LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

Bible/Faith/Quotation for today/From Death to Life
Ephesians 02 /01-10: " In the past you were spiritually dead because of your disobedience and sins. At that time you followed the world's evil way; you obeyed the ruler of the spiritual powers in space, the spirit who now controls the people who disobey God. Actually all of us were like them and lived according to our natural desires, doing whatever suited the wishes of our own bodies and minds. In our natural condition we, like everyone else, were destined to suffer God's anger. But God's mercy is so abundant, and his love for us is so great, that while we were spiritually dead in our disobedience he brought us to life with Christ. It is by God's grace that you have been saved. In our union with Christ Jesus he raised us up with him to rule with him in the heavenly world. He did this to demonstrate for all time to come the extraordinary greatness of his grace in the love he showed us in Christ Jesus. For it is by God's grace that you have been saved through faith. It is not the result of your own efforts, but God's gift, so that no one can boast about it. God has made us what we are, and in our union with Christ Jesus he has created us for a life of good deeds, which he has already prepared for us to do.

Syrians, Lebanese Held over Bid to Smuggle Captagon via Beirut Port
Naharnet/Several Syrian and Lebanese nationals have been arrested in connection with the attempt on Monday to smuggle a large quantity of Captagon pills to a Gulf state via the Beirut Port, the Directorate General of Internal Security Forces announced on Tuesday. "On August 6, 2013, the Central Anti-Drug Bureau obtained information about an attempt to smuggle a quantity of narcotics from Syria to an Arab country via the Beirut Port through using a giant air-conditioning machine,” the ISF said in a statement. “Following a surveillance operation, the truck carrying the machine was detected as it tried to park in the Amchit area, north of Beirut, where it was seized,” the ISF added. As a result of “intensive investigations,” the owner of the machine was identified, it said. The ISF clarified that the owner, a Syrian national, had tasked his friend, another Syrian citizen, to transport the machine to Lebanon and that the latter had delivered it to two Lebanese men in Baalbek after managing to smuggle it through an illegal border crossing. The Syrian man then asked the Lebanese duo to send the machine to Beirut with the aim of shipping it to an Arab country, the statement said. Following the arrest of one of the Lebanese men in addition to the truck's Syrian driver and another Lebanese citizen who had forged the machine's certificate of origin, the Central Anti-Drug Bureau in cooperation with the anti-drug unit of the Lebanese Customs dismantled the aforementioned machine and found around five million Captagon pills inside it, the ISF added. “The pills were packed in 4,614 nylon bags and put in a creative manner inside 11 metallic drawers in the bottom of the air-conditioning machine,” the ISF said, adding that the quantity weighs around 841 kilograms and is worth 50 to 100 million dollars. “The investigation is ongoing under the supervision of the relevant judicial authorities, while the search is underway to arrest the rest of the perpetrators,” the ISF added. On Monday, state-run National News Agency said the seized pills were supposed to be smuggled to a Gulf country.

Report: Mohammed Saleh Reveals Names of Individuals Linked to Turkish Pilots' Abduction
Naharnet/The Turkish pilots kidnapped in Lebanon on Friday were abducted in a hope to exchange them with the nine Lebanese pilgrims held in Syria's Aazaz region, reported As Safir newspaper on Tuesday.
A widely-informed security source told the daily that Mohammed Saleh, a relative of the pilgrims who was arrested Sunday in connection to the pilots' case, revealed the names of individuals linked to the abduction
He also said that the Turkish pilots were targeted in order to carry out the exchange. Saleh's relatives denied to As Safir however that their son was linked to the case, saying that he only received messages of congratulations on his telephone when news of the abduction broke out. Meanwhile, caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel told the daily that Saleh is considered as a witness in the kidnapping and not a participant. His release from custody is in the hands of the General Prosecution, he added. In May 2012, eleven Lebanese pilgrims were kidnapped in Syria's Aleppo region 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 held in Syria's Aazaz region. Their relatives have repeatedly blamed Turkey for the kidnapping, vowing to take measures against its interests in Lebanon, but they have however denied having links to the Turkish pilots' abduction even though they welcomed it. They also threatened on Monday to kidnap “any Turkish national on Beirut's streets,” after the Internal Security Forces' Intelligence Bureau failed to release Saleh. Commenting on the kidnapping of the pilots, Turkish Ambassador to Lebanon Inan Ozyildiz told As Safir that the case is in the hands of Lebanon's security and political authorities. He added that he is in contact with all security officials, including General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim, to follow up on the case. He stated that his role as an ambassador is aimed at maintaining good ties between Lebanon and Turkey. A Turkish pilot and co-pilot were 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.

Geagea Accuses Aoun of Practicing 'Political Terrorism' against Salam
Naharnet/Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea criticized Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun's remarks that a neutral government would lead Lebanon towards destruction, accusing him of intimidating Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam, reported As Safir newspaper on Tuesday. He added: “Aoun is practicing political terrorism against Salam.” “Forming a neutral and technocratic government is the only realistic and safe measure during this phase in Lebanon,” he opined. “Those making judgments of its failure before it is even formed demonstrate that they will thwart the formation of a cabinet that they cannot control,” he stressed. “Salam cannot be terrorized or intimidated and he will not resign his post,” Geagea added. On demands for the establishment of a national unity cabinet, he said: “Such governments have proven their failure in the past and similar ones will never be formed.” “Given the current tensions and severe internal divide, forming a government devoid of March 8 and 14 elements will be the best solution,” he stressed. “With the sufficient support from the political leaders, a neutral government will definitely be capable of taking and implementing decisions,” noted the LF leader. Moreover, Geagea rejected Salam's proposal to form a cabinet equally divided between the March 8, 14, and centrist camps. “I reject it in principle because it will face the same fate as national unity ones. If they find eight March 8 angels to hand them government portfolios, then we will consider this line-up,” he said jokingly. Salam is seeking the formation of a 24-member cabinet in which the March 8, March 14 and the centrists camps would each get eight ministers. The March 8 camp has meanwhile been demanding that it granted veto power in a new cabinet, which the premier-designate has repeatedly rejected. The March 14 camp is calling for keeping Hizbullah away from the cabinet over its role in Syria's war.

Jumblat Delegates Abou Faour, his Son Taymour to Meet Hariri in Jeddah
Naharnet /Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat delegated his son Taymour and caretaker minister Wael Abou Faour to Saudi Arabia for talks with al-Mustaqbal movement chief Saad Hariri on efforts to help line up the cabinet, the As Safir daily reported on Tuesday. Abou Faour, Caretaker Minister of Social Affairs, and Taymour Jumblat arrived in Jeddah Monday evening for talks with ex-PM Hariri, the newspaper said.
Several members of the March 14 alliance are likely to join in the discussions taking place in Jeddah in a bid to help solve the stalemate in forming a government, the daily quoted informed sources on condition of anonymity.
PM-designate Tammam Salam, on a vacation in Switzerland, contacted Hariri for the same purpose, according to As Safir. Salam is seeking the formation of a 24-member cabinet in which the March 8, March 14 and the centrists camps would each get eight ministers. Salam insists to have a cabinet where he has veto power, vowing to step down if any party resigns from the cabinet. The March 8 camp has meanwhile been demanding that it granted veto power in a new cabinet, which the premier-designate has repeatedly rejected. The March 14 camp is calling for keeping Hizbullah away from the cabinet over its role in Syria's war. President Michel Suleiman for his part assured that he will use his jurisdiction and accept a cabinet formula submitted by Salam if it proves to serve the nation's interest. “If the PM-designate gave me a cabinet formula to study, and if I saw that it serves the national interest, I will not hesitate to use my jurisdiction and accept it,” the daily quoted visitors to Suleiman. Jumblat is expected to deliver a speech on Sunday, commemorating the annual anniversary of the PSP martyrs in Aley.

Political decision needed to protect Beirut airport: Qabbani
The Daily Star/BEIRUT: A political decision is needed to safeguard Beirut’s international airport in light of the recent abduction of two Turkish pilots on the airport road, MP Mohammad Qabbani, the head of Parliament's public works and transport committee, said Tuesday. Qabbani, who attended a meeting with caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel and airport security personnel at the Rafik Hariri International Airport, also said security shortcomings at the port needed to be addressed. “During the meeting, we agreed that there was a need for a political decision to protect the airport and considers it a red line for all the political parties and citizens,” Qabbani told reporters at a news conference. “Messing with the security of the airport is a matter that we all reject,” he added. Qabbani said the meeting touched on two issues: security at the airport and surrounding areas in light of Friday’s abduction of two Turkish Airlines pilots. Those at the meeting spoke on measures that could provide the airport with better protection, its perimeter including checkpoints, as well as increasing the number of security personnel and the reopening of another airport. “First, we need fixed checkpoints at the five or six roads that lead to the airport and regular patrolling by security forces in the surrounding neighborhoods,” Qabbani, a Future Movement MP, said. Qabbani said Charbel informed officials at the meeting that there was a lack of security personnel and that there was a need for more security forces to be deployed at the airport.
“We need a second airport and a third if possible not only to address security issues ... but Lebanon requires more than one for future purposes,” he said, referring to the Qleiat airport in the north.
The Turkish pilots were kidnapped at the Cocodi Bridge, less than a kilometer from Beirut’s airport. Qabbani noted that security forces, and not airport personnel, were responsible for safeguarding the road from the aviation center. The lawmaker also said that the public prosecution is investigating the possibility of an internal breach that could have led to the abduction. A group calling itself Zuwwar al-Imam Ali al-Reda claimed responsibility for the kidnapping, demanding in exchange the release of nine Lebanese hostages who have been held in Syria since May of last year. The Information Branch of Lebanon’s police is interrogating Mohammed Saleh, a relative of one of the kidnapped in Syria as part of the investigation. Police are also looking for Ali Saleh, son of Jamil Saleh – one of the nine hostages in Syria - who is suspected of being behind the operation. Qabbani said the parliamentary committee would review two security plans for the airport next week after Airport Security submits a report about the security conditions there.

Form Cabinet before it’s too late, Future Block tells Sleiman, Salam
By Hussein Dakroub/The Daily Star/BEIRUT: The parliamentary Future bloc called Tuesday for a swift formation of a new Cabinet before it was too late to deal with serious security challenges threatening to undermine stability in the politically divided country. However, political sources ruled out the formation of a new Cabinet this month as the rival factions upheld their conflicting conditions over the makeup and role of the government. Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam, who returned to Beirut Tuesday from a three-day private visit to Geneva, is expected to meet President Michel Sleiman in the next two days to assess proposals for the formation of a new Cabinet that can gain support from the March 8 and March 14 parties. The Future bloc warned that the continued breakdown in the security situation and the absence of a Cabinet decision to halt the deterioration would further exacerbate the worsening socio-economic conditions. In a statement issued after its weekly meeting chaired by former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, the bloc cited last week’s kidnapping of two Turkish pilots by gunmen near the Beirut airport and Sunday’s armed ambush that killed one man and wounded three in the Bekaa Valley town of Arsal, including its mayor, among the latest security threats facing the country.
The bloc called on Sleiman and Salam “to exercise their constitutional duties and rights by forming a new Cabinet before it is too late.”“The continuation of the current situation in the absence of an effective [Cabinet] decision will undermine the fragile stability in the country and expose it to dangers which it is unable to face,” the statement said. It added that the current security deterioration, if left unchecked, would expose “Lebanon’s existence and its state to great danger.” The bloc accused Hezbollah of subjugating “the political and security decision and the issue of the Cabinet formation to pressure of terrorism and the domination of arms.”This week’s meeting between Sleiman and Salam comes against the backdrop of mounting calls, mainly by the March 14 coalition, for the formation of a neutral or fait accompli Cabinet after Salam’s attempts to set up a government of rival politicians stumbled on conditions and counter-conditions set by the rival camps. “Sleiman and Salam will meet in the next two days to evaluate the parties’ stances on the Cabinet formation and try to reach a common vision on a specific choice,” a source close the premier-designate told The Daily Star. “If an agreement on a Cabinet in which all the main political parties are represented remains elusive, this choice could be a neutral government to handle the people’s affairs,” the source said, adding that a neutral Cabinet would not include representatives of the political parties. Sleiman underlined Monday the urgency for the formation of a new Cabinet, saying the Lebanese could no longer endure their country left without a functioning government. He indicated that if a government embracing all the political parties could not be formed, the alternative was a neutral Cabinet.“The Constitution grants the president of the republic and the prime minister the power to form a Cabinet as they see fit the country’s interest. ... The Cabinet must be formed in the nearest future. This is what I say to everyone,” Sleiman said in a speech Monday on the occasion of his transfer to the presidential summer residence in Beiteddine in the Chouf mountains. The source close to Salam said Sleiman’s remarks indicated that he is “aware of the gravity of the situation and of the negative impact” on the country’s security and stability as a result of the delay in the Cabinet formation. Meanwhile, Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun accused Sleiman and Salam of seeking to form a one-sided, fait accompli government. “There is an attempt to form a Cabinet irrespective of the others’ views, that is a fait accompli Cabinet,” Aoun said in an interview with the FPM’s OTV station, adding that there were no contacts between him and Sleiman on the Cabinet formation issue. “We have no problem with the one-party government. ... It seems there are those who wanted from the beginning to form a one-party government and were looking for the reasons.” Aoun last week warned against forming a neutral or fait accompli Cabinet, saying such a government would lead Lebanon to ruin. Hezbollah and its March 8 allies have also warned against a neutral Cabinet, insisting that all parties be represented in proportion to their seats in Parliament. The March 14 coalition, which has demanded a neutral, nonpartisan government, has rejected Hezbollah’s participation in the Cabinet while it fights in Syria.

Turkey warns ties at risk if pilots are not released
By Dana Khraiche/The Daily Star/BEIRUT: Turkey said Tuesday that the abduction of two of its nationals in Lebanon last week could hamper ties between Ankara and Beirut, urging Lebanese authorities to work on winning the release of the two captives. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu voiced his “deep concern over the abduction and the negative repercussions it may have on bilateral relations between the two countries,” to caretaker Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour, according to the National News Agency. Davutoglu also expressed hope that Lebanese authorities would work for the release of the Turkish Airlines pilot Murat Akpinar and his co-pilot Murat Agca, who were snatched at gunpoint last week near the Rafik Hariri International Airport. Hours after the kidnapping, a group calling itself Zuwwar al-Imam Ali al-Reda claimed responsibility for the abduction, demanding in exchange the release of nine Lebanese hostages held by Syrian rebels for over a year. Davutoglu said Turkey had nothing to do with the kidnapping of Lebanese hostages, adding that it was carried out by Syrians on Syrian territory. For his part, Mansour said Lebanon opposes kidnappings on its territories, adding that the government was doing its best to release the Turkish pilots. He expressed Lebanon’s eagerness to maintain solid ties with Turkey. Mansour, however, urged Turkey to make efforts to resolve the case of the Lebanese hostages. Turkey is a major backer of the Syrian rebels. Also Tuesday, Iran said Turkey had sought its help in securing the release of the pilots. “In a phone conversation, Davutoglu asked his Iranian counterpart Ali Akbar Salehi for Iran’s assistance in the search for the Turkish pilots,” Abbas Araqchi, spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, said during a news conference in Tehran, according to Farsi Arabic service. Araqchi, according to the news service, also said that his country would not hesitate to help in locating the hostages in Lebanon if the resources to do so were available. Sheikh Abbas Zogheib, tasked by the Higher Shiite Council to follow up on the case of the Lebanese hostages in Syria, said Iran should intervene and help release both the kidnapped Turkish pilots in Lebanon and the Lebanese pilgrims in Syria. He added that Iran’s Ambassador to Lebanon Ghazanfar Ruknabadi had told him Tehran was willing to help solve the case.Acting State Prosecutor Samir Hammoud extended the detention of Mohammad Saleh for another 48 hours until the preliminary investigation comes to a close. Saleh is being interrogated over his alleged involvement in the kidnapping of the pilots by the Internal Security Forces Information Branch, under the supervision of Hammoud and Judge Claude Karam, the public prosecutor of Mount Lebanon.
A judicial source told The Daily Star that Saleh divulged the names of the perpetrators who carried out the kidnapping. The source said that after 48 hours, Karam would either press charges against Saleh for involvement and refer him to the investigative judge or order his release. The Information Branch briefed Hammoud on the investigation into the abduction in the presence of Karam. Elsewhere, relatives of the nine Lebanese hostages went back on threats to block the airport road to protest Saleh’s arrest. “The threats we made were a spontaneous reaction. We will not block the airport road, we were told that this act amounts to crossing a red line,” Adham Zogheib, the son of one of the kidnapped Lebanese, told The Daily Star.
Zogheib said that Speaker Nabih Berri stepped in and urged the families to refrain from protesting. He added that the families would not protest near Turkish institutions in the coming few days. “All the institutions we wanted to protest outside of are now closed.” Authorities are also looking for Ali Jamil Saleh, who is believed to be the mastermind of the abduction. Saleh is the son of one of the nine Lebanese hostages held in Syria.
The Future parliamentary bloc condemned the kidnapping and urged Hezbollah to help in securing the release of the pilots. “The kidnapping crime took place in a Hezbollah-controlled area and under the eyes of state security bodies. Maybe Hezbollah knows where the hostages are being held and who carried out the crime,” the bloc said in a statement after its weekly meeting chaired by former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora at Hariri’s downtown residence. “Therefore, it [Hezbollah] has to help to free the two hostages, because there is no doubt that their continued detention will reflect negatively on Lebanon and all the Lebanese,” the bloc added.
The group said that the fact that Hezbollah has not publicly condemned the abduction or attempted to crack down on the kidnappers indicates the extent to which the group is engaged in a “policy of drowning the country in a cycle of blackmail and intimidation.” The bloc said that the kidnapping of the nine Lebanese pilgrims does not justify the abduction of the two pilots, which it said would not help to resolve the case.
Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said that Hezbollah was cooperating with the authorities to uncover the identity of the kidnappers.
He made his remarks during a meeting with members of Parliament’s Public Works, Transport, Energy and Water Committee at the airport. The meeting was also attended by Gen. Jean Talozian, the head of the Airport Security. According to committee members, Charbel’s remarks provoked Future Movement MP Badr Wannous. Charbel’s raised voice was heard by reporters outside the hall where the meeting took place. After leaving the meeting, Charbel made no remarks. Higher Shiite Council deputy head Sheikh Abdel-Amir Qabalan met earlier Tuesday with General Security head Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim, who is negotiating the release of the hostages on behalf of the Lebanese government. Qabalan said during the meeting that public facilities should remain distanced “from anything that could disrupt them or the daily work of its employees, particularly because our nation is going through a difficult phase.”

Kidnap of pilots could endanger Turkey's ties with Lebanon
By Dana Khraiche/The Daily Star/BEIRUT: Turkey voiced concern Tuesday over the recent abduction of two Turkish Airlines pilots in Lebanon, saying the incident could endanger ties between Ankara and Beirut, as Iran voiced readiness to help in the search for the Turkish nationals. According to the National News Agency, Davutoglu phoned caretaker Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour and "voiced his deep concern over the abduction and what may result in terms of negative repercussions to bilateral relations between the two countries." Davutoglu also expressed hope Lebanese authorities would secure the release of Turkish Airlines pilot Murat Akpinar and his co-pilot Murat Agca, who were snatched at gunpoint early Friday as the crew members headed to their Beirut hotel from the capital’s international airport. Authorities are looking for Ali Jamil Saleh, who is believed to be the mastermind of the abduction, a judicial source said Monday. Saleh is the son of one of nine Lebanese hostages being held in Syria. Another member of the Saleh family, Mohammad Saleh, was arrested Sunday in connection to the case. The relatives of the Lebanese hostages, who hold Turkey responsible for the continued detention of their loved ones, threatened Monday to abduct any Turkish citizen in Beirut and its suburbs to protest the detention of Ali Jamil Saleh. Hours after the kidnapping, a group calling itself Zuwwar al-Imam Ali al-Reda claimed responsibly for the abduction, demanding in exchange the release of nine Lebanese hostages. According to the Lebanese state-run news agency, Davutoglu said that Ankara played no role in the kidnapping of the Lebanese "which was carried out by Syrian groups on Syrian territory." For his part, Mansour stressed Lebanon rejected any act of kidnapping on its soil, expressing his country's keenness on maintaining solid ties with Turkey. He also hoped Turkey would exert efforts to find a solution to the case of the Lebanese hostages. Also Tuesday, Iran said Turkey had sought Tehran’s help in securing the release of the pilots. “Davutoglu asked his Iranian counterpart Ali Akbar Salihi in a phone conversation that Iran offer assistance in the search for the Turkish pilots,” Abbas Araqchi, the spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, said during a news conference in Tehran, according to Fars Arabic service. Araqchi, according to Fars, also said that his country would not hesitate to help find the hostages in Lebanon if the resources are available. Sheikh Abbas Zogheib, tasked by the Higher Shiite Council to follow up on the case of the Lebanese in Syria, said Iran should interfere and help in the release of both the kidnapped in Lebanon and Syria. “Iran should intervene to resolve the case of those in Lebanon and the kidnapped in Syria,” Zogheib told The Daily Star. He added that Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, Ghazanfar Ruknabadi, had told him Tehran was willing to help resolve the case. Higher Shiite Council deputy head Sheikh Abdel-Amir Qabalan and Lebanon's Grand Jaafarite Shiite Mufti Sheikh Ahmad Qabalan met earlier Tuesday with General Security head Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim, who is tasked with mediating between Turkey and Syria over the case of the Lebanese hostages. The rebels have demanded the release of female detainees in Syrian prisons in exchange for the Lebanese. Zogheib, who attended the meeting, said the council asked Ibrahim about new developments in the case. “Our case has taken a positive turn and it seems things are moving faster in the right direction,” Zogheib said.
Although he declined to link the abduction of the Turks to new developments in the case of the Lebanese, Zogheib said the former was having an impact on the latter.
“Turkish [officials] are unfortunately legitimizing the kidnapping,” he said. Zogheib also said Hezbollah and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri were exerting “tremendous efforts” in keeping the situation on the ground safe and calm.
“Hezbollah and Speaker Berri are exerting pressure on the relatives of the kidnapped to maintain a tight grip on the situation,” he said. For his part, Sheikh Abdel-Amir Qabalan said during his meeting with Ibrahim that public facilities should remain at a distance “from anything that could disrupt them or the daily work of its employees particularly that our nation is going through a difficult phase.”He also praised Ibrahim’s efforts in following up on the case and urged all security agencies to use their resources and ties to secure the release of the Lebanese in Syria. Relatives of the Lebanese hostages claim Turkey, which supports the Syrian opposition, has the ability to persuade the rebels into releasing their loved ones.

Talk on electing new speaker seen as pressure on Berri
By Hasan Lakkis/The Daily Star /With no solution in sight to the four-month-old Cabinet deadlock, the March 14 coalition may push for the election of a new Parliament speaker as part of its pressure on Nabih Berri to help facilitate the formation of a fait accompli government, political sources said. March 14 MP Marwan Hamade, a member of Parliament’s Secretariat, dropped this hint during an interview with the Future TV station last week, when he said that the mandate of Parliament, rather than that of its speaker, has been extended for 17 months. In addition to creating a new bone of contention between the March 8 and March 14 parties, Hamade’s suggestion pointed to the possibility of putting Berri’s speakership under discussion when the legislature’s regular session begins on the first Tuesday after Oct. 15.
During this session, members of Parliament’s Secretariat and parliamentary committees and their heads are supposed to be elected. Sources in the March 14 coalition, citing Article 44 of the Constitution, say that Parliament, two years after the election of its speaker and deputy speaker, can in one term withdraw confidence from its speaker or deputy speaker with an absolute majority based on a petition signed by at least 10 lawmakers.
Some March 14 sources say that the extension of Parliament’s mandate for 17 months requires the renewal of confidence in its speaker and its deputy, especially since this did not happen two years after the start of Parliament’s term. While the additional 17 months are viewed as a renewal of Parliament’s mandate, this consequently necessitates the convening of a session in October to elect a speaker and a deputy speaker, in addition to members of the legislature’s Secretariat, the sources said. However, some observers see the talk about the election of a new Parliament speaker and deputy as a means of pressure, not to say “blackmail,” on Berri to obtain certain political gains, particularly with regard to the formation of a new Cabinet. A quick survey of the MPs’ stances shows that March 14 and independent lawmakers constitute half of the Parliament’s 128 members, while the March 8 side holds a similar number. Yet, the parliamentary blocs of caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, MP Walid Jumblatt and MP Michel Murr hold the decisive votes.
Given the current political polarization between Berri, Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun and some of Aoun’s allies in the parliamentary Change and Reform bloc, particularly the Marada Movement and Aley MP Talal Arslan, this might prompt the FPM leader and his MPs to abstain from voting for Berri, but this does not necessarily mean that they would vote for another candidate who could be proposed by the March 14 coalition against Berri. For his part, Berri is betting on Jumblatt’s MPs, who along with MPs from his parliamentary bloc and those from the blocs of Hezbollah, Arslan, MP Suleiman Franjieh, the Baath Party and Murr constitute an absolute majority needed for him to return to the speakership. Amid growing calls for a neutral or fait accompli Cabinet mainly by the March 14 parties, political sources said that the formation of such a government means that the political team comprising President Michel Sleiman, former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, Jumblatt and March 14 lawmakers has opted for a political confrontation with the rival March 8 alliance, but this confrontation could not be completed without a change in the legislative authority. If a fait accompli Cabinet is not formed, the channels of communications will remain in place between Berri and the other [March 14] side, especially since Jumblatt will not easily abandon the Parliament speaker, the sources said. Berri, who has maintained relations with the March 14 side, such as with former President Amin Gemayel, is confident that this side’s objection to his performance will not reach the stage of a political confrontation with him because sectarian balances and norms in the country make it difficult to promote another candidate to the speakership, especially if this candidate does not enjoy the support of the Shiite community, namely the Hezbollah-Amal coalition, the sources added. Therefore, the sources considered Hamade’s statement to Future TV either as a slip of the tongue, excessive enthusiasm or a message that carries with it dangerous signals concerning the current political setup in the country.

Aoun’s bloc proposes closing borders to Syrian refugees
The Daily Star/BEIRUT: The Change and Reform bloc headed by MP Michel Aoun proposed Tuesday a series of measures to “curb the strain” caused by the growing Syrian refugee crisis in Lebanon, including ending its open door policy. Caretaker Energy Minister Gebran Bassil read the draft law prepared by the bloc after its weekly meeting, saying the proposal aimed at “curbing the strain” on the government and host community resources caused by the increasing number of refugees. “There is a need take reasonable measures which reflect Lebanese interests, the humanitarian status of Syrian refugees and the foreign conspiracies [being sowed against Lebanon],” Bassil told reporters at Aoun’s Rabieh residence. “The proposal includes measures to halt receiving Syrian and Palestinian refugees coming from Syria completely ... except in the case of urgent humanitarian cases which would require [official] approval from both the health and interior ministries.” Bassil also proposed coordinating with the Syrian government to secure the return of refugees to their homes located in safe areas of Syria “with the necessary political guarantees.”The minister said there were areas in the neighboring state, under the control of the Syrian army, where the refugees could safely return, saying the regime informed Lebanon that it would offer guarantees for a safe return with certain conditions attached. Bassil, who has been accused of being racist against Syrians on several occasions, did not specify what these conditions were. The minister also said the establishment of temporary camps for the displaced Syrians who do not meet the conditions for safe return was possible, adding that Lebanon would secure the transfer of aid from international organizations and donor countries. Bassil warned against the establishment of official Syrian refugee camps, saying it would bring about changes in Lebanon’s demography under the guise of a humanitarian service. Bassil also said other countries should also bear the refugee crisis by taking in some of the displaced. The bloc’s proposal also includes a unified policy across municipalities and local agencies to keep a close eye on the movements of refugees in their areas and remove illegal constructions. “[Municipalities] should count the refugees, locate them, monitor their movements, specify the type of work they have taken up, remove illegal buildings, put an end to suspicious movement and address any health outbreaks,” Bassil said. Such measures, Bassil noted, only require the approval of the president and the prime minister, and could be implemented by the resigned Cabinet. Lebanon is grappling with the influx of Syrian refugees, who are dispersed nationwide and comprise nearly a quarter of the country’s population. Bassil also said that refugees are competing with the Lebanese for work and resources: “The crisis affects every Lebanese who is already suffering from lack of electricity, water, social and health care services.”

Bahrain protests to Beirut over civil disobedience call
The Daily Star/BEIRUT: Bahrain filed a protest to Lebanon Tuesday over a news conference held in Beirut by Bahraini opposition figures who called for civil disobedience in the Gulf state Wednesday, the National News Agency reported, quoting the official Bahrain News Agency. Bahrain’s Foreign Ministry summoned Ibrahim Assaf, charge d’affaires at the Lebanese Embassy in Manama, to express the kingdom’s “deep resentment over a news conference held in Beirut by the so-called Aug. 14 campaign during which a call for civil disobedience and a general mobilization in the Kingdom of Bahrain was made,” BNA said.
Abdullah Abdel-Latif Abdullah, the Bahraini ministry’s undersecretary, told Assaf that Bahrain was keen on “developing its relations with Lebanon so as to serve the interests of the two brotherly peoples.”
But he stressed “the need for keeping bilateral relations between the two countries away from interference in internal affairs,” BNA said. Abdullah asked Assaf to relay the Bahraini resentment to the Lebanese government.
For his part, Assaf said that what happened at the news conference was not acceptable, adding that Lebanon was committed to several principles, “at the forefront of which is that the Lebanese government would not allow Lebanon to be used as a venue for any hostile action against the Kingdom of Bahrain.”Promising to relay the Bahraini protest swiftly to the Foreign Ministry in Beirut, Assaf emphasized that Lebanon was committed to the principle of noninterference in the internal affairs of other countries. Last month, Bahrain’s Shiite-led opposition slammed the Sunni-ruled government for warning people against joining protests that are planned for Aug. 14 and named after Egypt’s “Tamarod” (rebel) movement. “The people have the right to protest peacefully” on Aug. 14 to mark the 42nd anniversary of British forces pulling out of the Gulf kingdom, the Shiite Al-Wefaq movement said. It urged the authorities not to use the demonstrations as a pretext to crack down on the opposition. Protests are frequent in the Shiite-majority kingdom ruled by the Sunni Al-Khalifa dynasty, despite a 2011 crackdown on mass demonstrations inspired by Arab Spring uprisings. Beirut has been a base for Bahraini opposition activists over the past two years. A number of human rights groups set up a presence in Beirut after the outbreak of the uprising there, unsure of their freedom to operate in their country. In 2012, now jailed Bahraini human rights activist and opposition leader Nabeel Rajab launched an office in Beirut and applied for a license for his Gulf Human Rights Center to operate and hold activities on Lebanese territories.

A National Debate on…Lebanon?!
Hazem Saghieh/Al Hayat/Peoples, in order to remain peoples, are supposed to have something in common, or seek hard to build such denominators under the leadership of the party among them that is the most alert to this issue. If this is not possible, and if there is nothing to suggest that it is possible, whether sooner or later, then peoples consider the possibility of breaking apart and go on to reconsider their national partnership.
If this existential matter does not deserve provoking a broad national debate, then there is little else that does. Lebanon, in its short history, has undergone a lot of ebb and flow in what regards the process of becoming a textbook people. This process was marked by a lot of instances of questioning the reality of national partnership. But it never suffered a total and qualitative splintering in the choices of its people as it does now.
Indeed, there is a party, a minoritarian by definition, which forces the rest of the people, by virtue of its weapons, to pursue policies, even a lifestyle, that the majority of this people do not want. This starts from the perception of the country overall as “resistance country” to God knows what else, with what this entails economically and in terms of lifestyles, all the way to the security of the airport and the results of official exams, not to mention involvement in a bloody conflict unfolding outside the national borders. In every matter, large or small, we can find today the signs of this qualitative split between “two peoples,” with rising costs each day. Thus, it is no small the number of Lebanese who say today, having shrugged off all taboos hitherto imposed on them in one way or another, that the costs of the resistance is greater than the costs of any occupation.
In such a situation, it is very legitimate to question the meaning of the survival of a homeland, where its sense of patriotism, that is, its universal association, is imposed on it by the force of possessing the means of violence, but nothing more. The creation of the Lebanese entity in 1920 took place amid much folklore and a lot of discrimination, which the dominant ideology tended to ignore until 1975. However, the creation of this entity was also linked to a lot of freedom that distinguished this small Mediterranean spot from the rest of the region, whose misfortune meant that it fell into the hands of tyranny and dictatorship.
This freedom is the first, if not the only justification for this country to remain a country, and for its people’s quest to become a people. So if this reality, which imposes on the majority of Lebanese choices they do not want, from the highest levels of their social existence to its lowest, shall continue, then it becomes their right, nay their duty, to reconsider this coercive existence altogether.
To be sure, countries and homelands are not set stone or idols to be worshipped. If countries do not fulfill the conditions of prosperity and progress for its citizens – and freedom is at the heart progress and prosperity – then the otherwise binding social compact becomes null and void. In all probability, force, no matter how mighty, cannot keep the dead alive! As for the habits that helped make us “Lebanese,'' well, these too can turn on their heads, and prompt both of those two segments that are supposedly Lebanese to search, each, for the path of its own salvation.

Before Announcing the Revolutions’ Death
Husam Itani/Al Hayat/Were the Arab populations that rebelled against the tyrannical regimes too optimistic and did they end up slamming against the wall of reality? Are we now witnessing the fall of the Arab Spring’s hopes for democracy and building the citizenship states all as a prelude for the return of the military rule? The ongoing events in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, and Yemen indicate that the reality has revealed itself and that the joy of toppling the dictatorships has been replaced by frustration and even despair with the impossibility of coming up with governments enjoying large political bases. The bliss of February 11, 2011 has been replaced with the obscure sight of the sit-in participants in front of the Rabia al-Adawiyya Mosque. In Yemen and Libya, the armed tribes and warlords have surfaced and are now saying that they will not easily leave, contrary to the expectations of the early rebels.
Bashar al-Assad’s regime wiped out the peaceful activists. Al-Assad then achieved a major success in his efforts at transforming the revolution into a movement that resembles his own regime with respect to the practices and the violations in addition to the use of a clearly sectarian speech in the face of the regime’s equally sectarian regime under a cover of secularism and resistance. Because of their good intentions, many rebels believed that Zine al Abidine Ben Ali’s and Hosni Mubarak’s step down to prevent the bloodshed – or so they said – will be repeated in other Arab countries. However, Muammar Gaddafi clung to power and the war that he launched represented an early sign concerning the different nature of the conflict there: it was a civil conflict rather than a political once. Once again, people with good intentions thought that despite its violent aspect, the fall of Gaddafi would pave the way for a Libyan agreement to build the citizenship state. That was not the case. In other words, the phase of the revolutionary innocence in the Arab world came to an end and was replaced by a complicated “reality” with violent forces having low moral values. All the ailments that the Arab societies were suffering from rose to the surface. All sorts of repressed nationalistic tendencies, tribal tensions, sectarian sentiments and minority fears surfaced up. All the problems that the former regimes had deemed achievements – such as the poor education, the collapse of the elite, the absence of independent journalism and media, and of a revenue-generating economy – emerged and turned into factors hindering the peaceful power transfer to regimes that really represent their people. Several weeks after Morsi’s deposition, the Egyptian army is still unable to find a way of dealing with the “authorization” it obtained from the people to confront the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist movement. The Tunisian government and opposition are unable to reach an agreement to fix the crisis that is affecting all the state’s institutions amidst growing fears of fundamentalist violence. Meanwhile, Libya is facing an obscure fate where the militias will be playing the role of the state with the latter being unable to pick up its pieces. However, all this does not mean that things will stop there. The development of the Arab societies has shattered the regimes built by the military dictatorships, and it is now impossible to rebuild them. Those parties who criticize the Arab revolutions indicate that things will return to their former state thanks to the new alliances between the military powers and some specific political and social groups. This is perhaps partially correct. However, these alliances are trying to rebuild the old structure without considering the deep transformations launched by the revolutions, which will not stop until they release everything that is hidden in the Arab societies – knowing that everything will not be a pretty sight.

Egypt In A Rut: Internal Impotence Induces Internationalization
George Semaan/Al Hayat/The Egyptians do not seem optimistic about Sheikh of Al-Azhar Dr. Ahmad al-Tayyib’s initiative, which many expect will share the fate of all the foreign initiatives and efforts that kept Egypt in a rut. The man was always the target of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) in its attempts to impose its control over all the country’s institutions, which is why it rejected his call. In addition, the group still remembers him standing alongside the Coptic Pope, the representative of the Salvation Front, Dr. Muhammad Baradei, and the representatives of other forces, in the presence of Minister of Defense Field Marshal Abdul Fattah al-Sissi as he was announcing the ousting of President Mohamed Morsi and the establishment of a temporary administration for the country. This initiative is also expected to share the fate of the action undertaken by Al-Baradei, who is being targeted and accused by all sides of being a traitor and a collaborator! The prolongation of the crisis in the absence of any initiative – whether external or internal – to activate an understanding or the reconciliation for which all the sides are calling, does not serve the interests of both parties involved in the conflict. Indeed, the credit earned by the army’s action and the status of the transitional government will erode if the authority and the Interior Ministry do not disperse the sit-ins on Rabi’a Adawiya and Renaissance squares among others. As for the support enjoyed by the MB and seen in the popular crowds that have rallied on the squares, it will also erode, considering that the people will not stay in the street endlessly in the absence of any possible settlement. At this level, it is unlikely that confrontations or violence are the alternative options or the guaranteed solution, for had this been the case, Hazem Beblawi’s government and its security forces would not have hesitated to resort to them based on its decision in this regard. The existing division is deep and alarming, and is threatening with civil war if the prohibited clash were to occur or if one of the two parties resorts to the use of force. No one can guarantee that the standoff will end with a winner and a loser. No side will win the war, and Egypt will lose. The group, which built its local and international project 80 years ago, cannot accept the full loss of this project. This is due to the fact that its collapse will have massive repercussions on the future of the situation throughout the region, from Libya to Tunisia, Yemen, Syria and even Turkey which is presenting itself as an archetype but is following in the footsteps of the Egyptians and Tunisians. And it is feared that the MB opponents will commit the same mistakes as the group, when it acted as though the popular commissioning earned by President Mohamed Morsi spared it from any understandings or consultations with both its allies and rivals, at a time when the situation does not allow anyone to claim to monopolize the voice of all – or the majority of – the Egyptians.
But this representation balance between the two sides of the conflict – regardless of its sizes – is not the only thing preventing confrontation. Indeed, the Islamic ranks are divided, just like the government whose politicians fear the use of force towards which some military and security powers are pushing. And far away from the internal divisions, it is not easy for the regional and international powers to stand by and watch as Egypt slides towards an open cycle of violence. Hence, the United States and the European Union, which have so far failed to achieve a breakthrough at the level of the crisis, are not about to give up, while the Arab states that are supporting the roadmap have no interest in seeing Egypt drowning in blood and nearing total collapse. This is due to the fact that they will not be spared by the consequences of such a collapse or of anarchy, at a time when they are facing major challenges linked to the declared conflict between most of the Gulf countries and the Islamic Republic, the possible collapse and dismantlement of Syria and the heavy shadow this will cast on Lebanon, Iraq, and Jordan. Moreover, the region also seems divided, seeing how the African Union suspended Egypt’s membership, while there can be no talk about a unified Arab position since the Arab and Gulf states are divided over what is happening. Tunisia condemned the coup of the military while about to face the same problem, whereas the Syrian regime welcomed the military’s step. And at a time when Ankara voiced its condemnation, Tehran appeared confused, warning against civil war and foreign interference.
The American administration for its part was expected to exercise its function vis-à-vis the group’s leaders, in order to save the MB firstly, save Egypt secondly, and restore the entire Islamic project in the region thirdly, knowing that it is mainly relying on this project to establish a new regional order capable of containing the influence of the Islamic Republic and preventing the progress of the Chinese and Russians! However, Washington’s confusion and excessive caution paralyzed its policies and decisions, not only towards the developments in Egypt but also towards many issues in the region. This was seen at the level of the Syrian crisis and the Iranian nuclear file, not to mention other international issues, from North Korea and the Pacific Ocean to Central Asia and others. This pushed President Vladimir Putin’s administration to seize this opportunity – i.e. Washington’s confusion and reluctance – to restore Russia’s status, which was lost during the stage of political, security and economic anarchy following the collapse of the Soviet Union. This also pushed towards the resumption of the talk about a cold war that would end the unilateral leadership of the world.
This reality does not imply the authorization of international intervention because the Egyptians are stuck in a rut. An internal initiative, whether by the Sheikh of Al-Azhar or any other power, would be much better than any initiative led by the American administration or the European Union. Is it not enough to see what the recent American and European actions caused in terms of the deepening of division and schism and the escalation of the positions? In addition, internationalization is met with excessive sensitivity by all the Egyptians, which might lead towards further polarization and confusion, without providing efficient and permanent solutions. The best example for that is the outcome of internationalization in Libya and Yemen, and its current results in Syria where the killing machine is ongoing and where the gap is widening between the sectarian, denominational and ethnic components of the Syrian people, on the altar of the regional conflicts and the cold war that has started to surface between the United States and Russia.
Fearing the use of force should encourage the search for a solution that would save face for all sides. The first step at this level might be the recognition by both parties of facts that cannot be disregarded, starting by discontinuing the escalatory political discourse of both camps and ending the retaliation operations being carried out by the security forces or MB elements. This would be done in preparation for the search for common grounds, which would lead toward dialogue to reach real reconciliation, while drawing the lessons from the mistakes of the near and distant past, but also those of the present. There is no doubt that the release of the detainees from the MB and the other Islamic movements should act as a prelude for such a dialogue. The MB should announce in advance that the return to the near past has become a thing of the past and its opponents that the exclusion of the Islamic forces – at the head of which is the MB – would be impossible to achieve, and that any attempt to impose it by force would be a risky venture that will eliminate everything in Egypt. This is the only way to go back to a political game that is open to all, far away from any isolation, exclusion or the overpowering of a minority by a majority.
Sparing Egypt from the threat of internationalization starts with the recanting of the past mistakes that are numerous, and of which neither side of the conflict needs to be reminded. President Morsi and his group thought that duality in the management of the country’s affairs was over when the president dismissed about a year ago six senior commanders of the military council, at the head of whom was Minister of Defense Field Marshal Muhammad Hussein Tantawi and Chief of Staff General Sami Annan. They were unaware of the fact that throughout sixty years – if not more – the military institution remained the main partner in the management of the country’s political and economic affairs, and that the toppling of its council which managed the country following the departure of President Hosni Mubarak had no impact on the army’s ability to regain control over power, whether directly or through rotation as it has been happening since the 1952 revolution. Moreover, they did not pay any attention to the partners in the January 25 revolution - or rather those who triggered it - and were unconcerned by their fears and those of the minorities vis-à-vis the alteration of the state’s identity, whether via the constitutional draft or the administrative measures undertaken in accordance with the MB enablement policy. They also did not heed the calls to change the government that failed to handle the people’s economic and social affairs, while the Guidance Bureau was indifferent towards the extent of popular disgruntlement during the second revolution on June 30.
But all these fatal mistakes that made the MB lose wide segments of its important popular base, which had tilted the balance in its favor since the eruption of the January 25 revolution, do not annul its remaining and influential presence. And there is no doubt that the military council, the Salvation Front, and the Rebel Movement among many other opponents, failed to estimate the size of the MB reaction despite all the measures adopted by the state’s security and judicial bodies, from the detention of the president to the arrest of a number of MB and Islamic leaders, the closing of some of their media outlets, the prevention of leaders from traveling, the pursuit of others, and the transfer of others before justice. This rendered the talk about the ability to exclude the Islamic forces, at the head of which is the Muslim Brotherhood, almost impossible.
In order to launch reconciliation, the two sides must mutually recognize each other by turning the page of the past. As for the MB’s insistence on the reinstatement of Morsi as president, it is far from reality, while the decision to exclude the group is not an easy option. So, will the two sides meet inside a new Cabinet where everyone would be represented, to rush the implementation of the roadmap after drawing the lessons from the mistakes of the past? In order to exit the rut and avoid the ghost of internationalization, the two sides must stop claiming to represent the majority of the Egyptian people – regardless of the size and validity of this representation – and recognize the outcome of the second revolution, just as they all did with the first revolution, with the help of the military on January 25 and on June 30!

Religious Leaders urge caution over reports of Italian Jesuit Priest Paolo Dall’Oglio's’ fate
By Lauren Williams/The Daily Star/BEIRUT: Religious leaders urged “prudence” amid swirling rumors over the fate of three Christian priests reportedly kidnapped in Syria. Italian Jesuit Priest Paolo Dall’Oglio, a prominent critic of the Syrian regime and advocate for inter-religious dialogue, has been missing since July 29 after he traveled to the northeastern city of Raqqa to attempt negotiations with Islamist leaders there for the release of other kidnapped Christian figures. It is understood he was detained by the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria, a militant group, after he went to meet with its leadership at the city’s headquarters. There has been no word from him since. Greek Orthodox Archbishop Paul Yazigi and Syriac Orthodox Archbishop Yohanna Ibrahim were abducted and their driver killed, allegedly by members of a foreign Islamist group, as they traveled to northern Aleppo, also for kidnap negotiations, in April. With the fate of the priests remaining mired in mystery, religious leaders sought to quash speculation that they have all been killed. On Monday, a French-based opposition figure with the Syrian National Front, Lama Atassi, said on her Facebook page that Dall’Oglio, 59, had been executed by the group. “It’s with deep sorrow that I inform you that I was told by a reliable source that Father Paolo has been executed. May God have mercy on his soul,” she wrote, but offered no further details. The Italian Foreign Ministry has said it had no intelligence to confirm the claim. Separately, Lebanon’s As-Safir newspaper reported Tuesday that Yazigi and Ibrahim had also been killed as early as May. It quoted Syrian opposition military sources and Arab security sources involved in talks with Turkish intelligence officials following reports the bishops were in Turkish territory. “Arab security sources are saying that during a meeting with Turkish intelligence officials two months ago to discuss the issue of nine Lebanese hostages, they tackled the kidnapped bishops case, and the Turkish security official outlined they had been killed,” the report said. That prompted a denial from the Turkish Foreign Ministry Monday that the men were on Turkish soil.
The Vatican ambassador in Damascus, Mario Zenari, also said he had nothing to confirm any of the deaths and urged caution. “As an Italian citizen, the Italian government is trying very hard to get more information [on Dall’Oglio],” he said. “We should be prepared for anything, even the worst, but we must also be very prudent with the information we have,” Zenari said. “Anything is possible in such a tormented region.”On the bishops more specifically, the Vatican ambassador said: “I am in touch with the patriarchs in Damascus, including his brother [Orthodox Patriarch of the Antioch John X Yazigi] and they repeat that there has been no contact.”“Until this day there is no news and no confirmation.” Mount Lebanon’s Syriac Orthodox Bishop George Saliba condemned the As-Safir report of the bishops’ deaths as false.“We believe they are still alive,” he told The Daily Star.He said he had received information that the bishops had been moved in the last three days to Kilis in Turkey and claimed Turkish authorities were involved in the kidnap, through facilitating the transfer of the kidnappers – believed to be Chechen Islamists without a connection to the opposition Free Syrian Army – into Syrian territory.
“Until at least two or three days ago they were in Turkey,” he said, adding that the men had been moved at least four times during their incarceration. Those movements, also confirmed by Christian opposition figure Michel Kilo shortly after the bishops were kidnapped, have fueled accusations Syrian intelligence have been involved in the kidnap, or at least facilitated the Chechen groups’ operations in northern Syria. “What we know about this case is that they are being held by a criminal gang, and there are claims it has been penetrated by the Syrian regime,” said Louay Safi, a Syrian-American member of the Syrian National Coalition and advocate of American Muslim rights. “We have multiple reports indicating that this group in particular is not interested in fighting Assad but is merely interested in making trouble between opposition groups in liberated areas. “They are a mixture of foreigners, criminal and ideological-driven Islamist elements.” He said information gleaned from Free Syrian Army groups from captured members of the group indicated that “some of the leadership had served as shabbiha [pro-Assad militia] in the past.” Prominent exiled Syrian businessman Firas Tlass, the son of long serving former defense minister Mustafa Tlass, said of the Chechen group, “They act as a kind of wedge [between opposition fighting groups]. Changing the regime is not their priority.”“And the wedge is doing what a wedge does.”

Dempsey in Israel, Jordan, to tie last ends before Obama decides finally on US military action in Syria
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report August 13, 2013/Chairman of the US Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey arrived in Israel Monday, Aug. 12 for critical talks with Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Defense minister Moshe Ya’alon and Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, followed by parallel talks in Jordan. debkafile reports he has come to lay the ground ahead of President Barack Obama’s final decision to embark on limited US military intervention in the Syria civil war. The Obama plan, if it goes forward, would involve Saudi Arabia, Emirates, Israel, Jordan and possibly Turkey. debkafile’s Washington and military sources reveal its 11 high points - most of which were first reported exclusively in DEBKA Weekly 598 on Aug. 1:
1. US, British, French, Saudi and United Arab Emirates will establish a no-fly zone over central and southern Syria, stretching from the Jordanian-Israeli borders up to and including Damascus.
2. The Israeli Air Force will provide these forces with air cover from Syrian air space. 3. A 40-kilometer deep military buffer zone will be drawn from the Jordanian-Israeli borders up to the southern and western outskirts of Damascus. The military units controlling this zone will hold the entire area of the capital within artillery range.
4. The southern Syrian town of Deraa, where the Syrian uprising sprang up, will be declared capital of Liberated Syria.
5. President Obama has determined that there will no American troops in the buffer zone or anywhere else on Syrian soil, only special Syrian rebel forces.
6. Those forces will consist of 3,000 fighters trained in Jordan by US military instructors. They will be headed by Jordanian special forces and operate under US officers based in Jordan.
7. To host them, the US Army has just finished building in the Hashemite Kingdom a huge training camp and logistical system, debkafile’s military sources report. All the weapons and equipment required to train and arm the rebel force are already stacked there.
8. The American operational command center for the Syrian operation is already in place in Amman led by US Brig. Gen. John Wright, who at 57 is a veteran of the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya.
9. The US air force units for imposing the no-fly zone over Syria are already in position at Middle East locations and ready to go at 36 hours’ notice.
10. A Druze unit trained by US military instructors will be a key component of the special rebel force. It was put up by the million-strong community which populates 120 villages and towns in the Jabal al-Druze area of southern Syria. They are situated in a commanding position overlooking the Syrian-Jordanian-Iraqi border triangle.
11. US forces deployed in the Middle East, especially in Jordan and Israel, will stand ready for possible reprisals against American, Israeli, Jordanian or Turkish targets, if ordered by Syrian President Bashar Assad in retaliation for the no-fly and buffer zones.