Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for August 12/12
Report: Pope’s Lebanon Visit May Be Postponed over Dangerous Local, Regional Developments
Muslim Brotherhood anti-army coup in Cairo. Tanks move up to Israel border
Morsi Retires Tantawi, Annuls Constitutional Declaration Granting Army Wide Powers
Egypt's Islamist president removes top generals
Romney chooses Ryan as vice presidential running mate
New sanctions target Iran, Hezbollah and Syria: U.S.
Lebanon indicts Samaha, Assad security adviser for terror plots
Miqati on Samaha Case: Judiciary Will Follow through on the Matter to the End
Informer Who Reported Samaha Identified as Milad Kfouri
Jumblat Meets Rifi, Hassan: Army, People, Resistance Slogan Can No Longer Persist at State’s Expense
Lebanese Opposition Officials Demand Cutting Relations with Syria over Samaha Case
Report: March 14 Camp Seeks Severing of Lebanese-Syrian Ties in Light of Samaha Arrest
Aoun: Resorting to Orthodox Gathering Law Normal after Rejection of Proportionality
Charbel: All Security Precautions Have Been Taken ahead of al-Rahi’s Visit to Akkar
U.S. Destroyer Collides with Tanker at Entrance to Arab Gulf
Arabs Postpone Syria Meet
Westerwelle Wants Assad to Stand Trial at ICC
Bahrain Returns Envoy to Tehran
Northern 'Liberated' Syrian City Lives in Post-Assad Mode
Aleppo Battle Rages as Both Sides Report Atrocities
Blasts in Aleppo, Damascus as US pushes for regime fall
Olmert: No reason to strike Iran in near future


Report: Pope’s Lebanon Visit May Be Postponed over Dangerous Local, Regional Developments
Naharnet /12 August 2012/The Vatican has completed with the Lebanese authorities the program of Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Lebanon in September, reported the daily Ad Diyar on Sunday.
It added however that Vatican authorities are “beginning to study the possibility of postponing the visit over the dangerous situation in Lebanon and the region.”
The Vatican said in July that the pope will bring a message of peace for the Middle East on his three-day trip to Lebanon. The 85-year-old German pontiff will meet with a variety of religious leaders during his visit to multi-faith Lebanon, which will be his 24th foreign trip since he was elected pope in 2005 and is one of his most sensitive missions. The pope is expected to emphasize the need for peaceful coexistence between Christian and Muslim communities in the Middle East, as well as caution against the growing exodus of Christian minorities from the birthplace of Christianity. The pope will begin his visit on September 14 with a trip to the Basilica of Saint Paul in Harissa. On September 15 he will meet with President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister Najib Miqati and then go on to meet Muslim religious leaders. He will then visit the Armenian Catholic patriarchate in Bzommar and meet with young people in front of the Maronite patriarchate in Bkirki.
The centerpoint of the visit is expected to be the pope's message of peace at an open-air mass on September 16 at the City Center Waterfront in Beirut, which will be followed by a visit to the Syrian Catholic patriarchate.

Muslim Brotherhood anti-army coup in Cairo. Tanks move up to Israel border
DEBKAfile Special Report August 12, 2012/Having gained control of the Egyptian parliament, government and presidency, the Muslim Brotherhood has made itself the unchallenged ruler of Egypt. Demoting the heads of the military leaves the MB in control of the biggest army in the Arab world.
Two months after assuming the presidency, the Muslim Brotherhood’s President Mohamed Morsi swept away the powerful pro-American Supreme Military Council heads ruling Egypt since Hosni Mubarak’s overthrow. Sunday. Aug. 12, he fired the Egyptian Defense Minister, Field Marshal Mohamed Tantawi, the Egyptian chief of staff Gen. Hafez Sami Annan and three more generals and appointed Field Marshall Abd al-Fatah Sissi defense minister and Gen. Sidki Sobhi chief of staff in their place. The three generals also sacked were Air Force chief Rezza Abd al-Megid, Navy commander Mahab Muhamed Mamish and Air Defense chief Abd Al-Aziz Muhamed Seif. President Morsi also annulled the law amendments endowing the military with broad powers.
debkafile reports: Field Marshal Tantawi and Gen. Annan were regarded as the last major impediments to the Muslim Brotherhood’s complete takeover of Egypt. Morsi’s action has cast Egypt’s military caste out into uncertain territory with regard to its future status in government. Morsi’s actions in the last month have aroused serious concern in the United States and Israel. His coup Sunday will give them more unsavory food for thought. They will not have missed the sudden arrival of Egyptian army M-60 tanks (made in the US) right up to the Israeli border of Sinai while the new appointments were announced in Cairo. It is still not yet clear whether the Israeli government and army were caught off guard or gave permission for this extreme exception to the demilitarized clauses of their 1979 peace treaty. However, last week, the Egyptian president said that treaty clauses not deemed beneficial to Egyptian interests by the new regime would have to go. Israel did not respond to this statement.
In another new departure, he appointed a former senior judge Mohamed Mahmud Makki vice president, a new office in Egyptian government.
debkafile was the only publication to report that the Muslim Brotherhood and Morsi were exploiting the terrorist attack in Sinai to rid Cairo of the pro-Western military control of the Egyptian government.
debkafile was the only publication to report that the Muslim Brotherhood and Morsi were exploiting the terrorist attack in Sinai to rid Cairo of the pro-Western military control of the Egyptian government. A faster worker, Morsi has achieved this in exactly seven days.

Morsi Retires Tantawi, Annuls Constitutional Declaration Granting Army Wide Powers
Naharnet/12 August 2012 /Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi on Sunday ordered the surprise retirement of his powerful defense minister and scrapped a constitutional document which handed sweeping powers to the military. Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, who ruled Egypt for more than a year after the revolution that toppled former president Hosni Mubarak, was replaced by Abdel Fattah al-Sissi. Armed forces chief of staff Sami Anan was also retired, a week after a deadly attack on the Egyptian military in Sinai prompted an unprecedented military campaign in the lawless peninsula, the state broadcaster said. Morsi also decided to scrap a key constitutional document which gave the military legislative powers and other prerogatives, his spokesman Yasser Ali said.
"The president has decided to annul the constitutional declaration adopted on June 17" by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, Ali said in a statement broadcast on state television.
"Given the circumstances, this is the right time to make changes in the military institution," said Mourad Ali, a senior official with the Freedom and Justice Party which fielded Morsi in the May to July presidential election. "He is a strong president, and he is exercising his authority," Mourad Ali said of the surprise decision that tested the balance of power between the first civilian president in Egypt's history and the powerful army. In another move Morsi, an Islamist who rose the ranks of the Muslim Brotherhood before his election in June, also decided to appoint a vice president.
Morsi appointed judge Mahmoud Mekki as his deputy, the official news agency MENA reported, making him only the second vice president to be named in Egypt in 30 years.
Mubarak, who was ousted in a popular uprising last year, named his spy chief Omar Suleiman as vice president just days before he was forced to step down.
Sunday's decisions were the latest in a series of shake-up by Morsi in recent days after a deadly attack on troops in the Sinai peninsula.
On Wednesday the president ordered spy chief Muraf Muwafi to retire in a shuffle of military and intelligence ranks after last weekend's attack that killed 16 soldiers in the Sinai, near the borders of Israel and the Gaza Strip. And he also retired the governor of North Sinai to Abdel Wahab Mabrouk while the head of military police, Hamdi Badeen, was replaced because he failed to secure the funeral for the slain soldiers, with some protesters trying to assault Prime Minister Hisham Qandil. Ties between Islamists and the military have been strained in Egypt over the past months. Islamists scored a crushing victory in Egyptian parliamentary elections that were held in three-stages from November last year, with the Muslim Brotherhood, heading the lower house.
But the military dissolved parliament in May after the Supreme Constitutional Court ruled that certain articles in the law governing parliamentary elections were invalid, annulling the Islamist-led house.
On Wednesday Morsi sacked his spy chief and two senior army generals, as well as North Sinai's governor, in a shakeup up military ranks after last weekend's deadly ambush.

Egypt's Islamist president removes top generals
CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's new Islamist president Mohamed Mursi dismissed Cairo's two top generals on Sunday and cancelled a military order that curbed his powers, in a dramatic move that could free him of some of the restrictions of military rule.It was not clear how far the measures were agreed with the dismissed Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, whose Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) had taken over when Hosni Mubarak was deposed - nor how far they would shift the power balance between the generals and Mursi's long-suppressed Muslim Brotherhood.
A member of the military council told Reuters that Mursi, a moderate Islamist popularly elected in June but with constitutional powers sharply circumscribed in advance by the generals, had consulted Tantawi, 76, and General Sami Enan, 64, the military chief of staff, before ordering both men to retire.
However, coupled with what Mursi's spokesman described as the cancellation of the constitutional declaration issued just before Mursi's election, by which Tantawi and his colleagues curbed presidential powers, the surprise move seemed to indicate a substantial reordering of Egypt's political forces as it waits for a new constitution after six decades of unbroken army rule.
"Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi has been transferred into retirement from today," presidential spokesman said in a statement, appointing in his place as armed forces chief and defense minister General Abdellatif Sisi. Enan was replaced General Sidki Sobhi. Both retirees were appointment as advisers to the president.
Enan, long seen as particularly close to the U.S. military which has been the main sponsor of Egypt's armed forces, and Tantawi, who was Mubarak's defense minister for 20 years before helping ease him out in the face of street protests 18 months ago, were both appointed as advisers to Mursi.
The changes were effective immediately, presidential spokesman Yasser Ali said.
General Mohamed el-Assar, who sits on the military council, told Reuters: "The decision was based on consultation with the field marshal, and the rest of the military council."
Mursi, whose victory over a former general prompted concerns in Israel and the West about their alliances with Egypt, also appointed a judge, Mahmoud Mekky, as his vice president. Mekky is a brother of newly appointed Justice Minister Ahmed Mekky, who had been a vocal critic of vote rigging under Mubarak.
Mursi, who has said he will stand by Cairo's treaties with Israel and others, has shown impatience with the military following violence in the Sinai desert that brought trouble with Israel and the Palestinians' Gaza Strip enclave this month. The president, whose own Brotherhood movement renounced violence long ago, sacked Egypt's intelligence chief last week after an attack in which Islamist militants killed 16 Egyptian border guards before trying to storm the Israeli border. On Sunday, Egyptian troops killed five Islamist militants after storming their hideout near the isolated border with Israel, security sources and eyewitnesses said. The troops found the militants in the settlement of al-Goura, about 15 km (10 miles) from the frontier, as they searched for jihadists who killed the 16 border guards a week ago.
The latest clash is part of a security sweep that began on Wednesday and is the biggest military operation in the region since Egypt's 1973 war with Israel was followed by a 1979 peace treaty which opened the way for massive U.S. aid to Cairo. No one has claimed responsibility for killing the border guards.
(Additional reporting by Yasmine Saleh and Marwa Awad; Writing by Alastair Macdonald)

Don’t partner with Hezbollah!
By Tariq Alhomayed/Asharq Al-Awsat
Finally, nearly 18 months after the start of the Syrian revolution, Washington has officially decided that the Tehran-affiliated Hezbollah movement in Lebanon is implicated in supporting the al-Assad regime, with training and advice. In addition to this, Hezbollah is also – with the aid of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp [IRGC] – providing transportation and supplies to al-Assad.
We say, “finally”, because the US administration preoccupied the western media with talk about an Al Qaeda presence in Syria, and support for the Syrian revolutionaries, and this is something that corresponds to the misleading story being propagated by al-Assad. Talk about Al Qaeda in Syria figured prominently amongst those attempting to defend al-Assad, who promoted such stories, not to mention those who denied this and attempted to shed light on the suffering of the Syrian people, particularly as Al Qaeda is in fact a strong ally of the al-Assad regime. This can be seen by al-Assad’s utilization of “Al Qaeda in Iraq” immediately following the US invasion of the country, which is something that continued until very recently.
Today, Washington has acknowledged Hezbollah’s interventions [in Syria], something that the people of Syria – not to mention the region – have been well aware of. Indeed, Hassan Nasrallah’s own statements do not conceal this fact, for the Hezbollah chief announced his support for al-Assad in every statement that he has issued. In fact, Nasrallah described the four senior al-Assad regime security officers, including former Syrian deputy defense minister Assef Shawkat, who were killed last month, as martyrs, despite everything that had done against the people of Syria!
However the story here is not that of Hezbollah solely supporting al-Assad, for the IRGC has also been implicated in Syria, most recently by the Iranian officers who have been captured by the Free Syrian Army [FSA]. Of course, we have also heard official statements from Iran stressing that Tehran will not accept the destruction of the axis of resistance, which the al-Assad regime is a key element of. In addition to this, there is more evidence of Iran role in Syria. However despite all this overwhelming evidence, the West – particularly Washington – continued to speak about sectarianism, proxy war and Al Qaeda, as well as other lame excuses, all the while al-Assad continued to kill the unarmed Syrian people. This was before the Syrian rebels took up arms, although they are outmatched by al-Assad’s arms, which he receives from Iran and Hezbollah and Moscow, not to mention fighters and military experts.
So Washington has finally acknowledged Hezbollah’s intervention in Syria, in partnership with Iran, to aid the criminal al-Assad regime to suppress the Syrian revolution, however the question that must be asked here is: who will defend the unarmed Syrian people? Who will stand with them after the UN Security Council has been unable to stop the al-Assad killing machine? Should the Syrian people endure these killings and war crimes until after Mr. Obama has finished with the forthcoming US presidential elections? This is incredible, and unbelievable, for the issue is not just the humanitarian aspects of the situation – although these are most important – for delay in supporting the Syrian rebels will lead to the complete destruction of Syria, in addition to threatening the security of the region as a whole.
So what we must be aware of today is that al-Assad’s fall is inevitable, however delaying this will mean paying a higher price, therefore we must arm the Syrian revolutionaries, impose buffer zones, as well as a no-fly zone. Doing otherwise is nothing more than being partners with Iran and Hezbollah in suppressing the Syrian people, as well as placing the security of the region as a whole at even greater risk.

Informer Who Reported Samaha Identified as Milad Kfouri
Naharnet/12 August 2012/A man whose real name is Milad Kfouri and who has used several aliases was behind reporting former minister Michel Samaha to the Internal Security Forces Intelligence Branch, LBCI television reported on Sunday, as Finance Minister Mohammed Safadi’s office clarified the circumstances of hiring Kfouri in 2005. “Milad Kfouri is the central figure in this case and he was the one who informed against Samaha using his relations with some security agents,” LBCI said. The TV network added that Kfouri has worked in the security field since years and that he “is fond of collecting information.” “He built ties with several politicians with the aim of protecting them,” LBCI added. Samaha was arrested on Thursday and has reportedly confessed to plotting bombings in the North at the behest of Syria’s security chief Maj. Gen. Ali Mamlouk. “One of the relations Kfouri had established was with Samaha, who contacted him a while ago with the aim of implementing his bombings plot,” said LBCI. “Kfouri was astonished, so he visited the Intelligence Branch which asked him to maintain his meetings with Samaha and equipped him with video and audio recording devices,” LBCI added.
The channel said Zuheir Nahhas is among the numerous aliases Kfouri goes by. Meanwhile, a statement issued by Safadi’s office on Sunday clarified that the minister had hired Kfouri “in 2005, in the wake of the assassination of martyr premier Rafik Hariri and his companions, and at a time when most politicians were facing security threats that prompted them to hire guards from security companies.”“Kfouri introduced himself as the owner of a security services company and he was hired accordingly,” the office added. “He visited the office in the third week of July (2012) to inform us that he had decided to suspend his activities in the field of providing security services for reasons he did not wish to disclose, and thus his job ended at that point,” the office clarified.

Miqati on Samaha Case: Judiciary Will Follow through on the Matter to the End
Naharnet/12 August 2012/Prime Minister Najib Miqati stressed on Sunday that “we will not allow any side to meddle in our affairs,” saying that Lebanon will not once again be turned into an open ground for other powers’ disputes.He said in a statement on former minister and MP Michel Samaha’s arrest: “The judiciary will follow through on the matter to the end.”“It will continue its investigations in the case of attempting to create security unrest and strife in Lebanon through bombings in various areas,” he said. It will continue the investigation in order to reveal all of the case’s details, determine who is behind the affair, and issue the appropriate verdict, declared Miqati. “We had adopted the policy of dissociation out of our conviction that we will not meddle in the affairs of others and we therefore will not allow anyone to interfere in our matters,” he stated. He revealed that he had requested that the concerned agencies perform the necessary and immediate investigations to determine who is responsible for transporting explosives to Lebanon. In addition, the premier stressed the need for intensifying security along border crossings.The Military Tribunal charged on Saturday Samaha and Syrian security Chief Maj. Gen. Ali Mamlouk with forming a group to commit crimes in Lebanon. Some reports said that they were planning on carrying out attacks against various political and religious figures.

Jumblat Meets Rifi, Hassan: Army, People, Resistance Slogan Can No Longer Persist at State’s Expense
Naharnet /12 August 2012/Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat noted on Saturday that the current government’s main achievement” is its commitment to the funding of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.He declared during a Ramadan iftar in the Shouf region: “The obscure army, people, and resistance slogan can no longer persist at the expense of the state, army, security, and economy.”
Commenting on the government’s adoption of proportional representation for the parliamentary electoral law, he said: “There can be no room for the rule of law and the role of the army and security forces should the other camp, meaning the March 8 forces, with their old and new members, be victorious” in the elections.
“There can be no room for diversity and room for Lebanon away from the Iranian-Syrian alliance should the March 8 forces be victorious in the elections,” he continued.
“There can be no room for an independent judiciary, president, and army if the other camp is victorious,” stressed the Druze chief.
“I support the liberation of the Shebaa Farms, but reject the mentality of liberation that serves non-Lebanese interests,” he added.
Earlier on Saturday, Jumblat held talks on latest developments with Internal Security Forces chief Ashraf Rifi and Intelligence Bureau head Wissam al-Hassan at his al-Mukhtara residence.
The government recently approved an electoral law based on proportional representation and 13 electoral districts.
The MP had rejected the law, saying it is aimed at slashing the size of his parliamentary bloc.
The opposition March 14 camp has also rejected the proposed law, saying it was tailored to suit Hizbullah’s interests.

Report: March 14 Camp Seeks Severing of Lebanese-Syrian Ties in Light of Samaha Arrest
Naharnet /12 August 2012/The March 14 camp is seeking to take judicial action against former minister and MP Michel Samaha, who was charged with planning attacks in Lebanon, reported the daily An Nahar on Sunday.Informed sources told the daily that the camp will attempt to persuade President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister Najib Miqati to suspend diplomatic and official ties with Syria in light of revelations that Samaha had sought to carry out the attacks at Syrian orders. They also said that the camp will suggest the expulsion of the Syrian ambassador to Lebanon and the return of the Lebanese ambassador in Damascus. In addition, the sources revealed that a number of legal experts within the March 14 forces are mulling the possibility of filing a criminal complaint against Syrian President Bashar Assad before the Beirut General Prosecution. They said that the complaint will serve as a response to arrest warrants Syria had issued against various Lebanese figures in 2010.
The sources said that the Syrian warrants were not based on any legal foundations, whereas the Lebanese one would be based on Samaha’s case.
They expected the complaint to be ready by mid-next week. In October 2010, Syria ordered the arrest of 33 people over alleged false testimonies given in the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), which is probing the assassination of Lebanese ex-premier Rafik Hariri. The Lebanese defendants include Internal Security Forces chief Ashraf Rifi, MP Marwan Hamadeh, former General Prosecutor Saeed Mirza and former Justice Minister Charles Rizk as well as politicians, journalists and other Lebanese, Arab and foreign officials.
Meanwhile, some forces in the March 14 camp are also mulling the possibility of referring Samaha’s case to the STL, said An Nahar without adding further details. It revealed that journalist May Chidiac, who was the victim of a failed assassination attempt, as well as the families of slain journalist Samir Qassir and slain former Communist party chief George Hawi are planning on requesting that the legal proceedings in Samaha’s case include their cases as well. They based their action after being informed that some of the explosives found in Samaha’s possession greatly resemble the explosives used in the assassinations against Chidiac, Qassir, and Hawi. Government deputy Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Sami Sader charged on Saturday ex-Information Minister Michel Samaha and Syrian security Chief Maj. Gen. Ali Mamlouk with forming a group to commit crimes in Lebanon. The two were also charged with plotting to assassinate political and religious figures. A judicial source told Agence France Presse that General Mamlouk is "suspected of forming a group to provoke sectarian killings and terrorist acts using explosives, which were transported and stored by Samaha.”

Aoun: Resorting to Orthodox Gathering Law Normal after Rejection of Proportionality
Naharnet/12 August 2012/Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Sunday suggested adopting the electoral law proposed by the Orthodox Gathering, under which each sect would elect its own lawmakers, after the government’s recent endorsement of an electoral law based on proportional representation and 13 electorates infuriated the opposition March 14 camp and Druze leader Walid Jumblat.
“Resorting to the electoral law adopted by the Orthodox Gathering will be normal after the rejection of a law based on proportional representation,” Aoun during an iftar banquet organized by FPM’s Beirut department: “We have made a sacrifice by accepting the proportional representation system, as we would lose around 10 seats in Mount Lebanon after we claimed all the seats in the past,” Aoun noted, saying he accepted the law to secure fair representation for all minorities. “The importance of an electoral law based on proportional representation is that we will ge t rid of the sectarian and inflammatory rhetoric,” he added. Aoun stressed that a proportional electoral law ensures fair representation for all of the country’s components.
“During the Bkirki meeting, I did not support the law calling for each sect to elect its own lawmakers. The Lebanese Forces and the Phalange Party suggested the Orthodox Gathering law and we suggested proportionality,” Aoun revealed. Aoun noted, however, that the Orthodox Gathering’s proposal did not enjoy consensus among the Lebanese.

Druze take up the fight
Mona Alami/Now Lebanon/ August 12, 2012
Arab TV networks have, for the most part, played down the participation of minorities in the Syrian uprising, largely concentrating on the Sunnis rising up against the Alawite Assad regime. However, many Druze are playing an active role in the revolt, which is taking a different shape and form in the Sweida region.
The Sweida province is also known as Jabal al-Druze (the Druze Mountain) as it is home to most of the Syrian Druze, who make up about 5 percent of the country’s overall population.
The Druze minority has spearheaded various Syrian revolutions over the centuries, most recently battling the Ottomans and the French. When anti-Assad protests first started in mid-March 2011, the province of Sweida was early to join. On March 27, around 80 members of the lawyers’ syndicate held a sit-in to demand reforms, freedoms and the accountability of public officials.
Several demonstrations followed in April in the towns of Sweida and Qraya, the birthplace of Sultan Pacha al-Atrash, leader of the 1925–1927 revolution against the French mandate.
"About 160 Druze soldiers have been killed since the beginning of the uprising, 70 percent of whom were shot for disobeying orders to kill protesters," said an anti-regime activist from the city of Sweida on condition of anonymity, as he fears reprisal from government forces.
"Last month four people died at the hands of the Syrian regime, two people in a bomb blast and one under torture. The funerals were followed by large protests," says Rima Fleyhan, a Druze leader on the opposition’s Local Coordination Committee for the area.
However, those taking part in the pro-democracy movement in Druze regions hail from the elite, unlike other parts of the country where the rebellion was born among the disenfranchised. "The protest movement is essentially comprised of students, lawyers, engineers as well as leftists. It basically consists of the community’s elite," says Talal al-Atrash, author of “When Syria Awakes” (Quand la Syrie s’éveillera, 2011).
Fleyhan admits nonetheless that protests have been slowing down in recent weeks. "There is a simple explanation behind that new reality, one that has not been reported. Activist are busy elsewhere, putting in place an aid network for the refugees flocking in the thousands to Jabal al-Druze from Homs, Daraa, the Damascus suburbs as well as well as the capital, "she says.
In recent months, security police and shabiha loyalists dispersed the protesters with force. "They have nonetheless been careful not to cause too many victims in minority areas, while cracking down violently on the Sunnis in order to create a rift among the population," notes Fleyhan.
The policy seems to be working. The threat of civil strife as well as the Islamic dimension to the protests has discouraged many Druze from embracing the movement. The majority of people is wary of an internationalization of the conflict and of the rivalry between Shiite and Sunni neighboring countries playing out in Syria, says the Sweida-based activist.
Fleyhan accuses the Assad regime of posting Druze soldiers in nearby Daraa to further fuel sectarian tensions between the neighboring provinces. Last month’s killing of a member of the Sunni community at the hands of a Druze shabiha in the predominantly Druze village of Jaramana aggravated tensions between residents of Sweida and Daraa.
The killing follows another incident that took place last May, when 14 Druze were kidnapped by Sunnis from Daraa. The Druze retaliated by kidnapping about 150 Sunnis. "The intervention of Sheikh Hammoud Hinnawi facilitated the release of all prisoners," says Atrash.
In spite of the regime’s policy to divide and conquer, Fleyhan says that many Druze are welcoming Syrian refugees into their province and participating en masse in the aid effort. Sources estimate the number of refugees at about 10,000. There is also is an embrace of the uprising among members of the community as the government’s tactics get bloodier.
Druze soldiers who defected to the opposition Free Syrian Army formed the Sultan al-Atrash Brigade, based on the outskirts of Sweida. As the battle goes on, many feel Jabal al-Druze will be forced to take a growing part in the uprising, whether it wants to or not.

New sanctions target Iran, Hezbollah and Syria: U.S.
August 11, 2012/By Ceren Kumova/Daily Star
ISTANBUL: Fresh sanctions slapped by the United States are meant to "expose and disrupt" links between Iran, Lebanon's armed Hezbollah movement and Syria, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Saturday.
She said the "number one goal" of Washington and Ankara was to hasten the end of Bashar Assad's regime in Damascus and stop the bloodshed, while warning that Syria must not become a haven for Kurdish rebels battling Turkey.
"We are continuing to increase pressure from outside," Clinton told a joint press conference in Istanbul after meeting Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Syrian opposition activists.
"Yesterday in Washington we announced sanctions designed to expose and disrupt the links between Iran, Hezbollah and Syria that prolong the life of the Assad regime."
Washington on Friday announced sanctions against Syrian state oil company Sytrol for trading with Iran, in a bid to starve both Tehran and Damascus of much-needed revenue.
The U.S. Treasury also said it was adding the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah, which has close ties with Iran and Syria, to a blacklist of organisations targeted under Syria-related sanctions.
Washington already classes Hezbollah a "terrorist organisation" and it is under U.S. sanctions, but Friday's move explicitly ties the group to the violence in Syria, where Assad is attempting to put down a 17-month revolt.
The sanctions are designed to increase pressure on Damascus as the conflict escalates sharply after the failure of former U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan's peace plan and his dramatic resignation.
World powers are expected to name veteran Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi as their new envoy for Syria early next week.
Clinton was also due to discuss with Turkey's leaders ways to effectively enforce sanctions against Syria and accelerate efforts for the fall of the Assad regime.
"Our goal number one is to hasten the end of the bloodshed and the Assad regime, that is our strategic goal," she said.
Turkey, once a close ally of Syria, has become a vocal opponent of the regime since it launched a brutal crackdown on dissent in March last year.
It has imposed its own sanctions, taken in tens of thousands of refugees and allowed the rebel Free Syrian Army to operate from its soil.
Praising Turkey's leadership in the Syrian conflict, Clinton also said she shared Ankara's determination to prevent the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) from using the neighbouring country as a base."We share Turkey's determination that Syria must not become a haven for PKK terorrists whether now or after the departure of the Assad regime," Clinton said.
The Democratic Union Party (PYD), the Syrian ally of the PKK, has reportedly taken over several towns along Turkey's border with Syria, alarming Ankara, which promptly increased defences on the border. "We need to take joint efforts to prevent a power vacuum from being formed" which could be exploited by the PKK, Davutoglu said.
Clinton also met with Syrian activists and refugees, who she said were committed to "a free, inclusive and democratic Syria" but need support from the international community to be ready for the eventual fall of the Assad regime. "We share the frustration, anger and outrage of the Syrian people," she said while predicting that more and more refugees would flee the country because of brutality which "knows no bounds" on the part of government forces. She announced an additional $5.5 million in aid for those fleeing fighting that monitoring groups say has now claimed over 21,000 lives.
Turkey is currently home to some 55,000 refugees living in camps along the Syrian border, with close to 10,000 seeking safety this week alone amid intensifying battles between regime forces and rebels for Syria's second city of Aleppo. Clinton flew into Istanbul early Saturday from Benin after wrapping up a marathon 11-day, nine-nation Africa tour.

Lebanon indicts Samaha, Assad security adviser for terror plots
August 11, 2012/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Judge Sami Sader indicted former Information Minister Michel Samaha and Syrian National Security Bureau head Ali Mamlouk Saturday for plotting to assassinate political and religious figures in Lebanon and carry out terrorist attacks.
The indictment also included a Syrian army officer identified as Brig. Gen. Adnan.
Sader, the government’s deputy commissioner at the Military Tribunal, also charged the three men with creating an armed group aimed at undermining the authority and prestige of the state. Additionally, he accused them of planning to incite sectarian clashes through terrorist attacks with explosives that Samaha transported to Lebanon and stored after taking possession of them from Mamlouk and Adnan.
The indictment also charged the three men with working with Syria’s intelligence to carry out aggression against Lebanon. Samaha was also accused of possessing weapons without a license. A judicial source told The Daily Star that the charges, if proven, could lead to the defendants being sentenced to hard labor or death.
Sader referred the case to Military Judge Riad Abu Ghida, who will pursue the investigation and question Samaha.
Earlier in the day, Acting State Prosecutor Samir Hammoud referred Samaha's case to the Military Tribunal following a preliminary investigation by the Internal Security Forces' Information Branch.
Meanwhile, a senior security official told The Daily Star Friday that the evidence against Samaha is compelling and includes incriminating video footage.
“The case against Samaha constitutes a clear and irrefutable condemnation, following his confessions of involvement in the transportation of explosives from Syria to Lebanon for use in terrorist attacks in areas in the north,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Samaha was arrested by the Internal Security Forces’ Information Branch Thursday on suspicion of being involved in a plot to carry out bomb attacks in Lebanon on behalf of the Syrian regime.
Samaha's defense lawyer, Malek Sayyed, warned Saturday that his team would suspend its attendance of the interrogation of Samaha, unless the judiciary holds security agencies responsible for media leaks.
“The judiciary should summon [ISF head Ashraf Rifi and head of Information Branch Wisam Hasan] for questioning, otherwise we will announce that we will suspend our participation in the interrogation sessions with Minister Samaha,” Sayyed told reporters outside the Military Tribunal.
Sayyed said that the media leaks had convicted Samaha in the court of public opinion even before the trial, and that they are “a clear violation of the secrecy of the investigation.”
If the accusations against him by the court are approved by the Military Tribunal, Samaha, the two time information minister and an ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, will be charged with plotting to carry out "terrorist" attacks, possession of arms and explosives and exposing state security to danger.

Romney chooses Ryan as vice presidential running mate
August 11, 2012/By Steve Holland/Daily Star
Romney has picked Ryan as his vice presidential running mate and will announce the pick on August 11, 2012, a Republican official said. REUTERS/Darren Hauck/Files
NORFOLK, United Satets: Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said Saturday he has chosen Congressman Paul Ryan as his vice presidential running mate, a move that will bring the debate over how to reduce government spending and debt to the forefront of the race for the White House.
Romney, the presumptive Republican nominee, announced that he has tapped the House of Representatives Budget Committee chairman at an event at the retired battleship USS Wisconsin - coincidentally named for Ryan's home state.
"His leadership begins with character and values. ... Paul Ryan works in Washington but his roots remain in Janesville, Wisconsin," Romney said.
Romney said Ryan, 42, "has become an intellectual leader of the Republican Party," and stressed that their campaign will focus on ways to create jobs, protect Medicare and Social Security, and repeal the health care law enacted under Democratic President Barack Obama.
The announcement marked the end a months-long search by Romney for a running mate to join him in facing Obama and Vice President Joe Biden in the November 6 election.
His choice of running mate is a bold one and comes after polls this week showed him falling slightly behind Obama in what is still a close race, in a campaign that is focused largely on the weak U.S. economy.
The selection of Ryan brings a measure of youthful exuberance and energy to the Republican ticket as party activists prepare to gather in Tampa, Florida, late this month for a convention to formally choose Romney as their presidential nominee.
Ryan's selection also immediately draws attention to a budget plan he proposed as House budget chairman that would include controversial cuts in government health programs for the elderly and poor.
"We're in a different and dangerous moment. We're running out of time and we can't afford four more years of this," Ryan told the crowd. "Politicians from both parties have made empty promises which will soon become broken promises with painful consequences if we fail to act now."
He drew his biggest reaction, saying: "0ur rights come from nature and God, not from government."
Conservative leaders, increasingly anxious over the state of Romney's campaign, had urged him to pass over reliable - but not particularly inspiring - figures such as Ohio Senator Rob Portman and former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty, and instead go for Ryan.
The Wisconsin congressman is a favourite of the conservative Tea Party, an anti-tax, limited-government movement that helped Republicans take over the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010.
Democrats are eager to pounce on Ryan's budget plan with its proposed cuts to programs for the elderly - particularly in Florida, where many seniors live and which could be a crucial state in the November election. Ryan's selection makes the Florida leg of Romney's bus tour an instant test for the new ticket.
Obama's campaign manager Jim Messina said in a statement that Ryan shares Romney's commitment to "the flawed theory that new budget-busting tax cuts for the wealthy, while placing greater burdens on the middle class and seniors, will somehow deliver a stronger economy."
Romney starts a bus tour on Saturday through four politically divided states that he needs to win in November: Virginia, North Carolina, Florida and Ohio.
Romney's decision to select Ryan suggests he is willing to have a debate over government spending and its role in the daily lives of Americans. He has endorsed parts of Ryan's budget.
"Conservatives are going to be very energized because this is a demonstration that Romney was willing to make a bold pick," said Republican strategist Matt Mankowski. "It may not be what he wanted to do three or six months ago, but I think this is as significant a choice as he could have made."
Bill Burton, senior strategist at the pro-Obama group Priorities USA, indicated that Ryan being on the Republican ticket would open a new avenue of attack for Democrats.
Polls suggest that Obama has been helped this summer by Democrats' efforts to cast Romney as a wealthy former private equity executive who is out of touch with middle-class America.
"If it's really Ryan, Romney will have picked one of the only people who could have had an impact in the race," Burton said in a tweet. "But not the way he wants."
The conservative Weekly Standard magazine reported that the Romney campaign had begun to prepare a vigorous effort to support Ryan as the vice presidential pick.
Often likening Ryan to former president Ronald Reagan, conservatives say the Wisconsin lawmaker's supposed drawbacks as a candidate - mostly stemming from the steep cuts he has proposed in social safety net programs - are actually strengths that could bring heft, content and perhaps a spark to the Romney campaign.
Romney bonded with Ryan during the Wisconsin Republican primary battle last spring, when Ryan campaigned enthusiastically for the former Massachusetts governor.
For Romney, an outsider to Washington, Ryan would provide some expertise in dealing with Congress.
But Ryan, a member of the House for 13 years and a Capitol Hill staffer before that, is a Washington insider without business or executive experience. That is in sharp contrast to Romney, who has been critical of Washington insiders and says his years in private equity as a founder of Bain Capital have given him insight into the needs of U.S. businesses.
That inconsistency on the Republican ticket could be a problem, some analysts said.
Unlike many of his colleagues, who made their names at home and then came to Washington, Ryan got his start as a Hill intern and aide and then went back to Janesville, Wisconsin, to run for office, getting elected to Congress in 1998.
He already had a passionate interest in the budget, joking in 2010 that it was "kind of weird" that he had been "reading federal budgets since I was 22 years old. I know that's kind of sick".
Ryan had begun work on a budget blueprint of his own before Republicans captured the House in the 2010 mid-term elections. But it got little attention from reporters or Republican colleagues, who had little interest in associating themselves with a detailed list of budget cuts.
By the fall of 2010, however, the budget — and the deficit — had become defining issues, thanks in part to the Tea Party movement.
After Republicans took control of the House in January 2010, Ryan became chairman of the House Budget Committee. Suddenly he was one of the Republican Party's most visible and formidable leaders, and a frequent guest on cable news shows and the Republican speaking circuit.
Ryan's budget plan, which passed the Republican-controlled House of Representatives last March despite significant Democratic opposition, aims to cut tax rates while also slowing the rapid growth of the federal debt. It would do so mainly by cutting domestic programs that many Democrats have vowed to protect.
By choosing Ryan, Romney effectively adopts the Ryan budget, which includes proposed cuts to Medicare, the healthcare program for the elderly, long considered to be politically taboo.
Ryan would set up a voucher-like system for the program to help beneficiaries buy private health insurance or give them access to the traditional fee-for-service plan.
Another controversial portion of Ryan's budget is a plan to reduce the cost of Medicaid, the federally backed healthcare plan for the poor, by turning it into a block grant program for states.
Several Democrats have said that among the potential running mates for Romney, Ryan was the one they would most like to face because of his budget proposals.