Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for November 08/12
Barack Obama wins reelection: Mid East faces nuclear Iran, Brotherhood grip
Having dispatched Romney, Obama faces Iran, Syria
Iran annual inflation hits 24.9 percent in October
Analysis: Pushing reset in Netanyahu-Obama ties
Barack, Bibi and the bomb
Report: Turkey to ask NATO for Patriot missiles
Pope Envoy Meets Suleiman as Benedict
Egyptian FM Hails Suleiman's Efforts to Safeguard Stability
Maronite Bishops Call for Dialogue, Say Cabinet Issue Should be Resolved within Constitutional Framework
Lebanese Cabinet Approves Petroleum Authority, Delays New Wage Scale Funding
March 14 Lauds Suleiman's 'Sovereign' Stands: Lebanon in Need of New Govt., Not Dialogue
Hezbollah threatens to use force to reopen blocked roads
Hizbullah Hits Back at Bahrain over Bombings Accusations
Future bloc MP Okab Sakr denies arming Syrian opposition
Italy: Cutting U.N. contingent in South Lebanon not just security matter
Lebanese leaders congratulate, press Obama
Netanyahu Congratulates Obama, Says Alliance Stronger than Ever
Wisconsin Elects First Openly Gay U.S. Senator
Paul Ryan Loses USA VP Bid, But Stays in House
Free Syrian Army denies assassinating al-Assad loyalists, accuses regime
Syria rebels shell key pro-Assad area in Damascus

Barack Obama wins reelection: Mid East faces nuclear Iran, Brotherhood grip
DEBKAfile Exclusive Analysis November 7, 2012/Barack Obama has won re-election as President of the United States, according to all the projections of the Nov. 6 vote - albeit ahead of the final count of ballots. The prospect of another four years of Obama in the White House fills some Middle East nations, including the Persian Gulf and Israel, with trepidation.
They envisage a foreign policy that continues to focus on hitching US influence in the Muslim world – Sunni and Shiite alike – on to a wagon led by Iran as the first Islamic Shite Muslim nuclear power and the sponsorship of Muslim Brotherhood rule of Sunni Arab nations.
For Israel, this policy translates bleakly into American backing for the two most forbidding ideological foes it has faced in all its 63 years: Iran, whose leaders call openly for Israel’s extinction - even from the UN platform – although this is achievable only by nuclear aggression; and the hostile Muslim Brotherhood.
Only four days ago, senior Israeli Defense Ministry official Amos Gilead called the Brotherhood-ruled Egyptian government “a terrible dictatorship.” After years of close ties with Egyptian rulers and military chiefs, Gilead said: “There is no official contact between the top tiers of Egyptian and Israeli government, and I don’t think there will be.”
According to debkafile’s military and intelligence sources, Gilead offered a glimpse of a grimmer prospect which Israeli leaders are discussing behind close doors: They fear that the second Obama term will usher in a nuclear-armed Shiite Iran which will quickly reach out to the Sunni Muslim Brothers, starting with Egypt, for a joint bid to terminate the life of the Jewish state.
Before dismissing this scenario as paranoid hyperbole, it is worth taking a look at an opinion poll conducted in Egypt in late August of this year by the Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research Institute. It aimed at canvassing popular ratings of Iran after the Muslim Brotherhood took power in Cairo.
Stanley Greenberg, who is close to Democratic Party leaders, was recently hired by Israel’s Labor Party as senior campaign strategist for the Jan. 22, 2013 election.
This American pollster found that 61 percent of the Egyptians surveyed approved of Iran’s nuclear weapons program, compared with 30 percent who disapproved. In 2009, the comparable figures were 40 percent for and 34 percent against a nuclear Iran.
The same poll in 2012 found 65 percent of Egyptians in favor of resuming the long-severed diplomatic ties with Tehran, as against 30 who were against.
The undisguised discord between Barack Obama and Israel’s Binyamin Netanyahu is usually presented as sparked by their falling-out over military action for preempting Iran’s nuclear weapons program. This is both simplistic and misleading. Their differences are far broader in scope: Netanyahu and most other Israeli leaders contest Obama's signature Middle East objective of bringing the Muslim Brotherhood to power in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya - and ultimately Syria - by presenting the MB as a moderate movement with whom America can do business and conduct a balanced Middle East policy.
This goal actuated the Arab Revolt – or Spring - which erupted in December 2010. It has condemned Israel to an ever-tightening Islamist noose around its borders with worse to come: The last gap will be filled after the Brothers attain power in Damascus and ultimately set their sights on Jordan as the springboard to Saudi Arabia.
Whenever he is confronted with this allegation, Obama answers undeniably that he has done more than any American president for Israel’s security and raised US-Israeli military and intelligence cooperation to an unmatched level.
This cannot be gainsaid, but in the view of debkafile’s military and intelligence experts, it is only one aspect of the general picture: While bolstering Israel militarily, the US president has also bolstered its worst Middle East enemies and enhanced their ability to strike at the foundations of Israel’s national security. The emergence of a nuclear-armed Islamic Republic, which Israel may soon despair of thwarting, would nullify all the military or intelligence assistance the Obama administration has rendered the Jewish state to guarantee its survival.
No Israeli leader, political or military, is willing to go further than Amos Gilead and publicly admit that Israel is laboring under a dual compulsion; It is being forced to contemplate active measures for extinguishing Iran’s nuclear program while at the same time standing ready to challenge Egypt over Sinai which has swung out of Cairo’s control and deteriorated into a lawless terrorist springboard against both countries.

March 14 Lauds Suleiman's 'Sovereign' Stands: Lebanon in Need of New Govt., Not Dialogue
Naharnet/The March 14 General Secretariat hailed on Wednesday President Michel Suleiman's “sovereign” positions during the current political crisis, renewing its call for the resignation of the government and formation of a neutral one. It said in a statement after its weekly meeting: “All powers must now and always adhere to the state and national interests, instead of resorting to dialogue.”
It has been demonstrated that political forces approached the dialogue with conflicting agendas and “such a dialogue will only reproduce a government that adheres to the equation of the army, people, and resistance,” noted the General Secretariat. “Such a cabinet covers for the killing machine, ensures impunity, and is subject to the Iranian-Syrian axis,” it added.
The March 14-led opposition announced its boycott of government-related work, including the national dialogue, in the wake of the assassination of Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau chief Brigadier General Wissam al-Hasan. He was killed in a car bomb in Beirut's Ashrafiyeh district on October 19. The opposition blamed Syria for the crime and accused the government, which is comprised of mainly pro-Syria allies, of covering up for the murder. It has therefore demanded the resignation of the current government and the formation of a neutral one.
“The new cabinet should not be comprised of members of the March 8 and 14 camps, but officials who will not run in the 2013 parliamentary elections,” explained the General Secretariat.
“The government must work on extracting Lebanon from the state of despair, crime, bloody incidents, and social crises and transporting it to a normal one,” it stressed.
“It must also work on completing all preparations for the parliamentary elections to ensure that they will be held on time,” it said. “Fears that the toppling of the government will create a power vacuum in Lebanon are unjustified,” it remarked. Moreover, it noted that French President Francois Hollande's recent visit to Lebanon is a “strong sign that the desired stability and the current government cannot coexist.” Hollande paid a brief visit to Lebanon on Sunday where he only met President Michel Suleiman. “The March 14 forces are determined to continue on pressuring the government, through peaceful means in Beirut and Tripoli, until its demands are met,” declared the General Secretariat. It added that its boycott will consequently continue. It said that the people are entitled to demand security, financial, economic, and social stability, but they are being obstructed by not only Hizbullah's arms, but the government “that has done nothing but aggravate the people's problems.”

Pope Envoy Meets Suleiman as Benedict Scraps Planned Vatican Mission to Syria
Naharnet/Pope Benedict XVI's envoy to Lebanon Cardinal Robert Sarah held talks on Wednesday with President Michel Suleiman, who stressed that his visit aims at checking on the conditions of the Syrian refugees in the country. Sarah pointed out that he will meet spiritual leaders and faithful from Christian churches present in Syria, hold a coordination meeting of Catholic charities and meet with refugees who have fled Syria. Benedict announced earlier that a planned Vatican mission to Syria will not go ahead and said he had dispatched an envoy to Lebanon instead.
Sarah will meet on Friday with the Catholic agencies as his mission will last until Saturday. Bishops have already raised $1 million for Syrian refugees.
"Unfortunately different circumstances and developments have not rendered possible this initiative in the way we had hoped. I have therefore given a special mission to Cardinal Robert Sarah," the pope said in St Peter's Square. The Vatican had announced last month that it would send a high-level delegation to Syria including top Vatican officials and peace building experts but it was seen as politically risky and potentially dangerous. Benedict also called for peace in Syria and highlighted the "immense suffering" of civilians, urging all sides in the conflict to pursue "paths that lead to a just cohabitation and an adequate political solution". "We have to do everything possible before it is too late," he said. Sarah, a Guinean cardinal, heads up the Cor Unum Pontifical Council, a Vatican department that oversees the Catholic Church's charity work.gence France Presse

Maronite Bishops Call for Dialogue, Say Cabinet Issue Should be Resolved within Constitutional Framework
Naharnet /Maronite Bishops urged on Wednesday Lebanese politicians to cooperate with President Michel Suleiman's call for dialogue, saying the cabinet issue should be resolved within the constitutional framework. Following their monthly meeting under Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi and with the partial attendance of papal envoy Cardinal Robert Sarah, the bishops urged “all politicians to abide by the Baabda Declaration and mainly the article that calls for steering Lebanon clear of conflicts.” “The crisis in the country over mainly the cabinet issue cannot be solved outside the national constitutional principles,” the council of Maronite bishops said in its statement. The Lebanese should “hold onto national unity and legitimate institutions,” it said, urging them not to jump into an unknown that would let the country face a mysterious fate.” The March 14 opposition has called for the resignation of Prime Minister Najib Miqati's cabinet and the formation of a new salvation government following the Oct. 19 assassination of Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau chief Wissam al-Hasan. The coalition has also refused to sit at the national dialogue table with Hizbullah despite insistence by President Michel Suleiman to resolve the deepened rift at the all-party talks at Baabda palace. In their statement, the bishops condemned al-Hasan's assassination and called on the state to speed up the payment of compensations to the families whose homes and property were damaged in the car bomb blast that killed al-Hasan and two others, including his bodyguard.
The council also called for holding the 2013 parliamentary elections through a new law that guarantees the best representation of all factions.
It congratulated al-Rahi on his appointment as cardinal and welcomed Sarah, who has been tasked by Pope Benedict XVI with visiting Lebanon “to express his compassion with the Syrian people and its suffering.” Benedict called for peace in Syria on Wednesday but admitted that a planned visit by a Vatican delegation to the conflict-torn country would not go ahead because of conditions in Syria.
Circumstances in Syria "have not rendered possible" the visit, the pope said at his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square, adding that he had dispatched Sarah to Lebanon to discuss the crisis.

Lebanese Cabinet Approves Petroleum Authority, Delays New Wage Scale Funding
Naharnet/The cabinet on Wednesday approved the appointment of the six members of the petroleum authority as it failed anew to agree on the sources of funding for the new wage scale.
“The cabinet agreed on the following candidates for the petroleum authority: Nasser Hteit (Shiite), Walid Nasser (Greek Catholic), Wissam al-Zahabi (Sunni), Amin Ibrahim (Druze), Wissam Shbat (Maronite) and Gaby Daaboul (Greek Orthodox),” NBN television reported. MTV said Energy Minister Jebran Bassil made the proposal over the appointments from outside of the cabinet's agenda.
The TV network said Energy Minister Jebran Bassil awaited an official memo from the Ministry of Energy ahead of submitting to the cabinet the names of the members. Speaker Nabih Berri urged on Wednesday the need to activate government work in order to tackle pending issues and the people's daily concerns. He revealed that he had conducted over the past few hours “intense” contacts over the appointment of members of the petroleum authority. He made his remarks during his weekly meeting with MPs at his Ain el-Tineh residence. The speaker highlighted the importance of the appointments at the petroleum authority, saying that its achievement will help improve the poor economic situation in Lebanon. He had stated over the weekend that a recent international study had revealed that Lebanon sits on the greatest oil and gas wealth in the region. Disputes had emerged between Berri's AMAL movement and MP Michel Aoun's Change and Reform bloc over the appointments in the petroleum authority.
Lebanon and Israel are bickering over a zone that consists of about 854 square kilometers and suspected energy reserves there could generate billions of dollars. The cabinet approved in September the proposed borders of Lebanon’s Exclusive Economic Zone in the Mediterranean. In June, Lebanon was able to restore 530 square kilometers of a maritime zone that it considers it to be within its EEZ.
Media reports said that the United States and the United Nations acknowledged Lebanon’s rights to control the 530 square kilometer disputed area after prolonged diplomatic and political efforts.
Lebanon has been slow to exploit its maritime resources compared with other eastern Mediterranean countries. Israel, Cyprus and Turkey are all much more advanced in drilling for oil and gas.
Separately, NBN quoted Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh, who attended the cabinet session, as warning that a hike in taxes would increase inflation, rein in growth and “blemish Lebanon's image.”
“Discussions will be held with the donor states on the issue of raising taxes and things require more than two weeks according to some ministers,” said NBN.
Meanwhile, head of private school teachers union Nehme Mahfoud told MTV that the Syndicate Coordination Committee, a coalition of private and public school teachers and public sector employees, will press on with a general strike scheduled for Thursday over the government's failure to refer the new wage scale to parliament. “The SCC will meet on Friday to discuss the escalatory steps because the government has proved its failure,” Mahfoud added. The procrastination of the government in finding sources to fund the new scale has deepened the gap with the SCC, which is accusing the government of negligence over its failure to meet their demands. However, the cabinet argues that it's delaying the issue to thoroughly discuss plans to boost the treasury's revenue to cover the expenses of the salaries boost.
The state treasury will have more than $1.2 billion to cover as there are over 180,000 public sector employees including military personnel.

Egyptian FM Hails Suleiman's Efforts to Safeguard Stability
Naharnet/Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr praised on Wednesday efforts exerted by President Michel Suleiman to maintain stability in Lebanon. Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5) reported that the two officials discussed during a meeting at the Baabda Palace the bilateral ties and the regional situation. Amr also held talks with Prime Minister Najib Miqati at the Grand Serail. He described the meeting as "fruitful." The Egyptian FM stressed earlier after a meeting with his Lebanese counterpart FM Adnan Mansour at Bustros Palace that the timeline of his meetings with Lebanese officials doesn't hold any political indications. “I haven't met so far with any Hizbullah official,” Amr told reporters. The FM arrived on Tuesday in Beirut for a two-day visit, where he kicked off his meetings by holding talks with Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea in Maarab. He also met with Speaker Nabih Berri, Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel and al-Mustaqbla parliamentary bloc head MP Fouad Saniora.
“I conveyed a message from President Mohammed Moursi that our country supports Lebanon and is ready for a role that would be accepted by all the Lebanese,” he said.
Amr pointed out that Egypt in the era of Morsi “will be better” than it was under the governess of Egypt's ousted president Hosni Mubarak.

Hezbollah threatens to use force to reopen blocked roads
November 08, 2012/By Mohammed Zaatari/The Daily Star /SIDON, Lebanon: Hezbollah has prepared a plan to use force to reopen the highway connecting Beirut to the south should it be blocked, and asked the Progressive Socialist Party to relay this message to the Future Movement. A security source told The Daily Star the plan was to prevent supporters of the Future Movement and other March 14 groups from shutting down the highway, particularly along the coastal village of Nahmeh and near the exits to the Iqlim al-Kharoub villages of Barja and Jadra. If the highway is closed, armed groups would open fire to reopen it. The source said the armed groups were made up of more than 150 members that operate under the Resistance Brigades. They are from Hezbollah, the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, the Arab Tawhid Party and other March 8 parties centered in Iqlim al-Kharoub and the Chouf. Following the assassination of Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan last month, supporters of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s Future Movement blocked the highway connecting the capital to the south for three days – a stronghold of Hezbollah and Amal. Some drivers and passengers were assaulted, though the Future Movement denied having any responsibility for the violence. According to the source, Hezbollah informed the PSP in recent meetings it would no longer tolerate highway closures or violence against those traveling along the road. The party said the road would be reopened at any cost and asked PSP officials to relay this message to the Future Movement. In remarks last month, Wi’am Wahhab, head of the Arab Tawhid Party, said that members of his group would “cut the hand” of anyone trying to block the highway along Nahmeh which also leads to the Chouf Mountains.
The source said that these remarks were in line with Hezbollah’s plan.

Hizbullah Hits Back at Bahrain over Bombings Accusations
Naharnet/Hizbullah on Wednesday condemned accusations by Bahrain which has claimed that the party was behind Monday's bombings in Manama, noting that the Bahraini regime perpetrated the incident in order to “repress the peaceful opposition.”“The Bahraini authorities continue their episodes of false allegations and claims by launching unjust accusations against Hizbullah, the last of which was accusing the party of being behind the latest bombings that shook Bahrain,” the party's media department said in a statement.
On Tuesday, Bahrain's state news agency quoted State Minister for Information Affairs Samira Ibrahim bin Rajab as saying that “the bombings were carried out by terrorist groups that received training outside the country and are based in foreign countries, including Lebanon.”The bombings “bear the hallmark of the Lebanese group Hizbullah which is allied with Iran,” the minister claimed.
But Hizbullah deplored any attempt to link its name to such blasts, noting that “these bombings carry the fingerprints of the Bahraini regime's intelligence services which will use them as an excuse to repress the peaceful opposition and dodge the rightful demands.”Bahraini police have arrested four suspects in connection with bombings that killed two Asian expatriates in the capital Manama, the official BNA news agency reported on Tuesday.The news agency did not elaborate on when or how the arrests were made.
"An investigation is under way to uncover the circumstances surrounding these terrorist crimes and identify the rest of the criminals and arrest them," BNA quoted public security chief Major-General Tareq al-Hassan as saying. The report came hours after King Hamad ordered "the swift arrest of the terrorists who carried out the recent terrorist acts in Bahrain."
The king appealed to the public for help to "bring them to justice so they receive their punishment over this appalling act." Five bomb blasts in the capital's Gudaibiya and Adliya districts killed two Asian expatriates and wounded a third on Monday, police said. The bombings came amid persistent tensions between the kingdom's Shiite majority and its Sunni rulers since the bloody crushing of month-long pro-democracy protests in March last year.The main Shiite opposition group Al-Wefaq condemned the attacks but cautioned that "due to the absence of independent human rights and media groups, it is difficult to clearly determine the truth behind the incidents." Hizbullah has been a strong advocate for the popular protests in Bahrain that began in 2011. Ties between Lebanon and Bahrain reached an all-time low last year when Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah slammed the violent crackdown on the protesters. His remarks prompted the Bahraini authorities to suspend the flights of Gulf Air and Bahraini Air between Manama and Beirut for several months.

Netanyahu Congratulates Obama, Says Alliance Stronger than Ever
Naharnet/Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday congratulated U.S. President Barack Obama on his re-election, saying ties between their two countries were "stronger than ever."
"The prime minister congratulates the president of the United States for his victory in the election," Netanyahu said in a statement. "The strategic alliance between Israel and the United States is stronger than ever." "I will continue to work with President Obama to ensure the vital security interests of Israel and the United States," Netanyahu added. Relations between Obama and Netanyahu have at times been tense, with the Israeli leader appearing to throw his support behind Obama's Republican opponent Mitt Romney during the election campaign. But in recent weeks, as Obama's re-election looked increasingly likely, Israeli officials stressed that a second term for the U.S. president would not mean a deterioration in bilateral ties. Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak also offered Obama his congratulations, saying he expected the U.S. president to continue to offer Israel strong support. "I have no doubt that the Obama administration will continue its policy whereby Israel's security is at its very foundations, as well as its efforts to tackle the challenges facing all of us in the region," he said in a statement. "I believe that in the tradition of deep friendship and with a backdrop of shared experiences accrued with President Obama, it will also be possible to overcome any differences in stance, should they arise." Israeli Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom offered a similar assessment. "All the U.S. administrations have supported Israel on the political, security and economic fronts because we have common interests and values," he told public radio. "Barack Obama has been with us during the most sensitive moments," he added. "Those who say that it will be hard and that there will be a confrontation during the second Obama term are wrong."SourceAgence France Presse

Future bloc MP Okab Sakr denies arming Syrian opposition
November 7, 2012/Now Lebanon/Future bloc MP Okab Sakr denied that he was arming Syrian rebels, but said that he was proud to have connections with figures opposed to the Bashar al-Assad regime.
“Let them provide non-fabricated evidence that I am arming Syrian rebels, and if they proved it I would be ready to go on trial,” Sakr told Future TV on Wednesday evening.
Sakr also said he was assigned by Future Movement leader MP Saad Hariri to support Syrian rebels. “I decided that we should help stop the killing machine that has been murdering Lebanese and Syrian people,” Sakr said in a reference to the Syrian regime. A number of Western news outlets, including the Guardian and The New York Times, have reported that Sakr has been helping funnel weapons to Syrian rebels. Sakr also tackled the issue of extremist groups in the Syrian opposition, blaming the Damascus regime for initially nurturing them. “Had the Syrian regime not sent terror cells to Lebanon and Iraq, [they] would not have blown up in [Damascus'] face.”-NOW Lebanon

Paul Ryan Loses VP Bid, But Stays in House
Naharnet /Republican Paul Ryan lost Tuesday in his bid to be the next U.S. vice president but kept his seat in the House of Representatives, leaving the young conservative with a platform for potential future ambitions. With most results in, Ryan was winning 56 percent of the vote in his district in Wisconsin even though President Barack Obama carried the Midwestern state. Ryan, 42, faced Rob Zerban, a former county official in Kenosha. Ryan, the first member of so-called Generation X to win a spot on a presidential ticket, is passionate about cutting government spending and has proposed major reforms in the Medicare health plan for older Americans. With Mitt Romney's loss to Democrat Obama, Ryan has immediately become the topic of speculation on whether he will seek the Republican Party's nomination to be president in 2016. As chairman of the House Budget Committee, Ryan has been an outspoken opponent of Obama's health care reform plan that aims to expand access to the uninsured.
But some media reports have speculated that Ryan may decide that he can increase his profile by resigning from the House, starting a new career as a lecturer or an author.
Ryan's district, which includes historically blue-collar cities as Janesville and Kenosha, is not considered completely safe for Republicans and no obvious opportunities for statewide office are coming up in Wisconsin. Ryan declined to debate Zerban, saying that voters had already heard from him during his faceoff against Vice President Joe Biden, although Ryan ran commercials on Wisconsin television for his own seat. Four years ago, Sarah Palin quickly became a favorite of conservative activists after Senator John McCain tapped the plain-spoken Alaska governor as his running mate in his unsuccessful race against Obama.Palin later quit as governor and focused on writing a book and television appearances. SourceAgence France Presse

Wisconsin Elects First Openly Gay U.S. Senator
Naharnet / Wisconsin on Tuesday elected Tammy Baldwin as the first openly gay U.S. senator, sending to Washington a liberal voice who has advocated for peace in the Middle East and greater access to health care. Baldwin, who has served seven terms in the House of Representatives in the district around the state capital Madison, edged out longtime former governor Tommy Thompson in one of the most bitterly fought races for the Senate. "Make no mistake, I am a proud Wisconsin progressive," Baldwin said in a victory rally, referring to the Midwestern state's historic liberalism.
Baldwin becomes the first openly gay member of the Senate, although her sexuality did not become a prominent issue in the campaign. Baldwin was earlier the first out lesbian in the House of Representatives.
Baldwin has been an outspoken supporter of a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians and had voted against sanctions on Iran, fearing the move would set back domestic reformists in the clerical state.SourceAgence France Presse

Lebanese Cabinet finally forms Petroleum Administration committee
November 08, 2012/By Nafez Qawas/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: After months of bickering over names, Cabinet Wednesday finally formed the long-awaited Petroleum Administration in a step seen as an attempt to embellish the image of the embattled government. Cabinet, which dedicated its session to discussing proposed taxes to fund the controversial new salary scale for government employees, suddenly decided to adopt Energy and Water Minister Gebran Bassil’s suggestion to approve the names of the Petroleum Administration although the issue had not been on the government’s agenda.
The six-member committee will have full powers to negotiate with international oil companies and issue licenses for the winning firms to drill for gas off the Lebanese coast.
The committee will also regulate the oil and gas sector to encourage oil firms to invest in Lebanon.
Information Minister Walid Daouk told reporters after the end of the session that the six members consist of Walid Nasr, Naser Htayet, Wissam Shbat, Gaby Daaboul, Wissam al-Zahabi and Assem Abu Ibrahim. Britain-based Spectrum, which was conducting a 3-D seismic survey off the coast, said the southern northern territorial waters had an estimated 25 trillion cubic feet of gas buried under the sea.
The company believes Lebanon has more gas and oil in the rest of the territorial waters which have not been surveyed yet.
Experts estimate the value of gas between $40 billion and $70 billion, stressing that gas exploration will need at least five years after the licenses have been issued to the winning firms.
Over 50 international oil companies have expressed interest in taking part in bidding.
Most of the firms had earlier expressed their frustration over the delay in naming members of the Petroleum Administration.
Sources said the head of the committee will be rotated periodically between the six members to appease the political parties backing them.
But Cabinet failed to endorse the package of proposed taxes to finance the wages of the civil servants, public school teachers and army and security forces personnel.
Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh told the ministers the proposed taxes would have a negative impact on the economy and the monetary system especially amid the delicate times Lebanon was passing through. Salameh proposed raising the wages in increments over three to five years to ease the negative effects of the move, which has clearly angered the private sector and bankers.
However, the Union Coordination Committee, a group gathering school teachers and civil servants, called for a general strike in all public and private schools to press the government to endorse the higher wages and pass to draft to Parliament for approval.Municipality workers in Beirut will also join the strike in Thursday.It remains unclear whether all private schools will heed the calls for the strike although most school administrations have insisted that they will remain open Thursday. The revises salary scale will cost the treasury between $1.5 billion to $2 billion a year and this figure will surely rise in the coming years if the employees of other public sectors enjoy the hefty wage increase. A source close to the government told The Daily Star Cabinet was determined to pass all or most of the proposed taxes sooner or later.But the source expressed serious doubt that Cabinet could secure a quorum in Parliament to discuss and approve the new taxes.Daouk said that President Michael Sleiman had told the ministers that he was concerned the new taxes and wage hikes for government employees would reflect negatively on the ordinary citizens.
“For this reason this issue needs further study before making any commitment,” the minister said.

Syria rebels shell key pro-Assad area in Damascus
November 7, 2012 /Now Lebanon
Syrian rebels shelled a key area of Damascus home to President Bashar al-Assad's Alawite minority, embassies and government buildings on Wednesday, as they stepped up attacks on his power base.
The shelling in Damascus of the mainly Alawite Mazzeh 86 district came a day after a car bomb hit another Alawite area in the suburb of Qudsaya, as rebels increasingly target Assad's supporters in the minority, an offshoot of Shiite Islam. Sectarian divides are a key factor in Syria's armed rebellion, with many in the Sunni Muslim majority frustrated at more than 40 years of Alawite-dominated rule.
State news agency SANA reported that shelling had hit a home and mini-bus carrying passengers in Mazzeh 86, which lies beneath Assad's hilltop presidential palace, killing at least three civilians.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based watchdog that relies on a network of activists and medics on the ground, confirmed the shelling and said at least three civilians were killed and 12 wounded. It previously reported a car bombing in an Alawite area of the suburb of Qudsaya on Tuesday that killed 19 people and another on Monday in Mazzeh that left 13 dead.
"The attacks on Mazzeh are a significant turning point because for the first time the Alawite community, which has never been targeted as such, is directly associated with the regime and targeted for this," said Fabrice Balanche, an analyst with the Mediterranean and Middle East Studies and Research Group in Paris.Fighting raged and air strikes hit in other parts of the country, while SANA reported that a judge was killed when a car bomb exploded outside his home in the northeast of Damascus.-AFP

Free Syrian Army denies assassinating al-Assad loyalists, accuses regime
By Caroline Akoum/Beirut, Asharq Al-Awsat - The assassination of Mohammed Osama al-Lahham, brother of the Speaker of Syria’s People's Assembly, appears to fall within the context of a campaign of assassinations targeting regime officials and loyalists. This comes following the killing of Syrian actor Muhammad Rafi in Damascus three days ago, in addition to the announcement last Sunday that opposition forces had killed a Baathist party official in the north. The brother of Daraa MP Khalid Abboud and the son of prominent MP Muhammad Khayr al-Mashi were also assassinated.
For his part, Rami Abdul-Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, announced that he had received information from Syrian activists that the forthcoming days will see more Syrian regime figures being targeted. Speaking exclusively to Asharq Al-Awsat, Free Syrian Army [FSA] Chief of Staff, Colonel Ahmad Hijazi, strongly denied that the FSA was responsible for this assassination campaign. He stressed that “the FSA is not responsible for these assassinations and does not depend on this policy in its military strategy."
He added "we are not a criminal gang and do not adopt the policy of assassinations. We only target those fighting against us and the [Syrian] people in the battlefield. As far as we are concerned, there is a difference between those supporting the fighting and those killing the Syrian people." Colonel Ahmed Hijazi said that he believed it was the regime itself that was responsible for these assassination, asserting that the al-Assad regime was attempting to warn its officials that anybody who defects to join the revolution will meet the same fate. He added that the rumours of further assassinations in the forthcoming period was leaked by the regime in an attempt to lay the groundwork for blaming these assassinations on the Syrian opposition.

Al-Assad’s desperation
By Tariq Alhomayed/Asharq Al-Awsat
Without doubt, Bashar al-Assad was always aware that moving on the Syrian-Israeli front would be a last resort if he failed to crush the Syrian popular revolution. He knew that igniting the Israeli front would not be seen as merely another maneuver, but that it would change the rules of the game as a whole in the region, and would have widespread results. So why is al-Assad undertaking a skirmish against Israel now?It is clear that the al-Assad regime has tried all the cards in its hand in order to escape. It has tried to ignite Lebanon, flood Jordan with refugees, and likewise reshuffle the cards in Turkey, whether at the border or internally. Al-Assad tried all of that but he has not succeeded. He has not succeeded in breaking the Syrian revolution; rather the Free Syrian Army is now moving and behaving as if it is preparing for the “zero hour”. It is obvious that the Syrian rebels are cooking up something, and the al-Assad regime senses this, especially as the political coma inside the country is about to come to an end following the US elections. Here we should note the tireless political moves over the past three days whether from Doha, Amman or Ankara, and even the trips and meetings conducted by the Russian Foreign Minister. The al-Assad regime now feels that matters are moving in a different direction; a direction that is certainly not in its interests.
All this has prompted al-Assad to undertake a desperate maneuver, namely mobilizing on the Syrian Israeli border, and this shows that the regime has become frustrated and has entered the stage of gambling and adventurism. Al-Assad began by sending three tanks, and yesterday there was a shooting incident at the border. What al-Assad wants, as some have stated before, is to ignite the Syrian-Israeli front that has remained quiet for four decades, in order to prevent the Syrian revolution from taking a different path. Al-Assad is certainly aware that this move against Israel will completely change the rules of the game regarding the Syrian issue, for the Americans, the Russians and even for the Israelis who were not previously concerned with what was happening in Syria or even with al-Assad remaining in power. This has been clear throughout the Syrian revolution, even after Bashar al-Assad’s cousin said at the beginning that Israel was under threat, prompting the al-Assad regime to reassure Tel Aviv that these words were designed for internal media consumption only.
Today, after al-Assad’s forces’ military action on the Syrian-Israeli border, and the shooting incident, it is certain that we are dealing with a regime that is desperate and afraid of what is coming. The regime feels that it has done all it could to eliminate a revolution that still stands resilient and alone amid shameful international inactivity, but al-Assad has been unable to break it, or to extinguish its fuse. Even when al-Assad decided to use the game of the Eid al-Adha truce for a few hours, he was surprised when violent demonstrations erupted against him in all parts of Syria. So al-Assad today is embarking on a game of suicide by targeting Israel, especially as the international political scene today is completely different, and calculations have changed for the US, Russia and Israel. Al-Assad’s skirmish against the Israelis is nothing more than an act of suicide, or a political game of [Russian] roulette, and it tells us that al-Assad is desperate and afraid of what is to come.

US elections: From Nasser to Al-Assad
By Adel Al-Toraifi/Asharq Alawsat
In a televised interview on the eve of the 1968 US elections, Egypt’s president Gamal Abdel Nasser courted the US Republican Party, saying that the Egyptians people respected the American people and their model of civilization, but resented the policies of President Lyndon Johnson (a Democrat) who stood beside Israel in the 1967 Six Day War. Documents later uncovered in western archives revealed that the Egyptian president ignored peace talks with President Johnson, which could have led to the Israeli withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula. Nasser preferred to wait for the results of the US elections, wrongly believing that the forthcoming president would grant him more than Johnson. This resulted in a huge strategic loss for Egypt and a costly war of attrition.
In 1969, when Richard Nixon was elected as the new US president, Nasser addressed a telegram to the president-elect, attempting to woo him. The telegram read “what I recall since meeting you in Cairo in 1963 convinces me that the trust shown in you by the American people will create an important opportunity in terms of the international situation.” It is clear that Nasser, the outspoken nationalist and radical anti-western demagogue, was secretly sparing no effort in entreating the US leadership. However the problem was not the attempt to move closer to America and away from the Soviet Union. Rather, the problem was that he failed to perceive that his domestic and foreign policy was the problem, instead believing that what was happening abroad in the US could change the course of his bad luck. Nasser was wrong, He believed – as some Arab leaders still do – that the problem is not in his own policies, but rather in the policies of the US.
Anybody who reviews the documents that have been released by the US State Department or British National Archives, in terms of ambassador’s correspondence – or even the reports published by Cambridge University last year – will notice that every Arab leader believes he understands American politics. However in reality, they only understand some of its processes, not to mention their own personal relationships with some American politicians. It is clear that there is some delusional or “utopian” thinking on the part of these officials – or their advisers – which ignores the true nature of American domestic politics.
When Americans turned out on Tuesday to cast their ballots, there were some in the Middle East anticipating the results as Nasser’s did. Some argued that if Barack Obama secured a second term it will ensure that he is better able to deal with pressing issues, such as supporting the Syrian rebels against the Bashar al-Assad regime that is committing war crimes against its own people, not to mention taking a firmer line against Tehran’s nuclear ambitions and even restarting the peace process between the Israelis and Palestinians. However others believe that a victory for Republican challenger Mitt Romney would be better for the region, or at least America’s regional allies, because Obama lacks a clear and firm strategy for the Middle East. As for Romney, there is a state of division over him, with some saying that he lacks experience, as well fixed views regarding the Middle East like his opponent. Some argue that the fact that Romney is a centrist Republican means the restoration of the Ronald Reagan model, namely support for America’s allies and a focus on the forces that threaten regional security.
In my opinion, it is not good to rely on the US elections in this manner, not because America is not important as a world power, but rather because moderate regional states should be pursuing regional policies to achieve their own interests, rather than waiting for the election results of a foreign country. Let us take, for example, the Syrian issue; countries such as Turkey and some Gulf states took action, to challenge the activities of the Syrian regime against its own people, and there has even been talk about financing military defectors and establishing a transitional government. However since that time we have seen greater reluctance, and the Syrian rebels have not been provided with quality arms, nor have efforts succeeded in uniting the Syrian opposition. Some analysts have blamed all this on the US administration, which is hesitant to provide the Syrian rebels with arms. In addition to this, there are some who have cited the recent US rejection of the Syrian National Council [SNC] as evidence of the lack of seriousness on the part of the Obama administration in toppling Assad. Turkey and the Gulf states’ problem is that they are relying on the US administration, and did not plan in advance for the repercussions of their decisions or provide the necessary means and equipment not just to topple the regime of Bashar al-Assad, but to build a state of democratic state in its place. The arrival of Romney or the survival of Obama may not change the reality on the ground one iota.
States often act in their own interests, and Turkey and the Gulf States have to build an international alliance based on the international community’s interests at large in the overthrow a regime that is supporting terrorism and intimidating its own citizens. They, before anyone else, must prepare Syria for the transitional phase. In a 2009 joint meeting between Bashar al-Assad and John Kerry, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, al-Assad informed his guest that he was looking forward to the election of President Obama. In response, Kerry promised al-Assad that President Obama would work to withdraw US troops from Iraq. In an apparent demonstration of self-importance, which was viewed as weakness on the part of the new US president, al-Assad answered “it is not one of our objectives to humiliate the US.” There can be no doubt that al-Assad today is aware of what Nasser learnt too late, that the solution does not necessarily come from the US elections, but rather by changing the political behavior of the regime itself.