LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
February 22/2013

Bible Quotation for today/
The Letter from Jude 1/17-23: "But you, beloved, remember the words which have been spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you that “In the last time there will be mockers, walking after their own ungodly lusts.” These are they who cause divisions, and are sensual, not having the Spirit. But you, beloved, keep building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. On some have compassion, making a distinction, 1:23 and some save, snatching them out of the fire with fear, hating even the clothing stained by the flesh."

The Shia Al-Qaeda
By Tariq Alhomayed/Asharq Alawsat
http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=2&id=32973
If an observer were to take a look at our region, he would find that we are face to face with mounting evidence of the “Shia Al-Qaeda”—otherwise known as Hezbollah—in Syria, Yemen, and Iraq, as well as in the Gulf States, most notably Bahrain, and even in Libya and North Africa. Iran’s adherent groups are acting along the same lines as the Sunni Al-Qaeda; seeking to cement a presence in the region’s hot-spots and apply the Hezbollah model there. The Shia Al-Qaeda is drawing its inspiration from Hezbollah’s experience in Lebanon and applying it to Yemen, via the Houthis, with the aim of creating a front against Saudi Arabia and, of course, the entire Gulf region. Similarly, in Iraq, the Shia Asaib Ahl Al-Haq—an adherent of Iran that has carried out killings and bloodshed—has entered the political arena with the aim of undermining the Sadrist movement and consolidating Nuri Al-Maliki’s stance. This is reminiscent of Hezbollah’s endeavors to hijack the Shiite leadership in Lebanon from the Amal Movement there. In Bahrain, armed terrorist militias are being formed while the Shia Wefaq movement continues to work under a civil guise, seeking to penetrate Western institutions along the lines of Hezbollah by using an armed wing and a political one. It is ironic that this is all happening at a time when the West is currently considering imposing sanctions on Hezbollah, in both its military and political forms.
In Syria, the situation is even uglier. Now we see the Free Syrian Army (FSA) giving an ultimatum to Hezbollah, threatening to target its sites. Hezbollah, alongside the Iranian Quds Force, are seeking to quell the Syrian popular revolution and protect Bashar Al-Assad, or at least ensure that Hezbollah and Iran have a foothold in the post-Assad era. In order for Hezbollah to accomplish this objective, they are trying to form an affiliate party there. In a similar manner to Hezbollah, this party will later on base its legitimacy on the premise of targeting Israel from the Golan Heights, and thus any affront against it would be akin to defending Israel. Furthermore, this all is happening under Iranian auspices. In spite of the crimes of his group, and up until around 2004, Osama Bin Laden was known as “Sheikh”. Similarly, in the Shiite case, some continue to refer to Hassan Nasrallah as “Sayyid” (an honorific title in Shia Islam). As for Iran’s agents who adhere to Hezbollah, they are not only infiltrating the Arab media or Arab parliaments, but also Western research centers that continue to promote them in a naïve manner, similar to how Al-Jazeera promoted Al-Qaeda in the late 1990s.
What is most frustrating about the story of the Shia Al-Qaeda—Hezbollah—in our region is not the Western ignorance of it, but rather the silence of rational Shiites, even as Iran trades on their issues and causes. It is odd for some to argue, for example, that Israel is seeking to provoke sectarian strife in the region, when the question that should be raised is: Why is Iran allowed to exploit the region’s Shiites to accomplish Israel’s objectives? Aren’t there any rational Shiites willing to challenge this, particularly considering the unforgivable crimes Hezbollah and Iran are committing in Syria?
Therefore, it is important to heed the warnings about the spread of the Shia Al-Qaeda in our region, for it is no less dangerous than its Sunni counterpart.

Hizballah on high alert, jockeys for a role in potential Syrian peace accord
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report February 21, 2013/
Hizballah forces went on alert Thursday, Feb. 21, upon the expiry of a 48-hour ultimatum slapped down by Syrian rebels to halt the Lebanese group’s military support for Bashar Assad - in particular, its artillery and mortar backing for Syrian troops from bases in Lebanon.
debkafile’s military sources report that relevant to this chain of events is the Syrian claim that its anti-aircraft missiles downed an Israeli drone Wednesday over the Lebanese village of Deir al-Aachayer in the Rashaya region.
Those events were touched off by the onset in Moscow of preparations for a political process between Syria’s warring parties for determining the country’s future. Representatives of Bashar Assad and the Syrian opposition will be facing each other under the Russian aegis, but Hizballah and Israel are also involved and the Lebanese group is bidding for a strong voice in the process on three issues:
1. Will the HIzballah-ruled Lebanese Beqaa Valley continue to serve Assad and his army as their strategic hinterland?
2. Will the Syria-based Hizballah units, especially those securing the Shiite villages around Homs, stay there under accords reached between Assad and the rebels?
3. Will the ceasefire deals on which talks are due to begin soon in Moscow apply to HIzballah?
The general wisdom in the West and Israeli media is that Assad’s fall is inevitable and imminent.
The facts on the ground tell a different story. debkafile’s military sources report that Assad goes into political talks with his army controlling enough of the country to keep his regime in power for another two years at least, until the next presidential election expected to take place in 2014.The Syrian ruler will seek to have Hizballah covered by a Syria ceasefire, hoping for Moscow’s backing on this point. Inclusion of this ally would strengthen his standing and boost his army.It would also keep Tehran in the picture and gain its acquiescence to any deals struck in the Moscow talks. Assad understands that Iran will want to be sure Hizballah’s interests are protected and is fully capable of torpedoing any accords that throw its proxy to the wolves.The downing of the Israeli drone Wedneday over the Beqaa Valley was a move by the Syrian ruler to push Israel out of any discussion on the future role of Hizballah and the Beqaa Valley, as well as putting a stop to Israeli Air Force flights over the Beqaa and the Lebanese-Syrian border.Israel has not so far responded to this step, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it will remain passive or stop its Lebanese overflights.This chain of events could culminate over the weekend in the Syrian rebels making good on their ultimatum and attacking Hizballah targets. The Syrian civil war would then be thrust into the byway of a Sunni-Shiite showdown athwart the Syrian-Lebanese border. Militarily, the rebels can’t stand up to Hizballah’s far more organized and professional capabilities. If they do decide to go on the offensive, they are liable to suffer heavy losses.

Syria protesters vent fury at Assad, Hezbollah
February 22, 2013/Daily Star
BEIRUT: Thousands of Syrian protesters took to the streets on Friday with chants, banners and cartoons of President Bashar al-Assad to vent their anger at Lebanon's Shiite movement Hezbollah and the international community. In the Turkish border town of Ain al-Arab, demonstrators, including young girls and dancing teenagers, shouted for freedom as they held aloft Kurdish flags alongside the Syrian revolution banner in a video posted on YouTube.In the Idlib town of Kfar Nabal, which has seen deadly air raids in the past week, demonstrators carried banners in Arabic and English. "World! Your carelessness produced extremists like Assad. Now, we need extremists to get rid of your products," read an English banner held by men and boys standing in front of a bombed-out building. The message came a day after a spate of bombings across Damascus, including a suicide car bomb condemned by the regime and opposition, killed at least 83 people in the deadliest day for the capital since the March 2011 start of the Syrian conflict. The Arabic banner read: "The revolution is not sectarian and ... all are welcome under the roof of the nation."In the town of Irbin, just northeast of Damascus, that has been the target of continuous bombardment by regime warplanes, a young boy stopped for a photo during a march to show his message to Assad: "We are coming to get you." Meanwhile, the Facebook group "Lens of a Young Isqati" showed a demonstrator in the northwestern town of Isqat holding a cartoon of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah facing Israel and striking matches to light the fuse of a bomb. But the fuse is facing the opposite direction and the matches land in Lebanon and Syria, where Hezbollah fighters were reported to have attacked opposition-held towns and villages from across the border last week.Despite the ever-rising brutality of the conflict, which has left an estimated 70,000 people killed, demonstrations continue to be held every Friday nationwide.
At the Zaatari camp in northern Jordan for Syrian refugees, some 300 hundred demonstrators rallied to call for the international community to arm the rebel Free Syrian Army, an AFP journalist at the scene said.
"Oh world, we want arms ... The people demand the arming of the Free Army," they chanted.

Homs Military Council to NOW: We did not target Hezbollah in Lebanon
Now Lebanon/Syria’s Homs Military Council denied media reports claiming that rebels shelled Hezbollah headquarters on Lebanese territory.
“The strike was limited to the shelling a Hezbollah gathering in Syria’s Zeeta town with rocket launchers in response to an attempt made [by the Shiite group] to sneak into the Al-Qusayr town,” Military Council Chief and Qusayr Brigade Commander Lieutenant Mohyi ed-Dine el-Zein told NOW on Thursday. Zein held the Lebanese Armed Forces and the country’s government “accountable for allowing Hezbollah members to enter Syrian territory.”Earlier Thursday, Syrian rebel groups announced that they had started shelling Hezbollah positions in Lebanon and Syria, while security sources in Lebanon denied the claims. On Tuesday, the FSA issued a statement warning Lebanese in the northern Beqaa town of Hermel to avoid Hezbollah military sites and rocket launching positions. FSA chief of staff General Selim Idriss said on Wednesday that the rebel army is poised to launch a military campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon after a top commander on Wednesday formally confirmed a 48-hour ultimatum for the Shiite group to stop “firing” on rebel positions in the Homs province.
Meanwhile, Al-Arabiya television quoted the Syrian Revolution General Commission as saying that Hezbollah was sending reinforcements to Lebanese villages along the border with Syria and setting up operational centers. Also, Turkish Anadolu news agency reported that Hezbollah has announced that its ranks are now on full alert in eight overlapping Lebanese-Syrian border towns. On Sunday, three Lebanese Shiites were killed in clashes in Syria, a source close to Hezbollah said, as the opposition accused the militant group of fighting alongside its regime allies. Just hours earlier, the main bloc of the Syrian opposition accused the Damascus ally of having intervened "militarily" on the side of the regime, and warned this posed a threat to ties between neighbors Syria and Lebanon. Hezbollah has systematically denied sending fighters into Syria, though its leader Hassan Nasrallah acknowledged in October 2012 that party members had fought Syrian rebels but said they were acting as individuals and not under the group's direction. Lebanon is sharply divided over the Syrian conflict, with the Sunni-led March 14 movement supporting the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad and the Shiite Hezbollah and its allies backing the regime.

Iran installing new nuclear equipment, IAEA says
AFP/Iran has begun installing next-generation equipment at one of its main nuclear plants, a new UN atomic agency report said Thursday, five days before talks with world powers. "On 6 February 2013, the Agency observed that Iran had started the installation of IR-2m centrifuges" at the Natanz plant, the International Atomic Energy Agency report said. "This is the first time that centrifuges more advanced than the IR-1 have been installed" at the plant, it said. The quarterly report seen by AFP also said however that Iran has not started operating any new equipment at its Fordo plant. Fordo is of more concern to the international community than Natanz, since Fordo is used to enrich uranium to fissile purities of 20 percent and Natanz mostly to five percent. The ability to enrich to 20 percent is technically speaking considerably closer to 90 percent, the level needed for a nuclear weapon. Iran denies seeking atomic weapons but many in the international community suspect otherwise, and the UN Security Council has passed several resolutions calling on Iran to suspend all uranium enrichment.The report came ahead of a new meeting between Iran and six world powers -- the US, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany -- in Kazakhstan on February 26.

Lebanon spy suspect in Cyprus admits Hezbollah ties
AFP/A Lebanese man who appeared in a Cypriot court on Thursday to face charges of spying and planning attacks on Israeli targets has admitted he belongs to the powerful Hezbollah militant group, reports said.
Arrested in the port city of Limassol in July last year, 24-year-old Hossam Taleb Yaacoub faces eight charges, including conspiracy to commit a crime and participating in a criminal organization. Yaacoub denied planning any attack when his testimony was read out at the Limassol criminal court on Wednesday, the Cyprus Mail and CNA news agency reported. But he admitted to being in Hezbollah for the past four years, while insisting he worked solely for the Shiite group's political branch and that he did not support "fanatic Islam."The defendant, who has dual Lebanese and Swedish nationalities, said he received orders from a masked Hezbollah operative called Ayman and was told to stake out hotels on the holiday island frequented by Israelis, including in Limassol and Ayia Napa. Cyprus police have refused to comment publicly on the case, calling it a "sensitive political issue."Shortly after Yaacoub's arrest, five Israeli tourists and their Bulgarian driver were killed in a bus bombing at an airport in Bulgaria, the deadliest attack on Israelis abroad since 2004, which Israel blamed on Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah. At Wednesday's hearing, Yaacoub was unable to answer questions about a red notebook containing the registration numbers of tourist buses that he had with him at the time of his arrest. He said he had received weapons and acted as a courier for Hezbollah in Europe, delivering packages whose contents he said he was unaware of, to the French city of Lyon, to Amsterdam and to Antalya in southwest Turkey. "I never wanted to hurt anyone, I have no affiliation with terrorism and I am not a member of a terrorist or criminal organization," Yaacoub said in his testimony. The court on Thursday set a new hearing date of March 7, after prosecutors requested time to study his testimony, CNA said. Officials have said there is no evidence directly linking Yaacoub with the Bulgaria attack, despite remarks in July by Justice Minister Loucas Louca who said there were similarities between his behavior and that of the Burgas bomber. Cyprus is a popular and nearby tourist destination for Israelis, nearly 40,000 of whom visited last year.
The island saw attacks against Israeli interests in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but since then it has been viewed as a relative regional safe haven, and neutral ground for unofficial Middle East peace contacts.Ties between Israel and Cyprus have strengthened in recent years, with the two countries discussing the joint development of offshore gas discoveries.

Bulgarian official: Sofia did not ask EU to put Hezbollah on terror list
Now Lebanon/The Charge d'Affaires of the Bulgarian embassy in Lebanon Plamen Tzolov said that his country did not request that the European Union to add Hezbollah to its terror list. “The process of listing any party on the terror list requires precise and thorough evaluation by the EU, and the unanimous approval of the 27 EU member countries,” the Bulgarian official said during a meeting with Kataeb Party leader Amine Gemayel on Thursday.
Tzolov added that the EU’s Foreign Ministers “have been informed of the file made by Bulgarian authorities regarding the [investigation results of the] Burgas [July bomb attack] and the deliberations were held behind closed doors.”He also said that the “investigations are ongoing, and [results remain to be announced] to the public.”Earlier in February, the Bulgarian government said two people, one traveling on a Canadian passport and another on an Australian passports, were linked to Hezbollah and were behind the July 2012 bombing of a bus that killed five Israeli tourists and one Bulgarian.

Lebanon hydrocarbon survey turns inland
AFP/Lebanon on Thursday launched an onshore seismic survey of hydrocarbon reserves which Energy Minister Gebran Bassil said could turn the unexploited Mediterranean country into a regional oil hub. After offshore prospecting returned good results, the "next natural move" was inland, Bassil told reporters. He said Beirut had also developed several midstream projects with the "aim of turning Lebanon into an oil hub in the region and diversifying our hydrocarbon resources and reducing our energy dependency and oil bill." Beirut has already passed an offshore petroleum law and carried out seismic surveys in its territorial waters, but the onshore survey is new. British Foreign Secretary William Hague attended the launch of the survey, which was awarded to UK firm Spectrum. "This will be a very important period as the Lebanese people seek a national consensus about how oil and gas revenue is spent," Hague told reporters. "That revenue, if well managed, presents incredible opportunities for Lebanon in tackling national debt, in upgrading power, water, transport and communication infrastructure -- all the things that are vital for economic development." Lebanon suffers from systematic power cuts because of damage to infrastructure caused by the 1975-1990 civil war and corruption.
Asked if he would encourage other British firms to conduct exploration projects in Lebanon, knowing that its maritime border with Israel is disputed, Hague said "difficulties" would not halt "important discovery work." The disputed zone consists of about 850 square kilometers, and suspected energy reserves there could generate billions of dollars. "There are disputed maritime borders... so there are difficulties to be resolved, but clearly that is not stopping preparation for extraction. It is not stopping the important discovery work. "There are many aspects of this where British companies can be involved and I encourage them to be involved," added Hague, saying Britain would be eager to share its expertise on "extraction management." Lebanon has been slow to exploit maritime resources compared with other eastern Mediterranean countries. Israel, Cyprus and Turkey are all more advanced in drilling for oil and gas. A key obstacle to issuing licenses is political -- a committee tasked to develop an oil and gas policy has yet to be formed because of disputes over sectarian quotas.

Syria rebels claim attack on Hezbollah
AFP/ Syrian rebel groups on Thursday announced that they had started shelling Hezbollah positions in Lebanon and Syria, while security sources in Lebanon denied the claims. Free Syrian Army spokesperson Louay Almokdad said in a statement that the rebel army launched two separate attacks against the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. “An FSA brigade launched two consecutive attacks at 12:30 pm on Thursday, the first of which targeted a group of Hezbollah fighters in the Syrian southern Qusayr district, killing and wounding all of its members,” Almokdad said in his statement. “In the second attack, a group of FSA brigades targeted a Hezbollah arsenal outpost inside Lebanese territory in Hosh al-Sayyed Ali with rockets and achieved direct hits.”The statement also reiterated the call for the residents of the northern Lebanese border town of Hermel to “stay away from the military and security outposts manned by Hezbollah.”It warned that their attacks will escalate in the coming hours. However, Voice of Lebanon (100.5) radio cited Lebanese security sources as saying that no rebel projectiles from Syria had landed on Lebanese territory. Also, Sky News Arabia cited FSA sources as saying that rebels had not shelled any position in Lebanon or Syria. FSA chief of staff General Selim Idriss told AFP on Wednesday that his forces would begin firing on Hezbollah "sources of fire" against rebel positions in the Homs area of Syria if the Shiite group did not stop its alleged attacks against FSA troops in the Homs province.
The FSA statement originally issued Tuesday warned Lebanese in the northern Beqaa town of Hermel to avoid Hezbollah military sites and rocket launching positions. Also on Wednesday, an official in Homs called on Lebanese in the country’s predominantly Sunni city of Tripoli and the Beqaa town of Arsal to target Hezbollah. “We hope that [Tripoli and Arsal residents] will… cut [Hezbollah’s] supply lines to Syria, and that they will [seek to prevent] Hezbollah from shelling their positions,” Hadi al-Abdallah said in a video posted on YouTube. On Sunday, three Lebanese Shiites were killed in clashes in Syria, a source close to Hezbollah said, as the opposition accused the militant group of fighting alongside its regime allies. Just hours earlier, the main bloc of the Syrian opposition accused the Damascus ally of having intervened "militarily" on the side of the regime, and warned this posed a threat to ties between neighbors Syria and Lebanon.Hezbollah has systematically denied sending fighters into Syria, though its leader Hassan Nasrallah acknowledged in October 2012 that party members had fought Syrian rebels but said they were acting as individuals and not under the group's direction. Lebanon is sharply divided over the Syrian conflict, with the Sunni-led March 14 movement supporting the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad and the Shiite Hezbollah and its allies backing the regime.

Lebanon independent Christian MPs will prevent adoption of Orthodox law
Now Lebanon/Lebanese independent Christian MPs met at MP Boutros Harb’s house in the Mount Lebanon region of Hazmieh and announced that they will work on preventing the adoption of the Orthodox law in parliament. “We will stand against this proposal and work on preventing it from being adopted in parliament,” the National News Agency quoted the MPs as saying during their Thursday meeting. The independent Christian parliamentarians also said that they will work on “uniting the position of all independent [political] forces and coming up with an agreement with other forces on an new electoral law.” Deputy Speaker Farid Makari told reporters following the meeting: “May God forgive our Christian allies who agreed on the adoption of the Orthodox proposal.” Meanwhile, Harb said that “having different opinions does not mean that there are differences in fundamental principles [within the coalition], which are still the same.” “The Orthodox proposal destroys the Christian presence and coexistence in Lebanon,” Harb added. On Tuesday, Lebanon’s joint parliamentary commissions approved in their second day of meetings the Orthodox law which proposes citizens vote for candidates of their own sect. This draft was endorsed by Lebanon’s four major Christian parties, including the opposition Lebanese Forces and Kataeb Party. However, the Future Movement, Progressive Socialist Party, independent March 14 Christians and Lebanon’s president refused it on the grounds that it could lead to sectarian divisions in the country. Future bloc MPs walked out of the joint parliamentary commissions’ Tuesday session along with PSP lawmakers and independent Christian MPs, as voting on the approval of the second article of the Orthodox draft law was underway

Hariri launches fierce attack on Hezbollah
Now Lebanon/Lebanon’s opposition Future Movement leader MP Saad Hariri launched a vehement attack on the Shiite group Hezbollah for its alleged interference in the Syrian crisis. “Where is this policy of dissociation that prevents the use of the Lebanese territories for interference in Syria, or is Hezbollah exempted from abiding by it,” Hariri said in a statement on Thursday. “We weren’t speaking against the truth when we said that the resistance is no more the chief task of Hezbollah but that there are other roles for its weapons.”The opposition leader also lambasted the Lebanese government for not reacting to Hezbollah’s alleged attacks inside Syria.
He also criticized the claim that the Shiite group was defending the Shiite residents of Syria. “If the allegations that Hezbollah was defending Shiite [Syrians] were proven true, this means that the party has turned into an army that defends one section of the Lebanese community.” “What would the role of the Lebanese Armed Forces be in this case?” the MP inquired. Hariri also rejected what he called “Iran’s tireless attempts to save the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and tasking Hezbollah with taking charge of the front in Homs.” Fears emerged recently that the Free Syrian Army was poised to launch a campaign against Hezbollah after the rebels on Wednesday formally confirmed a 48-hour ultimatum for Hezbollah to end its reported attacks on rebels. The ultimatum followed a report alleging that three Lebanese Shiites were killed in clashes in Syria, as the opposition accused the militant group of fighting alongside its regime allies. Meanwhile, Lebanon is sharply divided over the Syrian conflict, with the Sunni-led March 14 movement supporting the revolt against Assad and the Shiite Hezbollah and its allies backing the regime.

UN-backed court puts Hariri trial on hold
Now Lebanon/ The trial of four members of the powerful Hezbollah movement for the 2005 bombing that killed former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri has been postponed, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon announced on Thursday. "A new tentative date will soon be set by Judge Daniel Fransen to replace 25 March 2013 as a provisional date for the start of trial," the STL said in a statement from its headquarters just outside The Hague.
Judge Fransen agreed with defense lawyers who had asked for a postponement of the long-awaited trial in absentia of the four suspects, saying prosecutors had not yet given the defense all the relevant information to prepare their cases. The lawyers representing Mustafa Badreddine, 51, Salim Ayyash, 49, Hussein Anaissi, 39, and Assad Sabra, 36, have also not been able to access prosecution material "due to technical issues," the judge said.
The four men are to go on trial for the massive car bomb attack on the Beirut seafront on February 14, 2005 that killed Hariri and 22 others, including a suicide bomber. The STL issued warrants against the four men in June 2011 and Interpol issued a "red notice" for the suspects, but so far none has been arrested. Hezbollah has denied any responsibility for the attack, and its leader Hassan Nasrallah has dismissed the tribunal as a US-Israeli conspiracy, vowing that none of the suspects will be arrested. Hezbollah is a close ally of Syria and the most powerful military force in Lebanon. Set up by a UN resolution in 2007 at Lebanon's request to probe Hariri's death, the STL is the first court of its kind to deal with terrorism as a distinct crime. It is also the only current international tribunal that can try suspects in absentia. But regional turbulence, including the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria and the threat of that violence spilling over into Lebanon, have led many to question the court's relevancy today.

Future bloc MP Nohad al-Mashnuq says relations with allies will not be the same
Lebanon Now/Lebanon’s Future bloc MP Nohad al-Mashnuq said on Thursday that his party’s relationship with their March 14 allies will not be the same as it used to be, given the fact that they they backed the Orthodox proposal. “Those [of our allies] who made the decision to vote on the Orthodox proposal are not looking to compromise. The relationship with our allies will not be the same as it used to be,” Mashnuq told LBC television.
Meanwhile, Future Movement leader MP Saad Hariri contacted Thursday evening MP Boutros Harb and discussed with him the political situation, especially the repercussions of the adoption of the Orthodox Gathering electoral law. Lebanon’s political circles are currently debating prospective electoral law proposals that may be adopted for the upcoming parliamentary elections. Disagreement over the issue has caused tension to emerge within the March 14 alliance, after its main political party, the Future Movement, voiced its opposition to electoral laws based on proportional voting. This point was made while Lebanon’s four major Christian parties—Future Movement’s allies the Lebanese Forces and Kataeb—have expressed support for the Orthodox Gathering law, which calls for proportional voting along sectarian lines.

Hezbollah condemns Damascus “terrorist” bombing
Now Lebanon/The Lebanese Shiite Party Hezbollah has condemned the “terrorist” car bomb that rocked the Syrian capital of Damascus, the National News Agency reported. “The policy of murder and destruction which governs the behavior of those terrorist groups that have infiltrated in our cities is a policy [that opposes] our religion and ethics,” Hezbollah said in a statement issued on Thursday.
The Shiite party has since called on “the Syrian people to reject these [murderous] groups which work to destroy them and [derail] any chance for a peaceful solution to the country’s crisis.”Earlier Thursday, a powerful car bomb exploded near the offices of Syria's ruling Baath party in central Damascus, killing at least 53 people, wounding dozens and shattering buildings, Syrian state media said.
Lebanon is politically divided over the war in Syria, with the Hezbollah-led March 8 coalition backing the regime of President Bashar al-Assad while the pro-Western March 14 supports the regime’s opposition.
Syria is witnessing a violent uprising against Assad's regime, which has so far killed more than 70,000 people since its outbreak in March 2011, according to figures released by the United Nations.

Lebanon Christian politicians meet in Bkirki
Now Lebanon/Lebanese political figures representing all of the country’s Christian parties heeded the call of Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Boutros al-Rai to meet on Thursday in Bkirki. “The [politicians] evaluated the current situation regarding the new electoral law and voiced their willingness to consider any constitutional proposal which provides proper and fair representation,” a Bkirki statement said following the meeting.
The statement made public that “Kataeb Party leader Amine Gemayel, Change and Reform bloc leader MP Michel Aoun, Marada Movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh, Lebanese Forces bloc MP Georges Adwan [representing LF leader Samir Geagea], March 14 MP Boutros Harb, Kataeb MP Sami Gemayel, Change and Reform bloc MP Alain Aoun, and former Ministers Ziad Baroud and Youssef Saadeh attended the meeting.”
In recent months, Lebanon has been gripped by a crisis centered around the seeking of a new electoral law that will lay the groundwork for this year’s upcoming parliamentary elections.
On Tuesday, the parliament’s joint commissions approved the controversial Orthodox law, which calls for proportional voting along sectarian lines. The Orthodox proposal was backed by the majority of Christian parties and opposed by the Future Movement, the Progressive Socialist Party, the National Liberal Party, and numerous independent Christian MPs.

Israel: Iran closer than ever to nuclear bomb
Now Lebanon/Iran is "closer than ever" to the ability to build a nuclear bomb, Israel said on Thursday, as a new UN report said Tehran has begun installing next-generation equipment at one of its main nuclear plants.The International Atomic Energy Agency's report said Iran started installing new and advanced centrifuges at Natanz, which would enable it to speed up the enrichment of uranium. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the report was "severe," and "proves Iran is continuing to rapidly advance to the red line that the prime minister drew at his speech in the United Nations."
"Iran is closer than ever today to obtaining enriched material for a nuclear bomb," the statement read. In a September address to the UN General Assembly, Netanyahu called for a "clear red line" to stop Iran getting a nuclear bomb.He used a red marker pen to draw a line through a cartoon diagram of a bomb to illustrate what the international community's limit for Iran's uranium enrichment program should be.
He said Iran had 70 percent of the necessary level of uranium enrichment for a bomb and warned that at the current pace, the Islamic republic could have nearly all the material needed to create a first bomb by summer.
Thursday's statement noted that "preventing nuclear arms from Iran will be the first topic Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will discuss with US President Barack Obama," expected in Israel in March.
Israel, along with the United States and much of the West, believes Iran is seeking a nuclear weapon, something Tehran strongly denies. Israel, the Middle East's sole, albeit undeclared, nuclear power, believes Iran must be prevented from reaching military nuclear capabilities at any cost and refuses to rule out military intervention to that end.

Lebanon’s main problem “uncontrolled” weapons, Kataeb MP says
Now Lebanon/Lebanon’s Kataeb bloc MP Sami Gemayel said that the issue of “uncontrolled” weapons is the country’s main problem.
“The country cannot be built without stability, and there cannot be stability as long as there are illegal weapons [in reference to Hezbollah’s military arsenal],” Gemayel said during an event in Paris on Wednesday evening.
The opposition MP added that Lebanon’s second problem is “the failed political system which has put the Lebanese against one another.”
“It is about time we admitted to each other that we must change the way we run the country because it has been proven [unsuccessful],” Gemayel also said.
Lebanon’s March 14 coalition -to which the Kataeb party belongs- has repeatedly cited Hezbollah’s military arsenal as being a major threat to Lebanon’s national security and cohesion. Meanwhile, elements of the March 8 coalition -spearheaded by Hezbolalh- have insisted that the Shiite group's weaponry ensures the stability and security of the nation

PSP leader slams Aoun over Bahrain stance
Now Lebanon/Lebanon’s Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt slammed Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun over the latter’s recent remarks regarding the Bahraini anti-regime protests. “Ceasing to share political opinions, analyses and taking of heroic positions does not [change anything], it just protects Lebanese expatriates…who make money transfers to their families [in Lebanon],” Jumblatt said in a statement issued on Thursday. The PSP leader continued: “So, for their sake, [those politicians] who [share] their [lofty] ideas with [others] should respect the sacrifices that have been made by Lebanese people living in foreign countries and help them to preserve [their revenue sources] instead of making fiery statements which will be difficult to amend.”Last week, the FPM leader criticized the international community for failing to support the demands being made by the anti-regime movement in Bahrain.His remarks spurred criticism and condemnation from a number of political figures, primarily those officials affiliated with the pro-Saudi Arabia Future Movement and Prime Minister Najib Miqati, who underscored Lebanon’s respect for “Bahrain’s sovereignty and the decisions of its leaders.” He also reiterated that Lebanon “does not interfere in its internal affairs.” On Monday, GCC Secretary General Abdul Latif al-Zayani had presented Lebanese Chargé d'Affaires in Riyadh with a démarche protesting Aoun’s Bahrain remarks. Demonstrations have shaken Bahrain since it crushed a Shiite-led uprising against the ruling Sunni regime in March last year.

Kataeb MP Sami Gemayel slams Cabinet over inaction on Syria
The Daily Star /BEIRUT: Kataeb MP Sami Gemayel criticized the Lebanese government Friday over its inaction on ties with Syria in light of the judiciary’s decision to recommend the death penalty for a Syrian security official on terror charges.“Until this day, the Syrian Ambassador is still in Lebanon. How have the diplomatic relations with Syria not been severed yet particularly as the person who the ruling was issued against is still in an official post in Syria and he has not even been summoned or fired,” Gemayel’s office quoted him as saying.
His remarks came after a meeting with Future Movement MP Nabil De Freij along with several religious figures.
Military Investigative Judge Riyad Abu Ghayda recommended Wednesday the death penalty for former Information Minister Michel Samaha, Maj. Gen. Ali Mamlouk, the head of the Syrian National Security Bureau, and his aide, Col. Adnan, whose family name remains unknown. According to the indictment, the Syrian officers handed Samaha explosives. It also charged Samaha with transporting the bombs in his car from Syria to Lebanon.
Gemayel appealed to the president, the prime minister and the foreign affairs minister to offer clarification for why the government has not taken any diplomatic measures against Syria.
“[They should] explain how the Lebanese-Syrian ties are still the same while the Lebanese judiciary recommends the death penalty for head of the Syrian National Intelligence Bureau who was officially appointed by the Syrian president,” the lawmaker said. Gemayel, an outspoken critic of President Bashar Assad’s government, also demanded an answer from “all officials in Lebanon” with regards to the issue.
“We cannot deal with this issue as if nothing has happened,” he said.

Kerry to Visit Riyadh in March
By Zaid Bin Kami
Riyadh, Asharq Al-Awsat—The US State Department yesterday announced that Secretary of State John Kerry will pay a visit to Saudi Arabia in the first week of March, as part of his first international tour since assuming office earlier this month. Kerry will meet with the Saudi leadership to discuss bilateral cooperation on several important issues, and he will also participate in a ministerial meeting with his counterparts from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states.
The US State Department issued a statement on behalf of spokeswoman Victoria Nuland, revealing that Secretary of State John Kerry will begin his foreign tour on 24 February, which will continue until 6 March. The trip includes visits to Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE.
A senior official at the US Embassy in Riyadh informed Asharq Al-Awsat that Kerry’s second stop-off in the Middle East after Egypt will be Saudi Arabia, adding that this is testament to the strength of the relationship between Riyadh and Washington. The official remarked that Kerry’s planned visit puts paid to reports alleging that the US is distancing itself from the Middle East after withdrawing from Iraq and Afghanistan, and that Washington has begun to focus more attention on Asia. The source stressed that Washington appreciates the importance of its strategic relations with Riyadh and the Middle East region as a whole.
The official added that John Kerry’s visit to Saudi Arabia will last two days, beginning on 3 March, during which he will meet with officials from the Saudi government in addition to three unnamed Gulf foreign ministers. He pointed out that the meetings will focus on bilateral relations between Washington and the Gulf states, in addition to discussing issues of common concern such as the Syrian crisis, the situation in Afghanistan, and the Middle East peace process.
The US official stated that this visit comes at a sensitive and important time in light of the major events the region is experiencing, and highlights the US State Department’s awareness of the importance of the Middle East and the role it plays there.
The volume of commercial trade between Saudi Arabia and the US exceeded USD 60 billion during the past year. Saudi Arabia is America’s 12th largest commodity trading partner, while Saudi Arabia is the 25th largest export market for US goods. The value of US goods exports to Saudi Arabia amounted to USD 13 billion in 2011, at the forefront of which were exports in automobiles, machinery, medical equipment, and aircraft.
According to an official statement, obtained by Asharq Al-Awsat from the US Embassy in Riyadh, Kerry will first travel to London to meet with senior British officials. He will then visit Berlin, which will be “an opportunity to reconnect with the city in which he lived as a child”. The secretary of state will make a further stopover in France, to discuss ongoing American cooperation in the international effort to support Mali, and then Rome, where he will participate in multilateral meetings on Syria, with the leadership of the Syrian National Coalition.
In Ankara, Kerry will discuss strategic priorities and seek to expand Turkish-American bilateral cooperation, including with regards to counter terrorism. The US secretary of state will then travel to Cairo where he will meet with senior Egyptian officials and Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby. Following his scheduled visit to Riyadh, Kerry will travel to the UAE and finally conclude his trip in Doha, Qatar

Could Behind the Scenes Diplomacy Help in Syria?
By Amir Taheri
London, Asharq Al-Awsat - Is Syrian President Bashar al-Assad seeking a negotiated way to end his country’s bloody civil war?
This is the hope, some might say illusion, that the United Nations’ emissary Lakhdar Brahimi is trying to keep alive through diplomatic maneuvers.
Three factors have helped create this hope.
The first is John Kerry’s appointment as President Barack Obama’s Secretary of State. Unlike his predecessor Hillary Clinton, Kerry has a close understanding of the Syrian leader’s mindset. As a Democrat Senator, Kerry travelled to Damascus for meetings lasting several hours with Assad. Over the years, Kerry’s Portuguese-born wife Maria Teresa Thierstein brought the two families closer by forging a friendship with Assad’s wife Asma Akhras. Also interesting is the fact that Kerry’s daughter Vanessa is married to an Iranian doctor, expanding the Kerry family’s understanding of the region.
As a presidential candidate in 2004, Kerry attacked President George W Bush as a “trigger happy” leader addicted to “cowboy diplomacy”, and called for an overhaul of foreign policy. Last week, Kerry dropped tantalizing hints about “fresh ideas” to end the conflict in Syria.
The second factor that may give credence to hopes of a deal is the growing realization in Assad’s circles that the only way to enable the Baathists to retain a share of power is to persuade the president to move to the sidelines.
The third factor is the evolution of the Russian position. Moscow realizes that betting on Assad has led to Russia’s isolation in the Middle East. Thus, if Assad could be ditched without this appearing as a defeat for Russia, Moscow might be ready to cooperate.
According to our sources, the outline of a deal has been put to Assad with the help of two Lebanese politicians close to him. Under the proposed deal, Assad would agree to a transition during which he would “stand aside”. The choice of words is important because Assad insists he would not “stand down” before the end of his presidential term in May 2014.
A draft of the proposed deal states that Assad would nominate one of his vice presidents as head of a “government of transition”, in which opposition parties would nominate one third of the ministers. Another third would be chosen by the ruling coalition led by the Arab Socialist Baath Party, while the remaining third would consist of “respected personalities”, accepted by both sides.
The transitional government would propose constitutional amendments to be submitted to a referendum. It would then organize parliamentary and presidential elections within a year. Assad hopes to remain president until the end of his current mandate next year, and during that period he would delegate his executive powers to the prime minister, retaining his symbolic functions as head of state.
In exchange for “stepping aside” Assad wants immunity from prosecution on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Any prosecution through the International Criminal Court would have to be ratified by the Security Council. A US veto could stop any such attempt, and thus Assad hopes that Kerry can obtain him the desired immunity.
Assad also wants “guarantees” that once a transition government is formed, the “Friends of Syria” group of over 100 nations will stop supporting armed opposition groups. In return the bloc, led by the US, would help establish a ceasefire enabling the Syrian army to “secure the nation’s borders” and restore law and order.
What Assad refuses to contemplate is a pledge not to run as a candidate in future presidential elections. Although most members of his family have left Syria for safety in exile, Assad himself rejects suggestions that he, too, should leave Syria.
The proposed deal has received a cautious welcome from parts of the Syrian opposition. However, the overwhelming majority, especially among armed opposition groups, does not trust Assad and sees the proposed deal as a trick to buy him time.
Most members of the “Friends of Syria” bloc also doubt Assad’s reliability. Several Arab states, notably Egypt, insist that Assad’s unambiguous departure from power should be the first step, not the last, in any transition.
Another problem is that Assad may no longer have the last word in Damascus, where Iran has created a network of its own within the ruling elite. Iranian “Supreme Guide” Ali Khamenei has repeatedly stated that he would not allow Assad to fall.
Analysts say, although a glimmer of hope remains, that Kerry and Brahimi may soon find that the light at the end of the tunnel was more of an illusion.

Ahmadinejad—Azhar Row Escalates
Iranian presidential aide claims press conference was 'orchestrated'
21/02/2013
By Waleed Abdul Rahman.
Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat—Statements by Ahmed Mousavi, Iranian presidential adviser and Director of the Haj and Pilgrimage Organization (HMO), on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s recent visit to Cairo provoked serious controversy in Egypt earlier this week. Mousavi was talking about the contentious meeting that took place between Iranian President Ahmadinejad and Al-Azhar Grand Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayeb against the backdrop of the 12th Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Conference in Cairo.
Mousavi’s statements were published on Iran’s Fars News Agency’s Arabic language website on Wednesday under the headline “Unpublished details on the president’s discussions with Al-Azhar professors.” It contained a different account of the contentious meeting to the one reported in the Egyptian press between the Iranian president and Al-Azhar Grand Sheikh, and the equally difficult press conference that followed this closed-door meeting.
Fars News Agency quoted Mousavi as saying, “Following the end of the Iranian delegation’s meeting with the Al-Azhar Grand Sheikh, the Iranian president had not been scheduled to hold a press conference.”
The Iranian presidential adviser, who accompanied Ahmadinejad on the Cairo trip, revealed, “When we left the meeting we were confronted by a crowd of journalists. I was standing next to the president during the press conference in case he needed any translation . . . During the press conference I felt that everything was orchestrated and there were those who wanted to reveal what was discussed during the Al-Azhar meeting in order to embarrass the president.”
Al-Azhar issued an official statement yesterday responding to Mousavi’s allegations. The statement read, “Al-Azhar has a single viewpoint and discourse and transparency is our guide. The allegation that this press conference was a surprise is not correct, and the Iranian chief protocol office or ambassador could have acted to clarify the nature of this press conference to the journalists. This is the business of the Iranian delegation, and Al-Azhar, which is well aware of the rights of guests and Islamic manners, has nothing to do with this.”
Iranian complaints regarding the press conference seem to focus on the person of Al-Azhar spokesman Sheikh Hassan El-Shafei, who represented Grand Sheikh Al-Tayeb. However, the Al-Azhar statement stressed that “The meeting took place with absolute sincerity and transparency and the press conference took place in the same spirit and President Ahmadinejad shook Dr. Hassan El-Shafei’s hand.”
However Mousavi opined that this press conference was an attempt to raise the issue of Sunni—Shiite problems and the Syrian crisis, adding “this led us to threaten to walk out of the press conference if contentious issues were raised in public.”
The Al-Azhar statement revealed, “The Iranian president expressed a desire to visit Al-Azhar and meet with Grand Sheikh Dr. Ahmed Al-Tayeb and a group of senior scholars. Following the meeting the visiting president and his entourage, including the chief protocol officer, were told that the Grand Sheikh does not take part in press conferences and that his senior adviser, Hassan El-Shafei, would be representing him. Both the chief protocol officer and the president accepted this and they—the Iranian delegation and El-Shafei—went to the press conference together.”
Asharq Al-Awsat attempted to contact members of Al-Azhar’s Senior Scholars committee, but they refused to comment on Mousavi’s allegations.
A source within Al-Azhar, speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat on the condition of anonymity, revealed the real reason behind the Iranian delegation’s anger. The source said, “The Iranian President resented Dr. Hassan El-Shafei’s criticism of Iran’s desire to spread Shiism in Egypt.”
He added, “Ahmadinejad and El-Shafei entered a private conversation and the Al-Azhar Grand Sheikh’s adviser spoke candidly, saying: We feel sadness about what we always hear regarding insults towards the Companions of the Prophet and the mothers of the believers and this is something that we completely reject.’”
The source revealed that El-Shafei criticized Tehran’s desire to promote Shiism in Egypt, characterizing Egypt as a historical “bastion of Sunni Islam.”
The Al-Azhar source also informed Asharq Al-Awsat, “El-Shafei continued his strong words until Ahmadinejad interrupted him in Arabic, saying: We agreed on unity and fraternity.”
He said, “The real reason for the Iranian president’s anger is his objection to the statement issued by Al-Azhar which was published in local and international media outlets . . . this is the same statement that was read out by El-Shafei and which included the points of contention raised by the Grand Sheikh during his meeting with Ahmadinejad.”
The Al-Azhar source added, “This should have been a closed-door meeting with nobody knowing what was discussed. Some have described these points of contention as the ‘four no’s', namely non-interference in Gulf affairs, including respecting Bahrain as a sisterly Arab state, rejecting Shiite expansionism in Sunni states, putting an end to the bloodshed in Syria and ensuring that it becomes safe and secure, and granting the Sunnis in Iran their complete rights.”
The source also revealed that Ahmadinejad was angered by the number of satellite television channels present immediately after his meeting with the Al-Azhar Grand Sheikh, adding that the Iranian delegation was not expecting to hold such a large press conference. The Al-Azhar source claimed that Ahmadinejad thought that his meeting with Al-Tayeb would be followed by a small-scale press conference where the talk would focus on Egyptian – Iranian relations.
Following this contentious meeting and press conference at Al-Azhar, Ahmadinejad visited Cairo’s Al-Hussein mosque where he was confronted by a number of Egyptian and Syrian protesters, of of whom attempting to hit him with a shoe.
However Mousavi told Fars News, “I and other members of the delegation did not see anybody trying to throw a shoe (at Ahmadinejad), but we enjoyed a standing ovation from the Egyptians during our visit of some districts such as the Ras Al Hussein district.”
He added, “The only protester we saw was one reporter at a gathering at the Iranian embassy where Ahmadinejad was present, however this is normal.”
The Iranian presidential adviser stressed, “In any case, the Iranian delegation’s visit to Egypt was very useful and constructive.” He emphasized, “In my point of view, the message of the Islamic Republic of Iran reached the ears of the Egyptian people during our visit.”

The Mullahs and the Ceausescu Syndrome
By Amir Taheri/Asharq Alawsat
Ever since human societies developed systems of government the exercise of power has depended on two factors: persuasion and coercion. Persuasion is needed to encourage subjects or, in more modern societies, citizens, to do the things that government wants them to do. When persuasion fails, coercion may be needed to obtain the desired results. Governments also resort to coercion to deal with threats to law and order.
As a rule, governments in the more developed and stable societies depend on persuasion, seldom using their theoretical monopoly or the use of violence as a political instrument. The politics of persuasion, however, requires a great deal of hard work. One has to constantly listen to any Tom, Dick and Harry. A great deal of time is spent on election campaigns with the inevitable rounds of hugging grandmas and kissing babies.
Politics of persuasion helps create an atmosphere of freedom and that, in turn, nurtures security. When coercion is the chief instrument of government there is little freedom and even less security.
This is what is happening in the Islamic Republic created by the late Ayatollah Khomeini. The wave of arrests launched against journalists, academics, and human rights activists is fomenting an unprecedented sense of insecurity.
“Today, no one feels secure,” says Abdullah Nuri, a mullah and a former Minister of the Interior who also served as Khomeini’s Special representative in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Nuri, was speaking about the raids carried out at night on the homes of two of the daughters of former Prime Minister Mir Hussein Mousavi. The two ladies were held for several days while their homes were ransacked by security men looking for “anti-state material.” Needless to say, Mousavi has been under house arrest for the past two years along with his wife Zahra.
Nuri knows what he is talking about. He spent five years in prison on charges of “undermining national security” because he criticized certain aspects of government policy in the 1990s.
Using insecurity as a weapon of intimidation, the regime has tried to silence other actual or potential critics. Former President Hashemi Rafsanjani has been forced to make a deal under which he would say nice things about “Supreme Guide” Ali Khamenei. In exchange, Rafsanjani’s son, Mehdi, was released from prison on bail pending his trial on charges of anti-state activities. Rafsanjani’s daughter Fa’ezeh remains in prison on similar charges.
Another former president, Muhammad Khatami, also a mullah, has been silenced by having his passport withdrawn, becoming a virtual hostage in Iran.
Insecurity could affect anyone. Khamenei has had to cancel two provincial visits after warnings that he might face angry crowds. For his part President Ahmadinejad has also dropped a long-advertised visit to the southern provinces because of similar concerns.
The fear is not theoretical. Last month a number of regime grandees had to stop making speeches when they faced angry crowds. In Qom, Ali Larijani, Speaker of the Islamic Majlis, the ersatz parliament, was whisked to safety by his bodyguards as protestors tried to drown out his speech. Larijani’s predecessor as Majlis Speaker, Ali-Akbar Nateq Nuri, yet another mullah, cancelled a speech in Mash’had after his bodyguards told him he might be molested by protestors. A third mullah, Hassan Khomeini, a grandson of the regime’s founder, had a similar experience, fleeing from an angry crowd.
All those incidents happened during the traditional 10-day celebration of Khomeini’s seizure of power in 1979.
But who were the protestors who tried to disturb the revolutionary festivities?
Because the protests affected members of all rival factions within the Khomeinist elite, one may conclude that the target was the regime as a whole. There is no doubt that economic meltdown, the spectacle of Khomeinist infighting and fears about the future have generated a great deal of anger across the nation.
However, it is also possible that the intimidation tactics that forced regime grandees to run for cover may have been the work of rival factions. Larijani’s friends claim that his humiliation in Qom, of which he is the Majlis member, was the work of Ahmadinejad’s faction. Ahmadinejad blames his decision to cancel provincial trips on Larijani’s scheme to take revenge against him by sending a rent-a-mob to disturb presidential rallies.
Regardless of which faction they belong to, leading members of the Khomeinist elite have developed what one might call the Ceausescu syndrome.
Nicolae Ceausescu was Romania’s seemingly eternal Communist ruler until 1989 when he was booed out of office and out of history by an angry crowd in Bucharest. In one of those ironies of history, Ceausescu met his end just 48 hours after returning from a visit to Tehran where he had concluded a “strategic partnership” with the Khomeinist regime. We now know that the angry crowd that revealed the nakedness of the emperor had been organized by Ceausescu’s rivals within the Communist hierarchy. Those rivals had hoped to drive the old dictator out while preserving the regime for themselves.
More recently, we have witnessed a new version of the syndrome in Libya, Tunisia, and Egypt where the old weapon of insecurity, used for years against critics and opponents, turned against the despots in place.
In the final analysis, in a system based on insecurity no one is secure. The same crowd that hailed the despot on his triumphal march could boo him out with a vengeance.
Ahmadinejad—Azhar Row Escalates
Could Behind the Scenes Diplomacy Help in Syria?
Kerry to Visit Riyadh in March
Middle East Eagerly Awaits X Factor Arabia
GCC Environment Chief Talks to Asharq Al-Awsat
Opinion
The Mullahs and the Ceausescu Syndrome : Amir Taheri
Ever since human societies developed systems of government the exercise of power ... more
The Shia Al-Qaeda : Tariq Alhomayed
If an observer were to take a look at our region, he would find that we are face ... more
Iran: A "Conservative" State : Hussein Shobokshi
In some dictionaries, the word "conservative," when applied to a country, has referred ... more
The Saudi Shura Council is Not a Parliament : Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed
Of course I would like half of Saudi Arabia’s Shura Council to be elected; but ... more

The Hezbollah Connection in Syria and Iran
Matthew Levitt
CFR.org/
February 15, 2013
Dr. Levitt and CFR.org consulting editor Bernard Gwertzman discuss Hezbollah's preparations for Assad's fall, its ever-closer ties with Iran, and its expanding terrorist and militant activities inside and outside Lebanon.
In recent days, U.S. and Mideast officials have reported that Iran and Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite group, are making military preparations for the sectarian chaos likely to engulf a post-Assad Syria. Counterterrorism expert Matthew Levitt says that Hezbollah has closely aligned itself with Iran's Quds Force, an elite paramilitary group linked directly to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, while fighting alongside the Assad regime. In recent years, the partnership between Hezbollah and Iran has tightened to the point that the group's allegiance to Khamenei is paramount, he says. "What we see now is that Hezbollah is going to do things today that are in Iran's interest even if they expressly run counter to the interests of Lebanon and Hezbollah's own interest there."
GWERTZMAN: Israeli warplanes recently bombed a truck convoy in Syria, reportedly carrying antiaircraft missiles to Hezbollah in Lebanon. Why would Syria be shipping weapons to Lebanon instead of the other way around?
LEVITT: Hezbollah has long stockpiled weapons in Syria, and the Assad government has long provided some of these weapons to Hezbollah. In addition, Iran has often supplied weapons to Hezbollah through Syria. As events in Syria turn worse for the Bashar al-Assad regime, Hezbollah is going to -- as we've already seen -- try to move as much of its weapons to safer ground as possible. Some of its stockpiles [are] in Lebanon where it has dug caves into mountains.
Both sides of this conflict, the more radical Sunni extremists embedded with the rebels and the Shiite extremists aligned with Hezbollah and Iran, are setting up militias who will be loyal to them after the fall of the Assad regime. What we're seeing is the stockpiling of weapons for that second phase of conflict.
GWERTZMAN: So you think Hezbollah now has come to the conclusion that Assad is not long for the world?
LEVITT: They came to that conclusion a little while ago. They want to set things up so they are positioned to continue to have influence in Syria even after Assad is gone and a Sunni majority remains.
GWERTZMAN: How has Hezbollah been helping out Syria in this civil war?
LEVITT: There's a tremendous amount of evidence that Hezbollah has been aiding the regime, especially with training. There are also reports of snipers trying to hold key pieces of territory, especially along the border with Lebanon.
Hezbollah was designated as a terrorist group by the U.S. government in 1997; it's on the State Department's list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations and on the Treasury Department's list of global terrorist entities. It was re-listed by Treasury just a couple of months ago for its support of the Assad regime and for undermining security and stability in Syria. When the State Department released that designation, it included -- as State and Treasury always do in these press statements -- a little bit of declassified intelligence. One of the snippets that almost nobody's picked up on was that the individual responsible for overseeing Hezbollah's activities in Syria is Hassan Nasrallah himself, the group's long-time leader.
GWERTZMAN: Is Hezbollah still a jihadist group?
LEVITT: It still is, but Hezbollah is multiple things: Hezbollah is one of the dominant political parties in Lebanon, as well as a social and religious movement, catering first and foremost to Lebanon's Shiite community. The group is also Lebanon's largest militia. After the 1989 Taif Accords, which ended Lebanon's civil war, the group was rebranded as a kind of an Islamic resistance.
People tend to misunderstand the relationship between Hezbollah and Iran, which has changed over time but is now extremely close. The U.S. intelligence community has publicly described this as a "strategic partnership." But people don't fully appreciate Hezbollah's ideological commitment to the concept of "velayat-e faqih," or guardianship of the jurists, which holds that a Shiite Islamic cleric should also serve as supreme head of government. For Hezbollah, this means the Iranian leadership is also their leader -- not for every foot soldier, but for Hezbollah's senior leaders absolutely.
So what we see now is that Hezbollah is going to do things today that are in Iran's interest even if they expressly run counter to the interests of Lebanon and Hezbollah's own interest there. At the end of the day, the group's commitment to Iran trumps its identity as a Lebanese political movement. Part of that has to do with the assassination of Imad Mughniyeh in 2008, who led Hezbollah's military wing.
GWERTZMAN: What was the fallout there?
LEVITT: Mughniyeh led Hezbollah and is believed to have had close ties with the Iranian Quds force. Because of that, Iran had tremendous faith in him. If he was told to do something by Iran, he could hold them off a little bit. But his successors, his cousin Mustafa Badre al-Dine in particular, are nowhere near Mughniyeh in stature, so Iran doesn't have the same trust in him. Therefore, the strategic partnership has become even closer.
If you look at Hezbollah's attacks against Israeli tourists worldwide, there's no way they can be described as in Lebanon's interests in any way. Look back at Hezbollah's support of Shiite militants in Iraq during the Iraq war; look now today to Hezbollah helping to ferry Iranian weapons to Houthi rebels in Yemen; look just recently to Hezbollah's flying a drone near the Israeli nuclear reactor in Dimona. None of this is in Lebanon's interest.
GWERTZMAN: And this bombing in Bulgaria?
LEVITT: The Bulgarians recently concluded that Hezbollah operatives carried out the July 2012 bus bombing in Burgas. A week before the Burgas bombing, an individual Hezbollah operative with dual Lebanese-Swedish citizenship was arrested in Cyprus for carrying out surveillance on Israeli flights and tourists. Six months earlier, [there was] another Hezbollah plot targeting an Israeli tour bus on its way to Bulgaria for a skiing trip -- an attack that was thwarted.
So the Bulgarian investigation is only the first shoe to drop in Europe. There's a tremendous amount of activity going on and none of it can be described as being in Lebanon's interests, or in the interest of Hezbollah's political aspirations in Lebanon.
GWERTZMAN: What's going on in Lebanon? Is Beirut a thriving city now? How evident is Hezbollah's presence?
LEVITT: Beirut isn't a thriving city; it's a divided city. The signs of Hezbollah are all over the place, especially where the group is dominant, like south of the airport. There's a lot of tension because Hezbollah has recently been accused of doing things that are not in Lebanon's interest. Just last week, a Hezbollah member was arrested for the July 2012 attempted assassination of Bourus Harb, a member of parliament; and the group has also been implicated in the killing of Wissam al-Hassan a few months later. Moreover, Hezbollah operatives, including Mustafa Badre al-Dine, stand accused by the UN Special Tribunal for Lebanon at The Hague of assassinating former prime minister Rafik Hariri, who was the de facto leader of the Sunni community.
GWERTZMAN: Does the United States have any role to play in combating Hezbollah?
LEVITT: Without question the U.S. has a role to play, especially when it has partners that are willing to work with it. That means pressing the Europeans to take Hezbollah more seriously. The European Union designation of Hezbollah as a terrorist group would be a shot across the bow, telling the group that it needs to make a choice to be either political or militant. It would also empower European countries to do more to prevent the travel of Hezbollah operatives to Europe, which Hezbollah treats as its near abroad, and to raise funds there, which Hezbollah does today hand over fist.
White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan made an excellent point speaking in Ireland last October, where he said one of the reasons Washington wants the Europeans to designate Hezbollah as a terrorist group is that some European countries cannot or will not open counterterrorism investigations into the group until this distinction is made.
But it's not just an American or European effort: the Yemenis right now are tremendously concerned about recent arms shipments from Iran that they have seized destined for Houthi rebels. The Yemenis have said there's evidence that Hezbollah is involved. And we see Hezbollah's activities elsewhere as well. Some of the Shiite militant groups that Hezbollah trained to fight coalition forces in Iraq have now turned up in Syria, fighting alongside Hezbollah and supporting the Assad regime. So, there's a lot that can be done to a) counter Hezbollah's actual terrorist operations, and b) frustrate the group's ability to procure weapons and fundraise worldwide.*
Matthew Levitt directs the Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence at The Washington Institute.

Islamic Assassination: Silencing Freedom Fighters
by Raymond Ibrahim/FrontPageMagazine.com
http://www.meforum.org/3452/islamic-assassination
Tunisia, one of the most secular Arab countries in modern times—and the first country to experience the "Arab Spring"—was also recently the first Arab country to experience a high level political Islamic assassination since the Arab Spring began. The BBC explains:
Tunisian opposition politician Chokri Belaid has been shot dead outside his home in the capital, Tunis. Relatives say Mr Belaid was shot in the neck and head on his way to work. He was a prominent secular opponent of the moderate [sic] Islamist-led government and his murder has sparked protests around the country, with police firing tear gas to disperse angry crowds.
Although the BBC report states "It is not known who is responsible for the attack on the politician," who Belaid was—a leader of the Democratic Patriots party, which has been at the forefront of challenging the Islamist-led government of Tunisia—speaks for itself. As French President Francois Hollande put it, "This murder robs Tunisia of one of its most courageous and free voices."
The Islamist Ennahda party naturally denies any involvement—even as it, not to mention all Tunisian Islamists, had the most to gain from the silencing of Belaid. According to the Islamist party's president, Rashid Gannouchi, "Ennahda is completely innocent of the assassination of Belaid."
Neither the BBC nor the Ennahda party bother mentioning the fact that, mere days before Belaid was shot to death, fatwas calling for his death were publicly proclaimed. For example,one video shows a bearded Tunisian cleric, of the Salafi brand, publicly denouncing Belaid as an "infidel" whose must be killed—"not according to me but the prophet!"—even as those around him cry "Allahu Akbar!"
Just as Arab-Spring fever came to Egypt following Tunisia—and in both countries, saw the empowerment of Islamist parties, namely the Ennahda and Muslim Brotherhood—so too have Islamic fatwas to assassinate those opposing the Islamist agenda come to Egypt following Tunisia. Aside from the fact that, during the popular protests against President Muhammad Morsi and his Sharia-heavy constitution, his Islamist allies issued any number of fatwas permitting the spilling of the blood of those opposing him, some days ago, Dr. Mahmoud Sha'ban issued a fatwa on live TV calling for the killing of Muhammad el-Baradei and Hamdin Sabhi, leaders of Egypt's secular National Salvation Front party for being openly critical of Morsi and the Brotherhood. He unhesitatingly pronounced that the "Sharia of Allah" demands their killing, basing his fatwa on the words of Muhammad—to behead those who oppose the leader—as found in the canonical collections of Sahih Muslim.
Then, a few days after Sha'ban issued this fatwa, an assassination attempt was made on Dr. Tawfik Okasha—the host of the TV show Misr al-Youm ("Egypt Today") and one of the most vociferous critics of the Muslim Brotherhood. As he was leaving his home, cars with unknown assailants opened fire on him, though he was protected by his bodyguards—popular critics of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, who can afford it, are often surrounded by personal bodyguards—who opened fire back on the assassins.
In other words, we are witnessing in Egypt the same exact pattern that took place in Tunisia, where Chokri Belaid, a leader of the nation's secular party who was unabashedly critical of the Islamist-led government, was assassinated—all in accordance with the fatwas of the sheikhs.
None of this is surprising, considering the deep continuity of Islamic assassinations, which litter the annals of history. The very word "assassinate" and "assassin" are based on a Medieval Islamic sect, the Hashashin, which pioneered the use of political assassination in the name of Islam. Indeed, the prophet of Islam himself, Muhammad, ordered the assassination of several non-Muslims who opposed him, including women.
Nor is the calling for the assassination of those who oppose Islamic supremacism limited to the Islamic world. Most recently in Denmark, Lars Hedegaard, a seventy-year-old free speech activist and critic of Islam, narrowly escaped an assassination attempt on his life right outside his home in Copenhagen:
According to Danish media, the gunman, in a postal service uniform, rang the doorbell of Hedegaard's apartment building on the pretext of delivering a package. When Hedegaard opened the front door, the man pulled out a gun and fired a shot, narrowly missing Hedegaard's head. Danish police say they are searching for the suspect, whom they describe as "a man of a different ethnic background than Danish." He is believed to be in his 20s and has a "Middle Eastern appearance." Speculation is that the assailant is a Muslim because of critical statements that Hedegaard has made regarding Islam.
Nor are front door assassinations on behalf of Islam limited to silencing criticism against the Islamist agenda; instead, they are regularly used to silence all free speech that threatens Islam. For instance, just last December 2012 in Pakistan, Birgitta Almby, a 70-year-old Bible school teacher from Sweden, was shot by two men in front of her home, dying soon thereafter. She had served in Pakistan for 38 years. Christians who were close to her had no doubt that "Islamic extremists" murdered the elderly woman: "Who else would want to murder someone as apolitical and harmless as Almby, who had dedicated her life to serving humanity?"
No doubt someone who thought she was breaking the laws of Allah by proselytizing to Muslims—as when American Joel Shrum was assassinated in Yemen for purportedly preaching the Gospel to Muslims; or when Russian priest Fr.Daniil Sysoyev was shot to death by Muslim assassins for proselytizing to and baptizing Muslims.
Assassination has long been a tool of Islamic supremacism, to the point of giving the English language the word "assassinate." Accordingly, inasmuch as Islam grows in power and influence, so too will those who resist it be prey to the Islamic dagger, both at home and abroad.
*Raymond Ibrahim is a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center and an Associate Fellow at the Middle East Forum.