Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for January 03/10
Jerusalem presses case for EU to ban Hezbollah
Hezbollah Leader to Address Mourning Ceremony on Arbaeen
'Iran captures two US-made surveillance drones'
Palestinians Will Outnumber Jews in Israel by 2020
Relations between Christians, Hezbollah warming up
Report: Ongoing Contacts over Formation of National Salvation Government
IDF and Syrian rebel officers meet clandestinely in Jordan
Future MP Atef Majdalani says participation in Dialogue futile
Siniora to sue Aoun website over forged letter
Bomb Found in Ain el-Hilweh Garage
Suspect Fails to Escape Police in Sidon
General Security Chief: Refugees' Humanitarian Situation Prevents us from Closing Border with Syria
Arslan Supports Jumblat's Initiative: There Can Be No Substitute to Dialogue
Miqati: Targeting Any Ministry over its Role in Catering to Syrian Refugees is Unacceptable
March 8: No Election Will be Held under 1960 Law
Syria files second complaint against Lebanon aid to refugees
Abu Faour retracts remarks about Syria complaint
Relatives of hostages seal shut Turkish Airlines office
Iranian ambassador discusses Syria peace initiative with Amin Gemayel
Berri receives invitation to visit Gaza
Bigger fights loom after U.S. 'fiscal cliff' deal
Egyptian currency sinks to new low
UAE arrests unfounded: Egypt's Brotherhood
Syria conflict kills 60,000: UN

Hezbollah's cocaine Jihad
Eldad Beck/Ynetnews
Published: 12.29.12/ Israel News
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4325850,00.html
Faced with dwindling Iranian funding, Shiite terror group partners with Mexican drug cartels; uses millions of dollars in drug money to support weapon acquisition habit
MEXICO – Chiapas is one of Mexico's most exotic federal districts. But the magical forests, appealing Indian communities, colorful towns and intriguing archeological sites – that serve as main tourist attractions – hide a political hell.
In the mid-1990s, a leftist resistance group which calls itself The Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) made Chiapas its home. Its attempts to fight the Mexican Army repeatedly failed, but the Zapatistas are still very active in the district's rural areas. Chiapas is considered a dangerous place, where every home has an arms arsenal of its own; and like many other places in Mexico, Chiapas' streets have become the battlefield where the government and local drug lords wrestle for dominance.
Chiapas, however, harbors an even more sinister secret: It is also a hub of radical Islamist activity.
Catholic Mexico is in the midst of a crisis of faith. According to a local businessman, who asked to remain anonymous, it is widely believed that within a decade, Chiapas will be the first federal state in Mexico to turn its back on the Church.
"The Muslim missionaries are very active there," he said. "It's hard to know exactly how many people have converted to Islam over the past few years."
Official data suggests that Mexico is home to some 4,000 Muslims – a fraction in a country whose population numbers 115 million. Theoretically, this is a negligible number, but it is enough to cause concern in the United States – and Israel should be concerned as well.
Follow the money
US intelligence indicates that Mexico is home to some 200,000 Syrian and Lebanese immigrants – most of them illegal – who were able to cross the border via an extensive web of contacts with drug cartels, both in Mexico and in other countries in South America.
These cartel contacts smuggle illegal immigrants – including individuals affiliated with Iran, Hezbollah, al-Qaeda and other radical Islamist groups – into Mexico, placing them a virtual stone's-throw away from the United States.
Western intelligence agencies have been able to gather ample evidence suggesting that the drug cartels in Mexico – which are the de facto rulers of the northern districts bordering the US – are in cahoots with Islamic terror organizations, which are eager to execute attacks against American, Israeli, Jewish and western targets; but most of all, the Islamic terror groups are eager to make money, so they can fund their nefarious aspirations.
In December 2011, the US authorities released an indictment filed against Lebanese drug lord Ayman Juma, which exposed Hezbollah's involvement with the Los Zetas drug cartel. According to the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), Los Zetas is the most technologically advanced and most dangerous cartel operating in Mexico.
Juma was indicted in absentia for smuggling 85 tons of cocaine into the US and for laundering $850 million for Los Zetas. He was also accused of serving as a go-between for the Mexican crime syndicate and the Shiite terror group.
According to US officials, for a modest 8%-14% commission, Juma's money laundering process would take about a week. The operation involved bank accounts in dozens of countries, making it virtually impossible to track the dirty money.
According to the indictment, Hezbollah is using Juma's cartel connections to minimize its dependency on Iranian funding. The international sanctions crippling Tehran's economy have taken a serious bite out of the $200 million in annual aid given to Hezbollah, but the latter's appetite for cash has only grown. Los Zetas' Beirut-based money man has reportedly helped the Shiite terror group meet its financial needs.
The ties that bind
Iran denies any involvement in South America, but the US knows better. In 2010, a report commissioned by the House Committee on Intelligence found that the ties between Hezbollah and the Mexican drug cartels, as well as the Iranian link, were getting stronger.
The report found that Hezbollah was massively embroiled in drugs and money laundering deals, as well as in arms trafficking in and out of Mexico.
Furthermore, US intelligence concluded that Hezbollah has established sleeper cells, intelligence infrastructure and training bases in Mexico and other South American countries. The Shiite group is also helping the drug lords build smuggling tunnels under the US-Mexico border and satellite images show that they are nearly identical to the maze of tunnels running under the Gaza-Egypt border.
Hezbollah is also training the cartels' operatives in the dubious art of explosives, helping drug lords improve their bomb-making skills.
The committee found evidence that Hezbollah and Iranian Revolutionary Guard officials pick up fake passports in Venezuela – a close ally of Iran – prior to infiltrating the United States.
The US' concern about the smuggling tunnels increased exponentially in 2009, when a Department of Homeland Security wiretap derived a recording of Professor Abdallah Nafisi, a Kuwaiti clergyman and a known al-Qaeda recruiter, boasting about the ease by which nonconventional warfare and weapons of mass destruction can be smuggled into the US, through the Mexican drug tunnels.
"Ten pounds of anthrax in a medium-size suitcase, carried by a Jihad warrior through the tunnels can kill 300,000 Americans in one hour," he said. "It will make 9/11 look like peanuts. There's no need for plans… Just one courageous man, to spread this confetti on the White House lawn. Then we will really be able to celebrate."
Threat to national security
"Hezbollah, more than any other terror group, manages to utilize its Mexican-based cells, which it has turned into instruments of capital and terrorism, ready to be called upon once the moment serves its interests," a 2010 Department of Homeland Security report said.
American officials do not hesitate to publicly point the finger at Hezbollah. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said that Hezbollah has "massive presence in the triangle made up of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay, and the organization is constantly expanding its ties with the Mexican drug cartels."
Earlier this year, former DEA Chief of Operations Michael Braun told CBS News that Hezbollah "are masters in creating close relationships with criminal organizations around the world."
A recent book by Latin America expert Jon Perdue details the dangers the US and its allies face as a result of the presence of radical Islamic terror groups in South and Central America. According to Perdue, Iran's proxies have been around long enough "to pose an actual threat" to the US should Israel mount a unilateral strike on the Islamic Republic's nuclear facilities.
Hope for deliverance?
But why are the local communities in Mexico so eager to answer radical Islam's call? The answers to that vary.
First, most Middle Eastern migrates have been able to make a successful life for themselves in Mexico. For example, Carlos Slim Helu – one of the richest men in the world, with a personal fortune of $77 billion – is the son of Lebanese immigrates. Such ties make for an easier landing for Hezbollah operatives in Mexico over other places.
But mostly, Chiapas – like other places in Mexico – is plagued by poverty and a civilian sense of deprivation. The district is home to the decedents of the Mayans, who have been exploited by local governments dating back to the days of the Spanish Conquistadors. They have revolted against their discrimination repeatedly, but to no real success.
Against this bleak backdrop, a monotheistic revolution is taking place – at least according to Muslim websites – as thousand of South Americans shed the Catholic beliefs forced on their forefathers by the Spaniards hundreds of years ago, in favor of Islam.
Ironically, missionary Islam arrived in Mexico from none other than Spain. In the mid 1990s, Muslins from the al-Murabitun order, or "Almoravids," as they are known, were sent to Chiapas. The Almoravids strongly oppose any use of violence or terror, but since the order is very secretive, little is known about the true nature of its work.
Various Mexican reports suggest that the Almoravids are linked to neo-Nazi groups and foster anti-Semitic ideology; and that they aspire to convert all of Europe to Islam and enact the same style of Islam prevalent in the days of the Prophet Muhammad.
Another organization spreading the word of the Prophet in Mexico in the Islamic Cultural Center of Mexico, a Sunni organization set up about 15 years ago. The center funds translation projects and major construction projects for mosques and Muslim social centers.
No one knows who funds the work done by the Islamic Cultural Center of Mexico or by the Almoravids.
"It's hard to know whether the recent Islamization here stems from deep spiritual convictions or from opportunistic financial motives," a Mexican academic, who has been tracking the phenomenon, said.
"It is likely due to the combination of both. Islam can easily be adapted to the classic way of life of the native Mexican communities. It's enough to present Islam as a religion that promotes social causes, one that is anti-capitalist and tolerant of all races, to prey on the locals' sense of discrimination and win their sympathies."
The bottom line may prove to be a bitter pill to swallow for the US: It is very likely that in a few years, the US – much like Israel – will have to deal with its own Hezbollah presence, right across the border

''Iran captures two US-made surveillance drones'
By REUTERS 01/02/2013 18:27 Iranian naval commander says RQ11 Raven drones brought down in separate incidents in August 2011, November 2012. DUBAI - Iran has captured two miniature US-made surveillance drones over the past 17 months, Iranian media reported on Wednesday. Several drone incidents over the past year have highlighted tension in the Gulf as Iran and the United States flex their military capabilities in the vital oil exporting region in a standoff over Iran's disputed nuclear program. The lightweight RQ11 Raven drones were brought down by Iranian air defense units in separate incidents in August 2011 and November 2012, Rear Admiral Amir Rastegari told Fars news agency. "Much of the data of these drones has been decoded by the Army's jihad and research center," he said, without elaborating. Manufactured by AeroVironment, the RQ11 Raven has a wingspan of 1.36 meters (4.5 feet) and a range of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) and is used by the US military for low-altitude surveillance. Iran said on Dec. 4 that it had captured a US intelligence ScanEagle drone in its air space over the Gulf in the previous few days, but the United States said there was no evidence to support the assertion.
The four-foot (1.25 metre) ScanEagle surveillance drones built by Boeing Co are deployed in the region by the United States military and also by other countries.
In November, the United States said Iranian warplanes shot at a US drone flying in international air space. Iran said the aircraft had entered its air space to spy on Iranian oil platforms and said it would respond "decisively" to any incursions.

Palestinians Will Outnumber Jews in Israel by 2020
Wednesday, 02 Jan 2013/Newsmax
http://www.newsmaxworld.com/newswidget/israel-palestinians-outnumber-jews/2013/01/02/id/469693?promo_code=EE9E-1&utm_source=jpost&utm_medium=nmwidget&utm_campaign=widgetphase1
JERUSALEM — The Palestinian statistics bureau estimates that Arabs will outnumber Jews in the Holy Land by the end of the decade, a scenario that could have grave implications for both Israel and the Palestinians.
The bureau said Tuesday that 5.8 million Arabs live in Israel, the West Bank, Gaza, and east Jerusalem. That compares to about 6 million Israeli Jews, according to Israeli data. It said that based on current birth rates, the two populations would be equal in 2016, and in 2020, Arabs would outnumber Jews by 7.2 million to 6.9 million.  The demographic issue is a main argument for Israeli backers of creation of a Palestinian state.
Editor's Note: 5 Signs Stock Market Will Collapse in 2013. They say relinquishing control of the Palestinian territories and its residents is the only way to ensure Israel's future as a democracy with a Jewish majority.
A Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) official says the latest projections could not only be problematic for Israel, but also for the Palestinians.
“This projection could lead to a demographic crisis which could jeopardize the two-state solution and lead to a de-facto one-state solution,” the PLO’s Hanan Ashrawi told the Israeli website Ynet.
"This solution will not be convenient both for the Israelis and the Palestinians,” she said. “If things go on this way, we will eventually be the majority but we are giving Israel the chance to realize that the Palestinians can have a democratic state alongside it."  Ashrawi estimated that the Israeli leadership is aware of the "demographic problem" but feels it can do whatever it wants on the ground without being held accountable for it.
"The Israeli government better understand that we're not going anywhere and that it will have to accept the principle of a Palestinian state," she said.
YNet contributed to this report.

Relations between Christians, Hezbollah warming up
By ARIEL BEN SOLOMON 01/01/2013/
As Sunni Islamists rise throughout Middle East, Lebanese Christians and Shi’ite Hezbollah find themselves cooperating as regional minorities.
As Sunni Islamists rise to power throughout the Middle East, Lebanese Christians and Shi’ite Hezbollah find themselves cooperating as regional minorities.
Hezbollah believes it must be more accommodating to other Lebanese parties if it wants to maintain its strength in Lebanon if Syrian President Bashar Assad falls, the Beirut-based Daily Star reported on Monday.
This follows a report by the newspaper that Hezbollah issued a statement on Christmas: “The teachings of Jesus Christ – which inspire every philanthropist – contradict what the region is witnessing in terms of injustice affecting our Christian brethren in Palestine and the region.”
Difficult circumstances make for unlikely alliances.
Hezbollah is increasingly clashing with Sunnis in Lebanon, part of a spillover of violence from neighboring Syria. Hezbollah, which is allied closely with Iran, is working with its ally to keep Assad in power.
The Syrian rebels are predominately Sunni, with Islamist elements taking part in a great deal of the fighting. The rebels seek to topple Assad’s regime and are being supported by Sunni Arabs throughout the region, including in Lebanon.
Arab Christians throughout the Middle East have also been under pressure from Sunnis since the Arab uprisings began two years ago. Many have fled the region and those who remain are very worried over their future, as Sunni Islamists have come to power in various countries and make up the main opposition movements in many others. The Sunni Islamist surge has all of the other sects and minorities on the defensive, with many seeking alliances among themselves despite differing ideologies.
Shi’ites and Christians are minorities in the Middle East and the rise of Sunni Islamists has put them in a predicament.
Shi’ites control governments in Iraq, Iran and Lebanon. In Lebanon, though, power and demographics are somewhat balanced, with Sunnis and Christians making up the other major factions.
Hezbollah finds itself wedged between anti-Assad Sunni rebels in Syria and their Sunni supporters in Lebanon. This is not to mention the financial, material and manpower support coming to the rebels from other Arab countries. With its strong ally Assad under threat, Hezbollah is beginning to feel anxious about being increasingly isolated in the region, and having to face Israel with less support.
In turn, Syrian Christians, who have traditionally been allied with Assad, have been fleeing to join their brethren in Lebanon, which remains one of the safest Arab countries for Christians.
Numerous recent reports mention the warming relations of the Christians in Lebanon and Hezbollah as they unite against the Sunnis.
In an article on the Al-Monitor website, Lebanon-based Nasser Chararah writes that Hezbollah made a political decision, which has been reflected in its media outlets, to treat Christians more kindly than usual. It even broadcasted displays of Christmas celebrations, and on Christmas Day, the Hezbollah affiliated Al-Nour radio station praised Jesus’s birth.
Hezbollah’s Al-Manar station wished Christians a Merry Christmas and even emphasized Hezbollah participation in the holiday celebrations.
Chararah notes that Hezbollah was careful to call Jesus a “prophet,” instead of attributing any direct divine connection to him. What was also interesting was that “the Iranian Embassy in Beirut distributed congratulation letters on the birth of “Prophet Jesus son of Mary.”
Meanwhile, Lebanese Christian TV programming has been focused on showing footage of Sunni Salafists persecuting Christians. Their news reports show “Lebanese ‘Sunni Salafists’ queuing up as part of their military trainings, hoisting al-Qaida slogans above their heads.”
Christian reporting also dwelled on Sunni persecution of Christians in the Sunni stronghold of Tripoli, where Christians were not allowed to put up Christmas decorations.
This follows a story by Ariel Zirulnick at The Christian Science Monitor that Lebanese Christians are increasingly embracing Hezbollah, with one family even placing a photo of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on their Christmas tree.
Such recent signs of mutual affection should not be mistaken for a strategic or ideological shift, but be seen simply as the uniting of threatened parties against a larger opposing force. It is the drive to survive against the Sunni wave sweeping the region that has led to this unlikely Christian-Hezbollah thaw

UAE arrests unfounded: Egypt's Brotherhood
January 02, 2013/By Shaimaa Fayed, Tamim Elyan
CAIRO: Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood said on Wednesday some of its members had been wrongfully arrested in United Arab Emirates (UAE) on allegations of helping to train local Islamists in subversion tactics.
"I know 11 people were detained. I know that some of them are from the Brotherhood," said Mahmoud Ghozlan, a Brotherhood spokesman in Cairo. "The claim that they are a cell seeking to destabilise the country is devoid of truth."The arrests came to light on Tuesday when a UAE newspaper reported the authorities had arrested an "Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood cell", citing an unnamed source. The oil-rich UAE, which has long voiced distrust of the Muslim Brotherhood that helped propel Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi to power this year, arrested about 60 Islamists last month, accusing them of being linked to the Egyptian group and plotting to undermine governments in the Gulf region. In what appeared to be an effort to ease tensions, Egypt's intelligence chief, General Mohamed Shehata, headed to the UAE for talks, airport officials said.
An aide to the Egyptian president also handed over a message from Mursi to UAE's president, a statement from the Egyptian presidency said, without giving details. "We are in contact with the authorities there and will see what what will happen in the next period," Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr was quoted as saying by the state news agency. The son of one of the arrested Egyptians said in Cairo that his father, Ali Sonbol, is a medical doctor and is not involved in political activities."They didn't say where they were taking him and what were the charges," Ahmed Sonbol told Reuters. "The Egyptian embassy only assured us that he was detained by UAE authorities and he is well." UAE officials were not available for comment.
Relations between Egypt and the UAE soured after Egyptian strongman Hosni Mubarak - a longtime Gulf ally - was toppled in Egypt's 2011 revolution.
Last month, UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan summoned Egypt's ambassador over claims carried by Egyptian media the UAE was behind a plot against Egypt's leadership, saying they were "fabricated".Thanks to their state-sponsored cradle-to-grave welfare systems, the UAE and other Gulf Arab monarchies have largely avoided the Arab Spring unrest which has unseated long-serving rulers elsewhere in the past two years. The Brotherhood has sought to reassure Gulf states it has no plan to push for political change beyond Egypt's borders.

March 8: No Election Will be Held under 1960 Law
Naharnet/The March 8 alliance announced on Wednesday that it rejects any attempt to hold the 2013 parliamentary elections based on the 1960 electoral law.
"We are open to discussing all possibilities during the work of the electoral subcommittee,” AMAL Movement Minister Ali Hassan Khalil told al-Manar television after a meeting held between the alliance's political figures.
The 1960 law, which adopts the district as an electoral district, was adopted in the 2009 parliamentary elections.
Khalil explained that the meetings of March 8 will be held regularly to tackle other matters related to the cabinet's activities, among them increasing the cooperation between the government and he parliament and the situation of Syrian refugees in Lebanon. In addition to Khalil, participating in Wednesday's meeting were Hizbullah secretary-general's political assistant Hussein Khalil and the party's Liaison and Coordination Officer Wafiq Safa, Minister Mohammed Fneish, AMAL's Ahmed Baalbaki and the Free Patriotic Movement Minister Jebran Bassil, al-Manar reported. The March 14 alliance had boycotted all government and parliamentary activity linked to the elections following the assassination of Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau head Brigadier General Wissam al-Hasan on October 19. However, it made concessions by announcing in December 2012 that it would end its boycott of the parliamentary subcommittee to discuss an electoral law ahead of the 2013 polls.

Miqati: Targeting Any Ministry over its Role in Catering to Syrian Refugees is Unacceptable
Naharnet /Prime Minister Najib Miqati warned on Wednesday of the negative impact of linking the case of Syrian refugees in Lebanon to local political disputes. He said: “Targeting any ministry or official Lebanese agency over their handling of the issue is unjustified and unacceptable.” He made his remarks while chairing a meeting on the Syrian refugees. The meeting, held at the Grand Serail, was attended by Social Affairs Minister Wael Abou Faour, Interior Minister Marwan Charbel, Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn, Education Minister Hassan Diab, Health Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, and head of the Higher Relief Council Ibrahim Bashir. Miqati added: “The government and all of its ministries and agencies were capable of meeting the relief demands of the Syrian refugees from the very beginning of the Syrian crisis.” The premier remarked however that the government is no longer capable of meeting the demands of the ever-increasing number of refugees despite the assistance of government and non-government agencies. He stressed that the government devised a plan to meet the demands of the refugees, which includes the fair distribution of resources and aid and following up on their needs. It carried out this plan to complement that of United Nations agencies, he said. “The government, with all of its agencies and ministries, never discriminated against a pro- or anti-Syrian regime supporter,” he emphasized. “It handled the refugee file from a humanitarian approach and it is therefore unacceptable that any ministry be attacked over its tackling of this issue,” stressed Miqati. Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdul Karim Ali recently sent a letter to the Lebanese Foreign Ministry complaining that the Social Affairs Ministry was involved in helping “extremist Salafist organizations.” Ali said his mission had received complaints from Syrian refugees claiming “extremist Salafist organizations” were demanding that they declare their opposition to the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad in return for aid through the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. The ambassador accused the Social Affairs Ministry of being responsible for the pressure exerted on the displaced. Abou Faour said last week that he reprimanded Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour in a “friendly way” during a cabinet session for referring the accusations of the Syrian diplomat as if he were adopting them.

Jerusalem presses case for EU to ban Hezbollah
By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL, JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDENT 01/02/2013/Efforts focus on terror group’s links to 2005 Hariri murder, role in destabilizing Syria, 2000 kidnapping of Israeli businessman.
BERLIN – The Israeli government is redoubling its efforts to convince the European Union to outlaw Hezbollah within the 27-member body because of the Lebanese group’s record of terrorism. According to reports in the Hebrew media, Israel’s new case involves showing Hezbollah’s role in the 2005 murder of Lebanese president Rafik Hariri, based on evidence culled from the international tribunal that investigated the bombing. In 2005, the EU parliament issued a resolution condemning Hezbollah for its terror activities in connection with Hariri’s murder. Policy- and lawmakers within the EU have ignored the resolution.
Israel is slated to reveal documentary material about Hezbollah’s role in destabilizing Syria and joining forces with Bashar Assad’s regime in the ongoing campaign to obliterate that country’s pro-reform movement. Hezbollah’s narcotics and money-laundering operations are part of Israel’s dossier. According to Ma’ariv, Hezbollah’s 2000 kidnapping of Elhanan Tannenbaum is part of the documentation. Tannenbaum, an Israeli businessman and a reserve colonel in the IDF, was released as part of a prisoner exchange in 2004. Israel’s Foreign Ministry is concerned about a number of European objections. The Europeans believe Hezbollah, like Hamas, will challenge a ban in European courts based on insufficient evidence. The EU included Hamas in its terror list in 2003, but Hamas has challenged the ruling. The EU court in Luxembourg is expected to rule on the ban. Germany, where there are 950 active Hezbollah members, and France have showed no interest in a Hezbollah ban.

Secretary general of the Lebanese Resistance Movement Hezbollah will address mourners on Arbaeen in the city of Baalbek.
(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah will deliver his speech on Thursday via video conference, the lebanonfiles website reported. According to Muhammad Yaqi, Hezbollah’s official in Beqqa Valley, it will be the third consecutive year in which Nasrallah addresses the Arbaeen ceremony. He said 3 large-screen TVs will broadcast the speech for the participants in the Baalbek mourning ceremony. Yaqi added that 30 cameras will cover the program for the Al-Minar TV. He noted that preparations have been underway in the past three weeks for the program. Ahmed Ria, Hezbollah’s media official in the Beqqa region predicted that 60,000 people will attend the ceremony on Arbaeen, the day that marks the anniversary of the 40th day after the martyrdom of Imam Hussein (AS) and his companions in Karbala.

Iranian ambassador discusses Syria peace initiative with Gemayel
January 02, 2013/The Daily Star /BEIRUT: Iranian ambassador to Lebanon Ghazanfar Roknabadi handed Kataeb leader Amin Gemayel a copy of his country's peace initiative to end the Syrian crisis, a statement from the Kataeb party said Wednesday. Gemayel and Abadi, who met at the Kataeb leader’s Bekfaya residence, discussed the Lebanese domestic situation, Syria’s crisis and its repercussions over the country, according to the statement. Iran has recently put forward a six-point detailed plan to put an end to the crisis in its ally Syria, calling for an immediate cease-fire and the start of dialogue between Damascus and rebels.

Berri receives invitation to visit Gaza
January 02, 2013 /The Daily Star/BEIRUT: House Speaker Nabih Berri received an invitation Wednesday from Palestinian deputy Speaker Sheikh Ahmad Bahr to visit Gaza, the National News Agency reported.
“The Palestinian Parliament highly appreciates the role you play in support of the resistance… and invites you to head a parliamentary delegation and visit your second home, Gaza,” read a letter sent from Bahr to Berri.
The letter was handed to the speaker by a Hamas delegation headed by MP Mounir al-Masri, including Hamas representative in Lebanon Ali Barakeh, who visited Berri in Ain al-Tineh.
“We hope this visit will be a chance to discuss all possible means to enhance the historical ties between the two neighboring countries,” read the letter.

Future MP Atef Majdalani says participation in Dialogue futile
January 02, 2013/The Daily Star/BEIRUT: Participation in National Dialogue is futile as Hezbollah does not abide by the decisions of the all-party-talks, Future MP Atef Majdalani said Wednesday.
“Participation in Dialogue leads nowhere because its resolutions remain unbinding to the other party,” said Majdalani, who spoke to Free Lebanon radio station. The lawmaker voiced respect and appreciation for the efforts by President Michel Sleiman to bring all parties together and resume Dialogue. However, he said there is a “trust crisis” with Hezbollah that prevents his group from taking part in the all-party talks. “We want Dialogue, but there is a trust crisis with Hezbollah,” said Majdalani. He also said Hezbollah can help restore his group’s trust in the party by handing over suspects in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who was killed in a car blast on Feb. 2005.The Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which is probing Hariri’s death, issued indictments against four members of Hezbollah suspected to have played a role in the assassination. The party, however, has refused to hand over the suspects. President Sleiman has been extending efforts to resume Dialogue and has repeatedly urged relevant parties to attend talks scheduled to be held on Jan.7. However, the March 14-led opposition said they cannot attend the talks, which they decided to boycott until the resignation of the Cabinet. Their decision came following the Oct. 19 assassination of a top security official who headed the police Information branch, Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan. Majdalani slammed Hezbollah and said the party acts as part of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards instead of acting like a Lebanese group. He added that the only item on the Dialogue agenda is integrating Hezbollah’s arms within a national defense strategy, arguing that the party refuses to address its weapons. “While the only item remaining on the table of Dialogue is [Hezbollah] arms within a national defense strategy, we can see Hezbollah establishing its own defense strategy with Iran disregarding the Lebanese state,” said the lawmaker.

Siniora to sue Aoun website over forged letter
January 02, 2013 /The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora will sue a local website with links to the Free Patriotic Movement for forging a letter in his name, a statement from his press office said Wednesday. “The FPM news website [Tayyar.org] has published a fake letter from former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora to the Saudi ambassador allegedly asking [Saudi Arabia] for assistance to remove [Lebanon’s] Grand Mufti from his post,” the statement said.Siniora, according to the statement, will file a lawsuit against the administrators of the website.Tayyar.org, the online mouthpiece of MP Michel Aoun’s FPM, published Tuesday a letter attributed to Siniora in which it alleges the head of the Future parliamentary bloc sought Riyadh’s assistance to oust Grand Mufti Mohammad Rashid Qabbani. The impetus behind Siniora’s request, according to the letter that was dated Nov. 15, was Qabbani’s abstention from issuing a fatwa to incite the youth to fulfill their “Jihadi duty” and support Syrian rebels. In the letter posted by Tayyar.org Siniora allegedly requests that another mufti, one closer to the Future Movement, replace Qabbani, particularly given the short period until the upcoming parliamentary polls. Siniora slammed Wednesday the website, accusing it of continuing a campaign to distort public opinion. “It seems that the FPM-led website has decided to keep up with its same policy, as it has done in previous years, as well as its disrespect to both public opinion and its readers by fabricating a letter in the name of head of Future bloc Fouad Siniora sent to the Saudi ambassador and forging his signature on it,” said the statement. The statement added that the letter included expressions and words Siniora would never write or say “or even think of.” “The press office of [former] Prime Minister Fouad Siniora regrets that the officials responsible for the said website reached such a shameful and upsetting level of slander and fabrication to serve cheap political aims,” the statement said.

Syria files second complaint against Lebanon aid to refugees
January 01, 2013/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Syria’s envoy to Lebanon has sent another letter of complaint accusing the Social Affairs Ministry of aiding refugees based on their political affiliation, the minister said Tuesday. “The Syrian ambassador sent a new letter with accusations against the Social Affairs Ministry and I repeatedly said that after the holidays, I will respond to such allegations,” Social Affairs Minister Wael Abu Faour told reporters. His remarks came after meeting with Future Movement and Sidon MP Bahia Hariri to discuss the situation of Syrian and Palestinian refugees who are fleeing violence in the neighboring country. “It is now required of me to send two letters instead of one in response and it is clear now that the Syrian ambassador is taking this too far,” Abu Faour said, adding that the second letter to the Foreign Ministry was sent on Saturday.Syria’s Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdel-Karim Ali sent a letter to the Foreign Ministry earlier this month, saying the embassy had been receiving complaints from Syrian refugees about some “extremist Salafist organizations” in Lebanon blackmailing Syrian refugees in Lebanon and exploiting their desperate situations to serve their own agenda. These organizations, continued the letter, offer to help refugees receive aid through the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees on condition that they announce they are against the Syrian regime and have joined the opposition. Around 160,000 Syrian and Palestinian refugees have fled to Lebanon following the outbreak of unrest in Syria in March 2011, according to the U.N. It is expected that the total number of displaced Syrians will reach a million in 2013.Abu Faour has denied the allegations that his ministry was discriminating against Syrians who support the regime of President Bashar Assad and those who favor the opposition.“Such a thing could not affect our work with the refugees because that is purely humanitarian and ethical and cannot be disrupted by some people's behavior,” the minister said.

Abu Faour retracts remarks about Syria complaint
January 02, 2013/By Hasan Lakkis/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Social Affairs Minister Wael Abu Faour retracted Wednesday an earlier comment in which he said a second letter of complaint from Syria’s envoy to Lebanon against his ministry represented a threat to his life. “I will respond to him in writing and will tell him I expect a bomb from the Syrian regime [after receiving this letter],” he said when asked to comment on a second letter he said was issued by Syrian envoy Ali Abdel-Karim Ali accusing his ministry of aiding refugees on the basis of political affiliation. Following a meeting of the ministerial committee tasked with discussing the issue of Syrian refugees in Lebanon, Abu Faour said he had made the remarks jokingly.
“I was only joking,” he told The Daily Star. Ali sent a letter to the Foreign Ministry earlier this month, saying the embassy had been receiving complaints from Syrian refugees about some “extremist Salafist organizations” in Lebanon blackmailing Syrian refugees in Lebanon and exploiting their situations to serve their own agenda. Speaking Tuesday, Abu Faour said the Syrian ambassador had gone “too far” by issuing the second letter of complaint and said he would respond to it and the letter that was sent earlier. Abu Faour said Wednesday that the latest letter from the Syrian ambassador “reflects the true nature of the Syrian regime.”
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who headed the ministerial committee’s meeting said the issue of Syrian refugees coming to Lebanon is humanitarian and cannot and should not be politicized, a statement from his press office said. “The Cabinet has addressed the refugees file with no discrimination between pro or anti Assad [refugees]. Thus, involving the case in political disputes and targeting any ministry or official Lebanese side is unacceptable,” said the prime minister, speaking from the Grand Serail.
“The Lebanese state has offered help to Syrian refugees even before the international organizations started working to help them,” said the prime minister, giving assurances that Lebanon has addressed the case within humanitarian norms. Mikati also said that serious and imminent work should get under way to secure required funds to keep up helping refugees, whose number has exceeded 160,000. He added that a plan endorsed by the Cabinet last month aims at organizing aid to Syrians and indicates the role the international society should play to assist Lebanon in sheltering the refugees. The plan was endorsed on Dec. 3 under the title “Response of the Government of Lebanon to the Crisis of Syrian Displaced Families and Lebanese Host Communities.”

UAE arrests unfounded: Egypt's Brotherhood
January 02, 2013/By Shaimaa Fayed, Tamim Elyan
CAIRO: Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood said on Wednesday some of its members had been wrongfully arrested in United Arab Emirates (UAE) on allegations of helping to train local Islamists in subversion tactics.
"I know 11 people were detained. I know that some of them are from the Brotherhood," said Mahmoud Ghozlan, a Brotherhood spokesman in Cairo. "The claim that they are a cell seeking to destabilise the country is devoid of truth."
The arrests came to light on Tuesday when a UAE newspaper reported the authorities had arrested an "Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood cell", citing an unnamed source. The oil-rich UAE, which has long voiced distrust of the Muslim Brotherhood that helped propel Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi to power this year, arrested about 60 Islamists last month, accusing them of being linked to the Egyptian group and plotting to undermine governments in the Gulf region. In what appeared to be an effort to ease tensions, Egypt's intelligence chief, General Mohamed Shehata, headed to the UAE for talks, airport officials said.
An aide to the Egyptian president also handed over a message from Mursi to UAE's president, a statement from the Egyptian presidency said, without giving details. "We are in contact with the authorities there and will see what what will happen in the next period," Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr was quoted as saying by the state news agency. The son of one of the arrested Egyptians said in Cairo that his father, Ali Sonbol, is a medical doctor and is not involved in political activities.
"They didn't say where they were taking him and what were the charges," Ahmed Sonbol told Reuters. "The Egyptian embassy only assured us that he was detained by UAE authorities and he is well."
UAE officials were not available for comment.
Relations between Egypt and the UAE soured after Egyptian strongman Hosni Mubarak - a longtime Gulf ally - was toppled in Egypt's 2011 revolution.
Last month, UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan summoned Egypt's ambassador over claims carried by Egyptian media the UAE was behind a plot against Egypt's leadership, saying they were "fabricated". Thanks to their state-sponsored cradle-to-grave welfare systems, the UAE and other Gulf Arab monarchies have largely avoided the Arab Spring unrest which has unseated long-serving rulers elsewhere in the past two years. The Brotherhood has sought to reassure Gulf states it has no plan to push for political change beyond Egypt's borders.

Relatives of hostages seal shut Turkish Airlines office
January 02, 2013 /The Daily Star
BEIRUT: The relatives of nine Lebanese hostages being held in Syria by rebels protested Wednesday outside the Turkish Airlines office in Downtown Beirut and placed a wax seal on the company’s door to prevent employees from reaching their offices.
“The families aim to disrupt the work of the airlines for the day and convey a message to the Turkish state that it should help resolve their case,” Sheikh Abbas Zogheib, delegated by the Higher Shiite Council to follow up on the case of the Lebanese hostages, told The Daily Star.
The relatives sealed the main door of the airline’s office with red wax and left a paper at the door with their signature on it.
“This Turkish firm has been closed with red wax – [signed] by the relatives of the hostages,” read the note on the office door.
Last week relatives of the nine hostages, who were among 11 to be kidnapped in the Syrian district of Aleppo by rebels in May, held a protest outside the Turkish Embassy in Beirut and threatened to target Turkish interests in Lebanon in a bid to press Ankara to help secure the release of their loved ones.
Two of the eleven hostages were freed successively in August and September following a call by the Committee of Muslim Scholars to release the pilgrims.
Zogheib said the step taken Wednesday was a peaceful form of demonstration and said the relatives would avoid any confrontation with employees at the offices of the Turkish carrier.
“It’s just a way for the [relatives] to get their voices heard,” said Zogheib, warning that similar protests would take place until the hostages are released.
Last week’s protest outside the Turkish mission prompted Ankara to issue an advisory against travel to Lebanon.
The Turkish contingent of the United Interim Forces in Lebanon also beefed up security measures around its headquarters in south Lebanon last week, placing more surveillance cameras and barriers outside the mission’s headquarters, a security source told The Daily Star.
Adham Zogheib, a spokesperson of the families, told Al-Jadeed television station that the families had already organized a protest outside the headquarters of Turkey’s UNIFIL contingent.
“We are not likely to go there again,” he said, vowing that the families would try to disrupt other Turkish interests in the country until there are freed.
Relatives argue that the Turkish state has the ability to help resolve their case and secure the release of the nine remaining captives.
“We will, in a peaceful manner, put pressure on Turkish interests in Lebanon but we won’t do anything to harm the interests of the Lebanese state,” said Zogheib.
He said the relatives did not give any advance warning of their protest Wednesday in order to avoid any potential clashes with authorities.
According to the spokesperson, the families are also readying a campaign to boycott all kinds of Turkish goods in Lebanon.
“The next step will be even more peaceful,” said Zogheib. “We will call on all the Lebanese to a gathering at Martyrs’ Square and call for the boycotting of Turkish goods in Lebanon,” he added.
Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said Wednesday that the families had the right to protest so long as the demonstrations are peaceful.
He also expressed hope that the demonstrations would not hamper official efforts by Lebanon to secure the release of the pilgrims.
“God help the families ... I don't blame them but only on condition that they don't obstruct the efforts we are exerting in the case,” said Charbel.
He added that the security forces were negotiating with the relatives to grant employees access to the Beirut offices.
Charbel also expressed hope Ankara would step up efforts to ensure the hostages are released.
“We hope that Turkey will understand the position of the families and continue to help us,” the minister, who spoke to the Voice of Lebanon radio station, said.

Dear Allah, where are MY 72 virgins?
Joumana Haddad
Now Lebanon/January 2, 2013
“It’s an incredible con job when you think about it, to believe something now in exchange for something after death. Even corporations with their reward systems don’t try to make it posthumous.” – Gloria Steinem
So let us examine Heaven for a bit. Monotheists in particular have quite an interesting concept there: A post-mortem reward for the good and pious, the most appealing of which is the one reserved for good Muslims. While the Christian version is rather boring and metaphysical, the Muslim one is packed with physical action, to say the least.
In Christianity, there are five heavenly crowns mentioned in the New Testament that are awarded to believers. To them, heaven is a place of great joy, without the negative aspects of earthly life. There is no longer a separation between God and man. The believers exist in resurrected and brand-new bodies, and there is no sickness, no death and no tears (check Revelation 21:4).
In Islam, on the other hand, everything one longs for in this world will be there in Paradise (Jannah). Nothing is spared, and the whole lot is described in rigorous detail. It is a place with lush gardens and shady valleys; rivers of water, milk, honey and wines; delicious fruits of all seasons without thorns. The believers wear fancy robes, bracelets and perfumes as they partake in exquisite banquets, served in priceless vessels by immortal youthswhile they recline on couches inlaid with gold or precious stones. And let’s not forget the “houris.” Based on various Hadiths, every Muslim man who has done good deeds on this earth, has believed that there is one God and that Mohammad is the final prophet of God, will be rewarded by being wed to 72 virgins with "full-grown," "swelling" or "pear-shaped" breasts (depending on the guy’s taste)that are not inclined to dangle. Other Hadiths add that he will also have, mind you, an ever-erect penis that never softens—or else how could he take care of the 72 virgins? (Check in particular Ibn Kathir’s Tafsir of Surat Al-Rahman and other verses.)
Now, there has been some talk about misinterpretation of the word “houris,” and that they actually mean “raisins,” not virgins. But The Quran describes the physical characteristics of the houris in many places, and raisins, to my knowledge, cannot have lovely wide eyes and big breasts. They cannot be described as chaste, nor can they be wed to men.
The first thing that pops into one’s mind, after having read the above depiction of Jannah—if one is rational and sane, that is—is: Why all virgins? Isn’t that too much work? Wouldn’t a couple of professionals be of help, or, at least, consolation? Well, joking aside, I think this is yet another glaring proof of male insecurity, not to mention possessiveness, since the man cannot handle the idea of not being the first in a woman’s life, and that he must “own” her body. Because that’s what the patriarchal pattern, and the absurd myth of virginity, entail: an enormous lack of self-confidence in men who stress on it. They refuse to realize that this valued “flower” that needs to be saved from “shame and dishonor” is just a useless membrane, not a precious gift to one special guy. (Note on this subject the ridiculous Arab saying: “A woman’s honor is like a match: it can only be lit once.”)
The second question is: What about good Muslim women? What do they get? Their husbands can have four wives on earth and 72 in paradise, while they get nothing? No sexual reward for them? Of course not, since it is the man and the man alone who has sexual libido and desires; the woman simply undergoes the process as a duty. Which brings us again to the double standards in religion. And Islam is not the only one to blame. Let’s not forget that there were mainly two types of women in the New Testament: the whore/sinner and the pious virgin. In both we find the same phallocentric way of dividing the world into black and white, good and bad, etc. In addition, most of us have been taught from a young age that “Sex is a sin. Sex is bad. Sex is evil.”And yet the man will be rewarded in heaven by the abundance of what is considered “bad” and “sinful” on earth. Makes a lot of sense, doesn’t it?
I know that many believers will feel offended by my words, questions and sarcasm. In the vein of what I get in most of the hate mail I receive daily, many will say that I should be “minding my own business.” Well, guess what, as an atheist and post feminist, expressing these thoughts is minding my business. And while you feel offended by me expressing my non-belief in your God, you need to start acknowledging that I, and others like me, feel as much offended by you expressing your belief in him everyday, everywhere around us. Atheist language and materialization can in no way level up to the religious exhibitionism that you drown us in continuously.
I also realize that I am alienating lots of people who could be won to the cause of women’s rights were I more conciliating. But conciliation is not my strongest quality, especially when I read stuff like this:
- For the man is not of the woman: but the woman of the man. Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.The New Testament, 1 Corinthians 11:8–9
- Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allah has given the one more strength than the other, and because they support them from their means. Therefore the righteous women are devoutly obedient, and guard in the husband’s absence what Allah would have them guard. As to those women on whose part ye fear disloyalty and ill conduct, admonish them first, next refuse to share their beds, and last beat them.The Quran, The Women: 34
- You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. The Old Testament,Exodus 20:17
When you stop being offended by my refusal to believe the stuff above, and my considering it insulting to my dignity as a woman and human being, and when you start being more tolerant toward my existence and that of other non-believers, then I might rest my case. (Oh, and by the way, tolerance does not mean refraining from burning or stoning us, as good hypocritical Christian readers keep reminding me to convince me that their religion is better. We do not need to be thankful for practicing our right to express ourselves without being killed in return.)
Will I be condemned to eternal damnation and denied the ultimate pleasures of Heaven?So be it. I am ready to take that risk. And all of you who feel outraged by my unpopular words should rather rest tranquil since you “know” for a fact that your god will punish me. So why all the fuss?
Heaven, you say? With all due respect to people who believe in fairy tales (and need them), what could paradise be other than a wonderful illusion invented by a few geniuses (sometimes they are called prophets, other times saints and mystics, depending on the cultural and social contexts) in order to control the masses, promising them in return a reward that they will never be able to grant? Or, at least, a reward with no guarantee of delivery? Can you imagine an easier, yet more Machiavellian trick pulled on millions and millions of minds, eager to be comforted in their fears and doubts and day-to-day challenges and crises? Do you really want to bet your life, and principles, and behavior, and choices on that? Wouldn’t it be healthier, and more rewarding, to set for yourself an earthly ethic and morality, based on decency, respect and universal humanistic values?
Back to the top: Rivers of Chardonnay and plenty of beautiful, breasty women... Why read Dante’s Divine Comedy? Religious texts are so much more gratifying. In short: Heaven is a Hugh Heffner palace that thrives on sex and alcohol. The only missing elements, to make it perfect, are drugs and rock and roll. But then again, who knows?
These might be a surprise bonus up there!
P.S.For those questioning my articles on the pretext that my arguments are not referenced, this is not an academic study. As for the references, they are out there, widely available on Google for those willing to do their homework. Those who are not ill-intentioned know very well I am not inventing anything. As for the ill-intentioned… well, the adjective “ill” is not there randomly.
*Joumana Haddad is author of many books, among which “I killed Scheherazade”. Her latest book, “Superman is an Arab- On God, marriage, macho men and other disastrous inventions” (Westbourne Press, London, 2012) is now available in Lebanese bookshops and on Amazon.