Bible Quotation for today/But the end of all things is near

Peter's First Letter 4/7-11: "But the end of all things is near. Therefore be of sound mind, self-controlled, and sober in prayer.  And above all things be earnest in your love among yourselves, for love covers a multitude of sins.  Be hospitable to one another without grumbling.  As each has received a gift, employ it in serving one another, as good managers of the grace of God in its various forms.  If anyone speaks, let it be as it were the very words of God. If anyone serves, let it be as of the strength which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen"

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

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for April 16/13

Lebanon to issue complaint over Syria border fire
April 15, 2013/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Lebanon will send a letter of complaint to the Arab League over recent violations of its territory from the Syrian side of the border and urge the U.N. to convene a meeting over the growing refugee crisis, caretaker Social Affairs Minister Wael Abu Faour said Monday. Hezbollah also condemned Monday the border violations and accused Syrian rebels of carrying out Sunday's attack against the village of al-Qasr.
“Violations [along the Syria-Lebanon border] are taking place from both the regime and the rebels ... [Lebanon’s] foreign minister was tasked with filing a letter of complaint to the Arab League over these breaches, regardless of the responsible sides,” Abu Faour told reporters at Baabda Palace. “Such a letter would explain these attacks and call for support and help in ending them,” he added.
His comments came following a meeting of senior security officials headed by President Michel Sleiman. Rocket fire from the Syrian side of the border into the Hermel region Sunday led to the killing of two Lebanese and the wounding of several others. “The Lebanese state bears responsibility for the safety of all its citizens and villages, thus any attack against the country is rejected and the Foreign Ministry will take the necessary measures and hold required contacts to prevent such breaches,” said Abu Faour. The meeting at Baabda Palace included caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and was attended by caretaker Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour, Army commander Maj. Gen. Jean Kahwagi, acting police chief Brig. Gen. Roger Salem and the head of General Security, Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim. The security meeting in Baabda coincided with another rocket attack from the Syrian side of the border into the Hermel region. Security sources said one rocket was fired into the border town of Al-Qasr, adding that there were no casualties or material damage.  Meanwhile, resident of the area held a funeral for one of Sunday’s victims, the National News Agency said, adding that the second fatality would be laid to rest later in the day. The residents held authorities and state officials responsible for protecting them and urged them to secure the safety of their villages.Last month, Damascus warned Beirut it would attack suspected rebel sites in Lebanon if incursions from across the border did not cease. It claims that gunmen are crossing from Lebanon into its territory to fight alongside Syrian rebels against the regime of President Bashar Assad. The repeated attacks on Lebanese territories have raised both local and international concerns.
Sleiman Sunday decried the shelling into Hermel and called for an end to the bombardment of Lebanese border areas. “Such practices have led to the killing of innocent Lebanese that have nothing to do with the conflict raging on the other side of the border,” he said in a statement.The U.N. voiced similar concerns Monday.
“I would like to take this opportunity to stress our deep concern at the incidents over the weekend in which Lebanese citizens were killed as a result of fire from Syria,” U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly said after talks with Ammar Moussawi, the head of Hezbollah’s International Relations Department. “I would also like to reiterate the importance of respect for Lebanon’s territorial integrity and sovereignty and the need for all concerned to respect Lebanon’s policy of dissociation and the Baabda Declaration,” he added. The Baabda Declaration, adopted by rival Lebanese leaders in 2012, stipulates that Lebanon be kept at a distance from regional conflicts, particularly events in neighboring Syria.According to Hezbollah’s press office, Musawi condemned "the blatant attack by gunmen from Syrian territory on the Lebanese town of Al-Qasr that left a number of civilians killed and wounded.” His remarks came during his meeting with Plumbly, Hezbollah said. Abu Faour said Monday that the Army and security forces have started to take measures along the border with Syria “to ensure the safety of Lebanese citizens and the protection of Lebanese territories.” He also said Lebanon would refer the issue of the growing refugee crisis to the United Nations.
“The foreign affairs minister was also tasked with holding the necessary preparations to call the United Nations Security Council to hold a special session addressing the issue of Syrian and Palestinian refugees coming into Lebanon,” he said. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said Friday there are now over 417,000 Syrians who have registered with the organizations.
Abu Faour said the two-hour meeting also addressed the increasing number of kidnappings in Lebanon, the difficulties in prisons, sectarian practices that disrupt civil peace and the general security situation in different parts of the country but mainly in the northern city of Tripoli and the southern city of Sidon.
 

The Reasons Behind Hezbollah’s Decision to Fight in Syria
By: An Al-Monitor Correspondent in Beirut for Al-Monitor Lebanon Pulse
So far, Hezbollah fighters killed in Syria number at least 20. The last two died a few days ago in an engagement against the Free Syrian Army in the al-Qassir region of Homs’ countryside, close to the Lebanese border.
Author: An Al-Monitor Correspondent in Beirut
Translated by: Kamal Fayad
Within the social base of the party, there now exists a debate that is expected to gain momentum with time, concerning the usefulness of sending young Shiite men to die in Syria, in defense of a cause that has nothing to do with the party’s declared purpose of protecting Lebanon from Israel.
Day by day, this debate is growing more and more into a protest movement that grows in intensity with the rising involvement of Hezbollah in Syria’s internal war, and the increase in the number of its dead there. It should be noted here that the party’s fighting force is almost entirely composed of Lebanese Shiites who primarily hail from two main areas: South Lebanon’s border region with Israel, and the Bekaa region adjacent to Syria.
While the party’s political leadership is primarily comprised of southerners, the Bekaa provides the majority of its fighters, for the Bekaa is known as at the “human reservoir” of the resistance movement. Each of these regions possesses its own psychological makeup that emanates from their social, cultural and economic peculiarities.
The south, for example, is more encouraging of education, with its sons accumulating political experience gained through their involvement in left-wing Lebanese movements during the 1960s and 1970s, as well as their high level of affiliation with Palestinian organizations at that time. Economically, the south traditionally lived off of agriculture — primarily tobacco and citrus fruits. Yet with the rise of Imam Moussa al-Sadr (the founder of the Amal movement), and then the ascent to power of Amal under the leadership of Speaker Nabih Berri, southern society underwent a period of social and economic development. This led to the growth of a middle class composed of business people and employees of various governmental institutions. Furthermore, a large proportion of the south’s expatriate sons working in Gulf countries and Africa have garnered success, to varying degrees.
On the other hand, the Bekaa was only marginally affected by the rise of the Shiite star on the Lebanese political scene. The reason for that is that educational levels in the region remained low, or even all but nonexistent in the more clan-oriented parts of the Bekaa.
In truth, the broader clan affiliation of Bekaa Shiites played a part in hindering their social and civic ascension towards modernity. The area long relied on the agriculture of cannabis. But, once the civil war ended, the Lebanese state destroyed the inhabitants’ cannabis crops, prevented them from re-growing such crops, and promised to provide them with an alternative, which it never did. This thus exacerbated the degree of poverty in the region.
Hezbollah, from its end, never adopted a policy of development towards the region, preferring to spread its authority there through the enlistment of thousands of the Bekaa’s sons as fighters drawing monthly wages. The aid provided by the party and Iran to the Bekaa’s Shiites is therefore nominal more than productive, which renders the economic and social crises even worse in a region that has always lacked a systematic and scientific plan to combat such problems.
The majority of Shiite militants who chose to fight alongside the Syrian regime came from the Bekaa.
Initially, Hezbollah gave members not belonging to its military wing the freedom to go to Syria without benefiting from party support. And so, Shiite fighters volunteered to go fight in Syria for three main reasons: The first was due to a fatwa (religious edict) issued by Hezbollah proclaiming that fighting in Syria was a form of Jihad (holy war). The second reason to fight resulted from the inflamed sectarian Shiite feeling of having to protect their religious shrines in Syria (the Sayyidah Zainab Shrine in Damascus and the Sayyidah Rouqayya Shrine in Douma, among others) from supposed Sunni usurpers. And the third emanated from financial need and Hezbollah’s ability to invest in the conflict as a result of its considerable and wide-ranging ability to mobilize people.
Lately, however, the party’s involvement in the fight in Syria has turned strategic, and has transcended offering the usual limited aid. Hezbollah’s leadership thus decided to enter the internal Syrian conflict for three main strategic considerations. First, the party believes that if it did not go to defend its Syrian regime ally, it would have to fight the common enemy it has with the regime, namely the Sunni Salafists. They believe the latter won’t stop at toppling the Syrian regime, but will move on to Lebanon to accomplish their mission of striking at Iran’s influence in the country, as well as that of its main ally there, Hezbollah. The second consideration has to do with the party’s belief that improving its internal political position requires that the situation in the region be in its favor; and it views the Syrian battlefield as the proper current venue to gauge the region’s pulse. Thirdly, there exists within the party an effective movement pressuring its leadership and demanding that Hezbollah not stand idly by while the so called Sunni Gulf aggression continues against Syria and its regime, characterized as having close ties to Iran and the Shiites.In other words, this faction believes that the war for Syria not only constitutes an existential threat for that country’s regime, but also for all Shiites in the whole of the Arab world.

5 Hezbollah fighters killed in Syria brought to Lebanon
Now Lebanon/AFP/Residents of Lebanon's eastern Beqaa valley, a Hezbollah stronghold, told AFP that the bodies of five Hezbollah fighters killed in Syria were brought back on Sunday and Monday for burial."Yesterday, we buried a Hezbollah martyr, Assaad Ali Assaad, who was killed in Syria some days ago," said a resident of Khraybeh in eastern Lebanon. A security source in Hezbollah stronghold southern Lebanon meanwhile told AFP on condition of anonymity that four other fighters from the region had also been killed in Syria. Hezbollah has been reportedly fighting on the side of the Syrian regime against rebels in the Homs province and outside Damascus, with news outlets in the past week reporting that a number of party members had been killed in fighting in Syria.AFP reported last that two Hezbollah members died fighting alongside Syrian government forces in the Al-Qusayr area outside Homs.On Thursday, a member of the Syrian National Coalition’s general secretariat told CNN that Syrian regime forces backed by Hezbollah fighters have been massing outside the Homs province town of Tal Qadesh.
The Shiite party has acknowledged that its members living in Syrian villages on the border with Lebanon have taken part in battles against "armed groups" in self-defense. However, it refuses to discuss allegations by Syrian rebels that it has sent fighters from Lebanon to bolster the forces of its ally, Syria's President Bashar al-Assad.

U.S. Rejects Attacks from Syrian Side of Border against Lebanon
Naharnet /The United States on Monday condemned the deadly barrage of rockets fired by Syrian rebels into the Lebanese region of Hermel, which left two people dead and five others wounded on Sunday.
The U.S. State Department said it condemns attacks against Lebanese territory, whichever side they may come from. Two more rockets fired from Syria landed on a border town in the Bekaa valley on Monday, prompting President Michel Suleiman to call for a security meeting which sought Arab League assistance in helping Lebanon confront the attacks. Media reports said that a rocket landed on Monday morning on the outskirts of Sahlat al-Ma' in the town of al-Qasr that lies in northeast Lebanon's Hermel district.A second rocket hit al-Qasr at 11:00 am only 40 minutes after the first attack.No injuries were reported. But the assault came after two rockets fired from Syria on Sunday exploded in al-Qasr, killing Ali Hasan Qataya. Two more rockets landed in a nearby village of Hawsh al-Sayyed Ali, killing 13-year-old Abbas Kheireddine and damaging two homes. Both victims were laid to rest on Monday amid widespread anger and mourning in Hermel. The deaths are not the first time that Lebanese citizens have been killed by cross-border fire coming from Syria. In February, at least one Lebanese man was killed by gunfire from the Syrian side of the border. Since the Syrian uprising began in March 2011, there have been numerous deadly clashes along the northern and eastern borders of Lebanon, usually between the Syrian army and armed Syrian or Lebanese groups backing the uprising.

Walid Jumblat hurdles obstructing cabinet’s birth
The formation of the new Lebanese cabinet has been hit by obstacles imposed by the Progressive Socialist Party, a March 14 source told NOW.“President [Michel Suleiman] advised Prime Minister-designate [Tammam Salam] not to go ahead with a ‘de facto’ cabinet if PSP leader MP Walid Jumblatt would not accept it and as long as [Jumblatt’s] parliamentary bloc would not grant it its vote of confidence,” the source told NOW on Monday.
It added that Suleiman will not sign the cabinet formation decree if Tammam went ahead with such a cabinet makeup, “since the former wants to pay Jumblatt back after he stood by the presidency during crucial times.”
“The cabinet formation issue has hit a wall,” the source added.“Salam, however, is dealing with the issue calmly, wisely, and he will refuse to link the cabinet formation question with that of a pre-agreement on the electoral law issue.”“He might decide to form a cabinet that Hezbollah cannot refuse and which will include names that enjoy the support of all sides.” Regarding the PSP leader’s position as a king-maker, the source said that Jumblatt would hold on to the promise he made to Hezbollah not to accept a government to which Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah objects.“He wants to reassure Hezbollah, but his position regarding the Syrian regime is well known.”The source also told NOW that the March 8 forces, which dominate the cabinet of caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati, were requesting representation within the new cabinet that reflects its size in parliament.
“Salam refused that,” it added.“Hezbollah will request that the demands of [his March 8 ally] Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun be met, especially regarding preserving the ministerial position of Energy Minister Gebran Bassil.”Lebanon is awaiting the formation of a new government after Miqati announced his resignation last month citing differences within his cabinet over electoral and security issues. PM-designate Salam held talks last week with the country’s parliamentarians and consulted with them over the shape of his new government.

Salam Reportedly Suggested 'Civil War' Cabinet amid Denial of 'Fait Accompli' Proposal
Naharnet/Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam has reportedly proposed to President Michel Suleiman a 14-member cabinet that was strongly criticized by Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat for being a “civil war plan.” Al-Akhbar newspaper quoted sources as saying that Salam made the proposal during a meeting they held at Baabda palace last week. But when the president informed Jumblat about it, the PSP chief replied: “This is a civil war plan.” The report came amid a denial by Salam that he had made any 'Fait Accompli' proposal to Suleiman without consulting the parties that nominated him for the premiership.
As Safir quoted Salam as telling a delegation from the March 14 alliance that visited him at his residence in al-Msaitbeh on Saturday that the rumors about names being circulated to hold the portfolios were not true.
He stressed that his sole concern was to bring a homogeneous group to the government. Salam said upon his nomination that he would form a cabinet of non-political figures to supervise the upcoming parliamentary elections. He dubbed it a “government of national interest.” But the Hizbullah-led March 8 alliance continues to hold onto its demand for a national unity cabinet while the March 14 coalition backs Salam in his proposal to form a government that does not include candidates for the elections or provocative political figures. A high-ranking official in the Free Patriotic Movement ruled out March 8's approval of a technocrat government, telling As Safir daily it will never provide a political cover to such a cabinet. Jumblat, who is a centrist, has also warned he would not participate in any government that does not include all the major political parties.
His stance holds particular weight given that the PSP leader can deliver or deny a vote of confidence in parliament. As Safir quoted sources as saying that Jumblat informed on Sunday Speaker Nabih Berri, who is the head of the Amal movement, and Hizbullah that he continues to hold onto his position. Amal and Hizbullah representatives along with officials from the FPM, Marada and the Tashnag party visited Salam on Saturday to inform him about their stance. A member of the delegation told An Nahar newspaper that Salam proposed a neutral cabinet. But the March 8 officials reiterated their call for the formation of a government in which political parties are represented according to their weight in parliament. The two sides agreed to continue consultations but did not set a new date for their next meeting, the source said.

Shiite Cleric heikh Hasan Msheimesh Gets 5 Years Hard Labor on Charges of Spying for Israel
Naharnet/The Military Court on Monday sentenced Shiite cleric Sheikh Hasan Msheimesh to five years hard labor on charges of collaboration with Israel, state-run National News Agency reported.
The Lebanese judiciary had indicted Msheimesh with spying for Israel on October 19, 2011.He was accused of passing on information to Israel in return for sums of money. Syrian authorities had arrested Msheimesh, who is known for his anti-Hizbullah views, in July 2010, after receiving a tip-off from Lebanese security agencies. He was later extradited to Lebanon. The cleric's son Rida Msheimesh has claimed that the case is “politicized,” accusing Hizbullah of framing his father in retaliation for his public criticism of the party.

2 More Rockets Land in Hermel Town as Lebanon Asks for Arab League Assistance
Naharnet/Two more rockets fired from Syria landed on a border town in the Bekaa valley on Monday, prompting President Michel Suleiman to call for a security meeting which sought Arab League assistance in helping Lebanon confront the attacks.“The safety of any Lebanese citizen is the sole responsibility of the Lebanese state … and any attack on Lebanon no matter from which side it came is rejected,” Caretaker Social Affairs Minister Wael Abou Faour said in a statement he read after the security meeting was held at Baabda palace. “The foreign ministry will make the necessary contacts to avoid the repetition of the Syrian attacks,” he said. “The army and security forces will take the measures along the border to protect the security of the Lebanese,” he added. The caretaker minister told reporters that the foreign ministry should make the appropriate documentation and refer a memo to the Arab League to explain the nature of the Syrian cross-border attacks and help Lebanon in stopping them. His remark came only in response to a question on whether the Lebanese authorities intended to file a complaint with the organization over the repeated violations of Lebanese sovereignty. “Any assault from whether the Syrian army or other sides is unacceptable and rejected,” he stressed. The statement said that the conferees also tasked the foreign ministry with calling for an extraordinary U.N. Security Council session to discuss the issue of Syrian and Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. Media reports said that a rocket landed on Monday morning on the outskirts of Sahlat al-Ma' in the town of al-Qasr that lies in northeast Lebanon's Hermel district.
A second rocket hit al-Qasr at 11:00 am only 40 minutes after the first attack.No injuries were reported. But the assault came after two rockets fired from Syria on Sunday exploded in al-Qasr, killing Ali Hasan Qataya. Two more rockets landed in a nearby village of Hawsh al-Sayyed Ali, killing 13-year-old Abbas Kheireddine and damaging two homes. Both victims were laid to rest on Monday amid widespread anger and mourning in Hermel.
The deaths are not the first time that Lebanese citizens have been killed by cross-border fire coming from Syria. In February, at least one Lebanese man was killed by gunfire from the Syrian side of the border.
Since the Syrian uprising began in March 2011, there have been numerous deadly clashes along the northern and eastern borders of Lebanon, usually between the Syrian army and armed Syrian or Lebanese groups backing the uprising. There have also been clashes between armed groups and the Lebanese army seeking to prevent the infiltration of fighters into Lebanon.

Syria Rebels Confirm Shelling Bekaa, Hizbullah Buries More Fighters
Naharnet /..Syrian rebel commanders have confirmed insurgents had fired shells into Hermel towns on Saturday and Sunday, but denied there were any attacks on Monday.
"Yesterday (Sunday), Hizbullah bombarded Qusayr, Nahriyeh, Burhaniyeh and Saqarji (near the Lebanese border) from its positions in al-Qasr and Hawsh al-Sayyed Ali. They bombed civilians and killed many women and children," said Abu Oday, a commander of the rebel Independent Farouq Division. "If we have to, we will target civilians just like they do. Our civilians are not less valuable than theirs. Hizbullah is killing arbitrarily in Syria," he told Agence France Presse. "Yesterday, we responded. We hit back at Hizbullah's positions," he added. Another rebel leader, Abu Ahmed, said insurgents did not fire into Lebanon on Monday.
"We are giving the Lebanese authorities an opportunity to respond, to take practical steps to put a stop to their shelling, before we respond again." Meanwhile, residents of the Bekaa valley, a Hizbullah stronghold, told AFP that the bodies of five Hizbullah fighters killed in Syria were brought back on Sunday and Monday for burial. "Yesterday, we buried a Hizbullah martyr, Assaad Ali Assaad, who was killed in Syria some days ago," said a resident of Khraybeh in the Bekaa. A security source in southern Lebanon meanwhile told AFP on condition of anonymity that four other fighters from the region had also been killed in Syria.
Future TV reported that Hizbullah held funerals Monday for Ibrahim Jawdat Qansou, who hails from the southern town of Doueir, and Abbas Rihan, who hails from the southern town of Maifadoun, saying they were killed in Syria.Several Lebanese and Arab TV networks -- including Al-Arabiya, al-Mayadeen and al-Manar – on Monday broadcast a video showing masked fighters belonging to the so-called Popular Committees, which are backed by Hizbullah and the Syrian regime. The gunmen on the edge of the Lebanese border village of al-Qasr told the Associated Press that their mission is to protect Shiites on the Syrian side who claim their homes, villages and families have come under attack from Sunni rebels. In recent months, fighting has raged in and around several towns and villages inhabited by a community of some 15,000 Lebanese Shiites who have lived for decades on the Syrian side of a frontier that is not clearly demarcated in places and not fully controlled by border authorities. They are mostly Lebanese citizens, though some have dual citizenship or are Syrian.
Before Syria's uprising erupted two years ago, tens of thousands of Lebanese lived in Syria. The Lebanese Shiite enclave on the Syrian side of the border is near the central city of Homs and across from Hermel, a predominantly Shiite region of northeastern Lebanon. One commander of the Popular Committees said Shiite villages have been repeatedly attacked and some residents have been kidnapped and killed by rebels. He said that prompted local Shiites to take up arms to defend themselves."We are in a state of defense. We don't take sides (between rebels and regime forces). We are here to defend our people in the villages," said the commander, Mahmoud, who gave only his first name out of fear for his own security. "We don't attack any area. We only defend our villages."The border region near Homs on the Syria side is strategic because it links Damascus with the coastal enclave that is the heartland of Syria's Alawites and is also home to the country's two main seaports, Latakia and Tartus.
One of the biggest battles in the area was on Thursday when the Syrian army captured Tal al-Nabi Mindo, a village near the Lebanese border, after a day of heavy fighting.
Mahmoud said there were casualties on both sides, adding that the hilltop village overlooks several towns and villages as well as a strategically important road that links Tartus to Homs and the capital of Damascus beyond.
Mahmoud said some rebel commanders were killed in the fighting on Thursday and rebels threatened to bombard Lebanese territory in retaliation.
On Sunday, two rockets fired from Syria exploded in al-Qasr, killing one person. Two more rockets landed in the nearby village of Hawsh al-Sayyed Ali, killing a 13-year-old boy and damaging two homes.

Aazaz Abductees Families Prevent Turkish Trucks from Unloading at Fish Market
Naharnet/The families of the Lebanese Shiite pilgrims abducted in Syria’s Aazaz staged a sit-in on Monday at the Karantina fish market and prevented Turkish refrigerated trucks from unloading their shipments, in the second such protest against Turkey’s interests in Lebanon. Adham Zgheib recited a statement in the name of the protesters, confirming that the families will continue their escalatory steps until the release of the abductees and saying they have been “fed up with the false promises given to them over the past 11 months.”
“There will be future steps that will target all Turkish interests in Lebanon in all manners and methods, without harming any Turkish citizen, contrary to what (Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip) Erdogan and his government did, because we are the people of honor, hospitability and generosity, not the people of treachery, kidnapping and treason,” Zgheib added. On Friday, the families staged a sit-in at Beirut's Martyrs' Square near the offices of Turkish Airlines to demand the release of their loved ones. They announced that they have launched a campaign to boycott Turkish products in Lebanon, urging citizens throughout the country to support them.
They also warned that “what was taken by force, will be restored by force.” The families explained that they kicked off their boycott campaign “because economic measures are the best means to pressure countries that claim to preserve human rights.”“Lebanon imports a billion dollars worth of products from Turkey on an annual basis,” they added. Daniel Shoaib, the brother of pilgrim Abbas Shoaib, revealed: “Our actions will not end with the boycott of Turkish products.” “Our options include staging an open-ended sit-in in front of the Turkish Embassy. Turkish officials are lying as they have made false promises to us and the Lebanese state,” he declared.
The families had prevented in recent days Syrian workers from heading to their places of employment in Beirut's southern suburbs of Dahiyeh in an attempt to pressure officials to address the case of the abducted pilgrims.
They followed up this step by closing down a number of Syrian-owned stores in the Hay al-Sellom area in Beirut, saying they will remain shut until the pilgrims are released.
Eleven Lebanese pilgrims were kidnapped by an armed group in Syria's Aleppo region near Turkey’s border in May 22, 2012 as they were making their way back by land from pilgrimage in Iran.
Two of them have since been released, while the remaining nine are still being held in Syria's Aazaz area.
The families have been accusing Ankara of being the sponsor of the kidnappers.

2,300 Syrians killed under torture: report
April 15, 2013 /The Daily Star
BEIRUT: At least 2,300 people have died under torture in Syria’s prisons since the outbreak of the war, the Syrian Network for Human Rights reported Monday.That figure includes 80 children, 25 women, and 51 people aged over 60. Only 5 percent of all victims were armed rebels, the report adds.The rate of killings under torture is increasing, it says, stating that March 2013 accounted for the highest figure, with an average of five deaths each day under torture.The real number may be far higher, it adds, as “there are prisons torturing people to death and then throwing away the bodies ... in vacant land or rivers.”The report also details horrific methods of physical and psychological torture which it says are being used in regime prisons, including rape, electrocution, hanging and crucifixion.The largest number of victims were in Homs – 573 – and then Deraa, where the uprising began, with 360 deaths.The group calls on the U.N. to investigate the claims, and refer guilty parties to the International Criminal Court, and urges the Arab League to pressure the Syrian regime’s main allies – Russia, Iran and China – to reconsider their support for Assad.Regime warplanes struck across the country Monday, as the army appears to have stepped up its campaign against the opposition, a day after 31 children were killed in Syria, according to activists.At least 130 people were killed across the country Sunday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activists’ network.On Monday, warplanes targeted the suburbs of Damascus, Homs, Deraa and Aleppo, according to the Local Coordination Committees, another activist network.The rebel-held city of Raqqa was also targeted, according to the opposition Shaam News Network. In the Damascus suburb of Douma, six civilians were killed when an airstrike hit the area, it added.Also Monday, the regime Al-Baath daily newspaper criticized the U.N.-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, accusing him of "not listening to the Syrian people" and suggesting he may soon resign.Brahimi replaced former U.N. secretary general Kofi Annan in the envoy role in September, but has been criticized for failing to initiate dialogue between the regime and opposition since then, as the death toll rises by an average of 150 each day. – With Agencies

Opinion Obama and the Syrian Caricature
By: Tariq Alhomayed /Asharq Alawsat
The US administration has declared its determination to provide non-lethal assistance in the form of bullet-proof vests, night vision goggles and other devices to the Syrian opposition. The assistance comes in response to recommendations made by the US State Department in coordination with international parties. There has also been a news leak about updated plans for US military intervention in Syria. The question on everybody’s lips is whether Obama has changed his attitude towards the embattled nation.
Imagine the following caricature: Obama is running, carrying a big net and trying to catch something falling from the sky. That thing is Syria.
In reality, the US administration is taking a back seat on the Syrian crisis—an attitude it also adopted when handling the Libyan crisis. But there is one small difference between the two: in Syria, the US is not seated behind NATO troops, but rather behind the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and the Al-Nusra Front. Washington is allowing all of these groups to lead in the hope that it will reap the last-minute benefit: seeing Assad removed from power with the least possible effort. Anyone who contemplates US’s stance towards Syria must understand that Washington does not take any initiative in its response to the crisis; rather, it moves only in reaction. All that matters to the US administration is to get involved the second Assad falls, in order to claim victory in the hope that they can influence the next stage of Syria’s existence.
What the US government has not yet understood is that Syria is far more complex than Egypt or Tunisia—indeed, it more complex than any of the Arab Spring states, or even Iraq. The more time Washington allows to pass before it assists the FSA and the Al-Nusra Front, and the longer it refuses to confront Iran, the more difficult and destructive the situation for Syria and the region will become. These effects may last for decades to come. The Syrian revolution is not like the Egyptian one, where the Americans jumped on the bandwagon and claimed to have been victorious. Even in that conflict, a senior American official privately admitted that his country had committed many serious mistakes in Egypt. Syria will be more complex: Iran and Hezbollah exist in the same way as Al-Qaeda, and they are just as bad. There is also a long-entrenched climate of suspicion and intimidation, and accusations of treason are commonplace. If Washington fails to have a strong presence in Syria, the future will be even more difficult than the situations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Washington is now extremely late to respond to the Syrian crisis, and it will be racing against time if it decides to intervene directly. The situation on the ground is complicated and is only getting more complex as rebels advance. The sectarian divisions that have existed in that country for so long have already taken deeper roots. Washington must be made aware of how late it is to start intervening in the crisis—of how it must intervene as soon as possible instead of sitting in the back seat behind the FSA, the Al-Nusra Front, Iran and Hezbollah. The US, the Arabs, and the international community must make the next move—they cannot let anyone beat them to it.


Two explosions at Boston Marathon kill at least 2 people, injure more than 100. White House, New York on terror alert
DEBKAfile Special Report April 16, 2013/An injured Saudi national is being questioned under guard in hospital after two powerful explosions struck the elite Boston Marathon Monday, April 15, causing at least two deaths and more than 100 injuries among the runners and the spectators packing the streets. These figures are expected to rise, as the injured are treated, many of them with amputated limbs. The two blasts were seconds apart, apparently in or near the Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel at the finishing line, three hours after the winners passed.
The Boston police advised people to stay home after closing the city's airspace and and also the mobile phone service to prevent the detonation of explosives. Air links between Boston and New York are suspended. The Secret Service closed the pedestrian walkway in front of the White House in Washington and the Pentagon was placed on heightened terror alert after Barack Obama was briefed on the Boston bombings.
President Obama, addressing the nation, said: “We don’t know what happened, but we will get to the bottom of who and why… and the perpetrators will be held accountable and feel the full weight of justice.”
New York counterterrorism police are deployed at Manhattan landmarks and strategic areas in the city.
After the twin explosions, the Boston authorities found two more explosive devices at the Boston Marathon and dismantled.
No information has been released about the cause of the explosions but they are being treated by the US authorities as a major, multiple terrorist event. Ball bearings found strewn at the scene of the blasts and in the pockets of victims were seen as consistent with terrorist methods and the same signature found in similar attacks in Israel and other places.
The Boston Marathon with thousands of runners from many countries is one the most prestigious events of its kind in the world.
The head of an extremist Jordanian Muslim Salafi group said he's "happy to see the horror in America" after the explosions in Boston.
"American blood isn't more precious than Muslim blood," said Mohammad al-Chalabi, who was convicted in an al-Qaida-linked plot to attack U.S. and other Western diplomatic missions in Jordan in 2003.
"Let the Americans feel the pain we endured by their armies occupying Iraq and Afghanistan and killing our people there," he said early Tuesday.
A Mideast counterterrorism official based in Jordan said the blasts "carry the hallmark of an organized terrorist group, like al-Qaeda." He did not give actual evidence.
New York counterterrorism police are deployed at Manhattan landmarks and strategic areas in the city.
After the twin explosions, the Boston authorities conducted a controlled explosion of a suspicious package. Two more explosive devices were found at the Boston Marathon and dismantled.
No information has been released about the cause of the explosions but they are being treated by the US authorities as a major, multiple terrorist event.
The Boston Marathon with thousands of runners from many countries is one the most prestigious events of its kind in the world.
The head of an extremist Jordanian Muslim Salafi group said he's "happy to see the horror in America" after the explosions in Boston.
"American blood isn't more precious than Muslim blood," said Mohammad al-Chalabi, who was convicted in an al-Qaida-linked plot to attack U.S. and other Western diplomatic missions in Jordan in 2003.
"Let the Americans feel the pain we endured by their armies occupying Iraq and Afghanistan and killing our people there," he said early Tuesday.
A Mideast counterterrorism official based in Jordan said the blasts "carry the hallmark of an organized terrorist group, like al-Qaeda." He did not give actual evidence.
 

Two blasts rock Boston Marathon, at least 2 killed, dozens hurt
By Scott Malone and Tim McLaughlin | Reuters
BOSTON (Reuters) - Two simultaneous explosions ripped through the crowd at the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday, killing two people and injuring dozens on a day when tens of thousands of people pack the streets to watch the world famous race.
Runners were heading for the finish when a fireball and smoke rose from behind cheering spectators and a row of flags representing the countries of participants, video from the scene showed. Other pictures showed blood stains on the ground and several people knocked down.
An hour after the 2:50 p.m. EDT (7:50 p.m. British time) blasts in Boston's Copley Square marred the usually joyous end to the marathon, a fire erupted at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library three miles (5 km) away, but no one was injured, police said.
Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis told a news conference the authorities were not certain whether the fire, possibly started by an incendiary device, was related.
Two high-level U.S. law enforcement officials said one or more bombs caused the explosions at the scene of the marathon, which is run annually on the state holiday Patriots' Day.
"It sounded like a sonic boom. I haven't stopped shaking yet," said Melissa Stanley, who watched her daughter cross the finish line four minutes before the explosions.
The blasts put police on alert in major cities across the United States, including in Washington, D.C. where President Barack Obama was briefed by security personnel.
Three Boston area-hospitals contacted by Reuters reported a total of at least 51 hurt. Some of those may have been hospitalized for treatment from running the marathon. The Boston Globe newspaper reported on Twitter that more than 100 people were hurt, but it did not provide a source for the information.
Ambulances, fire trucks and dozens of police vehicles converged at the finish line, and spectators could be seen crying and consoling each other.
"Blood everywhere, victims carried out on stretchers. I saw someone lose their leg, people are crying," the Boston Globe's Steve Silva reported from the scene, the Globe said on Twitter.
The two explosions were about 50 to 100 yards (metres) apart as runners crossed the finish line with a timer showing 4 hours and 9 minutes, some 9 minutes faster than the average finish time, as reported by Runner's World magazine. Of the 23,326 runners who started the race on Monday, 17,584 finished before the blast, marathon officials said. The runners were diverted before officials brought the marathon to a halt.
Mike Mitchell of Vancouver, Canada, a runner who had finished the race, said he was looking back at the finish line and saw a "massive explosion."
Smoke rose 50 feet (15 metres) in the air, Mitchell said. People began running and screaming after hearing the noise, Mitchell said.
"Everybody freaked out," Mitchell said.
MASSIVE RESPONSE
"Every asset of the Commonwealth (state) of Massachusetts and the federal government is either here or coming here," Governor Deval Patrick told reporters.
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, Justice Department, Homeland Security Department and other agencies were all lending assistance to the investigation, authorities said.
Obama directed his administration to provide whatever assistance was necessary, the White House said. Obama was being briefed by Homeland Security Adviser Lisa Monaco and other staff, the White House said.
Spectators typically line the 26.2 mile (42.19 km) race course, with the heaviest crowds near the finish line.
The transit agency shut down all service to the area, citing police activity, and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration temporarily restricted airspace over the scene, a spokesman said.
The Boston Marathon has been held on Patriot's Day, the third Monday of April, since 1897. The event, which starts in Hopkinton, Massachusetts and ends in Boston's Copley Square, attracts an estimated half-million spectators and some 20,000 participants every year.
The Boston Symphony Orchestra cancelled Monday night's concert and the National Hockey League's Boston Bruins cancelled their home game against the Ottawa Senators.
Earlier on Monday, Ethiopia's Lelisa Desisa and Kenya's Rita Jeptoo won the men's and women's events, continuing African runners' dominance in the sport.
(Reporting by Scott Malone, Tim McLaughlin, Aaron Pressman, Edith Honan, Frank McGurty and Mark Hosenball; Editing by Daniel Trotta and Grant McCool)
 

President Obama responds to the Boston Explosions
CNN/President Barack Obama said Monday he ordered the "full resources of the federal government" to respond to the Boston bombing on Monday, and that he also called for increased security around the United States as necessary. "All Americans stand with the people of Boston," Obama said.
Obama said that any individuals or groups responsible for the "senseless" bombing in Boston will "feel the full weight of justice." Two people were killed in the bombings near the finish line of the Boston Marathon and at least 80 were wounded, according to officials in Boston.
The president did not call the bombings at the Boston Marathon a terrorist attack. But a federal law enforcement official with knowledge of the investigation said investigators are classifying the bombings as a terror event, although it is not clear if it is domestic or foreign.

Canada/A Muslim woman makes new attempt to testify in sex assault case while veiled
By Steve Mertl/National Affairs Contributor
A woman identified only as N.S. returned to court Monday to renew her request to be allowed to give evidence while A groundbreaking case that led the Supreme Court of Canada to clarify the rules on whether Muslim women can testify while fully veiled is back in a Toronto courtroom.
A woman identified only as N.S. returned to court Monday to renew her request to be allowed to give evidence while wearing a niqab during the trial of two relatives accused of sexually assaulting her when she was a child.
“I observe the school of thought where the veil is obligatory,” the woman, wearing a black niqab that revealed only her eyes, told the judge, according to the Toronto Star.
Questioned by her lawyer, David Butt, N.S. said she wears the niqab to ensure she does not create a "sexual environment," the Star said.
The case was back in court some six years after N.S. refused to remove her veil during the preliminary hearing into the sexual-assault allegations.
[ Related: Niqabs for some who testify, but not for all, Supreme Court declares ]
The Supreme Court ruling, with one judge dissenting and two others concurring with reservations, upheld lower-court rulings requiring veil-wearing women to uncover their faces during testimony.
But it also kicked the issue back down to the presiding judge in the N.S. case and set a new, four-part test aimed at balancing a woman's right to testify with an accused's right mount a full defence, as the Star noted.
Defence lawyers contended sexual-assault cases often hinge on the credibility of the parties. It's harder to assess the truth of someone wearing a face covering, opponents of the practice argued.
Butt told CBC News the high court's guidelines were fair to his client.
"She's confident that she will have a very real opportunity to put her position forth, and that her position will be given the careful and respectful treatment that it deserves," Butt said.
N.S., now in her mid-30s, told the court she covers up while in public or with men who are not "direct" members of her family, the Star reported. But she also said she removes her niqab during her work as a driver, putting it back on if her vehicle is stuck in traffic.
Evidence at a preliminary hearing is normally subject to a publication ban but the judge in this case allowed reporting of N.S.'s testimony regarding the niqab as long as her identity was not published.
The possibility N.S. might be able to testify on the sex-assault allegations while veiled still doesn't sit well with defence lawyer Douglas Usher.
“I think we should promote secularist and rational values in our court system that have been recognized in 400 years of common law precedence and ... I don't think we should accommodate things which are nonsense,” Usher told the Star.
Authorities have been wrestling with the issue veiled Muslim women in recent years, trying to accommodate the needs of a multicultural society with the requirements of official Canada.
[ Related: Six niqab legal controversies in Canada ]
Quebec's chief electoral officer in 2007 to reverse a decision allowing niqab-wearing women to get their ballots for the provincial election after all three major parties objected, CBC News reported. Six months later, Canada's chief electoral officer allowed women wearing a niqab to vote in a federal byelection, raising the ire of Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
In 2011, Ottawa announced a ban on face coverings for immigrants taking a citizenship oath.

Bahrain's Dangerous Race-Track Politics
Simon Henderson/Washington Institute
Amid embassy warnings and an uptick in violence, Washington should urge the Bahraini government and mainstream political groups to avoid worsening the situation ahead of the upcoming auto race.
Political tension is peaking in Bahrain with the arrival this week of teams for the annual Formula One Grand Prix, a major auto race that will draw a large worldwide audience. The Bahraini government sees the prestigious and commercially lucrative event as a reflection of stability in a country that has long been an ally to Washington and home to the headquarters of the U.S. Fifth Fleet.
The 2011 edition of the race was cancelled following widespread clashes between Shiite demonstrators and the security forces of the Sunni ruler, King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa. But it was held successfully last year despite continued protests. Then, as this year, the mainstream opposition wanted the event to take place, arguing that it benefits the country. But hardline opponents have been campaigning at home and abroad to stop it.
In recent weeks, the government has organized a National Dialogue with Sunni, Shiite, and secular groups to promote political reconciliation. And on Sunday, the island's information minister announced that the situation in Bahrain is "very reassuring," criticizing foreign media for exaggerating local problems. A few hours later, however, authorities reported four blasts in the capital, including one in which a gas cylinder set a car ablaze in the financial district. A group called "February 14" -- named after the start date of the 2011 protests and associated with near-nightly clashes between youths throwing Molotov cocktails and riot police -- has claimed responsibility.
Today, the U.S. embassy released a warning to American citizens that widespread demonstrations and violent clashes between security forces and protesters could make travel in and around Bahrain dangerous until race day (April 21). The notice, unprecedented in its use of red bold underlined type, indicated that opposition groups had recently stolen cars and detonated explosives inside them. It was accompanied by a map of areas off-limits to U.S. citizen embassy employees, as well as photos showing what an explosive device might look like.
More broadly, progress in the National Dialogue has been elusive so far, at least from the perspective of the island's majority Shiites. Last month, in a move widely interpreted as a concession to Shiite sentiment, the king appointed his eldest son -- Crown Prince Salman, considered a political moderate -- as first deputy prime minister. Yet the decision has had little apparent consequence.
Meanwhile, the island received a reminder yesterday of years of antipathy between the ruling Khalifa family and Shiites with the announcement that former British colonial policeman Ian Henderson (no relation to this writer) had died. For decades, Henderson ran Bahrain's security and intelligence service. A one-line announcement in the local Gulf Daily News described him as a long-time advisor to the Interior Ministry, but Iran's Press TV website noted his reputation as a torturer and called him the "Butcher of Bahrain."
Although Bahrain's leaders are likely determined to ensure that the race takes place without interruption, Washington should monitor the situation to ensure that the government's efforts do not cause further deterioration in the political atmosphere. According to opposition groups, as many as a hundred Shiite activists have already been arrested in the recent security clampdown. The parties in the National Dialogue can all contribute to restoring calm by condemning the violence. King Hamad and Washington are also concerned that Iran, which has been blamed for supporting extremist Shiite groups, will take advantage of the situation.
**Simon Henderson is the Baker fellow and director of the Gulf and Energy Policy Program at The Washington Institute.