LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

Bible Quotation for today/Paul's Concern for the Galatians
Galatians 04/08-20: "In the past you did not know God, and so you were slaves of beings who are not gods. But now that you know God—or, I should say, now that God knows you—how is it that you want to turn back to those weak and pitiful ruling spirits? Why do you want to become their slaves all over again? You pay special attention to certain days, months, seasons, and years. I am worried about you! Can it be that all my work for you has been for nothing? I beg you, my friends, be like me. After all, I am like you. You have not done me any wrong. You remember why I preached the gospel to you the first time; it was because I was sick. But even though my physical condition was a great trial to you, you did not despise or reject me. Instead, you received me as you would an angel from heaven; you received me as you would Christ Jesus. You were so happy! What has happened? I myself can say that you would have taken out your own eyes, if you could, and given them to me. Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth? Those other people show a deep interest in you, but their intentions are not good. All they want is to separate you from me, so that you will have the same interest in them as they have in you. Now, it is good to have such a deep interest if the purpose is good—this is true always, and not merely when I am with you. My dear children! Once again, just like a mother in childbirth, I feel the same kind of pain for you until Christ's nature is formed in you. How I wish I were with you now, so that I could take a different attitude toward you. I am so worried about you!

Report: No New Entry Controls on Syrians at Masnaa Crossing Yet
Naharnet/The General Security center at al-Masnaa border crossing in the east didn't implement new strict entry controls on Syrians fleeing the turmoil in the neighboring country, reports said on Saturday.
A source at the General Security told Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) that the Syrians “wishing to enter Lebanon have to specify their place of residence or work in Lebanon as known in normal circumstances.”“The facilitation granted in the recent period was for humanitarian causes and due to the difficult situation in the neighboring country,” the source said. However, caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel revealed in comments to Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5) that the General Security center along the Lebanese Syrian border began implementing strict entry controls on those who are crossing into the country. He expressed fear that most Syrian refugees might not return to their country after the conflict in Syria ends. Charbel warned that the soaring numbers of Syrian refugees in Lebanon will “dangerously” impact the security and economic situations in the country.
Meanwhile, al-Masnaa border crossing witnessed on Saturday bumper-to-bumper traffic caused by the large amount of Syrian workers departing Lebanon to spend Fitr holiday with their families in the neighboring country.
The source said that the large number of crowds is also recorded every other weekend due to the soaring numbers of people crossing back and forth. “Around 15,000 to 20,000 people daily cross the border,” the source said. The Lebanese government recently announced the implementation of strict entry controls on Syrians fleeing the turmoil in the neighboring country in an attempt to confront refugees influx. Officials argue that the measures aim at preventing “terrorist” and anti-Lebanese army groups from entering the country. The UNHCR said that over 13,000 Syrians registered this past week, bringing the total official number in the country to over 665,000.
Charbel previously said that the measures aim at organizing the refugees legal permits. The residency permits will have a timeframe of six months, Charbel noted. The Lebanese state argues that the Syrians the right to work to feed themselves on building sites or other sectors but not in trade or in businesses that require a permit. Many Syrian refugees are forced to sleep rough on the streets because they can not afford to rent somewhere to live. But the presence of a large number of Syrians alongside a population of just four million has sparked mounting friction. A recent opinion poll found that 54 percent of respondents believed Lebanon should close its doors to the refugees. A full 82 percent said that the refugees were stealing jobs from Lebanese.

Hariri Says Won't Participate in Cabinet with Hizbullah Ministers, Assures State and Illegal Arms 'Cannot Coexist'
Naharnet /Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Friday announced that he rejects taking part in a cabinet in which Hizbullah has representatives, stressing also the state and illegal weapons "cannot coexist."
"We will not participate in a council of ministers if Hizbullah has representatives in it,” Hariri said in a televised speech he gave during an Iftar banquet held by al-Mustaqbal Movement, revealing also that he has suggested forming a cabinet without his party's participation. Hariri rejected calls asking him to return to Lebanon and head the new government. “We have a premier-designate, Tammam Salam, and he has gained our trust and is capable of heading a new cabinet,” he assured. “Who wants to help in the cabinet's formation must cooperate with Salam.” Speaker Nabih Berri had urged the head of Mustaqbal movement in July to return to Lebanon, pointing out that he is ready to reconsider Hariri's reappointment as a premier. In his speech, Hariri tackled the issue of Hizbullah's weaponry, accusing Lebanese factions of “dragging Lebanon into turmoil.”“The rockets that targeted the presidential palace and the ministry of defense are a terrorist message that aimed at overthrowing the Baabda Declaration.”Two rockets fell in the Baabda area on Thursday evening, one of them near the presidential palace, in the third such incident in less than two months. Hariri repeated what he had said in previous messages regarding holding Hizbullah responsible for the mounting tension in the country. “The party has given itself the right to take crucial decisions without considering the Lebanese people's stances.”Hariri assured, however, his rejection of enmity with any Lebanese faction: “We are looking forward to the day when relationships between the people of this country are upright in a real state where sects do not prevail over legitimacy.” Hariri considered that the tension in the country is not recent and was not produced following the eruption of the war in neighboring Syria. “It is an accumulation of several policies that made the state the weakest component in the country.”
Hariri reiterated al-Mustaqbal Movement's commitment to take part in national dialogue. “Hizbullah said it is ready to take part in dialogue, and we tell the president that we too are ready.” However, he pointed out: “Discussing a defense strategy based on the idea the Lebanon needs the resistance's weapons is an argument that has lost its validity for many reasons.” He elaborated: “The weapons after the July 2006 war have become a force for pressure and a terrorizing mean against political foes. Since 2005, Hizbullah's weaponry has become a reason for national conflict and it cannot protect unity. It lacks unanimous consensus and the will of the majority and the party's weapons have caused the spread of more illegal arms and the appearance of the Resistance's Brigades.”“Changing the direction of the weapons and using it now to kill the Syrian people raises many questions,” he added."The state and illegal weapons cannot coexist.” But he rejected any possible future discourse accusing him of adopting these stances to pressure Hizbullah in parallel with the European Union's decision to blacklist the party. “This has been our position since 2005 because what we care about is providing the necessary components for a state based on the principles established in the Taef Accord.” The al-Mustaqbal Movement head praised President Michel Suleiman's statement on the Army day, describing it as “responsible.”
In a ceremony marking the 68th anniversary of the army’s founding on Thursday, Suleiman criticized Hizbullah without naming it, saying it was time for the Lebanese state and the army to be the sole decision-makers on the use of the nation's capabilities. Regarding Hizbullah's involvement in the Syrian crisis, Hariri said the party acts as if Syria's President Bashar Assad's regime “will stay in power forever.”“But there is another theory that says Assad will not stay in power and that the regime will collapse,” he noted “What will the party tell the Lebanese then? Will Hizbullah ask for adopting a disassociation policy towards the new Syrian regime?” “Hizbullah's step to participate in the Syrian war was miscalculated.” Addressing his supporters Hariri remarked: “You know that Bashar Assad has decided two years ago that the only solution to face the revolution in Syria is to accuse everyone against his regime of being an al-Qaida member. And of course, the Sunnis in Lebanon are part of this accusation.” Hariri also assured that he stands by the state and by the military institution even when they commit mistakes. “Even when the state does any wrong, we support it and even if the army has committed mistakes, we are behind the military institution. We do not have any other project but the state's.”

Report: Army Received Information of Probable Assault Hours before Baabda Attack
Naharnet/The army intensified its search for the rocket launchers employed in the attack in the Baabda region on Thursday, reported An Nahar daily Saturday. A security official told the daily: “Security agencies received information of a possibility of an attack taking place during the day when the army was commemorating Army Day.” He added that they did not expect that the attack would take place at night, saying that the rocket launchers have not yet been found despite a thorough search. The search included the school area in Bchamoun after several eyewitnesses said that they saw the two rockets being launched from the region, reported An Nahar.
The search also included Sarhmoul, al-Mounseh, Aramoun, and nearby areas. The Army Command said on Friday that two 107 mm rockets were fired in the Baabda area on Thursday, adding that investigations are ongoing to determine the sources of the fire and uncover the perpetrators. One of the rockets landed in the garden of the Freiha villa that is located near the Officers' Club and 100 meters away from the presidential palace.
The second rocket landed near the Khashoqji castle in al-Yarzeh.The attack came on the same day that President Michel Suleiman gave a speech on the occasion of Army Day in which he criticized Hizbullah's involvement in the Syrian war in support of President Bashar Assad's forces.

Report: Government Deadlock Could Be Resolved through National Dialogue
Naharnet/Renewed efforts to form a new government are likely to gain momentum after the Eid al-Fitr holiday at the end of next week, reported the daily An Nahar Saturday. Observers said however that should the deadlock between the rival political powers persist, the dispute could be resolved through national dialogue. President Michel Suleiman has called on Thursday for the formation of a “balanced national cabinet that could achieve national interests.” Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam's visitors meanwhile told An Nahar that he is not seeking the formation of a provocative government, reiterating his commitment to a “non-political centrist cabinet” that can help resolve disputes. Should neither of these suggestions be fulfilled, the political powers could turn to national dialogue to eliminate obstacles that may result in the formation of a new cabinet, said the premier-designate's visitors. Prime Minister Najib Miqati resigned in March and Salam was appointed to form a new government amid conflicting positions between the political powers. The March 14 alliance is demanding forming an impartial cabinet, the March 8 forces is insisting on forming a political one, and Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat objects to a cabinet that does not represent all Lebanese factions.

1 Dead, 5 Hurt as Army Clashes with Fugitive in al-Sharawneh
Naharnet/One person was killed and five others were wounded on Saturday in a clash between army troops and a fugitive in the Baalbek neighborhood of al-Sharawneh, state-run National News Agency reported.
“A woman was killed and five people were hurt as an exchange of gunfire erupted during an attempt by an army patrol to arrest the fugitive Hamza Ali Saadallah Zoaiter near al-Tatri Hospital in the Baalbek neighborhood of al-Sharawneh,” NNA said. "The fugitive Hamza in addition to Ali Hasan Saadallah Zoaiter and the child Nouh Sadeq Zoaiter -- who were with him in the car -- were wounded in the clash," the agency added. It said a passerby was also killed and two others were wounded in the gunfight. “Tania Minni, 14, was killed and her body is still at the al-Tatri Hospital in Baalbek, while Samira Minni was seriously wounded in her head and transported to al-Abdallah Hospital in Riyaq,” NNA said, adding that the child Sami Minni was lightly injured in the incident.

Suspected Hizbullah Man Says Aware of Plot to Kill Saudi Envoy to Nigeria
Naharnet/A Lebanese suspect with alleged links to Hizbullah and on trial in Nigeria for terrorism offenses told a court on Friday he was aware of a plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Abuja.
The alleged plot, which had not previously been made public, came up during questioning of the defendant during the trial of him and two other Lebanese in high court in the Nigerian capital. The defendant, Talal Ahmad Roda, alleged that another man who is at large was behind a plot to assassinate the ambassador. The man was identified as Abdulhassan Tahir. Asked by prosecutor Samuel Edege whether he was aware of the alleged plan, he said "yes" but did not know other details. Questioning then moved on to other subjects. It was not clear whether anyone sought to put the alleged plot into action or which Saudi ambassador had been targeted for assassination since a name was not provided. The motive for the alleged plot was also not described. An official at Saudi Arabia's embassy who did not want his name used told AFP it was unaware of the alleged plot.
"We don't have any information about this story," the official said. "We just heard it from you." The three men on trial are accused of plotting attacks against Israeli and Western targets in Nigeria as well as having links to Hizbullah. They were charged in June after authorities discovered a cache of arms at a business in Abuja and a private home in the northern city of Kano. Nigeria is grappling with a deadly Islamist insurgency waged by Boko Haram, but there has been no suggestion of any ties between the Lebanese accused and the Nigerian extremist group. Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, is home to a sizable Lebanese population, including in the mainly Muslim north. Source/Agence France Presse.

Report: Army Received Information of Probable Assault Hours before Baabda Attack
Naharnet/The army intensified its search for the rocket launchers employed in the attack in the Baabda region on Thursday, reported An Nahar daily Saturday. A security official told the daily: “Security agencies received information of a possibility of an attack taking place during the day when the army was commemorating Army Day.” He added that they did not expect that the attack would take place at night, saying that the rocket launchers have not yet been found despite a thorough search. The search included the school area in Bchamoun after several eyewitnesses said that they saw the two rockets being launched from the region, reported An Nahar.
The search also included Sarhmoul, al-Mounseh, Aramoun, and nearby areas. The Army Command said on Friday that two 107 mm rockets were fired in the Baabda area on Thursday, adding that investigations are ongoing to determine the sources of the fire and uncover the perpetrators. One of the rockets landed in the garden of the Freiha villa that is located near the Officers' Club and 100 meters away from the presidential palace.
The second rocket landed near the Khashoqji castle in al-Yarzeh. The attack came on the same day that President Michel Suleiman gave a speech on the occasion of Army Day in which he criticized Hizbullah's involvement in the Syrian war in support of President Bashar Assad's forces.

President Amin Gemayel: Lebanon's Salvation Can't Be Achieved without Complete Loyalty to Country
Naharnet/Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel stated on Saturday that two armies cannot exist in one country because that would contradict the demands of sovereignty and the official armed forces, reported Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5). He told the radio: “Lebanon's salvation cannot be achieved without complete loyalty to the nation.” On this note, he praised President Michel Suleiman and former Premier Saad Hariri's speeches on Thursday and Friday respectively, saying that they laid the foundations for dialogue. “Hariri's speech demonstrated that the Mustaqbal Movement is keen on respecting national principles and leading the country towards moderation that alone can save Lebanon,” remarked Gemayel. “We hope that the alliance between the Phalange Party and Mustaqbal Movement would come to include other factions in the country, especially Shiites, because national interests cannot be met without all parties,” he stressed. Commenting on Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's speech on Friday, Gemayel noted: “The concept of a resistance party alongside the army enforces the idea of two leaderships, sets of weapons, and 'Lebanons'.” “A resistance alongside the army is contradictory and will create chaos,” he warned. In a ceremony marking the 68th anniversary of the army’s founding on Thursday, Suleiman criticized Hizbullah without naming it, saying it was time for the Lebanese state and the army to be the sole decision-makers on the use of the nation's capabilities Hariri on Friday criticized Hizbullah's involvement in Syria, adding that the state and illegal weapons "cannot coexist."

Charbel Says Baabda Attack Clearly Targets Lebanese Army, Presidency
Naharnet/Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel condemned on Saturday the Baabda rocket attack, considering that it targeted the Lebanese army and the presidency, Says President Michel Suleiman's speech wasn't targeting the resistance. Charbel expressed hope in comments to Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5) that politicians would try to evade all disputes, pointing out that the incident will have a dangerous impact on the security and economic situation in the country. On Thursday, two rockets were fired in the Baabda area with one landing in the garden of the Freiha villa that is located near the Officers' Club.
The second rocket landed near the Khashoqji castle in al-Yarzeh. No one was injured in the incident. The attack came on the same day that President Michel Suleiman gave a speech on the occasion of Army Day in which he criticized Hizbullah's involvement in the Syrian war in support of President Bashar Assad's forces. Charbel clarified that Suleiman meant that a “successful resistance is that only defends it country.”
“He wasn't only talking about the resistance but all the sides that are intervening in battles outside Lebanon,” the officials said. Charbel said that Suleiman's statements were taken out of their context. “The army's role would be difficult if a party or more get involved in conflicts outside Lebanon,” Suleiman said on Army Day. Suleiman called for a review of the national defense strategy in light of Hizbullah’s involvement in Syria, while stressing the state should enjoy a monopoly over the use of military force to defend Lebanon’s sovereignty. But Suleiman said that “true martyrdom is only in the defense of the nation … The Lebanese people want sacrifices for Lebanon.”

Lebanese-Swedish Brothers Choose Jihadist Death in Syria
Naharnet/Two Islamist Lebanese-Swedish brothers who left their Scandinavian home for Lebanon, have died fighting alongside Syrian rebels, their cousin and a local cleric said on Saturday. Hassan and Moatasem Deeb "were killed Friday in a rebel assault on the Abu Zeid army checkpoint near Qalaat al-Hosn" in Homs province, Sheikh Mohammed Ibrahim told Agence France Presse. Their deaths have devastated their parents, who had already lost a third son Rabih to sectarian fighting in Tripoli last year. Sheikh Mohammed said Moatasem, 18, blew himself up in a suicide car bomb at the checkpoint, and Hassan, 21, died in the assault that followed. The youths apparently did not die in vain, as the assault on the checkpoint succeeded, said the cleric. Cousin Jihad Deeb said that, although the youths had long been "deeply religious," the news of their deaths hit the family hard. While still in Sweden just a year ago, Hassan had started his university studies. And had he stayed in Scandinavia, Moatasem would have started his degree this year. "But they left everything and traveled back to Mankoubin, where their parents have been living for two years now," said Jihad. Established to host families from Tripoli during a 1955 flood, Mankoubin later became home to people too poor to afford life in the heart of the northern port city. Today, Mankoubin is an impoverished area that frequently gets dragged into sectarian clashes pitting Sunnis from the Bab al-Tabbaneh quarter and Alawites from neighboring Jabal Mohsen. Tripoli's sectarian clashes erupt frequently, and their intensity has grown as a consequence of the war raging in neighboring Syria. Sectarian tensions in Tripoli see Sunnis generally supporting Syria's rebels and Alawites, the Shiite spinoff group to which Bashar Assad belongs, backing the Syrian president's regime. Eighteen months ago, Moatasem and Hassan's brother Rabih was killed fighting in one of those clashes. The commitment to jihadist activities among family members goes further. In 2007, one of the youths' uncles was killed fighting alongside Islamists in a fierce battle against the Lebanese army in the Palestinian camp of Nahr al-Bared. Another uncle is in jail in Germany over ties to al-Qaida.
Once they returned to Mankoubin from Sweden, where they had lived for several years, the young men "decided to cross the border and join Jund al-Sham", said the sheikh, who stressed that no one knew of their plans.
Jund al-Sham is an independent jihadist group set up in 2012 and led by Lebanese radicals. "Moatasem traveled first. He went to Qalaat al-Hosn eight months ago. Hassan joined him two months later," Ibrahim added. Jihad Deeb said "they had no work, and they lived in a poor area that has no state support. Most of us are not radicals, but you see many al-Qaida flags in Mankoubin." Asked why he believed his cousins joined the rebels, he added: "Hassan and Moatasem really believed that Sunnis must fight there. "But their father and mother are devastated. The father is near emotional collapse. And you can imagine how their mother feels; she has lost three sons."
The family was due to receive condolences from guests on Saturday, who would "congratulate" them for their sons' "martyrdom" in Syria, said Ibrahim.Source/Agence France Presse.

Antoine Amrieh The Daily Star
TRIPOLI, Lebanon: A Lebanese man from the northern city of Tripoli died a “martyr” earlier this week in a suicide bombing that targeted soldiers in Syria, a sheikh from Salafist Hizb Ut-Tahrir said Saturday. The bomber's brother was killed few hours later in another rebel attack on the same army position, the preacher added. "We would like to bring the Muslims in Lebanon and Tripoli the good news of the martyrdom of two college boys Abu Moaz and ... Abu Othman who [were part of an attack] on the Abu Zeid checkpoint near Crac des Chevaliers in Homs during a suicide mission,” Sheikh Mohammad Ibrahim, a member of Lebanese group, said in a statement.
Abu Moaz, the nom de guerre of Motasem Khaldoun al-Hasan, blew himself up in the attack on the Syrian army checkpoint, Ibrahim said, adding that Abu Othman, the non de guerre of Motasem’s brother Hasan, was killed in later assault on the post by rebels. Lebanese daily An-Nahar reported that rebels had attacked the checkpoint hours after the bombing. The rebels have full control of the checkpoint, Ibrahim’s statement said. Ibrahim, whose party supports the uprising in Syria, credited the banned Al-Qaeda inspired Jund al-Sham with carrying out the operation, which he said was the first of its kind in that area. He said the brothers had been living abroad for a period of time and only recently returned to Lebanon. Ibrahim said the family of the two men would be receiving visitors at their house in the Mankoubeen neighborhood following afternoon prayers Saturday. Tripoli has been rocked by intermittent clashes between supporters and opponents of President Bashar Assad since the uprisings in Lebanon’s neighbor began in March 2011.

Man Arrested in Jeitawi on Charges of Raping Minor Boys
Naharnet/A man was arrested on Saturday in the Ashrafiyeh neighborhood of Jeitawi on charges of raping several minor boys. “After a 16-year-old Lebanese minor male was raped by an unknown man, who had picked him up in his private car from the Jisr el-Wati area ... and threatened him with a pistol and a knife, and following intensive investigations by the Morals Protection Bureau, it obtained information about the presence in the Jeitawi area of a man who drives a car of the same type … and about his suspicious relations with minor boys,” the Internal Security Forces said in a statement. “The aforementioned bureau on Saturday managed to monitor the movements of the suspect and to arrest him at his residence,” it added. The ISF identified the man as Lebanese national M. N., 28, noting that “pornographic pictures and videos in which he appears raping minors were found at his house.”
During the investigations, the victim he picked up from Jisr el-Wati managed to identify him and the car in which he was raped, the ISF said, adding that the man "confessed to raping several other minors and to documenting his crimes with pictures and videos." The Directorate General of the ISF called on those who fell victim to this type of crimes, "especially minors, to head to the Morals Protection Bureau at the Youssef Hbeish Barracks in Beirut's Hamra to try to recognize the arrested suspect."

Car of Man Kidnapped in Ferzol Located in Riyaq
Naharnet /A black Mercedes that belongs to a 51-year-old Lebanese man, who was kidnapped in in the Bekaa town of Ferzol, was found on Riyaq-Deir Znoun road. The whereabouts of Fathallah Matta Fathallah al-Hiyali, who was kidnapped on Friday, are still unknown.The car was found burnt and carries license plate 806070. Al-Hiyali hails from the town of Harat Sakher. The reasons behind the abduction remain unknown.
Lebanon witnessed last year a wave of kidnap-for-ransom but sectarian abductions caused by the war in Syria have also taken place. The country is sharply divided along sectarian lines that have been emphasized by the conflict in Syria. The Sunni-led March 14 alliance supports the revolt against Syrian President Bashar Assad, while Hizbullah, which is Shiite, and its allies back the regime. Source/Agence France Presse.

Iran's new president, Hassan Rowhani,Officially Assumes Iran Presidency, Vows to Work to Lift Sanctions
Naharnet /Iran's new president, Hassan Rowhani, vowed after assuming office Saturday to work to lift the international sanctions imposed on Tehran over its controversial nuclear drive. My government, "will take fundamental steps in elevating Iran's position based on national interest and lifting of the oppressive sanctions," the moderate cleric said in a first address, broadcast live on state television. Rowhani was officially endorsed by Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who praised the newly-elected president's decades of service to the Islamic establishment. "The country needs a national determination to keep its distance from extremism and needs to concentrate on the rule of law," he added. Rowhani begins his term as the Islamic republic's seventh president facing grave challenges over its ailing economy and international isolation due to the controversial policies of his hardline predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. His public inauguration will take place on Sunday when he takes the oath of office in parliament, which according to media reports will be attended by 10 regional presidents and other high-ranking foreign officials. He defeated several conservative rivals in the June 14 presidential election, having pledged to resolve tensions with world powers and shore up the economy hit hard by international sanctions over Tehran's controversial nuclear ambitions.Source/Agence France Presse.

Nine Killed, Nine Wounded in Syrian Airstrike near Arsal
Naharnet/Nine Syrians were killed and nine wounded on Saturday in Syrian regime airstrikes near the Bekaa town of Arsal, reported the National News Agency. It said that the airstrikes targeted Syrian refugee gatherings in the forestland between Ras Baalbek and Arsal. The wounded, including women and children, have since been taken to Universal Hospital in Baalbek for treatment. Meanwhile, a Lebanese military source told Agence France Presse that the bodies of six Syrians killed near the border with Lebanon were transported into the country on Saturday, along with nine injured people. The source could not confirm the cause of the casualties in Syria, but an injured woman told an AFP photographer that the Syrian air force had carried out a strike.
"Six bodies and nine injured people were brought into Lebanon at around 1:30 pm (1030 GMT) on a pick-up truck," the source said on condition of anonymity. "They crossed the border at the Tufail crossing" in eastern Lebanon, he said. An injured woman in her early 30s, speaking also on condition of anonymity, said: "We were targeted by an air strike while we were making our way from Syria to Lebanon." At least two children were among the injured, the photographer said. Several of them were taken to Arsal for treatment, while others were transported to nearby Baalbek, AFP said. Arsal, which lies 12 kilometers from the border with Syria, has been used as a conduit for weapons and rebels to enter Syria, while also serving as a refuge for people fleeing the conflict. It has repeatedly come under shelling from Syria. The last air raid in Arsal took place in June, with President Michel Suleiman urging Syria to respect Lebanon's sovereignty. Other border areas in the north and east have also been struck by frequent cross-border shelling and clashes, while the Syrian regime has told Lebanon to better control its porous border to prevent the smuggling of fighters and arms.The repeated violations prompted Suleiman to file a memorandum to the United Nations and Arab League. Lebanon is sharply divided over the war in Syria and Arsal is a particular flashpoint as refugees from the uprising and fighters and smugglers hostile to the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad traverse the border.

Rebels Seize Arms Depot near Damascus as Kurds, Jihadists Clash in Hasakeh
Naharnet/Rebels battling Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime captured an arms and ammunition dump in the Qalamun area near Damascus early on Saturday, a watchdog said. In the north, fighting between Kurds and jihadists raged as the main opposition National Coalition called on armed groups there to "exercise restraint." The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said several groups, including the jihadist al-Nusra Front, were behind the capture of the depot of anti-tank weapons and rockets. "Liwa al-Islam, al-Nusra Front, al-Tawhid battalion, the Maghaweer (rebel commando force) and the Qalamun Martyrs' battalion... captured an ammunition depot near the village of Qaldun in the Qalamun area" northeast of the capital, the Britain-based Observatory said. They seized "anti-tank weapons and ground-to-ground Grad missiles, as well as a variety of other ammunition, after clashes overnight from Friday to Saturday," it said. Meanwhile the state news agency SANA reported that the bullet-riddled bodies of local official Ahmed Marmar and two other men were found near the Qalamun hospital.
Marmar was a member of the a local council and had been kidnapped last week along with the other two men from Qalamun, near the Lebanese border. Using the regime's term for rebels, SANA accused "terrorists of kidnapping the three men and shooting them dead." In Damascus itself, fighting was reported in the flashpoint southern belt, as loyalist forces pressed a months-long bi to dislodge rebels from the city's outskirts.
Elsewhere, the army shelled rebel-held areas of the central city of Homs, focusing on the neighborhoods of Juret al-Shiyah and Qussour, said the Observatory. After the rebels lost the Khaldiyeh district this week, the army has pushed on with its bid to dislodge them completely from Syria's third city. In the northern province of Hasakeh, jihadists and Kurds clashed two weeks after the expulsion of radical Islamists from the strategic Kurdish town of Ras al-Ain, opening up a new front. Syria's main opposition group called on warring parties in the north to "exercise restraint... to ensure the safety of civilians and secure the release of detainees."
Earlier this week, jihadist groups linked to al-Qaida took hostage some 200 Kurdish civilians in the northwestern province of Aleppo. The Coalition had so far been silent on the Kurdish-jihadist fighting, but on Saturday it said "Assad's militias... are the only target that Syrians' guns should be aimed at." More than 100,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in Syria's 28-month conflict, the United Nations says. On Friday alone, at least 110 people were killed across Syria, the Observatory said.Source/Agence France Presse.

9 Killed in Attack on Indian Consulate in Afghanistan
Naharnet /Suicide bombers targeted the Indian consulate in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad on Saturday, detonating an explosives-packed car outside the building and killing nine civilians, including a child.
A spokesman for the Taliban militant group immediately denied any responsibility for the attack, which rocked the city and left a mosque, private houses, tailors and other nearby shops in ruins. "A car containing explosives hit a barrier near the consulate and detonated," Ahmadzia Abdulzai, spokesman for Nangarhar province, of which Jalalabad is the capital, told Agence France Presse. "There were three suicide bombers in the car."Nangarhar police chief Sharif Amin confirmed that the consulate was the intended target of the blast, which created a large crater in the road as survivors wearing blood-stained clothing ran for cover. The interior ministry condemned the attack as "heinous" and said nine people had died, with 21 other civilians wounded. The death toll included at least one child. An AFP photographer reported that ambulances rushed to the scene and took the injured to hospital as security forces cordoned off the area, where several large buildings were badly damaged. Syed Akbaruddin, a spokesman for the Indian foreign ministry in New Delhi, said on his Twitter account that all officials were safe after the attack -- the first major strike in Afghanistan during the holy month of Ramadan that started on July 10. India, which has spent more than two billion dollars of aid in Afghanistan since the Taliban regime fell in 2001, has been previously targeted in the war-torn country. In 2008, a car bomb attack on the Indian embassy killed more than 60 people and, in 2010, suicide attacks on two guesthouses killed at least 16 people including seven Indians. "Our fighters have not carried out any attack in Jalalabad," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told AFP. "We do not claim the responsibility for this attack." Jalalabad is situated on the key route from the Pakistani border region -- where many militants are based -- to Kabul, and it has been the location of repeated attacks in recent years. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) compound in the city was hit on May 29, with the Taliban rebels also denying any involvement. One Afghan guard died in the attack, which triggered widespread outrage as the ICRC is one of the most respected aid groups in Afghanistan and has remained strictly neutral during the war.
In March, seven suicide bombers attacked a police base in Jalalabad, killing five officers. The previous month, a bomber rammed an explosives-laden car into the gates of the National Directorate of Security spy agency and detonated bombs, killing two intelligence workers. Nine Taliban suicide attackers also targeted the NATO base at Jalalabad airport in early December, killing five people and wounding several foreign troops.
Nangarhar province has seen heavy fighting in recent days with more than 20 Afghan policemen and dozens of Taliban insurgents killed when hundreds of fighters ambushed a police and military convoy on Friday.
The hardline Taliban have led a 12-year insurgency against the Afghan government since being overthrown in a U.S.-led invasion for harboring al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. But Afghanistan is beset by a myriad of armed groups ranging from Islamist rebels to criminal gangs and militias formed during the Soviet occupation in the 1980s and the 1992-1996 civil war.
The U.S. State Department said Friday it was closing at least 22 U.S. embassies or consulates on Sunday, a work day in many Islamic countries, due to the threat of a major militant attack.
Source/Agence France Presse.

Canadaian Ambassador For Religious Freedom Deeply Concerned by Iran’s Persistent Targeting of Bahá’ís
August 2, 2013 - Andrew Bennett, Canada’s Ambassador for Religious Freedom, today issued the following statement:
“Canada remains deeply concerned by Iran’s persistent and pervasive persecution of religious minorities.
“Ayatollah Khamenei’s latest hateful comments against the small Bahá’í community in Iran once again show the true intentions and sentiments of the Iranian regime. His call urging Iranians to avoid interacting with this peaceful segment of Iran’s population can only further inflict damage on the persecuted Bahá’í community.
“The Bahá’í in Iran have long suffered because of the deliberate hatred directed toward them by Iran’s leadership. This targeting of the Bahá’í and other religious communities is an ill-conceived attempt to divert the attention of Iranians away from the regime’s domestic failures.
“As a leading defender of religious freedom around the world, Canada once again urges the regime in Iran to live up to its human rights obligations and to respect the voices, thoughts and beliefs of all Iranians.”

Putin visit to Cairo impending. El-Sisi moves to outlaw Brotherhood. US in blocking mode

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report August 3, 2013/President Vladimir Putin is set to visit to Cairo – possibly next Wednesday Aug. 7 – on the advice of Saudi intelligence chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan, DEBKAfile reports exclusively. The prince landed in Moscow Wednesday, July 31 without warning. He told Putin that Saudi King Abdullah was in favor of the Russian president going to Cairo as soon as possible and did not rule out the visit occasioning the signing of a large Russian arms sale to Egypt, bankrolled by the oil kingdom.
Putin will find Egypt’s strongman, Defense Minister Gen. Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, in full cry with his next steps against the Muslim Brotherhood, after unseating its president in a coup on July 3.
El-Sisi is holding urgent discussions with the heads of the judiciary to have the movement outlawed. The unwritten pact between the generals and judicial system is the most potent political force in Egypt today, which the Brotherhood will find hard to beat. The army’s first action will be to break up the round-the-clock protests which tens of thousands of supporters of the ousted president Mohamed Morsi have been staging in Cairo for the past month for his release and reinstatement. Wednesday, July 31, their sit-in was ruled a threat to national security. For the next step, soldiers of the Republican Guard division, whose normal duties are guarding the president, have been issued with police uniforms for a more acceptable appearance when they clear protesters off the streets of the capital any day now.
The prospect of a Russian presidential visit has fired Gen. El-Sisi with redoubled energy and impetus for his crackdown on the Brotherhood.
For Putin, this will be his second trip to Cairo; his first took place in 2005 when Hosni Mubarak was president. He will play it to the hilt as a platform to show the world, and especially Arab Muslims, that he alone of the world’s five leading powers is openly committed to fighting radical Islam and ready to assist any Arab leader sharing this commitment.
He will also try and use his Cairo visit for much needed image repairs over his backing for Bashar Assad and Hizballah terrorist fighters in their savage war against a rebellion led by the Muslim Brotherhood and al Qaeda affiliates. Putin hopes to come away from Cairo as champion of the war on radical Islam in two important Arab countries and the most reliable ally of forces for moderation.
His next stop around mid-August is Tehran. This will be hard to explain away as a gesture of support of a moderate regime, but with some fast footwork, the Russian leader will use the double exposure to underscore Moscow’s solid presence at the power centers of the Middle East - in striking contrast to Washington.
The Obama administration is already seething over the Kremlin’s decision to grant the fugitive former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden temporary asylum in Russia for escaping trial in the States on a charge of espionage. Even more painful knocks are in store for Barack Obama’s Middle East policy and prestige when Egypt’s military strongman proceeds to outlaw the Muslim Brotherhood movement in defiance of his wishes and Putin turns up in Cairo with more provocations. Secretary of State John Kerry, aware of the shoals ahead for Washington, sent European Union foreign policy executive Catherine Ashton to Cairo earlier this week, followed by German Foreign Minister Guido Westerweller Friday, Aug 2, to try and hold El-Sisi’s hand. When they got nowhere, Kerry assigned US Undersecretary of State for the Middle East William Burns with paying a second visit to Cairo since the coup. He has an appointment to meet interim Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy Saturday, Aug. 3, and is waiting for one with the defense minister.
Burns came away from his first trip to Cairo empty-handed.

Preparing for the worst in Palestine
August 01, 2013/By Michael Young/The Daily Star
For a journalist, writing about Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations is more about duty than pleasure, like producing a royal heir. The talks between the two sides that resumed this week are no exception. The chances of success are next to nil, and yet the articles get written.
It’s odd how an Obama administration that has been hopeless on Syria and Egypt should now expend political capital on the Middle East’s Gordian knot. But even there the effort is halfhearted. President Barack Obama has left the legwork to Secretary of State John Kerry, putting virtually none of his personal credibility on the line to ensure the negotiations are a success.
Moreover, the participants will meet not in the United States, where the administration can exercise direct influence over them, but in the Middle East. The American official tasked with following up on the talks is Martin Indyk, a savvy former assistant secretary of state for Near East affairs and ambassador to Israel, but apparently not someone with the full weight of the president behind him.
Kerry deserves credit for having brought the two sides back to the table. But that such a basic achievement should be greeted with ululations is indicative of the profound difficulties ahead. And nothing suggests Kerry has new ideas to ensure success.
If anything, the obstacles are greater than they ever were: The Israeli population in the West Bank has increased by some 20 percent in the past five years. Defenders of the settlements hold powerful positions in the government. One of these, Naftali Bennett, is a former head of the Judea and Samaria Settlement Council. Recently, he was quoted as saying, “I’ve killed many Arabs in my life, and there is no problem with that.” Last June, Bennett derided the idea that a Palestinian state would be formed on land evacuated by Israel. “Never in the history of Israel have so many people invested so much energy in something so futile,” he said, before adding that “[t]he most important thing for the land of Israel is to build, build, build.”
And build Israel has, to the extent that a settlement council member, Dani Dayan, recently told the Washington Post, “I think in the last two or three years, we have passed a point of no return. ... What I mean is that from a psychological point of view, there is no going back. We are here to stay.”
Such are the attitudes with which Kerry and Indyk will have to wrestle. While some polls suggest a majority of Israelis would welcome an agreement with Palestinians, others show there is still resistance to the recent decision to release Palestinian prisoners and continued opposition to freezing settlement construction. Even Yair Lapid, the centrist finance minister who controls five portfolios in the Netanyahu government, opposes the dismantlement of large settlement blocs, even as he backs a two-state solution.
Some believe that, ultimately, the key is to accept the principle of a transfer of territories between Israelis and Palestinians, so that the larger blocs near the 1967 lines can be integrated into Israel and the Palestinians compensated elsewhere. Land swaps were endorsed by the Arab League earlier this year, in a modification of the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative. This helps, but the reality is that there is a higher barrier that needs to be cleared, one that transcends technical solutions: mutual mistrust between Palestinians and Israelis, and the fact that neither side seems keen to live alongside the other.
Palestinians resent more than half a century of abuse, dispossession and humiliation, and this will not soon evaporate. Israelis demand more security, but do not seem to realize that their policies today are only further intertwining their fortunes with those of the Palestinians. Unless Israelis are willing to engage in the mass expulsion of Palestinians from the West Bank and Jerusalem, they will continue to live next to a hostile population, increasingly radicalized by the hopelessness of their situation. Already, Palestinian leaders willing to compromise with Israel, above all Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, have lost authority because they never get anything in exchange for their moderation.
Can we expect this pattern to change now that the secretary of state has gotten Israelis and Palestinians into the same room? Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s track record suggests not, and he has no intention of challenging the solid majority in his government that supports the settlement enterprise. As for the Palestinians, Hamas has opposed renewed peace talks, and has rejected the land swap principle approved by the Arab states. With this degree of bad faith all around, you wonder where Kerry gets his optimism.
In fact you have to wonder why the secretary of state insists on addressing the Palestinian-Israeli challenge at this moment, when there seem to be so many other American priorities in the region. Egypt is a mess, and yet Obama’s way of dealing with it is to send Republican Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham, both critics of his Syria policy, to Cairo next week to meet with Egyptian officials. In the annals of official lethargy that must stand as a milestone.
Kerry’s management of the Syria crisis is no less puzzling. While the secretary appears to want to inject clarity into the chaotic American approach to the country, many politicians in Washington, along with Obama’s chronic hesitancy, have worked against him. Kerry’s decision to shift to the Palestinian-Israeli track is a risk that may weaken him further, since any setback can and will be turned against him.
The real problem is Obama himself. The president never seems to have both hands on U.S. overseas concerns. Rather, an escape hatch is perpetually prepared to avoid his being burned by failure. No foreign policy can thrive with such a man at the helm, and certainly not a Palestinian-Israeli track forever lined with corpses of expectation.
**Michael Young is opinion editor of THE DAILY STAR. He tweets @BeirutCalling.