LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
May 26/12

Bible Quotation for today/Teaching about the Law
Matthew 05/17-20:" Do not think that I have come to do away with the Law of Moses and the teachings of the prophets. I have not come to do away with them, but to make their teachings come true. Remember that as long as heaven and earth last, not the least point nor the smallest detail of the Law will be done away with—not until the end of all things. So then, whoever disobeys even the least important of the commandments and teaches others to do the same, will be least in the Kingdom of heaven. On the other hand, whoever obeys the Law and teaches others to do the same, will be great in the Kingdom of heaven. I tell you, then, that you will be able to enter the Kingdom of heaven only if you are more faithful than the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees in doing what God requires.

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
The failure to admit failure/By: Tony Badran//Now Lebanon/May 25/ 12
Al-Qaeda in Beirut/By: Hazem al-Amin//Now Lebanon/May 25/12
Egypt's Presidential Elections: What's at Stake/By Raymond Ibrahim/FrontPageMagazine.com/May 25/12

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for May 25/12
Israel revives military option after Obama rejects its nuclear demands of Iran
Traces of uranium enriched to higher than previous levels found at Iran site
Iran says it has “absolute right” to enrichment
Britain demands “urgent” steps from Iran after talks
U.S. Official in Israel after Iran Nuclear Talks
Islamist, ex-PM in Egyptian presidential run-off, Muslim Brotherhood says
Annan to meet Assad officials in Syria amid failing UN peace plan
U.S. Mulls Arms Transfer Nod for Syrian Rebels
Nasrallah thanks Hariri on efforts to free abducted Lebanese
Lebanese kidnapped in Syria released, on way to Beirut: Turkey
11 Lebanese Pilgrims Abducted in Syria Released
LBC: Released Lebanese nationals to be flown to Beirut aboard Hariri private plane
Khalil: Lebanese pilgrims abducted in Syria freed
MP Yassin Jaber commands Hariri’s help in releasing Shia pilgrims
Ban Fears Crisis in Syria Spilling over into Lebanon
Hezbollah: 'March 14 weapons' should be directed at Israel
Hariri: Liberation Day should be occasion to triumph over divisions
Lebanese Army detains 11 Syrians after brawl in east Lebanon
Geagea rules out resumption of national dialogue
Geagea: Dispute over Govt. Must Be Resolved before Resuming National Dialogue
Saniora Calls for Neutral Salvation Govt. to Ease Tensions
March 14 calls on cabinet to make way for “salvation government”
Suleiman Says to Call for Mid-June National Dialogue, Urges March 14 to Heed Call without Preconditions
Top Lebanese Officials Unite against Opposition in its Dialogue Conditions
Al-Rahi: I Do Not Support Calls for Government’s Resignation
Factory Blaze in Jadra Leaves Four Injured
Lebanese-Canadian Named BMW’s New Designer
Address by Canada'sMinister for Foreign Affairs Mr. Baird at Religious Liberty Dinner

Israel revives military option after Obama rejects its nuclear demands of Iran
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report May 24, 2012/Israel has withdrawn its pledge to US President Barack Obama not to strike Iran’s nuclear sites before the November presidential election after he rejected its minimal demands for nuclear negotiations with Iran. This is reported exclusively by debkafile’s Washington sources.
In public, Israeli ministers still talk as though they believe in results from the Six-Power talks with Iran, which Thursday May 24 limped into their second day in Baghdad with the parties still miles apart. But the presidential veto has essentially cast Israel outside the loop of influence on the outcome of diplomacy.
When Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak met US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta at the Pentagon on May 17 he was told that Obama had rejected Israel’s toned-down demands for Iran to at least to halt high-grade uranium enrichment, export its stocks of material enriched higher than 3.5 percent grade and shut down production at the Fordo nuclear plant near Qom. For six months, the Obama administration tried to sweeten the bitter pill of this rejection by bumping up security aid. The latest appropriation covered another $70 million for manufacturing more Iron Dome short-range missile interceptors.
After talking to Panetta, Barak turned to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and National Security Adviser Tom Donilon in the hope of winning their support for softening Obama’s ruling. Clinton replied she was not involved in the negotiations with Iran and Donilon, that a personal decision by the president was not open to change.
A week of consultations followed the defense minister’s return home, during which it was decided to tear up Israel’s pledge to refrain from attacking Iran during the US presidential campaign. Wednesday, May 23, the day the Baghdad talks began, Barak signaled Washington to this effect.
It was conveyed in a little-noticed early morning radio interview with the defense minister. To make sure his words reached the proper address without misunderstandings, the defense minister’s office issued a verbatim English translation from the Hebrew:
"There is no need to tell us what to do, and we have no reason to panic. Israel is very, very strong, but we do know that the Iranians are accomplished chess players and will try to achieve nuclear capabilities. Our position has not changed. The world must stop Iran from becoming nuclear. All options remain on the table."
As the Baghdad talks went around in circles, Israel’s military option was put back firmly on the table and on the US-Iranian chessboard.

Traces of uranium enriched to higher than previous levels found at Iran site
By The Associated Press | May.25, 2012
Diplomats say the IAEA has found traces of uranium enriched up to 27 percent at Iran's Fordo enrichment plant.The UN atomic agency has found evidence at an underground bunker in Iran that could mean the country has moved closer to producing the uranium threshold needed to arm nuclear missiles, diplomats said Friday.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has found traces of uranium enriched up to 27 percent at Iran's Fordo enrichment plant, the diplomats told The Associated Press.
That is still substantially below the 90-percent level needed to make the fissile core of nuclear arms. But it is above Iran's highest-known enrichment grade, which is close to 20 percent, and which already can be turned into weapons-grade material much more quickly than the Islamic Republic's main stockpile, which can only be used for fuel at around 3.5 percent.
The diplomats, who demanded anonymity because their information is privileged, said the find did not necessarily mean that Iran was covertly raising its enrichment threshold toward weapons-grade level. They said one likely explanation was that the centrifuges that produce enriched uranium initially over-enriched at the start as technicians adjusted their output.
Calls to Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran's chief delegate to the IAEA, were rejected and the switchboard operator at the Iranian mission said he was not available. IAEA media officials said the agency had no comment.
Iran is under several rounds of UN sanctions for its failure to disclose information on its controversial nuclear program. Tehran says it is enriching uranium to provide more nuclear energy for its growing population, while the U.S. and other nations fear that Iran doing that to have the ability to make nuclear weapons.

The latest attempts to persuade Iran to compromise and let UN experts view its nuclear program ended inconclusively Wednesday at a meeting in Baghdad. At the talks, the six nations the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany, failed to gain traction in efforts to persuade Tehran to freeze its 20 percent enrichment. Envoys said the group will meet again next month in Moscow.
Iran started enriching to 20 percent last year, mostly at Fordo, saying it needed the material to fuel a research reactor and for medical purposes .
Still, its long-standing refusal to stop enrichment and accept reactor fuel from abroad has sparked fears it wants to expand its domestic program to be able to turn it toward making weapons.
Those concerns have increased since it started higher enrichment at Fordo, which is carved into a mountain. That, say Iranian officials, makes it impervious to attack from Israel or the United States, which have not ruled out using force as a last option if diplomacy fails to curb the Islamic Republic's nuclear program.
On Thursday, Iran's chief negotiator Saeed Jalili emphasized its right to continue to enrich uranium during crucial talks with world powers in Baghdad aimed at resolving Western concerns over its nuclear program.
In a televised news conference after the close of P5 + 1 talks, Jalili said that a peaceful nuclear project was "an undeniable right of the Iranian nation ... especially the right to enrich uranium."
The negotiator said Iran had abided by its obligations under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and it insisted on establishing a complete fuel cycle.
Jalili denied the P5+1 countries, the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany, had offered a new package of proposals during the meeting: "They proposed one suggestion about the issue of uranium."
Iran's insistence that world powers acknowledge what it sees as its right to enrich uranium emerged as a significant difference a senior U.S. administration official said.
The third round of talks is due to take place in Moscow on June 18 and 19.

Annan to meet Assad officials in Syria amid failing UN peace plan
By DPA | May.25, 2012
Observers say presence of some 250 UN monitors in the country to supervise the truce has not stopped violent clashes, which has intensified in some dissident areas.International envoy Kofi Annan is due to visit Syria on Monday for talks with government officials on the shaky implementation of his peace plan, diplomatic sources said on Friday.
Annan is also expected to meet with opposition politicians inside Syria, the sources told the German DPA news agency.
A key component of Annan's plan to end 14 months of bloodshed in Syria, a ceasefire, has been repeatedly violated since it went into effect on April 12.
The presence of some 250 United Nations monitors in Syria to supervise the truce has not stopped the violence, which has intensified in some dissident areas, say observers.
"Annan's plan is in jeopardy," said a Western diplomat based in Beirut, noting that the prospects of a diplomatic solution to Syria's conflict appeared "weak."
Meanwhile, Syria's opposition seemed to be pushing their struggle against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad further towards Damascus, calling for mass protests in the capital. Anti-government mass demonstrations were held overnight in some areas of Damascus, including where foreign embassies are located, said activists. The opposition said that at least 14 people were killed Friday by Syrian government forces in the central province of Hama

Hariri: Liberation Day should be occasion to triumph over divisions
May 25, 2012/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri expressed hope Friday that the 12th anniversary of Liberation Day will be an occasion to triumph over divisions and stressed on the need to exhaust all efforts to diminish Lebanese concerns.“Hariri expressed his hope that this year’s Liberation Day would be an occasion to overcome divisions prevailing among the Lebanese, restore unity and understanding among them in a bid to save the nation from internal and external challenges,” his press office said.
He also hoped that the occasion would be an opportunity to exert all possible efforts to dispel concerns and fears afflicting most Lebanese as a result of recent security incidents.
May 25 commemorates the withdrawal of Israel troops from south Lebanon except for Shebaa Farms and Kfar Shuba hills.
Hariri also said that the liberation of south Lebanon was achieved as a result of the “solid will” of the Lebanese people and their “unified front against the Israeli enemy.”
“Preserving the achievement of liberation requires everyone without exception to rise above selfishness and prejudice and reflect on the country’s current situation which is a result of the uncalculated practices and the intimidation of partners for circumstantial and regional interests that proved their failure and put Lebanon and its people at risk,” Hariri said.
The head of the Future Movement also saluted Lebanese who sacrificed their lives for the sake of liberating the nation from Israeli occupation.
“We hope that this liberation will be completed by the withdrawal of the last soldier of the Israeli enemy from the Shebaa Farms and Kfar Shouba hills,” he added.

Britain demands “urgent” steps from Iran after talks
May 24, 2012 /Britain warned Iran on Thursday that it would intensify sanctions unless Tehran takes "urgent, concrete" steps ahead of fresh nuclear talks scheduled for Moscow next month.
Speaking after two days of talks between Iran and six world powers in Baghdad, Foreign Secretary William Hague said there had been "limited progress" and there were still "significant differences.”
Hague said the "clear and unified conclusion" of the P5+1—Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany—“was that urgent, concrete steps need to be taken by Iran to allow progress.”
"If Iran fails to respond in a serious manner, they should be in no doubt that we will intensify the pressure from sanctions, including the embargo on oil imports already agreed, and will urge other nations to do the same," he added in a statement. "We remain fully committed to the diplomatic process under way and to finding a peaceful, negotiated solution to the nuclear issue. We are making every effort to achieve this.” "But we must see significant progress from Iran at the next meeting in Moscow." The talks in Baghdad on Iran's nuclear program closed with little to show except an agreement to meet again in the Russian capital on June 18-19 after sharp disagreements over the way forward. The P5+1 laid out a new package of proposals that appeared to alarm the Iranians, including Iran suspending enrichment of uranium to 20-percent purities. The capability to enrich to 20 percent takes Iran significantly closer to being able to produce weapons-grade 90 percent, if it took the decision to build a nuclear bomb, by shortening the so-called "breakout" time.-AFP/NOW Lebanon

Iran says it has “absolute right” to enrichment
May 24, 2012 /Iran has the "absolute right" to uranium enrichment, Tehran's chief negotiator at talks in Baghdad with world powers, Saeed Jalili, said on Thursday. Peaceful nuclear energy and uranium enrichment are our "absolute right," Jalili told a news conference. Enrichment can be used for peaceful purposes but also to build a nuclear weapon. It is the international community's main concern over Iran's nuclear ambitions. World powers involved in the talks with Iran are focused on having Tehran suspend its production of uranium enriched to 20 percent and for it to send its existing 20-percent stockpile out of the country in a swap for reactor fuel. But Jalili signaled that all signatories to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, including Iran, had a right to enrichment. "We insist on the right of having a peaceful nuclear energy cycle and enrichment. This is the inalienable right of the Iranian nation," the negotiator said. "This is a peaceful activity under the supervision of the IAEA, and it is the inalienable right of Iran and [the P5+1 group of world powers] confirmed this in the meeting," he added. He said, however, that "it can be an issue of discussion for cooperation." The P5+1—grouping the United States, Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia—gave no indication that they accepted 20 percent enrichment as Iran's "right.”"Iran declared its readiness to address the issue of 20-percent enrichment and came with its own five-point plan, including their assertion that we recognize their right to enrichment," the P5+1's representative, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, told a separate news conference prior to Jalili.
-AFP/NOW Lebanon

March 14 calls on cabinet to make way for “salvation government”
May 24, 2012 /The March 14 coalition on Thursday issued a statement calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s cabinet and the formation of a “neutral salvation government.”
“The recent developments that have affected the country indicate that the Syrian regime decided to undermine stability, spread chaos, target [state] institutions… and renew [civil] war,” said the statement issued following a broad meeting of March 14 figures. “[We] call for the formation of a neutral salvation government as an essential preliminary step toward dialogue capable of preventing Lebanon from collapsing.” March 14 also accused Mikati’s government of being complicit in the Syrian “conspiracy” against Lebanon. “It is regrettable that this current government, by attempting to cover up the [Syrian] conspiracy… is unable to live up to its national and historic responsibility.” The statement slammed the cabinet for not “covering up security violations in Tripoli” and “almost destroying the role of the Lebanese army.” March 14 also announced it would present a proposal to President Michel Sleiman to form a salvation government and resume the national dialogue on the precondition it would discuss non-state arms. It also said it would call for a “national safety net” inclusive of all the country’s people to fend off the threat of a new civil war. Tension has been high in Lebanon the past two weeks after sectarian clashes left 10 people dead in Tripoli and street fighting in Beirut’s Tariq al-Jedideh killed two people. Other security incidents, including a Wednesday night shootout in West Beirut, have also raised fears. The March 8 coalition collapsed former PM Saad Hariri’s national-unity cabinet in January 2011 and sponsored Mikati’s rise to the premiership. -NOW Lebanon

11 Lebanese Pilgrims Abducted in Syria Released
إNaharnet 25 May 2012/The 11 Lebanese pilgrims who were abducted in Syria earlier this week have been released on Friday as Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu confirmed the news to Prime Minister Najib Miqati, reported LBC television. He added that the pilgrims are doing well and they are on their way to Beirut. Speaker Nabih Berri received a telephone call from former Prime Minister Saad Hariri confirming the development. Head of Syria’s Ahrar Party Ibrahim al-Zohby also confirmed the release to al-Jadeed television. He said that they have been handed to Turkish authorities, adding that they were released without any conditions. Celebratory gunshots were fired in Dahiyeh at the news of the release, reported OTV. The pilgrims will be transported from Turkey to Lebanon on board Hariri's private jet, reported LBC television. The pilgrims were kidnapped in the city of Aleppo on Tuesday as they were returning from a pilgrimage to Iran.

LBC: Released Lebanese nationals to be flown to Beirut aboard Hariri private plane
May 25, 2012/LBC television station reported on Friday that the Lebanese nationals who had been abducted in Syria’s Aleppo were scheduled to be flown from Turkey on board a plane belonging to Future Movement leader MP Saad Hariri.The television also reported that the plane will take off from Turkey’s Adana airport in the direction of Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport. The National News Agency reported that thirteen Lebanese Shia Muslims were kidnapped in Aleppo province on Tuesday as they were heading back home by bus from a pilgrimage in Iran. Their families said that they were abducted by Syrian rebels. The Free Syrian Army, however, denied the accusation. The group was freed on Friday and arrived in Turkey, AFP quoted Lebanese Health Minister Ali Hassan Khalil as saying. The kidnapping took place amid heightened tension in Lebanon over the Syrian crisis.-NOW Lebanon

MP Yassin Jaber commands Hariri’s help in releasing Shia pilgrims
May 25, 2012 /Liberation and Development bloc MP Yassin Jaber on Friday commended Future Movement leader MP Saad Hariri’s initiative to transfer the released Shia men from Turkey to Lebanon on board his private jet. “Hariri’s step shows that nothing can divide the Lebanese… I second Speaker Nabih Berri’s gratitude for Hariri for and his efforts to release the abductees,” Jaber told LBC.
According to the National News Agency thirteen Lebanese Shia Muslims were kidnapped in Aleppo province on Tuesday as they were heading back home by bus from a pilgrimage in Iran. Their families said that they were abducted by Syrian rebels. The Free Syrian Army, however, denied the accusation. The group was released on Friday and arrived in Turkey, AFP quoted Lebanese Health Minister Ali Hassan Khalil as saying. The kidnapping took place amid heightened tension in Lebanon over the Syrian crisis. -NOW Lebanon

Geagea: Dispute over Govt. Must Be Resolved before Resuming National Dialogue
Naharnet/ 25 May 2012/Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea stated on Friday that he “understands” President Michel Suleiman’s call for dialogue “because I am aware of the amount of dangers surrounding Lebanon.”He said before reporters in Maarab: “The dispute over the government must be resolved before dialogue can he held.”“The conditions needed to hold the dialogue are unavailable,” he remarked. Geagea explained that the other camp is obligated to implement past dialogue agreements on tackling Hizbullah and Palestinian possession of arms. The least the government can do at the moment is implement the agreement reached over the Palestinian arms, he noted. He continued: “The current government opposes dialogue given the way it was formed and the majority of the decisions it has made.” “This government has nothing to do with dialogue as its members can’t even hold talks among each other,” he added. “The first step to resuming the talks lies in the government’s resignation and the formation of a neutral one,” he stressed. Addressing the travel restrictions imposed by Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and the UAE against its citizens heading to Lebanon, the LF chief said: “This means that these countries do not trust the current government.”“The March 14 camp is aware of the significance of this development. Other Arab countries will take similar measures, so is it in Lebanon’s interest for this government to continue in power?” wondered Geagea.The four Gulf countries imposed the travel restriction after recent unrest in northern Lebanon in light of clashes in the northern city of Tripoli between the rival neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen, which left some 10 people dead and over 70 wounded. Geagea congratulated the Lebanese people on the “glorious” occasion of the Resistance and Liberation day, noting that “over 50 percent of the Lebanese people consider the Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon on April 26, 2005 to be another glorious day, which should be marked as a national holiday/” Phalange Party MPs Samer Saadeh and Sami Gemayel had presented on May 15 a draft law on turning the Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon into a national holiday.

Saniora Calls for Neutral Salvation Govt. to Ease Tensions
Naharnet/25 May 2012/Former Prime Minister Fouad Saniora stated on Friday that the current government paved the way for the recent unrest in the country. He reiterated his demand for the formation of a “neutral salvation government that would help ease the tensions in Lebanon.” He made his remarks while offering his condolence in al-Bireh in northern Lebanon over the death of Sheikhs Ahmed Abdul Wahed and Mohammed Merheb. Saniora continued: “We are demanding that efforts be exerted in order to restore the functioning of the Lebanese state in a manner that would ensure the people’s security throughout the country.” He renewed his commitment to the Taif Accord and the Lebanese state “that is capable of asserting its authority throughout its territory through its military, constitutional, and security institutions.”“The army is a central state institution,” stressed the former premier. “The murder of Abdul Wahed and Merheb targeted the residents of Akkar, the Lebanese people, and their security and unity,” he noted. “The fact that the crime was committed at a Lebanese army checkpoint does not mean that the army is responsible for the crime,” he added.He demanded a “swift investigation in the crime and the referral of the case to the Higher Judicial Council.”Saniora revealed that the Mustaqbal bloc will present a request to form a parliamentary investigation committee in the matter.
“We seek the whole truth in the case and we want the affair to stand as a lesson to those who would stoop so low as to attack the security of the nation,” he stressed. On Sunday, Abdul Wahed and Merheb were killed at an army checkpoint in Kweikhat in the North as they were heading to a rally staged by Mustaqbal bloc MP Khaled al-Daher in Halba. The crime sparked outrage in Akkar and armed clashes in Beirut’s Tariq al-Jedideh neighborhood between supporters of the Mustaqbal Movement and Arab Movement Party that left two people dead.

The failure to admit failure
Tony Badran, May 24, 2012/Now Lebanon
A recent article in the Washington Post has once again spurred speculation about a possible shift in the Obama administration’s Syria policy. Citing a discussion with anonymous administration officials, the paper reported that the US was helping to coordinate an effort by regional allies to supply the Syrian rebels with lethal aid. However, on-the-record comments by administration officials emphasize that U.S. policy remains essentially unchanged, and for once they should be taken at their word.
That there was no major overhaul in US policy was evident from the concluding statement of the G8 summit last week, which urged the regime and the opposition alike to adhere to the failed Kofi Annan plan, “including immediately ceasing all violence so as to enable a Syrian-led, inclusive political transition leading to a democratic, plural political system.” Calling for an end to violence that would lead to a “political process” has long been the hallmark of the administration’s Syria policy.
In contrast, the Post’s story claimed that the Syrian rebels have begun receiving an influx of weaponry in an effort funded mainly by Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The US role in this effort, according to the Post, was restricted to “expand[ing] contacts” with some rebel groups in order “to provide the Gulf nations with assessments of rebel credibility and command-and-control infrastructure.”
There is good reason to doubt these claims. For one, the only on-the-record statement in the report was from a senior anonymous State Department official, who essentially refuted the article’s claims and reasserted the administration’s declared position: The US is not funding or supplying the rebels, and is only involved in providing nonlethal assistance to the Syrian opposition.
Furthermore, following the article’s publication, the administration disputed the accuracy of its central claim regarding the US role. State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland told reporters that the piece had “stretched its sources,” even referring to it in such strong language as “rumors” and “wild reporting.”
Nuland and White House spokesman Jay Carney did concede that “other countries have made other decisions” and “are pursuing different types of support.” However, Nuland, who was pressed repeatedly on this point, stressed that any assertions about the US coordinating with allies to deliver lethal aid “were unsubstantiated in [the Post’s] report.” What the US was coordinating “broadly” with its allies, she clarified, was “how we can best assure that maximum support goes to the civilian opposition that is preparing itself for a peaceful democratic transition.” This was, in her words, “a loose coordination mechanism.”
Beyond that, the administration’s spokespersons repeated the known official position, which remains the same. Namely, the administration supports the Annan plan, which, as Carney put it, “serves as a foundation for the future political reconciliation that will be required.” In addition, Washington continues to be opposed to “adding fuel to the fire” by providing lethal assistance.
An anonymous official described the dilemma Washington brought on itself by wedding itself to the Annan plan’s engagement policy. The administration, he told CNN.com last week, is “going to be in a bit of a holding pattern for a while, debating on whether [the Annan plan] has succeeded or failed, and whether it was designed to fail.”
In other words, the White House is still unwilling to declare the Annan plan a failure.
Instead, the administration wants to get to the “political reconciliation” part more quickly, and for this it is hoping for support from the Russians. As national security adviser Ben Rhodes remarked following the G8 summit, “It is our assessment that you are not going to be able to solve this problem just with monitors and ceasefires, that you need to have a political process under way… unless you begin the process of a political transition of some sort, you are not going to be able to deal with reducing the violence.”
Rhodes' comments signal a willingness to tolerate acceptable levels of violence while seeking to move on more rapidly to talks. This approach is typical of how engagement with rogue regimes usually unfolds. With the engagers invested in the success of their mission, their reluctance to declare it a failure leads to the watering down of their conditions. This is what happened to former French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, when he sought to engage Damascus in 2007. The longer his engagement effort dragged on, the less he was willing to walk away from it with nothing in hand, and the more he ended up conceding.
Washington’s regional allies no longer have patience for this kind of procrastination. The administration’s acknowledgement that these allies have made “sovereign decisions” to “pursue different types of support” may indicate that these states have pressured the US to lift its previous opposition to them providing the Syrian rebels with lethal aid. However, stuck in its support for the Annan plan and not wanting to be blamed by the Russians for its collapse, the administration finds itself in the awkward position of having to distance itself from the possible efforts of its allies, instead of spearheading them.
**Tony Badran is a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. He tweets @AcrossTheBay.

Al-Qaeda in Beirut
Hazem al-Amin, May 25, 2012/Now Lebanon
“LAF defuses rusty, unusable bomb from Lebanese war remnants at Damour landfill.”
This bit of news was part of the news tickers at the bottom of the New TV screen on the morning of Friday May 25, 2012. Technically speaking, the “bit of news” lacks all the criteria of journalistic news. A rusty, unusable bomb is hardly newsworthy.
The Lebanese war in question is supposed to have ended about 22 years ago. Accordingly, it may be mentioned in order to write its history or as part of an art project. The geographical location is equally irrelevant on the map of tension buildup in Lebanon today, since finding a bomb in Damour cannot be interpreted as a tension indicator in the Sunni-Shia confrontation nowadays.
The fact that the Lebanese Armed Forces confiscated the rusty, unusable bomb is also self-evident, especially since there is no army in Lebanon other than the LAF following the withdrawal of Syrian troops in 2005, which was preceded by the IDF withdrawal in 2000.
Still, despite this introduction, it was not wrong on New TV’s part to treat the rusty Damour bomb as a news item today. Let us take a look at the rich news bouquet that won us many sleepless nights lately. This bouquet is composed of newsworthy items, but they should not have the power to disrupt public quiet.
The murder of a businessman in an individual incident in the Mirna Shalouhi area led to roads being blocked with burning tires. A man murdered in the Raouche area while a young Syrian woman escaped unscathed became, in the introductory address of the Al-Manar TV news bulletin, a news item about Al-Qaeda’s presence in downtown Beirut.
Hani al-Shanti, who was arrested in a state of drunkenness at the house that witnessed the murder of a hairdresser who supposedly competed with Shanti for the good graces of a beautiful Syrian woman, was a member of a group arrested about six years ago on charges of forming a terrorist group. Shanti was released about three months ago as the judge was convinced that he was only marginally linked to the said group.
There is indeed something newsworthy here, albeit not what Al-Manar TV chose to conclude. A former member of an Islamist terrorist group is arrested in a state of drunkenness while taking part in killing a hairdresser who competed with him over the good graces of a beautiful young woman.
Formulated as it is, this news item is an insult to Al-Qaeda but formulated as Al-Manar TV chose to display it, it is a tribute to Al-Qaeda. “Al-Qaeda in downtown Beirut:” This makes the hearts of Al-Qaeda leaders hiding underground in Waziristan leap for joy. However, saying that a former Al-Qaeda operative is drunk, in love and angry at his rival, this would be extremely frustrating for Ayman al-Zawahiri.
In fact, Hani al-Shanti is just like the rest of us: He falls in love, gets drunk and gets mad. It seems that he did not even kill his rival; rather, the job was done by a friend whose help he enlisted when he was unable to do it himself. This element of the news item will represent another blow for Al-Qaeda: An Al-Qaeda operative was unable to kill a hairdresser, let alone kill everyone when he was still active in the organization. Al-Manar TV is not about to deal a blow to Al-Qaeda today. The organization is Al-Manar’s goose that lays the golden eggs, and it is ok to fatten the prey, even if the food is merely illusory.
**This article is a translation of the original, which appeared on the NOW Arabic site on Friday, May 25, 2012

Lebanese-Canadian Named BMW’s New Designer
Naharnet/25 May 2012
The Lebanon-born Canadian designer Karim Habib has been named by BMW to lead the design of its brand cars starting June 1. Habib, 42, has joined the BMW team in 1998, followed by a brief stint with Mercedes-Benz but returned to BMW and has been in charge of Exterior Design for the car-maker since March 2011. Habib is credited as the designer of the current 7 Series and the elegant CS Concept.
The Lebanese had various posts in interior and exterior design before becoming Team Leader Advanced Design for the BMW Group and later heading the BMW Exterior Design department. Now he is in charge of the whole BMW design, interior and exterior. Habib has a busy few years ahead of him as BMW matches Mercedes and Audi and with the impending debut of the i Series electric cars.

Islamist, ex-PM in Egypt Run-Off
Naharnet/25 May 2012, 06:56
Egypt looked set on Friday for a run-off presidential vote pitting Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Mursi against former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq, according to tallies by the Islamist group. The Brotherhood said its candidate was leading the race, with 90 percent of the votes counted, ahead of Shafiq, the last prime minister to serve under Hosni Mubarak, who was ousted in Egypt's 2011 uprising.
"There will be a run-off between Mohammed Mursi and Ahmed Shafiq," after 90 percent of the votes were counted nationwide, the Islamist group said on their website. A spokeswoman from Shafiq's campaign was unable to confirm the claim. Results of the two-day poll are expected from the country's official electoral body from Sunday. If the initial results hold, the two candidates will go to a second round run-off vote on June 16 and 17.
The experience of waiting for a electoral result that has not been predetermined is a novel one for citizens of the Arab world's most populous nation, where years of presidential votes always produced the same winner."Egyptians hold their breath," the liberal al-Wafd newspaper headlined its front page. The election saw 50 million eligible voters given the chance to choose between 12 candidates in a race that pitted Islamists who pledged to uphold the uprising's ideals against former regime candidates who touted their experience.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton congratulated Egypt on its "historic" presidential election, and said Washington was ready to work with a new government in Cairo.
"We will continue to stand with the Egyptian people as they work to seize the promise of last year's uprising and build a democracy that reflects their values and traditions, respects universal human rights, and meets their aspirations for dignity and a better life," Clinton said in a statement. Electoral commission officials said turnout was around 50 percent over the two days of voting on Wednesday and Thursday, with some voters queuing for hours to cast their ballot.
In schools and other institutions around the country, representatives from Egypt's electoral commission carefully sorted the ballots, each printed with the name, photograph and electoral symbol of the candidates, into neat piles.
Contenders included former foreign minister and Arab League chief Amr Moussa, who touted his experience but was hammered for his ties to the old regime.
Shafiq was also shunned by some for his time in Mubarak's government, but others praised his law-and-order platform in a country where many crave stability.
The powerful Muslim Brotherhood's candidate, Mursi, faced competition from Abdel Moneim Abul Fotouh, a former member of the Islamist movement who portrayed himself as a consensus choice.
And also in the running was Hamdeen Sabbahi, a Nasserist politician who was initially considered a fringe candidate but gained surprise momentum late in the campaign. The election seals a tumultuous military-led transition from autocratic rule marked by political upheaval and bloodshed, but which also witnessed democratic parliamentary elections that saw Islamist groups score a crushing victory.
The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, in power since Mubarak's ouster, has vowed to restore civilian rule by the end of June, after a president is elected, but many fear its withdrawal from politics will be just an illusion.
The army, with its vast and opaque economic power, wants to keep its budget a secret by remaining exempt from parliamentary scrutiny, maintain control of military-related legislation and secure immunity from prosecution. Mubarak, 84 and ailing, is being held in a military hospital on the outskirts of Cairo where he awaits the verdict of his murder trial on June 2.
The former strongman, ousted in a popular uprising last year, is accused of involvement in the killing of some 850 protesters during the uprising and of corruption. SourceAgence France Presse.

Egypt's Presidential Elections: What's at Stake
by Raymond Ibrahim
FrontPageMagazine.com
May 24, 2012
http://www.meforum.org/3250/egypt-presidential-elections
Egypt's long awaited and much anticipated presidential elections—the first of their kind to take place in the nation's 7,000 year history—are here. As we await the final results—and as the Western mainstream media fixate on images of purple-stained fingers—it is well to remember that there is much more at stake in Egypt's elections than the mere "right" to vote.
While some Egyptians are certainly voting according to their convictions, the fundamental divide revolves around religion—how much or how little the candidates in question are in favor of Islamic Sharia law. In other words, Islamists are voting for Islamists—Abdel Mon'im Abul Futuh and Muhammad Mursi—whereas non-Islamists (secularists, liberals, and non-Muslims) are voting for non-Islamists, such as Amr Musa and Ahmed Shafiq.
Bear in mind that this is not the same thing as American voters being divided between "liberal" Democrats and "conservative" Republicans; rather, this election is much more existential in nature—possibly cataclysmic for Egyptian society. For, whereas both American Republicans and Democrats operate under the selfsame U.S. Constitution, in Egypt, an Islamist president will usher in Sharia law, which will fundamentally transform the nation.
One veiled woman interviewed yesterday at the voting polls put it best: "We came to elect the man who implements Sharia (Islamic law). But I am afraid of liberals, secularists, Christians. I am afraid of their reaction if an Islamist wins. They won't let it go easily. But God be with us."
Interestingly, while she sums up the ultimate purpose Islamists like herself are voting—to empower "the man who implements Sharia"—she also projects her own Islamist mentality onto non-Islamists, implying that if a Sharia-friendly president is fairly elected, non-Islamists will rebel. In fact, it is the Islamists who are on record warning that if a secularist emerges as president, that itself will be proof positive that the elections were rigged, and an armed jihad will be proclaimed.
None of this is surprising, considering that Islamists have not hid their abhorrence for democracy as an infidel heresy to be exploited as a gateway to a Sharia-enforcing theocracy which will, ironically, eliminate democracy. Some have gone so far as to insist that cheating in elections to empower Sharia is an obligation. And, rather than encourage Egyptians to vote for whom they think is best suited for Egypt, days prior to these elections, various authoritative Muslim clerics and institutions decreed that Egypt's Muslims are "obligated" to vote for Sharia-supporting Islamists, while voters are "forbidden" to vote for non-Islamists—a proclamation with threats of hellfire.
One of the blocs not voting for the Islamists consists of Christian Copts, who make for some 12-15 million people. Not only does an AFP report capture their mood well, but it demonstrates how Egypt's Christians are so convinced that any Islamist president, including the oxymoronic "liberal Islamists" like Abul Futuh, will lead to even more religous intolerance for them—a reminder of reality from those non-Muslims on the ground:
[V]oting lines were long, and the worry and tension felt by many Christians was palpable. "I don't want the Islamists. If they come to power and I oppose them, they will say I am criticizing their religion and who knows what they'll do to me? We can't talk to them," said 57-year-old Sanaa Rateb after casting her ballot…. Nassim Ghaly, a young man with a cross tattooed on his wrist in the distinctive manner of Egyptian Christians, interjected: "God protect us if the Islamists come to power and they control the parliament and the presidency at the same time."…. "What we want is a non-religious state," which would guarantee the rights of all religious groups, Sanaa Halim, in her sixties, said. "The Islamist trends are worrying," one of her friends added, declining to give her name. "And what have they done in parliament? Nothing, except talk about women and female circumcision."
Indeed, above and beyond the recent clash between Egypt's Islamists and the military—where the former exposed their jihadi face, losing some popular support—the elected Islamist-majority parliament is increasingly seen as a disappointment, more interested in banning toys that "humiliate Islam" and legalizing "death-sex," rather than addressing the country's economic woes. As another voter put it, "I voted for the Brotherhood in parliament elections. Now they want to control religious tourism, this is what I got from them. The parliament has failed."
Likewise, Ryan Mauro reports that "the secularists have benefited from a sharp fall in Islamist popularity. In February, 43% of Egyptians supported the Muslim Brotherhood, 40% supported the Salafist Nour Party and 62% felt that it is positive to have a strong Brotherhood presence in parliament. A Gallup poll in April found that the statistics fell to 26%, 30% and 47% respectively."
Notwithstanding all this, perhaps the most decisive voting bloc consists of those tens of millions of impoverished Egyptians who care little about voting, who care little about Sharia or secularism, and are more than happy to exchange their vote for a temporal boon. These, the well-organized Muslim Brotherhood and Salafis—funded by Saudi petro dollars—have been busy buying, including with food and drink.
The outcome of the elections remains uncertain. While Egypt is home to the modern day Islamist movement—giving the world several headaches, including the Muslim Brotherhood, the "godfather of jihad" Sayyid Qutb, and al-Qaeda leader Ayman Zawahiri—up until recently it was also home to one of the Islamic world's most secular and "fun-loving" societies (it's not called the "Hollywood of the Middle East" for nothing). Yet, based on the spectacular advance of political Islam in the last few decades, one remains pessimistic.
**Raymond Ibrahim is a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center and an Associate Fellow at the Middle East Forum.

Address by Canada'sMinister for Foreign Affairs Mr. Baird at Religious Liberty Dinner
May 24, 2012 - Washington, D.C.
It is a real pleasure to be part of this year’s Religious Liberty Dinner.
This is a marquee event on the calendar for those who care about human rights and, especially, freedom of religion.
So I would like to thank the organizers and their team for the invitation to be a part of tonight.
I love being here in Washington.
This is a capital city that embodies the hopes and aspirations of a truly great nation—even in times of political gridlock.
The United States, of course, is a country built on the very notion of religious freedom.
It was in a search for such freedom that the first pilgrims came to America’s shores.
It is why so many people still immigrate to the United States and to Canada today: that promise, that potential for a better life in which one can live freely, worship freely and draw upon one’s faith to contribute to the greater good of society—something greater than oneself.
Our countries are examples to the world of freedom and refuge for all those craving to exercise their God-given right to worship their god and to do so in freedom and security.
Standing here, I can’t help but think about someone who is, sadly, with us in spirit only: a man of great humility and extraordinary courage.
Three years ago, Shahbaz Bhatti was appointed Pakistan’s federal minister for minorities.
He was the only Christian in Cabinet. And his role was to give Pakistan’s many religious minorities a voice in government and a greater presence in society.
He worked to make life better for “the oppressed, the downtrodden and the marginalized” of Pakistan, under constant imminent threat to his own safety.
Tragically, Shahbaz was assassinated last year for his work and his ideals. He was only 42 years old.
Just a month earlier, Shahbaz had been in Canada, visiting our prime minister and other government ministers. He was an incredibly impressive person.
The news of his passing was felt at the heart of our government.
To see someone doing what is right, and what is just, so tragically silenced before his time…
That should never be the case. Each of us should reject that notion outright.
Friends, Shabaz Bhatti's story, sadly, is far more common than many truly grasp—and far more common than it should be.
Reformers and reformists around the world are literally under daily attack. And far too many pay the ultimate price in their quest for the basic rights that many of us in pluralistic, democratic societies take for granted.
The Jewish people know this issue all too well.
For thousands of years and in too many societies, people have tried to limit their right to practise their religion or, worse, tried to exterminate them outright.
The Spanish Inquisition, the Russian pogroms and, most horrific of all, the Holocaust are just a few examples of how evil can manifest itself, and how religious intolerance can take shape.
While legitimacy for the Jewish state dates back thousands of years, when the world woke up from the horrors of the Holocaust, no reasonable actor could deny the necessity of its right to exist any longer.
In the 1930s and 1940s, the Jewish people were on the front lines of the global struggle against fascism. Six million people died for no other reason than their religious identity.
Sadly, we now see Israel on the front lines of this generation’s great struggle—against terrorism.
The Jewish people live with the constant, existential threat to the state of Israel.
The world cannot take the words of Hamas, Hezbollah and the Iranian regime as mere rhetoric and cannot risk appeasing these malicious actors in the same way as it once appeased the Nazis. We see the costs of such an approach, and we will not validate these actors’ positions in any way.
We take this view because we believe that these threats are genuine.
We contend that modern anti-Semitism is alive in the disproportionate criticism Israel receives, and the refusal to accept its right to exist.
Some have allowed the principle of moral relativism to consume rational thought. Equating Israel, the only liberal democracy in the Middle East, with international terrorist organizations is simply a flawed premise.
Under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and under this foreign affairs minister, Canada will stand with the Jewish state and people as they struggle to protect their very right to exist.
We cannot and will not allow history to repeat itself.
In too many countries, the right to believe in and practise one’s faith in peace and security is still measured in blood spilled and lives lost.
This is not an abstract debate.
Blasphemy laws target religious minorities.
In the last three years, the terror group Boko Haram has killed thousands of people in Nigerian markets and in the offices of media organizations, as well as in churches and other sacred places.
In northern Mali, terrorists have destroyed centuries-old religious sites, including a World Heritage site in Timbuktu.
In Burma, despite recent reforms, the regime continues to discriminate against certain forms of Buddhism and restricts the activities of Muslims.
In other places, it’s the Bahá’í or the Ahmadiyya Muslims who face violence, despite peaceful guiding principles that, in the case of the Bahá’í, include the oneness of humanity and the common foundation of all religions, as well as independent investigation of truth.
Yet far too often those targeted are Christians.
Christians, in particular, face persecution in countries around the world.
We have grave concerns about the persistent and serious violations in Iran of the rights of Iranian citizens to practise Christianity, including those facing charges of apostasy.
In Egypt, Coptic Christians have come under frequent attack—as they did, devastatingly, in Alexandria this past New Year’s Eve.
Elsewhere, Roman Catholic priests and other Christian clergy and laity are driven underground to worship, while their leaders are detained by the state.
Against these egregious situations and abhorrent acts—which steal from people a fundamental right—Canada speaks out and takes action.
In Iraq, where the United States has fought mightily and paid dearly to combat tyranny and secure for the people a better, brighter future, many challenges remain. Fundamental freedoms are the domain of the select few. And Christians are not always among the few.
Al Qaeda has driven out many Christians and other minorities.
So Canada is taking up the struggle for basic rights and has implemented a program to resettle refugees.
Canada has a tradition that some in our country seemed to forget during the latter half of the last century: a tradition of standing for freedom and fundamental rights, a tradition of standing against oppression.
We did so in the earliest days of World War II.
Canadians, including my grandfather, stood with the brave people of Europe’s captive nations.
My grandfather, and those with whom he served, answered the moral call to act.
He believed, as I do today, that going along with a common thought was a dangerous road to travel—far more dangerous than risking his life to protect our values, our freedom and our dignity.
Just as fascism and communism were the great struggles of his generation, terrorism is the great struggle of ours.
Too often, religious minorities around the world are on the front lines of this struggle.
And yet, after the Second World War, some decision makers lost sight of our proud tradition to do what is right and just.
Some decided it would be better to paint Canada as a so-called honest broker.
I call it being afraid to take a clear position… even when that’s what’s needed.
So I’m proud to say Canada no longer simply “goes along to get along” in the conduct of its foreign policy.
We will stand for what is principled and just, regardless of whether it is popular, convenient or expedient.
We do so as part of our commitment to basic rights for all.
We do so in honour of the great men and women of what Tom Brokaw called “the greatest generation”—in honour of their sacrifice.
There is special purpose in defending the freedom of religious belief and practice. History shows us that religious freedom and democratic freedom are inseparable.
As President Franklin Delano Roosevelt observed on the eve of global war:
“Where freedom of religion has been attacked, the attack has come from sources opposed to democracy. Where democracy has been overthrown, the spirit of free worship has disappeared. And where religion and democracy have vanished, good faith and reason in international affairs have given way to strident ambition and brute force.”
Simply put, societies that protect religious freedom are more likely to protect other fundamental freedoms.
They are typically more stable and more prosperous.
When you have religious freedom, other freedoms follow.
That is why religious freedom is front and centre in foundational documents such as the UN Declaration of Human Rights and both our countries’ bills of rights.
This view has been reinforced in consultations we have held across Canada and around the world as we plan for our own Office of Religious Freedom.
The United States has experience with this concept. And I would like to thank Ambassador Suzan Johnson Cook [U.S. Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom] for meeting with me to share her insights on dos and don’ts.
As anyone who has ever worked in or with government can appreciate, an endeavour like this takes some doing.
Nothing is easy. And you really only get one chance to get it right.
We know that freedom of religion does not mean freedom from religion.
So we in Canada have consulted widely and listened intently. We are taking the time to get the Office of Religious Freedom right the first time and to set it up for success.
We will be making more announcements to that end in due course.
What most excites me about this new office is how it might support our diplomats around the world in zeroing in on matters of free faith and free worship.
Canada is a country of tolerance and acceptance, peace and security. We are also a pluralistic society. Our diversity gives us a unique perspective on the world.
The Canadian political tradition involves working with different faith groups to deliver social programs and wider benefits than government ever could alone.
And the world view we share with the United States acknowledges we have many ethnicities and religions, but we share one humanity.
A political hero of mine is former Canadian prime minister John Diefenbaker.
During his time in office, he championed human rights both in Canada and around the world. On the day he introduced the Canadian Bill of Rights in Parliament, he spoke these words:
“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.”
Today that great challenge, that awesome responsibility, is shared by my Cabinet colleagues and me. And it is important work that we take seriously.
The words of William Wilberforce [1759-1833] still ring true today: “You may choose to look the other way but you can never say again that you did not know.”
While individuals are persecuted for their religious beliefs, we cannot say that we did not know.
Like the United States, we realize that we cannot be selective in which basic human rights we defend, nor can we be arbitrary in whose rights we protect.
We don’t compromise on basic rights. Nor do we consider these rights to be the privilege of a select few.
We stand firm on the ideas, principles and traditions that have made both our countries economically prosperous and rich with diversity.
I know each of you shares this commitment. And let me assure you that in this regard you have a dedicated partner in Canada, one willing to lead by example.