LCCC
ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
March 22/2012
Bible Quotation for today/False
Teachers
02 Peter 02/10-22: like wild animals
born to be captured and killed; they attack with insults anything they do not
understand. They will be destroyed like wild animals, and they will be paid with
suffering for the suffering they have caused. Pleasure for them is to do
anything in broad daylight that will satisfy their bodily appetites; they are a
shame and a disgrace as they join you in your meals, all the while enjoying
their deceitful ways! They want to look for nothing but the chance to commit
adultery; their appetite for sin is never satisfied. They lead weak people into
a trap. Their hearts are trained to be greedy. They are under God's curse! They
have left the straight path and have lost their way; they have followed the path
taken by Balaam son of Beor, who loved the money he would get for doing wrong
and was rebuked for his sin. His donkey spoke with a human voice and stopped the
prophet's insane action. These people are like dried-up springs, like clouds
blown along by a storm; God has reserved a place for them in the deepest
darkness. They make proud and stupid statements, and use immoral bodily lusts to
trap those who are just beginning to escape from among people who live in error.
They promise them freedom while they themselves are slaves of destructive
habits—for we are slaves of anything that has conquered us. If people have
escaped from the corrupting forces of the world through their knowledge of our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and then are again caught and conquered by them,
such people are in worse condition at the end than they were at the beginning.
It would have been much better for them never to have known the way of
righteousness than to know it and then turn away from the sacred command that
was given them. What happened to them shows that the proverbs are true: A dog
goes back to what it has vomited and A pig that has been washed goes back to
roll in the mud.
Latest
analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous
sources
Why this absurdity/By Tariq
Alhomayed/Asharq Al-Awsat/
March 21/12
Damascus’s media recommendations/By Ali Ibrahim/Asharq
Alawsat/March 21/12
The Sunni Wali al-Faqih/By Abdullah
Al-Otaibi/Asharq Alawsat/March 21/12
Israel should notify its citizens before striking Iran/By
Zvi Bar'el /Haaretz/March 21/12
Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for
March 21/12
LBC: US fears some Lebanese banks involved in ‘funding
Iranian nuclear program’
Geagea says Aoun bloc
corrupt, incompetent
March 14 Youths Urge Suspension of Classes Thursday in
Protest against Antonine University Incident
Al-Rahi: We’re Awaiting Outcome of Committee’s Efforts on
New Electoral Law
Rai to visit Syria “when situation settles down”
Reuters chief in Beirut clarifies Rai’s interview
Lebanese Parliament
trims prison year, OKs transport allowance
Hariri vows support for
women's rights
Teachers gather at Riad
al-Solh to demand pay, benefits
Watkins and Abu Faour discuss supporting HRC
3 wounded in Ain al-Hilweh shootout
30-kg bomb found near
Fatah official's home in Ain al-Hilweh
Lebanese Hizbullah Suspect Pleads Not Guilty to Thai
Weapons Charge
Roux briefs Sleiman on STL defense work
Former Mossad chief: Israel will know before Iran begins
producing nuclear weapons
U.S. exempts Japan, ten European nations from Iran
sanctions
Iran's Supreme Leader: Iran will defend itself from U.S.,
Israeli aggression
Romney wins Illinois,
picks up Jeb Bush backing
New York police say Iran
did surveillance in city
Al Qaeda
killer still under police siege
Live Coverage: French police surround suspect in Jewish
school shooting
French prosecutor: Gunman planned to kill soldier
Besieged gunman boasted he brought France to its knees
French school killings suspect says will surrender
French Foreign Minister: France is determined to fight
terrorism and anti-Semitism
Arab Parliament calls for toppling al-Assad
UN Security Council demands Syria carry out Annan peace
plan
U.N. chief warns of "massive repercussions" from Syria
crisis
Russia, China join U.N. council in call for Syria peace
U.N. unites on Syria, sanctions set for Assad's wife
UN chief: Syria unrest
could have global impact
Russia: Syria's Assad regime has made many mistakes
Syria rebels quit eastern city; Russia critical
Saudi Arabia pushing Bahrain to solve crisis, fears Syria
effect
Palestinians ask for U.N. human rights investigation
Geagea says Aoun bloc
corrupt, incompetent
March 21, 2012/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea launched a scathing attack against
the Change and Reform bloc, saying that its ministers in government were
corrupt.
“The thing that saddens me the most these days is that those who spoke
diligently about corruption for the past 20 years proved to be the most corrupt
in Lebanon’s history after taking charge of sensitive ministries in the
government,” Geagea told a delegation of doctors in Meerab, north of Beirut.
During his chat, Geagea listed what he said proves the inability of Change and
Reform bloc ministers, headed by Free Patriotic Movement MP Michel Aoun, to run
government institutions.
“How is it possible that after months of the Energy Ministry claiming that the
project to lease electricity-generating ships has been finalized, the
ministerial committee headed by the prime minister that studied [the project]
said that it would cost the treasury tens of millions [of dollars], even
hundreds of millions?” Geagea asked.
He added that the delay in approving the proposal has doubled the electricity
problems faced by the country.
He also directed questions at ministers of the bloc regarding what he described
as the deteriorating condition of cell phone lines and the a delay in civil
service appointments that has “partially paralyzed the work of the
government.”“How does the Change and Reform bloc explain the delay in approving
a state budget? Or the overspending of budgets?” Geagea asked. The LF leader
also said that when put to the test, ministers of the rival bloc failed to
produce tangible results.
March 14 Youths Urge Suspension of Classes Thursday in Protest against Antonine
University Incident
by Naharnet /March 14 youth organizations strongly condemned on Wednesday the
Antonine Fathers University incident in which students performed Muslim prayers
against the wishes of the university administration that did not comply with
their request to dedicate a prayer room for their needs.
The organizations called on all secondary schools, universities, and academic
institutions to suspend classes on Thursday between 1:00 and 2:00 p.m. in
protest against Tuesday’s incident.
They questioned in a statement: “Some students’ insistence to perform their
religious duties at a university that is known to adhere to the Maronite church,
which is therefore a violation of the university’s rules and regulations.”They
therefore urged all sides to respect the rules of all universities and academic
institutions in Lebanon because they all share internal regulations that respect
the needs of their students.
Furthermore, the March 14 youth organizations added: “We reject the approach of
some political sides, which cannot be farther away from the values of all
religions, whereby they forcefully seek to impose their views on others, whether
at schools or any workplace, believing that they are above the law.”The Antonine
Fathers University, Baabda branch, had issued a statement on Tuesday explaining
that some students had requested from the administration that a prayer room be
provided to Muslim students. “The administration did not respond to their
request due to the university’s religious nature, prompting 37 students to
violate this matter and perform prayers in the university’s internal campus in
an act of provocation,” it noted. “The university administration adheres
to the rules of the Maronite Antonine Order, which prohibits the establishment
of any prayer room that does not belong to its sect,” it added.
The university refuses to compromise over this issue, warning against any act of
provocation and calling on its students, regardless of their sect, to respect
its rules and regulations.
“The university’s identity is clear in that it is private, Christian, Catholic,
Maronite, and Antonine institution that welcomes all students, regardless of
their social or sectarian affiliations, but it also refuses to compromise its
own identity and history,” it stressed. The university statement adamantly
rejected any political activity within its campus, saying that the
administration alone will tackle any violation committed by the students,
regardless of their religious or political affiliations.
LBC: US fears some Lebanese banks involved in ‘funding
Iranian nuclear program’
March 21, 2012 /LBC television reported on Wednesday evening that the US was
worried about the possibility of Lebanese banks “being used to fund the
controversial Iranian nuclear program and the Syrian regime.”The reported added
that US Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David
Cohen asked Lebanese Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh for clarifications on
the issue. During his visit to Lebanon, the US envoy mainly inquired about Bank
Saderat Iran and the Syrian Lebanese Commercial Bank. Salameh told LBC that he
had explained to Cohen “Bank Saderat Iran has $137 million in funds and $16
million in deposits, while the Syrian Lebanese Commercial Bank is worth $16
million.”“The numbers are enough to [clarify the amount of transactions],”
Salameh said. “[The US] concern is to protect [their] banks by preventing
[financial transactions] from reaching [blacklisted] figures.” Salameh told LBC
that the US “did not threaten the Lebanese banking sector.” Cohen said in an
interview published on Wednesday that his visit to Lebanon was intended “to
increase international pressure on the Iranian and Syrian regimes, and make sure
they do not escape sanctions.”-NOW Lebanon
Al-Rahi: We’re Awaiting Outcome of Committee’s Efforts on
New Electoral Law
by Naharnet /Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi stated on Wednesday that he was
not informed that the Bkirki meeting that was supposed to be in April has been
postponed. He said: “We are still awaiting the outcome of the efforts of the
follow-up committee that is studying the parliamentary electoral law.” “We have
still not received word of any new development in this matter,” said the
patriarch upon his return to Lebanon from Egypt on Wednesday afternoon. On
Tuesday, Bishop Samir Mazloum denied that a conference of Maronite MPs that was
set to be held in Bkirki in April was postponed to avoid a meeting between al-Rahi
and Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea. He stressed that the April 3 meeting was
postponed after the committee tasked with drafting a law on the parliamentary
elections failed to complete its mission. Asked at the airport on whether he
will be visiting Syria any time, al-Rahi replied: “We will visit Syria when the
situation there is stable.” “If I visit it, I will do so not as a man of
politics because we have stated in the past that we separate political work from
that of the church,” he added. “Similar to all official visits to foreign
countries, we seek to meet local authorities because we want to express to them
that the Christian and Lebanese diasporas are loyal to the countries that have
harbored them,” he stated.
Rai to visit Syria “when situation settles down”
March 21, 2012 /Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rai said on Wednesday that
he will visit Syria “when the situation calms down.” Rai added that he will head
to Damascus “as a clergyman in order to [draw lines] between political and
ecclesiastical affairs.” The Patriarch was speaking to reporters at Beirut’s
Rafik Hariri International Airport upon his return from Cairo. According to the
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the unrest in Syria has left over 9,100
people killed since protests erupted in strife-stricken Syria in mid-March
2011.-NOW Lebanon
Reuters chief in Beirut clarifies Rai’s interview
March 21, 2012 /Reuters Beirut bureau chief Dominic Evans said Wednesday evening
that Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rai had described the Syrian
authority “as a dictatorship” during his recent interview with the news agency.
Rai’s interview with Reuters caused a stir on the Lebanese political landscape
due to the Patriarch’s remarks on Syria. Evans told New TV that Rai said there
was a difference between Syria’s constitution and those adopted by other Arab
states “since it does not stipulate that Syria is an Islamic country.” According
to Evans, Rai also said that “Syria needs reforms.” Evans added that Rai
expressed his worries regarding the current events in the region “and he gave a
balanced opinion,” on the regional developments. A war of words erupted
between the Free Patriotic Movement and the Lebanese Forces following Rai’s
statements to Reuters in which the Patriarch said that “the closest thing” to
democracy in the Arab world was Syria and that he was against “turning the Arab
Spring into winter.”-NOW Lebanon
UN Security Council demands Syria carry out Annan peace plan
March 21, 2012 /The UN Security Council on Wednesday demanded that Syria
"immediately" implement a peace plan proposed by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan
and gave a veiled warning of international action. Following intense
negotiations between the major powers, Russia and China signed up to a
Western-drafted text which calls on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to work
toward a cessation of hostilities and a democratic transition. The presidential
statement, which carries less weight than a formal resolution, gave strong
backing to Annan and the six-point plan he put to Assad in talks in Damascus
earlier this month. "The Security Council calls upon the Syrian government and
opposition to work in good faith with the envoy towards a peaceful settlement of
the Syrian crisis and to implement fully and immediately his initial six-point
proposal," the statement said. The council said Annan should regularly update
the body on his efforts.
"In the light of these reports, the Security Council will consider further steps
as appropriate," the statement added.
Annan's plan calls for a UN-supervised halt to fighting with the government
pulling troops and heavy weapons out of protest cities, a daily two-hour
humanitarian pause to hostilities and access to all areas affected by the
fighting. The Security Council also agreed a press statement, proposed by
Russia, which condemns bomb attacks in Damascus and Aleppo at the weekend.
"The members of the Security Council condemned in the strongest terms the
terrorist attacks that occurred in Damascus, Syria, on 17 and 19 March and in
Aleppo, Syria, on 18 March, causing scores of deaths and injuries," said the
second statement. "They expressed their deep sympathy and sincere condolences to
the victims of these heinous acts and to their families," added the statement
which pointedly did not send condolences to the government, as it usually does
in messages condemning terrorist attacks. European countries still want to press
for a full binding Security Council resolution on the crisis in Syria, where the
UN says well over 8,000 people have been killed in the past year, diplomats
said. "It is a small step by the Security Council in the right direction,"
French envoy Gerard Araud said of the statement.-AFP/NOW Lebanon
Iran's Supreme Leader: Iran will defend itself from U.S.,
Israeli aggression
By The Associated Press
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, speaking on state TV to mark the Persian new year,
repeats claims that his country is not seeking atomic weapons.
Tehran will retaliate against any attack by Israeli or American forces "on the
same level," Iran's top leader said Tuesday in a defiant address just moments
after U.S. President Barack Obama appealed directly to the Iranian people with a
message of solidarity.
The contrasting approaches highlighted the broad range of political posturing
and tactics as the standoff deepens over Iran's nuclear .Iran's Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, speaking on state TV to mark the Iranian new year,
repeated his claims that the country does not seek atomic weapons, but said all
of Iran's conventional firepower was ready to respond to any attack.
"We do not have atomic weapons and we will not build one. But against an attack
by enemies - to defend ourselves either against the U.S. or Zionist regime - we
will attack them on the same level that they attack us," he said, using the term
Iranian authorities often use for Israel.
Despite the hard-edged tone for most of the speech, there were hints of
overtures toward America before a possible resumption of nuclear talks between
Iran and world powers. He urged the U.S. to have a "respectful attitude" toward
Iran - suggesting it could bring dividends. Earlier this month, Khamenei gave a
rare nod of approval to Washington after Obama said he favored diplomacy to
resolve the nuclear dispute.
In a video message for the Iranian new year, known as Nowruz, Obama tried to
reach out to the Iranian people, saying there was "no reason for the United
States and Iran to be divided from one another." But he denounced Iranian
authorities for setting up an "electronic curtain" that keeps Iranians from
making their voices heard with American and the West.
"Increasingly, the Iranian people are denied the basic freedom to access the
information that they want," Obama said after the U.S. Treasury Department
opened the way for American companies to export Internet communications software
and other materials to Iran. "Instead, the Iranian government jams satellite
signals to shut down television and radio broadcasts. It censors the Internet to
control what the Iranian people can see and say. The regime monitors computers
and cell phones for the sole purpose of protecting its own power," Obama added.
Obama has used Nowruz for outreach to ordinary Iranians in the past, but it's
unclear how many people are reached because of widespread Internet firewalls and
efforts to block broadcasts such as Farsi language programs of the BBC and Voice
of America. Still, satellite dishes are common - although illegal - and outside
channels reach many Iranian homes.
The two nations are at odds because the West and its allies fear Iran could use
its uranium enrichment program to eventually develop material for nuclear
warheads. Iran says it only seeks reactors for energy and medical research.
Obama has urged for more time to allow sanctions to cut deeper into Iran's
economy, which has been hit by the latest pressures targeting oil exports and
the ability to conduct international banking. Israeli officials have said there
is no decision yet on whether to launch a military strike on Iran's nuclear
facilities, but analysts in both countries have become increasingly nervous
about the risks of touching off a region-wide war.
In response to tougher sanctions, Iran had threatened to try to close the
strategic Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Gulf - the route for about a
fifth of the world's oil. However, Iran's military has made no actual moves to
blockade the shipping lanes, and Kuwait's ruler was quoted Tuesday as saying
Iran has assured its Gulf neighbors that it will not attempt to disrupt tanker
traffic.
"We have received assurances from Iran that it will not take this step," Sheik
Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah was quoted by the official Kuwait News Agency as saying.
The agency said he made the statement to the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun
during a four-day state visit to Japan. There was no immediate response from
Iran. But the emir said Kuwait is prepared to keep its oil customers supplied in
the event of a disruption.
"For a long time, Kuwait has been working on providing a stockpile of oil
through its global companies outside the Gulf region to ensure the constant
supply to the countries importing the Kuwaiti oil," he was quoted as saying. He
added that Kuwait was in touch with other Gulf countries "to face such a
possibility."
In his televised speech, Khamenei claimed the West seeks only to dominate Iran's
oil exports, the second largest in OPEC behind Saudi Arabia. "If Iran was ready
to surrender before them, as some countries in the region, they would not have
any hostility toward Iran," said Khamenei. Earlier Tuesday, Khamenei said that
more support for domestic industrial production can counter Western sanctions
over Tehran's nuclear program. The official IRNA news agency quoted Khamenei as
saying that Iran can withstand the economic pressures, which include blocking
many Iranian banks from the network that handles most international banking
transfers. Iran has faced decades of sanctions. The latest sanctions placed in
recent months are far tougher however than previous ones and target Iran's
banking sector and critical oil exports that provide some $75 billion, some 80
percent of the country's foreign revenue. "If the Iranian nation resorts to its
determination, awareness and planning it will overcome challenges that the enemy
has provided," said Khamenei, who has the final say on all matter of state. He
said that if Iran's domestic economy flourishes, the country's enemies would
lose hope and their "plotting" would come to an end. The Iranian leader said
government should support industry and agriculture. Investors and workers should
boost production and consumers should choose domestic products rather than
imported ones. The country imports nearly $50 billion worth of machinery, cars,
home appliances, and food including fruit, meat and rice.
In Washington, the Treasury Department issued new guidelines Tuesday allowing
U.S. companies to export software and other materials to Iran that support
Internet messaging services like Skype and Yahoo Messenger, Internet browsers
and other online communications capabilities. "The United States will continue
to draw attention to the electronic curtain that is cutting the Iranian people
off from the world," Obama said. "And we hope that others will join us in
advancing a basic freedom for the Iranian people: the freedom to connect with
one another, and with their fellow human beings."
Former Mossad chief: Israel will know before Iran begins
producing nuclear weapons
By Barak Ravid, Natasha Mozgovaya and Haim Handwerker/Haaretz
Nuclear talks between Iran, Western powers to begin next month; officials in
Jerusalem estimate Israel will allow at least three months for discussions,
until oil embargo on Iran comes into full effect in July. Discussions between
Iran and the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany over the Islamic
Republic's nuclear program will begin on April 13, senior U.S. and EU officials
informed Israel on Tuesday. The talks are likely to take place in Geneva.
Officials in Jerusalem estimate that Israel will allow at least three months for
discussions, until the oil embargo on Iran comes into full effect in the
beginning of July. Meanwhile, former Mossad head Meir Dagan said he believes
Israel will be aware when Iran moves to the stage of nuclear weapon production –
for example, enriching uranium to a degree of 90 percent. Dagan said that at
that stage Israel would have to attack the Iranian nuclear sites if the
international community does not stop its program. Speaking at an event in a
Haifa hospital, Dagan said that currently Israel must not attack Iran, and that
a strike on its nuclear facilities should be the last resort. Dagan said he
believed the Israeli Air Force has the capability to significantly damage Iran's
nuclear sites, yet warned that such a strike will have serious repercussions. He
added that in case of an Israeli attack, hundreds of missiles will be launched
at Israel, together with barrages from Hezbollah in Lebanon and Iranian-linked
organizations in Gaza. President Barack Obama made a direct appeal on Tuesday to
the Iranian people, saying there was "no reason for the United States and Iran
to be divided from one another." In a video message marking the Persian new
year, known as Nowruz, Obama said the U.S. seeks a dialogue with the Iranian
people in order hear their views and understand their aspirations. And he
sharply rebuked the Iranian government for setting up an "electronic curtain"
around its people that the U.S. says blocks access to much of the outside world.
Israel has been in constant talks with the U.S. administration and the EU in
preparation of the talks, and has insisted on holding the Iranians to a
timeline. A senior official said that Helga Schmidt, deputy to European Union
foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, visited Jerusalem a few days ago and
discussed the Iranian issue. According to an Israeli official, Schmidt expressed
concern over the possibility of a unilateral Israeli action against Iran. She
said that the talks were serious and will be comprised of a series of
meetings.On Tuesday, representatives from the six nations met in Brussels to
coordinate positions ahead of the talks. Washington and other European capitals
expressed concerns that a breakdown of the talks would lead to a significant
escalation and will require a serious examination of a military option.
Despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's statements about Israel's duty to
prepare for an independent strike against Iran, a decision is not expected to be
made in the coming weeks. In television interviews after his visit to Washington
Netanyahu said a decision should be made "not within days, but not within years
either."
Israel should notify its citizens before striking Iran
By Zvi Bar'el /Haaretz
The demand for advance notice is no more ridiculous than Barak's hint that it
would be best to postpone the attack until after the U.S. election.Will Israel
coordinate any attack on Iran with the United States, or at least give it
advance notice? What exactly did President Barack Obama and Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu agree to at their recent meeting in Washington, D.C.? We can
at least hope that both leaders know what they signed off on, and there will not
be a repeat of the awkward situation in the first Lebanon War, in 1982, when
Defense Minister Ariel Sharon claimed to have obtained the nod from U.S.
Secretary of State Alexander Haig. Both countries agree that Iran should not be
allowed to posses nuclear arms. The immense gap between their positions is one
interpretation. When will Iran be defined as "nuclear-capable?" Only in the
future, after it assembles a nuclear bomb, or already now, when it is enriching
uranium and conducting experiments?
Israel's working assumption is that even if Iran does not yet have nuclear
weapons, in the absence of a preventive military strike it is only a matter of
time before it does. As Defense Minister Ehud Barak told the Knesset Foreign
Affairs and Defense Committee this week, Election Day in the United States
should be taken into account. If attacking Iran is not that urgent, if it can be
postponed until after November 6 - and timed for fair weather, to boot - then
this is a discretionary war, not a war of no choice A discretionary war is a war
of offense: no surprises, with predetermined objectives, not something that hits
the country like a bolt from the blue. But it would appear that the only ones
this war will take by surprise will be the residents of Israel; especially those
who still believe Iranian missiles will not kill more than 500 Israelis, after
years of hearing about the strategic danger posed by Iran's Shahab missiles.
Everyone else should immediately demand advance notice from the government of
the attack on Iran. No need for the exact hour, but a few weeks' head's-up would
be nice.
Advance warning is crucial to thorough preparations in order to minimize
casualties and to get ready for the transition period. Cleaning the private bomb
shelters, getting extra keys made for the public ones; inspecting the pipes in
the shelters, distributing gas masks in the event of chemical weapons, backing
up computer systems, establishing emergency centers and hotlines; and, of
course, stocking up on supplies of food and water - all these take time.
Advance notice will also allow the rich businessmen, those who will be in charge
of rebuilding the economy after the Iranian counterattack, to reserve their
flights in time. Arrangements should be made for ordinary citizens to fly abroad
for cheap, so as to minimize civilian casualties. And by the way, will there be
enough flights to accommodate everyone?
Those who cannot afford the ticket should be given the time and opportunity to
move into vacant apartments outside of the main cities. Transportation must be
organized in advance, to avoid the kind of impossible traffic jams of the 1991
Gulf War, with its Scud missiles. Unions should also receive advance notice, so
as not to waste their strikes on wartime. The same goes for retail chains - they
shouldn't be in the position of holding big sales just when they could be
jacking up their prices. Early notice could also be given to the state
comptroller, so he can ready the investigation team that will be appointed to
determine why the necessary preparations were not made for the planned,
premeditated war. The demand for advance notice is no more ridiculous than
Barak's hint that it would be best to postpone the attack until after the U.S.
election. Not is it less realistic than the possibility that Israel agreed to
inform the United States in advance while withholding this knowledge from its
own citizens. There is no reason to feel insulted; the United States is, after
all, a wonderful and powerful ally. Still, if our government plans to prevent a
"nuclear holocaust," it cannot be permitted to leave its citizens defenseless in
the face of another "holocaust," the one expected from the Iranian missiles.
After the Holocaust many people said "We didn't know," but no one can feign
ignorance about this "holocaust." We should be notified in advance so that at
least we'll be able to say, "We knew, but we didn't do anything about it."
Al Qaeda killer still under police siege
DEBKAfile Special Report March 21, 2012/ The al Qaeda gunman Mohammad Merah was
still under Toulouse police siege Wednesday night, March 21 for murdering seven
French civilians, three of them children. Heavily armed, he delayed a police
raid on the building in which he was holed up by repeatedly promising to
surrender after boasting he had acted for al Qaeda to “bring France to its
knees." Residents of the house and vicinity were evacuated ready for a raid.
debkafile: His capture alive is vital in order to extract from him all possible
information about al Qaeda and its operations in France and Europe. Merah and
his brother and brother’s girlfriend, who were arrested earlier in the day, will
have been questioned about their ties with al Qaeda cells in Europe and other
continents.
Questions are already being asked about how French intelligence and
counter-terror agencies, which had held him and family members under
surveillance for some time, failed to discover the deadly plans they were
hatching against Jewish and Moslem targets. Mohammed Merah said he had trained
in Afghanistan and Pakistan, both of which countries he visited in 2010 and
2011. A Kandahar prison official identified him as an al Qaeda bomber who was
imprisoned for three years and escaped in a mass Taliban jailbreak in 2008. The
detained terrorist and his accomplices will be asked whether the attacks were
part of a French Islamic or external politically-motivated master plan to cause
President Nicolas Sarkozy to lose the coming presidential election. Islamists
have longed pegged him as anti-Muslim, especially after he had the veil for
Muslim women banned in public places. They also made a note of his Jewish
background.
The expeditious and successful hunt for the motorcyclist in black who murdered a
teacher and three children at the Jewish Ozar Hatora school in Toulouse on
Monday and two French paratroops in Montauban last Thursday, energized Sarkozy’s
sliding campaign for reelection. He showed himself to be capable of handling
crises with the right measures of operational competence and sensitivity.
However the dragging-out of the Toulouse house siege by the terrorist’s wiles
undercut this gain. Uncomfortable questions about his security service’s
handling of a deadly terrorist conspiracy came to the fore and could hurt his
prospects.debkafile reported earlier Wednesday. The killer, aged 24, of Algerian
descent, injured three policemen in a shootout shortly after they surrounded the
house before dawn Wednesday, March 21. His four Jewish victims were laid to rest
in Jerusalem. Toulouse police hunted him down to an address 2 kilometers
from the Ozar Hatorah school where he committed his murders after identifying
him as the motorcyclist in black who also killed two French paratroopers and
wounded a third in neighboring Montauban last Thursday. Merah fell under police
suspicion after that attack but was not arrested. He was active in the extremist
Islamic organization called Forsane Alizze which was only outlawed in February
although it was long identified with al Qaeda. The terrorist called French TV
stations after the attacks and said he had avenged French participation in the
Afghan war, the suffering of Gaza Palestinians and the Sarkozy government’s ban
on the veil in public places for Muslim women. He had videotaped his murders to
further propagate their impact. The Jewish teacher, Yonathan Sandler, 30, his
sons Arieh, 3 and Gavriel, 6 and the Ozar Hatorah principal’s daughter, Miriam
Monstango, aged 8, whom he shot dead Monday at the Jewish school, were laid to
rest at the Har Menuhot cemetery in Jerusalem Wednesday attended by masses of
people and notables. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe flew to Israel with the
victims and attended the funerals as a mark of French-Israeli solidarity in the
face of he terrible murders. "Never doubt our determination to fight
anti-Semitism in France which violates all our values and will not be
tolerated," he declared. The dawn raid in Toulouse was accompanied by security
police swoops on extremist Muslim hideouts across France.
Besieged gunman boasted he brought France to its knees
By Jean Décotte and John Irish
TOULOUSE, France (Reuters) - A besieged gunman suspected of shooting dead seven
people in the name of al Qaeda boasted to police on Wednesday he had brought
France to its knees and said his only regret was not having been able to carry
out his plans for more killings. In an unfolding drama that has riveted France,
about 300 police, some in body armor, cordoned off a five-storey building in a
suburb of Toulouse where the 24-year-old Muslim shooter, identified as Mohamed
Merah, is holed up. Authorities said the gunman, a French citizen of Algerian
origin, had been to Pakistan and Afghanistan, where he claimed to have received
training from al Qaeda. Merah told police negotiators he had killed three French
soldiers last week and four people at a Jewish school in Toulouse on Monday to
avenge the deaths of Palestinian children and because of the French army's
involvement in Afghanistan.
"He has no regrets, except not having more time to kill more people and he
boasts that he has brought France to its knees," Paris Prosecutor Francois
Molins, part of the anti-terrorist unit leading the investigation, told a news
conference. The gunman, who filmed his killings with a small camera, had already
identified another soldier and two police officers he wished to kill, Molins
said. The gunman had repeated promises to surrender this evening to members of
the elite RAID unit surrounding the house, which had been evacuated of its other
residents.
"He has explained that he is not suicidal, that he does not have the soul of a
martyr and that he prefers to kill but to stay alive himself," Molins said.
Sarkozy, who is running for re-election in five weeks time, paid tribute at a
ceremony in an army barracks in Montauban, near Toulouse, to the three soldiers
of North African origin killed last week. A fourth soldier of Caribbean origin
is in a coma. "Our soldiers have not died in the way for which they had prepared
themselves. This was not a death on the battlefield but a terrorist execution,"
Sarkozy said, standing before three coffins draped in the French flag after
paying his respects to bereaved relatives.
"We must remain united. We should in no way yield to discrimination or
vengeance," he said in his eulogy. "France can only be great in unity. We owe it
to the memory of these men, we owe it to the three murdered children, to all the
victims." Sarkozy's appeal for national unity came after far-right leader Marine
Le Pen, a rival presidential candidate, said France should wage war on Islamic
fundamentalism.
Interior Minister Claude Gueant said Merah was a member of an ideological
Islamic group in France but this organization was not involved in plotting any
violence.
He said Merah had thrown a Colt 45 pistol of the kind used in all the shootings
out of a window of the block of flats, where he has been living, in exchange for
a mobile phone, but was still armed.
Two police officers were injured in a firefight with the gunman after police
swooped at 3 a.m. local time (0200 GMT).
Police sources said they had conducted a controlled explosion of the suspect's
car at around 9:00 a.m. (0800 GMT) after discovering it was loaded with weapons.
Officials said police had also arrested Merah's girlfriend and his brother, who
is also known to authorities as a radical Islamist.
RAID
Gueant said Merah had contacted the first soldier he attacked on the pretext of
wanting to buy his motorcycle.
Investigators identified the IP address he used - that of his mother - because
he was already under surveillance for radical Islamist beliefs.
"We knew, and that is why he was under surveillance, that he had travelled to
Afghanistan and Pakistan," the minister said.
Merah's telephone was tapped from Monday and with the help of other information
the police decided to raid his house. Merah has a criminal record in France,
Gueant said, but nothing indicating such an attack was possible.
A police source told Reuters that investigators had also received a tipoff from
a scooter repair shop in Toulouse where the gunman asked to change the color of
the Yamaha scooter used to flee the shootings and to remove a GPS tracker
device.
A group of young men from Merah's neighborhood described him as a polite man of
slight build who liked football and motorbikes and did not seem particularly
religious.
"He isn't the big bearded guy that you can imagine, you know the cliche," said
Kamal, who declined to give his family name. "When you know a person well you
just can't believe they could have done something like this."
Sarkozy had been informed of the standoff early in the morning, officials said.
The president's handling of the crisis could be a decisive factor in determining
how the French people vote in the two-round presidential elections in April and
May.
The Jewish victims from the Ozar Hatorah school were buried in Jerusalem on
Wednesday. Parliament speaker Reuben Rivlin said in his eulogy at the hill-top
cemetery that the attack was inspired by "wild animals with hatred in their
hearts".
Authorities said on Tuesday that the gunman had apparently filmed his rampage
through the school with a camera strapped to his body. He wounded Rabbi Jonathan
Sandler as he entered the building, then shot an 8-year-old girl in the head,
before returning to kill Sandler and his two children, who had rushed to his
side, at point blank range.
Immigrants and Islam have been major themes of the campaign after Sarkozy tried
to win over the voters of Le Pen, who accused the government on Wednesday of
underestimating the threat from fundamentalism. "We must now wage this war
against these fundamentalist political and religious groups that are killing our
children, that are killing our Christian children, our Christian young men,
young Muslim men and Jewish children," she told the i-Tele news channel,
questioning the decision to deploy in Afghanistan. But leaders of the Jewish and
Muslim communities said the gunman was a lone extremist.
France's military presence in Afghanistan has divided the two main candidates in
the election. Socialist frontrunner Francois Hollande has said he will pull them
out by the end of this year while Sarkozy aims for the end of 2013.
(Additional reporting by Brian Love, Daniel Flynn and Geert de Clercq in Paris;
Writing by Daniel Flynn; Editing by Giles Elgood)
French prosecutor: Gunman planned to kill soldier
By Johanna Decorse, The Associated Press
n boasted he brought France to its knees
Reuters TOULOUSE, France - After a pre-dawn raid erupted into a firefight,
French riot police pressed Wednesday for the surrender of a holed-up gunman who
is suspected in seven killings and claiming allegiance to al-Qaida. A prosecutor
said the gunman was planning to kill another soldier imminently.
After 13 hours of negotiations, one French official said hundreds of police were
ready to storm the building in the southwestern city of Toulouse to end the
standoff.
Three police have already been wounded trying to arrest the 24-year-old
Frenchman of Algerian descent who is suspected of killing three Jewish children,
a rabbi and three French paratroopers.
Prosecutor Francois Molins said the gunman, Mohamed Merah, had been to
Afghanistan twice and had trained in the Pakistani militant stronghold of
Waziristan. Molins said the gunman’s brother had been implicated in a network
that sent militant fighters to Iraq. The police raid Wednesday was part of
France’s biggest manhunt since a wave of terrorist attacks in the 1990s by
Algerian extremists. The chase began after France’s worst-ever school shooting
Monday and two previous attacks on paratroopers, killings that have horrified
the country and frozen the campaigning for the French presidential election
starting next month. French President Nicolas Sarkozy has played up nationalist
themes in his bid for a second term Cedric Delage, regional secretary for a
police union, said the suspect has promised to turn himself into police shortly.
Delage said if that doesn’t happen, police will force their way in. The suspect
has told police he belonged to al-Qaida and wanted to take revenge for
Palestinian children killed in the Middle East, Interior Minister Claude Gueant
said, adding the man was also angry about French military intervention abroad.
“He’s after the army,” Gueant said. An Interior Ministry official, speaking on
condition of anonymity, said the suspect has been under surveillance for years
for having “fundamentalist” views.
After hours of trying to persuade him to surrender, police evacuated the
five-story building, escorting residents out using the roof and fire truck
ladders.
French authorities said the suspect threw a Colt .45 handgun used in each of the
three attacks out a window in exchange for a device to talk to authorities, but
has more weapons like an AK-47 assault rifle. Gueant said other weapons had been
found in the suspect’s car.
The suspect “said he wants to avenge the deaths of Palestinians,” Gueant told
reporters, adding that he is “less explicit” about why he killed French
paratroopers. The paratroopers were of Muslim and French Caribbean origin, but
the interior minister said the suspect told them the ethnic origin had nothing
to do with his actions.
Police swept in soon after 3 a.m. (0200 GMT; 10 p.m. EDT Tuesday) on the
residential neighborhood in Toulouse where the suspect was holed up. At one
point, volleys of gunfire were exchanged.
The suspect promised several times to surrender in the afternoon, then stopped
talking to negotiators, Gueant said. In the early afternoon, he resumed talking.
“Terrorism will not be able to fracture our national community,” Sarkozy
declared Wednesday on national television before heading to the funeral services
for two paratroopers killed and another injured in nearby Montauban. The series
of attacks _ every four days since March 11 _ began with the killing of another
paratrooper in Toulouse.
“The main concern is to arrest him, and to arrest him in conditions by which we
can present him to judicial officials,” Gueant said, explaining authorities want
to “take him alive ... It is imperative for us.”
A judicial official said the suspect’s mother, brother and a companion of the
brother were detained for questioning. The official spoke on condition of
anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak publicly. The building where the
raid is taking place dates from the 1960s. The suspect’s apartment is on the
ground floor, said Eric Lambert, whose son lives in the building.
Delage said a key to tracking the suspect was the powerful Yamaha motorcycle
that he has used in all three attacks _ a dark gray one that had been stolen
March 6. The frame was painted white, the color witnesses saw in the school
attack.
According to Delage, one of the suspect’s brothers went to a motorcycle sales
outfit to ask how to modify the GPS tracker, raising suspicions. The vendor then
contacted police, Delage said.
The shooter has proved to be a meticulous operator. At the site of the second
paratrooper killing, police found the clip for the gun used in all three attacks
_ but no fingerprints or DNA on it.
The first French paratrooper killed was shot March 11 after posting an
announcement online to sell his motorcycle and investigators believe the gunman
responded and lured the paratrooper into an isolated place to kill him. The
schoolchildren killed, all of French-Israeli nationality, were buried in Israel
on Wednesday as relatives sobbed inconsolably. The bodies of Rabbi Jonathan
Sandler, his sons Arieh, 5, and Gabriel, 3, and 8-year-old Myriam Monsenego had
been flown there in the day. At the funeral ceremony in Jerusalem, Myriam’s
eldest brother, Avishai, in his 20s, wailed and called to God to give his
parents the strength “to endure the worst trial that can be endured.” In the
name of the four remaining Monsenego children, he urged his father and mother to
“keep going, keep going, keep going.”Meanwhile, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam
Fayyad denounced the deadly shooting attack and condemned the link to
Palestinian children. “It’s time for criminals to stop using the Palestinian
cause to justify their terrorist actions,” Fayyad said in a statement. “The
children of Palestine want nothing but dignified lives for themselves and for
all the children.”
**Elaine Ganley, Thomas Adamson, Jamey Keaten, Ingrid Rousseau, Cecile Brisson
and Sylvie Corbet in Paris, David Rising in Berlin and Daniella Cheslow in
Jerusalem contributed to this report.
Don't Give Assad a Pass on Crimes Against Humanity
Reform Party of Syria
Farid Ghadry Blog
There are three ascending superpowers in the world today: Google, Facebook, and
Twitter. Every other real government is either just breadcrumbs or about to
become power pretenders. Weapons can be used once against some people but words
can be used often with as many people as possible. The three Internet
juggernauts facilitate the latter, which makes them the new superpowers.
Most politicians see Google as a search engine when in fact it's the space where
life takes place. They see Blogs, Twitter and Facebook as messengers when in
fact they are shapers of life itself.
We are in the midst of a new post-Internet, anti-Richelieu revolution where
centralized decision-making will become obsolete and where the public will rule,
not every four years, but daily.
The first phase has already started because elected officials march to the tune
of weekly public polls. The second phase is starting to take shape because
organizations like the UN, another pretender, are attempting to interfere in the
national politics of their member governments. The third phase is when
governments lose control to globalized opinion shapers. China may have one
billion people and an arsenal of nuclear weapons it can use only once on few
people but Facebook has one billion all connected, all well educated, and all
looking for liberty, fairness, and advantages over centralized decision-making.
With that in mind, I want to examine this process which is about to take place
in a centralized fashion.
An article this morning attributed to Elise Labott, a CNN foreign affairs
reporter, cites the US administration reluctance to call Assad a "war criminal"
or label his deadly crackdown against Syrian civilians, which has caused over
10,000 deaths, the disappearance of some 65,000 civilians and the detention of
over 200,000 many of them experiencing extreme torture, as "crimes against
humanity".
Ms. Labott refers in her CNN piece to a testimony made by Secretary Clinton to a
Senate Appropriations Subcommittee in which she made the following statement:
"Based on definitions of war criminal and crimes against humanity, there would
be an argument to be made that he would fit into that category. People have been
putting forth the argument. But I also think that from long experience that can
complicate a resolution of a difficult, complex situation because it limits
options to persuade leaders perhaps to step down from power."
In other words, if Assad agrees to quit voluntarily, then we are willing to give
him a pass the same way others, like al-Bachir of Sudan, Idi Amin of Uganda, and
Assad's uncle Rifaat were given a pass under different circumstances by
different players.
There is something morally wrong when governments influencing a political
outcome in a certain geography take it upon themselves to play jury,
prosecutors, defense lawyers, judges, and policemen against the wishes of their
victims with no regard to the lasting effect their decisions have on
perceptions. This is so problematic to the Facebook crowds that I doubt if
anyone at the White House or the US State stopped to consider the effect this
will have on galvanizing further the need to decentralize this kind of decisions
by decentralizing governments and stripping them from these kind of powers. This
may sound like an ideological statement but it is really a sobering statement if
you consider the power of the Internet.
Policy makers, when taking these expeditious and badly concocted political
decisions, rely on many factors affecting the tight space they are operating
under. Given that some of the narrowness of those spaces are of their own making
(Unwillingness to arm Syria's Free Syrian Army the way they armed the Libyans is
just one), there is a certain convenience in western diplomacy, where success is
celebrated above all, to wrap things up and pat oneself on the back for a
successful outcome. Those cocktail parties do really have an impact on the
psyche of short-circuiting history.
But here are some arguments that must be considered.
It is true that politicians rely on short memories to effectively spread the
"let bygones be bygones" but in today's connected world, it is a major mistake
to assume that past attempts at giving free passes to major political criminals
can be applied in today's world with impunity. Matters that worked in the 90's
will not work today and if Secretary Clinton wants to write her memoirs on a
snapshot of a printed book against a stream of counter-statements on Twitter and
Facebook, she would not be doing herself a service because Google is where one
goes when one wants information, not to a book on a library shelf. Look how much
harm her statement that "Assad is a reformer" has caused her; enough to publicly
defend herself. In the 90's this would have been printed on page 26 of the
Washington Post and forgotten the next day.
Incidentally, that Senate hearing statement by Secretary Clinton has circulated
the earth 10 times within minutes of her declaration. Giving a free pass to
major criminals in today's world is a mistake many will come to regret few years
from now.
Furthermore, there are other issues to consider from the fallout from such
policies. Russia will use this expediency to its advantages by shifting the
blame on Syria's miseries against the west. Assad may have killed, Russia will
argue, but look who is protecting him today.
Another more compelling reason is the signal such decisions send to a region
already basking in violence with more tyranny per square mile than any other
place on the planet. This carousel of rotating violence will perpetually keep
the region unstable with another dictator around the corner willing to take the
risks thinking he can always strike a deal in the worst case scenarios and
retire to the Bahamas when in fact decisions like the one Secretary Clinton is
about to make or has already made will become the reason why governments are
losing control to the Internet-savvy activists.
Saudi Arabia is about to explode as a result of a new women's movement seeking a
fair and equitable treatment. Batons were used on March 19 to quell that
demonstration in the heartland of al-Saud's power structure. This is another
example of power shifting away from centralized decision-making in places like
the CIA eagerly pursuing its mission of convenience and adaptability in favor of
liberty and equity promoted heavily by Facebook and Twitter activists but remain
ignored by centralized governments.
Let's stop violence permanently in the Middle East by merging with the ideas
promoted by the Facebook and the Twitter crowds rather than confront them as in
the past. Let's leave the issue whether Assad needs to be granted international
protection to those with gravitas and not to the pretenders.
Copyrights © Reform Party of Syria (Project Syria, Inc.) 2003-2011
U.N. unites on Syria, sanctions set for Assad's wife
By Khaled Yacoub Oweis | Reuters
.AMMAN (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council, including Russia and China, threw
its weight on Wednesday behind efforts by Kofi Annan to end the bloody conflict
in Syria, providing a rare moment of global unity in the face of the year-long
crisis. In a statement approved by all its 15 members, the council threatened
Syria with unspecified "further steps" if it failed to comply with Annan's peace
plan, which calls for a ceasefire and demands swift access for aid agencies.
Although the original statement was diluted at Russia's demand, editing out any
specific ultimatums, the fact that all world powers signed up to the proposal
dealt a serious blow to President Bashar al-Assad as he battles a popular
uprising. "To President Assad and his regime we say, along with the rest of the
international community: take this path, commit to it, or face increasing
pressure and isolation," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in
Washington. Adding to the pressure, European Union governments are set to impose
sanctions against Syrian Assad's wife Asma on Friday, EU diplomats said, meaning
that she will no longer be able to travel to the EU or buy from EU-based shops,
in her own name. The sanctions, which still need formal approval from ministers,
come after the British-born former investment banker became the focus of media
attention when a trove of emails obtained by Britain's Guardian newspaper
appeared to show her spending tens of thousands of dollars on internet shopping
sprees while Syria descended into bloodletting. At least 8,000 people have died
in the revolt, according to U.N. figures. Violence has intensified in recent
weeks as pro-government forces bombard rebel towns and villages, looking to
sweep their lightly armed opponents out of their strongholds. Assad's forces
have chalked up a string of gains as they turned their firepower on areas held
by rebels. But the fighting shows no sign of abating and analysts expect the
insurgents to change their tactics and adopt guerrilla warfare.
21 KILLED ACROSS SYRIA
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 21 civilians were
killed in Syria on Wednesday, the majority in government shelling on towns in
Syria's central Homs province.
The army fired mortars into the Khalidiya district of Homs city, while artillery
targeted the rebel town of Rastan, north of Homs city. Video also showed
shelling of the ancient Apamea castle at Qalat Mudiq, near Hama. Opposition
activists said the army used tanks, artillery and anti-aircraft guns on the
Damascus suburbs of Harasta and Irbin early Wednesday, which were retaken from
rebels two months ago but have seen renewed insurgency in recent days. The
official Syrian news agency SANA reported the funerals of seven security force
members killed in the fighting.
Reports from Syria cannot be independently verified because officials have
barred access to rights groups and journalists.
Russia and China, competing with Western powers for influence in the Middle
East, previously vetoed two U.N. draft resolutions that would have condemned
Damascus and have resisted calls from Western and Arab states for Assad to stand
down. But faced by growing global outrage at the bloodshed, the two countries
agreed to a so-called "presidential statement". They are generally non-binding
documents but do require unanimous support in the Security Council. Russia, one
of Assad's few remaining allies, praised the document as pragmatic. "The most
important thing is that there are no ultimatums ... and no suggestions as to who
carries more blame," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in Berlin.
DEMANDS
The accord came a few days after Annan, a former U.N. secretary general, told
the Security Council that Damascus's response to his plans for peace were
disappointing and he had urged the international community to lay aside its
divisions. His proposal, spelled out in the U.N. statement, tells the Syrian
government to cease troop movements in population centres and end the use of
heavy weapons in such areas. It also calls for the government and opposition to
hold talks to secure a peaceful settlement. Assad has not rejected the proposals
but has challenged their feasibility and asked who can speak for the splintered
opposition. The Syrian opposition plans to meet in Turkey on March 26 to try to
overcome their internal feuds and plot a more coherent strategy, sources said on
Wednesday.
However, they have yet to agree on who should attend the gathering, underlining
doubts about their ability to act together, which has frustrated Arab and
Western states seeking a reliable partner to unite the anti-Assad movement. The
Security Council last passed a presidential statement on Syria in August 2011,
but council members did reach a rare agreement on March 1 to rebuke Damascus for
not letting U.N. humanitarian aid chief Valerie Amos into the country. Shortly
afterwards, Amos was allowed to visit Damascus. Annan welcomed the U.N. support
for his mediation efforts and called on Damascus to "respond positively". The
latest Council accord came after Moscow adopted a new, sharper tone with Syria,
which hosts Russia's only naval base outside the former Soviet Union.
"We believe the Syrian leadership reacted wrongly to the first appearance of
peaceful protests and ... is making very many mistakes," Lavrov told Russian
radio on Tuesday.
France welcomed the Security Council's move and said Assad must now halt all
violence and repression, allow humanitarian aid to reach everyone in need and
engage in "inclusive dialogue" with the opposition to find a lasting political
solution. "With this declaration the United Nations Security Council is
beginning to take responsibility after months of blockage," French Foreign
Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said in Paris.
**(Additional reporting by Louis Charbonneau in New York, Dominic Evans in
Beirut, Steve Gutterman in Moscow, and Olivia Rondonuwu in Jakarta, Leigh Thomas
in Paris, Justyna Pawlak in Brussels; Writing by Oliver Holmes and Crispian
Balmer; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
Why this absurdity?
By Tariq Alhomayed/Asharq Al-Awsat
Everybody who is monitoring our region, particularly after the so-called “Arab
Spring”, will find themselves facing a pressing question, namely: why have we
wasted our time, capabilities and opportunities – over decades – and remained in
the same state, namely a state of regression, or shall we say backwardness?
In order to clarify the picture, let us look at a group of disconnected news
items in order to clear up the situation in our region. A few weeks ago, Mr.
Rashid Ghannouchi announced that secularism is not contrary to Islam, whilst 9
years after his arrest, the Iraqi government announced the acquittal of the
former Iraqi Minister of Trade under Saddam Hussein and released him. Also this
week, Egypt announced the acquittal of the brother of Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri,
years after his arrest, whilst the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafist
al-Nour party, expressed their condolences to Egypt’s Coptic community over the
death of Pope Shenouda III. The question here is: why have we wasted decades of
opportunities, when the situation in our region was not correct or accurate,
whether on the level of individuals, groups or states, whilst today we are
dealing with all of these issues easily?
Why did Ghannouchi spend years fighting in opposition to the Tunisian regime
whilst today he is utilizing the same logic as Bourguiba, may he rest in peace?
What would have happened if the “civilized” Ghannouchi had worked to build
Bourguiba’s Tunisia more than two decades ago or more? If he had done this, what
state would Tunisia be in today? Why did Iraq delay the release of an innocent
man who was only charged nine years after his arrest? What would have happened
if the Iraqis had sat down for genuine reconciliation, and did not carry out the
criminal Debaathificiation process? In this case, what state would Iraq be in
today? What if the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, as well as the Salafists, gave
the Copts their rights and proceeded to draft a new constitution based on the
concept of citizenship, not religion, and understood that the homeland is for
all, and that religion is for God to decide, so long as they are now offering
condolences on the death of Pope Shenouda III? In which case, what state would
Egypt be in today? Or is the issuance of condolences on the death of Pope
Shenouda III a public relations campaign and nothing more? What if the Mubarak
regime had operated under the principle that no bearer of burdens shall bear the
burden of another, with regards to the case of Ayman al-Zawahiri’s brother? In
which case, would Mubarak’s end have been the same?
Here one might say “ifs” do not benefit anybody, however this is one of the
tragedies of Arab culture, for this does not mean wishful thinking, so much as
it means learning from lessons, studying past mistakes and ensuring these are
not repeated. We were deceived, for example, by the Muslim Brotherhood with
regards to the issue of peace with Israel, however the Muslim Brotherhood are
now ruling Egypt which continues to have ongoing relations with Israel, at the
same time that the al-Assad regime is committing crimes against the Syrian
people which are far worse than any crimes committed by the Israelis against us!
All of this is happening because we failed to read modern history correctly, and
we did not learn from our past mistakes, and we did not ask one simple question,
namely: what has been achieved for the Arab people in our region? So when
Ghannouchi says that certain parties, by which he means the Salafists, will one
day reach awareness and rationality, as he – in his own opinion – has today, we
must ask ourselves: why aren’t the rabble-rousers or the impetuous leading the
political and cultural scene in the west, as they do in our region?
This is a question that requires more discussion, in order to understand why we
have Hamas, Hezbollah, the Huthis, al-Assad and others, in our region.
Damascus’s media recommendations
By Ali Ibrahim/Asharq Alawsat
In the email leaks that were first published by the British "Guardian"
newspaper, and then became a daily source of material for Arab and international
media outlets, a lot of advice and strong interest - on the part of the Syrian
President and his inner circle of advisories and media consultants – focused on
the media and the need to internationally convey the image which the regime is
seeking to depict. The email messages revealed the regime's calls for a
counter-campaign to refute the news circulated by TV reports about the daily
massacres being committed, aiming to entrench the idea that what is happening in
Syria is nothing more than a war waged by the regime against armed gangs, and
linking the Syrian revolutionaries to extremists and terrorists.
The Syrian President himself spoke of this by publicly, saying "they may be
stronger in space, but we are stronger on the ground" in reference to satellite
television [space], and expressing his desire to be stronger in “space” as well.
A constant message has been repeated by the regime on several occasions,
coinciding with the rhetoric about terrorists and armed gangs that has been
circulated since the beginning of the crisis. The essence of the message is that
there are satellite television channels and media outlets outside the Syrian
authority's control that are inciting unrest, even fabricating news, reports,
demonstrations and protests, or at the very least, magnifying them with the aim
of overthrowing the regime.
In other words, what the regime means is that a "biased media" has created a
virtual revolution and is promoting it on satellite channels and the internet.
The world has become engrossed by these virtual occurrences, which the regime
claims to have no foundation on the ground. The regime goes on to claim that
countries and organizations have begun to mobilize and mount pressure
accordingly. The regime believes that a counter-media campaign is now required
to tell the truth, but in accordance with al-Assad’s view-point. Simply put,
according to the Syrian regime, the root cause for what is happening in the
country is armed gangs and a biased media.
If this all is true, then what about the children who were tortured Daraa; the
spark that caused the revolution to erupt? What about the bloody repressive
campaigns, the bombardment of towns and the murder of at least 8,000 people, the
destruction that befell entire districts in Homs, in addition to the arbitrary
detentions and torture? The regime thinks this all should be buried under the
carpet. Its consultants and advisors - who are amateurs, as anyone can tell from
the leaks – simply believe that the regime must change its media image, an image
that portrays it every day with its hands stained in blood.
The truth, which many people may be unaware of, is that the media, despite its
importance, cannot create a revolution, nor can it prompt people to take to
streets to demand freedom and face bullets and death. Rather, what creates a
revolution is injustice, feelings of despair, the impossibility of achieving a
peaceful and democratic change, and the lack of a visible horizon for a better
future, in the only Arab republic that has ever bequeathed power.
The media does not create a revolution, nor does it have the potential to do so.
However, the media can perform a significant role in conveying the facts and
reporting what is happening on the ground. The advancement of its tools and
techniques, as we can see now, has made any attempt to conceal the truth almost
impossible. The popular media, or the citizen media, has played a significant
role through the use of mobile phones and the internet to allow the world to see
the truth of what is happening on the ground. Courageous Western journalists,
some of whom lost their lives as a price for their bravery, managed to penetrate
the siege and send accurate reports about the massacres being committed in Baba
Amr. Indeed, the regime's advisors could also have been courageous if they
advised their leader to read these reports and change his repressive and
blood-thirsty policy, and keep his army and thugs away from his own people. In
any case, history testifies that such tactics have little success when it comes
to quelling revolutionaries.
It is clear that the time for advice has passed. The email leaks reflect a state
of denial in the same manner as they also reflect the disunity of the regime
itself. The leaks are part of a series of which we can expect more, as there are
many people who want to jump off the sinking ship.
The Sunni Wali al-Faqih
By Abdullah Al-Otaibi/Asharq Alawsat
The Arab region, following the Muslim Brotherhood spring, is now witnessing
multiple struggles, some of which are the remains of an old legacy, whilst
others are new or have been rekindled. This is because some old political axes
have been shaken, while others are in the process of being formed, and are yet
to reach their maturity.
One of the most prominent new axes is the fundamentalist or “Muslim Brotherhood”
axis, which rose to power in Tunisia and Egypt. This emerging axis is clear to
see in the statements issued by the Muslim Brotherhood and their leadership in
Egypt - the cradle of the organization - as well as in other Arab states,
especially the Gulf States, where Brotherhood symbols have started to emerge on
the surface, and have consciously embarked on disturbing their countries'
political positions both locally and externally.
So a Muslim brotherhood axis is being formed in the Arab world today, an axis
which some people were skeptical of at first, but then called to support and
ally with it, claiming that it could be a sincere and an honest partner for the
Gulf States. Yet, it did not take long before the Brotherhood disappointed those
who adopted such convictions. Even before the Brotherhood had settled in their
countries, its members began to verbally attack the Gulf States, choosing to
starting with the UAE. This happened when Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi launched
provocative statements against the UAE through his television program "ash-Shariah
wal-Hayat", screened on Al-Jazeera television. During his broadcast he said:
"the people of the UAE are people like us. If they think that they are Gods or
superior to others, then they are mistaken." Such words were purely meant to
provoke, for no Emirati citizen has ever claimed to be God, and no rational
person would ever say so. Al-Qaradawi also spoke of the internal situation in
the UAE and the way in which the state deals with its citizens, saying "some of
their people have even been stripped of their nationality. This is a forbidden
act that cannot happen." Yet what many of al-Qaradawi's audiences may not know
is that the country that granted him its citizenship (Qatar) revoked the
citizenship of several thousand of its own people a few years ago, and
nevertheless al-Qaradawi never uttered a word, nor did he use this religious
rhetoric of what is permissible and what is not.
The Muslim Brotherhood went further than al-Qaradawi's statements, and the
Brotherhood spokesman in Egypt, Mahmoud Ghozlan, threatened to mobilize the
Islamic world against the UAE. Then, a number of Brotherhood symbols in more
than one Gulf state rushed to champion al-Qaradawi and attack the UAE, in what
can be regarded as an example of a new Brotherhood strategy of intervention in
the internal affairs of the Gulf.
This must all be perceived as a by-product of the feeling of elation felt by the
Brotherhood group and other political Islamists following the rise of the
fundamentalist Arab spring.
When al-Qaradawi hijacked the Tahrir square podium from the revolutionary youths
in Egypt, he did not do so arbitrarily, rather he did so based on an old
conviction drawn from the teachings of Hassan al-Banna, according to which al-Qaradawi
adopted the trend of "peaceful demonstrations" until the “Blood Day." However,
he ultimately regretted this because he wanted the demonstrations to be
peaceful, not because he believes that Egypt's rights must be acquired only by
peaceful means, but because he believes that it is not yet the time for blood to
be shed, and that all power and strength must be saved for this “Blood Day”.
As the Arab protests continue, and as seen in his recent stances, al-Qaradawi
seems to be of the view that now is the time for this "Blood Day". Hence he has
begun to exhibit all his power and strength. During the hardest times Libya ever
experienced, he issued a fatwa necessitating the killing of Muammar Gaddafi. In
spite of all Gaddafi's wrongdoings, such an edict is extremely dangerous, for it
was not issued out of the Brotherhood’s elation for the Arab Spring, but rather
it is an old approach for al-Qaradawi. Recalling his early days in the
Brotherhood youth, al-Qaradawi said "We, youths and students, received the news
of the assassination of al-Nukrashi [Prime Minister of Egypt until 1948] with
much satisfaction and pleasure, for this quenched our thirst and restored our
dignity”.
Al-Qaradawi even praised Abdul-Majeed Hassan, al-Nukrashi's assassin, with a
poetic verse glorifying the tactic of organized killings, an approach that al-Qaradawi
embraced and sincerely believed in. Al-Nukrashi's assassination was an awful
political crime, which the Brotherhood has since strived to eliminate from its
history.
Al-Qaradawi has criticized Sayyid Qutb in more than one of his books. However,
the Arab spring euphoria has prompted al-Qaradawi to return to Qutb's hardline
approach. Here we must recall that Sayyid Qutb - who once supervised the
issuance of the Brotherhood's secret revolutionary leaflets against the
Nasserite trend - never trusted al-Qaradawi, for these leaflets contained the
text "al-Qaradawi and al-Assal have defected from the Islamic Dawa trend and
have joined the procession of traitors, and it is the Brotherhood's duty now to
be wary of them."
Al-Qaradawi has spoken extensively about the approach he adopted, which he
described as "facilitation through fatwa, and preaching through Dawa". In this
context, al-Qaradawi uses his fatwas only to serve his and the Brotherhood’s
"political project". The slogan of "preaching through Dawa" provides an aura of
Islamic sanctity meant to prevent criticism.
Al-Qaradawi has become so elated by the Brotherhood's spring that he has begun
to lose his balance towards the situation. He once hijacked the revolution in
Egypt (in February 2011), and once again attacked religious institutions that
failed to give him what he considers his absolute right, as was reflected in his
attack against the al-Azhar Islamic institute and its sheikh Ahmed el-Tayyeb
(Feb. 2012). Al-Qaradawi does all this in the framework of his belief that this
is now the age of the fundamentalists, most prominently the Muslim Brotherhood
(September 2011). As can be seen in his discourse and stances over the past
year, in additional to all he has said before, it is clear that al-Qaradawi is
dedicating himself to becoming the "Sunni Wali al-Faqih" and a ruler in terms of
power, influence and limitless aspiration.
Amidst such aspirations, al-Qaradawi seems to have forgotten what was said by
Sufyan al-Thawri, that "the last thing a jurist should dream to achieve is to be
a ruler." He also forgot what he was told by the Sufi Sheikh Bayoumi al-Azzouni
in his village a long time ago, when that Sheikh called him "Abu Yusuf ". Yet,
when Yusuf al-Qaradawi expressed his dissatisfaction about this title saying "My
name is Yusuf, not Abu Yusuf ", Sheikh Bayoumi answered "But I only meant to
recall the title which Abu-Hanifa used when calling his friend Abu Yusuf, saying
'you will someday eat at the dining tables of kings'"
Al-Qaradawi, in his dream to be the "Sunni Wali al-Faqih", having grown tired
with the "dining tables of kings", now aspires to seize the "seats of kings."
Why not, as long as the age old dream of the Muslim Brotherhood has been to
"establish states and topple them"?