Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for July 24/12
European Union refuses Israeli request to blacklist Hezbollah
Hizbullah Denies Links to Harb’s Assassination Bid
Report: Obscure Group Nabs Syrian Dissidents in Lebanon to Swap for 11 Pilgrims
Sleiman postpones National Dialogue to Aug. 16
UNs Special Coordinator for Lebanon Plumbly Meets Miqati, Relays U.N. Conc
Lebanese Army battles Bekaa cannabis farmers
Lebanon protests over Syria’s border violations
Phalange leader Amin Gemayel Rules out Collapse of Hizbullah after Defeat of Syrian Regime
Lebanese farmers seek export route after Syria border closed
Lebanese Striking contract workers seal entrance to EDL
Jumblatt voices regret over Nasrallah’s remarks on Syria
Anti-Assad men ‘abducted’ in Bekaa 
Report: Obscure Group Nabs Syrian Dissidents in Lebanon to Swap for 11 Pilgrims
Phalange Party Stresses Dialogue Importance, Says Hizbullah to Blame for Suspension
Jumblat: Nasrallah Was Better Off Not Referring to Symbol of Syrian Oppression as Comrade-in-Arms
EU Hails Lebanese Efforts to Support Syrian Refugees
Wahhab Denies Lebanese Suspect behind his Assassination Attempt
Lebanon protests over Syria’s border violations 
Fatwa Bans Christian Priests from Public Transportation to Church/Raymond Ibrahim
Ban on Fishing Escalates Complaints of Discrimination, says Indian Christians
Canada Condemns Iraq Bombings
Activists say 90,000 refugees in Lebanon
Obama warns Syria on chemical arms
SNC clarifies statements on transitional period in Syria
Clashes flare in Syria's Aleppo for 4th day
Syria Rebels Would Accept Transition Led by Regime Figure
Egypt ex-Irrigation Minister, Hisham Qandil Named as new PM

IDF: Syrian chemical threat targets Israel. Obama warns Assad against “tragic mistake”
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report July 23, 2012/Senior Israeli military officers, referring to the Syrian foreign ministry statement Monday, July 23, that Syria would only use chemical weapons against “external aggression,” found in it a direct threat by the Assad regime to turn those weapons against Israel. It was Syria’s rejoinder to Israel’s vow to use force against those chemical weapons to prevent them from reaching Hizballah’s hands in Lebanon. Tensions between Syria and Israel, like its other neighbors - especially Jordan and Turkey – rose to a new pitch in the wake of the new Syrian statement.
Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said plainly Sunday that preventing Syria’s chemical weapons from “falling into the wrong hands” was a key to Israeli security, while Defense Minister Ehud Barak said he had ordered the Israeli military to prepare for a possible attack on Syria’s weapons arsenal, because “Israel cannot accept the transfer of advanced weapons from Syria to Lebanon.” Monday, British Foreign Secretary William Hague, catching onto Syria’s veiled threat, called it unacceptable: “This is typical of the complete illusion of this regime that they are the victims of external aggression.”A few hours later, the UN Secretary Ban Ki-moon said in New York that he was “very concerned” that “Syria may be tempted to use chemical weapons.”He was followed by Pentagon press secretary George Little who told reporters: “They should not think one iota about using chemical weapons,” he said. “We have been very strong in our statements inside the US government on the prospective use of chemical weapons and it would be entirely unacceptable.”Finally, US President Barack Obama said Monday that “Assad will be held accountable if he makes the tragic mistake of using chemical weapons.
An Israeli officer told debkafile that the Syrian foreign ministry’s statement was tantamount to a declaration that the Assad regime holds all the cards on when and against whom to use its chemical weapons. America, Israel, Jordan and Turkey have no say in the matter. Assad alone will decide if and when to wage chemical warfare against such enemies as Israel and Jordan, although he may be expected to follow Iran in refraining from going after American targets at this time. He has, in other words, given himself carte blanche for resorting to chemical warfare at a time of his choosing by reiterating that his government is subject to external Arab and Western aggression. Israeli sources point out that the Syrian statement omitted any mention – certainly no denial - of the possible transfer of those weapons to Hizballah in Lebanon. The Assad regime must therefore be understood to reserve to itself that option, too, thereby laying Israel wide open to a direct threat. Israel and its military were alone in expressly vowing to prevent this transfer. “We understand the Syrian ruler to be preparing to expand the Syria war into Lebanon whence his troops can threaten northern and Mediterranean areas of Israel,” said a US military source. Another development Monday portending the further exacerbation of the Syrian crisis was the announcement by Aeroflot that it was suspending flights to Damascus in two weeks “for economic reasons.”It looks as though Moscow foresees a further downturn in the Syrian conflict and estimates that by early August intensified air force activity in Syrian skies will reach a dangerous level.
Sunday, July 22, debkafile’s exclusive military sources outlined the military dilemma facing Israel with regard to the Syrian chemical weapon threat.

Obama warns Syria on chemical arms
July 24, 2012/Agencies
BEIRUT: U.S. President Barack Obama warned Syrian President Bashar Assad Monday not to make the “tragic mistake” of turning to his stockpile of chemical weapons.
Assad’s beleaguered regime had earlier threatened to unleash the weapons if Syria faced international military intervention, although it vowed not to turn them against its own civilians.
“Given the regime’s stockpile of chemical weapons, we will continue to make it clear to Assad and those around him that the world is watching,” Obama told an audience of U.S. veterans in the western state of Nevada. “They will be held accountable by the international community and the United States should they make the tragic mistake of using those weapons,” he said.
Earlier, Syrian Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi had acknowledged for the first time that it had chemical and biological weapons, saying they could be used if the country faced foreign intervention.International pressure on Assad has escalated in the last week with a rebel offensive in the two biggest cities and a bomb attack which killed four members of his inner circle in Damascus.
Defying Arab foreign ministers who Sunday offered him a “safe exit” if he stepped down, Assad has launched fierce counter-offensives, reflecting his determination to hold on to power.
Makdissi said the army would not use chemical weapons to crush rebels, but they could be used against forces from outside the country.
“Any chemical or bacterial weapons will never be used ... during the crisis in Syria regardless of the developments,” Makdissi said.
“All these weapons are stored and secured by Syrian military forces and under its direct supervision and will never be used unless Syria faces external aggression.”
The Syrian government later tried to back off from the announcement, sending journalists an amendment to the prepared statement read out by Makdissi, adding the phrase “if any,” in attempts to return to their previous position of neither confirming nor denying the existence of unconventional weapons.
The regime subsequently blasted foreign media outlets for taking its remarks out of context and focusing on the announcement of chemical weapons instead of its attempt to “respond to a media campaign aimed at preparing international opinion for foreign intervention into Syria under the false pretext that it was going to use weapons of mass destruction inside the country.”
Syria is believed to have nerve agents as well as mustard gas, Scud missiles capable of delivering these lethal chemicals and a variety of advanced conventional arms, including anti-tank rockets and late-model portable anti-aircraft missiles. Damascus has not signed a 1992 international convention that bans the use, production or stockpiling of chemical weapons, but officials in the past have denied that it had any stockpiles.
As violence escalates in Syria, insurgents have said they fear Assad’s forces will resort to non-conventional weapons as they seek to claw back rebel gains across the country.
Western and Israeli countries have also expressed fears that chemical weapons could fall into the hands of militant groups as Assad’s authority erodes.
U.N. chief Ban Ki-Moon meanwhile said the use of chemical weapons in Syria would be “reprehensible.”
“It would be reprehensible if anybody in Syria is contemplating [the] use of such weapons of mass destruction like chemical weapons,” Ban told reporters in Belgrade on the fourth leg of his Balkans tour.
“I sincerely hope the international community will keep an eye on this so that there will be no such things happening,” he added.
Makdissi also condemned calls for Assad to step down at a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Qatar over the weekend, calling it a “flagrant intervention” in Syria’s internal affairs.
“We regret that the Arab League stooped to this immoral level in dealing with a founding member instead of helping Syria,” he said.
Arab League ministers meeting in Doha Monday urged the opposition and the rebel Free Syrian Army to form a transitional government, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani told a news conference in Doha.
But Iraq and Algeria Monday rejected the Arab League call for Assad to step down, saying that was a sovereign decision for the Syrian people.
“This call is not appropriate at this time because it is interfering in the sovereignty of another country,” Iraqi Deputy Foreign Minister Labid Abbawi told AFP. “There are other means to secure a peaceful transition of authority.” On Monday the army shelled rebel forces in the northern city of Aleppo and stormed the southern Damascus neighborhood of Nahr Aisha, breaking into shops and houses and burning some of them, activists said. Video showed dozens of men in green army fatigues massing in the neighborhood, which looked completely abandoned. Men carrying machine guns and rocket-propelled grenade launchers knocked and then kicked down doors and climbed through windows.
Assad’s forces have reasserted control over several Damascus areas since they seized back the central Midan district Friday, following a devastating bomb attack that killed four of Assad’s top security officials Wednesday. But Assad’s forces have lost ground outside cities, ceding control of four border posts on the Turkish and Iraqi borders.
Rebels also seized an army infantry school in the town of Musalmiyeh, 16 km north of Aleppo, and captured several loyalist officers, while others defected, a senior military defector in Turkey and rebel sources inside Syria said. In Aleppo, activists said residents were fleeing the rebel-held districts of Al-Haideriya, Hanano and Sakhour after army shelling and clashes between rebels and government forces.
A rebel fighter said the rebels had destroyed three tanks in the Hanano district and predicted weeks of fighting in Syria’s largest city.
“The regime is fighting for its survival. God willing by the end of Ramadan, Aleppo will be in our hands,” Mustafa Mohammad said.
The fighting in Damascus, Aleppo and the eastern city of Deir Ezzour has been some of the fiercest yet.
Rebels were driven from the Mezzeh district of Damascus Sunday, residents and opposition activists said, and over 1,000 government troops and allied militiamen poured into the area, backed by armored vehicles, tanks and bulldozers. Government forces executed at least 20 men, aged approximately 20 to 30, activists said by phone from Mezzeh.
“Most had bullet holes, one with as many as 18. Three had their hands tied behind their back. Some of the men were in their pajamas. Several had their legs broken or fingers missing. Others were stabbed with knifes,” said Bashir al-Kheir, one of the activists. Opposition and rebel sources say the guerrilla fighters in the capital may lack the supply lines to remain there for long and may have to make tactical withdrawals. The neighborhood of Barzeh, one of three northern areas hit by helicopter fire, was overrun by troops commanded by Assad’s brother, Maher Assad, 41, who is widely seen as the muscle maintaining the Assad family’s rule.

Sleiman postpones National Dialogue to Aug. 16
July 24, 2012/By Hussein Dakroub
The Daily Star
BEIRUT: President Michel Sleiman postponed Monday a new round of National Dialogue scheduled for Tuesday until next month, in a move reflecting continuing divisions between rival political leaders over the thorny issue of Hezbollah’s arms.
Sleiman’s move came shortly after the opposition March 14 coalition upheld its decision to boycott the Dialogue session, citing ambiguities concerning the release of telecommunications data it says security bodies need to carry out their probes in cases of attempted assassinations of the coalition’s political figures.
Sleiman said the postponement of National Dialogue until Aug. 16 was meant to give time for more consultations on the main topic on the agenda: a national defense strategy.
“As a result of contacts and consultations which President Michel Sleiman held with the parties of the National Dialogue Committee and in view of the need for more consultations, the president has decided to postpone the committee’s meeting scheduled for tomorrow [Tuesday] until Aug. 16 in order to follow up discussion of the issue of a national defense strategy put on the agenda,” said a terse statement released by the president’s office.
Sleiman’s announcement came after he had apparently failed to convince March 14 leaders to attend Tuesday’s session, which was supposed to discuss methods to benefit from Hezbollah’s weapons in the context of a national defense strategy designed to protect Lebanon against a possible Israeli attack.
A source at Baabda Palace told The Daily Star that in the third round of National Dialogue Sleiman was likely to present a blueprint containing a summary of ideas and proposals made by Dialogue parties and retired Lebanese Army generals concerning a national defense strategy.
Sleiman Monday sent his envoy, ex-Zahle MP and former Defense Minister Khalil Hrawi, to former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, head of the parliamentary Future bloc. Khalil briefed Siniora on a ministerial security meeting that Sleiman chaired at Baabda Palace Saturday, which discussed a mechanism to deliver telecoms data to security bodies as demanded by the March 14 parties.
However, Siniora said in a statement after meeting the envoy that the March 14 parties upheld their boycott of National Dialogue because their demand for providing security agencies with telecoms data had not been fully and clearly met. “In light of the information relayed by the presidential envoy, [former] Prime Minister Siniora had the impression that the mechanism for providing security apparatuses with telecoms data was unclear,” according to a statement released by Siniora’s office.
“Therefore, Siniora demanded that telecoms data be complete and be put automatically and constantly at the disposal of security apparatuses without barriers and complications in order for security apparatuses to be able to do their job in protecting the country and confronting terrorist operations,” it said.
“Based on this unclear information concerning the release of telecoms data, as well as the two other clauses mentioned in the March 14 statement [of July 19] which are still until now without a clear answer, Siniora informed the presidential envoy that the [March 14] position on suspending participation in Dialogue has not changed,” th
The March 14 coalition has held the government responsible for the attempted assassination of Batroun MP Butros Harb on July 5 because it had withheld telecoms data necessary for security bodies to uncover such plots. It has also called on the government to provide telecoms data after Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea escaped sniper fire at his residence in Maarab in April.
Environment Minister Nazim Khoury, who is close to Sleiman, lamented the March 14 decision to boycott National Dialogue. “It’s a big mistake not to have a dialogue ... The two sides have concerns and fears,” Khoury told Al-Jadeed TV Monday night.
Last week, the March 14 coalition decided to boycott Tuesday’s Dialogue session in protest against Hezbollah’s refusal to discuss its arms and the government’s failure to provide security agencies with telecommunications data following abortive assassination attempts targeting the coalition’s key figures.
The coalition also underlined the need for lifting political cover from wanted people, ensuring immediate and serious protection for threatened March 14 figures and adhering to the Constitution, “which stresses that the state is the only authority to defend Lebanon.”
The decision to boycott the Dialogue session was apparently in response to MP Mohammad Raad, head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc, who last week said it was premature for rival political leaders to discuss a national defense strategy, saying the country had yet to liberate itself from Israeli occupation.
The president last month convened two National Dialogue sessions between leaders of the March 14 coalition and the Hezbollah-led March 8 alliance in an attempt to defuse political and sectarian tensions stemming mainly from the repercussions of the 17-month turmoil in Syria.
Meanwhile, Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt informed Sleiman that he will stop attending Dialogue meetings, his party said without further elaboration. But LBCI television said Jumblatt decided to suspend his participation in Dialogue meetings for security reasons.
The Kataeb (Phalange) Party accused Hezbollah of paralyzing the National Dialogue Committee when it rejected the discussion of a national defense strategy.
In a statement issued after a meeting of its political bureau chaired by its leader Amin Gemayel, the party renewed its support for National Dialogue and its full solidarity with Sleiman who is “seeking to spare the country the repercussions and dangers of the crises in neighboring countries.”
The statement held Hezbollah responsible for canceling the Dialogue Committee’s agenda when it called for dropping discussion of a defense strategy.

Lebanon protests over Syria’s border violations
July 24, 2012/The Daily Star/BEIRUT: President Michel Sleiman asked Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour Monday to deliver a letter of protest to the Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdel-Karim Ali over Syria’s repeated violations of the Lebanese border. Syrian Ambassador Ali, however, expressed surprise at the request handed to him by the Lebanese state.
Speaking to Al-Mayadeen satellite news channel, Ali said: “Syria should be filing complaints because its border posts are being attacked from Lebanese territories.” The rare protest by a Lebanese president against Syria came after a house in eastern Lebanon was hit by a blast and shells from the Syrian side fell on Lebanon’s northern border area.
Sleiman “expressed his displeasure” over the border violation incident after a house in the Masharih al-Qaa area was bombed and shells fired from Syria slammed into several villages along the northern border, according to a statement released by the president’s office.
The president asked Mansour to hand Ali a letter of protest to the Syrian authorities over this issue. Sleiman also asked “the Army Command and relevant [security] bodies to coordinate their investigations in order to avoid a recurrence of these violations once and for all,” the statement said. Thirty Syrian army soldiers crossed into the Masharih al-Qaa village of Al- Joura, which is on the Lebanese side of the border crossing, over the weekend. They came some 500 meters into the country, raiding homes.
One man was wounded in the exchange, a house was burned down, and several other homes were damaged.
Last week, the Lebanese Army deployed troops in north Lebanon as well as the northern and eastern border with Syria following a spate of deadly incidents along the shared border. Several Lebanese have been killed and wounded by gunfire as the Syrian Army fought anti-regime armed groups in border areas in recent months.
The military deployment in north and east of the country was in line with a government decision aimed at protecting citizens following repeated Syrian incursions into Lebanese territory.
In the latest deadly incident near the border, clashes between the Syrian army and armed opposition groups in the Syrian village of Jossieh near the Jossieh-Qaa border crossing left four rebels dead Saturday.
Sleiman said Lebanon would not allow its territory to serve as a base or a transit point for the smuggling of arms and gunmen into Syria.

Lebanese Army battles Bekaa cannabis farmers
July 24, 2012/By Rakan al-Fakih/The Daily Star
BAALBEK, Lebanon: Security forces began eradicating the country’s cannabis fields Monday morning, prompting locals to fight back, leaving one policeman lightly wounded.
A joint force from the Internal Security Forces and the Lebanese Army began destroying cannabis crop at around 8 a.m., acting on the instructions of the Central Office for Drug Control. Also taking part in the action were tractor owners, who are paid for their efforts.
Security sources, who spoke to The Daily Star on the condition of anonymity, said gunmen fired at the force and two police vehicles were hit during skirmishes near Boudai on the outskirts of Baalbek. Automatic weapons and RPGs were used in the clashes, which lasted for several minutes.
The policeman suffered only a minor injury in his back thanks to a bullet proof vest, the security sources said. The shooters fled the scene.
Armed men also smashed tractors as their drivers returned from the action in Boudai. The National News Agency said 15 tractors were attacked in Ain al-Sawda, and the drivers said their attackers warned them against taking part in the crackdown. Colonel Adel Mashmoushi, the head of the CODC, defended the eradication, which destroyed 300 dunums of cannabis in Talya Boudai and Hermel Monday.
If cannabis is not destroyed, “drugs will spread in Lebanese society,” Mashmoushi said, adding that security forces will not open fire on populated civilian areas but will respond to gunfire.
Mashmoushi, who called cannabis a “dangerous poison,” said that the operation will continue until the final cannabis plant is destroyed. He stressed that this was a local priority but added that “everybody knows that if we do not destroy cannabis ... this will tarnish Lebanon’s reputation on an international level.”
In protest at the eradication campaign, farmers and their relatives used burning tires to block roads in the Sharawneh and Tel Abyad neighborhoods of Baalbek and in Boudai. They accused Mashmoushi and the Cabinet of depriving them of their main source of income, given what they called extreme negligence on the part of the state. They argued that the area has been poor and marginalized for decades, and attempts to offer substitute crops for cannabis have not been sufficient.
Security forces reopened the roads by 11 a.m.
Some 30 bulldozers and tractors took part in the crackdown, and Mashmoushi specifically thanked security forces and local tractor owners for their role.
Responding to reporters’ suggestions that poverty drives farmers to grow cannabis, Mashmoushi said some plants are irrigated with expensive technology, and “one dunum costs $1,500 [to irrigate and plant],” suggesting that to grow a larger crop is a costly undertaking. “These plants deprive the Bekaa of all legitimate sources of making a living,” he said. “God willing, in the coming days will prove how serious the state is in this move, we will continue to destroy cannabis ... until the last plant is eradicated and there is political cover for [cannabis] farmers.”
Mashmoushi declined to go into detail on investigations into a recently discovered drug trafficking network. “Recently we uncovered a large drug trafficking network, and unfortunately some who have bad intentions, and others who were deceived, attempted to mislead investigations.” He warned that attempts to evade or mislead investigations would be unsuccessful.
Cannabis has long flourished in the fertile Bekaa Valley. Although the government banned the plant in 1992 and began annual campaigns to destroy it, farmers continue to grow the plant.
Campaigns to encourage farmers switch to other crops such as sunflowers, saffron and tobacco have been unsuccessful on a large scale, as the crops were either unsuited to the local environs or not as profitable as cannabis.

European Union refuses Israeli request to blacklist Hezbollah
July 24, 2012/The European Union turned down a request Tuesday by Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman to blacklist Hezbollah as a terror group after last week's deadly bombing in Bulgaria.
"There is no consensus for putting Hezbollah on the list of terrorist organizations," said Cypriot Foreign Minister Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency.
Israel blames Iran and the Lebanese group Hezbollah for Wednesday's suicide attack at the Black Sea airport of Burgas in which five Israelis and their Bulgarian driver died.
Sitting alongside the Cypriot minister at a news conference held after annual EU-Israel talks, Lieberman said: "The time has come to put Hezbollah on the terrorist list of Europe."
"It would give the right signal to the international community and the Israeli people." But Kozakou-Marcoullis said Hezbollah was an organization comprising a party as well as an armed wing and was "active in Lebanese politics.""Taking into account this and other aspects there is no consensus for putting Hezbollah on the list of terrorist organizations," she said.
The EU would, however, consider the designation if there were tangible evidence of Hezbollah engaging in acts of terror, she added.-AFP

UNs Special Coordinator for Lebanon Plumbly Meets Miqati, Relays U.N. Concern over Border Incidents with Syria
Naharnet /24 July 2012/United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly voiced on Tuesday the U.N. Security Council’s appreciation for the “determination of Lebanon’s leaders to protect their country from the effects of the crisis in neighboring Syria and other regional developments.” He said after holding talks with Prime Minister Najib Miqati: “Security Council members were concerned, and so naturally am I, very concerned, at the border incidents that have been taking place in the north and the Bekaa.”“They had stressed the importance of respect for Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he added. “I hope that all will hear the message that Lebanon’s sovereignty must be respected,” he continued.
He relayed to the premier “the commitment of the international community to continue supporting the Lebanese government in meeting its humanitarian obligations towards the thousands of displaced Syrians who have taken refuge in Lebanon.”Syrian troops have repeatedly infiltrated crossed into Lebanese border territories under the claim that they are chasing army deserters and members of armed gangs.
Several people have been killed and wounded in the repeated incursions. On Monday, President Michel Suleiman tasked Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour to file a complaint to the Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdul Karim Ali over the infiltrations. In addition, Plumbly briefed Miqati on his recent visit to New York and on the Security Council session on the implementation of resolution 1701 and conveyed Council members' thanks for his action in transferring the necessary funds to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. Addressing the postponement of the national dialogue, he remarked: “The national dialogue is important.”“The United Nations, the Security Council and the secretary general believe that it is something positive, particularly at this time. We hope that the obstacles to convening the national dialogue will be overcome in order to allow the next session that the president has now scheduled for August to take place,” he said.
A national dialogue session, which was set for Tuesday, was postponed following the March 14 camp’s boycott. It took the decision following its accusations that the dialogue had failed to address the issue of Hizbullah and Palestinian refugees’ possession of arms and the case of the handing the telecom data in various assassination attempts to the security forces.
The next dialogue session will be held on August 16

Hizbullah Denies Links to Harb’s Assassination Bid
Naharnet/ 24 July 2012/Hizbullah denied on Tuesday that it had anything to do with accusations that it was responsible for the assassination attempt against MP Butros Harb.
“The party, its officials and members had nothing to do with the so-called assassination attempt against MP Harb,” said a statement issued by Hizbullah's media relations department.
The statement lashed out at the MP and some March 14 members for accusing the party without basing it on any proof.
Hizbullah called on officials to halt the “obnoxious political maneuvers and the false allegations that we have grown used to during the past few years.”
Harb said on Saturday that Mahmoud Hayek, the suspect in the attempt on his life, refused to appear before the investigative bodies because he is a member of Hizbullah’s security apparatus.
The MP escaped an assassination attempt early July, when three people tried to plant a booby trap inside the elevator of the building where his office is located in Sami Solh.

Phalange leader Amin Gemayel Rules out Collapse of Hizbullah after Defeat of Syrian Regime
Naharnet/24 July 2012/Phalange leader Amin Gemayel criticized hopes by some opposition officials that Hizbullah’s power in Lebanon would fade with the collapse of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime.“The analysis and the betting on the collapse of Syria and the weakening of Hizbullah or its surrender are naïve and irresponsible,” Gemayel told As Safir newspaper in an interview published on Tuesday.“The issue of Hizbullah’s arms will not be resolved with a magic wand. The party will not react easily and without a price,” he said, reiterating that the Syrian situation does not have a major impact on the party’s arsenal. “The collapse of the regime does not mean the collapse of the logic of Hizbullah and its capabilities in Lebanon,” Gemayel, who is a March 14 opposition member, added.
The former president called for benefitting from the events in Syria to unite the country and carry out a real reconciliation among its different factions, including Hizbullah.
“Syria won’t be stable for years to come…because the opposition is not capable of uniting effectively and coming under a single revolution leadership,” he warned.
“It would take a long time for democracy to take its course, for reconciliations to take place and for a new democratic system to be formed,” Gemayel said, adding “we will be effected by the Syrian situation.” But he stressed that the Lebanese are aware of not heading towards civil war.

Egypt ex-Irrigation Minister, Hisham Qandil Named as new PM
Naharnet / 24 July 2012/Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi named outgoing irrigation minister Hisham Qandil on Tuesday as the country's new prime minister and tasked him with forming a cabinet, state television announced. The appointment comes 25 days after Morsi was sworn in as Egypt's first civilian and freely elected head of state to replace Hosni Mubarak, who was driven from office by a popular uprising early last year. Qandil was irrigation minister in the outgoing government of Kamal Ganzuri, whom he replaces. "This appointment of a patriotic and independent figure comes after much study and discussion to choose a person able to manage the current scenario," said Morsi spokesman Yassir Ali. Since Morsi was elected in June, Egypt has been embroiled in a complex power struggle between Morsi, a former senior Muslim Brotherhood official, and the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which ruled the country since Mubarak stepped down in February 2011.
Just days before Morsi was elected, the SCAF disbanded parliament in response to a constitutional court ruling that it had been invalidly elected. The origins of the battle for parliament lay in the constitutional declaration issued by the SCAF before the president was sworn in. The declaration, which acts as a temporary constitution, granted the military sweeping powers, including legislative control, and rendered the presidential post little more than symbolic.SourceAgence France Presse.

Syria Rebels Would Accept Transition Led by Regime Figure
Naharnet/24 July 2012/The Syrian opposition would be willing to accept a transition led temporarily by a member of the regime if President Bashar Assad steps aside, the Syrian National Council said on Tuesday."We would agree to the departure of Assad and the transfer of his powers to a regime figure, who would lead a transitional period like what happened in Yemen," SNC spokesman George Sabra told Agence France Presse. The Arab League on Monday called on Assad to swiftly step aside in order to end the fighting that has swept across the country.
"There is agreement on the need for the rapid resignation of President Bashar Assad," Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani told journalists at the end of a ministerial meeting in Doha.
"We accept this initiative because the priority today is to put an end to the massacres and protect Syrian civilians, not the trial of Assad," Sabra said.
Asked about which regime figure could lead such a transition, Sabra said "Syria has patriotic figures both in the regime and among officers in the Syrian army who could take such a role," without giving further details. Earlier this year, the Arab League urged Assad to transfer power to his deputy and make way for a national unity government, in a plan similar to that accepted by Yemen's president Ali Abdullah Saleh after months of deadly anti-regime protests." In power since 1978, Saleh stepped down in February and handed over to Vice President Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi under a power transfer deal brokered by Gulf Arab states after months of deadly protests.But the Syrian regime has rejected all Arab League calls for a transition plan that would see Assad leave power.
SourceAgence France Presse.

SNC clarifies statements on transitional period in Syria
July 24, 2012 /The Syrian National Council on Tuesday clarified statements made earlier in the day by SNC spokesperson George Sabra in which he said the opposition would be willing to accept a transition led temporarily by a member of the regime if President Bashar al-Assad steps aside “The Arab initiative, that the council had agreed to, and which stipulated [that a] transitional period would kick off after [President Bashar al-Assad] leaves, [and during which Assad’s] tasks would be assigned to another [consensual] figure, is still the essence of the SNC’s stance and there is nothing new [regarding the council’s position],” the SNC said in a statement posted on Facebook. The council emphasized the importance of abiding by what had been agreed on during an opposition meeting in Cairo.
Sabra had told AFP: “We would agree to the departure of Assad and the transfer of his powers to a regime figure, who would lead a transitional period like what happened in Yemen.”
-NOW Lebanon

Lebanese farmers seek export route after Syria border closed
July 24, 2012/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: The head of Lebanon’s Farmers Association urged the government Monday to create a maritime route to export Lebanese produce to Gulf markets after the main border crossing between Lebanon and Syria was closed to trucks over the weekend. “The Cabinet should make a decision in its first session to rent or buy ferries to transport trucks by sea to Jordan and Egypt,” Antoine Hwayek said in statement. Hwayek added that the only possible way to secure the export of Lebanese produce under the current circumstances is to establish a maritime route, which he said should run at least twice a week. Ships could dock in Egypt first and then later head to Jordan, he added. From there the produce could be distributed to Gulf markets.
The eastern border crossing with Syria, a regular route used by Lebanese exporters, was closed Sunday in front of several trucks carrying fruits and vegetables, security sources told The Daily Star Monday.
An-Nahar reported that 70 trucks carrying an estimated 7,000 tons of fruits, vegetables and eggs were not able to cross into Syria after Syrian border security closed the crossing.
The local daily added that the produce is worth some $10 million. In his statement Monday, Hwayek slammed the “indifference” of officials with regard to the disaster facing the country’s agriculture sector.
“Concerned official are responsible for all the harm inflicted on the agriculture sector as a result of closing off the roads and not taking precautionary measures despite repeated calls months ago to prepare for such a possibility,” he said. Hwayek also asked the government to task the Investment Development Authority of Lebanon to implement a plan to facilitate maritime transportation, saying the state should pay the costs and sign agreements with both Egypt and Jordan to ensure its success. Nearly 80 percent of Lebanon’s agriculture export goes through Syria and the rest is shipped to Europe via Beirut Port.
Industrialists and farmers have warned successive governments of the prospects of border closure with Syria and complain that authorities have not already identified an alternative route for exporting goods in the event of such a situation.

Activists say 90,000 refugees in Lebanon
July 24, 2012/By Stephen Dockery, Dana Khraiche/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Lebanon launched an international appeal for aid for a quickly growing number of Syrian refugees Monday after a massive influx of Syrians into the country last week that activists say brings the total refugee population to around 90,000. The number of refugees spiked last week after the killings of a number of high-ranking security officials in Damascus. The bombing and subsequent offensive launched by the Syrian opposition in Damascus jarred the nation and caused thousands of families to abandon the capital and the worsening violence.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said last week that up to 30,000 refugees arrived through Lebanon’s Masnaa border crossing in the east of the country over the span of two days.
The Local Coordinating Committee of Syria, which works in Lebanon to aid refugees and support the opposition, now estimates there are 90,000 refugees in the country. But it’s too early to tell exactly how many there are, where they are located and who needs help, LCC officials said. “There is no reliable figure at the moment,” Tripoli-based LCC spokesman Ahmad Moussa said. “We really don’t know how much money and resources are needed for these people.”
But with the Lebanese Higher Relief Committee facing shortages of funding and UNHCR reaching only a portion of the refugee population, government officials and aid workers have decided it’s clear that the country needs more funding to help. Social Affairs Minister Wael Abu Faour said Monday that Lebanon would launch a round of contacts with Arab and international parties to garner financial support to help Syrian refugees. “Lebanon will launch contacts on both the Arab and international levels to request aid for the Lebanese government so that it can do its job as was the case with other Arab countries in terms of carrying out refugee operations,” Abu Faour told reporters at the Grand Serail in Beirut.
His remarks came following a meeting with Prime Minister Najib Mikati.
He said that several countries and international institutions have expressed their willingness to help Lebanon with the thousands of displaced Syrians. However, he stressed that a plan for spending was required. “Any international party willing to help should know where the money is being spent and how, and there should be a transparent and clear monitoring system,” he added.
The funding would help the Higher Relief Committee with its aid for the refugees after the state-run organization announced earlier this month that it had halted many of its program due to a lack of funding.
Also Monday, U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly discussed with Interior Minister Marwan Charbel foreign aid to the refugees.
UNHCR has been bracing for an exodus from Syria, and a month ago doubled its forecast for the number of refugees who could flee this year to 185,000. UNHCR has had a long-standing call for aid for refugees that has mostly been answered by Western countries such as the U.S. and the U.K. Gulf countries have been major aid contributors but often through local charities working in the country independent of the U.N. While refugees have continued to flow into Lebanon, last week’s major influx has started to slow, and general traffic along the Beirut-Damascus highway has thinned considerably.
The Masnaa border crossing no longer resembles the industrial hub it used to be. The crossing looks more like a military headquarters, surrounded by barbed wire and several layers of military checkpoints.
The Lebanese Army, General Security and Customs officials now perform close checks of travelers.
General traffic along the highway had gone down around 70 percent, security sources said Monday due to limited traffic coming from Turkey, Jordan and Gulf countries into Lebanon. Most travelers, many with Damascus license plates, were seen cuing behind the line to get into Lebanon with few exiting the country. – With additional reporting by Rakan al-Fakih

Canada Condemns Iraq Bombings
July 23, 2012 - Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird today issued the following statement:
“Canada strongly condemns the attacks in 13 Iraqi cities that left more than 100 people dead and injured nearly 200.
“I am deeply saddened by these violent and deplorable attacks that took place within a few hours of each other in the first days of the holy month of Ramadan. On behalf of all Canadians, I offer my sincere condolences to the families and friends of those killed, and wish a quick recovery to the injured. Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Iraq.
“Canada hopes that the perpetrators of this cowardly and immoral campaign against the people of Iraq will be swiftly brought to justice.”

Fatwa Bans Christian Priests from Public Transportation to Church
by Raymond Ibrahim
Jul 23, 2012/
Cross-posted from Jihad Watch
http://www.raymondibrahim.com/2012/07/fatwa-bans-christian-priests-from-public
Sheikh Burhami: No to transporting Christians to churches
Dr. Yassir al-Burhami, a prominent figure in Egypt's Salafi movement and vice president of the Salafi Call—the same sheikh who seeks to punish Muslim apostates, condemns Mother's Day, and advocates deceiving Israel—has just issued a fatwa, published in the "Voice of the Righteous Salaf," forbidding Muslim taxi-drivers and bus-drivers from transporting Coptic Christian priests to their churches, which he depicted as "more forbidden than taking someone to a liquor bar."
This analogy, of course, does not begin with Sheikh Burhami, put traces back to some of Islam's early giants, including Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn Qayyim, who agreed that "building churches is worse than building bars and brothels, for those [churches] symbolize infidelity, whereas these [bars and brothels] represent immorality.
The logic is simple: It is better to profess Islam and be immoral, than to profess Christianity—for the latter denies the veracity of Islam, and hence is much more abominable. In this context, the Muslim who transports a priest to his church where he will preach Christianity—a message that contradicts Islam—is a terrible crime.
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Ban on Fishing Escalates Complaints of Discrimination, says Indian Christians
By Corey Bailey/07/23/2012 India (International Christian Concern) — Hindu leaders in a village in Southern India have banned Christians from fishing (their sole source of income), further leading to complaints of discrimination and harassment based on religious beliefs. This only adds to the long list of complaints by Christians in the village of Vanagiri Menavar, who have also reported that in the last two months, members of the Bharathia Janatha Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) have banned them from gathering for corporate worship and refused their children access to school.
In a community that traditionally shares boats to collectively make a living by fishing, Hindus have denied Christians access to the boats. An ICC source says, “The Christians in this village depend on these boats for fishing. They say that, due to this ban, they face many problems and are unable to earn money to feed their families.”
Mr. KA Jayapal, Minister of Fisheries, along with local authorities, attempted to bring the Hindus and Christians together to reconcile their differences and “avoid clashes.” Jayapal, however said he “failed to convince the [Hindu] extremists to leave the village.”
The night of the attempted reconciliation a mob of Hindus bombarded a Christian prayer meeting, attacking the attendees, beating them and demanding they recant their faith in writing. The Christians refused, saying, “We will not [recant our faith] in writing like that; we will remain faithful to our God until death.” Twenty-two families were affected in this attack, which included the looting of six homes and multiple injuries requiring immediate hospitalization. An ICC source reported that the “twenty-two families fled to the nearest villages and forest in fear, hiding for two days before returning home.”
Last week, when the Christians returned and the injured were discharged from the hospital, village elders conducted another reconciliation meeting in an attempt to bring peace. ICC sources report that “all the Christians and Hindus were present” and that this time everyone present “decided that Hindus will not attack the believers, as everybody has the right to choose their own religion.” The extremists have allowed the Christian children to go to school without interference; their parents, however, are still banned from fishing, causing continued friction in the village.

A setback for Islamophobia
http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=422125
Hussein Ibish , July 24, 2012
Now Lebanon
Michele Bachmann and other American conservatives’ attempts to spread Islamophobia are suffering setbacks lately. (AFP photo)
The Islamophobic movement in the United States has suffered a series of important setbacks in recent months. These developments promise to halt its slow, seemingly inexorable crawl over the past decade toward the mainstream of American cultural and political life, especially on the right. They may even signal the start of a process that pushes the worst forms of anti-Muslim bigotry back into the fringes whence it emanated and where it belongs.
The most noteworthy example of such a setback occurred last week when Congresswoman Michele Bachmann and four other Republican House members sent a letter to various government inspectors general demanding the investigation of, among other people, Huma Abedin, a long-serving personal aide to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. The letter alleged that Abedin was somehow part of a Muslim Brotherhood conspiracy to “infiltrate” the US government.
The letter was not only widely perceived as vicious and groundless, but also as a prime example of McCarthyite guilt by insinuation and association and the most recent iteration of the “paranoid style” in American politics.
The letter essentially presents a conspiracy theory about Muslim Brotherhood plots to take over the American government or at least influence its policies in a nefarious manner. Its accusations against Abedin were worthy of old John Birch Society charges that various government officials were Communist “agents of influence.” The letter largely relied on the ravings of Frank Gaffney's notorious Center for Security Policy, which specializes in trafficking paranoia and hatred against Muslims and rival conservatives.
But Bachmann and Gaffney chose the wrong target in Abedin, who is also married to former congressman Anthony Wiener. She wasn't just a little-known figure with a foreign-sounding name and potentially dubious relatives. She is a well-known quantity in Washington, familiar to leaders in both parties and well-respected and liked. Washington in general was simply not going to suspect without any evidence whatsoever that Abedin was involved in any kind of insidious conspiracy.
The pushback was led by Republicans themselves. In particular, Senator John McCain launched a blistering attack on the letter on the Senate floor. House Speaker John Boehner also expressed dismay, as did Florida Senator and Tea Party favorite Marco Rubio. The Islamophobes' miscalculation in this case was so severe, and the pushback so forceful, that this incident may well prove a turning point in the battle against anti-Muslim bigotry in the United States.
This wasn't quite as dramatic as Joe McCarthy's comeuppance at the hands of attorney Joseph Welch who asked him, “Have you left no sense of decency?” But it's pretty close. The Abedin incident can and should be cited time and again when Muslim Americans find their loyalty questioned on the basis of their identity alone.
The most shrill, vituperative and overwrought professional Islamophobes in the United States had already been dealt a crippling blow by the right-wing Norwegian terrorist Anders Behring Breivik, who cited many of them as direct inspirations and heroes.
The massacre of young Norwegians he committed meant that the logical consequences of the hate inspired by the preachers of Islamophobia were suddenly no longer deniable. Perhaps even more importantly, Breivik's mayhem wasn't targeted primarily at Muslims, but at a large summer camp of Norwegian youth followers of a liberal party he detested.
Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller, in particular, were badly damaged by Breivik's barbaric rampage and the fact that he was discovered to have authored an endless, ranting manifesto citing them scores of times and suggesting Spencer would be a good candidate for a Nobel Peace Prize.
And Daniel Pipes' Middle East Forum has recently been inflicting enormous damage on itself by persisting in publishing the writings of Raymond Ibrahim. Ibrahim has been not only growing ever more strident but also falling victim to hoaxes including a so-called “sodomy fatwa,” and a supposed campaign by Muslim extremists to destroy the pyramids.
Are there fanatical Muslim clerics capable of such declarations? Of course there are. But did anyone actually say either of those things? It appears not, but Middle East Forum doesn't want to admit that. Ibrahim's mistakes are only increasing the already well-established impression that Pipes and his outfit are willing to embrace anything that makes Muslims look bad, even if they are preposterous misrecognitions.
American Islamophobia is largely a creature of the political right. In the 50s and early 60s, William F. Buckley led the campaign to drive anti-Semitism out of the conservative movement for its own good. The same process must be repeated now with regard to Islamophobia.
There isn't anyone on the American right at the moment with the stature and influence Buckley had. It's going to have to be a collective effort this time. But the American conservative movement desperately needs to cure itself of anti-Muslim bigotry, and it might finally be starting to do that.

Will al-Assad step down?
By Tariq Alhomayed/Asharq Al-Awsat
Do Arab ministers really think that their call for Bashar al-Assad to step down and for Kofi Annan’s mission to ensure a “transfer of power” in Syria will reach the ears of al-Assad or Moscow? Or is it that the Arabs have decided to issue this call based on some Russian signals, most notably the Russian Ambassador to Paris’ claim that al-Assad wants to leave “in a civilized manner”?
Whatever the answer, the Arabs have to remember that Moscow has “played” the international community since the outbreak of the Syrian revolution, just as it betrayed the Syrians by standing by the tyrant of Damascus for 17 months, providing him with weapons and diplomatic cover. It is not inconceivable that Russia’s “signals” today are just another trick. Likewise, no one can rely on al-Assad to take a “courageous step”, as the Arab ministers in Doha urged, and no one can believe that al-Assad "could stop the destruction and the killings by taking a courageous decision”, as Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim said. Whilst the Arab ministers were reading their statement calling for Bashar al-Assad to step down, his brother Maher al-Assad’s army division was running riot in Damascus, executing young people on the streets.
In truth, the only good to come from the Arab meeting’s statement is the fact that Arab foreign ministers have pressured their ambassadors in New York to call for an emergency UN General Assembly meeting. This meeting will issue recommendations for measures including the establishment of safe areas in Syria, to provide protection to Syrian citizens and enable relief workers to carry out their duties. Yet there is a pressing need to accelerate this particular step, and not wait for the UN to act. The number of Syrian refugees is increasing considerably, and the magnitude of murder and destruction carried out by al-Assad’s forces is beyond horrific, as it has now become clear that al-Assad wants to enact revenge by killing the largest number of Syrian revolutionaries possible, after confirming that there is no hope of him regaining control of the situation. This is exactly what Muammar Gaddafi did before him, and the protection of the Syrians does not need further stalling or delays from the Security Council, but rather the accelerating establishment of safe areas to fracture al-Assad’s forces, especially with the increasing number of defections. The Syrian National Council was right when it said in a statement issued on the eve of the Arab meeting in Doha that “the friends of the al-Assad regime are protecting it politically, providing it with lethal weapons and all manner of continual support, so where are the many friends of the Syrian people? Are they undertaking the obligations of this friendship?”
The obligations of this friendship are to create safe areas, especially after the Free Syrian Army (FSA) has captured many border crossings, not to mention the fierce battles it is fighting in Damascus and Aleppo, without the assistance of the international community which contents itself with observing and condemning whilst al-Assad burns Syria and the Syrians in revenge. The Arabs must understand that al-Assad is now irrelevant, and strengthening the capacity of the FSA and establishing safe areas is more important. Such a move would prompt the Russians to follow the lead of the Arabs and the international community, and not vice versa, as the Arabs should not be waiting for a man who kills women and children to take a “courageous step”.

Colonel Malik al-Kurdi, the Free Syrian Army's [FSA] deputy commander: No Al-Qaeda elements in the FSA
23/07/2012/By Nazeer Rida
Beirut, Asharq Al-Awsat - Colonel Malik al-Kurdi, the Free Syrian Army's [FSA] deputy commander, has denied that fighters at the Bab al-Hawa crossing point between Syria and Turkey were members of the Al-Qaeda organization, calling the claims, “totally baseless".
This denial coincided yesterday with the Syrian opposition's announcement of the capturing of the Al-Salama border post with Turkey after seizing control of Bab al-Hawa last Thursday.
Agence France Presse cited one of its photographers at the Bab al-Hawa crossing point as saying that "a group of around 150 fighters from several Islamic countries are positioned in the crossing" and pointed out that several of them declared "they belong to the (Taliban shura) while others said they belong to (Al-Qaeda)."
Al-Kurdi told Asharq Al-Awsat that the fighters who appeared at the Bab al-Hawa after the FSA seized it "are FSA fighters of various ideologies, sectors, and affiliations and have no connection with the Al-Qaeda organization." He stressed that "the FSA includes all Syrian society's sectors and these - with their various affiliations -- are operating under the FSA's banner." "We are absorbing all society's sectors, the radical, secular, and other ones, for the purpose of achieving a balance for a Syrian society that is known for its pluralism." Al-Kurdi added.
The deputy FSA commander asserted that "there are no elements from the Al-Qaeda organization present in the FSA’s ranks" and "absorbing all the fighters is our aim because we do not want to clash with anyone. The combat conditions also necessitate the presence of persons not wearing military uniforms who let their beards grew. Moreover, our resources do not enable us to provide military uniforms for the fighters but this does not mean that they are from (Al-Qaeda)." He stressed that "appearances are not fundamental and cannot be judged."
Regarding Arab and Islamic participation in the fight against the Syrian regime, Al-Kurdi told Asharq Al-Awsat that the participation "is limited to the presence of doctors who are helping treat the wounded in the combat areas" and said: "The fighters are Syrians only. I do not deny the arrival of doctors from international organizations in the combat areas to help treat the wounded."
With the FSA announcement of its control of border crossing points with Iraq, the issue of the arrival of Al-Qaeda elements at the Iraqi-Syrian borders in preparation for entering Syria to fight against Al-Assad has returned to the forefront. According to TIME magazine, Iraq "is now being used as a field for organizing Al-Qaeda's attacks against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime."
Reacting to these "allegations", Col. Al-Kurdi stressed that "Al-Qaeda organization and its ideology are unacceptable in Syrian society" and pointed out that the "Syrians are angry with the international community which is helping the emergence of radical trends and finding fertile soil for their appearance by its refusal to back the FSA." After declaring "we are seeking to contain these trends within the FSA", he said "when the international community abandons the FSA others will support other trends thus bolstering their emergence and opening doors for their presence." He asserted that supporting the FSA "makes it an umbrella embracing all the fighters and all the trends which enables it to control all the groups and prevent them from veering off, even ideologically, into any direction that is unacceptable in Syrian society."