LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
April 11/2012
Bible Quotation for today/Slaves of Righteousness
Romans 06/14-23: "What, then? Shall we sin, because we are not under law
but under God's grace? By no means! Surely you know that when you surrender
yourselves as slaves to obey someone, you are in fact the slaves of the master
you obey—either of sin, which results in death, or of obedience, which results
in being put right with God. But thanks be to God! For though at one time you
were slaves to sin, you have obeyed with all your heart the truths found in the
teaching you received. You were set free from sin and became the slaves of
righteousness. (I use everyday language because of the weakness of your natural
selves.) At one time you surrendered yourselves entirely as slaves to impurity
and wickedness for wicked purposes. In the same way you must now surrender
yourselves entirely as slaves of righteousness for holy purposes. When you were
the slaves of sin, you were free from righteousness.21 What did you gain from
doing the things that you are now ashamed of The result of those things is
death! But now you have been set free from sin and are the slaves of God. Your
gain is a life fully dedicated to him, and the result is eternal life. For sin
pays its wage—death; but God's free gift is eternal life in union with Christ
Jesus our Lord.
Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from
miscellaneous sources
Annan’s initiative
has failed…what next/By Tariq Alhomayed/Asharq Al-Awsat/April
10/12
Syria: An alarming explanation/By Emad El Din Adeeb/Asharq Alawsat/April
10/12
Abandon Annan/By:
Hanin
Ghaddar/Now Lebanon/April 10/12
Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous
Sources for April 10/12
Big US-Arab Gulf air force
exercise draws Iranian warning to stop at once
Anshel Pfeffer / Small window of opportunity for a strike on Iran
Report: Iran intecepts Israel-linked 'mercenary' ring
Lack of phone-data access slows probe into attempt on Lebanese Forces leader
Samir Geagea's assassination
Telecommunications Minister Nicolas Sehnaoui dares March 14 MPs to seek
confidence vote
200 March 14 Personalities Throw Support behind Geagea in Maarab
Report: Suspicious People Sought to Rent House in Maarab in 2011
President Slieman and patriarch Raei see eye to eye
Media tragedy In Lebanon
Beirut demands Syrian probe into journalist’s killing
Al-Jadeed TV cameraman Ali Shaaban laid to rest, Hezbollah calls for justice
Deputy head of STL defense office announces departure
Suleiman, Miqati Ask Syria to Probe Cameraman Killing, Hariri Slams Govt.
Charbel: Investigations into Shaaban Death are Underway
Jal al-Dib residents
reiterate demand for substitute bridge
Arrest Warrants Issued against 3 People for Smuggling Arms to Syria
Syria activists: 1,000 people killed by Assad's forces in last 8 days
France Says Syria Claim on Peace Plan a 'Flagrant Lie'
Britain: No Evidence Syria Intends to Stick to Peace Plan
As UN-brokered deadline passes, no sign of Syrian troop withdrawal
Activists deny Syrian
claim of pullback
N. Korea says ready to
launch rocket, prompts warnings
Iran says arrests "major terrorist group" linked to Israel
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan slams Assad for killing dozens "every day"
Syrian troops on
offensive on deadline day
Ahmadinejad says
Iran can do without oil sales
White House rejects President Peres’ plea to release Pollard
Poll: Former Arab League chief Moussa leads in Egyptian presidential race
200 March 14 Personalities Throw Support behind
Geagea in Maarab
Naharnet/10 April 2012/A large-scale meeting of the opposition March 14 forces
is scheduled to be held in the residence of Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea
in Maarab on Wednesday in a show of support after his escape from an
assassination attempt last week. The March 14 general-secretariat has invited
around 200 personalities, including party leaders, lawmakers and former
ministers to participate in the meeting in Maarab at 5:00 pm, An Nahar daily
said. It quoted organizers as saying that the gathering is aimed at showing a
united front with Geagea who escaped an assassination attempt by snipers as he
was walking in the garden of his fortified residence last Wednesday.The meeting
is also aimed at confirming the determination of the March 14 coalition in
confronting the next stage, which became full of challenges following the change
in the status quo since 2008, when the last assassination was carried out, the
organizers said. Lebanon was rocked with a series of bombings and killings
between 2004 and 2008, including the assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri in
Feb. 2005. High-ranking March 14 sources vowed a showdown with the government
during parliamentary sessions next week, saying the opposition will no longer
remain silent or reconcile with it.
Parliament will hold a three-day session starting next Tuesday to assess the
cabinet’s performance.Al-Joumhouria also quoted an opposition official as saying
that Geagea’s assassination attempt was aimed at turning the clock back after
striking the spirit of change instigated by the Syrian Spring as a continuation
of Lebanon’s Cedar Revolution in 2005.The main objective behind targeting Geagea
is to obstruct the opportunity of change that could come following the collapse
of the Syrian regime, the official said.
Lack of phone-data access slows probe into attempt on Lebanese Forces leader
Samir Geagea's assasination
April 10, 2012/By Van Meguerditchian/ The Daily Star /BEIRUT: The investigations
into the attempted assassination of Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea could
face a dead end if security services are denied access to telecommunications
information, a senior security source told The Daily Star Monday. Access to
telecoms records, which would enable the tracing of mobile communications, has
become a subject of dispute between the March 14 opposition and the
Hezbollah-led March 8 government following last week’s attempt on Geagea’s life.
According to the source, telecoms data is vital to developing significant leads
to identifying the snipers who targeted Geagea’s residence in Kesrouan’s Maarab.
But Telecommunications Minister Nicolas Sehnaoui has maintained that disclosing
such information would constitute a violation of people’s privacy. “Telecoms
data would greatly help in the investigation by tracking the calls made shortly
before and after the shots fired at Geagea’s residence last week,” said the
source. “It’s not a crowded geographical area and there are not so many phone
calls made in the area, stretching from the hills of Dlebta to Maarab.” The
source said an investigation and analysis similar to the one conducted by late
Internal Security Forces Maj. Wissam Eid on the phone calls made before and
after the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri would definitely
help the investigation.
Eid, a communications analyst at the ISF’s information branch, was assassinated
in a car bomb in 2008 several months after he had reportedly traced the mobile
phone networks that had allegedly led to Hezbollah members. Hezbollah has
denounced the reports, saying that Israel had infiltrated the country’s
telecommunications to implicate the party in the Hariri assassination. The
U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon indicted four Hezbollah members last
summer for plotting the 2005 attack.
The security source and a senior judicial source confirmed the discovery of the
location in the hills of Dlebta where the snipers hid, roughly 1 kilometer from
LF headquarters. “The location has been identified and investigations are close
enough to achieve some important findings,” the judicial source said Monday.
“We are confident and expect to have made some important findings in the next
two days,” the source added. Official investigations kicked off hours after the
shootings last week following a request by Interior Minister Marwan Charbel and
Mount Lebanon Prosecutor Judge Claude Karam. With the help of search dogs, over
500 Lebanese Army personnel combed the hills located southwest of Maarab over
the weekend to look for clues that would help the investigation. Preliminary
investigations concluded that two 12.7-mm bullets were fired from two
Austrian-made Steyr rifles.
Amid fears of a return to a cycle of political assassination, officials within
the March 14 coalition have called to have the attempt against Geagea referred
to the STL.
U.K. Ambassador to Lebanon Tom Fletcher said that Prime Minister Najib Mikati
had reassured him that a full investigation into the case was under way.
“Strong reassurance from PM Najib Mikati in our meeting that full investigation
is under way into assassination attempt against [Geagea],” Fletcher said on his
Twitter feed following his meeting with Mikati at the Grand Serail.
The Higher Islamic Council also voiced deep concern over the weekend at the
“return of the sinful and dangerous phenomenon of political assassinations in
Lebanon.”
In a statement following a meeting at Dar al-Fatwa headed by Grand Mufti
Mohammad Rashid Qabbani, the Council called on authorities to fulfill their
duties of “protecting leading national figures and uncovering criminal networks
attempting to tamper with the security, future and stability of the nation.”
Despite outcry over the incident, the Hezbollah-led March 8 coalition has
remained mostly silent and some in the group have expressed skepticism over
Geagea’s claim.
Without referring to the incident directly, Hezbollah MP Mohammad Raad said
“some want to exaggerate some issues or aggravate some events in order to turn
attention away from higher national interests.”
Responding to Raad’s comments, Geagea’s wife, Bsharre MP Strida Geagea, said
that the LF would condemn an attempt on the life of Hezbollah leader Sayyed
Hasan Nasrallah.
“It is greatly unfortunate that politics has reached this level ... despite the
disagreements in opinion between us, I would strongly condemn any attempt on the
life of Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah,” said Geagea in a statement. “MP Raad should
know that assassinations, though they have so far targeted officials of March
14, could one day target the other side [March 8].”
Telecommunications Minister Nicolas Sehnaoui dares March 14 MPs to seek
confidence vote
April 10, 2012/By Hasan Lakkis/ The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Telecommunications Minister Nicolas Sehnaoui dared March 14 lawmakers
Monday to seek a vote of confidence in him for refusing to provide security
services with telephone communications information on the pretext of protecting
people’s privacy.
In an exclusive interview with The Daily Star, Sehnaoui reiterated that the
Telecommunications Ministry cannot provide to anyone “all data” in line with a
Cabinet decision.
Asked to comment on some March 14 MPs who said they might seek a vote of
confidence in him during next week’s three parliamentary sessions on the
government’s performance, Sehnaoui said: “If they are honest with themselves, I
call on them to demand [a vote of] confidence. But I am afraid that they are not
honest with themselves.”
Sehnaoui’s remarks came as the row over the so-called “telecoms data,” which
enables the tracking of telephone communications, escalated in the country
following last week’s failed attempt to assassinate Lebanese Forces leader Samir
Geagea.
The incident has fueled fears of a return to a wave of political assassinations
that rocked Lebanon following the 2005 killing of ex-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
A senior security source told The Daily Star last week that the
Telecommunications Ministry had turned down repeated requests since Jan. 15,
including a request last week following the attempt on Geagea’s life, to provide
security services with telecoms data on the pretext of protecting the people’s
privacy.
In the interview with The Daily Star, Sehnaoui said that he receives daily
sometimes up to 300 requests for telecoms data from several security agencies
and that he approves them in line with a mechanism stated by the law. But he
stressed that his ministry cannot provide to anyone “all data” without the
approval of a judicial committee made up of three top judges in Lebanon in line
with a Cabinet decision.
“What the Lebanese should know is that the security services had in the past
obtained all [telecoms] data from the Telecommunications Ministry in violation
of the law and the Constitution,” he said.
“I brought up this issue in the Cabinet, saying that the citizens’ privacy and
freedom should not be violated,” Sehnaoui said. “During a session on Feb. 1, the
Cabinet decided that all data, or comprehensive information about the [phone]
contacts of all the Lebanese, must go through the judicial committee made up of
three top judges in Lebanon,” he added.
“The Lebanese must know that this committee was not set up in an arbitrary
manner ... It comprises three top judges in the country in line with Law 140,”
he said.
Sehnaoui said he received a letter from the committee on March 21 signed by the
committee’s president, Judge Hatem Madi, and members, judges Shukri Sader and
Aouni Ramadan, in which the three unanimously rejected as “illegal” requests for
“an administrative interception of telephone calls.”
The judges decided the requests “do not serve the process of tracking the
suspicious security and terrorist networks which justify such requests.”
“On the contrary, they [the requests] amount to an infringement on individual
freedoms which are guaranteed by the Constitution and safeguarded by Law 140/99
and make persons who have nothing to do with terrorist networks exposed to
violation of their communications secrecy even at a minimum,” the judges said in
their letter to Sehnaoui.
“The committee decided unanimously not to agree to the above-mentioned
interception requests because they are illegal and to inform the prime minister
and the interior and municipalities minister [of its decision],” the judges
said.
Although the judges’ letter did not say who had sent the requests for
interception of telephone calls, a security source said the telecoms data
request had been made by the Internal Security Forces’ Information Branch at the
request of the Prosecution General’s office. The data usually includes the
location of a caller and his movements.
Sehnaoui said March 14 and Future bloc MPs launched a campaign against him
because he did not provide security services with telecoms data.
Pledging to stick to legal and technical provisions on telecoms data, Sehnaoui
said, referring to March 14 politicians: “If I want to speak in politics, my
response will be painful. Those who appear on TV and sell Lebanon 17 times with
WikiLeaks, they are not demanding the data for the reasons they claim they need
them. God knows why they want to get the data.”
Sehnaoui refuted claims that his ministry had provided Hezbollah with telecoms
data while denying this data to security services. However, he admitted that
Hezbollah had the right to have its private telecommunications network “but not
within the Lebanese state’s network.”
Following the attempt on Geagea’s life, the LF last week warned of more
assassination attempts unless telecoms data was made available to security
services. Geagea said last week he had survived an assassination attempt when a
sniper’s shots had been fired at his residence in Maarab in Kesrouan, warning
that the political killings of the last decade had not ended. He said the
incident had required expertise, claiming that the shots had been fired a few
kilometers from the target site.
Beirut demands Syrian probe into journalist’s killing
April 10, 2012 02:03 AM By Hussein Dakroub The Daily Star BEIRUT: Lebanon
demanded Monday a Syrian investigation into the killing of a Lebanese cameraman
working for Al-Jadeed television who was shot dead in the northern area of Wadi
Khaled near the border with Syria. Al-Jadeed blamed the Syrian army for the
death of cameraman Ali Shaaban, the latest in a series of incidents along the
increasingly tense Lebanese-Syrian frontier which has seen Syrian troops
crossing the border in pursuit of rebel soldiers since the popular uprising
began in Lebanon’s neighbor in March last year. Border incursions by the Syrian
army have led to the killing and wounding of several Lebanese citizens in recent
months, prompting March 14 calls for the deployment of the Lebanese Army on the
border to protect Lebanese citizens. Al-Jadeed’s owner Tahseen Khayyat told his
TV station that the Syrian attack on the crew had been intentional. U.N.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon deplored the cross-border shootings from Syria
into Lebanon ahead of a cease-fire deadline in the yearlong conflict that has
pushed Syria to the brink of civil war. Al-Jadeed accused the Syrian army of
killing Shaaban, 30, saying it opened fire at the three-member crew’s vehicle
which was on Lebanon’s side of the border.
“Ali Shaaban became a martyr after the Syrian army opened fire on Al-Jadeed’s
car” in the Wadi Khaled area, the station said in its prime news bulletin Monday
night. It said that the station’s vehicle was raked with about 40 bullets and
that a bullet that directly hit Shaaban’s heart caused his death. Hussein
Khreiss, the station’s reporter who was with Shaaban, said that the crew had
come under heavy gunfire from the Syrian side as they were reporting from inside
Lebanon.
Khreiss and another cameraman, Abdul-Azim Khayyat, survived after jumping into a
field when their car came under fire, but Shaaban was not able to crawl away
because he had been hit, Khreiss said. “We were in Lebanese territory. We
saluted the Syrian border guards who shouted at us to go back. We came under
heavy fire for two hours from the Syrian side, from the regular Syrian army.
Gunshots fell like rain,” said a sobbing Khreiss, speaking in front of Al-Salam
Hospital in the northern town of Qobeiyat where Shaaban’s body was taken. The
body was later taken to the state-owned Rafik Hariri Hospital in Beirut. Shaaban
is to be buried in his southern home village of Mayfadoun Tuesday. Lebanese
leaders on both sides of the political fence condemned the incident, with
politicians in the opposition March 14 coalition calling for government action
to control the border with Syria.
President Michel Sleiman called on “the Syrian side to conduct the necessary
investigations to pinpoint responsibilities and prevent a recurrence of such
attacks in the future,” according to a statement released by the president’s
office. Sleiman telephoned Tahseen Khayyat to offer condolences. He also
contacted Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi, the secretary-general of the Higher
Lebanese-Syrian Council Nasri Khoury, and Lebanon’s Ambassador to Syria Michel
Khoury, demanding the “circumstances of the incident be clarified and
investigations pursued in order for judicial measures to take their course
according to laws in force.”Prime Minister Najib Mikati, whose Twitter account
was flooded with messages from people asking the government for immediate
action, said he would ask the Syrian government to investigate the shooting and
hold the culprits accountable. “We will inform the Syrian side of our
condemnation of this act which we reject and our demand that the attack be
investigated and that the perpetrators be held accountable,” Mikati said in a
statement released by his office.
“We deplore and condemn the shooting from the Syrian side on the Lebanese media
crew, particularly that this crew was doing its duty inside the Lebanese border
area. I have asked the Lebanese Army Command to open an urgent investigation
into the incident,” added Mikati, who is abroad on vacation. The prime minister
offered his condolences to Al-Jadeed staff and to Khayyat. Former Prime Minister
Saad Hariri described Shaaban’s killing as “an attack on Lebanese sovereignty”
and held the Lebanese government responsible it. “Hariri ... held the Lebanese
government responsible for what happened because it has been turning a blind eye
to the series of attacks and violations carried out by Syrian forces on Lebanese
territories for months now,” said a statement released by Hariri’s office.
As The Daily Star went to press, there was as yet no statement from the Lebanese
Army on Shaaban’s killing. Meanwhile, Syria blamed “terrorist groups” for the
cameraman’s killing. Syria’s official news agency SANA quoted “a media source”
as saying the Al-Jadeed crew, which came under fire in Wadi Khaled, was in a
border area that has witnessed “repeated infiltration attempts on a daily basis
by gunmen and also shooting by armed terrorist groups on the border guard posts
inside Syrian territory.” “What happened today is that a Syrian border guard
post in the mentioned area came, during the presence of Al-Jadeed crew in the
area, under heavy gunfire by armed terrorist groups as they do daily in an
attempt to infiltrate into Syrian territory to carry out terrorist attacks. The
border guards responded to the sources of gunfire,” SANA quoted the source as
saying. Speaker Nabih Berri called Ali Shaaban, the victim’s father, to offer
condolences. He also telephoned the Al-Jadeed administration for the same
purpose. Ministers and lawmakers from Hezbollah and the Amal Movement visited
the house of Shaaban’s parents to offer condolences. Interior Minister Marwan
Charbel said a probe into the attack had been launched in order to uncover the
circumstances behind Shaaban’s killing. “An investigation is under way by
security forces and the testimonies of the two journalists who were with [Shaaban]
were taken,” Charbel told The Daily Star. Former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora,
head of the parliamentary Future bloc, condemned Shaaban’s killing, saying
Syrian soldiers deliberately opened fire with the aim of killing.
Media tragedy In Lebanon
April 10, 2012/ The Daily Star
The day before a much-awaited cease-fire is supposed to take effect in Syria,
little on the ground indicates the regime in Damascus is interested in meeting
its commitments to the international community.
Two Syrians and a Turk were shot and wounded on Turkish territory Monday as
refugees from the violence streamed across the border in the Aleppo region. This
was followed by the news that Lebanon’s Al-Jadeed TV lost one of its cameramen,
Ali Shaaban, to deadly gunfire – also from the Syrian side of the border – in
the region of Wadi Khaled in Akkar.
The incidents are a depressing reminder that April 10 is likely to be much the
same as April 9. In the last few days, the Free Syrian Army has announced that
it will abide by the cease-fire, without setting any conditions; in contrast,
the authorities in Damascus have engaged in their usual, last-minute
maneuvering, by adding a new element to the mix: demanding written assurances
from Turkey that the opposition will not be armed. There are no indications that
a cease-fire will take place, which again highlights the international
community’s failure to back up its words with any type of credible
follow-through and implementation. During the period in which Kofi Annan has
made visit after visit and held meeting after meeting supposedly to end the
violence, the death toll has risen steadily, claiming the lives of hundreds of
people, and not just in Syria. And as the dance of words takes place in
Damascus, Lebanon has nothing to be proud of.
Journalists have been risking their lives to cover the bloody popular uprising
over the last year, and everyone remembers the storm of protest and diplomatic
action when foreign journalists were killed in Homs. But when a Lebanese member
of the media is killed – not in Syria, but in Lebanon – the predictable flow of
solemn comments begins. Politicians and officials deplore the incident. They
demand an investigation. They vow that such incidents should not be repeated.
But they have been repeated, steadily, for the last 12 months. Perhaps a few
smugglers have been the victims, but so have Lebanese soldiers, shepherds,
farmers, and others who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The television crew that came under fire Monday thought they were safe, being in
Lebanon, but this turned out to be tragically untrue. Army troops took hours to
arrive; the crew wasn’t in a military zone when the shooting started. The
government’s record of failure on protecting its borders will likely remain
unblemished; no one expects anything tangible to take place after the latest
promise of an investigation. Politicians are fond of telling people about their
commitment to national sovereignty, but even when the bullets fly, and strike
members of the media, or others, this commitment is quickly forgotten.
Al-Jadeed TV cameraman Ali Shaaban laid
to rest, Hezbollah calls for justice
April 10, 2012/ /By Mohammed Zaatari/ The Daily Star
MAIFADOUN, Lebanon: Family and friends laid to rest Tuesday Al-Jadeed TV
cameraman Ali Shaaban whose car came under fire from the Syrian side of the
northern border a day earlier as Hezbollah demanded punishment for the killers
behind the attack. “We call on the Lebanese government to launch a probe into
the incident and punish the culprits who targeted the media and its men,”
Hezbollah MP Hasan Fadlallah told The Daily Star after offering condolences to
Shaaban’s family in Maifadoun, 10 kilometers from the southern city of Nabatiyeh,
after the burial. Shaaban, 30, was killed when the car he was traveling in along
with colleagues Hussein Khreis and Abed al-Azim Khayyat was raked with machine
gun fire. Shaaban was the only fatality; Khayyat was lightly wounded. “The media
should be free anywhere they are,” added Fadlallah, who was representing
Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah at the funeral. About 1,000 locals –
including family members, friends, lawmakers, politicians, Lebanese diplomats
and an army of journalists and cameramen – took part in Shaaban's funeral
service in his hometown of Maifadoun.
The journalists and cameramen held a moment of silence in Shaaban's honor, with
photographers laying down their cameras before a huge poster of him. “Did he ask
you to say ‘hi’ to me before he died?” Shaaban’s twin sister, Fatmeh, inquired
of Al-Jadeed reporter Hussein Khreis who was with her brother on the same
mission. She then collapsed. Shaaban's fiancée circled Maifadoun's Husseiniyeh,
kissing his picture. "The groom fell as a martyr. I won't see him anymore," she
cried. Earlier in the day, about 200 reporters, cameramen and photographers
representing local and foreign media outlets gathered outside the Beirut
headquarters of Al-Jadeed TV to pay their final respects to Shaaban. Khreis had
said the three-man TV crew was subjected to sudden gunfire around them "pouring
down like rain." He confirmed Shaaban was shot while inside the car.
Television footage showed the car riddled with dozens of bullets. From Beirut, a
hearse transported Shaaban's body to the family home in Hart Hreik in the
capital’s southern suburbs before he was taken south for burial in Maifadoun.
Both Khreis and Khayyat pointed the finger at Syria. “Gunfire was aimed at the
crew with the intention of killing and to show that the region is a military
zone,” Khreiss told reporters outside Al-Jadeed building in Corniche Mazraa
Tuesday. “If Syria wanted to send a message, it did not have to send this
message in blood,” Khayyat commented. Later Tuesday, Khayyat announced he was
quitting as a journalist cameraman. “My family can no longer take the unbearable
pressure, particularly since this is the second time I get hurt on an
assignment,” Khayyat told Al-Jadeed TV, recalling the day he was wounded by
Israeli shelling during the 2006 war on Lebanon.
Shaaban's death drew widespread condemnation across the Lebanese political
spectrum. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also deplored the cross-border
shootings from Syria into Lebanon ahead of a cease-fire deadline in the yearlong
conflict that has pushed Syria to the brink of civil war. Hezbollah’s media
office, in a statement, expressed its "deep sorrow for the loss of a media
colleague, cameraman Ali Shaaban." “We condemn this attack on journalists, who
pay the price for their courage in covering events,” Hezbollah added. It also
condemned the targeting of the media “which try to convey the picture of events
for the people." Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammad Rashid Qabbani denounced the
killing, describing the incident as an affront to press freedom.
"The attack on the press and free speech is condemned and what happened with the
Al-Jadeed TV crew in Akkar which led to the martyrdom of Ali Shaaban is a
blatant violation of press freedoms," he said in a statement published Tuesday.
Qabbani called on the government to shoulder its responsibilities in terms of
“protecting all Lebanese in order to prevent a recurrence of the
incident.”Maronite Patriarch Rai also expressed sorrow over the loss of Shaaban
and condemned the killing. “[Rai] expressed the deepest sorrow over the news of
the martyrdom of Al-Jadeed TV cameraman Ali Shaaban in Wadi Khaled by sniper
fire from Syrian territory,” a statement from Bkirki’s media office said. “The
patriarch joins his voice with that of the president and authorities in Lebanon
in denouncing the incident,” it added. Al-Jamaa Al-Islamiya, in a statement from
its media office, also denounced the “horrendous” killing and targeting of the
press, describing the attack as an attempt to “stifle the truth of how this
[Syrian] regime deals with the Syrian people. The group also called on Lebanese
authorities to take all the steps needed to “hold the Syrian regime responsible
for this crime, as well as take all the necessary steps to provide an equal
level of protection to journalists and civilians on the border.”“We stress our
support to Al-Jadeed in these difficult days and offer our condolences to the
administration, reporters, staff and family members of the martyr,” it added.
President Slieman and patriarch Raei see eye to eye
April 10, 2012/By Antoine Ghattas Saab/The Daily Star
President Michel Sleiman and Patriarch Beshara Rai’s simultaneous announcements
of Pope Benedict XVI’s planned visit to Lebanon from Sept. 14-16 – during which
he will sign the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation for the Middle East – is a
sign of the coordination and cooperation between the president and the
patriarch.
Sources close to the president said that during Sleiman and Rai’s closed-door
meeting before Easter Mass in Bkirki, the two addressed pressing local and
regional issues in detail, focusing on the grave dangers looming on the horizon.
They discussed last week’s attempted assassination of Lebanese Forces leader
Samir Geagea and the possibility that it signaled the return of political
assassinations, which Sleiman considered to be a dangerous prospect that must
stopped by security forces.
Sleiman said that Interior Minister Marwan Charbel’s call to engage in dialogue
in the wake of the attempted assassination does not necessarily mean that the
perpetrator of the act was a domestic group. The president clarified that
dialogue would allow all political parties to sit together to strengthen
national unity and weaken sectarian discord.
The two leaders also discussed the electoral law, and according to sources close
to Sleiman, the president voiced his hope that all parties would reach an
agreement to support a law based on proportional representation and reject any
electoral law based on the 1960s, which represents an era that Lebanon has
already lived through and overcame after Syria’s withdrawal from the country.
The president added that a PR system would give every group its proper political
representation regardless of established alliances.
Sleiman also confirmed his support for a modern electoral law under which all
segments of society are represented in a national, nonsectarian framework, while
preserving the Muslim-Christian parity that is a necessary for democracy in the
country.
During Sleiman and Rai’s meeting, which lasted roughly 30 minutes, the president
and the patriarch also discussed the volatile developments in Syria and agreed
on the necessity of self-determination for the Syrian people without foreign
intervention.
The leaders called on Arab states to take initiative and return to the Arab
League or United Nations to develop a political solution to the Syrian crisis.
Rai defended recent statements that stirred controversy, arguing that the
remarks – which were made during a Reuters interview – were in line with his
concern for minorities, Christians in particular, in the midst of the Arab
Spring. Sleiman’s response was that Bkirki had always carried this concern for
the Christian community from Patriarch Antoine Arida to Rai.
Following Mass in Bkirki, Sleiman received visitors on the occasion of the
Easter holiday in Amsheet. In response to a question from a guest on whether the
current Cabinet would fall before the 2013 Parliamentary elections, the
president responded that such change is normal in a democratic system, but said
he saw no pressing need for a new Cabinet.
The president also called on all Lebanese parties to be neutral in all conflicts
in the Middle East, except in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Sleiman said that the
pope’s visit reflects the message that Christians, as pioneers of civilization,
dialogue, open-mindedness and Arabism, are an important part of the Middle East
and that their presence allows Lebanon to be an example of co-existence, freedom
and equality.
Deputy head of STL defense office
announces departure
April 10, 2012 04:18 PM The Daily Star
BEIRUT: The deputy head of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon defense office will
be leaving her post, the STL announced in a press release Tuesday. “Following
the start of the judicial phase of the STL on the Feb.1, 2012, it is now
primarily for the defense counsel to ensure the protection of the rights of the
accused and equitable justice,” said Alia Aoun, who has told the STL registrar
that she plans on returning to practice as an attorney in Paris. “As the deputy
head of the defense office, I have helped to prepare the ground for the
development of a judicial process that is fair and respectful of all
parties.”She added, “Throughout my term I have been acutely aware of the
importance of our work to the Lebanese people. It is my hope that the Special
Tribunal for Lebanon will continue to fulfill its mandate through the
professionalism and devotion of the tribunal’s staff.”Aoun has practiced
extensively before criminal courts. She is also a founding member of the
association Avocats et Juristes pour le Liban, and has organized conferences and
events in support of the defense of freedoms and the promotion of the rule of
law, according to the STL website.
Jal al-Dib residents reiterate demand for substitute
bridge
April 10, 2012/ The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Residents of Jal al-Dib protested Tuesday for the second week in a row
over their demands for the construction of a replacement for the recently
dismantled bridge, blocking the main coastal highway leading to and from Beirut.
“We protested last Tuesday and called for an entry and exit point for the Metn
from Jal al-Dib but we didn’t hear anything but [empty] promises. Today our
movement will not carry out escalatory action, set up tents or close completely
the highway,” the protesters said in a statement. The demonstrators, who blocked
the main highway on both sides from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., maintained that by
refraining from escalating their actions they were not departing from a decision
to hold weekly protests every Tuesday but that they wanted to give officials one
final chance.
If their demand is not met, they will hold a mass demonstration on May 8 calling
for “a final decision on introducing an appropriate exit and entry system to the
Metn from Jal al-Dib and that it be situated on the highway immediately, with
clear deadlines determined before the month’s end.”
Tens of people gathered last Tuesday at the site where the Jal al-Dib bridge
once stood, protesting the lack of an alternative to the bridge which they say
was a vital route for Metn residents.
Deputy Prime Minister Samir Moqbel said Thursday that a new bridge would be
constructed in line with a Cabinet decision to replace the Jal al-Dib bridge,
but that the process would take time.
Over the weekend, Moqbel, following a meeting with Kataeb Party leader Amin
Gemayel, stressed that the government had made a “clear and final decision to
establish a bridge in Jal al-Dib and that it has tasked the Council for
Development and Reconstruction with putting forward the final blueprints within
a period of 15 days and presenting these to local authorities to arrive at a
final agreement that will then be raised by the Cabinet.”He also called on the
residents not to renew their protest “because the matter has been
resolved.”However, Moqbel would not specify a deadline for the start of the
construction of the bridge. The Jal al-Dib bridge was dismantled earlier this
year following warnings by various officials that it was at severe risk of
collapse.The bridge connected Jal al-Dib to the main Beirut highway which runs
through the country vertically. As with last week’s demonstration, heavy traffic
ensued on both sides of the highway, which already witnesses early morning
congestion.
Lawmakers also headed to the protest site to voice their support for the
movement. “[Metn] MPs Sami Gemayel and Michel Murr are dealing with this subject
separately and we will have to wait and see whether we can agree to work
together on this issue,” said Metn MP Salim Salhab, a member of the Free
Patriotic Movement.
MP Ibrahim Kanaan, another Metn lawmaker in the FPM, said the decision by the
Cabinet needed to be implemented and “I will bring this matter up in Parliament
and will follow it up until the end even it comes to the point where we have to
call for a vote of confidence.”“The north Metn has been deprived for 20 years
and has not had its rights, whether in terms of bridges, hospitals, roads or
schools, and we won’t accept that this continue; the government must carry out
its decisions not through promises, visits and meetings alone.”Eddy Abi Lamaa, a
representative of the Lebanese Forces, said a new and clear plan needed to be
introduced for a replacement bridge, stressing that Jal al-Dib needed to have
entry and exit points. For his part, Change and Reform bloc MP Ghassan
Moukheiber said he supported the call by residents for a replacement bridge,
adding that “the traffic crisis will not be resolved except by studying the
issue of public transportation.”The protesters vowed, as they had last week, to
carry on with their weekly Tuesday protests until the matter was resolved.The
highway was reopened 9 a.m. and normal traffic resumed shortly therafter.
Iran says arrests "major terrorist group" linked to
Israel
April 10, 2012/Daily Star /DUBAI: Iran said on Tuesday it had identified a
"major terrorist group" it said was affiliated to its arch-foe Israel and had
arrested some of its members, the official IRNA news agency reported, citing a
report by the country's Intelligence Ministry. "Iran's Intelligence Ministry
announced it has identified a major terrorist group from the Zionist regime (of
Israel) and has arrested some of its protected operational members inside the
country," IRNA reported without making clear when the arrests had taken place.
The semi-official Fars news agency said the suspects were arrested "while
preparing to carry out terrorist acts", adding that a considerable number of
bombs, machine guns, military and communication equipments were seized. Tehran
has in the past accused Israel of being behind the killings of its nuclear
scientists. The Islamic state blamed Israel in January when a nuclear scientist
was killed by a bomb placed on his car by a motorcyclist in Tehran.Iran denies
Western suspicions that its nuclear program has military goals, saying it is for
purely peaceful purposes.Fars cited the Intelligence Ministry's statement as
saying that further information would be announced later.
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan slams Assad for
killing dozens "every day"
April 10, 2012/ Daily Star
ANKARA: Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan accused Syrian President Bashar
Assad of personal responsibility for killing civilians and said on Tuesday he
would take unspecified steps after Syrian troops shot at refugees inside Turkey.
"He is continuing to kill 60, 70, 80, 100 every day," Erdogan said of Assad,
whom he once called a friend but whose troops were now, the Turkish premier
said, "mercilessly" shooting fleeing women and children in the back. Speaking in
China before heading back to the region for talks with Arab power Saudi Arabia,
another force pressing for Assad's removal, Erdogan condemned the shooting on
Monday which wounded three Syrians and two Turks in a frontier refugee camp.
"There was a very clear violation of the border. We are going to conduct a final
assessment. Our diplomacy is continuing with the regional countries," he said.
"After that, of course, we will take the steps that need to be taken."
He did not elaborate. Opposition from U.N. Security Council heavyweights Russia
and China, as well as from Assad's long-time backer Iran, argues against
military intervention in support of the Syrian rebels by sympathetic regional
and Western powers. But Turkey, which has given refuge to some 25,000 Syrians
including officers commanding rebel forces, has indicated it might consider
increasing its support for Assad's opponents, including by declaring a "buffer
zone" to protect them. Erdogan said last month that would mean sending in troops
to Syria to secure the area, setting up a possible confrontation between Assad's
forces and the Turkish army, the second biggest in NATO, the North American and
European defense bloc.
Erdogan said Assad had already broken a promise to international envoy Kofi
Annan to withdraw troops from urban areas by Tuesday to allow for a truce to
start on Thursday:
"They are even shooting these fleeing people from behind. They are mercilessly
shooting them, regardless of whether they are children or women," Erdogan said.
"Indeed, he gave his word to Mr. Annan, but despite giving his word he is
continuing to kill 60, 70, 80, 100 every day. This is the situation."As
Erdogan's foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, broke off his own trip to China to
return home, the Turkish foreign ministry also condemned the incident at the
Kilis refugee camp and summoned the Syrian charge d'affaires in Ankara.
Officials said Erdogan would meet King Abdullah in Riyadh on Friday to discuss
Syria. Both are sympathetic to pleas for support from fellow Sunni Muslims
there. Sunnis are the majority in Syria but complain of oppression by Assad's
Alawites, a sect which aligns itself with the Shi'ites who dominate in Iran. A
sectarian tinge to the Syrian uprising, which began 13 months ago as part of a
wider Arab popular movement for democratic reforms, has heightened wider
tensions along a Sunni-Shi'ite faultline that cuts across the Middle East.
Turkey's Hurriyet newspaper said that, after China and Saudi Arabia, Erdogan
might also visit Russia, a key defender of Assad. The Turkish prime minister,
bolstered by political and economic stability at home, has been eager to
increase the country's diplomatic clout in the region, and beyond.
Annan’s initiative has failed…what next?
By Tariq Alhomayed/Asharq Al-Awsat
There is no doubt that Kofi Annan’s mission was a failure before it even
started, and this is what I said over and over again, but today, following the
al-Assad regime’s announcement that it will not implement the terms of Annan’s
mission, we can officially say that the mission has failed; all that remains is
for Annan to declare it himself. The question now is: What next? Will there be
another initiative giving al-Assad the opportunity to kill again? Of course,
this is what the rational and wise fear.
What is happening in Syria is not a crisis between two parties, rather it is a
revolution, a genuine Arab revolution, and what we see are the people being held
prisoner at the hands of al-Assad’s gangs, without impunity. Matters do not stop
here; yesterday the al-Assad regime opened fire on the Lebanese border, and
killed a Lebanese journalist there. The same day al-Assad’s troops opened fire
on the Turkish border, killing Syrian refugees, and this means that Bashar al-Assad
is seeking to ignite the region at any cost. How can he be given another chance?
This is a dangerous, indeed disastrous matter, and if this happens; the Syrian
people will not be the only ones to suffer, but rather the entire region and its
security.
Thus today we must begin to activate the operations room for those interested in
helping Syria, whether Arabs, Turks or Westerners, so they can mobilize and
impose a new status quo on the Syrian ground, and stop the bloodshed. Today
Turkey must clarify its stance and take more practical steps, for what is
happening in Syria affects its security and sovereignty. Today Jordan must be
decisive and move away from the grey area, or the area of uncertainty where all
solutions and initiatives have failed. The latest initiative, Kofi Annan’s
proposal, didn’t fail because the West or the Arabs wanted it to, but because
al-Assad does not want to be prosecuted or killed. Jordan must decide what kind
of future it wants for the region, and its borders: Does Jordan want a desolate
neighbor, choked by an authoritarian ruler far worse than all the other tyrants
of the region? Or does Jordan want a Syria free from tyranny, with a peaceful
future for its citizens and neighbors, and the entire region?
Therefore a coalition to help Syria must mobilize, and Turkey and Jordan need to
define their stances, as does Washington before them both. Yet [to pressure
America to do so], this requires an Arab diplomatic tour, consisting of the
states in the region capable of resolving the matter.
Whilst it should be nearing its end, the al-Assad regime is continuing to
escalate matters, and is always pushing to the brink of the abyss, making it
difficult for others to find solutions, in the sense that al-Assad makes the
rules of the game difficult and hence confines others to inactivity, or limits
them to taking “decisive” steps that everyone knows the international community
will not live up to. Therefore, the coalition of states interested in helping
Syria must mobilize to further increase pressure on the al-Assad regime, with
practical and effective steps on the ground. The al-Assad regime only
understands the language of force, because that’s what al-Assad himself believes
in, and this is what some of his visitors heard recently when he said “the
people should be afraid”. This is why initiatives have completely failed in
Syria, and al-Assad must understand that he must pay for his crimes today, and
not tomorrow!
Thus we can say that Annan’s mission has failed, so will we now mobilize?
Big US-Arab Gulf air force exercise draws Iranian warning
to stop at once
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report April 9, 2012/At least 200 American and Arab Gulf
fighter-bombers thundered overhead Sunday, April 8 at the outset of the biggest
air force exercise ever conducted in the Gulf region. They are simulating war
with Iran and an operation for reopening the strategic Straits of Hormuz if it
is closed by Tehran. debkafile’s military sources report that 100 of the
warplanes took off from the USS Enterprise and USS Abraham Lincoln which are
cruising with their strike groups opposite Iranian shores. The Saudi, UAE,
Kuwaiti and Bahraini air forces contributed the other 100.
In an unprecedented show of military solidarity with the US, Bahrain, which
hosts the US Fifth Fleet High Command, was also chosen by Gulf Cooperation
Council – GCC - members for their unified exercise headquarters to be located at
the Shaikh Isa Air Base. Tehran was being told that neither the Obama
administration nor the Gulf Arab governments were deterred by its threats of
retaliation against emirates placing bases at the disposal of foreign forces for
an attack on Iran.However, shortly after the exercise began, Iranian ambassador
to Kuwait Rouhullah Qahremani called urgently on Kuwait Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen
Khalid Al-Sabah with a warning that the Iranian air and navy would attack the
Gulf nations taking part in the exercise unless they withdrew at once.
The Kuwaiti army chief took Iran's threat to the GCC Secretary General for
Military Affairs Maj. Gen. Khalifa Humaid Al-Kaabi. Kuwait and Riyadh also
briefed the Americans.
The exercise is due to end on April 15, the day after the six world powers
launch resumed nuclear negotiations with Iran in Istanbul. However some Iranian
sources were hinting Monday that they would not come to the talks under military
threat. Although the participants are keeping the exercise’s scenario under
wraps, debkafile’s military and intelligence sources are able to outline its
five segments:
1. A practice operation to pry open the Strait of Hormuz should Iran try to
block the waterway through which one-fifth of the world’s oil is exported -
whether by deploying warships, scuttling old vessels, strewing sea mines or
firing shore-to-ship missiles from the Iranian-controlled islands of Abu Musa,
Great Tunb, Lesser Tunb and Sirri Island.
The combined US-Gulf force is practicing air and naval assaults against those
Iranian island bases and the Revolutionary Guards Corps’ mainland facilities
facing them from Bandar-e-Abbas, Bandar-e-Lengeh and Qeshm island. They plan to
cut off Iranian reinforcements en route to Hormuz.
2. They also aim to prevent Iranian air or sea assaults on the Persian Gulf
emirates’ oil facilities and export terminals, focusing mainly on Saudi,
Bahraini and Kuwaiti oil facilities and fields.
3. Air strikes are conducted against Iranian naval vessels, including
speedboats, in a simulated exercise to head them off before they strike American
aircraft carriers and warships or Gulf fleet vessels.
4. Testing the degree of coordination between US air, sea and marine forces and
their Persian Gulf counterparts.
5. The Gulf exercise is in fact the sequel of Noble Dina 12, the
US-Israeli-Greek war game conducted earlier this month in the Mediterranean and
Aegean Seas. That war game practiced runs by Israeli fighter-bomber from their
home bases to the big American facility on Crete, fueled in flight by American
and Israeli tanker planes. The distance between the two points is roughly
equivalent to the 1,200 kilometers between Israel and Iran.In a furious response
to that maneuver, the Iranian Chief of Staff Gen. Seyed Hassan Firouzabadi,
declared Saturday April 7: “Iran will bulldoze and destroy the illegal Zionist
nest.”
Syria: An alarming explanation
By Emad El Din Adeeb/Asharq Alawsat
Is Syrian President Dr. Bashar al-Assad thinking of a political way out of the
current crisis? I posed this question to an Arab politician who met President
al-Assad recently, whom he knows quite well.
The image, as depicted by the Arab politician, was as follows: "The man (Bashar
al-Assad) believes that what is happening in Syria is a complete conspiracy
against the country and the ruling system there", and that "Syria is paying the
bill for regional revenge, most prominently the regional state of mobilization
and the political sanctions that the United States, the European Union and
Israel are inflicting upon Iran." He added that "the attempts to undermine the
Syrian regime are a major component of the larger project to undermine Iran and
change the regional equation." The Arab politician went on to say "Dr. Bashar
firmly believes that all the Arabs who have condemned his regime are partners in
a worldwide conspiracy against him, and he does not understand the reason why
those leaders are siding with the opposition and the uprising Syrian masses." Of
course, the Syrian President's rhetoric reflects a serious shortcoming in his
political awareness, and provides an alarming political explanation of the
development of events. It would have been better if President Bashar's
explanation had been: The regime decided to confront the street's mobility with
violence, until the last solider and the last citizen. Although such an
explanation is blatantly authoritarian, it remains logical and appropriate to
the al-Assad regime’s rule. Yet, what instills fear and arouses controversy is
the fact that President al-Assad’s genuine interpretation, even whilst sitting
in a remote room away from the tools of his media, is that what is going on is a
"complete conspiracy."
The faults of others, the conspiracies of others, and the responsibilities of
others were all explanations that eventually led to Mussolini being killed at
the hands of his people, Hitler committing suicide, Saddam Hussein being
executed and Muammar Gaddafi being killed mercilessly. This is in addition to
hundreds of other rulers throughout history who have lost their thrones and
positions at the highest cost possible.
Such information, if it turns out to be true, indicates that the likelihood of
Bashar al-Assad relinquishing power willingly, accepting a peaceful settlement,
or agreeing to an offer of political asylum is quite low, or almost impossible.
The cost of overthrowing this regime is exorbitant, and the Syrian people will
have to pay with their economy, army and security, as well as the blood of their
innocent, unarmed citizens.
Abandon Annan
Hanin Ghaddar , April 10, 2012
Now Lebanon
UN-Arab League peace envoy Kofi Annan presented a plan to end the violence in
Syria, which has all but failed. (AFP photo)
One day ahead of peace envoy Kofi Annan’s deadline to the Syrian regime,
President Bashar al-Assad’s forces killed more than 160 people inside Syria and
a cameraman in the north of Lebanon, and fired across the border into the Kilis
refugee camp in Turkey, killing two Syrian residents and injuring four.
Today, instead of withdrawing troops from cities, Syrian forces started the day
by shelling Marea, in the northern Aleppo province, after taking up positions
around the village. Activists said that the government was also sending even
more reinforcements into at least one other rebel stronghold, the besieged city
of Rastan in central Homs province.
We don’t have to wait to see if Annan’s plan is going to work or not; the regime
has sent a number of clear messages in the past few days. Assad will not stop
his killing machine. Nor will the Syrian people stop protesting. The
international community has exhausted all diplomatic efforts, and something
needs to be done quickly.
The Friends of Syria Conference in Istanbul last week took place right after the
delivery of Annan’s plan, which calls for a complete cessation of violence on
both sides by this Thursday. In that light, the meeting’s official outcome was
way below expectations. But the side meetings that occurred outside the official
conference produced a number of scenarios in case Annan’s plan failed. These are
to be followed up at the third Friends of Syria Conference to take place in
Paris later this month. One of the most plausible scenarios is the creation of a
buffer zone, according to some Syrian opposition figures.
On Sunday, the Syrian government announced it would not withdraw its forces from
cities and towns without written guarantees from opposition groups that they
will halt attacks and lay down their arms.
But Monday’s events escalated the sense of alarm, especially for the Turks.
"Syrian citizens who took refuge in our country from the brutality of the
current regime in Syria are under Turkey’s full protection," the Turkish Foreign
Ministry said in a statement. "We will certainly take necessary measures if such
incidents reoccur."
The Turkish government did not specify which measures, or when and how they will
be taken, but a number of Syrian activists believe that the shootings might give
a push to Turkey’s plan to create a buffer zone along the border. For others,
the recent events will encourage Qatar and Saudi Arabia to increase efforts to
arm the opposition Free Syrian Army.
These two measures combined might change the balance of power and allow the
rebels to get closer to the head of the snake: Damascus.
Turkey has its own reasons for wanting to decisively end the conflict in Syria;
it certainly does not want to see more refugees entering its territory. About
2,500 Syrian refugees poured across border last week in a 24-hour period,
bringing the total number of Syrians staying in southern Turkey to 24,300. Now
that the Syrian regime violated Turkish sovereignty with the shooting,
establishing a buffer zone looks like a very good idea.
On the other hand, the Syrian National Council, which has more or less been
adopted by the Turkish government, needs to start gaining credibility if it is
going to survive criticism from both activists inside Syria and opposition
figures outside. Any serious step taken by the international community,
especially Turkey, could add credit to the SNC and its political course, which
so far has achieved nothing but issuing a series of statements and
condemnations.
Unlike Turkey, however, the US seems to be less fixated on an urgent solution.
During the Friends of Syria meeting, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
countered Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s hard-line rhetoric with a lukewarm
statement. The US is doing a delicate balancing act by appearing to support
Erdogan, while at the same time ensuring they did not undermine Annan’s more
restrained efforts.
But now a new phase has started. Any diplomatic effort will not be acceptable
anymore, especially if Assad is being considered as an interlocutor, or if the
regime and rebels are put on equal levels.
Concrete measures are drastically required, and the opposition will not accept
less than a buffer zone and/or humanitarian passages. The international
community should act on these two levels: substantial humanitarian aid and
serious political intervention.
Establishing a buffer will lead to more defections among the regime forces and
will facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid. Both would capture
international attention and show those who are still silent that the balance of
power is tipping against the regime.
According to opposition figures in Istanbul, the buffer zone is ready and is
being controlled by the FSA; it only needs international, or at least Turkish,
protection. However, the regime’s forces are already trying to contain the area
around it. That’s why Tel Rifaat in Aleppo was almost destroyed today, with tens
of people massacred.
It is no longer useful to be patient.
**Hanin Ghaddar is the managing editor of NOW Lebanon