Bible Quotation for today/Faith and Wisdom
James 01/01-08/: "My friends, consider yourselves fortunate when all kinds of trials come your way, for you know that when your faith succeeds in facing such trials, the result is the ability to endure. Make sure that your endurance carries you all the way without failing, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. But if any of you lack wisdom, you should pray to God, who will give it to you; because God gives generously and graciously to all. But when you pray, you must believe and not doubt at all. Whoever doubts is like a wave in the sea that is driven and blown about by the wind. If you are like that, unable to make up your mind and undecided in all you do, you must not think that you will receive anything from the Lord."

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources

Iran Beyond Oil/Patrick Clawson/Washington Institute/April 04/13

Biased Lebanese politicians in search of a neutral premier/By: Abdul Wahab Badrakhan/AlArabyia/April 04/13

Fatwa Bans Men from Being Alone with ‘Handsome Young Boys/By Raymond Ibrahim/April 04/13
New Fatwa Permits Rape of Non-Sunni Women in Syria/By Raymond Ibrahim/April 04/13

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for April 04/13

Coptic Boy Kidnapped at Knife Point, Abductors Open Fire on Church

U.S. warns citizens against travel to Lebanon

Lebanese Political Rivals mull own PM pitches
Maronite Bishops Call on Implementation of Constitution, Formation of Unity Cabinet

Hezbollah rules out unrest in Lebanon
President Michel Suleiman Hospitalized for 'Routine' Check-Up, Returns to Baabda

Report: Lebanese President, Suleiman to Call for Cabinet Session to Tackle Polls Based on 1960 Law
Lebanese Taxi Driver Kidnapped for Ransom

Lebanese Opposition to Announce Candidate for PM's Post at Center House Meeting
Hezbollah members bury fighter killed in Syria battle: report
Lebanon/Syrian Jets Bombard House at Outskirts of Arsal

Mustaqbal-PSP Coordination Advances amid Reported 2nd Meeting between Jumblat's Envoy and Hariri
March 8 Stresses 'United Stance' over PM-Designate ahead of Parliamentary Consultations

Arslan Meets Jumblat, Hopes Consultations Will Be Postponed to Allow Agreement on New PM
Aoun Hints He Won't Nominate Miqati, Slams Jumblat as Mentally Unstable

Caretaker Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn Signs Decree Postponing Releasing Army Intelligence Chief from Duties

Lebanese Justice Ministry's Higher Consultative Committee to Interior Ministry: Civil Marriage is Legal

Beirut/Fire Breaks out at Plastic Warehouse in Zouk Mkayel
President Michel Suleiman Condemns Israeli Negligence of Palestinian Prisoners, Urges International Action

March 8 affirms unity, mulling consensus PM

Asrlan: More time needed to select next PM
U.S., Jordan boost training of Syria opposition fighters: report

Syria slams Hamas head Meshaal after re-election

Israeli Defense Minister Issues Warning over Fire from Gaza, Golan

Syrian Army warns rebels in capital of 'certain death'

Egypt summons UAE diplomat over detained Egyptians

Israel, Gaza launch heaviest strikes since truce

US official puts onus on Iran in nuclear talks

Coptic Boy Kidnapped at Knife Point, Abductors Open Fire on Church
April 3, 2013 | Raymond Ibrahim
http://www.jihadwatch.org/2013/04/coptic-boy-kidnapped-at-knifepoint-abductors-open-fire-on-church.html

Jihad Watch/Just as Islamic terrorists feed off of Christian minorities by kidnapping and ransoming them in lawless regions—like “liberated” Iraq and on-its-way to being “liberated” Syria—last Sunday, four armed and masked men kidnapped a 12-year-old Coptic Christian boy, Abanoub Ashraf, as he was walking to his church in “Arab-Spring-liberated” Egypt. Right before he reached the St. Paul Church in Shubra al-Khayma district, the men put a knife to his throat, dragged him to their car, opened fire on the church, and then sped away. The kidnappers later called the family asking for five million Egyptian pounds in ransom—almost the equivalent to one million U.S. dollars, likely an impossible amount to raise. mCoptic boy abducted at knifepoint During a live interview with Wael Ibrashi concerning this incident, Coptic Bishop Marcus said that, while the immediate motive behind the kidnapping is money, the other purpose is to frighten Christian families from sending their children to church. Otherwise, why kidnap him from right in front of the church door? (Considering that some Egyptian clerics consider attending church as worse than attending bars and brothels, the kidnappers likely deem this the “altruistic” side of their greed and hate.) The kidnappers also covered their faces only right before they pounced on the boy, displaying their confidence that there would be no repercussions. When Ibrashi asked the bishop “previously [during Mubarak’s era] there always used to be guards; who removed the guard from the church?” a dejected sounding Bishop Marcus responded, “I don’t know; ask security not us.” Similarly, according to the 12-year-old’s distraught family, while the local security agency has portrayed itself as doing all it can to discover the boy—that, is, on Egyptian media—“it has not contacted us, nor asked us about anything whatsoever.”

U.S. warns citizens against travel to Lebanon
Wednesday, 3 April 2013/Al Arabiya - The U.S. State Department on Monday urged American citizens to avoid all travel to Lebanon due to safety and security concerns. Also, “U.S. citizens living and working in Lebanon should understand that they accept risks in remaining and should carefully consider those risks,” the department said on its website. “Lebanese government authorities are not able to guarantee protection for citizens or visitors to the country should violence erupt suddenly,” it added. Access to borders, airports, roads, and seaports can be interrupted with little or no warning, and the ability of U.S. government personnel to reach travelers or provide emergency services may be severely limited, the department said. Lebanon has been experiencing a political and security vacuum since March, after the surprise resignation of Prime Minister Najib Mikati, which was partly prompted by his cabinet’s refusal to extend the internal security chief’s mandate. The conflict in Syria has exacerbated tensions in Lebanon.

Hezbollah members bury fighter killed in Syria battle: report
Wednesday, 3 April 2013/Al Arabiya -The Lebanese Shiite Party Hezbollah on Tuesday buried one of its fighters killed in Syria, the Lebanese daily An-Nahar reported on Wednesday. Nazih Abbas was buried in the town of Koutharyet al-Sayyad, in the Zahrani district of southern Lebanon. Hezbollah supporters circulated his photo on Facebook, with comments that he was killed in battle near the Sayyidah Zaynab shrine in Damascus.
Meanwhile, the rebel Free Syrian Army arrested Hezbollah members in Sayyidah Zaynab, the opposition SANA Revolution Network reported. There is an “unprecedented deployment” of Hezbollah fighters and Iranian Revolutionary Guards in the heart of Damascus in support of Syrian regime troops, whose movements signal a large operation in the capital, the FSA said on Wednesday. The Lebanese government has sought to adopt a policy of neutrality vis-à-vis the crisis in Syria. However, Hezbollah has been repeatedly accused of being directly involved in the conflict. In October 2012, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah acknowledged that party members had fought Syrian rebels, but said they were acting as individuals, not under the party’s direction.

Lebanese Political Rivals mull own PM pitches
April 04, 2013/By Hussein Dakroub/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Rival political factions are set to hold separate eleventh-hour meetings Thursday to agree on their own candidates for the premiership, ahead of binding consultations for the naming of a prime minister-designate who will form a new Cabinet.
Wednesday, the country’s four leading Christian parties dealt what appeared to be the death knell to the existing 1960 law by agreeing not to run in the upcoming parliamentary elections under this law.
Leaders and representatives of the Kataeb Party, the Lebanese Forces, the Free Patriotic Movement and the Marada Movement also agreed, during a meeting chaired by Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai in Bkirki, to suspend the Orthodox Gathering’s controversial electoral proposal, leaving the door open for lawmakers to reach agreement on an alternative law to replace the 1960 voting system.
Elsewhere, representatives of the four major parties in the March 8 coalition decided during a meeting chaired by Speaker Nabih Berri at his Ain al-Tineh residence to name “a consensus candidate” for the premiership, which appears to dim the chances of caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati being reappointed as prime minister-designate. Opposition March 14 parties also planned more talks Thursday to agree on their own candidate for the prime minister’s post during binding consultations, scheduled to be held Friday and Saturday by President Michel Sleiman.
Mohammad Shatah, a political adviser to former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, said in a TV interview that the March 14 parties would have “a serious candidate for the premiership, capable of shouldering responsibility, within 24 hours.”The flurry of activity reflected growing concerns over a power vacuum caused by last month’s resignation of the Mikati government and the possibility of that the polls, scheduled for June 9, will not be held on time, in the absence of a new electoral law to replace the 1960 system.
The Bkirki meeting was attended by FPM leader Michel Aoun, Marada Movement leader Suleiman Franjieh, Chouf MP George Adwan, representing Lebanese Forces head Samir Geagea, and Metn MP Sami Gemayel, representing Kataeb chief Amin Gemayel. Baabda MP Alain Aoun, from the FPM, also attended the talks.
“The parties in attendance have decided to not run in the elections based on the 1960 law; they believe that this law enshrined injustice on Christians, something that has already been rejected by the majority of the Lebanese parties,” said a statement issued after the meeting. The four parties also asked caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel to stop accepting applications from candidates registering to run in the polls under the 1960 law. Thursday, an official from Druze leader Walid Jumblatt’s Progressive Socialist Party is scheduled to file the party’s candidacies at the Interior Ministry.
While agreeing to suspend the Orthodox proposal, the Christian parties decided to give lawmakers a limited deadline to approve a “consensual” electoral law that can ensure true and fair representation for all parties.
“The parties also stressed that the parliamentary elections should be held on time, or with a minor technical delay if needed, to hold the elections on the basis of a new electoral law,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, the Hezbollah-led March 8 parties said they would choose a consensus candidate to head the new government. “Today, we affirm that we will go to the consultations united,” Franjieh told reporters after a meeting of March 8 representatives at Berri’s residence. “There aren’t many proposed names to head the coming government ... We are considering a consensus candidate.”
A source close to the meeting told The Daily Star that participants had yet to agree on their candidate for prime minister-designate but that that they would put forward a single name during the consultations.
Describing the meeting as “excellent,” Franjieh denied reports of a rift between Berri and Aoun, although the two have disagreed over the Orthodox draft law, with the speaker refusing to convene Parliament to vote on the legislation, as demanded by Aoun. In addition to Franjieh, the meeting was also attended by caretaker Energy Minister Gebran Bassil of the FPM, Hussein Khalil, a political aide to Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah, caretaker Health Minister Ali Hasan Khalil from the Amal Movement and Metn MP Hagop Pakradounian, from the Tashnag Party.
March 8 sources said Mikati would not be among consensus candidates proposed by March 8 parties, as long as Hariri insisted on rejecting his return.
Meanwhile, Aley MP Talal Arslan, the head of the Lebanese Democratic Party, voiced hope that the parliamentary consultations on naming a new premier would be postponed to allow for more time to reach a consensus candidate to head the new Cabinet. Speaking to reporters after talks with Jumblatt at his residence in Khaldeh, Arslan said: “We agreed to narrow the gap with all the concerned parties in order to choose a consensus prime-minister designate because the interests of Lebanon and Mount Lebanon require this.” Earlier Wednesday, a PSP source told The Daily Star that the party would back Hariri’s choice for the premiership provided that the new premier was not seen as a provocative figure to the March 8 coalition.

Hezbollah rules out unrest in Lebanon
April 03, 2013/The Daily Star /BEIRUT: Hezbollah has ruled out the possibility that Lebanon might undergo violent unrest if the political crisis in the country worsens. “There are no signs on the ground or in the political arena that unrest at the security level is likely to prevail because stability is in everybody’s interest and instability hurts everyone,” Hezbollah’s number two Sheikh Naim Qassem said in remarks published Wednesday.“I don’t think the political crisis, even if it dragged on, will have security repercussions,” Qassem told the Kuwaiti daily Al-Qabas, stressing Hezbollah’s concerns about Lebanon’s stability.Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced his government's resignation last month. Qassem said Mikati’s resignation came as no surprise to Hezbollah. While he hoped that the resignation would open the door to a new agreement, Qassem quickly acknowledged that “all the solutions and options brought forward are complex and don’t pave the way for the launch of an effective government.” Qassem sounded downbeat on the new Cabinet “which if formed,” he said “is going to be a crisis-management government and a time waster.” In response to a question, Hezbollah’s second-in-command said his party has yet to make a final decision on the name of the prime minister-designate. “The issue is carefully being examined to spare the country any peril,” Qassem said. He said Hezbollah would not “abandon” their Christian ally, Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun.“Our alliance with him [Aoun] is strategic and firm,” Qassem said. “We share similar visions on many sensitive and vital issues in the country.”

Lebanese Taxi Driver Kidnapped for Ransom
Naharnet /A taxi driver was kidnapped at dawn Thursday in Dora, the latest in the string of abductions in return for ransom, the state-run National News Agency reported. NNA said Joseph Issa al-Khawli disappeared on Wednesday night. But alleged abductors contacted his son asking for a 50,000-dollar-ransom. The head of the General Syndicate of Lebanon's Taxi Drivers, Marwan Fayyad, told Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) that al-Khawli hails from the eastern town of Riyaq and resides in Ghazir, north of Beirut. He said the abductee called his wife on Wednesday night to inform her that he was driving a man to Batroun after taking Syrians to the area of Ajaltoun.But he failed to return home. Later, an unknown man contacted his wife asking for the 50,000 dollar ransom to release him, Fayyad told VDL.

President Michel Suleiman Hospitalized for 'Routine' Check-Up, Returns to Baabda
Naharnet /President Michel Suleiman underwent on Wednesday a scheduled medical check-up at the Clinique du Levant in Mkalles, the presidency said in a statement. According to the presidential palace, Suleiman, 65, is well and resumed his activity shortly at the Baabda Palace. Later, the president thanked via twitter all those who wished him well, confirming that he was undergoing routine medical tests.
Media reports said earlier that the president was admitted to the hospital for cardiac catheterization.

Lebanon/Syrian Jets Bombard House at Outskirts of Arsal
Naharnet/Syrian warplanes pounded on Wednesday a house on the outskirts of the eastern border town of Arsal. The house belongs to a member of al-Awad family, the state-run National News Agency reported.
The NNA said that the shelling only caused material damage. "Two rockets were launched, though no casualties were caused. There are several houses in the area where the rockets landed," said Ahmed Fliti, deputy mayor of Arsal. The two-year long violence in Syria has increasingly spilled over into Lebanon, with cross-border shelling in the north and east. "A helicopter fired two rockets on Jubaneh al-Shmis on the outskirts of Arsal. The area lies several hundred meters (yards) away from a Lebanese army checkpoint," a Lebanese security official told Agence France Presse on condition of anonymity. In March, President Michel Suleiman denounced the Syrian airstrikes in Lebanese territories but Damascus, in its first comments on the attacks, denied it was involved. The region of Arsal has been said to be used for the smuggling of arms and the flow of fighters across the border.
Arsal is a majority Sunni town, many of whose residents support the revolt against President Bashar Assad in neighboring Syria. The area lies on the border with Syria, and has become home to thousands of people fleeing their the conflict. Scores of Syrians injured in the violence have been brought into Arsal for medical treatment in recent months, and there have been reports of fighters and arms being smuggled in.
Syrian authorities had threatened to attack Lebanese territories if “terrorists” continue to infiltrate the country from Lebanon. Lebanese parties are sharply divided over the developments in Syria despite the dissociation policy that was adopted by the state.Agence France PresseNaharnet

Maronite Bishops Call on Implementation of Constitution, Formation of Unity Cabinet
Naharnet/The Maronite Bishops Council called on Wednesday on officials to respect and implement the constitution in resolving all challenges confronting the country and to form a unity government that has the consensus of all parties. “Lebanon almost lost its unity that is the basis of its existence,” the Maronite Bishops said in a statement after its monthly meeting headed by Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi in Bkirki.
Bishop Samir Mazloum, who read the statement, called on officials to return to their conscience, saying: “The nation is not a trial field and has no space for carrying out personal interests.”
He urged politicians not to yield to threats lurking around. “The national accord is threatened by the biased acts carried out,” Mazloum said. The statement also called on officials to aide by the constitution and to differentiate between the political issues and those related to the security situation by not dragging the security agencies into political crises. Concerning the resignation of Prime Minister Najib Miqati's cabinet, the Maronite Bishops considered that any political vacuum doesn't come in anyone's favor but “creates chaos in the country.” “Any formed government that lacks consensus and doesn't have a unified mission will fail,” the statement said. Miqati's resignation on March 22 prompted calls for the resumption of the national dialogue. His resignation further complicated the political crisis in Lebanon after signs began appearing that the Hizbullah-led March 8 forces are seeking a national salvation cabinet while the March 14 opposition alliance wants a neutral government. On the upcoming parliamentary elections, the council called on holding polls in time and respecting the constitutional deadlines.
“Carrying out elections on time indicate that all parties are keen to preserve democracy and the constitution,” the bishops added. They noted that the formation of a new electoral law to replace the 1960 law that was adopted during the 2009 elections shouldn't be neglected. The rival parties have so far failed to agree on an electoral draft-law.
The March 8 coalition is holding on the the so-called Orthodox Gathering proposal as the only alternative to the 1960 law, however, it was rejected by Suleiman, Miqati, al-Mustaqbal bloc, the centrist National Struggle Front of MP Walid Jumblat, and the March 14 opposition’s Christian independent MPs. The polls are likely to be postponed if the parliament gives the green light to the proposal that divides Lebanon into a single district and allows each sect to vote for its own MPs under a proportional representation system. Suleiman and Miqati have signed a decree that sets the elections on June 9 according to the 1960 law, which is based on winner-takes-all system, over the lack of agreement between the bickering parliamentary blocs. Their call have drawn the ire of the March 8 majority coalition, which has totally rejected the law.
“MPs have no right after seven years in power to stall the adoption of a new electoral law that replaces the 1960 law,” the council said. The Maronite Bishops also called on the Lebanese to abide by the dissociation policy as “it shouldn't be used as a tool to carry out foreign countries' plots in the region.” In the Baabda Declaration, 16 political leaders from both the March 8 majority coalition and the March 14 opposition agreed to avoid rhetoric that fuels sectarian incitement.

Lebanese Justice Ministry's Higher Consultative Committee to Interior Ministry: Civil Marriage is Legal
Naharnet/The Higher Committee for Consultations at the Justice Ministry responded on Wednesday to inquiries submitted by the Interior Ministry on the legality of civil marriage in Lebanon. The committee reiterated its support for civil marriage in Lebanon. The Interior Ministry had sent the inquiries to the Committee at the request of caretaker Justice Minister Shkakib Qortbawi. The Lebanese Supreme Council in the Ministry of Justice took an unanimous decision in February to consider legal all civil marriages conducted in Lebanon by people that do not have any religious affiliation. Legalizing civil marriage in Lebanon has sparked debate among the country's political and religious authorities with President Michel Suleiman advocating it and Prime Minister Najib Miqati and Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani rejecting it. Qabbani issued a fatwa against moves to legalize civil marriages inside the country, where couples of different faiths have to travel abroad to tie the knot. Kholoud Succariyeh and Nidal Darwish announced in January they had wed as a secular couple by having their religious sects legally struck from their family registers under an article dating from the 1936 French mandate.Suleiman has since lobbied for a civil marriage law as a "very important step in eradicating sectarianism and solidifying national unity."

President Michel Suleiman Condemns Israeli Negligence of Palestinian Prisoners, Urges International Action
Naharnet /President Michel Suleiman urged the international community on Thursday to pressure Israel into respecting international treaties on prisoners rights after the death of a Palestinian prisoner suffering from terminal cancer.Suleiman condemned “the premeditated Israeli negligence of the situation of prisoners in Israeli jails" that led to the death of Maisara Abu Hamdiyeh on Tuesday. “Israel, which fights unarmed Palestinians with warplanes and tanks, is refraining from providing care for sick prisoners” and is violating norms, conventions and morals, he said. He also slammed Israeli leaders for neglecting humanitarian and social issues. Abu Hamdiyeh, 64, died at Soroka hospital in the southern Israeli city of Beersheva where he was suffering from terminal throat cancer. Abu Hamdiyeh, who was arrested in 2002 and sentenced to life in jail, began complaining of throat problems about nine months ago and was subsequently diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus.The Israel Prisons Service said a process for his early release had been under way in the light of his deteriorating health. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas blamed the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his death.

March 8 Stresses 'United Stance' over PM-Designate ahead of Parliamentary Consultations
Naharnet /The March 8 camp held talks on Wednesday at Speaker Nabih Berri's residence at Ain el-Tineh in order to coordinate their stances ahead of the binding parliamentary consultations later this week.
Marada Movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh said after the talks: “We will head to the consultations with a united position over a new prime minister-designate.”He added described the meeting “as more than excellent”, while denying reports of disputes within the camp. “The names being discussed to assume the premiership are not many and we are seeking an agreement on a candidate who enjoys consensus,” Franjieh remarked to reporters. The consultations are scheduled to be held at the Baabda Palace on Friday and Saturday. The Ain el-Tineh meeting included General Secretary of Tashnag Party Hovig Mekhitarian, caretaker Energy Minister Jebran Bassil, caretaker Health Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, political aide of the Hizbullah chief Hussein Khalil, and MP Hagop Pakradonian. Media reports spoke of a rift between Berri and Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun over the controversial parliamentary electoral law and the formation of the new cabinet. An Nahar newspaper reported that a meeting behind closed doors was held on Tuesday between the March 8 Christian representatives and political aide of the Hizbullah chief Hussein Khalil to reach a breakthrough in the dispute.March 8 Christians and Hizbullah representatives failed during a meeting on Sunday to reach common ground on the nature of the new cabinet and the new electoral law.The meeting was held between Aoun, Franjieh, Pakradonian, Hussein Khalil and Hizbullah Liaison and Coordination Officer Wafiq Safa in the absence of AMAL movement-led by Berri.
Change and Reform parliamentary bloc MP Ibrahim Kanaan, who is loyal to Aoun, told An Nahar newspaper that the priority is to set a new electoral law. He pointed out that a parliamentary session should be held soon for voting on the so-called Orthodox Gathering draft-law, whether the session will lack quorum or not.
“The parliamentary blocs that have previously voiced their support to the proposal should commit to their stance,” Kanaan told An Nahar. The polls are likely to be postponed if the parliament gives the green light to the proposal that divides Lebanon into a single district and allows each sect to vote for its own MPs under a proportional representation system.Concerning the government crisis, the lawmaker said that the FPM hasn't decided yet to boycott the binding consultations. The binding consultations will be held between President Michel Suleiman and the parliamentary blocs and independents on the name of the PM-designate after Prime Minister Najib Miqati resigned on March 22. His resignation further complicated the political crisis in Lebanon after signs began appearing that the Hizbullah-led March 8 forces are seeking a national salvation cabinet while the March 14 opposition alliance wants a neutral government. Kanaan pointed out that officials should differentiate between the adoption of the electoral law and the naming of the new PM-designate.“We are against extending the tenure of the current parliament and we reject any political vacuum,” Kanaan added. According to As Safir newspaper, Hizbullah set as a priority selecting a balanced figure to form the new cabinet. Sources close to the party said that proposals to form a neutral cabinet are not realistic as they aim at excluding Hizbullah based on a U.S. request. They pointed out that the challenges confronting the country require the formation of a strong political government that is capable of acting responsibly. A March 8 Christian leader told As Safir that “all options are open,” noting that the coalition rejects the candidacy of Khaled Qabbani and Ghaleb Mahmasani, who are close to al-Mustaqbal Movement, to the premiership. The leader, that was named in the report, said that if a technocrat cabinet will be formed then head of the Economic Committees Adnan Kassar should form it.

Caretaker Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn Signs Decree Postponing Releasing Army Intelligence Chief from Duties
Naharnet /Caretaker Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn signed on Wednesday a decision that postpones releasing Army Intelligence chief Brig. Gen. Edmond Fadel from his duties, the state-run National News Agency reported.
"Ghosn's decision was based on a suggestion by Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji,” LBCI television pointed out. On Saturday, Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi handed over the ISF leadership to Brig. Gen. Roger Salem, seven days after Prime Minister Najib Miqati resigned over the rejection of the Hizbullah-led March 8 majority alliance to extend his tenure. The handing over of the post “comes as part of the law,” Rifi said at the graduation ceremony of expert officers held at the ISF general-directorate in Ashrafiyeh, remarking that he was leaving with a "clear conscience”. Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc had proposed a draft-law that allows both Rifi and Qahwaji to stay in their posts until they reach respectively the age of 62 and 63.

Arslan Meets Jumblat, Hopes Consultations Will Be Postponed to Allow Agreement on New PM
Naharnet /Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat held talks on Wednesday with Lebanese Democratic Party leader MP Talal Arslan on naming a new prime minister-designate. Arslan said after the talks: “We hope that the parliamentary consultations over naming a new premier will be postponed in order to pave way for an agreement over a candidate.” “We hope an agreement will be reached over a consensual prime minister-designate,” he said after the meeting that was held at his Khaldeh residence. “Contacts and coordination with Jumblat are always ongoing over various issues,” stressed the MP. “I will continue to coordinate stances with Jumblat on numerous issues that concern Mount Lebanon and national interests,” he said after the 30-minute meeting. For his part, Jumblat made a brief statement, emphasizing the unity of Mount Lebanon. He said that he will refrain from making political statements before his interview on LBCI television on Thursday night. Al-Jadeed television later reported that the two MPs failed to reach an agreement over a candidate to assume the premiership. Jumblat was accompanied on his visit by ministers Wael Abou Faour and Ghazi al-Aridi and MP Akram Shehayyeb. The binding parliamentary consultations with President Michel Suleiman to appoint a new prime minister are scheduled for Friday and Saturday at the Baabda Palace. Intense talks between various rival political blocs had been taking place in recent days ahead of the consultations in order for them to reach a united position over naming a new prime minister-designate. The March 8 camp held talks on Wednesday at Speaker Nabih Berri's residence at Ain el-Tineh in order to coordinate its stances ahead of the consultations. Marada Movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh said after the talks: “We will head to the consultations with a united position over a new prime minister-designate.”March 14 opposition alliance lawmakers are meanwhile scheduled to hold a meeting at the Center House to take a final stance on the person they will name for the premiership, informed sources said Wednesday. While the sources did not reveal to An Nahar newspaper when the meeting will be held, high-ranking al-Mustaqbal Movement officials told As Safir that the final decision on the opposition’s candidate will be made on Thursday night.

Lebanese Opposition to Announce Candidate for PM's Post at Center House Meeting
Naharnet /March 14 opposition alliance lawmakers are scheduled to hold a meeting at the Center House to take a final stance on the person they will name for the premiership during the binding consultations at Baabda palace, informed sources said Wednesday. While the sources did not reveal to An Nahar newspaper when the meeting will be held, high-ranking al-Mustaqbal movement officials told As Safir that the final decision on the opposition’s candidate will be made on Thursday night. President Michel Suleiman has set next Friday and Saturday the dates for consultations with parliamentary blocs and independent lawmakers to name their candidates for the PM's post. Suleiman will then pick the premier-designate who receives the majority's support. Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who is also the head of al-Mustaqbal movement, is personally following up the consultations between the opposition’s leaders to unify their stance, al-Mustaqbal's sources said. Deputy Speaker Farid Makari, who visited Suleiman at Baabda palace on Tuesday, said a meeting between Hariri and al-Mustaqbal delegation in Riyadh led to the exclusion of candidates who are politicians, including Caretaker PM Najib Miqati. Makari, who is a member of the March 14 alliance, told al-Liwaa daily published Wednesday that he briefed Suleiman on the results of the meeting in Riyadh. As part of the coordination among the leaders of the alliance, al-Liwaa said that Hariri telephoned on Wednesday Phalange leader Amin Gemayel, Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea and al-Mustaqbal bloc leader Fouad Saniora. Al-Mustaqbal has ruled out naming Miqati, claiming that its call for the formation of a neutral technocrat cabinet requires a person who isn't running for the parliamentary elections.
An Nahar's sources said Khaled Qabbani, Yehya Mahmasani and Marwan Ghandour are strong candidates for the post. Miqati resigned last month over differences between cabinet members on the authority that would oversee the parliamentary polls and the rejection of the extension of the tenure of Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi, who handed over his post over the weekend to Brig. Gen. Roger Salem. Rifi turned 59 – the ISF’s maximum working age – on Monday. Salem will serve as acting head of the ISF until a new director-general is appointed.

Report: Lebanese President, Suleiman to Call for Cabinet Session to Tackle Polls Based on 1960 Law
Naharnet/The rift between the Lebanese foes is expected to deepen as media reports said on Wednesday that President Michel Suleiman is expected to call for a session for the caretaker cabinet next week.
According to An Nahar newspaper, Suleiman will call for a session that would focus on the preparations for the upcoming parliamentary elections based on the 1960 law.
The president rejects renewing the tenure of the current parliament.
His visitors quoted him as saying that he will not allow to be labeled as “the president that failed to preserve the constitution and laws.”
Suleiman is keen to form a government capable of overseeing the polls and that has the consent by all parties.
Sources told the daily that the deadline for candidates to submit their nominations to the parliamentary elections is expected to be extended to April 20. Seven candidates have so far filed their nomination to the elections ahead of the constitutional deadline on April 9. The rival parties have so far failed to agree on an electoral draft-law as the resignation of Prime Minister Najib Miqati last month complicated the political crisis in Lebanon.
The March 8 coalition is holding on the the so-called Orthodox Gathering proposal as the only alternative to the 1960 law, however, it was rejected by Suleiman, Miqati, al-Mustaqbal bloc, the centrist National Struggle Front of MP Walid Jumblat, and the March 14 opposition’s Christian independent MPs. The polls are likely to be postponed if the parliament gives the green light to the proposal that divides Lebanon into a single district and allows each sect to vote for its own MPs under a proportional representation system. Suleiman and Miqati have signed a decree that sets the elections on June 9 according to the 1960 law, which is based on winner-takes-all system, over the lack of agreement between the bickering parliamentary blocs. Their call have drawn the ire of the March 8 majority coalition, which has totally rejected the law.

Mustaqbal-PSP Coordination Advances amid Reported 2nd Meeting between Jumblat's Envoy and Hariri
Naharnet/Coordination between al-Mustaqbal movement and the Progressive Socialist Party on the best candidate for the post of the prime minister has made strong progress, reports said Thursday.
Several dailies said Caretaker Minister Wael Abou Faour, who had held talks with al-Mustaqbal chief Saad Hariri in Riyadh, briefed President Michel Suleiman on Tuesday on the results of his meeting in the Saudi capital and then traveled back there for another round of talks with Hariri. The reports said an initial agreement has been reached between al-Mustaqbal and the PSP of MP Walid Jumblat for the formation of a cabinet whose main task will be to oversee the parliamentary elections, which they said should be held on time. PSP sources told al-Mustaqbal daily that Jumblat's main concern is to agree with the rest of the factions on holding the polls on time which would facilitate an agreement on the name of the premier-designate. Jumblat on Tuesday stressed that he will not “voice any stance or comment” on his candidate for the premiership before his upcoming TV interview on Thursday evening. In his remarks to al-Manar television, Jumblat declined to comment on a report by As Safir daily claiming that he will back Hariri's pick for the premiership.
The newspaper said Tuesday that a deal was struck during Abu Faour's first visit to Riyadh for Jumblat's National Struggle Front bloc to name the same person that Hariri will back for the premiership on condition that he be a non-provocative man and acceptable by all sides. Al-Mustaqbal has called for the formation of a new cabinet whose members are not candidates for the elections.

Aoun Hints He Won't Nominate Miqati, Slams Jumblat as Mentally Unstable
Naharnet/Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Tuesday launched a vehement verbal attack on Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat and hinted that he will not renominate Najib Miqati for the premiership. “Jumblat is mentally unstable and he is trying to punish us because we backed the Orthodox Gathering (electoral) law,” said Aoun during an interview on his movement's mouthpiece OTV.
“There is collective impotence in this state which is built upon a mafia-like structure and those who robbed and embezzled are fighting us now,” Aoun added. “I tell Walid Jumblat, 'where would you go if I opened the case of the Ministry of the Displaced?'” Aoun went on to say. Sharp differences have surfaced between Aoun and Jumblat over the energy and telecommunication portfolios in the next cabinet.
“The FPM will not be granted the energy and telecommunications portfolios... It's impossible and will not happen again,” As Safir newspaper quoted Jumblat as saying.
Aoun hit back during the TV interview, noting that “52 major global oil firms came to Lebanon and in three years we managed to pass the executive laws and decrees and we conducted the (oil and gas) survey.”
“I want to ask Walid Jumblat, 'what have you done since joining the cabinet in May 1984? What are your accomplishments?'” Aoun said. He charged that Jumblat “does not want the proper representation and coexistence stipulated by the constitution.” “When a sect appropriates the rights of another sect, how can there be coexistence? Coexistence can only be preserved through justice and equality,” Aoun stressed.
He noted that a parliamentary session to vote on the controversial Orthodox Gathering proposal -- under which each sect elects its own representatives -- “would be legitimate even if al-Mustaqbal (movement) and the PSP boycotted it.”“If I filed a lawsuit against someone who stole my rights and he didn't show up, I cannot say that the trial is illegitimate. There are non-negotiable rights,” Aoun explained.
“If the Orthodox law was not approved, I would consider that we are living under a dictatorial authority and going through a phase of degeneration in state institutions. Those who abandon the Orthodox Gathering law will be cursed by history,” Aoun added. Commenting on Miqati's resignation, Aoun said: “We have reached a point where laws have become totally disregarded by officials, including Miqati, who tried to manipulate the laws by seeking to extend (Internal Security Forces chief Ashraf) Rifi's term.” “Several crimes happened during Rifi's tenure and none was solved, but legally speaking, the extension was an issue to be decided by the entire cabinet and there is no applicable law, which requires resorting to the Shura Council, not to the parliament,” Aoun added. “When Miqati decided that Rifi is more important than the government, he toppled it, because there are severe situations that he didn't want to be held responsible for,” he said. “I don't know why the president (Michel Suleiman) and the premier want to maintain the vacuum. I don't have contacts with them now and I was relieved by the government's resignation as it wasn't very satisfying,” Aoun added.He stressed that legislation must serve the public interest, “not the interests of individuals, and the attempt to extend Rifi's term was a coup attempt.” Aoun revealed that his bloc has not nominated anyone for the premiership until the moment. “We have not nominated anyone for the premiership and there are conditions and counter-conditions. I demand fairness and each party must be represented according to its political weight,” he added. “When you put numerous preconditions, that means that you don't want elections. We have not reached a common viewpoint with our allies concerning the candidate for the premiership and meetings will be held in the next 24 hours,” Aoun went on to say. “I've heard that Miqati is putting conditions and I don't accept conditions, but rather principles upon which the government must be formed,” he stressed. The FPM leader asked rhetorically: “How can we name Miqati again after he resigned over two demands and he now has five conditions to return to the premiership?”

Beirut/Fire Breaks out at Plastic Warehouse in Zouk Mkayel
Naharnet/A fire broke out at a plastic and nylon warehouse in the Zouk Mkayel area in the Keserouan region. The warehouse is located in the basement of a seven-storey residential building in the neighborhood, Head of Civil Defense Brigadier General Raymond Khattar told LBCI television. Civil Defense teams have succeeded in containing the majority of the fire, he said. Nearby buildings were evacuated as a safety precaution, reported LBCI. No injuries were reported in the incident and the flames did not reach the apartments in the building. The cause of the blaze remains unknown and they will be revealed once the fire is completely extinguished, added Khattar.
Residents of the building complained to LBCI over the lack of safety measures to avert such incidents.

Three Arrested for Attempting to Smuggle Cannabis to Israel
Naharnet/The army arrested on March 30 three people for attempting to smuggle cannabis to Israel, announced the Army Command on Wednesday. It said in a statement: “Two Lebanese citizens and a Jordanian were planning to smuggle 20 kilograms of cannabis from Lebanon to the occupied Palestinian territories.”After the sufficient investigations, the suspects were arrested on March 30 with a number of drugs in their possession.
The suspects have since been referred to the concerned authorities for investigation and to uncover their accomplices.

Biased Lebanese politicians in search of a neutral premier
Wednesday, 3 April 2013/Abdul Wahab Badrakhan/AlArabyia
Efforts are underway to find a “neutral” candidate for the Lebanese premiership who can form a “neutral” ministerial council. Who will find him and who will name him if the president’s consultations are being held with political parties who are not neutral at all? If they do find this unique man, the latter will be holding consultations with opposing political parties for the sake of guiding him towards assigning neutrals like him as ministers. There is no doubt that there are names for the candidacy. After all the country is not void of patriots fit for that position. But the circumstances are not patriotic. Not to mention that if the March 14 coalition suggests a name, the March 8 coalition will voice suspicions regarding him and vice versa. The situation will be like creating or solving riddles. But what is the definition of “a neutral?” It is not to be a partisan, not to have a history or a role or a tendency towards politics, and it is preferred if he has no political opinion of his own or rather no opinion at all. And as long as he will be chosen based on his religion, like ministers will be chosen, it is also requested that he and the ministers be outside their sects or on its margin since sects nowadays are sunk in the general societal divisions over local issues and the Syrian crisis.
Lebanon’s political situation
Amid Lebanon’s political situation, how can such a cabinet be pictured? And how can such a cabinet work in a state that has lost its prestige and strength? How will the malicious, impudent and immoral respect its neutrality and discipline? We will get to know if the country is heading towards a stalemate during and after the consultations. But the current atmosphere implies that everyone is frankly speaking of forming a weak formal cabinet that cannot handle any issue - for example the issues of telecommunications, oil and gas - even if the aim is just to develop it or activate it. The atmosphere also implies that this cabinet cannot, or rather does not, even have the right to deal with a parliamentary electoral law. This is the case even though the cabinet is supposed to supervise holding elections that no one knows the timing of with certainty. It also cannot and does not even have the right to be strict in maintaining security because the latter is discretionary, selective and set according to the “ruling party” in the resigned cabinet. This party will continue to rule no matter how the next cabinet acts - that is if a cabinet is born.
But what is the definition of “a neutral?” It is not to be a partisan, not to have a history or a role or a tendency towards politics, and it is preferred if he has no political opinion of his own
Abdul Wahab Badrakhan
The president considers that some of the “neutral cabinet’s” tasks are to limit the repercussions of the Syrian crisis and implement the Baabda Declaration. It is for this sake that he is thinking about reviving “national dialogue” so he can support the cabinet. One must wonder how and who prevented the resigned cabinet from implementing the Baabda Declaration. If it was not the cabinet that prevented that, then it is the “ruling party” – Hezbollah, who sent its fighters to Syria. As for the repercussions, it is hard to prevent them because the Syrian regime’s allies are the ones behind them. There will not be a new cabinet unless they make sure that it can be used to serve the interest of their ally, the collapsing regime.*This piece was first published in Lebanon-based Annahar on April 4.

Syria slams Hamas head Meshaal after re-election
Wednesday, 3 April 2013/AFP, Damascus -A Syrian regime newspaper on Wednesday slammed militant Palestinian movement Hamas and its leader Khaled Meshaal for breaking with Damascus, accusing them of giving up on resistance against Israel. The report comes two days after Meshaal’s re-election as head of Hamas’s politburo for another four-year term. Hamas has shifted “the gun from the shoulder of resistance (against Israel) to the shoulder of compromise,” Al-Thawra daily said. “Today, as Meshaal becomes the head of Hamas for the fifth time... the West Bank, Gaza and the whole of occupied Palestine have no reason to celebrate.” Meshaal “cannot believe his luck. After an acclaimed history of struggle, he has returned to the safe Qatari embrace, wealthy and fattened in the age of the Arab Spring’s storms,” the newspaper added. After years of alignment with Damascus, during which he used Damascus as a base, Meshaal relocated in 2012 to Doha, severing ties with President Bashar al-Assad and declaring his support for the revolt against his regime. The Assad regime, supported by Iran and a longtime backer of Shiite Lebanese movement Hezbollah, maintains that it is the last Arab bastion of anti-Israeli resistance. It has fiercely criticized Meshaal’s decision to break with the regime, recalling Damascus’s willingness to host the Hamas leader when other regional capitals refused to do so. Throughout the two-year conflict in Syria, which the U.N. says has cost more than 70,000 lives, the regime has also accused Turkey, the West and several Arab states of conspiring to topple the regime because of its opposition to Israel.

U.S., Jordan boost training of Syria opposition fighters: report
Wednesday, 3 April 2013/Al Arabiya -American and Jordanian efforts to train Syrian opposition fighters have stepped up, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday, following reports that the training has been focused on anti-tank weaponry. The report on Wednesday, citing U.S. and Jordanian officials, stated that training – which reportedly began last year - could also be used to establish a buffer zone along Syria’s southern border.
“Jordanian security officials said a previous timetable to complete training of about 3,000 Free Syrian Army officers by the end of June has been moved up to the end of this month in light of the border victories,” the Post reported. A buffer zone would essentially aim to “aim to convert areas now in rebel hands into permanent havens for thousands of army defectors and displaced civilians in the area and allow easy access for humanitarian aid,” the report added. “Buffer zones on the Syrian side of the border is the only way to keep the conflict away from Jordan,” Mahmoud Irdaisat, head of the Amman-based Center for Strategic Studies at the King Abdullah II Defense Studies Academy, told the Post. Last month, German newspaper Der Spiegel quoted what it said were participants and organizers in the training, adding that there were doubts over whether the Americans worked for private firms or were from the army, although some reportedly wore uniforms. Spiegel said the training focused on use of anti-tank weaponry.
Jordanian intelligence services are involved in the program, which aims to build around a dozen units totaling some 10,000 fighters to the exclusion of radical Islamists, Spiegel reported.
“The Jordanian intelligence services want to prevent Salafis (radical Islamists) crossing from their own country into Syria and then returning later to stir up trouble in Jordan itself,” one of the organizers told the paper. A spokesman for the U.S. Defense Department declined immediate comment on the Spiegel report. The French foreign ministry and Britain’s foreign and defense ministries also had no comment.
Britain’s Guardian newspaper also reported in recent weeks that U.S. trainers were assisting Syrian rebels in Jordan. British and French instructors were also participating in the U.S.-led effort, the Guardian said on Saturday, citing Jordanian security sources. More than 70,000 people have been killed and 1 million refugees have fled the Syrian conflict.
It started as pro-democracy protests but has turned into a sectarian war between rebels mainly from Syria’s Sunni Muslim majority and state forces defending President Bashar al-Assad, who follows the Alawite faith derived from Shiite Islam. The United States has said it would provide medical supplies and food directly to opposition fighters but has ruled out sending arms for fear they may find their way to Islamist hardliners who might then use them against Western targets.

Fatwa Bans Men from Being Alone with ‘Handsome Young Boys’
By Raymond Ibrahim /in From The Arab World, Islam
Jihad Watch
How far will Muslims go in their attempts to follow as literally as possible the teachings of Islam, especially the many countless and colorful fatwas that appear from their ulema, that is, “the ones who know”—the “scholars” of Islam?Many are aware that Islamic law bans men and women who are not married or related from being in each other’s company. Recently, however, a Saudi cleric, Sheikh Abdullah Da ‘ud, took it a step further on live Arabic TV by insisting that “it is forbidden to be around handsome youth, those beardless boys who have a touch of temptation in them [fitna].” Nor is Sheikh Da‘ud the only one to suggest that beardless youth are sources of temptation for Muslim men. Islam Web has an English-language fatwa supporting Sheikh Da‘ud’s assertions. And here is American Muslim preacher Khalid Yasin saying that “among the companions of the Prophet, they used not to even look at a man who shaves his beard for fear they may have desire for him.”Perhaps this explains why Abu Islam, another notorious Egyptian preacher, recently insisted that one of his secular opponents, Bassem Youssef, whom he referred to as a beardless “pretty boy,” should wear the niqab, the face veil worn by some Muslim women. As Wael Ibrashi of Dream TV, who aired the most recent clip of the Saudi Sheikh, put it, “At a time when the world is busy trying to find cures for cancer and for all the diseases that afflict society, and trying to advance and develop technology, unfortunately some of Islam’s preachers take us backwards in time through their backwards fatwas”—fatwas which seem to get worse with each passing year, such as the recommendation that Muslims drink camel urine for its salutary benefits, based on prophet Muhammad’s advice.

New Fatwa Permits Rape of Non-Sunni Women in Syria
By Raymond Ibrahim
on April 2, 2013 in From The Arab World, Islam
Human Events
Yet another Islamic cleric recently made it permissible for the Islamic fighters waging a jihad in Syria—politely known as “the opposition”—to rape the nation’s women.
‘Ajlawni: Justifying rape in Islam’s name. Salafi Sheikh Yasir al-‘Ajlawni, a Jordanian of origin who earlier lived in Damascus, Syria for 17 years, posted a YouTube video last week where he said he was preparing to issue a “legitimate fatwa” making it legal (in the eyes of Islam) for those Muslims fighting to topple secular president Bashar Assad and install Sharia law to “capture and have sex with” all non-Sunni women, specifically naming Assad’s own sect, the Alawites, as well as the Druze and several others, in short, all non-Sunnis and non-Muslims.
The sheikh used Islam’s legitimate Arabic term for these hapless, non-Muslim women, melk al-yamin, a phrase that appears in Islam’s sacred book, the Koran, and which is simply a reference to non-Muslim sex-slaves. For example, Koran 4:3 commands Muslim men to “Marry such women as seem good to you, two and three and four… or what your right hands possess.” Islam’s ulema, or “scholars,” are unanimously agreed that “what your right hands possess” is, according to Islamic law, simply a sex-slave. Linguistic evidence further suggests that she is seen more as an animal or a possession than a human—hence this inhuman fatwa.
Jordanian Sheih Yasir al-‘Ajlawni is certainly not the first cleric to legitimize the rape of infidel women in recent times. Calls to capture and rape non-Muslim women are appearing with increasing frequency from all corners of the Islamic world. A few months earlier, Saudi preacher Muhammad al-Arifi also issued a fatwa allowing jihadi fighters to engage in “intercourse marriage” with captive Syrian women that lasts for a few hours “in order to give each fighter a turn”—also known as gang-rape. Then there is Egyptian Sheikh Ishaq Huwaini, who once lectured on how infidel captives, or to use another term from the Koran, ghanima, the “spoils of war,” are to be distributed among the jihadis and taken to “the slave market, where slave-girls and concubines are sold.” He, too, referred to such women as “what your right hands possess,” saying: “You go to the market and buy her, and she becomes like your legal mate—though without a contract, a guardian, or any of that stuff—and this is agreed upon by the ulema…. In other words, when I want a sex-slave, I go to the market and pick whichever female I desire and buy her.”Indeed, even some Muslim women advocate the enslavement and rape of fellow (non-Muslim) women. Kuwaiti political activist, Salwa al-Mutairi, for instance, is working to see the institution of sex-slavery return. In a video she posted online, she explained how she once asked Islam’s greatest authorities living in the city of Mecca, the city of Islam, about the legality of sex-slavery and how they all confirmed it to be perfectly legitimate. According to Mutairi: A Muslim state must [first] attack a Christian state—sorry, I mean any non-Muslim state—and they [the women, the future sex-slaves] must be captives of the raid. Is this forbidden? Not at all; according to Islam, sex slaves are not at all forbidden. Quite the contrary, the rules regulating sex-slaves differ from those for free women [i.e., Muslim women]: the latter’s body must be covered entirely, except for her face and hands, whereas the sex-slave is kept naked from the bellybutton on up—she is different from the free woman; the free woman has to be married properly to her husband, but the sex-slave—he just buys her and that’s that.
The Kuwaiti activist went on to offer concrete suggestions: “For example, in the Chechnya war, surely there are female Russian captives. So go and buy those and sell them here in Kuwait; better that than have our men engage in forbidden sexual relations. I don’t see any problem in this, no problem at all.” One can go on and on with more examples. The point is that last week’s fatwa permitting the jihadi-led “opposition” to target and rape non-Sunni Syrian women is in good company, and certainly not an aberration. The only aberration seems to be the United States’ wholesale support for self-professed rapists and terrorists—quite laughably, in the name of “democracy.”
 

Israeli Defense Minister Issues Warning over Fire from Gaza, Golan
Naharnet /Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon warned on Wednesday that Israel would respond to any attacks on its territory and not allow its people to come under fire "in any form.”
His warning was issued after militants in Gaza fired a rocket at southern Israel, and as a Syrian mortar shell and small arms fire hit the Israeli-occupied sector of the Golan Heights.
The Israeli military was quick to respond in both cases, with a tank firing back across the Syrian armistice line towards the source of fire and the air force mounting three air strikes on Gaza, in the first such raids in more than four months. "We shall not allow in any form the establishment of a routine of sporadic firing at our civilians or our forces," Yaalon said in remarks communicated from his office.
Yaalon said Gaza's Hamas rulers were responsible for any fire directed at Israel from the coastal enclave, and in the same way, President Bashar Assad's regime was to blame for whatever fire emanated from Syria.
"In the Golan Heights, our policy is that we have no intention of allowing a daily routine of firing from Syria towards Israeli territory, whether it is stray fire or not, and we will respond to that with a firm hand," he warned.
"The moment we identify the source of the fire, we will destroy it without any hesitation, as we did last night," he said.
"The Syrian regime is responsible for whatever happens on its territory, and we will not allow a situation in which fire leaks into Israeli territory without a response."
After the overnight Israeli strikes which struck open fields near Gaza City and in the north, causing no damage or injuries, militants fired two more rockets at Israel, police said.
Both landed in an open area near the border town of Sderot, causing no damage or injuries.
Late on Tuesday, an Israeli tank on the Golan Heights fired across the armistice line after a mortar shell and small-arms fire hit the Israeli-occupied sector, the military said.
Agence France Presse

US official puts onus on Iran in nuclear talks
By REUTERS04/04/2013/
J.Post/"How far we get depends on what Iranians come back with in terms of a response... to our proposal," says official.WASHINGTON - Progress in this week's nuclear talks between Iran and six major powers depends on how Tehran responds to a proposal offered by the six in February, a senior US official said on Wednesday.
"How far we get ... depends on what the Iranians come back with in terms of a response on the substance to our proposal," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity."There has been a very positive line out of Tehran on the talks so far. We hope that that positive talk will now be matched with some concrete responses and actions on the Iranian side," the official added.
The United States and its allies suspect Iran of using its civilian nuclear program as a cover to develop atomic weapons. Iran denies this, saying its program is entirely peaceful.
At February 26-27 talks with Iran in Almaty, Kazakhstan, the six major powers - Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States - offered modest sanctions relief in return for Iran curbing its most sensitive nuclear work.
The senior US official put the onus on Iran to put forward a substantive response at Friday's talks in Kazakhstan, known informally as "Almaty II," but also played down the idea that this week's discussions constituted a last chance for Iran.
"I would hope that we're not at any last chance," said the official. "If we are not sure about how much we've gotten and whether we have gotten enough, we'll go back and consult with capitals before we reach any ultimate conclusion here.
"So I think we have time and space to consider what we hear," the official added. "We hope that they make concrete, substantive and specific responses so that we can go to work."
In February, Western officials said the offer presented then by the six powers included an easing of a ban on trade in gold and other precious metals, and a relaxation of an import embargo on Iranian petrochemical products. They offered no details.
In exchange, a senior US official said, Iran would among other things have to suspend uranium enrichment to a fissile concentration of 20 percent at its Fordow underground facility and "constrain the ability to quickly resume operations there."
This appeared to be a softening of a previous demand that Iran ship out its entire stockpile of higher-grade enriched uranium, which it says it needs to produce medical isotopes.
Iran says it has a sovereign right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes, and wants to fuel nuclear power plants so it can export more oil.
But 20-percent purity is far higher than that needed for nuclear power, and rings alarm bells abroad because it is only a short technical step away from weapons-grade uranium.Asked whether the United States wanted an absolute shut-down of Fordow, the US official declined to provide details but suggested some flexibility.
"I won't be able to give you specifics on Fordow, except to say that our objective to deal with Fordow remains the same objective," said the official. "There are many ways to get there and our proposal is one vehicle for doing that, but our desire to make sure that Fordow does not remain the concern that it is is very much part of the proposal ... we have put on the table."
 

Israel's priority is to prevent a nuclear Iran'
By HERB KEINON04/03/2013/J.Post
Ahead of fresh talks between world powers, Iran in Kazakhstan, Netanyahu opposes continued negotiations with Tehran.On the eve of another round of talks between the world powers and Iran Friday in Kazakhstan, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu came out Wednesday against continuing to negotiate with Tehran as it moves forward with its nuclear development.
Before meeting visiting Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide, Netanyahu said Iran must not be allowed to develop a model whereby it negotiates while in parallel it develops and threatens to use nuclear arms."There are many important issues in the Middle East," he said, "such as trying to reach peace with the Palestinians and other regional issues, but they are all overshadowed by Iran who believes it has the right to develop nuclear weapons, and continues to do so. Our main objective is to prevent that."
Eide said that Norway is a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and is concerned about Iran's lack of cooperation. "We are allowed to visit sites that are not important, but not those that we are interested in visiting," he said.
Meanwhile in Ankara,the European Union's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said she was "cautiously optimistic" about the nuclear talks, but said it was vital that Tehran responded to an offer put forward by major powers.
"I remain always cautiously optimistic. But I am also very clear that it is very important that we do get a response (from Iran)," Ashton told reporters in the Turkish capital when asked about the talks in Almaty.
Reuters contributed to this report

Iran Beyond Oil?
Patrick Clawson/Washington Institute
April 3, 2013
The role of oil in Iran's economy is declining, undercutting Western efforts to press the regime by reducing its oil export revenue. The image of Iran's economy as oil, carpets, and pistachios was always flawed, but has now become badly dated. The Islamic Republic is in the midst of a non-oil export boom -- it has the potential to remain a middle-income country even with no oil exports, and the reserves to finance the transition in the meantime. For years, Iran's leaders called for reduced reliance on oil but did little to meet that goal. Western sanctions have seemingly spurred them to action -- in his annual Nowruz address on March 21, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei acknowledged for the first time that restrictions on the country's oil exports had made a serious impact: "The sanctions have had an effect, which is because of an essential flaw that we are suffering from. The flaw that our economy is suffering from is that it is dependent on oil." He also acknowledged that Iran's "economic weakness" had led to "harsh conditions for certain groups of people." Rather than change Iranian nuclear policy, however, he argued, "We can turn every threat into an opportunity...The sanctions caused the massive domestic capacities of the Iranian nation to become activated."
TRADE BECOMING MORE BALANCED
While still important, oil is becoming a smaller part of Iran's trade. In 2012, the country imported $57 billion in goods and exported $34 billion in non-oil products, meaning that non-oil exports covered 60% of the import bill, compared to 24% in 2002 and 14% in 1992. It produced this shift in part by converting more of its oil into industrial products for export; according to the Iranian Customs Administration, the $29.2 billion in non-oil exports over the first eleven months of fiscal 2012/2013 included $9.0 billion in chemical products (mostly petrochemicals such as urea fertilizer and polyethylene) and $3.2 billion in plastics made from oil. But other products are also being exported at high rates, including $8.2 billion in minerals, stone, cement, and related products, $5.3 billion in agricultural products, and $800 million in carpets. The country's largest market is Iraq, which took $5.6 billion in goods over the same period, including much of Iran's manufactured exports (e.g., more than $300 million in automobiles). The next-largest customers were China ($4.8 billion), the United Arab Emirates ($3.9 billion), Afghanistan ($2.5 billion), India ($2.4 billion), and Turkey ($1.3 billion).
With the rial plunging and the dollar becoming more valuable in comparison, Iranian merchants are moving from their traditional role as solely importers to seeking export opportunities as well. This shift is reviving any Iranian production that can find an export market. For example, Mohsen Jalalpour, the head of Iran's pistachio association, recently told the Financial Times, "Many pistachio farmers feared their farms would go bust a year and a half ago, but the strengthening of the U.S. dollar had led to a boom." The effect has been to price Iranian pistachios beyond the reach of most Iranian consumers, but the national economy benefits from the higher exports.
The non-oil trade deficit is also shrinking because of declining imports. Higher prices and direct administrative measures are responsible for this reduction. Last November, Tehran banned the import of seventy-five goods described as "nonessential," which Industry and Business Ministry official Sasan Khodaei said accounted for $4 billion in imports the previous year (other estimates are higher). The government is also vigorously substituting oil for natural gas at home, reversing decades of policy that had made Iran the most gas-dependent economy in the world (e.g., gas constituted 60% of domestic energy use in 2011, according to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy). Iran has long been a net importer of gas, but the oil substitution will allow it to reduce its gas imports from Turkmenistan and increase its gas exports to Turkey.
Overall, Iran's 179-page monthly customs report shows in great detail how the balance of trade is steadily improving, with category after category of exports headed up and category after category of imports headed down. To be sure, the country still has a large non-oil trade deficit, a problem exacerbated by the deficit in services and on the capital account. But its capital outflow also appears to be decreasing -- Central Bank data reported in Tehran's Donya-e Eqtesad newspaper pegged this outflow at $2.4 billion in April-May 2012 compared to $11.4 billion the previous year, in no small part because international banks cut their exposure to Iran. If the declining deficits continue, Iran could use its ample reserves to finance a moderately smooth transition to an economy without oil exports.
The West has sought to hamper Iran's trade through banking restrictions, but Minister of Industry, Mines, and Commerce Mehdi Ghazanfari recently claimed that "41% of the hard currency needed for imports in the first half of the year were provided by non-banking sources." Although that may be a considerable exaggeration, Iranian officials perceive themselves as masters of evading rules, so it will be difficult to persuade them that they cannot find a way around any Western restrictions.
BUDGETARY PROBLEMS NOT INSURMOUNTABLE
Replacing oil in foreign trade is easier than replacing it in government finances, but Tehran is making progress on that front too. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's proposed budget for March 2013/March 2014 assumes oil revenue will fund 40% of expenditures. Although the official budget documents are not very informative, the Majlis Research Center (MRC) -- the parliament's research arm -- has prepared dozens of detailed reports on the subject. As these reports explain, the budget assumes Iran will export around $45 billion in oil in 2013/2014, based on an average price of $91 per barrel and a volume of 1.33 million barrels per day (b/d). This includes natural gas liquids; like the United States, much of Iran's oil exports are from such liquids rather than crude oil. After deductions for the National Development Fund (NDF) and National Iranian Oil Company costs, that translates into around $26 billion for the government. The budget's assumptions are largely reasonable: it will be difficult for the West to reduce Iran's exports below the current 1.3 million b/d or drive its earnings below $91 per barrel.
How much revenue the oil exports bring depends on the exchange rate used: the higher the rate, the higher the rial revenue. The budget assumes that oil exports will be converted at the current exchange office rate of 24,500 rials per dollar -- about twice the official rate of 12,260, but only three-fourths the black market rate of around 34,000. This implies that vital imports will be shifted to the exchange office rate, doubling their price in rials and requiring either more cash subsidies from the budget or higher prices on consumers. At that rate, the government's share of oil exports would be 644 trillion rials (though the MRC reports it as 659 trillion elsewhere). That is about 40% of the government's proposed 1,669 trillion rials in expenditures.
While oil revenue is headed down, non-oil revenue is headed up. The budget claims that Iran will raise 530 trillion rials from taxes over the next year, while the MRC estimates 448 trillion (for comparison, the center estimated 2012/2013 tax revenue at 352 trillion rials, or 78% of the budget forecast). Even less realistically, the government forecasts 480 trillion rials from other revenue sources, compared to 305 trillion in the previous year's budget. Evidently, much of this figure is derived from privatization of state holdings. The MRC estimates that 180 trillion rials in shares were transferred in 2012/2013, mostly to state-controlled institutions such as banks and pension funds; the government took in only 45 trillion rials in cash. Given past experience, a significant shortfall from the 480 trillion target for nontax revenue seems likely.
Yet various reports suggest that Tehran has found ways to cover some of its expenses by drawing on the NDF, which is supposed to receive 20% of oil revenue for use in developing the economy. The 2013/2014 budget allocates about $11.7 billion to the fund, equivalent to 284 trillion rials at the exchange office rate -- money that could be diverted to cover budget expenses. So all in all, the government may find a way to put its hands on something close to the 1,010 trillion rials in non-oil revenues it forecasts, even if a chunk of that funding actually comes from oil revenues deposited in the NDF.
The new budget also seeks to reduce reliance on oil revenue by keeping a lid on expenses. The 1,669 trillion rials in budgeted expenditures for 2013/2014 represent a 16% increase over 2012/2013 (1,443 trillion), which is much lower than inflation (the Statistical Center of Iran reports that prices in March 2013 were 40.6% higher than in March 2012). The share of the budget allocated for investment (373 trillion rials) is well below what is needed for growth and continues to decline, from 28% last year to 22% this year. As for current expenditures, the budget proposes 502 trillion rials for salaries, including a 20% raise, well below inflation. Subsidies -- mostly cash payments to individuals -- would rise to 233 trillion rials, 71% more than last year. Yet that could still leave the poor worse off, since the proposed second round of subsidy reforms may raise their cost of living by more than the additional payment.
To be sure, falling oil income has almost certainly led to budget deficits. Although no official estimates are available, Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli -- the head of the Supreme Audit Court and no friend of Ahmadinejad -- estimated that 2012/2013 revenue will cover only 50% of costs, based on results for the first nine months of the year. That would imply a budget deficit of about 12% of national income, compared to the U.S. government's peak of 10% during the recent recession (in fiscal year 2009). Tehran is in a good position to finance a large deficit, however. Rather than having a national debt, the government is a significant net creditor to the banking system, both at home and abroad. And NDF managing director Mohammad-Reza Farzin reported in December that the fund's balance was $42.8 billion, which could be drawn on in a pinch.
In short, even with reduced oil income due to sanctions, Iran's government finances are doing as well as (or better) than those of the United States and most other industrial countries.
POLICY IMPLICATIONS
Thus far, international sanctions have focused on decreasing Iran's oil income, but Tehran has apparently decided to accept the immediate pain while promoting a smaller role for oil, undercutting the West's strategy. In fact, the regime's approach is good for Iran in the long term. To quote OPEC founder Juan Pablo Perez Alfonzo, oil has often been the devil's curse, encouraging a windfall mentality that impedes growth.
Exploring alternative Western strategies requires a fuller study, but a few implications of this analysis merit mention. One is that extending sanctions to cover all Iranian exports would be very difficult. Getting Turkey, China, India, and others to give up Iranian oil was hard enough; persuading them not to buy Iranian fertilizer would be even tougher. One reason they will be reluctant to take that extra step is because revenue from non-oil exports does not go directly to the government, but to private firms (though many of these are largely owned by government-related entities). Iran is therefore unlikely to be crippled by any sanctions the West could impose.
Another point is that the increasing non-oil exports enrich the middle class and reduce the government's weight in the economy. Fears that sanctions might hollow out the modern middle class, as happened in Iraq during the Saddam era, are misplaced. Instead, all those Iranian merchants scrambling to become exporters portend a stronger civil society -- one that might someday convince Tehran to abandon its isolationist policies. Yet it would be imprudent to rest one's hopes for resolution of the nuclear impasse on such a possibility.
**Patrick Clawson, an economist by training, is The Washington Institute's director of research and coauthor of the forthcoming book History of Money in Iran 1500-1925 (I.B. Tauris, 2013).