LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
June 08/12

Bible Quotation for today/Living in the Light
Ephesians 05/01-10: Since you are God's dear children, you must try to be like him. Your life must be controlled by love, just as Christ loved us and gave his life for us as a sweet-smelling offering and sacrifice that pleases God. Since you are God's people, it is not right that any matters of sexual immorality or indecency or greed should even be mentioned among you.4 Nor is it fitting for you to use language which is obscene, profane, or vulgar. Rather you should give thanks to God. You may be sure that no one who is immoral, indecent, or greedy (for greed is a form of idolatry) will ever receive a share in the Kingdom of Christ and of God. Do not let anyone deceive you with foolish words; it is because of these very things that God's anger will come upon those who do not obey him.So have nothing at all to do with such people.8 You yourselves used to be in the darkness, but since you have become the Lord's people, you are in the light. So you must live like people who belong to the light, for it is the light that brings a rich harvest of every kind of goodness, righteousness, and truth.

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
Moderate Indonesia/By: Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi/The American Spectator/June 07/12

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for June 07/12
Ali al-Houjayri ,Head of Aarsal’s municipality calls for UNIFIL-like forces
Lebanese president returns to Beirut From Qatar
Future: Nasrallah’s call aims for Hezbollah control of Lebanon
Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rai: Not time for preconditions’ to national dialogue
Alleged kidnappers of Lebanese pilgrims deny involvement in abduction
Head of Tripoli’s municipality announces Thursday sit-in
Sectarian tension keeps Tripoli on knife-edge
One killed in clashes on Lebanon-Syria border
Geagea: Hizbullah Will Do All it Can to Thwart Parliamentary Elections
Lebanese State minister Marwan Kheireddine says consensus reached on expenditure issue
Future bloc MP Nabil De Freige: Extra-budgetary spending agreement is ‘order’
Man found dead outside his home in northeast
U.N. concerned over renewed clashes in north Lebanon
UAE “dedicated to Lebanon’s stability,” president says
Calm after Syria-Lebanon border clashes, says security source
Syrian army and Lebanese clash at border, says security source
LBC: Syrian intelligence detains Lebanese head of municipality upon entering Syria
US backs Arab call for strong UN sanctions on Syria
Russia, China come out strongly against Syria action
Russian FM: Change to Assad regime 'way to catastrophe'
Syria's Assad names new PM after parliamentary vote
Annan floats idea to rescue failing Syria peace plan-envoys
More Iran nuclear talks ahead but obstacles loom
Syrian expat businessmen offer $300 million to rebels
Russia, China come out strongly against Syria action
Canada Condemns Renewed Violence in Syria

Canada Condemns Renewed Violence in Syria
June 6, 2012 - Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird issued the following statement in response to reports of renewed violence in Hama, Syria:
“I am deeply disturbed by media reports of attacks in the province of Hama that have killed dozens of people, including many women and children.
“These violent acts show a callous disregard for human life reminiscent of the massacre in Houla. This clearly demonstrates the downward spiral of violence in Syria that is resulting from the ruthless repression of the Syrian people by the Assad regime. Those who perpetrated these repugnant, savage acts must be held to account.
“The international community must act swiftly and decisively to ensure that Syria adheres to Joint Special Envoy Kofi Annan’s six-point plan, or move to implement other diplomatic solutions to the crisis. We urge the UN Security Council to adopt tough, binding sanctions against Assad.
“It is critical that all parties respect the ceasefire, cooperate with the UN observers, and support the efforts of Kofi Annan to resolve the crisis.
“We continue to work with our international partners to isolate the Assad regime and support the hopes of the Syrian people for a better, brighter future.”

One killed in clashes on Lebanon-Syria border
June 06, 2012/ The Daily Star /BEIRUT/BEKAA: A Lebanese man was killed and five people were wounded Wednesday in a series of clashes between the Syrian army and Lebanese gunmen along the northeastern border shared by the two countries. The clashes began at 4 a.m. and lasted 30 minutes, and renewed around 10 a.m. for almost an hour. Mohammad Hussein Hmayed was killed in the early morning clashes in the Bekaa village of Kherbet Daoud on the outskirts of Arsal, northeast Lebanon, Arsal’s Mayor Ali Hujeiri said. He added that the Syrian military was in possession of Hmayed’s body. NBN television station reported that the Syrian army was ready to return Hmayed's body to Lebanon. Lebanese security sources, speaking to The Daily Star on condition of anonymity, said four people were wounded at around 4 a.m. when the first clashes took place between the Syrian military and Lebanese gunmen. They added that at about 10 a.m., when clashes renewed, Lebanese national Khatib Hujeiri was wounded. Lebanese Army Intelligence is conducting patrols in the area and army personnel, backed by armored vehicle, have arrived on the scene.

Ali al-Houjayri ,Head of Aarsal’s municipality calls for UNIFIL-like forces
June 6, 2012 /The head of Aarsal’s municipality Ali al-Houjayri said on Wednesday that if the Lebanese government was unable to protect citizens in the Lebanese border town “then let it dispatch forces similar to UNIFIL” to the Lebanese-Syrian borders. Calm returned to Aarsal following clashes early on Wednesday between Syrian troops and residents after a Lebanese man was killed and three wounded, AFP cited a security source as saying. Officials said rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons were fired during the fighting in Khirbet Daoud, on the outskirts of Aarsal, after the four were hit by Syrian gunfire in Aarsal itself. The National News Agency identified the slayed man as Lebanese citizen Mohammad Hassan Hamid. During an interview with Future News television station Houjayri explained how Hamid “was killed.” “At first, we were informed about the Syrian army’s incursion [into Aarsal] so we proceeded [to recover] the wounded, but we did not find Hamid. We spoke to the security forces [and urged them] to contact the Syrians to reveal his fate.” “It is [rumored] that the Syrian [forces captured] him alive, then took him on Syrian territory where they executed him before returning his body.”
-NOW Lebanon

Man found dead outside his home in northeast Lebanon
June 06, 2012 04:37 PM The Daily Star /BEIRUT: The body of the 68-year-old man was discovered early Wednesday at the door of his house in the Hermel, northeast Lebanon, reported the National News Agency. The man was identified as Mahmoud Mohammad Iskandar, the agency said, adding that the Internal Security Forces have launched an investigation to identify the circumstances surround the incident. The man’s body was transported to a state-run hospital in the Hermel for medical examination and was then handed over to family members

Geagea: Hizbullah Will Do All it Can to Thwart Parliamentary Elections
Naharnet/06 June 2012/Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea stressed on Wednesday that the March 14 camp insists on holding the 2013 parliamentary elections on time. He said before an LF delegation: “Hizbullah will do all it can to prevent the staging of the elections.” “We will confront it should it attempt to do so,” he declared. Addressing President Michel Suleiman’s invitation to political faction to resume the national dialogue, Geagea remarked: “The call is tactical and not strategic.” The dialogue, whether it is held or not, will not change anything in Lebanon, he added. The president had set June 11 as the date for the resumption of the dialogue. The March 14 camp has voiced its opposition to the talks as it insists on having Hizbullah’s possession of arms as the main topic of discussion. Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah had repeatedly stated that the party is willing to return to the dialogue table without any preconditions.

Future: Nasrallah’s call aims for Hezbollah control of Lebanon
June 06, 2012/By Hussein Dakroub/The Daily Star /BEIRUT: The parliamentary Future bloc of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri lambasted Tuesday Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah’s call for the creation of a constituent assembly, saying it was aimed at changing the ruling system and clearing the way for the party to control Lebanon.
While praising President Michel Sleiman’s invitation for an intra-Lebanese National Dialogue, the bloc said it was consulting with its March 14 allies to promote an initiative to save Lebanon that would be presented to the president before the dialogue session convenes on June 11. “Hezbollah secretary-general’s call for the [establishment] of a constituent assembly is aimed at amending the Constitution and changing the [ruling] system backed by the threat of its arms with a view to fully controlling the Lebanese Republic and diverting attention from the real problem posed by [its] tutelage over the state and its decision-making as a result of the armed coup whose effects have continued since May 2008,” the bloc said in a statement issued after its weekly meeting at Hariri’s residence in Downtown Beirut chaired by former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.
It was referring to street sectarian clashes between pro- and anti-government gunmen in Beirut and other areas in May 2008 that left more than 80 people dead. The clashes erupted after Hezbollah gunmen and their supporters briefly took over West Beirut to protest a decision by the Siniora government to dismantle the party’s private telecommunications network.
The bloc said that Nasrallah’s declaration coincided with a warning by a senior military adviser to Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei, Maj. Gen. Yahya Rahim Safavi, who said that Hezbollah would fire thousands of rockets on Israel if it attacked Iran’s nuclear sites.
“Safavi’s statement that Iran possesses thousands of missiles in Lebanon and they are in the hands of Hezbollah which will fire them on Israel on Iran’s behalf reveals that [Hezbollah] is an armed regional tutelage force that controls the national decision-making,” the bloc added.
Last week, Safavi was quoted by AFP as saying: “Hezbollah has thousands of missiles ... Hassan Nasrallah is a soldier of the supreme leader ... All places in the Zionist entity are within missile range.”
Nasrallah last week reiterated Hezbollah’s support for National Dialogue but coupled it with a call for the creation of an elected or appointed constituent assembly aimed at building a strong state in Lebanon to end sectarian and political divisions and solve the country’s socioeconomic crisis. Nasrallah’s call has come under fire from the March 14 parties, which argue that the proposal would sound the death knell for the Taif Accord and the Lebanese formula of equal power sharing between Muslims and Christians.
In its statement, the Future bloc welcomed Sleiman’s invitation to rival leaders in the Hezbollah-led March 8 bloc and the opposition March 14 coalition for a new session of National Dialogue at Baabda Palace next week but cautioned against taking decisions that are left unimplemented. “The bloc, which has never abandoned dialogue as a pattern and a policy in dealing with issues under discussion in Lebanon, again affirms that it is aspiring for a productive and effective dialogue, rather than for a token dialogue, while decisions of previous dialogue sessions are left unimplemented,” the statement said.
The bloc said it was consulting with its March 14 allies to promote “a salvation initiative” which would be presented to Sleiman ahead of the planned dialogue. Although the statement did not state whether the Future bloc would attend National Dialogue, a senior political source told The Daily Star Monday that all parties would participate.
In his invitation for the rival factions, Sleiman said that the all-party talks are aimed at ending political divisions and protecting Lebanon from the reverberations of the 15-month-old turmoil in Syria following deadly clashes between armed supporters and opponents of Syrian President Bashar Assad in the northern city of Tripoli and Beirut. Sleiman, who has visited Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, is scheduled to visit the United Arab Emirates and Qatar Wednesday as part of an Arab Gulf tour aimed at enlisting these countries’ support for National Dialogue. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri met Sleiman at Baabda Palace Tuesday night and discussed the planned dialogue and developments in Lebanon.
Meanwhile, visitors to Baabda Palace said the positive results of Sleiman’s Gulf tour would emerge soon with the convening of National Dialogue table. Arab leaders with whom Sleiman had met have voiced full support for bringing the Lebanese together at one table, the visitors said. The Arab support for an intra-Lebanese dialogue was matched with support from some Western states, the latest of which was a statement by French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius who said his country encouraged all Lebanese political parties to attend the planned dialogue. “This external support for dialogue will be translated through the participation of the country’s main political parties in it. None of these parties can stay out of the dialogue framework,” the visitors said. They quoted Sleiman as saying that his role as a consensus president since he took office was nearly one of the most difficult roles played by a head of state because he had to deal equally with both the March 8 and March 14 parties.
They added that the extremely complex situation in Lebanon with its multi-sectarian setup requires the continuation of the Dialogue Committee as a collective national institution which, along with the presidency, guarantees safeguarding civil peace and national unity. The dialogue conference will get a European boost with the upcoming visits to Beirut by the foreign ministers of Germany, Sweden, Poland and Bulgaria to show support for Lebanon’s stability. March 14 leaders are planning to meet in the next few days to decide on whether to accept Sleiman’s invitation for the new round of national dialogue. – With additional reporting by Antoine Ghattas Saab

Lebanese president returns to Beirut From Qatar
June 6, 2012/President Michel Sleiman returned to Beirut on Wednesday evening coming from Qatar where he met with Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, the National News Agency (NNA) reported. According to the report, the Qatari Emir said it was important that Lebanese factions participate in a dialogue session “in order to preserve stability in their country.” Moreover, the NNA said the meeting between the two men also touched on the latest developments and reviewed with bilateral ties. Last week, the president sent invitations to the members of the national dialogue committee calling on them to convene on June 11 at 11 a.m. at the Baabda Presidential Palace to discuss various issues, including Hezbollah’s arms. Nevertheless, some members of the March 14 alliance said they reject taking part in the national dialogue session unless Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s cabinet resigns. Before Qatar, Sleiman had also visited the United Arab Emirates.-NOW Lebanon

Alleged kidnappers of Lebanese pilgrims deny involvement in abduction
June 6, 2012 /One of the suspects, who were accused of involvement in the abduction of the Lebanese Shia pilgrims, told Al-Jadeed television station on Wednesday that the “Syrian media was fabricating rumors and accusing us of kidnapping the” pilgrims. “We did not [carry out the abduction] and if we were the abductors we wouldn’t have [revealed ourselves to the] media,” Abdel Salam Daloul Sadeq told Al-Jadeed. He added: “We are rebels and we want to liberate our lands [Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s] regime. The Lebanese were kidnapped in Aleppo’s Aazaz and we are [stationed in an area] that is more than 200 kilometers away from the [place where they were abducted], so how can we be the kidnappers?” Sadeq added that Hezbollah’s Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah “does not have the right to interfere in Syrian [affairs].” “[Nasrallah] is currently [supporting] the regime at a time when he should be standing by the [Syrian] revolution.” Meanwhile, a man named Mohammad Abdel Wahab, alias “Abu Fadi”, who was accused by the Syrian regime of involvement in the abduction of the Shia pilgrims, told LBC television station that he had nothing to do with the group that kidnapped the pilgrims, or with the Free Syrian Army. Abu Fadi told LBC that he helped “Syrian refugees and [contributed to] transferring wounded [people] to Turkey.”He also accused the “Syrian intelligence of fabricating these accusations.”Eleven Lebanese Shia pilgrims were abducted in Aleppo in May while returning from Iran. Last week, a previously unknown armed group calling itself the "Syrian Revolutionaries—Aleppo Province" said that it was holding the pilgrims. -NOW Lebanon

Head of Tripoli’s municipality announces Thursday sit-in
June 6, 2012 /The head of Tripoli’s municipality, Nader Ghazal, said on Wednesday that civil committees in Tripoli “have decided to hold a sit-in on Thursday,” Ghazal told Future News television station.
Ghazal said the sit-in will take place for fear that “the city might be faced with a huge problem.” He added, during an interview with Future News, that if the status quo was preserved in Tripoli “it means [that the city is] heading toward the abyss.” Clashes in Tripoli between two rival neighborhoods, Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabbaneh, have left at least 14 people dead and more than 40 people injured since Friday. The mainly Sunni Bab al-Tabbaneh neighborhood and Jabal Mohnsen, a mainly Alawite neighborhood supportive of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have been gripped by frequent fighting. The recent clashes reflect a split in Lebanon's political scene, in which opposition parties back the revolt in Syria while the ruling coalition, led by Hezbollah, supports the Damascus regime.-NOW Lebanon

Future bloc MP Nabil De Freige: Extra-budgetary spending agreement is ‘order’
June 6, 2012 /Future bloc MP Nabil De Freige said on Wednesday that the “so-called agreement regarding the [extra-budgetary] expenditures issue is not an agreement.” The lawmaker told Future News television station that the settlement “is [based on an] order from Hezbollah, Syrian and Iran.” De Freije said that the spending issue should be resolved in a way similar to that embraced “in previous governments.” Earlier on Wednesday evening, Minister of State Marwan Kheireddine said that “a clear consensus” was reached on the controversial issue of extra-budgetary expenditures.
-NOW Lebanon

Lebanese State minister Marwan Kheireddine says consensus reached on expenditure issue
June 6, 2012 /Minister of State Marwan Kheireddine said on Wednesday that “a clear consensus” was reached on the controversial issue of extra-budgetary expenditures. He told Al-Manar television station: “A draft law for an exceptional loan will be sent to the parliament to be approved until the government [finalizes] the [2012] state budget and sends it to the parliament.” “Once the loan or state budget is sent, the government can ratify a treasury loan to increase the salaries [of employees] in the public sector,” the minister said. March 14 MPs want $11 billion in extra-budgetary government expenses from 2006 to 2011 to be legalized, while March 8 MPs reject this and want almost $6 billion in extra-budgetary spending approved for the current cabinet. -NOW Lebanon

Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rai: ‘Not time for preconditions’ to national dialogue
June 6, 2012 /Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rai said on Wednesday that this was “not the time to set preconditions” for the national dialogue session which President Michel Sleiman had called for.
“What is needed is for us to be [ready to confront] today’s challenges,” National News Agency quoted Rai as saying. Last week, Sleiman sent invitations to the members of the national dialogue committee calling on them to convene on June 11 at 11 a.m. at the Baabda Presidential Palace to discuss various issues, including Hezbollah’s arms. Nevertheless, some members of the March 14 alliance said they reject taking part in the national dialogue session unless Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s cabinet resigns.-NOW Lebanon

Sectarian tension keeps Tripoli on knife-edge
June 06, 2012/The Daily Star
The streets of Tripoli are busy again after several days of clashes over the weekend.
TRIPOLI, Lebanon: After weekend clashes, Tripoli is now relatively quiet, but the calm seems artificial given that the roots of the fighting have not yet been addressed. Many have deemed Tripoli’s problems a spillover of the turmoil in Syria, with residents of the sparring neighborhoods supporting opposite sides of the Syrian conflict. In Bab al-Tabbaneh, most residents support the uprising, while in Jabal Mohsen, pro-Assad sentiment is common.
But the city’s troubles extend beyond street battles. Since the weekend’s installation of a fragile calm, several Alawite-owned businesses in mixed areas have been attacked. These included Mohammad Khodor’s mobile phone shop, an amusement park owned by Youssef Sheikh, the Wehbe gas station, the Beiti coffee shop, and a chicken restaurant owned by Ali Khalil.
The attacks on Alawite businesses have resulted in a real fear that the city will become completely segregated on sectarian lines, a situation that did not even come about during the 1975-90 Civil War.
According to a source close to Refaat Eid, the head of the Arab Democratic Party, this poisonous atmosphere could lead to a renewal of clashes. He argues that the increased security presence in the city should mean that business outside of just Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabanneh are protected. Witnesses told The Daily Star that members of the Internal Security Forces saw the attacks on Alawite stores and did not directly intervene. Even if Tripoli’s problems are related to Syrian strife, they are extending to hamper many aspects of daily life. One prominent supermarket and a popular fast food chain restaurant are considering closing their Tripoli branches because they have suffered major financial losses since the first round of fighting last month. Fighting itself has a financial cost, too. Military reports have said that last Saturday night’s fighting included ammunition and arms to the tune of around $1 million. Amid the overcast atmosphere, some civil society groups are attempting to end the city’s deterioration. Ziyad Ayoubi, a local anti-war activist, said he and his colleagues are “determined to take to the streets to end the clashes, as the entire city is paying the price of arbitrary, useless fighting.”
Tripoli’s mayor, Nader Ghazal, has called for a large scale, peaceful sit-in Thursday to head off future strife. He said that “security concerns are weighing down on everything, and ordinary people in Tripoli are scared. The situation should not continue like this.” Ghazal added that the protest stems from what he called a sense of “real citizenship in Tripoli. People in the city have a right not to leave the streets to fighting and destruction,” he said, pointing out the economic context of the fighting as most of the dead and injured were from low-income backgrounds.
However, the stress has now stretched beyond poor neighborhoods such as Jabal Mohsen, Bab al-Tabbaneh and Qobbeh. Many of the city’s vegetable sellers have taken their carts out of those areas, and migrated to a space near the Rashid Karami International Fair grounds, where one square meter of land goes for around $6,000. Cart owners pitched their tents in this well-off area, sparking a noisy confrontation between vegetable sellers and the police outside Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s house, when police prevented the sellers from burning tires and blocking a road to protest the lack of electricity and water in their new location. A generator and water has been promised, but other locals – the neighborhood includes land owned by former Prime Minister Omar Karami and a cultural center owned by Finance Minister Mohammad Safadi – are not pleased with the down-scale market.

Syrian expat businessmen offer $300 million to rebels
June 6, 2012/A group of expat Syrian businessmen announced in Qatar on Wednesday the creation of a $300 million (239 million euro) fund to support the rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad.
Mustafa Sabbagh, chairperson of the newly created Syrian Business Forum, said "the businessmen of Syria... offer their full and clear support to the revolution against [Assad's] dictatorial regime."
Businessman Khaled Khouja told a news conference the SBF would offer the rebel Free Syrian Army "medical equipment and technological materiel to facilitate its communications in Syria."
Neither Sabbagh nor Khouja elaborated on how the money would be raised and how much, if any, was already available.However, Sabbagh said $150 million had already been given to the rebels, but he did not provide any details. Meanwhile, Wael Mirza, one of the SBF's leaders, said the forum planned to join the opposition coalition Syrian National Council. The SBF has a seven-person board of directors, of which three would represent business people inside Syria, Sabbagh said. He added that trips were planned to donor countries, particularly the oil-rich Arab monarchies in the Gulf.
-AFP/NOW Lebanon

Russia, China come out strongly against Syria action
June 6, 2012 /Moscow and Beijing on Wednesday reaffirmed their strong opposition to intervention in Syria, under mounting international pressure to change a stance that has infuriated Western powers.
A joint statement issued after talks between China's leaders and visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing said the two countries opposed any attempt to impose regime change in Syria after 15 months of bloody conflict. "Russia and China are decisively against attempts to regulate the Syrian crisis with outside military intervention, as well as imposing a policy of regime change, including within the Security Council," it said. The giant neighbors also came out against any use of military force or "unilateral sanctions" against Iran in the statement, released after China's Premier Wen Jiabao met visiting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Wen said Beijing opposes any Middle Eastern country seeking to acquire nuclear weapons, China's official Xinhua news agency reported.
The West believes Iran is trying to develop an atomic bomb under cover of a civilian program, although Tehran insists its intentions are purely peaceful.
Ahmadinejad is expected to seek support for his country's stance at the two-day summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which was set up in 2001 to allow Russia and China to rival US influence in Asia. Putin and Ahmadinejad will meet on Thursday, as Moscow prepares to host more talks later this month aimed at finding a diplomatic solution to the standoff over Iran's nuclear ambitions.
Moscow and Beijing have remained in lockstep over Syria, opposing foreign intervention and forced regime change in the conflict-torn nation.
The two nations vetoed two UN Security Council resolutions criticizing President Bashar al-Assad's regime earlier this year, but they have also voiced support for UN-Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan's six-point peace plan. But as Syrian government troops continue to fight armed rebels in a conflict that has now lasted 15 months, doubts have emerged over the effectiveness of Annan's plan, which came into effect mid-April. Rights groups say more than 13,500 people have died in the Syrian uprising since March 2011, and Western powers are pushing for increased pressure on al-Assad to stop the regime's assault against the population.-AFP/NOW Lebanon

Annan floats idea to rescue failing Syria peace plan-envoys
June 06, 2012/By Louis Charbonneau/Daily Star
UNITED NATIONS: International mediator Kofi Annan will present the U.N. Security Council with a new proposal to rescue his failing peace plan for Syria, where 15 months of violence have brought the country to the brink of civil war, U.N. diplomats said on Wednesday.
Annan's proposal for the creation of a "contact group" of world and regional powers comes as the Syrian opposition and Western and Gulf nations seeking the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad increasingly see Annan's six-point peace plan as doomed due to the Syrian government's determination to use military force to crush an increasingly militarized opposition.
Annan will float his proposal during a special session of the 15-nation council on Syria on Thursday, diplomats said on condition of anonymity. The former U.N. secretary-general hopes his new idea can prevent a total collapse of his earlier plan for a truce and negotiated political solution, they said.
The core of the proposal, diplomats said, would be the establishment of a contact group that would bring together Russia, China, the United States, Britain, France and key regional players with influence on Syria's government or the opposition, such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and Iran.
By creating such a contact group, envoys said, Annan would also be trying to break the deadlock among the five permanent council members that has pitted veto powers Russia and China against the United States, Britain and France and prevented any meaningful U.N. action on the Syrian conflict, envoys said.
It would attempt to map out a "political transition" for Syria that would lead to Assad stepping aside and the holding of free elections, envoys said. One envoy said the idea was "vaguely similar" to a political transition deal for Yemen that led to the president's ouster.
The main point of Annan's proposal, they said, is to get Russia to commit to the idea of a Syrian political transition, which remains the thrust of Annan's six-point peace plan that both the Syrian government and opposition said they accepted earlier this year, but have failed to implement.
ANNAN PEACE PLAN ON "LIFE SUPPORT"
While Russia has repeatedly said it is not protecting Assad, it has given no indications that it is ready to abandon him. Assad has proven to be a staunch Russian ally and remains a top purchaser of weapons from Russian firms, and diplomats say Moscow continues to reward him for his loyalty.
"The thought is one that we've had for a little while, which is that you need to bind Russia into some sort of transition strategy on Syria," a senior Western diplomat said.
"That's what we've been working on over the last few weeks," he said, referring to a series of recent meetings between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov with their European and U.S. counterparts.
An unnamed diplomat leaked further details of Annan's proposal to Washington Post columnist David Ignatius, who said that if the contact group agreed on a transition deal for Syria, it would mean "Assad would presumably depart for Russia, which is said to have offered him exile."
It was not immediately clear if the idea of Russian exile for Assad was something Annan was pushing or if it was Ignatius' speculation. The Post article said that another option for Assad would be to seek exile in Iran, Damascus' other staunch ally.
Annan's peace efforts have failed to halt the violence, as demonstrated by a recent massacre in Houla that led to the deaths of at least 108 men, women and children, most likely by the army and allied militia, according the U.N. But some envoys said it was too early to declare Annan's peace plan dead.
"It may be on life support, but it's not dead," the senior diplomat said about the peace plan.
In what could be the first step toward the creation of Annan's contact group, Russia's Lavrov on Wednesday floated the idea of an international meeting on the Syrian crisis that would bring together the prime candidates for Annan's proposed contact group, including Iran.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, however, reacted coolly to the idea of including Iran, which she said was "stage-managing" the Syrian government assault on the opposition that the United Nations says killed at least 10,000 people.
It is unclear whether such a grouping would be able to agree on a plan for Syria, envoys said. In addition to the United States, the Saudis would have trouble working with the Iranians.
"We are very far from being ready to create a workable contact group along these lines," another senior diplomat said. "But let's see how Annan words it in his proposal tomorrow."
Before he addresses the Security Council on Thursday, Annan will speak to the 193-nation U.N. General Assembly, along with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby.
Separately, envoys said it was unclear if the council will agree to extend the 90-day mandate of the 300-strong unarmed U.N. observer mission in Syria, which is increasingly at risk of attack. Its mandate expires in late July.
More Iran nuclear talks ahead but obstacles loom June 06, 2012/By Ali Akbar Dareini /Daily Star
TEHRAN, Iran: The most tangible accomplishment from the last meeting between Iran and world powers was simply an agreement to talk again about Tehran's nuclear ambitions. When negotiations resume later this month, both sides will be groping for ways to keep the dialogue alive.
It could be a clear challenge. Iran wants what the West appears unwilling to give: easing sanctions to push the talks forward.
Washington and allies are demanding concessions that Iran finds far too lopsided: scaling back its ability to make nuclear fuel in exchange for some modest givebacks such as spare airline parts.
About the only strong force pushing them toward common ground is the likelihood that failure would bring fresh calls from Israel and elsewhere for military action. The chief of staff for Israel's military, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, said Tuesday that a "super-ready" military threat is needed in tandem with diplomatic initiatives.
Gantz also hinted at other "disturbances" to Iran's nuclear program, which was certain to raise speculation about cyberwarfare and assassinations of Iranian scientists that Tehran has blamed on Israel's Mossad spy agency.
"This is both a poker game and a chess match on all sides," said Bruno Tertrais, senior researcher at the Foundation for Strategic Research in Paris. "There's bluffing like with poker. There's the effort to plot several moves ahead like in chess."
"The only real tactic agreement, it seems, is that nobody wants the talks to fall apart," he added. "They want - they need - to find a way to keep them going."
Iran will likely head to the June 18-19 talks in Moscow with the same general demands that fell flat last month in Baghdad, the first main negotiating session since the effort was revived in April.
At the top of Iran's list is having the U.S. and Europe roll back on toughened sanctions targeting Iran's critical oil exports and blackballing the country from international banking networks. The 27-nation European Union, which recently accounted for 18 percent of Iran's oil shipments, plans to begin a boycott July 1.
The six-nation bloc on the other side - the five permanent U.N. Security Council members plus Germany - also seems to be holding fast to its position. The focus is getting Iran to shut down its highest-level uranium enrichment.
The West and others say the 20 percent enriched uranium used in Iran's medical research reactor is just steps away from being boosted to weapons-grade material. In return for fewer sanctions, Iran would be allowed to continue - temporarily at least - to make lower-level fuel for its lone power-generating reactor and receive airplane parts and other goods now restricted by sanctions.
Iran insists it has no intention of making nuclear arms and says its reactors are only for energy and medical applications.
Iranian envoys quickly dismissed the world powers' blueprint as unacceptable. "Diamonds in return for peanuts," scoffed former Iranian nuclear negotiator Hossein Mousavian, who is now a research scholar at Princeton University.
Iranian political commentator Morad Enadi, who is close to the ruling system, predicted there is a risk of "attrition" taking root at the Moscow talks without greater flexibility on all sides.
In a glimpse into Iran's high-level perceptions of the showdown, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday described the sanctions as the West's attempt to "topple the Islamic system" and not just to rein in Tehran's nuclear advancements. Other Iranian officials have increased their calls for Western acknowledgment that Iran has the "right" to enrich uranium as a signatory of the U.N. treaty overseeing the spread of nuclear technology.
The message is that Iran is seeking a clear roadmap from the West on what it expects of Iran and what it will get in return.
"Success of talks in Moscow depends on drawing up a comprehensive agenda," Iran's No. 2 nuclear negotiator, Ali Bagheri, was quoted Wednesday as saying by Iranian media.
Also Wednesday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was in Beijing for a regional security conference that included allies China and Russia, both part of the nuclear talks.
But a priority item from the Western side - inspection access to an Iranian military base - is already a major complication.
On Tuesday, the chief U.S. envoy to the U.N. nuclear agency challenged Iran to ease suspicions it had conducted nuclear weapons-related tests at the Parchin base southeast of Tehran. Iran last month reached a tentative accord to allow teams from the International Atomic Energy Agency into the site, but no timetable has been set.
The agency also has noted satellite photos that suggest extensive earth-moving and cleaning work at Parchin that strengthened fears Iran was trying to cover up evidence of secret work on high explosives used to set off a nuclear charge. Iran has denied it carried out such tests, and said no cleaning operation can remove radioactive residue.
"If Iran has nothing to hide, why deny the agency access and carry out these apparent cleanup efforts?" asked Robert Wood at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna. Iran says it is willing to allow IAEA to visit Parchin as a confidence-building measure, but first wants to set specific guidelines for an inspection.
Wood also hammered on another key Western demand: Halting enrichment work at bunker-like labs carved into a mountainside about 120 kilometers (70 miles) south of Tehran. The Fordo site is far smaller than Iran's main enrichment facility but it is apparently engaged in the highest-level production. U.N. nuclear watchdogs are currently studying internal reports that radioactive material even higher than 20 percent enrichment was detected at the site. Tehran called it a technical glitch.
"Enrichment per se has never been the problem," said the researcher Tertrais. "Germany and Japan have enrichment programs, but do not have nuclear weapons. It's all about suspicions. Iran has to begin to put those suspicions to rest."

Moderate Indonesia?
by Aymenn Jawad Al-TamimiظThe American Spectator
June 6, 2012
http://www.meforum.org/3258/moderate-indonesia
Indonesia -- the world's largest Muslim country by population (with over 200 million Muslims constituting a demographic of just under 90 percent of the population) -- is often held up as an example of a modern, moderate Islamic democracy.
Indeed, this is precisely how David Cameron -- the current UK prime minister -- characterized Indonesia in a visit to the capital Jakarta back in April, addressing students there with the following remarks: "The people of Indonesia can show through democracy there is an alternative to dictatorship and extremism. That here in the country with the biggest Muslim population on the planet, religion and democracy need not be in conflict."
But is this conventional wisdom accurate? To begin with, it is worth noting that as of this year, Indonesia is still denoted "Free" by Freedom House, scoring (on a descending scale of 1 to 7) 2 for political rights and 3 for civil liberties. A report by the think-tank from last year affirmed, "Indonesia is an electoral democracy. In 2004, for the first time, Indonesians directly elected their president and all members of the House of Representatives (DPR), as well as members of a new legislative body, the House of Regional Representatives (DPD)."
These elections -- as well as direct elections for regional leaders that began in 2005 -- have generally been judged free and fair. In addition, Freedom House declared that "Indonesia is home to a vibrant and diverse media environment."
However, these points do not make Indonesia a model of democracy and civil rights for the Muslim world.
To begin with, consider the case of Aceh, an autonomous region of Indonesia in the far north of Sumatra. Aceh rigorously enforces aspects of Islamic law that curtail civil liberties. For example, the sale of alcohol is banned and those caught gambling are subjected to caning. Further, there is a special Islamic police force in the province known as "Wilayatul Hisbah" that oversees observance of a dress code, targeting women wearing shorts or seemingly tight trousers.
Debate also continues over whether adulterers should be beaten publicly -- as is the current practice -- or subject to the punishment of stoning. In fact, the question of whether Islamic law is enforced strictly enough was a talking point behind the election of the provincial governor back in April. The incumbent Irwandi Yusuf, who opposes stoning for adultery, lost out to Zaini Abdullah, who promises to introduce a "purer" form of Shari'a to the province.
It should be noted that Abdullah was a former rebel leader in the Free Aceh Movement, which waged a 30-year insurgency campaign against the central government. Autonomy and local elections came as part of a peace agreement in 2005.
Yusuf, who was elected governor for a five-year term in December 2006, has always been seen as a maverick among the rebel movement that has since morphed into the Aceh Party, which is described by the International Crisis Group as an "autocratic, almost feudal party that brooks no dissent." With the rise of Abdullah, who is strongly backed by the Aceh Party, the latter can consolidate its power in the province.
Aceh was probably the first area in what is now Indonesia to adopt Islam. The Sultanate of Aceh that emerged in 1496 always had a reputation for religious observance and fierce independence. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, it was renowned for its pirates who regularly conducted raids against Thailand, besides attacking European and American trade convoys in the straits of Malacca. This was one of the motives behind the eventual Dutch conquest of Aceh in 1913.
As scholar and adviser on colonial affairs Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje noted in his work The Acehnese:
From Mohammedanism (which for centuries she [i.e., Aceh] is reputed to have accepted) she really only learnt a large number of dogmas relating to hatred of the infidel without any of their mitigating concomitants; so the Acehnese made a regular business of piracy and man-hunting at the expense of the neighboring non-Mohammedan countries and islands, and considered that they were justified in any act of treachery or violence to European (and latterly to American) traders who came in search of pepper, the staple product of the country. Complaints of robbery and murder on board ships trading in Acehnese parts thus grew to be chronic."
Now, it could be argued that Aceh is only an anomaly in Indonesia. To be sure, the sale of alcohol is allowed elsewhere in Indonesia. In addition, it would be wrong to generalize and claim that Islam as practiced in Aceh is the same across the entire country.
For instance, on the island of Java, which is home to the country's capital of Jakarta and has a population of 138 million, the conversion from Islam to Hinduism was for many only a nominal process, unlike Aceh. Consequently, they practiced a rather syncretic form of the religion, and in recent years there has been to a certain extent a Hindu revival in Java.
Nonetheless, the overall trend is pointing in a negative direction with respect to treatment of religious minorities. In February of last year, a Christian man was convicted of "blasphemy" against Islam and sentenced to five years in prison. For Islamists in Java, this punishment was not enough, and in a subsequent rampage they attacked members of the Ahmadiyya sect that affirms its Muslim identity but is deemed heretical by most orthodox Muslims. At the same time, two churches were burned and a third razed to the ground.
To take another example, in May of this year, on the outskirts of Jakarta, a Muslim mob threw stones and bags of urine at a church on Ascension Day: the culmination of an intimidation campaign that had begun in January.
One could go on (a Christian center burned by a mob believing that a new church was being built in violation of traditional Islamic law), and the problem is that the government has failed to protect religious minorities, with violence against them on the rise.
For concrete statistics, one need only look at a Guardian report from last month, which points out that "last year, the local Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace recorded 244 acts of violence against religious minorities -- nearly double the 2007 figure."
The Guardian article, which focuses on the case of a civil servant facing a prison sentence for posting "God doesn't exist" on Facebook, also points to the Indonesian Communion of Churches, which says that around "80 churches have been closed each year since President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono took power in 2004, and an additional 1,000 congregations have faced harassment."
In the case of West Papua, which has like Aceh been the center of a separatist movement, it is reported that the Indonesian security forces are actively persecuting Christians (see here as well).
This is exactly reminiscent of the security forces' behavior not only in what is now East Timor but also in the Maluku Islands in 2000-2002, where many Indonesian soldiers cooperated with the Islamist militant group Laskar Jihad's campaign against Christian Melanesians that killed up to 10,000 Christians.
The trend towards increasing intolerance was also noted by the liberal Muslim writer Irshad Manji, who faced harassment multiple times during her recent book tour in Indonesia to promote her book Allah, Liberty, and Love, which has now been banned in neighboring Malaysia.
Compared with much of the Middle East and North Africa, as well as countries like Pakistan, Indonesia is distant from Islamist theocracy. It should be noted that many of the reports linked to above come from Indonesian outlets like the Jakarta Post. This indicates a commendable degree of press freedom that is by contrast being increasingly eroded in Turkey, which is also upheld as a model for the Muslim world but leads the globe in the number of imprisoned journalists.
Nevertheless, the recent trends in Indonesia point to an environment increasingly intolerant of religious minorities and civil liberties: not only in Aceh, but also the nation in general.
Observers often point to an influx of Wahhabi clerics from the Middle East as the cause, but in my view one should also bear in mind that what Daniel Pipes terms the "Islamic revival," which began in the 1970s on a global scale, is deeply rooted in issues of identity and cannot simply be put down to oil revenues flowing into Saudi Arabia, has not quite run out of steam.
In sum, one cannot put it any better than the headline of an op-ed by Andreas Harsono in the New York Times: Indonesia today is "no model for Muslim democracy."
Update from June 6, 2012: Today comes a report in the Jakarta Post, in which an Indonesian think-tank called Charta Politika discusses encroachment of Shari'a into local politics, mentioning the specific case of the city of Taskimalaya in West Java that will soon require all Muslim women - visitors or residents - to wear veils. Again, it should be emphasised that the secular trend that was certainly apparent in the early 1970s is being reversed.
*Ayenn Jawad Al-Tamimi is a student at Brasenose College, Oxford University, and an adjunct fellow at the Middle East Forum.