LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
September 13 /12

Bible Quotation for today/
Sirach 28/25-30: "Who casts a stone on high casts it on his own head; and a deceitful stroke shall make wounds. Who digs a pit shall fall in it: and he that sets a trap shall be taken in it. He that works mischief, it shall fall upon him, and he shall not know when it comes. Mockery and reproach are from the proud; but vengeance, as a lion, shall lie in wait for them. They that rejoice at the fall of the righteous shall be taken in the snare; and anguish shall consume them before they die. Malice and wrath, even these are abominations; and the sinful man shall have them both.

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
What price does Russia want in Syria/By: Tariq Alhomayed/Asharq Al-Awsat/September 12/12
Egypt’s Salafists divided over Mursi, call for Islamic Sharia law/By Mohamed Abdu Hassanein/Asharq Akawsat/September 12/12
Islam's Black Flag Flies over Egypt/by Raymond Ibrahim/FrontPage Magazine/September 12/12

No time for Netanyahu – Obama's doing Letterman
White House says US president, Israeli PM won't be meeting over 'conflicting schedules' but reports claim Obama will be guest on late show instead
Ynet Published: 09.12./ Ynetnews
How did US President Barack Obama find the time to meet with David Letterman on the exact day he announced that his tight schedule would not allow him to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu? According to a report in the National Journal Obama will be a guest on “The Late Show with David Letterman” during a trip to New York on September 18 – the exact time he could have met with Netanyahu who will be visiting New York for the UN General Assembly.
Earlier on Tuesday, the White House said the meeting would not be possible over the two leader's conflicting schedules. But later the white house denied reports that Obama had refused to meet Netanyahu in New York on the sidelines of the UN's General Assembly
"Contrary to reports in the press, there was never a request for Prime Minister Netanyahu to meet with President Obama in Washington, nor was a request for a meeting ever denied," the statement said.
Letterman is a fan of the US president, often sparing him from his stinging monologues, preferring to his opponents especially Mitt Romney and former US President George W. Bush.
The guest appearance next week will be Obama's second during his term in office. In total the US president visited the show five times and was the first president in office to be a guest on the late show.

By refusing to see Netanyahu, Obama sharpens his Iran dilemma
http://www.debka.com/article/22350/By-refusing-to-see-Netanyahu-Obama-sharpens-his-Iran-dilemma
DEBKAfile Special Report September 11, 2012/President Barack Obama’s refusal Tuesday Sept. 11 to see Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu because “the president’s schedule will not permit that,” left Jerusalem thunderstruck – and Washington too. At one stroke, round after round of delicate negotiations on Iran between the White House, Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem, the US National Security Council, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta collapsed. They had aimed at an agreement on a starting point for the meeting that had been fixed between the two leaders for Sept. 28 in New York to bridge their differences over an attack on Iran’s nuclear program. By calling off the meeting, the US president has put paid to those hopes and publicly humiliated the Israel prime minister, turning the clock back to the nadir of their relations brought about by the comment by Gen. Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Aug. 30: “I don’t want to be complicit if they [Israel] choose to do it” – meaning attack Iran. By rebuffing Netanyahu, the president demonstrated that the top US soldier was not just talking off the cuff but representing the president’s final position on a possible Israel strike to preempt Iran’s nuclear program. Tuesday, the US Defense Secretary said: “If Iran decides to make a nuclear weapon, the US would have a little more than a year to stop it.” He added that the United States has “pretty good intelligence” on Iran. "It's roughly about a year right now. A little more than a year. And so ... we think we will have the opportunity once we know that they've made that decision, take the action necessary to stop (Iran)," Panetta said on CBS's "This Morning" program. Panetta said the United States has the capability to prevent Iran from building an atomic bomb. "We have the forces in place to be able to not only defend ourselves, but to do what we have to do to try to stop them from developing nuclear weapons," he said.
Some optimists in Jerusalem took these comments to indicate that the crisis had become manageable now that the Obama administration was finally prepared to discuss a timeline and red lines for holding Iran back from making a bomb. This hope was soon dashed by word that the US president would rather confront Israel than Iran.
The White House may also have been incensed by the orders given by Netanyahu and Barak to the IDF to keep going on preparations for attacking Iran alongside the forthcoming meeting between the two leaders. Netanyahu's comments to a news conference earlier Tuesday are unlikely to have salved angry administration spirits in Washington.
He said that with every passing day, Iran comes closer to a nuclear bomb, heedless of sanctions and diplomac. The world tells Israel 'wait, there's still time'. And I say, 'Wait for what? Wait until when?' Those in the international community who refuse to put red lines before Iran don't have a moral right to place a red light before Israel," said Netanyahu on a note of frustration against the Obama administration.
debkafile reported earlier Tuesday:
The wrangling over Iran between the offices of the US President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu Monday, has been reduced essentially to a battle for the agenda of their meeting in New York on Sept. 28: Netanyahu will be pressing for a US commitment to military action if Iran crosses still-to-be-agreed red lines, while the White House rejects red lines – or any other commitment for action – as neither necessary nor useful. Israel’s latest rebuttal came Monday, Sept. 10 from former Military Intelligence chief, Amos Yadlin, who argued that even without agreed red lines, Israel was quite capable of coping with its enemies without the United States. The sparring appeared to have reached a point of no return, leaving Obama and Netanyahu nothing more to discuss. However, just the opposite is true. For both leaders their upcoming tête-à-tête is vital. It is the US president’s last chance to prevent an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear program before he faces the American voter on Nov. 6, while the prime minister will not forego any opportunity to harness the US to this attack. He needs to prove - not just to the anti-war camp ranged against him at home, but also to assure the military - which has been falsely reported as against an attack - that he bent over backward to procure US backing. Netanyahu does not feel that even if he fails to talk Obama around (more likely than not), he has lost American support; he counts on the US Congress to line up behind Israel’s case for cutting down a nuclear Iran which is sworn to destroy the Jewish state, as well as sections of the US public and media and some of he president’s Jewish backers, including contributors to his campaign chest. Those are only some of the reasons why the last-ditch US-Israeli summit cannot be avoided and indeed may be pivotal - both for their participants’ personal political destinies,and for the Middle East at large.
debkafile’s Washington and political sources disclose that their dialogue will have two levels according to current planning:
1. In New York, Obama and Netanyahu will try and negotiate a common framework;
2. At the Pentagon in Washington, defense chiefs Leon Panetta and Ehud Barak will be standing by to render any agreements reached in New York into practical, detailed plans which would then be referred back to the two leaders for endorsement.
The heated dispute between US and Israeli officials over “red lines” was therefore no more than sparring over each of the leaders’ starting-points for their New York dialogue and therefore their agenda and final understandings. Behind the clash of swords, US and Israeli diplomats are working hard to negotiate an agreed starting point. They are putting just as much effort into preventing the row deteriorating into a total rupture before Sept. 28. Netanyahu discussed another red line Monday when he interviewed President Shimon Peres in Jerusalem, their first meeting in three months. Although the Israeli presidency is a largely titular function, Peres has elected himself senior spokesman for the opponents of an Israeli military operation against Iran.
While their advisers sought to establish agreed lines between them ahead of Netanyahu’s meeting with Obama, debkafile reports that the confrontation between the two Israeli politicians ended inconclusively, because Peres kept on demanding that the prime minister bend to the will of the White House.

Report: MI6 chief urges PM not to strike Iran
Amid reports of imminent strike on Iran, Britain's MI6 chief made secret trip to Israel, delivered message to Netanyahu that Britain is opposed to action on Iran, Daily Mail reports
Ynet Published: 09.12.12, 15:16 / Ynetnews
The head of Britain's MI6, Sir John Sawers, has made a secret visit to Israel to urge Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to give the green light to plans to bomb Iran, the Daily Mail reported Tuesday.
During his visit, Sawers is believed to have delivered a clear message that Britain is opposed to action now. Sawers' message comes at a time where many believe a strike on Tehran’s nuclear program could be imminent. According to the report, Sawers secretly visited Israel and met with Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak as well as a number of Israeli security and diplomatic officials.
During their meeting, Sawers passed on British Prime Minister David Cameron's message that Britain believes there is still time for diplomatic and economic sanctions against Iran to succeed in deterring its hardline regime from developing a nuclear weapon.
The Daily Mail suggested that Sawers' mission, thought to have taken place around two weeks ago, has failed to cool Israeli rhetoric.
A British official told the online newspaper in response that "we will not discuss Sawers' reasons for traveling." The British newspaper further suggested that an Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear facilities will lead to a coalition crisis. Earlier in August, British Foreign Secretary William Hague urged the European Union to impose new sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program.
"It is necessary to increase pressure on Iran, to intensify sanctions, to add further to EU sanctions that are already enforced," Hague said.
Meanwhile, in July British Ambassador to Israel Matthew Gould said that while the UK understands that Iran's nuclear program poses an existential threat to Israel, it does not think that military action against the Islamic republic would be the right step at the moment. He posited that negotiations would provide the best solution to the conflict.

U.S.-Israel divisions over Iran boil over
September 12, 2012/By George Jahn/Daily Star
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Israel is sounding increasingly agitated over what it views as American dithering with economic sanctions too weak to force Iran to end its suspected drive toward nuclear weapons. In a clear message aimed at the White House, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday criticized what he said was the world's failure to spell out what would provoke a U.S.-led military strike against Iranian nuclear facilities. The comments came in response to U.S. refusals in recent days to set "red lines" for Tehran.
With his strong words, Netanyahu is taking a bold gamble. He clearly hopes to rattle the U.S. into doing more, for fear that Israel might otherwise soon attack Iran on its own. But he risks antagonizing President Barack Obama during a re-election campaign and straining relations with Israel's closest and most important ally. Relations between the two leaders have often been tense in the past.
The White House said that Obama and Netanyahu spoke by telephone for an hour Tuesday night and reaffirmed that the countries are united in their determination to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. The two leaders agreed to continue "close consultations going forward" regarding Iran's nuclear ambitions, the White House said.
The White House also denied published reports that Obama had rejected Netanyahu's request to meet with Obama in Washington next week. The White House says no such request was made or rejected.
Israeli officials say American politics do not factor into their thinking, but that the sense of urgency is so grave that the world cannot hold its breath until after the November election.
"The world tells Israel, 'Wait. There's still time,'" Netanyahu said Tuesday. "And I say: 'Wait for what? Wait until when?' Those in the international community who refuse to put red lines before Iran don't have a moral right to place a red light before Israel."
Israel views a nuclear-armed Iran as a mortal threat, citing Iran's persistent calls for the destruction of the Jewish state, its development of missiles capable of striking Israel, and Iranian support for Arab militant groups.
Tehran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.
Although the United States has accused Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapon capability under the cover of a peaceful program, the Obama administration has said it does not believe Iran has decided whether to build an atomic bomb - if it in fact develops the ability to do so.
Israeli officials believe time is running short with Iran moving perilously close to reaching weapons capability. They point to Iranian enrichment of uranium, a key ingredient in building a bomb, the movement of Iranian nuclear research facilities to fortified underground bunkers impervious to attack, and Iran's refusal to open its facilities to U.N. inspectors.
On Tuesday, diplomats told The Associated Press that the U.N. atomic agency has received new and significant intelligence over the past month that Iran has advanced its work on calculating the destructive power of an atomic warhead through a series of computer models within the past three years.
The diplomats who spoke to the AP said the information came from Israel, the United States and at least two other Western countries They demanded anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss classified information member countries make available to the IAEA.
The information could strengthen concerns that Iran has continued weapons work into the recent past and may be continuing to do so. Because computer modeling work is normally accompanied by physical tests of the components that go into nuclear weapons, it would also buttress fears by the International Atomic Energy Agency that Tehran is advancing its weapons research on multiple fronts.
"The two go hand in hand," said David Albright, whose Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security is a frequent go-to source on Iran for Congress and other U.S. government branches.
In Tehran, Foreign Ministry spokesman Rahmin Mehmanparast told reporters that Iran will start answering the agency's "questions and concerns" only when "our rights and security issues" are recognized.
Israel says such evidence is concrete proof that Iran is well on its way to reaching weapons capability, perhaps in the coming months.
Differences with the U.S. over how to deal with Iran have boiled over into palpable tensions in recent weeks.
Earlier this week, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said "it is not useful" to be setting deadlines or outlining "red lines." She also noted that Obama has stated unequivocally that the United States will not allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon.
On Tuesday, she said the Iranian situation is a matter of "intense discussion" with Israel. She declined to elaborate, saying she did not want to conduct diplomacy in public.
But privately, U.S. officials have bristled at how Israel has publicly played up the differences and publicly lectured Washington on its responsibilities.
They have also been irked by what they see is Netanyahu's attempts to exploit the campaign season to push the U.S. into difficult positions. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing a sensitive diplomatic matter.
Though they stopped short of accusing Netanyahu of taking sides in the election, the Israeli prime minister has a longtime relationship with Republican candidate Mitt Romney and with Sheldon Adelson, a casino magnate and top donor to the Republican Party. Romney, who visited Israel in July, has repeatedly criticized Obama's handling of the nuclear issue.
Obama and Netanyahu have long had a rocky relationship, because of policy differences and a lack of personal chemistry. In one famous incident, a frustrated Obama left a White House meeting with Netanyahu to go eat dinner with his family.
U.S. and Israeli officials confirmed Tuesday that Obama would not meet with Netanyahu when the Israeli leader goes to New York for the U.N. General Assembly later this month. Both sides cited scheduling issues and rejected suggestions that Netanyahu had been snubbed.
In a veiled criticism of Netanyahu, his own defense minister, Ehud Barak said preserving good relations with the U.S. was essential and that all disagreements should be handled quietly.
"These differences should be smoothed over, between us, behind closed doors. We should not forget that the U.S. is the main ally of Israel," Barak said. The U.S. has led efforts in the U.N. Security Council to impose several rounds of economic sanctions on Tehran. In July, the European Union banned oil imports from Iran, just after the U.S. enacted tough measures against Iran's central bank.
While there are signs that the sanctions are harming Iran's economy, Israeli officials believe it has not altered their pursuit of a nuclear bomb.
Israelis are astounded that Iran continues to be one of the leading oil producers, because exports have continued almost unabated to China, India and other points in Asia. Israel yearns for even tighter oil sanctions and a total boycott of Iran's central bank, crippling its ability to conduct trade.
The Israeli efforts may be bearing some fruit: Last week several European Union foreign ministers said they would support tougher sanctions on Iran. And Canada on Friday severed diplomatic relations with Iran, accusing the Islamic Republic of being the most significant threat to world peace. An Iranian semi-official news agency says Iran expects more countries to follow Canada's example and close their embassies in Tehran.
Looming in the background is Israel's threat to use force against Iran, a risky operation that could set off mayhem across the region. U.S. officials have made clear they oppose a unilateral Israeli attack. The U.S. military chief, Gen. Martin Dempsey, recently said he would "not want to be complicit" in such an assault.
The window for Israeli military action is more limited than for the Americans, who possess more powerful "bunker-busting" bombs.
For that reason, the Israelis believe a clear "red line" set by the U.S. would not only send a powerful message to Iran, it would also reduce the need for military action.
"It could be argued that the Iranian nuclear program has actually accelerated in recent weeks and months. That's why a very firm posture at this time is utterly critical to make diplomacy work," said Dore Gold, a former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations.
Gold currently heads the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, a private think tank, but often acts as an informal adviser to Netanyahu.
Israel itself has not publicly defined its own red lines. Officials say that by doing so, they would essentially be telling the world when it is going to attack.
But Gold said potential red lines for the Americans would be an Iranian decision to enrich uranium beyond the current level of 20 percent, a clear signal they are on the road to weapons, or the accumulation of specific quantities of lower enriched materials.Gold played down the differences with the U.S. "Basically we are in full agreement about how this is supposed to turn out. But there is a serious problem with respect to the strategy over how to influence Iran," he said.

U.S. ambassador to Libya killed in Benghazi attack
September 12, 2012/By Tamim Elyan, Omar al-Mosmari/Daily Star
BENGHAZI, Libya: The U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other embassy staff were killed in a rocket attack on their car, a Libyan official said, as they were rushed from a consular building stormed by militants denouncing a U.S.-made film insulting the Prophet Mohammad.
Gunmen had attacked and burned the U.S. consulate in the eastern city of Benghazi, a centre of last year's uprising against Muammar Gaddafi, late on Tuesday evening, killing one U.S. consular official. The building was evacuated.
The Libyan official said the ambassador, Christopher Stevens, was being driven from the consulate building to a safer location when gunmen opened fire.
"The American ambassador and three staff members were killed when gunmen fired rockets at them," the official in Benghazi told Reuters.
There was no immediate comment from the State Department in Washington. U.S. ambassadors in such volatile countries are accompanied by tight security, usually travelling in well-protected convoys. Security officials will be considering whether the two attacks were coordinated.
Libyan deputy prime minister Mustafa Abu Shagour condemned the killing of the U.S. diplomats as a cowardly act.
The consular official had died after clashes between Libyan security forces and Islamist militants around the consulate building. Looters raided the empty compound and some onlookers took pictures after calm returned. In neighboring Egypt, demonstrators had torn down an American flag and burned it during the protest. Some tried to raise a black flag with the words "There is no God but God, and Mohammad is his messenger", a Reuters witness said.
U.S. pastor Terry Jones, who had inflamed anger in the Muslim world in 2010 with plans to burn the Koran, said he had promoted "Innocence of Muslims", which U.S. media said was produced by an Israeli-American property developer; but clips of another film called "Mohammad, Prophet of Muslims", had been circulating for weeks before the protest.
That film portrayed Mohammad as a fool, a philanderer and a religious fake. In one clip posted on YouTube Mohammad was shown in a sexual act with a woman.
Jones, a pastor in Florida whose latest stunt fell on the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, triggered riots in Afghanistan in 2010 with his threat to burn the Koran. Many Muslims consider any depiction of the Prophet offensive and any depiction of him can cause outbursts of anger in the Islamic world and among Muslims in Europe.
Libya's interim government has struggled to impose its authority on a myriad of armed groups that have refused to lay down their weapons and often take the law into their own hands.
It was clearly overwhelmed by Tuesday night's attack on the consulate that preceded the assault on the ambassador.
"The Libyan security forces came under heavy fire and we were not prepared for the intensity of the attack," said Abdel-Monem Al-Hurr, spokesman for Libya's Supreme Security Committee.
In Benghazi, unidentified men had shot at the consulate buildings, while others threw handmade bombs into the compound, setting off small explosions.
On Wednesday morning, the compound stood empty, with passers-by freely walking in to take a look at the damage.
Walls were charred and a small fire burned inside one of the buildings. A small group of men was trying to extinguish the flames and three security men briefly surveyed the scene.
A Reuters reporter saw chairs, table and food lying alongside empty shells. Some blood stains could also be seen in front of one of the buildings. Three cars were torched.
The crowd of around 2,000 protesters in Cairo was a mixture of Islamists and teenage soccer fans known for fighting police and who played a part in the revolt that toppled Egypt's leader Hosni Mubarak last year. The fortress-like U.S. mission is near Tahrir Square, where Egypt's uprising began and the scene of many protests since. Youths danced and chanted football songs. A Reuters reporter said they appeared to climb into the embassy compound almost as an afterthought.
"We sacrificed dozens and hundreds during the uprising for our dignity. The Prophet's dignity is more important to us and we are ready to sacrifice millions," said mosque preacher Mohamed Abu Gabal who joined the protest. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in a statement late Tuesday, confirmed the death of the U.S. consular diplomat in Libya, who was not identified, and condemned the attack there; but she made no mention of an attack on the Ambassador's car.

Egyptians angry at film scale U.S. embassy walls
September 11, 2012/By Tamim Elyan/Daily Star
Protesters destroy an American flag pulled down from the U.S. embassy in Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2012. (AP Photo/Mohammed Abu Zaid)
CAIRO: Egyptian protesters scaled the walls of the U.S. embassy on Tuesday, tore down the American flag and burned it during a protest over what they said was a film being produced in the United States that insulted Prophet Mohammad.
In place of the U.S. flag, the protesters tried to raise a black flag with the words "There is no God but God, and Mohammad is his messenger", a Reuters witness said.
Once the U.S. flag was hauled down, some protesters tore it up and showed off pieces to television cameras. Others burned the remains outside the fortress-like embassy building in central Cairo. But some protesters objected to the flag burning.
Many Muslims consider any depiction of the Prophet to be offensive.
"This movie must be banned immediately and an apology should be made," said 19-year-old Ismail Mahmoud, a member of the so-called "ultras" soccer supporters who played a big role in the uprising that brought down Hosni Mubarak last year.
He called on President Mohamed Mursi, Egypt's first civilian president and an Islamist, to take action, without giving details of the film that angered him or other protesters.
About 20 people stood on top of the embassy wall, while about 2,000 protesters gathered outside. The demonstrators were mainly supporters of Islamist groups or "ultras" youths.
Rafik Farouk, 38, an Egyptian Christian, also took part. "I am here because I am Egyptian and reject anything that insults Islam or anything that sparks division in Egypt," he said.
Washington has a big mission in Egypt, partly because of a huge aid programme that followed Egypt's signing of a peace treaty with Israel in 1979. The United States gives $1.3 billion to Egypt's military each year and offers the nation other aid.
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland in Washington said the wall was breached and the flag removed.
"We are obviously working with Egyptian security to try to restore order at the embassy and to work with them to try to get the situation under control," she said.
Following the protest, Egypt's Foreign Ministry said it was committed to giving all embassies the necessary protection.
The U.S. embassy had put out a statement earlier on Tuesday condemning "misguided individuals" who hurt the religious feelings of Muslims or followers of other religions.
"We firmly reject the actions by those who abuse the universal right of free speech to hurt the religious beliefs of others," the U.S. embassy said in its statement.
MUSLIM ANGER
Although it was not clear which film prompted the protests, Egypt's prestigious Al-Azhar mosque and seat of Sunni learning condemned on Tuesday a symbolic "trial" of the Prophet organised by a U.S. group including Terry Jones, a Christian pastor who triggered riots in Afghanistan in 2010 by threatening to burn the Koran.
According to the website www.standupamerianow.org, Jones and others were due to take part in an event on Tuesday - the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks by al Qaeda on U.S. cities - called "International Judge Mohammad Day" in Florida. It was due to be carried live on the Internet.
Some activists had mentioned Jones in calls for a protest.
Egypt's Coptic Orthodox church also condemned in a statement some Copts living abroad who it said financed "the production of a film insulting Prophet Mohammad", a state website reported. About a 10th of Egypt's 83 million people are Christians. Protests have become a common feature in Egypt since the uprising that ousted long-time U.S.-ally Mubarak. When U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited in July, after Mursi was sworn in, her motorcade was pelted with tomatoes.
Some demonstrators shouted slogans against her and some slogans were against Islamists, reflecting perceptions of some opponents of Islamists who have swept Egypt's presidency and a parliamentary vote that Washington helped Islamists to power.
In Mubarak's era, protests were usually swiftly halted by an often brutally efficient police force.
One slogan scrawled on the walls of the embassy, which is near Tahrir Square where Egyptians revolted against Mubarak, said: "If your freedom of speech has no limits, may you accept our freedom of action." In another incident prompted by similar religious sentiments last month, a lone man attacked the German embassy with homemade nail bombs and a hammer, cracking glass at the entrance, after he read a report about a protest in Germany where demonstrators paraded caricatures of the Prophet outside a mosque.
No one was injured and there was no serious damage to the embassy during the incident.

Romney slams Obama reaction to Egypt, Libya violence
September 12, 2012/REUTERS/Jim Young)/Daily Star
WASHINGTON: Mitt Romney on Wednesday hit out at the Obama administration's "disgraceful" response to violent protests in Egypt and Libya, accusing it of sympathizing with the Islamist demonstrators.
"I'm outraged by the attacks on American diplomatic missions in Libya and Egypt and by the death of an American consulate worker in Benghazi," the Republican presidential candidate said in a statement.
"It's disgraceful that the Obama Administration's first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic missions, but to sympathize with those who waged the attacks."
The Obama campaign quickly fired back, with spokesman Ben LaBolt accusing Romney of launching a "political attack" on a day of tragedy.
"We are shocked that, at a time when the United States of America is confronting the tragic death of one of our diplomatic officers in Libya, Governor Romney would choose to launch a political attack," he said. The U.S. official was killed when an armed mob attacked the consulate in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi hours after demonstrators scaled the walls of the U.S. embassy in Cairo and tore down the US flag. The demonstrations, which erupted on the 11th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, were motivated by outrage over a video deemed offensive to Islam that was posted on the Internet. The US embassy in Cairo issued a statement earlier on Tuesday condemning "the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims, as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions."Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued a sharper statement later, saying there was no excuse for the violence. "Some have sought to justify this vicious behavior as a response to inflammatory material posted on the Internet," Clinton said in her statement. "The United States deplores any intentional effort to denigrate the religious beliefs of others. Our commitment to religious tolerance goes back to the very beginning of our nation. "But let me be clear: There is never any justification for violent acts of this kind."
The Politico news website later quoted an Obama administration official as saying the earlier embassy statement "was not cleared by Washington and does not reflect the views of the United States government." Romney and U.S. President Barack Obama have stepped up attacks on one another since their party conventions last week and the week before, as the campaign enters a crucial final phase leading up to the November 6 vote. Throughout the campaign, Romney has largely ceded the foreign policy debate to Obama, preferring to focus on the struggling U.S. economy, where the president is seen as much weaker. But the protests in Egypt and Libya appeared to provide an opening for Romney to renew an older line of attack in which he accused Obama of apologizing to the world for America's foreign policy.

Obama condemns attack that killed U.S. ambassador
September 12, 2012 /By Jim Kuhnhenn/Daily Star
WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama on Wednesday condemned attacks on the U.S. consulate in eastern Libya that killed the U.S. ambassador and three American members of his staff. In a White House statement, Obama also said he had ordered "all necessary resources to support the security of our personnel in Libya, and to increase security at our diplomatic posts around the globe."
The attacks occurred Tuesday night in the eastern city of Benghazi by protesters angry over a film that ridiculed Islam's Prophet Muhammad, according to Libya officials. Ambassador Chris Stevens was killed when he and a group of embassy employees went to the consulate to try to evacuate staff as the building came under attack by a mob guns and rocket propelled grenades. Three other Americans were also killed.Obama called Stevens a "courageous and exemplary representative of the United States." "I strongly condemn the outrageous attack on our diplomatic facility in Benghazi," Obama said in the statement. The four Americans, he said, "exemplified America's commitment to freedom, justice, and partnership with nations and people around the globe." Stevens was a career diplomat who spoke Arabic and French and had already served two tours in Libya, including running the office in Benghazi during the revolt against Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. He was confirmed as ambassador to Libya by the Senate earlier this year. His State Department biography, posted on the website of the U.S. Embassy to Libya, says he "considers himself fortunate to participate in this incredible period of change and hope for Libya." Stevens joined the Foreign Service in 1991 and spent his early State Department career at posts in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria and Israel. After working for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee staff for Republican Sen. Richard Lugar, Stevens was posted to Libya as deputy chief of mission. In that post, Stevens wrote several confidential cables back to Washington, describing Gadhafi's bizarre behavior. During the 2011 revolt against Gadhafi, he was one of the last American diplomats to stay in Tripoli and after the embassy was closed, he was appointed to head the U.S. liaison office to the Transitional National Council.

Israeli rabbi Michael Melchior condemns anti-Islam film
September 12, 2012 / OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: An Orthodox Israeli rabbi and former cabinet minister on Wednesday condemned as "garbage and slime" a film deemed offensive to Islam that has sparked deadly anti-U.S. protests in Libya and Egypt. "Although freedom of expression and the right to use satire are sacred democratic principles, these freedoms should not be used as an excuse to publish garbage and slime," Michael Melchior, a long-standing advocate of inter-faith dialogue, wrote in a statement. "The film of Sam Bacile, who identifies himself as a Jew and an Israeli, published under the guise of the 'war on terror,' is in fact a film that tramples upon the faith and dignity of hundreds of millions of Muslim believers and upon Mohammed, the prophet of Islam, in the most degrading and ugly way," he added. The low-budget movie, "Innocence of Muslims" in which actors have strong American accents, portrays Muslims as immoral and gratuitously violent. A purported portrayal of the life of the Prophet Mohammed, it touches on themes of paedophilia and homosexuality, and sparked protests in Egypt and violence in Libya that killed U.S. ambassador Chris Stevens and three American officials. It was produced by Israeli-American Sam Bacile, according to the Wall Street Journal. Israel's interior ministry said that it does not comment on whether or not any individual holds Israeli citizenship. "As a Jew and an Israeli rabbi, I am ashamed of the demeaning style and language of this film," said Melchior, a former minister of social affairs and deputy foreign minister. "It goes against the substance of the Torah of Israel and desecrates the name of God."

Anti-Islam filmmaker in hiding after protests
September 12, 2012/By SHAYA TAYEFE MOHAJER/Daily Star
LOS ANGELES: An Israeli filmmaker based in California went into hiding after his movie attacking Islam's prophet Mohammad sparked angry assaults by ultra-conservative Muslims on U.S. missions in Egypt and Libya, where the U.S. ambassador was killed, along with three American members of his staff. Speaking by phone Tuesday from an undisclosed location, writer and director Sam Bacile, 56, remained defiant, saying Islam is a cancer and that he intended his film to be a provocative political statement condemning the religion.
Protesters angered over Bacile's film opened fire on and burned down the U.S. consulate in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi. Libyan officials said Wednesday that Ambassador Chris Stevens was killed Tuesday night when he and a group of embassy employees went to the consulate to try to evacuate staff as the building came under attack by a mob firing machine guns and rocket propelled grenades.
In Egypt, protesters scaled the walls of the U.S. embassy in Cairo and replaced an American flag with an Islamic banner.
"This is a political movie," said Bacile. "The U.S. lost a lot of money and a lot of people in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but we're fighting with ideas."
Bacile, a California real estate developer who identifies himself as an Israeli Jew, said he believes the movie will help his native land by exposing Islam's flaws to the world.
"Islam is a cancer, period," he said repeatedly, his solemn voice thickly accented.
The two-hour movie, "Innocence of Muslims," cost $5 million to make and was financed with the help of more than 100 Jewish donors, said Bacile, who wrote and directed it.
The film claims Mohammad was a fraud. An English-language 13-minute trailer on YouTube shows an amateur cast performing a wooden dialogue of insults disguised as revelations about Mohammad, whose obedient followers are presented as a cadre of goons.
It depicts Mohammad as a feckless philanderer who approved of child sexual abuse, among other overtly insulting claims that have caused outrage.
Muslims find it offensive to depict Mohammad in any manner, let alone insult the prophet. A Danish newspaper's 2005 publication of 12 caricatures of the prophet triggered riots in many Muslim countries.
Though Bacile was apologetic about the American who was killed as a result of the outrage over his film, he blamed lax embassy security and the perpetrators of the violence.
"I feel the security system (at the embassies) is no good," said Bacile. "America should do something to change it." A consultant on the film, Steve Klein, said the filmmaker is concerned for family members who live in Egypt. Bacile declined to confirm.
Klein said he vowed to help Bacile make the movie but warned him that "you're going to be the next Theo van Gogh." Van Gogh was a Dutch filmmaker killed by a Muslim extremist in 2004 after making a film that was perceived as insulting to Islam.
"We went into this knowing this was probably going to happen," Klein said.
Bacile's film was dubbed into Egyptian Arabic by someone he doesn't know, but he speaks enough Arabic to confirm that the translation is accurate. It was made in three months in the summer of 2011, with 59 actors and about 45 people behind the camera. The full film has been shown once, to a mostly empty theater in Hollywood earlier this year, said Bacile.

Actress and celebrity Angelina Jolie meets Mikati, visits Syrian refugees in Lebanon
September 12, 2012/By Stephen Dockery/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Actress and celebrity Angelina Jolie met with Prime Minister Najib Mikati Wednesday and visited Syrian refugees in Lebanon as part of a regional tour to draw attention to their plight.
“I was very moved today to meet again with the Syrian families and to meet them here – not in a camp but in homes where they are welcomed and protected,” Jolie said during a press conference at the Grand Serail following her meeting with Mikati. Jolie toured border towns and visited the homes of several refugees and their hosts. She was accompanied by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres, who also attended the meeting with Mikati. Jolie’s role as U.N. special envoy entails touring Syrian refugee communities in an attempt to highlight their hardship and increase international support for them. She said she was particularly moved by an encounter with three Syrian women and their children who made the crossing into Lebanon alone.
“The Lebanese people themselves are dealing with their own problems,” she said. “It is all the more meaningful that they are so generous and so kind, and I hope the world acknowledges that.”
Guterres called for more international assistance for the Syrian refugees in remarks to reporters following discussions with Mikati. Jolie was in Jordan Tuesday, where toured a Syrian refugee camp and called for an end to the violence in Syria. There are over 65,000 Syrian refugees in Lebanon who are registered or awaiting registration. Local aid organizations say there are likely tens of thousands more who have not sought aid with UNHCR.

Lebanese Customs authorities announce major drug bust at at the Beirut Port
September 12, 2012/The Daily Star /BEIRUT: Customs authorities at the Beirut Port revealed Wednesday that a disassembled laboratory for mixing and refining drugs such as cocaine and heroin was seized in a major bust earlier this month. Acting Director of Customs at the Beirut Port Shafiq Merhi said the customs department, in collaboration with the Drug Control Bureau, foiled an attempt to smuggle the various components of a laboratory for the manufacture of drugs into Lebanon. Speaking at a news conference at Beirut port, Merhi said the shipment, which came from China, was intercepted at Beirut port 10 days ago. He said the seized components were to be used to produce cocaine, heroin and a type of fenethylline called Captagon. They were shipped to Lebanon disguised as motorcycle parts and engine oils. “The shipment was seized after the unloading of motorcycle parts that turned out to be instruments specially designed to produce drugs,” Merhi said.
The instruments, he added, make up an "massive and comprehensive laboratory for the manufacture of drugs."He said five persons have been arrested in connection with the bust and that three more individuals are still being pursued by police.

Lebanon's Arabic press digest - Sept. 12, 2012
September 12, 201/The Daily Star
Following are summaries of some of the main stories in a selection of Lebanese newspapers Wednesday. The Daily Star cannot vouch for the accuracy of these reports.
Al-Liwaa
Breakthrough precedes pope’s arrival ... U.S. envoy to prevent violation of sanctions
Exchange deal: Lebanon frees Turk first ... next it gets Meqdad and the rest of the hostages
The first step in the return of the Lebanese kidnapped in Syria (10 +1) was achieved last night when the director general of General Security Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim took delivery of kidnapped Turkish citizen Tekin, who had been held by the Meqdad family.
His release was the result of intensive contacts to which security, military and party officials contributed. It also spurred negotiations to end the kidnappings and counter kidnappings.
The deal states that Lebanon will take over the hostages’ issue by freeing the two Turks on condition that Turkey receive a serious pledge from the kidnappers in Syria to free the Lebanese hostages so that Ankara proceeds to fulfill its commitment to Lebanon.
Meanwhile, Lebanon was busy Tuesday morning; U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin met with President Michel Sleiman, Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh as well as the Association of Banks.
Wolin’s mission was to keep Lebanon’s banking sector alert so as to prevent Iranian and Syrian attempts to evade international sanctions.
Al-Mustaqbal
Security source: either he [Jamil Sayyed] is a criminal and accepts that he is a fool or he is indeed a fool
Sayyed acknowledges his presence in Samaha’s car ... to be interrogated tomorrow
The media hullabaloo created by retired Maj. Gen. Jamil Sayyed, as [expected], did not help hide the facts or affect the course of the case of former Cabinet minister Michel Samaha.
The hubbub also did not prevent security and judicial officials from insisting on following up on the case until the end, particularly after the Internal Security Forces Information Branch handed over to the military prosecution office evidence that leaves no room for doubt that Sayyed was in fact in the company of Samaha during the transportation of explosives from Syria to Lebanon.
A security source told Al-Mustaqbal that it is “strange for Sayyed to admit that he was in the car and was not aware of anything ... it is strange for an outstanding security man not to know that the car contained 24 bombs. Either he is a criminal and is trying to get away with it by accepting that he is a fool or he is indeed a fool.
Al-Joumhouria
Wolin warns against circumventing sanctions, Hollande meets Hariri today
Lebanon witnessed a flurry of political and security developments Tuesday – the release of the Turkish hostage Tekin, ongoing house raids by the Lebanese Army in Beirut’s southern suburbs, the military tribunal questioning former minister Michel Samaha in the case of explosives transferred from Syria to Lebanon, Maj. Gen. Jamil Sayyed’s response to the charges pressed against him, and Deputy U.S. Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin’s meetings with a number of officials.
A high-ranking security source told Al-Joumhouria that Tekin’s handover was not part of a swap for the Lebanese hostages held in Syria.
The source said that Lebanese authorities, who began a raid-and-arrest crackdown a few days ago, did not aim at exchanging hostages with Turkey.
The Lebanese authorities, according to the source, have played and continue to play the role of mediator for purely humanitarian reasons.
The source said the measures taken by the security services were part of their duty, as they are concerned with the protection of those present in Lebanese territory.
As for the fate of the other kidnapped Turkish citizen, truck driver Abdulbasit Arslan, the source told Al-Joumhouria that efforts to release him have reached their final stage.
Meanwhile, all eyes are turned to Paris today, where French President Francois Hollande will meet former Prime Minister Saad Hariri at 7:30 p.m. to discuss the Lebanon situation and the Syria crisis.
Al-Akhbar
Geagea pitches idea of small electoral districts to Hezbollah, Amal
After the Change and Reform bloc threw the election law ball into the Christian team’s court, bickering continued between the components of this team, which is divided between supporters of the Orthodox proposal and those who prefer small electoral districts.
Meanwhile, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea reveals contacts with Hezbollah and the Amal Movement to promote the idea of small districts.
While the Lebanese Army continued to carry out raids in an effort to release the hostages, a heated debate raged in Christian political circles over the election law on the eve of the Pope's visit to Lebanon, which is scheduled for Friday.

The Lebanese Center for Human Rights calls the General Director of General Security to show leniency in a heart’s matter
In 2010, Fayez Afram, an Iraqi refugee in Lebanon meets Rihanna, a migrant domestic worker from Bangladesh. Truly in love, they decide to get married. Rihanna leaves her employer, who lodges a complaint against her for theft. Then, the crushing judiciary system sets off. The 23rd of November 2011, Rihanna is arrested and condemned to six months of jail for « escaping » from her employer’s. However, the Justice recognizes that she is not guilty for any theft. She will spend all in all around one year in jail, before succeeding to leave the safety house of Caritas where she was allegedly retained against her will. On the 3rd of September 2012, the two lovers are arrested by the gendarmerie. At present, Fayez serves a one month prison sentence for « complicity » in the « escape » of her wife from her employer when the General Security is ready to send back Rihanna to her country. Nevertheless, the current « guarantee » system (Kafala) in Lebanon is against Human rights as it makes the employers the « owners » of their house employees. The proof is there, the word « escape » is used by the Justice to qualify their resignation. However, nothing in the law specifies that the foreigners don’t have the right to fall in love and decide to get married. Thus, the Lebanese Center for Human Rights is asking the General Director of General Security, the General Abbas Ibrahim, to take the exceptional decision to authorize Rihanna to stay on the Lebanese territory, so that she will have the chance to go on with her life with the man she chose.

U.S. presses Lebanon to prevent Iran, Syria sanctions evasions
September 12, 2012 /The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s banking sector should remain alert to prevent Iranian and Syrian attempts to evade international sanctions, a top U.S. Treasury Department official said Tuesday after meeting with top Lebanese political officials and bankers.
“Deputy Secretary [Neal] Wolin further underscored the need for Lebanon to prevent abuse of the Lebanese financial sector by illicit actors and for Lebanese banks and regulatory authorities to remain vigilant against the evasion of sanctions by Iran and Syria,” a statement by the U.S. Embassy said. Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s press office said discussions focused on the possible repercussions of the Syria crisis on Lebanon’s banking and economic sectors.
The statement added that Wolin thanked the Lebanese government for its continued cooperation with the U.S. banking sector.
Before meeting Mikati at the Grand Serail, Wolin held talks with President Michel Sleiman at Baabda Presidential Palace.
The U.S. Embassy statement said Wolin also expressed in his meetings his confidence in the ability of the Lebanese economy and financial system to weather the impact of the Syria crisis.
“He [Wolin] encouraged Lebanese officials to take steps to reduce Lebanon’s economic vulnerabilities and promote sustainable growth, including reducing the public debt burden and improving the regulatory and infrastructure system to promote private sector growth,” it said.
Wolin also met with Economy Minister Nicolas Nahhas and Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh on the first day of a regional trip which will also take him to Saudi Arabia and Tunisia.
Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh has dismissed on several occasions reports of money smuggling from Syria to Lebanese banks.
Salameh said in July that official numbers at the Central Bank indicate that Syrian deposits in Lebanon have decreased, not increased, since the start of the unrest in Syria 17 months ago.
The U.S. Treasury has intensified its scrutiny of Lebanon’s banks over the past few years in an attempt to crack down on alleged Hezbollah money laundering activities as well as Syrian and Iranian attempts to evade Western sanctions.
The U.S. Treasury blacklisted Lebanese Canadian Bank last year over charges of involvement in money laundering and connections to a terrorist group. Washington considers Hezbollah a terrorist organization.
Since 2001, Lebanese authorities have tightened supervision on accounts to ensure that there are no attempts to conduct illegal activities by forming the Special Investigation Commission to investigate suspected accounts and to lift banking secrecy if the need arose.

Pope to stay clear of Mideast politics on Lebanon trip
September 11, 2012 /VATICAN CITY: Pope Benedict XVI will not intervene politically in the Syrian crisis during his visit to the Middle East this week or tell Catholics where their alliances should lie, the Vatican said Tuesday. "The pope will not present himself as a powerful political leader" or make "big speeches of a political nature" when he travels to Lebanon on Friday for a three-day trip, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said at a press conference. While the 85-year-old pontiff is likely to call for an end to violence in Syria and express concern for Christians caught up in Arab Spring uprisings, he will not comment on political differences between Lebanon's Catholic groups. "The pope does not have concrete, specific guidelines for Christians," Lombardi said in reference to Lebanon's large Maronite Catholic community which is divided over support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the rebels.
Religious pluralism will be one of the main themes of the trip and Benedict will meet representatives from Lebanon's four main communities -- Shiites, Sunnis, Druzes and Alawites -- who will welcome him on his arrival on Friday. Lombardi said there would be no specific meeting with the militant Islamist group Hezbollah, but members would take part in the Muslim delegations

Rival politicians to cool rhetoric for pope visit
September 12, 2012/By Van Meguerditchian/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Politicians from across the nation’s divided political spectrum are hopeful that this weekend’s visit of Pope Benedict XVI will have a lasting impact and subdue fears of the Syrian crisis spilling over the border. Rarely do both sides agree on an event of national significance, but politicians from the March 14 coalition and March 8 groups say that the pope will be welcomed by all Lebanese, describing his visit as historic for Lebanon and the Middle East. Although some doubt the celebratory mood will last beyond Sunday – the third and final day of the pope’s visit – rival sides also say they hope political parties will be able to find common ground to keep the positive momentum alive.
“This is a very significant visit for Lebanon; the pope’s visit should open the door for Lebanese to come together and build this country with faith, hope and values of peace,” Kataeb (Phalange) MP Elie Marouni told The Daily Star.
But Marouni said that it was unlikely that positive repercussions of the pope’s visit would have a lasting effect in the face of widespread arms.
“We hope that the effects will last, but unfortunately we can’t expect a lot from the visit given the extent to which arms have spread into the hands of many Lebanese,” Marouni added.
Meanwhile, preparations for the pope’s three-day visit have reached their final stages, according to Central Coordination Committee’s general coordinator, Father Marwan Tabet.
“Everything is ready, we are just doing fine-tuning and awaiting his holiness, who will have nine different stops during his three-day visit to Lebanon,” Tabet said.
Benedict XVI is expected to deliver a Mass to at least 500,000 people in Beirut Sunday morning.
Welcoming the pope’s visit, Hezbollah MP Walid Sukariyeh said that it would be “protocol” for rival camps to temper political rhetoric.
“At least escalatory political rhetoric will be put aside and everyone, all Lebanese, will welcome the pope because this is part of official protocol,” said Sukaryieh.
“There is only one extremist group in the north that is against this important historic visit and everyone else welcomes the pope,” he added.
The pope, who will arrive Friday morning, will be greeted in an official ceremony at the Rafik Hariri International Airport and will later head to Mount Lebanon’s Harissa to sign the apostolic exhortation of the Special Assembly for the Middle East of the Synod of Bishops.
Signing of the document will be followed by the pope’s most important speech, according to Father Tabet.
Although most spiritual leaders have voiced support to the pope’s visit to Lebanon, Tripoli-based preacher Sheikh Omar Bakri has come out against the visit over remarks the pope made in 2006 linking Islam to violence.
Sukariyeh, however, believes that the papal visit to Lebanon will encourage peace and harmony among the Christians and Muslims in the country.
According to the Baalbek MP, the pope’s visit is a message to both Christians and Muslims in Lebanon to unite against the common dangers they face.
“Like the message of Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai, the pope’s visit is also of partnership and love ... I ask the March 14 coalition: If there is anyone still boycotting Rai’s message ... Are they also boycotting the pope?” Sukariyeh asked.
The pope’s predecessor, John Paul II, was welcomed by a crowd of a million people in Downtown Beirut in 1997, a year after a brief war between Lebanon and Israel, but today’s political bickering and sporadic clashes were absent in 1997.
Amal Movement MP Ghazi Zeaiter described the visit as “historic,” and predicts that it will have a great impact on the nation.
“This is a gift to Lebanon. The pope is coming to bless our country and he will carry the message of peace,” Zeaiter said.
“Our interests as Muslims and Christians should be the same in this country – we have one common enemy and that should unite us all.”
In a similar vein, Future Movement MP Ammar Houri said the visit would affect the entire region.
“We all know that the region is going through turmoil and this visit is timely and will have a strong impact on everyone,” he said.
The Beirut MP also said that all politicians are trying to cool the usually heated rhetoric ahead of the papal visit to Lebanon.
“I believe this is normal as the visit gets closer – everyone is contributing toward calming down the rhetoric.”
Echoing Houri, Farid al-Khazen, a Free Patriotic Movement MP, said the visit has a regional objective.
“[The visit] comes to address the situation of Christians in the Middle East and their relation with Muslims – this definitely brings a positive atmosphere to the country.
“When the pope declares Lebanon as a country with a message, we as Lebanese should be up for it,” the FPM lawmaker said.

Lebanon shock Iran 1-0 to keep World Cup hopes alive
September 11, 2012/The Daily Star/BEIRUT: A first-half Roda Antar goal gave Lebanon a 1-0 win over Iran in a World Cup qualifier in Beirut Tuesday, to keep The Cedars' faint hopes of scrapping through to Brazil in 2014.Antar rose above the Iranian defense to head home a free kick from Mohammad Haidar in the 28th minute, giving Lebanon its first goal ever against Iran. It proved to be the winner as Lebanon defended well for the rest of the game to deny the Iranians and claim all three points in the Asian Group A.
Lebanon goalkeeper Abbas Hassan, in inspired form throughout the 90 minutes, produced a string of fine acrobatic saves in the closing stages as Iran threw everything forward. The headband-wearing goalkeeper, who was shown a yellow card for time-wasting, even produced a 95th-minute excellent stop from Mohammad Ghazi's strong header.
The Iranians dominated possession in the second half and Mohammad Nori almost drew his team level when his header was just cleared off the Lebanon goal line in the 62nd minute.
Lebanon, competing in the fourth round of Asian World Cup qualifying for the first time, now have four points from four matches in the five-team pool, level with Iran and Qatar who have played one game fewer. The result heaped more pressure on Iran coach Carlos Queiroz, the former Real Madrid and Portugal boss who has been criticised for his tactics as the team have struggled for goals.
Earlier, South Korea held on to their lead at the top of the pool by drawing 2-2 away to Uzbekistan. The Koreans lead the way on seven points with Iran second on goal difference in the group's other qualifying berth for Brazil 2014.

Ex-General Security head Maj. Gen. Jamil Sayyed elusive on allegations of running bombs with Samaha
September 12, 2012 /By Mirella Hodeib/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Ex-General Security head Maj. Gen. Jamil Sayyed launched a broadside at the heads of the Internal Security Forces Tuesday, saying recent leaks were part of the political campaign against him.
However, he again refused to deny claims that he had accompanied ex-MP Michel Samaha when he transported explosives from Syria to Lebanon.
“The Internal Security Forces and the Information Branch are once again resorting to erroneous investigations and false witnesses,” he said during a news conference at a hotel in Beirut. “But this time the U.N.’s International Independent Investigation Commission is not here to support them.”
Sayyed was referring to the UNIIIC, which was established to probe the assassination of late former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in February 2005.
He said former State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza, head of the ISF Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi and the head of the ISF’s Information Branch Brigadier Wissam al-Hasan should be put on trial.
The former security chief urged the president, the government and the judiciary to summon Milad Kfouri, who according to security sources has reported Samaha, to appear in court and confront the former Information Minister. Kfouri resides outside Lebanon.
“The right to confrontation should be applied in the Samaha case because all the other evidence – including footage and recordings – remain secondary if Samaha and Kfouri are not confronted in court,” Sayyed explained. “Confrontation will allow judicial authorities to assess which one lured the other into carrying out the scheme.”
Sayyed, who accused Kfouri of serving as an informant for the Information Branch, said that if it was proven that Kfouri enticed Samaha, “he and the security body that stands behind him will be tried.” He said Mirza, Rifi and Hasan had facilitated Kfouri’s escape outside the country. Military Investigative Judge Riad Abu Ghayda resumed the interrogation of Samaha Tuesday over his involvement in terror plots. A judicial source told The Daily Star that the interrogation mainly focused on reports, the day before, that security authorities had acquired “incriminating evidence” that Sayyed accompanied Samaha on his enterprise. The source added that Abu Ghayda was examining the possibility of summoning Sayyed “in the next few days.”
“I could have been in the car and not known about explosives but I also could have not been present in the car but known about explosives,” Sayyed said, responding to the accusations. “Samaha told Judge Riad Abu Ghayda in a hearing on Aug. 16 that I was not informed about the details of the plan at any stage and that I did not know about the explosives during my trips from Syria to Lebanon.”
Sayyed said he was prepared to appear before Abu Ghayda if he was summoned, adding that he would reveal to the judiciary the details of his trips and presence in Damascus. “But I will not go if I learn about the summoning in the media,” he said. “It has to be made in a private manner that respects my time and my rights.”
He said that Rifi and Hasan were behind the leaked transcripts of Samaha’s interrogation, which were published by Al-Joumhouria newspaper in August.
“The judiciary shouldn’t try Al-Joumhouria for filing the transcripts, which are actually a scoop that any other media outlet would have sought,” Sayyed said, adding that Rifi and Hasan should be questioned instead. “President Michel Sleiman, in his capacity as the guarantor of the Constitution and the law, and the state prosecutor should directly investigate with Rifi and Hasan for being behind the leaks,” he said.
“The president and the state prosecutor are also required to prepare a complete judicial file against those two [Rifi and Hasan] so they can be tried.”
Sayyed said that accusations against him were used as leverage. “They’re offering some kind of a deal here,” he added. “They will stop circulating leaks against me if I drop all the lawsuits I filed against them and if I abandon my calls for false witnesses in the Rafik Hariri case to be tried.”
The former head of General Security was incarcerated for four years in 2005 in connection with the assassination of Hariri. He blames his arrest on the testimonies of false witnesses recruited by Rifi and Hasan. Sayyed, who announced he would run as an independent candidate on the list supported by Amal and Hezbollah in the northern Bekaa in the 2013 parliamentary polls, slammed Sleiman for congratulating security bodies such as the ISF and the Information Branch for carrying out “security achievements.”
He said Sleiman cannot “distribute congratulations” when he is incapable of holding the heads of security and judicial bodies accountable.
Even though Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Interior Minister Marwan Charbel issued separate rebuttals, Sayyed mentioned that both were well aware of the practices of Rifi and Hasan. He added that Mikati had informed Charbel that it was high time to lay them off. “But the unrest in Syria has made Mikati change his mind,” said Sayyed. “Rifi and Hasan have now become symbols that this government cannot get rid off.” – With additional reporting by Youssef Diab

Hostage’s release paves way for freeing Lebanese
September 12, 2012/By Hussein Abdallah, Van Meguerditchian
The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Turkish businessman Aydin Tufan Tekin flew to Turkey early Wednesday along with Interior Minister Marwan Charbel and Turkish Ambassador Inan Ozyildiz hours after the Meqdad clan, under pressure from the Army, freed the hostage.
A security source told The Daily Star that Charbel was likely to bring back with him some of the 10 Lebanese pilgrims snatched near Aleppo some four months ago.
The remaining pilgrims will also be freed once the second Turkish hostage Abdel-Baset Orsolan is set free, the source added.
Charbel had said earlier that Tekin’s release would pave the way for the release of all Lebanese currently held by anti-regime rebels in Syria.
Tekin was handed by the Meqdad clan to General Security forces in an area near Beirut Tuesday evening. He was then escorted to the General Security headquarters where he was received by the Turkish ambassador. Orsolan, a bus driver, was abducted by a group that identified itself as “Mukhtar al-Thaqafi Brigades.”
The little-known group, believed to be affiliated with families of the Lebanese pilgrims held in Syria, said earlier Tuesday it had freed Orsolan along with 10 Syrians they kidnapped in July.
“We will receive the other hostage Wednesday morning. We have shown good intentions and we will fly both of them to Turkey and we hope to come back with good results,” Charbel said.
The hostages will be accompanied by Charbel, General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim, and Turkish Ambassador to Lebanon Inan Ozyildiz.
“We expect all the Lebanese in Syria to be freed soon ... not only the 10 pilgrims but also Hassan Meqdad,” the interior minister said. Following Hassan Meqdad’s abduction by anti-regime rebels in Syria, members of his clan kidnapped Tekin and several Syrians in a bid to pressure the captors.
Charbel said he did not want to provide further details on the fate of the Lebanese hostages in Syria, but promised to update the media accordingly.
“As you all know this issue is sensitive. We will keep you posted step by step.”
Prime Minister Najib Mikati received phone calls late Tuesday from his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who thanked him for Tekin’s release.
Tekin, who spoke to reporters upon his arrival in Beirut, called for the release of the Lebanese held in Syria. “I ask on the governments in the world and the Syrian opposition to free all Lebanese in Syria,” he said. Tekin thanked the Lebanese and Turkish governments for securing his release and said he was not subjected to any pressure or physical torture while he was held.
Meanwhile, Ozyildiz said Turkey would continue to help Lebanon secure the release of all hostages in Syria. “I would like to thank the Lebanese Army, the General Security, and the government for working hard to release a Turkish hostage in Beirut, and Turkish authorities will continue to help Lebanon win the release of all Lebanese held in Syria,” the Turkish envoy said.
Earlier Tuesday, the Lebanese Army freed four Syrians kidnapped by the Meqdad clan. In a statement, the Army said it “freed four kidnapped Syrians after raiding a location in Hay al-Sellum following surveillance and follow-ups.” The Army unit and Directorate of Intelligence arrested two people in the same area. The two are suspected of involvement in the abductions.
In an interview with MTV station, the freed Syrians denied any affiliation with the FSA and said that they had been tortured during their captivity. They also said that the “Meqdad clan forced them to claim membership in the Free Syrian Army. “They accused me of being a captain in the FSA, although I had nothing to do with them,” said Mohammad Abdel-Latif Musa, one of the released Syrians.
Maher Hasan Rabih, another former captive, said he worked as a concierge, also denying any affiliation with the Syrian rebels.
“They said you have to say that [you are an FSA member] or else we will shoot you,” Rabih told the TV station.
Ibrahim Yehya al-Ahmad said he had been kidnapped in Mreijeh during Eid al-Fitr, adding that he “was subjected to severe physical torture.”

Trends indicate Lebanon could slip into recession in 2013, experts say
September 12, 2012 /By T.K. Maloy/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: As an unfavorable third quarter came to an end on Sept. 30, economic experts warned of an even worse Lebanese economy for the kickoff of next year, given the economic trends going forward.
Despite hopes that the summer season and tourism would provide a boost to businesses, this year marks little to be remembered when it comes to the Lebanese economy.
The third quarter was a season of canceled tourism, endless power blackouts, lowered industrial and agricultural exports, an increasing current account deficit, domestic political troubles, slower real estate development, falling retail sales and dropping foreign investment. The sources of problems ranged from the uniquely domestic, such as the fear of Lebanese political problems scaring tourists off, to such global factors as a slowed European economy and the regional knock-on effect of the burgeoning Syrian crisis.
As a result, a slowdown was experienced throughout various Lebanese business sectors.
Meanwhile, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates all warned their respective citizens not to visit a troubled Lebanon. Later Saudi Arabia also added to the concert of cautionary notes by telling Saudis – usually the largest spenders of the tourist season – also not to come.
Collectively, these nations make up 45 percent of tourist season spending.
This comes on top of a tourism drop of nearly 24 percent to 1,666,051 visitors in 2011 versus 2,167,989 in 2010 – largely due to concerns about the markedly growing unrest in neighboring Syria and ongoing incidents in Beirut and the northern city of Tripoli.
Simon Neaime, head of the American University of Beirut’s economics department, forecast that by year-end the gross domestic product would hit a range between 1 and 1.5 percent. This, he noted, was down from an earlier forecast of 3 percent.
Worse still, he told The Daily Star that it is a big possibility for the country to slip into a recession – technically defined as two quarters of zero or negative growth – in 2013 if the Lebanese economy continues on its current path of cautious foreign investment, empty hotels, staggering government debt-to-GDP ratio, low retail and export sales volumes, and downward trending consumer confidence.
“The Lebanese consumers are not shopping,” he said, adding that individual spending makes up a large percentage of GDP.
“The economy might turn negative next year.”
He added that “already we have an alarming situation. 2013 might be a difficult year.”
Neaime said the government was effectively at the end of its spending limits because of the high public debt: “The government is in a real squeeze.”
He added that various economic problems contribute to “already weak economic fundamentals” – such as the continually high debt-to-GDP ratio.
Byblos Bank chief economist Nassib Ghobril told The Daily Star that there was little on the upside in recent economic indicators, also pointing to the collapsed tourist season, record low consumer confidence and the ripple effect of the Syrian crisis.
He said this would continue to drag the economy down going into 2013.
Ghobril also emphasized that the internal political dynamic of Lebanon was harming the domestic economy to such an extent that nothing short of a positive political shock similar to that generated by the Doha Accord would significantly bolster consumer confidence and, therefore, economic activity.
“Consumer confidence is at an all time low ... since the start of the index’s calculation in July 2007, and even lower than in the fourth quarter of 2011 when the index reached its lowest level since its inception.”
He said the bank would publish next week the official results of the Byblos Bank/AUB Consumer Confidence Index for the first half of 2012.
“I may add that the indicators at hand, including consumer confidence figures, do not even reflect the security deterioration and the related events of August, as these indicators are for June or July at best.”
He stopped short of predicting a recession, but noted that the Central Bank’s Coincident indicator, a proxy for economic activity in the country, “shows that the economy has been stagnating in the first half of the year.”
Byblos Bank recently reported that tourism spending in this year’s second quarter was down by 20 percent from the first quarter. Figures on tourism spending have not been reported yet for the third quarter.
“As long as there is uncertainty in the political situation [both in Lebanon and Syria] the economic outlook going forward is at best foggy.”
Ghobril said that at most, GDP for 2012 would come in at no higher than 2 percent and would most likely be lower. At the beginning of the year, the International Monetary Fund had projected the GDP at 3 percent.
“Capital inflows are down, investor sentiment is down, and businesses are in a wait-and-see mode,” he said of the macro-economic state of the Lebanese economy, adding that “there has been no announcement of a major FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) project in Lebanon this year.”
“The situation in Syria is casting a long shadow over Lebanon,” he said.
Ghobril, along with AUB’s Neaime and other banking and independent reports, all pointed to the growing current account deficit, a result of slowed exports and more costly imports.
The Economist Intelligence Unit said in its late August country report on Lebanon that because of the country’s dependency on highly priced imports of oil, industrial raw materials and food, the current account deficit will hit 27.2 percent of GDP by the end of 2012.
With sales levels dropping throughout the country, the Beirut Trade Association has also warned recently of a potential economic collapse.
Head of the association Nicolas Chammas said during a recent meeting of the group that “economic conditions have been deteriorating since the beginning of the year.”
Private sector groups blasted last Friday a draft law that increases public sector wages.
“The salary scale will have disastrous consequences on the state Treasury, which is already suffering from a gross financial deficit, and on the economy and citizens,” a collective group of private sector economic committees said in a statement last week.
The group also warned against the negative economic effects of new private sector taxes to pay for the salary hike, which will cost the government an estimated $1.6 billion annually.
Business Monitor International, an international information and consultant group forecast Monday a 1.6 percent GDP in Lebanon for 2012, down from their earlier forecast of 2.8 percent. The change was attributed to the security situation, political paralysis, the Syrian uprising and higher global oil prices.
Meanwhile, Pew Research Center reported in its Global Attitudes Project that only 12 percent of Lebanese surveyed said the country had a “good economic” situation.
This compares at the high end with 83 percent of Chinese and 73 percent of Germans who expressed confidence in their respective nation’s economies.
In a recent statement, global investment bank JP Morgan said: “The near-term outlook [for the Lebanese economy] will largely depend on domestic political stability.”

LF and FPM trade barbs over election law
September 12, 2012/By Wassim Mroueh
The Daily Star
BEIRUT: The Lebanese Forces and the Free Patriotic Movement traded accusations Tuesday on the contents of an agreement reached by a committee made up of the country’s Christian parties on the preferred draft election law.
LF leader Samir Geagea said the FPM was trying to back out of the Bkirki committee’s agreement to give priority to a draft law that divides Lebanon into small districts under a winner-takes-all system.
FPM leader Michel Aoun maintained that the committee, which met under the patronage of Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai, selected two draft laws. The first, which was proposed by the Orthodox Gathering, allows each sect to elect its own MPs by proportional representation. In the second, Lebanon would be divided into medium-sized districts based on proportional representation.
Aoun expressed surprise that his rival Christian parties had rejected these two options, reneging on the committee’s agreement.
Speaking to the Central News Agency Tuesday, Geagea said that during a Monday meeting between members of the Bkirki committee and Rai, FPM representative MP Alain Aoun tried to back away from priorities that had been set by the committee over the past six months.
“The [priority] was for the draft law with small districts. If this did not receive enough support [with other Lebanese parties], then [the agreement was to focus on] the draft law based on proportional representation [with medium-size districts], which is totally different than the ‘Hezbollah draft law’ approved by the Cabinet,” Geagea told the Central News Agency.
Last month the Cabinet approved a draft law that would divide the country into 13 medium-sized districts with MPs chosen by proportional representation. Geagea and other March 14 allies spoke out against the draft law, saying it was designed to serve the interests of Hezbollah.
Addressing a news conference last week, Geagea said he would work to garner support for the draft law that divides Lebanon into 61 small districts based on a winner-takes-all system. He argued that this law would result in fair representation for Christians.
“Unfortunately, the Free Patriotic Movement tried to go back to square one [during the Monday meeting].”
MTV reported Tuesday that a heated argument broke out during the meeting, with Aoun pitted against LF MP George Adwan, Kataeb (Phalange) MP Sami Gemayel and MP Butros Harb.
The TV station said Adwan, Harb and Gemayel criticized Aoun’s objection to the small district proposal, saying that the members of the Bkirki committee had already decided to give the draft precedence.
Aoun called Gemayel a liar when the latter tried to explain the advantages of the draft law, MTV reported, adding that the argument took place in Rai’s presence.
Speaking to The Daily Star, Aoun said that “discussion took place during the meeting.”
“They tried to distort facts in the presence of the patriarch which forced us to confront them,” he said, adding that Geagea’s comments to the CNA had misrepresented the facts about both the committee’s work and Monday’s meeting.
“There is distortion as to what happened inside the committee and what actually happened yesterday [Monday] in the presence of the patriarch.”
Aoun is set to respond to Geagea’s remarks in a Wednesday news conference in Parliament.
In his remarks to the CNA, Geagea expressed surprise that FPM MPs forwarded a draft election law to Parliament Monday in which each sect would choose its own MPs, turning the country into a single district. “How could they forward this law at a time when the Free Patriotic Movement’s 10 ministers voted for the draft election law [already] approved by the Cabinet, and when the two draft laws are totally different?”
In response, Alain Aoun said the FPM had “forwarded more than one draft law and this is part of what we agreed upon in the Bkirki committee.”
For his part, Michel Aoun described comments made by the March 14 coalition about the Bkirki committee’s decisions as “lies.”
“To put an end to these lies, I will read to you some of what was mentioned in the final statement of the large-scale meeting held in Bkirki,” Aoun told reporters at his Rabieh residence Tuesday.
“The draft law proposed by the Orthodox Gathering is the best one in terms of achieving true parity in Parliament ... and the draft law [dividing Lebanon] into medium-sized districts based on proportional representation provides an acceptable level of fair representation,” Aoun quoted the statement as saying.
“They [March 14 coalition] said they don’t want the second proposal, so we went back to the first one [Orthodox Gathering proposal] which they also said they don’t want,” said Aoun. “I don’t know what they do want.”
Separately, former Deputy Speaker Elie Firzli said Monday that Marada Movement leader Suleiman Franjieh and Aoun would work to convince their allies to back the Orthodox Gathering’s proposal.

Change and Reform Ends Involvement with Members of Bkirki Committee on Electoral Law
Naharnet Newsdesk 12 September 2012/
Change and Reform bloc MP Alain Aoun announced on Wednesday that the bloc will no longer cooperate with the Lebanese Forces and Phalange Party at the Bkirki committee aimed at devising a new parliamentary electoral law.
He said during a press conference: “We are no longer concerned with any joint work with the members of the Bkirki committee on devising a new electoral law.”
Aoun said that the Bkirki committee had placed a priority on the Orthodox Gathering proposal on the electoral law and later a proposal on the adoption of small electoral districts and then one of proportional representation based on 15 medium-sized districts.
He noted that once the Orthodox Gathering proposal was rejected, talks shifted to the third suggestion on the adoption of 15 medium-sized districts, which was approved unanimously by all Bkirki committee members.
The MP revealed that discussions on small districts, amounting to 50, have not ended.
“It is worth noting that the LF and Phalange Party backed down from their commitment to the electoral law based on proportional representation after the Mustaqbal and Progressive Socialist Party voiced their opposition to it,” he added.
“We have no problem in working with people we enjoy political differences with, but we have a problem with people who lie to us,” he stressed in reference to the political powers.
“We will only return to the talks if Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi asks us to,” explained the MP.
“The LF and Phalange Party are entitled to back down from previous commitments, but they have to acknowledge it,” said Aoun.
He accused the two parties of “squandering an historic opportunity for Christians to improve their representation at parliament.”
He noted that the government proposal on the electoral law only requires the vote of 65 lawmakers at parliament and the government forces so far have the vote of 61 MPs.
The cabinet approved in August a draft-law that divides the country into 13 medium-sized districts based on proportional representation.
The Mustaqbal bloc and PSP, headed by MP Walid Jumblat, objected to the proposal.
LF leader Samir Geagea noted on Tuesday that the adoption of small electoral districts in a parliamentary electoral law will be more just for the Lebanese people, reported the Central News Agency.
He told the agency: “Contacts are underway with the Hizbullah and AMAL leaderships over the small districts.”
“If it is determined that the least amount of blocs are in agreement over the small districts, then the Free Patriotic Movement will have to agree with it,” Geagea said.
The FPM is trying to contradict what was agreed upon among the members of the Bkirki committee, said Geagea.
The patriarch was aware of such an attempt and thwarted it and the result was an agreement over small electoral districts, he stated.
Al-Rahi meanwhile gave members of the Bkirki committee ten days to contact their leaderships and resolve their differences on an electoral draft-law proposal, An Nahar daily reported on Wednesday.
The 10-day deadline was the result of a dispute on Monday between the FPM on one side and the LF and the Phalange Party on the other.
The committee was meeting under al-Rahi when Phalange MP Sami Gemayel and LF lawmaker George Adwan criticized an electoral draft-law approved by the government, including ministers loyal to FPM chief Michel Aoun.
After a dispute between Gemayel and MP Alain Aoun, Adwan intervened by saying that members of the committee - that includes the four main Christian parties in Lebanon - had agreed on adopting small districts in a winner-takes-all system.
If that was not possible, then the second option would be to adopt proportionality, Adwan said.

Charbel Accompanies Freed Turkish Hostage to Ankara in Hopes to Bring Back Lebanese Pilgrims
Naharnet Newsdesk 12 September 2012/Freed Turkish businessman Tekin Tufan flew to Turkey at dawn Wednesday along with Interior Minister Marwan Charbel, General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim and Turkish Ambassador Inan Ozyildiz. The National News Agency said the four men left for Ankara at 1:00 am in what Charbel said was a trip aimed at handing over Tufan to the Turkish authorities and negotiating with the Turkish officials the possibility of the release of 10 Lebanese pilgrims held hostage by armed Syrian rebels since May.
Eleven pilgrims were kidnapped by the rebel Free Syrian Army in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo on May 22 while they were returning from Iran. One of them, Hussein Ali Omar, was released last month as a goodwill gesture. Speaking to reporters at the Dalaman airport in Mugla province in southwestern Turkey after his arrival, Tekin said his release after 27 days was just like a "dream."
Both the Turkish and Lebanese governments worked hard to secure his release, he said.
He also indicated that he was not treated badly by his captors: "They allowed me to do many things I need to do in my ordinary life.”
Al-Meqdad clan released the Turkish man after joint efforts between the Army and General Security, said Ibrahim.
He was handed by the clan to General Security forces on Tuesday evening.
“I ask on the governments in the world and the Syrian opposition to free all Lebanese in Syria,” he said in Beirut.
Earlier Tuesday, the army freed four Syrians who were held by al-Meqdad clan along with Tufan.
The clan went on a kidnapping spree last month in retaliation to the abduction of Hassan al-Meqdad in Damascus.
Prime Minister Najib Miqati received phone calls late Tuesday from his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.
“The Turkish citizen is like all other Lebanese nationals and the Lebanese government exerted every effort to release him,” Miqati's press office quoted Miqati as telling Erdogan.
He also hoped that Turkish authorities would intensify their efforts to set free the Lebanese men kidnapped in Syria.

What price does Russia want in Syria?
By: Tariq Alhomayed
Asharq Al-Awsat
Within the space of a few days Moscow has flooded us with a sea of statements about the situation in Syria. On the one hand there are the statements of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and on the other hand there are the statements of Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, in addition to the remarkable behavior of the Deputy Russian Foreign Minister, who has given at least three interviews this week alone!
All Russia’s recent statements, from the President to the Foreign Minister and the Deputy Foreign Minister, can be considered to be carrying different views and contains messages within; they say that Moscow is negotiating, and buying and selling, on the Syrian issue. The strongest of these statements was issued by President Putin, who talked about the need to “determine the future and ensure the security of all the participants of the domestic political process”, i.e. ensure the security of affiliates to the regime, and al-Assad himself. Putin’s most striking remarks came in his interview with a Russian television station, when he said: “We treat everyone with equal respect. We also get on well with Saudi Arabia and other countries; I have cultivated a warm personal relationship with the custodian of the two Islamic shrines”. This reference alone is worthy of interest, especially after the statements exchanged between Saudi Arabia and Russia on Syria!
Of course, it cannot be said that these recent statements, which have begun to hint of the post-Assad phase, are just a public relations campaign to embellish the image of Russia in the region. Russia has also returned today to talk about the need to hold a conference on Syria on its territory, and the possibility of returning to the UN Security Council once again. The facts on the ground confirm that Russia is not acting now just to improve its image, given America’s threat that Washington will work with its allies to support the Syrian opposition, and of course the notable French moves. Yet there is something else that confirms what I am saying here, which I heard from an informed source, namely that Moscow has passed on specific questions via a third party to an Arab state that is influential and active in seeking to defend the Syrians and protect them from al-Assad’s killing machine. According to my source, Russia has asked: “If we reach an agreement, where will al-Assad go in the event of him stepping down? Who can guarantee that he will not be prosecuted internationally? Who will ensure Russia’s interests in Syria after al-Assad’s departure?” This is a summary of Russia’s questions, from which we can deduce the following points. Firstly, it is clear that Moscow has become receptive to the idea of al-Assad's departure, and this is supported by the fact that President Putin said in his recent television interview: “We realize that this country needs a change, but this doesn’t mean that change should come with bloodshed”. The second observation we can glean from Russia’s questions is that Moscow is not interested in who will succeed al-Assad, in terms of the individual or the regime, but it is only concerned with preserving its own interests there. Here it is worth recalling Sergey Lavrov’s statement a few days ago, after his meeting with the US Secretary of State, when he said that the sanctions imposed on al-Assad and Iran have started to have an impact on the Russian banking sector, i.e. that the Syrian issue is economic as well as political. The question that must be asked here is: Would it be wrong to negotiate with Moscow now to ensure the departure of al-Assad? The answer is simple: we should try, for what is certain is that the price is low and will only get lower!

Egypt’s Salafists divided over Mursi, call for Islamic Sharia law
By Mohamed Abdu Hassanein
Asharq Akawsat
Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat – More than a year after entering the political sphere, participating in Egyptian elections, a large number of Salafists have announced their opposition to the positions taken by their political leadership. Egypt’s Salafists have begun to complain about the direction being taken by the al-Nour party leadership and its perceived lack of commitment to the Islamist ideology, as well as its failure to promote Islam and Salafist jurisprudential views in a clear and explicit manner. Egypt’s Salafists have also criticizing Islamist President Mohamed Mursi, as well as the al-Nour party’s leadership failure to take him to task.
A number of prominent Salafists have stated that they voted for Islamist President Mohammed Mursi and the Salafist al-Nour party in order to see the imposition of Islamic Sharia law in Egypt; however both Mursi and the al-Nour party seem to have backed off from this election pledge. The al-Nour party has witnessed significant internal splits as a result of its positions on a number of issues, with many believing that the party has backed off on its election pledges in order to appease the Egyptian president. A large number of the al-Nour party’s younger members resigned from the party in protest to the leadership’s perceived failures, and this is something that has threatened the forthcoming internal party elections.
The Salafists emerged as a strong popular and electoral force following the 25 January revolution, and they managed to win the second largest number of seats in Egypt’s parliament, after the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice party. In addition to this, their backing of Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Mursi was vital in securing him the presidency, particularly during the presidential run-off vote.
Salafist clerics and youth have strongly criticized the Egyptian president for meeting with Egyptian actors and entertainers and his
encouragement of the Egyptian arts scene. Mursi met with a number of prominent Egyptian actors and musicians last week including Adel Imam, Mohamed Sobhy, Mohamed Mounir and Iman El-Bahr. Commenting on this meeting, popular Egyptian cleric Wagdi Ghoneim described entertainers as “lewd and ungodly”, saying “it is not befitting for the president to meet with such people.” He added “in this case, is it right for homosexuals and drug addicts to ask to meet with the president, given that he is meeting with all parties?”
Ghoneim, speaking during a video record, addressed the Egyptian president, saying “I did not choose you to be the president of a civil state…but because you are a Muslim with a beard who has memorized the Quran and because of your slogan ‘Islam is the solution’.”
For his part, Sheikh Abdullah Badr said “we did not give our oath of allegiance to Mursi so that he can support the arts and creativity, but rather to support and spread the true religion of God throughout the earth.”
He added “it is a disaster for Mursi to move closer to the artists and creators because they are using him, whilst we are the ones who supported him.”
Speaking during a sermon on al-Hafiz TV, an Islamic satellite channel, Badr called on the Egyptian president to take a clear and explicit position and back those who voted for him.
During his meeting with artists and entertainment figures last week, the Egyptian president announced that “freedom of creativity and opinion is guaranteed for everybody” stressing his respect for the arts and artists.
Mursi has not only been criticized by Egypt’s Islamists for his position on the arts, but also after Cairo requested $4.8 billion from the International Monetary Fund [IMF], with interest rates of 1.1 percent. This is something that has angered many Egyptian Salafists, particularly as they reject “riba” [interest] as being contrary to Islamic Sharia law. The Salafists have said that Egypt’s position on this issue demonstrates the regime distancing itself from the principles of Islamic Sharia law.
In the wake of these controversies, and the perceived failure of the al-Nour party to take the Egyptian president to task, the al-Nour party Facebook group contained strong criticisms of the leadership’s performance.
Commenting on this issue, Salafist activist Yahya al-Shirbini asked “what role is the al-Nour party playing in terms of responding to the suspension of [military] officers due to their refusal to shave their beards? Where is its defense of Islamic Sharia law, or is this something that we only hear during the election period?”
For his part, Salafist activist Mohamed Rasem issued a public letter to the al-Nour party leadership calling on them to avoid politicking and focus on promoting the principles of Islam. Whilst another activist, Sharif Ibrahim – commenting on Mursi’s meeting with the artists – asked “why didn’t President Mursi meet with the bearded officers in the same manner that he met with the whores that represent the so-called arts?”
Salafists criticized President Mursi’s silence, as well as that of the al-Nour party, towards a film – mistakenly reported as being produced by Egyptian Christians abroad – which insults the Prophet Muhammad. The film "The innocence of Muslims" is actually produced by an Israeli -American film director who had since gone into hiding following attacks on the US embassies in Cairo and Benghazi in protest to the film. The US ambassador to Libya and three other embassy staff were killed in a rocket attack on their car after they rushed from a consular building which had been stormed by militants denouncing the US-made film. In neighbouring Egypt, demonstrators tore down an American flag and burned it during protests against the film. Salafist activists called on Mursi to ban the film.
Responding to the criticisms being exchanged between Egypt’s Islamists, Dr. Abdul Rahman al-Barr, a member of the Guide Bureau of the Muslim Brotherhood and Dean of Al-Azhar University's Faculty of Theology and Dawa, told Asharq Al-Awsat “there is a difference between the president demonstrating communication and flexibility with regards to decision-making, delivering a message of truth and moderation, and abandoning the principles of Islamic Sharia law” stressing “this is something that has not happen whatsoever.”
Al-Bar added that anybody who says Islamists have abandoned their principles upon reaching power “has lost their senses.” He clarified that “the president is the president of all Egyptians, and wisdom requires that he meet with all [social] groups including those who may be practicing something wrong.”
In addition to this, there have been a large number of resignations from amongst the Salafist al-Nour party ranks in protest to perceived failures in its performance and operations. These resignations came after the beginning of the registration period for internal al-Nour party elections, with these being scheduled to take place on 15 September.
Dr. Ahmed Abdul Hamid, a member of the Central Election Commission of the al-Nour party, revealed that some party officials had resigned in protest to the results of the qualifying tests for administrative posts.
Al-Nour party spokesman, Yousri Hamad, said “there is a possibility that these internal elections will be postponed in order to decide any complaints.” He added “some people were prevented from entering the test halls, and these complaints were brought to the attention of the party chairman, and they were discussed at the meeting of the Higher Body two days ago, and there is a move to investigate the subjects of these complaints and postpone the internal elections.”
Al-Nour party chairman, Emad Eddin Abdul Ghafoor, issued a video message to the party dissidents, saying that he was monitoring and investigating this situation. He said “we are all in the same boat, we launched important work to serve our faith and state, and we will not dispense with the efforts of a single member of the party.”

Former Egypt PM "expected" corruption charges against him
By Saha al-Sharqawi and Mohamed Ahmed
Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat – The judicial authorities in Egypt have referred former Egyptian Prime Minister and presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq, along with Gamal and Alaa Mubarak – the sons of ousted president Mubarak – and 4 retired brigadier generals, to the Cairo criminal court on corruption charges. They are facing charges of wasting public money, involvement in illegal land purchases, amongst others. Shafiq is accused of selling 40,000 square meters of state-owned land to Alaa and Gamal Mubarak at below-market prices. Mubarak’s sons are in prison awaiting trial on other corruption charges; however Shafiq has been living abroad in the United Arab Emirates since narrowly losing the first post-Mubarak president elections to Islamist incumbent Mohamed Mursi. The Egyptian authorities have issued an arrest warrant for the former prime minister, and barred him from travel using his Egyptian passport.
Speaking exclusively to Asharq Al-Awsat, Ahmed Shafiq said “this decision is not surprising…and I expected it.” He added “I will await the official summons to take legal action.”
The former prime minister also said “what is taking place on the ground in Egypt is a tragic situation and is something that is present in all issues.” He stressed that “dealing with issues in this spirit represents a real tragedy, the objective of which is to exclude the respectable [figures].”
Shafiq is being charged alongside Alaa and Gamal Mubarak, whilst the state-run Middle Eastern News Agency [MENA] also reported that a number of others are being charged in this case, including retired major generals Nabil Farid Shoukry; Mohamed Reda; Abdel Hamid Saqr; Mohammed Raouf Helmi and Mohamed Fakhr Al-Islam Al-Sawy. The defendants have been charged with a number of offences including profiteering, facilitating the appropriation of public money and wasting public money.
Judge Osama Alsaeedy – who has been appointed by the Ministry of Justice to investigate this case – issued a subpoena for Shafiq, whilst Egypt’s Prosecutor-General Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud has called for the former prime minister to be placed on Interpol’s most-wanted list. The investigative judge had previously placed Shafiq’s name on the watch and travel bans list.
The investigative judge has finished his deliberations of this case, issuing a 4,000 page report which includes testimony by expert committees at the Ministry of Justice looking into allegations of graft and misappropriation of public funds against Shafiq.
Investigations reveal that Shafiq, during his tenure as chairman of a housing association in the 1990s, reportedly sold 40,000 square meters of land to the Mubarak brothers at unreasonably low prices. The investigative judge called for Shafiq, who was a personal friend of Hosni Mubarak and the ousted president’s last prime minister, to be arrested and remanded in custody until trial.
Shafiq has repeatedly denied allegations of corruption and in a television interview last week described the case against him as “politically motivated.”
Shafiq joins a long list of more than 30 Mubarak regime loyalists, including former prime ministers and speakers of parliament, to face corruption charges. Some of these figures have been tried and convicted, whilst others are still awaiting trial.
For his part, Shafiq’s lawyer Yahya Qudri told Asharq Al-Awsat “Shafiq is completely innocent of the charge of squandering public money and there are no grounds to refer him to the criminal court” making reference to a “mistake on the part of the investigative judge.”
Qudri stressed that “Shafiq received this decision and dealt with this issue with the utmost consistency” adding “he is completely confident that he has not done anything wrong.”

Islam's Black Flag Flies over Egypt
by Raymond Ibrahim/FrontPage Magazine
September 12, 2012
http://www.raymondibrahim.com/12268/islam-black-flag-flies-over-egypt
Dear Reader, I was recently featured in a short CBN documentary on the Siege of Vienna—a pivotal moment in history, when the invading and seemingly invincible Muslim hordes of the Ottoman Empire were finally stopped at the gates of Vienna. The video can be viewed here.Also, I was interviewed in a recent GBTV Real News segment on the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, which can be viewed here.
Sincerely,
Raymond Ibrahim
The United States embassy of Egypt is under siege. According to Fox News, "Mainly ultraconservative Islamist protesters climbed the walls of the U.S. Embassy in Egypt's capital Tuesday and brought down the flag, replacing it with a black flag with an Islamic inscription to protest a video attacking Islam's prophet, Muhammad. Hundreds of protesters marched to the embassy in downtown Cairo …. Dozens of protesters then scaled the embassy walls, went into the courtyard and took down the flag from a pole. They brought it back to the crowd outside, which tried to burn it, but failing that, tore it apart. The protesters on the wall then raised on the flagpole a black flag with the Muslim declaration of faith on it, 'There is no god but God and Muhammad is his prophet.' The flag, similar to the banner used by al-Qaida, is commonly used by ultraconservatives around the region…. By evening, the protest grew with thousands standing outside the embassy, chanting 'Islamic, Islamic. The right of our prophet will not die.' A group of women in black veils and robes that left only their eyes exposed chanted, 'Worshippers of the Cross, leave the Prophet Muhammad alone.'"Some clarifications for context: Islam's black flag with the shehada and sword inscription is not an al-Qaeda banner but rather Islam's most ancient banner, popularized by the Abbasid caliphs in the 800s. In other words, these protesters were not imitating al-Qaeda; rather they—and al-Qaeda—are imitating Islam's heritage, replete with jihad against the infidel. Same with the phrase "worshippers of the cross"—Islam's ancient appellation for the hated Christians. The reason behind this latest rampage is Muslim outrage over the appearance of a film deemed offensive about the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Apparently it depicts him inciting jihads, deceiving people, and exercising his libido—not unlike what is recorded in Islam's own authoritative biographies and hadiths of the prophet. It is not exactly clear who made the video, though Egyptian expatriates and Copts are being accused, possibly in conjunction with Pastor Terry Jones. In other words, the reason for this latest bit of Muslim outrage is once again the issue of free speech—in the same camp of Danish Muhammad cartoons, burned Korans, and any number of other freedoms of expression exercised by non-Muslims, and even Muslims.
The U.S.'s formal response to this terror campaign against its embassy and the desecration of the American flag has, once again, been to lay the blame on free speech. In a statement, the U.S. said, "The Embassy of the United States in Cairo condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals [film makers] to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims—as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions. We firmly reject the actions by those who abuse the universal right of free speech to hurt the religious beliefs of others."
Interestingly, while very concerned about the "religious feelings of Muslims," the U.S. embassy in Egypt had nothing to say about the fact that, right before it was attacked, a Christian man in Egypt stood on trial for "insulting" Islam—even as a throng of Muslims besieged the court-house, interrupting the hearing and calling for the man's death. Apparently appeasing thin skins is more important than speaking up for those whose lives are at stake—not just Christian Egyptians, but now U.S. employees—over issues of freedom.
Left unsaid and unknown in any Western media is the fact that the U.S. embassy has long been under threat, but for different reasons. Earlier, the Egyptian paper El Fagr reported that Jihadi groups in Egypt, including Islamic Jihad, the Sunni Group, and Al Gamaa Al Islamiyya had issued a statement threatening to burn the U.S. embassy in Cairo to the ground unless all the Islamic jihadis currently imprisonment and in detention centers in the U.S. including Guantanamo Bay were released: "The group, which consists of many members from al-Qaeda, called [especially] for the quick release of the jihadi [mujahid] sheikh, Omar Abdul Rahman [the "Blind Sheikh"], whom they described as a scholar and jihadi who sacrificed his life for the Egyptian Umma, who was ignored by the Mubarak regime, and [President] Morsi is refusing to intervene on his behalf and release him, despite promising that he would. The Islamic Group has threatened to burn the U.S. Embassy in Cairo with those in it, and taking hostage those who remain [alive], unless the Blind Sheikh is immediately released."
Despite all this—despite longstanding threats to the U.S. embassy, followed by a real attack, culminating with the destruction of the American flag—Victoria Nuland, the U.S. State Department's Spokesperson, speaking in response to this latest attack, said that "none of this suggests that there are hostile feelings for the U.S. in Egypt."
In fact, none of this is surprising—neither the attack on the U.S. embassy, nor the U.S. government's head-in-the-sand response, with strong words reserved only for those non-Muslims exercising their free speech rights. This event also explains the situation in a way that even a child can understand: the more you appease—as the Obama administration has been doing with the Islamic world in ways unprecedented—the more contempt you earn from those you appease, and the more demands will be made of you. Thus, today, far from being respected as a super-power, the U.S. is increasingly seen as a subdued, contemptuous dhimmi—who must say "how high?" whenever Muslims command "jump!"