Bible Quotation for today/Faith and Actions
James 02/14-26: "My friends, what good is it for one of you to say that you have faith if your actions do not prove it? Can that faith save you?  Suppose there are brothers or sisters who need clothes and don't have enough to eat. What good is there in your saying to them, “God bless you! Keep warm and eat well!”—if you don't give them the necessities of life?  So it is with faith: if it is alone and includes no actions, then it is dead.  But someone will say, “One person has faith, another has actions.” My answer is, “Show me how anyone can have faith without actions. I will show you my faith by my actions.”  Do you believe that there is only one God? Good! The demons also believe—and tremble with fear.  You fool! Do you want to be shown that faith without actions is useless? How was our ancestor Abraham put right with God? It was through his actions, when he offered his son Isaac on the altar.  Can't you see? His faith and his actions worked together; his faith was made perfect through his actions.  And the scripture came true that said, “Abraham believed God, and because of his faith God accepted him as righteous.” And so Abraham was called God's friend.  You see, then, that it is by our actions that we are put right with God, and not by our faith alone.  It was the same with the prostitute Rahab. She was put right with God through her actions, by welcoming the Israelite spies and helping them to escape by a different road.  So then, as the body without the spirit is dead, also faith without actions is dead.

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for April 08/13
Thousands at Egypt Copt funeral prayers after clashes
Clashes after funeral of Egypt Coptic Christians
Lebanese Army foils Chouf arms smuggling plot, gunman killed
Salam: Resistance subordinate to state
Salam faces major hurdles in Cabinet bid
Salam says decision for war should solely be with state
Salam residence in Msaitbeh once more buzzing with activity
Lebanese Parliamentary Session on Tuesday to Amend Deadlines of 1960 Law
Al-Rahi Hopes for Consensus on Fair Vote Law, Type of Cabinet
Salam's National Interest Government: No Monopoly on Portfolios
Saniora Calls for 'Homogenous' Cabinet to Hold Elections
Lebanese Speaker Nabih Berri role key in selection of Salam
Arsal tension rises after clan deadline passes
MP sami Gemayel Urges Salam to Work for Vote Law, Protect Lebanon against Security Meltdown
Qaouq Says Hizbullah to Play 'Positive' Role in Cabinet Formation Process
Tourism industry looks to Salam to lead revival
Aoun from Bkirki: We are Facilitating Cabinet Formation
Aoun says to facilitate formation of new govt
Lebanon: Aley vigilantes enforce nighttime curfews on Syrians
Assad says rebel victory would destabilize Middle East
Egypt releases weapons ship after investigation: sources
Canada Condemns Terrorist Attack on Americans
Afghan attacks kill U.S. diplomat, soldiers, others
Canadian Leadership in Addressing Syrian Crisis
Report: Syria withdraws troops from Golan
Al-Qaeda and Jabhat Al-Nusra Collaborating
Nuke talks: Wasting time in Kazakhstan
US peace efforts: A flight to nowhere
Netanyahu Says Israel Can Only Rely on Self against Iran
Iran Bars Saudi Diplomat from Leaving over Deadly Crash
Iran sanctions spur boom for diesel smugglers
Assad forces step up defense of Damascus
Iraqi goods travel to Turkey via Israel
Hackers Launch Massive Cyber Attack on Israeli Websites

Clashes after funeral of Egypt Coptic Christians
April 07, 2013/Daily Star /CAIRO: Egyptian police fired tear gas outside Cairo's Coptic cathedral on Sunday after clashes following funeral prayers for four Christians killed in sectarian clashes. Black-clad riot police pointed at the main gate of the cathedral and fired the tear gas, television footage showed, as Coptic worshippers sought refuge inside the building. Witnesses said the mourners who were chanting against the ruling Muslim Brotherhood were pelted with stones as they came out of the cathedral. In a statement, the interior ministry said "a number of mourners began to damage cars in the area which led to confrontations with residents of the area."
Television footage showed scenes of chaos outside the cathedral in the central Cairo neighbourhood of Abbassiya where Coptic bishops had been calling for peace and calm after the killing of the Christians on Friday. Loud bangs could be heard, as clouds of smoke rose up into the sky and people ran in several directions. At the service, the congregation chanted against the Muslim Brotherhood of President Mohamed Morsi.
"Leave!" they told Morsi as they held up wooden crosses, television footage showed. One Muslim was also killed in the clashes which flared on Friday night in Al-Khusus, a poor area in Qalyubia governorate, after a Muslim in his 50s objected to children drawing a swastika on a religious institute. The man insulted Christians and the cross, and an argument broke out with a young Christian man who was passing by, escalating into a gunbattle between Muslims and Christians in which assault rifles were used. A priest in Al-Khusus, Suryal Yunan, said attackers torched "parts" of an Anglican church. Muslims also set a Christian home ablaze and ransacked a pharmacy owned by a Copt, a police official said. A number of angry Muslim residents tried to surround the town's Mar Girgis church, but the security presence in the area prevented them from doing so. Both sides then set fire to tyres in the narrow streets where residents live in crowded slum housing. Christians form between six and 10 percent of Egypt's population of nearly 83 million people.The country's Coptic Christians and Muslims have clashed on several occasions since the revolution that toppled former president Hosni Mubarak in February 2011.Around 50 Christians and several Muslims have been killed in the clashes.

Thousands at Egypt Copt funeral prayers after clashes
April 07, 2013/Daily Star /CAIRO: Thousands of people packed Cairo's main cathedral on Sunday for the funeral prayers of four Coptic Christians killed in sectarian clashes. "Down, down with Brotherhood rule," the congregation chanted in reference to the ruling Muslim Brotherhood of President Mohamed Mursi. "Leave!" they chanted as they held up wooden crosses, television footage showed. One Muslim was also killed in the clashes which flared on Friday night in Al-Khusus, a poor area in Qalyubia governorate, after a Muslim in his 50s objected to children drawing a swastika on a religious institute. The man insulted Christians and the cross, and an argument broke out with a young Christian man who was passing by, which escalated into a gun battle between the Muslims and the Christians in which assault rifles were used. A priest in Al-Khusus, Suryal Yunan, said 0n Saturday attackers torched "parts" of an Anglican church. Muslims also set a Christian home ablaze and ransacked a pharmacy owned by a Copt, a police official said. A number of angry Muslim residents tried to surround the town's Mar Girgis church, but the security presence in the area prevented them from doing so. Both sides then lit tyres in the narrow streets where residents live in crowded slum housing. Christians form between six and 10 percent of Egypt's population of nearly 83 million people. The country's Coptic Christians and Muslims have clashed on several occasions since the revolution that toppled the former president Hosni Mubarak in February 2011.
Around 50 Christians and several Muslims have been killed in the clashes.

Salam says decision for war should solely be with state
April 07, 2013/The Daily Star/BEIRUT: Newly appointed Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam said Sunday the resistance against Israel was legitimate but the decision to go to war should remain in the hands of the state.
“The resistance against Israel is legitimate but the decision of war and peace should be in the hands of the Lebanese state and limits should be set to any use of weapons domestically,” Salam told BBC, referring to Hezbollah.
Salam was officially appointed Saturday to form a new government to replace the outgoing government of Prime Minister Najib Mikati who resigned last month.
During the interview, Salam said he received support from both Iran and Russia through their ambassadors to Lebanon who were among hundreds of officials, diplomats and politicians who flocked to the Beirut lawmaker’s Mosaitebeh residence to congratulate him. Salam, son of six-time former Prime Minister Saeb Salam, hoped that domestic consensus would reflect positively on the formation of a new government.
He hoped that all political parties recognize the critical period Lebanon is going through given the developments in Syria and the region which necessitates a unified stance. Nearly all of the country’s parliamentary blocs named Salam for the premiership during two days of binding consultations with President Michel Sleiman that began on Friday. Hezbollah has insisted that any future government should commit to the tripartite formula of the “Army, the people, and the resistance,” which it maintains is the only viable defense of Lebanon against Israeli aggression. The party’s rivals, however, have said that the issue of Hezbollah’s arms should be resolved on the National Dialogue table because it is the only remaining item on the agenda of the inter-party talks. Some lawmakers with the March 14 coalition have rejected that Hezbollah’s formula would be mentioned in any Cabinet’s ministerial statement. The coalition, however, has supported the adoption of the so-called Baabda Declaration, agreed to by rival groups last year, as the next Cabinet's ministerial statement.
The declaration stipulates Lebanon remain at a distance from regional turmoil particularly events in Syria. In an interview with Agence France Presse Saturday, Salam said he supported the freedom of the Syrian people while insisting his country remain neutral in its neighbor’s civil war. "My position is that I am on the side of the Syria people; I support the freedom and the sovereignty of the people," Salam said. He also favored a "policy of disassociation" from the war in which rebels aim to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad. But he said this strategy can only be effective if all parties in Lebanon adhered to it.
"We will work... to distance Lebanon from all the negative repercussions" of the war in Syria," he added. -With AFP

Salam residence in Msaitbeh once more buzzing with activity
April 08, 2013/By Meris Lutz/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: The seat of the Salam political dynasty was once more buzzing with activity this weekend following Tammam Salam’s appointment as prime minister-designate Saturday. “I have returned to my house, to my family home, to the place where I was raised in a patriotic atmosphere, and the first thing I did after my designation was receive my mother’s blessing,” he told reporters over the weekend.
The elegant three-story mansion lies insulated from the hustle and bustle of Msaitbeh behind a barrier of lush greenery and thick stone wall. Inside, waiters navigated around huge floral arrangements with trays of coffee, juice, cookies and chocolate. In addition to media interviews and political consultations, the prime minister-designate is also bound by custom to receive hundreds if not thousands of well-wishers who filed in over the weekend to offer their congratulations and, perhaps, squeeze in a word or two about their particular concerns.
Prominent figures included former and serving ministers and lawmakers as well as the Russian and Iranian ambassadors. Salam also received a letter of congratulations from the Saudi king and calls from Lebanese leaders.
Politicians and citizens alike expressed hope that Salam would succeed in forming a government as soon as possible to oversee the elections, although most, including Salam, now consider their postponement inevitable. Salam, who is a member of the March 14 coalition, succeeded Friday in winning the support of the rival March 8 coalition to which he has since made an important diplomatic overture by announcing his support for the resistance, with the caveat that the decision to go to war belongs to the government. “My hope for the country is that, of course, a government should be formed based on new concepts, the concept of love and peace, because mutual understanding and peace are what Tammam Salam is all about,” said Elie Nourieh, the head of a civil Christian association based in Zahle.
“I’ve never come to pay my respects to any politician, but the Zahle gathering, which is my family’s association, they sent me as a representative to offer support for the prime minister in all his efforts, because through these efforts it seems the country might flourish.”Mahmoud Sayyed al-Hamawi, head of the association of Beiruti families, spoke of the Salams long history in politics, saying: “This is a patriotic family – have no fear.”
Tammam’s father, Saeb Salam, served as prime minister six times from 1952 to 1973, and his grandfather, Salim Ali Salam, was also a politician under the Ottomans and French. Those who gathered at the Salam residence were optimistic that his experience in politics would help him bridge the division in the government. “We are very optimistic,” said Adnan Badran, who had come to offer his support to Salam. “We are sure he is capable of forming a government based on the principles he outlined two days ago on television, these are principles to which everyone can agree and we’ve seen how reassured the country was by his designation.”Robert Prince, a banker, was confident the various political parties would find common ground, but only after negotiating for their own interests: “Everything in this country gets solved but there’s a price. ... This is how Lebanon has to stay and it will always stay like this ... We will never evolve and we will never regress. ... It’s the reality. ... No winners, no losers.”

Salam: Resistance subordinate to state
April 08, 2013/By Hussein Dakroub/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam began navigating the formidable process of assembling a new government, addressing the key “tripartite equation” controversy Sunday, after receiving support from Saudi Arabia, Russia and Iran. The Beirut MP said he would seek a government of “national interest” and stressed that the decision of war and peace belonged to the state, in comments that touched on the debate surrounding the phrase “the Army, the people and the resistance,” which March 8 insists be adopted by any new Cabinet while March 14 has ruled it out.
Salam, who won an overwhelming parliamentary endorsement during binding consultations to choose a new prime minister, including from Hezbollah and its March 8 allies, was officially appointed by President Michel Sleiman Saturday to form a new Cabinet to replace the outgoing government of Prime Minister Najib Mikati who resigned last month.
Speaking to The Daily Star, Salam defended Hezbollah’s armed resistance against Israel, but said the decision to go to war or make peace should be “a national decision.”
“I’m very clear about the resistance. The resistance is a national need in the face of all the threats we get from Israel, but that is something, and using the arms of the resistance internally is something else. Internally the arms should not be used, not to mention also that a general strategic policy should be governed by the government,” Salam said. “Even in the resistance field, the decision to make war or peace should be a national decision, not a factional decision.” Saudi Arabia was the first Arab country to congratulate Salam on his appointment. Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz and Crown Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz sent congratulatory letters to Salam Saturday over his appointment to form a new government.
“The Saudi king, in the name of the people and government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia expressed the best congratulations [to Salam], wishing him good health and happiness and wishing the brotherly Lebanese people progress,” the official Saudi Press Agency said. It added that Abdullah expressed his keenness to continue developing the distinctive ties between the two countries, and “to support efforts toward the stability and prosperity of brotherly Lebanon.” Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awad Assiri praised the unanimity over Salam’s nomination to the premiership as “a positive turning point” that would take Lebanon to a new stage.
“We hope to see the flexibility and easiness in [Salam’s] designation applied in the [Cabinet’s] formation,” Assiri told Al-Jadeed TV Sunday night.
Analysts and political sources have said that Saudi Arabia played a key role in promoting Salam, an independent lawmaker allied with the Future Movement bloc, as a consensus candidate to the premiership because of its concern over Lebanon’s security and stability. Salam said he received letters of support from both Iran and Russia through their ambassadors to Lebanon, who were among hundreds of officials, diplomats and politicians who flocked to the lawmaker’s Msaitbeh residence to congratulate him.
Salam said he could not decide about the shape of the new Cabinet before holding consultations with parliamentary blocs Tuesday and Wednesday.
“Only after that I might be able to gather some of their positions and gradually decide what sort of government we are going to have,” he said.
Salam said he expected a delay in the June parliamentary elections unless the polls were conducted under the 1960 law.
Russian Ambassador to Lebanon Alexander Zasypkin voiced his country’s support for Salam’s appointment to form a new Cabinet.
“We will continue this support because its priority conforms with Russia’s policy toward Lebanon and stresses the need to maintain security and stability in this country and resolve all problems,” Zasypkin told reporters after meeting Salam in Msaitbeh. Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Ghazanfar Roknabadi said after meeting Salam that he assured the prime minister-designate of “Iran’s support for Lebanon and all the Lebanese and for the country’s stability and security.’ Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai expressed hoped that the formation of the new Cabinet would be as fast as Salam’s appointment with the same national consensus.Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun vowed to help Salam with the difficult task of forming a government. “We will facilitate the formation of the government and we hope that there won’t be spiteful political practices,” he told reporters after meeting Rai in Bkirki. Sheikh Nabil Qaouk, deputy head of Hezbollah’s Executive Council, also pledged to facilitate the Cabinet’s formation.
“Hezbollah, the Amal Movement and the FPM have adopted a united stance on the nature and task of the new Cabinet,” Qaouk told a rally in the southern town of Kawthariat al-Siyyed. “We were positive in [Salam’s] nomination and we will be positive in the [Cabinet’s] formation. We are keen on the Cabinet’s success because this serves the interests of all the parties and all the country.”
Meanwhile, former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said the priority of the next government should be to hold the parliamentary elections and work to reduce tensions in the country with a homogenous team of ministers. Speaking to reporters at his office in Sidon, Siniora said an opportunity emerged for Lebanon after Mikati resigned last month and Salam was appointed as a prime minister-designate.
“It is an opportunity to lessen the levels of tensions in Lebanon. [This] requires that we have a homogenous team [of ministers] in the government, and not people who will only transfer political disputes to the Cabinet’s work,” he added. “We don’t want a government formed by March 14 or one controlled by March 8.” – With additional reporting by Meris Lutz

Aoun says to facilitate formation of new govt
April 07, 2013 /The Daily Star/BEIRUT: Saudi Arabia congratulated over the weekend MP Tammam Salam on his appointment as prime minister-designate while MP Michel Aoun vowed Sunday to facilitate the process of forming a new Cabinet starting this week. According to the Saudi Press Agency, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz sent a congratulatory letter to Salam over his recent appointment to form a new government.
“The Saudi King, in the name of his people and the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, congratulated [Salam] and wished him well and happiness and wished the brotherly Lebanese people progress,” the agency, quoting a statement, said. “[The king] expressed his keenness to continue developing the special ties between the two countries, and support whatever contributes to stability and prosperity in sisterly Lebanon,” it added.
Similarly, Saudi Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz also congratulated Salam in a letter. Following a meeting with Maronite patriarch, Cardinal Beshara Rai, the head of the Free Patriotic Movement [FPM] MP Michel Aoun vowed to help Salam with the difficult task of forming a government. "We will facilitate the formation of the government and we hope that there won't be spiteful political practices similar to what some spoke about," Aoun told reporters in Bkirki, the seat of the Maronite patriarchate. Aoun was referring to MP Walid Jumblatt who opposed a return of FPM figures to the Energy and Telecommunications Ministries.
"We hope that we could form a government of national consensus so that it could fully carry out its duties," Aoun added.
President Michel Sleiman appointed Salam, 67, Saturday after two days of binding parliamentary consultations during which 124 MPs out of the 128-member Parliament tasked the Beirut MP with forming a Cabinet to replace the government of Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati. Mikati resigned last month, citing rifts within his Cabinet that was dominated by Hezbollah-lead March 8 ministers.
During Mikati's term, ties with Saudi Arabia soured after he was appointed prime minister in January 2011 replacing one of Riyadh’s closest allies in the country, former Prime Minister Saad Hariri.
Hariri's Cabinet collapsed after March 8 ministers resigned. Salam, son of six-time former Prime Minister Saeb Salam, said Saturday that Saudi Arabia’s presence in Lebanon waned in the past two years.
“There wasn’t a decline in Saudi Arabia's role in Lebanon, but a minor regression noticed by everyone in the past two years. And in the face of dangers, the circumstance was available for Saudi to take [back] its position,” Salam said during an interview with LBCI. Analysts and political sources have said that Saudi Arabia played a key role in promoting Salam as a consensus candidate to the premiership because of its concern over Lebanon's security and stability. Salam will embark on the difficult task of forming a new Cabinet Tuesday, given the sharp differences between the country’s main political coalitions over the nature of the future government and the electoral law. In remarks published Saturday, Salam said his government will have three priorities which will be "A [new] electoral law, holding parliamentary elections and controlling the security, economic, social and monetary situation.”
While the March 14 coalition seeks a Cabinet whose primary task is to swiftly hold the elections based on a new law, March 8, especially Hezbollah, has voiced support for a national unity government.
Meanwhile, Rai also congratulated Salam during a phone call Saturday and expressed hoped "that the formation is as fast as the appointment with the same national consensus."
“We lived the joy of consensus yesterday after the designation of new prime minister,” Rai said during his Sunday sermon. He hoped that similar joy would also surface with the agreement on a new, fair electoral law and the formation of a new government. "[We hope a new government is formed] that would have Lebanon contribute with work and prayers to build peace in the countries of the Middle East, particularly Syria, and plants peace in every person who arrives to [Lebanon], especially the refugees,” he said.

Lebanese Speaker Nabih Berri role key in selection of Salam
April 08, 2013/By Antoine Ghattas Saab/The Daily Star
Speaker Nabih Berri played a pivotal role in selecting MP Tammam Salam as the next prime minister, according to political sources who said the speaker stopped his allies from naming a more provocative leader. The sources added that Berri took two factors into consideration when brokering the deal to name Salam. First, the fact that March 8 is no longer in the majority in Parliament has prompted some members to take less defiant stances. Second, the alliance’s failure to keep Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt and caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on its side caused Mikati’s eventual resignation, a thought Berri has kept in mind.
The sources believe Berri’s backing of Salam is related to international and regional developments that have altered Lebanon’s internal political equation. Berri has been forced to boost his credentials as a centrist rather than a staunch March 8 member, which is notable given that Hezbollah is reconsidering its own policies due to regional changes. Both the resignation of Mikati and the choice of Salam suggests a new political reality is in place, much changed from that which led to the formation of Mikati’s Cabinet. The sources said that all influential political parties are now focused on the importance of stability and security, reflecting Western concerns that the country’s stability could decay. These new circumstances mean that political parties are finally looking for common ground to form a national unity Cabinet that could oversee elections. Salam’s selection was in the cards for some time, the result of talks between Berri, Mikati, Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai and a representative of President Michel Sleiman in Rome last month. If a new government is formed, its most pressing priority would be overseeing elections. Sleiman has extended the deadline for announcing candidacies until April 17. A political source assures The Daily Star that the elections will go ahead, although they may be delayed. He reports that the U.S. and other Western countries have been sending strong signals that the elections are key for both security and political reasons. They believe not holding elections would deprive Lebanon of potential investments and further weaken its position in the region. In light of this, politicians are working with constitutional experts on a way to change the law that requires candidates to declare their intention to run no less than two months before the polls. If this time limit were shortened, there would be more time to secure a new electoral law.

Lebanese Army foils Chouf arms smuggling plot, gunman killed
April 08, 2013/The Daily Star/BEIRUT: The Army announced Sunday that it had foiled over the weekend an arms smuggling plot by a group of gunmen in the Chouf region who had planned to hand the weapons to “extremist groups.” The Army operation led to a shootout with the gunmen, resulting in the death of one man and the wounding of a soldier, in the latest cross-border security incident to erupt in the past week.
The Army said Sunday that it had obtained information from intelligence indicating that “some people were preparing to smuggle arms to extremist groups.”A military unit then headed to Ain Zahalta in the Chouf region at midnight Saturday and foiled “the delivery operation where the gunmen were caught red-handed.”The statement said the gunmen fired in the direction of the unit, which retaliated, resulting in the wounding of one soldier and damage to the Army vehicle. A gunman, identified as Ghassan al-Zoor, was also killed in the exchange. The shootout also wounded suspect Mohammad Sarhan, who was arrested along with seven others. All the men are currently being investigated. The arms haul, as described by the Army, included light, medium and heavy weapons, as well as a large quantity of ammunition.
In a separate incident, the Army detained five Syrians on the outskirts of the village of Nabi Othman in Baalbek, where they were caught trying to sneak into Arsal on their way to Yabrud, in Syria.
The Army had detained seven other Syrians in the same region Friday. Also in the northern Bekaa Valley, an Army patrol arrested a man who hails from northern Lebanon and a Syrian, after they found light and medium-sized weapons in their van. The arms were hidden creatively in metal boxes designed specifically to smuggle weapons. The Army also confiscated a variety of different ammunitions, detonator devices and electric wires during the operation. Separately, the head of the Reconciliation Committee for the Border Villages, Ali Zeaiter, succeeded in negotiating the recovery of the remains of Lebanese Mohammad Abbas al-Hajjar, who was kidnapped at a Free Syrian Army checkpoint on Feb. 12, on the outskirts of Al-Qusair, a city in Syria. Hajjar was buried Saturday in his hometown of Zaita, which is one of the Shiite border villages inside Syria inhabited by Lebanese citizens.
Hajjar’s funeral was attended by delegations of Lebanese Shiites residing in villages that share a border with Syria, as well as other prominent figures and clan members from Hermel.

Aley vigilantes enforce nighttime curfews on Syrians
April 08, 2013 /By Niamh Fleming-Farrell/The Daily Star
ALEY, Lebanon: With approximately 5,000 Syrian refugee families now in the area, Aley’s villagers have grown uneasy – so uneasy that municipally enforced curfews on Syrian citizens have in some places been deemed insufficient to ensure security, and townspeople are forming their own patrols. “Some of the people from the region have formed night watches,” a storeowner in the village of Qabr-Shmoun told The Daily Star. “They have a center point in Qabr Shmoun where they meet. They drive around and when they find someone [a Syrian], if he is going to see someone and they know him, it’s fine. But if they don’t know what he’s doing then it’s not OK.”
Asked what happens if it’s “not OK,” the storeowner, who declined to give his name, said: “If they don’t know where he’s going, they beat him up.”
Claiming that he himself is not a participant in the night watch, the storeowner acknowledged that those who patrol, most aged between 20 and 35, carry pistols.
The storeowner also added that although the Progressive Social Party – the dominant political party in the region – has not officially sanctioned the night watches, most of those participating are members. Some, he alleges, are concerned with the community’s safety; others “just enjoy being there ... they just want to find someone and beat him up.”
A resident of another village in the region, who wanted neither his name nor his hometown mentioned in the media, told The Daily Star that a curfew has been in place there for three or four months now – since the time “a great amount of refugees came to the village.”“We as young people in our villages are trying to implement this [curfew] because there has been more theft, more problems since the Syrians came,” he said, explaining that after dark he and his fellow residents, a “not very organized” group of “50 or 60,” drive around in their cars. When they encounter a Syrian, they either call the police or tell him to go home, although, he added, “sometimes teenagers hit the Syrian.”Despite the fact that caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel has previously told the media that local municipalities do not have the legal right to pass resolutions that infringe on the authority of the Internal Security Forces, Rawad Shemsedeen, a council member of Benih municipality in Aley, confirmed to The Daily Star Sunday that a curfew from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. has been imposed by his and other municipalities in the area.
He described it as applying “mostly to Syrians.”Questioned about its legality, Shemsedeen said: “I don’t know. The municipality always takes security measures, of course they work in coordination with the Interior Ministry, but if the ministry rejected [the curfew] the municipalities should adhere.”But unlike the Baabda town of Betshai-Mardasheh, which made headlines in February when photographs of its banners announcing a curfew for “foreigners” were disseminated across social media, the villages surrounding Aley have little signage publicizing restrictions on Syrians’ movement.
The Daily Star saw only one such notice, printed on an A4 sheet of paper and posted on a refrigerator door in a small convenience store in Abey. It specifies that the curfew applies to “all Syrian citizens” between the hours of 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. It is clearly stamped by the local municipality.Yet, several locals The Daily Star spoke to differentiatedbetween Syrian workers and Syrian refugees, saying the curfew was aimed at the former and describing them as troublemakers and responsible for thefts in the area.
While there are currently more than 400,000 Syrian refugees registered with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in Lebanon, it is estimated that there are between 400,000 and 600,000 Syrian laborers in the country.
Few of the refugees in the Aley region are registered with the U.N.; most receive aid from the Aley Relief Committee, a body made up of representatives of the city’s municipality and non-governmental organizations.
Taking a break from packing boxes of food aid, Nadim Shehayeb, a member of the committee, says that within the city a curfew is only imposed in the Ain Hala area “because it is very special for the Druze.” He estimates 60 Syrian families live in the area.
“We did this because there are hundreds and hundreds of Syrian workers and these workers are troublemakers,” Shehayeb explained.
Asked what kind of trouble they make, Shehayeb answered: “Stealing, all kinds of things they do.”
The storeowner in Qaber Shmoun likewise identifies such theft as a problem: “I caught two Syrian workers stealing from my shop,” he said.
Again, in Benih, an elderly man said “theft” was the main motivation for the curfew.
Yet when contacted, an ISF source reported that there had been “nothing abnormal” in Aley or around Aley in terms of crime of late. “There have been many rumors in Lebanon about the Syrians and in some areas there is a small increase [in crime] but not in Aley,” the source told The Daily Star.Some residents, however, have other complaints.
In Abey a pair of women, sipping from a shared cup of maté, complained about Syrians drinking, riding loud motorcycles late at night and being impolite. When questioned about the issue of theft, one of the women said: “Even before there were a lot of Syrians here there were a lot of thefts going on ... so now it might have been one of us but the Syrians are being blamed.”
Shemsedeen, the municipal council member, also does not mention theft among the reasons for the curfew.
It has been put in place “so there won’t be any problems,” he said, elaborating: “If they [Syrians] go out at night, they get drunk, someone says something to someone else and there’s a fight, so we put the curfew in place so that everyone stays home and there are no problems.”Shemsedeen said that fights and problems are more likely to happen with “outsiders” or “another village” because “there are the deep social ties between the people here.”
He added that the police deal with curfew breakers by giving them an initial warning, and if there are more violations, by punishing them. He did not specify the form such punishment would take.
But back in Abey, the maté sippers lament that the curfew is not being enforced. “It started two months ago, and now we feel that no one is abiding by it anymore ... They are out at 11 and 12 p.m.,” one said.
According to the women, in Abey there is as yet no night watch, but the foundation of one might not be far off.
Joining the conversation, a young man was decisive: “If the municipality is not going to do anything, we’re going to have to form night watches.” – Additional reporting by Meris Lutz

Canadian Leadership in Addressing Syrian Crisis
April 7, 2013 - Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird today announced that Canada is providing real leadership to help address the effects of raging crisis in Syria. Canada is extending credit of up to $2 million to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The Canadian contribution will make possible the investigation announced recently by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon into alleged chemical weapons use in Syria.
“Assad has plunged his country into chaos and is ultimately responsible for any use of chemical weapons that occurs on Syrian territory,” said Baird. “We continue to warn the Syrian regime, and all parties in the Syrian conflict, against any use of chemical agents.”
The OPCW will use Canada’s contribution to purchase equipment and support its verification of the alleged chemical weapons use, as well as its protection of and assistance to neighbouring states. The Canadian contribution is already being used to assist the OPCW as it makes necessary logistical arrangements to support the UN investigation.
Canada continues to call on Assad to end the violence, relinquish power and allow a transition to a stable, democratic, pluralistic Syria that lives in peace with its neighbours.
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A backgrounder follows.
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Backgrounder
Canada has repeatedly expressed its concern regarding the threat posed by Syria’s chemical weapons program, including the possibility that these weapons could be used by the Syrian regime against its own people or fall into the hands of terrorists.
In January 2013, through its Global Partnership Program, Canada contributed $2 million to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). These funds were provided to enable the OPCW to investigate an alleged chemical weapons use in Syria if requested to do so by the UN Secretary-General. Such a request was made, as announced by the UN Secretary-General on March 21, 2013.
Canada’s contribution will support activities of the Technical Secretariat of the OPCW. These activities include:
•the investigation of alleged use of chemical weapons;
•provision of direct emergency and/or supplementary assistance and protection to OPCW neighbouring States Parties against the use or threat of use of chemical weapons;
•and the provision of legal and technical support to facilitate accession to the Chemical Weapons Convention.
OPCW
The OPCW is the implementing body of the Chemical Weapons Convention. The OPCW has been given the mandate to achieve the objective and purpose of the Convention, to ensure the implementation of its provisions (including those for international verification of compliance), and to provide a forum for consultation and cooperation among States Parties. The Technical Secretariat of the OPCW is responsible for the day-to-day administration and implementation of the Convention, including verification of chemical weapons destruction activities. In addition to the normal responsibilities of the Secretariat, it is given particular responsibilities to undertake further duties with respect to the provision of assistance to States Parties, such as the provision of technical assistance and technical evaluation to States Parties in the implementation of the provisions of the Convention. At the request of the UN Secretary General, the OPCW can also support investigations of alleged use of chemical weapons in a non-State Party, such as Syria.

Afghan attacks kill U.S. diplomat, soldiers, others
Reuters – KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A car bomb blast killed five Americans, including three U.S. soldiers and a young diplomat, on Saturday, while an American civilian died in a separate attack in the east.
The diplomat and other Americans were in a convoy of vehicles in Zabul province when the blast occurred, Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement.
The soldiers and the diplomat died in the blast along with a civilian employee of the Defence Department and Afghan civilians, Kerry said. His statement gave no overall death toll. The Washington Post identified the diplomat as Anne Smedinghoff, 25, citing her parents. Smedinghoff was Kerry's embassy guide and aide when he visited Afghanistan last month, the paper said.
Local and international officials in the region said earlier that six people died in the blast: three U.S. soldiers, two U.S. civilians and an Afghan doctor.
Provincial governor Mohammad Ashraf Nasery was in the convoy, but was unharmed, local and NATO officials said.
"Our American officials and their Afghan colleagues were on their way to donate books to students in a school in Qalat, the province's capital, when they were struck by this despicable attack," Kerry said in his statement.
He said he had met the diplomat during a trip to Kabul, and spoke to her parents after her death. Four other U.S. diplomats were wounded, one critically, Kerry said in his statement. The convoy was near a hospital and a NATO base at the time of the explosion. Five Afghans, including a student and two reporters, were wounded, a local official said.
The attack came as the top U.S. general, Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrived in the country for a short visit to assess how much training Afghan troops need before U.S. troops pull out as planned by the end of 2014. In an attack in Afghanistan's east, an American civilian working with the U.S. government was killed during an insurgent attack, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force said in a statement.
Zabul shares borders with Pakistan to the southeast and Kandahar province, the birthplace of the Taliban, to the south.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the Zabul attack in a text message from spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi. He said a car bomb killed seven foreigners and wounded five others, although he later revised the toll to 13 foreigners killed and nine wounded.
The Taliban routinely exaggerates casualty figures.
The killings followed a bloody Taliban assault in the country's west on Wednesday that killed 44 people in a courtroom in Farah province. The United Nations says civilians are being increasingly targeted.
In a statement posted online earlier on Saturday, Ahmadi said the Taliban would continue to target Afghan judges and prosecutors.
"The Islamic Emirate, from today onwards, will keep a close watch over courthouses, all its personnel and all those who try to harm Mujahideen and will deal with them the same as the judges and prosecutors of Farah."
(Reporting by Ismail Sameem, additional reporting by Paul Eckert; Writing by Dylan Welch and Diane Bartz; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Xavier Briand)


Canada Condemns Terrorist Attack on Americans
April 7, 2013 - Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird today issued the following statement:
“Canada condemns the cowardly attack on a convoy killing American soldiers, a diplomat, and Afghan and American civilians in Zabul province.
“We stand resolutely by all peace-loving people who are committed to seeing Afghanistan never again become a safe haven for terrorist entities.
“Canada remains committed to the people of Afghanistan and to those who believe Afghanistan can one day soon see peace, security and prosperity for future generations.
“The thoughts and prayers of all Canadians are with our Afghan and American friends during this most difficult time. On behalf of all Canadians, I offer our sincere condolences to the friends and families of those who have lost loved ones, and I wish a speedy recovery to the injured.”

Egypt releases weapons ship after investigation: sources
CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian authorities released a ship loaded with heavy weapons and its crew three days after they were seized for entering Egyptian territorial waters in the Red Sea, two security sources told Reuters on Sunday. The Togolese-flagged ship named COMR, with a crew of 14, was escorted into the port of Safaga, 569 km (356 miles) south of Cairo, on Wednesday after straying into Egyptian waters off the Sinai Peninsula. Authorities found weapons and ammunition, and detained the crew members for investigation. "We let them go on Saturday after we confirmed that the ship belongs to an international security firm for ships and the weapons are used for security," one source said. He did not name the company. International shipping operators have begun to employ private security firms to ward off the threat of Somali pirates, with contractors often picking up weapons from floating armory ships off the coast of Djibouti as they enter the areas at risk. That, together with the presence of international warships patrolling the Indian Ocean, has seen the number of successful pirate seizures of ships fall sharply to five ships in 2012, from 25 in 2011, and 27 in 2010. (Reporting by Asma Alsharif; Editing by Paul Taylor and Peter Graff)
 

Assad says rebel victory would destabilize Middle East
Reuters – BEIRUT (Reuters) - President Bashar al-Assad has warned that if rebel forces battling to overthrow him take power in Syria, they could destabilize the Middle East for decades.
The Syrian leader, locked in a two-year conflict that he says has been fuelled by his regional foes, also criticized Turkey's leaders as "foolish and immature", and Arab neighbors who he said were arming and sheltering rebel fighters. "If the unrest in Syria leads to the partitioning of the country, or if the terrorist forces take control ... the situation will inevitably spill over into neighboring countries and create a domino effect throughout the Middle East and beyond," he said in an interview with Turkish television. Turmoil would spread "east, west, north and south. This will lead to a state of instability for years and maybe decades to come," Assad said in the interview, posted by the Syrian presidency on the Internet.
His remarks were an acid reiteration of his long-standing argument that Syria and the region will face a bleak future if he falls. His foes argue that his determination to keep power at all costs has already plunged his country into disaster. The United Nations says at least 70,000 people have been killed in Syria's conflict. Daily death tolls of around 200 are not uncommon, monitoring groups say. More than a million refugees have fled the country and the Syrian Red Crescent says nearly 4 million have been displaced internally.
Neighboring Lebanon and Jordan are both struggling to cope with the flood of refugees, while the sectarian element of the conflict - with mainly Sunni Muslim and Islamist fighters battling a president from Syria's Alawite minority - has also raised tensions in neighbors such as Lebanon and Iraq. While accusing opponents of using "sectarian slogans", Assad said the essence of the battle was between "forces and states seeking to take their people back into historic times, and states wanting to take their peoples into a prosperous future".
He appeared to be referring to the Sunni Muslim Gulf states Saudi Arabia and Qatar, absolute monarchies that have supported efforts to arm insurgents in an uprising which began with peaceful protests for reform and spiralled into civil war. Assad said Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan was recruiting fighters with Qatari money to wage war in Syria, but warned his former friend that the bloodshed could not easily be contained: "The fire in Syria will burn Turkey. Unfortunately he does not see this reality."
Erdogan, he said, "has not uttered a single truthful word since the crisis in Syria began".
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Assad lived in his own "imaginary world".
"Such accusations are baseless and Turkey does not take such accusations seriously. Such claims are aimed at diverting attentions from the ongoing bloodshed in Syria."
NOT "HIDING IN A BUNKER"
Assad also condemned the Arab League, which has suspended Syria's membership and last month invited opposition leaders Moaz Alkhatib and Ghassan Hitto to attend a summit in his place.
"The Arab League itself lacks legitimacy," he said. "It is an organization that represents Arab states and not Arab people. It has lacked legitimacy for a long time because these Arab states themselves ... do not reflect the will of the Arab people."Assad also dismissed Western countries that condemned his crackdown on the protest as hypocrites. "France and Britain committed massacres in Libya with the support and cover of the United States. The Turkish government is knee-deep in Syrian blood. Are these states really concerned about Syrian blood?"
Responding to rumors of his assassination spread by activists and fighters over the last two weeks, Assad said he was living as ever in Damascus, despite rebel advances in the outskirts of the city and regular mortar attacks on its center. "I am not hiding in a bunker. These rumors (aim) to undermine the morale of the Syrian people. I neither live on a Russian warship nor in Iran. I live in Syria, in the same place I always did."
Assad, who has lost swathes of territory in the north and east of his country, is also battling to keep back rebel militias on the eastern and southern edges of Damascus.
In recent weeks, rebels have gained ground in the southern province of Deraa, cradle of the uprising, which could give them a platform for a fiercer assault on the capital.
The fighting in Deraa has alarmed Israel, which fears that four decades of relative calm on the front between the Syrian military and its own troops on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights could be threatened as Islamist rebel brigades take control of the Syrian side of the line.
(Additional reporting by Yesim Dikmen; Reporting by Dominic Evans; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
 

Al-Qaeda and Jabhat Al-Nusra Collaborating
Iraq asks Washington for drones to help secure borders
Baghdad, Asharq Al-Awsat—Wounded Syrian soldiers were attacked by extremists in Iraq, while returning to their country in a convoy of buses. The attack, which resulted in the death of 48 soldiers, took place near the border town of Akashat on March 4. Intelligence officials in the region considered the incident to be evidence of the growing alliance between extremist groups in the two countries: namely, Al-Qaeda in Iraq and Jabhat Al-Nusra (The Front of Support) in Syria. The latter—deemed to be the most effective unit in the fight against Bashar Al-Assad’s regime—was classified as a terrorist organization by the United States at the end of last year.
Iraqi Intelligence officials say that the recent cooperation may lead to a return of insurgency in their country. In statements to the Associated Press, they highlighted that some 20 terrorist operations, ranging from car bombs to suicide attacks, were carried out last month on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the US led invasion of Iraq. The attacks resulted in 65 dead, mostly in Baghdad.
This alliance works in the favour of Jabhat Al-Nusra, which emerged as a branch of Al-Qaeda in the middle of 2012 to fight government troops in Syria, alongside a number of other armed groups. Two Iraqi intelligence officials, who requested anonymity, pointed out that such cooperation—reflected in the attack on wounded Syrian soldiers—drove their government to appeal for US assistance in the form of UAV strikes against the militants. A US official confirmed the request, but explained that the United States will postpone its response until the Iraqi leadership makes an official request, which has not yet happened.
Iraq failed to find another source of help. The spokesman for the Ministry of Defense, Major General Muhammad Al-Askary, said that in an arms deal with Russia that was recently finalized, Iraq had asked for planes and heavy weapons to secure the border region where the armed groups are deployed.
The two Iraqi intelligence officials explained that the armed groups share the same military training camps, logistical equipment, intelligence information, and weapons. Their strength has intensified on the Syrian-Iraqi border, especially in the spacious area known as Al-Jazeera, which the Jihadists are trying use as a base for operations on both sides of the border. Ali al-Musawi, media advisor to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, said, “We are deeply concerned about the security situation in Iraq.” Referring to Iraq’s limited ground and air forces, he said that they were unable to eliminate the armed groups operating along the border, which he described as “a haven for terrorist cells.”
For his part, a Jordanian official working in anti-terrorism said that the Al-Qaeda organization is providing Jabhat Al-Nusra with fighters, weapons, and training.
A Middle East security analyst says that the attack on the wounded Syrian soldiers in Iraq is clear evidence about this cooperation. Asking not to be identified, due to the sensitivity of the issue, he said, “This is an operational collaboration. They exchange weapons, plans and ideas, including their allegedly complicated suicide operations.”
The level cooperation increased after Jabhat Al-Nusra gained control of two border crossing points between Syria and Iraq, and secured an area of operations for the fighters.
According to Iraqi intelligence officials, the cooperation with Al-Qaeda grew after Jabhat Al-Nusra seized control of two border crossing points between Syria and Iraq and liberated an area in which the fighters can operate. According to a report on Al-Nusra Front published by the Quilliam Foundation, Syrian rebels seized control of the Rubay’ah-Al-Ya’rubiyah crossing point in March and the Al-Qa’im crossing point in September. The Walid-Al-Tanaf crossing on the Syrian-Jordanian-Iraqi border remains under the control of the Syrian forces.
Al-Musawi and Jasim al-Halbusi, members of the local council in the Iraqi Al-Anbar Governorate, affirmed that the two groups are using ‘hideouts’ in the region. The Jordanian anti-terrorism official, who declined to be named, said that Al-Qaeda in Iraq is providing Jabhat Al-Nusra with expertise and logistical assistance. He added that, “During the training, [Jabhat Al-Nusra] fighters learn how to fire rockets, use automatic weapons, conduct maneuvers in desert regions, and supply arms to fighters in the field. The training is carried out at provisional camps on rugged terrain along the Syrian-Iraqi border.” Once the training is complete, they usually dismantle the camp in order not to leave any traces of their presence.
According to the Iraqi officials, Jabhat Al-Nusra helps Al-Qaeda by allowing it to expand in western Iraq, and launch large-scale attacks.

Report: Syria withdraws troops from Golan
Assad's army moves thousands of soldiers into battle fronts closer to Damascus, The Guardian reports. Rebels move into the vacuum
Ynet Published: 04.07.13, 23:04 / ynetnews
The Syrian government has withdrawn thousands of soldiers from the Golan Heights and moved them to battle fronts closer to Damascus, The Guardian reported Sunday.
According to the report, the move has cast doubt over the future of a UN peacekeeping force on the strategically vital plateau. Western diplomats said the Syrian redeployments near the Golan ceasefire line were the most significant in 40 years. According to The Guardian, rebel groups have moved into the vacuum sparking fears in Israel that jihadists will use the area as a staging ground for attacks on territory it controls. Evidence that surfaced in the past year suggests that rebel ranks have been filled with Islamist extremists including al-Qaeda members who seek to establish a new foothold in Syria. The Guardian explained that the eastern border of the Golan Heights was until recently thought to be occupied by four Syrian army divisions whose positions helped make the Golan the safest of Israel's four borders for more than four decades.
"They (the Syrian government) have moved some of their best battalions away from the Golan," said a western diplomatic source of the Syrian changes. "They have replaced some of them with poorer-quality battalions, which have involved reducing manpower. The moves are very significant." The report further quoted a senior Israeli government official as saying "UNDOF is of the highest importance, now more than ever. We know some participant countries are having second thoughts and we're concerned about that. "We are talking to them to try to understand what they plan on doing if the going gets rougher. We know some are hesitating, and it's a problematic situation." It now remains to be seen whether Austria, whose troops from one third of the 1,000-strong force, will withdraw them from the border.