Matthew 18 Who Is the Greatest

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
February 12/2012

Bible Quotation for today/The Coming of the Kingdom
Luke 17/20-37: "Some Pharisees asked Jesus when the Kingdom of God would come. His answer was, The Kingdom of God does not come in such a way as to be seen. No one will say, Look, here it is! or, There it is!; because the Kingdom of God is within you. Then he said to the disciples, The time will come when you will wish you could see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. There will be those who will say to you, Look, over there! or, Look, over here! But don't go out looking for it. As the lightning flashes across the sky and lights it up from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. But first he must suffer much and be rejected by the people of this day. As it was in the time of Noah so shall it be in the days of the Son of Man. Everybody kept on eating and drinking, and men and women married, up to the very day Noah went into the boat and the flood came and killed them all. It will be as it was in the time of Lot. Everybody kept on eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. On the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and killed them all. That is how it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed. On that day someone who is on the roof of a house must not go down into the house to get any belongings; in the same way anyone who is out in the field must not go back to the house. Remember Lot's wife! Those who try to save their own life will lose it; those who lose their life will save it. On that night, I tell you, there will be two people sleeping in the same bed: one will be taken away, the other will be left behind. Two women will be grinding meal together: one will be taken away, the other will be left behind. The disciples asked him, Where, Lord? Jesus answered, Wherever there is a dead body, the vultures will gather.

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
Nasrallah was not acknowledging Iran affiliation/By: Tariq Alhomayed/February 11/12
Support for Syria from “Hezbollah land/By: Angie Nassar/February 11/12
Hassan Nasrallah and Walid Jumblatt/By: Hazem al-Amin/February 11/12
Homs, anvil of Syria/By: Michael Young/February 11/12
No to a grand bargain with Iran/By James Kirchick /February 11/12

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for February 11/12
Two Coptic Priests Charged With 'Incitement' in Maspero Massacre
Hizbullah Prevents Forensics Experts from Inspecting Corpses Retrieved from Syria as Party Denies
Several Killed in Tripoli's Ongoing Clashes amid Fears of Strife
Owner Denies Knowledge of Arms Depot on his Farm in Tripoli after Friday’s Blast
Tripoli: Two dead in Sunni-Alawite clashes
Lebanese Navy Commando Regiment heads toward clashes in North Lebanon
Lebanese army: Decision to confront those tampering with security ‘decisive’
Future Movement official Mustafa Allouch : Syrian regime ‘followers’ attempt to ‘distort’ Tripoli’s image
Owner Denies Knowledge of Arms Depot on his Farm after Friday’s Blast
More wounded in north Lebanon as army vows to restore order
Grand Mufti of the Lebanese Republic Sheikh Mohammad Rashid Qabbani warns Tripoli clashes 'may aim to incite strife'
Arab Democratic Party Secretary General Rifaat Eid: Exploded arms warehouse belongs to Future Movement
Future bloc MP Khodor Habib calls for “arms-free” Tripoli
President Amin Gemayel: Tripoli Unrest Connected to Foreign Affairs
Prime Minister Najib Mikati commends Lebanese-French ties
Lebanon: Feb. 14 Speeches to Focus on Local, Syrian Situation
Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas under Pressure to Approve Transportation Allowance
STL Victims Participation Unit Submits 73 Applications to Fransen
Prime Minister Najib Mikati met on Saturday with former opposition leader Saad Hariri in Paris
President Sleiman says Minister Nahhas could lose post if he fails to sign Cabinet decree
Russian envoy says Syria's sovereignty priority for Moscow
Syria forces shell Homs, Saudis push U.N. resolution
Jihadists, weapons moving from Iraq to Syria
Syria: Gunmen assassinate army Brigedier-General Issa al-Khouli
Syrian National Council: Arab Recognition of Syria Opposition Imminent
SANA: ‘Terrorists' Shoot Dead General in Damascus
Mocking Asma Assad website a hoax: report
Report: Al-Qaida behind Bombings in Syria
Uzbek Man in U.S. Pleads Guilty in Obama Murder Plot
Egypt Activists Plan Strikes to Mark Mubarak's Ouster
Defiant Iran Vows Major New Nuclear Projects
Defiant Iran to present major nuclear projects “in days”
Haniyeh in Iran: Hamas will never recognize Israel
Iran to Hamas: We will use everything at our disposal to support the Palestinians
Turkey FM: Israeli military strike on Iran would be a disaster
Israel successfully tests Arrow 2 missile defense system
Successful US-Israel radar test launches US missile shield's operational phase

Two Coptic Priests Charged With 'Incitement' in Maspero Massacre
10-2012/ Assyrian International News Agency
http://www.aina.org/news/20120210142736.htm
(AINA) -- Two Coptic priests appeared yesterday before an investigations judge in connection with the events of the Maspero Massacre, in which 28 Copts were killed and 329 injured after being shot and run over by and military Armored Personnel Carriers (AINA 10-10-2011). Father Mattias Nasr of St. Mary's Church in Ezbet el-Nakhl in Greater Cairo and Father Filopateer Gameel of St. Mary's Church in Giza, both founding members of the Maspero Coptic Youth Union, which organized the October 9 demonstration, were accused of causing the death of military soldier Mohamed Ali Shetta, possession of weapons, use of force against the military, attempting to storm the Maspero TV building and incitement to violence.
As evidence, the investigating judge produced video footage collected from radical Islamic websites. "Between the footage there were parts in which a shaikh called on me to convert to Islam," said Father Filopateer. Commenting on the investigations Father Matthias Nasr said: "I wonder about the conditions prevailing in Egypt now, whereby victims are being investigated, while the real perpetrators are ruling the country and continuing with their crimes against the Egyptian people and peaceful demonstrators everywhere."
According to Father Nasr, the investigations carried out by the military police follow the same lines as those of the Mubarak regime, where the victims become the accused. "We all saw who ran over the demonstrators and who shot at them, all Egyptians saw that on videos (1, 2) and photos. These investigations will not intimidate us or make us retreat from demanding our rights."
Outspoken Coptic Priest Filopateer Gameel said he was not worried about the accusations levied against him and Father Mattias, because they are untrue and can easily be defended, but "the tragedy is the victims of the Maspero Massacre and Two Saints Church in Alexandria (AINA 1-2-2011) will not receive justice, and the assailants will not be punished."
Father Gameel accused Brigadier Hamdi Badeen, head of the military police, as well as generals Damati, Assar and Mohamad Emara, of being responsible for the Maspero massacre, and submitted evidence against them and asked for an investigation, but the judge told him that being high ranking military officials, they can only appear before a military prosecutor and not a civilian one. "I told the judge as long as the military are ruling the country, none of them will be brought to justice." The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights has called for a change to the articles in the Military Judiciary Law to lift the protection of military officers who commit crimes against civilians and to allow the general prosecution to question them. Father Filopateer said the case of the Maspero Massacre will most likely end with charging the three who drove their personnel carriers with unintentional manslaughter and each would probably be detained only for one week in his unit (AINA 12-28-2011).
The ruling military council has denied all along that military forces used live ammunition against the Maspero protesters, or that personnel intentionally used armored vehicles to run over civilians.
Fathers Mattias and Filopateer were summoned in October 2011 by the military prosecution but they refused to deal with the military investigations, and demanded a civilian judge on grounds that the military "is a direct opponent in this case." The investigation was mandated by the Minister of justice. Prior to appearing before the investigating judge, they were informed that they are prevented from leaving the country, together with Coptic attorney Dr. Naguib Gabriel, head of the Egyptian Union of Human Rights Organization, who is due to appear before prosecutors on February 11 for investigation in connection with the Maspero Massacre. Gabriel views this as a political decision "to damage Coptic symbols, and to use them as scapegoats for a crime in which some top military officials are accused of being complicit."By Mary Abdelmassih/Copyright (C) 2012, Assyrian International News Agency. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use.

Nasrallah was not acknowledging Iran affiliation
By Tariq Alhomayed/Asharq Al-Awsat
The Lebanese political and media arena has been thrown into uproar by the latest speech issued by Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, during which he said that God had blessed him with Iranian funding! Many people in Lebanon have raised their voices saying that this represents the first time that Hassan Nasrallah has acknowledged that he is a subordinate of Iran, and that he receives orders and finance from Tehran; however, in reality, there is nothing new about this! There is a simple reason for saying that there is nothing new about this, namely what Nasrallah said about his movement’s relationship with Iran is something evidenced by Hezbollah’s actions over the past years. This is something that could not fool a wise man or a reader of history, or indeed anybody who has monitored events in our region since 2000. Without going into ideology, and even if one were unable to analyze all these events and all the indications of Hezbollah – and its leaderships – affiliation to Iran from Nasrallah and his group’s behavior and actions, it would be enough to simply watch the video recording – leaked on YouTube and later broadcast by a number of Arab satellite channels – of Nasrallah himself announcing that he is implementing the Iranian agenda – the Khomeinist agenda – in Lebanon, in order to confirm this.
Therefore, Nasrallah’s latest statement, in which he said that “yes, we received moral and political and material support in all possible forms, from the Islamic Republican of Iran since 1982”, was not – as many believe – intended to deny the accusation that Hezbollah is involved in drugs trafficking and money laundering to fund its operations. Indeed, this is not a new accusation, and Nasrallah responded to this previously when he said “God has blessed us with the Islamic Republic of Iran, which means we do not need money from anywhere else.” Therefore, Hassan Nasrallah really wanted to say something else, particularly to the Lebanese audience, and this is the crux of the matter. In his last speech, Hassan Nasrallah wanted to reassure his followers and supporters, saying: the fate of Hezbollah is tied to Iran, not the al-Assad regime. He wanted to reassure his followers that Hezbollah’s support, and the key to its survival, is Iran, not al-Assad, for it is Iran that provides Hezbollah with “moral and political and material support in all possible forms”, not the al-Assad regime. This means that Hassan Nasrallah was telling his supports: don’t worry if the al-Assad regime collapses, for our survival is not tied to the Damascus regime, but rather the Wali al-Faqih regime in Iran. This is the message that Nasrallah wanted to send to his followers, and all the information available indicates that Nasrallah’s latest speech was not well received by the al-Assad regime. Of course, it is within the capabilities of some in Lebanon to confirm this, particularly the agents of the al-Assad regime; at this point they will know that the al-Assad regime has read Nasrallah’s speech in this manner, and not in any other. Of course, this is the correct reading of the Hezbollah chief’s speech, for Nasrallah was now acknowledging his affiliation to Iran, for this is something that has existed for a long time, rather he was addressing his followers in Lebanon and telling them that there is nothing to fear if the al-Assad regime collapses, because the party that supports them “in all possible forms” is Iran, not al-Assad.

Hizbullah Prevents Forensics Experts from Inspecting Corpses Retrieved from Syria as Party Denies
by Naharnet /Two corpses allegedly belonging to Hizbullah members were reportedly entered to Lebanon from Syria on Friday, said al-Mustaqbal daily on Saturday. The corpses were transferred to a hospital in the southern city of Tyre where forensics experts sought to inspect them, but they were later prevented by Hizbullah, whose members cordoned off the building before entering it, sources from the city told the daily. The Hizbullah members removed the corpses, which were allegedly brutally murdered, to an unknown location. The identity of the dead remains unknown, reported al-Mustaqbal.
Informed sources told Future News that the individuals were likely killed in Syria. They added that the party secretly buries its dead who were killed in Syria, requesting officials in the area from disclosing its activity, reported the news channel. On Friday, Hizbullah issued a statement denying the reports. In January, British Prime Minister David Cameron accused Hizbullah and its main regional ally Iran of supporting the Syrian regime's violent crackdown on the country's uprising. In August, Hizbullah denied a French media report accusing the party of being involved in the killing of Syrian soldiers who had refused to shoot at anti-regime protesters.

Nasrallah and Jumblatt
By: Hazem al-Amin , February 10, 2012
Now Lebanon/When Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah says that “the cabinet is staying and no one but PM Najib Mikati will call the shots,” he is merely repeating a truth upon which Mikati has no hold, especially these days. The truth is that Nasrallah was the one calling the shots for the prime minister when Mikati went to the Baabda Presidential Palace to have the commemorative picture of his cabinet taken. However, Sayyed Nasrallah does not want to believe that Mikati today is different from the man he chose for the job. Likewise, Walid Jumblatt – who was gripped by a bout of minority-related panic – has now entered another bout of minority-related panic, albeit of a different kind. One must not forget that Nasrallah went on, saying that he is convinced nothing is going on in Homs and that what happened in the city is merely a media campaign that came prior the UN Security Council session. Nasrallah said that the Lebanese cabinet is a warrantor of stability; in any case, what he is saying is right with regard to the cabinet rather than to Homs, but one component of the Lebanese “stability” equation has changed, whereas Sayyed Nasrallah is unable to bring about any change like Mikati and Jumblatt did or any change in the like of Speaker Nabih Berri’s silence. The policy of “voluntarily steering away” affected parties to the cabinet alliance, albeit at various degrees, according to their respective position and function. A curve can be drawn here to represent this gradual “steering away” phenomenon, which culminates with Walid Jumblatt then slopes down to Najib Mikati and Nabih Berri, going all the way to zero level with Hezbollah and even to a sub-zero level as proven by Aoun’s stances on the events in Syria. This gradual curve is linked to the position of each party on it, knowing that the balance of forces is increasingly shaken as the curve slopes down and reaches its lowest point. Saying that the forged pictures and events coming from Homs are not true is a rare moment of lowly behavior in politics. In the case of Sayyed Nasrallah, this moment is not due to a conviction that deprived the one harboring it from the faculty of recognition; rather, it is a non-political position regarding the current events. One may say that Walid Jumblatt’s changing sides is politics, as it is linked to the status and future of the local group he represents. Yet the status and future of the local group Sayyed Nasrallah is supposed to represent are not at all epitomized by denying the ongoing events in Syrian cities. The difference between Walid Jumblatt and Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, according to one of Nasrallah’s fans, is that the former views politics as being linked to the local group he represents whereas the latter believes in something else entirely. This article is a translation of the original, which appeared on the NOW Arabic site on Friday February 10, 2012

Support for Syria from “Hezbollah land”
Angie Nassar, February 11, 2012
Now Lebanon/People in South Lebanon have launched a Facebook group, the first of its kind, in support of the Syrian uprising.The people of South Lebanon know about resistance. They know about suffering, injustice and oppression. That’s why, to some observers, it seems strange that many southern Lebanese don’t support the movement against the autocratic regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and that the most dominant party in South Lebanon, Hezbollah, actually supports his crackdown on protesters. Not all southern Lebanese are Shia Muslims or followers of Hezbollah, and many of them, contrary to popular belief, support the Syrian revolution. This is what Bassel Fakih, a man from South Lebanon residing in France, wrote earlier this week in a statement declaring his support for the Syrian people amid a nearly year-long revolt against Assad’s rule.
Fakih shared his message online with friends, who encouraged him to launch a Facebook group issuing a firm declaration of support from South Lebanon to the Syrian people. Nearly 24 hours after it was launched on Thursday, some 600 members had joined the group. “I won’t stay silent,” said Fakih, “especially when I see several Lebanese going to the media and saying the South supports Assad; I just want to say, ‘No.’”It is a familiar story from the Arab Spring: the use of new media to express solidarity, circulate ideas and mobilize opposition. The potential power this brings to ordinary citizens cannot be underestimated, says Lebanese blogger and activist Imad Bazzi, adding that, “This is the first time there is an organized and united effort from citizens of South Lebanon saying they don’t agree with Hezbollah’s stance on the Syrian revolution.” “Since it’s hard to deliver this message via traditional media, we’ve resorted to alternative social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, simply because these provide us with a space to communicate and express our opinions.” On the other side is the leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, who, during a speech marking the Prophet Mohammad’s birthday on Tuesday, reiterated his party’s support for the Assad regime and accused Western media of exaggerating the scale of violence in the country. “Right now, there are several armed clashes, while a vast portion of Syria is enjoying stability,” he said. Three days later, on Friday, 235 people were injured and 28 killed when twin suicide bombs went off in the northern city of Aleppo. According to the UN, an estimated 6,000 people have been killed so far in the uprising. “Hezbollah is using our name and sometimes, unfortunately, the Shia sect, to say that we are all pro-Bashar, and this isn’t true,” Bazzi stressed. “People need someone to stand up and say this, because everyone thinks we support Assad.” The activist also claims that some pro-Hezbollah Lebanese have joined the group. “This is a breakthrough,” he said. “I was surprised to see Hezbollah supporters on the page saying the [party’s] stance does not represent them as citizens.” “Among the Shia, there’s a movement, or a current if you want to call it, which is opposing the politics of Hezbollah,” said Hares Sleiman, an executive committee member of the Democratic Renewal Movement and a professor at the Lebanese University. “This current believes that the values of Resistance against Israel fall under the same set of values which show respect for freedom.”
Dalia Obeid, an administrator for the Facebook group, says support has been widespread. “We were very surprised that many people we don’t know joined the group. These people are not from a specific political party or religion, but we all have the same objective.” She believes the Lebanese have every reason to take a stand for their neighbors just over the border. “There are many similarities between what we experienced in the South during the [July 2006] War and what is happening now in Syria... We’ve faced the same kind of hegemony and violence. Maybe it’s worse in Syria... but we can understand how people feel under this kind of threat, under bombs and [in a] massacre,” she said. “It’s the same feeling and the same suffering.” Fakih says the group is open to all Lebanese, but he’s making separate petitions for people from the South and those from other regions. He plans on sending them to mainstream media outlets in the country.
*Angie Nassar is a blogger and reporter at NOW Lebanon. You can find her on Twitter @angienassar.

Prime Minister Najib Mikati commends Lebanese-French ties
February 11, 2012
Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Saturday voiced confidence that “Paris will remain loyal to the principles [that guide Lebanese-French] relations and will not allow anyone to harm them.”
Mikati added during a meeting with French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe that “Lebanese-French ties will not [become] flawed, because they are historic… and founded on common human values.”
In turn, Juppe voiced his concern that attacks against UNIFIL might be repeated; adding that “stability in Lebanon needs to be preserved.” “France will always stand by Lebanon and will not abandon this commitment regardless of the circumstances.” Mikati arrived in France on Thursday. On the other hand, New TV reported that Mikati told reporters that Juppe informed him that France’s government has decided “to decrease the number of its troops serving in UNIFIL.” Mikati commented on the French decision, saying that it “is not related to the latest attacks” that targeted the international peacekeepers, but seeks to reduce “money waste in France.”Five French UN soldiers and a Lebanese civilian were wounded in December 2011 by a powerful blast that targeted their patrol in the southern town of Tyre.
-NOW Lebanon

Several Killed in Tripoli's Ongoing Clashes amid Fears of Strife
by Naharnet/Clashes between the rival Tripoli neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen are ongoing on Saturday as the list of wounded has risen to seven, four civilians and three soldiers, reported Voice of Lebanon radio on Saturday. MTV reported that two explosions and intermittent gunfire were heard in the area dividing the two neighborhoods as the army is attempting to halt the unrest.
It later said on Saturday that one of the wounded died from the injuries he sustained. LBC meanwhile reported that two civilians and two soldiers were wounded in the ongoing violence.The clashes broke out shortly after Friday prayers in the northern city. The state-run National News Agency said three grenades exploded in an area located between the two rival districts. “Sporadic volleys of machinegun fire are being heard every now and then,” it added. The Army Command issued a statement on Friday night saying that it intervened to end the clashes, adding that it had carried out raids in the area, which has consequently led to the injury of three of its soldiers. The army successfully managed to arrest a number of the fighters and confiscate several weapons. Sources monitoring the situation told the daily An Nahar Saturday that the army will continue on deploying in the area and it will expand its presence to the nearby border. A high-ranking military source told As Safir newspaper in remarks published on Saturday that he fears that the Tripoli clashes may be part of attempts to create unrest in other regions in Lebanon. “The timing is suspicious and we hope that this may not be an attempt to distract the army from other affairs,” he said.
On Friday, President Michel Suleiman called on the military and security forces deployed in Tripoli to “firmly suppress those disrupting security and civil peace, especially in the North and specifically in Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabbaneh.” Prime Minister Najib Miqati, who is currently in France, telephoned Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji requesting him to take the necessary action to thwart the unrest, revealed al-Liwaa newspaper on Saturday. Interior Minister Marwan Charbel meanwhile, voiced fears that the clashes may be the beginning of strife in Lebanon as one form of the repercussions the unrest in Syria will have on the country. “This situation requires decisive positions from the president and various political leaders,” he stressed.
The Sunni-majority coastal city has in the past few years been the scene of intense clashes between Sunni supporters of the anti-Syrian opposition and Alawite Muslims loyal to a Hizbullah-led alliance backed by Iran and Syria. Syrian President Bashar Assad, who is fighting an unprecedented revolt against his regime, hails from the Alawite community, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.

Owner Denies Knowledge of Arms Depot on his Farm after Friday’s Blast
by Naharnet /The owner of the farm that witnessed an explosion in its arms depot in the Abi Samra neighborhood of Tripoli denied having knowledge of the existence of such a depot on his property, reported As Safir newspaper on Saturday. The security forces are awaiting an improvement in the health of the wounded in the blast in order to begin investigations with them.
Security sources did not rule out the possibility that the explosion may have occurred due to an error while the arms where being transported from the depot. They did not rule out the possibility that the incident may be connected to the clashes between the rival Tripoli neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen, which erupted on Friday. Three Syrians were killed in an accidental explosion at the munitions depot in Abi Samra on Friday, a security source told Agence France Presse. The men, all security guards, lit a fire to warm themselves near containers that stored munitions, without being aware of the contents, prompting an explosion at the privately run facility. “A major explosion ripped through an arms depot belonging to Ghaleb B. near Al-Jinan University in Tripoli,” state-run National News Agency reported earlier. For its part, MTV said the blast occurred in “a building owned by Ghaleb Bqasmati.” It did not elaborate concerning his political affiliation. “The sound of successive explosions was heard and the blast caused a major blaze in the site which soon spread to the university’s campus,” NNA said. Voice of Lebanon Radio said several people were killed in the blast. It identified one of them as Daoud al-Samarji. The radio station said three wounded people were rushed to nearby hospitals, noting that human remains were found in the location.
SourceNaharnetAgence France Presse.

Lebanese Navy Commando Regiment heads toward clashes in North Lebanon
February 11, 2012 /Lebanese army Navy Commando Regiment units headed toward Tripoli’s neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabanneh and Jabal Mohsen, the National News Agency reported on Saturday.
The report, however, did not elaborate any further. Shooting broke out in Tripoli on Friday as gunmen deployed heavily in Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen, one group supporting and the other opposed to the regime in Syria. Lebanon’s political scene is split between supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, led by Hezbollah, and the March 14 pro-Western camp.Clashes in the two rival neighborhoods renewed on Saturday morning. -NOW Lebanon

Lebanese army: Decision to confront those tampering with security ‘decisive’
February 11, 2012 /The Lebanese army continued on Saturday to strengthen its security measures in Tripoli’s neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen, and said its decision to confront those tampering with security, “no matter who they are affiliated with, is decisive.”“The army arrested some of the armed [people] and confiscated weapons,” it said in a statement.The statement added that the “critical situation of the country will not provide a cover for those who aim [to harm security].”Shooting broke out in Tripoli on Friday as gunmen deployed heavily in Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen, one group supporting and the other opposed to the regime in Syria. Lebanon’s political scene is split between supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, led by Hezbollah, and the March 14 pro-Western camp.Clashes in the two rival neighborhoods renewed on Saturday morning. -NOW Lebanon

Tripoli: Two dead in Sunni-Alawite clashes
February 11, 2012 /Two people died and 21 were wounded during fierce clashes on Saturday between Lebanese Sunni Muslims hostile to Syria's regime and Alawites who support it, a Lebanese security official said. "A Sunni and an Alawite were killed and 21 people were wounded in clashes that continued since Friday between people from the neighborhoods of Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabbaneh" in the northern city of Tripoli, the official told AFP. He said seven soldiers were among those wounded in the fighting. The two sides were firing guns and rocket-propelled grenades at each other in the bloodiest clashes since last June when six people were killed in the wake of demonstrations against the Syrian government. Sunni-majority Tripoli has in the past few years been the scene of intense clashes between Sunni supporters of the anti-Syrian opposition and Alawite Muslims loyal to a Hezbollah-led alliance backed by Iran and Syria. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is fighting an unprecedented revolt against his regime, is from the Alawite community, an offshoot of Shia Islam. The Lebanese army is deployed on the outskirts of Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabbaneh, namely near Syria Street which separates the rival neighborhoods.Some residents have fled, an AFP reporter on the scene said. A Sunni man who stayed behind said "rockets have been raining down on us since [Friday]." "They are constantly provoking us and waving pictures of Bashar al-Assad," he said of his Alawite neighbors, adding however that he was not against the Alawites.-AFP/NOW Lebanon

Grand Mufti of the Lebanese Republic Sheikh Mohammad Rashid Qabbani warns Tripoli clashes 'may aim to incite strife'
February 11, 2012 /Grand Mufti of the Lebanese Republic Sheikh Mohammad Rashid Qabbani said that Tripoli clashes “may be an attempt to incite strife,” according to a statement issued by his press office on Saturday. He also said that the armed clashes in the city are “worrying,” and called on the Lebanese army to “put an end to violence.”Shooting broke out in Tripoli on Friday as gunmen deployed heavily in Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen, one group supporting and the other opposed to the regime in Syria. Lebanon’s political scene is split between supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, led by Hezbollah, and the March 14 pro-Western camp.-NOW Lebanon

Arab Democratic Party Secretary General Rifaat Eid: Exploded arms warehouse belongs to Future Movement
February 11, 2012 /Arab Democratic Party Secretary General Rifaat Eid told LBC television station on Saturday that the “arms warehouse,” which exploded in Tripoli, belongs to the Future Movement.
“What was Mohammad Noaaman, who is said to be a Syrian opposition activist, doing in the arms warehouse with other [people]?” Eid asked. Eid also said that “fundamentalist groups in Tripoli were fighting the Lebanese army yesterday.”Shooting broke out in Tripoli on Friday as gunmen deployed heavily in Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen, one group supporting and the other opposed to the regime in Syria. Lebanon’s political scene is split between supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, led by Hezbollah, and the March 14 pro-Western camp.Three Syrians were injured in an accidental explosion at a munitions depot in Tripoli on Friday, AFP quoted a security source as saying. The men, all security guards, lit a fire to warm themselves near containers that stored munitions, without being aware of the contents, prompting an explosion at the privately run facility.
-NOW Lebanon

Future bloc MP Khodor Habib calls for “arms-free” Tripoli
February 11, 2012 /Future bloc MP Khodor Habib called on Saturday for an “arms-free Tripoli” following yesterday’s clashes. Habib also called on Interior Minister Marwan Charbel “to prevent protests” in Tripoli.“It is unacceptable that Tripoli [is used] as a mailbox. There should be a plan to withdraw weapons from everyone,” he told LBC television.Commenting on Arab Democratic Party Secretary General Rifaat Eid’s statement that the arms warehouse which exploded belongs to the Future Movement, the MP said: “Eid knows very well that the Future Movement is a political movement and does not have weapons.” Habib added that the security forces know who owns the arms warehouse that exploded yesterday. Shooting broke out in Tripoli on Friday as gunmen deployed heavily in Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen, one group supporting and the other opposed to the regime in Syria. Lebanon’s political scene is split between supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, led by Hezbollah, and the March 14 pro-Western camp. Three Syrians were injured in an accidental explosion at a munitions depot in Tripoli on Friday, AFP quoted a security source as saying.
The men, all security guards, lit a fire to warm themselves near containers that stored munitions, without being aware of the contents, prompting an explosion at the privately run facility.
-NOW Lebanon

Future Movement official Mustafa Allouch : Syrian regime ‘followers’ attempt to ‘distort’ Tripoli’s image
February 11, 2012 /Future Movement official Mustafa Allouch commented on the Tripoli clashes and said the “Syrian regime followers will attempt to distort the image of Tripoli citizens.”
Allouch told the Free Lebanon radio station that the army intelligence knows who is “escalating” the situation and is “capable of arresting them if there is a political decision to do so.”“Every action that happens in Lebanon [similar to the Tripoli clashes are ordered by] the Syrian regime.”The official also commented on Arab Democratic Party Secretary General Rifaat Eid’s statement that the arms warehouse which has reportedly exploded belongs to the Future Movement and said such statements are “lies.” Shooting broke out in Tripoli on Friday as gunmen deployed heavily in Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen, one group supporting and the other opposed to the regime in Syria. Lebanon’s political scene is split between supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, led by Hezbollah, and the March 14 pro-Western camp. Three Syrians were injured in an accidental explosion at a munitions depot in Tripoli on Friday, AFP quoted a security source as saying. The men, all security guards, lit a fire to warm themselves near containers that stored munitions, without being aware of the contents, prompting an explosion at the privately run facility. -NOW Lebanon

Gemayel: Tripoli Unrest Connected to Foreign Affairs
by Naharnet /Phalange Party Amin Gemayel praised on Saturday Prime Minister Najib Miqati’s trip to France, saying that “this is the image of Lebanon we want to promote abroad, not that of infighting.”He said in a statement: “The Tripoli unrest is linked to external affairs and it has nothing to do with Lebanon.” He therefore stressed the need to prevent Lebanon from being dragged into disputes that don’t concern it. Addressing the current government deadlock, Gemayel noted: “The situation contradicts with the simplest of political rules.” “How can a government, which is formed of one political camp that shares the same objectives, be obstructed by the people that established it?” he wondered. “If such a government cannot be united, then we are facing a real crisis that transcends the current dispute,” said the Phalange Party chief. “The government has no excuse in delaying in ending the dispute in order to tackle the current possession of illegitimate arms in Lebanon,” he stressed. Miqati had suspended cabinet sessions on February 1 over an ongoing dispute over the issue of administrative appointments. The suspension was prompted when Free Patriotic Movement ministers walked out from Wednesday’s session.
“The move is meant to push everyone to act responsibly and use their energy positively, towards the smooth run of state affairs not the opposite,” the prime minister said.
A dispute between President Michel Suleiman and FPM leader MP Michel Aoun over shares allotted to Christians has prevented consensus over administrative appointments, leaving several high-ranking posts vacant. Miqati traveled to France on Thursday where he held talks on Friday with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Prime Minister Francois Fillon.

Prime Minister Najib Mikati met on Saturday with former opposition leader Saad Hariri in Paris
February 11, 2012 /Prime Minister Najib Mikati met on Saturday with former opposition leader Saad Hariri in Paris to check on his health, a statement issued by Hariri’s press office said. The statement, however, did not elaborate any further.-NOW Lebanon

STL Victims Participation Unit Submits 73 Applications to Fransen
by Naharnet/The Victims’ Participation Unit of the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon has submitted to STL Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen “73 applications from individuals who claim to have suffered physical, material or mental harm as a result of the 14 February 2005 (bomb) attack” that killed ex-PM Rafik Hariri and 22 other people, the STL said in a statement on Friday. “A decision on each application will be made in due course by the Pre-Trial Judge,” it noted. This process will allow the victims who are granted the right to participate an opportunity to take part in the trial and to be represented by counsel, the court added. It clarified that the transmission of the applications followed a review carried out by the VPU “as required by the Tribunal’s rules.”

Feb. 14 Speeches to Focus on Local, Syrian Situation
by Naharnet /The speeches that will be made at the February 14 ceremony marking the seventh anniversary of the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri will primarily focus on local developments and then Syrian crisis, reported the daily An Nahar on Saturday.It added that it remains to be seen which members of the Syrian National Council will give a speech at the event, which will be held at the Beirut International Exhibition and Leisure Center.It revealed that the speech will stress the importance of respecting Lebanon’s sovereignty and independence and the need for overthrowing the Syrian regime.
The BIEL ceremony will include speeches by March 14 leaders, including ex-Premier Saad Hariri, who is most likely to address supporters, politicians and academicians through a giant screen.
Saad Hariri is recuperating at his house in Paris after suffering from fractures in his left leg during a ski accident in the French Alps.Rafik Hariri was killed in a massive car bombing in Beirut on February 14, 2005.

Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas under Pressure to Approve Transportation Allowance
by Naharnet /No progress will be achieved in resolving the government crisis until Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas approves the transportation allowance that is part of the government wage hike, Prime Minister Najib Miqati’s circles informed As Safir newspaper in remarks published on Saturday. They added that the minister is obligated to publish the decree after the cabinet approved it even if the decision contradicts his views. The minister is obliged to commit to the cabinet agreement, they stressed. Nahhas had deemed as illegal the transportation allowance proposed by the government, revealing that he had prepared a new draft law on the matter which he had referred to the concerned sides, reported As Safir. “If my position is not to the liking of some ministers, then all they have to do is acquire over 20 ministers to force me to resign,” he added. The government had agreed to set the minimum wage at LL675,000 – a sum that excludes the transportation allowance, but Nahhas insists on setting the minimum wage at LL800,000 including the allowance. Meanwhile, President Michel Suleiman’s visitors reported him as saying that “government’s proper functioning can be restored once Nahhas signs the wage hike decree.”“Measures will be taken against him if he maintains this position,” warned the president. On February 1, Miqati had suspended cabinet sessions over an ongoing dispute over the issue of administrative appointments. The suspension was prompted when Free Patriotic Movement ministers walked out from Wednesday’s session. “The move is meant to push everyone to act responsibly and use their energy positively, towards the smooth run of state affairs not the opposite,” the prime minister said. A dispute between President Michel Suleiman and FPM leader MP Michel Aoun over shares allotted to Christians has prevented consensus over administrative appointments, leaving several high-ranking posts vacant.

Egypt Activists Plan Strikes to Mark Mubarak's Ouster
by Naharnet /Activists plan a day of civil disobedience in Egypt on Saturday to mark the first anniversary since they toppled Hosni Mubarak but left an increasingly unpopular but defiant military in charge. The call for strikes in universities and workplaces comes after a series of protests pressuring the military to transfer power immediately to civilians, rather than wait for planned presidential elections later this year.The military, headed by Mubarak's long-time Defense Minister Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, has said it will deploy additional troops across the country in response to the calls for a day of disobedience. On Friday, thousands of protesters snaked through Cairo's streets to bypass military cordons and reach the Defense Ministry, chanting "Down with military rule!"In a statement read out on state television late on Friday, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) said it would not bow to threats or plots against the state. "We will never yield to threats, and we will never give in to pressure," the SCAF said. "We tell you quite frankly that our dear Egypt faces plans aimed at striking at the heart of our revolution. "We are facing plots against the nation aiming to undermine the institutions of the Egyptian state, and to topple the state itself so that chaos reigns." The military, which has brutally quashed several protests in the past year, has played off the abundant suspicion in Egypt of foreign conspiracies. Students in several universities have called for strikes for Saturday, with secular youth groups which spearheaded the revolt against Mubarak also taking part.
Tareq al-Khouly, an organizer of the April 6 youth group, said the plan was for a one-day strike which could be extended. In a joint statement on Friday, the groups urged Egyptians "to support these strikes in order to end the unjust rule and build a nation in which justice, freedom and dignity prevail." The call for strikes and protests has divided the country's political forces, with the Muslim Brotherhood -- the big winner in recent parliamentary elections -- coming out against it. Many Egyptians complain that the economy has been battered by the lack of security and deadly violence in the wake of the 18-day revolt that forced Mubarak to resign on February 11 last year. Protests against the military, idolized immediately after the revolt for not siding with Mubarak, have heightened fears among many that the Arab world's most populous nation could veer towards chaos, as the military itself warns. On Friday the SCAF said the nation was at "the most dangerous turning point on our road to liberty, democracy and social justice." Young activists who spearheaded the revolt against Mubarak believe the generals will try to exercise power through a pliant civilian government after presidential elections later this year.
The activists say the military should hand power to parliament, elected over three rounds in November and December, or to a civilian council ahead of presidential elections set to take place before the end of June. The SCAF statement said it was determined to transfer power to an elected civilian body. "We have kept the first promise and returned legislative power to the people's assembly," it said, adding that the parliamentary election took place in an atmosphere of "liberty and integrity." "Presidential power will pass to the president of the republic after the election ending the period of transition, and your faithful army will revert to its original role," the military statement said. SourceAgence France Presse.

Uzbek Man in U.S. Pleads Guilty in Obama Murder Plot
by Naharnet /An Uzbek man living in the United States pleaded guilty Friday in federal court in the southern state of Alabama to planning to kill U.S. President Barack Obama. Ulugbek Kodirov, 22, was arrested in an undercover operation while trying to obtain explosives and guns, the U.S. Justice Department said in a statement. U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance, who worked on the case, expressed "appreciation to the Muslim community of Birmingham, which was instrumental in helping law enforcement shut down this threat." Kodirov pleaded guilty to one count of providing material support to terrorist activity, one count of threatening to kill the president and one count of possession of a firearm by an illegal alien. As part of his plea agreement, Kodirov admitted he had communicated "with an individual whom he believed to be a member of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU)," and that he "interpreted these conversations to mean that he should kill President Obama."
The U.S. State Department considers the group a terrorist organization. Kodirov also admitted to discussing with another person his desire to kill Obama and strategies for carrying out the assassination.
The other person -- who the Justice Department did not identify -- introduced Kodirov to an undercover U.S. agent from whom the Uzbek man planned to purchase weapons.
They met in July 2011 at a motel in Leeds, Alabama. The agent showed Kodirov an M15-A1 machine gun, a sniper rifle with a telescopic lens and four disassembled hand grenades.
Kodirov chose the machine gun and hand grenades, but was arrested before he could leave the motel. Kodirov entered the United States from Uzbekistan on a student visa in June 2009. His visa was revoked in 2010 when he failed to enroll in school, and he was living in an extended-stay Alabama motel when police arrested him. Kodirov faces up to 30 years in prison on the charges.
SourceAgence France Presse.

Defiant Iran to present major nuclear projects “in days”
February 11, 2012 /Ahmadinejad vowed Saturday to inaugurate "important nuclear projects" within days and lashed out at Israel, saying the "story" of the Holocaust underpinning its existence had been "smashed". In a speech marking the anniversary of Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution, Ahmadinejad said his nation will "never yield" to Western sanctions and threats of military action from Israel and the United States. A crowd of an estimated 30,000 people in central Tehran cheered Ahmadinejad's words. Many held aloft placards declaring "death to America" and "death to Israel".
In pointed messages aimed at those two arch-foes, Iranian officials planted a full-scale model of a US spy drone captured in December in front of the president's podium, and hosted on the stage the Hamas prime minister of Gaza. Hamas "will never recognize Israel," Gaza leader Ismail Haniya told the crowd just before Ahmadinejad spoke.
His remarks were likely to complicate efforts to form with rival party Fatah a Palestinian unity government in the face of strong opposition from the Jewish state, which views Hamas as a terrorist organization armed by Iran. Ahmadinejad gave no details about the "important nuclear projects" about to be made public.
However, the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has already said Iran is enriching uranium to 20 percent - a level significantly closer to military-grade 90 percent purity - at a mountain bunker near the Shia shrine city of Qoms. And Iranian officials have said that they will be inserting their first domestically made 20-percent enriched fuel plate into a Tehran research reactor by March. Both developments have unsettled the West and Israel, which suspect Iran is pursuing research into nuclear weapons despite its repeated denials.
An IAEA report in November said there was evidence of activities in Iran that relate to a militarized nuclear program. Israel, voicing concerns that Iran could shield its nuclear program from attack by the end of this year, has made comments suggesting it could imminently launch air strikes against its long-time enemy. The United States has also not ruled out military action.
But Ahmadinejad rejected the pressure, saying that, "if the language of bullying and insult is used, the Iranian nation will never yield."He added: "The only path is to adhere to justice and the respect of Iran's [nuclear] rights and to return to the negotiating table." Iran has said several times in recent months that it is ready to resume talks on its nuclear program with world powers that collapsed a year ago.
Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, in comments carried by media on Saturday, said his country's chief nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, had written a reply to Ashton that "either has been sent or is on the verge of being sent." He voiced optimism that another round of talks with Britain, France, Germany, the United States, Russia and China would begin "soon".
"They have some questions and ambiguities and we will try to answer these questions and ambiguities," he was quoted as saying.
Ahmadinejad used his speech to again question the veracity of the Jewish Holocaust, which he has in the past dismissed as a "myth".
He claimed the United States and the West had created "a story called the Holocaust" to create the Israeli state as part of a plan "to dominate the world". But, he said, "the Iranian nation with courage and wisdom smashed this idol to free the people of the West [of its hold]."
He urged Western nations to stop supporting Israel. "Why do you link your fate with this sham regime? Let Al-Quds [Jerusalem] and Palestine become free," he said. "Democracy doesn't come out of the barrel of a gun." Iran denies Israel's right to exist and has said it will back any group trying to put an end to the Jewish state. Iran's anniversary commemorations marked the day 33 years ago that a revolution led by clerics, students and dissidents overthrew the US-backed shah and installed an Islamic theocracy. -AFP/NOW Lebanon

Homs, anvil of Syria
Michael Young, February 10, 2012
Now Lebanon/Last summer, I used this space to speculate that the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, if it sensed that it was losing power in Damascus, might contemplate retreating to the Alawite heartland in the coastal areas and mountains of northwestern Syria. Today, that option is very much alive, and according to several independent sources it is being discussed freely within the Alawite community.
That is not to say that Assad and his acolytes intend to surrender control of Syria if they can avoid it. The regime from the outset appeared to be working on two fronts simultaneously: paving the way for a prospective communal fallback plan by securing the northern and southern hinges of the Alawite area, at Kfar Kalakh and Jisr al-Shoughour, while also endeavoring to re-impose its writ nationwide.
These parallel objectives—preparing for an Alawite mini-state and ruling over Syria as a whole—have come together in the Homs plain and along the corridor northeast, between Homs and Aleppo. In order for Assad to subjugate Syria, he can afford little to lose control over that passage. At the same time, if the Alawites hope to make safe an eventual statelet, they cannot allow Homs to be controlled by their foes. That explains what we are seeing today, as the Syrian army prepares to recapture Homs from the opposition.
It was perhaps difficult for the Assad regime to do such a thing sooner. Comprehensive repression required taking back sprawling cities, which invariably meant provoking carnage. Nor does the Syrian army have enough men to militarily reoccupy all of Syria. It is also conceivable that Bashar al-Assad’s allies in Moscow set as a condition for their support that he avoid repeating the example of Hama in 1982.
If so, the mood on both the Russian and Syrian sides has evidently shifted with regard to Homs. As the regime began losing ground and greater numbers of soldiers began deserting, as Homs emerged as the centerpiece of a hardening protest movement, and as regional and international diplomacy escalated to isolate Assad, the Syrian president apparently decided he needed to act more decisively.
The Russians resupplied Assad with weapons several weeks ago, and when they vetoed a Security Council draft resolution that would have endorsed an Arab plan for his departure, he ordered the offensive on Homs. The regime apparently aims to force the opposition to negotiate and in that way implement a Russian-Syrian plan to end the uprising. What is this plan? Broadly, to intimidate then split the opposition by convincing more compliant opposition figures to accept and participate in a national-unity government. Meanwhile, the regime would press ahead with constitutional reforms so as to neutralize expanding discontent inside Syria, and more importantly to silence the protestations of the international community.
The fundamental principle underlying the scheme, however, is to leave the core of Assad rule untouched. The Syrian president has no intention of stepping down, and the Russians have not asked him to. The leadership’s calculation is that once a political process is on track, Assad will regain the initiative. Step by step the regime will then undercut reform and co-opt or repress its weakened opponents.
To make this possible, the Syrian regime and the Russians have sought to win Arab and international approval for Assad to move ahead with his project. That was a prime objective of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s visit to Damascus this week. But there have been few takers. The Saudis all but finalized their break with Assad by persuading the Gulf Cooperation Council states to recall their ambassadors from Syria and expel Syrian envoys. And the Western states and Turkey have basically dismissed the Russian bid.
However, that doesn’t make Homs any less vital to the Assads. If a political solution works, fine; what better way to begin discussions with the opposition than to do so with the focal point of the resistance crushed? But if such a solution doesn’t work and the Alawites have to prepare a new line of defense, then control over Homs is equally valuable. The city hosts a sizable Alawite community on its edges and controls road access toward Alawite areas, the north and Damascus.
Some observers see a more profound rationale in recovering the Homs district. If the Alawites seek true security, they must guarantee two things: that there is continuity between their geographic areas and majority-Shia districts in Lebanon’s northern Bekaa Valley; and that they can isolate Sunnis in Syria’s northwestern coastal areas from their brethren elsewhere in the country. Controlling Homs allows both. And if the Alawites decide to engage in ethnic cleansing along the coast, Homs is a door that they can open and close at will.
Recently, in an interview with Le Figaro, Syria’s former vice president, Abdul-Halim Khaddam, warned that Bashar Assad was preparing to partition Syria. He predicted that the Syrian president would likely fall back on the city of Lattaqiyeh, adding “I am sure there are enough underground shelters where he and his clan can seek refuge.” A senior Lebanese politician recently told me that Iran was building a bunker network in the Alawite mountains similar to Hezbollah’s in southern Lebanon.
Khaddam’s political agenda may make him overstate his case. Yet a communal fallback plan is a serious option, and the Homs region has become the crucible defining Syria’s future. The barbarity of the Assads’ conduct has been shocking, but may be nothing compared to what could happen if Alawites withdraw to a mini-state. The tenuous strings holding other countries in the region together could snap.
**Michael Young is opinion editor of the Daily Star newspaper in Beirut and author of The Ghosts of Martyrs Square: An Eyewitness Account of Lebanon’s Life Struggle. He tweets @BeirutCalling.

Syria: Gunmen assassinate army Brigedier-General Issa al-Khouli
SANA news agency reports 3 gunmen open fire at Brigedier-General Issa al-Khouli in Damascus as violence in Syria reaches tightly controlled capital
Syria's state-run news agency says gunmen have assassinated an army general in the capital Damascus. It's the first killing of a high military officer in the Syrian capital since the uprising against President Bashar Assad's regime began in March.The SANA news agency says three gunmen opened fire at Brigedier-General Issa al-Khouli on Saturday morning as he left his home in the Damascus neighborhood of Rukn-Eddine. Al-Khouli was a doctor and the chief of a military hospital in the capital. The attack indicates that violence in Syria is reaching the tightly controlled capital, which has been relatively quiet compared to other cities. Syrian forces unleashed new tank and rocket bombardments on opposition neighborhoods of Homs on Saturday while diplomats sought United Nations backing for an Arab plan to end 11 months of bloodshed in Syria. Activists said seven people were killed in the latest attacks in a week-long government siege of Homs, a battered city at the heart of the uprising to oust President Bashar al-Assad. "The four included a 55-year-old woman. They were killed by shelling that hit their building in Bab Amro," a Homs opposition activist, Mohammad Hassan, told Reuters by satellite telephone.
The bloodshed followed a day of violence across Syria on Friday, when bombings targeting security bases killed at least 28 people in Aleppo and rebel fighters battled troops in a Damascus suburb after dark.
Lebanon shows its support
Meanwhile, One person was killed and several soldiers wounded in street battles in Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli on Saturday, a security source said, in a second day of violence involving supporters and opponents of Syrian president. Residents said rocket-propelled grenades were fired from the Sunni Muslim district of Bab al-Tabbaneh towards the Alawite district of Jebel Mohsen, but caused no injuries.
On Saturday, Reuters Television footage showed gunmen taking cover on street corners and firing volleys of automatic gunfire. "We are the supporters of the Syrian revolution in Lebanon, and we are going to (fight) the shabbiha," one of the gunmen said, referring to pro-Assad militias blamed by Syrian opposition activists for much of the killing in Syria. Assad's crackdown of the uprising has killed more than 5,400 people, according to United Nations figures. AP and Reuters contributed to this report

Jihadists, weapons moving from Iraq to Syria
February 11, 2012 /Jihadists are moving from Iraq to Syria, as are weapons being sent to opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime, Iraq's deputy interior minister told AFP on Saturday.
Assad has been attempting to crush an uprising against his rule since March 2011, and thousands of people have been killed. "We have intelligence information that a number of Iraqi jihadists went to Syria," Adnan al-Assadi said in an interview with AFP, adding that "weapons smuggling is still ongoing" from Iraq to Syria. "The weapons are transported from Baghdad to Nineveh [Province], and the prices of weapons in Mosul [the province's capital] are higher now because they are being sent to the opposition in Syria," Assadi said. He said that the price of a Kalashnikov assault rifle has risen from between $100 and $200 to between $1000 and $1500. "The weapons are being smuggled from Mosul through the Rabia crossing to Syria, as members of the same families live on both sides of the border," he said.
And "there is some smuggling through a crossing near Abu Kamal," he said, referring to a Syrian city.-AFP/NOW Lebanon

No to a grand bargain with Iran
By James Kirchick /Haaretz
The U.S. ought to pursue nonviolent ways of preventing Iran from attaining nuclear weapons, and work to limit its destabilizing behavior, but must never adopt a policy that would consign the Iranian people to indefinite tyranny. What if the increasing hostility between Iran and the West is just a giant misunderstanding? What if, far from being the result of deep ideological disputes and inherently incompatible worldviews, the rift between Tehran and Washington is reconcilable? As an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities appears increasingly likely, we are once again hearing about the possibility of a full and unconditional rapprochement between Washington and Tehran. Not merely a toning down of rhetoric and assurances against the use of force, but a full-scale diplomatic realignment the likes of which haven't been seen since Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to China. The latest iteration of this argument appeared last week in a New York Times op-ed by William Luers, a career American diplomat, and Thomas Pickering, a former undersecretary of state and ambassador to Israel. In exchange for "full recognition and respect for the Islamic Republic," they argue, "Iran would agree to regional cooperation with the United States in Afghanistan and Iraq," allow wide open international inspections to ensure the peaceful nature of its nuclear program, and cease support for terrorism. Their proposal is essentially a reiteration of the terms offered in a 2003 fax sent by the Swiss ambassador in Tehran to Washington offering what came to be known as a "grand bargain." As far as Israel is concerned, Iran would end its support of Hamas and Hezbollah and back a two-state solution provided that both Washington and Jerusalem acknowledge its legitimacy.
Like many things that appear too good to be true, the "grand bargain" was more the work of a free-lancing Swiss diplomat than a genuine offer from Iran's leadership. This was obvious from the start: Confrontation is intrinsic to the Iranian regime, which came to power on the heels of an Islamic revolution and is implacably opposed to the United States. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei refers to America as "Satan incarnate" and "the enemy of Islam and all Islamic peoples." The virulence of this rhetoric did not cease upon the election of Barack Obama, who naively believed that sending pleasant missives to Tehran offering "engagement that is honest and grounded in mutual respect" would fundamentally alter relations.
Iran's desire for a nuclear weapon is understandable, "grand bargain" backers argue, given that Washington, egged on by Jerusalem, has long sought to isolate it. The elusive reconciliation will inevitably blossom if only Israeli "hawks" and American "neocons" would get out of the way. Israeli fear of Iran is misplaced, Luers and Pickering say. In exchange for granting international inspectors "full access" to its nuclear program, Iran "would agree to cease making threats against Israel" - as if the genocidal rhetoric emanating out of Tehran over the past three decades were just a rhetorical pose and not the reflection of a deeply felt, ideological commitment. Presumably the regime's Holocaust denial, ugly as it may initially seem, actually emanates from entirely benign motives: Tehran is just impatient with the failure to create a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders.
Luers and Pickering claim that "the end of terrorism from Al-Qaida and the Taliban" is a mutual goal of the United States and Iran. How, then, do they explain the frequent cooperation between Iran and Al-Qaida, as revealed in the 9/11 Commission Report? In the years since the terrorist attacks, that collaboration has continued apace. In 2009, for instance, the U.S. Treasury Department identified four senior members of Al-Qaida who were "managing the terrorist organization from Iran."
Let's accept, though, for the sake of argument and in contradiction to all available evidence, that a "grand bargain" with Iran is feasible. Would it be desirable? Ensuring an end to Iran's nuclear weapons program and support for international terrorism would certainly be a positive development, but it would come at the cost of conceding the regime's right to oppress its people. Pursuing such a rapprochement with the Islamic Republic, therefore, would be deeply immoral, and a betrayal of American values.
Proponents of this detente cite prior American "meddling" as reason enough to stay out of Iran's internal affairs. They point to Washington's support for the 1953 coup that installed the shah, and the repression he inflicted over the course of 25 years, as the fount of Iranian hostility to America; it is the "malign influence of this legacy," Luers and Pickering argue, that must be overcome. But what is the "grand bargain" other than support for continued despotism over the Iranian people? It is perverse to argue that, to atone for its backing a coup six decades ago, Washington must now concede the legitimacy of religious fascists. There are echoes of the Cold War in today's debate about how to deal with Iran. "My idea of American policy toward the Soviet Union is simple, and some would say simplistic," Ronald Reagan told his future national security advisor Richard Allen in 1977. "It is this: We win and they lose." Reagan's notion of victory in the Cold War was widely derided as bellicose and insane; few people believed that the Soviet Union would ever collapse. Regardless of how much credit one accords Reagan in achieving this outcome, the fact is that he was right.
Likewise, the long-term goal of the United States and the entire free world should be the downfall of the mullahs. Washington ought to pursue nonviolent ways of preventing Iran from attaining nuclear weapons, and work to limit its destabilizing behavior. But it must never adopt a policy that would consign the Iranian people to indefinite tyranny.
*James Kirchick is a fellow with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a contributing editor for The New Republic.

Successful US-Israel radar test launches US missile shield's operational phase
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report February 10, 2012/ A successful joint exercise carried out Friday, Feb. 10, demonstrated the interoperability of the US Aegis and Israel's Arrow 4 ballistic missile defense systems and, most importantly, of their two radars, the US AN/TPY-2 X-band and Israel's EL/M-2080 Super Green Pine, debkafile's military sources report.
It was a key milestone in the development of the US missile shield's Middle East capabilities ahead of a potential war with Iran and the fourth significant preparatory step taken in the last ten days. On the East Coast of the United States, the large-scale Bold Alligator 2012 exercise is drilling amphibian landings on a fictitious Iranian shore; in the Middle East, an American airlift this week ferried reinforcements to the Persian Gulf over Sinai; the Iranian army is in the middle of a major war game "under war conditions" opposite the Strait of Hormuz; and Israel is putting the finishing touches to its new Depth Command set up for operations behind enemy lines. The joint US-Israel radar exercise Friday was a target-only tracking test over the Mediterranean. An attack on Israel was simulated by a Rafael Blue Sparrow 2 target missile launched from an F-15 fighter jet coming in from the east – the presumed direction of Iranian and Syrian missile strikes. The incoming missile was detected and tracked by two US AN/TPY-2 X-band stations and Israel's Super Green Pine radar. One of the American stations is located on Mount Keren opposite the Egyptian border in southern Israel; the other at a Turkish air base in the southeastern town of Kurecik. US and Israeli officials said the joint test was successful but offered no further information about the order in which the three stations sighted the attacking "missile" or how they shared the data.
The successful collaboration of these systems has elevated the US missile shield to its operational phase.
debkafile's military and Washington sources report that the test went ahead after Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu arrived in Washington Thursday, Feb. 9 to discuss urgent international action for Syria and at the same time notified US officials that his government had withdrawn its objections to the Israel-based US x-band radar station taking part in a joint exercise against a potential Iranian or Syrian missile attack. This notification was awaited before the test went ahead. It gave the Turkish foreign minister a handle for promoting his mission to gain Obama administration assent to his government's initiative on Syria. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan is pushing for joint Turkish-Arab military intervention to be launched against Bashar Assad's brutal crackdown under cover of a humanitarian operation. He offered to meet the Americans halfway on the radar station issue to win support for this anti-Assad intervention.
Monday, Jan. 30, debkafile disclosed that a high-ranking US official had arrived in Israel to refute the Turkish claims that the US X-band radar station at Kurecik was Turkish-operated, not aimed against Iranian missiles and committed to withholding data from Israel. Before he left Israel, the US official put the record straight by stating: "The radar is exclusively operated by US personnel, exactly as it is here. We will control the data and fuse it with data from other radars in the region to generate the most comprehensive and effective missile defense picture."
This assurance was effectively demonstrated by the joint US-Israel detection and tracking test carried out Friday.