Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources/August 23/13

Sheik Bachir's 31 Presidential Election Anniversary
By: Elias Bejjani
John13/15: "The greatest love you can have for your friends is to give your life for them".
Lebanon and its free patriotic citizens, all over the world will remember today 23/13 with pride, honour and pain  Sheik Bachir's 31 presidential Election anniversary . The "Dream" leader Sheik Bachir Gemayel was elected president for Lebanon on 23 August/1982.
Sadly Sheik Bachir was assassinated by Syrian agents before he was able to assume his presidential responsibilities because these stone age terrorists feared his honesty, nationalism, devotion, determination, courage and strong will.  Sheik Bachir who successfully led the Lebanese Christian resistance against the PLO and the Arab dictatorships, fanatic regimes and their terrorist organizations is seen as a unique national and patriotic hero in many Lebanese eyes. He is still considered to be a remarkable leader that they love, adore and cherish. God bless his soul. Sheik Bachir was extremely faithful, devoted to Lebanon's cause of freedom, committed to the Lebanese rights and dignity, never compromised on his solid and transparent national stances or cajoled or appeased on the account of his Lebanese holy cause. With strong self confidence, self respect, dignity and fear of Almighty God he continuously witnessed for the truth no matter what and openly and loudly uttered what must be said. He loved both his people and his country and accepted with no fear or hesitation to be a sacrifice on their alter. Thirty years after his departure his dream, vision, and leadership role model are still vivid and alive in the souls hears and minds of many Lebanese in Lebanon and all over the world. The Syrian Bathist assassins who are now killing and murdering their own people, were able to kill his body, but definitely failed to kill his dream in a sovereign, free and independent Lebanon. Thirty years passed and the free Lebanese still strongly believe in Bachir's dream and are struggling with courage and faith to make it happen and become a reality. By God's will and blessings they will achieve this goal no matter what the sacrifices will be. Sadly the majority of the current corrupted and deviated Lebanese officials, religious and political leaders are dead in the eyes of the many free Lebanese, while in reality these leaders are still alive and breathing. Meanwhile Bachir who was assassinated 3o years ago is still alive in the hearts and minds of many patriotic Lebanese. Those criminals and terrorists who killed Bachir, killed only his ash body, but failed to kill his dream or his the deeply rooted love in the hearts of the Lebanese. Every Free and Patriotic Lebanese is Bachir, and that's why Bachir is still alive as well as his dream. Long Live Freedom

Israel Holds Lebanese Govt. Responsible for Rocket Attack, Netanyahu Threatens Retaliation
Naharnet/Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Thursday of retaliation after a volley of rockets were fired from southern Lebanon at the Jewish state, causing no casualties or damage.
"Anyone who harms us, or tries to harm us, should know -- we will strike them," he said in a televised address. Meanwhile, Israeli army spokesman Avichai Adraee held the Lebanese government responsible for "rocket attacks from its territory." He revealed that Israeli army chief Benny Gantz was evaluating the situation together with the military's top officers. Unknown militants fired four rockets from the southern region of Tyre towards northern Israel earlier on Thursday. “Four rockets were fired from an area between Hawsh and the al-Rashidiyeh (Palestinian refugee) camp towards the Occupied Territories (northern Israel),” Lebanon's National News Agency reported. SourceAgence France Presse.

Israel Strikes in Lebanon after Rocket Attack
Naharnet/The Israeli air force carried out an attack in Lebanon on Friday, the army said, hours after militants there fired four rockets at the Jewish state. "The IAF (Israeli air force) targeted a terror site located between Beirut and Sidon in response to a barrage of four rockets launched at northern Israel yesterday," a statement from the army read. "The pilots reported direct hits to the target." Defense sources said the attack took place near Naameh. Two of the four rockets fired from Lebanon on Thursday had hit populated areas, causing damage but no injuries. The attack was claimed by the Abdullah Azzam Brigades -- an al-Qaida-linked group which had claimed similar rocket fire on Israel in 2009 and 2011. The Israeli army reiterated in its Friday statement it "holds the Lebanese government accountable for the attack". Lebanese President Michel Suleiman had called the Thursday rocket fire a violation of U.N. resolutions and of Lebanese sovereignty and urged security forces to hunt the gunmen and bring them to justice. And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed retaliation, saying that "Anyone who harms us, or tries to harm us, should know -- we will strike them". Thursday's attack was the first such incident since November 2011, when the Abdullah Azzam Brigades fired a volley of rockets from southern Lebanon at Israel, provoking then too a reaction from the Israeli army.
 

Army Seizes Gas Masks 'Bound for Syrian Rebels' in Hasbaya
Naharnet /The army on Thursday evening announced seizing a truck carrying gas masks and related equipment in the town of al-Kfeir in the Hasbaya District as al-Jadeed television said it was "bound for the Syrian opposition."
"The pick up truck driver was arrested and the foundings were confiscated,” a communique issued by the Army Command said. It remarked that “the competent court has opened an investigation in the incident.”Meanwhile, al-Jadeed noted that the truck was bound for the Syrian opposition. "The truck was bound for Syria's opposition via (the Israeli-occupied) Mount Hermon,” it remarked. The same source added that the truck driver is called Nawwaf al-Halabi and that he hails from Hasbaya. Syria's main opposition group accused the government of "massacring" more than 1,300 people in chemical weapons attacks near Damascus on Wednesday, saying many of the victims choked to death. Videos distributed by activists, the authenticity of which could not immediately be verified, showed medics attending to suffocating children and hospitals being overwhelmed.
More footage showed dozens of people laid out on the ground, among them many children, some of them covered in white sheets. The claim of chemical weapons use, which could not be independently confirmed, was vehemently denied by the Syrian regime which said it was intended to hinder the work of the U.N. weapons inspectors already in the country.

Fadlallah Does Not Condemn Rocket Attack on Israel, Denies Hizbullah Involvement
Naharnet/Loyalty to Resistance bloc MP Hasan Fadlallah on Thursday refused to condemn a rocket attack on Israel from Lebanon that took place earlier in the day, although he denied any involvement by Hizbullah in the incident. "We were not aware that a rocket attack will happen and we have nothing to do with it,” Fadlallah said in an interview on LBCI television. “We do not condemn any act directed against the Israeli enemy,” he added. Earlier on Thursday, unknown militants fired four rockets from the southern region of Tyre towards northern Israel, causing no casualties. Later, the Israeli news website walla.co.il said the attack was claimed by the al-Qaida-linked Abdullah Azzam Brigades. In November 2011, the group fired a volley of rockets from southern Lebanon at Israel, provoking a reaction from the Israeli army. The same group had claimed responsibility for a rocket attack in 2009. Separately, Fadlallah said he condemns the reported deadly chemical attacks in the Ghouta area in Damascus' countryside "regardless of the perpetrator," calling for an investigation.

U.S. Hits 4 Hizbullah Leaders with Sanctions
Naharnet/The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on four Hizbullah leaders for alleged operations in Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East.
The U.S. Treasury Department said the sanctions target senior members of Hizbullah responsible for activities including assisting fighters from Iraq to support the regime of President Bashar Assad in Syria, where civil war has raged for more than two years. The designated Hizbullah leaders also made payments to certain factions within Yemen and to military leaders responsible for "terrorist operations" in Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Cyprus, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and Iraq, the Treasury said in a statement. The sanctions were set against Khalil Harb, Mohammed Kawtharani, Mohammed Mansur and Mohammed Qabalan.
Hizbullah, which the U.S. has branded a "terrorist group," was using its expansive global network to extend its "malign influence," and the influence of its patron Iran, throughout the Middle East and beyond, the Treasury said.
"Whether ferrying foreign fighters to the front lines of the Syrian civil war or inserting clandestine operatives in Europe, the Middle East, and elsewhere, Hizbullah remains a significant global terrorist threat," David Cohen, Treasury under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in the statement. "So long as Hizbullah spreads instability, conducts terrorist attacks and engages in criminal and illicit activities around the world, we will continue to sanction Hizbullah's operatives, leaders and businesses, wherever they may be found." The sanctions prohibit Americans from having transactions with the four designated Hizbullah leaders and freezes any assets they may have under U.S. jurisdiction.SourceAgence France Presse.

Obama's Foreign Fiasco
by Daniel Pipes/The Washington Times
August 21, 2013
http://www.meforum.org/pipes/13286/obama-foreign-policy

It's a privilege to be an American who works on foreign policy, as I have done since the late 1970s, participating in a small way in the grand project of finding my country's place in the world. But now, under Barack Obama, decisions made in Washington have dramatically shrunk in importance. It's unsettling and dismaying. And no longer a privilege.
Whether during the structured Cold War or the chaotic two decades that followed, America's economic size, technological edge, military prowess, and basic decency meant that even in its inactivity, the U.S. government counted as much or more in world developments than any other state. Sniffles in Washington translated into influenza elsewhere.
Weak and largely indifferent presidents like Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton mattered despite themselves, for example in the Iranian revolution of 1978-79 or the Arab-Israeli conflict in the 1990s. Strong and active presidents like Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush had greater impact yet, speeding up the Soviet collapse or invading Afghanistan and Iraq.
But now, with Barack Obama, the United States has slid into shocking irrelevance in the Middle East, the world's most turbulent region. Inconstancy, incompetence, and inaction have rendered the Obama administration impotent. In the foreign policy arena, Obama acts as though he would rather be the prime minister of Belgium, a small country that usually copies the decisions of its larger neighbors when casting votes at the United Nations or preening morally about distant troubles. Belgians naturally "lead from behind," to use the famed phrase emanating from Obama's White House.
Obama's 2009 speech in Cairo was a very long time ago.
Qatar (with a national population of 225,000) has an arguably greater impact on current events than the 1,400-times-larger United States (population: 314 million). Note how Obama these days takes a back seat to the emirs of Doha: They take the lead supplying arms to the Libyan rebels, he follows. They actively help the rebels in Syria, he dithers. They provide billions to the new leadership in Egypt, he stumbles over himself. They unreservedly back Hamas in Gaza, he pursues delusions of an Israeli-Palestinian "peace process." Toward this end, the U.S. secretary of state made six trips in four months to Israel and the Palestinian territories in pursuit of a diplomatic initiative that almost no one believes will end the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Doha, now more influential than Washington in the Middle East.
Meanwhile, the U.S. secretary of defense called Egyptian leader Abdul-Fattah al-Sisi 17 times in conversations lasting 60-90 minutes, yet failed in his pleas that Sisi desist from using force against the Muslim Brotherhood. More striking yet, Sisi apparently refused to take a phone call from Obama. The $1.5 billion in annual U.S. aid to Egypt suddenly looks paltry in comparison to the $12 billion from three Persian Gulf countries, with promises to make up for any Western cuts in aid. Both sides in Egypt's deep political divide accuse Obama of favoring the other and execrate his name. As dozens of Coptic churches burned, he played six rounds of golf. Ironically, Egypt is where, four long years ago, Obama delivered a major speech repudiating George W. Bush policies with seeming triumph.
Woodrow Wilson (1913-21) was the first of four Democratic presidents greatly to increase the power of the state.
Obama's ambitions lie elsewhere - in augmenting the role of government within the United States, as epitomized by Obamacare. Accordingly, he treats foreign policy as an afterthought, an unwelcome burden, and something to dispatch before returning to juicier matters. He oversees withdrawals from Iraq and Afghanistan with little concern for what follows. His unique foreign policy accomplishment, trumpeted ad nauseam, was the execution of Osama bin Laden.
So far, the price to American interests for Obama's ineptitude has not been high. But that could change quickly. Most worrisome, Iran could soon achieve nuclear breakout and start to throw its newfound weight around, if not to deploy its brand-new weapons. The new regime in Egypt could revert to its earlier anti-Americanism and anti-Zionism; already, important elements in Egypt are calling for rejection of U.S. aid and termination of the peace treaty with Israel.
As an American who sees his country as a force for good, these developments are painful and scary. The world needs an active, thoughtful, and assertive United States. The historian Walter A. McDougall rightly states that "The creation of the United States of America is the central event of the past four hundred years" and its civilization "perturbs the trajectories of all other civilizations just by existing." Well not so much perturbation these days; may the dismal present be brief in duration.
**Mr. Pipes (DanielPipes.org) is president of the Middle East Forum. © 2013 by Daniel Pipes. All rights reserved.

4 Rockets Fired from Tyre Area at Israel, Army Finds Launch Pads
Naharnet/Unknown militants fired four rockets from the southern region of Tyre towards northern Israel on Thursday.
“Four rockets were fired from an area between Hawsh and the al-Rashidiyeh (Palestinian refugee) camp towards the Occupied Territories (northern Israel),” Lebanon's National News Agency reported.
It said the Lebanese army found wooden launch pads from which the rockets were fired between Hawsh and al-Rashidiyeh, denying reports of retaliatory Israeli shelling against southern Lebanon. "Unknown gunmen fired four rockets from two positions, south and east of Tyre, at Israel," a Lebanese security source told Agence France Presse as residents in the area said they heard four blasts. Israel's Channel 2 said a rocket landed in the Israeli town of Nahariya as emergency sirens went off in northern Israel. The Israeli army said its Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted one of "three or four rockets fired from south of Tyre." The interception took place between Nahariya and the coastal town of Acre, further south.
None of the rockets, which were "probably a launching done by a global jihadi organization," hit Israeli territory, Israeli army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner told journalists, saying they might have fallen "in the sea or elsewhere." Lerner added that airspace in the north of Israel had been closed following what he described as an "unprovoked attack on Israeli citizens."The Israeli army did not retaliate, Lerner said. Israeli police urged residents of the north to remain close to bomb shelters.
The Iron Dome batteries, which are deployed throughout Israel, can shoot down rockets with a range of up to 70 kilometers. A spokesman for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said the U.N. force was probing the attack and following up the situation on the two sides of the border.

Conflicting Reports over Hamas Cooperation with Army over Dahieh Rocket Attack
Naharnet /Contradicting reports emerged on Thursday on whether Hamas is cooperating with the Lebanese army intelligence on handing over two witnesses in the May rocket attack that targeted Hizbullah controlled neighborhood of Shiyah, in Beirut's southern suburbs, Hamas previously confirmed that Fadi Taha, the brother of the suspect Ahmed Mahmoud Taha, and his cousin were handed over to the intelligence bureau as witnesses.
However, a military source pointed out that handing over the witnesses isn't enough as Hamas still has to hand over a third wanted person, residing in the Palestinian refugee camp of al-Rashidiyeh and a member of the movement.According to the source, speaking on condition to anonymity to As Safir newspaper, pointed out that the third wanted person, 24-year-old Alaa Eddine Yassine, is involved in the rocket attack.
Al-Akhbar newspaper reported that Yassine is the person who hired Taha to carry out several “terrorist attacks” across Lebanon.
Security sources told the daily that the army is determined to respond firmly to any provocations or attack by extremist gunmen, who are mostly residing in the Palestinian refugee camp Ain el-Hilweh.
On Tuesday, the Lebanese army demanded Hamas representative in Lebanon Ali Barakeh to hand in two suspects linked May's rocket attack.
On May 26, four people were wounded in a rocket attack on Beirut's southern suburbs. Beirut's southern suburbs have been a scene of several violent attacks lately.
In July, a booby-trapped car exploded at a parking lot in Bir al-Abed, leaving 53 people wounded and causing extensive material damage. And on last week, 27 people were killed and more than 336 others wounded in a powerful car bombing that went off between the suburbs of Bir al-Abed and Ruwais. 30-year-old Taha resides in Harat Hreik, has a cellphone shop in the area and allegedly has links to Hamas. Al-Akhar newspaper said that the rockets fired at Dahieh were bought from an arms dealer, from Palestinian refugee camp Burj al-Barajneh.
The daily reported that the dealer informed Hizbullah that he was the one who sold the rockets, assuming that they were going to be used to attack Israel.

Beirut: Serail Meeting Tackled Security Developments, Discovery of Booby-Trapped Cars
Naharnet/A recent meeting held at the Grand Serail and chaired by caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati tackled the latest security developments in Lebanon, including a number of booby-trapped cars that were discovered in the country, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper on Thursday. Widely-informed sources told the daily that the heads of security agencies revealed that they are following leads on a booby-trapped car that “will be used in a terrorist attack.”The meeting was attended by caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel, acting Internal Security Forces chief Ibrahim Basbous, and ISF Intelligence Bureau head Imad Othman. Al-Joumhouria said that the security agencies have so far failed to find the booby-trapped vehicle. Charbel said after Tuesday's Grand Serail meeting: “We have information on a number of booby-trapped cars and we are doubling our efforts to end strife before it is born.” Later on Thursday, the minister chaired a meeting for security agencies, which included Basbous, Othman, and General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim, reported Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3).
The discussions addressed the coordination plan between security agencies that fall under the Interior Ministry's authority and their efforts to confront terrorism.
The plan should help avert car bomb attacks, especially since the security agencies are cooperating with the army and other forces, stressed Charbel after the talks.
Meanwhile, the daily An Nahar Thursday reported that seven booby-trapped vehicles have so far been discovered. The cars were going to be used in attacks or the smuggling of arms, it added. They were seized in Beirut, the Naameh region and city of Sidon in the South, and the Bekaa. The case is set to be referred to the Military Tribunal later on Thursday. Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji confirmed on Wednesday the discovery “of a terrorist cell in Lebanon aimed at creating strife and carrying out attacks in the country.” The security forces, in cooperation with political authorities, are exerting efforts to apprehend the members of the cell, he stated. On Saturday, a car filled with 250 kilograms of explosives was discovered near the municipality building in Naameh. The car carried a fake license plate and contained five boxes of TNT, an unidentified explosive substance, fuses and a device for remote detonation. At least three people detained by the General Security Directorate confessed that they were planning to detonate the car in an undisclosed location in Lebanon. Last week, 30 people were killed and 336 wounded in a bombing in Beirut's southern suburbs of Dahieh.

Thai Court Jails Iranian Pair over Botched Bangkok Bomb Plot
Naharnet /Two Iranian men were sentenced to between 15 years and life Thursday for their parts in a botched bomb plot last year in Bangkok that ended with one of them having his legs blown off. The pair, who had denied the charges, were among five Iranians suspected of involvement in blasts that Israel has linked to a 2012 spate of attacks on its diplomats across the world. Saeid Moradi, 29, who lost his limbs as he hurled an explosive device at police in the Thai capital, was found guilty on charges including attempted murder and handed a life term by the Bangkok Southern Criminal court. A judge said the court found him "guilty of carrying explosives in public, using explosives to attempt to kill officials and using explosives which caused the destruction of property".
"Because attempted murder displays serious intent the court sentenced him to life in prison," he added.
A second defendant, Mohammad Khazaei, 43, was given a 15-year jail term for possession of explosives.
The blasts on February 14 last year occurred a day after bombs attacks on Israeli diplomats in India and Georgia.
A huge explosion tore the roof off a house in suburban Bangkok when bombs detonated inside, apparently accidentally.
Moradi tried to "escape by carrying two bombs with him... throwing the first to stop people following... throwing the second when police tried to stop and arrest him", the judge said as he sentenced the pair Thursday, adding that an expert witness said five C-4 explosives had been hidden in radios in the house.
Prosecutors said Moradi hurled one of the bombs at a taxi, then threw the second at two police officers as they approached him on the street, but it instead detonated near him. The court heard that Khazaei ran out of the house after the first explosion and headed to the airport where police arrested him at the boarding gate.
A third man is thought to have fled to Malaysia, where he is in custody and fighting extradition to Thailand. Two other suspects are believed to have returned to Iran.
Israel has accused Tehran of waging a terror campaign over the Bangkok bomb plot.
"This sentence proves once again that Iran is engaged and in proliferation of terror all around the world," Israeli ambassador Simon Roded told reporters after attending the court hearing. He thanked the Thai government for its response to the blasts. "I hope that other countries will join Thailand in fighting this terror and bringing terrorists to justice," said the diplomat, who was flanked by bodyguards as he watched proceedings.
Moradi, who appeared in court in a wheelchair, had argued in his defence that he accidentally found bombs in the Bangkok property and was trying to dispose of them safely when they detonated.
The court also found him guilty of possession of explosives. The pair, who arrived at court in prison clothes, were additionally handed financial penalties over the incident, including two million baht ($62,000) compensation payment for the damage to the Bangkok house. They appeared subdued as they heard the sentencing. Defense lawyer Kittipong Kiattanapoom said his clients had not yet indicated whether they would appeal.
"They will initially serve their sentences in Thailand, but Thailand and Iran have a prisoner exchange treaty so they could seek to serve their remaining terms in their homeland after a period of time," he said.
Last year Israel said it was facing a wave of Iran-sponsored terror around the world. On February 13, 2012, an assailant on a motorbike attached a magnetic bomb to an Israeli embassy car near the Indian prime minister's residence in New Delhi. A female Israeli diplomat, who was also the wife of the defense attache at the embassy, was badly wounded in the explosion. Her driver and two passengers were also hurt.
On the same day police defused an explosive fixed to another embassy vehicle in the Georgian capital Tbilisi.
Source/Agence France Presse.

Syrian Forces Bomb Area of Alleged Chemical Attack
Naharnet /Syrian government forces pressed on with a military offensive in eastern Damascus on Thursday, bombing rebel-held suburbs where the opposition said the regime had killed over 100 people the day before in a chemical weapons attack.
The government has denied allegations it used chemical weapons in artillery barrages on the area known as eastern Ghouta on Wednesday as "absolutely baseless."
The United States, Britain and France have demanded that a team of U.N. experts already in Syria be granted immediate access to investigate the site. Syrian opposition figures and activists have reported widely varying death tolls from Wednesday's attack, from 136 to as high as 1,300. But even the most conservative tally would make it the deadliest alleged chemical attack in Syria's civil war.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it had no word on casualties in the Thursday morning bombing of eastern Ghouta. It said Syrian warplanes conducted several air raids on eastern and western suburbs of Damascus, including three that took place within five minutes. The Local Coordination Committees, another activist group, said President Bashar Assad's forces were bombing eastern Ghouta from the Qasioun mountain overlooking Damascus. It also reported several air raids on the suburbs. Wednesday's alleged chemical attack had killed scores of children. The small, lifeless bodies appeared in amateur videos, wrapped in white cloths, their pale skin unmarked by any wounds. Images of dead children lined shoulder to shoulder in rooms and of others being treated for breathing problems brought worldwide condemnation and shock.
Mohammed Abdullah, an activist in the suburb of Saqba told The Associated Press via Skype on Thursday that most of the dead were buried hours after the attack in collective graves in different areas in eastern Ghouta. The burials took place quickly for fear the bodies might decompose as a result of the heat and lack of electricity, he said. Relatives identified some of their dead family members before burial while unidentified victims were photographed and their graves tagged with a number in case their loved ones come to collect their bodies in the future.
"Most of the dead were buried in mass graves," Abdullah said. UNICEF said in a statement that the reports of attacks on civilians, presumably including children, were "deeply disturbing." "Such horrific acts should be a reminder to all the parties and all who have influence on them that this terrible conflict has gone on far too long and children have suffered more than enough," UNICEF said. "Children must be protected, and those who fail to protect them will be held accountable." From New York, the U.N. Security Council called for "a thorough, impartial and prompt investigation" of the latest allegation of chemical weapons' use in Syria.
Syria's state media quoted on Thursday an unnamed Foreign Ministry official, according to its standard practice, as saying that allowing the U.N. team to go to Ghouta would require an agreement between the Syrian government and the United Nations. A 20-member U.N. team led by Swedish chemical weapons expert Ake Sellstrom is in Damascus since Sunday to investigate three sites where chemical weapons attacks allegedly occurred in the past: the village of Khan al-Assal just west of the embattled northern city of Aleppo and two other locations being kept secret for security reasons. France, meanwhile, raised the possibility of the use of force in Syria if it is proven that Assad's regime used chemical weapons, while Turkey said several red lines have been crossed. "We need a reaction by the international community .... a reaction of force," said French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius. He excluded boots on the ground as an option, though, and declined to be "more precise" on the type of force that could be used. Yuval Steinitz, Israel's minister for intelligence and strategic affairs, said their "intelligence estimates" concluded that chemical weapons indeed were used, and appeared to blame Assad, calling his regime "exceptionally cruel." In Germany, Turkish and German foreign ministers underlined demands for the Syrian regime to allow U.N. inspectors to investigate the claims. The Turkish diplomat called for new sanctions.
"Several red lines have been crossed — if sanctions are not imposed immediately, then we will lose our power to deter," said Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.
He added that he had spoken to U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon and told him that "the U.N. must not behave hesitantly anymore, sanctions must now be imposed."
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said the Syrian opposition's allegations were "so serious, so monstrous that it is necessary to enable a real examination before talking or speculating about consequences."
The unrest in Syria began in March 2011 and later exploded into a civil war. More than 100,000 people have been killed in the conflict so far, according to U.N. figures.
Source/Agence France Presse.

Egypt's Mubarak Leaves Prison
Naharnet /Egypt's ousted president Hosni Mubarak was flown from prison by helicopter to a military hospital Thursday after he was cleared for conditional release while standing trial, an interior ministry general told Agence France Presse. Mubarak will be held under house arrest at the Cairo hospital on the orders of the prime minister, who has been granted the power to order arrests during the current state of emergency. Live television footage showed the medical helicopter that took Mubarak from Cairo's Tora prison arrive at a nearby military hospital.
Mubarak, 85, is believed to be suffering from a heart condition. Mubarak was cleared for conditional release after his lawyer argued his detention had exceeded the limit of pre-verdict imprisonment, and Mubarak had paid back the money involved in one of his corruption cases.His next hearing is set for Sunday, on charges of corruption and complicity in the deaths of protesters during the 18-day uprising that overthrew him in early 2011.
Source/Agence France Presse.

Hizbullah Accuses March 14-Backed Regional Intelligence Groups of Dahieh Blast
Naharnet /Hizbullah accused on Thursday “regional intelligence bodies” of being behind last week's deadly blast in Beirut's southern suburbs. "This terrorist blast was engineered by intelligence bodies that are benefiting from the policies of incitement adopted by some March 14 factions,” the party's Loyalty to Resistance parliamentary bloc said after the MPs' meeting.
The bloc elaborated: “These groups are investing in terrorist Takfiris to execute their plans and are taking advantage of March 14's strategic path that serves the interests of the American-Zionist axis in the region.”
The bloc explained that the “catastrophic failure of these Takfiri groups to achieve conspiratorial goals in Syria and on the border with the neighboring country has pushed them to instead seek compensation inside Lebanon.”
"But we took the decision to resist to these groups to preserve Lebanon, its unity, resistance, diversity and its religious coexistence, regardless of the sacrifices we have to offer.”A huge explosion rocked Hizbullah's stronghold in the southern suburb of Beirut last Thursday, killing at least 27 people and wounded 325 others.A previously unknown group, apparently a Syrian rebel cell, said it carried out the attack between Bir al-Abed and Rweiss, districts where Hizbullah security is normally tight. The group said the explosion came as a “response to Hizbullah's fighting alongside Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces in the neighboring country.
Meanwhile, Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah accused on Friday radical Islamists of responsibility for the bombing. The Loyalty to Resistance MPs pointed out in their statement that a “national unity cabinet is the political solution that would uncover terrorists and the parties obstructing the building of the state.” "We reject a de facto cabinet which is provocative and contradicts with the National Charter,” the lawmakers stressed, remarking that the March 14 coalition "is standing in the way of forming a political council of ministers, hindering the work of the constitutional institutions and the political life in the country."
"Betting on autocratic regimes that promote a reconciliation with the Zionist enemy threatens sovereignty and stability in the country.”The bloc also discussed the kidnapping of the Turkish pilots and the Lebanese pilgrims held in Aazaz, calling for intensifying efforts to draw an end to this case “to avoid further complicating the situation.”

Geagea Criticizes Security Council's 'Shameful' Stance over Ghouta Massacre
Naharnet /Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea criticized on Thursday the United Nations Security Council's stand following the bloody massacre of the Reef Damascus town of Ghouta. "What is shameful after Wednesday's massacre is the U.N. Security Council's dealing with it, despite its gravity and horror,” Geagea said in a released statement. He added: “The Council just condemned the massacre and called for probing it instead of taking a decisive pragmatic position, especially considering that U.N. chemical experts are already present in Damascus.”"The reaction was not up to the gravity of this painful tragedy and this contradicts with the principles of human solidarity and with the moral duties that the highest international authority should have to protect peace and prevent wars and human catastrophes.” Meanwhile, the Christian leader praised the “responsible French stance.”"France's position brought hope amid the darkness that reigned over the Security Council."Geagea also criticized “the absence of any local stands that level the tragic event.”Syria's main opposition group accused the government of "massacring" more than 1,300 people in chemical weapons attacks near Damascus on Wednesday, saying many of the victims choked to death. Videos distributed by activists, the authenticity of which could not immediately be verified, showed medics attending to suffocating children and hospitals being overwhelmed. More footage showed dozens of people laid out on the ground, among them many children, some of them covered in white sheets. The claim of chemical weapons use, which could not be independently confirmed, was vehemently denied by the Syrian regime which said it was intended to hinder the work of the U.N. weapons inspectors already in the country.

Jumblat Urges Steps to Change Syria 'Grim Situation' after 'Chemical Bombardment Barbarism'
Naharnet/Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat on Thursday said “all the conventional statements of condemnation and denunciation” are not enough regarding “the horrible scenes of the Ghouta massacre in Damascus' countryside that were broadcast by TV stations.”“Meetings held here and there will remain futile without taking the necessary measures to change the grim situation that the regime has dragged Syria into with a cover from international and regional allies and amid the neglect of the West, which settled for drawing fictional red lines that have nothing to do with reality on the ground,” Jumblat said in a statement.
“One has the right to question the meaning of basic principles … that are being crushed everyday in Syria, such as human rights, international law, treaties, norms and agreements,” Jumblat added. The PSP leader said “all the ethical and humanitarian values have vanished over the human remains of children, women and the elderly,” accusing the “democratic regimes” of “standing idly by concerning the barbarism of fierce chemical bombardment.” Jumblat wondered about “the fate and future of Syria, which the regime has turned into a huge camp, in which it practices detention, killing and crime without accountability,” asking “how does this camp differ from the Nazi concentration camps in which mass murder was practiced in cold blood?”Jumblat also compared the reported carnage to the “grand massacres committed by Israel in Deir Yassine, Qana, Gaza and other locations.”He called for seeking ways to “salvage the Syrian people, at least on the humanitarian level, instead of leaving them to face their fate on their own.”The Syrian opposition has said more than 1,300 people were killed in bomb attacks with a chemical agent carried out by regime forces in the Ghouta area, an accusation vehemently denied by Damascus.

3 Charged with Belonging to Armed Terrorist Group, Preparing Attacks in Beirut
Naharnet/Three people from the Palestinian Ain el-Hilweh camp were charged on Thursday with belonging to an armed terrorist organization and of planning attacks in Beirut. According to the state-run National News Agency, Judge Danny Zaenni also charged Lebanese Ghassan S., Ahmed B, and Ali H. with preparing bombs in Ain el-Hilweh to move them to other areas across Beirut.
The three men were referred to the Military investigating Judge. Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji confirmed on Wednesday the discovery “of a terrorist cell in Lebanon aimed at creating strife and carrying out attacks in the country.” The security forces, in cooperation with political authorities, are exerting efforts to apprehend the members of the cell, he stated.
On Saturday, a car filled with 250 kilograms of explosives was discovered near the municipality building in Naameh.
The car carried a fake license plate and contained five boxes of TNT, an unidentified explosive substance, fuses and a device for remote detonation. At least three people detained by the General Security Directorate confessed that they were planning to detonate the car in an undisclosed location in Lebanon. Last week, 30 people were killed and 336 wounded in a bombing in Beirut's southern suburbs of Dahieh.

Gunmen Kill Hizbullah Supporter, Two Others in Tripoli
Naharnet /Masked gunmen shot dead a Hizbullah supporter and two other men, including a member of the security forces, in the northern city of Tripoli early Thursday, a security official said. "Masked men on motorbikes shot dead Hussam al-Mouri, a security official and a third man who happened to be at the scene," the official said. Mouri was a known supporter of Hizbullah, a key ally of Syria's President Bashar Assad, and has been target of previous assassination attempts. He headed an armed group in the northern city which last year clashed with militiamen opposed to Hizbullah and Assad's regime.
The majority of residents of the port city support the 29-month anti-Assad rebellion in neighboring Syria, and resent Hizbullah's decision to send fighters to support the army there. Mouri, who was in his 40s, and the two other men were standing at the entrance to his home when the gunmen drove up and shot them, the official said."The army has deployed in the al-Zahriyeh district" in central Tripoli, near Mouri's home, the official said.
Tripoli has seen frequent Syria-related violence over the past two years, including waves of deadly clashes.Though Lebanon is officially neutral in Syria's conflict, the country is deeply divided, with Hizbullah and its allies backing Assad and the opposition supporting the rebels.Hizbullah's deployment of troops to support the Syrian army took tensions in Lebanon to new heights, particularly after fighters from the movement helped Assad's regime reclaim the former Syrian rebel bastion of Qusayr in June.SourceAgence France PresseNaharnet.

Civil Defense Extinguishes Fire at Moarbes Hospital
Naharnet/..The Civil Defense contained on Thursday a fire that erupted in a room on the third floor at Moarbes hospital in Ain el-Remeneh. The blaze swept through the second floor, the third and part of the fourth floor, the state-run National News Agency reported. Media reports said that patients were evacuated. According to Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) the fire was caused an electrical friction.

Several Houses Damaged in Syrian Shelling in Wadi Khaled
Naharnet/The region of Wadi Khaled in the Bekaa came under shelling from the Syrian side of the border at dawn on Thursday, reported the National News Agency.
It said that several houses were damaged in the attack.
No one was injured in the assault, but major damage was reported in agricultural crops.
Rockets fired from Syria by rebels or regime troops have repeatedly landed in the eastern and northeastern Bekaa regions. The latest attack took place over the weekend when rebels fired rockets at the Bekaa's Hermel region, which is a Hizbullah stronghold. The “Marwan Hadid Brigades” claimed responsibility on Tuesday for the attack.
President Michel Suleiman expressed on Monday his “grave concern” with the shelling, tasking the Army Command with “determining the location from where they were fired in order to tackle the situation with the appropriate means.”The repeated violations prompted him in June to file a memorandum to the United Nations and Arab League.

Report: Meeting on Lebanon to Be Held on Margins of U.N. General Assembly
Naharnet/France is pushing for holding an international meeting on Lebanon in September given the rising security and political challenges in the country, reported the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat on Thursday. An informed French source told the daily: “France is persuading friendly nations to hold a meeting on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly to help Lebanon and provide political support to President Michel Suleiman.”The meeting will also back Lebanon on the security, financial, and humanitarian levels, said the source. The conference is likely to be held on September 23 or 24.
The source highlighted the challenges facing Lebanon such as the impact the Syrian crisis is having on the country and Hizbullah's involvement in the fighting alongside regime forces. It also noted Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam's inability to form a new government and the possibility that he may form one without Hizbullah's participation. “The looming presidential election in 2014 and the increased economic problems in Lebanon given the ongoing flow of Syrian refugees into the country” only stress the need to support Lebanon and hold the international conference, it added.

Charbel Hails Cooperation between Security Agencies in Confronting 'Terrorism'
Naharnet /Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel stressed on Thursday that the security agencies are fully carrying out their tasks and fighting “terrorism,” in comments published in As Safir newspaper.
He pointed out that the security agencies are cooperating to reveal all the security schemes targeting the country.
“They are reaching positive results,” Charbel told the newspaper. Concerning the law suit filed against 13 members of the relatives of the abducted nine pilgrims in Syria's Aazaz, Charbel considered that the Lebanese state should send “positive signals” to its Turkish counterpart over its credibility over the release of the abducted Turkish pilots. “We have to press the Turks to exert efforts to help us in guarantying the safe release of the nine men,” Charbel said. On Tuesday, Mount Lebanon Prosecutor Claude Karam filed a lawsuit against 13 members of the families of the abducted men on charges of “forming an armed gang and abducting the two Turkish pilots.”
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. The families accuse Turkey of being behind the kidnapping. They, however, denied any involvement in the abduction of a Turkish pilot and copilot earlier in August in Beirut.

HRW Urges Egypt to Protect Churches, End to Islamist Incitement
Naharnet/Egyptian authorities must protect churches and Christian homes and businesses from attack and Islamists must stop inciting sectarian violence, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday. The group said it had documented attacks on 42 churches and dozens of Christian institutions, schools and homes, as well as Christian-owned businesses across the country. It said at least four people were reported killed in sectarian violence, three Christians and one Muslim.Attacks on Egypt's Christian minority have escalated since the July 3 ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.
The attacks dramatically increased since the August 14 dispersal of two pro-Morsi protest camps in the capital.
Human Rights Watch said authorities had failed to protect Christians from attacks, and that Islamists, including Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, had failed to properly condemn the violence and prevent future attacks.
"For weeks, everyone could see these attacks were coming, with Muslim Brotherhood members accusing Coptic Christians of a role in Mohammed Morsi's ouster, but the authorities did little or nothing to prevent them," said Joe Stork, the group's acting Middle East director.
"In the vast majority of the 42 cases Human Rights Watch documented, neither the police nor the military were present at the start or during the attack," the group said.
It said a priest in Minya province told the group he had called police and emergency services multiple times as mobs attacked his church, but no one came.
A bishop told the group he contacted senior government officials to plead for help, and though they promised to send protection, none arrived.
But while HRW criticized the government for failing to protect Christians, it also said the country's Islamists deserved blame for inciting the attacks.
They came "after weeks of sectarian discourse by Muslim Brotherhood supporters" at two pro-Morsi protest camps, the group said.
And while some Muslim Brotherhood leaders have condemned the attacks, others "have suggested a Coptic role in the ongoing crackdown on the group," HRW said.
"While a few Muslim Brotherhood leaders have condemned these attacks, they also need to tell the group's followers to stop inciting violence by insinuating that the Coptic minority is responsible for the crackdown," Stork said. Copts make up six to 10 percent of Egypt's population, and are the largest Christian denomination in the country. However, there are also Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Chaldeans, Greek Catholics, Orthodox and various Protestant groups present in the country. Some of them also suffered attacks on their churches or church-related institutions.
Source/Agence France Presse.
 

Charbel Says Security Roadmap for Lebanon Set
Naharnet /Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel described on Friday a security meeting held a day before as “excellent,” pointing out that he set with the participants a security roadmap for the security agencies to deal with the situation.
Charbel said in comments published in al-Liwaa newspaper that other meetings will be held to follow up on the plan and the coordination among the security agencies.
“We established special operations to follow up the security reports in order to issue unified statements,” he noted. On Thursday, the minister chaired a meeting for security agencies, which included acting Internal Security Forces chief Ibrahim Basbous, ISF Intelligence Bureau head Imad Othman, and General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim. The discussions addressed the coordination plan between security agencies that fall under the Interior Ministry's authority and their efforts to confront terrorism.
The plan should help avert car bomb attacks, especially since the security agencies are cooperating with the army and other forces, stressed Charbel after the talks.
On Saturday, a car filled with 250 kilograms of explosives was discovered near the municipality building in Naameh.
The car carried a fake license plate and contained five boxes of TNT, an unidentified explosive substance, fuses and a device for remote detonation.
At least three people detained by the General Security Directorate confessed that they were planning to detonate the car in an undisclosed location in Lebanon.
Last week, 30 people were killed and 336 wounded in a bombing in Beirut's southern suburbs of Dahieh.

Ban: Syria Chemical Attack Would be 'Crime against Humanity'

Naharnet /The use of chemical weapons in Syria would constitute a "crime against humanity", U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said Friday, adding there was "no time to lose" in investigating an alleged attack which the opposition says killed hundreds. Ban described reports of the incident near Damascus on Wednesday as "very alarming and shocking" and urged the regime to allow a United Nations inspection team, already on the ground in Syria, to begin a probe without delay. Footage distributed by activists showing unconscious children, people foaming around the mouth and doctors apparently administering oxygen to help them breathe has triggered revulsion around the world.
Ban's comments, at a United Nations event in Seoul, piled more pressure on Syrian President Bashar Assad after French president Francois Hollande denounced the "likely" use of chemical weapons.
"Any use of chemical weapons anywhere, by anybody, under any circumstances, would violate international law," Ban said. "Such a crime against humanity should result in serious consequences for the perpetrator."
"This is a grave challenge to the entire international community -- and to our common humanity," he said.
"There is no time to waste," Ban said, adding that he had instructed his envoy for disarmament affairs, Angela Kane, to travel to Damascus immediately.
"I can think of no good reason why any party -- either government or opposition forces -- would decline this opportunity to get to the truth of the matter."
The United States said it has yet to "conclusively determine" such weapons were used. President Barack Obama has ordered US spy agencies to urgently probe the claims, aides said.
Damascus denied it unleashed chemical weapons, particularly at a time when the U.N. was in Syria to inspect three sites where other such attacks allegedly took place.
It would be "political suicide" to go ahead with such an attack, said a senior security source.
The opposition National Coalition says more than 1,300 people were killed by poisonous gases in a rebel-held town southwest of the capital.
Syrian activist Abu Ahmad, speaking to Agence France Presse over the Internet from Moadamiyet al-Sham, which reportedly bore the brunt of the alleged attack, said he helped bury dozens of civilians whose bodies were "pale blue", and who died of "suffocation".
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has a network of activists and medics on the ground, said air strikes and bombardments had been launched across Damascus province while fighting raged in the southwest of the capital.
Videos posted online by activists of the alleged chemical attacks have provoked shock and condemnation around the globe.
One shows people foaming at the mouth and bodies laid out in long lines, while in another a doctor is apparently trying to resuscitate children as others are given oxygen to breathe.
None of the videos could be verified but AFP analysed one of the most striking pictures showing the bodies of children using specialised software.
The analysis showed the picture was not manipulated and was taken, as presented, on August 21.
Former US Army Chemical Corps officer Dan Kaszeta said "it would be relatively hard to fake" the amount of video footage that has surfaced.
"There's a lot of stuff that goes on in that video and a lot of the victims sadly are children, and it's hard to get small children to consistently fake things," said Kaszeta, an independent consultant.
Experts said convulsions, pinpoint pupils and labored breathing seen in footage of alleged victims could be symptoms of nerve gas.
But they also insisted only blood and urine samples gathered from the victims could provide definitive proof.
"I was sceptical about the claims of nerve agent neurotoxicants (but) I have revised my position on that a bit on the basis of footage I have seen... where a number of symptoms consistent with organophosphorus poisoning" were apparent, said chemical weapons specialist Jean Pascal Zanders.
Organophosphorus is a chemical compound used in nerve agents like sarin and kills by asphyxiation.
The US State Department said Obama had instructed intelligence services to gather information about the claims.
"Right now, we are unable to conclusively determine CW (chemical weapons) use," said State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki.
But she said the administration had been focused since reports of the attack broke on efforts to "nail down the facts."
One year ago, Obama warned the use of chemical weapons in Syria would cross a "red line" and have "enormous consequences".
More than 100,000 people have been killed in Syria's 29-month war, the U.N. says. Millions more have been forced to flee their homes.
Source/Agence France Presse.