LCCC ENGLISH DAILY
NEWS BULLETIN
February 05/2013
Bible Quotation for today/
02 Peter 02/17-22:
"These people are like dried-up springs, like clouds blown along by a
storm; God has reserved a place for them in the deepest darkness. They
make proud and stupid statements, and use immoral bodily lusts to trap those who
are just beginning to escape from among people who live in error. They
promise them freedom while they themselves are slaves of destructive habits—for
we are slaves of anything that has conquered us. If people have escaped from the
corrupting forces of the world through their knowledge of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ, and then are again caught and conquered by them, such people are
in worse condition at the end than they were at the beginning. It would
have been much better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than
to know it and then turn away from the sacred command that was given them.
What happened to them shows that the proverbs are true: “A dog goes back to what
it has vomited” and “A pig that has been washed goes back to roll in the mud.”
Latest analysis, editorials,
studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
Can Lebanon survive Syria’s war/By: Michael Young/Now
Lebanon/February
05/13
The Nusra Front
Delusion/By Hussein Shabokshi/Asharq
Alawsat/February 05/13
Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous
Sources for February 05/13
Assad set on arms transfers to Lebanon. Israel responds with no-fly zone
Iran says Israel will regret Syria air strike
General Prosecutor Demands Lifting MP Harb's Immunity
Military Tribunal Issues Arrest Warrants against
Mustaqbal Announces Electoral Law Proposal Based on Hariri's Initiative
Fatah al-Islam Inmates in Lebanon Questioning to Kick Off Friday
Electoral Subcommittee in Lebanon Resumes Discussions over Hybrid Electoral
Law
Lebanon:
Berri, Miqati Express Full Solidarity with Army: It Enjoys Political Cover
Egypt: Activist Dies in Police Custody
Blast Reported in Tyre Area amid Israeli Mock Raids
Lebanon army makes arrests over Arsal incident
Hezbollah planned LAF soldiers’ murder, Future MP Khalid Daher says
Report shows Hezbollah, Iran join forces
Unleash the Lebanese Army
Hezbollah fighter killed in Syria laid to rest
Lebanese
Leaders vow to hunt down Army killers
Future Movement to present draft electoral law
Israel says will not allow Hezbollah to obtain Syrian regime weapons
Hezbollah delegation meets tribal leaders in Yemen
Khatib leadership on the line after talks with Assad allies
Future Movement official Mustafa Alloush : Civil marriage doesn’t contradict
democracy, freedom
Missiles from Syria hit Lebanese towns
LDP leader: Arsal incident part of campaign targeting LAF
Jumblatt says Hariri's electoral proposal unsuitable
Larijani, Berri discuss Israeli strike inside Syria
CAIR Leader Runs for New York City Council
Assad set on arms transfers to
Lebanon. Israel responds with no-fly zone
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report February 4, 2013
Syrian ruler Bashar Assad has ordered the resumption of weapons transfers to the
Lebanese Hizballah, debkafile’s exclusive military and intelligence sources
report. This was agreed with Iran’s National Security Director Saeed Jalilee,
who arrived in Damascus after Israel’s reported air strike last Wednesday, Jan.
30, inter alia, on Syrian trucks preparing to ferry to Lebanon for Hizballah the
sophisticated Iran-supplied arms stored at the Jamraya military complex north of
Damascus.
The Syrian ruler assured the Iranian official that he would not be deterred by
what he called acts of “aggression.” It was up to Syria and Iran to put their
heads together to find a safe method of getting the hardware across to Hizballah
without exposing it to Israeli attack in truck convoys on the open road.
Jalilee is still in Damascus. He arrived Saturday to discuss with Syrian and
Hizballah how to activate against Israel the secret mutual defense pact binding
Iran, Syria, Hizballah and Hamas.
According to our sources, Israeli military tacticians believe that as winter
weather starts clearing up, Syria and Iran will devise crafty methods for
outwitting Israel and getting the weapons to Lebanon – for example,
disassembling the missiles and launchers and disguising them as non-lethal
merchandize. They could then be spirited across from Syria to Lebanon in small
packages by the smuggling rings regularly operating on their common border.
In anticipation of such tricks, the Israeli Air Force has in recent days thrown
a round-the-clock blanket over the border area. It is constantly monitoring the
traffic moving across and is ready to prevent any arms traffic. Without going
through any formalities, Israel has thus effectively imposed a no-fly regime
over a buffer zone straddling the Syrian-Lebanese border and placed it under the
control of its air force.
Israeli officials have been warning for months that the IDF will not allow the
transfer of advanced Syrian weapons – including chemical and biological weapons
– to terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda affiliated Al-Nusra Front and Hezbollah.
Without directly confirming the Israel attack on the Jamraya military compound,
defense minister Ehud Barak told the Munich security conference Sunday “…what
happened in Syria several days ago… that’s proof that when we said something we
mean it… and we say that we don’t think it should be allowed to bring advanced
weapons systems into Lebanon.”
Israel’s actions to this end, including over flights by its air force which are
widely reported by the Lebanese media, were undertaken after Assad was seen to
be bent on testing Israel’s resolve to prevent arms transfers to Hizballah.
These transfers were expressly prohibited under UN Security Council Resolution
1701 which ended the Israeli-Hizballah war in 2006.
Blast Reported in Tyre Area amid Israeli Mock Raids
http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/70617-blast-reported-in-tyre-area-amid-israeli-mock-raids
Naharnet/A blast went off on Sunday evening in the southern area of al-Fawwar
between al-Hallousiyeh, Badyas and Deir Qanoun al-Nahr, Future TV reported.
Citing reports, the TV network said Israeli aircraft might have detonated an
electronic transmission device. “Hizbullah has cordoned off the area,” Future TV
added. Earlier on Sunday, state-run National News Agency reported “intensive
Israeli mock raids at medium altitude over the southern areas of Nabatiyeh,
Iqlim al-Tuffah, Marjeyoun and Khiyam." NNA noted that
Israeli aircraft “did not leave the Lebanese airspace over the South all through
the day.”
Mustaqbal Announces Electoral Law
Proposal Based on Hariri's Initiative
Naharnet/The Mustaqbal bloc announced on Monday an electoral draft law based on
former Prime Minister Saad Hariri's recent initiative. “We presented to
parliament an electoral draft law that tackles the concerns of Christians over
fair representation,” MP Ahmed Fatfat said during a press conference at
parliament. The draft law is based on 26 electoral districts as had been adopted
in the last elections held in 2009.
No more than five candidates can run in a single district, the largest of which
will include an entire Qada, he added. “This is a complete proposal aimed at
reforming Lebanon's political base,” Fatfat said.
“This law is open to discussion and amendments,” the MP stated. Hariri called
for a small-district law for this year’s parliamentary elections and the
establishment of a senate representing all religions and sects as stipulated by
the Taef agreement. An electoral subcommittee has been studying for the past few
weeks various draft law proposals and it is set to continue its discussions on
Monday. It will mainly focus on a draft law that combines the winner-takes-all
and proportional representation systems.
General Prosecutor Demands Lifting MP Harb's Immunity
Naharnet/General Prosecutor Judge Hatem Madi demanded on Monday to strip MP
Butros Harb of his parliamentary immunity over remarks he made on the judiciary
and President Michel Suleiman after Mahmoud Hayek was charged with the attempt
on his life.The state-run National News Agency reported that Madi handed over to
Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi a request to refer a demand to the parliament
to lift immunity off Harb in order for him to be prosecuted over insulting the
president and accusing the judiciary of plotting a conspiracy against him. “It
is ironic that a judge would allow himself to request my prosecution,” Harb said
later in comments to MTV channel. The March 14 MP revealed over the weekend that
several judges were holding deals with officials in an attempt to close the case
of his assassination.
Harb will hold a press conference at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday in order to respond
to Madi's request. State commissioner to the military court Judge Saqr Saqr
charged last week Hayek, a Hizbullah member, with the assassination attempt on
Harb in July 2012 and with carrying out acts of terror. If convicted the
suspect, who remains at large, could be sentenced to death.
The March 14 General Secretariat later condemned the request to lift Harb's
immunity, noting: “The decision was made less than 48 hours after the lawmaker
made his statements, but the charges against Hayek were made nearly seven months
after the assassination attempt.”“The request is not based on any legal
investigation, but it is an attempt to derail the course of the investigation in
Harb's assassination attempt,”it said in a statement.
The March 14 General Secretariat therefore voiced its solidarity with Harb,
hoping that Madi would retract his request “for the sake of the judiciary and
its integrity.”
The March 14 opposition lawmaker escaped the assassination bid after residents
of a building in which his office is located in the Beirut district of Badaro
discovered individuals trying to booby-trap the elevator.
A string of high-level assassinations struck Lebanon between 2004 and 2008,
targeting political, media and security figures who vocally opposed the Syrian
government, including former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri who was killed in a
powerful car bomb blast in February 2005.
Iran: Israel Will 'Regret Aggression against Syria'
Naharnet/Israel will regret its latest "aggression against Syria", Iran's
security chief Saeed Jalili told reporters during a visit to Damascus on Monday.
"Just like it regretted all its wars... the Zionist entity will regret its
aggression against Syria," Jalili, head of Iran's Supreme National Security
Council, said a day after Israel implicitly confirmed it staged an air strike
near Damascus last week. "The Syrian people and government are serious about
this, and the Muslim world supports Syria," Jalili said. "Syria is at the
forefront of the Muslim world's confrontation with the Zionist entity," he
added, in reference to Israel. In Munich on Sunday, Israeli Defense Minister
Ehud Barak implicitly confirmed that the Jewish state had staged an air strike
on Syria, following reports of an air raid which Damascus said targeted a
military complex near the capital. Barak told the Munich Security Conference
that the strike was "another proof that when we say something we mean it."
Wednesday's air strike targeted surface-to-air missiles and an adjacent military
complex believed to house chemical agents, according to a U.S. official. Tehran
has provided Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime with unequivocal support
throughout the country's 22-month conflict, which the U.N. says has left more
than 60,000 people dead. Analysts have warned of the potential regional
spillover of the conflict, which has divided the international community into
two camps. One Russia-led camp has backed Assad, the other, led by the United
States, has supported the revolt.
SourceAgence France Presse
Military Tribunal Issues Arrest Warrants against Mamlouk,
Col. Adnan over Samaha Case
Naharnet/The Military Tribunal issued on Monday an arrest warrant against two
Syrian officials over their links to the case of former Minister Michel Samaha,
reported the National News Agecny.
First Military Investigation Judge Riyad Abu Ghida issued the warrant against
Syrian security chief Ali Mamlouk and a colonel identified only by his first
name Adana. The investigation in the case has been complete and file will be
referred to the military general prosecution, added NNA.Samaha was arrested in
August and charged with plotting to assassinate Lebanese leaders and of
transporting explosives from Syria into Lebanon to carry out attacks in the
country's north in an attempt to provoke sectarian strife at the behest of the
Syrian regime. Similar charges were leveled against Mamlouk and Colonel Adnan.
Hezbollah fighter killed in Syria
laid to rest
February 04, 2013/The Daily Star
NABATIEH, Lebanon: A Hezbollah fighter was laid to rest in his hometown of Arab
Salim Friday. The exact cause of his death was not
announced, although reports said he was killed in Syria.
In a statement, Hezbollah said that Hussein Mohammad Nazar was killed
fulfilling “his jihadi duty.” A Hezbollah squad
accompanied Nazar’s coffin to the village cemetery, where he was laid to rest.
Man released in east Lebanon after family paid ransom
The Daily Star /BEIRUT:
A man who was abducted Friday in the Metn town of Mansourieh was released in
east Lebanon after his family paid a ransom to the kidnappers, the National News
Agency reported Sunday. Fadi Mitri, the owner of auto
parts shop in Sin al-Fil, Beirut, was snatched from Mansourieh by four
unidentified individuals. The NNA said Sunday that a
police patrol in Baalbek found the 46-year-old man in the neighborhood of
Drouss. It added that Mitri was released after his family paid $75,000.
Report shows Hezbollah, Iran join forces
By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDENT 02/04/2013/ounterterrorism
study says Hezbollah-Quds Force threat "eclipsed that of al-Qaida"; violence
targets Israeli tourists, officials.
BERLIN – The head of the Washington Institute’s Stein Program on
Counterterrorism and Intelligence, Dr. Matthew Levitt, on Wednesday issued a
report detailing the intensified and reorganized collaboration between Hezbollah
and Iran’s Quds Force to commit terror acts against Western countries and
Israel.
According to the report, “the Hezbollah-Quds Force threat has sometimes eclipsed
that of al-Qaida.“ The 17-page study notes that “Iranian decision-makers settled
on a campaign of violence based on a three-tiered threat stream targeting the
following: Israeli tourists, government figures (diplomats, retired officials),
and targets broadly representative of Israel or the Jewish community (community
leaders, prominent Israeli companies).”Levitt wrote that Iran’s leaders
“assigned the task of targeting Israeli tourists – a soft target – to Hezbollah,
and maintained for the Quds Force operations targeting Israeli, American,
British, or Gulf States’ interests. The latter would be carried out by a new
special external operations unit known as Unit 400.”The report comes shortly
before the slated release this week of the results of the Bulgarian authorities
investigation into the suicide bombing of an Israeli tour bus in July 2012. The
terror act resulted in the deaths of five Israelis, a Bulgarian bus driver, and
injuries to over 30 Israelis. US and Israeli intelligence officials attributed
the suicide bombing to a joint Iran- Hezbollah operation.Levitt, widely
considered the leading authority on Hezbollah’s global operations, says that,
“In January 2010, the Quds Force – the elite unit of Iran’s Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps – decided that it and Hezbollah, its primary terrorist
proxy, would embark on a new campaign of violence targeting not only Israel, but
the US and other Western targets as well.”
The United States designated Hezbollah and the IRGC as foreign terrorist
organizations. The European Union has declined to
include both groups on its EU terror list.
Levitt notes that “The net effect of Iran’s shadow war against the West is that
Hezbollah and the Quds Force have climbed back up the list of immediate threats
facing the United States and its allies.”
He quotes the director of the US National Counterterrorism Center, Matthew
Olsen, who said in July, “We’re seeing a general uptick in the level of activity
around the world,” adding that “both Hezbollah and the Quds Force have
demonstrated an ability to operate essentially globally.”Counterterrorism
experts at a one-day conference in London last week on the Iranian threat
organized by think tanks The Henry Jackson Society and the Foundation for
Defense of Democracies, argued for an EU designation of Hezbollah.
Writing in the British daily The Times last week, Lord David Trimble,
along with former Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar, stated “Hezbollah is
already present and active on European soil; its illegal activities and networks
cover the continent. It has shown that it is willing to strike in Europe. That
is why European governments must move now to stigmatize Hezbollah and its
activities, vision and goals. Hezbollah is not the Party of God; it is the Party
of Terror and we should treat it as such.
*Benjamin Weinthal is a fellow with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
Unleash the Lebanese Army
February 04, 2013/The Daily Star
The killing Friday of two members of the Lebanese Army in Arsal has highlighted
the urgent need for the authority to be granted unrestricted access to the
country’s entire territory. If anything positive can
come from the loss of two young fathers while on duty, it must be a realization
that the Army must finally be allowed to carry out its primary responsibility,
to protect the country and all of its people. The Army
is now the only institution which is not sectarian, or politicized. It is
something which virtually all Lebanese are proud of and can unite behind. But
this position was only achieved after a devastating Civil War, exacerbated
partly due to the Army’s weakness in the face of warring factions.
And after the war it took years for the Army to strengthen and become a
unifying symbol for the country and enjoy the support which it does today, with
the arrival of the Army during recent clashes in Tripoli or elsewhere has
generally been welcomed. So the widespread
condemnation which has followed Friday’s tragic events, when one soldier and one
officer were killed while trying to arrest a terrorism suspect, from the
president, the prime minister and the commander of the army, among others, is
right and commendable.
But more than stern words are needed now. Can an army call itself an army if it
is has to be selective about which lands it can and cannot protect?
The Lebanese people want, and need, an Army which can be present whenever
and wherever. Not one which must be fearful or have to exercise trepidation in
its actions and maneuvers. A strong, united Lebanese
Army would be one of the best messages to send to the international community,
and indeed to those seeking to destabilize this little country, that its people,
its institutions and its defenses are solid, and united.
There has been so much talk and political rhetoric – some of it genuine,
some of it not so – over recent months about the need for national unity and the
best methods to achieving it. On top of social and legal reforms, such as the
introduction of civil marriage, the Army must also be given the resources and
capability to patrol with total authority the entirety of the country. This
would inspire a newfound confidence among the population in the Army, at such a
crucial time for the country, and after nearly two years of civil war in
neighboring Syria sporadically and undeniably trickling across the border,
igniting tensions in Tripoli, the Bekaa Valley, the south and the southern
suburbs of Beirut. As so many events have shown over
recent months, the absence of the Army leads to kidnappings and casualties.
This vital institution must now be given political cover so that it can
act unilaterally, and apply the laws of the land without having to take specific
sectarian or territorial factors into consideration.
This state of affairs is detrimental to the Army and undermines its legitimacy,
which, ultimately, is dangerous for the safety of the Lebanese people and the
stability of the country. Everyone must now agree that
the Army is an institution for all the people, and that its members must never
be prevented from carrying out their legitimate duties. No area, not a single
town nor village, should be out of bounds for them.Regardless of some schisms in
society, most Lebanese are striving for unity, and a strong Army would do well
to usher this unity in, and also to prevent any more unnecessary tragedies.
Lebanese Leaders vow to hunt down Army killers
February 04, 2013/By Hussein Dakroub /The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s top leaders and the Army commander pledged Sunday to apprehend
the gunmen involved in an ambush that killed two Lebanese soldiers in the
eastern town of Arsal, as the two victims were laid to rest amid calls for
punishing the perpetrators.
Prime Minister Najib Mikati voiced his government’s full support for the
military measures to apprehend the culprits, saying the gunmen involved in the
ambush should be handed over to the Army immediately.
Army commander Gen. Jean Kahwagi described the ambush that killed Captain Pierre
Bashaalani, 31, and Sergeant Ibrahim Zahraman, 32, as a “premeditated crime,
vowing to punish the “criminals” who fired on an Army patrol trying to hunt down
a wanted man in Arsal Friday. The Army arrested nine people Saturday, two of
them suspected of involvement in the ambush, security sources told The Daily
Star.
Lebanese troops beefed up their presence in Arsal, sealing off the town’s
entrances and exits in what appeared to be part of the Army’s measures to
apprehend the gunmen involved in the deadly ambush that also wounded a number of
soldiers and gunmen and killed the wanted man accused of “several terrorist
acts.”The state-run National News Agency said special forces, backed by military
vehicles, set up checkpoints on roads leading to Arsal, closing main and side
roads, including mountainous tracks used for smuggling. Troops also deployed in
fields around the town.
President Michel Sleiman told George Bashaalani, the father of the slain
captain, that the Army was determined to find all those involved and put them on
trial. “The Army Command is determined to arrest the attackers on its patrol in
Arsal,” Sleiman said after offering condolences to Bashaalani’s parents in the
Zahle town of Mreijet.
In response, George Bashaalani urged Sleiman “not to be lenient with the killers
and to strike with an iron fist against anyone who tries to break the law and
tamper with security.”
Speaking at a funeral procession held for his son at the St. Georges Church in
Mreijet, Bashaalani demanded that “justice take its course and the criminals be
punished so I can feel the blood of my martyr son will not go in vain.”
Mikati visited the Army Command headquarters at the Defense Ministry in Yarze,
east of Beirut, in a show of solidarity with the military measures taken in
Arsal to apprehend the gunmen suspected of involvement in killing the two
soldiers.
Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn said the Army had launched raids in Arsal in search
of the gunmen involved in the ambush. He told LBCI TV that the Army arrested
four gunmen who were trying to flee Arsal.
According to Ghosn, Army Intelligence has obtained a list of names of the gunmen
involved in the ambush. “The Army is carrying out raids and searching Arsal to
arrest the wanted suspects in the area,” he said.
Mikati said the gunmen involved should be handed over to the Army immediately,
adding that the military has the government’s “full political cover” for its
measures.
“I confirmed my full support for the Lebanese Army. At the same time, I stressed
to the command the need for this problem to be solved as soon as possible and
the gunmen to be handed over to the Lebanese Army,” Mikati said after meeting
Kahwagi and Ghosn.
He said he had agreed with Kahwagi on a series of measures to be taken in Arsal.
“Let’s leave it to the Army to resolve this matter away from any [sectarian]
tension. We will not accept that a group of Lebanese feels targeted in these
circumstances,” Mikati said. “I came here to support the Army. I call on the
media outlets to stop inflaming sectarian sentiments.”
For his part, Kahwagi, issued a stern warning to the two soldiers’ killers. “We
will not keep silent or accept any political compromise over the blood of Maj.
Pierre Bashaalani and Sergeant Ibrahim Zahraman. We reject any attempt by any
party to play down the impact and horror of the crime that was committed against
the Army in a premeditated manner and by barbaric means alien to our Christian
and Muslim beliefs,” the Army chief said in an order of the day to the military.
Kahwagi added that the Army would take all necessary action to apprehend the
killers. “The Army will not back off come what may until the criminals,
regardless of their identities and affiliations and no matter how loud the cries
of their defenders are, are punished,” Kahwagi said.“Our promise to our two
martyrs, their families and friends that the perpetrators and accomplices will
get their punishment whatever the cost, is for the sake of Lebanon’ unity,
security and stability,” he added.
Kahwagi said the Army would continue its mission to fight terrorism. “Anyone who
thinks that our work against terrorism, that seeks to destabilize our society
and coexistence, might stop for any reason is mistaken,” he added. The Army said
Friday that unidentified gunmen ambushed a military patrol that was attempting
to apprehend a man wanted for “several acts of terrorism.” Security sources told
The Daily Star that Khalid Hmayyed, the wanted man, was killed in a clash with
the military, which prompted gunmen in the area to retaliate.
The NNA reported that Hmayyed was wanted in the case of the seven Estonians who
were kidnapped in Lebanon and later released in 2011.
Zahraman was laid to rest Saturday in his hometown of Akkar, north Lebanon, amid
calls by his relatives and mourners for handing over the killers to the Army and
punishing them.
A funeral procession, attended by Kahwagi, representatives of political leaders
and senior Army officers, was held for Bashaalani at the Saint George Church in
his hometown of Mreijet Sunday.
Black-clad women threw rice and rose petals at Bashaalani’s coffin, wrapped in a
Lebanese flag and carried shoulder high by mourners walking in Mreijet’s narrow
streets. Fireworks and heavy gunfire erupted as Bashaalani’s coffin was carried
inside the church for the funeral procession.
Following the funeral process, Bashaalani’s coffin was carried shoulder high by
soldiers to the family cemetery where he was laid to rest.
Meanwhile, a delegation from the Committee of Muslim Scholars visited Arsal in
an attempt defuse tension in the town. The visit was coordinated with the Army.
The delegation, headed by Sheikh Salem Rafei, met with Arsal Mayor Ali Hujeiri,
members of the town’s municipal council and notables.
Speaking to reporters afterward, Rafei said the committee demanded an
investigation into the incident in Arsal and called on the Army “to lift the
blockade on the area in order to prevent frictions.”
Rafei said that neither the Army nor the town’s residents are infallible,
warning against attempts “to play off the Army against Arsal’s residents.”
He also called for the release of Sheikh Yehya Hujeiri, a committee member, who
was among those apprehended by the Army following the ambush.
Elsewhere, Akkar’s Future bloc MP Khaled Daher accused Hezbollah of plotting the
ambush in Arsal. “The operation was coordinated between Hezbollah and some
[Army] officers who are loyal to Hezbollah,” Daher told a news conference at his
house in Tripoli. He said that because of their
support for Syrian refugees fleeing the war in Syria to Lebanon towns and
villages in the north, Arsal’s residents were being targeted in Lebanon by “the
Syrian regime, its agents and the government of Bashar Assad.”
Daher also accused the Mikati government of bias toward the “oppressive
Syrian regime and the expansionist Persian regime” in Iran.
Referring to Hezbollah and its March 8 allies who support the Assad regime,
Daher said: “We warn against a conspiracy by the agents of the Syrian and
Iranian regimes against Lebanon and attempts to push Lebanon’s military and
security institutions through some agents of these two criminal regimes” to
clash with predominantly-Sunni areas. – Additional reporting by Rakan al-Fakih
Lebanon army makes arrests over
Arsal incident
Now Lebanon/The Lebanese army’s Beqaa intelligence directorate on Sunday
arrested five people for their alleged involvement in the attack in Arsal that
left two Lebanese soldiers dead.
Sources told NOW that one of the detained assailants had allegedly opened fire
on the army patrol earlier in the week. Lebanese army intelligence operations
into the case remain ongoing, as the security apparatus has been uncovering the
identities of other assailants and conducting raids, sources added.
On Friday, two Lebanese soldiers, Pierre Bachaalany and Ibrahim Zahraman,
were killed when an LAF patrol team pursued a wanted man, Khaled Hmayed, in the
Beqaa area of Arsal. Hmayed’s family and friends surrounded the patrol force and
opened fire, killing the two soldiers and injuring six others.
Hezbollah planned LAF soldiers’ murder, Future MP Khalid Daher says
Now Lebanon/Future bloc MP Khaled Daher held Hezbollah responsible for the
incident that took place in the Beqaa town of Arsal which resulted in the death
of two Lebanese Armed Forces soldiers.
“I accuse Hezbollah of planning this operation [by] coordinating with officers
affiliated with [the party],” Daher was quoted as saying on Sunday.
The Future MP raised questions about the army officers’ raid on the town.
According to Daher, the head of the intelligence in Arsal did not know that a
unit was going to carry out a raid.He went on to pose the question, “How is it
that an [army] unit arrives in civilian vehicles, is dressed in civilian
clothing, enters Arsal, kills Khaled Hmayed… by shooting him 43 times and takes
his body to a deserted road?”The opposition official also wondered whether
Colonel Malek Shamas, who is in charge of the unit, wanted to “punish Arsal and
create strife between the Sunni and Shia [communities].”On Friday, two LAF
members - Pierre Bachaalany and Ibrahim Zahraman - were killed when their patrol
team pursued a wanted man, Khaled Hmayed, in the Beqaa area of Arsal. Hmayed’s
family and friends surrounded the patrol force and opened fire, killing the two
soldiers and injuring six others.
The incident prompted widespread condemnation from political and religious
figures, while the army deployed reinforcements to the area.
Meanwhile, Daher spoke of a “Syrian-Iranian conspiracy” which would have members
of the military and security apparatus in Lebanon enter into direct conflict
with residents of Sunni towns.
He added that there are “orders to kill those who sympathize with the Syrian
people and their revolution… and [to] target… Arsal and Akkar,” because
residents of these regions have been known to provide support to Syrian war
refugees. Daher also stated that “the government of
[Syrian President] Bashar al-Assad in Lebanon… is targeting Arsal’s security, as
has happened numerous times before. It is sending security forces [into the
town] in a manner that does not respect the protocol. This indicates that they
are entering [the town] with bad intentions.”The future official later commended
Arsal, saying that he was “proud” of the town and its “heroic and loving
residents who defend the army.”
LDP leader: Arsal incident part of campaign targeting LAF
Now Lebanon/Lebanese Democratic Party leader MP Talal Arslan deemed the killing
of two Lebanese Armed Forces soldiers in the Beqaa town of Arsal to be an attack
on the LFA as an institution.
“The Arsal [incident] is a part of an organized campaign that targets the army
as an institution,” the National News Agency quoted Arslan as saying on Sunday.
The LDP chief also called for the implementation of the disassociation
policy. On Friday, two LAF members - Pierre Bachaalany
and Ibrahim Zahraman - were killed when their patrol team pursued a wanted man,
Khaled Hmayed, in the Beqaa area of Arsal. Hmayed’s family and friends
surrounded the patrol force and opened fire, killing the two soldiers and
injuring six others. The incident prompted widespread
condemnation from political and religious figures, while the army deployed
reinforcements to the area. Another March 8 official,
Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Hassan Fadlallah, also denounced the Arsal
attack, and condemned the provocative statements made by some political leaders
against the army.
The Hezbollah MP attested that he holds the political parties that “cover up for
the assailants” responsible for the LAF members' deaths.
Earlier on Sunday, the Lebanese army’s Beqaa intelligence directorate
arrested five people for their alleged involvement in the attack in Arsal.
Missiles from Syria hit Lebanese towns
Now Lebanon/Syrian rockets hit multiple Lebanese border towns, but no casualties
were reported, the National News Agency said. Over 13 artillery shells and
missiles launched from Syrian territory on Sunday fell on the Lebanese towns of
Al-Dababiyah, Al-Noura and Hakr Janin. However, no injuries or significant
material damage are known to have been incurred.
Future Movement official Mustafa Alloush : Civil marriage
doesn’t contradict democracy, freedom
Now Lebanon/Future Movement official Mustafa Alloush said that allowing for
civil marriage to take place in Lebanon would not counteract principles of
democracy and freedom at work within the country.
“In light of the pluralism that exists in Lebanon, optional civil marriage is a
choice that suits democracy and personal freedoms,” Alloush told NOW on
Saturday.
“Optional civil marriage gives citizens the option to choose the sort of
contract they want to make with each other.”
The opposition official also lashed out at the Sunni Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammad
Rashid Qabbani after the latter issued a fatwa that sought to prevent secular
unions from taking place, saying that the Sunni leader contravened the minimum
requirements of public discource. Earlier in January,
NOW reported on the first marriage contract that was signed between a Lebanese
woman and man according to civil laws and with the support of a civil society
activist. Several political and religious leaders have
commented on the issue recently, including Lebanese President Michel Suleiman
who publicly stated his support for civil marriage a day after Qabbani issued
his fatwa.
Despite a long-running campaign by civil society advocacy groups, civil marriage
has no legal basis in Lebanon, a country of around four million people whose
population belong to 18 different religious communities
Can Lebanon survive Syria’s war?
Michael Young/Now Lebanon
Reports that Israeli warplanes bombed a truck transporting Sa-17 missiles to
Hezbollah only show us, once again, that the Lebanese are being dragged into a
conflict not theirs. This news came only days after The Washington Post
published an article reporting that Lebanese Sunni Islamists were flocking to
Syria to fight against the regime of Bashar al-Assad. Can Lebanon survive the
Syrian civil war?
Indeed, does it want to? Hezbollah has also sent fighters to Syria to defend
Assad’s dictatorship. And Iran is playing a vital role in bolstering the Syrian
regime, whose potential overthrow a senior Iranian official, Ali Akbar Velayati,
has called a “red line” for Tehran. If Hezbollah is now defending an Iranian
“red line” and the Sunnis are answering the call for a jihad against Assad and
his followers, while Syria is transferring advanced weaponry to Hezbollah for a
possible war with Israel, Lebanon cannot possibly emerge unharmed.
Nor is the country’s economic situation reassuring. Take, for instance, the fear
among politicians of recent efforts to raise the salary scale. This was opposed
by the government, which feared it would carry Lebanon over its own fiscal
cliff. Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh warned that the move could cause
inflation to rise by 2 to 3 percent a year and reduce job opportunities by at
least 4 percent. More alarmingly, it would be too expensive for the state,
undermining its efforts to cut the deficit and support the Lebanese pound. This,
in turn, could harm the banking sector, the backbone of the economy.
Lebanon’s financial woes are also a consequence of the Syrian conflict, which
has choked off the export of goods to Arab countries and land tourism to Lebanon
from these countries, and has negatively affected the health of large Lebanese
banks operating in Syria. While a financial collapse may not be around the
corner, for the first time in years economists are not so readily dismissing
that outcome, despite the Central Bank’s efforts to reassure the Lebanese.
Perhaps most worrisome is that a large part of the political class seems
far more preoccupied by the intricacies of an election law than by the risks to
Lebanon’s existence. Perhaps the dominant problem is that there is no unity of
purpose in the country. The election law debate is significant because all sides
have different objectives, and hopes that a new law will help them in their
parochial pursuits.
Hezbollah wants a law that will allow it to win a majority of seats in
parliament, so that it can control the legislature, with its allies, and bring
in a friendly president in 2014. The party realizes that Assad may not survive
politically, and needs to anchor itself in state institutions in order to
survive. And if it is not guaranteed of an election law that brings victory,
Hezbollah will push hard, through persuasion or a resort to violence, for a
delay. Already, the expectation today is that elections will not be held in the
summer.
Nor is this universally unpopular. Many economic actors regard elections under
the present circumstances as destabilizing. And there are politicians inclined
to agree with this assessment. Moreover, there are those surveying the wreckage
left by the debate over an election law, and most doubt a consensual outcome is
possible. Under those circumstances, they feel, it’s better to wait, which also
means that President Michel Suleiman’s term will likely be extended.
So, Lebanon could see immobility in its institutions in the years ahead.
This will put additional pressure on Prime Minister Najib Miqati, if he decides
to stay on, and it will hardly reassure the business sector, regardless of its
reluctance to go ahead with elections. After all, stalemate is bad for
investment, particularly when Arab states seem disinclined to do anything that
might strengthen Miqati.
What are the prospects for confidence in the future? National cohesiveness is
bound to suffer. The danger from events in Syria is very high, but not nearly as
high as the growing and debilitating rifts within Lebanese society. Sectarianism
has reached levels not witnessed since the civil war years, and there seems to
be no chance of a national dialogue as long as the Future Movement and its March
14 partners refuse to participate in one. Even at the social level, Lebanon is
drifting. The latest example is the debate over civil marriage, which prompted
the mufti, Muhammad Rashid Qabbani, to threaten, quite scandalously, Muslim
officials.
Even if Lebanon averts political and financial collapse, you have to wonder
where the country is heading. Politics are at an impasse, and will remain so as
long as politicians bicker over seemingly petty issues and as Hezbollah
continues to bend the country out of shape to accommodate its arsenal, there to
serve Iran. The economy will further decline, as the government has neither the
imagination nor the wherewithal to introduce much-needed reform. And sectarian
relations are abysmal, as Christians fret at everything, and Sunnis await
Assad’s downfall, hoping for greater power against a Shiite community that fears
any challenge to its arms and domination.
There was more direction to Lebanon during its war years. Today the country is
going nowhere, while the interaction and irreconcilable aims of its political
forces are breaking Lebanon apart. Syria, as Assad predicted, is too large to
fall to his enemies. He intends to make good on that prediction. As if he hasn’t
done enough damage.
*Michael Young is opinion editor of The Daily Star newspaper in Lebanon. He
tweets @BeirutCalling
The Nusra Front Delusion
By Hussein Shabokshi/Asharq Alawsat
On the subject of the Syrian revolution, the bloody ruling regime in Damascus
has been raising the scarecrow of the “terrible alternative” for the country’s
minorities—as well as the international community in general—should Bashar
al-Assad leave power.
This “terrible alternative” is no longer a “delusion” or a “mythical beast” or
“fairy tale”, rather this is something that is present on the ground in Syria. I
am, of course, talking about the Nusra Front. This is the extremist group that
follows jihadist ideology similar to that of the terrorist Al-Qaeda
organization. This group is now the talk of the west, which had previously been
enthusiastically supporting the Syrian revolution and revolutionaries to get rid
of the Assad regime. Following the appearance of this scarecrow, the Syrian
regime—along with Russia and its other allies—have taken the opportunity to
exploit the situation, promoting the frightening idea that the survival of the
Assad regime is better than the Nusra Front and the like coming to power.
Of course, this is complete nonsense, particularly when you take into account
the size of the Nusra Front in comparison to the Syrian revolution as a whole.
It is clear that this is just a tiny group, although it is an inevitable source
of concern and anxiety due to the presence of followers of such jihadist
Takfirist ideology, which is something that has wrought much harm across the
Islamic world.
I find myself comparing the differences between Islamist groups in our region.
While it is clear that jihadist ideology is ugly and naïve, particularly in
terms of issues like indiscriminate killing and a superficial approach that
incites terror, there are also other groups, such as Hezbollah that are more
sophisticated and professional. Despite this, such groups ultimately aim to
achieve the same objectives in terms of takfirism, and marginalizing and
isolating others, albeit using a more skillful or accurate approach. This is
akin to the difference between teams like Real Madrid and Barcelona and those
playing soccer in the street. Yes, they are playing the same game, but there is
a huge difference in terms of the level. Of course, it is those playing soccer
in the streets, and their simple approach to the game, that are subject to
criticism and accusation of backwardness.
The jihadist ideology followed by groups like the Nusra Front, among others, is
a cancer on the Islamic world. Such ideology is the archenemy of the Islamic
world. Our society’s inability to get rid of this ideology completely exposes
the lack of a counter-ideology and the inability of more tolerant and moderate
ideologies to confront this in the required manner. This is an issue that has
appeared along with the Arab Spring. This revolutionary wave was brought about
by grand slogans calling for equality, freedom, justice, and dignity. However
extremist groups have rushed to hijack this beautiful spontaneous movement in
order replace it with violent and repulsive views that divide the people and
limit freedoms, dubbing anybody who does not agree with this an apostate. These
groups promoted extremism and fundamentalism in a frightening manner, only
recognizing their own views and raising suspicions about anybody who has a
different opinion regardless of the merit of their argument. These groups viewed
the Arab Spring as a “golden opportunity” to officially legitimize their
presence on the scene, changing their previous position on revolutions,
democracy, political parties, and elections. However such changes are only
temporary, allowing them to reach power; following this they will label all
those who oppose them as “apostates” and “agents of the west”, as well as
“secularists” and “liberals”, who cannot be trusted because they “oppose God’s
law”. This was planned in advance, and these groups have mobilized the street to
support them. This is something that we are clearly seeing today in Libya,
Egypt, and Tunisia; while we may witness this tomorrow in Syria.
There should be no place for the Nusra Front in Syria. More importantly,
however, there should also be no place for those who threaten this group coming
to power. All of this is in order to support the devil, Bashar al-Assad,
remaining in power, according to the famous proverb: Better the devil you know.
The Assad regime is skillfully playing on our fears of the jihadists. This is
something that it did numerous times during the Lebanese Civil war via parties
affiliated to it in Beirut, Tripoli, and the Palestinian refugee camps, for
example regarding the Jund al-Sham or Abu Adas. We also saw the same practice in
Iraq with the jihadist groups there, which were mobilized against the US forces
in a systematic manner. The same thing is happening today, with fears being
raised about the jihadist groups on the ground in Syria in order to make
political gains for Assad and his supports. However, in reality this game has
been completely exposed.
The Syrian people are well aware that the Nusra Front is a cancerous blight on
Syria; however this is just one group that has no historic roots in the country,
while the Syrian people will not allow them to remain present on the ground.
This is something that the world at large must be aware of.
CAIR Leader Runs for New York City Council
by David J. Rusin/FrontPageMagazine.com
http://www.meforum.org/3440/zead-ramadan-cair
Zead Ramadan, board president of the New York chapter of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), is eyeing a bigger platform from which to
promote his Islamist agenda: a seat on the New York City Council. If he
prevails, the city that endured 9/11 will count among its lawmakers a senior
official in an organization linked to the financing of terrorists and intent on
frustrating law enforcement efforts to foil the next jihad plot.
A Democrat and member of Community Board 12, one of 59 local representative
bodies serving neighborhoods across New York, Ramadan has formally announced his
candidacy to succeed the term-limited Robert Jackson in northern Manhattan's
District 7. He has gotten off to a quick start in fundraising and an even
quicker start in playing the victim card, no doubt hoping to preempt criticism
of his association with CAIR. "Ready 2 get attacked 4 my faith but I am not
first or last," Ramadan tweeted on January 13.
The opening salvo was a January 2 article by Azi Paybarah, published at
CapitalNewYork.com. Relaying Ramadan's description of himself as a "lightning
rod," the piece explains that he "has been a frequent target of local
anti-Muslim commentators, and several times during the interview Ramadan
predicted opponents of CAIR would turn their attention to his campaign," because
"CAIR has been a frequent target of Republicans and conservatives, who accuse it
of being tolerant of terrorism, or worse." Paybarah's follow-up report states
that "CAIR, a civil-rights group, says it exists in part as an antidote to
radicalism, and condemns terrorism and religious violence." A more thorough
journalist would have mentioned that "CAIR conspired with other affiliates of
the Muslim Brotherhood to support terrorists," in the words of federal
prosecutors; that CAIR was listed as an unindicted co-conspirator in the trial
of the Holy Land Foundation (HLF), whose leaders were convicted of funneling
money to Hamas; that a federal judge, citing "ample evidence" of CAIR's ties to
HLF and Hamas, upheld the designation; and that the FBI ended outreach
activities with CAIR as a result. Of course, these inconvenient facts might have
ruined the witch-hunt narrative.
Paybarah emphasizes the Arab-Israeli conflict and the "politics in staunchly
pro-Israel New York," assuring readers that Ramadan "said he wanted to avoid
using his Council campaign to refocus the dialogue in New York on Middle East
foreign affairs" and would not prioritize such issues if elected. "I can't
affect the Middle East problem," Ramadan told him. "I'm not condemning anything,
OK? You want me to condemn one side or the other in a one thousand, two
thousand-year dispute, what are you, insane?"
This is not the only time that Ramadan has passed on an opportunity to denounce
Hamas. "Sir, do you consider Hamas a terrorist organization?" asked an
Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) reporter at a press conference in 2011.
After trying to change the subject to anti-jihad activist Pamela Geller, Ramadan
offered nothing but bromides: "Islam, myself, and I think all people of
conscience are opposed to all terrorism in all of its forms against all the
people of the world. Anyone who is innocent that is killed, it's not the way of
the Islamic people or people of conscience or people who stand for liberty and
justice. Thank you very much." His evasiveness is consistent with CAIR's long
history of refusing to censure Hamas by name. Further illuminating his
sympathies, an IPT article reveals that "Ramadan contributed $1,000 to Viva
Palestina, an organization led by noted anti-Semite George Galloway, that
supports Hamas financially and politically, in 2010."
Though reticent to rebuke Hamas, Ramadan has no shortage of harsh words about
life in the U.S. and sometimes disseminates them on Iranian-controlled Press TV,
just as other CAIR figures have done. Ramadan employed the following hyperbolic
analogy to peddle the Muslims-under-assault meme on the channel last year: "In
Nazi Germany, they targeted the minority, the Jewish minority, and unfortunately
it went from only philosophy to rhetoric to action. And that's not where we want
to go in America. I don't think we'll ever get there, but I don't think we
should allow the road to continue to be built towards that direction, because
the comments that are being made against Muslims are very eerily echoing the
comments that were made against Jews by Nazis." During an earlier Press TV
appearance, he painted Congressman Peter King's hearings on Muslim
radicalization as "an attempt to demonize the Islamic faith" and downplayed the
danger of Islamic terrorism, suggesting that Jews are as great a terrorist
threat as Muslims. He sparred with King on NBC in 2010, likening resistance to
the proposed Islamic center near Ground Zero to the internment of the Japanese,
segregation, and slavery.
Ramadan has toed the CAIR party line on the New York Police Department's
surveillance program to identify potentially violent radicals, calling it "f—ked
up" for "basically equating Muslim with terrorism, which is outrageous." He
previously chided the department for its use of The Third Jihad, a documentary
that exposes Islamism in America and is narrated by reformist Muslim Zuhdi
Jasser. According to a 2011 CAIR news release, "Ramadan compared The Third Jihad
to past propaganda such as the Nazi-era film Triumph of the Will or Birth of a
Nation, which vilified African-Americans." As CAIR was protesting Jasser's
appointment to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom last
spring, Ramadan penned a Facebook post smearing him as an "extremist" and
asking, "Are David Duke and Pamela Geller on this panel too?"
Ramadan and CAIR-NY also participate in the Islamist pushback against vital FBI
sting operations to nab budding terrorists. The aforementioned press conference
at which Ramadan ducked the Hamas query was arranged by the Committee to Stop
FBI Repression. Additionally, CAIR-NY co-hosted an event with the author of The
Terror Factory: Inside the FBI's Manufactured War on Terrorism at Columbia Law
School on January 31. Attorney General Eric Holder criticized such rhetoric
before a Muslim audience in 2010: "Those who characterize the FBI's activities
in this case as 'entrapment' simply do not have their facts straight — or do not
have a full understanding of the law."
Finally, Ramadan has overseen one of CAIR's more radical branches. A CAIR-NY
Facebook entry from February 2012 "urges everyone to come out and support Dr.
Aafia Siddiqui by attending her appeal for an unjust 86 yr jail sentence";
Siddiqui, a suspected al-Qaeda facilitator, was found guilty of trying to murder
U.S. personnel in Afghanistan. Ramadan's CAIR-NY colleague Cyrus McGoldrick
infamously tweeted pro-Hamas messages, advocated the destruction of anti-jihad
ads, and promised that "we'll blast" police informants, whom he branded as
"snitches"; he recently left the group, perhaps due to bad publicity.
Furthermore, CAIR-NY board member Lamis Deek has warned Muslims of an
"NYPD-CIA-Israeli alliance" out to get them and, upon the election of Islamist
Mohamed Morsi as president of Egypt, praised the supposed liberation from
America's "proxy-imperialist (colonialist) wrath."
Notable on its own, Ramadan's campaign also highlights the trend of American
Muslims with Islamist track records seeking elected office. For instance, Esam
Omeish, a former president of the Muslim American Society (MAS), described by
federal prosecutors as "the overt arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in America,"
pursued a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates four years ago, but he
finished third in the Democratic primary. Minnesota's Keith Ellison has been
more successful. A Democratic congressman since 2007, he regularly collaborates
with CAIR and similar groups; saw parallels between 9/11 and Hitler's Reichstag
fire; savaged Jasser on Capitol Hill in 2009, effectively calling him an Uncle
Tom who "give[s] people license for bigotry"; and enjoyed a pilgrimage to Mecca
funded by MAS. Despite this, Ellison defeated his challenger by nearly 50 points
in 2012.
Though Islamists who enter the halls of power through the back door have drawn
most of the headlines of late — particularly the many unelected Muslims with
alarming histories currently populating the Obama administration — one must not
forget to keep an eye on the front door as well. Will Zead Ramadan be the next
to walk in, securing a New York City Council seat that would provide a vehicle
for shaping key issues, from police counterterrorism programs to religious
accommodations in public institutions, and bestow unearned legitimacy on CAIR
itself?
The decision will rest with the voters of District 7. They deserve to be given
the facts about Ramadan and CAIR — to offset the steady diet of puff pieces and
sob stories — before making it.
**David J. Rusin is a research fellow at Islamist
Watch, a project of the Middle East Forum.
Israel says will not allow Hezbollah to obtain Syrian
regime weapons
Sunday, 03 February 2013
By Al Arabiya
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Sunday referred to the airstrike on a
weapons convoy on the Lebanon-Syrian border last week, saying the Jewish state
will not allow Hezbollah to obtain Syrian regime weapons.
"What happened in Syria several days ago [is] proof that when we said something
we mean it … we say that we don't think it should be allowed to bring advanced
weapons systems into Lebanon," Barak told reporters at a security conference
being held in Germany. This was the first public comment Israel has made
regarding the strike.
Buffer zone?
Barak’s statements came amid reports that the Jewish state is planning to set up
a buffer zone inside Syria. Citing military planners, The Sunday Times
reported the buffer zone plan was drawn out by the military and was presented to
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.The plan is designed to secure Israel’s
47-mile border with Syria against Islamists if President Bashar al-Assad is to
lose power. The intended buffer zone will be similar to the Israeli Security
Zone in southern Lebanon from 1985 to 2000. “We've presented the prime minister
with a comprehensive plan to defend Israel’s border after, or perhaps before,
the fall of Assad’s regime,” a military source told The Sunday Times. Israel has
already begun erecting a 20ft steel wall along the border overlooking Syrian
villages under opposition control. Israel claims Syrian Islamist groups have
already infiltrated some of its border villages and that replacing the border
fence with a steel wall was necessary. “The old fence was fine for more than 40
years,” the military source added. “We knew then that there was a strong man in
Damascus, but not anymore. The new wall will be good when it’s ready but without
the buffer zone mortar and rocket attacks on Israel would be a daily event.”The
Sunday Times also reported that Iran has built up a signal intelligence facility
near Dera’a, near the Israeli border, adding that it is among Israel’s future
targets. “The Iranians are still major players in Syria,” the military source
was reported as saying. “They have a defense pact with Assad and for the past
two years they’ve been trying to help him. But they know he’s doomed and want to
win as much lasting influence as possible before he goes.” “We know they are
monitoring our army communication, gathering intelligence and trying to log into
our military computers,” the source told the paper. “This is a serious problem
for our forces.”
“Israel will miss the Assads,” an Israeli intelligence source told The Sunday
Times. “The Assads, father and son, were very nasty people. But with them, we
knew that a promise was a promise, and an agreement was as solid as the boulders
of Mount Hermon.”
Hezbollah delegation meets tribal leaders in Yemen
Yemen Post Staff /Amid fresh reports that Iran is smuggling weapons to Yemen in
its military support of the Houthis - Shia rebel group based in the northern
province of Sa'ada - Saudi newspaper Okaz revealed a delegation from the
Hezbollah - Shi'a Islamic militant group and political party based in Lebanon
with strong ties to the Iranian regime as they share a common politico-religious
ideology - visited several of Yemen tribal leaders, politicians and officials in
a bid to smoothe out relations and address allegations Iran is running spy cells
in the country.
Diplomatic relations between Sana'a and Tehran have been strained over the past
few months, with several calls from Yemen President Abdo Rabbo Mansour Hadi
urging the Iranian Republic to stop meddling within Yemen internal affairs. Iran
has been accused of financially and military supporting political groups in
Yemen to promote instability and offset Saudi Arabia's hold over the Arabian
Peninsula.
According to state officials and U.S Intelligence reports Iran is using the
Houthis and the Southern Secessionist Movement - al-Harak - to assert its
foothold in Yemen and increase its level of influence. On countless occasions,
U.S Ambassador Gerard Feierstein warned against Tehran's plot in Yemen, speaking
of the dangers a rapprochement with Iran's Ayatollahs would entail for the
Yemeni nation.
The discovery of a cargo ship loaded with highly sophisticated weapons --
surface-to-air missiles, C4 military-grade explosives, 122-millimeter shells,
rocket-propelled grenades and bomb-making equipment, including electronic
circuits, remote triggers and other hand-held explosives -- sent shock waves
across the nation as officials grasped the extent of Iran's alleged operations
in Houthis' controlled areas -- al-Jawf, Sa'ada and Hajjah --
Only a few months away from Yemen National Dialogue a military escalation would
lay waste any efforts to peacefully and politically resolve the country's many
issues and would almost definitely spell out war.
Yemen Post Staff