 24 people died in violence across Syria on Sunday, activists
and state media said, as the visiting Red Cross chief sought access to those
detained in five months of anti-regime protests. The Local Coordination
Committees (LCC), which groups anti-regime activists on the ground, said 12
people were killed in various operations by security forces across the country.
The security forces encircled hospitals "to prevent the wounded from being
brought in for treatment," it charged. The state news agency SANA also gave a
toll of 12 dead -- including six troops -- when an "armed terrorist group"
ambushed a bus in central Syria. LCC spokesman Omar Idlibi said a woman was
among the 12 people killed. Idlibi said "four martyrs fell in Karnaz near the
(central) town of Maharda" while the others, including the woman, were killed in
Idlib province. "Two martyrs fell in Khan Sheikhoun, three in Tahtaya, one in
Jableh and a woman died from gunshots in Saraqeb as the security forces carried
out security operations," Idlibi said about districts in Idlib.
"Another person was killed when security forces opened fire on a bus in the city
of Idlib." He said the operations in Idlib were aimed at tracking an attorney
general who announced in a disputed video message on Wednesday that he was
quitting to protest the deaths and arrests of protesters and dissidents. On
Friday, SANA said gunmen in Khan Sheikhoun had kidnapped a corporal with Syria's
internal security services, Wael Ali.
The LCC added a woman was shot dead in Maaret al-Numan in an operation to arrest
her husband, who was wounded along with three other family members.
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) chief Jakob Kellenberger flew
into Damascus on Saturday for talks with President Bashar al-Assad over access
to prisoners and areas of unrest. According to activists, 27 people were killed
in operations by the army and security services across Syria on Friday and
Saturday.
The latest bloodshed came as European ministers warned of more sanctions in
addition to an oil embargo over Syria's defiance of mounting international calls
to halt a deadly crackdown on anti-Assad protests. More than 2,200 people have
been killed in Syria since almost daily protests began on March 15, according to
the United Nations, while human rights groups say more than 10,000 people are
behind bars. Apart from the oil embargo which went into effect on Saturday, the
EU expanded a list of around 50 people, including Assad, targeted by an assets
freeze and travel ban.The ICRC delegation chief in Damascus said Kellenberger
would stay in Syria until Monday afternoon and meet with Assad, Prime Minister
Adel Safar and Foreign Minister Walid Muallem. His office said that during a
previous visit in June "an understanding was reached" for "enhanced access to
areas of unrest, and negotiations would take place concerning ICRC visits to
detainees." Asked about the possibility of visiting detainees, the ICRC
delegation chief in Damascus, Marianne Gasser, said: "We are confident that we
will be able to start visiting people detained by the interior
ministry."**Source Agence France Presse
Hezbollah blasts March 14, says patience wearing thin
September 04, 2011/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Hezbollah MP Mohammad Raad warned the March 14 alliance Sunday to cease
what he described as its madness-driven attempts to destroy the country in its
quest to reclaim power, stressing that his party’s patience had its limitations.
“When they left power they turned into madmen. Their holiest [objective] has
become to destroy the country in order to return to power. Until when though?”
Raad asked, reported the National News Agency. Addressing the Lebanese
opposition, Raad said his party would not allow it to carry out acts of
destruction. “What do you want? Either you are part of this country and want to
play a completing role through your cooperation or you do not consider
yourselves part of this country, so you go around destroying, and we will not
allow destruction.” In his speech, Raad stressed that Hezbollah’s patience had
limits and outlined the limits of such tolerance.
“We say there are some people who are taking advantage of our patience and
forgiveness, but these have their limits … As long as we are able to keep the
unity and strength of the country intact, we will remain patient,” Raad said.
“However, if we see a hand from the outside extend into the inside then we will
cut it off." Hezbollah has on several occasions accused the March 14 of serving
a Western agenda, which it says aims to target the resistance. Without naming
the group, Raad reiterated accusations against the March 14 movement as serving
foreign powers, saying: “it is backed and has a destructive project in the
country and raises slogans that are in tune with foreign policies. “We say in
all honesty to those who aim to disarm the resistance and tarnish its [image]
that they are part of the machine that serves the American-Israeli project in
order to dominate Lebanon and return the Israeli occupation,” Raad added. “They
do not know the value of blood that has been spilled for the sake of liberation
and therefore they have no comprehension of sovereignty and freedom at all. The
only sovereignty they know is American sovereignty over our country so that they
can hold on to a seat that secures their interests and their company’s
interest,” Raad said in a clear reference to March 14 parties. The March 14
movement has called for the disarmament of Hezbollah and has shunned the
national dialogue called by President Michel Sleiman, arguing that the talks
should focus solely on the issue of Hezbollah’s arms. Raad’s scathing attack on
the March 14 alliance comes amid growing pressure on the group to cooperate with
an international court implicating members of the group of being involved in the
assassination of Hariri’s father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, as well as
calls by the March 14 coalition for the resistance group to disarm. In his
address during the launching ceremony of the Imam Sadik center in Kfar Fila,
Iqlim al-Touffah, east of the southern city of Sidon, Raad also warned that any
attack on the resistance would be considered an attack on the Lebanese Army and
any harm done to the army would be a deemed as targeting of Hezbollah.
Miqati’s Vow to Fund STL to Create New Govt. Crisis
Naharnet /Prime Minister Najib Miqati’s recent statements that Lebanon will
continue on funding the Special Tribunal for Lebanon will likely cause a
governmental crisis given that Free Patriotic Movement ministers believe that
such a decision cannot be taken by the premier, but by the ministers themselves,
the majority of which oppose the tribunal, reported the pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat
on Sunday. Ministerial sources told the daily that Lebanon is obligated to fund
49 percent of the tribunal’s funds according to United Nations Security Council
1757.
This issue is expected to be raised at cabinet in October when the 2012 state
budget will be addressed, they continued. They added that the ministers of the
FPM, Hizbullah, Syrian Social Nationalist Party, and MP Talal Arslan, who
comprise the majority of the cabinet, will oppose funding the STL, while
National Struggle Front and Miqati’s ministers will support it.
The expected crisis will therefore force Miqati to break his pledge before the
international community to fund the STL, added the sources. Proposals are being
discussed over how to avert the crisis with some sides suggesting that a portion
of the state budget funds be set aside for Miqati to spend as he sees fit in his
role as prime minister, revealed the sources.
In addition, they pointed out that the premier is committed to the ministerial
statement, which did not mention Lebanon’s refusal to fund the STL. Meanwhile, a
prominent March 8 camp official told the daily Ad Diyar in remarks published on
Sunday that the tribunal will not be funded “at any cost because it is a weapon
being used to destroy the Resistance.” “How can Miqati announce that Lebanon
will continue on funding the tribunal while it is keen on destroying Hizbullah?”
asked the March 8 official. “It is clear that Miqati has international
commitments to uphold while he is being cornered on the internal scene,” he
noted. Hizbullah has repeatedly said that it will not cooperate with the STL,
deeming it an American-Israeli product. The tribunal has released arrest
warrants against four party suspects accusing them of being involved in the
assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Suleiman, Berri, Miqati, Jumblat Reach Agreement on Electricity File, Await
Aoun’s Reply
Naharnet /President Michel Suleiman, Speaker Nabih Berri, Prime Minister Najib
Miqati, and Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat have reached an
agreement over the dispute over the electricity file, revealed the daily al-Mustaqbal
on Sunday. The solution calls for allowing the government to control the funding
of the draft law that was proposed by Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel
Aoun. It also calls for launching the Electricity Regulatory Authority and
allowing Electricite du Liban to play a major role in implementing the law.
Aoun has yet to respond to Suleiman and Jumblat’s proposal, added the daily. It
said that the president will hold talks with Prime Minister Najib Miqati on
Monday ahead of the ministerial meeting aimed at finding a solution to the
electricity crisis. Parliament failed to approve an electricity draft law
proposed by Aoun that allows Energy Minister Jebran Bassil to receive
$1,200,000,000 to implement a project on producing 700 Megawatts of electricity.
The March 14-led opposition says that the draft law gives the minister the
freedom to use the amount of money without referring to the cabinet or without
any monitoring by the Audit Bureau. Opposition and National Struggle Front MPs
did not vote on the law when it subject to a vote at parliament. Cabinet is
expected to convene on Wednesday to address the electricity file. Meanwhile,
Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas told the Kuwaiti al-Seyassah newspaper in remarks
published on Sunday: “We are awaiting the September 7 cabinet session and we
will not alter our position on the electricity file.” “We are committed to
Bassil’s plan and we will not back down from it at any cost,” he stressed. “All
claims that a settlement over this file has been reached are baseless because
our position is firm and we won’t change it,” he said.
Court sentences Karam to 2 years prison with hard labor
September 04, 2011/The Daily Star /The military court Saturday sentenced Brig.
Gen. Fayez Karam “for collaborating with the enemy pursuant to Article 278."
BEIRUT: Retired Brig. Gen. Fayez Karam, a senior official of the Free Patriotic
Movement, was sentenced Saturday to two years in prison with hard labor for
collaborating with Israel, reported the National News Agency. The Military
court, chaired by Brig. Gen. Nizar Khalil, issued its sentence against Karam
“for collaborating with the enemy pursuant to Article 278,” the NNA said, adding
that “[the court] decided to reduce the punishment of three years hard labor to
two years.” The FPM official was also stripped of “all his civil rights.”
Karam, who returned to Beirut in 2005 with FPM head Gen. Michel Aoun, was
charged in August 2010 with collaborating with Israel and providing the
intelligence agency Mossad with information about the FPM, its ally Hezbollah in
the March 8 coalition, and the meetings held between the two sides, as well as
information about other Lebanese parties in return for money. The tribunal’s
indictment had demanded that Karam be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison with
hard labor. The court also sentenced fugitive Elias Karam to 10 years prison
with hard labor, having reduced it from 15 years.
Karam’s
Conviction Proves Credibility of Intelligence Bureau as FPM Slams Verdict
Naharnet /Retired Brigadier General Fayez Karam’s conviction of spying for
Israel has demonstrated the credibility of the Internal Security Forces
Intelligence Bureau in light of the “harsh political campaign that was launched
against it by the Free Patriotic Movement”, reported the daily An Nahar on
Sunday. Informed sources told the daily however that his sentence to two years
on charges of collaborating with Israel is short in comparison to other
individuals who have been given life sentences for the same charges. They added
however that Karam’s acquittal “would have marked the end of the age of the
Resistance and the beginning of the Israeli age, which would have been a major
blow to the Resistance’s supporters.” Furthermore, they pointed out that a major
political figure refrained from intervening in Karam’s case “which proves the
national credibility of this dangerous affair.”
Karam, a senior official in the Free Patriotic Movement, was sentenced on
Saturday to two years in prison on charges of collaborating with Israel. FPM MP
Nabil Nicolas told An Nahar on Saturday shortly after the sentencing that the
“development was not a trial, but a premeditated decision.” “A trial means
listening to witnesses and the defense team. Justice does not entail sentencing
an individual for actions he did not commit,” he added. “This was a political
sentence and there is no evidence that can convict Karam seeing as the witnesses
gave contradictory testimonies,” he stressed. Meanwhile Mustaqbal bloc MP Ahmed
Fatfat told the daily: “The military court’s sentence proves the credibility of
the Intelligence Bureau.”
“However, we believe that the sentence was very light and it encourages people
to collaborate with Israel,” he noted. The military court sentenced on Saturday
Karam to three years reduced to two on charges of collaborating with Israel.
Karam was convicted to three years in prison reduced to two years of hard labor
for collaborating with Israel according to article 278 sanctions. The prosecutor
also sentenced Lebanese fugitive Elias Karam, who had allegedly introduced Fayez
Karam to Israeli officers in Paris, to 10 years in prison in absentia.
"Military prosecutor Fadi Akiki has found retired general Fayez Karam guilty of
contacting enemy (Israeli) intelligence... and providing them with political
information," a judicial source told Agence France Presse. Karam, who collapsed
when the sentence was read, was also stripped of all civil rights, the source
said. The verdict did not find Karam guilty of spying for Israel, however.
Seven witnesses were called for testimony: two doctors from Dahr al-Basheq
hospital, Roumieh prison warden back them and four officers from the
intelligence bureau who interrogated Karam. Akiki demanded the court during
trial to implement article 278 from sanctions. While defense attorney Rashad
Salamah slammed the preliminary investigations that were taken from his client
after using force. Karam, a senior member of the Free Patriotic Movement, was
arrested by the Police Intelligence Bureau arrested in August 2010 on suspicion
of spying for Israel. Karam graduated from the military school in 1972 as
lieutenant. He held several leadership positions in the army, including head of
the counter-terror and spying bureau. He remained in his post until the Israeli
invasion of Lebanon in 1982 and his imprisonment in Mazze for five months. Karam
quit the military after then army commander Michel Aoun was exiled to France in
1990. He returned with him to Lebanon in 2005 when Syria withdrew its troops
from the country, ending its 29-year hegemony. More than 100 people have been
arrested on suspicion of spying for the Israeli Mossad since April 2009,
including members of the security forces and telecom employees. Several have
since been sentenced to death, including one found guilty of aiding Israel
during its devastating 2006 war with Hizbullah.
Jumblatt: Cabinet has no option but to fund STL
September 04, 2011 /The Daily Star
MUKHTARA, Lebanon: MP Walid Jumblatt, in a wide-ranging interview with LFtv,
said over the weekend that the Cabinet had no option than to fund the Special
Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), talk of disarming Hezbollah was premature and voiced
his opposition to a system of proportional representation. The Progressive
Socialist Party leader also said a row over a controversial electricity draft
law was not political but “technical.” “The cabinet that was formed committed
itself and will abide by international resolutions and we cannot run away from
these resolutions just like we cannot run away from funding the court,” Jumblatt
said Saturday in an interview with LFtv, which belongs to the Lebanese Forces.
The STL, established in 2007 to try those involved in the assassination of
Hariri, released in late June indictments and arrest warrants against four
members of Hezbollah.
The party has denied involvement in the assassination and says funding for the
court should cease as it is aimed at targeting the resistance and sowing strife
in the country.
During the interview, Jumblatt, who was one of the leading figures of the March
14 coalition following the assassination of Hariri but later re-positioned
himself with the March 8 alliance, also said while he was part a wide alliance
with March 8, he nevertheless sought to remain a centrist alongside President
Michel Sleiman and Prime Minister Najib Mikati.
The PSP leader added that there were no obstacles between “me and the March 14
coalition. On the contrary, I insist on dialogue.”
Jumblatt also turned to the failed resumption of national dialogue sessions. The
PSP acknowledged that there was a dispute on the issue of Hezbollah’s weapons,
“and we have said there should be a gradual incorporation of these weapons into
the Lebanese Army and state, but we can’t jump from one extreme to another.”
The March 14 coalition has shunned calls by Sleiman to resume national dialogue,
insisting that Hezbollah's weapons be the sole item on the agenda of talks.
Members of the March 14 movement have called on the resistance group to disarm,
arguing that its weapons are being used to serve political ends. Hezbollah
stresses that it needs to retain its weapons in order to free remaining lands
occupied by Israel and protect Lebanon from Israeli aggression.
In a scathing criticism of Hezbollah Friday, Kataeb Party MP Sami Gemayel
alleged the resistance group was adopting tactics reminiscent of the Zionist
movement in Palestine.
In the interview Saturday, and without naming him, Jumblatt also criticized
Gemayal on likening Hezbollah to the Zionist movement.
“There are in some corners some distasteful talk. One [person] said that
Hezbollah resembled the Zionist movement. This goes against reason and is just
inflaming tensions that are meaningless and have no value,” Jumblatt said. The
PSP leader also addressed a weeks-long dispute over a controversial electricity
bill originally proposed to Parliament by Free Patriotic Movement leader MP
Michel Aoun, and then later to Cabinet by Energy Minister Jibran Bassil. The
Cabinet has failed on several occasions to approve the plan to develop the
electricity sector. At the root of the dispute within the Cabinet is who should
supervise the spending of the money – worth some $1.2 billion – for the
implementation of the first phase of the plan: the government or the energy
minister.In his interview Saturday, Jumblatt denied that the dispute was of a
political nature, insisting that it was only “technical.”
“There has been a nearing of views on the financial and technical aspects that
we will put forward with Hezbollah’s ministers. And Prime Minister Najib Mikati
and Finance Minister Mohammad Safadi have proposed whether Arab bonds would be a
better option because Lebanon would be offered lowered interests rates [to pay
back].”
Asked whether Aoun had consented to the proposal, Jumblatt said: "the issue is
not a political one but technical.”“It is up to them in the next session of
Cabinet to agree on the matter,” Jumblatt added, referring to next session
scheduled to take place on Sep. 7. The PSP chief also reiterated during the
interview his rejection of proposals to introduce proportional representation in
Lebanon. “I don’t understand why propositional representation is being proposed
and in the country both the left and right are parties are of a sectarian
makeup,” Jumblatt said. “Given that the system is sectarian-based and
complicated already, why add more complications?” Jumblatt asked.
'Israel hopes to overcome crisis with Turkey, but won't apologize for Gaza
flotilla raid'
By Barak Ravid /Haaretz/Prime Minister Netanyahu addressed the ongoing crisis
with Turkey on Sunday, saying he "hopes a way will be found to overcome the
differences with Turkey," and adding that "we do not want a further downgrading
of the relations." Speaking at the weekly government meeting, Netanyahu added
that the UN-commissioned Palmer report regarding the Israel Defense Forces' 2010
raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla released over the weekend confirms what Israel
knew from the beginning: "Israel has a right to defend itself," he said. "We do
not need to apologize for [stopping] weapons smuggling by Hamas, and we do not
need to apologize for working to defend our children, our citizens and our
cities." Turkey has followed through on a series of measures against Israel,
after a UN review on the 2010 Israeli raid on the Turkish aid flotilla was
leaked to The New York Times - foiling a last-ditch attempt to patch up
relations between the two countries. On Friday morning, Turkey announced a
series of measures against Israel, beginning with the expulsion of the Israeli
ambassador and the downgrading of bilateral relations to the level of second
secretary. Another step announced by Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu
could lead to a military confrontation with Israel. "Turkey would take every
precaution it deems necessary for the safety of maritime navigation in the
eastern Mediterranean," Turkey's Hurriyet Daily News quoted him as saying
Friday. The paper reported that Turkey's navy would escort civilian vessels
carrying humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and would guarantee free navigation
in the zone between Israel and Cyprus.
Over the weekend senior Turkish officials claimed that Israeli government
figures engineered the leak as part of what they termed an Israeli
disinformation campaign being waged in connection to the UN report. The Turkish
sources believe that Israeli cabinet members who oppose issuing an apology to
Turkey, such as Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Vice Prime Minister Moshe
Ya'alon, or even officials in the Prime Minister's Bureau, leaked the report to
the Times in order to prevent any additional postponement of its publication.
Israeli warplanes fly over Bekaa and the south
September 04, 2011/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: On Sunday morning, Israeli warplanes violated Lebanese airspace. The
planes flew over Rashaya in the West Bekaa Valley and southern eastern Lebanon,
at medium altitude, reported Lebanon’s National News Agency. Ever since the
implementation of United Nations resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war and
stipulated that the two sides respect one another's sovereignty, Israel has
violated Lebanese airspace on a nearly daily basis.
Hoss praises Turkey, urges Arabs to boost ties with Ankara
September 04, 2011/The Daily Star
Hoss praised Turkey on its stance toward Israel and said this should prompt
positive gestures from Arab states. BEIRUT: Former Lebanese Prime Minister Salim
Hoss praised Turkey over the weekend after it downgraded relations with Israel
and urged Arab states to strengthen ties with Ankara. “The ties between Turkey
and Israel had for a long time been a stumbling block in terms of relations
between Arab states and Turkey. Now that what has happened in terms of
[reduction] in ties between Israel and Turkey has happened, Arabs are called on
to cement and develop ties with Turkey,” Hoss said in statement Sunday.“This is
the least that should be [done] with a state that forms a strong supporter for
Arab causes which naturally focuses on the Palestinian case,” Hoss added.
Relations between Turkey and Israel have deteriorated since the publishing of a
U.N. report into the deaths of nine Turks in an attack on a Gaza-bound
ship.Turkey expelled Thursday Israel’s ambassador and froze military cooperation
after the report in the 2009 incident failed to prompt an apology from Israel.
In his statement Sunday, Hoss praised Turkey on its stance toward Israel and
said this should prompt positive gestures from Arab states.“Turkey’s new
position toward Israel should draw positive gestures from Arabs, for Turkey has
expelled Israel’s ambassador and frozen cooperation with [Israel] after the
release of the U.N. report that said nine Turkish citizens had been killed in an
Israeli attack on a ship bound for Gaza,” Hoss said. “The Turkish foreign
minister also froze all military agreements between the two sides,” he added.
The secretary general of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, urged Turkey and
Israel Saturday to mend ties between the two counties and accept the
recommendations in the U.N. report. The U.N. report found Israel’s naval
blockade of the Gaza Strip was legal but that Israel used unreasonable force
when its commandos raided the ship, which led to the death of the nine Turks.
Oh Muslims, where are you? The Syrian regime has dug its own grave
By Dr. Aaidh al-Qarni/Asharq Alawsat
A Syrian youth in a mosque in Riyadh told me that Syrian security figures force
detainees to say “there is no God but Bashar [al-Assad].” Glory to God, this is
a great slander! I thought the Syrian youth might have been overly-enthusiastic
or prejudiced until I saw this for myself on Al-Arabiya and Al-Jazeera. I saw
the henchmen of the Syrian regime hitting detainees in the face with their shoes
and forcing them to say “there is no God but Bashar.” This brought to mind the
Quranic passage “dreadful is the word that cometh out of their mouths. They
speak naught but a lie.” [Surat al-Kahf, Verse 5]. For there is no God but
Allah, and may fire and destruction rain down upon the Syrian regime! Is there a
Muslim on earth who possesses even an atom of faith who could accept such
blasphemy?
I call upon the Saudi Council of Senior Scholars, the World Association of
Muslim Scholars, the Al-Azhar University, the Muslim World League, the
Organization of the Islamic Conference, the World Assembly of Muslim Youth, and
other prominent Islamic organizations, as well as prominent Muslim figures and
scholars, and indeed anyone who possess faith, a conscience, fear of God, and
concern for Islam, to rise up and confront this [Syrian] regime which is an
enemy of Islam and Arabism. I call upon all those above to confront the
principles and values of the Syrian regime and denounce and condemn them,
otherwise you will be held accountable for your silence or God will hold you
accountable on Judgment Day. You will also be held accountable before Muslims
and history.
What is left for us with regards to dignity if the Syrian regime’s henchmen can
beat the elderly and children with shoes, and force them to say that there is no
God but Bashar?
Watch this YouTube clip, and then ask yourself did even the Israeli occupiers
treat the Arabs they detained in this manner?
What can a Muslim say when watching such incidents taking place in a Muslim
country that was the home of many of the Prophet’s Companions and famous Muslim
leaders, like Abu Obeida Al-Jarrah, Khalid Ibn al-Waleed, and many others?
What can a Muslim think when watching a regime carrying out such torture and
oppression to other sincere Muslims who have taken to the streets demanding
dignity, freedom, justice, and equality?Where are the scholars? Where are the
preachers? Where are the intellectuals? Where are the writers and the poets?
Where is your condemnation and denunciation of this explicit blasphemy from this
evil regime, which didn’t exhibit even a shred of courage or gallantry as it
witnessed the Golan Heights being trampled by the boots of the Zionist
occupiers?
They [the Syrian regime] have remained indifferent to their own honor and
history [with regards to the Israeli occupation of the Golan Heights], remaining
silent to the Israeli injustice; the [Israeli] soldiers, airplanes, tanks…and
instead arrest, torture, and kill their own citizens.
Can anybody sleep soundly after we have seen traitorous and blasphemous security
officers trampling the faces of the Syrian people under their boots, and forcing
them to deify a dwarf…an agent of a foreign power who does not know God? I
looked through the history of the Crusades and could not find such terrible
crimes and heinous villainy being committed, compared to what is being committed
today by the Syrian regime against the decent Muslim people of Syria! The
[Syrian] people are the heroes, they drove out the Crusaders, and later the
French, fighting and bleeding and dying for the sake of the belief that “there
is no God but Allah”. However, following this, a division which is abhorrent to
Islam occurred in the Levant, challenging the Muslim ummah’s most cherished
position, its faith. Therefore in the name of the Arabs and Muslim, I call upon
the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz – who
previously called upon Muslim scholars to defend the true meaning of Islam – to
adopt a stance on this issue regarding the Syrian regime’s abuse of the article
of faith that “there is no God but Allah.” This is the heart and basis of Islam,
the message of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), as well as the key to
paradise!
US sources: Turkey's sharp economic downswing undercuts its
regional status
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report September 4, 2011, In another maneuver to make
trouble between Washington and Jerusalem, the Turkish Hurriyet carried a made-up
story accusing US Republican sources of leaking a UN Report which maintained
Israel's Gaza's blockade - and therefore its interception of a Turkish vessel
and flotilla in May 2010 – was legal. The report, leaked to the New York Times
Friday, Sept. 9, also criticized Israeli commandos for excessive force for
defending themselves in a clash which led to the deaths of nine "peace
activists" aboard the ship. The report was commissioned by the UN Secretary
General from a panel headed by former New Zealand Prime Minister Sir Jeffrey
Palmer.
Hurriyet charged that the Palmer report was leaked to the NYT by the same
friends of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu who arranged his speech last May to
the two Houses of Congress. debkafile sources report: The Turkish newspaper's
spiteful claim was slanted to upset President Barack Obama and Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton, who have been trying to mend the Ankara-Jerusalem breach,
and justify the fury of Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and his foreign
minister Ahmed Davutoglu at being caught in the wrong by the UN panel (which
accused them of not doing enough to prevent the violence and the flotilla's
"reckless" mission).
Friday, Ankara expelled the Israeli ambassador, suspended defense contracts with
Jerusalem, announced legal action against senior Israeli figures in European
courts, threatened to bring the dispute before the international court and “take
measures for freedom of maritime movement in the Mediterranean.” Israel
continued to brush off the Turkish ultimatum to apologize for the nine deaths
and end the Gaza blockade. Hurriyet quoted an unnamed Israeli official as
replying: "They can go to hell. They will see what respecting international
maritime law means when… our navy sails into the international waters of the
Mediterranean."
US sources told debkafile that the Erdogan government's outpouring of vindictive
misinformation with a view to upsetting relations between the Obama
administration and the Israeli government would cut no ice. Mixing in American
domestic politics to misdirect its international crises was a dangerous game.
The Turkish Navy, they added, is no match for Israeli missile boat technology
and their electronic jamming and tracking systems. Neither do the Turks have
advanced submarines like Israel's German-made Dolphins or close air cover.
US sources following the dispute also dismissed as hollow Davutoglu's follow-up
threat Saturday, Sept. 3: "If Israel persists with its current position," he
warned, "the Arab spring will give rise to a strong Israel opposition as well as
the debate on the authoritarian regimes."
Washington sources condemned such statements as beyond the acceptable diplomatic
bounds. "It sounds as though Ankara is threatening to stir up the Palestinian
and Israeli Arab populations against the Israeli government and army. If that's
what Davutoglu meant to say, Turkey is sailing very close to the wind and risks
President Obama and European governments suspending their participation in NATO
operations in the Middle East.
Should Israel complain to the UN Security Council about Turkish war threats and
the incitement to revolt by one UN member against another, Western powers would
vote for a resolution of condemnation against Turkey. debkafile's sources in
Washington and various European capitals warn that the unbridled vendetta
Erdogan and his foreign minister are waging against Israel will boomerang
against them. Early Sunday, Sept. 4, an American official proposed "calling
their bluff." He disclosed Turkey may try and act as though it calls the shots
as the leading Middle East diplomatic and economy, with enough leverage over the
the Arab uprisings to channel their fury against Israel. However, Turkey is far
from being on solid ground. Indeed, he reveals, economically Turkey is no better
than a paper tiger, hiding a galloping crisis behind its anti-Israel rhetoric:
1. Ankara's published impressive GDP growth rate of 11 percent is artificially
inflated by out-of-control credit pumped out by its central bank to create a
short-term bubble. In fact, Turkey is fast sliding into deep economic slump. Its
current account deficit has reached almost the same crisis level as those of
Greece and Portugal and its currency faces devaluation.
Last week, Turkey's military chiefs, traditional guardians of the country's
secular constitution, resigned in a body in protest against the imprisonment of
scores of high-ranking officers for allegedly plotting against the government.
Erdogan is therefore locked into the twin crisis of a failing economy and a deep
rift within his administration. US and European intelligence circles wonder
about his ability to govern for much longer. They are concerned that he may drum
up a military clash between the Turkish and Israel navies to distract popular
attention from the troubles besetting his country. " For the Turkish prime
minister, that would be a no-win road," said those sources.
2. They also criticized as unwise the Turkish foreign minister's implied threat
to bring the Arab Revolt to Israel's doorstep. He would be better advised, they
said, to deal with the far more palpable danger of the Syrian uprising spilling
over into Turkey.