Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for July 15/12
Koura By-Election Kicks Off amid Fierce Battle between LF, SSNP Candidates
Koura’s parliamentary by-elections kick off
Lebanon's Arabic press digest - July 15, 2012
Report: Hezbollah drone crashes in south Lebanon
Reports: Hizbullah Denies Link to Crashed Baalbek Reconnaissance Plane
Report: Hezbollah in dire financial straits
Cyprus: Lebanese man planned attacks on Israelis
Geagea meets Kurdistan Democratic Party delegation
Interior Minister Marwan Charbel: No ‘bribery’ complaints in Koura by-elections
Report: Mossad involved in terror suspect's arrest
LF candidate says statements not “provocative”
NNA: Reconnaissance aircraft crashes in Baalbek
Two People Wounded in Family Dispute in Baalbek
Report: France Studying Possibility of Providing Lebanese Army with HOT Missiles
Suleiman: Democracy Begins with Freedom of Expression
Syria Denies Treimsa Village 'Massacre'
Is Assad threatening Israel?
Ban: Serious doubts on Assad's commitment to plan
Iran: If threatened, we'll close Strait of Hormuz
Germany arrests Salafist leader: reports
U.N.'s Iran atom probe 'hostage' to big power diplomacy
Iran Offers to Host Syrian Government and Opposition Meeting
Syria denies Treimsa village “massacre”
Putin to Meet Annan for Syria Talks
Russian president to meet Annan for Syria talks
Clinton reaffirms US support for Egypt democratic transition
Clinton backs Egypt army return to security role
Beduin kidnap two US tourists in the Sinai

Koura By-Election Kicks Off amid Fierce Battle between LF, SSNP Candidates
Naharnet /15 July 2012/The ballot boxes in the Koura by-election opened on Sunday morning, kicking off an expected fierce battle between the Lebanese Forces candidate Fadi Karam and Syrian Social National Party candidate Walid al-Azar. The election will serve as a trial for the 2013 parliamentary elections due to the LF and SSNP political campaigns that pitted the March 14 candidate against the March 8 one, reported the daily An Nahar on Sunday. The March 14 camp is expecting a victory in the by-election seeing as three of its candidates who ran in al-Koura in the 2009 parliamentary polls each won by a great margin. The SSNP however is banking this time around on the Sunni vote, which it is hoping will sway the votes in their favor, said the daily. Besides Karam and Azar, four other candidates are running for the empty seat and they include Youssef Skaff, Jean Mefrej, Naeem al-Oujaimi, and Georges Matar. A total of 57,537 voters have been recorded in al-Koura and they will cast their votes at 128 ballot boxes. The greatest number of voters are comprised of the Greek Orthodox sect, followed by Maronites, then Sunnis, and then Shiites.  Azar told MTV after casting his vote in Amioun: “This not a strictly democratic battle despite the positive atmosphere at the polls.” “We are confident of victory and the turnout is not bad so far,” he added.
Karam had also cast his vote in Amioun. Interior Minister Marwan Charbel hoped to Voice of Lebanon radio that the election will take place without incident, stressing that the necessary security measures have been taken to avert any unrest. He is set to announce the results of the election on Monday morning, reported MTV on Sunday.
Deputy Speaker Farid Makari voiced to An Nahar his confidence that the LF candidate will win, expressing his satisfaction with the security measures that have been taken in the area. He declared that every vote counts, reiterating LF leader Samir Geagea’s remarks on Friday that the by-election will mark the first stage in the battle to topple Syrian influence in Lebanon. SSNP official Hassan Saqr stated that the elections will take place in a “civilized manner.”“The party is heading to the election to win it,” he told An Nahar. He expected that a small number of votes will separate the winner from the loser, noting an increased presence of expatriates heading to the polls. The Koura by-election is aimed at filling the Greek Orthodox parliamentary seat left vacant by the death of MP Farid Habib.

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel: No ‘bribery’ complaints in Koura by-elections
July 15, 2012 /Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said Sunday that his ministry has not received complaints about “bribery” in the Koura by-elections so far. The minister also told reporters during a press conference that voter turnout was “around 32 percent.” The special election in Koura kicked off on Sunday morning to elect a successor for Lebanese Forces bloc MP Farid Habib (1938-2012), who passed away on May 31 after a struggle with an illness. The Interior Ministry had announced that citizens can voice any complaints they had regarding the by-elections by calling the hotline number 1766.
-NOW Lebanon
Koura’s parliamentary by-elections kick off
July 15, 2012/Koura’s parliamentary by-elections to fill in the vacant Greek-Orthodox seat kicked off on Sunday morning amid the deployment of security and army forces, the National News Agency reported. Jean Mofreg, Naim al-Aajami, Youssef Sakkaf, George Matar, Fadi Karam and Walid al-Aazar are the six candidates competing to win the seat, which became vacant after Lebanese Forces bloc MP Farid Habib passed away in May after a struggle with an illness. The NNA also said that the number of voters according to check lists was 57,537 people, adding that there were 128 polling stations.
Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry announced that citizens can voice any complaints they had regarding the by-elections by calling the hotline number 1766. The report added that Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections (LADE) representatives were present in all polling stations.-NOW Lebanon

Reports: Hizbullah Denies Link to Crashed Baalbek Reconnaissance Plane
Naharnet /15 July 2012/Conflicting reports have emerged over the nature of the object that crashed in the Bekaa region of Baalbek on Saturday, with some claims saying that it is a Hizbullah reconnaissance plane. Voice of Lebanon radio had reported on Saturday that the plane in fact belongs to the party, while Hizbullah later denied to the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat having any links to it.
The daily al-Mustaqbal reported on Sunday that the crash was a result of a failed attempt by the party to launch a drone in the Younine region in Baalbek. The attempt failed less than a minute after the plane’s take off, it said. It exploded in the air and crashed on fire where it caused a major blaze in the area, stated the daily. It added that the attempt is part of a number of maneuvers by the party to try out drones. Hizbullah members immediately cordoned off the crash site, preventing anyone from entering the area. The burned drone was transported to an unknown location and the crater that was caused has been filled in, reported al-Mustaqbal. A security source meanwhile denied to the daily An Nahar that the object was a Hizbullah drone. It said that the object was in fact a balloon attached to a circular base and metal cable. The object is able to take off in the air by a candle that is lit inside the balloon, it explained. The object is able to remain in the air for five to ten minutes, it continued.
Furthermore, it said that the object is readily available in the Lebanese market. An Nahar added that security forces and civil defense teams headed to the area of the crash soon after it happened.

Report: Hezbollah drone crashes in south Lebanon
Roi Kais Published: 07.14.12/Ynetnews/Lebanese report says UAV crashes in Baalbek town of Younin. Crash site cordoned off .An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle belonging to Hezbollah crashed in south Lebanon Saturday, Lebanon's Christian channel MTV reported. No additional details were immediately available. The channel is not affiliated with Hezbollah. Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that eye witnesses noticed an unidentified object falling from the sky in the Baalbek town of Younin. The object, which was in flames, led to a fire in the area prompting Civil Defense teams and security agencies to the scene. It was later confirmed that the object was a UAV. Security agencies cordoned off the area, adding that the aircraft was transported from the site and that the crater it left was filled in. Earlier on Saturday, the Lebanese Armed Forces announced that an Israeli drone infiltrated Lebanon's airspace on Friday morning.

Syria Denies Treimsa Village 'Massacre'
Naharnet/ 15 July 2012/Syria's regime on Sunday denied its forces used tanks and helicopters in an assault on Treimsa, saying what happened in the central village was the result of clashes with rebels and not a "massacre."Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi said 39 people were killed in Treimsa on Thursday, all but two of them armed men, and that government forces only used light weapons to target five buildings. Following a visit to Treimsa on Saturday, the U.N. Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS) said heavy weapons were used and several homes were damaged, including five that were burned. It was unable to provide casualty figures. "Government forces did not use helicopters and tanks," Makdissi told a news conference in Damascus, adding: "What happened was not an attack by the army on innocent civilians.""The aim of this news conference is to tell people that what happened was not a massacre... It was a clash between regular forces and armed groups who do not believe in a peaceful solution. This is the reality, politically and militarily."Makdissi staunchly denied reports suggesting that the Syrian army used aircraft in the assault on Treimsa. "This is absolutely not true. Only troop carriers and lights weapons were used, the most powerful of weapons being RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades)," he said. The ministry spokesman admitted that "the situation is difficult on the ground" but insisted that Syria is "in a state of defense not in a state of attack." A team of U.N. observers returned on Sunday to Treimsa to pursue their investigations after saying activists and rebels bore the brunt of an army assault that activists say killed more than 150 people. Citing an unidentified source who claimed to have buried them, however, Makdissi said that "37 armed men were killed and two civilians only." In a statement on Saturday, UNSMIS spokeswoman Sausan Ghosheh said after the observers' visit that a "wide range of weapons were used, including artillery, mortars and small arms.""The attack on Treimsa appeared targeted at specific groups and houses, mainly of army defectors and activists. There were pools of blood and blood spatters in rooms of several homes together with bullet cases," she said. But Makdissi said "only five buildings where there were very sophisticated weapons were targeted." Syria's military has said already that army had killed "many terrorists" in Treimsa, but no civilians, in a "special operation... targeting armed terrorist groups and their leadership hide-outs." The international community has reacted with outrage to the latest killings, with U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon appealing for urgent action to stop the bloodshed and urging China -- a key ally of Syria -- to "influence" President Bashar Assad in ending the conflict.
SourceAgence France Presse.

Scared by the tribunal, who me?
Michael Young, Now Lebanon
Remember when the Special Tribunal for Lebanon was the nuclear bomb in Lebanese pants? Hezbollah members would be accused, civil war would ensue, and Sunnis and Shia would fight, in the memorable words of Bashar al-Assad, from the Mediterranean to the Caspian Sea.
Now the tribunal provokes hardly a yawn, as lawyers pursue the laborious legal process in their Dutch bubble. This week, the Lebanese state paid its contribution to the institution, without fanfare and without tension between Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Hezbollah.
Is anyone asking the obvious question: Why does Hezbollah seem so sanguine about the tribunal? Could it be that the party now believes the legal outcome will be less devastating than initially feared?
Until this point, the prosecutor, Norman Farrell, has not issued an amended indictment, one that implicates more Hezbollah figures. Last March the pretrial judge, Daniel Fransen, rejected the prosecution’s request to amend the indictment prepared by Farrell’s predecessor, Daniel Bellemare, by adding to it the crime of “criminal association” under Lebanese law. The term had to be clarified first by the appeals chamber, Fransen argued. This requirement will have only added more time to the process.
Hezbollah is perfectly aware that the Bellemare indictment suffers from a fundamental flaw: It offers no motive for the assassination of Rafik Hariri. We have four individuals, not one of whom will stand in the dock, who are accused of a crime the rationale of which has not been elucidated—at least not in the publicly released indictment.
Worse, the timeframe once the trial begins hardly suggests an early endgame. According to sources at the tribunal, we may not have a trial until next year. One individual intimately familiar with court procedures of this kind expects the trial to take three to four years, the appeals stage to take an additional two years, and he points out that if the defendants ever surface, the trial will have to be restarted from scratch. If that assessment is correct, we should expect some kind of verdict by 2017 at the earliest, 12 years after Hariri’s killing.
I wouldn’t worry if I were Hezbollah, would you?
The party is protected to an extent by another factor. Most Lebanese believe, probably rightly, that if Hezbollah participated in Hariri’s murder, then it did so in close collaboration with the Assad regime—indeed very probably at the instigation of the Syrian leadership. Within the coming years, there is a good chance that Bashar al-Assad will fall, and with him the edifice of repression and intimidation so instrumental in targeting Lebanon’s late prime minister.
What an irony. Some believe the Syrians sought to place the Hariri assassination entirely at Hezbollah’s doorstep by eliminating key individuals who might have provided a link in the conspiracy between the party and Damascus. But if Assad is ousted and the Hezbollah suspects are never caught—or if they are somehow declared innocent by the tribunal—then the last laugh would be the party’s.
As a weapon against impunity, the Special Tribunal has been an abysmal failure. The notion that political assassinations will not occur in the future for fear that the international community might set up new tribunals as it did for Lebanon is laughable. If anything, the myriad shortcomings of the investigation and the delays in going to trial will work against a repeat of the Lebanon experience.
After all, a more consensual and, arguably, effective body, the International Criminal Court, has not managed to dissuade mass murderers. Though the ICC has accused prominent leaders of terrible crimes, notably indicting Sudan’s president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, this did not prevent fellow dictators, such as Bashar al-Assad, Moammar Qaddafi or Ali Abdullah Saleh from massacring their populations.
At this stage, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon is useful mainly as a political weapon inside Lebanon. That is why the March 14 coalition continues to swear by it, and perhaps why Walid Jumblatt, who denounced the tribunal as “politicized” in the days when he was cozying up to the Syrian regime, recently praised the American senator, John McCain, for having been steadfast in defending the institution. As leverage against Hezbollah, the tribunal still serves a purpose, but no one should expect results soon.
However, you have to wonder whether March 14, beyond political expediency, is still convinced that the investigation and Special Tribunal were successful experiments. The members of that loose fraternity should feel hoodwinked by the United Nations. Outrage is in order, even though the parties in the opposition will never express it, given their political stake in upholding the tribunal’s credibility.
And if political calculation is behind their silence, that only gives us another reason to regret what the United Nations has spawned. Here the international body set up a judicial body to stay above politics and dispense justice. Now its purpose, at least in Lebanon, is to serve as a political tool, while justice is kept waiting, indefinitely.
Michael Young is opinion editor of The Daily Star newspaper in Lebanon. He tweets @BeirutCalling.

Report: Mossad involved in terror suspect's arrest
Ynetnews/Media outlets in Cyprus reveal further details on arrest of Lebanese man suspected of planning terror attacks against Israelis; local authorities investigating case in conjunction with foreign agencies .Media outlets in Cyprus reported that Mossad agents were involved in the arrest or questioning of a Lebanese man arrested on suspicion of planning terrorist attacks against Israelis. It was further reported that the suspect used a Swedish passport, contrary to previous reports which indicated he holds a Saudi passport. According to Cypriot news websites, Israeli and local authorities are investigating whether the suspect has connections in and outside of Cyprus. A news website reported that the suspect is a member of Hezbollah while state CyBC radio reported that documents and photographs were found in his possession detailing movements of Israelis on the island. A police spokesman announced Saturday that Cypriot authorities arrested a man on suspicion he planned terrorist attacks. A local radio report said the suspect planned to hit Israeli targets. The spokesman refused to disclose the suspect's identity, involvement in the plot and the attack's target. "This is an issue of security which we take very seriously and we cannot comment any further," the spokesman told AFP.The suspect was detained in police custody for another seven days.
According to Sigmalive the man arrived on the island to plan and orchestrate the blowing up of a plane or a bus. Local daily Phileleftheros said notes with details of Israeli aircraft were found in his possession.State radio said the suspect was staying in the southern coastal resort of Limassol and took photographs of Israeli interests.
According to one report, Limassol police received an alert from a foreign intelligence agency and arrested the suspect in his hotel room where they found travel documents from Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.

Is Assad threatening Israel?
Ymetnews/Ron Ben-Yishai analyzes recent reports on movement of Syria’s chemical and biological weapons. Had the reports that Syria’s regime is taking chemical weapons out of storehouses reflected reality, they should have raised concerns around here. Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Army Chief Benny Gantz have already declared that Israel is closely monitoring Syria’s chemical and biological arsenals for fear that President Bashar Assad will order their transfer to Hezbollah in a desperate move before he falls – or worse, use these arms himself against Israel in a suicidal gesture. However, for the time being it appears that Syria’s regime is not significantly changing the location and deployment of its chemical and biological weapons. At most, they are being moved to safer bases and storage areas, far away from regions controlled by the rebels or sites of battles.The Syrian regime and its security forces lost control over wide swaths of land in northwestern Syria, in the country’s southeast, and in the Damascus area. The regime is particularly concerned about the infiltration of al-Qaeda cells and the growing rate of attacks carried out by the group near the capital, where the Syrian army’s most sensitive and important bases, as well as non-conventional weapons, are located. The Syrian regime apparently fears that the chemical weapons will fall into the hands of al-Qaeda men, who as noted infiltrated the capital’s vicinity and are carrying out attacks on a daily basis. The reports by The Wall Street Journal, based on American intelligence sources, reflect anxiety more than a reality that has already taken shape. However, these reports should not be disparaged. The Americans, Turks and Jordanians are also very concerned by the quantities of chemical and biological weapons held by the Syrian regime and fear that these arms may end up in the hands of radical Islamist elements.
Assad’s end nearing?
The indications which the Wall Street Journal report was based on apparently show that something may be happening, but it appears that we are seeing anxiety on the part of the Syrian regime and Assad’s fear that these weapons could end up in al-Qaeda’s hands. In any case, Western intelligence officials have not seen developments pertaining to Syria’s non-conventional weapons that should concern Israel or Syria’s other neighbors.
The state of the Syrian regime keeps deteriorating, among other things because the army has not managed to suppress armed rebel groups operating in broad areas of the country. This is the case because Assad’s forces cannot curb the infiltration of Global Jihad elements into the Damascus area. On top of this come the destabilized economy, isolation and sanctions adopted by the Arab world, Europe, the US and Turkey. Hence, officials estimate that President Assad is at the end of the road, yet it is difficult to determine how long the regime’s decline would last. We should keep in mind that Assad is not only fighting for his life and his own survival, but also for the life of his family and members of the Alawite sect, whose members constitute the regime’s elite. Another factor that extends the regime’s death throes is the fact that the political opposition and armed rebels operating from Turkey or Lebanon are not united and have failed to come up with the critical military mass and an alternate regime that would prompt Syria’s middle class to shift to the rebels’ side.

Can It Get Worse in Syria? It Just Did
Jeffrey White/Washington Institute
July 13, 2012
Syria's descent into ever-greater violence steepened yesterday. Driven by the regime's desperate attempt to stay in power, an already ugly conflict took an ominous turn with the reported movement of chemical munitions and what appears to be the worst massacre of civilians yet.
CHEMICAL WEAPONS MOVEMENT
Although details are lacking on yesterday's news that the regime is moving some of its chemical weapons (CW), the development signals that something important may have changed in Syria. The regime's CW infrastructure has been well established for years, and sudden movement within it suggests a major decision may be in the making. After all, the very act of moving them puts them at risk. The opposition Free Syrian Army has been widely attacking the road system, including military convoys -- if CW transports come under attack, the weapons could be damaged, chemical agents could be released, or munitions could fall into the hands of FSA elements.
The regime's decision could be based on one of several factors. If the munitions are being concentrated at a smaller number of secure facilities, that would suggest the regime is worried about losing control of its CW as a result of combat or defections. It would also be another indication that the regime's position is deteriorating.
Alternatively, the regime may be preparing to use the weapons. If CW munitions are being deployed to operational units, that would suggest preparation for use. Use of CW would be the worst possible development of the war, one that should almost certainly trigger outside intervention.
Perhaps the regime is concerned that outside actors such as the United States are preparing to target its CW stocks. Once these weapons begin moving around, locating and targeting them becomes a much more difficult intelligence problem. Although the U.S. intelligence community will presumably be checking on all known CW facilities and operational units (air, ground, and missile) with a CW mission in the wake of yesterday's reports, the regime can send the weapons virtually anywhere in the country and could simply hide them altogether. If the regime is willing to take the risks associated with moving CW in this manner, it could indicate that Damascus is seriously worried about the prospect of outside intervention.
THE MASSACRE
As many as 200 people were reportedly massacred in the village of Tremseh yesterday, and responsibility for the killings clearly lies at the regime's feet. The town of some 7,000 people was apparently subjected to concerted attack by Syrian military forces (including helicopters, artillery, and tanks) and then sacked, in the medieval sense, by shabbiha irregulars. The action is consistent with tactics the regime routinely employs in its offensive operations. That this kind of incident would happen at some point was predictable following the Houla massacre in May, and similar or even worse attacks could occur in the future as the regime becomes increasingly desperate to crush the opposition.
IMPLICATIONS
The Tremseh massacre and the movement of chemical weapons show that the Syrian regime is on an increasingly deadly path and will not be diverted by negotiations. The situation is becoming rapidly worse, and diplomatic efforts to end the fighting will continue to fail. UN envoy Kofi Annan's efforts are increasingly out of touch with realities on the ground, giving the regime a fig leaf of legitimacy and time in which to break the opposition. In short, this is a dangerous regime -- dangerous to its people and, as the CW movement suggests, dangerous to the region. The time for talking with Bashar al-Assad has passed. It is time for ultimatums -- and, if those fail, armed action to topple the regime.
*Jeffrey White is a defense fellow at The Washington Institute.

Islamic Sodomy or 'Islamophobic Hoax'?
by Raymond Ibrahim/Jihad Watch
July 14, 2012
http://www.raymondibrahim.com/11992/islam-sodomy-hoax
In "Sodomy for the Sake of Islam," I wrote about Abdullah al-Asiri, the 2009 suicide-bomber who inserted explosives in his rectum, and how news emerged later that he likely relied on a fatwa permitting sodomy to "widen" his anus to accommodate the explosives. (Click here for a graphic picture of the aftermath of this approach.)
It wasn't long before the infamous "hoax!" charge appeared—this time over at the anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian website, Electronic Intifada (henceforth EI). Writing that "The Advocate, an important US-based national gay and lesbian news magazine, has published a homophobic, racist, sectarian and Islamophobic hoax as if it is actual news," one Benjamin Doherty unequivocally denounces my article, the Advocate's source, as "pure nonsense," a "vile Islamophobic hoax," and a "defamatory joke targeting Muslims."
Amazingly, despite all this sure language, the fact is, EI does not offer a shred of evidence to counter my article.
Consider:
The first couple paragraphs are, as mentioned, devoted to portraying my article as a "homophobic, racist, sectarian and Islamophobic hoax," with sporadic attacks on the David Horowitz Freedom Center, where I am a fellow.
So far, no evidence, just the usual smear campaign and ad hominem attacks to set the stage and influence the gullible and naïve.
Next EI spends time bemoaning how the Advocate mistakenly thought that the man who appears in the video I linked to was the actual cleric issuing the anus-fatwa, when in fact he is the man reporting on it, Abdullah al-Khallaf.
I had written, "A 2010 Arabic news video that aired on Fadak TV gives the details. Apparently a cleric, one Abu al-Dema al-Qasab, informed al-Asiri and other jihadis of an innovative and unprecedented way to execute martyrdom operations…" By linking to that video, I was indicating my source of information—not saying "the man who appears talking is Abu al-Dema."
Either way, this misreading by Advocate is neither here nor there, and has absolutely nothing to do with the issue at hand: does such a fatwa exist or not? It's just filler dressed as "evidence."
Then, as if more unnecessary fluff was needed, EI offers a long retranslation of the sodomy fatwa, with no discernible difference between the substance of their translation and mine.
Mind you, we are more than halfway through this rambling diatribe that began by repeatedly screaming "hoax," and still no evidence, though language implying the "proof" has already been given begins to appear. For example, EI casually goes on to declare that "Al-Khallaf reads the item [the fatwa] from the website as if it is real." Well, why shouldn't he? EI has yet to give evidence that it is not real.
Finally, we come to the "proof"—the only section that is bolded in the EI article, to emphasize its "importance." EI claims that al-Khallaf
also characterizes the alleged protagonists as "Wahhabis." It appears his intention is to incite his audience's disgust at the supposed thinking and behavior of Wahhabi Sunni Muslims who, he suggests, will justify anything in pursuit of their goals.
And there it is—EI's "ironclad proof" that the sodomy fatwa is a hoax: Al-Khallaf must be an anti-Wahabbi Shiite, and "it appears his intention" is less than honest.
Sorry, EI: "appearances" and "intentions" do not constitute proof. After all, I can easily argue that it "appears" EI's "intention" in writing this article is simply to save face, since, as a pro-Palestinian, anti-Israeli website, it does not wish to see the recruitment of suicide bombers diminished by this scandal.
But that wouldn't be "proof," would it?
Needless to say, the rest of EI's arguments consist of (second-rate) sophistry, lies and contradictions.
EI asserts that the fatwa's
text appears to be at best an extremely vulgar joke and at worst sectarian defamation. It is written in a style commonly used for stories in which both the teller and listener know it is a joke or fiction…
Once again, EI continues treating "appearances" as proof. Whether it appears to be a "vulgar joke" or "sectarian defamation" is hardly evidence that the fatwa is a hoax. After all, fatwas almost always look like jokes to Western people, which is what EI is counting on.
Next, EI contradicts itself. First, Al-Khallaf is portrayed as reading the fatwa on the air to "incite his audience's disgust." Yet now, EI claims that the fatwa "is written in a style commonly used for stories in which both the teller and listener know it is a joke or fiction."
Question: How can al-Khallaf "incite his audience's disgust," if the fatwa, which he read in its entirety, "is written in a style" which his "listeners" will "know is a joke or fiction"?
EI continues grasping at straws:
Several features identify this story as a tasteless joke, especially the name "Sheikh Abu al-Dema al-Qasab." It translates to Sheikh Bloody Butcher. This is not a real person. The post is peppered with phrases like "it is said" and "only God knows" which indicate storytelling.
"Sheikh Bloody Butcher" is a typical pseudonym to preserve the identity of the cleric who came up with this anus-idea over at the frontlines of the jihad, where an extra level anonymity is always expected and respected among Muslims; moreover, amongst jihadis, "Bloody Butcher" is a compliment—something of a "heroic" name. Even so, odd names for prominent sheikhs are not uncommon. Consider popular Sheikh Huwaini—whose name means "animal" no less than his behavior, including his desire to plunder non-Muslims of their money and buy infidel sex-slaves.
As for the claim that the fatwa is "peppered with phrases like 'it is said' and 'only God knows' which indicate storytelling," this is another barefaced lie by EI—not because those phrases do not appear in the fatwa, but because those phrases are standard and always appear in fatwas. I have yet to read an Arabic fatwa—past or present—that is not "peppered" with "it was said" and "Allah only knows." Yet, EI twists these authentic points to cast doubt on the fatwa among unsuspecting non-Muslims.
In short, for all its triumphant howling, EI fails to deliver, abysmally. The facts remain: such a fatwa does exist; it is written exactly like a fatwa (despite EI's intentional distortions); and a well-known Arabic program quoted it as fact—which is precisely what I originally reported in the first place.
Despite all this, weak knees quickly buckled before EI's hoax accusations. After demanding that Advocate retract their article, including through the usual "how could you of all people spread such hate" line, Advocate revised their article, including by changing the title from "Sodomy for Suicide Bombers" to "Researcher's Claim [that would be me] About Suicide Bombers Called False." Another website, Gay Star News, prompted by EI's lies, ran with an article titled "Anus gay terror video a hoax" (apparently now the actual video of talk show host al-Khallaf—who may be interested to learn he no longer exists—is also a "hoax").
Ironically, the editors of these websites seem to be unaware that EI is angry—not because of the well-documented facts that al-Asiri inserted explosives in his anus in order to murder someone he deceived into meeting by feigning goodwill, all in the name of Islam—but because the portrayal of this "noble jihadi" as a sodomite "incites … disgust" among Muslims, as EI clearly stated above in bold, thus demoralizing the jihad.
Get it? Suicidal jihadist killing apostates and infidels—no problem. But a homosexual?—never!
Update: Gatestone Institute, where my sodomy article first appeared, just forwarded me an email from EI's Doherty, where, as more "proof" he writes "The Advocate, Gay Star News and The Electronic Intifada have all published evidence that the fatwa does not exist." In fact, only Electronic Intifada—that is, Doherty himself—published "evidence," which we just saw, though his wording suggests that Advocate and Gay Star News, who simply followed his lead, have some sort of independent evidence.