LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
November 06/2012

Bible Quotation for today/Helping the needy
Saint Luke 14/12-14: "Then he said to the host who invited him, "When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment. Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
A March 14 defect/By: Hazem al-Amin/Now Lebanon/November 05/12
Syria: As America wants it/By Tariq Alhomayed/Asharq Al-Awsat/ November 05/12

Israeli warplanes fly over Golan as Hizballah fighters pour into Syria
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report November 4, 2012/Israeli warplanes flew over the divided Golan Sunday, Nov. 4, in a show of strength and as a deterrent against the Syrian civil war seeping across the border, debkafile’s military and Western intelligence sources report. In Paris, President Francois Hollande vowed Sunday that “France would oppose with all its strength any bid to destabilize Lebanon. Lebanon must be protected.” He spoke regardless of the 5,000 Lebanese Shiite Hizballah fighters who have poured into Syria from their Beqaa Valley stronghold of al-Harmel to fight Bashar Assad’s war. Our sources reveal that these Lebanese fighters have now advanced 50-60 kilometers deep into southwestern Syria, up to the outskirts of the embattled town of Homs.
On the Golan, further to the east, Israel’s chief of staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz visited the IDF contingent stationed there to reinforce the message broadcast by the IAF.
Hizballah is now openly flaunting the presence of its regular troops in Syria. They are armed with heavy artillery and Chinese WS-1 multiple-launch rocket systems made in Iran. These “Katyushas,” shoot 302mm rockets at targets up to 100 kilometers away and can operate in the rugged mountain terrain of Lebanon, Syria and Israel and in harsh weather conditions, including snow.
Hizballah fighters are reported by our sources to have already used this weapon with deadly effect in a battle with Syrian rebels over the town of Quseir opposite the Lebanese Beqaa Valley. It ended in Hizbalah’s capture of the town. Coordination is tight: Hizballah forces on the ground get in touch with Iranian command headquarters in Beirut and Damascus to call up Syrian helicopters for air cover.
The Hizballah commander in Syria is Ibrahim Aqil, a veteran of the Hizballah militia and one of the most trusted by Hassan Nasrallah and Tehran.
Aqil took part in the 1983 assault on US Marines Beirut headquarters in which 241 American troops were killed, the highest death toll in a single event after World War II. In the year 2000, Aqil, then commander of the southern Lebanese front against Israel, orchestrated the kidnap from Israeli territory and murder of three Israeli soldiers, Benny Avraham, Adi Avitan and Omar Sawad.
Hizballah’s expeditionary force in Syria has been assigned three missions:
1. To seal off the routes used by the rebels to smuggle fighters and arms from Lebanon into Syria, most of which run through the Beqaa Valley. This mission is near completion.
2. To defend the clusters of Syrian Alawite and Shiite villages in the area of Hizballah control.
3. To provide a strategic reserve force for the Syrian units defending the main hubs of Syrian highways running west to east from the Mediterranean coast to the Syrian-Iraqi border and crisscrossed from north to south by the route running from the Turkish border up to Damascus. Control of these hubs makes it possible for the Syrian army to move military forces between the different warfronts at high speed.

Death a blow to the Information Branch
November 05, 2012/By Mirella Hodeib/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Even with high-end equipment and a robust budget, last month’s assassination of Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan will be a blow to the efficient operations of the Information Branch of the Internal Security Forces, according to experts.“His absence will certainly be felt as he was a sharp and competent person,” French Le Figaro journalist and Middle East expert Georges Malbrunot told The Daily Star. “He was someone who had the know-how in terms of intelligence work and combating terrorism.”
The enigmatic Hasan, known to have had strong connections to foreign intelligence agencies, including those of the United States, France and Saudi Arabia, was killed on Oct. 19 in a car bomb attack that shattered a densely populated residential quarter in the Beirut neighborhood of Ashrafieh.
Hasan’s driver, First Sergeant Ahmad Sahyouni, and a 42-year-old bystander, Georgette Sarkissian, also died in the attack.
Despite repeated assurances by ISF head Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi that the Information Branch, the intelligence arm of the ISF, will continue in Hasan’s footsteps with the same “professionalism and patriotism,” many analysts are skeptical.
Under Hasan, the Information Branch, which was initially created as an internal affairs entity mandated to investigate allegations of misconduct against police staff, took on a larger role in fighting domestic crime and maintaining law and order.
Hasan, who served as the top bodyguard for late former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, closely collaborated with United Nations investigators probing the 2005 assassination of the political and business tycoon.
The intelligence chief’s work with the United Nations International Independent Investigation Commission, however, came under heavy criticism by the Hezbollah-led March 8 coalition, who accused him of fabricating what they call “false witnesses” to mislead the investigation in a bid to implicate four former pro-Syrian security heads.
The four were released in 2009 without having been charged.
Yet in recent years Hasan’s Information Branch joined forces with Hezbollah, resulting in the uncovering of several Israeli spy rings.
Shortly before his death, Hasan, who was a staunch supporter of the Syrian uprising, exposed alleged plans by former pro-Syrian Minister Michel Samaha and the head of Syria’s Intelligence, Gen. Ali Mamlouk, to carry out terrorist attacks in north Lebanon as well as to assassinate religious and political figures. The Le Figaro journalist said several groups benefited from the assassination of Hasan, who according to Malbrunot had a “wide range of adversaries,” including Syria and Israel.
Malbrunot said Hasan’s purported role in channeling weapons to Syrian rebels can be considered the biggest motive behind his assassination. “It seems he crossed a red line.”Malbrunot also argued that Hasan’s assassination was not unlike other political killings that happened in Lebanon over the years.“Similar to the other assassinations, Hasan’s is a joint venture between a country and an organization,” he said. “Joint ventures are a common trait of political killings in Lebanon. It’s typical in Lebanon.”
A senior intelligence source argued that security services chiefs in Lebanon fall under threat from the moment they start their duties. “If you are a security official In Lebanon you’re under risks and you face constant threats,” the source said. “Rarely has the head of a security agency abandoned his post the ‘normal way’: they are killed, tried or exiled.”Military expert Nizar Abdel-Qader and Elias Muhanna, analyst and author of the current affairs blog Qifa Nabki, both said that the Information Branch will likely play the role that it has played in the past but described Hasan’s assassination as a major blow.
“Hasan’s record of dealing with figures close to both major political axes was the product of a special set of skills, which along with his extensive contacts in various intelligence communities, were very important to the ISF’s work,” Muhanna added. The intelligence source, however, said the killing of the head of a security body doesn’t necessarily lead to the paralysis or death of the institution: “In the end, the head of a security service is a coordinator who rarely works in the field. The head supervises and utilizes the resources provided to him.”
Abdel-Qader said the Information Branch will undoubtedly miss Hasan’s “imaginative and analytical” flair which, according to the military strategist, are “must-haves” for the head of an intelligence agency.
“Hasan’s long experience and his ability to predict and analyze events will surely be missed,” he said. “Without sounding pessimistic, the new management of the Information Branch will need time to acquire the level of information and initiative Hasan possessed.”
A few days after Hasan’s assassination, Col. Imad Othman was appointed the head of the Information Branch following consultations between Rifi and Interior Minister Marwan Charbel. Rifi, however, vowed that he would personally oversee the work of the Information Branch, which the Cabinet upgraded to a fully fledged department in the ISF, thus expanding its mandate to fit its current role.
The Parliament still needs to approve the Cabinet’s decision. “The level-headedness displayed by Rifi after Hasan’s assassination is very significant and denotes that he is capable of generating morale in addition to logistical support to the bereaved personnel of the Information Branch,” Abdel-Qader said.
The intelligence source explained that the relatively high budget allotted to the Information Branch, in addition to generous grants by international organizations, enabled the security body to acquire state-of-the-art technology and equipment. “The Information Branch owns highly developed data analyzers and they have very precise computer programs to scrutinize the information they gather,” the source said, adding that the Information Branch’s possession of such high-end equipment has sparked the ire of Israel.
The ISF is one of the security bodies that have benefited the most from grants and funding provided by the U.S. to reinforce Lebanese security agencies.
With a monthly budget of LL1.06 billion ($705,725), the ISF’s Information Branch receives the most money among Lebanese intelligence services, the source revealed. Military intelligence is allotted LL1 billion per month, while the Directorate General of General Security receives LL90 million and State Security gets LL30 million. “The Information Branch has all the resources to continue being efficient on the one condition that these are intelligently exploited,” the source said.

France will confront destabilization in Lebanon: Hollande
November 04, 2012/The Daily Star /BEIRUT: French President Francois Hollande said Sunday his country will confront attempts to destabilize Lebanon, praising President Michel Sleiman’s efforts to preserve unity via National Dialogue. In a joint news conference with Sleiman at the end of a brief visit to Beirut, Hollande said that France will confront with all its power anyone who seeks to destabilize Lebanon in order to guarantee its independence, security and unity. He also said that there is a need to protect Lebanon and preserve its unity given the crisis in neighboring Syria, adding that the country should not become a victim in the 19-month-old bloody conflict. He added that France’s participation in the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon and its military support for the Lebanese Army to better protect the border are part of Paris’ efforts in assuring stability in the country. Hollande, who was elected in May, said he wanted his first visit to the Middle East to begin in Lebanon, adding that his trip comes at a critical time in the region
The French president also praised Sleiman’s efforts in bringing rival leaders to the Dialogue table in order to preserve Lebanon’s unity in the wake of the assassination of Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan last month. Paris will offer its support to reveal the perpetrators behind Hasan’s killing, the French official said. Hollande’s trip is the first by a French president since the previous head of state, Nicolas Sarkozy, visited Lebanon in June 2008.
The country was rocked by the assassination of Hasan on Oct. 19, which led to calls from the opposition group for the resignation of Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s Cabinet, which it accused of providing the necessary cover for the car bomb in the Beirut district of Ashrafieh. The March 14 coalition has also announced a total boycott of the government and all Cabinet-related meetings in Parliament as part of its moves to pressure the government to resign. For his part, Sleiman, who has launched consultations with rival leaders to resolve the government crisis, renewed his call for Dialogue and the end of reactionary positions to prevent unrest. “We ask everyone to overcome this incident and work together via Dialogue and cooperation to prevent future crises ... particularly with what is going on in Syria including tension and bloodshed,” Sleiman told reporters. “Difficult circumstances produce reactionary popular stances but we should be aware that such reactions will only lead to negative results,” he added. Sleiman also said that he updated Hollande on his consultations as well as security developments in the country.
“I affirmed to President Hollande our keenness to distance Lebanon from negative repercussions from Syria, noting that Syrians should be able to achieve reform and democracy away from the violence that has reached alarming levels, and without military intervention,” the Lebanese president said.
He added that Hollande agreed to help Lebanon cope with the overwhelming presence of Syrian refugees in Lebanon, who now number over 100,000.
They also agreed on the importance of holding the 2013 parliamentary elections on time. Hollande earlier spoke of fears of a spillover of the crisis in Syria into Lebanon when speaking to reporters on board the plane to the Lebanese capital. He added that the aim of his brief visit is to send a message of support to Sleiman and follow up on the political situation in Lebanon, particularly with regards to the future of Dialogue and ties between Lebanon's rival parties. The French president, who arrived in Beirut around 8 a.m. for a three-hour trip, also said that he would be discussing with Sleiman the means to protect Lebanon from the crisis in Syria. Upon arrival at Baabda Palace, an official reception was held for Hollande and the accompanying delegation instead of at Rafik Hariri International Airport, where officials are usually received.

Hariri Explains to Hollande Reasons for March 14 Dialogue Boycott, Attends Lunch in His Honor in Jeddah
Naharnet /Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri informed French President Francois Hollande that the March 14 opposition alliance holds onto its decision to call for the formation of a neutral government to salvage Lebanon, An Nahar daily reported on Sunday, as the ex-PM attended a lunch banquet in honor of the French leader in Jeddah. The newspaper quoted French sources as saying that Hariri sent a letter to Hollande on the eve of his short visit to Beirut on Sunday. According to the sources, the al-Mustaqbal movement leader explained to Hollande the reasons for the opposition's boycott of parliamentary sessions and the National Dialogue. March 14 holds onto its stance in forming a neutral cabinet, he said in the letter. “The final decision of March 14 is (aimed at) putting an end to the chain of (attempts) to surrender the country to arms and their regional masters,” Hariri reportedly told the French president about the arsenal of Hizbullah and its main backers Syria and Iran. “The decision of the Lebanese to hold onto democracy and civil peace is the decision of March 14 to take a peaceful, democratic and nonviolent path,” he added. Meanwhile, Hariri's press office announced later on Sunday that the former premier had attended a lunch banquet thrown by Saudi King Abdullah in honor of the French president in the Saudi city of Jeddah. The lunch banquet was attended by the French delegation accompanying Hollande, Saudi Crown Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz and a number of top Saudi officials, according to Hariri's office. The opposition has been calling on Prime Minister Najib Miqati to resign over the Oct. 19 assassination of Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan, the head of the Internal Security Forces Information Branch. It declared it would boycott the government and any political activity it is involved in after it blamed Syria and held the government responsible for the car bomb explosion that left two other people dead.

No trial for Koteich over role in Serail protest: sources
November 05, 2012/The Daily Star /BEIRUT: Nadim Koteich, the Lebanese television presenter accused of inciting protesters to storm a government house, will not be prosecuted, judicial sources told The Daily Star. The sources said that Lebanon’s prosecutor Judge Hatem Madi determined that there was no case against Koteich. “There is no crime that would require Koteich to go on trial,” said the sources.
Ahmad Jamil Jezzini, a Beirut resident, filed a lawsuit against the TV host for encouraging protesters to storm the Grand Serail, disturbing civil peace and inciting people to commit acts of violence.
The sources said the judge’s decision was made in light of Koteich’s testimony, which he gave last week at the Central Criminal Investigations Department. After the session, supervised by General Prosecutor Hatem Madi, Koteich was released but not allowed to leave the country. Addressing thousands of mourners during the funeral of Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan in Beirut’s Martyrs Square on Oct. 21, Koteich called for a march toward the nearby Grand Serail, the headquarters of Prime Minister Najib Mikati, in an apparent bid to force him to resign. “Whoever wants to bury Wissam al-Hasan and go home is free to do so, but there is someone in the Serail who should be politically buried,” Koteich, a March 14 coalition figure, told the crowds during the funeral. After Koteich’s call, protesters headed to the Grand Serail and clashed with police before heeding pleas for calm from former Prime Minister Saad Hariri and former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.
Several protesters and 15 ISF personnel were injured in the clashes.

Lebanese Forces head Samir Geagea : Unity Cabinet won't stop killing machine
November 05, 2012/The Daily Star /BEIRUT: Lebanese Forces head Samir Geagea slammed in remarks published Monday the suggestion that Lebanon’s crisis could end through the formation of a national unity Cabinet and urged President Michel Sleiman to solve the political crisis by addressing what he described as the “killing machine.” “A unity government does not provide stability and security [in Lebanon],” Geagea told Al-Joumhouria newspaper, arguing that such a government would “paralyze the country and cripple its institutions.”“Moreover, a unity government is a true failure that we must not seek [to re-establish],” Geagea said. Geagea said Sleiman, instead, should solve the current crisis by addressing the root cause. “I wish [Sleiman] would dedicate his time to solving the fundamental problem, which is the killing machine, and stop it,” he said. “No [inter-Lebanese] dialogue will stop the killing machine and no unity government will stop this machine,” Geagea added.
“Experience from the past seven years provides the biggest evidence of this,” he said.Sleiman recently told a Cabinet meeting that the door was still open for the formation of a national unity government.
The president has made efforts to bring rival leaders to the National Dialogue table in order to preserve Lebanon’s unity in the wake of the Oct. 19 assassination of Lebanon’s top intelligence chief, Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan, who headed the police’s Information Branch. The opposition March 14 coalition, to which Geagea belongs, has called for the resignation of the current government under Prime Minister Najib Mikati and the formation of a neutral Cabinet instead. Geagea expressed his belief that the way toward resolving the crisis in the country would be to identify the culprits behind assassinations.
“The first step toward a solution would be in determining the side that stands behind political assassinations and refusing to turn a blind eye to this reality or contribute to it through resumption of dialogue,” he told the Lebanese daily. He once more accused the Hezbollah-led March 8 forces of "assassinations and political killings.”

Mikati discusses cooperation with Bulgaria
November 05, 2012/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Prime Minister Najib Mikati held talks in the Bulgarian capital Sofia Monday on ways to boost bilateral relations and cooperation in key areas between Bulgaria and Lebanon. Mikati met with the Bulgarian prime minister, the chair of the parliament and the country’s foreign minister. Accompanying him on his visit to the country is Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour, Minister of Social Affairs Wael Abou Faour, Environment Minister Nazem Khoury and Industry Minister Vrej Sabonjian. Tsetska Tsacheva, the chair of the National Assembly, underlined the “depth of the friendship between Lebanon and Bulgaria.”“The strong relations between the two countries translate significantly through the Parliamentary Friendship Committee,” she said. Tsacheva also expressed hope that the crisis in Syria would not spill over into neighboring Lebanon. “Lebanon and Bulgaria are located in hot geographic areas and we are following with concern what is going on around you and along your borders and we hope that the Syria crisis will not be exported to Lebanon,” she said. She added that her country supports Lebanon’s efforts to maintain stability and safeguard the borders.
Mikati, for his part, said Lebanon “looks forward to bolstering cooperation between the two countries in various fields.” He also stressed the need to run flights between Beirut and Sofia “to facilitate the movement of individuals and businessmen and to strengthen bilateral cooperation.” Mikati conveyed an invitation to Tsacheva to visit Lebanon from Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. The same invitation was extended to Berri from the Bulgarian National Assembly chair.

Syria conflict could become Israeli business: Israeli Armed forces chief Benny Gantz
November 04, 2012/Daily Star /JERUSALEM: Armed forces chief Benny Gantz said on Sunday the Syria conflict could become Israeli business, as fighting between regime forces and rebels raged near Israeli positions on the strategic Golan Heights. "This is a Syrian affair that could turn into our affair," the army's website quoted him as saying during a visit to troops on the frontier. It added that he told the soldiers to be alert, but did not elaborate further. The site quoted chief military spokesman Yoav Mordechai, who accompanied Gantz, as saying Israeli soldiers could hear the sounds of battle between the warring forces in Syria. "Across the border there are sounds of tank and light weapons fire," he said, adding that Israeli forces were "ready at any moment for the fire to change direction and turn on us."
Israel on Saturday lodged a complaint with United Nations monitors after three Syrian tanks entered a demilitarised zone on the heights, which separates the two sides.
Israeli media said the tanks entered the village of Beer Ajam, southeast of Quneitra, to fight rebels.Public radio said the military raised its state of alert in the area as a result.
Syria remains formally at war with Israel, which captured part of the Golan Heights in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it in 1981 in a move the international community does not recognise.
Since a 1974 disengagement agreement between the two countries, a 1,200-strong unarmed UN force has patrolled a buffer zone on the heights.
In July, Israel complained to the UN after Syrian soldiers entered the zone in violation of the agreement.

Lebanon's Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh says pay wage hike in installments
November 05, 2012/The Daily Star /BEIRUT: The government should pay the salary scale in installments to ease pressure on the treasury’s finances and avoid inflation, Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh said Sunday evening. Salameh is expected to attend this Wednesday’s Cabinet session which will discuss recent proposals to finance the salary scale. Salameh, who will only play an advisory role, told Al-Jadeed TV station that the Central Bank will submit several reports to assess the impact of the salary scale, if approved, on the monetary and economic situation. The governor, however, refused to disclose any details about the Central Bank’s assessment of the salary scale ahead of the Cabinet session. The Cabinet has agreed in principle to raise certain taxes that should not affect limited-income families.
Among the proposals mulled by the Finance Ministry are raising taxes on profits of real estate transactions, slapping taxes on illegal sea resorts, higher taxes on luxury goods such as tobacco and alcoholic beverages and raising taxes on interest on customer deposits from 5 to 7 percent. However, some economists say the taxes may be insufficient to fund the salary hike, which would cost the Treasury $1.5 billion a year, forcing the government to borrow an additional $1 billion from the local market through the issuance of new Treasury bills.
Salameh said in his televised interview that the Central Bank had initially advised the government to adjourn the endorsement of the salary scale until Lebanon weathers the economic slowdown inflicted by regional turmoil and local political instability. “But since the government is set to endorse the salary scale, it is better to pay it in installments,” he said, urging political leaders to strengthen the role of state institutions in a bid put the economy back on the growth track. Despite alarming economic indicators including dropping tourism revenues and foreign direct investments, Salameh dismissed concerns over the stability of exchange rates of the Lebanese pounds. “There are no concerns over the stability of exchange rates of the Lebanese pound ... it has been stable and will remain so,” Salameh said, highlighting that the Central Bank’s foreign assets stand at a record high of $35 billion, excluding gold reserves of $16 billion. Salameh added that Lebanese banks enjoy high liquidity in foreign currency, which supports the stabilization of exchange rates of the Lebanese pound. Higher interest rates on treasury bills are also encouraging banks to invest in them compared to bonds in dollar-denominated currencies that pay half the interest rate, Salameh said.

A March 14 defect
Hazem al-Amin/Now Lebanon
The March 14 coalition should recognize that it is entangled in a crisis and that the harsh blows it took have succeeded in driving essential cracks in its sociopolitical body.
This is manifested by the two sit-ins in front of the Serail in Beirut and PM Najib Miqati’s Tripoli residence respectively, but the clearest indicator is the leadership defect marring this group or the groups, which make up the March 14 movement.
The March 14 coalition is waging a weak and fragile battle to bring down a cabinet chaired by an unimaginative prime minister who is isolated within his own community and city. This cabinet displays a major representative flaw, as it has failed to include more than 90% of Sunnis and about 50% of Christians. This cabinet stands accused of providing those who killed [former ISF Information Branch chief] Major General Wissam al-Hassan with cover. It is suffering from the weakness of the Syrian regime, which formed it, and is unable to manage a crunching and unprecedented economic crisis resulting from a failed tourism season. Under this cabinet, Lebanese banks came under international scrutiny on suspicions of their participation in laundering Hezbollah funds.
Corruption under this cabinet has become an iconic and essential performance, considering that our national economy has been entrusted to Hezbollah, which was exempted from taxes in order to serve the Resistance’s economy and welfare.
The March 14 coalition is unable to bring down such a cabinet. Its only answer consists of two sit-ins in Beirut and Tripoli respectively. The confrontation culminated in the inexplicable and improvised attempt to “take the Serail by storm” on the day of Major General Hassan’s funeral. The coalition is calling for a neutral cabinet, which is seemingly its only political proposal to replace the current cabinet, but it has failed to provide a platform leading to the formation of such a cabinet.
The two sit-ins and boycotting cabinet activity in parliament remain incomplete steps if they constitute the sole program to bring down the cabinet. Indeed, the March 14 coalition has to settle its relations with the parties to the cabinet and make a partnership offer at the same time, as long as it is incapable of forming a cabinet and of being a majority.
The major problem lies with Hezbollah and its weapons, but the party has so far successfully secured a parliamentary majority for its cabinet. It has managed its conflict with Walid Jumblatt, absorbed President Michel Suleiman’s recent inclination to steer away from Damascus, and persuaded PM Miqati to go on using doses of appointments and silence.
The relation with Walid Jumblatt cannot stay hinged on its personal aspect rather than on politics. The March 14 coalition is actually keeping away from Jumblatt or drawing near him based on the personal chemistry between him and the Hariri family. Furthermore, avenging Miqati’s treason is useless if revenge does not have a political output.
Yes, the cabinet should be speedily brought down … and yes, it is the cabinet of covering Wissam Hassan’s assassins or, at least, of accepting his assassination. It is, first and foremost, [Syrian President] Bashar Al-Assad’s cabinet in Lebanon.
The March 14 coalition is incapable of forming an alternative cabinet on its own. Therefore, is it capable of making an offer to Najib Miqati against a backdrop of the intensifying sit-in in front of his residence? Can it bridge the political, non-personal distance separating it from Walid Jumblatt?
**This article is a translation of the original, which appeared on the NOW Arabic site on Thursday November 1, 2012

Lebanese leaders salute new Egypt Coptic pope
November 05, 2012/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s top leaders congratulated the new pope of Egypt’s Coptic Christians and the church’s followers Sunday, describing his election as an occasion to embrace inter-religious dialogue. Speaker Nabih Berri congratulated Egypt on its newly chosen Coptic pope, Bishop Tawadros.
“In my name and the name of the Lebanese Parliament, I congratulate Egypt, its people, your followers, people of the Levant for electing a new shepherd for the church of faith, peace, love and renewal,” Berri said in a telegram to the pope.
Tawadros was chosen from three candidates to succeed Pope Shenouda III, who died in March.
A blindfolded altar boy picked Tawadros’s name from a chalice in a ceremony at St. Mark’s Cathedral in the Egyptian capital. Acting head of the church Bishop Bakhomious announced the result. Tawadros, a 54-year-old doctor, had served as assistant to Bakhomious.
Berri said the way Tawadros was elected could serve as a lesson in democracy for the Arab world.
The speaker said Tawadros’ election reinforces Egypt’s historical status “as a base for dialogue, freedom of faith and coexistence,” expressing his hope that Egypt would assert its role in preventing strife and preserving the dignity of human beings. “In Lebanon, we promise you to preserve the bridge your people have built between Egypt and Lebanon, founded on the unifying faith shared by Islam and Christianity,” Berri said.
Prime Minister Najib Mikati voiced hope that the election of Tawadros would be a chance to reinforce Islamic-Christian unity in Egypt and the Middle East.
“The new pope’s focus, as per his previous statements, on the brotherly relations between Christians and Muslims and their integration, along with his focus on the role of the youth and dialogue, boosts hopes of a renaissance for the Orthodox Coptic Church,” Mikati added.

Syria: As America wants it!
By Tariq Alhomayed/Asharq Al-Awsat
It is difficult to say there are any convincing explanations as to what America means by its call to circumvent the Syrian National Council (SNC). Likewise, we remain unclear about the vagueness of the Doha conference, the recent Jordanian moves, and especially matters relating to the dissident former Syrian Prime Minister Riad Hijab. Of course, there is still no clarity on the stances of the Kurds or the Muslim Brotherhood. The only thing that is clear is the desire to overthrow Bashar al-Assad.
This is the scene today with regards to the Syrian case, at the international, Arab and of course Syrian level. Everyone is putting forth their initiatives and visions, and there are clearly preparations to mobilize after the 6th of November, i.e. the date of the US elections. This is also what the rebel Syrian fighters are doing on the ground, for it is obvious that they are trying to impose a reality in preparation for what is to come. The only good thing in all of this is that there is genuine mobility. This suggests that everyone, including China, which has also put forth an initiative, has realized that the wheel of change will move soon in Syria, and that al-Assad’s days are numbered. Yet things are not that simple, of course, and this is the crux of the matter. The reactions of some elements of the Syrian opposition, specifically those affiliated with the SNC, towards the recent US comments about the role of the council, suggest underlying tensions and strain. Some opposition members have brazenly resorted to the language of mistrust, suggesting that any criticism of the SNC means that there are those seeking to grant the Baathists a role in the new Syria. This kind of language did not benefit the Iraqis or the Egyptians when they used labels such as “remnants” and other defamatory expressions. The Syrian opposition today must not resort to these methods, which have not produced anything positive in any other Arab country engaged in the throes of change, whether peacefully or militarily.
The Syrians today should benefit from the mistakes of the other Arab Spring states, and post-Saddam Iraq prior to that, in order to avoid the fatal errors and difficulties faced by those countries. A dictator has not been truly ousted if he is simply replaced by a majority dictatorship or by the strongest on the ground, or the most popular in the Arab or international sphere. The Syrians must thwart any attempt, under whatever pretext, to steer Syria’s future towards that of Iraq and Lebanon, in terms of sectarian quotas. Syria is a unified state and must remain so.
The Syrian opposition can say what it wants against the Americans or others, but it is better for the opposition to remember that everyone has gone through the region’s recent experiences, from Iraq to Libya, through Egypt and Tunisia prior to that, as well as Yemen. I do not think that things will be easier for one party compared to another, whether the Muslim Brotherhood, the Kurds or otherwise. The Syrian opposition must seek to subvert any foreign interference or influence in the future Syria, so it can be an independent country, shielded from all its neighbors, and most importantly, so that the Damascus of tomorrow doesn’t depend on any entity as it depended on Iran during the al-Assad era. All this can only be achieved with a realistic vision of a future Syria, and realism here lies in representing everyone and rejecting exclusion, bullying, sectarianism and the desire for revenge, for revenge cannot build a nation.
If the Syrians remember all of the above, and avoid the mistakes of others, then not only will Syria be united, but its future fate will lie in the hands of the Syrians, and not with America or elsewhere.