Bible Quotation for today/Hearing and Doing
James 01/19-27: "Remember this, my dear friends! Everyone must be quick to listen, but slow to speak and slow to become angry.  Human anger does not achieve God's righteous purpose.  So get rid of every filthy habit and all wicked conduct. Submit to God and accept the word that he plants in your hearts, which is able to save you. Do not deceive yourselves by just listening to his word; instead, put it into practice.  If you listen to the word, but do not put it into practice you are like people who look in a mirror and see themselves as they are. They take a good look at themselves and then go away and at once forget what they look like.  But if you look closely into the perfect law that sets people free, and keep on paying attention to it and do not simply listen and then forget it, but put it into practice—you will be blessed by God in what you do. Do any of you think you are religious? If you do not control your tongue, your religion is worthless and you deceive yourself. What God the Father considers to be pure and genuine religion is this: to take care of orphans and widows in their suffering and to keep oneself from being corrupted by the world.

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

The Art of Turning Neighbors into Enemies/By: Amir Taheri/Asharq Alawsat/April 06/13
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Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for April 06/13

New STL trial date unlikely before last quarter 2013

N. Korea Tells Russia to Consider Evacuating Pyongyang Embassy

Iran, big powers appear miles apart at nuclear talks

Iran lines up behind North Korea, warns the US of “great losses”

Salam secures majority for Lebanon PM post

Aoun to Boycott Parliamentary Consultations: We Support Salam to Head New Govt.

Saudi Arabia plays key role in promoting MP Salam as consensus candidate: analysts

Report: Saudi Settlement Paved Way for Salam's Nomination, Will Lead to Staging Elections
Berri's Development and Liberation Bloc Nominates Salam to Head New Govt

Lawmaker Tammam Salam Reportedly Receives Support from March 8 Alliance

Salam Gets 86 Votes on Day 1 of Consultations, Aoun's Vote Uncounted and Helou Joins Jumblat's Bloc
Franjieh Boycotts Parliamentary Consultations: Salam Confirmed His Political Affiliation
Berri's Development and Liberation Bloc Nominates Salam to Head New Govt.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati Supports Naming Salam to Premiership
Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel Calls for One-Week Postponement of Parliamentary Elections

Geagea Considers Salam Candidacy 'Molded Locally,' Praises March 14 Decision
Jumblat Says Nominated Salam after Rejecting Rifi: I Will Not Accept One-Sided Govt.
President Michel Suleiman: Israeli Threats against Lebanon Violate Resolution 1701

Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan requests to extend election date to June 16

Building under Threat of Collapse in Tariq al-Jadeedah Evacuated
Relatives of Kidnapped Lebanese Pilgrims Close Shops Owned by Syrians

Building under Threat of Collapse in Tariq al-Jadeedah Evacuated
U.S. Calls for Bahrain Dialogue

French Court Reverses Decision to Release Georges Abdallah

Syria violence: latest updates

 

Salam secures majority for Lebanon PM post
April 05, 2013 /By Dana Khraiche/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: MP Tammam Salam secured the votes needed to be named prime minister-designate during Friday’s binding parliamentary consultations after most of the main political parties endorsed the Beirut lawmaker.
Although consultations will resume Saturday morning, Salam has so far received 86 votes from parliamentary blocs who held separate meetings with President Michel Sleiman at Baabda Palace.
Speaker Nabih Berri who was the first to meet the president announced earlier in the day that his bloc would name Salam, 68, as the country’s next prime minister to form a new government.
Salam, son of six-time former Prime Minister Saeb Salam, was named by Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Deputy Speaker Farid Makari, Berri’s Development and Liberation bloc, as well as lawmakers from the Future bloc, the Change and Reform bloc, MP Walid Jumblatt’s block and the Loyalty to the Resistance bloc.
MP Michel Aoun did not attend his scheduled consultations with Sleiman while his ally Marada Movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh said he would boycott the talks.
Aoun, head of the Free Patriotic Movement, said Friday he endorsed Salam and that lawmakers from his Change and Reform bloc will attend the sessions without him.
Asked about the reason for his absence, Aoun replied "Because I want to."
Franjieh, however, said he would boycott the consultations given that Salam was a March 14 figure, and not a consensus candidate.
“I respect and appreciate Salam and his prestigious family, with whom we have an old relationship, but announcing his nomination at MP Saad Hariri's residence on Thursday has clearly confirmed his affiliation with a political group,” he added, leaving his bloc the freedom to name whoever they see fit.
Salam who will now embark on the difficult task of forming a new Cabinet amid sharp divisions among rival coalitions, described Thursday the post as a great responsibility and said he would form a government to supervise the upcoming parliamentary polls.
Speaking to reporters after talks with Sleiman, Siniora called for a productive Cabinet that would hold the elections as soon as possible, reiterating his party’s support for ministers who are not running for the polls.
"Certainly given the difficult and pressing regional circumstances, the situation requires [the prime minister] to work on forming a government with a homogeneous, active and productive team of ministers,” Siniora said surrounded by his bloc’s lawmakers.
"The government should then work with seriousness to lessen tensions in the country and work on holding the elections as soon as possible,” he added.
Head of the Hezbollah bloc MP Mohammad Raad announced that they named Salam for the post, following his bloc’s scheduled meeting
“To affirm that we are open to any step that can lead to understanding and that we are keen for an opportunity to open up the horizon to form a unifying government, which entails national unity and salvation, the bloc named MP Tammam Salam,” Raad said.
Jumblatt, who played a major role in nominating Salam for the country’s highest Sunni post, made a point to praise Mikati for maintaining stability in the country during his term.
“We would like to make it a point to [praise] the tremendous efforts put forth by Mikati in the process of stability and consensus,” the head of the Progressive Socialist Party said.
Mikati, who stepped down last month due to rifts within his March 8-dominated Cabinet, said he did not regret his resignation, denying he was a "victim of a political settlement."
Meanwhile, head of the Change and Reform bloc MP Ibrahim Kanaan said the parliamentarians endorsed Salam but that trust in the lawmaker depended on the type of government to be formed.
Salam was elected a lawmaker for Beirut in 1996 after running alongside the late Rafik Hariri, who was prime minister at the time. Salam was defeated when he ran for re-election in 2000.
He was appointed as culture minister in July 2008 in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, formed after the Doha Accord, which ended an 18-month political crisis in the country.

Salam Gets 86 Votes on Day 1 of Consultations, Aoun's Vote Uncounted and Helou Joins Jumblat's Bloc
Naharnet /Eighty-six lawmakers nominated Beirut MP Tammam Salam for the premiership on the first day of binding parliamentary consultations at the Baabda Palace, winning key endorsements from across the political spectrum.
The consultations kicked off on Friday with Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati, who stated after meeting with President Michel Suleiman that he nominates Salam for the premiership.
“We are looking forward to achieving a positive shock in Lebanon, which entails nominating Salam to head a new government,” he told reporters at the Baabda Palace.
Miqati emphasized the importance of the transition of power in Lebanon: “Some say that I am the victim in this entire process, but I did not head the premiership to pursue personal goals. I have no regrets”.Suleiman then met with Speaker Nabih Berri, as part of the binding parliamentary consultations, and the latter named MP Salam to head the cabinet.
Berri's Development and Liberation bloc also supported Salam for premiership.The bloc had held talks earlier on Friday at Berri's Ain el-Tineh residence, revealing its endorsement for Salam to head a new government.
Another vote to Salam was granted by Deputy Speaker MP Farid Makari who hoped that the Beirut lawmaker would succeed in forming a government that will oversee the elections and “cater to the country's needs”.
Makari added: “We hope that we will witness the rise of one Lebanon, not two. We hope the formation of the government will be as easy as Salam's nomination”.
"We oppose having ministers in a new government who will also run in the elections,” he pointed out.
Berri's deputy stressed that the Baabda Declaration should act as the new cabinet's ministerial statement.
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.
They also pledged to consolidate stability to prevent the country from descending into strife.
The Change and Reform bloc also voiced their support for MP Salam.
“We nominated Salam and we believe that his nomination will restore national unity in Lebanon,” the bloc's MP Ibrahim Kanaan said after meeting with the president.
However, Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun held a press conference before his bloc's talks with Suleiman, and asserted that he will boycott the consultations because “he feels like it”.
"Our decision is not because we are taking a stand against President Suleiman,” he noted.
Aoun said he supports national unity and stability: “An agreement was reached over Salam”.
LBCI television remarked that Aoun's vote for Salam did not count because he is required to hand over a written consent over the matter.
Al-Mustaqbal was the next bloc to meet with President Suleiman and it's head MP Fouad Saniora told reporters that the lawmakers' nominations of Salam “stems from their commitment to Lebanon, its democracy, and sovereignty”.
"The current situation obligates the formation of a government capable of restoring trust among the people and of confronting the challenges it will face,” Saniora said.
“The new government will be obligated to hold the elections to restore the functioning of state institutions and authority of the state and tackle daily concerns”. Hoping that the new government will “adhere to the state and its laws and pave the way for the return to the national dialogue”, Saniora confirmed that the al-Mustaqbal MPs will stand by Salam throughout the process of forming the cabinet.
LBCI remarked that six al-Mustaqbal MPs did not attend the Baabda Palace consultations, but they sent written authorizations to name Salam.
These MPs are: Bahia Hariri, Saad Hariri, Jamal al-Jarrah, Nouhad al-Mashnouq, Mohammed Hajjar, and Oqab Saqr.
However, because he is a former premier, al-Mustaqbal Movement's head Saad Hariri's vote could not be counted through a written authorization only. He did, however, phone the president and inform him personally about his decision of nominating Salam for premiership, al-Jadeed television reported.
After, the president of the republic met with Hizbullah's Loyalty to the Resistance bloc, and MP Mohammed Raad declared that they nominate Salam for premiership.
Accompanied by MP Henry Helou, the National Struggle Front, which has become comprised of eight lawmakers, endorsed Tammam Salam to head the new cabinet.
The National Struggle Front head MP Walid Jumblat said after meeting with Suleiman: “We have nominated Mr. Tammam Salam”.
He added: “The bloc lauds the tremendous efforts exerted by ex-PM Najib Miqati to preserve stability”. The last MPs to meet with the president on the first day of the binding parliamentary consultations were Michel Murr and Nayla Tueni who also named Salam for premiership.
“Tammam Salam has a long history in the educational and political fields, and we support him in designation and in the formation of the cabinet,” Murr told reporters. Regarding the new cabinet, he remarked that it must be a “national unity government that abides by the Baabda Declaration”. “No one must obstruct the formation of a unity cabinet,” he stressed.
Marada Movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh, who is scheduled to meet with Suleiman on Friday, announced in a released statement that he will boycott the parliamentary consultations because “Salam has clearly confirmed his political affiliation”, allowing the members of the Free United Lebanon bloc to choose the nominee they want.
The northern leader elaborated: “I respect and appreciate Salam and his prestigious family with whom we have an old relationship, but announcing his nomination from the (al-Mustaqbal Movement head MP Saad Hariri's) Center House on Thursday has clearly confirmed his affiliation with a political group”.However, LBCI noted that Free United Lebanon MPs Salim Karam and Stephan Douaihy will also boycott the parliamentary consultations.
The March 14 forces had announced on Thursday that they have chosen Salam as their nominee for premiership."The lawmakers of the alliance and of Jamaa Islamiya will officially inform President Michel Suleiman about their candidate during Friday's parliamentary consultations,” said Saniora after a March 14 broad meeting at the Center House which was exclusively dedicated to discussing this issue.
Salam, who later joined the meeting after arriving from a trip to Riyadh where he met with ex-PM Hariri and several Saudi figures, thanked the convened figures for their nomination, hoping that this would "reflect in the best interest of Lebanon".
The Syrian Social National Party's lawmakers, who are are yet to meet with Suleiman on Friday, said in a released statement that they name the Beirut MP for premiership.
“We call for forming a cabinet that reflects real consensus,” the statement expressed.
The binding parliamentary consultations will resume on Saturday.
Naharnet

Franjieh Boycotts Parliamentary Consultations: Salam Confirmed His Political Affiliation
Naharnet/Marada Movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh announced on Friday that he will boycott the parliamentary consultations to name a premier, explaining it is because the runner up for premiership Beirut MP Tammam Salam “is affiliated with a political group”. "I have decided to boycott the parliamentary consultations and allow the members of the Free United Lebanon bloc to choose the nominee they want,” Franjieh said in a released statement. The northern leader elaborated: “I respect and appreciate Salam and his prestigious family with whom we have an old relationship, but announcing his nomination from the (al-Mustaqbal Movement head MP Saad Hariri's) Center House on Thursday has clearly confirmed his affiliation with a political group”.Meanwhile, Franjieh said that his bloc's stance towards giving the cabinet the vote of confidence will be decided upon its formation, depending on its members and on the ministerial Policy Statement.
He noted: “Our position, which differs from that of our allies, will not have any effect on our united political stance. Our alliance is lasting and continuous”.“We understand their position in these delicate circumstances Lebanon and the region are going through”.The bloc's Salim Karam stated that he will also boycott the parliamentary consultations, "in line with the stance voiced by Franjieh”.
LBCI said that MP Stephan Douaihy will be absent from the talks while al-Manar television reported that MP Emil might attend the consultations on Saturday. The March 14 forces announced on Thursday that they have chosen Salam as their nominee for premiership.
"The lawmakers of the alliance and of Jamaa Islamiya will officially inform President Michel Suleiman about their candidate during Friday's parliamentary consultations,” said al-Mustaqbal bloc head MP Fouad Saniora after a March 14 broad meeting at the Center House which was exclusively dedicated to discussing this issue.
Salam, who later joined the meeting after arriving from a trip to Riyadh where he met with ex-PM Hariri and several Saudi figures, thanked the convened figures for their nomination, hoping that this would "reflect in the best interest of Lebanon". The Beirut MP is most likely to become the PM of the next cabinet after the March 14 forces, the Progressive Socialist Party, the Change and Reform bloc, and AMAL Movement have announced that they will name him for premiership.

New STL trial date unlikely before last quarter 2013
April 05, 2013 /The Daily Star
BEIRUT: While both the prosecution and the victims’ representatives have estimated that the in-absentia trial of four Hezbollah members indicted by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon could begin in the last quarter of 2013, the defense has said it would be premature to propose a new start date at present.
The three groups presented their positions on the matter in submissions made to pre-trial Judge Daniel Fransen on March 8, and published Friday in the STL’s monthly bulletin.
The original start date - March 25 - set by Fransen in July 2012, was postponed by the pre-trial judge on Feb. 21 following a motion filed by the defense.
The prosecution, while declining to suggest a specific new date for trial commencements, estimates that a tentative date, set within the last quarter of this year, would give the defense adequate time for preparation after the completion of evidence disclosure projected for June 17, the bulletin said.
The victims’ representatives, while acknowledging that to set a date immediately would be premature, has also suggested the last quarter of 2013 as a plausible start time, the bulletin added.
The defense, however, declined to indicate a feasible start date, contending that there remain a number of issues to be addressed, among them outstanding disclosure, revisions to the witnesses list and exhibits as well as delays to its own investigation. The bulletin also notes that Fransen could set a new date “soon.”
According to a news release issued by the tribunal Thursday, the pre-trial judge will hold a hearing on Wednesday “as part of his duties to ensure preparation for trial.”
The hearing will be open to the public, but may go to closed session at the judge’s discretion if confidential matter need to be discussed, it added.
The STL is investigating the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 22 others.
In June 2011, the U.N.-backed court indicted Salim Ayyash, Mustafa Badreddine, Hussein Oneissi and Assad Sabra in the case. However, to date none of the four has been apprehended, prompting the STL to proceed with in-absentia trial arrangements.

Saudi Arabia plays key role in promoting MP Salam as consensus candidate: analysts
April 05, 2013/By Hussein Dakroub/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Saudi Arabia, increasingly concerned over Lebanon’s security and stability, has played a key role in promoting Beirut MP Tammam Salam as a consensus candidate to the premiership, political sources and analysts said Thursday. The unexpected resignation of Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s government on March 22 threatened a prolonged political vacuum given the rival parties’ inability to agree on a new electoral law and their sharp differences over the 2-year-old turmoil in Syria. Analysts say that the Saudi moves reflected the kingdom’s worries about the country’s stability, which has been stressed in recent days by Saudi Ambassador Ali Awad Assiri.
Assiri reportedly met with Mikati on the day the latter decided to announce the resignation of his government. He has since conferred with leaders on both sides of the political divide in “quiet Saudi diplomacy” to contain any adverse effects of the government’s resignation.
After holding separate meetings Thursday with Speaker Nabih Berri, Mikati and Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai, Assiri appealed to the rival political leaders to resolve the country’s deepening political crisis through dialogue and to help in the formation of a new Cabinet.
After meeting Rai in Bkirki, the ambassador said, “Developments in the region and the tense atmosphere sweeping in all directions require Lebanese brothers to exhibit heightened awareness in order to ward off the dangers threatening their country.”“[These developments] call on the Lebanese to present an example to be followed in other states about dialogue, understanding, unity, cohesion, safeguarding the present and building a bright future.”
“I call on all Lebanese ... citizens of a country of distinctive and unique coexistence, to put higher national interests above all else and to initiate an in-depth, national and constructive dialogue that boosts their cohesion and national unity,” Assiri added. Assiri said he expressed to Rai the Saudi King Abdullah’s keenness for “Lebanese brothers to be able to tackle their internal problems with wisdom and dialogue sponsored by President Michel Sleiman.”Simon Haddad, professor of Political Science at the American University of Beirut, said the Saudi role was focused on facilitating the formation of a new Cabinet to avert a power vacuum.
“With Syria preoccupied with its crisis, Saudi Arabia is acting alone on the Lebanese arena to facilitate the government’s formation,” Haddad told The Daily Star. “Saudi Arabia’s intervention in Lebanon is a factor of moral and financial stability,” he said. Haddad added that Riyadh feared that a delay in the formation of a new Cabinet might destabilize the country.
Political analyst Talal Atrissi concurred. “Saudi Arabia is playing an active role in Lebanon, trying to fill the regional vacuum in the country as Egypt and Syria are preoccupied with their own crises,” Atrissi told The Daily Star.
“The Saudi ambassador has been visiting Lebanese leaders in an attempt to promote the kingdom’s conciliatory role because there are local and regional fears that a power vacuum might lead to a breakdown in the security situation,” he said. Atrissi said Saudi Arabia sought to unify the Sunni community’s position on a consensus candidate for prime minister before proposing the name of this candidate to the Hezbollah-led March 8 coalition. “Saudi Arabia wants the other [March 8] side to accept the candidate proposed for the premiership,” he said. MP Salam, who describes himself as an independent allied with the Future Movement, emerged Thursday as a strong candidate to head the next government, with sources describing him as acceptable to the rival camps.


Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan requests to extend election date to June 16
April 05, 2013/The Daily Star/BEIRUT: Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel requested Friday to extend the date of the parliamentary elections for one week.
Charbel submitted a draft decree to the Cabinet’s Secretariat on Friday requesting to delay the elections scheduled for June 9 to June 16, said a statement issued by his office.
He told reporters following a meeting with Speaker Nabih Berri that the request allows for the extension of the deadline to file candidacies by another week.
“I have requested delaying the elections for one week, to allow extending the deadline for filing candidacies to run for the elections,” he said.
Charbel said that a recent request by Christian parties to stop accepting applications from candidates registering to run in the elections under the 1960 law does not fall under his authority.
“I do not have the authority to stop the candidacy of any person who wants to run for the elections,” Charbel added. “I am working under the 1960 law. I don’t have to commit to what was issued following the Christian parties’ meeting in Bkirki,” he said. On Wednesday, the country’s four major Christian parties said that they would refrain from running in the upcoming elections under the 1960 law, following a meeting in Bkirki chaired by the Maronite patriarch, Cardinal Beshara Rai. The parties also requested that Charbel stop accepting applications from candidates registering to run in the elections under the current law.
President Michel Sleiman and caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati signed a decree last month calling for holding the polls on June 9, based on the 1960 law. Charbel said that it is now up to Mikati and President Michel Sleiman to approve his request of extending the deadlines for the polls.
“It is now up to Mikati and Sleiman to accept or reject my request,” he said.
Separately, Charbel added that a lot of logistic obstacles may arise by holding the elections based on the 1960 law. “There is no committee to supervise the elections, no registration committees and no funding to hold the elections,” Charbel said. “We will need at least $20 million to hold the elections, and the sum has not been allocated to the ministry. We also didn't receive a memo over the amount of money candidates are allowed to spend on the elections,” he added. An advisor to Charbel, Michel Karam, told the Daily Star earlier that “only 23 applications have been filed in the Interior Ministry to run for the elections until now.”
"Delaying the elections would allow extending the deadline for filing applications, to run in the upcoming polls, from April 11 to April 17,” Karam added.
Progressive Socialist Party candidates submitted their requests to run for June’s parliamentary elections based on the 1960 law on Thursday.
However, other candidates from major political parties haven’t filed requests to run for the upcoming elections based on the current law.

Lawmaker Tammam Salam Reportedly Receives Support from March 8 Alliance
Naharnet /Lawmaker Tammam Salam is set to be tasked at the weekend with forming a new government after the March 14 coalition officially endorsed him as its candidate for the premiership and the March 8 alliance reportedly agreed late Thursday to back him.The Beirut MP, who is the son of late Prime Minister Saeb Salam, will now be facing the task of forming a new cabinet whose form and type is until now unclear. Salam thanked all his followers on twitter “for their warm comments.” “Let us wait together for the results of the binding consultations,” he said. March 14 is calling for the formation of a government whose main task will be to supervise the parliamentary elections while the Hizbullah-led March 8 alliance wants a national unity cabinet. Salam's nomination by March 14 MPs and politicians was endorsed during a meeting held at Center House on Thursday. He has secured the majority of MPs' votes. Al-Mustaqbal bloc sources told An Nahar daily that around 67 MPs – 60 March 14 lawmakers and the 7 members of Walid Jumblat's centrist National Struggle Front – will name Salam.
March 8 hasn't officially announced its candidate although the binding consultations will be held by President Michel Suleiman on Friday and Saturday. But media reports, including the pro-Hizbullah al-Akhbar newspaper, said a meeting held Thursday night in Ain el-Tineh between Speaker Nabih Berri, Caretaker Ministers Ali Hassan Khalil and Jebran Bassil, and the Hizbullah leader's political aide Hussein Khalil led to an agreement to name Salam. The March 8 alliance officials also agreed to prevent March 14 from forming a government whose members are solely from the alliance to prevent a return to the era of the first cabinet led by former PM Fouad Saniora, who is now the head of al-Mustaqbal bloc, al-Akhbar said. The alliance's chances of securing the formation of a national unity cabinet are high after Jumblat stressed during an interview with LBCI's Kalam al-Nass talk show that he will not participate in any government that does not include all major parties, among them Hizbullah. Minister Bassil, who represented the Free Patriotic Movement in the caretaker cabinet, told al-Akhbar that the March 8 alliance wants to give the formation of a national unity cabinet a chance, saying its priority is stability and then holding parliamentary elections.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati Supports Naming Salam to Premiership
Naharnet /Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati revealed on Friday that he will name Beirut MP Tammam Salam to the premiership during the binding consultations. “I hope he gets the majority of votes and the rival parties reach consensus on his candidacy,” Miqati said in comments published in An Nahar newspaper. He expressed hope that the new government would oversee the upcoming parliamentary elections according to an electoral law that is based on the national pact. Miqati said on Thursday that he will not accept to be nominated to lead the new government unless there was consensual agreement on him among political parties.
The resignation of Miqati in March came hours after President Michel Suleiman suspended cabinet sessions for failing to pass a decision on the formation of an elections committee to supervise the upcoming parliamentary polls.
The March 14 alliance named on Thursday Salam to the premiership in a meeting at the Center House. Media reports have said that the MP will likely receive the backing of the majority of parliamentary blocs and independent MPs. Meanwhile, sources close to Suleiman told An Nahar that he was a main supporter to the naming of Salam by the March 14 opposition. The sources voiced hope that the new PM-designate would be agreed upon by all foes and would be able to overcome the delicate situation the country is passing through. Binding parliamentary consultations to name a new premier are scheduled to be held on Friday and Saturday with Suleiman at the Baabda Palace.

Geagea Considers Salam Candidacy 'Molded Locally,' Praises March 14 Decision
Naharnet/Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea hailed the decision taken by the March 14 alliance to name Beirut MP Tammam Salam to the premiership, describing the choice of his nomination as “manufactured locally.”
“Salam is a moderate person and has characteristics that we are desperately in need of,” Geagea said in comments to al-Akhbar newspaper. The Christian leader denied that Salam was selected by Saudi Arabia, saying: “When the cabinet (led by caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati) resigned we discussed the nomination of several figures including Salam.” Asked about the nature of the government that the LF is seeking to form, Geagea pointed out that a neutral cabinet that is capable of overseeing the upcoming parliamentary elections is the appropriate choice.
“We want the formation of a government that is able to resolve the security and economy crises,” he added. Concerning reports saying that the March 8 coalition will not participate in the binding consultations with President Michel Suleiman on Friday and Saturday to name the new PM-designate, Geagea said that “the boycott will not be reasonable.”
The resignation of Miqati in March came hours after President Michel Suleiman suspended cabinet sessions for failing to pass a decision on the formation of an elections committee to supervise the upcoming parliamentary polls.
The March 14 alliance named on Thursday Salam to the premiership in a meeting at the Center House. Media reports have said that the MP will likely receive the backing of the majority of parliamentary blocs and independent MPs during the two-days of binding consultations at Baabda palace . On the fate of the new electoral, Geagea said that the “priority is to adopt an electoral law and to hold elections.” The recent meeting at Bkirki is a positive step to reach agreement over a consensual draft-law. The rival parties have so far failed to agree on an electoral draft-law after the leaders and representatives of the Free Patriotic Movement, the Lebanese Forces, the Phalange Party and the Marada Movement agreed to suspend the so-called Orthodox Gathering proposal on Monday, leaving the door open for rival MPs to strike a deal on a new electoral draft-law.
The proposal, which had been severely rejected by Jumblat's bloc, considers Lebanon a single district and allows each sect to vote for its own MPs under a proportional presentational system.
The LF chief reiterated his rejection to extending the tenure of the current parliament, noting that “only a technical extension would be acceptable.”
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.

Jumblat Says Nominated Salam after Rejecting Rifi: I Will Not Accept One-Sided Govt.
Naharnet /Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat announced on Thursday his support for nominating Beirut MP Tammam Salam for premiership, stating that he will not take part in any one-sided government.
"I have picked Mr. Tammam Salam and I have contacted him,” Jumblat said in an interview on LBCI television. He added: "He is the son of a historic, moderate family and I hope he will be positively received by everyone”.
Jumblat remarked: “I don't want to say that (al-Mustaqbal Movement head MP) Saad Hariri was dismayed when I proposed Salam, but his response was tepid, and when I contacted Hizbullah, they had the same response”.
He elaborated that he was asked by Hizbullah whether he had another candidate: “I said no, because he hails from a moderate family and he has never said a single bad word against the Resistance”.
“I'm still a centrist and when I allowed myself to name Tammam Salam, I named the historically centrist political dynasty,” Jumblat stated.
“There is an MP who maybe liked my centrist position and he might be among our ranks during consultations tomorrow and I'm not talking about (Democratic Party leader MP) Prince Talal (Arslan)”.He revealed Hariri's pick for premiership, however, was former Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi. "I told Hariri that Rifi is a confrontational candidate”. MP Salam is most likely to become the head of the next cabinet, after the March 14 forces announced earlier on Thursday that they have chosen him as their nominee for premiership. "The lawmakers of the alliance and of Jamaa Islamiya will officially inform President Michel Suleiman about their candidate during Friday's parliamentary consultations,” said al-Mustaqbal bloc head MP Fouad Saniora after a March 14 broad meeting at the Center House which was exclusively dedicated to discussing this issue.
Salam, who later joined the meeting after arriving from a trip to Riyadh where he met with ex-PM Hariri and several Saudi figures, thanked the convened figures for their nomination, hoping that this would "reflect in the best interest of Lebanon". Several media reports have said that he will be named the head of a new government, especially in light of his visit to the KSA.
MTV reported that Hizbullah is likely to nominate Salam to the premiership “because he is a consensual and non-provocative figure".
The Development and Liberation bloc is also expected to endorse his candidacy, it added. Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun is expected to reveal his stance on this matter on Friday after the Change and Reform bloc's meeting, LBCI television said. Binding parliamentary consultations to name a new premier are scheduled to be held on Friday and Saturday with President Suleiman at the Baabda Palace. Jumblat pointed out that he will not endorse or participate in any one-sided cabinet. "I will only grant my vote of confidence to a government formed by all parties,” he confirmed.
He explained: “Since there is no international sponsor and since we can't await the outcome of the Syrian crisis, is it so hard to form a national unity cabinet? This cabinet would start its work with addressing the issues of Khandaq al-Ghamiq, al-Asir and Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabbaneh”. The PSP leader called for managing differences inside the cabinet until the end of the Syrian crisis.
Regarding the ministerial Policy Statement, Jumblat said it is to be decided by the ministers participating in the national unity cabinet.
Jumblat warned against any move against Hizbullah's weapons: “My words were clear during my meeting with Prince Bandar that whatever the outcome of the Syrian revolution might be, let no one think of any negative move against Hizbullah”.“I will not accept to condemn the party and I don't approve of (U.S. President Barack) Obama's description,” he stressed. “In the heart of Saudi Arabia, I said we want dialogue with Hizbullah in Lebanon and I call on Hariri to engage in dialogue, organize the differences and implement the self-dissociation policy, which is the best slogan, and I hope Salam will follow suit as we await the grand settlement”.

Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel Calls for One-Week Postponement of Parliamentary Elections
Naharnet /Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel requested on Thursday the postponement of the parliamentary elections that were set to be held on June 9 for one week, his office said.
“Charbel referred to the secretariat of the premiership a decree that calls for amending the previous decree that called for holding the polls (on June 9), setting the elections for Sunday June 16, 2013,” said the statement.
Reports said that the caretaker minister also extended the deadline for filing candidacies for the polls to April 16. The minister had previously set the deadline for the submissions on April 10 and said those seeking to withdraw their candidacies had until April 25. Rival political parties have yet to agree on a consensual electoral draft-law to govern the polls. President Michel Suleiman and Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati minister have signed the first decree calling for holding the polls on June 9 based on the 1960 law. The move has sparked the ire of the Hizbullah-led March 8 coalition which totally rejects the law.

Berri's Development and Liberation Bloc Nominates Salam to Head New Govt.
Naharnet/The Development and Liberation bloc of Speaker Nabih Berri announced on Friday its support for MP Tammam Salam to head a new government. Berri said: “The Development and Liberation bloc has decided to nominate MP Tammam Salam to head a consensual national government.” He made the announcement after a meeting for the bloc at his Ain el-Tineh residence. “We hope his nomination will pave the way for a new phase in Lebanon,” he added. “This is a new phase between the majority and opposition and we hope both sides would work for the interests of the nation,” he remarked in a brief statement. The March 14 alliance and Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat announced on Thursday their endorsement of Salam to head the new cabinet, while the remaining members of the March 8 camp have yet to reveal their position. Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun is expected to voice his stance later on Friday, while al-Akhbar newspaper said a meeting held Thursday night in Ain el-Tineh between Berri, Caretaker Ministers Ali Hassan Khalil and Jebran Bassil, and the Hizbullah leader's political aide Hussein Khalil led to an agreement to name Salam. Binding parliamentary consultations to name a new prime minister are scheduled to take place with President Michel Suleiman on Friday afternoon at the Baabda Palace.The consultations will continue on Saturday.

Relatives of Kidnapped Lebanese Pilgrims Close Shops Owned by Syrians
Naharnet/The families of nine Lebanese pilgrims abducted by rebels in Syria closed on Friday the shops owned by Syrians in a neighborhood in Beirut's southern suburbs pending the release of their loved ones.
Sheikh Abbas Zgheib, who has been tasked by the Higher Islamic Shiite Council to follow up the case of the men abducted in May last year, told the National News Agency that the closure of the shops in Hay el-Sellom is a first step in the protest aimed at pressuring the involved parties to set the pilgrims free. “Turkey has an important role to play to bring the case to its closure,” said Zgheib. Turkey is a strong backer of the revolution against Syrian President Bashar Assad. It has previously claimed that it was mediating for their release. “From now on it's forbidden for Syrians to work in our areas,” one angry protester told LBCI TV. He threatened Syrians by saying they should run for their lives. The protester also slammed Turkey and dubbed the Turkish ambassador a “liar.” Last month, the relatives of the pilgrims held a protest near the Arab Justice Ministers headquarters in the Sami Solh area before briefly blocking the road near the Justice Palace. President Michel Suleiman also discussed the issue in separate meetings with Qatar's emir and the Turkish foreign minister on the sidelines of the Arab League summit.
Eleven Lebanese pilgrims were kidnapped in Syria's Aleppo province in May 2012 on their way back home by land from Iran. Since then, two of them have been released, while the remaining nine are held in the town of Aazaz in Aleppo.

Building under Threat of Collapse in Tariq al-Jadeedah Evacuated
Naharnet /A building with cracks in the walls and foundation in Beirut’s Tariq al-Jadeedah was evacuated on Thursday night, the state-run national news agency reported. According to the NNA, the 11-storey building that is under the threat of collapse includes 22 apartments.An adjacent building was also evacuated to avoid any repercussions. Beirut municipality chief Bilal Hamad arrived swiftly at the scene and ordered the engineering units to survey the building. “The situation is under control,” Hamad told Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3).

President Michel Suleiman: Israeli Threats against Lebanon Violate Resolution 1701
Naharnet/President Michel Suleiman urged the international community on Thursday to pressure Israel into ending its threats against Lebanon and slammed the Jewish state for violating U.N. Security Council resolution 1701.
In a statement issued by Baabda palace, Suleiman said: “The international community should pressure Israel to stop adopting the policy of threats and aggression against Lebanon and to cooperate with international and Arab peace initiatives in the Middle East.”“Israel's continued threats to launch a military operation against Lebanon in addition to daily violations of (Lebanese) airspace are flagrant violations of resolution 1701,” which enforced a ceasefire that ended Israel's inconclusive 2006 war with Hizbullah, he said. The Jewish state regularly sends warplanes on surveillance flights over Lebanon. Last week, Israel Defense Forces Home Front Command Chief Maj. Gen. Eyal Eisenberg warned that the next war with Hizbullah will be ten times fiercer than in 2006. He noted that prior to 2006, the party was capable of launching 500 rockets at Gush Dan in Israel, but it failed to do so because the Israeli air force destroyed Iran's Fajr rockets within the first few days of the war. He said should a war erupt today, Gush Dan would be the target of some 5,000 Hizbullah rockets.

U.S. Calls for Bahrain Dialogue
Naharnet /The United States urged Bahrain's Sunni-led government on Thursday to promote dialogue with the Shiite opposition after two years of political upheaval in the country. U.S. Special Envoy to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Rashad Hussain met senior Bahraini government officials, political leaders, civil society activists and religious leaders in Manama earlier this week. "He underscored U.S. encouragement for all segments of Bahraini society to promote unity and reform through the ongoing National Dialogue," the State Department said in a statement. "He discussed the importance of rejecting the use of violence and promoting human rights, including religious freedom, for all Bahrainis." Bahrain has witnessed two years of political unrest linked to opposition demands for a constitutional monarchy, with the unrest claiming at least 80 lives, according to international rights groups. Agence France Presse

French Court Reverses Decision to Release Georges Abdallah
Naharnet/A French court on Thursday annulled a parole granted to Lebanese leftist militant Georges Abdallah, after postponing its final decision several times, al-Mayadeen television reported. Meanwhile, LBCI said security forces closed the road outside the French embassy in Beirut in anticipation of a possible protest by Georges Abdallah's supporters. On March 20, three people were wounded in clashes between security forces and protesters demanding Abdallah's release outside French Ambassador Patrice Paoli's residence. A French court had postponed the decision to release Abdallah to April 4. The militant was jailed for life in 1987 after being convicted in the 1982 murders of U.S. military attache Charles Robert Ray and Israeli diplomat Yacov Barsimantov. However, a French court last year granted parole for the former head of the Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Faction (LARF), provided he was deported back to his home country. The court then postponed a final decision, drawing ire from Lebanon. Abdallah has been eligible for parole since 1999, but seven previous applications were all rejected.
A U.S. congresswoman on January 28 urged France not to release Abdallah. Representative Grace Meng said she would draw up a bipartisan letter with other members of Congress calling on France to scrap Abdallah's possible release. "We cannot stand idly by while an ally frees the murderer of another American in diplomatic service," said Meng, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Meng said the life sentence was "necessary." "If released to Lebanon, Abdallah could very well resume his acts of terror, and target citizens of France, the United States, and other allied nations. We must stand firm and united against the threat of terrorism. Abdullah must remain locked-up for the rest of his life," she said.NaharnetAgence France Presse

Question: "How should a Christian deal with feelings of guilt regarding past sins, whether pre- or post-salvation?"
GotQuestions.org?Answer: Everyone has sinned, and one of the results of sin is guilt. We can be thankful for guilty feelings because they drive us to seek forgiveness. The moment a person turns from sin to Jesus Christ in faith, his sin is forgiven. Repentance is part of the faith that leads to salvation (Matthew 3:2; 4:17; Acts 3:19).
In Christ, even the most heinous sins are blotted out (see 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 for a list of unrighteous acts that can be forgiven). Salvation is by grace, and grace forgives. After a person is saved, he will still sin, and when he does, God still promises forgiveness. “But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One” (1 John 2:1).
Freedom from sin, however, does not always mean freedom from guilty feelings. Even when our sins are forgiven, we still remember them. Also, we have a spiritual enemy, called “the accuser of our brothers” (Revelation 12:10) who relentlessly reminds us of our failures, faults, and sins. When a Christian experiences feelings of guilt, he or she should do the following things:
1) Confess all known, previously unconfessed sin. In some cases, feelings of guilt are appropriate because confession is needed. Many times, we feel guilty because we are guilty! (See David’s description of guilt and its solution in Psalm 32:3-5.) 2) Ask the Lord to reveal any other sin that may need confessing. Have the courage to be completely open and honest before the Lord. “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24).
3) Trust the promise of God that He will forgive sin and remove guilt, based on the blood of Christ (1 John 1:9; Psalm 85:2; 86:5; Romans 8:1).
4) On occasions when guilty feelings arise over sins already confessed and forsaken, reject such feelings as false guilt. The Lord has been true to His promise to forgive. Read and meditate on Psalm 103:8-12.
5) Ask the Lord to rebuke Satan, your accuser, and ask the Lord to restore the joy that comes with freedom from guilt (Psalm 51:12).
Psalm 32 is a very profitable study. Although David had sinned terribly, he found freedom from both sin and guilty feelings. He dealt with the cause of guilt and the reality of forgiveness. Psalm 51 is another good passage to investigate. The emphasis here is confession of sin, as David pleads with God from a heart full of guilt and sorrow. Restoration and joy are the results.
Finally, if sin has been confessed, repented of, and forgiven, it is time to move on. Remember that we who have come to Christ have been made new creatures in Him. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Part of the “old” which has gone is the remembrance of past sins and the guilt they produced. Sadly, some Christians are prone to wallowing in memories of their former sinful lives, memories which should have been dead and buried long ago. This is pointless and runs counter to the victorious Christian life God wants for us. A wise saying is “If God has saved you out of a sewer, don’t dive back in and swim around.”
Recommended Resource: Enemies of the Heart: Breaking Free from Emotions That Control You by Andy Stanley.

Syria violence: latest updates
April 05, 2013/By Olivia Alabaster/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: After a night of bombardment by regime forces in which at least five were killed, the suburbs of Damascus were again targeted Friday, in an attempt by the army to push back rebels from the outskirts of the capital.
In the northern suburb of Barzeh, three children, a woman and an elderly man were killed in overnight shelling, according to the Local Coordination Committees activist network. In videos posted online, bodies of dead and injured can be seen under rubble. Activists also reported shelling in the neighborhoods of Erbeen and Moudamieh, where four people, including two children, were discovered dead Friday on their farm after overnight shelling, according to the LCC. In the suburb of Hammeh, the LCC reported that a man had died under torture Friday after being detained by the regime.
This week, the army has stepped up attacks on the rebel-held suburbs of Damascus, hoping to prevent opposition groups reaching further inside the capital, at the center of which lies the presidential palace and Bashar Assad’s most loyal supporters and soldiers.
In the city of Al-Hajar Al-Aswad, in Rif Damascus, mortal shells were dropped as worshippers were leaving mosques after Friday prayers, according to Shaam news. No casualties were reported.
Elsewhere in the country, Raqqa – the first provincial capital to fall to the rebels – was again under regime bombardment, as was the rebel-held Aleppo neighborhood of Sheikh Maqsood, according to the activist group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which is based in Britain but which relies on a large network of activists and professionals on the ground.
Overnight, two Kurdish Syrians were shot dead by regime snipers in the same area, the Observatory reported Friday. Clashes also took place near the Aleppo international airport base, it added, with rebels firing on both the civilian airport and the Neyrab military airport.
Earlier in the week hundreds of families fled the area, due to intense regime bombing, the Observatory said.
After Friday prayers, demonstrators in some areas of Aleppo and Raqqa held protests, calling for the downfall of the regime.
In Homs and Idlib also, activists reported shelling by the regime.
A rare public interview with Assad is expected to be released later Friday, at 7.30 p.m. Beirut time.
It was conducted earlier this week with a Turkish newspaper, Aydinlik, and the Ulusal television station, both of which are supportive of the Turkish opposition, and in excerps released Wednesday, Assad said that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has not uttered “a single word of truth" about Syria's conflict thus far.
Ankara is a key backer of the Syrian opposition.
Further excerpts were released Thursday, in which the Syrian president criticized the Arab League for last month handing a seat to the Syrian opposition National Coalition.
The Syrian government lost its seat in the League last November, over its failure to end the civil war, which has so far claimed at least 70,000 lives, according to the U.N.
"The Arab League lacks legitimacy. It's a League that represents the Arab states, not the Arab people, so it can't grant or retract legitimacy," Assad said.
In the full interview he is also expected to discuss the resolution of the now 2-year-old crisis; the importance of secularism for Syria; the Kurdish question in the north; the attitude of BRICS countries – several of which represent Assad’s main support – and the recent Israeli apology to Turkey over the Gaza flotilla deaths in 2010, in which Israeli forces killed nine activists.
He is also expected to slam Jordan. Syrian state media on Thursday criticized the country’s southern neighbor over hosting U.S.-provided training to Syrian rebels, a charge Amman denies, but which Western and Arab officials have confirmed is taking place.
Also Friday, a Jordanian government spokesperson said almost 35,000 refugees have returned home, but a larger number joined the exodus last month alone, AFP reported.
"34,824 syrian refugees have gone back to their country since the start of the crisis," Anmar al-Hammud, spokesman for the refugee file, told AFP.
He said around 2,500 of them had returned at their own request from the Zaatari refugee camp in northern Jordan on Thursday with the assistance of Jordanian security services.
Around 1.2 million Syrians have fled to neighboring countries over the past two years, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and around 4 million are internally displaced.

Iran, big powers appear miles apart at nuclear talks
April 05, 2013/By Yeganeh Torbati, Justyna Pawlak/Daily Star
ALMATY: Iran appeared to side-step responding to proposals by world powers to defuse tensions over its nuclear programme at talks in Kazakhstan on Friday, diplomats said, and instead came up with its own plan - a measure of the gulf between the two sides. The six powers - the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany - had sought a concrete response from Iran to their February offer of modest sanctions relief if Tehran stops its most contentious nuclear work. But instead Iranian negotiators outlined their own "specific" plan to resolve the dispute, which has been plagued by mutual mistrust and on-off negotiations for a decade.
"We are somewhat puzzled by the Iranians' characterisation of what they presented," a Western diplomat said before talks finished for the day. "There has not yet been a clear and concrete response to the ... (six powers') proposal."Iran's deputy negotiator Ali Bagheri did not say whether the offer of the six states was acceptable, but said the Iranian side had given a "detailed response to all the questions".
The dispute centres on Iranian efforts to enrich uranium, which world powers suspect are part of a covert drive to achieve a nuclear weapons capability. The U.N. Security Council has demanded that Iran stop the process, in several resolutions since 2006. But Iran argues it has the right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes under international law and denies its nuclear work has military aims. It has refused to change course unless the big powers first recognise its right to enrichment and lift sanctions.
Stakes are high because Israel, widely assumed to be the Middle East's only nuclear-armed power, has threatened to bomb the Islamic Republic's nuclear sites if diplomacy fails to rein in a foe which it sees as bent on its destruction. Chances for a quick deal are seen as distant, Western diplomats say, with Iran not expected to make any major decisions on nuclear policy until after its presidential election in June.
For years Iran has resisted ever-harsher sanctions and pressure to retreat from a nuclear programme that enjoys broad support amongst its fractious political leadership.
Iran's chief negotiator, Saeed Jalili, said in a speech at a university in Almaty on the eve of the latest talks that their success hinged on "acceptance of the rights of Iran, particularly the right to enrichment".
The six nations, however, say this right only applies when nuclear work is carried out under sufficient oversight by U.N. inspectors, something Iran has refused to grant.
In Almaty, the second meeting in Kazakhstan's commercial hub in five weeks, Iranian negotiators appeared to oppose the six nations' strategy that the dispute could be solved by a series of steps starting with confidence-building measures.
The powers said in February that they wanted Iran to convince them it was serious about a final deal by stopping enrichment of uranium to 20 percent, an important technological advance en route to producing weapons-grade material, ship out some stockpiles and shutter a facility where such work is done. In return they offered relief on sanctions on Iranian petrochemicals and trade in gold and other precious metals.
But Bagheri said no decisions should be made without a broader plan in sight, suggesting Iran wanted to know when and how sanctions would be lifted, particularly crippling measures against its oil industry. "Actions which are referred to as confidence-building measures must be considered as part of a more comprehensive plan," he told reporters after Friday's talks wrapped up. "They are not separate."
But finding consensus on the end goal of negotiations will be difficult, with some members of the six-state group such as Russia more willing to lift sanctions than others, for example.
"Determining the broad principles governing the endgame is important but the entire diplomatic process should not become hostage to it," said Ali Vaez of the International Crisis Group.
Russia's negotiator, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, expressed some optimism, saying that while Iran needed to work harder in the negotiations, it had shown some seriousness in engaging the six nations' proposals.
"Iran has given an answer to the proposals of the six powers. It is the kind of answer that creates more questions," he was quoted saying by the Russian Interfax news agency. "But this shows that the negotiations are serious."
A Western diplomat said, however, there was "still a wide gulf between the parties".
"We are considering how we move on from here," the diplomat said.
For now, Iran may play for time, trying to keep diplomacy on track to avert new sanctions before the June election.
The six nations are wary of holding talks for their own sake, but Iran may have bought time for diplomatic efforts to resolve the dispute peacefully by converting some of its higher-grade uranium stockpile to nuclear reactor fuel.
If talks fail to produce sufficient progress, Western governments are likely to impose yet more economic penalties, with the double aim of pressuring Tehran while seeking to persuade Israel to hold back from any military action.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told visiting U.S. senators on Thursday that Tehran's nuclear work must be stopped.
"We cannot allow a situation in which a regime that calls for our annihilation has the weapons of annihilation," he said.
U.S. President Barack Obama sought to cool tempers during a trip to Israel in March, saying diplomacy was the best option, but he hinted at possible military action as a last resort.

Iran lines up behind North Korea, warns the US of “great losses”
DEBKAfile Special Report April 5, 2013,/
Tehran’s intercession in the Korean crisis on the side of its ally in Pyongyang was predictable, even though the US preferrs to ignore the close interrelations between the two allies.
And so, on Friday, April 5, Deputy Chief of Staff of Iran's Armed Forces Brig. Gen. Masoud Jazayeri stepped forward to point the finger at Washington:
[“The presence of the Americans in [South] Korea has been the root cause of tensions in this sensitive region in the past and present. The US and its allies will suffer great losses if a war breaks out in this region,” he said, adding for good measure: “Independent countries will not submit to the US mischief. The time for Washington’s bullying and extortion is long past.”
DEBKAfile’s Iranian sources: The second part of the statement was a perfect fit for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s flat refusal to accept US demands on Iran’s nuclear program. The Korean crisis gave the Iranians the opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.
As Kim Jong-Un moved two intermediate missiles to the east coast of North Korea, Gen. Jazayeri’s rhetoric landed on the latest round of talks the six powers were holding with Iran in Amaty, Kazhakstan for a diplomatic resolution of Iran’s nuclear challenge.
Washington hoped to spread some cheer over a diplomatic process that had long past proven futile by planting advance reports that Khamenei had ordered a slowdown of Iran’s nuclear program up to the June presidential election to avoid crossing a red line that would trigger a military response.
But when the parties came to the table, Iran’s senior negotiator Saeed Jalili refused outright to respond to the proposals put before Tehran in the previous session.
He seemed to have taken his cue from Kim Jong-Un, who too has stuck to his father’s rejectionism in the face of every American proposal for dismantling North Korea’s nuclear program.
DEBKAfile: The inevitable convergence of the Korean and Iranian crises confronts America’s three top officials, President Barack Obama, Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, with their most challenging international test.
Kerry would be well advised to take a break from his Sisyphean efforts to crack the latest of umpteen Israel-Palestinian disputes, call off his weekend appointments with Israeli and Palestinians leaders and instead fly to Moscow and Beijing.
There, he could start bargaining with Russian and Chinese rulers for preliminary understandings with Washington on Iran and Syria that would make it worth their while to use their leverage for bringing the out-of-control North Korean firebrand to heel.
So long as the Obama administration sticks to its current separate policies on Syria and Iran, Iran and Korea, Moscow and Beijing won’t lift a finger to apply the brakes to Kim Jong-Un before he drives the world to catastrophe.

The Art of Turning Neighbors into Enemies
By all accounts Azerbaijan should be Iran’s closest ally.
 Amir Taheri/Asharq Alawsat
The tiny republic on the Caspian Sea is home to nine million people with strong ethnic, historic, and religious ties to the Iranian people. Almost 80 percent speak Azeri, an Altaic language with a vocabulary drawn from Turkish, Persian, and Arabic. Around 12 million people in five Iranian provinces speak a version of the language.
Azerbaijan also contains Kurdish, Gushtasbi-Talysh, Tat, and Lezgin minorities; ethnic groups with kith and kin in Iran (ethnic and linguistic minorities account for 22 percent of Azerbaijan’s population).
Known as Aran, Shiravan and Nakhjivan, the areas that actually form Azerbaijan were part of the Iranian heartland for more than 25 centuries. Iran lost them in two disastrous wars with Tsarist Russia which was pursuing its dream of reaching warm waters through Iran. With treaties imposed on the Qajar Shahs in 1824 and 1830 Iran ceded the areas to the Tsars.
When the Tsarist Empire collapsed following the 1917-1918 Russian Revolution, these areas came together to form an independent state. The experiment lasted two years before Lenin sent an army of to reassert Russian domination. Next, Josef Stalin, acting as Commissar for Nationalities, transformed the territories into a new unit named Azerbaijan, establishing it as an autonomous republic within the USSR. The fall of the Soviet Empire in 1991 gave the people of Azerbaijan a chance to regain their independence.
Due to these events, large numbers fled from the affected territories, seeking refuge in Iran. Today there are millions of Iranians whose ancestors fled the Tsarists and the Bolsheviks. The flow of refugees to Iran from Azerbaijan continued for decades, albeit with varying intensity. In the 1990s as Armenia invaded and annexed Nagorno-Karabakh, half a million people fled from Azerbaijan to Iran.
With Shi’ite Muslims representing some 85 percent of the population, Azerbaijan also shares strong religious ties with Iran. Linguistically, the Kurdish, Tat, and Gushtasbi-Talysh minorities belong to the family of Iranic languages. (Iran’s Zoroastrian “holy” book Avesta was originally written in the Gushtasbi-Talysh language.)
Thus, relations between Azerbaijan and Iran should be at least correct if not cordial. And, yet, the opposite is the case.
Last week, Iran recalled its ambassador from Baku, capital of Azerbaijan, and closed border passages.
The move came after Azerbaijan arrested 41 people on charges of espionage for Iran. Azerbaijani journalist Anar Bayramli, who worked for Iranian media, was also arrested.
As the drama unfolded, two Azerbaijani writers Farid Hussein and Shahriar Haji-Zadeh disappeared in Iran, presumably seized as hostages.
Last week, Tehran’s anger rose when Baku hosted a conference on “The Future of Southern Azerbaijan”. This was a gathering of militants, mostly US citizens of Iranian origin, who regard all the various peoples who speak versions of the Azeri language as Turks. It is not quite clear what they mean by “South Azerbaijan”. But one must assume that they want Azerbaijan to merge with the five Iranian provinces where Azeri is widely spoken to form a single new nation of 22 million people.
Tehran sees the move as a plot hatched by the United States, Israel, and Turkey against Iran’s territorial integrity.
However, the “unification” plan would mean the disappearance of the Republic of Azerbaijan in its present shape. In a “greater” Azerbaijan the people of the republic would become a minority.
Not surprisingly, on Wednesday the daily Kayhan, reflecting the views of “Supreme Guide” Ali Khamenei called for the “return” of Azerbaijan to Iran. It suggested that a referendum be held under international auspices on the subject, giving the people of Azerbaijan the choice of “returning to their Iranian homeland.”
Hosting secessionists is not the only reason for Tehran’s anger. Azerbaijan has close ties with Israel including a USD 1.6 billion contract to purchase arms from the Jewish state. Tehran media claim that Azerbaijan would give Israel bases to bomb Iran’s nuclear sites.
Iran also regards Azerbaijan’s ties wit Turkey, a member of NATO, as a potential threat in case of a military clash with the United States.
To add to Tehran’s anger, Azerbaijan has sided with Russia over dividing the resources of the Caspian Sea including oil and gas and caviar-bearing fish reserves.
Iran wants the Caspian to be declared an inland sea jointly owned by its five littoral states. Under that scheme, Iran’s share would be 20 percent. Russia and Kazakhstan want the sea divided according to the length of each littoral state’s shoreline. Under this scheme, Iran would end up with 11 percent. At first equivocating on the issue, Azerbaijan now tilts towards the Russian position while Turkmenistan, the fifth littoral state, is hedging its bet.
Azerbaijan, too, has complaints against Iran.
The Islamic Republic supports Christian Armenia in its conflict with Azerbaijan. Without support from Iran, landlocked Armenia would not have been able to annex Nagorno-Karabakh. It is clear that as long as Iran backs Armenia, Azerbaijan will not be able to recapture its lost territories.
Baku has another complaint.
Iran’s ruling mullahs try to incite Azerbaijan’s Gushtasbi-Talysh minority against the Azeri majority despite the fact that the majority of the Gushtasbi-Talysh are Sunni Muslims. Baku also accuses Tehran of trying to foment nationalism among Kurdish, Tat and Lezgins in Azerbaijan.
Tehran’s mishandling of relations with Azerbaijan is a classic example of how ideological blindness could turn a nation’s potentially closest neighbor into an enemy.
Blinded by its anti-Americanism, the Khomeinist regime not only ignores deep-rooted cultural and historical ties but has also set aside Islamic or even Shi’ite sensibilities in shaping relations with Azerbaijan.
Instead of the current tension, under a normal regime Iran would have been able to draw Azerbaijan close to its ancestral cultural and historic homeland by opening the borders, merging markets, and allowing maximum contact between populations on both sides of the Aras River.
Sadly, however, tension with Azerbaijan need not be surprising. Today, Iran’s relations with all its neighbors are marked by varying degrees of mistrust and hostility. A sad story, all round.

The Gulf Needs to Contain the Muslim Brotherhood
By: Tariq Alhomayed/Asharq Alawsat
As soon as the first direct commercial flight between Egypt and Iran in 34 years took off, there was renewed talk about how the Gulf States need to contain Egypt. What this meant was offering the Brotherhood financial aid to overcome their major dilemmas. Such rhetoric does not indicate political rationality; rather, it involves blatant hypocrisy.
Until recently, the Gulf states were often accused of supporting the Mubarak regime. Despite popular indignation against the former Egyptian ruler, such rhetoric continued to prevail until the eruption of the January 25 revolution. This same rhetoric was also adopted by the US administration, as demonstrated through press leaks. Today, Brotherhood supporters request that the Gulf states should financially support the Egyptian Brotherhood, under the pretext that declining to do so would push the Brotherhood into the arms of Iran. This in spite of the fact that the Brotherhood is repressing and marginalizing a considerable portion of Egyptian society, instead of resorting to pragmatic political solutions that could unify the different classes and factions in Cairo. The best description I heard of what is happening in Egypt came from an Arab prime minister, who said, “President Mursi is acting as if he came to power through a coup d’état, not through the polls.” There is sufficient evidence of this, given that Egypt’s democratic apparatuses are harassing the TV satirist Dr. Bassem Yousef over allegedly insulting the president.
Given that only a few days ago the Free Syrian Army targeted an Iranian aircraft transporting weapons to the forces of Bashar Al-Assad in order to kill Syrians, Muslim Brotherhood adherents should be condemning commercial flights between Egypt and Iran. Instead, its adherents are holding the Gulf states responsible for Egypt’s Brotherhood being in the arms of Iran’s mullahs. In fact, this is mere political hypocrisy. Admirers of Egypt should insist that the Muslim Brotherhood takes responsibility for what is happening in Egypt, instead of seeking to intimidate and exploit the Gulf states by threatening to transform Egypt into a Shi’ite or Safawi land.
The story of containment through support is not new. It was previously tested several times by the Gulf states in the region, and all attempts were a complete failure—whether in the name of Arabism or Islam. The attempts at financial and political containment were complete failures, whether by Saddam Hussein, Bashar Al-Assad, Bashir in Sudan, Saleh in Yemen, Yasser Arafat, and then Hamas, the Taliban, or Islamist groups including the Muslim Brotherhood. This was made particularly clear with the liberation of Kuwait following its occupation by Iraq. Similarly, the experience of containing and backing false resistance, especially Hezbollah in Lebanon, which even sought assistance from Turkey, was also a complete failure. So why should the Gulf states today repeat a policy that has proven to be an abject failure again and again and in different guises?
Today, Egypt’s admirers—if they are truthful—should blame the Brotherhood’s failed policies, which have put Cairo in a position whereby it is now begging for international aid. Instead of criticizing the Gulf states, they should turn their attention to the exclusionary policies that the Brotherhood is carrying out against a broad category of the Egyptian people; they must also criticize Egypt for being in the arms of Iran even as it champions the crimes Assad is committing against the Syrian people.