LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
October 03/12

Bible Quotation for today/Teaching about Charity
Matthew 6/1-4: "1 Make certain you do not perform your religious duties in public so that people will see what you do. If you do these things publicly, you will not have any reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give something to a needy person, do not make a big show of it, as the hypocrites do in the houses of worship and on the streets. They do it so that people will praise them. I assure you, they have already been paid in full. But when you help a needy person, do it in such a way that even your closest friend will not know about it. Then it will be a private matter. And your Father, who sees what you do in private, will reward you.

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
Sending Arab troops to Syria is not wise/By Tariq Alhomayed/Asharq Al-Awsat/October 02/12
Nasrallah false resistance over/By: Ahmed Al-Jarallah/Arab Times/October 02/12
Sharia-Medicine'/Egyptian Clinic Treats People with Camel Urine Per Prophet's Advice/By Raymond Ibrahim/FrontPage Magazine/October 02/12

STL defense attorneys argue that court has no jurisdiction
October 02, 2012/By Willow Osgood/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Defense attorneys for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon argued Monday that the court had no jurisdiction over the case of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and should be dissolved before the trial begins. Speaking before the Appeals Chamber, the defense challenged the Trial Chamber’s decision in July, which rejected the pretrial motions challenging the court’s jurisdiction and legality. Responding to the Trial Chamber’s assertion that the court does not have the authority to review U.N. Security Council Resolution 1757, which established it, the defense argued that the STL is the only body that can examine the legality of its founding.
“Resolution 1757 is not a holy scripture and the Security Council is not God,” argued Yasser Hasan, an attorney for Hussein Oneissi, one of four members of Hezbollah indicted by the court. “What other body is entitled to review the Security Council especially when the resolutions have legal consequences?”
Echoing his colleague, Vincent Courcelle-Labrousse said that resolutions passed under Chapter VII of the U.N. Charter, which allows the United Nations to act to restore peace, must be assessed by the courts they create. Building on this contention, the defense argued that the Security Council abused its power when it passed Resolution 1757 under Chapter VII because the 2005 attack which killed Hariri and 22 others was not a threat to international peace and security. “In May 2007, there was no threat to international peace, only serious political trouble of a national scope,” said Antoine Korkmaz, who represents Mustafa Badreddine, another of the defendants. The defense maintained that political assassinations have never been considered an international threat, and suggested an alternative motivation for the Security Council. “In reality, there was no matter of an attempt to avert a threat to international peace but [only] to support certain Lebanese political factions against others,” Korkmaz said.
Opponents of the STL have long maintained that the court is selective, a claim also taken up by the defense.
“Two other Lebanese presidents were assassinated in the past – Rene Mouwad and Bashir Gemayel – and yet no international tribunal was set up to examine those crimes,” said Emile Aoun, adding that the accused were all members of one political party and belong to the same religious group. The indicted men, Oneissi, Badreddine, Salim Ayyash and Asad Sabra, remain at large and were appointed attorneys by the STL. Pretrial Judge Daniel Fransen has set March 25 as the tentative start date for the trial in absentia.
The Trial Chamber said in its July decision that it was not necessary to examine defense arguments that Lebanese law was violated when the court was established because it was based on a U.N resolution. It added that Lebanon, as a member of the U.N., was subject to action under Chapter VII. But the defense redoubled its arguments Monday that the resolution that had given rise to the STL violated Lebanese sovereignty. “In international law we cannot mix contractual and coercive measures,” said Aoun, who represents Ayyash. “One cannot engage in negotiations on a contractual basis and if one is not happy then he resorts to coercive measures under Chapter VII.”“The Security Council cannot replace Lebanon and ignore provisions of Lebanese Constitution,” he added.
Resolution 1757 was passed after years of negotiations between Lebanon and the U.N. to establish a special court stalled amid domestic opposition.
Last week Sabra’s defense attorneys filed a motion claiming the Lebanese government was not responding to their requests for materials, including documents on the negotiations that took place in the run-up to Resolution 1757. “The defense has repeatedly sought the assistance of Lebanon, but has yet to receive even a single document in response,” said the filing.
For its part, the prosecution focused on arguing against defense claims that there was a precedent for an international tribunal to review its own legality, as well challenging arguments that the STL had the authority to determine what constituted a threat to international peace and security.“It’s a discretionary decision,” prosecutor Norman Farrell said. The Appeals Chamber, composed of three international and two Lebanese judges, has yet to hear the appeal on a motion requesting the court to reconsider its February decision to try the defendants in absentia.

Hezbollah, Amal join Rai in rejecting 1960 poll law
October 02, 2012/By Hussein Dakroub/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Hezbollah and the Amal Movement Monday joined Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai in rejecting a return to the 1960 election law as rival factions traded barbs on seeking to eliminate each other through conflicting electoral proposals.Meanwhile, MPs from the joint parliamentary committees are scheduled to meet Tuesday to resume discussions on at least three draft electoral laws amid a widening gap between the opposition March 14 coalition and the Hezbollah-led March 8 alliance over which legislation best guarantees fair representation for all parties in next year’s parliamentary elections.
Hezbollah welcomed the Maronite Church’s rejection of the 1960 election law and its call for a new system to be used in the 2013 polls.
“We want a new election law on whose basis the [2013] elections are held in order to avoid a renewal of the Lebanese crisis by holding them on the basis of the 1960 law,” Hezbollah’s MP Nawaf Musawi told senior Muslim and Christian religious figures during a dialogue session in the southern city of Tyre.
“We in Hezbollah and the Amal Movement agree with the Maronite patriarchate’s declared rejection of holding the parliamentary elections on the basis of the 1960 law,” Musawi said. “We call for holding [elections] on the basis of a new law because we strongly uphold the Lebanese pluralistic model based on a [sectarian] balance and partnership.”
Hezbollah’s Nabatieh MP Mohammad Raad also rejected a return to the 1960 law, which adopts the qada as an electoral district and is based on a winner-takes-all system that was used in the 2009 parliamentary elections. Speaking at a high school graduation ceremony in the southern town of Nabatieh, Raad accused March 14 parties of seeking to remove Hezbollah from Lebanon’s political life through the 1960 law or proposals for small electoral districts.
“The March 14 coalition is trying to propose an electoral law aimed at removing the resistance party and its supporters from political life and participation in state-building, but they are under illusion,” said Raad, head of Hezbollah’s bloc in Parliament. “They will not be able to hold elections based on the 1960 law because there are at least two main components of the Lebanese people that have frankly announced their rejection of the 1960 law,” Raad said, referring to the Maronite Church and the two main Shiite groups, Amal and Hezbollah. “And now they are dreaming beyond the 1960s, seeking a law based on small districts and if they could, they would have made the districts even smaller.”
Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai warned Sunday that a return to the 1960 election law would threaten Lebanon’s sectarian coexistence and diversity. His warning came two days after the Maronite Church called for a new election law that can ensure fair Christian representation in the 2013 polls, while rejecting the 1960 law.
The Maronite Church and March 14 Christian parties have long criticized the 1960 law for failing to ensure true Christian representation in Parliament in previous elections.
Indirectly responding to Raad, MP Habib Khodr from the parliamentary Future bloc said the government’s draft electoral law was aimed at “eliminating” the March 8 bloc’s political opponents.
“The draft electoral law amounts to a coup against the Taif Accord,” Khodr told the Voice of Lebanon radio station. “It confirms that March 8 is preparing to continue its coup via state institutions, particularly the Lebanese Parliament ... This is literally an elimination law.”
The government has approved a draft electoral law that would divide the country into 13 medium-sized districts based on a system of proportional representation. March 14 Christian parties have proposed a draft election law based on a winner-takes-all system that would divide Lebanon into 50 small districts.
Another draft law from MP Michel Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement calls on each sect to elect its own representatives based on proportional representation.
March 8 and March 14 MPs from the joint parliamentary committees meet Tuesday to resume discussions on the three electoral proposals.
At their meeting last week, the MPs agreed to meet twice a week in an attempt to reach agreement on an election law that can ensure a fair representation of all the parties.
Hezbollah argues that the March 14 proposal for small electoral districts violates the Taif Accord, which stipulates that parliamentary elections should be held in accordance with a law on the basis of five provinces, later amended to six.
Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri and his March 14 allies have rejected the government’s draft electoral law for proportional representation, saying it was designed to serve the interests of Hezbollah and its March 8 allies. Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt has also rejected the government’s proportional representation draft law as well as the March 14 proposal for small electoral districts, favoring the current electoral law.
Meanwhile, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea reiterated his support for the March 14 proposal for small electoral districts, saying it ensures better representation for the Christians.
Speaking to reporters after meeting Future MP Ahmad Fatfat at his residence in Maarab, north of Beirut, Geagea called on Aoun’s FPM to support the small district proposal so that this proposal can have a majority of votes. “The FPM’s MPs are required to sign with us the small district draft law so that this law can have a majority because the Future bloc’s MPs support it and we can then reach a new election law,” Geagea said. For his part, Fatfat rejected any proportional representation law under the shadow of Hezbollah’s arms. He also rejected the Orthodox Gathering’s proposal, which calls on each sect to elect its own representatives, saying it does not conform with the logic of sectarian coexistence and the Constitution.
“We consider small districts based on a winter-takes-all system as the best law that can ensure the best representation with regard to [alleviating] Christian concerns or other concerns posed by the presence of [Hezbollah’s] arms,” Fatfat said. However, MP Fadi Awar from Aoun’s parliamentary Change and Reform bloc rejected the March 14 proposal for small electoral districts, calling it “a crime” against the Lebanese, who believe in the country’s unity. “The proposal serves only Lebanon’s enemies ... When we reach a stage where each sect names its own candidates, what will be left of Lebanon?” he asked. Awar said that stalling in the discussion of a new election law paved the way for keeping the 1960 law.
Meanwhile, President Michel Sleiman met Monday with Peru’s President Ollanta Humala in the capital Lima. Sleiman is in Peru to head the Arab delegation at a two-day summit with heads of state and government of South American and Arab Countries that kicks off in Lima Tuesday. Addressing a business forum on the eve of the summit, Sleiman said that “a balanced liberalism and a policy of openness and genuine democracy and the respect of others’ rights, stability and peace are the best means” to find solutions for problems of poverty and unemployment in South America and Arab countries.
“The building of an environment of justice, peace and democracy will alone allow the implementation of [economic] revival plans which require years of stability and a continued calm work,” Sleiman said.

Tripoli braces for new wave of violence
October 02, 2012/By Misbah al-Ali/The Daily Star
A repetition of scenes of families fleeing the restive neighborhoods is expected.
TRIPOLI, Lebanon: Despite calls for calm from across the political spectrum, the security situation in Tripoli is deteriorating. Amid the monthlong cease-fire between the neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen, the city is bracing for a new round of violence.In the past few weeks, grenades have been thrown and there have been sporadic shooting.
Fed up with the on-and-off violence between the majority Sunni Bab al-Tabbaneh and the mostly Alawite Jabal Mohsen, Bab al-Tabbaneh carpenter Zakaria Shmeitan finally decided to move his family to a different part of Tripoli. “This street looks like hell ... and we have been taking my daughter to the hospital for treatment from the trauma,” Shmeitan said.
“The situation is unbearable. There are rumors in the streets about a new wave of violence, and everyone is getting ready for a new battle. So I decided to move out along with my family, because I don’t want to lose my daughter to this.” Dozens have been killed in the last few months of fighting, and hundreds wounded. Shmeitan is not alone; many families are suffering in the two overcrowded Tripoli neighborhoods that, by unofficial statistics, together have a population of 150,000.Some 100,000 people are said to live in Bab al-Tabbaneh’s 3 square kilometers, where most residents back the Syrian uprising. Another 50,000 live in Jabal Mohsen and the predominantly Alawite surrounding areas where the majority back Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Tripoli MP Mustafa Alloush believes the Syrian regime is attempting to incorporate Tripoli into its battles in a bid to hold on to power for longer. “The situation in Tripoli is unstable, [and will remain so] as long as there is a group that is trying to link the city’s stability with the fate of the Assad regime that will definitely collapse,” said the Future Movement lawmaker.
“There are military barracks in Jabal Mohsen, and armed groups connected to Hezbollah who are trying to bring instability. All these attempts are part of the regime’s plan to widen the geography of the killings,” Alloush added.
Hezbollah has repeatedly been accused of having armed and funded the pro-Assad fighters in Jabal Mohsen, allegations it has denied.
In response to Alloush, Abdul-Latif Saleh, spokesperson of the Arab Democratic Party, said that Jabal Mohsen was being targeted by armed groups who are backed by the Internal Security Forces’ Information Branch.“They are targeting us with the support of the Information Branch to serve the interests of the Free Syrian Army and the Future Movement, but the fighting [that is taking place] is not with us but with the Lebanese Army that we fully trust.”Saleh added that residents of Jabal Mohsen are frequently attacked, be it through vandalism of their businesses or personal assaults on the street.
“No week passes without violence toward Jabal Mohsen’s residents ... They are attacking Jabal Mohsen’s residents in Tripoli and outside it, in areas such as Al-Boqar and Mankoubin,” Saleh said, adding that such incidents “aim to create civil strife and there are some who are promoting this through their speeches.”
Last week, a rumor spread in Tripoli that Arab Democratic Party leader Rifaat Eid, fearing an attack on his residence by a Future Movement-backed Salafist group, had fled Jabal Mohsen.
The buzz claimed that Eid was in the Akkar town of Hakour al-Daher as an operation was being planned to enter Jabal Mohsen and eliminate the ADP’s supporters in time for the collapse of Assad’s regime.
While Eid did not answer phone calls, one of his bodyguards denied that the leader had left Jabal Mohsen, insisting he was in his Tripoli home and receiving guests regularly.
“Rifaat Eid wants to distance himself from the media to calm the situation,” the bodyguard said. “He has made this decision out of his sense of national responsibility, and now we see the Future Movement exploiting this by spreading rumors that he fled Tripoli and relocated in Akkar close to the Syrian border.”
A source close to Eid, who spoke to The Daily Star on condition of anonymity, said Eid had recently made a three-day visit to Damascus, where he was told by the Syrian regime that that its army still controlled more than 80 percent of Syrian territory.Given the ongoing battles in Syria and Assad’s apparent determination to stay in power, morale among ADP supporters in Jabal Mohsen is high.
And although the Lebanese government continues to reiterate its policy of dissociation from the events in Syria, Tripoli has become completely intertwined with its neighboring country.

Lebanon mulls issuing dollar bond this month: Central Bank
October 02, 2012/Salameh says the forecast for economic growth this year stands at 2 percent.
KUWAIT: The Lebanese government may issue a dollar-denominated sovereign bond this month, the country’s Central Bank governor said Monday. “The government and the Finance Ministry are thinking of going to the market again, maybe in October, with an issue of the Republic of Lebanon in dollars,” Riad Salameh said on the sidelines of a meeting of Arab central bankers in Kuwait. He would not comment on details of the possible bond issue, saying it was up to the government to announce it. Asked about growth prospects for the economy, which has been hit by the conflict in neighboring Syria and domestic political tensions, Salameh said: “This year, the forecast stands around 2 percent, maybe a little bit more, but less than 3 percent.” “Last year was around 3 percent,” he said, based on estimates by the Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund. That is much less than the previous government’s estimate of 5.2 percent. Lebanon’s economic growth ground to a halt in the first half of 2011 following a Cabinet collapse and the impact of the early stages of the uprising in Syria. The government previously issued dollar bonds in March, including $600 million due in 2017, paying 5 percent, and the addition of $350 million to a previous issue of 2026 bonds, paying 6.375 percent.

Geagea criticizes Aoun for attempted Ilij visit
October 02, 2012/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea slammed rival Free Patriotic Movement MP Michel Aoun Monday for attempting to visit the Ilij Monastery in the Jbeil village of Mayfouq. Geagea said it was widely known that hundreds of LF martyrs who died during the 1990 war were buried at the Ilij Monastery. “During his electoral visit to the district of Jbeil, Aoun didn’t attempt to find anywhere to give a speech other than Ilij – this was an attempt to target the symbol of the Ilij Monastery,” Geagea told reporters at his residence in Maarab. “Everything else being said about this is simply changing facts and getting away from the truth,” Geagea said. Aoun was prevented from visiting Illis Church by Mayfouq residents and LF supporters. The LF claim that many martyrs buried at the site died during the battles of 1990 when Aoun, the commander of the Lebanese Army at the time, declared war against Geagea’s militia. “Unfortunately, Aoun actions do not take into account the feelings of other people,” Geagea added.

Nasrallah false resistance over
By: Ahmed Al-Jarallah/Arab Times
THE leaked Syrian intelligence documents have not revealed any shocking information on the involvement of Hassan Nasrallah and his group in the fight against the people of Syria. Nasrallah is drenched with the blood of the innocent. His history was first written by the blood of his own people before that of others.
While raising liberation and oppression slogans, Nasrallah thinks he can still ‘sell’ his ideas to the people. He thinks he can still obtain support from his followers. He is oblivious to the fact that people never forget the acts of their executioners. He has been living in caves; thereby, proving he is a first-class executioner who enjoys hearing the screams of the innocent and derives happiness from massacres. This has prompted the conspiratorial forces to choose him as the implementer of their orders against the innocent people of Syria.
Over the last 19 months, the innocent Syrians have been resisting and patiently waiting for someone to liberate them from the dungeons of oppression and injustice. They have been sacrificing the souls of their children, elderly and women to obtain freedom.
The leakage of intelligence documents on Nasrallah and his group’s participation in the Syrian crisis is just the tip of the iceberg. This person has been trying to throw dust in the eyes of people through his calls for Syrian dialogue, while his group moves against the Syrian opposition in Lebanon; haunting people in their houses to send them back to the Damascus regime. He has also acted against the opposition of free Iranians by kidnapping men and women in Beirut and then referring them to the Iranian Embassy in Damascus. He has been committing crimes against the people — an act which is no longer surprising for someone like him whose habits throughout the Lebanon War included kidnapping, assassination and bombing of cars on the streets of Beirut. Now, he has been chosen as a partner in killing the Syrians.
Contrary to his claims, Nasrallah is not hiding from Israel because the latter knows his hideaway. He is rather hiding from those he has oppressed and used as ‘fuel’ in conflicts between the axis of evil and terrorists who work for him as junior executioners. He has delusions when it comes to escaping from the fate he has drawn for himself by his own hands which are covered not only with blood but also the massive destruction of Lebanese youths due to drugs. He protects drug smugglers and manufacturers in the southern part of Beirut that is controlled by his terrorist group.
The day of accountability is fast approaching because the road to freedom, which the Syrians have taken from Dira to the rest of Syria, will end soon. After this, the arrogant tyrant, who acts like a peacock, will know which way to turn.
The tip of the iceberg, which the black box of Syrian intelligence revealed, will not sink the vessels of justice as they sail towards the coast of freedom. Instead, it will sink the vessels of anyone who has appointed himself as the small ‘curator’ of terrorism, injustice and violence.
The people of Syria and Lebanon will obtain their freedom soon. If this happens, there will be no armed groups led by a bloodthirsty sadist who claims to come from the pure household of the noble Prophet (PBUH). Such claims are nothing but slander and fallacy, because people from the household of the noble Prophet (PBUH) household are not mercenaries. In fact, this person carries no attribute of the noble members of the household of the Prophet (PBUH).
The game of false resistance is over. The time for accountability is getting closer — closer than anyone can imagine.

Syrian minister accuses US of stoking 'terrorism'
By ALBERT AJI, Associated Press
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — The Syrian foreign minister accused the U.S. and its allies of stoking "terrorism" in his country, delivering an uncompromising message before the United Nations on Monday as fighting spread in a centerpiece of Syria's cultural heritage, the historic Old City of Aleppo.
Elsewhere in the country, a government air raid on a northern town killed at least 21 people, activists said.
Addressing the U.N. General Assembly's annual ministerial meeting, Walid al-Moallem denounced countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey for supporting the opposition, and also lashed out at calls in Washington and in Arab and European capitals for President Bashar Assad to step down.
"This terrorism which is externally supported is accompanied by unprecedented media provocation based on igniting religious extremism sponsored by well-known states in the region," he said, an apparent allusion to an anti-Islam film produced in the U.S. that has sparked protests throughout the Muslim world.
He invited the opposition to "work together to stop the shedding of Syrian blood" and said that a Syrian-led dialogue could produce a "more pluralistic and democratic" country.
Al-Moallem's call, similar to other overtures made by Assad's regime, is unlikely to be heeded by the opposition. Most opposition factions have repeatedly dismissed the government's purported peace initiatives as propaganda, meant to buy time. They say will accept nothing less that Assad stepping down as a precondition for talks.
But on many other points, the Syrian opposition's political factions as well as rebel groups fighting on the ground are deeply divided. The Damascus representative of the new international peace envoy to Syria said Monday that the large number of rival rebel groups is one of the main obstacles to a U.N. mission's efforts to broker an end to Syria's 18-month crisis.
With every diplomatic effort so far failing to halt the violence, Syria's civil war has descended into a deadly daily grind as the regime and the rebels trying to overthrow Assad both try to gain the upper hand.
Some of the heaviest fighting Monday took place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria's commercial capital, where rebels recently launched a new offensive.
Aleppo-based activist Mohammed Saeed said 12 people were killed when troops shelled a mosque in the city. A video posted online showed wounded worshippers being rushed away. Another video showed the Osman bin Madoun Mosque later in the day with its green carpets stained with blood.
The Observatory said 40 people were either killed or wounded in Aleppo on Monday, while the LCC put the death toll nationwide at as many as 95 by Monday afternoon.
Northwest of Aleppo, government warplanes bombed the town of Salqin, killing at least 21 people including five children, activists said. The Local Coordination Committees, another activist group, put the death toll at 30.
Salqin is located some six kilometers (four miles) from the border with Turkey in Idlib province, which has seen intense clashes between government troops and rebels in recent months.
Footage posted online by activists showed several mutilated bodies in the back of a pickup truck as a man shouts that his son was killed. A second video showed three dead children on the floor of what appeared to be a hospital.
The government severely restricts access to the country, and the authenticity of the videos could not be independently verified.
The state-run news agency SANA said dozens of "terrorists" were killed in Salqin, including some non-Syrian foreign fighters.
A militant group fighting in Syria reported on its website that four members of the Al-Nusra Front were killed in the Salqin battle including a Tunisian. The group has claimed responsibility for several recent suicide attacks in Syria.
Meanwhile, Mokhtar Lamani, who represents special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi in the Syrian capital, told The Associated Press in an interview that a solution to the country's crisis remains very difficult because of the "high level of mistrust between all parties." Most opposition groups demand Assad's departure from power, while the regime says its opponents are working as part of a foreign conspiracy.
Brahimi, a veteran Algerian diplomat who previously served as a U.N. envoy to Afghanistan and Iraq, waded into Syria's complicated diplomatic landscape last month when he replaced Kofi Annan, the former U.N. chief whose peace plan for Syria failed to end the violence that activists say has so far killed more than 30,000 people.
Lamani said Brahimi, who visited Damascus last month, will pay a second visit to Syria soon and will tour the country. Asked whether he still sees hope of a political solution in Syria despite the bloodshed, Lamani said: "I think maybe the time will be too long, but I hope (so) ... and this is what I am here for because I hope that in the end there would be some light."
Lamani noted that he had recently visited the central province of Homs and the southern province of Daraa, where he with met representatives of armed groups in the town of Rastan, a rebel stronghold in Homs that was among the first areas to take up arms against Assad's regime. He did not provide any details of his meetings.
He said that some of the main obstacles to brokering a resolution to the conflict are divisions among rebels and opposition groups. There is a vast array of such groups inside and outside the country, and relations among them have been dogged by infighting and mutual accusations of treachery. The rebels include army defectors and gunmen who work under the rag-tag Free Syrian Army.
"There are so many opposition parties inside and outside Syria in addition to the armed groups," Lamani said in Damascus. "This is a little bit very dangerous and complicating our mission because of this kind of fragmentation."Concerns mounted meanwhile over the damage to Aleppo's historic center, a UNESCO world heritage strike, after a destructive fire which broke out late Friday. Both activists and government officials have said that damage is immense, but blamed the other side for starting it.
Rami Martini, chief of Aleppo's Chamber of Tourism, said three historic markets which he identified as Niswan, Darb and Istanbul "were totally burnt and they consist of more than 500 shops."
Martini, a government tourism official, blamed rebels for the fires in the market, saying opposition forces "hate history." Some opposition activists have suggested government shelling of rebels in the market may have started the blaze.
The Aleppo bazaar, a major tourist attraction with its narrow stone alleys and stores selling perfume, fabrics and spices, had been the site of occasional gun battles and shelling for weeks. But amateur video posted Saturday showed wall-to-wall flames engulfing wooden doors as burning debris fell away from the storefronts. Activists said hundreds of shops were affected, in the worst blow yet to the city's historic center. Aleppo's walled old city with a medieval covered market, or souk, was recognized by the U.N. cultural agency as a World Heritage site, one of six in Syria.
Martini said the government as well as Arab and international funders spent $300 million to renovate the Aleppo market between 1993 and 2010. "The historical losses in the market are invaluable and the hope is that the market be renovated in the future," he told The Associated Press by telephone from Aleppo.
Copyright © 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

'Massacre' alleged as Syria slams outside 'interference'
By the CNN Wire Staff/October 1, 2012 -
(CNN) -- As Syria's foreign minister blasted international calls for President Bashar al-Assad to step down, Syrian forces were shelling civilian neighborhoods and battling rebel forces, opposition leaders said.Foreign Minister Walid Moallem told the U.N. General Assembly that the rhetoric against al-Assad amounts to a "blatant interference in the domestic affairs of Syria, and the unity of its people and its sovereignty." NGO running Syrian 'Fast and Furious'? At least 127 people were killed Monday, including 12 children, the opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria said.
The deaths included more than 30 due to aerial shelling, the group said.
Thirty-seven people were killed in Idlib -- 30 of them "in a massacre" in the town of Seqlein, the LCC said.
The Free Syrian Army launched an offensive to gain control of the Aleppo military airport on the outskirts of Syria's largest city, said Abdulla Yasin, spokesman for the rebel fighters. There were fierce clashes with al-Assad's troops for control of the vital base, he said, adding that FSA troops destroyed four fighter planes and a tank at the airport.
Eleven civilians were killed when a regime shell struck a mosque in the Hnano neighborhood, Yasin said.
SANA said Monday its forces carried out operations against gatherings of "terrorists" in Aleppo and elsewhere, inflicting "heavy losses." Seventeen citizens were "martyred in terrorists' shelling" on a village in Homs Sunday, the government said.
Hama Massacre recalled as troops move into city
Syrian security forces are uprooting thousands of people and demolishing their homes in the western flashpoint city of Hama, residents told CNN.
As security forces surround the Mesha Alarbeen district and bulldozers tear down homes inside, the Hama Massacre is still fresh in the minds of many who live there.
Between 3,000 and 40,000 people were believed to have died when the military acting under orders from Hafez al-Assad -- the father of the current Syrian president -- brutally cracked down on a revolt in 1982. A1983 Amnesty International report put the toll on both sides between 10,000 and 25,000.
Hama is once again an epicenter of the anti-government movement that has roiled the country.
"So far they have razed 120 buildings," Osamah, a Hama resident who visited the neighborhood on Sunday, told CNN.
The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency reported a "massive presence of terrorist armed gangs that threaten" the people of Hama. Other SANA articles referenced how security forces had found large amounts of weapons in the area.
The Syria toll, so far
Newly released casualty figures form the LCC put the number of civilians and opposition fighters killed in the conflict at more than 28,000
More than 24,000 of them were civilians, the LCC says.
Thousands of Syrian troops have also reportedly been killed.
The opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says more than 30,000 people have died in the unrest.
CNN is unable to independently confirm casualty reports as the Syrian government has severely limited the access of international journalists.
The new casualty figures show August was the deadliest month, with 5,091 killed. In September, 4,071 people were killed, according to the LCC.
Report: Iraq to search Iranian planes bound for Syria
Iraq will conduct random searches of Iranian planes bound for Syria to check for arms shipments, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said in an interview published Sunday in the al-Hayat newspaper.
Zebari said Iraq will not act as a passageway or a channel for arms to make their way into Syria. "We are not with the militarization of the conflict. We are against the arming the regime or the opposition," he said.
The foreign minister told the newspaper that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and others raised concerns about arms shipments. The United States believes Iran, one of al-Assad's strongest supporters, is arming government forces.
Clinton has called on Syria's neighbors to take steps to prevent Iran from using its land and airspace to deliver shipments to Syria.
Iraq faces a difficult task in enforcing the inspections, Zebari said.
"We explained to the U.S. side that Iraq's air defense capabilities are limited, and we are in the stage of building our air force," he said.
More: Syrian rebels claim knowledge of chemical weapons site
Iranian flights over Iraq to Syria began in March but were stopped shortly after at the request of Iraq, Zebari said. The flights resumed in July.
"They said these flights contain no weapons or hardware, and that they transport pilgrims, visitors and so on. But to verify their shipments, we will ask these planes to land," Zebari said.
Last week, Baghdad rejected a request from North Korea to fly through its airspace to Syria because of a suspicion the flight was carrying arms.
Background
The Syrian conflict broke out in March 2011 after unarmed protesters, inspired by the success of popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, took to the streets demanding political reform.
The movement devolved into an armed conflict after a brutal and continuing crackdown by government forces.
Foreign Minister Moallem spoke Monday to the U.N. General Assembly just days after world leaders painted a grim picture of the conflict.
Syria has dominated much of the General Assembly discussion -- on stage and on the sidelines -- as world leaders struggle to find a way to resolve the war that has left the Security Council hopelessly deadlocked, with China and Russia opposing some of the toughest measures proposed.
The Security Council has been paralyzed by a division over how to halt the killing in Syria. Russia and China have blocked resolutions calling for al-Assad to transfer power and step down, saying the issue should be settled by Syrians.
Germany has slammed the U.N. Security Council for failure to act, and the United States, Britain and France announced they are backing increased support of non-lethal aid to the Syrian opposition.
CNN's Saad Abedine and Dana Ford contributed to this report.

Syria pushes world refugee total towards record: U.N.
GENEVA | Mon Oct 1, 2012/(Reuters) - With tens of thousands fleeing Syria every month, the number of refugees worldwide in 2012 is set to be the highest this century, a senior United Nations official said on Monday.Antonio Guterres, the body's High Commissioner for Refugees, told his UNHCR agency's executive committee that its ability to cope was being stretched to the limit.
"Already in 2011, as crisis after crisis unfolded, more than 800,000 people crossed borders in search of refuge -- an average of more than 2,000 refugees every day," the former Portuguese prime minister said.That total had been the highest since the turn of the century "and so far this year more than 700,000 people have fled from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Sudan and Syria", Guterres said.
Last Friday, another UNHCR official said the total from Syria could reach 700,000 this year, nearly four times its earlier estimate as government troops battle rebels across the country.
About 294,000 refugees fleeing 18 months of fighting have already crossed into Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon and Turkey, or await registration there, Panos Moumtzis told a news briefing.
He said 100,000 people had fled Syria in August, 60,000 in September and at the moment 2,000 or 3,000 were crossing daily into neighbouring countries.
The new refugees are joining some 42 million around the globe who have fled across borders to escape violence. Many of these have been in temporary shelter provided by the UNHCR for a decade or more, some for even longer.Amid the global economic crisis and with budgets of governments stretched, Guterres told the executive committee that the cost of helping refugees was escalating fast while long-lasting crises like Afghanistan and Somalia continued.
"We are at a moment when the demands on us are rising while the means available to respond have remained at a similar level to last year," he said.
"Our operations in Africa, in particular, are dramatically underfunded. At this moment, we have no room for unforeseen needs, no reserves available. In today's unpredictable operating environment, this is a cause for deep concern."(Reporting by Robert Evans; Editing by Robert Woodward)

Politicians' courageous stand in support of life - Susan Martinuk
October 1, 2012 10:19:28 AM The Calgary Herald - September 27, 2012
http://www.calgaryherald.com/opinion/columnists/Martinuk+Politicians+courageous+stand+support+life/7310779/story.html
Politicians' courageous stand in support of life
By Susan Martinuk
On Wednesday, Parliament had a free vote on Motion 312, a private member's bill calling on MPs to strike a committee that would study personhood of the fetus - and attempt to determine the point at which the unborn child becomes a human being under Canadian law.
The bill was defeated as expected by a vote of 203 to 91. What was surprising is that more than half of the Conservatives (87 MPs), including eight cabinet ministers, voted for the bill. Each of these MPs took a risk in doing so, as it was clear the vote would never pass, and Prime Minister Stephen Harper had stated he would not support it and had no intention of ever reopening the abortion debate.
Voting against the prime minister is typically considered a career-limiting step - sometimes even on a free vote. It is even more risky when the issue is controversial and the media are eager to vilify such members.
In this atmosphere, two of the most significant yea votes came from Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney and the Minister for the Status of Women, Rona Ambrose.
Kenney ostensibly supported the motion because he believes it's time for a "respectful debate" on abortion. Those who are familiar with Kenney aren't surprised by his position. Supporters know him to be a devout, principled Catholic and a long-term, prominent advocate for life. His constituents know it and, because of it - or in spite of it - continue to vote for him in large numbers. In the past four elections, they have given him a margin of support greater than 70 per cent.
He deserves it, as he has repeatedly shown himself to be a principled politician who is willing to stand by what he has said and act according to his moral framework and conscience. In an age of cynicism and disgraced politicians, where flip-flops are more the rule than the exception, it is refreshing to see someone push political expediency out and let their conscience speak. It's all the more encouraging that he would take this stand on abortion, which is typically a no-win situation in Canadian politics.
Taking a principled stance is such a rare act that Kenney is now being skewered by the media and abortion advocates. The media suggest that he acted to position himself as the leader of the party's social conservatives to gain support for a leadership run that is nowhere in sight for many years to come. But Kenney's vote wasn't a political strategy - it was a moral stand.
The NDP's status of women critic was obviously searching for dark, ulterior motives when she said the most important question about Kenney's vote is "why" he would take such a stand. The NDP is obviously so accustomed to making decisions on ulterior motives, that they can't even conceive the idea that he voted on principle.
Ambrose says she supported the bill because she hopes to take action against sex-selective abortion. It isn't exactly a principled stance, if one supports abortion for every other reason. But as minister for the status of women, she took a courageous stance and is now being vilified for it.
The Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada has said she is "unfit" for the job, and demanded that she resign for "(throwing) women under the bus" and defying the prime minister. Its leader had previously called on Harper to discipline cabinet members who voted for the motion.
Once again, this exposes the hypocrisy of those who say they support choice. In truth, they only support choice when it reflects their choice. This irony is made even more clear by the Angus Reid polls in January showing that 53 per cent of women support laws restricting abortion in some way, and 66 per cent of women want a law against sex-selective abortion. Obviously, Ambrose represents the position of the majority of Canadian women.
Martin Luther King Jr. said, "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
Kudos to Kenney and Ambrose for taking a stand that supports life.

'Sharia-Medicine'ظEgyptian Clinic Treats People with Camel Urine Per Prophet's Advice
by Raymond Ibrahim/FrontPage Magazine
October 1, 2012
http://www.raymondibrahim.com/12356/sharia-medicine
A recent Egyptian TV program showed how Islamic Sharia law's many prescriptions do not merely clash with modern-day concepts like free speech and religious freedom, but even with medicine and science.
On September 16, popular TV persona Wael El-Ibrashi hosted Dr. Zaghlul al-Naggar, a prominent Islamic thinker and Chairman of Egypt's Committee of Scientific Notions in the Quran, on the topic of medical science and Islam. Inevitably the idea of drinking camel urine as a form of therapy—first proposed in the 7th century by Muslim prophet Muhammad—came up.
Not only did Dr. Naggar promote this practice, but he made the staggering announcement that right now in Egypt a medical center in Marsa Matrouh actually specializes in treating people with camel urine, all in accord with the prophet's advice.
Other Egyptian thinkers joined the show via satellite, including Khaled Montaser (who earlier exposed the Islamic world's "inferiority complex"). At one point, while delineating how science and medicine work, Montaser reminded that urine is where all the body's toxins are carried out, asking "so, shall we drink it for health?" Naggar simply responded with arrogance: "I am older than you and more learned than you: you are not going to teach me; I will teach generations of people like you."
Staunch secularist Sayyid al-Qemany—whose strong support for rationalistic thinking and the separation of religion and state caused Egypt's Islamic establishment to pronounce him an apostate infidel—also joined the show via phone, deploring the very idea that drinking camel urine could heal people.
Referring to Naggar's announcement that there is a clinic specializing in treating people with camel urine as a "catastrophe" that only indicates how far Egypt has sunk, Qemany called on Egyptian health officials to verify if such a medical center truly exists, saying this is a serious issue involving the health of Egypt's citizenry.
Naggar tried to defend the "salutary benefits" of camel urine by arguing that European pharmacies produce a medicine that contains female urine (possibly a reference to HCG). Qemany replied that such medicines are not based on drinking crude urine but are synthetic, exclaiming, "does this mean I should go drink my wife's urine?!"
An exasperated Qemany concluded by offering a compromise. He suggested that Nagger, whose PhD is in geology, should lead an expedition to Mecca and Medina and somehow try to extrapolate the urine of Muslim prophet Muhammad, and use that to heal people instead of camel urine, sarcastically adding, "surely the urine of the prophet—peace and blessings upon him—is better than camel urine?"
Dr. Naggar simply shook his head, saying such talk was inappropriate.
In fact, both ideas—drinking camel urine and drinking Muhammad's urine—are traced to the prophet's own words, and, accordingly, are aspects of "Sharia-medicine." In a canonical tradition, Muhammad once told some men who were sick "to drink the milk and urine of camels, and they recovered and grew fat," that is, they were healed (more information on this practice can be found in a modern-day fatwa in the English language aptly titled "The Benefits of Drinking Camel Urine.")
Likewise, Egypt's Grand Mufti, Ali Gomaa, once wrote that drinking Muhammad's urine was considered "a great blessing.
All of this sheds light on the totalitarian nature of Sharia law, which treats, not just the Quran, but canonical hadiths, or traditions and sayings of Muhammad—which is where both urine-drinking ideas appear—as sacred and not to be questioned. Saudi Arabia's highest Islamic authority until he died in 1999, Sheikh Bin Baz, held that the earth was flat and that all scientific evidence otherwise was a "Western conspiracy," simply because Quran 18:86 claims the sun sets in a pool of mud, suggesting that the earth is flat.
The greater lesson for non-Muslims is that, if Islam's most prominent thinkers—the many ulema, muftis, sheikhs, and "Islamic thinkers" like Naggar himself—tenaciously cling to Islam's teachings even when they defy objective science (not to mention grossly defame Islam), surely they must cling to those other ironclad teachings that deal with "subjective" matters, from freedom of religion and freedom of speech, to hostility, jihad, and subjugation for the infidel.
At one point in the debate, Qemany made this connection when he likened the mentality that would give sick people camel urine to drink, to the mentality that attacked U.S. embassies and killed people. In both cases, blind obedience and/or fanaticism is at work—and all to Muhammad's words, which advocated drinking camel urine for health no less than they banned mockery of the prophet.

Politicians' courageous stand in support of life - Susan Martinuk
On Wednesday, Parliament had a free vote on Motion 312, a private member's bill calling on MPs to strike a committee that would study personhood of the fetus - and attempt to determine the point at which the unborn child becomes a human being under Canadian law.
The bill was defeated as expected by a vote of 203 to 91. What was surprising is that more than half of the Conservatives (87 MPs), including eight cabinet ministers, voted for the bill. Each of these MPs took a risk in doing so, as it was clear the vote would never pass, and Prime Minister Stephen Harper had stated he would not support it and had no intention of ever reopening the abortion debate.
Voting against the prime minister is typically considered a career-limiting step - sometimes even on a free vote. It is even more risky when the issue is controversial and the media are eager to vilify such members.
In this atmosphere, two of the most significant yea votes came from Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney and the Minister for the Status of Women, Rona Ambrose.
Kenney ostensibly supported the motion because he believes it's time for a "respectful debate" on abortion. Those who are familiar with Kenney aren't surprised by his position. Supporters know him to be a devout, principled Catholic and a long-term, prominent advocate for life. His constituents know it and, because of it - or in spite of it - continue to vote for him in large numbers. In the past four elections, they have given him a margin of support greater than 70 per cent.
He deserves it, as he has repeatedly shown himself to be a principled politician who is willing to stand by what he has said and act according to his moral framework and conscience. In an age of cynicism and disgraced politicians, where flip-flops are more the rule than the exception, it is refreshing to see someone push political expediency out and let their conscience speak. It's all the more encouraging that he would take this stand on abortion, which is typically a no-win situation in Canadian politics.
Taking a principled stance is such a rare act that Kenney is now being skewered by the media and abortion advocates. The media suggest that he acted to position himself as the leader of the party's social conservatives to gain support for a leadership run that is nowhere in sight for many years to come. But Kenney's vote wasn't a political strategy - it was a moral stand.
The NDP's status of women critic was obviously searching for dark, ulterior motives when she said the most important question about Kenney's vote is "why" he would take such a stand. The NDP is obviously so accustomed to making decisions on ulterior motives, that they can't even conceive the idea that he voted on principle.
Ambrose says she supported the bill because she hopes to take action against sex-selective abortion. It isn't exactly a principled stance, if one supports abortion for every other reason. But as minister for the status of women, she took a courageous stance and is now being vilified for it.
The Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada has said she is "unfit" for the job, and demanded that she resign for "(throwing) women under the bus" and defying the prime minister. Its leader had previously called on Harper to discipline cabinet members who voted for the motion.
Once again, this exposes the hypocrisy of those who say they support choice. In truth, they only support choice when it reflects their choice. This irony is made even more clear by the Angus Reid polls in January showing that 53 per cent of women support laws restricting abortion in some way, and 66 per cent of women want a law against sex-selective abortion. Obviously, Ambrose represents the position of the majority of Canadian women.
Martin Luther King Jr. said, "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
Kudos to Kenney and Ambrose for taking a stand that supports life.
(c) Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

Harper Government Helps Communities Attract Global Investors, Which Creates Good Jobs and Economic Growth
International Trade Minister Ed Fast announces funding for 86 communities and local organizations and highlights Canada’s investment advantages
October 1, 2012 - The Honourable Ed Fast, Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway, today announced that the Harper government is providing $3 million in funding to 86 communities and local organizations across Canada to help them attract, retain and expand foreign direct investment. He was accompanied by Karen Leibovici, President of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), and Bruce Lazenby, President and CEO of Invest Ottawa.
“Our government is focused on what matters to Canadians: jobs, growth and long-term prosperity,” said Minister Fast. “Attracting foreign investment is key to these efforts, and our government will continue to take steps to ensure Canada remains an investment destination of choice. From the lowest overall tax rate on new business investment in the G-7 to what the World Economic Forum has said for the past five years is the world’s soundest banking system, our government continues to create the conditions needed to attract the global investors who create jobs and new sources of economic growth and prosperity in communities across Canada.”
The funding is provided under the Invest Canada-Community Initiatives (ICCI) program, which helps communities, organizations and economic development agencies across the country attract, retain and expand foreign direct investment. The program supports municipalities, non-profit organizations and public-private groups at the local level and works through partnerships and cost-sharing arrangements.
Invest Ottawa, an Ottawa-based recipient, applauded the Government of Canada’s support for helping municipalities and community-based organizations attract international investment.
“The ICCI program has allowed Invest Ottawa to develop a robust foreign direct investment initiative, which is key to helping create local jobs and prosperity,” said Mr. Lazenby. “We have also added the necessary resources to develop strategies and relationships to accelerate activity in our priority markets and sectors. As a direct result of this program, we have been able to attract serious investment leads from fast-growing and emerging markets.”
“Just as local and federal governments worked together to rebuild Canada’s economy after the global economic crisis, we must work together to attract jobs and investment, and create opportunities around the world,” said Ms. Leibovici. “Whether it’s rebuilding our economic infrastructure with the new federal long-term infrastructure plan or attracting foreign investment to local communities through the ICCI program, finding ways to coordinate the work of all orders of government will be a key driver in Canada’s long-term economic competitiveness into the future.”
Minister Fast also said that working with local economic development organizations and municipalities to attract international investment is just the latest example of the strong partnership the federal government has built with cities and communities across Canada, many of which are represented by the FCM.
“From securing Canada’s economic recovery during the global recession and building a new long-term infrastructure plan, to ensuring that Canada’s pro-trade plan benefits communities in every region of the country, our government has built a relationship that we are proud of with the FCM—the voice of municipal governments across Canada,” said Minister Fast. “We are committed to continuing to build on this successful partnership to create jobs and prosperity for our shared constituents and ensuring we do all we can to secure Canada’s long-term economic success.”
Since 2006, the ICCI program (formerly known as the Community Investment Support Program) has helped grow Canada’s economy by supporting 394 municipalities and community organizations through 863 projects in every region of Canada.

Address by Canada;s Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird to United Nations General Assembly
http://www.international.gc.ca/media/aff/speeches-discours/2012/10/01a.aspx?lang=eng&view=d
October 1, 2012 - New York City, New York
It is an honour to address the opening of the 67th regular session of the General Assembly of the United Nations of the world.
Allow me to begin by paying silent tribute to all diplomats, from so many nations, who have lost their lives in the pursuit of deeper understanding among countries and in the service of our common humanity.
With the opening of this session, the General Assembly has passed a milestone.
Since the first session was convened, in Central Hall, Westminster, London, in January 1946, until the calling to order of this new session, precisely 66 years and 8 months have elapsed.
This General Assembly is now two thirds of a century old.
Two thirds of a century during which this Assembly—and the planet—have been witness to both great achievements and grave injustices; have seen both human triumphs, and human tragedies.
Two thirds of a century during which the peoples of the world made powerful progress:
•We have launched humans into orbit.
•We have mapped the human genome and unlocked various mysteries of life and science.
•We have pulled hundreds of millions of people out of abject poverty.
And yet it has also been two thirds of a century during which we suffered deep disappointment:
•The worst incidents of terrorism in the world’s history, including the largest terror attack ever, here in New York on September 11, 2001;
•The failure to anticipate and prevent genocide in Cambodia and Rwanda;
•The stubborn persistence of totalitarianism and despotism.
Some developments were predictable.
Others no one foresaw, and nobody could have scripted.
As we stand on the threshold of the next third of a century, we are reminded of that old adage “the only constant is change.”
Indeed, our world continues to change, and at a rapid pace in all domains.
At the geopolitical level, change means a rebalancing of power and new opportunities.
Not since the Cold War, has so much change occurred so quickly.
In these turbulent times, when change can be swift and unexpected, it is all the more important that we focus with precision on the constants that remain true.
Canada is a maritime nation bordered by three oceans. Please allow me, then, to use a nautical analogy.
At one time, sailors would navigate by the North Star.
Winds and currents would shift; storms would blow; ships might veer off course.
But the North Star remained fixed—as a guide, and as a goal.
In the same way, the only way for us to navigate the seas of change is to follow fixed principles and chart a course for immutable goals.
In our opinion, those goals are the well-being and prosperity, the security, and the dignity of humankind.
These objectives are reflected in the Purposes inscribed in Article 1 of the UN Charter.
We owe it to those we serve, the people of this planet, to maintain consistent effort in that direction.
They will judge our success by how well we further the ends of prosperity, security, and human dignity.
You measure results by measuring the results.
Not by weighing best efforts.
Not by counting good intentions.
Not by calculating inputs.
I do not propose, therefore, to dwell extensively on reform of the United Nations.
This organization is not a goal; it is merely the means to accomplish goals.
However, the United Nations must spend less time looking at itself, and more time focused on the problems that demand its attention.
I make this observation in a constructive and positive spirit.
Canada was an original signatory to the United Nations Charter, and Canada remains the seventh-largest contributor to the budget of this organization.
Our commitment to the United Nations has been tested and is proven.
Not in spite of our commitment, but because of our commitment to this body, we cannot and will not participate in endless, fruitless inward-looking exercises.
Canada’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations will henceforth devote primary attention to what the United Nations is achieving, not to how the UN arranges its affairs.
The UN spends too much time on itself. It must now look outward.
The preoccupation with procedure and process must yield to the tracking of substance and results.
If the UN focuses on the achievement of goals—such as prosperity, security and human dignity—then reform will take care of itself.
As the international community sets its sights on a post-2015 development framework, it should not forget the work that remains to be done and the commitments it has made.
The UN Commission on Information and Accountability for Women’s and Children’s Health, co-chaired by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and President Jakaya Kikwete of the United Republic of Tanzania, is the type of initiative that Canada would like to see more of in the future, and its recommendations need to be integrated into a post-2015 framework.
Well-Being and Economic Prosperity
The Preamble to the United Nations Charter reflects our collective determination to achieve “better standards of life” for all humankind.
It sets as a goal, “the economic and social advancement of all peoples.”
This is no mean ambition. Those of us who recognize a Creator accept the responsibility to use the Creator’s gifts to improve the well-being of all.
Openness and engagement are vital to progress and prosperity.
Since before recorded history, societies have reached out, to their neighbours, and beyond.
As soon as human beings invented transport we invented trade, exchanging not just the fruits of the earth, but also goods, practices, and ideas.
Informed by our successes and failures—that is, having benefited from engagement, and having paid the price of isolation—humankind has learned these lessons:
•You cannot develop understanding by building walls between cultures.
•You cannot achieve prosperity by erecting walls between economies.
•And you cannot advance a people by putting walls between them and the state.
No longer is it necessary for humankind to debate endlessly how to make people better off.
There is no special alchemy required.
Blessed with the benefit of human experience, we know what produces prosperity:
Free trade among open societies operating under transparent, consistent and fair rules.
As Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recently wrote: “Engaging in the world is the best path to a better future.”
The fight for the economic and social advancement of all peoples is manifested in the struggle for open markets, open society, and open-mindedness.
It is a struggle in which Canada is decidedly not neutral.
We recognize that the well-being of Canadians depends both on openness at home and on openness to the world.
Canadians know from experience the connection between trade and prosperity. After all, in order to support the world’s 10th-largest economy with only the world’s 36th-largest population, we must be a trading nation.
We are expanding trade at a rate of unparalleled ambition, and consequently we’re looking for partners.
But we recognize fully that sustained trade requires stability and security.
Global Security
The United Nations will also be judged by how well it advances the security of humankind.
The goal of security is not separate from the objective of well-being. Security is, after all, a vital part of people’s well-being.
Once again, openness and engagement are important means to achieve the goal.
While there may sometimes be tension in the means of execution, there exists no fundamental conflict between national security and the open society: both seek to protect the same values, the same rights, the same freedoms.
It is not enough for a society to protect its own security. As members of the global community, global security affects us all.
Or, as Nelson Mandela bluntly put it:
“Freedom would be meaningless without security in the home and in the streets.”
Thus, our freedom is strengthened when others are free.
And our liberty is diminished so long as any of our sisters and brothers are imprisoned by fear.
Because a threat to one is a threat to all, our security is enhanced when we cooperate to protect fragile democracies or to block the forces of instability.
The crisis in Syria is a test of this organization’s ability to achieve results.
While the brutal and repressive regime of Bashar al-Assad continues the slaughter of its own people, the United Nations continues to fail to impose binding sanctions that would stem the crimson tide of this bloody assault.
Until the last syllable of recorded time, the world will remember and history will judge Member States that are allowing the atrocities to continue.
Many people of the planet, including many of the citizens whom we represent, cannot understand why this organization—despite the sound and fury of debate in this great Assembly—has been unable to take concrete steps.
What business is it of ours?
Our citizens would argue that the business is our common humanity, and our mandate is the strengthening of humanity’s bonds.
It is difficult to fault their logic.
The late Martin Luther King Jr. once said:
“He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.”
And if the collective interest in our shared humanity does not motivate us to act, then the self interest of our own security should.
After all, a stockpile of chemical and biological weapons does not respect national sovereignty or recognize territorial integrity.
Who among us would be secure if the chemical and biological weapons of another Member State fell into the wrong hands?
That’s why Canada calls on the Syrian regime to ensure that its stockpile of chemical weapons remains secure against possible use or proliferation by those who would do evil.
When a post-Qadhafi Libya declared its willingness to destroy previously unknown stockpiles, Canada stepped in and provided $6 million to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in order to achieve this vital objective.
Until such an opportunity arises in Syria, Canada stands ready to assist neighbouring states in taking measures to reduce the threat of proliferation of these weapons.
Until that time, Canada continues to call for an immediate end to the violence.
And Assad must be replaced by a new order that protects Syria’s territorial integrity and respects all religious minorities.
I’ve seen the despair of the Syrian people first hand on the Jordanian border.
The heart-wrenching little girl who told me all she wanted to do was to go home.
This experience will no doubt leave a lasting scar on the children caught in the middle.
We must ensure they have an opportunity for a better life.
For a life free of fear.
For a life full of opportunity.
I pledge to you that Canada will work to address the urgent humanitarian crises wrought by the violence of that last 18 months.
It behooves all member states that can, to improve conditions for Syrian civilians affected by this great struggle against tyranny and for dignity.
Today, the most significant threat to global peace and security remains the regime in Iran:
•It refuses to comply with Security Council Resolutions.
•It routinely threatens the existence of Israel.
•It foments hatred against the Jewish people and incites genocide.
•It provides aid, comfort and support to terrorist groups.
•And it is guilty of widespread and massive repression of the human rights of its own people, including the repression of gays and lesbians and religious minorities.
A nuclear Iran would embolden an already reckless regime and perpetuate a destabilizing factor for not just an already fragile region but the entire planet.
Not only has the Government of Canada formally listed the Iranian regime as a state sponsor of terrorism, under Canadian law;
We have also suspended diplomatic relations.
Some may ask why a country committed to openness and engagement would suspend relations.
We don’t take these decisions lightly.
On a practical level, the regime’s blatant disregard for the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations created legitimate concern for the safety and security of our civilian diplomats.
But there is also a great principle at stake.
While Canada prizes engagement and open relations, there can be no open engagement with a regime that dishonours its word, repudiates its commitments, and threatens to perpetuate crimes against humanity.
Canada’s philosophy is captured by the wisdom of former UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld, killed 51 years ago while fighting for peace and justice.
He advised: “Never for the sake of peace and quiet deny your convictions.”
That’s why Canada has imposed some of the toughest economic sanctions against the Iranian regime.
But let me be absolutely clear, our quarrel is not with the people of Iran, but instead with the regime that aims to silence their voices.
Canada urges Iran to comply with its international nuclear obligations and to cease sensitive enrichment activities.
We support the P5+1 process. Iran needs to seize the opportunity provided by the P5+1 and negotiate in good faith, by showing demonstrable progress in meeting its nuclear obligations.
The Iranian regime still has a chance to redeem itself. In fact, I encourage Iran to look to some of its neighbours, some of whom Canada has supported in building peaceful-purpose nuclear energy programs.
We will continue to work closely with the United States and other allies to put pressure on Iran to comply with its international nuclear obligations.
Rather than accept as inevitable the conflict Iran seems intent on provoking, Canada seeks a peaceful alternative.
Iran must act immediately to stop all enrichment and abandon technology that could be used for weapons.
Iran is thoroughly testing the will of the international community.
This, too, must end.
Human Dignity
The world’s security is closely linked to the third goal that should animate this organization: protecting the dignity and worth of every person by upholding and protecting fundamental freedoms.
The great poet Kahlil Gibran inspired us to remember that, “safeguarding the rights of others is the most noble and beautiful end of a human being.”
This is not simply a question of beliefs and values. It is a requirement for action.
Protecting human rights and human dignity is an obligation that each state owes its citizens, and a mutual obligation of all members of the international community.
History teaches that the open society—tolerant, pluralistic and free—is the best guarantor of human rights and dignity.
Often, a threat to the security of humankind is coupled with the crushing of human rights.
Yet human rights abuses that don’t threaten security still concern us.
The enslavement of others is a vicious human rights abuse, and it takes many forms:
Whether the notorious political prison camps of North Korea;
Or forcible recruitment by the “M23” group in the Democratic Republic of Congo;
Or the early and forced marriage of young girls, a truly barbaric form of slavery.
Another, despicable type of enslavement is the criminalization of sexuality: jailing, torturing and killing people for who they are, and whom they love.
Other abuses enslave the soul, by suppressing—sometimes suppressing with brutal force—the rights to worship freely, to practise a faith, and to hold religious beliefs.
Wherever they occur, assaults on human dignity are unacceptable.
At the start of my address, I observed that results matter.
This organization was created to achieve certain goals, and will be measured on its success in doing so.
No one ever said that it would be easy to make real progress in advancing the prosperity and well-being, the security, and the dignity, of humankind.
It is not easy.
But it is essential.
Despite the challenges, despite the frequent setbacks, despite the often heavy price, we know that the nations and people of the world are up to the challenge.
As we celebrate Mohandas Gandhi’s birthday tomorrow, let us be inspired by his words:
“You must not lose faith in humanity.
Humanity is an ocean;
if a few drops of the ocean are dirty,
the ocean does not become dirty.”
Emboldened and bolstered by our faith in humanity, let us move forward.
Let us move forward, together, to secure the results that this organization was established to achieve.
Thank you.

US: Iran currency plunge sign sanctions are biting
AFP Published: 10.01.12/Ynetnews
State Department spokeswoman says rial's plunge speaks to increasingly successful international pressure and 'most punishing sanctions ever amassed by international community
The plunge of Iran's currency shows the success of the "most punishing sanctions" ever amassed by the global community seeking to halt Tehran's suspect nuclear program, a US official said Monday. "From our perspective this speaks to the unrelenting and increasingly successful international pressure that we are all bringing to bear on the Iranian economy. It's under incredible strain," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.Iran's currency weakened to 34,700 to the dollar by the end of Monday's trading, according to the Mesghal.com website, a drop of 17 percent compared to the previous day's rate of 29,600. The Mehr news agency said the rial fell 18 percent to 35,000.The rial has lost more than 80 percent of its value compared with the end of last year, when it was worth 13,000 to the dollar. Iran is suffering the effects of tough Western economic sanctions curbing access to its reduced oil exports, as the West seeks to force Iran to rein in its nuclear program.
"Iran is increasingly cut off from the global financial system, significant amounts of Iranian oil is also coming off the market," Nuland told journalists.
"The currency is plummeting and firms all over the world are refusing to do business with Iranian companies," she insisted.
"These are the most punishing sanctions we have ever been able to amass as an international community and they are very important for trying to get Iran's attention on the important denuclearization work."
Officials said after talks at the United Nations last week, that the European Union and United States are now set to toughen the sanctions while seeking to hold back Israel from a military strike. The European Union will be first to step up sanctions as part of the international campaign of pressure alongside increasingly frustrating efforts to negotiate a halt to Iran's uranium enrichment.
"What we will do next is intensify sanctions," a top Western official close to talks said on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. EU foreign ministers are to meet in Luxembourg on October 15 to discuss the measures.
"We don't think that Iran would ever have come to the P5+1 negotiating table at all if they weren't under the kind of pressure that we are talking about," Nuland added, referring to the Western powers leading talks with Iran. The trio of European nations France, Britain and Germany, plus the United States, Russia and China - the so-called P5+1 group - has sought to negotiate with Iran, which denies it seeks a bomb. Ministers from the six nations met in New York on Thursday and again called on Iran to "urgently" show the proof that its intentions are peaceful.

Kenyan army’s outstanding victory over Al Qaeda’s Somali Shabaab. Israeli advisers helped
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report October 1, 2012/The Kenyan army has captured Somalia’s Indian Ocean port of Kismayo, driving Al Qaeda’s Somali franchise Al Shabaab out of its last strategic stronghold, the key to controlling southern Somalia. The small Kenyan army, navy and air force fought to victory Saturday, Sept. 29, after a year-long ground, sea and air offensive.
Fearing the Shabaab was feigning defeat and lurking in the town’s alleys to strike back, Kenyan warships backed by the French Navy shelled suspected terrorist hideouts in Kismayo Sunday.
Kismayo was Nairobi’s prime goal when exactly a year ago, the Kenyan army launched its drive into Somalia following the failure of UN-backed intervention for ridding Somalia of the Islamist terrorists long plaguing the country.
With a population of 200,000, Kismayo, which lies 328 miles southwest of Mogadishu near the mouth of the Jubba River, is the commercial capital of the autonomous Jubalanand region of Somalia which abuts on Kenya.
Very few Western military experts rated the Kenyan army of only 60,000 soldiers capable of routing the hard-bitten 25,000 Shabaab militants and capturing a sizeable region of Somalia – a feat which famously defeated US elite forces in 1993 in Mogadishu and forced the Ethiopian army to retreat with heavy losses in 2006.
But, although Washington and Paris denied any role in the East African conflict, US did contribute to the Kenyan effort with drones gathering intelligence for the Kenyan army and guiding the aim of its artillery, while French battle and supply ships operating out of Kenya’s Indian Ocean port of Mombasa dropped supplies, ammo and fresh Kenyan reinforcements on the Somali coast.
Even more tight-lipped were Jerusalem and Nairobi about Israel’s substantial contribution to the Kenyan war effort to push al Qaeda’s affiliate far from its borders.
According to debkafile’s exclusive counterterrorism sources, Israeli military assistance to Kenya came in three forms:
1. Israeli military officers advised in the planning of Kenyan field operations. They recommended systematic special ops raids behind Shabaab lines to generate disarray in enemy ranks instead of rapid advances to seize large tracts of territory.
2. Israel supplied Nairobi with the weapons appropriate for these tactics, including drones and field intelligence equipment.
3. Israeli intelligence, police and special ops specialists in counter-terrorism counseled Kenyan internal security authorities on security in the big towns.
From Day 1 of Kenya’s operation in Somalia, the Al Qaeda Somali militia threatened to stage mega attacks on Nairobi and Mombasa, the Kenyan army’s chief port for delivering war supplies. This threat was staved off with the help of Israeli counter terror experts who assisted the authorities in the two towns. The jihadists were reduced to comparatively small-scale attacks with minimal casualties, such as lobbing grenades and shooting up road traffic.
In the latest such attack, one Kenyan child was killed and three seriously hurt by a grenade lobbed into the St Polycarp church’s Sunday school in Nairobi Sunday, Sept. 30.
Israeli-Kenyan friendship goes back a long way, but this was the first time Israel’s military, intelligence, counterterrorism and police officers were to fill a direct role in any concerted offensive against al Qaeda outside its borders. Kenya’s military feat has put the al Qaeda franchise on the run, forcing its terrorists to choose between putting distance between themselves and southern Somalia or being picked off by Kenyan forces hunting them down. East Africa can start looking forward to a better future. Nairobi has pledged substantial investment in the development of Kismayo and its port facilities, while also forging ahead with plans to build a big modern port at its own Indian Ocean town of Lamu. With the removal of the al Qaeda menace from its borders, Kenya sees the rise of three important East African sea outlets at Mombasa, Lamu and Kismayo. All three will also provide the US, France and Israel with strategic military, naval and air bases, in position to block Iran’s scramble for expansion into the Indian Ocean and along the shores of East Africa.

Romney attacks Obama's “dangerous” Mideast policy
October 1, 2012 /US Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney attacked President Barack Obama's Middle East policy late Sunday, stepping up the pressure after a wave of anti-US protests in the Islamic world.In an op-ed piece in The Wall Street Journal, Romney said of recent "disturbing" developments in the Middle East that the United States "seems to be at the mercy of events rather than shaping them.”"We're not moving them in a direction that protects our people or our allies. And that's dangerous," Romney added. "If the Middle East descends into chaos, if Iran moves toward nuclear breakout, or if Israel's security is compromised, America could be pulled into the maelstrom." Attacking Obama's Middle East policy, he wrote: "We needed a strategy for success, but the president offered none. And now he seeks to downplay the significance of the calamities of the past few weeks."An amateur US film posted on the Internet that insults the Prophet Mohammed provoked a wave of anti-American protests in several Muslim countries last month, and dozens of people were killed in the ensuing violence. A related attack on the US consulate in Benghazi killed four Americans, including the US ambassador, on September 11.Romney said Obama had also dismissed Israel's concerns about Iran's nuclear program as mere "noise" that he preferred to "block out.”He accused him of having declined to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The White House has repeatedly denied this charge. "In this period of uncertainty, we need to apply a coherent strategy of supporting our partners in the Middle East -- that is, both governments and individuals who share our values," Romney wrote.-AFP

Sending Arab troops to Syria is not wise
By Tariq Alhomayed/Asharq Al-Awsat
You can joke about how history repeats itself in our region, specifically with the al-Assad regime, where Lakhdar Brahimi is now envoy to the Syrian crisis after he was previously envoy to Lebanon, when he had to resolve a crisis that was caused by Hafez al-Assad. You can ridicule how Walid Moallem was unable to leave Damascus to go to New York recently and had to travel from Hariri airport in Beirut. You could also make fun of the fact that today we are facing the age old proposal of sending Arab troops to Syria, after the same special proposal was put forth for Lebanon decades ago.
You can put all of the above down to the fate of our region, but you cannot say it is possible to implement the proposal to send Arab troops to Syria. As I said on January 16th, along with others of course, what is most important is genuine, wide-ranging international intervention, and then it may be appropriate for Arab forces to intervene under the international umbrella. To only call for Arab intervention is unenforceable, and this may prolong the length of the Syrian crisis that desperately must come to an end.
Mere international mobilization, even outside the umbrella of the Security Council - as long as the Russians are impeding any resolution within it - through a coalition of the willing countries and the declared imposition of safe areas and a no-fly zone, would hasten the collapse of what remains of the tyrant of Damascus’ forces. This is what many dissident Syrian officers are saying. Of course, the matter would then require further earnest moves, namely genuine military action to stop al-Assad’s massacres and not incite the situation further. This would then end the crisis with the fall of al-Assad, and initiate the longer and harder stage of rebuilding the country as a whole.
To say “send in the Arab troops”, even with the agreement of Egypt – as an advisor to the Egyptian President was quoted as saying on Saturday in Turkey – or Tunisia, or even the bulk of the Arab states, this is not feasible and will not end the humanitarian crisis in Syria in the manner that is required. What is needed is collective international action, urgently, for several reasons.
To start with, there is a genuine humanitarian disaster taking place, and there is a danger to the Syrian entity as a whole, as a result of the crimes al-Assad’s forces are committing against the Syrians and the history of Syria itself. All this is happening with the genuine support of Russia and Iran while the whole world is watching with a strange air of indifference. This is especially strange given that what we are witnessing is an unprecedented level of criminality in our modern Arab history, whereby a criminal regime is running riot against its own citizens. What is worse is that an advisor to the Iranian Supreme Leader has said that al-Assad will be victorious over the Syrians, the Arabs and the West, and that this victory will also be a victory for Tehran. This means that it is no longer a story about external interference, it is the story of a regime that is a mere puppet for Iran, seeking to rule Syria with an iron fist and corrupt the entire region. So why is there not genuine international action to remove this regime, especially as the al-Assad regime is the worst to have ever assumed power in our region?
Therefore, sending Arab troops to Syria is impractical, what is needed is wide-ranging international intervention that the Arabs can be a part of, in order to intervene decisively and not impose half-measures.