Bible Quotation for today/

John 12/20-32: "Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus.’ Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honour. ‘Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say "Father, save me from this hour"? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven, ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.’ The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, ‘An angel has spoken to him.’ Jesus answered, ‘This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgement of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.’"
 

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

The Oppressor and the Oppressed/Dr. Hamad Al-Majid/Asharq Alawsat/April 25/13

The Siege of Egypt's St. Mark Cathedral An Insider's Account/by Raymond Ibrahim/April 25/13

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for April 25/13

U.S. accuses Lebanese firms of money laundering
Lebanese-U.S. Terrorism Defendant Sentenced to Life in New York
Hizbullah's Role in Syria Threatens Lebanon 'Neutrality'
Al-Nusra Front warns Suleiman that “Beirut will be burned”
President Michel Suleiman Slams Calls to Send Fighters to Syria
Syrian Opposition leader George Sabra Telephones LF, Dr. Geagea over Hizbullah Interference in Syrian Affairs
Armenians, Families of Pilgrims Unite against Turkey on Genocide Anniversary
Report: Lebanese Cabinet Formation Process Makes Serious Breakthrough
Lebanese famous Caricaturist Pierre Sadek, Dead at 75
Jumblat Slams Jihad Calls, Says Hizbullah's Involvement in Syria 'Tarnishes' its Image
Canada: Terrorist Tsarnaev’s condition improves; brothers reportedly motivated by U.S. wars
Spanish FM Meets Miqati, Mansour, Urges National Unity Govt. in Syria
Tehran and Assad slide past US and Israeli red lines – nuclear and chemical
Aleppo Archdiocese: No News on Kidnapped Syria Bishops
More Syrian Rockets Hit Lebanon
Report: Only 10 MPs Signed Petition Challenging Suspension of Electoral Deadlines
Grenade Explodes at Palestinian Camp in North, 11 Wounded
Free Syrian Army Rejects Lebanon Salafists' Jihad Call
Sidon’s Salafists eager for battle
Asir Rejects to Withdraw Jihad Call, Urges Clerics to Support Fatwa
Gunmen Take Control of Iraqi Town after Deadly Fighting
Military Court of Cassation Releases Arsal Army Ambush Suspect
ISF Removes Construction Violations in Beddawi
Hagel Urges Caution on Syria Chemical Weapons Claims
Urges U.S.-Russia Talks Based on Assad Ouster
Damascus Insists Brahimi Sever Ties with Arab League
Brahimi Suggests U.N. Arms Embargo on Syria Conflict
Minaret of Aleppo's Umayyad Mosque Destroyed
Coptic Orthodox Leader to Meet Pope Francis in May
Saudi to retain ban on non-Muslim places of worship
Islamic Council Proposes Death Penalty for Apostates in Morocco

US: Hezbollah acting like 'drug cartel'
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4372194,00.html
White House says Hezbollah conducts itself like 'drug cartel'; Two Lebanese money exhange firms blacklisted after laundering funds for Shiite group
Yitzhak Benhorin Published: 04.25.13, 01:51 / Israel News
WASHINGTON – The White House blasted the Hezbollah, saying it was running itself like a "drug cartel," and blacklisted two Lebanese firms for allegedly laundering money through the US financial system to transfer funds to the Shiites. "Hezbollah is operating like a major drug cartel," said Derek Maltz, a special agent with the US Drug Enforcement Administration. He added that the Shiite group's "proceeds are funding violence against Americans."
Maltz also announced that the US Treasury had blacklisted two Lebanese money exchange firms for moving millions of dollars to Hezbollah through the US, citing "primary money laundering concerns."
According to Maltz, Haitham Rmeiti, "a key facilitator for wiring money and transferring Hezbollah funds," moved nearly $30 million to the Hezbollah via the US, using his company, Kassem Rmeiti & Co. for Exchange, to do so.
The second firm, Halawi Exchange Co., has transferred over $220 million to the militant organization.
These recent announcements by the American administration reflect the Treasury's efforts to stop the Hezbollah's access to funding run through the US.
In 2011, the United States blacklisted the Lebanese Canadian Bank, after it was revealed that the financial institution was involved in a scheme to launder profits from narcotics dealing and other criminal activities.
 

U.S. accuses Lebanese firms of money laundering
April 24, 2013 /Daily Star /BEIRUT: The U.S. Treasury Department has designated two Lebanese money exchange firms as a “primary money laundering concern,” alleging they may be laundering millions of dollars of narcotics profits and funneling the money to Hezbollah, according to a statement released Tuesday. The two exchange houses were identified by the U.S. Treasury Department statement as Kassem Rmeiti & Co. For Exchange and Halawi Exchange Co. The Treasury Department claims Lebanese narcotics kingpin Ayman Joumaa operating in South America moved the proceeds of his drug trade through Rmeiti and Halawi Exchange in Lebanon after the U.S. added the Lebanese Canadian Bank to a blacklist for its operations with Hezbollah. The two trading firms were designated under section 311 of the U.S. Patriot Act that allows for identifying foreign companies that may be laundering money and supporting terrorism. Hezbollah is considered a terrorist organization by the United States. The U.S. blacklisted the Lebanese Canadian Bank two years ago. The Treasury sanctioned Joumaa and others allegedly involved in his narcotics trafficking network in 2011. “As our actions against the Lebanese Canadian Bank, Joumaa and the two exchange houses today make clear, the Treasury Department, working with our partners across the Federal government, will aggressively expose and disrupt sophisticated multinational money laundering organizations that handle drug proceeds for criminal enterprises including the terrorist group Hizballah,” Tuesday’s statement said. It added that the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network issued an order that requires American financial institutions to report information on any new or attempted transactions by Rmeiti Exchange and Halawi Exchange. The statement added that another notice, if adopted as a final ruling, would cut off the two exchange houses from the U.S. financial system.
Last month, the secretary-general of the Association of Banks in Lebanon, Markam Sader, told The Daily Star that Lebanese banks were regularly updating the lists of individuals and groups with suspected links to terrorist organizations in line with strict U.S. and European measures to combat terrorist funding. Sader was speaking a week after a large Lebanese banking delegation visited Washington and held talks with U.S. officials, senators and key figures from the Treasury Department. Sader added that no members of Hezbollah or its affiliates had accounts with Lebanese banks. “We have to abide by the U.S. lists even if some of these groups are Lebanese parties,” he said back in April. “Hezbollah is included on the list and naturally we have to abide by the U.S. measures,” he added. The Treasury Department said it would “continue to work with the Lebanese Central Bank and other relevant Lebanese authorities to address concerns highlighted by today’s action.”

Lebanese-U.S. Terrorism Defendant, Wadih El-Hage Sentenced to Life in New York
http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/80628-lebanese-u-s-terrorism-defendant-sentenced-to-life-in-new-york
Naharnet /A former personal secretary to Osama bin Laden got a strong rebuke from a judge Tuesday as he was sentenced to life in prison for a second time after claiming the Sept. 11 attacks and Superstorm Sandy were "God's punishment" for injustice against himself and others by the United States. "You sir, in my judgment, are a committed terrorist who has betrayed his country," U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan told Wadih El-Hage after listening to the claims of the Lebanese-born man who became a U.S. citizen. El-Hage said he was treated unjustly before his 2001 conviction in the August 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa. The attacks killed 224 people, including a dozen Americans. The judge said a life sentence was necessary in part because El-Hage, 52, was "quite likely to engage in or further terrorist activities against this country in this district until your last breath, if you were ever released." He also re-imposed a $33.8 million restitution order, saying $7 million would go to the families of victims and the rest to the U.S. government.
El-Hage was convicted in 2001 of conspiracy and other charges and was sentenced to life in prison. A federal appeals court in Manhattan ordered a re-sentencing after El-Hage argued that the federal sentencing guidelines he was sentenced under were no longer mandatory. El-Hage, who has a long beard, was brought into court handcuffed with numerous court officers providing tight security. At a hearing prior to trial, El-Hage had leaped out of a jury box where he was held with three other defendants and charged toward a door located about 15 feet (4.5 meters) from the judge before he was tackled against a wall by U.S. marshals.
Prior to the announcement of his sentence, El-Hage spoke for more than a half hour, saying he was "unfairly and unjustly convicted" and that he had "nothing to do with any of those conspiracies."
Wiping tears from his eyes as he described how criminal charges accused him of killing innocent civilians, El-Hage claimed that no jury could have remained unbiased in light of the accusations and that his chance to redeem himself was spoiled when his defense lawyers "fiercely resisted" his desire to testify at trial. "And I had a lot to say," El-Hage said. He claimed he had followed U.S. laws since coming to the country in 1978 as a teenager and had registered as required at U.S. embassies as he traveled through Sudan, Pakistan and Kenya. At the time of his arrest, he was living in Arlington, Texas, with his wife and seven children.
He cited the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks and Superstorm Sandy, saying "This is God's punishment for clear injustice."
At his first sentencing just weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks, El-Hage condemned the attacks, saying the "killing of innocent people is radical, extreme and cannot be tolerated by any religion, principles or values."
El-Hage's rambling statement Tuesday led him to concede at one point that some might find "what I say strange or unusual" and Kaplan's patience wore thin as the judge finally warned El-Hage to complete his comments in five minutes. When it was no longer his turn, El-Hage tried to speak several more times and the judge shouted him down, saying "Quiet!"
Though El-Hage was in the United States when nearly simultaneous bombings were carried out on U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, the government said he played a leadership role prior to the attacks. In a legal brief, prosecutors said El-Hage was one of the leaders of al-Qaida's East Africa cell, providing false documents so operatives could travel between Africa and Afghanistan to meet with al-Qaida leaders. They said El-Hage carried a specific directive at one point from al-Qaida's military command to militarize the East African cell and was a high-ranking and trusted associate of bin Laden who performed essential tasks, including disbursing the al-Qaida payroll and operating al-Qaida businesses that provided cover for its terrorist activities. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Buckley told Kaplan that El-Hage was a "terrible candidate for your honor's mercy," saying he could have prevented the bombings if he had not lied to U.S. law enforcement authorities about al-Qaida operatives in Africa when he returned to the United States in September 1997.
Source/Associated Press/Naharnet.

President Michel Suleiman Slams Calls to Send Fighters to Syria
Naharnet /President Michel Suleiman called on Wednesday on the Lebanese to abide by the dissociation policy and not to send arms shipments or fighters to the neighboring country Syria. The president called on different parties not to send “arms shipments and fighters to Syria and not to establish any training bases in Lebanon."He pointed out that the Lebanese should abide by the dissociation policy and not meddle in the Syrian affairs to safeguard the national unity and prevent any tension locally. Lebanese authorities have officially followed the policy to distance the country from the Syrian conflict. But they have also been reluctant to publicly blame either regime forces or rebel fighters for fire hitting villages and towns near the border with Syria. Two Salafist clerics Sheikh Salem al-Rafehi and Ahmed al-Asir accused Hizbullah of sending fighters to attack Syrian Sunnis, who make up the backbone of that country's rebellion. They called on Monday for jihad to defend Sunnis in Syria. However, Rafehi informed caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel on Tuesday that he is ready to withdraw his call for jihad if Hizbullah ended its involvement in Syria's civil war. Much of the heaviest fighting has raged near the Lebanese border around al-Qusayr, where activists said government troops backed by gunmen linked to Hizbullah captured the villages of Radwineyeh and Tel al-Nabi Mando. Since it began in March 2011, Syria's conflict has fueled local tensions between the communities in Lebanon, with bouts of street fighting and kidnappings.
Hizbullah denies taking part in the civil war. But top Hizbullah official Nabil Qaouq said Monday that his group is "performing a national duty" toward Lebanese Shiites living in Syrian border towns and villages by supporting the "popular committees."

Armenians, Families of Pilgrims Unite against Turkey on Genocide Anniversary
Naharnet/Armenians marched from Bourj Hammoud to downtown Beirut's Martyrs' Square on Wednesday to mark the 98th anniversary of the genocide of their kin by Ottoman Turks during World War I. The protesters held a rally at the square with speeches made by the leaders of several Armenian parties. The families of nine Lebanese Shiite pilgrims kidnapped in Syria joined them over what they said was a common cause.
The relatives of the nine men have been holding daily sit-ins near the Turkish Airlines offices not far from Martyrs' Square and have called for boycotting Turkish products. They blame the Turkish government for the failure to release the pilgrims who are held hostage by Syrian rebels near the Turkish border in Aleppo district since May 2012. Ankara is a staunch supporter of the rebel Free Syrian Army that is fighting regime troops. Armenians say up to 1.5 million people were killed during World War I as the Ottoman Empire was falling apart, a claim supported by several other countries. Turkey argues 300,000 to 500,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks died in civil strife when Armenians rose up against their Ottoman rulers and sided with invading Russian troops. Over 20 countries have so far recognized the massacres as genocide. On the 98th anniversary of the genocide, Armenian Catholicos of Cilicia Aram I slammed Turkey for turning churches into mosques. “How could Turkey which considers itself a pioneer in coexistence deny the genocide and transform churches into mosques?” he wondered in a statement. Turkey should give compensations to the Armenian people and restore its rights, he said.

Spanish FM Meets Miqati, Mansour, Urges National Unity Govt. in Syria
Naharnet/Spain backs the formation of a national unity government in Syria as a way out of the country's two-year conflict, its foreign minister said after talks in Beirut on Wednesday. "The regime of (Syrian President) Bashar Assad has support, more or less, among the population, the Russians and the Iranians, and (can rely) on an army that functions," Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said at a meeting with his Lebanese counterpart Adnan Mansour in Beirut. "On the other side, there are Salafist organizations. The solution comes from negotiations intended to establish a transitional national unity government where representatives from all the communities are represented," he added. Later on Wednesday, the Spanish minister held talks with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati at the Grand Serail, in the presence of Spanish Ambassador to Lebanon Milagros Hernando. "Talks tackled bilateral ties between the two countries and the situation in Lebanon," said a statement released by Miqati's office. Miqati thanked Spain for its "support for Lebanon and effective contribution to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).”For his part, the Spanish FM reiterated his country's support for Lebanon and stressed the importance of boosting economic and commercial ties between the two countries.
In the evening, Garcia-Margallo inspected his country's UNIFIL contingent in the southern region of Marjeyoun, stressing that Spain will carry on with its mission within UNIFIL in line with U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 between Israel and Hizbullah.Source/Agence France Presse.

Aleppo Archdiocese: No News on Kidnapped Syria Bishops
Naharnet /Aleppo's Greek Orthodox archdiocese said Wednesday it had no news on two Orthodox bishops kidnapped in Syria, a day after a Christian association said the two men had been released. "We have no new information," Ghassan Ward, a priest at the archdiocese, told Agence France Presse. "We can say that they haven't been freed," he added of Greek Orthodox Bishop Boulos Yaziji and Syriac Orthodox Bishop Yohanna Ibrahim. The French "Oeuvre d'Orient" association said Tuesday that the two, who were seized on Monday, were already at Saint Elias cathedral in Aleppo. The Paris-based association, which works to help Middle Eastern Christians, said it was "delighted by the rapid liberation of the two bishops.”Source/Agence France Presse.

Syrian Opposition leader George Sabra Telephones LF, Dr. Geagea over Hizbullah Interference in Syrian Affairs
Naharnet/Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea received a phone call from Syrian Opposition leader George Sabra on Wednesday, during which both men discussed the involvement of Hizbullah fighters in Syria's conflict.
They also tackled how this issue might be reflected on the people of both countries.  “We reject any security or military interference of a Lebanese group in Syria's internal affairs,” Geagea stressed to Sabra.
He stated: "We demand Lebanese authorities to urgently take all necessary measures regarding any Lebanese involvement in Syria's war.” Geagea condemned during a press conference on Tuesday Hizbullah's fighting in Syria alongside the Syrian regime, accusing the party of violating the Baabda Declaration that calls for Lebanon to distance itself from regional crises.He said: “The government must hold a session to put an immediate stop to Hizbullah's fighting in Syria. He explained that the government is obligated to address the country's national interests, especially when Hizbullah's actions are threatening to drag Lebanon towards the Syrian crisis.
Moreover, he said that Iran is employing Hizbullah in order to defend its expansionist ambitions in the region. Meanwhile, In the first speech after being named caretaker Syria National Council leader, Sabra described Hizbullah's role in fighting in the central province of Homs as a "declaration of war against the Syrian people." "The Lebanese president and the Lebanese government should realize the danger that it poses to the lives of Syrians and the future relations between the two peoples and countries," he said. Sabra accused Hizbullah of "occupying villages in Homs, terrorizing the residents and preventing them from expressing their opinions."
He warned that Syrians “will not be tolerant with any group occupying their land, be it Lebanese or non-Lebanese.”“We urge our Shiite brothers in Lebanon to call for an end to the killing of their Syrian brothers,” Sabra added.
His condemnation of the role of the party follows reports that elite Hizbullah fighters were taking the lead in the Syrian regime's battle against rebel fighters in the Qusayr area of Homs.
Hizbullah has announced that it is offering assistance to Lebanese residents of Syrian border towns who are defending themselves against attacks by Syrian rebel groups. The area, near the Lebanese border, has been the scene of fierce fighting in recent days, with regime troops capturing a string of strategic villages in the area and raising rebel concerns that the town of Qusayr, an opposition stronghold, could also fall.

Report: Lebanese Cabinet Formation Process Makes Serious Breakthrough
Naharnet/The cabinet formation process has made a “serious breakthrough” and the line-up will be announced by mid-next week at the latest, sources close to Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam said on Wednesday.
“The cabinet comprises 24 ministers who do not belong to political parties and are not MP hopefuls,” the sources told MTV. Media reports said caretaker Energy and Water Minister Jebran Bassil held a two-hour meeting with Salam at the PM-designate's residence in Mousaitbeh. Salam also met with Beirut MP Michel Pharaon, caretaker State Minister Marwan Kheireddine and former MP Marwan Abu Fadel – both close to Lebanese Democratic Party leader MP Talal Arslan.Meanwhile, NBN television said reports claiming that Salam had submitted a cabinet line-up to President Michel Suleiman are false. In remarks published in An Nahar newspaper on Wednesday, Salam expressed optimism over the formation of his cabinet, denying that efforts to form a 24-member cabinet were rejected by the Lebanese foes. “We are still discussing the formation of the government according to this formula,” Salam said in comments. The Beirut MP held on Tuesday two-hour talks with Suleiman at the Baabda palace. An Nahar newspaper reported that the meeting tackled the latest developments and didn't focus on the distribution of portfolios. Suleiman, according to As Safir, urged Salam to continue his talks with the key political forces to complete the process of the formation. “The formation of any cabinet requires time,” Salam's visitors quoted him as saying, describing the process as a “puzzle.”“I am optimistic over the formation process especially after the flexibility of Hizbullah and Amal,” Salam said according to his visitors. He expressed fear concerning the security situation, calling on officials to act responsibly. Sources close to Salam described a meeting held with Hizbullah leader's political assistant Hussein Khalil as “positive.” “Khalil was open to all proposals and had no crippling demands on the formation of the government,” the sources said.

Controversial Salafist cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir Rejects to Withdraw Jihad Call, Urges Clerics to Support Fatwa
Naharnet/Controversial Salafist cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir stressed that he will not withdraw his call for jihad in Syria, urging scholars and clerics to approve his fatwa to aid “the oppressed” in the town of al-Qusayr, southeast of Homs. “We should establish secret defense cells to defend ourselves in case (Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan) Nasrallah decided to start battles in Lebanon similar to what's happening in Syria,” Asir told reporters. He pointed out that the creation of the “Free Resistance Brigades” began in the southern coastal city of Sidon and “we won't back down.”  “Jihad in Syria is a must, in particular in Qusayr, and anyone capable of doing so in Lebanon must join us,” Asir said. On Tuesday, around two dozen men lined up in his office in Sidon, signing up to join the jihad. "We were opposed to any side getting involved in the Syrian revolution. But Hizbullah's insistence to support the despot Bashar Assad has left us with no choice," Asir, one of Hizbullah's harshest critics, said. Asir noted that he has previously warned, since the revolt in Syria kicked off in March 2011, from the repercussions of any military interference in the neighboring country. “Unfortunately the state failed to act responsibly and its incapable. We will not remain mum,” the Salafist cleric added. He pointed the number of people who so far signed in are more than 300. At the beginning of the week, another Salafist cleric called on members of his community to wage "holy war" in Syria to defend their brethren. Salafist cleric Sheikh Salem al-Rafehi and Asir accused Hizbullah of sending fighters to attack Syrian Sunnis, who make up the backbone of that country's rebellion. However, Rafehi informed caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel on Tuesday that he is ready to withdraw his call for jihad if Hizbullah ended its involvement in Syria's civil war. Fighting has flared in Syria's Homs region in recent weeks as the government has pressed its campaign to stamp out rebel-held pockets in the area.
Much of the heaviest fighting has raged near the Lebanese border around al-Qusayr, where activists said government troops backed by gunmen linked to Hizbullah captured the villages of Radwineyeh and Tel al-Nabi Mando.
Lebanon is sharply split between supporters and opponents of Assad, a legacy of decades of Syrian political and military dominance over its smaller neighbor. The split largely falls along sectarian lines, with Sunnis opposing Assad and Shiites backing him. That mirrors the divisions within Syria itself, where mainly Sunni rebels are battling Assad's regime, dominated by the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiism.
Since it began in March 2011, Syria's conflict has fueled local tensions between the communities in Lebanon, with bouts of street fighting and kidnappings. Hizbullah denies taking part in the civil war. But top Hizbullah official Nabil Qaouq said Monday that his group is "performing a national duty" toward Lebanese Shiites living in Syrian border towns and villages by supporting the "popular committees."

Jumblat Slams Jihad Calls, Says Hizbullah's Involvement in Syria 'Tarnishes' its Image
Naharnet /Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat said on Wednesday Hizbullah's interference in battles in Damascus would “tarnish its image,” pointing out that the Syrian people don't need Jihadists from Lebanon or any other country to back its revolt. “As the situation in Syria is deteriorating and the Lebanese are plunging in this swamp, officials should reiterate importance of abiding by the dissociation policy,” Jumblat said in a statement.
Lebanese authorities have officially followed the policy to distance the country from the Syrian conflict. But they have also been reluctant to publicly blame either regime forces or rebel fighters for fire hitting villages and towns near the border with Syria. Jumblat noted that the resistance is “misplacing it's rifle by supporting a regime that committed massacres against civilians and bombarding cities and villages and imprisoned thousands of people.”He said that Hizbullah's meddling in Syria would tarnish the history of its struggle by aiding the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, which will be doomed.
He lashed out at calls for jihad in Syria by Lebanese clerics, considering that they will increase the tension locally. “The Syrian people don't need from Jihadists from Lebanon or any other country to support their epic struggle,” the Druze leader stated. He also urged the international community to end its inactivity and offer the Syrian opposition the required aid. Two Salafist clerics Sheikh Salem al-Rafehi and Ahmed al-Asir accused Hizbullah of sending fighters to attack Syrian Sunnis, who make up the backbone of that country's rebellion. They called on Monday for jihad to defend Sunnis in Syria. However, Rafehi informed caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel on Tuesday that he is ready to withdraw his call for jihad if Hizbullah ended its involvement in Syria's civil war. Fighting has flared in Syria's Homs region in recent weeks as the government has pressed its campaign to stamp out rebel-held pockets in the area. Much of the heaviest fighting has raged near the Lebanese border around al-Qusayr, where activists said government troops backed by gunmen linked to Hizbullah captured the villages of Radwineyeh and Tel al-Nabi Mando. Lebanon is sharply split between supporters and opponents of Assad, a legacy of decades of Syrian political and military dominance over its smaller neighbor. The split largely falls along sectarian lines, with Sunnis opposing Assad and Shiites backing him. That mirrors the divisions within Syria itself, where mainly Sunni rebels are battling Assad's regime, dominated by the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiism.
Since it began in March 2011, Syria's conflict has fueled local tensions between the communities in Lebanon, with bouts of street fighting and kidnappings.
Hizbullah denies taking part in the civil war. But top Hizbullah official Nabil Qaouq said Monday that his group is "performing a national duty" toward Lebanese Shiites living in Syrian border towns and villages by supporting the "popular committees."

Free Syrian Army Rejects Lebanon Salafists' Jihad Call
Naharnet/Syria's main rebel Free Syrian Army on Wednesday rejected calls for jihad (holy war) by Lebanese Islamist clerics.
"Our official position as the Supreme Military Command of the Free Syrian Army... is that we thank them but we reject any calls for jihad in Syria," FSA political and media coordinator Louay Muqdad told Agence France Presse. "We reject any presence of foreign fighters, regardless of where they are from. We have said that what we are missing in Syria is weapons, not men," he added. Thousands of foreign fighters have joined Syrian rebels pitted against the regime of President Bashar Assad. Lebanese Salafist clerics Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir and Sheikh Salem al-Rafehi have called on their followers to join rebels fighting in Syria and to support Sunni residents of the embattled central province of Homs. Their calls come after Syria's opposition and a monitoring group accused Hizbullah of fighting in Homs alongside troops loyal to Assad's regime. In a speech on Monday, Asir announced the establishment of "Free Resistance Brigades" in Sidon, the southern city where he is based. "There is a religious duty on every Muslim who is able to do so... to enter into Syria in order to defend its people, its mosques and religious shrines, especially in Qusayr and Homs," he told supporters. Much of the heaviest fighting has raged near the Lebanese border around al-Qusayr, where activists said government troops backed by gunmen linked to Hizbullah captured the villages of Radwineyeh and Tel al-Nabi Mando. Since it began in March 2011, Syria's conflict has fueled local tensions between the communities in Lebanon, with bouts of street fighting and kidnappings. Hizbullah denies taking part in the civil war. But top Hizbullah official Sheikh Nabil Qaouq said Monday that his group is "performing a national duty" toward Lebanese Shiites living in Syrian border towns and villages by supporting the "popular committees."Source/Agence France Presse.

Lebanese famous Caricaturist Pierre Sadek, Dead at 75
Naharnet /Lebanese caricaturist Pierre Sadek died on Wednesday aged 75 after a battle with illness, the state-run National News Agency said. Born in 1938 in Zahle, Sadek was a political caricaturist, whose drawings have been a daily staple in the An Nahar newspaper and on Lebanese public television screens. Sadek was decorated with the National Cedar title of Knight during President Suleiman Franjieh’s mandate in 1972, and with the National Cedar title of Commandor in President Michel Suleiman's mandate and has obtained the poet of Said Akl's prize twice, and many more. Sadek held various exhibitions in Lebanon and abroad the latest of which was the “Lyons” prize in 2000. Various international magazines, newspapers and news agencies published his drawings including the Agence Presse, UPI, Time Magazine , Le Matin, France Soir, The Washington Post, Atlas Magazine and Jeune Afrique. His caricature drawings were published and still are, in many daily newspapers including An Nahar, Al-Anwar, Al-Syassa, Al-Amal, Al-Joumhouria, Al-Diar, Al-Nahar Al-Arabi Wal Dowali.
He was the first caricaturist to have daily drawings on the television worldwide on LBCI from 1986 till 2002 and Future Television since 2002.
He has also founded the advertisement company “Atelier D’Art.” In 1968, Sadek was tried in a military court for one of his infamous caricatures that appeared in An Nahar mocking the authenticity of the elections that were taking place during the mandate of President Charles Helou.

Gunmen Take Control of Iraqi Town after Deadly Fighting
Naharnet /Gunmen seized control of Sulaiman Bek, a town north of Baghdad, following deadly fighting with Iraqi security forces on Wednesday, officials said. Security forces have completely withdrawn from the area, which is now under the control of the gunmen, Shalal Abdul Baban, a local administrative official responsible for the area, told Agence France Presse. Niyazi Maamar Oghlu, a member of the provincial council in Salaheddin province, where Sulaiman Bek is located, also said authorities had lost control of the town. Both officials said a strategic road between Baghdad and Tuz Khurmatu, a town to the north of Sulaiman Bek, had been cut. Clashes between security forces and protesters near Hawijah, in northern Iraq, left 53 people dead, and sparked a wave of revenge attacks in which dozens more have died. Protesters have taken to the streets in Sunni-majority areas for more than four months, calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and decrying the alleged targeting of their minority community by the Shiite-led authorities.The wave of violence that began on Tuesday is the deadliest to date linked to the protests.Source/Agence France Presse.

Al-Qaeda in Iran, Is Tehran turning a blind eye?
Ana Maria Luca/Now Lebanon
https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/reportsfeatures/al-qaeda-in-iran
Two men were arrested in Canada two days ago on suspicion of plotting an alleged al-Qaeda attack on a passenger train. Chiheb Esseghaier, 30, and Raed Jaser, 35, have already appeared in court. The investigators did not disclose their nationalities, but they revealed a puzzling detail: the alleged plot had support from al-Qaeda in Iran.
The alleged association between al-Qaeda, a Sunni jihadist network of groups and terrorist cells around the world, and Iran, a country led by a fundamentalist Shiite regime, raises questions over the nature of the relationship. Analysts say that al-Qaeda’s relationship with Iran might be a complicated one. The Canadian authorities stressed that there was no sign of state sponsorship in the plot thwarted two days ago. Officials in Tehran also dismissed the claim that al-Qaeda might be linked to Iran. “This is the most hilarious thing I’ve heard in my 64 years,” Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said. He added that any suggestion that al-Qaeda is linked to Iran “is truly ridiculous.” “We hope Canadian officials show a little wisdom and pay attention to the world’s public opinion and intelligence,” he added.
Henry Jackson Society Fellow Robin Simcox told NOW that at first sight an association between the terrorist network and Iran is out of the question. Simcox authored a 700-page report published in February on the background and education of the 171 people affiliated with al-Qaeda who have been convicted in the United States for committing or planning terrorist attacks. He said that most of them were born and educated in the United States, and there was never an Iranian link or any indication of support coming from Iran-based al-Qaeda operatives.
“But when you think about the competing factions in the Iranian leadership, it becomes a possible alliance,” he pointed out. “The more you think of it, there is also no bureaucratic organization calling the shots in al-Qaeda, but regional franchises,” he added. The regional franchises are difficult to control when it comes to the alliances they make in order to achieve their goals.
Al-Qaeda groups had a presence in Iran even before they started organizing attacks against Western coalition troops in Iraq. After the US invaded Afghanistan in 2001, al-Qaeda’s operatives found Iran to be a good host.
Jordanian-born Abou Moussab al-Zarqawi, who later became the leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, fled to Herat, Afghanistan in 1999 after he was accused of planning an attack in Jordan. He set up a camp in the proximity of the Iranian border and trained operatives. After 9/11 and the invasion of Afghanistan, he had to leave the country, and spent time in guest houses in Iran before becoming the leader of the Al-Qaeda in Iraq. Some of his followers who spent time with him in Iran and fought in Iraq have founded the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Syrian opposition group Jabhat al Nusra, fighting against the Damascus government and its loyalist forces.
According to several reports from the US-led coalition in Iraq, al-Zarqawi was not a mere clandestine passenger through Iran. In 2004, an official in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard admitted to providing assistance to al-Zarqawi in conducting attacks in Iraq, London-based Asharq al-Awsat reported at the time. Brigadier General Qassem Suleimani, the head of the al-Quds corps in the Revolutionary Guard, allegedly said during a seminar that he helped al-Zarqawi carry out suicide attacks to serve the interests of the Islamic Republic. According to the report, Zarqawi and as many as 20 members of his Ansar al-Islam group can enter Iran whenever they want through certain border points that stretch between Halabja in northern Iraq to Ilam in south Iran. The report, however, couldn’t be verified.
A document found in al-Zarqawi’s hideout in Iraq in 2006, released to the public by the Iraqi government, showed that the Iraqi al-Qaeda was considering creating a conflict between the United States and Iran, or the Iranian-backed Shiite factions in Iraq in order to be able to reorganize. The document outlined, among the means of such a strategy, organizing attacks in the name of Shiite groups backed by Iran. The strategy also referred to a war between the Americans and Iran that “will have many benefits in favor of the Sunni and the resistance, such as freeing the Sunni people in Iran, who are (30 percent) of the population and under the Shiite Rule.”
Imad Salamey, Professor of Political Science and International Relations at the Lebanese American University in Beirut stressed that al-Qaeda is but a sum of small groups and cells that are difficult to verify. According to him, states choose to support and finance some of these groups in order to use them politically, and groups can use states to achieve their goals.
“There could be cells that claim to be al-Qaeda financed and supported by Iran with an agenda in many ways opposite to Iran’s enemies. At the same time, other al-Qaeda cells, like the ones in Iraq, attack the Iran supported government in Baghdad,” Salamey stressed.  Syria’s case is a good example of how groups affiliated with al-Qaeda function in relation to the political changes in the region. Salamey pointed out that right after the invasion of Iraq, the Syrian government offered shelter and supported jihadists who went to Iraq to fight against the coalition forces. “Al-Qaeda now, in Syria, is part supported by the Gulf states, Western states, and Turkey, and is fighting the Iranian presence in Syria. In North Africa, al-Qaeda groups are fighting against French troops,” he said.Ana Maria Luca is on Twitter @aml1609.

Sidon’s Salafists eager for battle
Alex Rowell/Now Lebanon
A recent call by clerics in Sidon and Tripoli for “jihad” in Syria may bode ill for Lebanon’s security
Fadel Shaker was in a talkative mood when NOW found him standing outside Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir’s Bilal Bin Rabah mosque on Wednesday afternoon. The former celebrity pop singer turned arch-partisan of the Sidon cleric was with half a dozen young men also sporting Salafist-style beards, and could scarcely have been less reticent when approached for questions.
Would he be joining the “Free Resistance Brigades,” the new Sidon-based militia established by Assir on Monday? “Of course!” was his reply, quickly echoed by the rest of the men. NOW then asked if he and his comrades would also be heading to fight in Syria, as per Assir’s call for “jihad” against President Bashar al-Assad’s forces and Hezbollah. The response was equally prompt: “Insha’Allah! [God willing]”
At this, Shaker grew animated. “All Shiites are brothers of whores!” he declared in a raised voice. “Write that down!” NOW asked if he indeed meant all Shiites, or was only referring to Hezbollah – a distinction typically made by Assir. “No: all of them! Shiites are the same as the bottom of my shoe!” he replied, to much laughter from his comrades. He continued cursing the sect for another thirty seconds or so, turning his ire on the late Iranian Grand Ayatollah Khomeini before NOW thanked him and parted ways.
In his apartment facing the mosque, Assir himself adopted a distinctly more restrained tone. “We’re not here to fight the Shia. The goal of the Free Resistance Brigades is self-defense – against Israel, if they choose to attack us, and against Hezbollah if they do,” the sheikh told NOW. “We have said many times that we refuse fighting and causing civil war in Lebanon.”
Assir has been talking of starting a militia since last November, and its formation is still in the planning stages, he told NOW. At present, he says, around 300 Lebanese and Palestinians from Sidon and its suburbs have signed on to join – a number he hopes will grow to several thousands (registration takes place outside his mosque after evening prayers) – but no formal training has taken place. He confirmed that he and his sons would personally be members of the Brigades.
These are not necessarily, however, the same people Assir intends to wage jihad across the border. “The people addressed in the fatwa [religious decree] for jihad are those living on the border, because it’s easier for them to access Syria.” He added, though, that “if there’s a need, we will back them up.”
Assir’s call to arms – seconded by prominent Tripoli cleric Sheikh Salem al-Rafei – comes at a time of intense fighting in and around Syria’s Qusayr, a rebel-held town roughly 10km from Lebanon’s northeastern border. The battle for Qusayr, which pits regime loyalists including an estimated 800-1,200 Hezbollah members against opposition militants, was reportedly described by Assad himself as the “main battle” in all of Syria at present.
“Hezbollah is fighting in Qusayr, and the Lebanese state isn’t saying a word against them,” Assir told NOW. “We’ve stayed away for two years, but now with Hezbollah attacking our Syrian brothers from one side and the regime attacking them from another, they’re under siege. We have to support them, this is a matter of shari’a [Islamic law].”
This was also the line taken by Rafei, who pledged Monday to “send men and weapons in support of our Sunni brothers in Qusayr.” Assir told NOW that due to Rafei’s substantial influence in Tripoli, he expects he will send over a thousand fighters across the border. Rafei could not be reached by NOW for comment.
With the line thus blurring between Syria’s and Lebanon’s fighters (“We say to our Syrian brothers, your war is our war,” as Rafei put it) and the prospect of organized sectarian war between Lebanese Sunnis and Shiites in Syria, analysts tell NOW the Assir-Rafei plan may bode ill for Lebanon’s security.
“This definitely drags Lebanon further into the Syrian conflict,” said Dr. Imad Salamey, professor of political science at the Lebanese American University. “We now have two sides in Lebanon – Hezbollah, which is already fully engaged in the fighting, and the pro-opposition Sunni groups promising similar military engagement. If things continue on this course, it may eventually bring the border villages and mixed Sunni-Shiite areas in the Beqaa Valley into similar conflict. This is really alarming and dangerous.”
Moreover, argues Salamey, “whether they know it or not, [Assir and Rafei] are playing into the Syrian regime’s hands, by turning the crisis into a region-wide one, which will lead the international community to prefer a political settlement in the regime’s favor.”
With that said, however, Salamey adds that the extent of the damage may be limited by Assir’s still-marginal following within the Sunni community. “Assir’s significance is not as it seems in the press. Sure, he can send some fighters to Syria, but this is also him trying to attract some attention and demonstrate his strategic relevance in swaying politics in Lebanon and Syria.”
“He and Rafei are trying to show that Hezbollah is not the only party that can play the ‘Syria’ card.”
Yara Chehayed contributed reporting.

Al-Nusra Front warns Suleiman that “Beirut will be burned”
Now Lebanon/The Syrian rebel group, Al-Nusra Front, issued a warning to Lebanese President Michel Suleiman about the Shiite group Hezbollah’s involvement in the ongoing violence in Syria.
“After [failing to] abide by the policy of disassociation… in Syria, we inform you, and you can consider this as a last warning, that you should take immediate measures to restrain the dogs of Lebanon [Hezbollah], whose members are all Lebanese, and move to prevent them from interfering in Syria’s internal affairs,” the statement carried Tuesday on Egyptian news website Al-Yawm al-Sabaa read.
“Fire will soon be kindled in Beirut. If you do not [react] within 24 hours, we will consider you accomplices in the massacres that the members of the party of the devil [Hezbollah] is committing.”
“We will then have to [take] special measures and burn anyone we encounter in Beirut and elsewhere,” the statement added.
The statement by Al-Nusra Front came as reports emerged in the past weeks that Hezbollah has been fighting against rebels in the Homs province and outside Damascus, with news outlets reporting that a number of party members have been killed while fighting in Syria. Al-Nusra Front is one of the most prominent extremist organizations to emerge in Syria after more than two years of violence between President Bashar al-Assad’s regime loyalists and rebels, following an uprising that began as peaceful protests in March 2011. Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Monday that elite fighters from Hezbollah are leading the fight against rebels in the region of Al-Qusayr in the central province of Homs. The reports created a stir in Lebanon, which is deeply divided over the Syrian crisis, while its government has repeatedly announced that it was adopting a neutral stance regarding the crisis in neighboring Syria and that it will abide by the neutral policy of dissociation

Coptic Orthodox leader to meet Pope Francis in May
AFP/The Coptic Patriarch of Alexandria Tawadros II will meet Pope Francis next month in the Vatican -- the first visit by a Coptic Orthodox leader in 40 years and the latest signs of growing ties between the new pope and the Orthodox world. Tawadros will visit various Vatican departments and is set to stay in Rome for several days. His arrival is expected for May 10 or 11, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told AFP.
Tawadros' predecessor Shenouda III met with pope Paul VI in 1973 and the two launched a process of dialogue between their two Christian churches.
"The idea is to celebrate the 40th anniversary of that historic meeting," Lombardi said. The visit will be part of a European tour during which Tawadros will visit different Coptic parishes -- his first foreign trip since his election in November at a time in which the Coptic minority is faced with rising Islamism in Egypt. The meeting between Tawadros and Francis will be a further step in greater dialogue between Catholics and Orthodox, after the patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew, became the first spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox to attend a papal inauguration of Francis in March.
Another sign of rapprochement is the fact that Tawadros last month attended the inauguration of the new Coptic Catholic patriarch, Ibrahim Sidrak, an unprecedented gesture.

Saudi to retain ban on non-Muslim places of worship
AFP/Ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia will retain its longstanding ban on non-Muslim places of worship, Justice Minister Mohammed al-Issa said in comments reported by the Saudi media on Wednesday.
As Saudi Arabia is "home to the Muslim holy places, it does not allow the establishment of non-Muslim places of worship," Al-Hayat newspaper quoted Issa as telling European MPs in Brussels.
Saudi Arabia, home to the holy Kaaba -- the cube-shaped structure at the Grand Mosque in Mecca towards which Muslims worldwide pray -- has come in for repeated criticism for its ban on non-Muslim places of worship.
Although Saudi Arabia's citizen population is Muslim, the kingdom is also home to millions of expatriates of various beliefs. Unlike Saudi Arabia, the kingdom's Gulf Arab neighbors allow the building of churches and the celebration of non-Muslim feasts.

The Oppressor and the Oppressed
Dr. Hamad Al-Majid /Asharq Alawsat
http://www.aawsat.net/2013/04/article55299623

“Iran and Hezbollah bear responsibility for every Syrian killed, every tree felled, and every house destroyed.”
This is not a quote from a Shi’ite leader calling for a review of Shi’a doctrine: it comes from Sheikh Subhi Al-Tufayli, a pillar of Hezbollah, one of its founders and its first secretary-general.
It is evidence of a deep intra-party dispute between Sheikh Subhi, Hezbollah and the Iranian regime. However, it was not an ideological dispute that urged Mr. Subhi to reconsider his religious doctrine, and consequently his political beliefs. He left Hezbollah as a result of his differences with the group, and once he did Mr. Subhi became a full-time preacher among poor Shi’ites in Baalbek and Hermel. He established Ein Bordai Hawza, a traditional religious school, in Beqa’a, Lebanon, where he still keeps a portrait of the Iranian revolutionary leader Ruholla Khomeini in his office.
The statements made by Sheikh Al-Tufayli are important because they come from an influential Shi’ite voice. Most of the ideas expressed by Tufayli have already been articulated by Arab politicians, intellectuals and writers, who have said that the support given by Iran and Hezbollah to Assad’s regime will take the region to the brink of a devastating sectarian conflict.
Unfortunately, however, we are always met with those who play the sectarian card. This is a rational warning and criticism of Iran and Hezbollah’s policy in Syria, coming from a Shi’ite figure who is highly regarded both as a scholar and as a politician. It should encourage the wise among Shi’ites to clearly and independently express their condemnation of Assad’s regime and fully recognize the Syrian people’s right to get rid of their bloodthirsty ruler. They need to pressure the Iranian government and discourage it from implementing its harmful policies, as Sheikh Tufayli has done.
They should do this not only to support the subjugated people in Syria, but also to protect the Shi’ites there who have been dragged by Iran and Hezbollah into an awkward situation with the country’s Sunni majority. Fair-minded Shi’ites who adopt the logical and rational stance of Sheikh Tufayli are acting in the interest of both Sunnis and Shi’ites in the region. Iranian policy, according to Tufayli, is the primary reason for unprecedented sectarian tensions in the Middle East. However, it is still possible to spare the region’s population—whatever their personal creed—from sectarian strife that will bring nothing but total destruction.

More Syrian Rockets Hit Lebanon
Asharq Al-Awsat
Free Syrian Army fighters get prepared ahead of an infiltration operation in Aleppo’s neighborhood of Salaheddine. (R)
Beirut, Asharq Al-Awsat—Security officials in Lebanon say two Syrian rockets have struck Lebanese territories, causing what they described as “material damage.” According to local reports, one of the rockets hit a house under construction in the town of Hermel near the border with Syria, while the other fell in a field. Several Syrian rockets have hit predominantly Shi’ite areas in Lebanon in recent days, killing at least two people. The latest shelling comes amid heavy fighting on the Syrian side of the border around the strategic town of Qusair. In a related development, a controversial Lebanese Salafi sheikh has urged his followers to join Syrian rebels fighting troops loyal to President Bashar Al-Assad and Lebanese Shi’ite movement Hezbollah.  The appeal from Sheikh Ahmad Al-Assir came as a second Sunni Lebanese sheikh called the fight against Assad’s regime a “jihadist duty.”Syria’s opposition and monitoring groups have accused Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, of sending elite fighters to battle alongside regime troops in Qusayr, an area of Syria’s central Homs province near the Lebanese border. “Nasrallah and his shabiha [Ba'athist militia] have taken the decision to enter into these areas [Qusayr] in order to massacre the oppressed people there,” Assir told his followers late Monday.“There is a religious duty on every Muslim who is able to do so … to enter into Syria in order to defend its people, its mosques and religious shrines, especially in Qusayr and Homs,” Assir added. In other news, a senior Israeli military intelligence official said today that the Assad regime did indeed use chemical weapons last month in his battle against rebel groups. It was the first time that Israel has accused the embattled Syrian leader of using his stockpile of non-conventional weapons. The assessment could raise pressure on the US and other Western countries to intervene in the Syrian conflict. Britain and France recently announced that they have evidence that Assad’s government had used chemical weapons. Although the US says it has not been able to verify these claims, President Barack Obama has warned that the introduction of chemical weapons by Assad would be a “game changer.”

Tehran and Assad slide past US and Israeli red lines – nuclear and chemical
DEBKAfile Special Report April 23, 2013/US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel was hardly out of Israel’s door Tuesday, April 23, when a spate of awkward data came spilling out in Tel Aviv.
Iran has crossed the last red line Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu laid down before the UN Assembly last September, said the well-informed former military intelligence chief Amos Yadlin. None of the measures for halting Iran’s race for a nuclear bomb have worked, he said. For a while, Tehran was impressed by the Israeli prime minister’s warning, but then went back to uranium enrichment at top speed. By now, Iran has certainly gone past the limit set by Netanyahu. Likud lawmaker Tzahi Hanegbi said Israel has no more than a month or two for stopping a nuclear Iran.
Ron Dermer, a senior Netanyahu adviser and Israel’s next ambassador to Washington, told a group of American Jewish leaders Sunday that the time for action against Iran’s capacity to build a bomb – which he termed an existential threat to Israel - must be counted in months. Piling on the gloom, Brig. Gen Itay Brun reported that the Syrian army had started using chemical weapons against rebel forces, including Sarin and other paralyzing substances, without the world lifting a finger to stop it. All the red lines had suddenly been knocked over by Iran’s rapid progress toward a nuclear weapon and by Bashar Assad who, backed by Tehran, mocked US President Barack Obama’s warning just a month ago that “proof of chemical weapons use would be a game changer.”
Responding to the Syrian development, Pentagon spokesman George Little, who arrived in Amman Tuesday with the US Defense Secretary, commented: “The Pentagon is continuing to assess reports on the matter and the use of such weapons would be entirely unacceptable.” For some months, debkafile has been reporting that Iran had trampled over Netanyahu’s red lines for its nuclear program and moved on. On March 19th debkafile’s sources confirmed the finding of concrete evidence that the Syrian army had launched chemical warfare against rebel forces.
It is hard to believe that the Israeli chorus on these matters was spontaneous. Assuming that the various knowledgeable spokesmen shared the same choir master, they must be assumed to have been delivering the same message. It came in three parts:

1. The Israel’s military and defense leaders were not overly impressed by the $10 billion arms package the defense secretary delivered this week. The items listed are useful but don’t top their list of priorities. This coolness was reflected in comments by Israeli military chiefs this week, which underlined the IDF’s ability to deal with Iran’s nuclear facilities on its own and even handle the fallout of this attack coming in the form of joint retaliation by Iran, Syria and Hizballah.
2. The dissonance between Washington and Jerusalem on the issue of a nuclear Iran was present in Hagel’s talks in Israel. President Obama tried telling Israel, Saudi Arabia and the UAE - recipients of the new US arms package - that his pledge to prevent Iran from attaining a nuclear bomb means he is willing to wait until Tehran has assembled all the components for a weapon.
Israel refuses to wait for Iran to reach that threshold and insists that the moment to strike is now.
3. The revelation that Bashar Assad has flouted the US president’s warning against chemical warfare was intended to push Washington into military action against Syria which may unfold at some point into a strike against Iran.
The Obama administration’s first response to the revelations by Israeli spokesmen came from Secretary of State John Kerry in Brussels.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could not confirm comments by the Israeli military's top intelligence analyst that Syrian government forces had used chemical weapons, he said Tuesday.
"I talked to Prime Minister Netanyahu this morning. I think it is fair for me to say that he was not in a position to confirm that in the conversation that I had," Kerry told a news conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels. "I don't know yet what the facts are."
Kerry had been asked about comments by Brigadier-General Itai Brun, an Israeli intelligence analyst, at a Tel Aviv security conference that Syrian forces had used chemical weapons, probably nerve gas, in their fight against rebels.

Canada: Terrorist Tsarnaev’s condition improves; brothers reportedly motivated by U.S. wars
By Dylan Stableford,
Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev informed investigators that he and his brother were not directed by a foreign terrorist organization. Instead, they were “self-radicalized” and motivated to kill, in part, by U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Washington Post reported.
The 19-year-old also acknowledged his role in the attack while being questioned by investigators in his hospital bed, the report said. Tsarnaev, who has a gunshot wound to the throat and was sedated, responded in writing. He also suffered gunshot wounds in the head, neck, legs and hand during a late-night shootout in Watertown, Mass.
Meanwhile, Tsarnaev's condition is improving, the FBI said on Tuesday. The college student, who had been listed in serious condition at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center since his capture on Friday, is now in fair condition, the bureau said.
The update comes a day after Tsarnaev was charged with two federal counts of using a weapon of mass destruction to kill, injure and cause widespread damage at the marathon. Tsarnaev was informed of the charges and read his rights in his hospital room on Monday morning, and placed in the custody the U.S. Marshal Service. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.
Three people were killed and more than 200 others wounded when two powerful homemade bombs exploded near the race’s finish line. Dzhokhar and his 26-year-old brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who was killed by police as the two attempted to avoid capture, are suspected of planting those bombs.
Tamerlan was an ardent reader of jihadist websites and extremist propaganda, U.S. officials told the Associated Press, suggesting the brothers were motivated by an anti-American, radical version of Islam.
Meanwhile, U.S. investigators traveled to southern Russia on Tuesday to speak to the parents of the brothers, a U.S. Embassy official told the news service. Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, the mother of the suspects, and their father, Anzor, are in Dagestan, a predominantly Muslim province in Russia's Caucasus.
After the bombings, Anzor said he believed the brothers were set up and called Dzhokhar a "true angel." Maret Tsarnaeva, the brothers' aunt, who lives in Toronto, also said she believes her nephews were framed.
Family members are not the only ones expressing doubt.
Many Twitter users have been expressing support for Dzhokhar using the hashtag #freejahar.
And just like the conspiracy theorists who claimed last week that the Boston Marathon attacks were staged, the support for Dzhokhar has been fervent despite his reported confession.
A Change.org petition to "guarantee Dzhokhar Tsarnaev the right to a fair trial," addressed to President Barack Obama, has more than 6,000 supporters.
"We believe that within the chaos caused by the Boston Marathon explosion, two young men were wrongfully accused of something they did not do, and one of them has lost his life before even getting the opportunity of a proper trial," Anita Temisheva, the user who launched the petition, wrote. "We do not wish to see blood of yet another innocent victim, someone who, by U.S. law, is innocent until proven guilty. It is vital to end this persecution, as all the conflicting information shown by the media, and footage from the incident, seen by people from all corners of the world, doesn't manifest itself as enough evidence to condemn Dzhokhar Tsarnaev of this heinous crime."
YahooCanadaNews

The Siege of Egypt's St. Mark Cathedral An Insider's Account

by Raymond Ibrahim/April 22, 2013/gatestone institute
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3680/egypt-st-mark-cathedral
"Was Egypt's entire state security unable to stop a mere 30-40 youths form vandalizing the nation's cathedral?" — Amir Ramzi, eyewitness to the Egyptian security forces joining the mob that attacked the cathedral.
What really happened on Sunday, April 7, 2013, during the St. Mark Cathedral attack in Cairo, where two Christians were killed and dozens wounded by Egyptian forces? As usual, different reports gave different versions, but now that the smoke has settled, the facts as first asserted during the attack by Coptic activists have been confirmed.
Back during the conflict, when the military was actually besieging the St. Mark cathedral—the most sacred building for millions of Coptic Christians and the only apostolic see in the entire continent of Africa—Amir Ramzi, a Copt who managed to escape the compound where hundreds of other Christians were trapped all night, was interviewed by phone on the popular Egyptian show, Cairo Today.
According to Ramzi, President of the Criminal Court: "Today we witnessed a day unprecedented in the history of modern Egypt—a day when holy sites were attacked both by the interior ministry and the mob."
The program's host, Amr Adib, evidently finding it difficult to implicate the interior ministry in an attack on an Egyptian landmark, asked Ramzi to clarify. So Ramzi began from the beginning, explaining how the funeral service was for six Christians killed two days earlier—including one intentionally set aflame—in a conflict begun when Muslims were seen sexually harassing a Christian girl. Many of the Copts coming out of the cathedral funeral service were angry and protesting. Waiting for them in the streets were Islamic extremists, who started hurling rocks on the Copts—who responded in like manner. Eventually police appeared; Ramzi himself called a police chief, who assured him that the Copts should just go back into their cathedral until the police secure the situation:
So that's what we did, thinking police would come to protect and separate the clashers. We were surprised to find that the police began to intervene and become another party to the conflict, attacking the Copts who were fighting back against the [Muslim] youth who were attacking them, and shooting gas bombs into the cathedral compound, which caused extreme poisoning, to the point that the ambulance cars were not enough to take the sick.
Ramzi added that three to four gas bombs struck the papal headquarters itself—the seat of the Coptic pope—while another 40 to 50 entered into the general compound, causing dozens of Copts, including many women and children, to grow sick and faint. Whether from the gas bombs themselves or from another source, Copts also found the ceiling of their cathedral catching fire, although the youths managed to put it out.
He further confirmed that live ammunition was fired on those Copts who refused to relent and instead fought back fiercely, mainly with rocks. When Ramzi tried to calm them, they told him that they "were ready to be martyred for our most important church," and, "We are not just children to abandon our cathedral to be set aflame or have someone attack it."
Ramzi said that he could not really blame these Christian defenders and added that many were already in heavy mourning for the six Copts murdered the day before, and that, after a second attack on their cathedral at the funeral of those who had been killed, they had reached a point beyond frustration.
Ramzi's most important and, at the time, controversial assertion, however, was the role played by Egypt's Interior Ministry. The police and security figures, he said, would tell the beleaguered Copts that everything was fine, that matters were secured, "only to find another five gas bombs thrown their way, not to mention live ammunition fired at them." Similarly, he said that security forces kept circling the cathedral and shooting gas bombs at every door: "Why, why would they do this?" Ramzi said on the phone. When he and others phoned the police, urging them to bring an armored vehicle to the front of the cathedral to guard it, the vehicle came, but far from protecting the cathedral, he personally saw "the [Muslim] youths" standing on top of it, throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at the cathedral.
When the host continued to express dismay and doubt, that the state security would really behave this way, Ramzi asked an important question: the one thing that everyone agreed to is that, for hours, there were at least 30-40 Muslim youths hurling various projectiles and Molotov cocktails at the cathedral, "So can you tell me why security did not stop them or apprehend them? Was Egypt's entire state security unable to stop a mere 30-40 youths from vandalizing the nation's cathedral?"
When the host said, "but they arrested ten people," Ramzi scoffed: "What are you thinking? You will find that the majority of them are Christian!"
Time has proven all of Ramzi's eyewitness assertions true. Soon after his interview, which was conducted as the cathedral was still under siege, several pictures were published, including by Youm7, a prominent Egyptian paper, showing Muslims shooting rifles and throwing rocks and other objects at the cathedral, while the security forces stand by. One picture shows a masked man in civilian clothes sitting in an Egyptian armored vehicle.
Even the Western mainstream media recently came around to affirming that Egyptian security forces were involved in the attack on the cathedral. And, true to Ramzi's prediction, the only people to be arrested in connection with this latest assault on Christianity were the Christians themselves.
Raymond Ibrahim is author of the forthcoming book, Crucified Again: Exposing Islam's New War on Christians. He is a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center and associate fellow at the Middle East Forum.

Islamic Council Proposes Death Penalty for Apostates in Morocco
4/24/2013 Washington D.C. (International Christian Concern) - International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that the Supreme Ulema Council in Morocco published a fatwa this week calling for the death penalty for Muslims who abandon their religion. Christians are concerned that the edict, which has sparked controversy in the country, will be used to "harass" and "harm" the church if approved.
The Supreme Ulema Council (CSO), a body of Islamic scholars headed by King Mohammed VI, published a fatwa in the Arabic-language daily Akhbar al-Youm on Tuesday declaring that Muslims who renounce their faith "should be condemned to death," Agence France-Presse reports. The CSO, the only institution entitled to issue fatwas in Morocco, reportedly drafted the edict in April 2012, but only recently published it.
Mahjoub El Hiba, a senior human rights official in the Moroccan government, denies that the government received a fatwa on apostasy, as Akhbar al-Youm had claimed. Yet media reports on the fatwa have provoked strong reactions from rights activists and religious minorities, including Christians, in the country.
"There's a lot of confusion and discussion in Morocco right now about the fatwa," said a pastor near Marrakech who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons. "We fear that if the fatwa is approved, the government will use it to harass us and even arrest us during our meetings and the fundamentalists will have an excuse to harm us."
While apostasy is illegal in many Muslim countries and punishable by death in Saudi Arabia, Moroccan law does not directly prohibit it. Article 220 of Morocco's Penal Code does state, however, that "attempting to undermine the faith of a Muslim or convert him to another religion" is punishable with six months to three years in prison