Beloved Adel, Rest In Peace
By: Elias Bejjani*

“The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised”.(Job 01: 21)

In Christianity there is no death, but a transformation from death to life. Dear cousin Adel today you have been transformed from death on earth to life in heaven. My your Soul,  rest in peace beside the saints, angels and the righteous where there is no pain, no anguish or any kind of suffering, BUT only happiness and eternal peace.

May God give your bereaved parents, Jamil and Nouhad and the rest of your family and friends all holy graces of faith, patience, love and perseverance to cope with this great loss.

From Canada, Our family members extend their deeply felt condolences to Adel's dear Jamil and Nouhad and may God be with you in this very difficult time.

In such sorrowful and shocking events words fail to convey feelings of sadness and loss, while the only and only the means that makes sense are genuine prayers and prayers. Let us all pray and pray that Adel's Soul rest in peace, and that his parents with faith shall be able to cope and live with this loss.

How much of an awakening and spiritual realization would it be if each and every one of us attended a funeral at least once every year, and fully utilized this short yet precious and odd period of time to deeply meditate and contemplate the very human reality of this inevitable and irreversible journey?
Does any one of us, rich or poor, weak or powerful, sick or healthy, know when the almighty God will reclaim his soul? Definitely not! So let us live each day of our lives as if it were our last. Let us always be ready to face our Creator on the day of judgment with a set of righteous deeds.
Let us solidify our trust and faith in almighty God, and ask Him to lead our lives and grant us the graces of patience, humbleness, hope, love and forgiveness, so that we can carry with courage our life burdens.
Let us remember in the face of every difficulty and crisis what the Holy Bible teaches us: "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light." (Matthew 11, 28-30).
Death, this mystery that has worried, perplexed and confused man since his first day on earth, has been defeated by Jesus' resurrection and made conceivable by man's mind. We do not die, but sleep on the hope of resurrection! "Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed", (Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians 15 / 51-52).
To faithfully understand death it will be helpful and extremely insightful to read thoroughly what Saint Peter wrote in his first letter Corinthians 15/35-58:
"But someone will say, “How are the dead raised?” and, “With what kind of body do they come?” You foolish one, that which you yourself sow is not made alive unless it dies.  That which you sow, you don’t sow the body that will be, but a bare grain, maybe of wheat, or of some other kind.  But God gives it a body even as it pleased him, and to each seed a body of its own.  All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds.  There are also celestial bodies, and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial differs from that of the terrestrial.  There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory.  So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is also a spiritual body. So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.  However that which is spiritual isn’t first, but that which is natural, then that which is spiritual.  The first man is of the earth, made of dust. The second man is the Lord from heaven.  As is the one made of dust, such are those who are also made of dust; and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.  As we have borne the image of those made of dust, let’s also bear the image of the heavenly.  Now I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood can’t inherit the Kingdom of God; neither does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.  But when this corruptible will have put on incorruption, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then what is written will happen: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “Death, where is your sting? Hades, where is your victory?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
Background
Lebanese Man Found Dead at His Nigeria Home after Robbery Operation
Naharnet/ 27 April 2013,
Caretaker Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour confirmed the death of a Lebanese citizen in Nigeria on Saturday, the state-run National News agency reported. “Adel Jamil Bejjani was beaten to death by unidentified men during a robbery operation,” he told NNA. Mansour noted: “Based on President Michel Suleiman's recommendation, we have contacted the Lebanese embassy in Nigeria's Abuja and we have been informed that Bejjani's body will be transferred to Lebanon on Monday.”“The embassy will follow-up on the investigation with concerned Nigerian authorities.” LBCI television had said earlier on Saturday that Bejjani was killed at his home in Nigeria during a heist operation. The same source elaborated: “The 29 years old man worked in the domain of hotel management in the African country for less than a year.”“He was planning on leaving Nigeria to reside permanently in Lebanon on May 5.”Attacks on Lebanese citizens in Nigeria have been frequent in recent years.On March 27, the NNA revealed that three Lebanese were kidnapped in Lagos, a rare case of expatriate kidnapping in Nigeria's commercial center. Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) said the kidnappers have asked for ransom while the NNA did not report how the kidnapping occurred.

Hezbollah’s Vietnam (Or Afghanistan)
Hazem Saghieh/Al Hayat/Sunday 28 April 2013
US involvement in Vietnam in the 1960s and the 1970s, and the involvement of the defunct USSR in Afghanistan in the 1980s have become, in the political lexicon, metaphors for a quagmire. The transnational projection of surplus imperial military force, and then the imperial inability to exit the quagmire, with the latter becoming a major disaster, are but some of the meanings carried by the two terms – Vietnam and Afghanistan.
The Soviet war in Afghanistan became one of the most prominent reasons for the collapse of the Soviet Union, something that Mikhail Gorbachev’s reforms and withdrawal from that Islamic republic could not prevent.
While the United States survived collapse, it did not survive deep bruising to its culture and society. It is said that it took a president like Ronald Reagan in the 1980s for the United States to overcome the “Vietnam syndrome.”
The two imperial powers engaged in acts that ran counter to the nature of things: In the Vietnam War, the United States found itself in the middle of an Asian jungle that swallowed it, and its incursion soon took it to neighboring Laos and Cambodia. And in the conflict in Afghanistan, the USSR found itself caught in the jungle of the Islamic world, from which the “mujahedeen” came, from all its parts, to drive off the “infidel” invaders.
No doubt, likening Hezbollah to the United States or Russia, and its war in Syria to their wars in Vietnam and Afghanistan, entails an unreasonable comparison. Nevertheless, the logic which governs and controls the conduct of the Lebanese party is similar to the logic that took Washington and Moscow to their quagmires.
The excess of Hezbollah’s power is clear, if we compare the party’s strength with that of Lebanon, its government, and its armed forces, or if we compare Hezbollah’s partisan cohesion with the fragmentation of Lebanese society. This surplus of power expressed itself repeatedly, in many wars that Hezbollah chose to wage without consulting the Lebanese government and the Lebanese society, and in bloody internal confrontations in Iqlim al-Tuffah in the late 1980s and Beirut in 2008 – and of course in the permanent symbolic display of power, which peaked with the prevention of Saad Hariri from forming the government which Hezbollah’s ally at the time Najib Mikati ended up forming. As for the impasse that those who turn against the nature of things end up facing, then this is expressed by the fact that they, at the same time, stand against the majority of Syrians and the Arab and Sunni worlds, and against Israel and the Western countries, in addition to non-Western countries that accuse Hezbollah of being behind terror acts on their soils. Add all this to the fact that they stand against broad segments of the Lebanese, who refuse for their country to remain an open arena for killing and fighting. This impasse is not only evident in the political and security-military spheres, but also in finance and the economy. To be sure, the Gulf countries and some African and South American countries that are frustrated by the activities of Hezbollah, are the same countries that Lebanese expatriates – and their remittances – have not broken away with.
This, in general, is a corner that Hezbollah is putting itself and us in, without Iran, a beleaguered and impoverished country, being able to cut an opening in it. Therefore, it will be difficult to withdraw from this quagmire except in the US and Soviet sense.

Hezbollah and the Syrian Civil War
By MOSHE DANN 04/28/2013/J.Post
The international community can and must take responsibility for removing all WMD from Syria.
The reported presence of thousands of Hezbollah fighters and Iranian Revolutionary Guards in Syria to protect President Assad and his regime means Iran has made a strategic commitment not to lose Syria. That in turn means Syria will not follow the example of Libya.
Backed by Iran and Russia, Hezbollah will not allow Assad to be deposed, hunted down and assassinated, nor will it allow a massacre of Alawites and supporters of Assad. This emphasizes the importance of Hezbollah in Syria and the role it will likely play in any future settlement and government.
There will be no NATO/US military action in Syria, as there was in Libya.
But, as the US and Europeans support the Syrian rebels diplomatically and supply them with arms, Hezbollah’s presence in Syria is a game changer that should prompt policy rethinking.
With Hezbollah fighting alongside the Alawites, it will be impossible for the rebels to defeat Assad, and sooner or later the rebels will understand that they must make a deal which will allow for power-sharing and the protection of Alawites and other minorities. The Kurds, who have created a virtually autonomous region, will likely follow the path of the Iraqi Kurds toward quasiindependence.
Hezbollah is the critical element in such a deal – which would not only end the civil war, but ensure Hezbollah’s place in Syria – similar to its role in Lebanon.
As part of a new Syrian government, Hezbollah will be protected and legitimized.
Backed by the EU, it will enjoy international support despite its involvement in terrorist attacks around the world, drug trafficking, counterfeiting and other criminal activity. With a significant presence in Syria and Lebanon, the US will probably reconsider its relationship with Hezbollah.
Fragmented among various factions, a new Islamist/Sunni-backed Syrian government will be weak and no match for the more disciplined, organized and well-funded Hezbollah. Backed by “democratic” elections, Hezbollah will gain legitimacy and a political role which will give them a chair at the diplomatic table.
A renewed Syrian-Lebanese axis under Hezbollah will provide Iran with a huge land base from which to extend its influence in the region and lead the fight for every inch of what many in the international community consider “occupied Syrian territory” – the Golan Heights.
A new, radical Islamist Syrian government will focus on a return of the Golan to Syria as a way of building national cohesion. Their efforts will be primarily diplomatic and media-oriented, intended to further isolate and condemn Israel. Guerrilla terrorist incursions and missile attacks, however, should be expected as part of a campaign to “liberate land stolen by Israelis (Jews).”
Israel’s northern border, therefore, will become “hot,” like that with Egypt and the Gaza Strip. Since Iran supports Hamas and Hezbollah, it is logical to assume these organizations are working together. Although it’s unclear what Egypt’s position will be in a growing confrontation with Israel in the north, one would expect at least approval if not active support. Egypt could, for example, allow Hezbollah units to operate in the Sinai, along with Hamas, to create a second front. It would be a nice fit with Moslem Brotherhood interests.
Along with Judea and Samaria (the “West Bank”) and eastern Jerusalem, the Golan Heights will be on the negotiating table. This sets up a standoff that cannot be resolved without Israeli capitulation.
Even Israeli politicians, like President Shimon Peres, who have advocated relinquishing the Golan, would be hard pressed to make that argument again.
The unpredictable danger regarding a future Syrian government that includes Hezbollah is the massive stockpile of chemical and biological weapons which remain unsecured and are still available to President Bashar Assad and his regime. Presumably, these weapons of mass destruction would also be available to any future government, and perhaps to splinter groups and non-governmental rogue actors. The failure of the international community to eliminate this threat is at least on par with its failure to prevent Iran achieving nuclear capability.
The international community can and must take responsibility for removing all WMD from Syria.
Hezbollah’s role in the Syrian civil war is ominous. Supporting Syrian rebels will have the short-term effect of prolonging the crisis, but will not end it.
Only when a stalemate is reached and the sides are exhausted will the standoff result in some form of political compromise.
As the recent terrorist attack in Bulgaria shows, however, the danger of Hezbollah is not limited to its presence in Lebanon and Syria. Supported by Iran, it is a worldwide terrorist organization capable of attacking anywhere and at any time. Ironically, it is also the key to resolving the Syrian civil war.
One of the few ways the international community can check Hezbollah and Islamists is by recognizing Israel’s claims to the Golan Heights and removing it as a bargaining chip. Failure to do this will encourage Islamists in Syria and Hezbollah in their efforts to destroy Israel and create havoc in the rest of the world.
The Syrian civil war will consume more lives before both sides decide that they have had enough. Limited foreign intervention cannot resolve the basic issues in this struggle, and may exacerbate them. Unfortunately, things will have to get worse before they get better.
The author is a PhD historian, writer and journalist living in Jerusalem.

Tehran presses Assad to send Hizballah sophisticated anti-air interceptors
http://www.debka.com/article/22934/Tehran-presses-Assad-to-send-Hizballah-sophisticated-anti-air-interceptorsDEBKAfile Exclusive Report April 28, 2013
Israeli Air Force jets were reported flying over Damascus in the last few hours by foreign sources. According to debkafile’s Iranian and intelligence sources, Iran has been pushing Bashar Assad hard to let Hizballah have sophisticated weapons, including self-propelled SA-17 interceptor missile systems. Tehran is reminding the Syrian ruler of the debt he owes Hizballah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah who was ready to deploy 5,000 out of Hizballah’s 8,000 combat-ready fighters to Syrian battlefields to fight rebel forces and keep the Assad regime in power.
Assad is therefore in no position to spurn Tehran’s demand.
And so, preparations for sending those weapons systems across to Lebanon have been sighted in the last few days at Syrian military bases. Israeli Air Force are said to be overhead monitoring these movements after Israel repeatedly warned Damascus any attempts to make such transfers would draw a reaction.
On Jan. 30, Israel bombed a convoy passing through Jamraya near Damascus on its way to Lebanon with a consignment of sophisticated weapons systems for Hizballah.
The drone launched on April 25 from Lebanon, which Israeli fighter planes shot down opposite Haifa, is seen now as a counter-warning from Tehran that if Israel strikes another arms convoy on its way from Syria to Lebanon, the next drones flying over Israel would be armed and come in numbers.
The Israeli security cabinet held a long session on the Syrian question Sunday, April 28, headed by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon. They reached a number of decisions on how to handle the latest developments on the Syrian front, including evidence of the use of chemical weapons.
Earlier Sunday, debkafile ran the following exclusive report:
Israel and Turkey agreed last week to start pooling their incoming intelligence on the Syrian civil war, debkafile’s intelligence sources report exclusively. Exchanges will take place at the highest level between Mossad Director Tamir Pardo and Hakan Fidan, head of Turkey’s MIT.
The United States will also provide additional security for Syria’s southern neighbor by the relocation of US Patriot missile interceptors from West Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to northern Jordan opposite the Syrian border.
US Patriots were deployed on the Turkish-Syrian border last year.
The new Patriot deployment indicates that the Obama administration is now treating the peril to its allies from Syria as greater than the Iranian menace.
Things are also on the move in the Turkish-Israeli arena.
Advantage was taken of the Israeli delegation’s visit to Istanbul Monday, April 22, for negotiations on the amount of compensation to be paid out to the families of the nine Turks who died in a clash of arms with Israeli naval commandoes in May 2010, when their ship, the Mavi Marmara, was stopped from completing its mission to break Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip.
As first reported by the last DEBKA-Net-Weekly, the negotiating session was brief. Criteria for determining the amounts of the payouts were settled in less than an hour. A joint Israeli-Turkish group is to calculate the sums and refer their estimates back to the delegations for approval.
The two delegations then got down to the brass tacks of the most pressing issues of interest to them both.
A day earlier, US Secretary of State John Kerry had urged Turkey to hurry up and restore its relations with Israel because of the urgent security interests they shared with one another and the United States in the Middle East:
The turbulence in Syria and Iran’s drive for a nuclear bomb posed extreme perils to all three nations.
The delegations responded by launching into an intense discussion of ways to further their military and intelligence cooperation for the common benefit.
One immediate decision was for Turkey and Israel to set up a joint mechanism for sharing intelligence on the Syrian conflict.
Turkey and Israel are reputed to have the best Syrian intelligence in the business, but their methods of gathering information, its content and their sources vary.
The Turks use Syrian rebels and Lebanese informants operating in Syria. They don’t command the electronic resources which Israel possesses. The two agencies also maintain contact with different rebel militias.
It was quickly recognized that both agencies have much to gain from a arrangement for sharing their input without further delay.

U.S. Congress commemorates Cedar Revolution
April 29, 2013/The Daily Star
The Daily Star/Dalati Nohra, HO
BEIRUT: The United States is committed to helping Lebanon protect its independence and cope with the fallout of the ongoing crisis in its neighbor Syria, Congress members and political figures pledged last week. Speaking at a reception hosted Thursday by Lebanese-American organizations in Washington, Ambassador Beth Jones, the representative of the State Department, expressed the U.S.’ support for Lebanon’s policy of disassociation from the conflict. Jones also urged all countries to fully commit to their aid pledges to help Lebanon cope with the continuing influx of Syrian refugees.
According to the United Nations refugee agency, Lebanon now hosts more than 440,000 refugees from the Syria conflict and the UNHCR is severely underfunded.
The event commemorated the 2005 Cedar Revolution and the subsequent withdrawal of the Syrian army. Numerous Congress members spoke throughout the event, each highlighting the gains of that year and pledging their commitment to Lebanon’s quest for justice, democracy and freedom. Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen specifically confirmed that the United States would continue its work to prevent any negative spillover from the Syria into Lebanon, while Congressman Eliot Engel renewed his support for Lebanon’s pursuit of stronger sovereignty and independence. In a statement circulated at the event, the Lebanese-American organizations reiterated the principles of the Cedar Revolution and called on the U.S. to work with its allies to end the bloodshed and bring about a peaceful and democratic power transition in Syria.
More specifically, the statement requested strengthened support for the Syrian opposition as well as endeavors to curtail the impact of “extremist factors” in Syria.
Also in attendance was Lebanese Ambassador to the U.S. Antoine Chedid, think tank figures, research organizations, civil society groups, and members from all the March 14 coalition parties.

Former Mossad chief,Dagan: Netanyahu wrong to make Iran an ‘Israel issue’
http://www.jpost.com/Iranian-Threat/News/Dagan-Netanyahu-wrong-to-make-Iran-an-Israel-issue-311395
By GIL HOFFMAN, JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDENT 04/29/2013
 NEW YORK – Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu harmed efforts to prevent the nuclearization of Iran by focusing the world’s attention on the potential for an Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, former Mossad chief Meir Dagan said on Sunday in a joint interview with The Jerusalem Post and The New York Times at the 2013 Jerusalem Post Annual Conference in New York.
Dagan’s appearance at the Post conference was his first in public since he received a liver transplant in 2012. Despite his recent ill health, he started his speech by saying he was pleased to be in New York as it was “better than the alternative.” Asked about his health, he said he felt as if he was in the “garden of Eden.”Dagan caused an uproar when he criticized Netanyahu in the past on the Iranian issue, and he said his opinion had not changed. The former Mossad chief said that for the first time in Israel’s history, Israel and progressive Arab states had mutual interests. Saudi Arabia, the Gulf states and Azerbaijan were much more threatened than Israel, he said.To threaten an immediate attack on Iran is not beneficial to Israel,” Dagan said. “It transferred the Iranian issue from a worldwide issue to an Israeli issue. I would have been happier had [US President Barack] Obama made his announcement that he would not let Iran get nuclear weapons in Riyadh and not in Jerusalem.”Dagan called Netanyahu “a clever man,” but added that the prime minister “was perceived as involving himself in internal issues in the US and interfering in the American election and went too far.” This was not helpful for the goal of maintaining US-Israel relations, he said.
On the Palestinian issue, Dagan called for widening the talks to include Arab countries. The Saudi peace initiative could be an important basis for such talks, he said.
“We are on the giving side and the Palestinians are on the receiving side,” Dagan said. “We give substance, they give us promises. It’s in our interest to widen our dialogue with the Palestinians to the Saudis and the rest of the Arab countries.
Israel can have a secret dialogue with those countries. That would widen what we would receive.”
On Syria, Dagan downplayed the chemical threat and the threat of an Islamic takeover of the country. But he said Israel could carefully support Jordanian forces in Syria and express moral outrage to President Bashar Assad’s atrocities.
“We as Jews cannot be silent when Assad executes his people,” he said. “We have to present a moral approach. We have to take a stand.”
During his speech, Dagan told conference attendees that despite Assad’s many war crimes, the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian civil war was a “local decision,” and it was “not approved by the Syrian government.”
Dagan said that he was hesitant to “make an estimation” Assad would “leave soon.”
He added, however, that he was confident in making the prediction that the Islamic regimes being established in the wake of the Arab Spring “won’t be a big threat to Israel,” and he agreed with former prime minister Ehud Olmert’s contention that there “is no immediate” traditional military threat to Israel in the short term.
*Sam Sokol contributed to this report.

Lebanon's Designate PM, Salam headed for March 8 faceoff
April 29, 2013/By Hussein Dakroub The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Tammam Salam is adamant on not giving veto power to any party in the new Cabinet and wants key ministerial portfolios to be rotated among the sects, a source close to the prime minister-designate said Sunday, in a stance signaling a clash with the Hezbollah-led March 8 coalition.
“Salam insists that all ministerial portfolios be alternated among all the sects, communities and political parties,” the source told The Daily Star.
“Likewise, Salam is adamant on not giving the blocking third [veto power] to any party in the new government. He is trying to form a centrist ministerial bloc in the Cabinet in which no party will enjoy veto power,” the source said. “Salam is striving to put together a homogeneous government that can be productive.”
His comments came a day after Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV said the March 8 parties rejected the principle of rotation of key ministerial portfolios which was apparently aimed at countering Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun, who insists on seeing his party retain the Energy and Telecommunications ministries.
Hezbollah and its March 8 allies were also reported to have said they would not back off from their demand for veto power in the new Cabinet.
Salam, who met last week with representatives from March 8 parties, including Speaker Nabih Berri’s Amal Movement, Hezbollah and the FPM, is waiting for answers from these parties to his proposals concerning the makeup and role of the new Cabinet, the source said.
Based on these parties’ responses, the source said, Salam would move to a new phase in his attempts to form a Cabinet by discussing with the rival factions names of potential candidates to the government and the distribution of portfolios.However, the source warned that Salam would not let his efforts to drag on for months as happened with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and other former prime ministers who took more than five months to form a new government. “Salam will not allow his Cabinet formation attempts to linger for three or four months. If he finds that his efforts are being obstructed by any party, he will take a stance,” the source said, clearly referring to the possibility of Salam bowing out of the premiership attempt.Salam wants a nonpolitical government whose members will not run in the parliamentary elections and do not belong to political parties. He has said the main task of the new government is to hold the elections, scheduled in June.
Hezbollah and its March 8 allies are demanding the formation of a national unity or political government. Their demand runs counter to the March 14 coalition’s call for the formation of a neutral, or technocratic, Cabinet to oversee the upcoming elections.Earlier Sunday, Salam urged the rival factions to avoid political rhetoric that fueled sectarian tensions, saying this would have a negative impact on the country’s stability.
“Lebanon is passing today through a delicate stage that requires everyone to be aware of their responsibility in warding off dangers and preventing the drift into political rhetoric that inflames confessional and sectarian tensions which are posing a threat to our peace and the country’s immunity,” Mohammad Mashnouq said in a speech delivered on Salam’s behalf during a ceremony organized by the Jarrah Scout Association at the UNESCO Palace in Beirut. Meanwhile, Hezbollah renewed its demand for the formation of a political government to supervise the elections.
“We are still giving a serious opportunity to form a national government reflecting the real representation of [the parties’ political] size and weight,” Hezbollah MP Hasan Fadlallah told a memorial event in south Lebanon. “Lebanon needs at this stage a strong and capable political government that can hold the elections on time.”
Fadlallah said his party wanted to see the elections held on the basis of a new electoral law.
“We have said that Christian consensus is essential to reaching a new [electoral] law and proportional representation is the main crossing point to allow the participation of everyone,” he said.
A parliamentary subcommittee, comprised of March 8 and March 14 lawmakers, last week suspended its meetings after failing to narrow the gap over a new electoral system to replace the controversial 1960 law.
“Efforts are underway to reach an agreement on a new electoral law. The options are open to a hybrid vote law and other proposals,” Hezbollah MP Ali Fayyad, a subcommittee member, told The Daily Star.
He said that Berri was holding bilateral talks with the parties in an attempt to reach accord on a new electoral law.
Berri last week submitted a proposal to Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt that could break the electoral law deadlock. Jumblatt has yet to respond to the proposal, the details of which were not disclosed.
Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel urged Parliament to endorse “a modern electoral law” based on proportional representation. “Holding the parliamentary elections is a national democratic duty that strengthens the international community’s confidence in our country,” Charbel said, speaking at the inauguration of the renovated Baabda Municipality building.

Bogdanov Concludes Lebanon Visit, Reportedly Urges Hizbullah to Cease Fighting in Syria
Naharnet/Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov concluded on Sunday his four-day visit to Lebanon, during which he voiced his concern over the possible spread of the Syrian unrest to Lebanon. The daily An Nahar reported Sunday that he had called on Hizbullah to withdraw its fighters from Syria out of the concern that the fighting may spread to Lebanon.
Such a development may further complicate the Syrian crisis and place Hizbullah before the danger of a collapse that may lead to complete chaos in Lebanon, circles monitoring the Russian official's talks told the daily.
Bogdanov had held talks on Saturday with Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on the latest developments in Lebanon and the region, particularly Syria.
The Russian official had stated from the airport ahead of his departure on Sunday that his talks with Lebanese figures focused on the latest local and regional developments.
“Our visit helped us develop a vision regarding the future of Lebanese-Russian ties,” he told reporters. Hizbullah has been recently severely criticized for helping Syrian regime troops in their battles against armed rebels.
Syria's opposition says the Homs town of al-Qusayr has in the past week become the focal point of Syria's spiraling war and that Hizbullah has joined regular and militia fighters loyal to President Bashar Assad to try to crush the insurgency there. Bogdanov held talks during his Lebanon visit with President Michel Suleiman, Speaker Nabih Berri, caretaker Premier Najib Miqati, Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam, and major political leaders.

Report: March 8 Demanding Veto Power in New Government
Naharnet /Differences between Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam's vision of a new government and that of the March 8 camp are beginning to emerge, reported the daily An Nahar Sunday.
A prominent Hizbullah official had reportedly informed Salam's camp that the March 8 alliance “will not back down from its demand for veto power or a blocking third in a new cabinet.”
Salam's circles meanwhile reiterated the premier-designate's stance that centrist figures will comprise the bulk of the new government.
“Such a formation will guarantee its productivity and achieve its main purpose of staging the parliamentary elections,” they stressed. Al-Manar television, which is loyal to Hizbullah, had reported on Saturday that the March 8 camp had rejected a proposal by Salam to form a cabinet comprised of ten centrist ministers, seven from the March 8 camp, and seven from the rival March 14 alliance.
In addition, it revealed that the March 8 camp that is led by Hizbullah also rejects the proposal of the rotation of government portfolios among the ministers.
Circles monitoring the government formation efforts told An Nahar that the March 8 camp may in upcoming days inform Salam of its united position on the new cabinet that includes its detailed proposals over it and the suggestions that it will reject. The distribution of power in the new government was at the heart of discussions held between Salam and Speaker Nabih Berri's aide caretaker Health Minister Ali Hassan Khalil on Friday.

Boy Killed as Gunfire from Syria Targets Film Crew in Bekaa
Naharnet /A teenager was killed and another was wounded by gunshots fired from Syria towards an area between Chamsine and Kfar Zabad in the Bekaa region.
“Syrian teenager Bassel Kazem Bakr, 13, was killed by gunshots fired from the Syrian side of the border towards an area between Chamsine and Kfar Zabad near the Syrian border,” LBCI television reported.
“A group of Beirut Arab University students were filming a documentary about Kurds in the region's barren mountains when the teenager Bassel lost his way and strayed away from the filming crew. He was then killed by gunshots fired from Syria as he approached the border,” LBCI added. Meanwhile, Radio Voice of Lebanon (100.5) identified the dead teenager as Bassel Kazem Bakr and the wounded as Jamil Hesso, saying they are both Kurds who were taking part in a documentary that was being filmed by Lebanese students in the Chamsine valley. Lebanon's National News Agency said Syrian teenager Bassel al-Bakr, 14, was wounded by a gunshot fired from Syria “while he was standing at the Chamsine water purification station in the Anjar area, two kilometers from the Lebanese-Syrian border.”

3 Dead, 10 Hurt in Clash over Removal of Illegal Constructions in Tripoli
Naharnet /..Three people were killed and at least 10 others were hurt in clashes over the removal of illegal constructions in the Tripoli area of al-Beddawi on Sunday, state-run National News Agency reported.
“A protest over the removal of illegal construction in the Wadi al-Nahleh area in al-Beddawi erupted into a major clash between residents and security and military forces, which involved gunfire,” NNA said.
The clash left Mohammed Abdullah Seif and Mahmoud Rayya dead and more than 10 other people wounded, the agency added. It later reported that a member of the Internal Security Forces died of wounds incurred in the clashes. NNA said two other people were critically wounded, identifying them as Omar Mahdi Seif and Haroun Mohammed Seif.
The wounded were rushed to hospitals in the area. “Residents set ablaze two vehicles belonging to the Internal Security Forces and one of them exploded after being torched,” the agency added.
Around an hour later, NNA said a state of cautious calm engulfed the area after the withdrawal of security and military forces from the streets of Wadi al-Nahleh and Jabal al-Beddawi.
“When residents learned of the death of Seif and the wounding of others, they blocked all the routes leading to Wadi al-Nahleh with burning tires, as dozens of them headed to Monla Hospital in Tripoli to donate blood,” the agency added. Dignitaries from the Seif family then intervened to pacify the situation and secured the withdrawal of two ISF vehicles and an army vehicle after they were badly damaged, the agency said.
Meanwhile, a political-security meeting got underway at State Minister Ahmed Karami's residence, with the participation of MPs Mohammed Kabbara and Samir al-Jisr, a representative of caretaker Finance Minister Mohammed Safadi and the commanders of security and military agencies.
“The conferees are discussing the current security situation in the al-Beddawi area and today's incidents in Wadi al-Nahleh,” NNA said.
The agency also reported that the wounded Abdullah Seif -- the father of one of two civilians killed in the clashes -- launched efforts immediately after his discharge from hospital, together with the dignitaries of the Seif family and the municipal chief, to convince the angry protesters to reopen the international highway that links Tripoli to Akkar and Syria, which was blocked at the intersections of Wadi al-Nahleh and al-Mankoubin.
NNA said many citizens were “stranded” on the aforementioned highway. On Saturday, Internal Security Forces deployed heavily in the region as several demonstrators blocked different roads in al-Beddawi, mainly the Wadi Nahle entrance, with burning tires and garbage bins.Last week, the ISF kicked off a campaign to quell building violations in the northern city.

Salam: Officials Must Assume their Responsibilities to Avert Dangers against Lebanon
Naharnet/Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam noted on Sunday that Lebanon is passing through a critical phase, hoping that all sides would exert efforts to avert escalating the tensions in the country. He said before political, popular, social, and sports delegations: “Officials should assume their responsibilities in order to avert dangers against Lebanon.” “This requires them to avoid tense rhetoric that fuels sectarianism, which is becoming a burden on our safety and country,” he remarked. Salam's efforts to form a new government are ongoing. He is seeking the formation of a cabinet of national interests that can stage the parliamentary elections.
The March 14 camp has meanwhile been demanding the formation of a neutral government, while its rival March 8 camp has been calling for the establishment of a political government.

Report: Berri, Jumblat to Seek Extending Parliament's Term to Avert Vacuum
Naharnet /Efforts to extend the term of the current parliament are beginning to emerge, reported the daily An Nahar on Sunday. Informed political sources told the daily that Speaker Nabih Berri and Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat are leading these attempts in order to avoid a political vacuum in Lebanon given the failure to reach an agreement over a new parliamentary electoral law. They revealed that their efforts have met the “strong backing” of Hizbullah. Berri had granted political blocs until May 15 to reach an agreement over a new electoral law before calling parliament to session to vote on the Orthodox Gathering proposal that was approved by the joint parliamentary committees. President Michel Suleiman, caretaker Premier Najib Miqati, Jumblat's National Struggle Front, the Mustaqbal Movement, and independent March 14 MPs have rejected the law, saying that it deepens sectarian divisions in Lebanon. The Orthodox Gathering law divides Lebanon into a single district and allows each sect to vote for its own MPs under a proportional representation system.The political powers have so far failed to reach an agreement on an alternative law, threatening to postpone the parliamentary elections that are scheduled for June 16.

Sami Gemayel Renews Rejection of 1960 Law: We Oppose Extending Parliament's Term
Naharnet /Phalange Party MP Sami Gemayel reiterated his rejection of the adoption of the 1960 parliamentary electoral law for the upcoming parliamentary elections, urging the need to head to parliament to subject the available laws to a vote, reported the daily An Nahar Sunday. He told the daily: “Laws are available and one of them is bound to garner the greatest number of votes.”“We completely reject extending the term of parliament, the president, and any other authority”, which may be caused by the delay in an agreement on a new law, which will in turn lead to the postponement of the elections, he noted. Moreover, he said that offering a new time period to allow political powers to reach consensus over an electoral law will result in the postponement of the elections. “The parliamentary subcommittee reached a dead-end and we therefore must head to parliament to vote on an electoral law,” he explained of the talks held at the parliamentary authority that failed to reach consensus over a vote law. Speaker Nabih Berri had granted political blocs until May 15 to reach an agreement over a new electoral law before calling parliament to session to vote on the Orthodox Gathering proposal that was approved by the joint parliamentary committees.
President Michel Suleiman, caretaker Premier Najib Miqati, MP Walid Jumblat's National Struggle Front, the Mustaqbal Movement, and independent March 14 MPs have rejected the law, saying that it deepens sectarian divisions in Lebanon. The Orthodox Gathering law divides Lebanon into a single district and allows each sect to vote for its own MPs under a proportional representation system.
The political powers have so far failed to reach an agreement on an alternative law, threatening to postpone the parliamentary elections that are scheduled for June 16.
The majority of the powers have also rejected resorting to the amended version of the 1960 law that was adopted in the 2009 elections. Addressing the efforts to form a new government, Gemayel said: “The March 8 and 14 camps have opposing views and I do not know just how much Premier-designate Tammam Salam will be able to bridge the differences between them.” “The former is seeking the establishment of a political government, while the latter wants the formation of a neutral one. I do not think we can reach middle ground,” added the MP. “We oppose the formation of a national unity government because past experiences have demonstrated its failure,” he remarked. “A salvation government that includes all political powers should therefore be formed or possibly a neutral one that is backed by all the forces,” he stressed. Salam is still holding consultations with various powers to form a new cabinet. He has repeatedly said that he is seeking the formation of a government “of national interests” capable of overseeing the parliamentary elections

Head of Hizbullah's Executive Council Sheikh Hashem Safieddine: Our Stance in Syria a Strength for Resistance, We'll Emerge Victorious
Naharnet /Head of Hizbullah's Executive Council Sheikh Hashem Safieddine on Sunday announced that his party's military involvement in the Syrian conflict is a “strength for the resistance,” stressing that it is not of a sectarian nature.“We believe that our stance in Syria is a strength for the resistance and that the confrontation taking place in Syria is targeted against the resistance and its weapons,” Safieddine said during a memorial service commemorating one week since the death of Hizbullah member Mohammed Jawad al-Zein, who was killed in Syria.
“It is the same battle, the same cause and the same objective, and like we triumphed there (in southern Lebanon), we will emerge victorious from all these confrontations,” the top Hizbullah official vowed.
Safieddine stressed that his party's stance on Syria has never been sectarian “like some ignorant people are claiming, but rather patriotic and nationalistic, and aimed at preserving Palestine, the Ummah's strategic cause, and the unity, immunity and strength of the Ummah.” “The resistance defended its country, people and cause through its weapons and today it is defending its cause as well as its people and country,” the Hizbullah official added.
He warned that “the American scheme in Syria is not different than the scheme of targeting Lebanon,” adding that “the U.S. role has always been to stir sedition in our country.”
“It is very normal that our stance is to confront this American-Western scheme and it is very normal for the resistance … to preserve its achievements like it preserved its weapons, freedom and decision in July 2006 through blood, martyrs, patience and sacrifices,” Safieddine added. He stressed that Hizbullah is “fully prepared to preserve this resistance in this new confrontation and it is also prepared in the face of the enemies who are amassing and threatening us everyday.” Turning to the issue of the drone shot down by Israel over Haifa, Safieddine said: “Days ago, the Israeli enemy launched threats under the excuse of a drone that flied (in its airspace), although it totally knows that its threats are empty and meaningless.” “If it thinks or imagines that Hizbullah is now preoccupied with the Syrian affair, it must totally realize that what's happening in Syria has never took our attention from our resistance against Israel and from our readiness and preparedness,” Safieddine added. “We are totally prepared to confront and defeat the Israeli enemy should it think of committing any foolishness,” he said.
“Today, we are at the highest levels of preparedness on our frontier in the South, because we believe that what's happening in Syria is targeted against the resistance, which must always be strong.”
 

Future MP says Russia changing stance on Syria war
Now Lebanon/Future bloc MP Ammar Houri said that Russia seems to be altering its position regarding the uprising conducted by Syrian rebels against their regime. “Russia is ready to speak of a post-current Syrian regime period,” Houri told MTV on Sunday. The opposition lawmaker explained his remarks by saying that the Russians are “headed towards a new phase.”Houri’s comments came following a three-day visit of Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov to Beirut which the latter concluded earlier on Sunday. The Future parliamentarian went on to slam Hezbollah’s “excuse” for fighting alongside the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
He dismissed the Shiite party’s argument as a “false and worthless excuse.” Houri also said that Hezbollah’s involvement in the Syrian conflict under the pretext of protecting Lebanese nationals residing in Syrian towns opens the door for “excuses made by other parties…to interfere in Syrian affairs under the pretext of defending the Syrian people.” Meanwhile, the Future MP expressed his “regret that the state is incapable of dealing with Hezbollah’s participation in the fighting in Syria.” He also called on the authorities to deploy the Lebanese army along the Lebanese-Syrian border, and to ask for the help of UNIFIL forces.
Hezbollah 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. The Shiite party added a few days later that its involvement in the war was a “national and moral duty.” Syria's opposition warned earlier in the week that Hezbollah's role in fighting in the Homs province amounts to a "declaration of war," notably after news outlets in the past weeks reported that a number of party members had been killed in Syria. Elsewhere, Houri tackled the issue of forming a new government, which has been at the center of discussions in recent weeks.
“March 14 forces… have not set any conditions [for the cabinet formation],” the Future official noted. He added that their political foes are obstructing the elaboration and adoption of a new electoral law for the upcoming parliamentary elections.Lebanon has been gripped in recent months by a crisis centered around the seeking of a new electoral law that will lay the groundwork for this year’s parliamentary elections which will be held on June 16.
The country’s political parties are also jockeying over the composition of the country’s new government as Premier-designate Tammam Salam is working on creating a cabinet to replace the recently resigned government.

President Michel Suleiman urges implementation of Baabda Declaration
Now Lebanon/Lebanon’s President Michel Suleiman on Sunday reiterated his call on all the country’s political parties to respect the disassociation policy, especially regarding the war ravaging in Syria. “I hope that everyone will commit to the content of this declaration,” the National News Agency quoted Suleiman as saying in reference to the Baabda Declaration which stipulates keeping Lebanon away from regional and international conflicts.
The head of state also underscored Lebanon’s commitment to remaining impartial. Fighting in Syria has spilled over into Lebanon, with Syrian rebels targeting border towns inside Lebanon in response to Hezbollah’s involvement in the conflict. The Lebanese Shiite party’s implication in the Syrian war came to light after news outlets in the past weeks reported that a number of Hezbollah members were killed in fighting in Syria.
Syria's opposition warned that Hezbollah's role in fighting in the Homs province amounts to a "declaration of war," while the Shiite group said it was fulfilling a “national and moral duty.”

Lebanese Man Found Dead at His Nigeria Home after Robbery Operation
Naharnet/ 27 April 2013, /Caretaker Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour confirmed the death of a Lebanese citizen in Nigeria on Saturday, the state-run National News agency reported. “Adel Jamil Bejjani was beaten to death by unidentified men during a robbery operation,” he told NNA. Mansour noted: “Based on President Michel Suleiman's recommendation, we have contacted the Lebanese embassy in Nigeria's Abuja and we have been informed that Bejjani's body will be transferred to Lebanon on Monday.”“The embassy will follow-up on the investigation with concerned Nigerian authorities.”LBCI television had said earlier on Saturday that Bejjani was killed at his home in Nigeria during a heist operation. The same source elaborated: “The 29 years old man worked in the domain of hotel management in the African country for less than a year.” “He was planing on leaving Nigeria to reside permanently in Lebanon on May 5.” Attacks on Lebanese citizens in Nigeria have been frequent in recent years. On March 27, the NNA revealed that three Lebanese were kidnapped in Lagos, a rare case of expatriate kidnapping in Nigeria's commercial center.  Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) said the kidnappers have asked for ransom while the NNA did not report how the kidnapping occurred.

Israel envoy: Strike on Syria chemical weapons 'very complex'
AFP/Military action in response to Syria's suspected use of chemical weapons would be "very, very complex," the Israeli ambassador to the United States said Sunday. Michael Oren said air strikes on chemical weapons bases pose a risk of collateral damage to civilians if agent is dispersed, and under international law the attacker would be at fault. "That's why Israel is not making, urging any action by the United States in Syria, because we understand the complexity of it and we share the concerns of the United States and our neighbors," Oren said on Fox News Sunday. US intelligence has concluded Syria probably used chemical weapons against its own people, but President Barack Obama has pressed for a more definitive judgment. He had warned Syria that use of chemical weapons in its civil war would be a "game changer." Oren said the United States was in high level talks with Israel and other Middle Eastern countries about the situation. "While we can't discuss details we are working out ways we can address this threat," Oren said. He added that removing the threat posed by Syria's chemical weapons stockpile by military force "is very, very complex.""Even under international law, if you strike a chemical weapons base and there is collateral damage to civilians it is as if you, the attacker, used chemical weapons," he said.
"And hence we are having this very close high level dialogue with the United States."

President Mohamed Morsi steps back from confrontation with judges
Now Lebanon/President Mohamed Morsi on Sunday stepped back from a confrontation with the Egyptian judiciary over a proposed new law that would see several thousand judges sacked, proposing a conference to ease disputes. During a meeting with judges, Morsi agreed to host a conference on Tuesday to resolve disagreements over the proposed new law that would lower the retirement age from 70 to 65, affecting nearly 3,000 judges, his spokesperson said. Morsi pledged to "personally adopt" the outcome of Tuesday's meeting and send the amendments to the legislature, Ehab Fahmy said in a televised statement.
Morsi has repeatedly clashed with the courts since his election last June, and his supporters have staged protests demanding the judiciary be purged of loyalists of ousted strongman Hosni Mubarak who was overthrown in a 2011 uprising. Egyptian courts have overturned several of Morsi's decisions, including a decree to hold parliamentary elections this April and his controversial sacking of a Mubarak-era state prosecutor.
Judges spearheaded a widespread backlash against the Islamist president in November when he adopted wide-ranging powers that put his decisions above judicial review. Morsi has since repealed that decree.
 

Tourism marriage' under the Muslim Brotherhood ,Human trafficking and latent prostitution

By: Salama Abdellatif /Now Lebanon/
CAIRO – The stench of dire poverty rises above the Hawamidiyya villages along the Nile, some 30 kilometers south of Cairo. It is not strange to see fancy cars, most of which have license plates bearing the words ‘customs’ or ‘tourism,’ parked along the lively corners of derelict streets. There is nothing at all to indicate that these cars belong to the inhabitants of Hawamidiyya; this phenomenon is linked to ‘tourism marriage’ brokers.
Rich Gulf nationals go to Hawamidiyya, especially during the summer, to contract marriages for a definite period of time in return for a meager amount of money, some of which goes to the broker. The rest goes to the family of a young woman, often a virgin under 18 years of age, so that a rich man about the same age as her father can have sex with her while on vacation in Egypt.
During the years before the 2011 revolution, women’s and human rights organizations in Egypt followed several courses of action in their struggle to end such practices, including awareness-raising marches in areas where ‘tourism marriage’ is popular, in order to disseminate the dangers it entails. Rights groups have also advocated the promulgation of a law that criminalizes marriages if either one of the spouses is under 18 years of age. However, these efforts regressed after the revolution and such practices came back with a vengeance, against a backdrop of economic crisis and weak local authorities. Illegal practices, like changing the young woman’s age through falsified medical evidence attesting that she is over 18 years of age has also become widespread.
The growing phenomenon of ‘tourism marriage’ in Egypt’s governorates and towns was profiled in the US Department of State report on human trafficking last year, which estimated the number of such marriages to be in the hundreds. According to the report, “minor girls are entering into temporary marriages with Arab Gulf tourists during the summer in return for money” with “underage girls being taken into sexual slavery and forced to work as servants.”
Dr. Hoda Badran, president of the Egyptian Women’s Union, told NOW that poverty is the main factor behind the spread of this phenomenon, asserting that “tourism marriage is a form of slavery or of selling women.” Badran explained that she met with several “summer wives,” some of whom gave birth to children and struggled to inform the husband of his paternity. ‘Tourism marriage’ victims may have to abandon their newborns at an orphanage or childcare center so as not to become an ‘outcast’among her family members, the same people who may have sold her in the first place.
Nohad Abu al-Qomsan, president of the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights, told NOW: “Slavery and servitude have acquired a legitimate cover in some countries, including that of summer marriage, which has spread in many Egyptian villages, not only in Hawamidiyya, due to poverty and other pretexts.” Qomsan noted that, in many cases, a girl is married off several times in a sort span of time without heeding the customary waiting period, which might cause confusion as to the identity of the child’s father.
Qomsan argued that some Islamists want to “turn the poor into a pool of abominations, which can be traded on the pleasure market, with clients seeking multiple wives or marriage for pleasure.” She also underscored the phenomenon of marrying displaced Syrian women in Egypt.
Stories about of some mosques – mostly affiliated to Islamist currents in Cairo and other known regions, especially on the outskirts of the capital – promulgating the idea of marrying displaced Syrian women under the guise of ‘shelter marriage’ in return for sometimes no more than 1,000 Egyptian pounds (about $150 USD).
The National Council for Women has addressed Interior Minister Major General Mohammad Ibrahim and Justice Minister adviser Ahmad Maki in the hopes of having appropriate measures enacted to ban the exploitation of women who already find themselves in dire circumstances – Syrians and Egyptians alike. The council’s report cited their statistic that at least 12,000 of these ‘tourism marriages’ have been recorded.
But according to Justice Ministry adviser Ahmad Salam, the ministry’s statistics indicate that only 170 Egyptian men have officially married Syrian women between January 2012 and the end of March 2013. This allegedly proves that thousands of marriages between Egyptian men and female Syrian refugees are not being officially documented, with the two parties merely holding a customary marriage or even saying they are married without there being any contract between them.
Undocumented marriages are promoted and sponsored by Salafist sheikhs and are often officiated in mosques.
No doubt the Muslim Brotherhood-led government will use their own statistics in determining whether or not any rights are being violated and, moreover, whether or not to enact any legislation aimed at protecting marginalized women.
This article is a translation of the original Arabic
 

Republican lawmakers step up calls for US action on Syria
AFP/Republican lawmakers stepped up calls for US action against Syria Sunday in the face of growing evidence that it used chemical weapons against its population in a bitter civil war.
But wide differences remained on what should be done and whether President Barack Obama is correct in proceeding cautiously before declaring that the regime of President Bashar al-Assad has crossed a game-changing "red line."
"I think the options aren't huge, but some action needs to be taken," said Representative Mike Rogers, the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said on ABC's "This Week."
Rogers cited classified information that he said "strengthens the case that in fact some small amount of chemical weapons have been used over the course of the last two years."
"And the problem is, you know the president has laid down the line -- and it can't be a dotted line. It can't be anything other than a red line," he added. A US intelligence assessment earlier this week found that the Syrian regime was likely to have used chemical weapons against its civilian population, but the White House said Obama wanted more proof.
Obama has warned that the use of chemical weapons by Syria would cross a US "red line" and be a "game changer."
The United States has provided non-lethal aid and political support to Syrian rebels, but so far has shied away from supplying weapons or other military assistance.
Certain influential Republicans, who have long called for US military aid to the Syrian opposition, warned that inaction now sends the wrong message to Iran about US seriousness about its nuclear weapons program.
"If we keep this hands-off approach to Syria, this indecisive action towards Syria, ... we're going to start a war with Iran," Senator Lindsey Graham said on CBS's "Face the Nation."
"We need to get involved. And there's a growing consensus in the US Senate that the United States should get involved," he said. But he acknowledged that "Syria is difficult," and action there would be risky.
Senator John McCain, another hawk on Syria, called for the creation of an "international force to go in and secure these stocks of chemical weapons and perhaps biological weapons."
"They cannot fall into the hands of the jihadists, otherwise we will end up seeing these weapons being used in other places in the Middle East," he said on NBC's "Meet the Press."
Israel's ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, said the United States was in high-level discussions with Israel and other Mideast countries "working out ways we can address this threat."He warned, however, that military action against Syria's huge chemical weapons stockpile would be "a complex operation.""Even under international law, if you strike a chemical weapons base and there is collateral damage to civilians it is as if you, the attacker, used chemical weapons," he said.
"That's why Israel is not making, urging any action by the United States in Syria, because we understand the complexity of it and we share the concerns of the United States and our neighbors," he said on Fox News Sunday.
 

Bad chemistry in Washington Obama’s credibility is on the line
Michael Young/Now Lebanon
Admire the Obama administration for its doggedness in redefining crises overseas to ensure that the United States does not get involved. The latest example is the American admission that chemical weapons were used last March in Syria, near Aleppo as well as in Homs and Damascus, most probably by the Syrian army. The disclosure came with caveats allowing Washington to downplay any response. In a letter to Senator Carl Levin, the White House noted that U.S. intelligence agencies had “assess[ed] with varying degrees of confidence that the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons on a small scale in Syria, specifically the chemical agent sarin.”
This came after Israeli officials earlier this week had reached a similar conclusion. Itai Brun, who heads the research division of Israel’s army intelligence service, declared, “To the best of our professional understanding, the [Syrian] regime used lethal chemical weapons against gunmen in a series of incidents in recent months.”
Another Israeli general echoed that view, suggesting that a “sarin-like” chemical had been employed, probably on five occasions.
Earlier, there were reports that the United Kingdom and France informed the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, last March that soil samples and interviews with victims indicated that chemical weapons had indeed been used in Syria. Confirming all this is important, because President Barack Obama has said that the use of such weapons would be a “game changer” and could prompt American intervention in Syria. Yet even after the Levin letter, U.S. officials continued to affirm that they needed to corroborate the information. And reference to the “small scale” use of chemical weapons seemed a craven attempt by the administration to highlight the purportedly limited nature of the crime. Such dissembling was already evident when Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel refused to cede ground on the matter after the Israeli generals had made their views public. “Suspicions are one thing,” Hagel told journalists. “Evidence is another.” Secretary of State John Kerry, in Brussels for NATO meetings on Syria this week, also waffled, noting that the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, “was not in a position to confirm” what his generals had said.
Obama is understandably reluctant to be drawn into a war that is increasingly vicious and complicated. But the president is the one who had made chemical weapons use his red line, perhaps hoping that Russia would prevent Bashar al-Assad’s regime from resorting to such weapons on the battlefield. If so, that showed a poor reading of the relationship between Assad and Moscow.
Assad has long had the Russians’ number. He knows they must look the other way on his transgressions, because their strategy is to keep him in office whatever the cost; or, at the most, use his negotiated departure as leverage to safeguard their Syrian interests and allies. Since Assad has given no indication that he intends to step down, the Russians have bolstered his regime whatever he does, and have played a significant role in organizing its military operations.
The repeated use of chemical weapons by Assad’s forces was, in part, a way of testing the American reaction. And what they’ve seen must be greatly reassuring: an administration looking for shelter in the fine print, not at all intent on imposing its prohibitions. It is interesting that Obama’s warnings against the use of weapons of mass destruction, when he made them, were offered less out of solidarity with the Syrian people than to reassure Israel. Washington’s concern with Israel explains Obama’s refusal to arm the foes of the Assad regime, fearing that Israel might become their next target.
Syrian officials have insisted that it was the rebels who used chemical weapons, pointing to the fact that Syrian troops were exposed to chemicals in the village of Khan al-Asal, near Aleppo, on March 19. Intelligence officials in the U.S., the United Kingdom, and elsewhere, dismiss this, believing the soldiers were affected by weapons fired from their own side. The UN has tried to send a team to Syria to investigate the incident, but the Syria government has refused to allow them access to sites other than Khan al-Asal.
Today, Obama’s credibility is on the line, and the dependability of the United States’ commitment to curtailing the employment of weapons of mass destruction. That the Obama administration wants to be careful in reaching a conclusion is defensible, but the impression today is not that it is after the truth in Syria, but that it is only looking for ways to avoid the consequences of the truth.
Obama still has no cohesive Syrian policy. American troops on the ground is a bad idea, but there are options short of that that the president has made no effort to advance. Russia will soon be on the defensive, backing a man who uses weapons of mass destruction against his own population. This can be exploited diplomatically, and if Obama wants to avoid a risky American military commitment, he will have to push Moscow hard. But for now, the president awaits a UN evaluation, which buys him time to review his options. Whatever course Obama decides, the worst thing the administration can do is to continue to show that it is looking for an exit from its stated policy. If Obama never had any intention of upholding his line in the sand in Syria, he shouldn’t have drawn it in the first place.
*Michael Young is opinion editor of The Daily Star newspaper in Lebanon. He tweets @BeirutCalling