LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

Bible/Faith/Quotation for today/Paul's Prayer
Ephesians 01 /15-23: "For this reason, ever since I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all of God's people, I have not stopped giving thanks to God for you. I remember you in my prayers and ask the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, to give you the Spirit, who will make you wise and reveal God to you, so that you will know him. I ask that your minds may be opened to see his light, so that you will know what is the hope to which he has called you, how rich are the wonderful blessings he promises his people, and how very great is his power at work in us who believe. This power working in us is the same as the mighty strength which he used when he raised Christ from death and seated him at his right side in the heavenly world. Christ rules there above all heavenly rulers, authorities, powers, and lords; he has a title superior to all titles of authority in this world and in the next. God put all things under Christ's feet and gave him to the church as supreme Lord over all things. The church is Christ's body, the completion of him who himself completes all things everywhere.

August 11, 2013/Daily Star /VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis expressed hope Sunday that Muslims can work together with Christians to promote mutual respect. The pope spoke from his studio window overlooking St. Peter's Square during his traditional Sunday appearance. He said that "our brothers" the Muslims had just concluded their holy month of Ramadan, dedicated to fasting, prayer and alms-giving. Tens of thousands of Romans and tourists turned out in the square in blistering heat for the papal appearance and blessing. Francis has decided to spend summer at the Vatican instead of at the customary papal villa in Castel Gandolfo, a hill town southeast of Rome where the weather is usually cooler, especially on summer evenings.

Aazaz Hostage Relative Held over Alleged Links to Kidnappers of Turks
Naharnet/Mohammed Saleh, a relative of one of the Aazaz abductees, was arrested on Sunday on charges of having links to the kidnappers of the two Turkish pilots.
“The (Internal Security Forces') Intelligence Bureau managed to identify all the kidnappers of the two Turks and it arrested Mohammed Saleh on suspicion that he's involved in the operation,” Future TV reported.
Earlier on Sunday, al-Jadeed television said Saleh was arrested after authorities “intercepted phone calls proving his links to the abductors of the Turks.”
“The families of the Aazaz abductees have given security agencies a one-hour deadline to release Mohammed Saleh, threatening to obstruct aviation at the Beirut airport,” al-Jadeed added.
But Adham Zgheib, another relative of one of the Lebanese abductees, told Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) that the families have no intention to block the road leading to and from the Rafik Hariri International Airport and that they will rather stage a sit-in outside the headquarters of the ISF. Meanwhile, Sheikh Abbas Zgheib, who has been tasked by the Higher Islamic Shiite Council to follow up the case of the abducted pilgrims, said a Lebanese security agency had arrested Saleh between 6:00-7:00 p.m. and that he was in a car with his family.
“Why was Saleh arrested and what are the legal grounds for his detention? If he was arrested over claims that phone calls were intercepted in the case of the abducted Turks, then they have to arrest all the honorable people in Lebanon,” said Zgheib in an interview with the National News Agency. He noted that the families of the abductees were threatening to escalate their protests although he denied that they have set a specific deadline and said he was trying to pacify their anger. Referring to the case of Salafist activist Shadi al-Mawlawi, Zgheib said: “All hell broke loose in the past over the arrest of a terror suspect and ministers and prime ministers were mobilized to release him and transport him in their cars, so what is the justification for the arrest of a person whose crime is that his relative was abducted more than a year ago amid total negligence (by Lebanese officials)?”
Later on Sunday, Zgheib told NNA that the abductees' families will not make any escalatory steps and that they will give a chance to mediations.
A Turkish pilot and co-pilot were kidnapped by gunmen on Friday on the airport road.
The attack prompted Turkey to issue a travel warning urging its citizens to avoid unnecessary travel to Lebanon and those already present in the country to leave.
The relatives of the pilgrims held in Aazaz were quick to deny having any links to the abduction.
Eleven pilgrims were kidnapped in Syria's Aleppo region in May 2012 as they were making their way back to Lebanon by land from pilgrimage in Iran.
Two of them have since been released, while the rest remain in Aazaz. Their relatives have held Turkey responsible for their ongoing abduction.
They have repeatedly vowed to take action against Turkish interests in Lebanon in order to pressure Ankara to release the captives.

Sheikh Abbas Zgheib: Relatives of Aazaz Pilgrims Entitled to Take Escalatory Steps against Turkish Interests
Naharnet /Sheikh Abbas Zgheib, who has been tasked by the Higher Islamic Shiite Council to follow up the case of the abducted Lebanese pilgrims in Syria, defended the right of the relatives of the captives to target Turkish interests in Lebanon in order to pressure Ankara to release them, reported the Kuwaiti daily al-Anbaa on Sunday. He said: “The relatives have every right to take any appropriate escalatory measure they see fit to harm Turkish interests in Lebanon.” “Any action they take to that end will be legitimate and just,” he stressed. On the abduction of two Turkish pilots in Lebanon on Friday, he said: “The Lebanese state has the right to intervene to resolve this issue, but it should in return fairly deal with this issue and not simply seek to appease Turkey.”The lack of any decisive official Lebanese position on the pilgrims' abduction prompted the kidnapping of the pilots by the Zuwar al-Imam Rida group,” Zgheib explained. “The group cannot be blamed if its goal was to ensure the release of the pilgrims,” he stressed.
“The Turkish state is the only side that should be blamed and condemned for its attempts to stall the release of the captives,” he added. He also said that the March 14 forces should be blamed as well because its positions have only encouraged the Turkish stances. Asked if the pilots' abduction will harm General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim's efforts to release the pilgrims, Zgheib replied: “The members of the follow up committee on the pilgrims' kidnapping understand the good intentions of the Zuwar al-Imam Rida group.” “The group realized that the approach of negotiations to resolve the case will not yield any results and it therefore abducted the pilots believing that a counter-kidnapping may pressure the captors to release the pilgrims,” he noted. A Turkish pilot and co-pilot kidnapped by gunmen on Friday. Six gunmen intercepted a van carrying the Turkish Airlines employees from Rafik Hariri International Airport to a hotel in the Ain Mreisseh seafront at dawn Friday, kidnapping the two pilots - Murat Akpinar and Murat Agca - but leaving the four other crew members behind. The attack prompted Turkey to issue a travel warning urging its citizens to avoid unnecessary travel to Lebanon and those already present in the country to leave. The relatives of the pilgrims held in Aazaz were quick to deny having any links to the abduction.
Eleven pilgrims were kidnapped in Syria's Aleppo region in May 2012 as they were making their way back to Lebanon by land from pilgrimage in Iran. Two of them have since been released, while the rest remain in Aazaz. Their relatives have held Turkey responsible for their ongoing abduction. They have repeatedly vowed to take action against Turkish interests in Lebanon in order to pressure Ankara to release the captives.

Al-Rahi Slams 'Disgraceful' Abduction of Turks, Urges Release of Aazaz Pilgrims
Naharnet/Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday condemned as “disgraceful” the abduction of two Turkish pilots near Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport, saying they were kidnapped in a prearranged and “professional” manner amid “the absence of the state's security authorities.” Al-Rahi warned that the operation will harm Lebanon's image, urging state officials to stop being “reckless concerning security and people's interests.”
“Enough with your personal disputes at the expense of Lebanon and its institutions and people,” the patriarch added, urging the release of the pilots as soon as possible.
“We reiterate our call for the release of the Lebanese abductees in (Syria's) Aazaz as well as the two bishops Boulos Yazigi and Youhanna Ibrahim and the three priests who were kidnapped in Syria and we pray for this to happen,” al-Rahi said. He also blasted Lebanese officials over the delay in “forming a new cabinet; holding the parliamentary polls; drafting a fair and just electoral law; finalizing the administrative appointments, executive decrees and legislation; resolving the judicial issues; confronting the economic and social challenges; and fending off the security threats created by the repercussions of the war in Syria and the refugee influx.”

Charbel Pledges Positive News on Turkish Pilots in Upcoming Days: They are Doing Well
Naharnet/Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel stressed on Sunday that investigations are “on track” to determine the fate of the abducted Turkish pilots and ensure their release, reported Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3).
He told the radio: “The pilots are doing well and we hope to have positive news in the case in upcoming days.”“We are employing all possible means to find them,” he added. “The most important thing is that we find their location, make sure they are safe, and ensure their release,” stated the minister. Furthermore, he urged the media to refrain from analyses that may harm the investigations. “All sides are being cooperative in investigating the abduction of the pilots,” he said in response to whether Hizbullah was contributing to these efforts.A Turkish pilot and co-pilot kidnapped by gunmen on Friday. Six gunmen intercepted a van carrying the Turkish Airlines employees from Rafik Hariri International Airport to a hotel in the Ain Mreisseh seafront at dawn Friday, kidnapping the two pilots - Murat Akpinar and Murat Agca - but leaving the four other crew members behind. The attack prompted Turkey to issue a travel warning urging its citizens to avoid unnecessary travel to Lebanon and those already present in the country to leave.

Suleiman, Miqati, Salam Urge Arrest of Hujairi's Convoy Attackers
Naharnet/President Michel Suleiman on Sunday held talks with the security officials over the deadly al-Labweh incident that happened earlier in the day, urging “utmost efforts to contain the situation and arrest the perpetrators and refer them to the relevant judicial authorities.” “Resorting to such methods, amid the breakthrough in the issue of the abductees, will further complicate things and create new problems,” Suleiman said.
Arsal municipal chief Ali al-Hujairi and two of his companions were wounded while a man was killed when their convoy came under fire in the Bekaa town of al-Labweh earlier on Sunday, shortly after they took part in a hostage swap that took place in Ras Baalbek. A military source told Agence France Presse that the ambush comes in retaliation to a deadly attack on four young men near Arsal in June and that it was carried out by members of the Jaafar and Amhaz families as the car passed the town of al-Labweh. For his part, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati contacted caretaker Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn, caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel, army Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Walid Salman and the dignitaries of Arsal. Miqati stressed the importance of “cooperation among all the residents of the region to address the repercussions of the incident and thwart any attempt to stir strife among their ranks.” The premier noted that security agencies are “performing their duties to apprehend the culprits and refer them to the judiciary.”
Meanwhile, PM-designate Tammam Salam contacted the interior minister to inquire about the circumstances of the attack, urging the army and security forces to “deal with this act with utmost firmness in order to arrest the perpetrators and bring them to justice.” Salam said the incident highlights “the volatile and critical situation in the Bekaa region and the urgent need for joint efforts from all the political parties and residents to confront all attempts at stirring strife and undermining stability and civil peace.”

Report: Turkish Pilots' Kidnappers Professionals, Not Relatives of Aazaz Abductees
Naharnet /Initial reports in the kidnapping of the two Turkish pilots have found out that the abductors are professionals and not amateurs, reported the daily An Nahar on Sunday. It explained that the high level of professionalism in the operation indicates that the captors are not relatives of the Lebanese pilgrims held in Syria's Aazaz region. The kidnapping raised questions over the efficiency of the security measures taken at the airport seeing as the Turkish Airlines pilots were abducted at a distance of less than 200 meters from Rafik Hariri International Airport. The kidnappers would have had to monitor the arrival time of the pilots' plane and set up the ambush in the busy airport area without being detected, added the daily. Observers questioned how the assailants set up the fake checkpoint, changed the course of traffic along the airport highway, and carried out the abduction out in the open, reported An Nahar. “How is that the kidnappers knew the complete details of the Turkish Airlines flight and the exact time that its crew needed to arrive at the airport, leave the premises, and get to the ambush?” they asked.
Investigations are so far focusing on the telephone calls conducted before the landing of the plane, it stated. A Turkish pilot and co-pilot kidnapped by gunmen on Friday. Six gunmen intercepted a van carrying the Turkish Airlines employees from Rafik Hariri International Airport to a hotel in the Ain Mreisseh seafront at dawn Friday, kidnapping the two pilots - Murat Akpinar and Murat Agca - but leaving the four other crew members behind.
The attack prompted Turkey to issue a travel warning urging its citizens to avoid unnecessary travel to Lebanon and those already present in the country to leave. The relatives of the pilgrims held in Aazaz were quick to deny having any links to the abduction. Eleven pilgrims were kidnapped in Syria's Aleppo region in May 2012 as they were making their way back to Lebanon by land from pilgrimage in Iran.
Two of them have since been released, while the rest remain in Aazaz. Their relatives have held Turkey responsible for their ongoing abduction. They have repeatedly vowed to take action against Turkish interests in Lebanon in order to pressure Ankara to release the captives.

Hariri Calls for Preventing Strife after al-Labweh Ambush
Naharnet/Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Sunday telephoned Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji and discussed with him the attack that targeted the convoy of Arsal municipal chief Ali al-Hujairi earlier in the day, the ex-PM's office said. "Hariri stressed the need to take the measures necessary to pursue the perpetrators, noting that this incident is part of the nonstop attempts to drag the country into further tensions,” the office added.
The former premier also telephoned al-Hujairi, who briefed him on the circumstances of the attack. During his talks with the municipal chief, Hariri condemned the incident and warned against being dragged into the plots of “those who are trying to ignite sedition,” said a statement issued by the ex-PM's office. Al-Hujairi and two other people were wounded while a man was killed when their convoy came under fire in the Bekaa town of al-Labweh earlier on Sunday, shortly after they took part in a hostage swap that took place in Ras Baalbek, state-run National News Agency reported. A military source told Agence France Presse that the ambush comes in retaliation to a deadly attack on four young men near Arsal in June and that it was carried out by members of the Jaafar family as the car passed the town of al-Labweh.

Report: Army Thwarts Suicide Attack at Arsal Checkpoint
Naharnet/The army succeeded on Friday night in thwarting a suicide bomb attack against a checkpoint in the Bekaa region of Arsal, reported An Nahar daily on Sunday. It revealed that soldiers had halted the attack shortly after it stopped a Syrian, a Palestinian, and Danish citizen of Palestinian origins at the Hmeid checkpoint on the outskirts of Arsal. They were traveling from Syria in a Mitsubishi vehicle without license plates or identification cards. Upon halting the vehicle, one of the Palestinians, wearing an explosive belt, stepped out of the car and attempted to blow himself up. The soldiers however shot and killed him before he would carry out his attack.
His two companions have since been arrested. A Kalashnikov rifle and another explosive belt attacked to a hand grenade was found in their possession.
The Army Command had initially revealed the attack in a statement on Friday night, saying that it had arrested three gunmen as they attempted to infiltrate Lebanon from Syria earlier that day. On July 14, the army arrested a number of individuals for transporting weapons in Arsal. The Beirut-based, pan-Arab television al-Mayadeen said those arrested were two Syrians, a Lebanese and two Palestinians who were carrying "suicide vests."
Border areas in the North and East have been struck by frequent cross-border shelling and clashes linked to the Syrian crisis, while the Syrian regime has told Lebanon to better control its porous border to prevent the smuggling of fighters and arms. 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.

Arsal Mayor Hurt, Companion Killed as Convoy Attacked after Hostage Swap
Naharnet/Arsal municipal chief Ali al-Hujairi was wounded and his companion Mohammed Hasan al-Hujairi was killed when their convoy came under fire in the Bekaa town of al-Labweh on Sunday, shortly after a hostage swap that took place in Ras Baalbek, state-run National News Agency reported.
Two other companions of the municipal chief were also injured in the attack, NNA said, noting that Mohammed's body was transported to Dar al-Amal Hospital in Douris.
Ali al-Hujairi “was on his way back from a hostage swap that saw the exchange of Youssef al-Meqdad for several abductees who hail from Arsal when he fell into an armed ambush on the road between al-Labweh and al-Nabi Othman,” the agency reported. The ambush was staged by “gunmen who were in four cars: a Cherokee and a Yukon SUVs and two Mercedes cars,” NNA said, adding that Hujairi was lightly wounded in the head while Ahmed Khaled al-Hujairi, aka al-Qatsheh, was critically injured. “Ali al-Fliti, aka Ali Zahwi, received light injuries to his hand and he left hospital together with the municipal chief after they received the necessary treatment,” the agency added.As soon as the news of the ambush broke out, tensions soared in Arsal and a number of men fired their weapons in the air to condemn the attack, NNA said.
In the Bekaa town of Saadnayel, protesters blocked roads in condemnation of the attack as gunmen deployed on the streets, according to al-Mayadeen television.
Earlier, OTV said “al-Nusra Front militant” Abou Khaled al-Qatshi, who hails from Arsal, was killed in the ambush. But NNA said it received phone calls from a number of Arsal residents who denied that one of the wounded is a Nusra member. Military sources told LBCI television that the armed group that staged the attack also kidnapped Syrian national Mohammed Abbas.
Later on Sunday, the army heavily deployed in al-Labweh's square and on the road leading to Arsal, according to OTV.
A group calling itself “The Brigades of the Four Martyrs” has claimed the attack, Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) said. Later on Sunday, the army issued a statement confirming the casualties and saying the gunmen also abducted two Syrians who were in the convoy.
"Army units deployed in all Bekaa regions, especially in northern Bekaa, have taken extraordinary measures to prevent any escalation,” it said. Troops are also conducting “a major search and investigation operation to identify and arrest the perpetrators and refer them to the relevant judicial authorities,” the statement added. A military source told Agence France Presse that the incident comes in retaliation to a deadly attack on four young men near Arsal in June. He said the attack was carried out by members of the Jaafar and Amhaz families as the car passed the town of al-Labweh. The four men were killed on June 15 as they smuggled fuel in the region, a security source said at the time. Members of the Jaafar family, to which two of the slain men belonged, responded furiously and the Lebanese army called for calm in the area, which is home to both Shiite and Sunni towns.
While the deaths were believed to be linked to control of the lucrative smuggling trade in the region, they came amid tensions between Lebanon's Sunni and Shiites communities sparked by the conflict in neighboring Syria.

Morsi Loyalists Rally in Cairo as Crackdown Looms
Naharnet/Supporters of ousted Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi rallied on Sunday to demand his reinstatement, amid last ditch efforts for reconciliation ahead of a threatened crackdown on protests.
A large convoy of cars carrying pictures of the deposed president beeped their horns as they drove through a neighborhood in east Cairo.
Hundreds at a women's march in central Cairo chanted against army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi who was behind Morsi's overthrow, shouting: "Sisi is a traitor, Sisi is a killer."Morsi loyalists, led by the Muslim Brotherhood, have kept up two huge camps in Cairo to protest against the Islamist president's ouster by the military on July 3, with regular demonstrations around the country.
They say nothing short of his reinstatement will persuade them to disperse, despite several warnings by the interim leaders that the camps will be dismantled after the Eid al-Fitr holiday which was to end on Sunday.
In a sign of the mounting tensions, a brief overnight power cut at the main sit-in outside the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque struck panic among the pro-Morsi demonstrators, with some taking to social media to announce the assault had begun. Protest organizers told Agence France Presse that as the electricity went out, they reinforced their barricades, added sandbags to the entrances of the protest site, and sent volunteers to find out what was happening, only to be told it was a false alarm.
The main coalition of Morsi supporters, the Anti-Coup Alliance, said 10 marches would take off from various parts of the capital on Sunday "to defend the electoral legitimacy" of Egypt's first freely elected president.
The fresh rallies came as Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's highest seat of learning, called for reconciliation talks in the latest of a string of attempts to find a peaceful solution to the political deadlock.
Al-Azhar's Grand Imam, Ahmed al-Tayyeb, is to begin contacts with political factions on Monday aimed at convincing them to sit down to talks later this week, state media reported.
"Al-Azhar has been studying all the proposals for reconciliation put forward by political and intellectual figures... to come up with a compromise formula for all Egyptians," Tayyeb's adviser, Mahmoud Azab, told the state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper. But the Muslim Brotherhood is unlikely to accept such an invitation after Al-Azhar sided with the military over Morsi's ouster.
Tayyeb appeared with army chief Sisi when he announced on July 3 that Morsi had been deposed and laid out a political roadmap for Egypt's transition which provides for new elections in 2014.
Morsi's turbulent single year in power polarized Egyptians and his ouster by the military only deepened divisions.
The Islamist leader was widely criticized for concentrating power in Brotherhood hands and under his tenure Egypt saw political divisions spill out onto the streets in deadly clashes while the economy tumbled.
On June 30, millions took to the streets to demand Morsi's ouster, openly calling on the army to remove him.
The interim leadership is now under immense pressure at home to crack down on the pro-Morsi protests, and immense pressure from the international community to avoid bloodshed.
Senior U.S., EU and Arab envoys flew into Cairo in recent weeks to try to persuade the two sides to find a peaceful way out of the crisis. But the government vowed on Wednesday to clear the Islamist protest camps, saying foreign mediation had failed. More than 250 people have been killed in clashes since Morsi's ouster, following days of mass rallies demanding his resignation.
The government had already ordered police to end the pro-Morsi protests, which it described as a "national security threat." Meanwhile, the army pursued a campaign against militants in the lawless Sinai peninsula, with the latest air strikes leaving 25 people dead and injured, the military said. In the town of Touma, witnesses confirmed eight people were killed, with their funerals held Sunday.
Militants based mainly in north Sinai near Israel's border have escalated attacks on security forces and other targets since Morsi's ouster.SourceAgence France Presse.

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood goes underground, hides command structure in Gaza
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report August 11, 2013/On July 22, debkafile revealed that a group of six Muslim Brotherhood officials escaped from Egypt after the July 3 overthrow of president Mohamed Morsi in a military coup and smuggled themselves into the Gaza Strip to lead an uprising against the military. The group was headed by Mahmud Izzat Ibrahim, known as the Brotherhood’s “iron man” and fourth in rank in its hierarchy after Supreme Guide Muhammed Badie. The fugitives set up a command post at the Gaza Beach Hotel for operations against Egyptian military and security targets in collaboration with Hamas and armed Al Qaeda-linked Salafist Bedouin in Sinai. The group planned their revolt to spread quickly out from Sinai to Egypt proper and topple the interim rulers in Cairo.
Western intelligence agencies following the inner workings of the Muslim Brotherhood have since discovered that the Brotherhood’s plans are a good deal more high-powered than first thought.
According to debkafile’s intelligence sources, the movement never dismantled its clandestine paramilitary underground. Its hidden commanders manipulated front politicians from the shadows under three Egyptian presidents and continued to do so after the Brotherhood was elected to power in Cairo in 2012. At all times since then, the Brothers stood ready to step in should their Freedom and Justice Party leaders be ousted and sent back to prison. “Supreme Guide,” Mohammed Badie was therefore no more than an obedient front for the Muslim Brotherhood’s real leader, who was until now Mr. X. It now transpires that he is none other than Mahmoud Izzat Ibrahim, who is firmly at the helm and running the show both in Sinai and Cairo from the Gaza Beach Hotel, under the auspices of the Palestinian Hamas rulers. He plans to confront with violence every action ordered against the Brotherhood by Defense Minister, Gen. Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi.
While conducting a war of terror against military targets in Sinai, Izzat Ibrahim’s orders keep thousands of followers maintaining their sit-in protests in Cairo for their president's reinstatement. They are determined to leave the military no option but to use force to disperse them. Ibrahim's goal is to lead his movement into a bloody confrontation with the military. Gen. El-Sisi, for his part, knows that the Brotherhood’s underground command center in the Gaza Beach Hotel must be destroyed in order to beat its war of resistance. For effective action in the Gaza Strip, the Egyptian military needs help from Israel’s Defense Forces, just as the IDF needs the Egyptian army to counteract the al Qaeda and other Islamic terrorists in Sinai who are dedicated to attacking Israel as well as Egypt.
This tacit interdependence and the interchanges against a shared enemy shot into prominence over two incidents. The first was the two-hour closure Thursday, Aug. 8 of Eilat airport at Israel’s southernmost tip, following an Egyptian intelligence tip-off over a missile threat from Sinai. Then Friday, Aug. 9, foreign sources reported that two missiles fired by an Israeli drone in North Sinai destroyed a missile launcher and killed four or five terrorists at Ajarah. Israel never confirmed this attack. The impression it made was quickly overlaid with conflicting reports. Egyptian officials initially attributed the Israeli drone attack to intelligence cooperation between the two armies. An Al-Qaeda group in Sinai, Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, accused Israel of killing four of its members by a drone strike and vowed vengeance. debkafile reported that the attack may not have been conducted by Israel but Egyptian authorities, which preferred to disavow an operation carried out on the Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr.
Finally, Sunday, the Egyptian military reported that its operation against armed groups in the Sinai believed to have been plotting attacks on security forces and other targets was ongoing. At least seven people were killed over night and six arrested in a raid. The Egyptian military statement went on to report that the raid followed an air strike by the Egyptian military on Friday, which saw at least four people killed. The assault on Saturday happened when Apache helicopters hit areas south of Sheikh Zuwaid in north Sinai, according to Egyptian state media. Israel’s Defense minister commented: “The Egyptian army is fighting first and foremost to defend Egyptian citizens and sovereignty. We will not let rumors and speculation impair the peace relations between our countries.”

Morocco: The King and the Frankness Approach
Mohammad el-Ashab/Al Hayat
Could the case of Spanish prisoner Daniel Galvan have taken the dimensions it did, had his crimes not featured the raping and violation of the dignity of children? Pardon, which is a prerogative held by the head of the state, affected people accused and pursued on the judicial level against the backdrop of many files. The street, however, was shaken by the provocative character of the acts attributed to Galvan. This means that societies accept tolerance and forgiveness – even some forms of arbitrary injustices prohibited by law – but like any other body, strongly reject extraneous behavior.
However, the controversy was not caused by Galvan’s pardoning, which was soon recanted by Moroccan Monarch Mohammed VI, once he realized that a grave mistake had been committed, when the name of the accused was included in the amnesty lists. Indeed, the measures linked to the pardon decision revealed the possible insertion of names or inclusion of people pursued by the judiciary on these lists, although they do not meet the required conditions. While this coincides with the ongoing debate over the reform of the judiciary system to guarantee efficiency, fairness and the quick settlement of the files, it reveals that the legal arsenal – no matter how accurate, sound and in line it is with advanced international laws – is not enough on its' own to ensure the soundness of the sentences. It is therefore the power of conscience that spares judicial sentences from any possible flaws.
If by pardoning Galvan, the book of amnesty is open, namely with the dismissal of the high commissioner who administrated prisons, whose involvement in this fault has been proved, thanks to investigations, then the reform of the judicial system has become a must, at least on two levels, the first being the laws adaptation so they become adequate to change, while the second would have to do with the integrity of conscience, which grants the judge the power to evaluate. The position adopted by the Moroccan monarch will unlikely go without repercussions, at least because this is the first time that he recants a decision he had adopted and is not informed about the acts of one of the people included in the pardon. This precedent paves the way before the enforcement of the agreements related to the retrieving of wanted elements, in case they are foreigners or living in foreign countries. In reality, and just like any other people, the Moroccans are not interested in keeping their prisons full. They are rather interested in seeing justice done, when dealing with those who committed rape crimes against children. As for King Mohammed VI’s reception of the families of the victims, it had a major impact in restoring consideration.
The paradox is that through the pardon initiative, Morocco wanted to respond to the demands of its Spanish neighbor. However, it fell in the trap of a pardon that lacked the necessary judgment required in such cases, and just like civil organizations and dignitaries rebelled, when a minor committed suicide after she was forced to marry the man who raped her, the pardoning of the children’s rapist provoked angry reactions. This means that the Moroccan street is practicing a more stringent monitoring role towards the government than all the parliamentary blocs, and that this role is no longer limited to the opposition of unfair policies. Indeed, it now affects any decisions or commitments that are provocative and immoral. People can put up with nature’s injustice, but they cannot succumb to that of topical laws.
Namely in moral issues, disputes dissipate and viewpoints converge and merge. Hence, it is out of the question for any country – no matter how tolerant it is – to accept seeing outlaws running loose, which is why the ball that started rolling in the Moroccan court reached Spain, which authorized the pursuit of Daniel Galvan, against the backdrop of the acts attributed to him. By doing so, Spain helped end the Moroccan neighbor’s embarrassment, which saw how a misplaced “reward” not only reached the wrong address, but also provoked a wave of overwhelming anger. This reveals that the world is still fine, as long as the people are still upholding their moral values.
The situation provoked some sort of an aftershock. Yet, the speed with which the Moroccan monarch dealt with it reflected the ongoing respect of the pulse of the street, as he went far in his honesty vis-à-vis his people, when he said that no side was informed, at any point and in any way, about the nature of the crimes committed by Spanish national Galvan. In reality, when it comes to the pardoning of thousands of people, it is impossible for the king to look at all the papers and information. It is thus the responsibility of the parties included in the amnesty committee to be more thorough and to realize the size of the responsibility on their shoulders. However, the other side of the picture reveals that many cases are not presented as they truly are or are twisted, whether out of neglect or fear. The experience which was overcome by Morocco - despite its limited character – showed that concealing facts from the ruler might not be beneficial, and might even implicate him in predicaments. Honesty is a key pillar in any wise authority, whether at the level of strategic issues or the regular practices that might have completely reverse results if they miss the address.

Mediators Versus Egypt
Jihad el-Khazen/Al Hayat
I had hoped that General Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi had refused to receive Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham, the war and evil duo. I had hoped that the interim president, Adly Mansour, and the prime minister, Hazem Al-Beblawi, had rejected all of the foreign efforts undertaken by people who claimed they wanted a solution to Egypt's domestic crisis.
The two Republican Senators have supported every war against Arabs and Muslims; the blood of Iraqi children is on their hands. Even so, they had the nerve to claim that they had come to Egypt as part of an effort to see an Egyptian solution to an Egyptian problem. In fact, we should say that their efforts were Israeli. They had asked for a halt to American assistance to Egypt, on the pretext that a coup had taken place. They refused to see the millions of Egyptians demonstrating for the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi and decided, while visiting Egypt, that it was a failed state, or on its way to being one - they actually hope for this, just as McCain warned a coming bloodbath, which he would also like to see.
As for other "gentlemen" mediators, they are either working for the interests of their countries, as one would suppose, or for the interest of Israel. In any case, the interest of Egypt and its people is the last thing they think about. The best solution should be Egyptian, with Egyptians responsible for this solution, perhaps helped by Arab mediation. As for the others, we and Egypt have had enough of them, and they should keep their distance. I cannot hide the fact that they have deceived others. They were received by Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy, whose father Ismail was a wise patriot who did not deceive, or become deceived.
I could also mention here Tawakul Karman, a dear Yemeni woman who won the Nobel Peace Prize and was banned from entering Egypt after she came to support Morsi. I say to her that she should pay attention to her own country, which has become a headquarters for al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, i.e., a headquarters of criminal terror, and the target of American drones, which are killing civilians.
The situation in Egypt can tolerate no interpretations or justifications. During the one year of Muslim Brotherhood rule, the economy was destroyed, or nearly destroyed. The country's reserves vanished and the budget deficit rose by 11 percent, while in June, when the Egyptians rose up, inflation was at 9.8 percent, along with record levels of unemployment. The Muslim Brotherhood's supporters demonstrated, held sit-ins and blocked roads, bridges and tunnels to sabotage their own country. The Egyptian Army intervened after the people rose up against the Muslim Brotherhood regime. There was a revolution that was bigger than the one witnessed in 2011, and it aimed at preventing acts of violence and the collapse of security. Yet. McCain and Graham talked about a coup after they turned their backs on the Egyptian people. I was surprised that Senator Rand Paul insisted that a coup took place, and asked that the $1.5 billion in US assistance be spent on America's own inner cities. At least Paul had good intentions, even if he is inexperienced. If he had only done the same with regard to Israeli assistance, which is much larger than what Egypt gets, to help revive American cities suffering from the ongoing financial crisis; even Detroit has declared bankruptcy. I read an editorial deserving of mention in The Washington Post, that great liberal newspaper. Recently, a Jewish man bought it and its information is always correct. Its editorial page contains fair liberal Jews and also extremist Likudniks who put Israel's interest over that of America's.
The editorial, written by the pro-Likud types, said that soldiers removed an elected president from power; it did not say that millions of Egyptians did so. It did not doubt the soundness of his election, and the figures are there. The editorial did not take note of the millions of Egyptians who demonstrated against a president from the Muslim Brotherhood; it rejected the statement by US Secretary of State John Kerry in Pakistan, when he said the Egyptian Army intervened to restore democracy, and insisted that the Army ousted an elected president. The newspaper did not see that the "elected president" and his gang tried to make Egypt into the Muslim Brotherhood, and that the terrorist Ayman Al-Zawahiri called for armed resistance, forgetting democracy. It did not see that the leader of the Brotherhood, Mohamed Badie, and his advisors faced accusations of inciting the protestors to kill. Egypt will be saved by its people, and the Brotherhood is a part of Egypt. It should have a role in the coming democratic system; the supporters of Israel, meanwhile, are enemies of God and His people.

When McCain Visits us
Mostafa Zein/Al Hayat
The Arabs are never very optimistic about the appearances of Senator John McCain. The former pilot has not laid down his arms, ever since the time he was bombing the Vietnamese people. Crimes against humanity in Vietnam made him stronger. He still sees the United States as the savior of mankind, whose mission is to spread democratic values, even if forced to exterminate savage peoples to do so. American values are more important than human beings, especially if they serve Washington’s interests. John McCain flares up to rescue allies. He does not avoid going to dangerous places – from Libya, where he supported the rebels, to north Lebanon, where he inspected practical preparations to storm Syria. From there, he moved to northern Syria, where he offered his support to the groups of armed fighters – groups affiliated to Al-Qaeda, the Al-Nusra Front, the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and dozens of other names. He pledged to all of them that he would pressure the White House to establish a buffer zone “to protect the rebels and turn it into a base for attacks towards Damascus, so as to topple the dictatorship and establish a just national democratic state”. It is not one of McCain’s habits to abandon allies during crises. Here he is, flaring up to rescue the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, this time bringing along his fellow Senator, Lindsey Graham. The two men are not interfering in Egypt’s affairs, but they informed the leader of the “coup”, Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, that they had prevented the decision to cut off military aid to the Egyptian army from being taken. Their threat was a clear one: he must either agree to the return of the Muslim Brotherhood and hand power over to the people, or see American aid cut off. To make themselves even clearer, in case anyone had failed to understand, they added that they represented the US Congress, but that their visit to Cairo had taken place in coordination with the White House. In other words, the US administration, not just the US Congress, stands with the Muslim Brotherhood against the army.
McCain’s argument is that the people have chosen the Muslim Brotherhood, and that their will must be respected. This would be a sound democratic argument if one were to reduce democracy to merely the ballot box. But what about the will of the tens of millions of people, who protested against the practices engaged in by the Brotherhood during its year in power, accusing it of “Brotherhoodizing” great and small institutions? And what about the Muslim Brotherhood’s foreign policy, in continuity with the policies adopted by Egypt’s former regime? The fact of the matter is that democracy and the will of peoples are the least of Washington’s concerns. This is what events have confirmed, from Latin America to the Middle East, without forgetting Africa and Asia. John McCain represents the finest example of such a direction, which he seeks to embody every time he has a chance to. Indeed, the “Arab Spring” has provided him with a golden opportunity he simply cannot miss.
Let no Arab forget, whether they support or oppose American policy, that the White House and the US Congress’s main concern in the Middle East is ensuring the security of Israel. This is no prediction or analysis, as every statement by an American official confirms it, and every “mediation” effort engaged in by Senators from Congress or by the White House drives towards it. There is no difference between Democrats and Republicans. Anyone who departs from such a rule becomes an outcast. It is no coincidence for Secretary of State John Kerry to have chosen Ambassador Martin Indyk as his aid, for reviving negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis. Indeed, the man has dedicated his entire life to the service of Zionism and Israel, and the story of the lobby and of how he obtained American citizenship, to be later appointed as Ambassador in Tel Aviv under Clinton is known to everyone. John McCain is no less of a prominent figure in this respect. He was among the staunchest supporters of the destruction of Iraq, the most enthusiastic about destroying Libya. He was also of those who have called for attacking Syria and who have incited an Israeli invasion of Lebanon. He clings to Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish State and his mediation in Egypt does not depart from such a course. However, he has failed and the more he fails, the more he clings to his stances.
In his visit to Cairo and his defense of the toppled president, McCain has brought suspicion on the Muslim Brotherhood of coordinating with Israel. Is it then mere suspicion?

Canada Condemns Eid al-Fitr Bombing in Iraq
August 10, 2013 - Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird today issued the following statement:
“Canada unequivocally condemns the abhorrent attacks that killed scores of people and injured more than one hundred in mainly Shi’ite areas in Baghdad.
“Our thoughts go out to the families and friends of the victims of this senseless violence. We also wish a speedy recovery to those injured.
“Today’s attacks come while Muslims around the world observe Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan. These despicable attacks appear to have targeted Iraqi Shi’ites celebrating this Muslim holiday.
“Canada urges Iraqi authorities to bring those responsible to justice, and to protect those who seek to build a more prosperous and peaceful Iraq.”
Media Relations Office
Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada
613-995-1874
media@international.gc.ca
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Seven Pillars of Fiction
by Efraim Karsh/The Wall Street Journal
http://www.meforum.org/3577/lawrence-of-arabia-fiction
The modern Middle East was born when the European powers exploited the declining Ottoman Empire's entry into World War I to gobble up its lands. They did so by duping naive Arab nationalists to rise against their Ottoman suzerain and then cheated the Arabs of the fruits of their uprising.
So goes the popular narrative about the origins of the region's troubles. It's an emotionally gripping tale, but it's also the inverse of truth. It wasn't British officials but a Meccan potentate, Sharif Hussein ibn Ali of the Hashemite family, who in the summer of 1915 hatched the idea of overthrowing the Ottoman Empire. Impressed by Hussein's promises to raise the Ottomans' Arab subjects in revolt, Sir Arthur Henry McMahon, the British high commissioner in Egypt, tentatively accepted Hussein's vision of an Arab successor empire and facilitated the revolt that began in June 1916.
Hussein never came close to fulfilling his end of the bargain. Most of the Arabic-speaking population remained loyal to the Turks until the bitter end, viewing the Hashemite insurrection with disdain. Even in his hometown of Mecca the sharif didn't command absolute loyalty. Had he not been armed and fed by Britain (and, to a lesser extent, France) and provided with troops, military guidance and lavish shipments of gold to buy Bedouin loyalty, Hussein would have never been able to launch his uprising, let alone sustain it.
This act of insubordination in a secondary theater of the Great War played a negligible part in the fall of the Ottoman Empire. Yet it was instantly immortalized as the "Great Arab Revolt," winning the Hashemites territories several times the size of the British Isles after the war: The emirate of Transjordan (later to be known as the Kingdom of Jordan) was established in 1921 to satisfy the ambitions of Hussein's second son, Abdullah, while in the same year the modern state of Iraq was created at the instigation of Abdullah's younger brother Faisal. Hussein himself became king of the Hijaz, Islam's birthplace, only to be evicted a few years later by Abdul Aziz ibn Saud, the founding father of Saudi Arabia.
It was a young British participant, Thomas Edward Lawrence (1888-1935), who single-handedly produced this extraordinary feat of historical deception. Though aware that the revolt was but "a sideshow of a sideshow," as he wrote in his cleverly titled 1922 memoir, "Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph," Lawrence had no qualms about mythologizing it in grand style. In the process he catapulted himself to fame as "Lawrence of Arabia" and became perhaps the first mega-celebrity of modern times. His legend was amplified by generations of acolytes, including Lowell Thomas, whose "The Last Crusade" lectures about Lawrence played to full houses in New York and London in 1919; the British director David Lean, who gave us the Oscar-winning 1962 epic "Lawrence of Arabia"; and a lengthy string of fawning biographers.
The illegitimate son of a disgraced Anglo-Irish aristocrat and his children's governess, Lawrence studied archaeology at Oxford and spent the prewar years working on digs in Syria and Palestine. When the Ottomans made their catastrophic decision to enter World War I on the side of the Triple Alliance in November 1914, Lawrence was recruited to a new intelligence unit in Cairo, the headquarters of Britain's war effort in the Middle East. Two years later, in October 1916, he accompanied a senior British official to the Hijaz to inspect the state of the Hashemite insurrection that had begun a few months earlier. Staying behind to report on the situation, he endeared himself to Faisal, and the road from there to his creation of the myth of the revolt was short.
How did an archaeologist with no military education successfully brand himself a world authority on guerrilla warfare with considerable impact on the future shape of the Middle East? The answer offered by Scott Anderson's beautifully crafted but ultimately flawed account of the desert revolt is that "Lawrence was able to become 'Lawrence of Arabia' because no one was paying much attention." As Lawrence's superiors saw it, the author says, permitting a daring young operator to lead the Arabs in distracting the Turks from the much bloodier and consequential European front was a low-cost, high-return investment.
The problem with this theory is that London did actually commit massive resources and serious efforts to the Middle East during the war. These ranged from the disastrous 1915 Gallipoli landing, to the tortuous but successful Mesopotamian campaign (1915-16), to the conquest of the Levant (1917-18) by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force headed by Gen. Edmund Allenby. By the time fighting came to an end in 1918, no fewer than one million British and Commonwealth troops had been deployed in the region—hardly a reflection of "the low regard with which British war strategists viewed events in the Middle East," as Mr. Anderson claims.
The Hashemite uprising was indeed a minor sideshow in the grand order of things, yet it was never the free-ranging operation suggested by the author. Rather it was an integral part of the Anglo-French war effort—Paris sent a military mission to the revolt commanded by a colonel—that was led by a string of seasoned officers, such as Col. Cyril Wilson and Lt. Col. Pierce Joyce, but never by Lawrence. As Lawrence himself put it, "I never had any office among the Arabs: was never in charge of the British mission with them. Wilson, Joyce, Newcombe, Dawnay and Davenport were all over my head."
Mr. Anderson recounts Lawrence's life in chronological fashion, drawing on some contemporary sources, official correspondence and the like. Yet he is too willing to take his subject at his word, even as he acknowledges that "earlier than most, Lawrence seemed to embrace the modern concept that history was malleable, that truth was what people were willing to believe."
To substantiate Lawrence's largely fictionalized version of his exploits, Mr. Anderson juxtaposes them with those of three contemporaries, freelancers who the author thinks lived parallel lives to Lawrence's. Throughout the book, the stories of these other men are interwoven with the central narrative concerning Lawrence: William Yale, a young oil man "who, as the only American field intelligence officer in the Middle East during World War I, would strongly influence his nation's postwar policy in the region"; Curt Prüfer, a German antiquities scholar "who, donning the camouflage of Arab robes, would seek to foment an Islamic jihad against the Western colonial powers"; and Aaron Aaronsohn, "a Jewish scientist who, under the cover of working for the Ottoman government, would establish an elaborate anti-Ottoman spy ring and play a crucial role in creating a Jewish homeland in Palestine."
Putting a human face on historical events is an appealing technique that makes "Lawrence in Arabia" a gripping read. Yet eloquence and color can't authenticate a flawed historical argument. Prüfer is little more than a curiosity, notable only for his future Nazi sympathies. Yale was in no position to affect the outcome of a war that his country joined at the 12th hour and even then took no part in the Middle Eastern fighting. Yale's minor advisory role at the postwar Paris conference made no difference whatsoever and, as Mr. Anderson writes, he "resigned from the American peace delegation in disgust and sailed back to New York." As for Aaronsohn, he did indeed provide vital intelligence that facilitated Allenby's rout of the Ottoman armies in Palestine, but he played no "crucial role" in the creation of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. If anything, the exposure of his spy ring in autumn 1917 triggered a draconian Turkish retribution, with the Levant's Ottoman master, Djemal Pasha, warning Zionist leaders that should the Turks be driven out of Palestine, there would be no surviving Jews to welcome the British forces.
Lawrence did indeed have a considerable impact on the creation of the modern Middle East, but this had nothing to do with his real war record. The revolt had been a complete fiasco. For all the British and French efforts, the Bedouins remained hopelessly immune to any concept of orderly warfare. They would break for coffee in the middle of the fighting and drop off occasionally to see their families; often a whole clan would tire of fighting and take a rest. They would attack small and lightly armed Turkish garrisons but would disperse in panic when confronted with a significant force, or even upon hearing artillery. Small wonder that they failed to vanquish the debilitated Ottoman forces in the Hijaz, with the strategic (and holy) city of Medina holding out to the end of the war. It was only in July 1917, more than a year after the start of the revolt, that the rebels managed to overcome the meager Ottoman resistance and capture the small port town of Aqaba, in the extreme northwest of the Arabian Peninsula. Their subsequent advances, which would carry them to Damascus at the war's end, were but a corollary of Allenby's Palestine offensive, and even these were achieved by the semiregular forces built by the British from among the prisoners of war shipped to Arabia.
How Lawrence managed to pass off this sordid power-grab by a local potentate as a heroic national revolt against an imperial oppressor Mr. Anderson doesn't tell. He describes Lawrence as a "painfully shy" and "supremely private and hidden man" with a "craving for anonymity." But painfully shy men, especially in the lowest rungs of strict, disciplinarian hierarchies like the military, don't treat their superiors as equal or engage in high-level political machinations, let alone make their inner feelings known to the entire world via international best sellers—egomaniacs and compulsive attention-seekers do.
Lawrence was an exceptionally gifted charlatan with a keen eye to networking and self-promotion, who successfully cast his spell on far more senior and accomplished contemporaries, such as Allenby and Winston Churchill, who in his capacity as colonial secretary put the final touches to the post-Ottoman state system. As Lawrence admitted, tongue in cheek, in a rare moment of candor in "Seven Pillars": "My proper share was a minor one, but because of a fluent pen, a free speech, and a certain adroitness of brain, I took upon myself, as I describe it, a mock primacy."
**Mr. Karsh is a professor of Middle East and Mediterranean studies at King's College London and a senior researcher at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies and at the Middle East Forum. He is co-author of "Empires of the Sand: The Struggle for Mastery in the Middle East 1789-1923."