Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources/August 21/13

Turkish Sources Say Abducted Turks Alive, Pilot in Baalbeck, Copilot in Nabatiyeh

Parliamentary Session in Lebanon was Postponed for Fourth Time

Berri Says Deadlock over Cabinet Formation Ongoing

Syrian Aircraft Shells, Destroys Diesel Tanker in Arsal

Report: Hizbullah's Intense Security Measures in Dahieh Coordinated with Official Agencies

Gulf Bloc Criticizes Nasrallah's Syria Threat

Qahwaji Orders Intensifying Security Measures, Army Deployment around Lebanon
Aoun Slams PSP over 'Racism' Remarks, Says Ideology Responsible for Bombings outside Lebanon

'Marwan Hadid Brigades' Claims Responsibility for Weekend Hermel Rocket Attacks

Lebanon judge charges 13 for abduction of Turkish pilots
Aazaz Pilgrims' Families Threaten to 'Break Hand' that Tries to Arrest Any Member as Prosecutor Sues 13 in Pilots Case

Report: AMAL Members Open Fire at Vehicle that Did Not Halt at Dahieh Checkpoint
Salam Slams March 8, Says he's Not Responsible for Cabinet Formation Impasse

Al-Mustaqbal to Hizbullah: Fighting Takfiris is the State's Responsibility

Miqati after Meeting Ozyildiz: Lebanon Exerting Efforts to Uncover Fate of Pilots

Asir Says Ruwais Bomb 'Normal Result' of Hizbullah Intervention in Syria

Israel warns US: Alienating Egyptian army could risk peace talks

Jordan's king warns of sectarian 'destruction'

Erdogan: Israel orchestrated Morsioverthrow, Egypt unrest

Erdogan in another anti-Semitic diatribe against Israel reveals his failures

U.S. Criticizes Arrest of Brotherhood Leader in Egypt

EU's Ashton Says 'Ready' to Return to Egypt

U.S. Slams Erdogan Claim on Morsi Ouster

ICC Release: Christians in Egypt Widely Attacked, Left Defenseless by the Government
Egypt's Brotherhood Names Interim Head after Guide Arrested
Egypt's ElBaradei faces court for 'betrayal of trust'

Pakistan's Musharraf Charged with Bhutto's Murder

U.N. Says Clashes in Golan Have Intensified

U.N.-Arab League Envoy Skipping U.S.-Russia Syria Talks

Israel, Palestinian Negotiators Hold Jerusalem Talks

Parliamentary Session Postponed for Fourth Time
Naharnet/A parliamentary session dedicated to tackling a number of draft-laws was postponed on Tuesday over a lack of quorum. MTV reported that the session was automatically postponed after Speaker Nabih Berri did not even attend the meeting. This is the fourth postponement of the session and the fifth session will be held on September 23 with the same agenda. The pan-Arab daily al-Hayat had reported on Monday that the speaker was likely to postpone the two-day session in order to avoid further tensions in Lebanon in light of the ongoing political disputes and security unrest. The session was postponed for a third time on July 29 over a lack of quorum.
Several parliamentary blocks boycotted the parliamentary session over a dispute with the speaker over its agenda, which included 45 articles. Berri insists on keeping the 45 draft-laws on the agenda intact and had previously vowed to continue to call on MPs to a General Assembly meeting until the agenda is discussed. Caretaker Premier Najib Miqati argues that there is no balance between the powers of the legislative and executive branches amid a resigned government. Miqati and the March 14 alliance say that the agenda's articles should be limited to one draft-law, which is extending Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji's mandate. Qahwaji's term ends in September when he turns 60.

Berri Says Deadlock over Cabinet Formation Ongoing
Naharnet /Speaker Nabih Berri said that his efforts regarding the government formation are at a standstill, denying reports saying that he agreed with Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat to halt consultations over the matter. “I haven't contacted Jumblat regarding the matter. According to my information everything is still the same,” Berri said in comments published in An Nahar newspaper. Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam is seeking the formation of a 24-member cabinet in which the March 8, March 14 and centrists camps would each get eight ministers. He is also rejecting granting veto power to any power, which the March 8 camp has been demanding. The March 14 coalition is meanwhile calling for keeping Hizbullah out of the cabinet over its role in Syria's war. On last week's blast that rocked Beirut's southern suburbs neighborhood of Ruwais, Berri expressed fear that it “was more than a message.” “All security agencies and political parties are demanded to open their eyes in order to confront the terrorist plot (against the country) as it will impact everyone,” Berri, who returned on Monday from a holiday in Italy, told the daily. The Ruwais blast claimed the lives of 27 people and wounded more than 336 other. The casualty toll is the highest in Lebanon since a massive car bomb attack on the Beirut seafront killed former prime minister Rafik Hariri and 22 others in February 2005. Hizbullah is a key supporter of President Bashar Assad and has sent fighters across the border to Syria this year to bolster government forces, which have been battling a deadly anti-regime revolt since March 2011. A defiant Nasrallah said on Friday he himself was ready to go and fight in Syria against radical Islamists, whom he accused of being responsible for the car bombing. On Saturday, the Syrian opposition National Coalition warned against a "cycle of violence" in Lebanon if Hizbullah continues to send fighters to help the Damascus regime. An online video surfaced shortly after the attack showing three masked men, two of them holding rifles, in front of a white flag inscribed with the Islamic profession of faith, claiming the attack.
Berri also commented on Tuesday's parliamentary session, saying: “I will be at the parliament, if the quorum was achieved then it will be held if not then I will postpone it.”The session was postponed for a third time on July 29 over a lack of quorum. Several parliamentary blocks boycotted the parliamentary session over a dispute with the speaker over its agenda, which included 45 articles.

Gulf Bloc Criticizes Nasrallah's Syria Threat
Naharnet/The Gulf Cooperation Council has criticized Hizbullah chief sayyed Hassan Nasrallah for threatening to send more fighters to neighboring Syria after a car bomb hit his stronghold. "At the same time that he calls for self restraint, he threatens the Syrians that his party will be more involved in fighting them," GCC secretary general Abdullatif al-Zayani said in a statement released late Monday. "This is a flagrant meddling in their (Syrians') internal affairs and an obvious violation of the Syrian sovereignty," he said, describing Nasrallah's speech of being "irresponsible". "Nasrallah continues to boast about the participation of his militia in slaughtering children, women and innocent Syrians, and destroying their towns and property," Zayani said. He even boasts that he is "ready to double the number of his militia fighters and even to join the fight himself against the Syrian people," Zayani added. The head of the Iran-backed movement accused radical Sunni Islamists, who have joined the fight against the Syrian regime, of being behind last week's car bomb in the predominantly Shiite southern suburb of Beirut, which killed 27 people and wounded 336. "I will go myself to Syria if it is so necessary in the battle against the takfiris (radical Sunni Muslims); Hizbullah and I will go to Syria" to fight rebels trying to oust President Bashar Assad, said Nasrallah defiantly. Hizbullah is a key supporter of Syrian President Bashar Assad and has sent fighters across the border this year to bolster government forces, which have been battling an anti-regime revolt since March 2011.
Oil-rich GCC countries, which are backing the uprising, have imposed sanction on Hizbullah over its support for Assad. The GCC comprises Bahrain, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Source/Agence France Presse.

Report: Hizbullah's Intense Security Measures in Dahieh Coordinated with Official Agencies
Naharnet/Hizbullah has undertaken strict security measures at its stronghold of Dahieh in Beriut's southern suburbs, setting up checkpoints at various locations in order to search vehicles and passersby in the area, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper on Tuesday. Widely informed sources from Hizbullah told the daily: “The measures are taking place in coordination with the security agencies and they are therefore not infringing on their privileges.”
“The measures do not reflect the mentality of the state within a state,” they said. The developments in Dahieh are a reaction to recent information that several booby-trapped cars have been discovered in Lebanon.
“It is clear that the assailants have greater intentions and the official security agencies cannot control the entire situation in Dahieh so therefore local neighborhood committees are taking it upon themselves to help the agencies,” explained the sources. “The security measures are a popular demand and all the Lebanese people must now understand this issue. The steps are popular support being provided to the security forces during this critical time,” they added. They denied that the security measures are creating tensions among the people, saying: “On the contrary, they fall within their demands. Failure to take such steps to support the security agencies will not be wise.”
Since Thursday's Ruwais bombing and the discovery of several booby-trapped cars, Hizbullah has taken strict measures in Dahieh with some of its members dressed in civilian clothing monitoring the streets and others setting up checkpoints to inspect vehicles and identification cards of passengers. These measures were also taken at a number of southern cities. Thirty people were killed and 336 wounded in a car bombing in the Ruwais area in Dahieh on Thursday. A number of booby-trapped cars have been found since then, including one in the Naameh area in southern Lebanon. Eight people, of Lebanese and Palestinian nationalities, were found involved in the scheme to detonate the car in another area. Security agencies seized on Saturday afternoon an Audi car filled with 250 kilograms of explosives near the municipality building in Naameh.
The Naameh plot was to be the first of a series of attacks, well-informed sources told As Safir newspaper on Monday.

Report: AMAL Members Open Fire at Vehicle that Did Not Halt at Dahieh Checkpoint
Naharnet /Security forces from the AMAL party opened fire on Tuesday at a vehicle that did not halt at a checkpoint in Beirut's southern suburb of Dahieh, reported MTV. It said that they fired at Range Rover, with tinted windows, after it failed to stop at an AMAL checkpoint in the Farhat neighborhood in Dahieh. Party members in the area soon went on alert and began searching a number of nearby cars. Police dogs were used in the efforts to make sure that no booby-trapped vehicles were in the vicinity, said MTV. Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) had denied however that a shooting had taken place on Tuesday morning. Hizbullah had stepped up security measures in Dahieh and cities in southern Lebanon in light of a car bombing in the area on Thursday that claimed the lives of 30 people and wounded 336 others. A number of booby-trapped cars have been found since then, including one in the Naameh area in southern Lebanon. Eight people, of Lebanese and Palestinian nationalities, were found involved in the scheme to detonate the car in another area.Security agencies seized on Saturday afternoon an Audi car filled with 250 kilograms of explosives near the municipality building in Naameh. The Naameh plot was to be the first of a series of attacks, well-informed sources told As Safir newspaper on Monday.

Rai meeting canceled over Syrian envoy inclusion

 August 20, 2013 /The Daily Star /BEIRUT: Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai was hesitant to arrange a meeting with top Arab officials in Beirut after some threatened to boycott the session if the Syrian ambassador was invited. The Central News Agency reported political sources said Arab envoys objected to the participation of Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdul-Karim Ali, despite Bkirki’s justifications that the meeting sought to discuss different perspectives. Sources close to Bkirki told CNA that Rai had been reluctant to go forward with efforts to arrange the meeting as a result. Separately, the agency reported that Rai would visit Romania in September on an official visit.

Salam Slams March 8, Says he's Not Responsible for Cabinet Formation Impasse
Naharnet /Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam denied accusations by the March 8 coalition that he is responsible for the cabinet formation impasse, pointing out that he didn't set any previous conditions.
“I am basing my decision on the nation's best interest. I only care about forming a productive cabinet,” Salam said in an interview with As Safir newspaper. He expressed fear that there “might be a previous decision to block the government formation,” noting that there “are some parties that prefer that the vacuum continues.”Salam expressed surprise that the March 8 coalition reject that he would be their guarantee as he belongs to the rival March 14 alliance, reiterating that he would resign if any main bloc quits the government. “If I was still a part of the March 14 coalition would I give such a commitment,” the PM-designate told the daily.He revealed that was criticized by some sides in the March 14 camp over his stance.
Salam, since his appointment to form a cabinet in April, is seeking the formation of a 24-member cabinet in which the March 8, March 14 and centrists camps would each get eight ministers.
He is also rejecting granting veto power to any power, which the March 8 camp has been demanding.
The March 14 coalition is meanwhile calling for keeping Hizbullah out of the cabinet over its role in Syria's war.
Salam called on the political foes to felicitate the formation of the government, describing the 8-8-8 formula as “realistic.”
He also urged Hizbullah to deal with him in a different manner. Salam praised Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's recent speech, considering that it was “good.” However, Salam criticized Nasrallah's remarks that he would personally fight in Syria. A defiant Nasrallah said on Friday he himself was ready to go and fight in Syria against radical Islamists.
“Military intervention will negatively impact Lebanon,” Salam told As Safir. He noted that all the Lebanese are against takfiris and no one justifies their acts.
The official stressed that the blast that hit Beirut's southern suburbs neighborhood of Ruwais “requires all political parties to facilitate the formation of his cabinet and compromise.”The Ruwais blast claimed the lives of 27 people and wounded more than 336 other.The casualty toll is the highest in Lebanon since a massive car bomb attack on the Beirut seafront killed former prime minister Rafik Hariri and 22 others in February 2005.

Al-Mustaqbal to Hizbullah: Fighting Takfiris is the State's Responsibility
Naharnet/Al-Mustaqbal bloc on Tuesday lashed out at Hizbullah's “war against terrorists” in Syria, saying that the party should have consulted the Lebanese state in that matter."(Hizbullah leader) Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah did not consult the Lebanese people or the state before going through with what he calls a war against Takfiris,” al-Mustaqbal lawmakers said in a released statement after the bloc's weekly meeting at the Center House.
They pointed out: “He did not consider the interests of Lebanon and its people.”
The MPs stressed that fighting criminals, terrorists and outlaws is the responsibility of the state and its institutions.
In a broadcast speech he gave at a ceremony marking the end of the July 2006 war, Nasrallah explained that his combat in Syria is against Takfiris, vowing that he is “ready to personally go fight in Syria if necessary.”
"Nasrallah and Hizbullah are held responsible for the deteriorating security, political and economic conditions in the country and which expose Lebanon to all kinds of dangers,” the bloc stated.
“It is all a result of the reckless decision to get involved in the fighting in Syria.”
The lawmakers condemned last week's “terrorist crime” in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
"We denounce all forms of violence against any human being in general, and against the Lebanese in particular,” they said.A huge blast took the lives of 27 people and wounded 280 others last week in Beirut's southern suburb."We call on the concerned judicial and security bodies to intensify their investigation to uncover the perpetrators, try them in courts and penalize them.”
The MPs noted that these bodies are the “only parties with the legal, political and popular cover tasked with preserving people's security.”
"We ask all concerned political authorities to support these bodies and safeguard them against political, party and sectarian interference.
However, the bloc rejected the security measures adopted by Hizbullah following the blast.
“We denounce these procedures because they remind us of self-security measures that were adopted in the past and that lead to a demographic segregation between the Lebanese,” it explained.
"This is an attack on the state and on legitimacy. Hizbullah should leave matters of security to official bodies.”Also, al-Mustaqbal bloc considered that Hizbullah's “policy of accusing parties of being traitors” affects the possibility of resuming national dialogue sessions. The MPs reiterated calls for withdrawing Hizbullah fighters from Syria, expressing that this would be a start for resuming national dialogue "on the basis of believing in the state and its authority."  

Lebanon judge charges 13 for abduction of Turkish pilots
August 20, 2013 /By Youssef Diab, Dana Khraiche/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: A Lebanese judge charged 13 people Tuesday, most of whom are relatives of Lebanese held in Syria, over the involvement in the alleged kidnapping of two Turkish Airlines pilots in an investigation that has led to the arrests of three suspects.One of the suspects as well as a representative from the Higher Shiite Council denied the families played any part in the abduction. Mount Lebanon Prosecutor Claude Karam charged 13 individuals for involvement in the abduction of the pilots, through the use of violence and threats with arms, as well as inciting kidnappings and undermining the state's authority.
Pilot Murat Akpinar and his co-pilot Murat Agca were abducted on Aug. 9 near the Rafik Hariri International Airport by gunmen. The two are reportedly held in separate locations across the country.
A group calling itself Zuwwar al-Imam Ali al-Reda claimed responsibility for the abduction, demanding in exchange the release of nine Shiite Lebanese held in Syria since May 2012.
Relatives of the Lebanese hostages blame Turkey for not doing enough to win the hostages' release and have staged a number of protests against Turkish institutions in Lebanon. Turkey, a supporter of the Syrian opposition, has repeatedly said it would exert efforts to free the Lebanese hostages.
The individuals who were charged with the kidnapping include three who were arrested last week and another identified as Hayat Awali, the spokesperson for the relatives of the Lebanese hostages.
The suspects include a number of relatives from the Saleh and Zoghieb families. Karam referred the case to Mount Lebanon Investigative Judge Ziyad Mkanna who questioned the three detainees and issued arrest warrants against them. A date will be scheduled to call the rest in for questioning.
A judicial source told The Daily Star on Tuesday that the kidnapping case was a high priority, describing it as a high-profile national case.
"The process of tracing the kidnappers is still ongoing with the aim of locating the two hostages and arresting the [kidnappers],” the source said.
Sheikh Abbas Zogheib, tasked by the Higher Shiite Council to follow up on the Lebanese in Syria, described the charges as baseless and a “ complete mockery.”“The mere fact that the list of names suspected of kidnapping includes relatives of the hostages in Syria speaks for itself,” Zogheib told The Daily Star. “We will try to maintain calm on the streets but the situation is becoming more difficult ... as if the aim behind the charge was to provoke [street violence],” he added.
Zogheib also said the relatives were innocent and that he believed the charges were groundless.
Asked whether the suspects, some of whom are related to the Lebanese hostages, would respond to the interrogation request, Zogheib said: “On what basis would someone like Hajj Hayat be charged?”
He also questioned the reactions of some political figures following the abduction who called for reopening the Qlayaat airport. “Why don’t they charge these people?” he asked. Hayat Awali denied she had a role in the kidnapping, asking them to put off releasing the Turkish pilots until the Lebanese in Syria are freed.
“How did the judge come to such a conclusion since he did not listen to my testimony?” Awali told a local television station in Beirut’s southern suburb.
“I have been accused of something I didn’t do,” she added. “I want to ask the kidnappers not to free the Turks unless our relatives in Syria are released as well as those detained in Roumieh Prison,” Awali said.
The spokesperson for the relative of those held in Syria warned they “would break the arms” of security personnel if they sought to arrest them, blasting the intelligence branch of the Internal Security Forces.
“The Information Branch has turned the relatives into kidnappers because it is an accomplice,” Daniel Shoaib said. “If they want to arrest us, they should take into consideration that we will break their hands [if they try],” he added.Shoaib also said that the relatives would not allow the Information Branch to approach their neighborhoods, warning the relatives would block roads nationwide if need be.


Aazaz Pilgrims' Families Threaten to 'Break Hand' that Tries to Arrest Any Member as Prosecutor Sues 13 in Pilots Case
Naharnet /Mount Lebanon Prosecutor Claude Karam on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against 13 members of the families of the Aazaz abductees on charges of “forming an armed gang and abducting the two Turkish pilots,” state-run National News Agency reported.Karam referred the case to Mt. Lebanon Investigative Judge Ziad Makna, who interrogated three detainees and issued arrest warrants for them. He also issued 10 arrest warrants in absentia for 10 other suspects, adjourning the session to August 28, NNA said. Turkey's state-run Anatolia news agency identified the 13 suspects as Mohammed Ali Saleh, Nadim Saad Zgheib and Hasan Jamil Saleh – who are in detention – and Nasri Hasan Hammoud, Adham Ali Zgheib, Hussein Mohammed Saleh, Ali Jamil Saleh, Abbas Mohammed al-Hajj Hasan, Abdul Rahman Ali Monzer, Hayat Hasan Awali, Mahdi Hussein Zgheib, Roda Hasan Shoaib and Sami Hasan Awali. Judge Makna will set a date for summoning and interrogating the ten suspects, Anatolia added. "We knew about the lawsuits against us from media sources but we were not formally notified," Hayat Awali, a spokeswoman for the families told LBCI television later on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Daniel Shoaib, a relative of one of the Aazaz abductees, told al-Jadeed: "The (Internal Security Forces) Intelligence Bureau is the party that accused us in the kidnapping of the Turkish pilots. The bureau works as an agent for foreign parties." "We will break the hands of anyone who tries to attack the families of the kidnapped pilgrims," Shoaib warned.
"We accuse these people of lying and their boss (ex-PM) Saad Hariri kidnapped our family members in Aazaz and today the Intelligence Bureau is completing this mission in Lebanon," he added.
Shoaib threatened to block roads to prevent Intelligence Bureau agents from arresting any member of the families, describing the bureau as "illegitimate."
"We abide by the law, but we will not cooperate with such a bureau," he added.
Later on Tuesday, the families issued a statement saying the arrest warrants "will strip the families of the ability to follow up the case of their nine relatives because they designate them as criminals."
They criticized the Lebanese state for failing to seek "an Interpol arrest warrant for Ammar al-Dadikhi when his identity and location were well-known," in reference to the head of the armed group that abducted the pilgrims in Syria's Aazaz on May 22, 2012. "Perhaps the state will prosecute us tomorrow over our intentions and feelings," said the statement.
"We will conduct broad consultations with anyone who cares about our cause and we'll act accordingly. We are the families of the abductees and we are not the abductors," it added. Arrest warrants were issued Saturday for Mohammed Ali Saleh, Nadim Saad Zgheib and Hasan Jamil Saleh. On Thursday, four people were summoned for investigation over their links to the abduction. Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel had told al-Joumhouria newspaper that the individuals are relatives and friends of the Lebanese pilgrims held in Syria's Aazaz region.
He revealed that their names were divulged by Mohammed Saleh, another relative of the pilgrims who was arrested on August 11 over his links to the pilots' kidnapping.
Meanwhile, the families of the Lebanese pilgrims kidnapped in Syria's Aazaz staged a sit-in on Saturday to protest the “arbitrary” arrests of their relatives suspected of taking part in the abduction of the Turkish pilots. Following the Turkish pilots' kidnapping, the relatives of the pilgrims were quick to deny having any links to the abduction although they have repeatedly accused Turkey of being responsible for the release of their loved ones.
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 from Iran. Two of them have since been released, while the rest remain held in Aazaz.

Miqati after Meeting Ozyildiz: Lebanon Exerting Efforts to Uncover Fate of Pilots
Naharnet /Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati stressed on Tuesday that the Lebanese government is exerting efforts to uncover the fate of the two Turkish pilots, who were kidnapped two weeks ago on the airport road.
Miqati, according to a statement released by his press office, reiterated after talks with Turkish Ambassador to Lebanon Inan Ozyildiz that the Turkish authorities should press negotiations concerning the nine Lebanese pilgrims held in Syria's Aazaz. The Turkish Airlines pilots were kidnapped on August 9 when gunmen ambushed a bus carrying the national airliner's crew from Beirut airport to a hotel in the city.
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said after a cabinet meeting on Monday that the two pilots are alive, and that their whereabouts are known.
A previously unknown group calling itself Zuwwar Imam al-Rida claimed the abduction, and demanded that Turkey use its influence with Syrian rebels it backs to secure the release of nine Lebanese Shiites kidnapped in Syria in May 2012. Lebanese authorities have arrested three suspects and charged them in connection with the abduction.

'Marwan Hadid Brigades' Claims Responsibility for Weekend Hermel Rocket Attacks
Naharnet/The “Marwan Hadid Brigades” claimed responsibility on Tuesday for the firing of rockets in the Bekaa region on Sunday, reported LBCI television. The previously unknown group claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement and video aired on Youtube. On Monday, President Michel Suleiman expressed his “grave concern” with the shelling that took place in Hermel, tasking the Army Command with “determining the location from where they were fired in order to tackle the situation with the appropriate means.”Five rockets landed in and around Hermel, a Hizbullah stronghold, on Sunday, a security source told Agence France Presse on condition of anonymity."Two rockets landed in the town of Hermel, in an area between the Mabarrat teaching association and the Masharii al-Qaa area, causing no casualties," the source said. "Another three rockets have landed now on the outskirts of Hermel," he added. It was not immediately clear whether the rockets were launched from inside Lebanon or from across the border in strife-torn Syria, said the source, although state-run National News Agency said they were fired from Syrian territory. Hermel and other areas of eastern Lebanon, a bastion of Hizbullah, have been hit by several rocket attacks launched from Syria in recent months.
The repeated violations prompted Suleiman in June to file a memorandum to the United Nations and Arab League.

Qahwaji Orders Intensifying Security Measures, Army Deployment around Lebanon
Naharnet /..Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji informed military officials on Tuesday about security measures to be adopted following last week's deadly explosion in Beirut's southern suburbs.
"Qahwaji gave directions and instructions to the heads of military units and bodies and to high-ranking army officials,” a statement published on the military institution's official website revealed.
It detailed: “He asked them to intensify their measures and the deployment of forces to control security and safeguard stability in different Lebanese regions.”Meanwhile, Qahwaji discussed on Tuesday with a delegation of al-Mustaqbal bloc MPs the latest security developments in the country. “The lawmakers expressed after the talks their appreciation of efforts exerted by the army to fight terrorist networks and control security in various Lebanese regions,” the state-run National News Agency said.A huge blast took the lives of 27 people and wounded 280 others last week in Beirut's southern suburb. And on Saturday, explosive materials and devices were found in a car parked near the municipality building of the Naameh neighborhood in Mount Lebanon's Shouf district.

Aoun Slams PSP over 'Racism' Remarks, Says Ideology Responsible for Bombings outside Lebanon
Naharnet /Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Tuesday noted that “the ideology responsible” for the latest bombings in the country is “outside Lebanon,” lashing out at the “feudalism” of Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat and his aides.“Several parties have talked about the issue of (Syrian) refugees and what struck me were the remarks of (Jumblat's bloc MP Akram) Shehayyeb and (PSP spokesman) Rami al-Rayyes, who spoke in the name of the PSP's feudalism about the 'racism' of Michel Aoun and (caretaker Energy and Water) Minister (Jebran) Bassil,” Aoun told reporters after the weekly meeting of the Change and Reform bloc in Rabiyeh.“Shehayyeb and al-Rayyes have mentioned us for the second time and we did not respond so that we don't stir chaos and problems and invoke the past, but they have insisted on attacking us. We do not accept to be called racists, as the racists are those who had derogated Maronites in 'Hitler-like remarks',” Aoun added, referring to remarks voiced by Jumblat in the past. “I remind Jumblat of the Maaser al-Chouf massacre and I remind of the 64 children they slaughtered and killed in 1983,” Aoun went on to say, accusing the PSP of “feudalism and killing of children.”
The FPM leader noted that there are “safe regions” for the refugees inside Syria. “There are pro-revolution and anti-revolution areas (and the refugees can choose between them,” he added.
Last Tuesday, the Change and Reform bloc proposed a plan to deal with the refugee crisis, calling for putting an end to the entry of Syrians into the country.
“Lebanon must stop receiving Palestinians and Syrians fleeing Syria except for those with special health and humanitarian needs justified by the ministers of health and interior,” Bassil said back then.
“The bloc came forward with plans before to deal with this issue but we were accused of racism. And now Lebanon is left to face the worst crisis in modern history,” he warned.
The bloc urged coordination with Syrian authorities to “assure the return of Syrians to safe regions in their country,” demanding the establishment of “temporary residential compounds” on the Syrian side of the border.
Answering a reporter's question, Aoun said: “Everything is possible and bombings might happen in Christian regions because the ideology responsible is the same and it does not differentiate between one region and another." He noted that the aforementioned "ideology" is "outside Lebanon." On Thursday, 25 people were killed and around 300 others wounded in a powerful car bombing that rocked the Beirut southern suburb of Ruwais, after which Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah noted that the extremist "Takfiris" will not differentiate between Sunnis, Shiites and Christians in their attacks. Turning to the issue of oil exploration, Aoun said: “We will not allow some parties to obstruct the issue of oil decrees, as these resources can generate revenues for Lebanon."On the parliamentary session postponed earlier in the day by Speaker Nabih Berri over lack of quorum, Aoun said: "We want clear draft laws and agendas in order to attend parliament sessions.""Why should we go to parliament amid this approach regarding administrative appointments? To strike deals?" he added.Separately, Aoun said: "It is still too early to hold a Christian-Christian meeting.""There is no problem in holding a Christian meeting, but we must first define the topics that we should discuss," he added, in response to a reporter's question.

Egypt's ElBaradei faces court for 'betrayal of trust'
By Lin Noueihed | Reuters /CAIRO (Reuters) - Mohamed ElBaradei, Egypt's former vice president, will be sued in court for a "betrayal of trust" over his decision to quit the army-backed government in protest at its bloody crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood.The case, brought by an Egyptian law professor, will be heard in a Cairo court on September 19, judicial sources said on Tuesday.
It points to the prospect of a new wave of politically driven lawsuits being brought to court following the downfall of President Mohamed Mursi, whose supporters brought a raft of cases against opposition figures during his year in power.The cases, many of them for "insulting the president", have been criticized by anti-government activists as a form of political intimidation.
ElBaradei, former head of the U.N. nuclear agency and co-leader of the secular National Salvation Front, was the most prominent liberal to endorse the military's overthrow of President Mohamed Mursi on August 3 following mass protests.But he made new enemies on August 14 by resigning after security forces used force to crush the protest camps set up by Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood supporters in Cairo, killing hundreds of people.
The military's intervention against Mursi has polarized public opinion in Egypt and around 900 people have died in violence across the country over the past week.
The case was filed by Sayyed Ateeq, a law professor at Helwan University.
"I raised a case against Dr. ElBaradei. He was appointed in his capacity as a representative of the NSF and the majority of the people who signed the Tamarod declaration," he told Reuters, referring to the coalition that led the anti-Mursi protests."Dr. ElBaradei was entrusted with this position and he had a duty to go back to those who entrusted him and ask to resign."
Ateeq said that, if found guilty, ElBaradei could face a three year jail sentence. But a judicial source said the maximum sentence that could be imposed in a case of this kind was a fine and a suspended jail term.
ElBaradei left Egypt earlier this week for Europe and is unlikely to attend any hearing in this case.
The lawsuit follows a wave of arrests of Muslim Brotherhood leaders in recent days and a decision by the public prosecutor to charge Mursi, who is being detained in an undisclosed location, with inciting violence.
Khaled Dawoud, a former aide to ElBaradei who joined him in quitting the National Salvation Front following the crackdown, said any decision to try the Nobel peace prize winner would be a political escalation against critics of the military crackdown."If this case against ElBaradei is true then it is a major escalation showing that things are getting very polarized. You're either on this side or on that side," he told Reuters.
"Things took a very different turn from what someone like myself expected when I took part in the June 30 demonstrations against Mursi."
(Additional reporting by Tom Perry; Editing by Tom Perry and Alison Williams)

Egypt's Brotherhood Names Interim Head after Guide Arrested
Naharnet /The Muslim Brotherhood has named an interim leader to head the group after its supreme guide was arrested Tuesday, the website of its political party said. "Mahmoud Ezzat, deputy leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, will assume the role of supreme guide of the group on a temporary basis after the security forces of the bloody military coup arrested supreme guide Mohamed Badie," the Freedom and Justice Party website said. Badie was arrested as the army-installed government cracks down on the Brotherhood, from which ousted president Mohammed Morsi hails. Dozens of its leaders and members have been rounded up, including Morsi, who has been detained at a secret location since he was pushed from office on July 3 after massive demonstrations against his rule. He faces allegations related to his 2011 escape from prison as well as new accusations that he incited the death and torture of protesters in December 2012.
SourceAgence France Presse.

U.S. Slams Erdogan Claim on Morsi Ouster
Naharnet/The White House on Tuesday condemned Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's claim that Israel had a role in toppling ousted Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the comments were "offensive and unsubstantiated and wrong."SourceAgence France Presse.

EU's Ashton Says 'Ready' to Return to Egypt
Naharnet/European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said Tuesday that she had offered to return to Cairo to help facilitate a way out of the country's crisis."I have offered to go back. I told the Egyptian prime minister at the weekend that I would be more than willing to go back to Egypt if they wish me to come back," Ashton told reporters on the eve of an extraordinary meeting of EU foreign ministers to discuss a response to events in Egypt. Ashton traveled twice to the country last month following the July 3 ouster of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi after massive protests against his administration. On July 30 she was the first senior foreign official to meet Morsi who is in detention in a secret location. During her last visit she and the EU's special envoy for the southern Mediterranean, Bernadino Leon, sought to facilitate a political deal including the Muslim Brotherhood. But foreign mediation efforts by the EU, the United States and the Gulf nations broke down. The situation in the last days has degenerated further, with almost 900 people reported dead in six days.
Ashton said the 28-nation bloc had "worked on ideas to try and have confidence-building measures with the different groups in Egypt, across the political spectrum, and to try and help support a political solution.
"We remain ready to offer our support to achieve that, not interference, support," she said / SourceAgence France Presse.

U.N. Says Clashes in Golan Have Intensified
Naharnet /The spillover in the Golan from the conflict in Syria has intensified in recent days, posing a threat to U.N. peacekeepers on the scene, a senior U.N. official said Tuesday. The Syrian army and opposition rebels have engaged in "intense shelling and heavy clashes" since August 17 in a U.N.-patrolled zone that separates Israel and Syria, Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, assistant secretary-general for political affairs, said.
No casualties have been reported so far, but the fighting has intensified near two U.N. positions, forcing peacekeepers to take shelter, he said.The U.N. Disengagement Observer Force "observed the continued presence of roadblocks with improvised explosive devices in the vicinity of U.N. positions which affects the freedom of movement of UNDOF personnel," he said. "Incidents of threatening behavior against UNDOF personnel from armed members of the opposition were also reported," he said.Meanwhile, Israeli forces returned fire Saturday after Syrian shells fell on a part of the Golan occupied by Israeli troops.
Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Ron Prosor, protested against the shelling in a letter to the U.N. Security Council, warning "these sorts of provocations will not be tolerated."
UNDOF has been monitoring the ceasefire between Israel and Syria since 1974. The situation in the Golan has been tense since the start of the conflict in Syria more than two years ago.
Israel, which is technically at war with Syria, captured 1,200 square kilometers (463 square miles) of the Golan Heights during the Six Day War in 1967, and then annexed it, an action never recognized by the international community.SourceAgence France Presse.

Erdogan in another anti-Semitic diatribe against Israel reveals his failures
DEBKAfile Special Report August 20, 2013/In one revealing sentence, Turkish prime minister Tayyip Erdogan undid the hard work performed by US and Israeli to gloss over his radical anti-Semitic views and the bankruptcy of his Middle East policies, in the hope of co-opting Ankara to a moderate regional lineup. This time, Erdogan went so far as to accuse Israel of orchestrating Egypt’s July 3 military coup in an address Monday, Aug. 20 to the provincial chairs of his ruling Justice and Development Party.Ankara has evidence as to the country’s involvement in President Mohamed Morsi’s overthrow, he said. “Who is behind this? We have evidence.” But the Turkish prime minister did not reveal his “evidence” because there was none, DEBKAfile’s military and intelligence sources note. His purpose was to turn his party’s attention away from his failure to establish Turkish influence in any part of the Middle East, especially in Egypt, by putting the blame on Israel. It was Israel’s fault, he insinuated, that Erdogan encountered Egyptian contempt for his bid to assume the role of leading Muslim power in the Middle East. He met this rejection even on the part of the Muslim Brotherhood during Morsi’s administration, in the year before the military coup. Morsi rejected his overtures for close ties - not just with Cairo but also with the Palestinian Hamas ruling the Gaza Strip and his pretensions to be their champion. Edrogan’s plans to create a Sunni Muslim bloc led by Turkey and built around the Muslim Brotherhood encountered its second setback when his only strategic partner, Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, abdicated two months ago after a bloodless coup. The main motives behind his removal, with Saudi and UAE encouragement, were his close ties with Turkey and strong support for the Muslim Brotherhood movement and Hamas. The emir was succeeded by his son Sheikh Tamim bin Khalifa Al Thani, who opposes his father’s friendly ties with the Brotherhood and Turkey.
Indeed, it should have been evident that the coup in Qatar was the precursor of the military coup in Egypt, a conclusion reached in one of DEBKA Weekly’s exclusive reports. Erdogan and the head of his MIT intelligence agency Fidan Hakan missed this connection, although the Saudis and the UAE made no bones about their drive to derail Muslim Brotherhood rule in Egypt and thwart the ambitions of its Turkish and Gulf allies.
Fearing to blame Saudi Arabia and the emirates for his ruined plans, Erdogan heaped crude falsehoods on Israel’s head as his whipping boy.
His crudest remark referred to a meeting he claimed took place in France between “an intellectual” and former Israeli justice minister before Egypt’s 2011 elections. Erdoğan, stressing that the intellectual was Jewish, quoted him as saying: “‘The Muslim Brotherhood will not be in power even if they win the elections.”
DEBKAfile: The Turkish prime minister managed by a single anti-Semitic comment to stigmatize “Jewish intellectuals” and also leave the impression that not only had his own policies gone aground but so had the Obama administration’s plans, which relied heavily on Muslim Turkey and the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood as their keystone, and therefore invested great efforts in effecting a reconciliation between Jerusalem and Ankara.

Their identities were taken with their lives
By: Diana Moukalled/Asharq Alawsat/“Hezbollah Stronghold in Bir Al-Abed, southern Beirut, bombarded.”Some media outlets thought nothing of summing up an attack that killed 30 people and injured more than 200 under that title. Many stories have been neglected: The story of the limbs torn off unidentified people, the missing remains of a father and his two daughters, and the stories of others who were killed just because they were passing by at the moment of the attack.The stories of the dead seemed to be of no value because the bombardment occurred at a moment when feelings of hatred were at their peak. The victims’ souls evaporated, unseen among the flames. This even pushed some to be overtly overjoyed at what was happening, and they even failed to conceal their desire for revenge.
There have been crazy calls for more killings around us. The scenes coming from the streets of Egypt, Iraq and Syria are full of anonymous victims. Now it is Beirut’s turn, and the title this time is Hezbollah, not those whose bodies were torn into pieces by the explosives. In light of all this death, there is no room, or even a slight desire, to distinguish between targeting innocent civilians and political quarrels. This happens every day, until we all became desensitized and the desire for revenge and anticipation of the death of our opponents have surpassed any other human value. We saw this in our approaches to the bombings in Iraq, the blind violence committed by the Syrian regime and its extremists, and in what is happening in the streets of Cairo. As for Lebanon, while it is true that southern Lebanon is Hezbollah’s stronghold and that Hezbollah is standing side-by-side with the Syrian regime in an immoral war, it is also true that those who were killed in the Bir El-Abed bombings were all civilians. Condemning Hezbollah’s role in Syria will be of no value unless we adopt a decisive stance against targeting civilians, in southern Beirut and elsewhere. This responsibility must be placed on us all, as societies and as the media—as well as on Hezbollah.
In fact, Hezbollah exerted no effort to keep pace with the victims. Just as Hezbollah’s opponents found it facile to consider Hezbollah and the Lebanese Shi’ites as one, Hezbollah is seeking to further establish this idea. From the first moment of the bombardment, live broadcast was limited to Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV, and media coverage was confined to the crime scene and hospitals. It was not possible to tell the stories of the victims or of those who went missing without Hezbollah intruding with its own discourse. Civilians are caught between the image Hezbollah made for them and the stereotyped image their opponents have perpetuated. The victims are paying multiple prices. There are stories that remained untold, for example, about someone who went to have his hair cut and ended up a burned body and another story about a child who was killed by bomb shrapnel to the head.
The media this time came closer to showing the true faces of victims in the southern district, yet it remains a prisoner of political divisions.

A Friend in Need is a Friend Indeed
By: Ali Ibrahim/Aharq Alawsat/As is the case among individuals, there are nothing as important as crises and hardships in defining the ties among countries. Saudi Arabia has proved to be a true friend of Egypt during the crisis it is going through. This is evidenced by the decisive stances taken by King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz in support of stability, as well as Riyadh’s diplomatic moves through the foreign minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal who paid a visit to France prior to the emergency meeting of EU foreign ministers on Egypt. Those overseeing Saudi foreign policy may find that it usually leans towards patience, staying away from any interference with the internal affairs of any country, particularly Arab ones, and not adopting hasty positions. However, when it comes to the current crisis in Egypt, Saudi reactions—on the highest levels—were rapid, decisive and public, signaling Riyadh’s realization of the gravity of the situation. The stances of several countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan were similarly supportive of stability in Egypt at a time when everybody senses that allowing collapse and failure to spread to this historically significant, as well as most populous, Arab country will bring disaster into the entire region.
The importance of these stances lies in the fact that they send a clear message to the world that Arabs do have a position on what is happening in Egypt and that, due to the special importance of this North African country, no rash or immature political stances can be accepted. In fact, such stances will cause further rifts and destruction in the Arab region as well as show bias towards one side.These Arab stances basically came to show support for the Egyptian state and institutions given that they represent the pillar of stability in this axial country. Allowing Egypt to collapse will open the door for catastrophes and chaos. These stances are not biased, given that Saudis have made sure since the start of the events to affirm their respect of the will of the Egyptians, dealing openly with the Muslim Brotherhood rulers of Egypt as well as receiving their figures as the then representatives of the Egyptian government. However, it was no secret that the millions of Egyptians who went to the streets on July 30, demanding the removal of the president, reflect a different Egyptian will that could not be ignored. At the time, the military was compelled to intervene to impose change. One can argue that had the change been made democratically through the ballot boxes, things would have been better on both the internal and external spheres. Without doubt, this would have been the ideal scenario. However, in reality the tools for such a scenario were not available. This is not to mention the intransigence on the series of political solutions proposed to find a way out of the crisis. Among these solutions were holding a presidential election, as it was not possible to wait for other four years under pressure from the public demanding change.
One can only be sorry for the bloodshed whether among protesters or the security forces given that they are all Egyptians.
The amount of international attention to what is happening in Egypt has been fairly good. However, some of the measures and steps taken in other countries must not be repeated. These steps include acts of interference in other countries resulting in catastrophes whose cost the region still bears. Such interference resulted in some countries’ ability to assume control over only limited areas while exercising no sovereignty over wide stretches of its territory.
One fact that cannot be ignored is that there is a strong public support for the Egyptian state and a desire that the government restores its prestige despite the pain caused by bloodshed. The latest of such sorry incidents was the cold-blooded murder of soldiers on Monday in Sinai, the peninsula that has become another battlefield in a war launched by dark forces that only rise during unrest.

Israel warns US: Alienating Egyptian army could risk peace talks
By JPOST.COM STAFFLAST UPDATED: 08/20/2013/Daily Beast quotes US senator as saying Obama administration has decided to temporarily suspend military aid to Egypt. Egyptian troops en route to Sinai
Egyptian troops en route to Sinai Photo: REUTERS
Israel has urged the US to back the Egyptian military, saying losing Egypt to Islamists could pose a risk the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.
According to an Israeli official quoted by the paper, Egypt and Saudi Arabia have traditionally played an important role in providing the Palestinians the support to stay in the negotiations and to make concessions, and without them there is a chance the talks will fail.The paper also reported on a parallel effort by Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to influence the US into backing the Egyptian military.
According to the report, Israel and the US’s Gulf allies are urging the Obama administration to encourage the Egyptian military to confront rather than reconcile with the Muslim Brotherhood.Israel is interested in an Egyptian government that will aggressively fight the Islamists in the Sinai Peninsula and protect the border, the report said. The paper quotes an Israeli official as calling anti-Muslim Brotherhood nations “the axis of reason.”
The head of the Israeli-Palestinian Center for Research and Information, Gershon Baskin, is quoted by the paper as saying Israel’s leaders view Islamist president Mohamed Morsi’s overthrow as “an opportune time to give a real blow to political Islam throughout the region and get the more sensible people back in power.”
Despite that, Israel remains wary of the Egyptian military, fearing the army’s crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood supporters could spark an Islamist insurgency that could erode Israeli security, the Journal reported.
As a result, Israel has been pushing the US not to cut its military aid to Egypt, the Journal reported, arguing that would jeopardize counterterrorism cooperation in Sinai and the 1979 Israeli-Egyptian Camp David peace accord.
The Egyptian military on July 3 overthrew Morsi, who emerged from Egypt´s Muslim Brotherhood movement to become the country´s first freely elected president last year after the February 2011 fall of long-time authoritarian ruler Hosni Mubarak. The United States has refused to call Morsi´s ouster a military coup and it has never called for him to be reinstated. Nor has done much to curb the extensive military and economic aid that Cairo receives from Washington. On July 24, Obama decided to suspend the delivery of four F-16 fighters to Egypt and on August 15 he canceled a regular military exercise with the Egyptian army.
However, he has largely left the aid intact. In recent years, it has run at roughly $1.3 billion in military assistance and about $250 million in economic aid annually.
Because of the across-the-board US government spending cuts, US aid to Egypt in the current fiscal year to September 30 will be slightly lower, amounting to about $1.23 billion for the military and $241 million in economic aid. The media was filled with reports on Monday that the US was either mulling, or already decided, to suspend its military aid to Egypt.
American website the Daily Beast quoted the office of US Senator Patrick Leahy as saying the Obama administration has decided in private to temporarily suspend military aid to Egypt, despite deciding not to publicly condemn the military´s overthrow of Morsi as a coup. According to the report, the Obama administration decided behind the scenes to temporarily suspend the disbursement of direct military aid, the delivery of weapons and some form of economic aid, while it reviews its relations with the new Egyptian government.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki, however, denied a similar New York Times report on Monday that the department had put a hold on its funding for economic programs that directly involve the Egyptian government.
Psaki told reporters the State Department was reviewing the economic aid to see how much, if any, might be curtailed as a result of Morsi´s ouster and the subsequent violence in Egypt, but stressed that no decisions had been made. She said this might apply to less than half of the $241 million but was unable to provide a specific amount.
Under US law, economic aid that goes to non-governmental groups as well as to government programs that promote free and fair elections, health, the environment, democracy, rule of law, and good governance are exempt from such a cut-off, Psaki said. Economic programs that do not cover these areas may be affected, she said. "We are reviewing each of those programs on a case-by-case basis to identify whether we have authority to continue providing those funds or should seek to modify our activities to ensure that our actions are consistent with the law," she said.
Psaki also said the Obama administration could choose to cut some of the $1.23 billion in military aid this year. Reuters contributed to this report.

Jordan's king warns of sectarian 'destruction'
Sunni-Shiite warfare in Syria, anti-Christian violence in Egypt pose threat to Muslim world, Abdullah II cautions in inter-religious conference in Amman
Associated Press
Published: 08.20.13, 18:49 / Israel News
Jordan's king warned Tuesday that ethnic and sectarian violence sweeping across several Arab countries could lead to the "destruction" of the Muslim world.
Abdullah II's remarks came at a conference in the Jordanian capital of 100 religious scholars, both Sunni and Shiite, from 35 countries. Christian clergymen also attended the meeting, which is discussing how Muslim nations can adopt moderate policies and preserve civil liberties and human rights.The civil war in neighboring Syria has taken on an increasingly sectarian tone, pitting predominantly Sunni rebels against a regime dominated by an offshoot of Shiism, which is allied with Shiite-majority Iran. Jordan is worried that the violence could spill across the border. Sunni-Shiite tensions also impact conflicts in Bahrain, Iraq, Lebanon and elsewhere. In Egypt, Islamists torched churches after security forces staged a bloody crackdown on encampments protesting the toppling of President Mohamed Morsi. "This conference coincides with our repeated calls to reject and end ethnic and intra-religious sectarian violence, which entails a recipe for the destruction of the Islamic world," Abdullah said.He warned against the "danger of manipulating religion for political purposes and sowing the seeds of hateful ethnic and intra-religious sectarian division." Abdullah said Muslims should respect democracy and make it inclusive. "Majoritarian rule is not the essence of democracy because democracy is achieved when all share the feeling that they are truly represented. This is the essence of political consensus in Islam," he added.

Beirut: In Baghdad’s Footsteps
Ghassan Charbel/Al Hayat
Tuesday 20 August 2013
Let’s leave politeness aside for a moment. Let us not cover wounds with handkerchiefs, or stabs with wishful thinking. The Syrian tragedy has severed the Lebanese equation, from vein to vein. We have not seen a rupture of this depth since the birth of independent Lebanon. The previous punctures were different, and less severe and dangerous. Stable Syria had the ability to rein in suicidal tendencies in Lebanon, even if it fueled them at times to charge exorbitant fees to curb them later. Today, we are witnessing an unprecedented internal fragmentation compounded by the Syrian fragmentation that is open to all sorts of hazards.
It did not happen before that the two major communities of Lebanon sailed in completely opposite directions to the extent that we see today, amid a complete absence of internal and regional safety valves. These days, Sunnis and Shiites live on the verge of strife to the tune of conflicts beyond Lebanon’s border, unfolding over a theater that spans the entire region, which is also seeing a collapse in coexistence and national borders.
The divide is real and profound. One can easily learn the sect of the speaker when the topic is Yemen, Bahrain, or Iraq. If the topic is Syria, it is impossible for the speaker to control his feelings and conceal his justifications, no matter how hard he tries to portray himself as an observer or analyst. Moreover, it is not a healthy sign for a country to possess this massive arsenal of strategic analysts, especially those who sanction massacres, whether by the regime or its opponents.
Let’s leave politeness aside. When fire broke out in Syria, each sect sailed in a different direction, regardless of the course of events. Sunnis in Sidon felt closer to Sunnis in Homs than to Shiites living in Haret Saida a few hundred meters away. The residents of Haret Saida felt closer to Alawites in Syria than to their Sunni neighbors in the city where they were born and grew up. The residents of Tariq al-Jdideh in Beirut felt they are closer to the residents of Rastan in Syria than to the residents of Beirut’s southern suburbs several hundred meters away. Sunnis felt that the revolution in Syria was their own, and Shiites felt the regime there was their own. Each side felt that the war was their war, and that its outcome would determine their position, and affect their safety and security.
Passions washed away the lines delineating the Lebanese-Syrian border. The Lebanese institutions appeared weak and obsolete. This climate was further compounded by the presence of a government that the majority of Sunnis deemed to be the others’ government, because it was established after excluding their foremost leader, Saad Hariri. The majority of Sunnis deemed this government to be the government of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the foremost leader of his community.
Lebanon is paying the price of the exclusion of its moderate Sunni leadership. It is in such a climate that a young man from north Lebanon crossed into Syria to fight in the revolution, and it is in this climate that a young man from the Bekaa went to Syria to fight against the conspiracy. Things went even further when Hezbollah officially acknowledged its involvement in the war on Syrian territory. This came as no surprise to those who knew the depth of the ties between Hezbollah and the Syrian regime, and the role Nasrallah played in solidifying the Syrian-Iranian alliance, especially in the wake of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
As the actors bided their time, waiting for the outcome of the war in Syria – which is a protracted conflict different from what has happened in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, and Yemen, because of the actual focal point of the regime in Syria – what was left of the Lebanese state crumbled, sending institutions and the lives of the Lebanese into the hands of impotence, fragmentation, and vacuum. Thus, Lebanon started ticking off the conditions for ‘Iraqization’ one by one, making terrifyingly astounding progress in recent days.
This happened with the brutal terrorist crime that targeted the southern suburbs of Beirut; with Hezbollah’s response, vowing to wage open-ended war with the takfiris and merging the Lebanese arena with the Syrian arena, after the borders collapsed; with the meager amount of cards held by the Lebanese president and the meager capabilities of the Lebanese army, in a country whose equations and institutions have been shred to pieces; and with the prevalence of fear brought about by car bombs.
In light of all this, it becomes the right of the Lebanese to fear that Beirut may be following in Baghdad’s footsteps. This is of course while bearing in mind that those who delude themselves into thinking that they will emerge victorious from the Lebanese season of ‘Iraqization’ are making a grave mistake. Indeed, the Iraqization of Lebanon only begets losers.
Pity Lebanon; a strong Syria vexes it, and a Syria blooded by reprisals kills it. Its equations have been torn asunder, and divorce between Sunnis and Shiites is looming.
Pity the Christians in Lebanon. Iraqization may speed up their uprooting. The waves in the region are mighty, and their leaders are only trained on swimming in local ponds. If they had an exceptional leader with vision and credibility outside his sect, he would have at least been able to object to or delay Iraqization. I advise the man who will be upset by these words to fire his advisers.

The Interval
Husam Itani/Al Hayat
Tuesday 20 August 2013
In responding to the criminal blast of the Beirut Southern Suburbs, the Lebanese state services and Hezbollah focused on the security related aspect. The names of the suspects who allegedly planted the bomb in Bir al-Abed last July were revealed; and the party deployed its armed men along checkpoints at the borders of the suburbs. These measures can be justified as important since they serve to control the situation and reassure the masses amidst the feelings of anger and panic that prevailed over Lebanon. The security institutions are part of the collapsing Lebanese state and they are playing a minor role in this mess. Once again, these institutions shied away in the face of the justified “people’s anger.”
However, the security mayhem that the entire Lebanon is suffering from is not the main problem in our country. The criminal gangs that committed the Roueiss crime last week represent an outcome rather than a cause (knowing that new causes are yielding new outcomes in the Lebanese maze). Those who believe that confronting the Takfiris will bring stability to Lebanon are wrong. MP Michel Aoun said that the Roueiss crime perpetrators are “animals in human bodies.” This is such an unrealistic description because the perpetrators are full citizens and are the product of the prevailing atmosphere, politics, and upbringing.
The security chaos in Lebanon that is prone to expand is taking place under the headline of the Takfiri groups. Some individuals and organizations are said to be operating on their own while others are reportedly supported by external parties. We believe that these groups are but the tip of the iceberg in the Lebanese crisis.
The Lebanese dilemma did not start with the two rockets that hit the Suburbs a few months ago; and did not reach its pinnacle with the Roueiss tragedy. Hezbollah’s dispatching of thousands of fighters to Syria is but one episode in the series of the crises and the dilemmas rather than being the beginning of the destruction road as the March 14 media is trying to imply.
Much has been written on the failure of the Lebanese political system. Even more has been said about the shallowness of the “elite” or the political class. However, all this is now behind us. The present situation tells of the impossibility of striking any deal or local Lebanese reconciliation between the two main sects, the Sunnis and the Shias, in light of the present local and regional power balances. In other words, the Taef Accord has reached the end of the rope and the chances to reform it are gone. The Lebanese have been left alone with their hatred for one another without an Arab or international mediator who wishes to share the cake or to lay some new ground rules for a ceasefire. In fact, insults and accusations are all what the Lebanese have left to say to each other pending the right opportunity to exchange bullets and bombs. Even commuting between the different regions is now subjected to sectarian and security-related terms. The official speeches, starting from the presidency of the Republic all the way down, represent nothing more than some compositions and texts resembling those texts that could have very well been written by some village cleric. The best idea that the Lebanese politicians were able to come up with in order to solve the present dilemma was the formation of a cabinet while they are very much aware of the fact that this cabinet will eventually fall into the pit of the division. Political life in Lebanon died a long time ago. Its corpse has become rotten but has not been buried yet. The void and absence of political life are quite visible and are no longer a source of concern to anyone. Security was one of this void’s victims. The Lebanese people are eying the external world in their quest to end their long stay in the interval. Some Lebanese now prefer hell over the painful void and absurdity.

This Is Monopoly and Expulsion, Not Politics
Hazem Saghieh/AlHayat/One of the leading causes of polarization in Egypt today, and to some extent in other countries of the Arab Levant, is that no one wants to sacrifice what they see as a non-comprisable principle, or to tolerate what appears strange or unfamiliar to them. For instance, the Muslim Brotherhood in power opted to adhere to Islamization, albeit to a lesser extent than their opponents would claim. In doing so, the Muslim Brotherhood put loyalty to their ideological tenets above the richness of reality, its pluralism, and what their presence at the head of a worldly polity otherwise requires.
Meanwhile, the Brotherhood’s opponents and enemies could not tolerate their presence in power, even when their authority was faltering and likely to collapse at any moment. Their intransigence reached such an extent that they sacrificed their democratic claims, and rallied around the army as their savior. They have fought the Brotherhood and their president Mohamed Morsi based on “what they may have done,” more than for what they had done.
Needless to say, tyranny is a strong feature of both positions, while the willingness to tolerate, accept, and endure the other, is very weak indeed. If anything, this displays, in a recursive manner, an understanding of the Arab Spring that holds that tyranny must be treated with tyranny. Naturally, this is not the only understanding we have seen in the past two years. It was not even the dominant perspective when the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions erupted, led by urban middle-class youths. However, it is not enough to stress non-tyrannical tendencies that have weak internal origins and a weak connection to the local culture and heritage.
We can notice after that how defining oneself as anti-something, rather than pro-something, began to take hold. This is how, for example, the demands for freedom, bread, and dignity were withdrawn, and this is how, at least in Egypt, we are seeing an anti-Brotherhood bloc pitted against an anti-army bloc. As for the Asian part of the Arab Levant, the loudest voice belongs today to the Sunni enmity for Shiites and vice versa, trailed closely by other enmities, for example against Kurds, fundamentalists, Alawites, and Christians. It is in this context that we have seen vindictive calls for the disbandment of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, made by Prime Minister Hazem Beblawi himself, after a series of allegations against Morsi, including “collaborating with the enemy”! Needless to say, accusations of treason are the secular equivalent of accusations of blasphemy.
Moreover, the disbandment of a political organization that dates back to 1928 is at best a form of forced political uprooting, which the Iraqi regime gave us an example of with ‘de-baathification.’
But there is another form this contrarianism and detachment from all norms of politics has taken: To be sure, the Brotherhood does not hesitate today in quoting U.S. and European attitudes to stress that what the army did was a coup against legitimacy. However, the Brotherhood at the same time does not hesitate to accuse the army of collusion with the West and Israel against the Muslim Brotherhood. For its part, the army, when it addresses the West, summons the discourse of Bashar al-Assad in asserting that it is fighting a battle against terror. The army also does not hesitate to invoke ‘Egypt’s dignity’ against the West, which it accuses of backing the Brotherhood for its diabolical reasons! Every side wants to achieve the maximum amount of gains for itself, regardless of the logical soundness or the falsehood of the language used to argue for this quest. All this is expulsion and monopoly, but definitely not politics that would lead, though compromise, to partnership in the homeland.

Swiss parliament declares U.N. nomination of Jean Ziegler “inappropriate”
65 NGOs strongly opposed Ziegler
GENEVA, August 20 – UN Watch applauded the Swiss parliament today for declaring the U.N. nomination of Jean Ziegler — co-founder, co-manager, and 2002 recipient of the Muammar Gaddafi Human Rights Prize — “inappropriate.” The parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee today called on Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter to cancel the bid, which was made over the opposition of more than 65 NGOs and human rights activists who strongly objected to Ziegler because of his ties to dictators. See here and here. U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power similarly said last week that Ziegler was “unfit” for the UN post.
“The declaration of the Swiss parliament is a victory for the reputation of Switzerland, for common sense, and for opponents of dictatorship worldwide,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch. The Geneva-based human rights group has exposed Ziegler’s support for Qaddafi and other dictators. See newly released photos showing Ziegler’s role in the Qaddafi prize.  “The victims of Muammar Qaddafi, Fidel Castro, Robert Mugabe, and the Hezbollah terrorist organization — whom Ziegler has supported — won a moral victory today.”“While Ziegler bizarrely denies his well-documented role in creating, managing and winning the Muammar Gaddafi Human Rights Prize, a 2011 report by Swiss TV proved that he is lying.” www.unwatch.org

Christians in Egypt Widely Attacked, Left Defenseless by the Government
Schools Looted and Monasteries Demolished by the Muslim Brotherhood

http://www.persecution.org/2013/08/19/christians-in-egypt-widely-attacked-left-defenseless-by-the-government/

Release/International Christian Concern (ICC)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
8/19/2013 Washington D.C. (International Christian Concern) - International Christian Concern (ICC) has learnd that two Christian Institutions, a school and monastery, were attacked by members of the Muslim Brotherhood carrying automatic weapons. In both cases police and security forces did not protect the Christians.
At 2:00 am on Saturday, August 18, St. Mark and El Tawfik Schools in Minya were raided by militants suspected to be with the Muslim Brotherhood (MB). "Some MB's armed with automatic guns attacked [the schools]. They attacked the guards, beating them and tying them up," a teacher at St. Marks, who wishes to remain anonymous for safety, told ICC. "The MB looted the school of all the contents including: 40 computers, two busses, two safes full of teacher's bonuses and exams and all the furniture. Then they destroyed the building," the teacher continued.
Last week, the St. Mary Monastery complex in Minya was completely taken over by pro-Morsi militants. "They turned one of the churches into a mosque," said Fr. Ibram Tamesy, a priest of St. Mary and Anaba Ibram Monastery in the village of Delga. "They fully demolished it, turned it into a mosque and now they are praying in it. I am very sad." The demolished church was the oldest archaeological church in Egypt.
Christian families remaining in Minya have been hiding in their homes for five straight days. "They cannot go out because of the absence of the army and armed forces in this village," said an ICC source. "There is a situation of fear and panic among the Christian families there. I do not know why the security forces and the army ignore the cries of the Christians in this village," he added.
Other churches have also been affected by the MB. The Holy Virgin and Anba Abraam Church in the village of Delga, Deir Mawas, Minya, the Al-Anba Moussa al-aswad Church in Minya, and The Evangelical Church in Samalout Center in Miya all were invaded and had "Friday prayers" held by the MB in their church buildings.
Christian individuals have been singled out for attack by the MB in their pro-Morsi campaign as well. Recently, ICC sources report that at least five Christians have been killed for their faith, including: Ramy Zakaria, who was killed during the attack on the Church of St. George in Backus, Alexandria Governate; Alexander Tus from the village Delga, Deir Mawas, Minya; Bashoy Mikhail from the village of Almrmid, the province of Minya; Mina Raafat Aziz, a taxi driver from Alexandria; and Fawzy Morad Fares from the division of El Geneina, Ezbet El Nakhl, Marg, Cairo, who died after MB members fired shots at his head.
ICC's Regional Manager for the Middle East, Todd Daniels, said, "ICC calls on all sides in Egypt to end the violence that has led to the death of nearly 1,000 people. We particularly condemn the targeting of Christians. In the absence of protection, many Egyptian Christians have died and their property has been destroyed. We urge for the rights of all Egyptian citizens to be protected and the return of the rule of law."