LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
February 15/2013

Bible Quotation for today/False Teachers
Jude 01/03-16/ My dear friends, I was doing my best to write to you about the salvation we share in common, when I felt the need of writing at once to encourage you to fight on for the faith which once and for all God has given to his people. For some godless people have slipped in unnoticed among us, persons who distort the message about the grace of our God in order to excuse their immoral ways, and who reject Jesus Christ, our only Master and Lord. Long ago the Scriptures predicted the condemnation they have received. For even though you know all this, I want to remind you of how the Lord once rescued the people of Israel from Egypt, but afterward destroyed those who did not believe. Remember the angels who did not stay within the limits of their proper authority, but abandoned their own dwelling place: they are bound with eternal chains in the darkness below, where God is keeping them for that great Day on which they will be condemned. Remember Sodom and Gomorrah, and the nearby towns, whose people acted as those angels did and indulged in sexual immorality and perversion: they suffer the punishment of eternal fire as a plain warning to all. In the same way also, these people have visions which make them sin against their own bodies; they despise God's authority and insult the glorious beings above. Not even the chief angel Michael did this. In his quarrel with the Devil, when they argued about who would have the body of Moses, Michael did not dare condemn the Devil with insulting words, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” But these people attack with insults anything they do not understand; and those things that they know by instinct, like wild animals, are the very things that destroy them. How terrible for them! They have followed the way that Cain took. For the sake of money they have given themselves over to the error that Balaam committed. They have rebelled as Korah rebelled, and like him they are destroyed. With their shameless carousing they are like dirty spots in your fellowship meals. They take care only of themselves. They are like clouds carried along by the wind, but bringing no rain. They are like trees that bear no fruit, even in autumn, trees that have been pulled up by the roots and are completely dead. They are like wild waves of the sea, with their shameful deeds showing up like foam. They are like wandering stars, for whom God has reserved a place forever in the deepest darkness. It was Enoch, the seventh direct descendant from Adam, who long ago prophesied this about them: “The Lord will come with many thousands of his holy angels to bring judgment on all, to condemn them all for the godless deeds they have performed and for all the terrible words that godless sinners have spoken against him!” These people are always grumbling and blaming others; they follow their own evil desires; they brag about themselves and flatter others in order to get their own way.

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
 Europe's Hezbollah Problem (Part 1)/Daniel Benjamin and Karen Betts/Washington Institute/February 15/13
Canadian Citizenship of Terrorists Should be Revoked/Arthur Weinreb/February 15/13
 Assad’s Audacity Towards Turkey/By Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Alawsat/February 15/13
 Sheikh Hamad’s Proposal/By Tariq Alhomayed/Asharq Alawsat/February 15/13

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for February 15/13
 Kerry on Hariri Murder Anniversary: We Encourage All Parties to Respect Lebanon Security, Stability
 March 14 General Secretariat coordinator Fares Soaid on Hariri Murder Anniversary: We Must Build State without Conditions Imposed by Militias
 Delegations visit Hariri grave, pay tribute
Ex-PM Saad Hariri on Rafik Hariri's 8th Murder Anniversary
 Hariri renews commitment to March 14 principles
Hariri says his father’s killers will be brought to justice
Lebanon commemorates 8th anniversary of Hariri's death
Lebanese PM dismisses Syria rebel arrest warrants: source
Minister warns refugee influx endangers Lebanon stability
Sleiman pays tribute to soldiers killed in Arsal
 Catholic Information Center Denies Bkirki Lawsuit Against al-Watan
 No evidence Sadr is dead: Lebanese official
Plumbly Meets Berri, Contacts Hariri, Stresses Importance of Holding 'Fair' Elections on Time
 Iran Says Official Killed on Way from Syria to Lebanon, FSA Says Died in Israeli Raid on Jamraya
 Shateri: Iran’s Regional Point Man
 Iranian general reportedly assassinated while traveling from Syria
 Iran official killed in Lebanon buried in Tehran

The dark labyrinth of straw companies in which Ben Zygier worked
 Kuwaiti report: Zygier took part in Mabhouh hit
Youth killed in clashes on Bahrain uprising anniversary
Syria rebels capture town near oil field, battle for control of Aleppo airport ...
 Syria's bloody civil war arrives in Damascus
 Syria: Islamist fighters 'capture oil town'
 Syrian rebels say capture eastern town of al-Shaddadeh
Kerry: Saudis Say Syria Death Toll May Be 90,000
 Britain Warns of Western Jihadists Returning from Syria
 New Syria peace plan circulated in UN: Saudi daily
Gulf Monarchies Reject 'Provocative' Iran Talks Idea
 Syria: Rebels Make Gains, As Kerry Tells Assad to Step Down
 Egyptian Officials Accused of Covering Up Torture
Conference: US-Israeli unity strong as ever

Kerry on Hariri Murder Anniversary: We Encourage All Parties to Respect Lebanon Security, Stability
Naharnet/The United States encourages “all parties to exercise restraint and respect for Lebanon’s security and stability, consistent with United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1559 and 1701,” U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Thursday, in a statement marking the 8th assassination anniversary of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. “Those who initiated the killing sought to undermine Lebanon's sovereignty and independence. This act of cold blooded mass murder sent shivers throughout the region. I will never forget sitting in Beirut soon after for my meetings held next to a portrait of Hariri shrouded in black,” Kerry said, recalling his visit to Lebanon in 2005. “The grief was palpable across a city and nation in mourning and upheaval,” he added.‪ “Eight years later, the United States reaffirms that we reject the use of assassination as a political tool by parties within or outside Lebanon, and we stand with the Lebanese people as they seek to make clear once and for all that political assassination and politically motivated violence will no longer be carried out with impunity,” Kerry stressed.
He voiced his country's support for the work of the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon to “independently investigate and hold accountable those responsible for the assassination of Hariri and the others killed and injured on that tragic day.”‪Kerry also noted that since the Hariri assassination, “too many more of Lebanon’s citizens have fallen in targeted killings, including (Intelligence Bureau head) Wissam al-Hasan just four months ago.”
He added that other political figures have been targeted in assassination attempts, “including Lebanese Forces Party Leader Dr. Samir Geagea and independent MP Butros Harb,” underlining that “the killing must end and those responsible must be held accountable.‪” “The United States continues its unwavering support for a stable, sovereign, and independent Lebanon,” the top U.S. diplomat added.
Four Hizbullah members have been named suspects by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in the Beirut truck bombing that killed Hariri on Feb. 14, 2005.
The party denies the charges and has refused to hand over the suspects. Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has accused the court of being part of a U.S.-Israeli plot.

March 14 General Secretariat coordinator Fares Soaid on Hariri Murder Anniversary: We Must Build State without Conditions Imposed by Militias
Naharnet /March 14 General Secretariat coordinator Fares Soaid warned on Thursday that Lebanon is in danger because of the spread of arms in the country and attempts to link it to the developments in Syria.
He said: “Those destroying the state must return to it so we can build it without conditions imposed by militias.”He made his remarks during a ceremony marking the eighth anniversary of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Soaid added: “Lebanon is in danger because those in power today have not learned from the mistakes of the past.” “They are trying to link the country to the Baath regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad,” he continued. “Lebanon is in danger because of the swift collapse of its state and its inability to apply the law and provide security to the people,” he noted. “Lebanon has been transformed into what appears to be a failed state,” he said. He emphasized the need to return to the Taef accord that “ensures the rights of all components of society.” “Our hand is extended to those with honest intentions in order to restore the authority of the state,” stressed Soaid. “We urge them to work together to halt our fall towards the unknown,” he remarked. He called for an end to attempts to ignite strife in Lebanon, adding: “Some sides are banking on the collapse of the March 14 camp, but experience has taught us since the assassination of Hariri, that we are capable of moving mountains if we are united.”
“The majority of the people do not want the return to violence and wars and this is the responsibility of the state and the March 14 forces,” he declared. “The state must liberate itself from sectarian interests and instead be based on civil ones. Politics must be stripped of sectarian interests, starting with the March 14 camp,” he stressed. “Given these dangers, there can be no salvation except through returning to the values of the Cedar Revolution when the people broke down sectarian boundaries and overcame their fears,” said the March 14 General Secretariat coordinator. The March 14 opposition alliance commemorated Hariri's assassination anniversary in a rally at the BIEL exhibition center in downtown Beirut, in the absence of key leaders. Four Hizbullah members have been named suspects by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in the Beirut truck bombing that killed Hariri and 21 others on February 14 , 2005.The party denies the charges and has refused to hand over the suspects.

Catholic Information Center Denies Bkirki Lawsuit Against al-Watan
Naharnet/The head of the Catholic Information Center Father Abdo Abu Kasam denied on Thursday that the seat of the Maronite church had filed a lawsuit against a Saudi daily for mocking the patriarch.
In remarks to Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3), Abu Kasam said the church “knows how to respond in a civilized manner” to a caricature of Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi published by al-Watan newspaper.
He said a clear stance from the caricature would be made after a scheduled meeting at the center next week. Abu Kasam said the seat of the Maronite church in Bkirki hasn't received any apology from al-Watan for publishing the caricature that criticizes al-Rahi's latest visit to Damascus. VDL said Wednesday that lawyer Wadih Aql filed a criminal complaint with the general prosecutor’s office against the newspaper's publisher, its editor-in-chief and the caricaturist, Jihad Awrati. Aql accused them of slandering the patriarch and inciting strife and racism, the radio station said. The caricature replaced al-Rahi's mitre with a rocket and highlighted the common letters between the patriarch and the Syrian president's names in Arabic. The depiction was met with anger and criticism on social media websites.

Lebanese PM dismisses Syria rebel arrest warrants: source
February 14, 2013/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Prime Minister Najib Mikati has dismissed an announcement from the Free Syrian Army of arrest warrants against him and two of his relatives should they enter Syria, a source close to the head of the Lebanese Cabinet said Thursday. “These [threats] aren’t even worth a response because they come within the framework of well-known media and political campaigns,” the source told The Daily Star.
The Free Syrian Army said Wednesday it had issued arrest warrants against Mikati and two of his relatives over what it claimed was a Lebanese government decision allowing Syrian tanker trucks to fill up with fuel in Lebanon.
“The Revolutionary Justice [Council] issued this morning [Wednesday] arrest warrants against Prime Minister Najib Mikati, his brother Taha, and his nephew,” Free Syrian Army spokesman Louai Meqdad told the local television channel MTV late Wednesday. He said the move came after a “dangerous” Lebanese Cabinet decision allowing Syrian President Bashar Assad “to dispatch tanker trucks to Lebanon to stock up on fuel supplies to be used by tanks that are killing Syrian children.” “In case Mr. Mikati, his brother Taha, or nephew Azmi entered liberated or non-liberated Syrian territories, they will be arrested and handed over to the Revolutionary Justice [Council],” Meqdad warned. Protesters in the north of Lebanon blocked roads in two border towns Wednesday, preventing tanker trucks from transporting diesel into Syria. The protesters claimed that the diesel was being used by the government in Damascus in its crackdown on those revolting against Assad. The protest came a day after Lebanon’s Energy and Water Ministry dismissed reports of fuel smuggling into Syria as “fabrications for purely political objectives,” amid concerns by local traders of Lebanon becoming entangled by international sanctions against Syria. Meqdad said the Revolutionary Justice Council had assigned the FSA with the role of carrying out the arrest warrants. He also said the Revolutionary Justice Council had tasked Aleppo’s Inspection Authority with conducting an inventory of Mikati’s assets in Syria as well as those of his brother and nephew “as a prelude to the seizing of these properties.”

Europe's Hezbollah Problem (Part 1)
Daniel Benjamin and Karen Betts
Washington Institute
February 13, 2013
On February 8, 2013, Daniel Benjamin, Karen Betts, and Matthew Levitt addressed a Policy Forum at The Washington Institute. Mr. Benjamin is the State Department's former ambassador-at-large and coordinator for counterterrorism. Ms. Betts is a political counselor and representative for the Joint Intelligence Committee at the British embassy in Washington. The following is a rapporteur's summary of their remarks; read Dr. Levitt's observations.
DANIEL BENJAMIN
There is a common perception that the U.S. antiterrorism campaign deals exclusively with al-Qaeda. In reality, the recent resurgence of Iranian state-sponsored terrorism and global Hezbollah activities has become a prominent issue on the U.S. foreign policy agenda.
Last year, authorities foiled a Hezbollah plot targeting Israeli tourists in Thailand. Further investigation led them to a warehouse filled with thousands of kilograms of explosives and bombmaking materials, proving that the group was focused not on isolated attacks, but on preparing for a terrorism campaign. Additional activities have been reported in Azerbaijan and Kenya, among other places.
The group has also been implicated in a July 2012 bombing at Bulgaria's Burgas Airport that killed several Israelis and a Bulgarian. Last week, after completing an extremely thorough investigation, the country's Interior Ministry attributed responsibility to Hezbollah. This finding took a great deal of political courage -- the Bulgarian government knew there were risks associated with such a declaration, but it chose to place greater priority on its duty to combat terrorism.
One driving force behind Hezbollah's increased activity -- which has risen to a level unmatched since the 1990s -- may be a desire to show the potential consequences if the West continues to confront Iran over its nuclear program. The group likely also hopes to avenge the deaths of longtime operations chief Imad Mughniyah and several Iranian nuclear scientists. Hezbollah already believes itself to be in a conflict with the West, and it now wants to demonstrate how much worse the situation could become if tensions continue to build.
The United States has long called on Europe to designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. Such a move would have significant implications beyond its symbolic value: it would criminalize fundraising and logistical operations and help delegitimize the group as a political actor. Even Hezbollah's leaders have publicly acknowledged the damage a designation would do to the organization. Hopefully, the Bulgarian statement will be a turning point in the long-stalled debates regarding Hezbollah's presence in Europe. The fact of a terrorist attack on European soil will make the matter difficult for EU policymakers to ignore.
Europe's opposition to a designation has been partly attributed to fears of retribution (e.g., the UN Interim Force in Lebanon has been targeted in the past). Even more important, European policymakers have confirmed their interest in maintaining influence in Lebanon, and they frequently point to the country's stability as a major concern. This is not a trivial fear given Lebanon's history, especially the enormous toll in human lives exacted during the civil war.
Despite these legitimate concerns, however, European reasoning on this issue may be faulty. Western pressure on Hezbollah in recent years has not stoked instability in Lebanon -- for example, witness the group's relatively muted reaction to the news that its operatives were being indicted for the murder of former prime minister Rafiq Hariri. Furthermore, Hezbollah itself is a significant contributor to domestic turbulence, as seen in the Hariri assassination, the toppling of the government through armed action, and the apparent killing of Lebanon's intelligence chief just last year.
Going forward, Europe needs to ask whether Hezbollah has any interest in actively destabilizing Lebanon. Despite its violent actions at home, the group seems keen to protect what is left of its image as a champion of Lebanese interests and a national force that promotes a strong Lebanon. It is therefore unlikely to take steps that gravely threaten that goal. Although designating Hezbollah could conceivably spark a reprisal against UNIFIL troops, the probability of a new civil war is very low.
Finally, the story of Hezbollah's terrorist activities in Europe does not end in Bulgaria. In Cyprus, for example, a trial is underway involving a suspect apprehended in July 2012 who confessed to surveilling Israeli tourists as potential targets. A thorough prosecution and conviction would do much to fulfill the requirement of some European states for evidence against Hezbollah that can withstand judicial scrutiny. Such evidence would be difficult for policymakers to ignore.
Whatever the case, Europe will be deliberating intensively on the designation issue in the near future. A number of countries have stated that they would shift their policy if Bulgaria publicly attributed the Burgas bombing to Hezbollah operatives -- time will tell if this is still the case.
KAREN BETTS
Hezbollah is a regional problem and, most likely, a growing problem globally. The Bulgarian investigation revealed that the group is also a European problem. Bulgaria's interior minister accused two members of Hezbollah's military wing of being involved in the appalling attack in July that killed five Israelis and a Bulgarian bus driver while injuring thirty other people. The United Kingdom believes the right response is for the EU to designate Hezbollah's military wing as a terrorist organization. The UK has no doubts about Hezbollah's involvement in terrorism -- it designated the group's External Security Organization in 2001, then extended the designation in 2008 to include Hezbollah's entire military wing.
An EU designation would not destabilize Lebanon, nor would it affect the legitimate role that Hezbollah's political wing plays in Lebanon's politics. Rather, a designation carried out via the EU's terrorist asset freezing program would have a number of positive effects: in addition to sending a clear message that the EU will not tolerate acts of terror on European soil, it would reduce support for Hezbollah's activities, put pressure on the group to move away from violence as a means of achieving its objectives, and limit its ability to raise and move funds, making the group less agile in terms of operating in Europe. A designation would have symbolic effects as well, damaging Hezbollah's profile and reducing its legitimacy.
The UK makes a distinction between Hezbollah's military and political wings based on its experience in dealing with terrorism, most notably in Northern Ireland. The UK's view is that even in the best of circumstances, terrorist problems can be resolved only by long and persistent pressure (e.g., defensive security, policing, intelligence-led operations, financial pressure, sanctions) together with political measures. It is important to leave space for the political talks necessary to achieve a sustainable solution; the UK hopes that Hezbollah will one day seek to achieve its aims solely through politics. The UK recognizes that Hezbollah is an influential political force in Lebanon and enjoys strong support from the Lebanese Shiite community. The group is part of Lebanon's government and could one day be a force for stability in the country.
Finally, the UK has been impressed by the Bulgarian government's painstaking investigation into the Burgas attack and believes that sufficient evidence has been revealed for the EU to designate Hezbollah's military wing. The UK also recognizes that the EU has a different legislative basis for sanctions than the United States, and that EU sanctions could be challenged in court.
This rapporteur's summary was prepared by Jonathan Prohov and Melissa Trebil.

Iran Says Official Killed on Way from Syria to Lebanon, FSA Says Died in Israeli Raid on Jamraya
Naharnet /An Iranian official was killed on Wednesday overnight while on his way from Damascus to Beirut, the Iranian embassy in Lebanon said in a statement.
According to the statement, engineer Houssam Khosh Newes, an Iranian development official working in Lebanon, was killed by “armed terrorist groups” while he was returning to Beirut from the Syrian capital.
Media outlets reported that Khosh Newes was in the Syrian province of Aleppo evaluating development projects to reconstruct the northern city that is witnessing deadly clashes between the anti-regime rebels and the troops of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Ghazanfar Roknabadi considered that the “assassination” of Khosh Newe a proof that “Israel wants to topple any process of development" in the region.
He pledged that Iran will continue its efforts in this regards, stressing that “nothing will obstruct the reform process.”
Khosh Newes was appointed by Iranian President Mahmound Ahmadinejad in Lebanon after July 2006 war between Israel and Hizbullah, to help rebuild the south.
The war had cost the lives of 1,200 people in Lebanon, mainly civilians, and 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers.
In another report, Iran’s Fars news agency reported that a senior commander of the Revolutionary Guard was killed in Lebanon by “the Zionist regime,” without providing further details about the conditions of his death.
Gen. Hassan Shateri led Guard forces in Lebanon and oversaw Iranian-financed reconstruction projects there.
Several media reports said that Khosh Newes was also known as Shateri.
Iran, Syria and their ally Hizullah are considered as the “axis of resistance” in the region.
Media reports said that Iran and Hizbullah have played a role in supporting the Assad regime against the rebels since the outbreak of the revolt in March 2011.
Later on Thursday, Fahd al-Masri, spokesman for the Joint Command of the rebel Free Syrian Army, told Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5) that “Hassan Shateri and a number of his assistants were killed in the Israeli air raid on the Damascus suburb of Jamraya while he was overseeing the transfer of weapons and missiles to Lebanon."
The Syrian army said that an Israeli air strike targeted a military research center in Jamraya, near Damascus, on January 30 amid several media reports saying Israeli warplanes bombed a weapons convoy near the border with Lebanon.
Later, Israel implicitly confirmed it had staged an air strike on Syria, with Defense Minister Ehud Barak saying it was "another proof that when we say something we mean it."
But Masri said: "After he (Shateri) arrived in Damascus from Beirut, he immediately held several meetings with Iranian and Syrian security and military advisers, before he headed to Jamraya where he was killed.”
“The so-called (Iranian) Committee for the Reconstruction of Lebanon is a cover under which a number of Revolutionary Guard leaders, officers and members are operating in Lebanon,” Masri added.
However, the opposition-affiliated Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Shateri was shot dead by rebels.
"We do not know exactly where he was shot, but we do know that a rebel group ambushed his vehicle while en route from Damascus to Beirut," the Britain-based Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told Agence France Presse. Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said he "strongly condemned this terrorist act."
Cited by Iranian media, Salehi said he "valued the selfless services of this commander of Islam and his tireless efforts in the reconstruction of the damaged areas in southern Lebanon."

Iranian general reportedly assassinated while traveling from Syria
http://www.latimes.com/news/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-iranian-military-general-assassinated-syria-20130214,0,2686299.story
Associated Press / February 14, 2013)
Los Angeles Times
By Patrick J. McDonnell and Ramin Mostaghim
February 14, 2013/BEIRUT -- A high-ranking member of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps was assassinated this week while traveling from Syria to neighboring Lebanon, Iranian media reported Thursday, in the strongest indication to date that senior Iranian military commanders have been dispatched to Syria. Gen. Hassan Shateri was killed Tuesday by "unknown gunmen," described as "suspected Israeli agents," as he was on the road between the Syrian capital of Damascus and Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, various Iranian news agencies reported. Iran is a staunch ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who is facing an almost two-year-long rebellion against his rule.
Rebel forces and their foreign allies, including the United States, have accused Iran of propping up Assad’s government with extensive military, logistics and financial aid. Iran has downplayed its military role in Syria.
The Iranian media accounts did not specify exactly where the general was killed, but they labeled the death an "assassination," indicating that he was targeted. If his death occurred in Syria, Shateri would be the first senior Iranian commander publicly known to have been killed in the Syrian conflict. Iranian opposition websites identified Shateri as a member of the Quds Force, the foreign arm of the Revolutionary Guard.
The chief of the Quds Force, Gen. Qasim Sulaimani, accompanied by high-ranking clergymen, personally notified the general’s family of his death, Iranian media reported, a fact that seemed to confirm the slain general’s link to the shadowy force. Nonetheless, official accounts from Iran described the slain general solely as a chief of reconstruction efforts in Lebanon and Afghanistan.
The general "led the Iranian-financed reconstruction projects in the south of Lebanon," reported Iran’s ABNA news agency. Southern Lebanon suffered considerable damage during the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, Iran’s Lebanese ally. Iran’s embassy in Beirut also confirmed the assassination, but identified the slain official as Hussam Khoshnevis, Iran’s reconstruction chief in south Lebanon. The two names suggested that the general may have concealed his military identity, which is not unusual among Quds Force operatives. Reuters reported that Syrian rebels took credit for the attack. The Iranian general was killed near the Syrian town of Zabadani, close to the Lebanese border, a rebel commander told Reuters. The Syrian war has become a proxy conflict pitting Assad’s government and his chief allies, Iran and Russia, against an armed and political opposition backed by the United States, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and other nations. More than 60,000 people have died in the conflict, according to a United Nations estimate. The body of Shateri was brought Thursday to his hometown, Semnan, southeast of Tehran, the capital, for burial, Iranian media reported.

Canadian Citizenship of Terrorists Should be Revoked
Arthur Weinreb (Bio and Archives) Thursday, February 14, 2013
Last week, Jason Kenney, Canada’s Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, floated the idea of legislation to strip Canadians who commit terrorist acts of their citizenship.
The idea came after the government of Bulgaria said a citizen of Canada was involved in an attack on a tourist bus filled with Israelis last summer. The attack has been attributed to Hezbollah.
The Canadian government acknowledges the dual citizen involved although they are not releasing his name. He was born in Lebanon and came to Canada with his parents when he was eight years old and later obtained Canadian citizenship. When he was 12, his parents split up and he returned to Lebanon with his mother. Although he had only come back to Canada a couple of times to visit relatives, he retained his Canadian citizenship and his passport that helped him enter Bulgaria. Two weeks before Bulgaria released the information, the prime minister of Algeria said two of the terrorists who took part in the attack on the gas plant that left 38 people dead, were Canadians. A private members’ bill is currently before Parliament dealing with non-citizens and the Canadian Forces. In addition to making it easier for those serving in Canada’s military to obtain citizenship, the bill also provides for the revocation of citizenship for naturalized citizens who take part in acts of war against the Canadian military.
Kenney is considering broadening the bill to revoke the citizenship of naturalized Canadians who engage in acts of terrorism that is not necessarily directed at the Canadian Forces. These proposed changes would only affect Canadian citizens who hold dual citizenship. It is a violation of international law to strip someone of their citizenship if doing so would render them stateless. And citizens of Canada by birth would not be affected.
Currently someone can only be stripped of their citizenship if they made misrepresentations or concealed material facts when they applied to become a Canadian citizen.
Naturally, there are the naysayers to whom stripping the citizenship of those who have declared war on their country of citizenship is appalling. Interim Liberal leader Bob Rae accused Kenney and the Harper government of engaging in a “knee-jerk” reaction. Rae, one of the most vociferous critics of the Conservatives abolishing the long-gun registry, would never call the push for greater gun control in the U.S., begun by Obama before the bodies of the Sandy Hook children were even cold, a knee jerk reaction to the tragedy. Of course not. Rae is living proof of how the once mighty Natural Governing Party has fallen to third place. Like the Liberal Party in general, Rae should just be ignored.
One of the arguments against revoking the citizenship of dual nationals is that it will create two classes of citizens. The answer to that is, so what? It is really no different than what happens with the status of Canadian permanent residents. Permanent residency is hardly permanent because the status can be revoked and an immigrant can be deported for serious criminality. Because the status of a citizen is higher than that of a permanent resident, is not a legitimate argument to revoke the citizenship of someone who is at war with Canada.
A second argument involves the slippery slope; revocations will begin with terrorists and be broadened to include other activities such as serious criminality. Again, so what? Even if this would be undesirable, it does not override the fact that those who have gained Canadian citizenship and engaged in terrorism against Canada and our allies, should not be allowed to travel the world with a Canadian passport.
This is not the first time revocation of citizenship has been discussed. There were many Lebanese who came to Canada, obtained citizenship and then returned to live permanently in Lebanon. During the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, these citizens demanded that “their” government facilitate and pay for their return to Canada.
For citizenship to mean something, it has to involve responsibilities as well as rights. It is not too much to require at a minimum that Canadian citizens do not engage in a war with the purpose of destroying our way of life.
Copyright © Canada Free Press
Arthur Weinreb is an author, columnist and Associate Editor of Canada Free Press. His work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Men’s News Daily, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck.
Arthur can be reached at: aweinreb@rogers.com

Shateri: Iran’s Regional Point Man
Asharq Al-Awsat
http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=3&id=32909
London, Asharq Al-Awsat—The killing of a senior Iranian commander west of Damascus highlights Tehran’s military involvement in the Syrian civil war.
General Hassan Shateri is the highest ranking Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) officer to be killed outside Iran. His death is likely to renew debate within the Tehran leadership regarding the future of the Assad regime. “Supreme Guide” Ali Khamenei has vowed to prevent Assad’s fall. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, on the other hand, has tried to distance Iran from Assad in the hope of preventing the emergence of a new anti-Iran bloc in the region.
Shateri, who was 58-years old, was gunned down as he was driving south to Beirut after a week of “consultations” with Syria’s military leaders.
The gun-battle, during which a Syrian military escort failed to protect the Iranian general, happened Monday. But it was only yesterday when Shateri was transferred to his native city of Semnan, east of Tehran, that the death was officially confirmed.
According to Tehran sources two of Shateri’s aides were also killed in the ambush set up by rebels fighting the Syrian despot Bashar Al-Assad. It is not clear whether the aides were also Iranian or Lebanese from the local branch of Hezbollah. The official media in Tehran claims that the attackers were “agents of world Zionism”, a cliché often used to point the finger at Israel for mishaps faced by Islamic officials.
The burial ceremony is scheduled for Friday with General Qassem Suleimani, Commander of the Quds (Jerusalem) Force heading the cortege.
The Quds Force, of which Shateri was a senior commander, is in charge of “exporting” the Islamic revolution. In practice, this means raising and leading pro-Iran militias and terrorist groups in countries of special interest to Tehran. Shateri was sent to Lebanon after the mini-war between Israel and Hezbollah in the summer of 2006 to help rebuild the Iran-backed Shi’ite militia that had been shattered in the conflict. Shateri used the nom de guerre of Engineer Hessam Khosnevis with the title of “Special Representative of the President of the Islamic Republic” for the reconstruction in southern Lebanon where Shi’ites form a majority of the population.
According to Tehran sources, Shateri controlled several funds amounting to $200 million a year used to replace Hezbollah’s lost arsenal and rebuild its missile sites close to the demarcation line with Israel. He also launched a housing project that, over the past eight years, has helped over 600 Shi’ite families move into new homes.
As Special Representative of the IRGC, General Shateri sat on Hezbollah’s Central Command and helped shape the party’s policies with advice from Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah.
Shateri’s key achievement was the creation of an “inner-state” in Lebanon. This consists of a set of communication networks, using fibre optic systems, built in parallel with the ones controlled by the Lebanese government. Thus, Iran has its own telephone, television, and satellite communication facilities across the Lebanon. The general also launched a real estate company to buy land, sometimes whole villages, from Christian and Druze minorities. The chunks of real estate thus obtained helped Iran establish territorial contiguity between the Bekaa Valley, on the Syrian border, with Beirut and thence the demarcation line with Israel in the south. This has created a seamless Shi’ite-majority entity in the very heart of Lebanon.
The business empire controlled by Shateri in Lebanon includes banks, shopping malls, hotels, transport companies, radio and television networks, newspapers, and travel agencies.
The general became a star in Tehran when he succeeded in ousting the pro-West government of Prime Minister Saad Hariri, replacing it with that of Najib Mikati with Hezbollah in effective control.
The anti-Assad uprising in Syria provided General Shateri with a new challenge. Over the past two years, he has helped recruit and train special units to fight for Assad. He brought in some 400 members of the IRGC from Iran to run the scheme with help from Lebanese Hezbollah fighters.
Shateri has also secured “mooring rights” for the IRGC’s navy in the Syrian port of Tartus where Iran is building military and civilian “facilities”.
It is not clear whether IRGC’s Iranian personnel have been directly involved in fighting against Syrian rebels. Tehran denies any involvement. However, there is evidence that some of Shateri’s Lebanese men have died fighting for Assad in Syria. Anti-Assad forces claim that Iran and Hezbollah are both involved in Assad’s massacre of civilians in various parts of Syria.


The dark labyrinth of straw companies in which Ben Zygier worked
DEBKAfile Special Report February 14, 2013/
If Ben Zygier-Alon was indeed identified as “one of three Australian-Israeli citizens working for the Mossad under the cover of a European front company that sold electronic equipment to Iran” – as claimed to the Guardian by the Australian journalist, Jason Koutsoukis - that would explain why he blew up when the journalist asked him in early 2010 if he was a Mossad spy.
It would mean that he was spotted as a member of the anonymous army of tens of thousands of Americans, Israelis, Brits, Dutch, Iranians – and the list goes on and on – employed in running straw companies operated by the world’s spy agencies.
In the world of commerce, the “straw company” exists to deceive business competitors, uncover their trade secrets and patents, or pretend to be working on one product while working surreptitiously on another. Some American firms run hundreds of straw companies quite openly; others register shelf companies ready for sale or resale for profit.
In connection to Ben Zygier, straw companies, like “the European front company,” where he was sighted, are an extremely important tool for spy agencies in the performance of three basic undercover functions:
1. To infiltrate scientific, technological, financial, medical, educational and commercial industries and dig out their secrets. Many big companies work hand in glove with some intelligence service.
These straw companies are a major source of information. Take, for example, the Washington Post disclosure of Thursday, February 14, that last year, Iran tried to purchase via Chinese companies 100,000 magnetic rings to be used in the production of 50,000 new, rapid centrifuges.
To dodge UN sanctions on this product, Iran probably struck a deal with the Chinese company to keep their order secret. But Tehran knew that no Chinese firm manufactures magnetic rings of the type they need on this scale and that the firm would have to cast its nets far and wide to find enough magnetic rings of the requisite quality – and at a low enough price to give them a fat profit on the deal.
In no time, the search was bound to reach the ears of Washington and Tel Aviv and tell them that Iran is about to substantially increase its stock of high-speed centrifuges for enriching uranium.
The Washington Post disclosure marked the end of the complicated Chinese-Iranian deal for the acquisition of magnetic rings and the game by which it filtered through straw companies.
When Tehran approached the Chinese firm a year ago, it touched off a clandestine race involving hundreds if not thousands of secret agents from dozens of countries. Some tried chasing up the magnetic rings to meet the Iranian order; others, to block the sale; and a third group tried palming off on the Chinese firm flawed products that would sabotage the Iranian centrifuges when used.
The third task would not have been a walkover. Neither the Chinese nor the Iranians are gullible customers. Both are savvy enough to demand samples for stringent testing – first in China, then in Iran. Tehran was burnt once by the Stuxnet malworm invasion which messed up the computer systems running the centrifuges and does not mean to be burned again.
Anyway, the number of companies with the technology for manufacturing magnetic rings with undetectable flaws can be counted on less than five fingers. If it can be achieved, the next stage in the game would be to obscure the source – presumably Israel or the US. For this cover-up, many more straw companies would have gone into action – some in corners far from the Middle East, which could be Iceland or Vietnam, or even Timbuktu – nothing is beyond the realm of imagination for the straw company industry that serves world intelligence services.
This industry has two additional functions:
1. Some are on the level and designed to generate real profits to bankroll some of the spy agencies’ clandestine operations.
2. The manpower they employ is a pool for recruiting agents for long, short-term or ad hoc missions.
Straw companies which fail to perform usually sink without a trace.
In the murky world of double agents, no one can be sure who is serving whom at any given time. So, too, some straw companies serve many spymasters - whether as their operating method or out of greed. Their real loyalties are carefully muddied over. There is no credible information about Ben Zygier Alon’s undercover mission or how he came to land in the high-security Israeli prison cell in which he died two years ago.
But some of the details percolating through about his exploits as a spy suggest he may have found himself mixed up in this kind of vortex and, instead of jumping out, decided on his own bat to follow through all the way to a certain objective – and got caught. At that point, his fate as a secret agent would have been sealed and the secrets he carried for the government which employed him sacrificed.

Assad’s Audacity Towards Turkey
By Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Alawsat
The Syrian regime has returned once more to the practice of using car bombs against its opponents. This time it has dared to do so along its borders with Turkey, sending a new message that it feels confident and will not hesitate to intimidate and threaten even its huge northern neighbor. There is a sense of confidence that Ankara will not engage in a war with the Syrian regime, after it has adopted a policy of caution for more than a year and a half.
The explosion at Bab al-Hawa a few days ago targeted Syrian opposition figures and killed at least 14 people, including Turks. It was clearly orchestrated by the Assad regime, with the Syrian information minister threatening Turkey two days before the explosion.
The irony here is that Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was the first to condemn the brutality of the Assad regime at the beginning of the revolution—around two years ago—before the rebels resorted to arms. At the time, the Turkish leader was viewed as a hero by many Syrians and Arabs because he stood against Assad’s violence. But after confrontations escalated, the brutality of the regime increased, and the number of those killed by the regime—mostly civilians—became more alarming, Ankara’s voice was dampened and limited to verbal protests. Since then, a year and a half later, the Assad regime has dared to defy its northern neighbor on several occasions, either verbally or through acts of murder, as was the case a few days ago.
Syria’s land area is little more than a quarter of its huge Turkish neighbor. The Ottomans ruled Syria, their Arab gate, for centuries as a subordinate state. Yet by the end of World War I they had withdrawn after the establishment of Turkey. However, the fear of the Turkish neighbor remained prominent in the minds of the Syrian leaders that successively ruled Damascus. Hafez al-Assad was the most recent Syrian ruler to feel the heat of Turkish threats in the 1990s, when he saw Turkish tanks approaching the Bab al-Hawa border. He immediately sought to cease the activities of the armed Kurdish-Turkish opposition, and handed over its leader Abdullah Öcalan.
Another irony is that the ice of this frosty relationship did not melt until the era of President Bashar and Prime Minister Erdogan. The latter extended his hand and tried to assimilate his Arab neighbor with modern ideas and serious economic and political projects. The problem was that Bashar Assad, who is famed for his policy of playing on multiple strings, reached a dead end with all the countries he tried to outfox. Qatar, which was once one of his main allies, was the last of the countries to sever relations. As many remember, the Turkish prime minister attempted out of loyalty to extend a lifeline to Assad at the beginning of the revolution, to help him emerge from the crisis. Assad, however, turned his back on the Turks. And although Turkey repeatedly warned Assad against armed violence, its government then decided to retreat and remain neutral, apart from providing humanitarian aid to refugees and overlooking some of the Syrian rebel’s activities, especially after they seized two border crossings and vast areas in northern Syria.
It is clear that at the beginning, Erdogan sincerely attempted to help Syria and the regime avoid the tragedy we are witnessing today. But Assad is not a leader capable of making historic decisions, and this is how the country has descended into civil war. It is clear that Assad’s plan is based on an acknowledgement of defeat. He will drag the Iranian and Iraqi regimes behind him as he withdraws to the coast and establishes his state there, leaving chaos and jihadi extremists behind him. He is benefitting from Turkey’s refusal to interfere as he sows problems for the next ten years, inciting sectarian strife in northern, eastern, and western Syria. He will retreat towards the Mediterranean Sea to the home of the Alawites – the sect that he has taken hostage and implicated in his crimes against the Syrian people.

Sheikh Hamad’s Proposal
By Tariq Alhomayed/Asharq Alawsat
At the opening session of the first International Conference Of Council for Arab and International Relations in Kuwait, Qatar’s prime minister put forward several ideas that are worthy of discussion. The most prominent of these were his proposal to create a cooperative Gulf organization of states including Iran, his call for a media free from checks and balances, and his assertion that reform should not come about in the form of a revolution or an uprising.Of course, you could write an article about every idea put forward by Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim, but it does no harm to have a quick discussion here. Firstly, let us address his proposal for Iran to be included in a future Gulf organization. This is strange, especially as the Gulf, and the wider region, is calling for Iran to take its hand out of our countries. Furthermore, Tehran is facing mounting international pressure, including with regards to its nuclear file, so should we really be trying to rescue Iran now, rewarding it for what it is doing in Syria for example?
Sheikh Hamad in turn justified his proposal by saying that outstanding issues with Iran can be resolved through “constructive dialogue, pursuing diplomatic means, and strengthening confidence away from heavy-handedness”. This is true, but was it not Sheikh Hamad who also said, according to WikiLeaks documents, that relations with Iran are based on the principle of “they lie to us, and we lie to them”? What has changed?
As for saying that reform should not come in the form of a revolution or an uprising, but rather it should be a gradual process, there is no doubt here. This is what we and the wise, although there are few of them, have been saying since the beginning of the Arab Spring, although Syria is an exception because it is a genuine revolution. Nevertheless, we have been exposed to the harshest expressions of mistrust and insults for saying so. So has Qatar’s political thinking changed, with the realization that it is a mistake to pour fuel on the fire and inflame the street, or is there something else at play here, especially since Doha has hosted several opposition conferences and personalities, and its media still invites some of the main instigators of the Arab Spring?
As one thing leads to another, Sheikh Hamad also said that whenever the media is allowed to perform its role without checks and balances, we increase our understanding of the world, and in turn we receive greater respect for our issues. Yet this goes against one of the main principles of reform and freedom, namely responsibility. How can there be a media without checks and balances? Why not do the same with economic markets, traffic systems, and so on?
Sheikh Hamad is well aware that the societies we want to respect us have strict media controls, on the basis of “responsibility”.
The West, for example, criminalizes hate speech, and holds even football fans accountable for their chants. Likewise, social networking users can be prosecuted if they promote lies or slander, and social media terms and conditions in the West are harsher than most of the laws regulating the media in our region. The Western media operates in accordance with a system of strict rules and conventions that ensures its credibility and independence. If we applied such measures in our region, many media outlets would go out of business, and the situation would be even worse if we had to earnestly respect intellectual property rights, but this is another story.
I will conclude by saying that regardless of my opinions, Sheikh Hamad has put forth a series of issues to spark a serious debate, and this in itself is commendable.