Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for June 24/12
Muslim Brotherhood's Muhammed Morsi is president of Egypt
 Arab World Welcomes Morsi's Win, Hamas Hails 'Historic Moment'
Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai urges government to help Lebanese keep their land
March 14 MP Boutros Harb: National dialogue session ‘ill-timed’
Salafi Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir accuses Hezbollah of involvement in arrest of Sunni sheikh
Arslan warns that 'game of nations' could destroy Lebanon
Makari says victory in Koura by-election vital for March 14
Moussawi Slams Calls for Change, Urges it to be Productive
Koura Heads to Heated By-election as SSNP's Azar Announces Candidacy
Qaouq: March 14 Forces Insist on Provoking Civil Strife
Aoun Calls for Electoral Law Based on Proportional Representation
Ship with Syria choppers enters Russian port
NATO to discuss downing of Turkish plane by Syria
Britain condemns "outrageous" Syrian attack on Turkish jet, says Reuters

Muslim Brotherhood's Muhammed Morsi is president of Egypt
DEBKAfile Special Report June 24, 2012/Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood has achieved the goal set at its foundation 84 years ago. Its candidate Mohammed Morsi was declared Sunday afternoon, June 24, victor of last week’s presidential election runoff with 51.73 percent, beating his rival, Ahmed Shafiq, former prime minister under the ousted Hosni Mubarak. Brotherhood supporters massed in tens of thousands at Tahrir Square set up a great cheer. Before the results were announced, they called for the Supreme Military Council ruling Egypt in the interim to step down and are now preparing to fight the generals to win for their president the sweeping powers assumed by the generals ahead of the election. Although elected more or less democratically, Morsi and his party are expected to turn the Egyptian revolution into the cornerstone of an Islamic state more closely akin to the Islamic Republic of Iran than the democratic, secular state envisioned by the revolutionaries when they fought for Mubarak’s overthrow. In time, Israeli will discover its three-decade old peace pact with Egypt is also destined to go by the board as the Islamist majority in parliament gives Egypt a new constitution broadly based on the Sharia. The military council, though widely charged with usurping power, proved helpless against the Islamic tide which polarized rather than sweeping the country. The close election results showed Egypt to be deeply split into at least two large camps and this bodes ill for its future stability. The generals will have no choice but to come to terms with the Muslim Brotherhood. But any deal they reach will be short-lived because the Islamists have the legislative power to enact laws for stripping the military elite of its privileges. Some of the generals may choose to retire rather than support the Brotherhood.
The first to read the writing on the wall was Mubarak’s former intelligence chief, Gen. Omar Suleiman, who dropped out of the presidential race at an early stage. The last DEBKA-Net-Weekly’s sources disclosed that Suleiman had boarded a flight to Munich, Germany last Wednesday, June 20. He was quick to foresee that the Muslim Brotherhood, backed by the Obama administration, was heading for rule over Egypt. Having devoted much of his career to putting Muslim Brotherhood activists behind bars, Suleiman knew that he could expect nothing more under the new regime than the fate of his old boss, Hosni Mubarak, namely, a slow, cruel death in prison. In another part of Cairo, supporters of Ahmed Shafiq demonstrated waited out the results by protesting against “foreign intervention” in Egypt’s democratic process. They accused the US of tilting the election against their candidate. Disgruntled pro-democracy secular activists stood quietly in Cairo’s emblematic square in mourning for the revolution they lost.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai urges government to help Lebanese keep their land
June 24, 2012/The Daily Star/BEIRUT: Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai called on the government Sunday to encourage Lebanese citizens to retain possession of their land by creating a new law that would protect property rights. “The government must ensure job opportunities so citizens can invest in their land and not succumb to relentless pressure from various temptations and sell it, especially to foreigners, or [even] to Lebanese if the goal is sectarian,” Rai added. The government, according to Rai, should also enact laws to enable owners to exercise all the rights associated with ownership.
"The Maronite Patriarchate calls on us to remain steadfast in our land because we carry the message of Christianity in the East,” said Beshara during his Sunday sermon.
“We don’t have the right to give up this message or the land, which is our security,” he warned. "The land is a bequest from our forefathers. It is sacred. It connects us with the Creator and the previous generations as well as the coming generations,” Rai said. “We shall pass on but the land shall remain,” he added. Rai also urged the Lebanese state to “remove the causes of migration such as poverty, lack of infrastructure, corruption and security-related tension.” Moreover, he said, the government must improve the country’s economic output, particularly in the fields of agriculture, industry and tourism.

Makari says victory in Koura by-election vital for March 14
June 24, 2012/The Daily Star
Deputy Parliament Speaker Farid Makari, center, holds a news conference with candidate Fadi Karam, third right, in Koura, north Lebanon, Sunday, June 24, 2012. (The Daily Star/Antoine Amrieh)
KOURA, Lebanon: Deputy Parliament Speaker Farid Makari said Sunday that it is crucial for March 14’s political fortunes that the Lebanese Forces candidate triumph in next month’s parliamentary by-election in Koura, north Lebanon.
“Lebanese Forces candidate Dr. Fadi Karam’s victory is very important to March 14’s political path so that at the right moment it will be able to restore the parliamentary majority that was stolen from it,” Makari said during a news conference with Karam in Koura.
The by-election, slated to be held on July 15, will fill the Orthodox post that became vacant with the death of LF MP Farid Habib on May 31.
“I hope that the July 15 by-election will be a sample of the victory that March 14 forces will achieve in the 2013 [parliamentary] elections,” Makari added.
The deputy speaker alleged that the Hezbollah-led March 8 coalition was seeking to torpedo the by-election.
“The others began promoting the idea that the by-election could not go ahead under the current circumstances because they are aware that the Lebanese people will punish them and renew confidence in March 14,” he said.
Some observers believe that Karam will end up winning unopposed because March 8 parties wish to avoid a bruising election battle less than a year before the 2013 parliamentary polls.
Karam, for his part, reiterated that he was looking forward to continuing down Habib’s path.
“Our mission today is to complete the path we started together and the message – which has become our duty,” Karam said.
“This is why, with all confidence, we must renew our rejection of the [Syrian] tutelage [over Lebanon] and confirm our principles. We must faithfully represent the people of Koura, who demonstrated their adherence to these principles in the 2005 and 2009 elections and who will renew their vow in the July 15 by-election to establish a bridge to the 2013 elections.”

NATO to Meet after Turkey Accuses Syria of Downing Jet in Int’l Airspace
إNaharnet/NATO said it will hold an emergency meeting after Ankara on Sunday accused Syria of downing a Turkish jet in international airspace, raising fears that tensions could soar in the tinderbox region.
While admitting that a Turkish F-4 phantom jet briefly strayed into Syrian territory on Friday, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said it was clearly out of it when it was shot down.
"According to our conclusions, our plane was shot down in international airspace, 13 nautical miles from Syria," he said in a television interview. "The plane did not show any sign of hostility toward Syria and was shot down about 15 minutes after having momentarily violated Syrian airspace," he said. Syria did not issue a warning before shooting down the plane, which was on an unarmed training mission to carry out a radar system test. "The Syrians knew full well that it was a Turkish military plane and the nature of its mission," he said, adding that the plane was flying by itself and was not "on any mission, including information gathering, above Syria.""Nobody should dare put Turkey's (military) capabilities to the test," Davutoglu warned. "No-one can threaten Turkey's security."
"Turkey will act with restraint but determination," he said. "We will bring this affair before public opinion and international law in the name of Turkey's honor."
NATO said it will hold an emergency meeting on Tuesday following a request from Turkey that invoked Article 4 of the alliance's founding treaty under which members can request a meeting if their security is threatened.
"The North Atlantic Council will meet on Tuesday at Turkey's request," said NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu. And U.N. Security Council member Britain warned that Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime "should not make the mistake of believing that it can act with impunity.""It will be held to account for its behavior," Foreign Secretary William Hague said, adding that London was ready to pursue "robust action" at the Security Council. Syria has said it took out the F-4 phantom jet on Friday after it violated its airspace.Search and rescue teams have located the wreckage of the jet, CNN-Turk television reported on Sunday. The wreckage has been found at a depth of 1,300 meters, it said, without giving its precise location. The Turkish foreign ministry said it could not confirm the report.
*Agence France PresseAssociated Press

Moussawi Slams Calls for Change, Urges it to be Productive
Naharnet/Hizbullah MP Nawaf Moussawi urged on Saturday the cabinet to activate its productivity, slamming those who are calling for its collapse. “Changing the cabinet at this point would make the country slip over into the turmoil in the region,” Moussawi said from the town of Ansar in southern Lebanon. He stressed that the government is a “safety belt” for the country. Moussawi also addressed the lingering electricity crisis, calling on the concerned officials to swiftly resolve it. Frequent power cuts have been witnessed in Lebanon over the past week, with citizens venting their frustrations through blocking roads in various regions across the country.

Qaouq: March 14 Forces Insist on Provoking Civil Strife
Naharnet/Deputy head of Hizbullah's Executive Council Sheikh Nabil Qaouq said Sunday that “certain groups are weakening Lebanon’s power in confronting the Israeli enemy by provoking civil strife and protecting gunmen fighting in Syria,” stressing that the government will not resign and should “shoulder its responsibilities.” During a commemorative celebration in the southern town of Selaa, Qaouq said that March 14 forces “insist on provoking civil strife, while we are determined to defuse the tension and this is the reason behind our participation in national dialogue.”“Certain groups are endangering Lebanon and weakening its power in confronting the Israeli enemy, through inciting sectarian strife and protecting the gunmen who are fighting in Syria after crossing the Lebanese border,” he added. The Hizbullah official considered that “March 14 did not abide by the Baabda principles, which called for protecting Lebanon from the fire raging in Syria,” adding that the group “is involved in a regional scheme to weaken the government.”He also called on March 14 forces to “stop planting mines in the cabinet’s path, because the national necessity requires preserving stability, which can only be secured through the survival of this government.”Qaouq stressed that the cabinet will not resign, adding that the political disagreements “should not reach the level of threatening the needs and interests of the people.”
“The issue of electricity shortage is a result of the previous governments’ misconduct, in addition to the opposition which impedes efforts to secure funds for projects,” the Hizbullah official said, adding that the government will stay “until the upcoming elections.”

March 14 MP Boutros Harb: National dialogue session ‘ill-timed’
June 24, 2012/Now Lebanon /March 14 MP Boutros Harb said on Sunday that the national dialogue session was “ill-timed.” “The national dialogue session was ill-timed because in light of the [regional developments] no group can [foresee] upcoming events in order to take a [definite] stance,” Harb told LBC television station. “Will Hezbollah be able to take a stance on its arms in light of what is happening to the regime of Syrian [President Bashar al-Assad]?” Harb inquired. Hezbollah is the Assad’s regime strongest ally in Lebanon and spearheads the March 8 alliance. Harb put an emphasis on the issue of non-state arms, saying it should be the key item on the agenda of the second national dialogue session set for Monday. Furthermore, he told LBC that “defense strategy” was a veiled way of referring to Hezbollah’s weapons.“The term ‘defense strategy’ is an indirect way of [referring] to Hezbollah’s arms,” Harb said. The Western-backed March 14 coalition is a vociferous critic of Hezbollah’s controversial military arsenal. Lebanon’s national dialogue committee, chaired by President Michel Sleiman, convened on June 11 at the Baabda Presidential Palace after 18 months of suspension. The upcoming session set for June 25 is expected to discuss the national-defense strategy. -NOW Lebanon

Salafi Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir accuses Hezbollah of involvement in arrest of Sunni sheikh
June 24, 2012 /Salafi Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir on Sunday lashed out at Lebanese Shia group Hezbollah and accused it of involvement in the alleged arrest of a Sunni cleric in the Bekaa town of Machghara.
During an interview with Al-Jadeed television station, Assir said that Sheikh Othman Hnaine, was arrested along with his wife at a Lebanese army checkpoint in Machghara “for no particular reason” after he was spotted “by a motor biker affiliated with [Hezbollah’s] militia.” The Salafi Sheikh added that the issue was resolved after the alleged intervention of the head of the Lebanese Army Intelligence in South Lebanon, Brigadier Ali Shahrour. Assir, who is the imam of the Bilal bin Rabah Mosque in Saida, pledged that he will make Hezbollah’s Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah “pay, in a peaceful way, for what happened to Hnaine.” Assir told Al-Jadeed that the Sunni cleric who was allegedly arrested reads the Quran at the Bilal bin Rabah Mosque.Turning to the issue of Hezbollah’s controversial military arsenal, he said that its weapons were not aimed at Israel.“It is a big lie to say that Hezbollah’s arms are aimed at Israel because, since 2006, [Hezbollah] did not retaliate to any [Israeli] violations.”
Furthermore, Assir said that the majority of Sunnis in Lebanon were neither “satisfied” with the conduct of Premier Najib Mikati nor with that of Future bloc leader MP Fouad Siniora and former Prime Minister Saad Hariri.-NOW Lebanon

Lebanon's cruel summer
Alex Rowell, June 24, 2012 /Now Lebanon
What with sporadic militia battles linked to neighboring Syria, weekly tire-burning demonstrations and key Gulf countries advising their citizens to avoid the country, expectations for the Lebanese tourism industry this year are understandably less than bullish. Buoyed by initially solid revenues from regional corporate clientele, business in the capital is reportedly up this year compared to the first half of 2011. But sales have taken a dive elsewhere in the country, and industry insiders tell NOW Lebanon that instability threatens to reverse the gains made in the capital as well. “In the first five months of the year, we had growth over last year of around 35 percent in Beirut,” says Pierre Ashkar, head of the Hotel Owners Association. “This was coming from the business community – conferences and so on, especially inter-Arab corporate clients. Also, last year we didn’t have a government in the first six months of the year.”
However, according to Ashkar, hotel traffic in addition to all touristic activities outside of Beirut have decreased by around 50 percent over the same period. “We’ve lost the usual Syrian, Jordanian, Iranian and other customers who tend to go to more affordable places outside Beirut,” he said.
“And now, since May, Beirut has slowed down because the Arab corporate clients are on vacation. Not to mention that we have an embargo from several Arab countries, and it seems that even the Lebanese expatriates aren’t coming in the same numbers as before. Then you have Ramadan starting on July 20, which will slow things further. So I don’t think it will be a good summer.”
Paul Ariss – head of the Syndicate of Owners of Restaurants, Cafes, Night Clubs & Pastries – is even gloomier. “Forty thousand Jordanians, Syrians, Iraqis, Kurds and Turks who used to show up every month by land are just not coming anymore. There are no reservations at mountain hotels and resorts, and very few reservations at Beirut hotels. Sales of tickets at music festivals are down. Locals are saving their cash in fear of bad days. I leave you to imagine the economic consequences on tourism, trade, agriculture, etc.”
In the more affordable market segment, some hoteliers have managed to escape trouble thus far, though they remain anxious about the security situation. Mac McClenahan, general manager of the Saifi Urban Gardens hotel in Gemmayze, says, “We are totally booked for the summer, so I think things will be fine if they stay as they are right now. We’ve had more than a few questions from customers about what we think is going to happen politically and whether it’ll be safe. And so I’d say if it gets worse then we’ll start to have cancellations, but right now as it is, people aren’t cancelling.”
The recent electricity blackouts are a further source of concern. “It’s actually the electricity situation that I’m most worried about, because it’s going to cause lots of problems for us if the electricity keeps cutting all the time,” says McClenahan. “It’s difficult for us to maintain our level of service if the AC stops working and there’s no hot water and so on. It’ll be a huge cost for us if this continues because we’ll have to start paying for diesel generators.”
In response to these widely-shared worries, a group of leading private sector players has launched “Shou Fi Bi Lebnen?” (“What Is There In Lebanon?”), a marketing campaign endorsed by the Tourism Ministry to promote the country as a holiday destination. At a press conference held on June 6, retailer Aishti CEO Tony Salameh explained that the campaign “aims to promote the wealth of the country, at the cultural, historical and natural levels” as well as to “highlight the various leisure activities it offers tourists, such as shopping, beach resorts and nightlife.”
Also speaking was Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud, who sought to downplay the extent of the security problem. “There is no reason for tourists to feel afraid to come to Lebanon. On the contrary, it is a destination rich on all levels, capable of ensuring the safety of its visitors. Apart from isolated incidents, Lebanon enjoys a security not found anywhere else in the major European capitals.”
While welcoming the attempt to revitalize the summer season, insiders were doubtful that the campaign would ultimately have much effect. “In principle, we have to always be on the map to show that we’re still here, we’re still living and we’re waiting for better days,” says Ashkar. “But it’s not going to give us anything more.”
As for McClenahan, he sees security as the decisive factor for the season’s fate. “The big worry is of some kind of drastic change. Everybody who’s planning to come this summer has taken into account the situation, and if it stays how it is, I think those people will come.
“But if things change drastically, we’ll have a bunch of cancellations.”

Hezbollah
Hazem al-Amin, June 22, 2012/Now Lebanon
Hezbollah exerted extraordinary control over “its community” with regard to the 11 Lebanese nationals kidnapped in Syria. This speaks in the party’s favor but should, at the same time, lead to certain interpretations. Other kidnappings have taken place, leading to counter-kidnappings and swap deals. This was the case in the Syrian provinces of Soueida and Daraa, as well as between Lebanese nationals in Akkar and people from coastal Syria. However, Hezbollah did not have recourse to the same method.
The political and security implication of Hezbollah’s failure to have recourse to the same behavior still means that its foes should consider that this speaks in the party’s favor. Rather, it is even necessary to say so in order to help the party resolve the conundrum in which it finds itself as a result of feeling compelled to abide by an option that is inevitably heading to failure.
Hezbollah gave many indications recently that it is seeking to alleviate a genuine civil stalemate. On the national dialogue front, the party did not recant its attachment to its weapons, but it fell short of mustering its arrogance in order to underscore this attachment. Rather, it called for discussing the “defense strategy” and agreed on [preserving] “Lebanon’s neutrality” vis-à-vis the Syrian issue while seeking to lure the March 14 coalition into taking part in the dialogue. Hezbollah had not done any of that over the past few years.
The party is obviously “redeploying” in keeping with the new facts dictated by the situation in Syria. Over the six years that followed the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon, Hezbollah inherited the security, military and political gaps left over by the Syrian influence.
In other words, it “got the cake and ate it too.” It inherited the sway and influence and, in many cases, the language, rhetoric and lack of modesty. Hezbollah officials talked to their foes in Lebanon like al-Hajjaj bin Youssef al-Thaqfi talked to the people of Iraq when he said: “I see heads that are ripe. It is time to harvest these heads, which I own.” Nowadays, Hezbollah has reverted to a more modest language. This denotes a certain political sense that goes to the party’s credit. It is certainly not intrinsic modesty and can still be recanted, but its political substance still retains some value, as it is based on facts that denote Hezbollah is performing some kind of evaluation.
In keeping with this newfound modesty as a result of the Syrian revolution, Hezbollah seems confronted to major disappointments today, all of which are of its own doing. It is still looking for a Sunni partner and has seemingly become convinced that this cannot be done without any costs. In order for PM Najib Mikati to say that “the Resistance’s weapons are sacred,” Hezbollah had to accept the release of some Islamist prisoners and to abstain from supporting its ally Michel Aoun in cabinet struggles, be it with regard to electricity or to the budget. Meanwhile, it would be alright to avoid speeches by Hezbollah’s secretary general in which he provokes the Sunni community as he had been doing for the past six years.
Nevertheless, modesty leaves a collective psychological impact, the repercussions of which should be addressed. Indeed, this is bound to affect the narcissism insufflated by the party within “its community”, leading to a change in its function. Modesty is usually positive whereas wounded narcissism is likely to take a negative turn.
Still, one cannot rely on this wound in order to predict Hezbollah’s future actions, as politics is far heavier than to allow itself to be led by wounded narcissism. Hezbollah knows that there is no alternative to dealing with certain events … These events are taking place there in Syria, not in Tripoli, and certainly not in Rabieh.
This article is a translation of the original, which appeared on the NOW Arabic site on Friday June 22, 2012

General electric
Michael Young, June 22, 2012/Now Lebanon
Michel Aoun has more ministers in this government than any single Christian politician has ever had, and yet he has made an absolute mess of things.
I invite you, dear reader, to shine a light (battery power, of course) on a conversation you surely had with the Aounists when Gebran Bassil was first handed the energy portfolio. Invariably, the loyal followers would assert that Lebanon at last had a competent minister.
Competent Bassil doubtless is, though not quite in the way his admirers meant. But when it comes to ameliorating the lot of the Lebanese, Michel Aoun’s son-in-law has been a calamity. Among those most aware of this are Hezbollah’s supporters (and not only them), who are taking to the streets daily to curse his ineptitude.
Earlier this week Aoun himself came to the defense of the son he never had. An irate general declared that everyone was to blame for the abysmal electricity output, which was doubtless correct. Yet if we follow his logic, we can apply that excuse to many other problems the Lebanese have confronted in recent years—problems that Aoun has blamed entirely, without reserve, on his political foes.
More interesting was the undertone of Aoun’s complaint. He was clearly flustered by the fact that the electorate of his Hezbollah partners has been particularly aggressive in denouncing the power cuts, behind walls of burning tires. Remember when the general ordered his followers to block roads to bring down Fouad Siniora’s government starting in 2006? Those tactics are apparently harder to stomach when directed against his own.
Aoun and Hezbollah need each other, and they will continue to collaborate, particularly in the parliamentary elections next year. However, their interests have diverged under the tattered umbrella of Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s government. Nor can the party particularly relish what will likely happen in 2014, when it comes time to choose a successor to President Michel Sleiman.
Many Aounists still believe, against common sense, that their leader will succeed Sleiman as the next president. And they still believe, against past evidence, that Hezbollah will help carry the general to Baabda. In 2008, the party supported Sleiman’s election, and it did not do so because it was pressured to give up on Aoun; Hezbollah did so because it was never its intention to gratify Aoun’s presidential ambitions, even as the party hypocritically, but always in a deniable way, suggested that he was the prime candidate.
Who will be Hezbollah’s choice in two years? Many believe he is Jean Kahwaji, the army commander. Alas, Kahwaji has perpetuated that dismal habit of allowing officers to put up giant portraits of him, in what is an effort to start his election campaign early. Evidently, there are no credible Maronites outside the military, so that at every new presidential election we must face an epidemic of khaki.
Certainly, Kahwaji can pretend to be Lebanon’s savior these days, as the army occupies itself by intervening in gun battles, opening roads, fighting with Palestinian refugees, and what have you. As in 2006 to 2008, the armed forces seem to be the last rampart between what passes for normality and chaos, so expect the army commander to exploit this for all it is worth, just as Sleiman did previously.
How will Aoun react? The general is anxious about his political future. According to Aounists in the Keserwan district, the movement has lost considerable momentum there. Electoral alliances in several districts of Mount Lebanon—with Hezbollah in Baabda and Jbeil, and with the Armenians in the Metn—could decisively bolster the Aounists’ fortunes, but it would also make them vulnerable. If Aoun needs Hezbollah to win a majority in Mount Lebanon next year, his latitude to compel the party to then elect him president will be greatly diminished.
Aoun has only himself to blame. Hezbollah has played him like a fiddle for years, but its links with the general have given him leverage that he never properly took advantage of. Twice, he won a majority of Christian seats in parliament, but has yet seen his appeal decline. Aoun has more ministers in this government than any single Christian politician has ever had, and yet he has made an absolute mess of things—alienating almost all of his cabinet allies, displaying unprecedented greed and annoying even Hezbollah.
And soon, if he is still among us when the next president is selected, Aoun will have to swallow the additional insult of seeing the presidency escape him for a second (even a third) time. That won’t ameliorate his relationship with Hezbollah, but don’t expect the general to find anyone to burn tires in the streets on his behalf.
**Michael Young is opinion editor of The Daily Star newspaper in Lebanon. He tweets @BeirutCalling.


Britain condemns "outrageous" Syrian attack on Turkish jet, says Reuters
June 24, 2012 /British Foreign Minister William Hague on Sunday condemned Syria's shooting down of a Turkish jet as "outrageous" and said Britain was ready to support stout action against Syria by the United Nations Security Council, Reuters reported.Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmat Davatoglu said earlier in the day that Syria shot down a Turkish fighter jet while it was flying in international airspace some 15 minutes after momentarily straying into Syria's territory, according to AFP.
"I am gravely concerned by the Syrian regime's action in shooting down a Turkish military plane on 22 June," Hague said in a statement published by his ministry.
"This outrageous act underlines how far beyond accepted behavior the Syrian regime has put itself and I condemn it wholeheartedly," Reuters quoted Hague as saying.
"[Syria] will be held to account for its behavior. The UK stands ready to pursue robust action at the UN Security Council," he added.
-NOW Lebanon