Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for August 29/12
Appeals chamber to hear challenges to STL purview
Lebanese prisoner released from Syria after 27-year detention
Opposition MPs urge government to act on Lebanese detained in Syrian prisons
Ministerial Lebanese Committee submits wiretapping data report
Lebanon/Judge probes possible leak of Samaha interrogation documents
President Michel Sleiman wants kidnappers brought to justice
Lebanon won’t cede role as Arab League chair
Jumblatt hits back at Nasrallah over arms and Iran’s role
Aoun: Syria Regime Must Remain Secular, Lebanon Security Won't Deteriorate Further
Maqdah's Bodyguard Wounded in Ain al-Hilweh Shooting
Mustaqbal Calls for Expulsion of Syrian Ambassador over His ‘Crimes’ in Lebanon
Change and Reform Calls for End to ‘Politically-Motivated’ Campaign against Qortbawi
Christian Girl Jailed  in Pakistani for Blasphemy Determined to be 14 Years Old
Muslim Rioters Attack Five Churches, Kill Two in Kenya
Iran to Continue Uranium Enrichment
Ban Ki-moon to Press Iran on Nuclear Drive, Human Rights
Morsi visit spells cautious Iran-Egypt shift
Syria sectarian divide turns to fear and flight
Syria exodus boosts calls for buffer zone
Deadly bombing hits loyalist funeral outside Damascus
12 Dead, 48 Hurt in Blast at Funeral of Regime Supporters near Damascus
Syrian man threatens to blow up the Arab League
Seven Refugees Drown Fleeing Syria for Cyprus
Syrian Opposition Activists Say Too Soon for New Govt.

Aoun: Syria Regime Must Remain Secular, Lebanon Security Won't Deteriorate Further
Naharnet/28 August 2012/
Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Tuesday reassured that the security situation in Lebanon will not deteriorate further in the near future, noting that the regime in strife-torn Syria “must remain secular because there are religious minorities.”“I don't see partitioning in Lebanon and the security situation will not deteriorate to an extent that exceeds what happened in the past few days,” Aoun said in an interview on his movement’s mouthpiece OTV. Aoun, however, lamented that the security officials “are not responding promptly enough to the sensitive issues.”Voicing confidence in the army’s coherence, Aoun said: “Our army is the last to disintegrate and the first to unite, because it has a patriotic spirit and this is what it is implementing on the ground.”
Commenting on the latest deadly clashes in the northern city of Tripoli, Aoun warned that “there are attempts to turn the incidents in the North into sectarian ones.”“There are major violations happening on Lebanese territory, such as the infiltration of gunmen and arms smuggling, which makes it normal to witness chaos in Akkar,” he added.
Asked about the latest spate of kidnappings that targeted Syrian, Turkish, Kuwaiti and Lebanese citizens, Aoun said: “If we want to criticize the trend of blocking the airport road and kidnappings, we must first take into account the first event: the abduction of the 11 Lebanese (pilgrims) in Syria and the reports about their death in an air raid.”
“How do you want the citizens to react?” Aoun asked.
“I'm not justifying kidnappings, counter-kidnappings or the blocking of roads, but we must first condemn the action before condemning the reaction,” he added.
Lebanon has been grappling with heightened security fears after a recent spate of kidnappings in retaliation for the abduction of Lebanese citizens in Syria.
Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE and Bahrain have ordered their nationals to leave the country immediately in the face of threats, particularly against Saudis and Qataris.
Turkey also advised its nationals to avoid non-essential travel to Lebanon after the kidnappings which included two Turkish citizens, while the U.S. has warned its citizens of “an increased possibility of attacks” against them in Lebanon.
The powerful al-Meqdad clan said its “military wing” abducted more than 20 Syrians and a Turkish national in Lebanon in retaliation for the abduction of a clan member, Hassan al-Meqdad, near Damascus.
Dozens of Syrians were also kidnapped and Syrian-owned shops vandalized in Beirut’s southern suburbs after unconfirmed reports that 11 Lebanese pilgrims taken hostage in Syria on May 22 had been killed in an airstrike on the Aleppo town of Aazaz.
“Turkey is not our enemy but rather a brotherly country, the same as Qatar and Saudi Arabia, although they have distanced themselves from us. Instead of talking about Lebanon's stability, let them find solutions to what's happening, because they are the ones who are supporting the Free Syrian Army,” Aoun said.
The rebel Free Syrian Army has been accused of abducting the 11 pilgrims in Aazaz and Hassan al-Meqdad near Damascus.
“The friendly and brotherly countries have disregarded the issue of the abductees,” Aoun decried.
Asked about the recent arrest of former minister Michel Samaha on charges of conspiring with Syrian security chief Maj. Gen. Ali Mamlouk to carry out bombings and assassinations in Akkar, Aoun said “the issue has become an issue of political exploitation and media outlets are also taking advantage of this matter.”
“Lebanon is an arena for the world's intelligence agencies, that's why I won't accuse anyone or acquit anyone and I will leave the issue to the judiciary to perform its duty,” he added.
Addressing the issue of the 2013 parliamentary elections, Aoun said “nothing can torpedo the elections other than a regional war,” but warned that elections cannot be held in Akkar and Tripoli “if the security situation (there) remains the same.”
“I'm willing to ally with the Lebanese Forces and the Phalange Party if they convince al-Mustaqbal Movement of the electoral law proposed by the Orthodox Gathering,” Aoun said of the law under which each sect would elect its own representatives.
Commenting on the issue of national dialogue, Aoun said the priority must be given to “the proliferation of arms and the absence of the state.”
He stressed that “Hizbullah's arms are necessary because they enable us to confront Israel.”
Turning to the developments in Syria, Aoun said “the regime in Syria must remain secular because there are religious minorities.”
“There are Druze, Christians and Alawites, so a theocratic regime cannot work,” he said, voicing fears of an Islamist takeover of the country.
Aoun acknowledged that “what's happening in Syria is an uprising.”
“We have been calling for a change in the regime, but we do not support the cycle of violence which is being fueled by foreign countries,” he added.
“The war is an American-European war that is being waged through the Syrian people. They want to change the regime because they consider it to be an obstacle to peace with Israel and an economic obstacle because it is not allowing the passage of oil from Turkey to Europe,” he noted.

Appeals chamber to hear challenges to STL purview
August 29, 2012 01:31 AM The Daily Star
BEIRUT: The Appeals Chamber of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon will hear arguments in public session on Oct. 1 on defense motions challenging the jurisdiction and legality of the court. The Trial Chamber of the U.N.-backed court, which is trying suspects in the 2005 attack that killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, ruled in late July against all the pretrial motions challenging the STL’s jurisdiction. The defense counsel for the four indicted men had argued that the court was established illegally, violated Lebanese sovereignty and had selective jurisdiction, in violation of the principles of fairness and equality before the law. In an appeal of that ruling filed on behalf of one of the accused, Salim Ayyash, the defense maintains that the Trial Chamber made a mistake when it ruled that Security Council Resolution 1757 was the “sole legal basis” for establishing the STL, failing to consider violations of the Lebanese Constitution, and when it ruled that it could not review that resolution. The defense also challenges the Trial Chamber’s ruling on the court’s selectivity, arguing that, “In the context of everything that has taken place in Lebanon over the past 40 years, the creation of a tribunal to prosecute a single incident is impermissibly selective.”

Opposition MPs urge government to act on Lebanese detained in Syrian prisons
August 29, 2012/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Opposition politicians have urged the government to press Syria’s regime on the issue of Lebanese detainees in Syrian prisons after the release of Yaacoub Shamoun, who was freed after spending 27 years in custody. In a statement released after their weekly meeting, the Future bloc said Tuesday, “We urge the government to move forward on the issue of Lebanese detainees and forcibly disappeared in Syrian prisons.” Lebanese Shamoun was freed three months ago, The Daily Star learned Tuesday, and his release has given hope to the relatives of hundreds of others who were kidnapped during the 1975-90 Civil War. The Future statement also asked the government to “prepare the necessary documents to press charges against those who arrested them and curtailed their freedom in a clear violation of the law and what is considered a crime against humanity, especially with the release of Shamoun after 27 years.”
Also Tuesday, Metn MP Sami Gemayel met with Minister of the Displaced Alaeddine Terro at Gemayel’s office in Bikfaya, where they discussed displaced and detained Lebanese.
After the meeting Terro said, “There is a ministerial committee tasked with following up on the issue of detainees in Syrian prisons and we hope that this issue moves forward today in light of the difficult security circumstances and for the safety of those detainees.
“We hope that the Lebanese government, and other countries, pressure Syria to release these detainees,” the minister added.
Speaking of Lebanese detainees in Syrian prisons Gemayel said, “Despite all the denials from Syria that we have heard over the last 30 years, it is clear this issue is as real as we claim.
“There’s a list that was presented previously including the names of more than 300 Lebanese detained in Syrian prisons, including Kataeb members, members of the Lebanese Army, monks and others,” he added. “The Lebanese government should have the dignity to demand their release and defend their rights.
“Today, more than ever, we need everyone to act, whether at the level of the government, or March 14, or the Syrian opposition, or the international community. Or any group that can help discover the fate of these Lebanese and return them safely to Lebanon, we call on their help,” Gemayel said.
Shamoun was kidnapped in July 1985 due to his membership in the Kataeb party, Ghazi Aad, president of the nongovernmental organization Support of Lebanese in Detention and Exile (SOLIDE) told The Daily Star. “He was released three months ago but he was afraid to talk to anyone,” Aad said. “Afraid someone would target him ... maybe people in support of the regime in Syria.”
Upon his abduction, he was sentenced to life with hard labor. Shamoun was originally held in Saydneya, north of Damascus, along with five other Lebanese. They were then dispersed to other prisons across Syria. He was released this year from a prison in the eastern region of Hasaka. Aad said Shamoun’s file was eventually transferred to the civil court, making it easier for his family to hire a lawyer and finalize his case. “This gives us hope that there are Lebanese in Syrian prisons who are still alive,” the activist said.
An estimated 600 Lebanese were kidnapped during the Lebanese Civil War and held in Syrian prisons, but Aad said that Shamoun and the five others were not listed as missing in their files.
“There might be even more than we believe,” Aad said. Elsewhere Tuesday, ahead of the International Day of the Disappeared Thursday, the International Committee of the Red Cross called on the families of people who have gone missing in Lebanon to get in touch with its delegation in order to provide information on their loved ones.
Around 17,000 people went missing or were abducted during the 1975-1990 Civil War alone.
This latest step by the ICRC is part of a project launched by the global NGO in April to collect pre-disappearance data.
“I take this opportunity to call on all families who have a relative who went missing during conflict or violence in Lebanon to contact the ICRC so that they can be included in the collection of data,” said Jurg Montani, head of the ICRC delegation in Lebanon. “The aim now is to make sure the information on the missing persons is not lost and that it is properly safeguarded,” he added. “This will ultimately serve to address the families’ primary need: the need to know.” Many activists have criticized the government for inaction with regard to Lebanese prisoners in Syria.
During a sit-in held by SOLIDE and relatives of prisoners last year, Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi promised protesters he would write a decree to establish the long-awaited national commission for the victims of enforced disappearance.The families of missing persons can register for an interview to give information on their loved ones by contacting ICRC’s delegation in Beirut on 03-186-386.

Lebanon/Judge probes possible leak of Samaha interrogation documents
August 28, 2012/The Daily Star /BEIRUT: The military judge presiding over the case of the former minister accused of plotting to carry out terrorist attacks in the country Tuesday opened an investigation into the apparent leak of interrogation documents to a local newspaper. Al-Joumhouria Monday published what it said were transcripts from the interrogation of Michel Samaha, in which the former information minister and MP confesses to plotting bomb attacks with Syrian officials with the knowledge of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Also Tuesday, Samaha's personal bodyguard Ali Mallah and his driver Fares Barakat Tuesday gave their testimonies in front of the Military Judge Riyad Abu Ghida.
According to the judicial sources, investigations with the two men focused on information they have regarding Samaha’s transport of explosives from Syria to Lebanon, who provided Samaha with the material, to whom they were delivered and their purpose.
Mallah and Barakat, along with the two-time minister's secretary Gladys Awada were briefly detained for questioning the day of Samaha's arrest.
Meanwhile, Abu Ghida postponed Tuesday the testimony of the Al-Joumhouria editor-in-chief Charles Jabbour and the paper’s manager Khalil Abu Antoun until next week after Jabbour failed to show up.
A statement by the Journalists Union said that instead of Jabbour and Abu Antoun, the head of the Journalists Union Elias Aoun and the union's lawyers Antoun al-Hweis and Amal al-Baba, as well as the paper’s lawyer Elie Kfoury, arrived at the judge's court.
Kfoury said his client, Jabbour, could not be present in court due to personal reasons, prompting the judge to postpone the session to Tuesday Sept. 4 at 11 a.m.
Samaha, a supporter of the Syrian regime, was arrested earlier this month by the Internal Security Forces’ Information Branch on suspicion of involvement in a plot to carry out terrorist attacks in Lebanon in collaboration with the Syrian regime. The government’s deputy commissioner at the Military Tribunal accused Samaha on Aug. 11 of plotting to assassinate political and religious figures in Lebanon and carry out terrorist attacks. The accusation also included Syrian National Security Bureau head Ali Mamlouk and a Syrian army officer identified as Brig. Gen. Adnan.
The three were also accused 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. According to the leaked interrogation transcripts published by Al-Joumhouria, Samaha has confessed to plotting bomb attacks with Mamlouk with the knowledge of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
He was quoted as telling an informer, who was later identified as Milad Kfouri, that the only four people who knew of the plot were Assad, Mamlouk, Kfouri, and Samaha himself.
Samaha sought to use Kfouri to execute the plot, but Kfouri set him up by informing the Internal Security Forces Information Branch after holding a meeting with the former minister to plan the killings and identify the targets. He was then wiretapped to record his meetings with Samaha.
Meanwhile, Lebanese Forces MP Antoine Zahra Tuesday called on those targeted in the bomb plots to file lawsuits against both Samaha and Mamlouk in court.
“Such personal claims would guarantee to foil any attempts to reach a settlement in the case,” Batroun MP told the Future News.
The apparently leaked report indicated that Future Movement MP Khaled al-Daher, and Tripoli Mufti Sheikh Malek al-Shaar were targets of the bomb plots. Other media reports have suggested they may have also targeted Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai while the religious figure was travelling in Akkar.
Zahra stressed that the investigation must be expanded, as the Lebanese state has a rare opportunity to access evidence of such plots in Lebanon.
“Expanding the investigation would help protect Lebanon against any possible future similar plots,” the MP said.

Lebanese prisoner released from Syria after 27-year detention
August 28, 2012/The Daily Star /BEIRUT: A Lebanese prisoner who has been in Syrian custody for the past 27 years was released three months ago, The Daily Star learned Tuesday, giving hope for the hundreds of others who were kidnapped during the Civil War. Yaacoub Shamoun was kidnapped in July 1985 because of his membership of the Kataeb party, Ghazi Aad, president of NGO Support of Lebanese in Detention and Exile (S.O.L.I.D.E) told The Daily Star. “He was released three months ago but he was afraid to talk to anyone,” Aad said. “Afraid someone would target him ... maybe people in support of the regime in Syria.”He was sentenced to life with hard labor. Upon his abduction, Shamoun was held in Saydneya, north of Damascus, along with five other Lebanese. They were then dispersed in other prisons. He was released from a prison in the eastern region of Hasaka. Aad said Shamoun’s file was transferred to the civil court, making it easier for his family to hire a lawyer and finalize his case.
“This gives us hope that there are Lebanese in Syrian prisons who are still alive,” the activist said.
An estimated 600 Lebanese were kidnapped during the Lebanese Civil War and held in Syrian prisons, but Aad said that Shamoun and the five others were not listed as missing in their files.
“There might be even more than we believe,” Aad said. Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi was not immediately available for comment.
Many activists have criticized the government for inaction with regards to Lebanese prisoners in Syria. During a sit-in held by S.O.L.I.D.E and relatives of prisoners last year, one of many held for the cause in front of the Grand Serail, Qortbawi promised protesters he would write a decree to establish the long-awaited national commission for the victims of enforced disappearance.

President Michel Sleiman wants kidnappers brought to justice
August 29, 2012/By Hussein Dakroub/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: President Michel Sleiman called Tuesday for the kidnappers of Syrian, Turkish and Kuwaiti nationals in Lebanon to be brought to justice. He also demanded the release of all Lebanese held hostage by Syrian rebels. Meanwhile, Riad al-Asaad, commander of the rebel Free Syrian Army, struck an upbeat note about the release of the remaining 10 Lebanese hostages in Syria, saying “a strong initiative” was under way to free them soon. The remarks by Sleiman and Asaad came a day after a Kuwaiti citizen was freed by Lebanese security forces from his captors in east Lebanon and three days after the FSA released one of the 11 Lebanese hostages in Syria.
Sleiman underlined “the need to continue investigations and judicial prosecutions in order to uncover the perpetrators and those standing behind the kidnappings.”
“They [kidnappers] sooner or later will not be able to continue escaping from justice and the law,” Sleiman said during a meeting with Kuwait’s Ambassador to Lebanon Abdel-Aal al-Qinai, who thanked the president over the release of Kuwaiti national Issam al-Houty Monday, two days after his abduction. Houty was grabbed by gunmen Saturday outside his house in Hawsh al-Ghanam in the Bekaa region.
Sleiman stressed that kidnappers in Lebanon should be punished for their crimes and called for boosting efforts to secure the release of the 10 remaining Lebanese hostages in Syria.
He expressed hope that Houty’s kidnapping would not affect relations with Kuwait, which has “always stood by Lebanon’s side and still provides assistance in various fields.”
Qinai handed Sleiman a letter from the Kuwaiti emir, who thanked the president for the efforts to secure Houty’s freedom. Qinai also met with Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Speaker Nabih Berri to thank them for their efforts to secure the Kuwaiti’s release.
“The three leaders spared no effort at the political or security level to secure Houty’s release. These efforts, thank God, were crowned with success,” Qinai said after meeting Berri at the speaker’s residence in Ain al-Tineh. Sleiman also met at Baabda Palace with Interior Minister Marwan Charbel, who briefed him on the ongoing negotiations to secure the release of the 10 Lebanese hostages in Syria, the state-run National News Agency reported.
Charbel remained optimistic about an early resolution to the crisis of the Lebanese hostages in Syria after one of the abducted was released Saturday.
“Based on positive information, I am optimistic that this [hostage] issue will come to end soon,” Charbel told The Daily Star Tuesday. “We are seriously following up the case of the Lebanese hostages in Syria with Turkish authorities on a daily basis.”
Charbel said Sunday that the release of Hussein Ali Omar, one of the 11 kidnapped pilgrims, set the stage for a comprehensive solution to the crisis of Lebanese hostages in Syria as well as Syrians abducted in Lebanon.
Lebanon’s Meqdad clan kidnapped more than 20 Syrian nationals and a Turkish businessman in Lebanon this month in an attempt to swap them for their relative, Hasan Meqdad, who was kidnapped by Syrian rebels on Aug. 13.
The clan released all but four Syrian hostages and the Turkish businessman Saturday in order to press for the release of Meqdad. Another Turkish national was kidnapped by a Shiite group to press for the release of the Lebanese hostages in Syria.
Meanwhile, the FSA commander sounded optimistic about an early release of the 10 Lebanese hostages.
In an interview with Elnashra website, Asaad said the group that kidnapped the Lebanese, like all anti-regime military brigades spread across Syrian territories, fell under the FSA’s command. “A serious attempt and a strong initiative are under way to secure the release of the 10 Lebanese hostages soon,” he said.
Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammad Rashid Qabbani condemned the tit-for-tat kidnappings, saying these tactics were “inhuman and contrary to religious values.”
He said he was very happy with Houty’s release and expressed his appreciation of the efforts made by the Lebanese state to win his freedom. Qabbani expressed hope for the imminent release of the Turkish citizen as well as all Lebanese hostages in Syria.
Sheikh Abbas Zgheib, tasked by the Higher Shiite Council to follow up the case of Lebanese hostages in Syria, condemned the abduction of Arabs in Lebanon. In a statement carried by the NNA, Zgheib said: “Arabs, particularly Saudis, Qataris and Gulf nationals in general, should not be targeted because we consider them our brothers.”
Meanwhile, the Future parliamentary bloc strongly condemned the kidnappings of Lebanese, Syrians, nationals of Arab states and foreigners carried out by “various groups under tribal, family, political and provincial names with a political and partisan cover.”
Referring to the Meqdad clan in Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, the bloc condemned “Hezbollah’s suspicious silence on these practices [kidnapping of Syrians] which took place in an area under its control and under its supervision, while its Secretary-General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah claimed that the situation spun out of control.”
In a statement issued after its weekly meeting, the bloc welcomed Omar’s release and called for freeing the remaining Lebanese hostages in Syria. It also called for the release of all civilians kidnapped in Lebanon and Syria. The bloc urged government security apparatuses to arrest the kidnappers in Lebanon and put them in jail.For his part, Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun said the Lebanese state has lost its credibility in maintaining security and holding criminals accountable.
Aoun said on OTV Tuesday night: “Qatar and Saudi Arabia, which speak about Lebanon’s stability and which say that they are supporting the Free Syrian Army, can’t they tell the FSA to release the 11 [Lebanese] hostages?”

Jumblatt hits back at Nasrallah over arms and Iran’s role
August 28, 2012/The Daily Star /BEIRUT: Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt reiterated Monday his party’s position on the need for a mechanism to integrate Hezbollah’s arms into the Army’s, and to keep decisions of war and peace in the hands of the state. “There is no doubt that the resistance’s rockets can force the emigration of hundreds of thousands of Israelis – but the Lebanese have the right to question their fate and future in any future war,” the PSP leader said in remarks likely aimed at Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah.
Nasrallah is reported to have pledged to keep the Lebanese Islamic resistance movement strong and to obstruct U.S. and Zionist designs in the region during a meeting with Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian over the weekend. The Fars News Agency says Nasrallah also stressed that Iran plays an indispensable role in the region.
“Foreign plots against Syria have reached a stalemate and the Islamic Republic of Iran is supporting the righteous demands of the Syrian people, emphasizing political solutions to the crisis in accordance with its stable stances in defending and supporting the rights of the regional nations,” Nasrallah said, according to the FNA.
In his weekly statement published by Al-Anbaa newspaper Tuesday, Jumblatt also slammed the Non-Aligned Movement’s summit in Iran for its support of the Syrian government’s “tyranny” against its people. “It is ironic for the Non-Aligned Movement which started in Bandung in 1955 with senior figures such as Jamal Abdel-Nasser to turn into ... a movement aligning with regimes that practice tyranny against their people and support with all its might other regimes who practice unprecedented killing and oppression,” Jumblatt said.
He said the proof of this lies in the protection offered by some countries to the Syrian regime, against the people’s aspirations. The PSP leader criticized newly elected Arab leaders for attending the meeting, indirectly referencing Egyptian President Mohammad Mursi. He voiced similar disapproval of Palestinian leaders’ participation in the summit, saying they should have more sympathy for Syrians given that the regime’s practices are on par with what Israel has done to the Palestinians – from the destruction of their cities to leaving people homeless.
“It is ironic that some Arab leaders who were recently elected following revolutions that toppled tyranny are participating in the meeting,” Jumblatt said. “Instead of aligning with their people and their interests, you see them sitting alongside those who represent a bulwark against the rights of the Syrian people and their epic struggle.”
Jumblatt saluted the Army for restoring order to Tripoli, north Lebanon, following weeklong clashes that killed at least 17 people and left more than 120 wounded. He said the Army proved that it “has the ability to carry out its duties particularly when it has the political will.”

Ministrial Lebanese Committee submits wiretapping data report
August 29, 2012/By Hasan Lakkis The Daily Star BEIRUT: A committee tasked by the Cabinet to study French wiretapping policy submitted its report Tuesday to Prime Minister Najib Mikati, detailing discussions on how to protect privacy while preserving national security. The committee – which included Judge Chukri Sadr, Army Col. Antoine Kahwagi, Ret. Brig. Gen. Joseph Nassar from the Telecoms Ministry and Khaled Youssef from the Internal Security Forces’ Information Branch – met with French judicial and security bodies during a short visit to the country.
During a meeting between the Lebanese delegation and judges, who grant wiretapping permission and specialize in terrorism, there was discussion of the security situation in Lebanon including the exceptional circumstances of neighboring countries. They also discussed methods that security bodies might be legally able to use in order to take pre-emptive action to prevent terrorist operations.
The judges showed understanding of the possibility of amending the first article of Law 140/99 so that security forces would not always have to get judicial permission to obtain telecommunications, the report said. The officials cited the importance of this kind of data in allowing Lebanon’s security forces to uncover terrorist plots, spy networks and organized crime.
Article 1 of Law 140/99 stipulates the protection of the privacy of phone, fax and email communications, while other articles in the law list exceptions.
The transfer of telecoms data in Lebanon to security bodies is not governed by a strict legal mechanism.
The committee was established after a showdown this summer between the March 14 and March 8 coalitions over allowing security bodies access to telecommunications data.
This data includes International Mobile Subscriber Identity, which allows security bodies to acquire key information about a mobile phone, including its location and the contents of SMS messages, and allows conversations to be monitored. March 14 maintained that such data was necessary to investigate attempted assassinations, while March 8 voiced concern over the privacy of mobile phone users. President Michel Sleiman eventually ceded to March 14’s request, allowing security bodies access to IMSI. In its report, the committee discussed information on the French system for regulating wiretapping in detail. The report highlighted the implementation of French law 646/91, which established that criteria for wiretapping is allowed in specificcases.
The report said security and judicial bodies in France agreed that any request for wiretapping should be justified and limited to a specific number of people.
They also agreed that the handing over of all telecoms information for data mining is against French law.
The French bodies said that requesting the release of information included on phone bills deserves the same protection as wiretapping. Security bodies should supply the suspect’s name and the alleged criminal activities in order to justify such a move.
Requests for information must be proportional to the seriousness of the suspected activity, the French judicial officials added.
The report added that violations of privacy laws by releasing telecoms data to security bodies are still common in some Arab countries, such as Syria and Libya, which are experiencing internal conflict, as well as in the U.S. after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The U.S. government issued the controversial Patriotic Act, which allows security bodies to collect intelligence with fewer restrictions.
The report mentioned that some European companies offer comprehensive wiretapping equipment to countries that allow such practices, even though they are based in states where the acts are banned.
The committee concluded that the number of mobile phone users is growing, amounting to 60 million in France, making it difficult to store and analyze telecoms data.

Lebanon won’t cede role as Arab League chair
August 29, 2012/By Hussein Abdallah, Hasan Lakkis /The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Lebanon will assume its role as the head of the Arab League next month, sources close to Prime Minister Najib Mikati told The Daily Star Tuesday, playing down reports that the country was subject to pressure to relinquish the chairmanship to Libya. As-Safir paper quoted sources close to President Michel Sleiman as saying Monday there were divisions within the Lebanese government on whether Lebanon should assume this role. The paper also quoted a minister close to the Progressive Socialist Party leader as saying that Sleiman, Mikati, and PSP head Walid Jumblatt were leaning toward relinquishing the chairmanship in line with Lebanon’s policy of disassociation toward events in Syria.
The sources close to Mikati did not comment on As-Safir’s report, but said the idea to forego its turn in the rotation never occurred to the Lebanese government and added that Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour is heading to Cairo to chair Arab League ministerial meetings. Sources close to Speaker Nabih Berri told The Daily Star the speaker has not heard any reservations from Sleiman or Mikati regarding Lebanon’s chairmanship of the Arab League. “I do not see any reason why the president and the prime minister would object to something that is in the interest of Lebanon,” the source said.
“Lebanon decided earlier not to take sides as far as the Syrian crisis is concerned ... I do not see this policy as an obstacle to chairing Arab League meetings. On the contrary, I see it as an advantage that the Arab League should benefit from ... It is always good to have an impartial chairmanship that keeps the same distance from all concerned parties,” the source added.
“Lebanon successfully chaired Security Council meetings while applying the same policy. The same should apply to the Arab League.
“Besides that, there are many issues that Lebanon can raise as the head of the Arab League, such as Israel’s continuous violations of (U.N. Security Council) Resolution 1701 and the situation in the Palestinian territories,” the source noted.
“I can also assure you that MP Jumblatt’s position on this entire issue is identical to that of Speaker Berri.”
Ministerial sources told The Daily Star that the idea of relinquishing the chairmanship of the Arab League was proposed by a foreign “senior official” but was not welcomed by the Lebanese government, which believes such a move could deepen political divisions in the country.
The March 14 coalition appeared set to escalate its response to the discovery of a terrorist plot allegedly driven by the Syrian regime, with the Future Movement demanding the expulsion of Syria’s ambassador to Lebanon and March 14 youth groups calling for demonstrations.
The youth movement will hold a march Wednesday in protest against what it sees as the government’s failure to address security issues.
The march will begin at St. Joseph University’s Mathaf Campus in Beirut and head toward the Foreign Ministry in Ashrafieh.
“We decided to play a role which is supposed to be the duty of the Cabinet and Foreign Affairs Ministry, simply because the Cabinet is not carrying out its responsibilities,” Simon Dergham, the head of the students’ association in the National Liberal Party and a March 14 activist, told The Daily Star.
According to Dergham, the rally is a protest against the security situation in Lebanon, which has spiraled out of control, and will include a call for the swift prosecution of former Minister Michel Samaha, who has been charged with planning terrorist attacks in Lebanon.
“We will also call on all lawmakers, including the March 14 MPs, to go to the Parliament and cancel the Lebanese-Syrian treaty of cooperation signed on May 20, 1991,” Dergham said, explaining that such a step is necessary in the face of continued Syrian violations of Lebanon’s sovereignty.
The Progressive Socialist Party youth movement intends to hold a similar gathering Friday.
Kataeb MP Sami Gemayel said his party will be taking part in the rally.
“We were among the first to call for such a rally and Kataeb students will participate effectively tomorrow,” he said.
“Such a rally is aimed at preserving the dignity of the Lebanese state when it comes to its relations with other countries,” he added.
Kataeb’s youth department held a similar rally last week.
Future Movement MP Jean Ogassapian emphasized the importance of such a rally, especially in light of the Cabinet’s neglect in addressing Samaha’s case.
“The government is trying to avoid  taking the required measures in Samaha’s case, and this is unacceptable,” Ogassapian told The Daily Star, indicating that he is likely to take part in the March 14 youth rally. The Future Movement parliamentary bloc called on the government Tuesday to expel Syria’s ambassador to Lebanon, suspend all security treaties with Damascus and cancel the Lebanese-Syrian Higher Council – a body formed in the early 1990s to address bilateral issues between the two neighbors.
The bloc also urged the government to file a complaint against Syria to the Arab League and the U.N. Security Council.
Addressing the situation in Tripoli, which witnessed deadly clashes between supporters and opponents of the Syrian regime last week, the Future bloc praised security forces for their efforts to restore order to the northern coastal city. The bloc said, however, that a “security approach” on its own was not enough to tackle the city’s problems, adding that a political solution that leads to reconciliation between the warring parties was urgently needed.

Iran to Continue Uranium Enrichment
Naharnet/28 August 2012/Iran "will never stop" its controversial uranium enrichment, the country's envoy to the IAEA said on Tuesday, on the sidelines of a Non-Aligned Movement ministerial meeting in Tehran. "Our enrichment activities will never stop and we are justified in carrying them out, and we will continue to do so under IAEA supervision," Ali Asghar Soltanieh told reporters.
"We will not give up our inalienable right to enrichment," he said. The defiant reaffirmation of Iran's position underscored a showdown between the Islamic republic and the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency, and the U.N. Security Council. The Security Council has repeatedly demanded Iran cease its uranium enrichment and has imposed four sets of sanctions on the country, which have been greatly reinforced by separate U.S. and EU sanctions. The five permanent members of the Security Council, plus Germany, also this year engaged in three rounds of face-to-face negotiations with Iran on the issue, but they ended in an impasse, with contact downgraded to telephone calls between Iranian and EU officials.
Iran's enrichment is to again be raised this week, when the IAEA is expected to release its latest report based on its ongoing inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities.
Some of the report's findings have already been leaked to Israeli and U.S. media, mainly those confirming a July 25 statement by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that hundreds more uranium enrichment centrifuges had been installed. Iran's refusal to allow inspectors into a military base outside Tehran, Parchin, could also form part of the report. Western diplomats last week told Agence France Presse that months of clean-up work detected at Parchin suggested the site had been "sanitized" to such an extent that a nuclear inspection would now be pointless. Soltanieh responded by saying that Parchin "has been blown out of proportion" and said claims of nuclear warhead design tests there were "fabricated by foreign intelligence."
He said Iran was demanding to see the documents the IAEA was using to pursue its suspicions about Parchin and urged the agency to "close this chapter."
He also said Iran has complained to the IAEA about the leaks.On Iran's intent to continue enriching uranium, Soltanieh noted that the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the IAEA's statutes made no explicit mention of levels of enrichment. "The level of enrichment and how much to enrich has not been fixed in either of those. There is no limitation," he said."Everything we do is under the supervision of the agency," he stressed. The United States and its Western allies, and Israel, suspect that Iran is intent on developing nuclear weapons "break-out" capability.Iran denies that, saying its nuclear program is purely for civilian use.Source/Agence France Presse.

Muslim Rioters Attack Five Churches, Kill Two in Kenya
Washington, D.C. (August 28, 2012) –International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that Muslim rioters attacked five churches and killed two people, including a policeman, in Mombasa, Kenya. The riots started yesterday and continued today after unknown gunmen killed Sheikh Aboud Rogo, a radical Muslim cleric.
The Muslim attackers blamed the police for the killing of Sheikh Rogo. He is accused of links with the Somali-based radical Islamic group, Al-Shabaab.
Christian leaders are enraged that their churches were targeted by the Muslim rioters. Speaking to ICC, one of the church leaders in the area said, “What is worrying us (Christians) is why [the Muslim mobs] attack church.”The churches attacked by the Muslim mobs are: Mombasa Pentecostal Church, Jesus Celebration Center (the Redeemed Gospel Church), Neno Evangelistic Church, Salvation Army, and Seventh Day Adventist Church.
Somalia’s Islamic radical group, Al-Shabaab, supported the rioters. Their message to the Muslims said, “Muslims must take the matter into their own hands, stand united against the Kuffar (non-believers) and take all necessary measures to protect their religion, their honor, their property and their lives from the enemies of Islam."
ICC’s Regional Manager for Africa, Jonathan Racho said, “We are outraged by the attacks against churches in Mombasa. The Muslim mobs should not be allowed to destroy churches. We urge Kenya to stop the violence and restore rule of law in Mombasa.”

Christian Girl Jailed for Blasphemy Determined to be 14 Years Old
Child "Suffering from Trauma" in Pakistani Prison
Washington, D.C. (August 27, 2012) – International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that a Christian girl arrested for blasphemy two weeks ago in Pakistan has been determined a minor according to a recent medical review. The child, being held in Rawalpindi prison, is reportedly “in a state of shock” and does not understand the charges brought against her. Muslims from the girl’s village continue to call for her execution.
Rimsha Masih was accused of blaspheming Islam on August 16 for allegedly burning pages of the Quran in Mehrabad, a poor district of Islamabad. According to Rimsha’s lawyer, Tahir Naveed Chaudhary, an official medical review released on Tuesday determined that the girl is 14 years old, which means she will be tried in the juvenile court system. Rimsha is being held in Rawalpindi prison. She is scheduled to appear in court on August 31.
“She was weeping and crying and full of fear,” Chaudhary, who visited Rimsha in jail on Saturday, told NPR. “My client is not guilty in this case because she can't judge right and wrong because she's a minor and also she's illiterate.”
Rimsha, who has mental disabilities, reportedly does not understand the reasons for her imprisonment. “I met the girl at the police station when she was arrested and she is suffering from trauma,” Xavier P William, the Country Director of Masihi Foundation Pakistan, told BBC. “The crowd wanted to burn her alive…. She is an innocent child - she doesn't even know what she did. She is in a state of shock.”
Following Rimsha’s arrest, a Muslim mob, ranging from 600 – 1,000 people, set several Christian homes ablaze, causing hundreds of Christians to flee the area. The mob also called for Rimsha to be burned to death as a blasphemer. “The one who burned the Koran should be burned,” Shaukhat Ali, an assistant at the local mosque, told The Washington Post.
Echoing Ali’s sentiments, Hafiz Mohammed Khalid Chishti, an imam in Mehrabad, told worshippers during Friday prayers that it was “time for Muslims to wake up” and protect the Quran. “The girl who burnt the Koran has no mental illness and is a normal girl,” Chishti told Agence France-Presse. “She did it knowingly; this is a conspiracy and not a mistake…. [Christians] committed this crime to insult us further. This happened because we did not stop their anti-Islam activities before.”
The case has stirred international outcry over Pakistan’s oppressive blasphemy laws, which are sometimes used to settle personal vendettas or to seek retribution. Many religious minorities in Pakistan, including Christians, live in fear of being accused of blasphemy.
Aidan Clay, ICC Regional Manager for the Middle East, said, “Now that Rimsha has been labeled a blasphemer, she will never be able to return home. In the past 25 years, more than 46 people accused of blasphemy have been murdered on the streets, in court rooms, or in prison cells. It is likely that Rimsha will also face vigilante justice by outraged Pakistani Muslims, even if she is never convicted. We urge Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari to secure the release of this innocent young girl, to ensure that she is reunited with her family, and to provide a safe place for her to live. Pakistani officials must take action immediately to ensure that Rimsha does not become a victim of mob violence or another casualty of abused blasphemy legislation. No one, adult or child, should fear being executed by their government or burned by a mob simply because they are a member of a minority religious community.”

Fresh Concerns about Health of Saudi King
Simon Henderson /Washington Institute
August 27, 2012
Saudi Arabia's aging leadership is in transition, potentially hindering Washington's policies on Syria and Iran.
This morning, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia left the country for an undisclosed destination after deputizing Crown Prince Salman to take over his responsibilities in his absence. The reason for the trip has not been revealed, but there is widespread speculation that the eighty-eight-year-old king will head to New York City for medical treatment, perhaps after a brief stop in Morocco. He had operations for a back complaint in 2010 and 2011, and he was almost bent double while standing during an Islamic summit in Mecca two weeks ago. Photographs showed him in obvious discomfort as he left the kingdom today.
Despite the lack of information about the trip, now is a good time to examine Saudi Arabia's regional role and relationship with the United States. The Obama administration sees King Abdullah as a crucial ally in several fields. In Syria, Riyadh is providing arms to the anti-Assad rebels. In the oil market, it has expanded production to offset the drop in Iranian exports caused by nuclear sanctions. Although Riyadh was reportedly disappointed with Washington's swift removal of support for longtime ally Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, the kingdom appears to share many policy objectives with the United States. Washington undoubtedly views Saudi leadership of the Arab and Muslim worlds as useful, not to mention its role as a major oil supplier.
Having Crown Prince Salman stand in for the monarch is no particular relief. Although he serves as defense minister and is, at seventy-six, significantly younger than Abdullah, some have expressed concerns about his own health and his ability to focus on detail. An additional worry is that the House of Saud has no obvious crown-prince-in-waiting behind him. The need for such a candidate has become more urgent in the past year given the deaths of no fewer than two crown princes, Sultan and Nayef, who were half-brothers of Abdullah and full brothers of Salman, yet died within eight months of each other.
Saudi foreign policy capacity is already strained due to the ill health of longtime foreign minister Prince Saud al-Faisal. In his absence, the kingdom is being represented at this week's Non-Aligned Movement summit in Tehran by the king's son and deputy foreign minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Abdullah. It is unclear to what extent Prince Bandar bin Sultan's recent appointment as intelligence chief has boosted Saudi capabilities.
Meanwhile, the continuing threat of al-Qaeda terrorism in the kingdom became apparent this weekend with the announcement of arrests targeting terrorist cells in Riyadh and Jeddah. The suspects were mainly from Yemen, but the cell leaders were said to be Saudi. Police displayed a considerable amount of seized explosives for the press. The discovery of the cells, which were said to be targeting "security men, citizens, foreign residents, and public facilities," can probably be credited to Prince Muhammad bin Nayef, the assistant interior minister for counterterrorism. He is reportedly very capable but has yet to be promoted to the vacant position of deputy interior minister, in part due to apparently intense competition for promotion among the sons of the current generation of leaders. The deputy interior position remains open after its previous incumbent, Prince Ahmed, was made interior minister after the death of Prince Nayef, who held that post while serving as crown prince.
Saudi help for Washington in terms of oil policy is another issue demanding attention. Although the kingdom has increased production to its highest level in many years, global prices remain stubbornly high, apparently because of Riyadh's preference to store extra volumes rather than put them on the market.
The short-term challenge is to work out who is the main point of contact: King Abdullah or Crown Prince Salman. In the longer term, Washington must ensure that it develops a good working relationship with whoever might emerge as a future crown prince -- and one day, probably sooner than later, as a future king.
**Simon Henderson, the Baker fellow and director of the Gulf and Energy Policy Program at The Washington Institute, is author of After King Abdullah: Succession in Saudi Arabia.

Iran Struggles Unsuccessfully for Influence in Central Asia
Nikolay Kozhanov /Washington Institute
August 28, 2012
On the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Tehran, Iranian officials will consult with Central Asian republics in another failed attempt to strengthen the Islamic Republic's position and counter what they see as dangerous U.S. influence in the region.
In recent months, Tehran's diplomatic efforts in Central Asia have far surpassed their traditional level. Iranian officials have met with representatives of the region's ex-Soviet republics on numerous occasions, including on the sidelines of the June 6 Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, at several events organized by the Tehran-influenced Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), at bilateral trade commission meetings with Kazakhstan (June) and Turkmenistan (July 15), through exchanges of delegations, and in other multilateral and bilateral forums. Yet the actual impact of this flurry of activity is questionable.
FEARS OF GREATER U.S. INFLUENCE
A major reason for Tehran's intensified diplomacy in the region is Washington's planned military withdrawal from Afghanistan. Iran's ruling elites are practically unanimous in their belief that the announced departure is nothing but a cover for a strategic regrouping. According to this view, the United States may decide to not only remain in Afghanistan, but also increase its military presence in other Central Asian countries. Tehran's apprehensions became stronger in June-July, when Central Asian and Russian media sources began spreading rumors about U.S. assistance to the Tajikistan government in suppressing local insurgents, and about possible rapprochement between Washington and Uzbekistan.
Iran is also frustrated by its complete exclusion from recent U.S. plans for Afghanistan's regional economic integration. Tehran is especially concerned about Western attempts to position Afghanistan as an alternative land route connecting Pakistan and India with markets in Central Asia, Russia, and China. Although an Afghan transport corridor hardly seems feasible in the near to mid term, the mere idea already appears to have frightened Tehran.
In addition, Russia's regional position has been seriously weakened in 2012 -- a trend that Tehran regards as problematic given its longstanding view of Moscow as part of an anti-American front in Central Asia. On June 28, for example, Uzbekistan suspended its membership in the Moscow-backed Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the military backbone of the future "Eurasian Union" that Russian president Vladimir Putin reputedly hopes to forge among the former Soviet republics that comprise the Commonwealth of Independent States. And in July, Tajikistan -- another CSTO member -- offered initially unacceptable conditions for prolonging the presence of the 201st Russian military base on its soil, putting the future of Moscow's troop presence in the country into question. Russian relations with Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan have also been tense. Tehran is worried that this decrease in Moscow's influence in Central Asia will strengthen Washington's position there; accordingly, it has sought to increase its own presence in the region.
Tehran is also concerned by what it sees as Turkey's growing influence in Central Asia. For example, the region has become an important market for Turkish goods: in 2011, Turkish trade with Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan totaled $6.8 billion, more than 50 percent higher than Iran's $4.1 billion in trade with the same countries.
TEHRAN OFFERS CARROTS
Under these circumstances, Tehran hopes that active dialogue with the Central Asian republics can persuade them that friendship with Iran is more profitable than confrontation. The methods of persuasion have been gentle thus far: Tehran has offered numerous carrots, but no sticks.
In mid-July, for example, Turkmenistan agreed to increase its future gas and electricity exports to the Islamic Republic. And in June, Tehran reached a number of important economic agreements with Kazakhstan, including plans to finish construction of the Uzen-Etrek-Gorgan railroad connecting Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Iran by 2013. Then, in late July, Kyrgyzstan received a preliminary offer to join the Iran-Afghanistan-Tajikistan-China railroad project, with Tehran expressing its readiness to finance Bishkek's portion of the construction.
Tajikistan has received even greater Iranian attention this year. In March, Tehran agreed to take part in the construction of a highway connecting the Islamic Republic with Afghanistan and Tajikistan. And during a May 27-28 meeting of the Iranian-Tajik economic commission, the two countries reached preliminary agreements on the construction of joint oil, gas, and water pipelines. They also discussed exports of Tajik electricity to Iran as well as Iranian participation in the construction of an oil refinery in Tajikistan. And in June, Tehran decided to increase its investment in the construction of the Tajik hydroelectric plant Sangtuda-2.
More broadly, Iran spares no effort to prove its importance as a regional transport hub, which it regards as essential to securing both economic and geostrategic gains. Toward that end, Tehran actively promotes so-called "ECO Container Trains" on the Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul, Istanbul-Tehran-Tashkent-Almaty, and Bandar Abbas-Almaty rail routes. Over the past two years, Iran has also sought to improve passenger and cargo capacities at its border terminals with Turkey, Iraq, Turkmenistan, and Afghanistan.
IMPLICATIONS: NOT MUCH
Iran will continue to consult with Central Asian states on many issues -- in particular, border security, stabilization in Afghanistan, transport access to the Russian and Chinese markets, and the development of regional energy markets will likely be the main drivers of Tehran's diplomacy in the region in the near term. Tehran will also use its contacts with these states to convince the Iranian people that U.S. attempts to isolate the Islamic Republic are futile.
In the end, though, these efforts are unlikely to substantially change current trends in post-Soviet Central Asia. Tehran's ability to influence the regional situation is severely limited. Although this situation is partly a result of Iran's sanctions-related economic troubles and desire to avoid open tensions with certain nonregional players (e.g., Russia and Turkey), it is also a function of foreign policy shifts exhibited by Central Asian governments themselves. As some analysts have pointed out, these countries have undergone drastic changes in self-perception over the past decade -- no longer do they see themselves as living in a landlocked, isolated region whose relations with the external world depend completely on Russia or Iran. The growing U.S., Chinese, Turkish, and Arab presence there has given them a sense of self-importance and a much wider choice of partners and opportunities, among which Iran does not seem that appealing.
*Nikolay Kozhanov is an expert at the Institute of the Middle East in Moscow.

Is Iran a part of the solution in Syria?
By Tariq Alhomayed/Asharq Al-Awsat
Egypt has put forward a proposal for the formation of a quadripartite committee comprising of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey and Iran to deal with the Syrian crisis. Cairo justified extending an invitation to Tehran by saying that Iran can be part of the solution, and the question here is: How can Iran be part of the solution in Syria? If the Iranian Revolutionary Guard is vowing to protect al-Assad from his defenseless people, then how can Iran be part of the solution in Syria, at a time when Alaeddin Boroujerdi - head of Iran’s parliamentary committee on national security and foreign policy - speaking from Damascus after meeting with al-Assad, says that “Syria’s security is Iran’s security”? How can Egypt propose to invite Iran when Boroujerdi himself says the main reason for what Syria is witnessing is that America and Israel have lost their main base in the Middle East, namely Egypt, after the fall of former President Mubarak? How could Saudi Arabia or the other members of the Islamic tripartite cooperate with Iran over Syria, whilst Tehran says that freezing Syria’s membership in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation – a decision that was unanimously approved in Iran’s attendance at the recent summit in Mecca – is an “emotional move”? Indeed this is unbelievable, and cannot be explained! Iran is part of the problem in Syria, offering the Damascus criminal all kinds of support, whether money or weaponry, to suppress the Syrian revolution, so how, after all that, can we say to Tehran: Go ahead, be part of the solution in Syria? How could we criticize President Obama for pulling out of Iraq and handing it over to Iran when we seem to be doing the same thing in Syria today?
The strange thing about this invitation for Iran to be part of the solution in Syria is that it comes after the failure of former UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan’s attempt to involve Iran in the Syrian issue, a move that was rejected by the US and Europe, and likewise by the Arabs, so how can Iran be invited to participate once again, this time from post-revolution Egypt? Did any Arab or regional states intervene in Egypt’s revolution for the sake of the former regime?! Does post-revolution Egypt want to marginalize the rest of the Arab states today in favor of Iran? Inviting Tehran to be “part of the solution in Syria” means that there are those among us who want to see “Lebanonization” in Syria and this is unacceptable and cannot be tolerated. In all simplicity this means resorting to half measures and this is one of the most prominent problems in our region. It is also caving into Iranian blackmail, especially as we hear Nawaf al-Moussawi, MP for the Hezbollah-affiliated “Loyalty to the Resistance” bloc in the Lebanese parliament, saying that events in Syria will only end through a settlement or an open civil war, and there will be no winners and losers in Syria!
Syria is not Lebanon or Iraq and should not have a sectarian quota system; the Syrian composition does not allow for this. As Arabs we must not do this; we must stand by the Syrian people and preserve the unity of Syria and its independence, rather than sell it or divide it. This is what the Arabs should remember, and specifically those who were preoccupied at length in the past talking about “Sykes-Picot”, but who today want Syria to be divided for the benefit of Iran!

Morsi visit spells cautious Iran-Egypt shift
August 28, 2012/Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, by visiting Iran this week, aims to distance himself from three decades of chilly ties and cautiously pursue a more agile diplomacy than his predecessor Hosni Mubarak. Egypt's first Islamist and freely elected president is headed for Tehran to hand over the rotating leadership of the Non-Aligned Movement at a summit on Thursday and Friday.
The visit will last a "few hours," his spokesperson Yassir Ali said, and only summit-related issues will be raised.
"No other topic is expected," he said, ruling out discussions on a resumption of diplomatic relations with Iran, severed after the 1979 Islamic revolution which installed a theocracy opposed to Egypt's peace treaty with Israel. Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said last week he hoped the two countries would resume diplomatic ties, currently at the level of low-key interest sections in each other's country.
"Morsi's visit will give a big push towards normalization [of] Egyptian-Iranian relations", said Elsayed Amin Shalby, director of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs think-tank.
But "a four-hour visit can't make a breakthrough," he added.
A distinct warming in ties with Tehran would anger the United States, which has been pushing to isolate and sanction the Islamic republic over its controversial nuclear program.
It would also antagonize Sunni monarchies in the Gulf that accuse Iran of trying to destabilize their oil-rich region, and on which Egypt partially relies for aid to revive its battered economy after its 2011 uprising. Morsi himself hails from the Muslim Brotherhood, a Sunni movement which has had an ambivalent stance towards Shiite Iran.
Mubarak, who ruled for three decades before his overthrow in February 2011, positioned himself alongside the United States and other countries hostile to Iran's influence, which extends to the Hamas rulers of Gaza in Egypt's back yard.
Before its downfall, Mubarak's government even accused Tehran of trying to destabilize his regime, which gave way after the uprising to military rule and then Morsi's election last June.
Morsi appears set on taking a different tack, while sending reassuring messages to the Gulf states. His first foreign visit after his election was to Saudi Arabia, Iran's main rival in the region.
Egypt's diplomatic line will be "more agile and active," leaving behind the "stagnation" under Mubarak's rule, Morsi's spokesperson Ali said before the president left for China en route to Iran.
"We are not in competition with any country," he said.
The conflict in Syria, where US- and Gulf-backed rebels are trying to unseat President Bashar al-Assad, Iran's closest regional ally, has given Morsi an opportunity to reach out to Tehran.
Tehran has welcomed his proposal of a regional committee to find a solution to the Syrian crisis including Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, although Morsi himself has called for Assad to step down.
"If this group succeeds, Iran would be part of the solution and not the problem," Ali said.
-AFP