LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
March 25/2012

Bible Quotation for today/Christ Our Helper
01 John/02/01-06: " I am writing this to you, my children, so that you will not sin; but if anyone does sin, we have someone who pleads with the Father on our behalf—Jesus Christ, the righteous one. And Christ himself is the means by which our sins are forgiven, and not our sins only, but also the sins of everyone. If we obey God's commands, then we are sure that we know him. If we say that we know him, but do not obey his commands, we are liars and there is no truth in us. But if we obey his word, we are the ones whose love for God has really been made perfect. This is how we can be sure that we are in union with God: if we say that we remain in union with God, we should live just as Jesus Christ did.
 

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
Patriarch Al Raei: You can’t sit on the fence/ Now Lebanon/Now Lebanon

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for March 24/12
Irish personnel playing vital role in keeping the peace in south Lebanon
U.S. Congress supports additional funding for Israel's Iron Dome systems
French intelligence chief: Toulouse shooter arrested by Israel Police in 2010 for possession of a knife
Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird Disappointed with UN Human Rights Council Resolution
Iran helping Assad to put down protests: officials
CNN rejects as 'ridiculous' Syrian claims it collaborated with rebels
EU ‘strikes at heart’ of Assad clan   
UN experts report top army defections in Syria
Annan to go this weekend to Moscow and Beijing on Syria
US hails EU sanctions on Assad family as “very good step”
EU imposes sanctions on Assad's wife and close relatives
U.S. approves 1.3 billion dollars in military aid to Egypt
Turkey blames Syria for supporting Kurdish rebels, inches closer to military action
Lebanon Foreign Minister Adnan MansourDenies Syria Shelling Lebanese Border Areas
Strida Geagea: Women are the most abused
Ethiopian envoy: I have learned a ‘big lesson’
MP, Pharaon: Layoun’s Roman Hippodrome project cannot be allowed
Political sparring threatens plans to lease electricity-generating boats
Authorities unearth massive amount of spoiled baby food, lawsuit filed
Buried mystery box unearthed near Beirut wedding hall
Faris Soueid: Lebanese should get ready for Syrian regime’s ‘inevitable’ fall
Salameh: Some parties irked by Lebanese banking success
Land Day march will not reach the border
Expired products made in Israel confiscated in Beirut: Army
Thousands take part in anti-Syria protests across Lebanon
No Casualties as Part of Building Collapses in Bourj Hammoud
Gemayel calls for rescue dynamics
More than 8,000 Syrian refugees in Lebanon

Note Posted on the Now Lebanon Site: No to all Al Raei's Stances
Without any masks, as a Lebanese Active Maronite in Canada I am openly and loudly calling on the Maronites to boycott this derailed clergymen's visit. He actually does not represent us or resemble us in any way or means. His shameful pro hezbollah and pro Assad stances are big sins. Below is a call that  is posted on my lccc site http://www.10452lccc.com
To the the Maronites in Canada: Say a big No to Bchara Al Raei and Boycott his unwanted and evil visit .
Elias Bejjani /This man, Patriarch Al Raei has sided with the Axis of evil and is boldly and openly supporting the Syrian butcher AlAssad and the terrorist Iranian Hezbollah. You Maronite in Canada, Say No, honor your martyrs, respect your identity, history and faith. Boycott Al Raei's visit to Canada. Tell him that he does not represent us we the Maronites and he is not the conscience of our great Lebanon like the 76 Maronite Patriarchs all through 1600 years. No he does not resemble us. No we do not know him and definitely he does not know us. There is no doubt that he has negated all his clerical vows and accordingly he must be boycott

Patriarch Al Raei: You can’t sit on the fence
March 23, 2012
Now Lebanon
Patriarch Bechara al-Rai once again demonstrated his lack of moral fiber by boasting that his church has not taken sides in the Arab Spring. (NOW Lebanon)
There is a school of thought that insists that neutrality will help the oppressor, never the victim; that doing nothing when others suffer tars the onlooker with the same brush that is wielded by the tyrant. Be it with the playground bully or the ruthless despot, to intervene or speak out in the face of torment or humiliation is the mark of the humane, the morally strong and clear-sighted.
Being “humane,” “morally strong” and “clear sighted.” They are all cornerstones of the Christian faith, but evidently not according to Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai, who in Cairo earlier this week once again demonstrated his lack of moral fiber by boasting that his church has not taken sides in the year-long upheavals across the Middle East that have become known as the Arab Spring.
“We Christians have been in this Levant for 2,000 years,” Rai said during a meeting with Catholic Coptic Patriarch Cardinal Antonius Najib. “We have shaped it with our culture and values, and we are open to all regimes that reach power through democracy.”
That was only part of Rai’s head-spinning statement that said everything and nothing. The Patriarch lurched from contradiction to contradiction, his argument riddled with as many holes as Swiss cheese. “The Church does not reject or support [any regime], and is not the one that appoints regimes. Rather, it cooperates with all the regimes on the basis of principles, at the forefront of which are human dignity, human rights, public freedoms and democracy,” he added, clearly ignoring the obvious contradictions when one sets these values against the actions of the Syrian regime.
The obedient among his flock will always drink the Kool-Aid, but those who look to the office of the patriarch as a moral beacon in a region where morality is often an absent guest at the dinner table, and who refuse to be bamboozled by Rai’s hallucinogenic balloon juice, will have concluded that the Patriarch has either lost his moral compass or taken a calculated position in support of a regime that has become an international outcast. It is a position he can only defend by throwing out shameful chaff about not taking sides.
His craven words come on the heels of other infamous remarks, the most bizarre being that Syria was the Middle Eastern country closest to true democratic principles. The other was that he did not want to see the Arab Spring turn to “winter.”
The first he justified with the argument that all other countries in the region are defined by Islamic principles – a comment no doubt designed to appeal to the more bigoted members of his flock – but one only need refer to the Syrian constitution to show that Rai is wrong. However, the fact that he even takes Syria’s electoral system seriously and can call for a peaceful resolution to the conflict via a bogus ballot box again demonstrates either whopping naivety or support for the regime.
But it is his apparent fear of a so-called Arab Winter that is the most cynical and shameful, wrapped as it is in the metaphorical vestments of his office. The Patriarch wants dialogue where none exists, and even more disturbing, appears to lay the blame for upheaval at the doorstep of those seeking change. As he so famously said, “We are open to all regimes that reach power through democracy.” But what if, as in Syria, the regime refuses democracy, offering instead bloody repression? To follow Rai’s advice and avoid the Arab Winter is to admit defeat and back down.
His focus is on one small corner of the canvas. He is ignoring nearly 10,000 dead, including innocent men, women and children who have been slaughtered in their pursuit of democracy. Rai should take sides. No one is asking him to interpret the political ramifications. We are simply asking him to recognize the inhumanity being visited on a population that simply wants freedom. It’s not much to ask from a supposed man of God.

Buried mystery box unearthed near Beirut wedding hall
March 23, 2012/ The Daily Star /BEIRUT: An enormous metal box was discovered Friday during excavation work behind a wedding reception hall on the main Beirut airport highway. Security sources told The Daily Star the one-meter wide, two-meter long box was found as workers dug into the earth to build a supporting wall apparently to bolster the structure of the two-story Golden Plaza wedding hall. The sources said the box, which was locked shut, encased in metal sheets and buried in cement, appears to be a bank safe. No other details were given.

Lebanon Foreign Minister Adnan MansourDenies Syria Shelling Lebanese Border Areas
by Naharnet/ Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour on Friday denied that the Syrian army had on Wednesday shelled Lebanese border areas, noting that it might have been “pursuing armed men.”
“There are no Syrian violations against Lebanese sovereignty, but rather military operations, and I don’t believe that the Syrian army is shelling Lebanese areas and the (Lebanese) army has not recorded any such incident,” Mansour told MTV. A Lebanese security official and residents told Agence France Presse on Thursday that Syrian troops fired rocket propelled grenades into northern Lebanon during the night, sparking panic among the local population. The security official said heavy machinegun fire followed by shelling erupted at around 9:00 pm (1900 GMT) from the Syrian side of the border, near the Lebanese village of Muqaybleh, prompting some residents to flee. "The Syrian troops initially fired flares and then machineguns and rocket propelled grenades," the official, who requested anonymity, told AFP. He said at least two rockets fell inside Lebanese territory. Mansour recalled that “armed (Syrian) elements had been arrested by security authorities after infiltrating Lebanese territory,” rejecting accusations depicting him as a spokesman for the Syrian regime in Lebanon. “Human Rights Watch has said that the (Syrian) opposition is violating human rightsm,” Mansour added.
HRW on Tuesday said Syria's armed opposition has been carrying out serious human rights abuses, including the kidnapping, torture and execution of security force members and government supporters.
Mansour stressed that the Syrian regime “is not committing crimes, but rather hitting back at the armed men.”He noted that Lebanon was not against providing humanitarian aid to Syrians fleeing the violence in their country, but added that “we reject (humanitarian) corridors.” And he denied that Lebanese authorities have been “arbitrarily arresting refugees.” Thousands of Syrians have fled to Lebanon since a revolt against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad broke out in March last year. Syria has mined several regions along the porous border to prevent the smuggling of weapons and infiltration of rebel fighters, activists say. The Lebanese government, which is largely controlled by Hizbullah, an ally of Damascus, has avoided taking a stand on the crisis in Syria, fearing a spillover. Army chief General Jean Qahwaji visited the border area in northern and eastern Lebanon on Wednesday, before the shooting broke out, to review the troops and evaluate the situation on the ground. His office said Qahwaji discussed "measures taken to secure the border and protect residents." At least three people have been killed since October and several have been wounded when Syrian troops staging incursions into Lebanon opened fire on border villages. Lebanon and Syria share a 330-kilometer border but have yet to agree on official demarcation.

Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird Disappointed with UN Human Rights Council Resolution
March 23, 2012 - Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird today issued the following statement:
“There is no shortage of real and pressing human rights matters that the UN Human Rights Council should be addressing. Instead, yet again, it has chosen to single out Israel for condemnation in a one-sided resolution. This is incredibly disappointing. “Canada has stated on numerous occasions that final status issues need to be negotiated between the two parties, not by the United Nations.
“This resolution is biased against Israel and doesn’t address the complexity of issues in this region. This undermines the honest efforts to bring about a just and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
“We continue to call for direct negotiations between the two parties without preconditions.”

Irish personnel playing vital role in keeping the peace in south Lebanon
The Irish Times - Saturday, March 24, 2012
LIEUT COL PHIL Brennan, officer commanding the 105th Irish Unifil Battalion, finished his briefing to Irish journalists by remarking that: “We are the eyes and ears of the world in south Lebanon.”
He is in command of over 400 Irish service men and women, who are responsible for keeping the peace in the southeastern part of the Unifil (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) buffer in southern Lebanon, separating it from Israel. It is an area that saw much fighting in the Lebanon-Israeli war of 2006 and unexploded munitions and mines from that conflict still litter the region.
The Irish battalion maintains a very high tempo of operations; patrolling their assigned area and along the so-called Blue Line, in effect the border between Lebanon and Israel, while also maintaining outposts along that line of demarcation. The entire zone of Unifil extends north from the Blue Line to the Litani river.
Within the area currently patrolled by the Irish, there are various potential flashpoints and also Hizbullah strongholds such as the town of Bent Jbail, often referred to as “Hizbullah Central”.
Under the terms of UN Resolution 1701, which was intended to resolve the 2006 Lebanon-Israel conflict, Irish troops are responsible within their area for monitoring the cessation of hostilities, accompanying and supporting the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), extending assistance to humanitarian operations, and helping to maintain their part of the zone between the Blue Line and the Litani river free of any armed elements.
In its mentoring role to the LAF, it is envisaged that this force will evolve to a level that would allow UN troops to be gradually withdrawn, making the Lebanese solely responsible for their own defence and internal security.
While the Lebanon-Israeli war has never officially ended, Lieut Col Brennan points out that the region is now relatively peaceful. When he began his career as a young officer with Unifil, there were frequent outbreaks of shelling and fighting in the Irish area, and large-scale Israeli operations such as “Accountability” (1993) and “Grapes of Wrath” (1996).
Now he points to the once-deserted hills around Camp Shamrock at Tebnine. New houses have sprung up, marking a phase of development and optimism. The Lebanese are investing in their hopes for a new future. No one wants a return to war in south Lebanon.
There are still causes for concern but the focus has shifted further north to Sidon and Tyre. Since November 2011, there has been a series of incidents. On three occasions, UN vehicles have been targeted by groups using improvised explosive devices (or IEDs – in effect, home-made bombs) along the Beirut-Tel Aviv road, resulting in several injuries to French and Italian UN personnel.
In Tyre, bombs have been placed in off-licences and restaurants selling alcohol. Perhaps of greater concern within the Irish area, there were two rocket attacks across the border into Israel in November and December 2011, the latter rocket falling short and impacting in Lebanon. The Israeli response was low-key but the possibility of further attacks and subsequent retaliation remains real. While no one has been caught for these attacks, it is generally accepted they were carried out by Salafists, extreme militant Islamists, based in the Palestinian refugee camp at Ein el-Helwe in Sidon.
AMONG THE LEBANESE population in the Irish zone, the current situation in Syria is also of great concern. The majority of the local population are supporters of Amal or Hizbullah, both of which have traditionally had connections to Syria. If the Assad administration were to collapse, this would result in the removal of their nearest and most powerful Shia ally.
The general consensus, however, is that the Assad administration will survive. This was an opinion repeated both by locals and UN officials. While the Syrian situation seems to be descending into an even darker and more brutal phase of violence and retaliation, most seemed convinced that the Assad administration would be around for some time yet. As more and more Syrian refugees flee to Lebanon, a country that already has a huge population of Palestinian refugees, the impact of this new influx is yet to be clear. Of further concern is the possibility of some form of attack on Iran to which Hizbullah has also been traditionally linked. Despite this, the local population seems reasonably confident.
In 1992, Hizbullah entered the Lebanese parliament and has become an increasingly powerful player in mainstream political life. Despite the announcement last year by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon implicating Hizbullah in the assassination of prime minister Rafiq Hariri in 2005, Hizbullah support in this region has remained strong.
In south Lebanon, the population feels that Hizbullah is well-enough established to weather any fallout from domestic issues and also either the collapse of the Syrian administration or an attack on Iran. In the latter case, it is unlikely that it will be rushed into any precipitate action against Israel. For the time being, therefore, Hizbullah has retained its support base in south Lebanon.
As one local, Hassan Nasser, remarked: “We feel safe because Hizbullah is here.”
Of immediate concern in the coming months will be the Nakba Day commemorations on May 15th, 2012. During the 2011 commemoration, thousands of Palestinian refugees from the camps further north travelled to south Lebanon and gathered at the town of Maroun al-Ras to mark the “day of catastrophe” – the foundation of the state of Israel.
THE LEBANESE ARMED forces failed to keep the protesters back from the Blue Line and, as groups tried to cross the minefields and the technical fence beyond, firing broke out.
At the time, the firing was attributed variously to both LAF and Israeli troops but it has since been confirmed that it was Israeli fire. The incident resulted in the deaths of several protesters while many more were injured.
The site of this clash, now marked with a memorial, falls within the Irish zone. It is certain that some form of commemoration will take place but its scale is not yet known.
The pressing question among Irish officers is whether Hizbullah will see political advantage in a large protest. The Irish hope they will decide to keep it as low-key as possible, as any Israeli retaliation would occur in their area, endangering the local Shia population because of the protests of Sunni Palestinian refugees.
What is certain is that the LAF is expected to field a brigade-size force to keep people back from the Blue Line, while the Irish battalion will be highly visible at possible flashpoints.
Irish soldiers served with Unifil between 1978-2001, before returning again in 2006. During that period, 47 Irish soldiers have lost their lives in Lebanon (out of a total of 293 Unifil fatalities). It is not a sacrifice that the Lebanese forget easily and they are quick to acknowledge that Irish soldiers have had a huge positive impact in the region.
Over tea at the girls’ orphanage at Tebnine, locals such as Ali Saad, a bank manager and co-ordinator for the Red Cross, spoke fondly of the Irish soldiers. The orphanage itself has been supported by Irish troops since its foundation and he was employed as an interpreter by the Irish battalion while still in his teens, employment that allowed him to go to college.
Others talk of the “harvest patrols” of Irish troops that accompanied locals to the fields during the 1980s and 1990s to protect them from fire from the Israeli army and south Lebanon-based Israeli-backed forces. Irish soldiers have always given part of their time, energy and financial support to humanitarian projects in their zone and that remains true today.
As tensions grow across the region due to the Syrian crisis, fuel prices have soared, while power cuts have become increasingly frequent. Recently, the members of the Irish battalion raised money to help pay for an electricity generator in a local town, thus guaranteeing power every day.
It was perhaps not surprising, therefore, that the local population was well-represented during the St Patrick’s Day parade at Camp Shamrock. Alongside dignitaries, Unifil officials and troops of various nations, many Lebanese mingled in the crowd. Many of them speak English with traces of different Irish regional accents but their message was simple and consistent – the Irish presence has helped ensure that some form of normal life could continue in south Lebanon.
GIVEN THE VARIOUS developing situations across the Middle East, any one of which could impact on the situation in Lebanon, it is perhaps surprising that the Unifil mission is currently under review. The current total of uniformed personnel is 12,138, covering all ranks. It is planned to downsize the force during 2012. France, for example, plans to reduce its force by 400 personnel.
Within Unifil, it is still hoped that the conditions of Resolution 1701 can still be met by “lighter but no less effective force”. This downsizing would also accelerate the assumption of greater responsibility by the LAF. During the St Patrick’s Day parade in Camp Shamrock, UN medals were distributed to Irish troops and, in his speech, Minister of State at the Department of Defence Paul Kehoe commended them, stating: “What you do here, on a daily basis, in patrolling and carrying out your mandate, not only contributes to peace and security in the region, but is a further recognition of Ireland’s commitment to international peace.”Chatting afterwards, he discussed the current situation in the Middle East, confirming the Government’s awareness that the Irish battalion is operating in one of the most politically volatile areas in the world. The current Syrian and Iranian situations could result in an increase in tensions along the Blue Line.It is a region in which the future actions of various actors, some of which are non-state, could have huge ramifications. Perhaps with a level of Irish understatement, Mr Kehoe concluded “this is a very delicate situation”.
**David Murphy teaches the MA course in military history and strategic studies at NUI Maynooth and a war studies programme at the Irish Military College

CNN rejects as 'ridiculous' Syrian claims it collaborated with rebels
By the CNN Wire Staff
March 23, 2012
(CNN) -- Syria, which has long accused Arab and Western satellite news networks for fabricating and falsifying events, now has CNN in its sights.
State-run Syrian media asserted Thursday that CNN journalists were involved in blowing up an oil pipeline in Homs province, collaborating with "saboteurs."
The allegations surfaced when Syrian state TV aired portions of the CNN documentary "72 Hours Under Fire," about the challenges faced by a CNN team while on assignment in Homs.
Rafiq Lutf, described as a member of the Arab Journalists Union in America, asked on the program: "Who is behind the attack? It is one particular group. Who is this group? Let (CNN) answer this question. It's one of two things. It is either that they are the perpetrators. ... But I guarantee to you that they are the accomplices."
The anchor talking with Lutf spoke of "conclusive evidence of the involvement of CNN and the American journalists who were present there in the detonation of the oil pipelines in Homs."
Syria's state news agency SANA picked up the theme Friday, writing that the footage "revealed that the camera operators were CNN correspondents who entered Syria illegally through the Lebanese borders and seemed to have coordinated with the saboteurs to film a video of the attack and send it to their channel."
SANA also reported that CNN claimed the "Syrian army was behind the attack to deflect suspicion of any coordination, if not to say involvement, with the terrorist saboteurs."Tony Maddox, executive vice president and managing director of CNN International, called the assertions "ridiculous." "We stand firmly behind our excellent reporting on Syria," he said. "It is a pity that its citizens did not get to see this important documentary without these ridiculous interventions."
Among other allegations made on the program, Lutf asked whether American media outlets were working with al Qaeda, which he linked to the Free Syrian Army resistance. "Why are they now working with al Qaeda?" he asks. "I lived in America for 16 years, and I know the Americans are good people."
There have been other unlikely claims by Syrian state media against what they see as international conspiracies against the regime. A state TV anchor said Al-Jazeera, the Arabic-language news network, "depended on armed individuals, the terrorists as correspondents."
Syrian networks devote hours every day to projecting the government's message and discrediting any version of events that differs from the regime's.
Syria has been cracking down on anti-regime protesters for more than a year, and during that time, Syria has blocked unhindered access to international journalists. As a result, it is nearly impossible to confirm events there independently. The government has consistently blamed the violence in the country on terrorist groups, but activists say the government security forces and their militia allies have instigated attacks against civilians.
*-CNN's Joe Sterling contributed to this report.

Iran helping Assad to put down protests: officials
By Mark Hosenball
WASHINGTON | Fri Mar 23, 2012 / (Reuters) - Iran is providing a broad array of assistance to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to help him suppress anti-government protests, from high-tech surveillance technology to guns and ammunition, U.S. and European security officials say.
Tehran's technical assistance to Assad's security forces includes electronic surveillance systems, technology designed to disrupt efforts by protesters to communicate via social media, and Iranian-made drone aircraft for overhead surveillance, the officials said. They discussed intelligence matters on condition of anonymity.
Iran has also provided lethal materiel that can be used for riot control, they said.
"Over the past year, Iran has provided security assistance to Damascus to help shore up Assad. Tehran during the last couple of months has been aiding the Syrian regime with lethal assistance - including rifles, ammunition, and other military equipment - to help it put down the opposition," a U.S. official said.
"Iran has provided Damascus (with) monitoring tools to help the regime suppress the opposition. It has also shared techniques on Internet surveillance and disruption," the official continued.
He added that Iran had also provided Assad's government with "unarmed drones that Damascus is using along with its own technology to monitor opposition forces."
Iranian security officials have also traveled to Damascus to advise Assad's entourage how to counter dissent, the official said. Some Iranian officials have stayed on in Syria to advise Assad's forces, he added.
Iran's multi-pronged security aid to Syria appears to have helped Assad's government in its increasingly violent campaign to hold on to power in the face of a year-long protest movement. The United Nations estimates 8,000 civilians have died in the conflict.
NO GAME CHANGER
However, the U.S. and European officials said the Syrian government's survival is not totally dependent on continuing help from Tehran. U.S. and allied official broadly agree that Assad's control remains solid. His opponents are hopelessly disorganized, the officials said, which may make it possible for the Syrian president and his entourage to hold onto power for years. "At current levels Iranian aid is important but not really a game changer in the overall conflict," a U.S. official noted. Iran has for decades been a patron to Syria, which has helped funnel aid and weapons to the Iranian-backed Shi'ite Muslim militia Hezbollah in Lebanon. During the protests that followed Iran's disputed 2009 presidential election - the biggest mass protests since the Islamic Republic's founding in 1979 - Iranian authorities disrupted social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, as well as cell phone networks. Iran's internal crackdown reportedly has escalated since then.
A European official said that the Iranians were providing Syrian security agencies with hardware and software that would help them disrupt efforts to organize protests inside Syria and efforts by anti-government elements to spread their message to supporters outside the country.
Officials said that Syria had also obtained some surveillance technology from European suppliers.
As protests against Assad's rule grew last year, the United States first raised the possibility that Iranian authorities were helping their Syrian counterparts suppress dissent.
Last June the U.S. Treasury Department announced economic sanctions against two of Iran's most senior police officials for allegedly helping Assad's government crush protests.
The Treasury imposed U.S. economic sanctions on Ismail Ahmadi Moghadam and Ahmad-Reza Radan, chief and deputy chief of Iran's national police force, because their agency had "provided support to the Syrian General Intelligence Directorate and dispatched personnel to Damascus in April to assist the Syrian government in suppressing the Syrian people."
The Treasury alleged that Radan had traveled to Damascus to meet with Syrian security agencies, to whom he allegedly provided "expertise to aid in the Syrian government crackdown on the Syrian people."
DRONE DEBATE
U.S. officials said Iranian efforts to bolster Syria's surveillance capabilities have been supplemented by deliveries to Syria of Iranian-made unarmed surveillance drone aircraft.
Earlier this month a specialized website, The Aviationist, reported that a drone flying over the city of Homs, the site of recent violent clashes between government and opposition forces, had been identified as a "Pahpad" drone, which the website said meant "remotely piloted aircraft" in Farsi. In February another specialized website, Open Source GEOINT, published freeze-frame images from what purported to be an amateur cameraman's video of a suspected drone flying over a Damascus suburb. The website noted that some news reports had suggested that the United States was flying intelligence drones over Syria but that the drone in the pictures did not appear to be a U.S. model. The website cited speculation that the drone might be of Iranian origin. Ynet News, an Israeli website, reported this month that Syria's defense industry produces drones that are technologically identical to Iranian-produced models and speculated that these domestically produced models were what Syrian security forces had deployed. However, a U.S. official said that some of Syria's drones had come directly from Iran. Last weekend the Iranian news agency Fars announced that Iranian experts had produced what it called a "new type of drone" known as the Shaparak, or "Butterfly," which it said was "capable of carrying out military and border patrol missions."
(Editing by Warren Strobel and Xavier Briand)

Mahfouz charged in contributing to death of Ethiopian worker
March 23/03/12/The Daily Star /BEIRUT: Beirut’s general prosecutor has charged Ali Mahfouz with contributing to and causing the suicide of Alem Dechasa-Desisa, the Ethiopian domestic worker who committed suicide after a widely publicized beating outsider her consulate. A judicial source told The Daily Star that Mahfouz was charged Thursday, adding that he is not currently in custody.
A video released by LBCI earlier this month showed Dechasa-Desisa moaning as a man, later identified as Mahfouz, dragged and forced her into a car. Mahfouz reportedly owns her employment agency.
Another man helped Mahfouz, as others stood by. According to Ethiopia’s consul general in Lebanon, Asaminew Debelie Bonssa, the incident took place two weeks before it became public on March 8.
Doctors told Bonssa that Dechasa-Desisa hanged herself using strips of her bed sheets on March 15 while at to Pyschiatrique de la Croix Hospital, known as Deir al-Salib. Police took her to the hospital after the incident. Mahfouz has told media outlets that Dechasa-Desisa had previously attempted suicide.

Question: "What does it mean to glorify God?"
Question.com/Answer: To “glorify” God means to give glory to Him. The word glory as related to God in the Old Testament bears with it the idea of greatness of splendor. In the New Testament, the word translated “glory” means "dignity, honor, praise and worship." Putting the two together, we find that glorifying God means to acknowledge His greatness and give Him honor by praising and worshiping Him, primarily because He, and He alone, deserves to be praised, honored and worshipped. God’s glory is the essence of His nature, and we give glory to Him by recognizing that essence.
The question that comes to mind is if God has all the glory, which He does, how then do we “give Him” glory? How can we give God something which is His in the first place? The key is found in 1 Chronicles 16:28-29, “Ascribe to the LORD, O families of nations, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength, ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name. Bring an offering and come before him; worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.” In this verse, we see two actions on our part that make up the action of glorifying God. First, we “ascribe” or give glory to Him because it is His due. No one else deserves the praise and worship that we give to glorify Him. Isaiah 42:8 confirms this: "I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols.” Second, we are to “bring an offering” to God as part of the worship that glorifies Him. What is the offering we bring to God to glorify Him?
The offering we bring to God as we come before Him in the splendor or beauty of His holiness involves agreement, obedience, submission, and rehearsing His attributes or extolling Him. Glorifying God begins with agreeing with everything He says, especially about Himself. In Isaiah 42:5, God declares, “I am the Lord God. I created the heavens like an open tent above. I made the earth and everything that grows on it. I am the source of life for all who live on this earth, so listen to what I say.” Because of who He is, holy and perfect and true, His proclamations and statutes are holy and perfect and true (Psalm 19:7), and we glorify Him by listening to and agreeing with them. God’s Word, the Bible, is His Word to us, all that we need for life in Him. Listening to and agreeing with Him, though, will not glorify Him unless we also submit to Him and obey the commands contained in His Word. “But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD's love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children's children—with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts” (Psalm 103:17-18). Jesus reiterated the idea that glorifying and loving God are one and the same in John 14:15: “If you love me, you will obey what I command.”
We also glorify God by rehearsing His attributes and His deeds. Stephen, in his final sermon before he was killed for his faith, retold the story of God’s dealings with Israel from the time Abraham left his country in obedience to God’s command, all the way to the coming of Christ, the “Righteous One,” whom Israel betrayed and murdered. When we tell of God’s work in our lives, how He saved us from sin, and the marvelous works He does in our hearts and minds every day, we glorify Him before others. Even though others don’t always want to hear our glorifying God, He is more than pleased by it. The crowd who heard Stephen hated what he said, covering their ears and rushing at him to stone him. “But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:55).
To glorify God is to extol His attributes—His holiness, faithfulness, mercy, grace, love, majesty, sovereignty, power, and omniscience, to name a few—rehearsing them over and over in our minds and telling others about the singular nature of the salvation only He offers.
Recommended Resource: Thinking. Loving. Doing. A Call to Glorify God with Heart and Mind by Piper & Mathis.