LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
April 17/2012

Bible Quotation for today/Salvation Is for All
Romans 10/05-19: "Moses wrote this about being put right with God by obeying the Law: Whoever obeys the commands of the Law will live. But what the scripture says about being put right with God through faith is this: You are not to ask yourself, Who will go up into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down).Nor are you to ask, Who will go down into the world below? (that is, to bring Christ up from death). What it says is this: God's message is near you, on your lips and in your heart—that is, the message of faith that we preach. If you confess that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised him from death, you will be saved. For it is by our faith that we are put right with God; it is by our confession that we are saved. The scripture says, Whoever believes in him will not be disappointed. This includes everyone, because there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles; God is the same Lord of all and richly blesses all who call to him. As the scripture says, Everyone who calls out to the Lord for help will be saved. But how can they call to him for help if they have not believed? And how can they believe if they have not heard the message? And how can they hear if the message is not proclaimed? And how can the message be proclaimed if the messengers are not sent out? As the scripture says, How wonderful is the coming of messengers who bring good news! But not all have accepted the Good News. Isaiah himself said, Lord, who believed our message? So then, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message comes through preaching Christ. But I ask: Is it true that they did not hear the message? Of course they did—for as the scripture says: The sound of their voice went out to all the world; their words reached the ends of the earth. Again I ask: Did the people of Israel not understand? Moses himself is the first one to answer: I will use a so-called nation to make my people jealous; and by means of a nation of fools I will make my people angry. And Isaiah is even bolder when he says, I was found by those who were not looking for me; I appeared to those who were not asking for me. But concerning Israel he says, All day long I held out my hands to welcome a disobedient and rebellious people.

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
The Syrian Marco Polo/By: Makram Rabah/April 15/12
Voice of America Blogger Uses CAIR Deceits on Romney Middle East Advisers/By: John Hajjar/April 16/12

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for April 16/12
Assad offers Moscow, Beijing bonds worth $30bn. Russian warships off Syria
Senator McCain Presses for Arming Syrian Rebels
U.N. peace monitors in Syria set to begin mission
Israel dismisses 'flytilla' protest, pointing to human rights abuses in Syria, Iran
Syria vows to fight ‘escalated terrorist attacks’ as first UN observers arrive
U.N. Chief 'Very Concerned' by Syria Fresh Violence
Egyptian presidential candidate Omar Suleiman: Israel may consider occupying Sinai
Militants kill two Egyptian policemen in Sinai; Suez oil facility attacked again
Canada Urges End to Conflict Between Sudan and South Sudan
Two Canadian Ministers, Baird and Ablonczy Call on Iran to Halt Execution and to Release Canadian Hamid Ghassemi-Shall
Canada Condemns Terrorist Attacks in Afghanistan
Bishop Elias Aoudi Audeh Hopes for End of Era of Killing and Assassinations
Gunmen Open Fire on Son of Slain Writer Mustafa Jeha
President Michel Suleiman Arrives in Australia, Derides Calls Asking Him to Sign L.L.8,900 Decree
Report: Hizbullah Mediated to Prevent Safadi-Miqati Dispute from Spiraling out of Control
Al-Rahi Slams 'Insulting of Dignities': Evil Being Plotted against Church, Shepherds
Hariri Rejects Proportionality in the Presence of Hizbullah’s Arms
Kuwait daily urges end to royal infighting

Gunmen Open Fire on Son of Slain Writer Mustafa Jeha
Naharnet/15 April 2012/Unknown assailants opened fire on the car of journalist Mustafa Mustafa Jeha, who escaped unscathed in the incident that took place on the highway south of Beirut on Saturday night, the National News Agency reported. Jeha, 26, told police that gunmen riding a black Mercedes chased him on the Damour-Jiyeh highway before opening fire on his silver-colored Mercedes near the Oceana beach resort. NNA said his vehicle was riddled with six bullets. Jeha accused the perpetrators of trying to kill him the same way his father Mustafa Jeha was assassinated on Jan. 15, 1992, Voice of Lebanon radio station (93.3) reported. Jeha, a writer and former contributor to al-Amal, a Phalange paper, was killed by unidentified gunmen while driving his car in the east Beirut suburb of Sabtiyeh.
The writer was an outspoken opponent of fundamentalism and had published works critical of the late leader of the 1979 Iranian Revolution Ayatollah Khomeini. Many believe he was assassinated for publishing the Crisis of Mind in Islam (Mihnat al Aql fil Islam).

Al-Rahi Slams 'Insulting of Dignities': Evil Being Plotted against Church, Shepherds
Naharnet/15 April 2012/Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday voiced regret over the proliferation of “corruption” in Lebanon, warning that “evil is being plotted against the church and its shepherds.” “Unfortunately, there is a lot of corruption, malice, injustice and insulting of dignities and reputations through lies and fabrications,” the patriarch said in his sermon.
He hoped “the Arab Spring will meet the aspirations of the people by being the spring of democracy, respect for the human’s freedom, enhancing public freedoms and incorporating democracy into the Arab political systems.”“We have voiced our commitment to the rise of a Christian spring that would continue to carry the genuine Christian message in this Levant,” al-Rahi reiterated. Al-Rahi’s remarks in the wake of the so-called Arab Spring sweeping the region have sparked controversy in Lebanon. He has voiced concerns over a possible Sunni-Alawite civil war in Syria that “might lead to displacing the Christians from the region, like in Iraq.”He has voiced his support for “democratic reforms” in the Arab countries, but stressed that change should not happen through “violence.”
Al-Rahi has also hoped the Arab Spring will be maintained through “dialogue, not conflict and civil wars.” He has also warned against “all foreign meddling” in popular uprisings.
“It won’t be an Arab Spring should violence and war drag on, as they reap numerous innocent victims and minorities would usually pay the price,” al-Rahi has warned.
“It won’t be an Arab Spring should anyone of the children of this nation die; it won’t be an Arab Spring should we end up with civil, religious or sectarian wars,” the patriarch has cautioned.
However, al-Rahi has stated that “we are looking forward to an Arab Spring during which Muslims and Christians would live together, as we belong to one nation, one fate, one culture and one civilization that we have built together year after year.”
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has recently slammed al-Rahi’s stances on the Syrian crisis, saying his remarks “put all the Christians in the region in danger.”“I can’t hide the fact that his statements had infuriated me, as they support the regime and contradict with our entire history and I cannot be proud of this rhetoric,” Geagea has announced.
“Doesn’t Patriarch al-Rahi know that the majority of Christians are against the Syrian regime? What regime is more hardline than the Syrian regime? What regime has committed only 1% of the Syrian regime’s acts against us? It is illogical to support a killer regime?” Geagea has said, calling on the patriarch to “quickly act in order to clarify Bkirki’s stance.”
“Is it reasonable for the patriarch of the Maronites to be like (Arab Tawhid Party leader) Wiam Wahhab, (Lebanon’s Baath Party leader) Fayez Shukur, Russia and China? How can we justify this position?” Geagea has wondered, comparing al-Rahi to Syria’s allies in Lebanon and the world.

Eddé comments on Rai’s Geagea stance
April 16, 2012
National Bloc leader Carlos Eddé on Monday expressed his regret over the stance of Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rai regarding the assassination attempt that targeted Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea. “We did not [see the patriarch] strongly condemning [Geagea’s assassination attempt] as others did,” Eddé said during an interview with Future News.
On April 4 snipers targeted Geagea outside his Maarab residence in the district of Kesrouan, but failed to hit him.Eddé told Future News that if the assassination attempt targeted either Change and Reform bloc leader MP Michel Aoun or Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah then the culprits “would have been arrested.” The National bloc leader also said that the Maronite Patriarchate’s views regarding developments in the political realm have changed. “I think that Patriarch Rai’s stances go against Bkirki’s previous standpoints.” The Maronite Patriarchate is located in Kesrouan’s Bkirki. “Former Maronite Patriarch Mar Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir used to take national and humanitarian standpoints and he never went into details. However, Patriarch Rai is involving himself in details, as he is also embracing [politically-biased] positions.” Last month Rai made controversial statements regarding the presence of Christians in the region, in addition to the events in Syria. Geagea was among the Lebanese politicians who criticized the patriarch for his remarks. Concerning the current government of Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Eddé said that “the Lebanese will [realize one day] that this is the worst government in Lebanon’s history.” He added that “no one has weakened the [status of the Lebanese president] as much as General [Michel] Aoun.”
-NOW Lebanon

President Michel Suleiman Arrives in Australia, Derides Calls Asking Him to Sign L.L.8,900 Decree
Naharnet/15 April 2012/President Michel Suleiman on Sunday wondered whether the president of the republic was “supposed to practice his powers by signing a decree, without having the right to appoint a head for the Higher Judicial Council,” in reference to calls asking him to sign a decree approving the L.L. 8,900 spending bill propose by government should the parliament fail to adopt it.
Speaking to reporters upon his arrival in Australia on an official visit, the president said he was still studying all the aspects of the issue, noting that he has not taken a “final stance, although the door is still open for parliament to resolve this issue.”Suleiman has been at loggerheads with Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun over the appointment of a new head for the Higher Judicial Council. Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi has tried to mediate between the two leaders to no avail. “The lawmakers must practice their duties as to discussions and reaching solutions, and we must await parliament’s decision, especially in light of the essential remarks voiced by the finance committee on the bill,” Suleiman said.Asked about fears that the 2013 parliamentary elections might not occur on time, the president stressed that “the elections will take place on the constitutional dates, whatever the adopted law may be.”Suleiman called for endorsing a law based on the proportional representation system, saying that was “the only way to curb sectarian alignments.” He noted, however, that he would respect the decision of the parliamentary majority “within the framework of the democratic game.”
Answering another question, Suleiman ruled out a return to a wave of political assassinations in the country. The president declined to discuss the recent attempt on Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea in detail “before the end of the ongoing investigations,” but he did not play down the gravity of the incident which he described as “ugly.”

Kuwait daily urges end to royal infighting
April 15, 2012A leading Kuwaiti newspaper called Sunday for an end to an escalating power struggle within the Al-Sabah ruling family, warning that it could have grave consequences on the oil-rich Gulf state. "Today, we are concerned, worried and shocked while we watch this infighting between wings of the ruling family intensify," the liberal Al-Qabas daily said in a front-page editorial.
"The dispute... is at a turning point. It is feared that if it is not swiftly resolved by the family wisemen, it will become... violent," the daily cautioned. OPEC's third largest producer has been rocked by a series of political crises since 2006 that resulted in the resignation of eight cabinets and the dissolution of parliament on four occasions. Kuwaitis often blame the turmoil on disputes between senior members of the Al-Sabah family, which has been in power without challenge for more than 250 years. Under Kuwaiti law, all male descendants of Kuwait's late ruler Mubarak Al-Kabeer, who number around 350, are eligible to become emir. They are divided into several camps and are competing for the top posts. Al-Qabas, owned by several wealthy merchant families, warned that the long-standing royal feud could "become extremely grave" because the separate camps are seeking support from the public, cautioning that the disputes could spread to "state institutions." In 2006, a power struggle among the Al-Sabahs resulted in an unprecedented vote by parliament to remove the emir of the time, Sheikh Saad Abdullah al-Sabah, on health grounds. The emir, the crown prince and the prime minister are all members of the Al-Sabah family, which also controls the key ministries of defence, interior, information and foreign affairs.-AFP/NOW Lebanon

Assad offers Moscow, Beijing bonds worth $30bn. Russian warships off Syria
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report April 15, 2012/Announcing he is not responsible for the safety of UN observers on their way to Syria if they don’t obey his rules, President Bashar Assad has set in motion steps for prolonging his war on the Syrian people rather than abiding by a truce. debkafile discloses he offered Moscow and Beijing $30 billion worth of government bonds for a massive injection of funds to replenish his depleted war chest. And at the UN Security Council, while Russia’s Vitaly Churkin in a surprise turnabout voted with the West on a UN observer team to secure the Syrian ceasefire, Moscow quietly sent warships to Syrian shores to secure the Assad regime. The heaviest outlay for keeping the massive Syrian war machine turning over is on fuel. Countless tanks, self-propelled artillery, thousands of trucks and tank transporters are constantly on the move from one rebel flashpoint to another, reinforcing embattled units and ferrying troops, equipment and ammunition.
Iran covers the payroll for military and security personnel and the government bodies keeping the regime functioning - to the tune of more than half a billion dollars a month, according to estimates. But the embargo on fuel sales to Syria puts Assad in the hands of Lebanese merchants. He has run out of funds to meet their exorbitant charges for petrol and diesel, without which his military crackdown on the opposition would grind to a stop. Russia and China have therefore been asked for the necessary funding.
Moscow, meanwhile, announced Friday, April 13, “A decision has been made to deploy Russian warships near the Syrian shores on a permanent basis.”
The communiqué did not say who made the decision, but it may be assumed that the decision-maker is at the top level of the Kremlin, President-elect Vladimir Putin.
It is the first time that Moscow has officially announced the permanent deployment of naval vessels in the eastern Mediterranean and off Syria in particular. They extend a protective shield over Bashar Assad and the continuation of his regime against outside military intervention. They also guarantee that the UN observer team, due in Damascus by Monday, April 16, never becomes the nucleus of a broader international expedition for Assad’s removal under the UN aegis, which is what happened in Libya.
Moscow is making sure that the monitors adhere strictly to their Security Council mandate, determined not to leave it Washington or NATO to set out their areas of operation and powers. Assad drove this point home Sunday when ahead of their arrival in Damascus, he warned that he would not be responsible for the observers’ safety if they failed to comply with his rules
Western and Israeli military circles therefore find it hard to understand the rationale of the US and Turkish push for international monitors in Syria, unless the initiative was nothing more than a device to save them having to intervene militarily in the conflict.
In the final reckoning, the presence of a couple of hundred UN monitors in Syria will if anything prolong the violence: the rebels will regard the observers as the vanguard of a major international intervention force to champion their cause, while Assad and Moscow will clip their wings so as to give the Syrian army a free hand to finish the job of wiping out the anti-Assad revolt. Between the two, the UN team will be rendered useless like the Arab League monitors before them. Seeing Russia and China solidly behind him, the Syria ruler expects them also to put their hands in their pockets to help him survive.

Senator McCain Presses for Arming Syrian Rebels
April 15, 2012/VOA/.A high-ranking U.S. senator is again calling for arming Syrian rebels as part of a more robust effort to oust President Bashar al-Assad. Republican Senator John McCain spoke on U.S. television as an advance team of unarmed U.N. observers was due to arrive in Syria. Senator McCain says America’s response to continued bloodletting in Syria is inadequate and shameful.
“For the United States to sit by and watch this wanton massacre is a betrayal of everything we stand for and believe in,” he said. The Arizona lawmaker recently met in Turkey with senior officers of the opposition Free Syrian Army, which has been pleading for foreign military assistance. Appearing on CBS’ Face the Nation program, McCain said the United States should answer the call. “Over there, they [Syrian rebels] are waiting for American leadership," said McCain. "We have announced that we are now providing them with non-lethal equipment. That does not do very well against tanks and artillery. We need to get a sanctuary for the Free Syrian Army; we need to get them supplies; we need to get them weapons. And there are many ways to get weapons to them. We showed that in Libya, we showed that in Afghanistan [in the 1980s].”The Obama administration says it supports providing humanitarian relief to the Syrian people, and has backed U.N.-led efforts to halt fighting and begin negotiations between the Syrian government and its opponents. But McCain, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, notes that Syrian rebels are outgunned and that, as he put it, “It is not a fair fight.”
McCain also blasted Russia and China for blocking stronger U.N. Security Council measures to quell bloodshed and speed a transition in Syria, and said a U.N.-Arab League peace plan is inadequate because it does not specify Bashar al-Assad’s removal from power. Russia and China on Saturday joined the rest of the council members in voting to send an advance team of unarmed observers to Syria to monitor a fragile cease-fire between the government and armed opposition forces.

Syria vows to fight ‘escalated terrorist attacks’ as first UN observers arrive
15 April, 2012, 23:18/ RT
The Syrian army pledged to continue fighting armed rebels in anticipation of the arrival of a team of UN observers, as “armed terrorists” have “hysterically escalated” their attacks following the official halt of all military operations. The first six observers arrived in Damascus late Sunday, a UN spokesman said. The other 24 are expected to follow in the coming day.
The observers will be monitoring the shaky ceasefire that came into force on Thursday. Aggressions against civilians, army personnel, military checkpoints and private and public properties have all escalated since then, a Syrian military source says. The onslaught came “in conjunction with the UNSC resolution to send international observers to monitor the [ceasefire],” the official SANA news agency reported on Sunday. "Out of their duty to protect the security of the homeland and citizens, the authorities will prevent these armed terrorist groups from continuing their criminal aggressions and acts of killings,” the source said. Over the last few days, dozens of ceasefire violations have been reported from both sides. Opposition activists said that Syrian government shelled the city of Homs on Sunday, claiming at least three people were killed in the attack. Referring to the latest violence, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said he was “very much concerned about what has happened” in Syria since the UNSC adopted Resolution 2042 on sending a mission of unarmed UN observers to the troubled country. Meanwhile, an advance team of UN observers comprised of six monitors is due to arrive to Syria on Sunday evening.
They will be “on the ground in blue helmets tomorrow,” said Annan’s spokesman Ahmad Fawzi. “They will be quickly augmented by up to 25 to 30 from the region and elsewhere.”
The team was dispatched to Syria as soon as the UN Security Council unanimously approved the advance mission on Saturday. The observers are tasked with establishing and maintaining contact with both sides of the conflict, and reporting on ceasefire compliance until a full mission is deployed. The UNSC is expected to approve a full scale observer mission of about 250 people next week.
Kamel Wazne, a political analyst in Beirut believes that the whole peace initiative is now under threat. And that is not because the Syrian authorities or the rebels oppose the peace, he said, but because Syria’s neighbors like Qatar and Saudi Arabia would very much like to see the bloodshed to continue. “Probably, we have seen and witnessed, in the past couple days, a major unrest from other terrorist organizations entering from Arab countries into Syria and causing all this havoc against the stability of Syria,” he explained. “Today was a major escalation, an attack and a lot of assassinations by the opposition against civilians and Syrian officials, mostly military men. And this is happening more often now then before.”

Israel dismisses 'flytilla' protest, pointing to human rights abuses in Syria, Iran
By Joshua Mitnick, Correspondent / April 15, 2012 /Chritian Monitor
Israel denied entry and deported several dozen pro-Palestinian activists who flew into Tel Aviv's airport on Sunday, arguing they are missing the bigger regional issues.
Tel Aviv
Israel denied entry and deported several dozen pro-Palestinian activists who arrived at Ben Gurion Airport on Sunday, as fears of a mass confrontation at the country’s main international gateway prompted a deployment of hundreds of police and security personnel. With turmoil in the region dominating the international agenda and diplomacy on Palestinian statehood mothballed, the vacuum in the Israeli-Palestinian struggle is being filled by the civil disobedience of a limited but creative band of local and foreign activists. After today's round, both sides claimed victory in what many observers said was mainly a public relations battle. Palestinian organizers of the "Welcome to Palestine Campaign," argued that Israel’s refusal of the activists focused attention on claims of injustice in the West Bank and contradicted Israel’s boast of being the only democracy in the region. The Israeli government said it blocked activists bent on delegitimizing the Jewish state and sowing chaos, and mocked the activists for supposedly ignoring human rights violations in Syria. Noam Sheizaf, an editor of +972, a dovish Israeli-Palestinian blog, said the results of the fly-in are mixed: Peaceful protests like the fly-in puts Israeli officials on the defensive. But they can’t compete with conflicts elsewhere in the region and would not pressure changes in Israeli policy like the June 2010 activist flotilla to Gaza that forced Israel to lift a blockade.
"Palestinians understand they will not see a sovereign state from the peace process, and they are trying to bring their issue back to the basic denial of human rights," says Mr. Sheizaf. "If I were a newsroom editor I would focus on Syria and Afghanistan as well. But from a Palestinian perspective something is better than nothing."
Citing "security reasons," Israeli police officials claimed they averted potential demonstrations and flight disruptions by blocking 43 activists from entering the country. Hundreds more were blocked by European airlines canceling flights rom airports in France, Switzerland, and Belgium. The fly-in or "flytilla" was the second such effort to coordinate a demonstration at Ben Gurion Airport in the last two years. The actions were inspired by efforts by pro-Palestinian activists to break an Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip, which forced the Jewish state to ease measures after international pressure kicked up in June 2010 from a deadly clash with pro-Palestinian activists.
The conflict Sunday showed how the escalating crackdown in Syria and diplomatic efforts to stem the violence is affecting how both Israelis and Palestinians frame their own conflict. The Israeli government has new ammunition to assail the pro-Palestinian activists as focusing on the wrong conflict.Since the outbreak of the Arab Spring, Israel has argued that regional turmoil over democratic reform is proof that the conflict with the Palestinians is not the primary cause of Middle East instability as the Palestinians and many in the West have argued. Rather, economic inequality, lack of democracy and human rights, and sectarian fighting unleashed from the uprisings are greater problems from the standpoint of regional stability.

U.N. peace monitors in Syria set to begin mission
BEIRUT (Reuters) - U.N. peace monitors are due to start their mission in Syria on Monday to oversee a shaky ceasefire undermined by persistent violence and the shelling of the opposition stronghold of Homs by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. The ceasefire is part of a broader peace plan brokered by international mediator Kofi Annan, but it looked increasingly under threat throughout the weekend as the government vowed a crackdown on a wave of "terrorist attacks" in Syria. An advance team of five unarmed monitors arrived in the capital Damascus on Sunday evening, a Reuters witness said. A Syrian official escorting the team at a Damascus hotel told Reuters that more observers were expected to arrive on Monday, but offered no details. Under the U.N. plan, two dozen more observers are due to enter Syria in coming days. As the monitors prepared to embark on their mission, violence persisted on the ground. One activist said the city of Homs, one of the hotbeds of opposition to Assad, was bombarded on Sunday by government forces at a rate of "one shell per minute". Other activist sources said that six people had been killed on Sunday, and four bodies had been found.
Casting further doubt on whether the ceasefire would hold, Syria said it would stop what it called "terrorist groups" from committing criminal acts, state television reported.
Annan, joint special envoy of the United Nations and Arab League, brokered the six-point peace plan in March as part of international efforts to stop 13 months of violence.
The plan calls for the start of political dialogue, the delivery of humanitarian assistance, the release of prisoners including those involved in peaceful protests, freedom of movement for journalists to work throughout Syria. The U.N. Security Council authorized the deployment of up to 30 unarmed observers on Saturday in the first resolution on Syria the 15-nation council managed to approve unanimously since the uprising erupted in March 2011.
VIOLENCE IN HOMS
Syria blames the violence on what it says are terrorists seeking to topple Assad. It has denied journalists access to the country, making it impossible to independently verify reports. The U.N. estimates Assad's forces have killed more than 9,000 people in the uprising. Syria says foreign-backed militants have killed more than 2,500 soldiers and police. On Sunday, the Syrian state news agency SANA said a "terrorist group" ambushed armed forces in Idlib province, killing a soldier and wounding three others. "Since the announcement of an end to military operations, terrorist attacks have increased by dozens, causing a large loss of life," SANA added. "(Security forces), based on their duty to protect civilians and the country, will stop terrorist groups from continuing their criminals acts and the killing of civilians," SANA said. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he was concerned about the shelling of Homs and urged the Syrian government to refrain from any escalation of violence. "While we welcome the cessation of violence at this time I warn that the whole world is watching with skeptical eyes whether this will be sustainable," he said. "It is important the Syrian government takes all the measures to keep the cessation of violence." Annan's spokesman said the mission could be expanded to 250 or more but that would require another resolution. Syrian government spokeswoman Bouthaina Shaaban said Syria could not be responsible for the safety of the monitors unless it was involved in "all steps on the ground". On the eve of the mission, Syrian forces pounded Homs, activists said. "Early this morning we saw a helicopter and a spotter plane fly overhead. Ten minutes later, there was heavy shelling," said Walid al-Fares, a local activist. Activist video footage, reportedly from Khalidiya, shows an explosion shortly after the sound of a missile flying through the air. Another whiz follows, and the cameraman, standing in a nearby building, pans across to show a ball of flames and smoke rising into the air.
(Writing by Alessandra Rizzo Editing by Maria Golovnina)

Canada Condemns Terrorist Attacks in Afghanistan
April 15, 2012 - Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird today issued the following statement on the terrorist attacks perpetrated in various locations in Afghanistan, including diplomatic missions and the Afghan parliament in Kabul:
“Canada strongly condemns the terrorist attacks on Afghanistan, its people and its democratic institutions. These deliberate and reprehensible attacks on Afghanistan’s parliament and on diplomatic missions, whose personnel are committed to helping Afghans, highlight the systematic destruction that the insurgents are willing to unleash against the Afghan people.
“Canada is proud to support the people of Afghanistan in their fight to build a peaceful, democratic country that respects human rights. The international community is committed to supporting the Government of Afghanistan to help promote the rule of law and ensure that the country is never again used as a safe haven for terrorists.”
All Canadian personnel have been accounted for and are safe.
Any Canadian citizens in Afghanistan requiring emergency assistance should contact the Emergency Watch and Response Centre at Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada by phone at +1-613-996-8885 (collect calls will be accepted) or by email at sos@international.gc.ca.

Two Canadian Ministers, Baird and Ablonczy Call on Iran to Halt Execution and to Release Canadian Hamid Ghassemi-Shall
April 15, 2012 - Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird and Minister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas and Consular Affairs) Diane Ablonczy today made the following statement concerning Hamid Ghassemi-Shall, a Canadian citizen imprisoned in Iran:
“Canada is gravely concerned by indications that the execution of Mr. Ghassemi-Shall may be carried out imminently.
“Canada urgently appeals to the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to grant clemency to Mr. Ghassemi-Shall on compassionate and humanitarian grounds.
“We urge Iran to reverse its current course and to adhere to its international human rights obligations.”

Canada Urges End to Conflict Between Sudan and South Sudan
April 15, 2012 - Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird today issued the following statement:
“Canada calls on the leaders of both Sudan and South Sudan to put their respective people first and immediately end the most recent hostilities.
“Incursions and bombings must stop. Provocative acts must be avoided. Peace agreements must be respected.
“For years, the people of these two countries have known nothing but war. It is far beyond time for these two nations to end their warring for the good of their people. Now more than ever, it is critical that Sudan and South Sudan take concrete action to resolve any issues between them and to ensure regional peace and stability.” Minister Baird has asked officials of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada to démarche Sudanese and South Sudanese officials to make these points and urge for a return to peace.

Egyptian presidential candidate Omar Suleiman: Israel may consider occupying Sinai
Roi Kais Published: 04.15.12, 22:38 / Israel News /Ynetnews
Ex-regime strongman says he fears 'price Egypt will have to pay if Israel decides to reoccupy Sinai.' Calls on political rivals to 'exercise caution, keep peace in region' in light of close relations between Egypt and Hamas
Egyptian presidential candidate Omar Suleiman addressed the relations between Egypt and Israel for the first time since he announced his candidacy earlier this month.
In an interview with Egyptian daily al-Youm al-Saba'a, Suleiman analyzed relations between the two neighboring countries in the wake of the Arab Spring and the ongoing terrorist activity originating from the Sinai Peninsula. "I'm fearful of the price Egypt will have to pay if Israel decides to reoccupy Sinai," he said.
He called on the Muslim Brotherhood party, which is considered his political rivals, "to exercise caution in an effort to keep peace in the region."
"I fear that Israel thinks Egypt has become one of its enemies," he said referring to the close relations between Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood and the current situation in Sinai.
"Israel regards the Sinai Peninsula as an unsecure area, and is lead by the notion that Egyptian territory can be used for rocket launching. Therefore, Israel may consider returning to secure borders," he added. Asked whether he plans to reoccupy Sinai, Suleiman replied: "It's possible that Israel will confront us and use its national security as an excuse to do so. Israelis are experts at presenting such excuses to the world." He further said that he is fearful of misleading signals that could lead to unwanted confrontations. "If the Israelis reenter Sinai, they won't be quick to leave it again. Egypt could pay a heavy price if such an event occurred," he said. According to Suleiman, "Egypt should continue tightening its relationship with Hamas but not at the expense of the country's national interests, regional security and peace that will all enable Egypt to further develop internally." Suleiman, appointed deputy president by Mubarak in his last days in power, entered the presidential race at the last moment, triggering both concern and heavy criticism from reformists who see him as a symbol of Mubarak's rule and a danger to democracy.
Tens of thousands of Egyptians packed into Cairo's Tahrir Square on Friday to protest against Suleiman's run for the presidency. Muslim Brotherhood supporters waved banners depicting the presidential candidate as an agent of Israel. Meanwhile, the body overseeing Egypt's presidential election recently disqualified 10 candidates from the race, including Suleiman.
According to election rules, disqualified candidates have 48 hours to appeal the decision. The final list of candidates will be announced on April 26.
Suleiman told Egyptian media sources that the commission did not fully disqualify him but had told him that he had not presented the proper number of endorsements. Each candidate needed at least 30,000 endorsements, including at least 1,000 from each of the country's 15 provinces, to join the race.
In response to his "temporary" disqualification, Suleiman pledged to press ahead with his campaign out of respect to his supporters.

Voice of America Blogger Uses CAIR Deceits on Romney Middle East Advisers
John Hajjar
In her post which appeared in Middle East Voices this week, Cecily Hilleary (pictured above) regurgitated the same Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) talking points about Professor Walid Phares that Brooke Anderson of Beirut’s Daily Star did back in January. Both women parroted CAIR spin saying that “many American Muslims have expressed concern about Romney’s choice of Walid Phares as an adviser,” but neither offered a single shred of evidence to support their claim.
After Anderson channeled CAIR’s talking points in her January 6 article, CAIR returned the favor later that same month by channeling Anderson in its own hit piece on Phares. At that point it was fair to say that CAIR was now channeling itself. With so many members of the jihad lobby channeling each other’s misinformation about Professor Phares in the Blogosphere, the entire influence operation has taken on an air of virtual incest. Though at this point it is difficult to tell who is channeling whom, it is safe to say that the same group of jihadists are trying to sell the lie that Mitt Romney will lose the entire Muslim vote unless he dumps Phares and other advisers. Reality is that CAIR and the Jihadists fear strategic advice to be provided by top experts in the field, to undermine the influence they have developed during the Obama Administration.
In 1938, the Institute for Propaganda Analysis identified “Card Stacking” as one of seven main propaganda techniques. Card Stacking puts its own argument in the best and its opponent’s in the worst possible light by presenting only information that supports its position. In so doing, the propagandist “stacks the cards” against the truth to get its intended target to acquiesce to its position.
In January, CAIR’s journalistic tryst entailed citing the talking points it had fed to Brooke Anderson for the Daily Star’s hit piece on Phares. CAIR passed the DNA of its anti-Phares agitprop on to Anderson who gave birth to it in the Daily Star. The two became one, positing that Phares had played a leading political role in right-wing Christian militias during the Lebanese Civil War as an adviser to Samir Geagea, "the only Lebanese militia leader who was imprisoned for crimes committed during the 15-year conflict." It didn’t matter that the story was false. The goal was to sully a good man’s reputation and CAIR and Anderson were stacking the cards against him.
The Daily Star also enjoyed an incestuous relationship with Warren David and the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee when it repeated David’s false claim that Phares “leans toward being an Islamophobe.” What often gets lost in the jihad lobby’s defamatory orgy is the fact that CAIR doesn’t represent the Muslim American community, just the Islamists hiding among them. CAIR’s disdain for academics who oppose their decidedly Islamist worldview, originates in the Muslim Brotherhood, CAIR’s parent organization. CAIR’s attempts to discredit Phares are quashed in the praise of liberal and conservative Muslim Americans who laud his efforts in support of democratic and secular Muslims in the Middle East. Phares in fact advises more Muslim organizations representing freedom agendas than CAIR does. This was lost on pedestrian journalist Hilleary.
It bears repeating for the record that Phares was never an adviser to a Lebanese Forces leader. He was a representative of his own small social democratic party which was part of a coalition of political parties overseeing the Lebanese Forces, the defense body of the Lebanese Christian people from 1977 till 1989. CAIR's fabrications which were published in the Daily Star and debunked by Regina Kantara here shows that Brooke Anderson was manipulated by CAIR to publish its lies. She later contacted Phares’ office to apologize.
Warren David of the AADC was also discredited by Arab and Lebanese Americans. Phares is constantly praised by Muslim Americans who oppose the Jihadists as confirmed in this story.
There is no doubt that Ms. Hilleary’s talking points came from CAIR. This is evidenced in the statement, “many American Muslims have expressed concerns” which is the Islamist party line. It also shows how the Muslim Brotherhood and Hezbollah are planning to manipulate public opinion against Romney's advisers on the Middle East. But again, the public is wise to their schemes and readers will see the Islamist propaganda factory and their backers in Washington behind the attacks. It is unfortunate that Ms. Hilleary, who worked for Dubai TV and VOA where Dr. Phares frequently appears, didn't report accurately. Her criticism of Long and O'Sullivan, the two other Middle East advisors of Governor Romney, is certainly not credible. I do not know how Congress which funds VOA will look at this biased reporting. The situation is serious as Hilleary wrote for the taxpayer-funded organization. According to MEV’s website the organization is “a new social journalism project powered by the (US Congress-funded) BBG and Voice of America. Designed as a collaborative journalism and engagement platform, it seeks to combine investigative journalism, crowdsourcing, participatory writing and social media technology to redefine how stories in and about the Middle East should be told."All of this bias against Phares, Long and O'Sullivan raises the specter of penetration of the US bureaucracy by pro-Islamists. Congress should investigate the real story behind Hilleary’s article along with other propaganda pieces which are funded by taxpayers.In the final analysis, the jihad lobby has failed in its efforts to tarnish the image of Dr. Walid Phares, a good and brilliant man.Family Security Matters Contributor John Hajjar is with the Middle East American Coalition and the US Director for the World Council for the Cedars Revolution (WCCR). He has appeared on various media, including Fox News; he debates Iranian commentators on Press TV; and he is part of Lebanese and Middle Eastern NGO delegations briefing the US Congress, the State Department and the United Nations.

The Syrian Marco Polo
Makram Rabah, April 15, 2012
Former Syrian ambassador to the US Imad Mustapha hides behind his love of culture to make himself look like less of an apologist for a murderous regime. (Photo via peacenow.org)
Washington, DC - The Syrian revolution has further validated a number of issues to the general public. First, it is now clear that the Assad regime is indeed susceptible to the winds of change sweeping the area, and second, and more importantly, that the president’s personal email account is not immune to the hackers who exposed Assad’s insensitive and delusional attitude toward the plight of his people. However, while the general public was busy following up on the content of Bashar and Asma al-Assad’s somewhat corny emails, including the famous picture of a half-naked young lady, people seemed to have missed an equally sinister show of callousness by Bashar’s ambassador, the infamous Imad Moustapha. While Assad’s emails and that of his family, it can be argued, are of a private nature and that even a ruthless dictator is entitled to a sense of privacy, the same cannot be said about Moustapha’s blogging activities.
Moustapha, former ambassador to the United States, has recently taken up his new post as Assad’s delegate to China, or, in the words of Moustapha himself, he has embarked on a fresh start in the middle kingdom. Perhaps this new start is a much-needed departure from his less-than-favorable run from 2004 to 2011 in Washington DC, where he had to duke it out with the Bush administration first, and then with the Obama crowd, as he tried to underscore the importance of his regime in peddling security in the region, be it in Iraq or in Lebanon. Throughout his US mission, Moustapha used his blog to portray an image of himself as a renaissance man who transcends the petty politics of Capitol Hill and enjoys philosophy and the classics by including the works of both up-and-coming and renowned Syrian artists, painters and musicians. Moustapha also arrogantly posted pictures showing him hosting a number of Assad apologists who defended Bashar in the US media and on the pulpits of a number of leading American think tanks. Despite all his futile attempts to achieve the above, Moustapha was not able, to say the least, to win the hearts and minds of many of the people around him, especially the Syrian community in the US, many of whom recall him with bitterness. His final departing gift to his expats in the US was his implication in an espionage plot involving tracking the activities of Syrian opposition figures in America, which ended with Mohammad Soueid being charged for spying for the Syrian moukhbarat, while Moustapha escaped by hiding behind his diplomatic immunity.
I personally had the chance to listen to Moustapha speak on a number of occasions, the latest being when he was invited by my Georgetown professor to speak in our Lebanese and Syrian politics class two years ago. Accompanied by his wife, or, as he likes to call her, “boss,” Moustapha tried to convince a room of graduate students that the media has given Syria a bad reputation and that as responsible, educated individuals we should practice sound judgment in approaching the thorny region of the Middle East.
Following Moustapha’s advice, I recently reviewed his latest blog entries. Moustapha, who had resumed blogging after a six-month break, makes no reference whatsoever to the carnage (or, to use his regime’s terms, “the crisis”) taking place in his country.
Instead, Moustapha, the Syrian Marco Polo, reports about his fascination with Beijing and how his new residence is in the fanciest part of the city. Furthermore, adding insult to injury, around the same time the Baba Amr butchery was being perpetrated by Assad’s cronies, Moustapha found it appropriate to post a fairly long entry about the joys of learning the Chinese language and calligraphy. Perhaps this penmanship could come in handy if he decides to teach the regime’s hooligans how to properly carve out the name of Bashar al-Assad on the bodies of their torture victims.
Even when Moustapha chose to acknowledge the so-called Syrian “events” back in August, he ran to the writings of the eighth century Arab philosopher Al-Kindi for “solace,” as he so eloquently put it. Although he dedicated this entry to the martyrs of Daraa, his only justification for his silence over the butchery was to quote the philosopher’s On Dispelling Sadness. “That for us not be overwhelmed by misery, we must only value that which is within our means and under our control.”
To be realistic, nobody expected Moustapha to jump ship and join the ranks of the Syrian opposition, but at least what was expected of the self-styled intellectual-turned-explorer was to be less egocentric and perhaps call for an immediate cessation of the violence and a return to the rule of law.
Assad’s diplomats and their entourage can continue to quote the poetry of Nizar Qabbani or the works of Al-Kindi, but the reality of the matter remains that a fabricated sense of cultural sophistication cannot hide the fact that people like Imad Moustapha are collaborators in the massacre of their own people. But perhaps we should not ask for more from the Assad regime, because diplomats like Imad Moustapha are not modern-day Marco Polos, and Bashar al-Assad is certainly no Doge of Venice.
*Makram Rabah is a PhD candidate at Georgetown University's history department. Rabah is the author of "A Campus at War: Student Politics at the American University of Beirut 1967-1975."

From The Achieve

The Militarization of Sex
The story of Hezbollah's halal hookups.
BY HANIN GHADDAR
| NOVEMBER 25, 2009
Foreign Policy
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2009/11/25/the_militarization_of_sex?page=0,0
Mohammad, a 40-year old Lebanese Shiite who lives in Hezbollah's stronghold in Beirut's southern suburbs, was holding forth on the virtues of resistance, loyalty, and sex. "You could create the most loyal army by providing political power, social services and fulfilling the desires of your men -- namely, sexual ones," he declared.
"And Hezbollah has been very successful in this regard," Mohammad continued. It is hard to disagree. Hezbollah liberated South Lebanon from Israeli occupation, expanded the Shiite community's political power within the country, and has provided social services, such as health care and education, to its constituency since the 1980s. Today, it is also working to fulfill the sexual needs of its supporters, though a practice known as mutaa marriage.
Mutaa is a form of "temporary marriage" only acceptable within Shiite communities, one that allows couples to have religiously sanctioned sex for a limited period of time, without any commitments, and without the obligatory involvement of religious figures. In conservative Muslim societies known for their strict sense of propriety, mutaa offers an escape clause. The contract is very simple. The woman says: "I marry myself to you for [a specific period of time] and for [a specified dowry]" and the man says: "I accept." The period can range between one hour and a year, and is subject to renewal. A Muslim woman can only marry a Muslim man, but a Muslim man can temporarily marry a Muslim, Christian, or Jewish woman, as long as she is a divorcée or a widow. However, those interviewed for this article confirmed that Hezbollah-the "Party of God"-has allowed the practice to spread to virgins or girls who have never married before, as long as the permission of her guardian (father or paternal grandfather) is obtained.
Temporary marriage has long been practiced by Shiites around the world. However, it has recently become more commonplace in Lebanon, notably within Hezbollah strongholds in Beirut's southern suburbs and in southern Lebanon after the 2006 war with Israel,
Hezbollah's recent encouragement of this phenomenon highlights the compromises it had been required to make in order to remain the preeminent force among its domestic Shiite constituency. As the party gained strength due to its effectiveness in fighting Israel, it was forced to cope with the reality that many Lebanese Shiites did not share the Iranian-inspired religious beliefs of Hezbollah's leaders. They came to dominate a community that was shaped by the secular leftist trends of the 1970s and 1980s, and the cosmopolitan culture embodied by Beirut. Today, Lebanese Shiites are exposed to pop icons such as sexpot singer Haifa Wehbe, countless Western advertisements and programs, and technological innovations such as online dating. Allowing these Shia to balance their sexual desires with their support for the "Resistance" against the "Zionist entity" is a vital ingredient to Hezbollah's staying power.
According to Shiite writer and activist Lokman Slim, Hezbollah party members are not allowed to practice temporary marriage for security reasons, unless assigned by the party to do so. "We should make a clear distinction between Hezbollah as an organization and Hezbollah as it runs the community's culture and social affairs," Slim said.
But for everyone else, Hezbollah apparently decided to expand its support for this practice after the 2006 war, to maintain its support base and keep the Shiites in Lebanon under its control. "After the 2006 war, Iranian money came to Lebanon in abundance, and money opened the door to sexual luxury that could not be ignored or controlled," noted Slim. "Therefore, Hezbollah decided it is easier to allow sex under certain religious titles in order to keep the control over the community."
The havoc wreaked by the 2006 war and a more difficult domestic political situation also encouraged Hezbollah to shift its position in order to consolidate support. Sheikh Mohammad Ali Hajj, imam of the Imam Ali Mosque in the Sad Bouchrieh district of Beirut, remarked that after 2006, Hezbollah had to strengthen its support among its communities. "They created a military group, The Resistance Saraya, which took in anyone ready to join, religiously and ideologically committed or not," he said. "They had to contain the Shiite community around it with all its aspects, the good and the bad, and found measures to control it, including the temporary marriage," he added.
Hezbollah is in charge of enforcing resolution in the event unpleasant scenarios arise, such as pregnancy or disagreements between couples. "It is only a matter of more control rather than being tolerant," Slim explained.

Hezbollah has active cell on Colombia-Venezuela border: Israel .
Monday, 20 July 2009 08:43 Adriaan Alsema
Colombia Reports
http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/5075-hezbollah-has-active-cell-on-colombia-venezuela-border-israel.html
Lebanese Islamist group Hezbollah has an active cell in La Guajira, the north Colombian department bordering Venezuela, Israel's Foreign Ministry said.
In an interview with newspaper El Tiempo, Dorit Shavit, director of The Foreign Ministry's Latin America office said Iran is trying to extend its influence in Latin America and is behind the creation of this particular cell. The group, considered terrorists by Israel, the United States and Europe, has infiltrated mosques in the north of Colombia and is collecting money to be sent to the Middle East, Shavit said.
This money is then used to "buy weapons for terrorist organizations," the diplomat assures. In October last year, U.S. and Colombian security officials claimed they dismantled a cocaine smuggling and money laundering ring that was used to finance operations by Hezbollah. Israel blames Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez' friendly relations with Iran for the increase of influence of the Islamist group in the region.