Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for December 16/12
Evidence hints at deadlier plan in U.S. school massacre
Pope Prays for the Families after U.S. School Massacre
Nasrallah: March 14 blocking new poll law
Kataeb MP, Nadim Gemayel slams cabinet blocking of data transfer
Lebanese opposition MPs slam interior minister on security
Lebanon’s Cardinal Beshara Rai says shameful to link Lebanon to Syrian crisis
Syria returns to Lebanon four more slain Islamists
U.S. Embassy denies it asked to install telecoms equipment
Kataeb MP Sami Gemayel honors commando unit members
Abu Ibrahim Lays Out Demands as 2 Pilgrims Praise Good Living Conditions
Report: Palestinian Man Tortured in Tripoli for Alleged Ties with Arab Democratic Party
Qortbawi Slams Politicians and Journalists for 'Issuing Verdicts' before Judiciary
U.N., EU Urge from Beirut for More Syria Aid as Conflict Enters 'New Phase'
US pulls war fleet from Syrian water. Ahmadinejad cancels Turkey visit
Egypt Opposition Calls Nationwide Anti-Charter Protests for Tuesday
Egyptians narrowly back constitution, say rival camps
Child deaths and bitter cold in Syrian refugee camps
Assad could defy pundits who predict his demise
Syrian jets rocket Palestinian camp in Damascus
Situation in Syria “painful" - Iraqi FM
Syrian VP admits neither Assad nor rebels can win
Syrian Warplanes Bomb Palestinian Yarmuk Camp for 1st Time as Violence Kills 52 Nationwide
Iran Says Patriot Missiles in Turkey 'Provocative'
Ayalon extends olive branch after FM attacks on EU
Obama expected to nominate Senator Kerry for State Dept
Kuwait security forces block parliament protests

Kataeb MP, Nadim Gemayel slams cabinet blocking of data transfer
A parliamentarian in Lebanon’s opposition Kataeb bloc said that the cabinet’s decision to block an SMS data transfer is aimed at “covering up crimes.”“Not providing security agencies with SMS data is aimed at [covering up] crimes. There is an obvious decision to make the security agencies’ tasks harder,” Nadim Gemayel said in a Sunday interview with MTV. “The other security agencies have access to all ministries and administrations and takes what it wants from people’s privacies, while the official security agencies which are supposed to preserve security and stability cannot get this information,” the Kataeb MP added. Last week, the Lebanese cabinet rejected the request made by security agencies to provide them with data of all mobile phone messages in the two months prior to the assassination of Internal Security Forces Intelligence Chief Wissam al-Hassan.

Lebanese opposition MPs slam interior minister on security
Now Lebanon/Lebanese opposition MPs sharply criticized Interior Minister Marwan Charbel's remarks urging politicians living in fear of assassination to rely on private security firms.
In an interview with NOW, Future bloc MP Ahmad Fatfat said that Charbel’s solution would have the same effect as assassination, as politicians unable to afford private security would be forced into hiding.
“This statement is not serious and provides an incentive for 'political assassinations' - in which politicians are not killed but are forced hide in their own houses.”“There are some MPs who...cannot afford this kind of protection.” Another Future bloc MP also spoke to NOW, saying that if Charbel was serious about his suggestions he should not obstruct any attempt by politicians to set up a private security company. “We hope that Charbel stays true to his word; if he does, we will establish security companies that he should not reject,” Mouin al-Merhebi said. Meanwhile, Kataeb bloc MP Elie Marouni deemed the interior minister’s remarks “unacceptable.”He also warned that Charbel’s stance might encourage the establishment of armed militias to protect politicians. “I am concerned that we are nearing a day when we will be told it is necessary to establish armed militias to protect us.”
“This weakens the integrity of the state.” Charbel’s remarks came after Future bloc MP Ammar Houri called on the Higher Defense Council to review a list of assassination targets, including opposition MPs and political figures, forwarded to Prime Minister Najib Miqati. Fears of political assassination returned to Lebanon with the October 19 killing of Internal Security Forces Intelligence Chief Wissam al-Hassan in a car bombing in Beirut’s Ashrafieh

Lebanon’s Cardinal Beshara Rai says shameful to link Lebanon to Syrian crisis
December 16, 2012/The Daily Star /BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Cardinal Beshara Rai Sunday slammed Lebanon’s politicians for linking the country to the Syrian crisis and keeping important Lebanese issues on hold until the developments in Syria become clearer. “Keeping Lebanese national issues pending until the fate of the Syrian crisis is clearer is shameful and unacceptable,” said Rai during his Sunday sermon. Rai also criticized Lebanese politicians for failing to agree on a new electoral draft law ahead of the 2013 parliamentary elections. “It's a shame that political parties have suspended discussions on critical national topics, such as a new electoral draft law other than the 1960 law, the formation of a new Cabinet, holding elections on time and taking the right measures to boost the country’s economy,” the patriarch said.
He added that betting on developments in Syria will only provoke more divisions and problems in Lebanon. The patriarch also totally rejected the 1960 law used in 2009 and based on a winner takes all system.
Lebanon’s political rivals have yet to agree on a new electoral law for the coming polls after the country plunged into a political crisis since October, halting discussions about a new bill for the elections. The killing of Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hassan on Oct. 19 deepened divisions between the March 8 and March 14 rival camps. Following the assassination, the March 14-led opposition decided to boycott the Cabinet and any parliamentary activity in which the government participates.

Kataeb MP Sami Gemayel honors commando unit members
December 17, 2012/The Daily Star /BEIRUT: Kataeb (Phalange) MP Sami Gemayel said his party would oppose the presence of any illegitimate weapons, including arms held by Hezbollah, fundamentalist Muslim or Palestinian factions in Lebanon. Speaking at a ceremony to honor leaders and members of the “Lebanese Resistance’s commando units” in Bikfaya Saturday, he said: “The Phalange Party’s resistance and the commandos’ resistance were to defend Lebanon. It was not a battle for power or [political] spoils or an offensive battle. It has always been a battle to defend our presence.” The Kataeb Party and the Lebanese Forces militia fought against the armed Palestinian presence in Lebanon during the Civil War. “The Kataeb Party has fought all battles to prevent the passing in Parliament of [a draft law] to resettle [Palestinians],” Gemayel said at the ceremony attended by his father, former President Amin Gemayel, the leader of the Kataeb Party. “The other struggle is to prevent the presence of any security complex inside Lebanese territories,” he added. Addressing the honored members of the commando units, Gemayel said: “You have defended Lebanon’s sovereignty and the state authority ... It is our duty to stand against any illegitimate arms, be they Palestinian, fundamentalist or Hezbollah arms.”

Nasrallah: March 14 blocking new poll law
December 17, 2012/By Hussein Dakroub The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah said Sunday the March 14 coalition’s boycott would not lead to the government’s downfall, accusing the opposition of using this tactic to prevent the adoption of a new electoral law. Nasrallah also said the rebels in Syria could not win the war, predicting a drawn-out military conflict between the regime forces and armed opposition and insurgent groups fighting to oust President Bashar Assad.
Meanwhile, Syria Sunday handed over the bodies of four Lebanese Islamist fighters killed in a Syrian Army ambush in the Syrian town of Tal Kalakh.
In a televised speech, Nasrallah said: “There is no Dialogue table and [Parliament’s] general assembly does not meet. There is an obstruction because the other [March 14] party has decided to boycott with the aim of bringing down the government. But the government was not brought down either by street [protests] or by the boycott.”He was addressing the party’s annual ceremony in Beirut’s southern suburbs to honor Hezbollah’s university graduates. Citing regional and international support for the government to stay in office, Nasrallah said: “If the [March 14] boycott is [intended] to bring down the government, this will not happen. The other [March 14] party’s insistence on the boycott is not aimed at exerting pressuring on the government, but at obstructing Parliament’s [work] in order to prevent the adoption of an electoral law.”
Nasrallah said Parliament’s failure to approve a new electoral law on whose basis the 2013 parliamentary polls would be held would lead either to conducting the elections based on the 1960 law or to no elections.
“Both choices are bad,” he added. Officials on both sides of the political divide, including the Maronite Church, have rejected the 1960 law, which adopts the qada as an electoral district and is based on a winner-takes-all system. The 1960 law was used in the 2009 parliamentary elections.
Speaking through a huge screen via a video link, Nasrallah urged the March 14 parties to reconsider their boycott of National Dialogue and Parliament meetings to help in the adoption of a new electoral law for the elections scheduled in early June. The Hezbollah chief also called on the opposition to stop putting its wager on the collapse of the Assad regime in order to regain power in Lebanon.
“The normal course is to sit together and study a new electoral law. After the elections are held, a Cabinet will be formed by the parties that win the elections,” Nasrallah said. “We have to sit at the Dialogue table and in Parliament in order to pass this crisis.”
Since the Oct. 19 assassination of Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan, who headed the police’s Information Branch, the March 14 coalition has called for the government’s resignation and the formation of “a neutral salvation Cabinet” to supervise the 2013 elections before attending any Dialogue session with the March 8 parties. The opposition has also rebuffed Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s offer last week to resign if the rival factions agreed at the National Dialogue table on a new election law.Nasrallah accused the March 14 coalition of betting on an imminent collapse of the Assad regime, especially following media reports claiming that the capital Damascus would fall into the hands of the opposition. “They [March 14] are betting on the collapse of the Syrian regime. But is this estimation correct? ... The March 14’s political calculations have proved wrong since 2005,” he said.
Nasrallah added that the conflict in Syria has been going on for almost two years and the regime was still staying put.
“Since the first day [of the Syrian uprising in March 2011], some [March 14] have said that the Syrian regime will fall in two months and they keep adding to these two months. Now it’s been almost two years and the regime is still standing,” he said. “If you are getting information that the regime will fall in Syria, all your information is wrong. Do not build your information on wrong estimations.”
Nasrallah, a staunch ally of Assad, said the rebels in Syria could not emerge victorious from the fighting against the regime.
“The situation in Syria is getting more complicated. But anyone who thinks the armed opposition is capable of ending the military battle [in its favor] is very mistaken,” he said.
Syrian rebel groups have accused Hezbollah of sending fighters to help Assad’s forces defeat the anti-regime revolt.
Hezbollah has denied these accusations.
Nasrallah accused the West and some allied Arab countries of luring Al-Qaeda-affiliated fighters into the fighting in Syria.
“I want to make an appeal to Al-Qaeda and tell them that the Americans, the Europeans and some governments in the Arab and Muslim countries have set a trap for you in Syria, and opened for you a battlefield so you come from across the world ... to be killed and to kill each other,” he said.
“You have fallen into this trap,” Nasrallah said, adding that the U.S. wanted the Syrian crisis to drag on for long so that more people would die and so that Syria would be removed from the anti-Israel regional equation.
Nasrallah said it was wrong to label the crisis in Syria as a struggle between the regime and its people. “There is real popular division in Syria today, part of the people support the regime and feel proud of it, while another part, which is carrying arms and getting assistance from regional and international powers, is opposing the regime,” he added.
Nasrallah renewed his call for dialogue between the Syrian regime and opposition groups to end the conflict. He warned that rejection of dialogue would prolong the conflict and lead to further bloodshed and destruction.
“There is a regime that is defending its presence as a result of its conviction ... There is an armed opposition that is seeking to topple this regime,” he said.
“A bloody and cruel fighting is going on in Syria. Unfortunately, I say to you that the battle is long in Syria. The reason is that the armed opposition and the regional and international powers standing behind it are refusing any dialogue with the regime,” Nasrallah added. “Rejection of dialogue means more killings, destruction and bloodshed.”
The United States and other Western countries as well Arab Gulf states have called on Assad to step down as the only solution to end the conflict in Syria.
Meanwhile, Mikati took a direct swipe at the March 14 parties, saying that their boycott of the government and Parliament amounted to political suicide.
“Insistence by some on boycotting constitutional institutions and continuing with political escalation and meager moves on the street are tantamount to political suicide and a repeat of the mistakes of the past which proved to be futile and would not change anything in the political reality,” Mikati said. He repeated his call for rival parties to agree on a new election law.
“Agreement on an election law and the formation of a new Cabinet to oversee the parliamentary elections constitute the appropriate solution to the current political impasse,” Mikati said.
He dismissed recent Syrian arrest warrants against former Prime Minister Saad Hariri and MP Oqab Saqr as politically motivated, saying they were legally void.

The region caught between two guides
By Tariq Alhomayed/Asharq Al-Awsat
Our region has passed through the phase of the Shiite crescent, and likewise the Muslim Brotherhood crescent, and now we have entered the phase of the “guides”. Those who understand this best in our region now are the civil forces of both Egypt and Tunisia, through their respective experiences there, and thus we see their strong opposition to anyone seeking to hijack the path of both countries.
I listened recently to an important, informed source explaining that the danger of this new phase would become a reality if the Brotherhood’s constitution is ratified Egypt. This would mean that the Brotherhood would have successfully kidnapped the Egyptian state and its institutions, in a move that would have a huge impact on the Egyptians, the region, and the expected course of both. The Brotherhood would then seek not only to strengthen their position in Egypt and monopolize power for the next three decades, but would also seek to impose their control over the entire region through universalizing their project. The Brotherhood’s stated project talks about an Islamic caliphate, along the lines of what the Khomeinists in Iran did and are still trying to do, in terms of exporting the revolution there. Therefore the whole region would soon be orientated between a guide in Cairo and a guide in Qom, i.e. one for the Sunnis and one for the Shiites.
If the entire region were to be divided between two guides, one in Cairo and one in Qom, this would simply mean the abolition of the concept of the state. The entire Sunni community would then be subjected to the concept of the Wali al-Faqih, a concept which is strongly opposed even from within the Shia community. Then the region would enter into unprecedentedly complex religious and political conflicts, and this would also have an impact upon Muslims in Europe and Asia. Here it is important to share what I heard from another high-level source: Whenever the West used to discuss the Muslim Brotherhood’s project in the region the debate used to hinge on the Brotherhood pledging its commitment to democracy and having no qualms about allowing tourists to visit the country, even if they wore swimwear on beach resorts. Thus the West was largely preoccupied with superficial matters. Yet after the Brotherhood’s coup in Egypt the West was shocked, and this was confirmed to me by a senior European official, who said there was now huge disappointment towards what the Brotherhood has done in Egypt. Yes the West, and specifically Europe, was shocked by what the Brotherhood did in Egypt, and the biggest shock of all was the sight of Sheikh al-Qaradawi preaching in al-Azhar. Now the West understands that the Brotherhood wants to control al-Azhar, thus reducing any chances for moderation in the foreseeable future whether in Egypt or the region as a whole.
Now the West, and before them a broad spectrum of Egyptians and Tunisians, have begun to sense the danger of the coming days: In the Arab world, the political forces once deceived by the Brotherhood have realized that Egypt is following in the footsteps of Iran. In the West, some institutions have begun to sense the danger of the Brotherhood’s intellectual dominance over the region, because they, i.e. those in the West, understand that the Middle East is just around the corner from being divided between two guides, one in Cairo and one in Qom. This poses a major danger to the region, whereby religious and sectarian conflicts could erupt, and it also poses a major danger to the ideological or religious model of every country in the region, not to mention the fact that it would destroy the concept of the state first and foremost. Those who have studied the Iranian example will know exactly what awaits the region as a whole, where we will all be stuck between a guide in Cairo and a guide in Qom!

US pulls war fleet from Syrian water. Ahmadinejad cancels Turkey visit
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report December 16, 2012/Shortly before the deployment of two American Patriot missiles manned by 400 US servicemen for defending Turkey against Syria was announced Thursday, Dec. 13, Washington quietly recalled from Syrian waters the USS Eisenhower aircraft carrier and its strike group and the USS Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready group and the 2,000 Marines on their decks.
This US fleet, now on its way to home base, stayed opposite the Syrian coast from the third week of November ready to take part in direct US intervention in the Syrian conflict.
Now that the American warships are gone, Russia’s Black Sea Fleet task force, which docked at the Syrian port of Tartus on Dec. 5, is the only war fleet remaining around the Syrian coast. According to debkafile’s intelligence sources, the Russian ships came to deliver a large consignment of arms for Bashar Assad’s army, although Russian sources claimed the vessels put into port for minor repairs and refueling.
US naval, air and marine forces pulled back from the eastern Mediterranean, to be replaced American-manned Patriot missile interceptors just as Syria became engulfed in another peak wave of violence. This deeply perturbs Syria’s neighbors, Turkey, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Israel. They all fear Assad’s Scud missiles fitted with chemical warheads are pointed at them, no less than rebel forces, and he will have no qualms about shooting or dropping them against any of those neighbors if he becomes desperate. Their intelligence agencies believe the Syrian ruler is just as likely to direct chemical weapons against US military facilities on their soil.
Although the five governments are not openly criticizing the Obama administration, a senior Turkish officer in Ankara said to debkafile’s sources that America’s action in removing its naval forces from the eastern Mediterranean is “hard to understand and unacceptable to Ankara.”This is especially so, he said, in view of the discovery, reported by US official sources Friday, that the Syrian ruler has a larger chemical arsenal than previously believed – several dozen bombs and shells loaded with the lethal chemical sarin. To appease the Turks, our sources report that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta paid a short visit Friday, Dec. 14, to the big air base in southern Turkey where US strike aircraft are stationed alongside Turkish warplanes.
Panetta also conferred with Defense Minister Ismet Yilmaz, Turkish Chief of Staff Gen. Necdet Ozel and senior US commanders, including NATO chief, Adm. James Stavridis.
The admiral said after the meeting: “Over the past few days, a handful of Scud missiles were launched inside Syria, directed by the regime against opposition targets. Several landed fairly close to the Turkish border, which is very worrisome.”In the view of debkafile’s military sources, President Barack Obama decided to pull the formidable warship fleet away from the neighborhood of Syria in an effort to defuse the military tensions rising between Iran, Turkey and Syria. He also hoped that the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s scheduled visit to Turkey Monday, Dec. 17, for talks with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, would be a useful opportunity to achieve some sort of understanding with Iran over the Syrian crisis. However, Tehran had other ideas. Saturday, Iran’s chief of staff Gen. Hassan Firouzabadi, raised regional temperatures when he referred to the NATO Patriot missiles posted along Turkey’s border with Syria as “meant to cause a world war. They are making plans for a world war, and this is very dangerous for the future of humanity and for the future of Europe itself," he said.
Sunday, Ahmadinejad slammed the door on any hoped-for understanding with Ankara by his last-minute cancellation of his trip to Turkey in view of the peril of war – further escalating the stresses radiating from Syria’s 21-month uprising.

The opposition in Egypt has won
By Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Alawsat
The Egyptian arena is witnessing a great political, intellectual, popular and media battle. Different sides are fighting over authority, positions, history and the future.
The disputed proposed constitution has caused bloodshed on both sides, but could anyone have expected people to die just for constitutional differences? Worse still the battle is about the future of Egypt; its political camps, trends and issues, and it could possibly lead to further tensions. We are in the third quarter of the Egyptian revolution. The first quarter was about the overthrow of the Mubarak regime, the second about the removal of military rule, and now we are facing a dispute over the distribution of power and positions.
Whether the majority of Egyptians approve the constitution or reject it, the biggest loser is the ruling party, the Muslim Brotherhood. They have been harmed politically and their image has been tarnished during the unrest over the past few weeks. Dramatic developments such as the dismissal of the public prosecutor, Mursi’s autocratic constitutional declaration and then the drafting of the constitution in just two days have divided the Egyptians with a knife. The remaining three years of Muhammad Mursi’s presidency will be hugely difficult. The Brotherhood have jeopardized the elite and popular sympathy they mustered over the past 40 years, and the opposition has exposed them as a somewhat dubious group.
The language of the street has helped to incite the intellectuals, who have expressed their growing anger. For example, Magdi Khalil, Director of the Middle East Forum, wrote that the proposed constitution is designed to suit the Islamist trends and consecrate a religious dictatorship. He said that anyone who witnessed the voting process would realize that the issue is about seizing power rather than holding a dialogue about governance. Khalil argued that following Vice President Mahmoud Mekki’s assertion that it is a case of survival of the fittest, following the clashes in the Ittihadiya district with some of the dead being labelled martyrs and others not, and following the General Guide and Khairat el-Shater’s threat that the Egyptians could face a massacre, the true intentions of the Brotherhood have been revealed. According to Khalil, they consist of forcefully imposing the vision of a single political faction on the Egyptian people as a whole.
Khalil’s stance reflects the state of anger uniting all opposition parties despite their differences. By virtue of the new constitution, the honeymoon period between the partners of the revolution has come to a swift end. The Brotherhood have become easy targets to discredit and Mursi has become a “persona non-grata.” The mistakes made by the Brotherhood since assuming power were not borne out of necessity, but rather they were a result of their religious training that does not distinguish between religion and the secular world. They want to transfer the concept of blind obedience to the political domain, where the defining characteristics are change and difference.
Huge public anger is being vented towards the recklessness of Mursi’s team and the hierarchical structure of the Muslim Brotherhood itself. The General Guide Mohammed Badie has used vulgar language to criticize his opponents, calling them blind followers and foreign agents, despite the fact that their objections are valid within the framework of the law that brought the Brotherhood to power.
Egypt is a sizeable country that cannot be controlled by a single entity imposing its vision upon everyone. This is what brought down the Mubarak regime in the first place, after the youth joined the rest of the opposition, and this will make life difficult for Mursi over the next three years, not only in the current constitutional battle. The opposition has become a reality in Egyptian life and a pivotal force. The Brotherhood have taken great pride in their 80 years of experience in political organization, yet they are surprised to see the opposition defeating them in their specialist subjects: inciting crowds and propaganda.

Situation in Syria “painful" - Iraqi FM
By Sawsan Abu-Husain/Baghdad, Asharq Al-Awsat - Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari has ruled out that the political escalation between the Iraqi Government and the Kurdistan Region would reach the point of confrontation, and stressed that "the solution will be within the framework of the constitution," disclosing that a meeting will be held in Baghdad soon between military experts from the two sides in order to resolve the issue.Zebari pointed out that "the solution may take time because there are no magical solutions, and whenever the crisis gets stronger it becomes closer to a breakthrough." The Iraqi Foreign Minister emphasized that "any dispute or crisis will not reach at all reach the point of confrontation or the disintegration of the covenant of national accord."
Regarding the current security situation in Iraq, Zebari told Asharq Al-Awsat that "it is better than it has been when the Arab summit was held as the challenges then were stronger, particularly by the parties that were against the political process, which necessitated taking higher degrees of security mobilization," lauding the security coordination among all state establishments. Zebari added that, "The security situation is better in light of the experience the security forces have acquired and the awareness of the citizens and the pullout of the occupation forces, which had been targeted by the jihadist groups and Al-Qaeda's elements, in addition to the decline in the tension and the sectarian violence after the reconciliation meetings."
Concerning the situation in Syria, the Iraqi Foreign Minister described it as "painful" and is getting worse. On whether a peaceful solution is on the horizon, Zebari told Asharq Al-Awsat, "After the bloodshed, the political solution is in need of a miracle because the relationship between the people and the regime has been destroyed, and the clock cannot be turned back and no regime can stay with its people in such a case."
Zebari revealed that Baghdad will soon receive a group from the Syrian opposition, which is not part of the Syrian National Coalition, pointing out that Iraq is talking with all sides because it is the country that is most harmed by the Syrian crisis. He described the situation in Syria as complicated, stressing that "the military settlement between the regime and the opposition is not easy and will take time." He also said: "We had an experience with the Baath Party and it took a time that lasted for years, and whatever support the opposition gets, it will not be similar to what the regime is having." He described the current situation as "a war of attrition between the two sides and an exhaustion of regional forces that work in proxy in Syria."
Regarding [UN envoy to Syria Lakhdar] Brahimi's choice to return to Geneva in support of a transitional government and a peaceful transition of authority, the Iraqi Foreign Minister said that "the mechanisms of this solution are not available because what Brahimi needs in terms of sending peace-keeping forces requires the approval of the Security Council, and the international forces are currently not prepared for such a solution".
"The stands may change in the next spring if the bombardment with aircraft and launchers of the Syrian people continues, and some international parties may help through an international humanitarian intervention but not similar to what happened in Iraq and Libya." Zebari added.

Syrian VP admits neither Assad nor rebels can win
By REUTERS 12/16/2012/Farouq al-Shara tells Lebanese paper the conflict needs a "historic settlement" forming a national unity government. BEIRUT - Syrian Vice President Farouq al-Shara told a Lebanese newspaper that neither the forces of President Bashar Assad nor opposition fighters were able to win the war in Syria.
Al-Shara said the situation in the country was heading from bad to worse and that an "historic settlement", involving the formation of a national unity government "with broad powers", was needed to end the conflict, according to comments carried by al-Akhbar newspaper.
Assad has ultimate power in Syria while Shara, a Sunni Muslim, has a ceremonial role in a power structure dominated by Assad's Alawite minority. He has rarely appeared in public since the revolt against Assad erupted 21 months ago. The comments, excerpts from a longer interview due to appear in al-Akhbar's Monday edition, were Shara's first public remarks since July last year.
Sources close to the Syrian government say he was among a group of politicians who had pushed for dialogue with the opposition and objected to the military crackdown against an uprising that began peacefully.
Assad's government says it is fighting Islamist extremists backed by the Sunni rulers of Arab Gulf states and Turkey.
Several opposition sources say Shara is believed to be under house arrest, and opposition activists have announced his defection several times this year.
"With every passing day the political and military solutions are becoming more distant. We should be in a position defending the existence of Syria. We are not in a battle for an individual or a regime," Shara was quoted as saying. "All the opposition cannot decisively settle the battle and what the security forces and army units are doing will not achieve a decisive settlement," he told the paper.
Meanwhile, Syrian rebels launched an operation to take control of the central province of Hama to try to link the northern part of the country under their control to the center, a senior commander said on Sunday.
Qassem Saadeddine, a member of the newly established military command, said that orders have been given to fighters to surround and attack checkpoints across the province. He said forces loyal to President Bashar Assad at these checkpoints were given 48 hours' ultimatum to surrender or face death.
"When we liberate the countryside of Hama province ... then we will have the area between Aleppo and Hama liberated and open for us," he told Reuters.
Rebels in Hama said that clashes in the town of Helfaya earlier on Sunday marked the beginning of the operation. They attacked army checkpoints outside the town. Syrian government forces used artillery and fighter jets in responding and killed at least 25 people.