LCCC
ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
April 10/2012
Bible Quotation for today/
Dead to Sin but Alive in Union with Christ
Romans 06/01-14: "What
shall we say, then? Should we continue to live in sin so that God's grace will
increase?2 Certainly not! We have died to sin—how then can we go on living in
it? For surely you know that when we were baptized into union with Christ Jesus,
we were baptized into union with his death. By our baptism, then, we were buried
with him and shared his death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from
death by the glorious power of the Father, so also we might live a new life.
For since we have become one with him in dying as he
did, in the same way we shall be one with him by being raised to life as he
was.And we know that our old being has been put to death with Christ on his
cross, in order that the power of the sinful self might be destroyed, so that we
should no longer be the slaves of sin. For when we die, we are set free from the
power of sin. Since we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live
with him.9 For we know that Christ has been raised from death and will never die
again—death will no longer rule over him. And so, because he died, sin has no
power over him; and now he lives his life in fellowship with God. In the same
way you are to think of yourselves as dead, so far as sin is concerned, but
living in fellowship with God through Christ Jesus. 12
Sin must no longer rule in your mortal bodies, so that you obey the desires of
your natural self. Nor must you surrender any part of yourselves to sin to be
used for wicked purposes. Instead, give yourselves to God, as those who have
been brought from death to life, and surrender your whole being to him to be
used for righteous purposes. Sin must not be your master; for you do not live
under law but under God's grace.
Latest
analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous
sources
A tiny request on the eve
of an Iran war/By Aner Shalev/Haaretz/April
09/12
Indeed you have misunderstood al-Assad/By
Tariq Alhomayed/Asharq Al-Awsat/April
09/12
Russian envoy to Egypt
defends stance on the Syria/By Mona Madkour/Asharq AlAwsat/April
09/12
Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for April 09/12
Pope marks Easter with
call for Syria violence end
Violence blights pope's Easter
peace appeal
Canada Condemns Easter Attack in Nigeria
U.S. deploys aircraft carrier in Gulf, as West prepares
for Iran nuclear talks
Secret US-Israeli accord to Iran keeping low 3.5 enriched uranium plus 1,000
centrifuges
Anshel Pfeffer / Have Netanyahu and Obama agreed on the
outcome of negotiations with Iran?
Israel 'satisfied' with Iran's rejection of West's demands
Iran rejects West's 'demands'
before talks
Ahead of nuclear talks, Iran floats compromise
West to 'demand' Iran close
nuclear facility
Netanyahu: Iran will use nuclear talks to deceive the
world
Blast hits Egypt pipeline carrying gas to Israel
Egypt's former spy chief Omar Suleiman joins presidential
race
Egypt military backs Mubarak's VP for president
Abbas to Netanyahu: Respond favorably to our peace plan or
we return to UN
Rights group: Syria troops executed civiliansSyria
scuttles truce plan with new demands
Syria
launches its heaviest air-ground assault yet against the opposition
Syria demands written guarantees from rebels before
pulling back troops
Free Syrian Army head urges support during Sidon protest
Report: Hundreds of Fighters Surrounded Dahiyeh after
Geagea Assassination Attempt
Lebanese Forces slams belittling of Geagea assassination
attempt
Geagea says assassination attempt will not deter LF
resolve
Jumblatt says won't quit Cabinet
Hermel residents bury
Saturday bus attack victim
Geagea says assassination attempt will not deter LF
resolve
Man killed resisting home invasion in Koura
Gemayel Urges Officials to Disassociate Lebanon from
Syrian Crisis
Report: Mortars Fired from Syria Hit Wadi Khaled Towns
Exclusive: Secret US-Israeli accord to Iran keeping low 3.5 enriched uranium
plus 1,000 centrifuges
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report April 9, 2012/Daydebkafile’s Washington sources
disclose exclusively that the Obama administration and Netanyahu government have
secretly agreed on “Formula of 1,000” as their final concession at the end of
the forthcoming Six Power nuclear talks with Iran which starts Saturday, April
14. In substance, this formula would let Iran keep 1,000 centrifuges for
enriching uranium up to 3.5 percent and stock 1,000 kilograms of the same grade
uranium while, aside from a small amount for medical research, giving up its
store of 20-percent grade uranium which can be jumped quickly to weapon quality.
US sources told debkafile that Russia and China have accepted the deal.
According to our Iranian sources, Tehran was informed of this formula through
its back-channel contacts with Washington (which debkafile has been tracking
since mid-February). That is why in Iranian public statements in the last couple
of days have harped on the issue of uranium enriched to 20 percent. US-Israeli
permission to keep 3.5 percent grade is in the bag before the talks begin, so
Iran is treating it as the starting-point for bargaining, not the end result,
and concentrating on raising the ante through the negotiating process to come.
The concession Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak
made to the Obama administration, to let Iran to continue to enrich uranium, has
not been brought before any Israeli government or military forum. Their remarks
Sunday, April 8, conveyed the mistaken impression that there were at odds on the
nuclear issue in the run-up to international talks.
Netanyahu said Israel would satisfied with nothing less than the total
discontinuance of uranium enrichment and the removal of all quantities out of
Iran, while Barak’s words came closer to the secret deal with Washington when he
spoke of consenting to Iran continuing to produce low-enriched uranium and
holding on to a few hundred kilos.
At his meeting with the new Italian prime minister Mario Monti in Jerusalem,
Netanyahu repeated that Israel had not changed its position and that the Six
Powers must make Iran stop enrichment entirely.
But in fact, as debkafile reveals here, Israel’s position has undergone a
dramatic transformation and given in to Iran except for medical research on a
major point of principle, i.e. enrichment.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad walked through the door this opened for
him Sunday night and slapped down three fresh demands which Tehran would put
before the Six Power negotiators in Istanbul Saturday:
1. Clearance for the new system about to be activated for converting 3.5
enriched uranium to nuclear fuel rods in the first stage and nuclear plates in
the second.
Producing 20 percent uranium from nuclear plates is relatively fast, efficient
and cheap.
2. Permission for homemade production of nuclear fuel rods for the heavy water
plant under construction at Arak.
This would provide Tehran with the option of plutonium in addition to enriched
uranium for making weapons.
3. Iran’s first nuclear reactor at Bushehr is now operating at 75 percent
capacity under the management of the Russian engineers who built it. Tehran
wants Iranian engineers to take over the reactor’s management in full in seven
months.
Iran is putting those three demands on the table to counter the US-Israeli
insistence on shutting down the underground nuclear plant at Fordow, near Qom.
debkafile’s sources add that the Israeli prime minister, by giving crucial
ground on the major sticking point of uranium enrichment, appears to have
calculated that after going the extra mile, Obama will not be able to block
Israeli military action against Iran’s nuclear sites if Tehran continues
nonetheless to play games and cheat the International Atomic Energy Agency and
its inspectors.
Netanyahu may have miscalculated the odds. His concession gave Obama enough rope
to pull the Iranians to the negotiating table through his back channel to
Tehran. That channel will remain open and the US is more likely to be induced by
Iranian wiles to make more concessions than it is to give Israel the nod for
military action.
Report: Hundreds of Fighters Surrounded Dahiyeh after Geagea Assassination
Attempt
إNharnet /09 April 2012/Lebanon was on the verge of civil strife last week,
similar to the situation that pervaded the country after the 2005 assassination
of former Premier Rafik Hariri, after news of the failed assassination attempt
against Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea broke out, reported the Kuwaiti al-Seyassah
on Monday. A former Lebanese security official residing in Paris told the daily:
“The moment the attempt was announced, hundreds of LF, Phalange Party, and
National Liberal Front fighters, as well as Lebanese army backers, headed to the
regions that surround Beirut’s southern suburbs and Shiyyah area, Hizbullah and
AMAL’s respective stronghold.” The fighters, who came from the areas of Hazmieh
and Fayyadiyeh, deployed in Ain al-Rummaneh, Baabda, and al-Antouniyeh near the
Dahiyeh southern suburbs ahead of storming al-Shiyyah and later Dahiyeh, said
the unnamed official. He revealed that Lebanese intelligence confirmed that some
2,300 Christian fighters had in fact deployed in those areas. The development
could have resulted in sectarian strife, but it was avoided after it was
announced that Geagea had survived the attack on his life, he added.
The official stated that Geagea and his parliamentary bloc had indirectly
accused Hizbullah and its ally Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun of
being behind the assassination attempt.
This accusation can be interpreted as a sign of “an impending invasion by the
Christians of the March 14 camp of the FPM regions in order to end its presence
in Christian areas and return unity among the Maronite ranks,” the former
security official told al-Seyassah. Last Wednesday, Geagea escaped an
assassination attempt by snipers as he was taking a walk in the garden of his
Maarab residence.
The LF leader did not make a direct accusation of who he thinks is behind the
attack, saying that he will keep his thoughts to himself.
He noted however that one camp in Lebanon “has not and will not be a target of
an assassination.”
Lebanese Forces slams belittling of Geagea assassination
attempt
April 09, 2012 09:59 AM The Daily Star
BEIRUT: The Lebanese Forces media office expressed regret Monday over the
behavior of certain politicians and media outlets regarding the assassination
attempt on Samir Geagea, and rejected any belittling of the incident. “It is
unfortunate that certain politicians and media outlets have abandoned ethics
when it comes to their position on the assassination attempt, though they know
that the LF leader ... remains unaffected by such trivial things,” a statement
released by the office said. Some pro-March 8 coalition media outlets have
dismissed reports of the April 4 assassination attempt against Geagea in Maarab,
Keserouan, as exaggerated. The LF statement rejected attempts by unnamed parties
to downplay the significance of the incident, which has spread fear of a return
to the era of assassinations.
“[The LF] reiterates once again its rejection of all expressions of arrogance
adopted by some in an apparent attempt to belittle the importance of this event
or deal with it in an inappropriate way,” it added.
In a news conference last week, Geagea said he escaped an assassination attempt
when shots were fired at his residence in Maarab and warned that the political
assassinations of the last decade had not ended.
Geagea says assassination attempt will not deter LF resolve
April 08, 2012/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said over the weekend the recent
attempt on his life would not deter his party from its mission or message.
“Everything that has happened does not frighten us and will not delay us,” said
Geagea, who spoke in a televised speech at a ceremony organized by his party in
Zahle, east Lebanon, Saturday. “The criminals should know that their attempt [to
assassinate the LF chief] will not deter us from our resolve,” he added. Geagea
said Wednesday he had escaped an assassination attempt when a sniper fired at
his residence in Maarab in Kesrouan, warning that the political assassinations
of the last decade had not ended. The LF leader said the attempt involved a high
level of expertise, claiming the shots had been fired at least 1 kilometer from
the target site.Investigations into the incident are ongoing. On Saturday,
hundreds of Lebanese Army personnel combed hills northwest of Maarab, the
Kesrouan headquarters of the LF and the residence of Geagea, as part of
investigations to identify the perpetrators of attempted assassination. While
reactions to the news of the incident has drawn wide criticism both locally and
internationally, the March 8 coalition reaction has remained, for the most part,
muted or outright skeptical. Without referring to the incident, Hezbollah MP
Mohammad Raad said Saturday “some want to exaggerate some issues or aggravate
some of the events in order to turn attention away from the interests of the
country.”Raad’s comments drew a swift response from MP Strida Geagea, who said
the attempt on her husband’s wife was not to be taken lightly. “The stances by
the president, prime minister, to the clear position of the interior minister
and the serious attention [on the matter] by the heads of the army and the
general director of the interior ministry and by judicial and security
apparatuses, all these [positions] point clearly to the seriousness of the
attack and in itself acts a devastating response to Raad’s comments,” the female
lawmaker said Saturday.
Man
killed resisting home invasion in Koura
April 09, 2012/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Armed robbers shot dead a 44-year-old man Monday in the north Lebanon
province of Koura after he confronted them. Security sources said police were
pursuing the men who shot and killed Kamal Habib Najjar during a home invasion
at his brother’s house in the town of Bishmezzine. They said Najjar’s
sister-in-law called Kamal for help after intruders broke into her house at 3 in
the morning.
Najjar quickly arrived and was shot twice in the chest and stomach after
offering resistance, said the sources, adding that he died shortly afterward.
Syria launches
its heaviest air-ground assault yet against the opposition
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report April 8, 2012/ Certain he is safe from Western-Arab
intervention, Bashar Assad Sunday unleashed an across-the board air and ground
offensive against the last surviving rebel locations. debkafile’s military
sources report that starting Sunday noon, April 8, 30 towns and villages were
hit simultaneously. For the first time since the outbreak of revolt thirteen
months ago, heavy long-range artillery and air force helicopters pounded the
rebel positions remaining in the northern mountains of Idlib near the Turkish
border. The scale of the onslaught was such that it is hard to come by casualty
figures, but they certainly run into hundreds.The mountains of ordnance and
numbers of tanks and artillery the Syrian army is pouring into the embattled
sectors attest to Assad’s determination to root out with no holds barred the
last rebel and protester however long it takes.He probably never intended
standing by his commitment to observe a ceasefire from April 10. He simply used
the UN envoy Kofi Annan’s peace proposals to buy time to rout his opponents once
and for all.Our military sources say the rebels, and especially the Free Syrian
Army, don’t have the slightest chance of surviving Assad’s killing machine.As he
lifts all restraints, the Syrian ruler is also certain he is backed to the hilt
by Tehran and Moscow.
Our sources add that, just as Iranians is sure President Barack Obama will avoid
military intervention in Syria, they are certain that their nuclear program is
equally safe from a military offensive. Tehran was therefore emboldened Sunday
to reject out of hand the core demands of the West to give up high-grade uranium
enrichment and shut down their underground nuclear facility at Fordow.
So as not to bury the negotiations with the six world powers before they even
begin on – the Iranian spokesman, atomic energy chief Fereidoon Abbasi left the
door open a tiny crack: “We will produce 20 percent uranium to the amount needed
for the Tehran research reactor and the reactors we are planning to build in the
future,” he said.
Nevertheless, the European foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton later announced
formally that the talks between the Six Powers and Iran would begin in Istanbul
on April 14.
Israel 'satisfied' with Iran's rejection of West's demands
Attila Somfalvi/Ynet 09.04.12
State officials glad to see Tehran exposed its true face by rejecting Obama's
reported demands, estimate US president will now be forced to toughen sanctions.
Senior state officials were satisfied Sunday with Iran's rejection of Western
proposals for the nuclear crisis. "As far as Israel is concerned, the Iranian
response is good," one state official said. It has been estimated that this will
force US President Barack Obama to toughen sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
Senior state officials said that Iran is hardening its position in an effort to
challenge Obama. "They believe that the White House does not want a conflict on
an election year," one state official said. "Once they form an official stance
we'll know how financially stressed they are. If Obama sees he's being
challenged he will be forced to toughen the sanctions in an unequivocal manner."
Another senior official said the Iranians are stalling for time. "As far as
Israel is concerned the Iranian response is good because ultimately Obama will
be forced to toughen the sanctions."
World powers will hold the next round of nuclear negotiations with Iran on April
14 in Istanbul.
Iran on Sunday rejected demands the West is reportedly to submit at the talks
saying it will neither close its Fordo nuclear bunker nor give up higher-level
uranium enrichment.
After meeting with Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu said: "Our policy on Iran has not changed. We have seen that Iran is
using the talks to stall and deceive. We will follow the talks. The demands of
Iran must be clear: to take away the enriched material, halt the enrichment and
dismantle the facility in Qom."
'Israel's military options restricted' Meanwhile, the military journal Jane's
Defense Weekly has cast doubt on Israel's ability to mount a successful
operation saying it would face "substantial difficulties," The Telegraph
reported. According to the paper, experts believe Israeli military options are
restricted to high risk choices, such as a long range missile bombardment from
Israel or a special forces raid involving troops attack facilities on the
ground.
"The significant distances involved and hardened features of Iran's nuclear
facilities make any 'massive surprise' aerial attack a very high-risk operation
for Israel to undertake on its own," Jane's concluded in a recent study. "This
is not going to be one strike and they are out, not like Syria or Iraq where
facilities were not underground, it is much harder than that," said Malcolm
Chalmers of the Royal United Services Institute. A former SAS commander raised
the possibility that Israel will send a commando force of 60 men who will target
one facility, "potentially the uranium enrichment site at Fordow" but admitted
he would be surprised if Israel tried to carry this out.
Iran: You can't stop us
In an address on Iran's annual day to celebrate its nuclear achievements,
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned Western powers that Iran would continue to
pursue its swift scientific progress.
"The nuclear industry is like a locomotive that can carry other industries along
with it. It is like the space industry that has raised tens of sub-industries
under it and it is clear that we must continue on this path," the Iranian state
news agency quoted him as saying. "You are blind if you think you can block
scientific growth in Iran by martyring Iranian scientists," he added, referring
to the killing of four Iranian scientists since 2010. "Don't think you can stop
this roaring river, and know that if you assassinate one scientist, hundreds and
thousands will take his place."
Reuters contributed to this report
A tiny request on the eve of an
Iran war
By Aner Shalev/Haaretz
Israel Air Force performance analysts have recently published a study
calculating that around 300 Israelis will die if Israel launches a war against
Iran
The roulette wheel continues to spin and the ball falls into a different
numbered slot every time. Following Defense Minister Ehud Barak's estimate that
around 500 Israelis will be killed in the event of a counterattack by Iran,
Israel Air Force performance analysts have recently published a study
calculating that around 300 Israelis will die if Israel launches a war against
Iran.
On the surface, it seems like a 40 percent discount that we probably get for
Passover. But when one reads the fine print, one cannot remain unalarmed. Barak
predicts fewer than 500 deaths (if everyone runs for shelter ), whereas the
analysts foresee at least 300. Whereas Barak's estimate may refer to 100 deaths,
the new estimate allows for 1,000, 10,000 or more - any number that is higher
than 300, and there are plenty of them.
Overwhelmed by the numbers? Do you fear that the flames of last summer's
cost-of-living protest will be taken over by less metaphoric flames? Are you
skeptical about the logic of a preemptive strike on Iran, which a U.S. Congress
report says will delay the Iranian nuclear program by six months at most? Are
you worried about the home front's preparedness on the eve of war, with
miserably maintained bomb shelters and incomplete coverage by the Iron Dome
defense system, still unable to sustain barrages of long-range missiles? Do you
long for the fallout shelter in the Jerusalem area that the media say has been
built to accommodate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Barak in the event of
war, and wonder what will protect us?
The provision of gas masks is even more scandalous. The ongoing preoccupation
with a hypothetical nuclear bomb has shifted focus away from the concrete threat
of chemical weapons, which subsequent governments have ignored for years. The
Iranian and Syrian arsenals contain countless incredibly deadly, ready-to-launch
chemical warheads. The unrest in Syria increases the danger they might fall into
Hezbollah's hands and be used by Syrian President Bashar Assad to deflect
attention from the genocide he is carrying out. The Israeli government is
focusing on prospective threats at the expense of an existing one that can be
averted rather easily. Even at the height of the Iranian and Syrian crises there
isn't a systematic plan to hand out gas masks to the entire population, and
those who were lucky enough to receive one already cannot rely on its dubious
effectiveness.
It should be noted that the budget required for the production and distribution
of gas masks to the entire population is not great. It is smaller than the cost
of the development and purchase of Iron Dome batteries, as well as that of the
swine flu vaccines that the government purchased in the blink of an eye but
never used. One might expect the prime minister - who keeps bringing up the
Holocaust and swearing that it will never be repeated - to recall that millions
of European Jews were gassed to death, and pay more attention to the danger of
chemical warfare. Instead, he ignores it and plays Russian roulette with our
lives.
So, dear Bibi, ahead of the hot summer, we've got a tiny request. Give us gas
masks. It will benefit you too. It will save you inquiries further down the
line. After all, you don't want to see Jews gassed to death, especially not
while you're in office. People say you're quick to lose your cool, and here's a
good reason to. Time is running out so please hurry up. Don't buy local - get us
the good stuff from abroad, like those used by the American or German armies.
It's not that hard. With a bit of luck, the Germans won't even charge you for
them. We're waiting for those gas masks.
Canada Condemns Easter Attack in Nigeria
April 8, 2012 – Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird today issued the following
statement on the terror attack in the central Nigerian city of Kaduna:
“Our thoughts and prayers are with those affected by these cowardly acts.
“We are saddened that, on this Easter Sunday, Nigerian Christians are being
denied their fundamental human right to practice their beliefs without threat to
their safety.
“Canada urges all people in Nigeria to work with the government in bringing an
end to hateful and divisive attitudes, and in bringing those responsible for
these terrible attacks to justice.”
Indeed you have misunderstood al-Assad!
By Tariq Alhomayed
Asharq Al-Awsat
The al-Assad regime’s Foreign Ministry was completely right when it announced
yesterday that the tyrant of Damascus would not withdraw his forces from cities
in accordance with UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan’s deadline on the 10th April,
and that the process of withdrawing troops was fundamentally a
“misunderstanding”, as the Foreign Ministry statement said.
When I say that the al-Assad regime is right when it says that the world may
have misunderstood, this is for one simple reason, namely that merely believing
that the al-Assad regime would accept Annan’s mission was a grave and absurd
mistake. The international community is fully aware that the al-Assad regime has
never fulfilled a promise it has made. If the al-Assad regime was a customer
seeking to borrow from a bank, then regimes, like individuals, have a track
record of their positions and reputation, and the reputation of the al-Assad
regime is one of manipulation and fraud. Thus, the al-Assad regime was right to
say that the world has misunderstood, because this regime fundamentally
manipulates everyone, and it was assumed that everyone already knew that.
It is interesting that Kofi Annan said that he is “shocked” by the level of
violence in Syria, and the truth is that no one knows what to say. If Annan is
“shocked”, then what would the Syrians say who are being killed every day in
cold blood by al-Assad’s forces? It is puzzling that the international community
finds solace in silence as it waits for Annan’s pending deadline, while al-Assad’s
forces continue to commit massacres and ethnic cleansing in Homs, which makes
one wonder: Is this blood not of any value? Who will bear the consequences of
these crimes, committed throughout a whole year of the Syrian revolution? Who
will punish al-Assad for his crimes? Therefore we can say that the international
community has not only misunderstood al-Assad, but it has also been complicit
with the regime by granting it one deadline after another so that it can commit
massacres against the Syrians.
All the facts and the reality say that al-Assad and his killing machine only
understand the language of force, not the language of diplomacy and
international laws, and any attempt to stop the crimes of this regime with
diplomatic initiatives, along the lines of Annan’s initiative or otherwise,
certainly “misunderstand” the nature of the tyrant of Damascus’ regime. Al-Assad
has haggled with the international community in the name of Annan’s initiative,
which his regime says today it will not implement, and that it had been
fundamentally misunderstood in the first place. Al-Assad does what he does
because he cannot see any genuine moves against him on the ground, all he sees
are empty threats, such as from Turkey, or the silence emanating from President
Obama, who these days only cares about preparing for his re-election campaign,
rather than the numbers killed at the hands of the al-Assad regime, which now
exceed ten thousand.
Therefore, the al-Assad regime’s Foreign Ministry was entirely right to say that
believing it would withdraw its troops was wrong, because assuming that the al-Assad
regime could possibly have good intentions is a fundamental mistake. Al-Assad
and his regime only understand the language of force, and using such tactics
today has become a duty not only to ensure his overthrow, but to stop the Syrian
bloodshed. In addition to this, all Bashar al-Assad is currently doing is
wasting time, and by failing to act the world is effectively conspiring with the
Damascus criminal.
Russian envoy to Egypt defends stance on the Syria
By Mona Madkour
Asharq AlAwsat
Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat – The Russian Ambassador to Cairo Serge Kirpichenko has
called Russia and China’s position toward the Syrian crisis the optimum neutral
stand, whilst the contrasting position of Western and Arab countries is "not
neutral", and has private interests behind it. In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat,
Serge Kirpichenko said: "Neutrality does not mean using the right to veto, but
it means (not interfering militarily), and anyone who calls for military
intervention is not being neutral towards Syria. This is the meaning of
neutrality as we understand it, since military intervention and support does not
indicate neutrality."
The Russian ambassador stressed that his country is maintaining the same
distance between the opposition and the regime in Syria. He revealed that
behind-the-scenes developments regarding the Arab initiative for Syria have been
regrettable, and what has been announced in public does not reflect reality of
what the Arabs have agreed on. He said: "To our deep regret, we have found that
the stance of the Arabs themselves has led to the failure of the Arab
initiative. The behind-the-scenes developments of the initiative have witnessed
a stark contrast in Arab stances, and their decisions have clear contradictions
between what has been declared and what remains undeclared."
He added: "The issue began with observers being sent to Syria, and then they
were recalled. Whatever the justifications, the observers’ mission timeframe was
in no way sufficient, and we advocated the continuation of this mission and
called for the support of the United Nations and other international
institutions. However, today we have returned to square one once again."
Serge Kirpichenko refused to consider the possibility of the Syrian regime
breaching the deadline given by the international community to President Bashar
al-Assad (until 10th April) to cease fire and resolve the Syrian issue
politically, in light of al-Assad’s inclinations towards further bloodshed. The
Russian Ambassador to Cairo pointed out that the Russian policy towards Syria
will not change even if the ceasefire fails, and that his country will continue
to make further contact with all parties to reach a political solution that is
acceptable to all.
Serge Kirpichenko, who worked as an ambassador for his country in Damascus
before assuming his new post in Cairo last October, expects a genuine peace
settlement to be initiated in Syria soon. He said: "I have great hope for this,
and there are signs that the implementation of Annan's plan has begun. The
Syrian crisis is very complicated and there are roots behind the blood that has
unfortunately been shed as a result, but we should look forward. We have already
supported the appointment of Kofi Annan and all the steps towards rendering the
truce successful, because the alternative [if Annan’s plan is not implemented]
will have further negative consequences not only for Syria."
Serge Kirpichenko added: "We have close relations not only with the regime in
Syria, but also with the Syrian people, including the opposition and all its
spectra, and I assure you that we have entered into a confrontation with the
Syrian Government more than once in order to reach a satisfactory, peaceful
political solution. However, we do not have a magic wand to render any plan
successful because, in all honesty, the problems we are facing in Syria are
(very grave) and require patience."
Serge Kirpichenko claimed that the accusation put forth by some about Russia
supporting Syria out of concern for the demise of its ally in the region is
untrue, and said: "We have interests with all Arab countries without exception,
and our interests with Syria are the same as our interests with other Arab
countries. We do not attach our interests in the Arab world to the fate of a
certain regime, whether in Syria or elsewhere." He added: "We support the
democratic transformation in the Arab world and we hope that this change will be
successful, and that it will be peaceful and democratic at the same time.
However, regrettably, the democratic change in some countries of the Arab
Spring, such as Libya, has not been peaceful. Therefore, we are very cautious
about the Syrian situation."
Serge Kirpichenko asked: "Why does the United States insist on escalating
matters these days, particularly when we are about to reach a political
solution?" He pointed out that there are different ways and means to achieve a
democratic transformation, and that the continuation of al-Assad's regime does
not mean that democratic change has failed, but there will definitely be a
positive change in Syria.
On Russia's relations with Iran and Syria, Serge Kirpichenko said: "We have
relations with Iran and Syria, and we have relations with other regimes that
consider themselves opponents to these regimes. We are not gambling on this
enmity between various regimes in the Middle East, but we want to overcome these
divisions and differences, and this is one of the tools of Russian diplomacy."