LCCC ENGLISH DAILY
NEWS BULLETIN
January 16/2013
Bible Quotation for today/Advice
about Women
Sirach 09/ Don't be jealous of the wife you love. You will
only be teaching her how to do you harm. Do not surrender your dignity to
any woman. Keep away from other men's wives or they will trap you.
Don't keep company with female musicians; they will trick you. Don't look
too intently at a virgin, or you may find yourself forced to pay a bride price.
Don't give yourself to prostitutes, or you may lose everything you own. So
don't go looking about in the streets or wandering around in the run-down parts
of town. When you see a good-looking woman, look the other way; don't let
your mind dwell on the beauty of any woman who is not your wife. Many men have
been led astray by a woman's beauty. It kindles passion as if it were fire.
Don't sit down to eat with another man's wife or join her for a drink. You may
give in to the temptation of her charms and be destroyed by your passion.
Friendships with Others
Never abandon old friends; you will never find a new one who can take their
place. Friendship is like wine; it gets better as it grows older. Don't be
jealous of a sinner's success; you don't know what kind of disaster is in store
for him. Don't take pleasure in the things that make ungodly people happy;
remember that they will be held guilty as long as they live. If you keep
away from someone who has the power to put you to death, you will not have to
fear for your life; but if you must go near him, be very careful, or he may kill
you. Be conscious that you are walking among hidden traps, that you are an easy
target. Get to know the people around you as well as you can, and take advice
only from those who are qualified to give it. Engage in conversation with
intelligent people, and let the Law of the Most High be the topic of your
discussions. Choose righteous people for your dinner companions. Your chief
pride should be your fear of the Lord.
Rulers
A skilled worker is admired for the things he makes, and a leader's wisdom is
proved by his words. Someone who speaks rashly and recklessly is feared
and hated by everyone in town.
Latest analysis, editorials, studies,
reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
Egypt between Gulf estrangement and Iranian
courtship/By
Dr. Hamad Al-Majid/Asharq Alawsat/January 16/13
Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous
Sources for January 16/13
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea : Orthodox law
only proposal with sufficient support
Aoun Restates Orthodox Law Support: We Will Veto
Any Proposal that Does not Assure Equality
New Proposals Threaten to Complicate Electoral
Subcommittee Task
President Michel Suleiman Advocates Government
Proposed Electoral Draft-Law
Lebanon ranks low on world and regional economic
freedom
Judiciary Sets Date for Mamlouk's Interrogation,
Informant's Testimony
Gemayel Says Marginalizing Christians No Longer
Acceptable, Urges March 14 to Propose Alternatives
Electoral Subcommittee Finishes 1st Round of
Meetings, Submits Report to Berri
Support of Christians for Orthodox Proposal Likely
to Put them at Loggerheads with al-Mustaqbal
Mustaqbal: Orthodox Gathering Law Transforms
People into Sectarian Tribes
Lebanese Soldier Indicted for Collaborating with
Israel
Road Blocked outside French Embassy as Miqati Calls
Paoli, Slams Delay in Freeing Abdallah
Jumblatt: Senate needed to address national issues
Electoral committee backs Orthodox proposal, FPM MP
says
Meqdad Clan Spokesman Says 'Reasons Behind Arrest
Unknown'
Iran sends monkeys into space – so can place nukes
anywhere on earth
Obama meets new Saudi interior minister at White
House
Jailed Kurdish rebel chief demands Paris murders
solved soon
19 killed in Egypt train crash
Blasts at Syrian university kill more than 80
Assad can't be excluded from 2014 vote: Syria
minister
Push for Syria war crimes probe as 26 children die
Egyptian-made cluster bombs used in Syria - HRW
Russia suspends operations at consulate in Aleppo,
Syria
The battle for Aleppo’s airports continues
U.N. Security Council to Meet on Syria This
Month
Syria Violence Kills 26 Children amid Push for War
Crimes Probe
Syria war envelops region in 'staggering' crisis
13 killed in airstrike near Damascus: Activists
Obama refuses to negotiate debt ceiling raise
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea : Orthodox law only
proposal with sufficient support
January 15, 2013/The Daily Star/BEIRUT: Lebanese Forces leader
Samir Geagea said Tuesday the controversial electoral draft law by the Orthodox
Gathering is the only proposal with a parliamentary majority, asking its critics
to find alternatives with sufficient backing. Meanwhile, Geagea's allies in the
Future Movement remained adamant on their opposition to the proposed law.
“The reality is that there is one electoral proposal with a parliamentary
majority while the rest lack such a backing,” Geagea told reporters in a
televised news conference from Meerab.
He added that his party along with his its allies in the March 14 coalition had
launched talks with various parties in a bid to garner support for the
opposition’s proposal based on small districts but failed.
“We tried so hard to secure the support of 65 MPs for the small-district
[proposal] but we couldn’t,” the LF leader said, adding that the parties were
only able to secure the support of 55 MPs for the draft law based on a majority
system. The Orthodox Gathering proposal, in which voters elect MPs from their
own sect, has been adopted by the main Christian parties in the country but has
drawn the ire of the Future Movement, MP Walid Jumblatt, President Michel
Sleiman and some March 14 Christian figures.
The draft law’s opponents argue that such a proposal would strengthen sectarian
divides in the country and allow for the rise of extremists while some
Christians say it would hurt rather than benefit the Christian presence in the
country, as it would show disparities between the numbers of Muslim and
Christians.
During last week’s meetings of the subcommittee studying a new electoral law,
six MPs out of the nine subcommittee members supported the Orthodox electoral
proposal.
Geagea said it was unacceptable for the proposal’s critics to merely reject its
adoption without providing alternatives that not only secure fair representation
but also the backing of 65 lawmakers.
“We know there are gaps in the electoral proposal and there are legitimate
critiques but no one has given us any other alternative in return,” Geagea said.
“I ask everyone opposed to [the Orthodox Gathering law] what we should do in
this regard then,” he added.
He also noted that the discussion should not merely focus on the Orthodox law
but cover the need to search for a new electoral law.
“The issue now is to find a new electoral law that guarantees the best
representation and many Lebanese factions represented in the Parliament want to
change the existing law. I hope that all our partners understand this,” Geagea
said. Asked about a return to the amended 1960 law used in the 2009 elections,
as suggested by Jumblatt, Geagea said such an option was not on the table.
“Suggesting a return to the 1960s is not an option and not acceptable,” he said.
Reiterating their fierce opposition to the Orthodox Gathering draft law, the
Future parliamentary bloc said such a proposal would divide the country into
sectarian villages.
"We reiterate our opposition to the Orthodox Gathering law ... this proposal
turns the people into sectarian villages not united by a national interest and
gives the wrong message about Lebanon,” the bloc said in a statement.
The bloc, however, voiced its readiness to discuss any proposal that complements
“national partnership.”
The lawmakers also affirmed their insistence on adopting a new law that would
secure freedom of choice and respect the principles stipulated in the Taif
Accord.
Aoun Restates Orthodox Law Support: We Will Veto Any
Proposal that Does not Assure Equality
Naharnet/Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun restated
on Tuesday his support of the Orthodox Gathering's electoral draft law, saying
that he will veto any law that does not assure equality between Christians and
Muslims."There is a Muslim domination over the Christian choice,” Aoun stated in
an interview with OTV, adding that the Taif accord has granted Christians 64
deputies but they “never really elected their own lawmakers”.
"The executive authority is in the hand of Sunnis while the legislative
authority is controlled by Shiites. Where do Christians have an impact?” he
remarked.
The FPM leader said that there is a true elimination of Christians: “425,000
Christian of them do not elect their own MPs or are not even represented”.
Responding to the critiques direct towards the Orthodox draft law, Aoun rejected
describing it as unconstitutional, explaining that the Lebanese law itself
divides the parliamentary seats based on a sectarian basis.
"Only after he is elected a lawmaker becomes a representative of the entire
nation,” he noted.
Aoun said: "As long as the situation in Lebanon is as it is we will not give up
this law and if they want a civil state, we will form a board after the
elections that would look into the type of regime we want”.
Commenting on March 14's Independent Christian leader's opposition to this law,
the FPM leader said: “They are nobodies and we will not give up just
representation for them”.
Aoun addressed Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat's criticism
of the Orthodox Gathering's draft, saying he only rejects it because it does not
suit his interests.
"Why demand the elimination of sectarianism in the electoral law while we do not
even have unity in other fields like education?” Aoun asked.
Aoun also noted that Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi supports the Orthodox
Gathering's draft electoral law.
“The proposal that divides Lebanon into 50 electoral districts did not pass in
the parliamentary committees' talks while 6 out of 8 blocs supported the
Orthodox law,” he said.
The Christian four-party committee on the electoral law had agreed to endorse
the electoral system proposed by the so-called Orthodox Gathering, under which
each sect would elect its own lawmakers.
But the proposal was criticized by President Michel Suleiman, Premier Najib
Miqati, Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat, al-Mustaqbal
Movement, Independent Christians in March 14 and several other figures.
Discussing the situation of Syrian refugees in Lebanon, Aoun said: “Lebanon
cannot handle this flow of refugees and it has become an alarming problem of
overpopulation”.
"We have told (Prime Minister Najib) Miqati that he cannot disassociate himself
or the cabinet from counting the number of refugees and from deploying security
forces on the border,” Aoun noted.
"Assad's regime will not fall and they will end up communicating and holding
national dialogues to find a solution for the current situation,” he said.
According to the latest report issued by the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees, 170,637 Syrian refugees have been registered in Lebanon while
reports say that around 50,000 are still not registered.
The government has been distancing itself from the uprising in Syria which
started as peaceful demonstrations against President Bashar Assad's regime but
turned into a bloody crackdown that has so far led to 60,000 deaths.
President Michel Suleiman Advocates Government Proposed
Electoral Draft-Law
Naharnet/President Michel Suleiman called on Tuesday for the adoption of an
electoral draft-law proposed by the government in August by introducing
amendments to it if need be.
During a speech in Baabda palace, Suleiman “invited (lawmakers) to start
discussing a draft-law proposed by the cabinet and introduce the necessary
amendments if the need arises.”
Suleiman has criticized the so-called Orthodox Gathering proposal which projects
Lebanon as a single district and calls on each sect to elect its own MPs based
on proportionality.
The government's draft-law instead calls for dividing Lebanon into 13
medium-sized districts in a proportional representation system.
In his speech during the protocol New Year visit of the diplomatic corps to
Baabda palace, the president cited several challenges facing the government,
including maintaining consultations among the different parties to resolve the
political crisis and luring the rival leaders back to the national dialogue
table.
Other challenges include keeping the country away from violence and foreign
interests and preparing for this year's parliamentary elections based on
democratic means.
Describing the work of ambassadors based in Beirut as “diplomatic dynamism,”
Suleiman hoped that the diplomats would encourage local and foreign parties to
respect the Baabda Declaration, guarantee the support for the U.N. peacekeepers
based south of the Litani river and push Israel to implement the remaining
articles of Security Council resolution 1701.
Suleiman called for “providing military assistance to the Lebanese army to allow
it to carry out its national duty in protecting the border and combating
terrorism.”
He also urged donors and major powers to provide financial support to UNRWA,
back the Lebanese economy and intensify efforts to resolve the Arab-Israeli
conflict and allow the Palestinians to return home.
Ahead of his speech, the papal ambassador to Lebanon Gabriele Caccia, addressed
Suleiman on behalf of the diplomats, hoping that Lebanon would consolidate
coexistence despite differences among different parties.
He also hoped that Lebanon would be able to confront the daily challenges facing
it and that the parliamentary elections would be held democratically.
Caccia lauded Suleiman for sponsoring “the Baabda Declaration that reflects the
free voice of Lebanon against the challenges in the region.”
The Declaration represents “the mobilization of Lebanese institutions and is a
success that you achieved during your term,” he told the president.
Rival political leaders agreed in June to commit themselves to dialogue and
political, security and media pacification, in what was dubbed as the Baabda
Declaration.
They decided to control the tense Lebanese-Syrian border, back the Lebanese army
financially and morally and keep Lebanon away from the policy of regional and
international conflicts in an effort to spare it the negative repercussions of
regional tensions.
“Lebanon sought hard to keep itself away from the negative repercussions of the
conflict in Syria,” Suleiman said in his speech.
He reiterated his call for a political solution among all the parties to end the
violence in the neighboring country.
New Proposals Threaten to Complicate Electoral
Subcommittee Task
Naharnet /Several proposals made by rival
lawmakers during a meeting of a parliamentary subcommittee on Tuesday are likely
to delay agreement on an electoral draft-law.
“We continued discussions on all draft-laws and new proposals made by MPs,” said
the chairman of the nine-member subcommittee, MP Robert Ghanem, on the first
round of the second phase of talks aimed at reaching consensus on an electoral
draft-law.
He said discussions will continue in a second session on Tuesday afternoon.
All members called for holding the elections on time and stressed on true
partnership between Muslims and Christians, Ghanem told reporters.
The lawmakers on Monday sealed the results of the first phase of their
discussions on the proposals and the number of parliament members. Ghanem handed
Speaker Nabih Berri the minutes of the meetings during a meeting in Ain el-Tineh.
The second phase which kicked off on Tuesday is aimed at reaching consensus on
the electoral draft-law. But several proposals made by the rival MPs showed that
the different parties are likely to face difficulties in finding converging
ideas.
MP Akram Shehayyeb, who addressed reporters after the subcommittee chairman,
said he proposed for parliament to hold intense meetings pending a decision on a
modern consensual law based on the Taef accord.
Shehayyeb, who is representing MP Walid Jumblat's centrist Progressive Socialist
Party in the meetings, said he also proposed the establishment of a senate and
the adoption of administrative decentralization. Lawmaker Alain Aoun from MP
Michel Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement did not reveal if he had made any new
proposals during Tuesday's meeting. The FPM - part of the March 8 majority
alliance - is a staunch supporter of the so-called Orthodox Gathering proposal
which calls for considering Lebanon a single district and allowing each sect to
elect its own MPs in a propositional representation system.
“We discussed the electoral draft suggestions again. In spite of what was
achieved in the past days, discussions took their legislative path,” he said,
hinting that the Orthodox proposal would be adopted. “We should find a solution
that combines the rejection to hold the polls based on the 1960 law … and
finding an electoral draft-law that receives the backing of all parties,” he
told reporters. Phalange MP Sami Gemayel appeared to be critical of Shehayyeb's
proposal, saying he supported discussions on the political system in the country
but through another committee and not the subcommittee whose mission is limited
to agreeing on an electoral draft-law.
The opposition March 14 lawmaker said he proposed the adoption of either a
draft-law that divides Lebanon into 50 districts or the Orthodox Gathering
proposal based on a winner-takes-all system and not proportionality.
“I explained to the subcommittee members that it is easy to implement the
winner-takes-all system in the Orthodox Gathering,” he told reporters. “But
those rejecting it should propose alternatives,” the MP said about the PSP and
al-Mustaqbal movement.
Al-Mustaqbal MP Ahmed Fatfat said in response to Gemayel's suggestion that al-Mustaqbal
agreed for proportionality to be implemented in certain areas “but in other
closed regions the winner-takes-all system should prevail.”
“There is a true crisis in the country and we should find a solution that
appeases all sides,” he said.
The Orthodox proposal based on a winner-takes-all system made by Gemayel “needs
further discussions because it was proposed for the first time” on Tuesday, he
said.
As for Shehayyeb's proposal, “it requires that we consult our leaderships,” he
said. “All the proposals could have solutions if there is goodwill.”
Lebanese Forces MP George Adwan, also a member of the March 14 opposition,
criticized the suggestion of Shehayyeb, saying it “goes beyond the discussions
on an electoral draft-law.”“We can't discuss issues linked to the system because
it would change our mission,” he said about the subcommittee.
While expressing keenness on holding the elections on time, he also said “we
can't discuss about abolishing sectarianism” as time is running fast.
Lebanon ranks low on world and regional economic
freedom
January 15, 2013/By T.K. Maloy/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: The Heritage Foundation 2013 Index of Economic Freedom rated Lebanon at
91st in terms of economic freedoms, out of 177 countries included in this year’s
report. Of the 15 ranked countries in the Middle East and North Africa, seven
states improved their scores while seven others lost economic freedom. The
United Arab Emirates and Jordan posted modest gains and advanced into the
“mostly free” category. Lebanon and Morocco slid back into the “mostly unfree”
group, Heritage Foundation, a Washington D.C.-based think tank, said in a
statement. According to the report, Lebanon’s economic freedom score is 59.5,
making its economy the 91st freest in this year’s tally. The report said that
its score had decreased by 0.6 point since last year, mostly due to declines in
property rights, business freedom and labor freedom.
Also of note in the report is that Lebanon is ranked 10th out of 15 countries in
the MENA region, and the country’s overall score is just below the world
average.
Nassib Ghobril, chief economist for the Byblos Bank Group, said: “The prevailing
lack of political will to implement structural reforms is a direct cause for
Lebanon’s slide in economic freedoms both regionally and globally. The price of
politicians’ and officials’ complacency and lack of accountability is that
Lebanon, which is the oldest free-market economy in the Arab world, ranks
currently so low in the region and has slipped into the ‘mostly unfree’
category. “This is another negative perception of the Lebanese economy and its
competitiveness. We should not be surprised at this outcome when the government
does not implement reforms, monopolizes entire sectors, and allows the public
sector to grow unchecked. This is just one of many global benchmarks where
Lebanon’s ranking has slipped recently,” he added.
But not all economists seem to agree with Ghobril. Simon Neaime, an economics
professor at the American University of Beirut and director of the Institute of
Financial Economics, said he did not agree entirely with the report.
“I believe it is overly pessimistic. I do not agree with the assessment of some
of the indices that have been used to asses economic freedom in Lebanon,” Neaime
said.
“Relative to other countries in the region, Lebanon, I believe, is doing much
better [on economic freedom] than Jordan, for example.”
According to the Heritage report, over the past five years, the Lebanese economy
has “registered fragile progress toward greater economic freedom,” adding that
“regulatory inefficiency, exacerbated by political volatility, curbs
private-sector development. Despite some improvement in streamlining business
formation, government bureaucracy and the lack of transparency create a poor
entrepreneurial climate.”
For the Heritage analyst it is critical that Lebanon makes deeper institutional
reforms to improve the foundations of economic freedom, which will in turn
improve the country’s prospects for long-term economic development and increased
poverty reduction. Touching on well-known problems, Heritage noted that the
Lebanese economy “has been severely disrupted since 1975 by Civil War and Syrian
occupation.”
Continuing security problems also considerably hamper the economy, with the
report adding that “political uncertainty at home” and the ongoing bloody civil
war in neighboring Syria have slowed recovery significantly.
Among top criticisms were on the rule of law, with the report noting that the
Lebanese judiciary is weak and vulnerable to political interference.
“The government-appointed prosecuting magistrate exerts considerable influence
on judges. Trials, particularly of commercial cases, drag on for years. Lebanese
law provides for some protection of intellectual property rights, but piracy
remains a significant problem. Rampant corruption is aggravated by sectarian
ruptures that are exacerbated by conflict in neighboring Syria.”
Judiciary Sets Date for Mamlouk's Interrogation,
Informant's Testimony
Naharnet/Military Examining Magistrate Judge Riyad Abu Ghida set the date for
questioning Syrian security chief and another Syrian colonel and the date for
hearing informant's in ex-Minister Michel Samaha's case.
The state-run National News Agency reported on Monday that Abu Ghida has set
February 4 as the interrogation session to question Syrian Security Chief Maj.
Gen. Ali al-Mamlouk and a colonel identified only as Adnan, who are charged
along with Samaha with plotting a terror attack in Lebanon. Samaha was detained
in August. The NNA said that Abu Ghida decided to post the court order at the
entrance of Beirut's military court as the whereabouts of al-Mamlouk and Adnan
are not known. Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5) later said that Abu Ghida will
hear informant Milad Kfouri's testimony on January 28.
Kfouri is reportedly the man behind reporting Samaha to the Internal Security
Forces.
Support of Christians for Orthodox Proposal Likely to
Put them at Loggerheads with al-Mustaqbal
Naharnet /Lebanon's top Christian parties from both the majority
and opposition camps confirmed on Monday their support for the so-called
Orthodox Gathering proposal, a move that is likely to put them at loggerheads
with the opposition’s al-Mustaqbal movement on an electoral draft-law.
In remarks to As Safir daily, Phalange party leader Amin Gemayel, who is a
Christian leader in the opposition March 14 alliance, said: “We care for
achieving the right representation for Christians.”
Gemayel said that a draft-law proposed by Christian opposition MPs, which
divides Lebanon into 50 districts based on a winner-takes-all system, guarantees
the minimum acceptable level of representation.
“But it hasn't received enough support similar to the Orthodox Gathering
proposal which guaranteed a parliamentary majority,” he told As Safir.
Despite his backing of the 50 district draft-law, Gemayel held onto the Orthodox
proposal that considers Lebanon a single district for winning the majority
support.
Asked about his ties with al-Mustaqbal movement leader Saad Hariri, the former
president said he was keen on the alliance among the March 14 opposition
parties.
He also hoped that a solution would be reached to preserve the alliance.
Al-Mustaqbal is among several parties that have announced their rejection to the
Orthodox proposal, saying it deepens sectarian divisions.
In similar remarks to As Safir, Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun, from
the March 8 majority alliance, reiterated that there was no alternative to the
Orthodox proposal.
“It is the best and there isn't any more convenient”proposal for “achieving a
true representation for Christians,” he said.
Asked about the stance of the Phalange party and the Lebanese Forces, another
Christian opposition party, Aoun said: “I don't want to judge their intentions
but what we've seen so far is that they are not backing off from the
proposal.”Change and Reform bloc MP Alain Aoun, a member of the subcommittee
that discussed suggested draft-laws, echoed similar remarks, telling An Nahar
that the Orthodox proposal should be referred to the joint parliamentary
committees for discussion after it received the majority's support. “Six out of
nine members of the subcommittee backed it,” he said.
Another member of the subcommittee, Lebanese Forces MP George Adwan, reiterated
that his party backs alternative proposals that guarantee a balanced
representation.
“But if there was no consensus on that, then the alternative would be the
Orthodox” proposal, he told An Nahar.
Al-Mustaqbal bloc MP Ahmed Fatfat snapped back, however, telling Voice of
Lebanon radio (100.5) that the proposal would not be approved.
Gemayel Says Marginalizing Christians No Longer
Acceptable, Urges March 14 to Propose Alternatives
Naharnet/The Phalange Party said on Monday that it is open to discuss any
electoral law provided that it does not marginalize Christians' votes.
"We reject an election held based on the 1960 law,” MP Sami Gemayel said after
the weekly meeting of the party's political bureau.
Gemayel stated: “We will no longer tolerate the marginalization and the
misrepresentation of Christians who prefer not to vote in districts with Muslim
majority because they know their votes will not make a difference”.
"For the first time in 23 years different parties in Lebanon are communicating
and sharing their concerns,” he expressed, adding that the Phalange's only
condition is adopting an electoral law that assures just representation.
The Phalange lawmaker called on the party's allies to come forward with their
own suggestions of an electoral law instead of criticizing the Orthodox
Gathering's draft.
"What brings us together as March 14 is rejecting the illegal possession of
arms, our insistence on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and our faith in the
constitutional institutions' role in Lebanon,” Gemayel said, explaining that in
what concerns the electoral law, the alliance's parties have yet to reach an
accord.
The Christian four-party committee on the electoral law had agreed to endorse
the electoral system proposed by the so-called Orthodox Gathering, under which
each sect would elect its own lawmakers.
But the proposal was criticized by President Michel Suleiman, Premier Najib
Miqati, Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat, al-Mustaqbal
Movement, March 14 Independent Christian leaders and several other figures."We
also urge (Progressive Socialist Party's leader) MP Walid Jumblat to propose a
solution,” Gemayel said, insisting that going back to adopting the 1960's law is
out of the question.The 1960 law, which adopts the district as an electoral
district, was adopted in the 2009 parliamentary elections.
Jumblatt: Senate needed to address national issues
January 14, 2013/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt has called for the
establishment of a Lebanese Senate as stipulated by the country’s Taif Accord.
“Let’s free the Parliament from sectarian representation as the Taif Accord
stipulates and establish a Senate in which all Lebanese groups get represented,”
said Jumblatt in his weekly stance published by PSP-affiliated Al-Anbaa website
Monday.
The Taif Accord, which brokered an end to Lebanon’s 1975-90 Civil War, equally
divided Parliament between Christian and Muslim lawmakers.
The Taif Accord, Lebanon’s amended constitution, calls for the establishment of
a Senate that incorporates representatives of each sect and that the
distribution of seats in Parliament by sect be abolished.
According to Jumblatt, a Senate would have the authority to address the major
national issues in the country and serve to ease the concerns of Lebanese
parties.
The PSP leader called for overcoming sectarianism in Lebanon and seeking an
electoral law that enhances more unity.
“It is time for the Lebanese to have an electoral law that enhances common
ground among them rather than seeking proposals that increase sectarian
divisions and take them back to past centuries,” said Jumblatt.
“The Lebanese are capable of overcoming sectarian barriers if the right
political and electoral circumstances are available to them,” said Jumblatt.
A proposal put forward by the Maronite church and which advocates each sect
should elect its own representatives has recently gained the support of the four
major Christian rival parties in the country.
The Orthodox Gathering proposal, which projects Lebanon as a single district
where each sect votes for its members in Parliament under a system of
proportional representation, has been divisive in the country.
A number of independent Christian figures, President Michel Sleiman, Jumblatt,
Prime Minister Najib Mikati and former Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s Future
Movement have all opposed the law.
Electoral Subcommittee Finishes 1st Round of Meetings,
Submits Report to Berri
Naharnet/The parliamentary subcommittee tasked with debating the
country's next electoral law on Monday finished its first round of talks after
it held nine meetings without being able to reach consensus among its members,
as the Free Patriotic Movement insisted that the proceedings of the meetings
were wrapped up and that the Orthodox Gathering's proposal received the approval
of the majority of conferees.
“The subcommittee discussed today the draft of the report that wraps up the
proceedings of the first phase and which will be submitted to the parliament
speaker. Meetings will resume on Tuesday morning,” MP Robert Ghanem told
reporters after the meeting.
Meanwhile, Change and Reform bloc MP Alain Aoun told OTV: “We call for
continuing discussions on the Orthodox Gathering proposal at the general
assembly of parliament because the majority of MPs agreed on it during the
discussions" of the subcommittee.
LBCI said all members of the subcommittee held onto their stances as National
Struggle Front MP Akram Shehayyeb insisted that the report is not binding.
“The report submitted by the MPs to Berri includes two clauses: one about
proposals and draft laws and another about the six seats allocated to expats. It
also says that the Orthodox Gathering proposal has received the approval of the
majority of conferees,” MTV reported.
It also said that Speaker Nabih Berri delegated his adviser Ali Hamdan to the
meeting in a bid to seal off the report and that Hamdan was seen conducting
extensive talks.
MTV noted that there is an “alternative” to the Orthodox Gathering proposal that
is being discussed behind the scenes, revealing that “important meetings will be
held in Ain al-Tineh on Tuesday in a bid to reach common ground among parties.”
Before he joined the meeting earlier on Monday, MP Alain Aoun told reporters:
“Today, our demand has been achieved, as the discussions will be wrapped up in
official minutes of meeting that will be submitted to the joint committees.”
He voiced willingness to “continue discussions during the meetings in a bid to
reach common ground and an electoral law that satisfies all parties.”
For his part, Development and Liberation bloc MP Ali Bazzi said “Berri will
receive the minutes of meeting today or tomorrow.”
“Our stance is clear: we want real equal power-sharing and partnership,” said MP
Sami Gemayel.
Road Blocked outside French Embassy as Miqati Calls
Paoli, Slams Delay in Freeing Abdallah
Naharnet/Demonstrators blocked the road outside the French embassy in Beirut on
Monday after a French court postponed the release of Lebanese leftist militant
George Abdallah, who has spent 28 years in jail, as Prime Minister Najib Miqati
condemned the “unjustified” delay.
Dozens of leftist protesters and supporters of Abdallah rallied in front of
Paris' embassy in the Mathaf area, condemning the policies of France and
accusing it of being a proxy for the United States, which has openly rejected
the release of the Lebanese activist.
"France is an American whore," protesters sprayed on the mission's walls in
French and in Arabic.
A number of young demonstrators tried to storm the embassy but were repelled by
security forces who reinforced their presence in the vicinity of the French
diplomatic building. Both the organizers of the protest and the family condemned
any attempt to attack the embassy or security forces protecting its premises.
“We reject to be turned by some enthusiastic youths into guards for the embassy.
We urge everyone to abide by democratic means and refrain from hurling any
objects at the embassy's building,” Joseph Abdallah, George's brother, told
reporters.
Protesters heeded the call and moved away from the embassy's gates as MTV said a
demonstrator was injured in a scuffle with security forces.
Meanwhile, PM Miqati telephoned French Ambassador to Lebanon Patrice Paoli,
inquiring about the reasons behind delaying Abdallah's release.
“The delay in freeing Abdallah is an unjustified step that violates his civil
rights,” Miqati told Paoli during the phone call, according to a statement
released by the premier's office.
“The relevant French authorities must speed up his release so that he returns to
his homeland and family,” Miqati added, stressing that “the Lebanese government
has been following this case ever since it assumed its responsibilities and was
preparing to welcome Abdallah upon his arrival in Lebanon.”
The prime minister also noted that "the appropriate security measures have been
taken to protect the French embassy during the popular protest this afternoon.”
Earlier on Monday, Abdallah's brother, Joseph, threatened to organize protests
outside the French embassy after France's interior minister failed to sign the
leftist militant's expulsion order.
In remarks to LBCI, Joseph Abdallah said his family was surprised by the
postponement of the decision after reports that the procedures relating to his
deportation had been delayed until Jan. 28.
He warned that it would take escalatory measures if his brother was not sent
back home, including protests outside the French embassy, the presidential
palace in Baabda and the Grand Serail.
Security forces immediately sent patrols to the Mathaf area where the French
mission is located after the family's threat, Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5)
reported.
A French court ruled last week that Abdallah can be released on condition he is
expelled from French territory.
The 61-year-old was granted parole in November on condition of his expulsion but
was not released pending a decision on an appeal by prosecutors.
The court in Paris confirmed the parole decision and said the interior ministry
had until January 14 to issue the expulsion order.
Abdallah was arrested in 1984 and sentenced to life in prison three years later
for his alleged involvement in the 1982 murders of U.S. military attache Charles
Robert Ray and Israeli diplomat Yacov Barsimantov.
Abdallah had been eligible for parole from 1999 onwards but failed in seven
previous bids to be released.
U.S. Ambassador to France Charles Rivkin had criticized the decision to grant
him parole, arguing that Abdallah had never expressed remorse and could yet be a
threat if released.
His family was on Monday gearing up for large celebrations at the airport and
his hometown of Qobayyet when it heard of the deportation’s postponement.
Electoral committee backs Orthodox proposal, FPM MP says
Now Lebanon/Change and Reform bloc MP Alain Aoun said that the
Orthodox Gathering proposal received on Monday the approval of the majority of
the members in the parliamentary sub-committee tasked to discuss the electoral
draft laws. “The Orthodox proposal received the majority’s [approval]… and the
next step is [in the hands of] Speaker Nabih Berri,” the Free Patriotic Movement
official told OTV channel following the parliamentary sub-committee’s meeting.
Aoun went back to participating in the electoral sub-committee’s meetings, after
having announced on Thursday that he withdrew from the electoral law discussions
sessions “due to some MPs’ refusal to close and seal the session’s minutes.” “If
[some] parties expressed reservations, we cannot remain idle, especially since
those who object [to this proposal] do not present alternatives,” Aoun added.
Members of the parliamentary sub-committee began early last week their
discussions on different draft laws in order to choose a proposal to replace the
1960 version.
Lebanon’s four major Christian parties, including the opposition Lebanese Forces
and Kataeb parties, endorsed the Orthodox Gathering’s draft law that proposes
citizens vote for candidates of their own sect. However, the Future Movement,
the PSP and independent March 14 Christian figures rejected this proposal.
Meqdad Clan Spokesman Says 'Reasons Behind Arrest
Unknown'
Naharnet/The spokesman of al-Meqdad clan's military wing, Maher
al-Meqdad, denied on Monday that he knows the reasons behind his arrest in
September.
He pointed out in comments published in An Nahar newspaper that the clan had
handed over to General Security Chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim the Turkish
hostage without imposing any conditions.
Maher said that the fate Hassan al-Meqdad, who was kidnapped in Damascus in
August, is still unknown.
On Saturday, military tribunal Judge Imad al-Zein issued a decision to release
Maher on a LL12 million bail on condition he doesn't leave the country.
Several other members of the Maqdad family were arrested in September during
raids on Beirut's southern suburbs and other areas.
The raids came after the clan went on an abduction spree of Syrians and Turkish
nationals to avenge the kidnapping of family member Hassan.
13 killed in airstrike near Damascus: Activists
January 14, 2013/By Barbara Surk/Daily Star
In this photo taken from video obtained from the Shaam News Network, which has
been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, a Syrian
carries an injured child in a room of a house damaged in the aftermath of a
strike by Syrian government warplanes on the residential neighborhood of
Maadamiyeh south of Damascus, Syria, Monday, Jan. 14, 2013. (AP Photo/Shaam News
Network via AP video)
BEIRUT: A Syrian airstrike tore through a house in a rebellious suburb of
Damascus Monday, killing at least 13 people including eight children as the
government ramped up its operations against the opposition strongholds ringing
the capital, activists said.
Government forces have used warplanes and multiple rocket launchers over the
past 24 hours in what activists described as some of the heaviest barrages of
the Damascus region since President Bashar Assad's regime launched an offensive
in November to dislodge rebels from the capital's outskirts.
The air raid struck a home with residents inside early Monday in the southern
suburb of Moadamiyeh, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human rights and
other activists said. Neighbors pulled the 13 bodies from the rubble, the
Observatory said, adding that at least seven more people remained trapped.
Syrian state media refuted that account, and blamed rebels for the deaths in
Moadamiyeh. The official SANA news agency said "terrorists" fired a shell at the
neighborhood from nearby Daraya, hitting a residential building and causing
casualties. The government refers to the rebels as terrorists.
"The noise from the bombardment is astounding today," a fighter who only
identified himself as Iyad said by satellite phone from an area near Moadamiyeh.
"The regime is using all kinds of weaponry, they are shelling Moadamiyeh from
nearby mountains,' he said, adding that telephone lines to the area have been
cut.
An amateur video posted online by activists showed young men walking over piles
of rubble, searching for people as women, apparently trapped inside buildings,
could be heard wailing and crying for help. A voice in the background said the
video is of Moadamiyeh.
A man cried "God is great" as the camera closed in on what appeared to be a
child's body covered in rubble. The child is face down on the ground next to
another body, with a hand sticking out from under the rubble.
In another video, the bodies of at least two children could be seen, their faces
bloodied from what appear to be head wounds. One toddler was lying on a gurney
partially covered in green blankets as a woman is heard crying and screaming:
"Why? Why, oh God, why?"
The caption says the children were less than a year old and were killed in the
Moadamiyeh attack Monday.
The videos appeared consistent with activist reports from the area.
Fighter jets also carried out fresh airstrikes on Daraya, a strategic suburb
close to a key military air base. Last week, the government said it has regained
control over more than half of the suburb.
Iyad, the fighter outside Damascus who didn't give his full name because of
security concerns, said the regime on Sunday dispatched reinforcements to Daraya.
The fresh troops were trying to advance and hold the territory, but have been
unsuccessful, he said.
Monday's attacks come a day after airstrikes and heavy shelling killed at least
45 people in the Damascus area.
The deadliest attack was reported in eastern Ghouta district, where 24 people,
including eight children, were killed by government air and artillery strikes.
The rest of the casualties, including 13 rebels killed in clashes, were in other
neighborhoods outside the capital.
Regime warplanes also bombed targets in the north Monday, hitting rebel
positions inside a sprawling air base in Idlib province in an effort to regain
control of the facility.
Rebels captured the Taftanaz helicopter base, which includes an airstrip, on
Friday, dealing a major blow to Assad's forces that have relied on its airpower
in the fight against the opposition.
The Observatory said the rebels retained control of the Taftanaz base that had
been used by the Syrian government to carry out airstrikes nationwide and
transports troops and supplies around the country.
A shell fired from Syria landed on an empty field near the Turkish border
village of Akcabaglar, in Kilis province late Sunday, damaging an olive tree,
the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. No one was hurt.
NATO has begun deploying Patriot missiles along Turkey's southern border with
Syria to protect the NATO ally country from any possible spillover from the
civil war in Syria. The six Patriot anti-missile systems are scheduled to become
operational later this month.
In recent months, Turkey fired artillery across the frontier to retaliate for
Syrian shells hitting Turkish soil, after five civilians were injured in
October.
It was not clear however, whether Turkish troops had retaliated to Sunday's
shelling.
The fighting has raged in Syria at a relentless pace despite a recent diplomatic
push to try to secure a peaceful settlement to the nearly 2-year-old conflict,
which the U.N. estimates has killed more than 60,000 people.
An international aid agency warned of a humanitarian catastrophe from Syria's
civil war, which has sent hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing to
neighboring countries.
In a new report released Monday, the New York based International Rescue
Committee highlighted rape as a "primary reason" that many families fled the
conflict, besides brutal killings, torture, targeted attacks and arrests
"Many women and girls relayed accounts of being attacked in public or in their
homes, primarily by armed men. These rapes, sometimes by multiple perpetrators,
often occur in front of family members," the report said, without identifying
those responsible.
The fear of rape is so significant that many families are marrying off their
daughters to "protect" them from rape. Others revert to early marriage if their
daughters have been sexually assaulted "to safeguard their honor."
Activists have often reported cases of soldiers or pro-government gunmen
attacking and raping women in Syria.
An independent commission appointed by the U.N. Human Rights Council last year
said Assad's regime and pro-government militiamen were directly responsible for
the killing of more than 100 civilians in the central region of Houla in late
May and numerous other murders, unlawful killings, acts of torture, rape and
other sexual violence and indiscriminate attacks on civilians .
In a speech earlier this month, Assad dismissed international calls to
relinquish power and vowed to continue fighting rebels.
The speech was condemned by the U.S. and its Western and Gulf Arab allies, while
Assad's backers in Russia and Iran said his proposal should be considered.
Those fighting to topple the regime, including rebels on the ground, have
repeatedly said they will accept nothing less than the president's departure,
dismissing any kind of settlement that leaves him in the picture.
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov criticized Western demands that Assad
step down. While acknowledging that the initiatives to talk to the opposition,
"probably don't go far enough," Lavrov called on the opposition to come up with
their plan to end the bloodshed.
"If I were in the opposition's place, I would put forth my own ideas in response
on how to establish a dialogue," Lavrov said Sunday during a visit to Ukraine.
Iyad, the fighter near Damascus, said Lavrov knows very well what the opposition
wants.
"We have said a million times we will accept nothing less than Assad's
resignation," he said.
Syria Violence Kills 26 Children amid Push for War Crimes
Probe
Naharnet/At least 26 children were killed in violence in Syria on Monday, a
watchdog said, fueling international calls for a war crimes probe into the
22-month conflict.
Reports of the child deaths came as Human Rights Watch accused President Bashar
Assad's regime of expanding its use of banned cluster bombs.
Eight of the children were killed in an air strike on the town of Moadamiyat
al-Sham, southwest of Damascus, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Five women were also killed.
"The children, all members of the same clan, were aged between six months and
nine years old," said the head of the Britain-based Observatory, Rami Abdel
Rahman.
State television blamed "terrorists" for the deaths.
Also near the capital, four other children were killed, including two siblings,
the Observatory said.
Eight children were killed in the northern province of Aleppo -- five of them in
an air strike.
Six more children died in other flashpoints in the strife-torn country.
The Observatory says that more than 3,500 children have been killed since the
Syrian conflict erupted in March 2011. The United Nations says more than 60,000
people have died in all, while the Observatory reported at least 126 killed on
Monday alone.
International medical organization Medecins Sans Frontieres condemned a Sunday
air strike on the Aleppo province town of Aazaz that wounded 99 people.
"The attack... was particularly devastating as it came just two weeks after air
strikes hit the city's health facilities, making it almost impossible for
medical staff to cope with an emergency on this scale," MSF said.
On the diplomatic front, at least 57 governments called on the U.N. Security
Council to refer the Syria conflict to the International Criminal Court for a
war crimes investigation.
Switzerland sent a petition requesting the move to the 15-member council, the
only body that can refer the case to the ICC but which is deeply divided over
the conflict.
The signatories included many European governments as well as Libya and Tunisia,
which both saw Arab Spring uprisings overthrow longstanding autocratic regimes.
The letter called on the Security Council to refer the Syria conflict for an ICC
investigation "without exceptions and irrespective of the alleged perpetrators."
As Syria is not an ICC member, only a Security Council referral could start a
war crimes investigation.
New York-based Human Rights Watch said other governments should sign up to the
Swiss-led initiative.
"Human Rights Watch urged other states, particularly Arab states who have
repeatedly voiced concern over the killings in Syria, to join the mounting calls
for accountability," the organization said in a statement.
But diplomats said the council's divide on Syria is so deep that no move by the
body is now possible.
Russia and China, both veto-wielding permanent council members, have refused to
sign the petition.
On Sunday, Russia said Assad's removal from power was not a part of past
international agreements on the crisis and so impossible to implement.
The wrangling comes amid warnings that the conflict, which according to the U.N.
has sent more than 600,000 Syrians fleeing into neighboring countries, is
growing more dangerous for civilians in the face of the regime's expanded use of
cluster bombs.
Syria "is now resorting to a notoriously indiscriminate type of cluster munition
that gravely threatens civilian populations," the director of HRW's arms
division Steve Goose said in a statement.
U.N.-Arab League peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, who last week dismissed peace
proposals by Assad as "one-sided", came in for more criticism from the Syrian
authorities with government daily al-Thawra describing him as an "aging
tourist".
Agence France Presse
U.N. Security Council to Meet on Syria This Month
Naharnet/The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council
are set to discuss the deteriorating situation in Syria at a meeting at the end
of January, a Russian diplomat said Monday.
Russia's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mikhail Bogdanov, told the Interfax
news agency that the meeting is likely to take place as Lakhdar Brahimi, the
U.N.'s peace envoy to Syria, presents a new report on the situation in the
country. Bogdanov said the meeting would be held "before the end of January,
around the 25th, 26th, 27th." Although he did not go into details of the
participants, he said a ministerial meeting was unlikely.
"It will be on a vice minister level," he said. The permanent members of the
Security Council are Russia and China, which have been traditional Damascus
allies, and the United States, Britain and France, which are calling for
President Bashar Assad to step down and actively support the opposition.
Bogdanov also indicated that the U.N. was looking at ways of sending a new
observer mission to Syria.
"It seems as if the need will emerge to send a solid team of international
observers there. I think several options are being discussed," he said.
Agence France Presse
Egypt between Gulf estrangement and Iranian courtship
By Dr. Hamad Al-Majid/Asharq Alawsat
Iran’s policy in the region is like a harmful virus that only spreads in a
contaminated climate. Egyptian-Gulf relations were polluted somewhat after the
victory of the Islamists in the Egyptian presidential elections, and the Gulf
governments’ fear that the revolution would be exported to their countries, and
so the Iranian virus has emerged, this time through the visit of Iran’s Foreign
Minister [Ali Akbar Salehi] to Egypt. Hamas’ relations with the Gulf were
contaminated because of the repercussions of successive Gulf crises and the
Gulf’s preference for dealing with Fatah, and so the Iranian virus spread within
the Palestinian body. The Lebanese environment has been contaminated by its
sectarian conflicts and hence the most dangerous strains of the virus extended
into southern Lebanon. Finally, the air between some Islamist trends and their
governments has also become contaminated, for example with the Ennahda movement
in Tunisia and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt during the Mubarak era, and thus
Iran, with its Shiite ideology, has tried to penetrate both states where the
Muslim community is 100 percent Sunni. Just as a virus may weaken in cleaner air
and become benign, the same goes for Iran’s policy, whereby it has been marred
and weakened as a result of the Syrian revolution. The brave, popular Syrian
revolution has become the strongest sterilizer; lethal to all germs created by
the Iranian virus, like the germs of “resistance”, “victory for the suppressed”,
“sectarianism” and “Islamic unity”. Yet because of this powerful blow dealt to
the Iranian virus, Iran’s policy has found a new opportunity for growth
reproduction in the polluted atmosphere between Cairo and some Gulf states.
However, the opportunity this time is much smaller, as the Syrian revolution,
with its strong sterilization dose, has made the Iranian virus appear weak as it
moves to new ground. The virus is being spread by the Iranian Foreign Minister,
who is primarily responsible for its extension and multiplication, from the
presidential palace in Cairo to al-Azhar. Yet even from the Sheikh of al-Azhar,
Salehi is finding resistance he did not encounter before. He is being told in
explicit, diplomatic language about the suffering of the Sunnis in Iran, the
Shiite proselytizing in Egypt; a country with a harmonious sectarian fabric, and
the need to criminalize the Iranian government for insulting the prophet.
The Iranian virus, as I pointed out earlier, strengthens or weakens in
accordance with a contaminated or clean environment, and this means that it can
become active at any moment. Here I will say that in the Gulf, certain
categories are working, albeit unintentionally, to create an appropriate
environment for the multiplication of Iranian virus and all the disease it
creates, through aggravating relations with a pivotal and influential state such
as Egypt. Some Gulf media outlets are attempting to cloud the atmosphere inside
Egypt under the pretext of weakening it politically and economically so it
becomes preoccupied with its internal problems, which in turn will create the
rotten environment required for Iranian virus. Instead, the Gulf governments and
their media must build on President Mursi’s policy of spurning Iran’s advances,
rather than doubting it.
The visit of the Iranian Foreign Minister Salehi to Egypt proves that this is
the new breeding ground for Iranian virus. Even though President Mursi scolded
the Iranians’ policy towards Syria in their own back yard, renounced the
legitimacy of Bashar al-Assad, condemning his brutal crimes, and stressed that
the security of the Gulf is a red line, the Iranians have repressed their anger.
They have forgotten President Mursi’s remarks and instead have embarked on
diplomatic activities to create a foothold for Iranian influence, which has been
severely damaged by the Syrian revolution. When the Gulf abandoned Hamas the air
was filled with Iranian virus, so do not abandon Egypt and leave it to the same
fate.
The battle for Aleppo’s airports continues
By Nazeer Rida/Beirut, Asharq Al-Awsat - Sources in the Revolutionary Military
Council in Aleppo have denied reports of Syrian rebels downing an Iranian
civilian aircraft - loaded with ammunition - before it landed at Aleppo
international airport, instead confirming that the plane came under heavy
machine gun fire, forcing it to change course. Yesterday, the opposition “Aleppo
News” network reported that the Syrian rebels had downed a civilian aircraft
coming from Iran, loaded with weapons and missiles, last Friday. The network
added that the strike was carried out at a low altitude given that the plane was
preparing to land at Aleppo international airport. Aleppo News, quoting the
rebels who claimed to have downed the plane, alleged that “a fire broke out
inside the plane and it was damaged”, adding that the rebels saw “weapons,
ammunition and rockets falling from the plane, which they could not seize
because the cargo fell in an area controlled by the regime”. The network also
said that the rebels had spotted the Iranian flag on the plane, which confirmed
to them that it had come from Iran.
However, Revolutionary Military Council sources have denied such news, stressing
in a telephone interview with Asharq Al-Awsat that this is “not accurate”. The
sources explained that the rebels “confronted an Iranian plane that was
preparing to land at Aleppo international airport, and shot at it with heavy
automatic weaponry, forcing the plane to divert away from the airport”.
This is the second operation of its kind within the space of twenty days, after
the armed opposition targeted a Syrian civilian aircraft landing at Aleppo
international airport in December, firing warning shots as its wheels came to a
halt. Opposition fighters are continuing to target aircraft at Meng military
airport, where activists have revealed that the rebels have damaged helicopters
stationed inside the airport, using the rocket-propelled grenades and tank
shells that they plundered from the regime’s forces. A military source from
Aleppo told Asharq Al-Awsat that the battle for Meng airport is ongoing,
stressing that the military site, located near the town of Azaz to the north of
Aleppo, “will fall in the near future”.
Meanwhile, Syrian activists have posted images showing the human and material
losses stemming from the aerial bombardment of Azaz market. The activists claim
there have been dozens of casualties, in addition to the destroyed buildings.
The Free Syrian Army (FSA) announced that its fighters were “making significant
advances towards the entrances of Meng military airport, targeting several
buildings inside”. Likewise, the FSA announced on its website that its fighters
are besieging Kwers military airport, and that yesterday they damaged a plane
and forced it to land on their territory.
According to military defectors, the Kwers airport site houses more than 100
warplanes, three of which have been damaged so far, along with 5 helicopters,
one of which has been destroyed. The FSA website reports that the last plane to
land at Kwers airport was a civilian plane transporting artillery and troops. It
claims that the airport currently holds 900 of the regime’s troops and 13
artillery guns; however the base has experienced roughly 100 defections,
including high-ranking officials. The FSA website pointed out that the airport
is being subjected to daily bombardments from homemade rockets, and is in a
state of permanent high alert.
Finally, according to local coordination committees, the Syrian rebels are
continuing to bombard Neirab military airport, and yesterday morning they
attacked Jarrah (another military airport in Aleppo) with rockets. This is all
happening whilst the regime’s warplanes continue to carry out extensive raids on
Damascus and the surrounding area.
Assad can't be excluded from 2014 vote: Syria minister
January 15, 2013/Daily Star /DAMASCUS: President Bashar al-Assad
should be allowed to stand in the 2014 election like any other candidate and it
is up to the Syrians themselves to decide their future leadership, a senior
official has said. "We are opening the way for democracy, or deeper democracy.
In a democracy you don't tell somebody not to run," said Syrian Deputy Foreign
Minister Faisal Muqdad in an interview with the BBC on Monday. A plan to end
Syria's civil war, agreed in Geneva in June during talks among global powers and
the UN, envisages the establishment of a transitional government but it does not
refer to Assad going -- a key demand of the opposition. Muqdad's remarks come
after Assad unveiled in a rare speech on January 5 in Damascus his own
three-step peace initiative for the strife-torn country.
He offered dialogue with the opposition to end the conflict -- but only with
elements he deemed acceptable, not rebel-affiliated groups he termed "killers"
and "terrorists" manipulated by foreign powers.
His plan was rejected outright by the entire opposition as well as by the West,
and it was criticised heavily by UN-Arab League peace envoy Brahimi who termed
it "perhaps even more sectarian, more one-sided" than previous such initiatives.
In Monday's interview, Muqdad reiterated Damascus' long-held view that calls for
Assad to quit immediately are foreign-backed and illegitimate.
"It is a coup d'etat if we listen what to those armed groups and those elements
of Syria are proposing," said Muqdad.
"The president now and many other candidates who may run will go to the people,
put their programmes and be elected by the people," Muqdad told the BBC.
"So the ballot box will be the place where the future of the leadership of Syria
will be decided."
The United Nations says that more than 60,000 people have died in the Syria
conflict which began 22 months ago, on March 15, 2011, with peaceful protests
that quickly erupted into deadly violence in the wake of a harsh regime
crackdown.
Russia suspends operations at consulate in Aleppo, Syria
January 15, 2013/Daily Star/MOSCOW: Russia said it had suspended operations at
its consulate in Aleppo after two explosions rocked a university in Syria's
second-biggest city. "The activity of the consulate of the Russian Federation in
Aleppo ... has been temporarily suspended," the Foreign Ministry said in a brief
statement. It said anyone with consular issues to resolve was welcome to contact
the consular section of the Russian embassy in the capital, Damascus. At least
52 people were killed and dozens wounded in two explosions that rocked the
University of Aleppo on Tuesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Russia has blocked three Western-backed U.N. Security Council resolutions aimed
at putting pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad or pushing him from
power, and says his exit must not be a precondition for a peace deal.Russia has
said that, if necessary, it will evacuate its citizens from Syria, where more
than 60,000 people have been killed in a conflict that began with a government
crackdown on protests in March 2011 but has escalated into civil war.
Blasts at Syrian university kill more than 80
January 15, 201/Daily Star/By Ben Habbard
BEIRUT: Twin blasts inside a university campus in Syria's largest city on
Tuesday set cars ablaze, blew the walls off dormitory rooms and left more than
80 people dead, anti-regime activists said.
What caused the blasts remained unclear. Anti-regime activists trying to topple
President Bashar Assad's regime said his forces carried out two airstrikes.
Syrian state media, for its part, blamed rebels fighting the Syrian government,
saying they fired rockets that struck the campus. Aleppo, Syria's largest city
and a commercial capital, has been harshly contested since rebel forces, mostly
from rural areas north of the city, pushed in and began clashing with government
troops last summer. Entire neighborhoods have been destroyed since in fighting
and frequent shelling and airstrikes by government forces who seek to dislodge
the rebels.
The competing narratives of the two blasts at the city's main university
highlight the difficulty of confirming reports from inside Syria.
The Syrian government bars most media from working in the country, making
independent confirmation difficult, and both anti-regime activists and the Syria
government sift the information they give the media in an effort to boost their
cause. Aleppo's university is in the city's northwest, a sector controlled by
government forces, making it unclear why government jets would target it, as
opposition activists claim.
Syria's state news agency blamed the attack on rebels, saying they fired two
missiles at the university. It said the strike occurred on the first day of the
mid-year exam period and killed students and people who were staying at the
university after being displaced by violence elsewhere. The agency did not say
how many people were killed and wounded.
The scale of destruction in videos shot at the site, however, suggested more
powerful explosives had been used than the rockets the rebels are known to
possess.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights cited students and medical
officials as saying that 83 people were killed in the blasts. Several of the
more than 150 people injured were in critical condition, it said.
The group, which relies on a network of contacts inside Syria, said it was
unclear what caused the blasts.
Syria's crisis began in March 2011 with protests calling for political reform.
The conflict has since turned into civil war, with scores of rebel groups
fighting Assad's forces throughout the country.
The U.N. says more than 60,000 people have been killed.
Iran sends monkeys into space – so can place nukes anywhere on earth
DEBKAfile Special Report January 15, 2013/Iran will parade its ballistic rocket
achievements by sending monkeys into space next month. Hamid Fazeli, head of the
country’s space agency said Tuesday, Jan. 15 that the launch would be part of
the celebrations leading up to the 34th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution on
Feb. 10 and part of the program for putting humans in orbit in 2020.
Five monkeys in a capsule named Pishgam (Pioneer) will be carried into orbit by
a Kavoshgar rocket and orbit earth 120-130 kilometers in space, he said. Western
space experts are dubious about Iran’s ability to send a capsule into orbit and
expect the monkeys to come down to earth quite soon.
This is not the first such attempt to be touted by Tehran. Last October, Iran
acknowledged that an attempt to send a live monkey into space on August 1 was a
failure.
debkafile reports that the Iranians habitually mask the advances in their
nuclear and missile programs by claiming they are purely in the interests of
scientific research.
Since firing the first Iranian-made satellite, the 27-kilogram Omid launched in
February 2009, debkafile’s military sources report that they have developed a
rocket with a payload capacity of 330 kilograms, which is capable of placing
nuclear warheads anywhere on the face of the earth. After Omid, American and
Israeli rocket and intelligence experts warned both their governments that
Iran’s success in space technology represents the most dangerous breakthrough in
their development of a military nuclear device and means of delivery. However,
neither the Obama administration nor the Netanyahu government heeded this
warning.
Since there is no precise information about the size and weight of the space
capsule due to carry the monkeys into orbit, it is impossible to compute the
size of the nuclear warhead the rockets can deliver.
Two years ago, June 29, 2011, British Foreign Secretary William Hague confirmed
that Iran “has also been carrying out covert ballistic missile tests and rocket
launches, including testing missiles capable of delivering a nuclear payment in
contravention of US Resolution 1929.”
However, Tehran has taken the precaution of greeting the coming visit of the
International Atomic Energy Agency delegation with its usual proclamation of
nuclear innocence. Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Tuesday
that a religious decree issued by Iran’s supreme leader banning nuclear weapons
is binding on the Iranian government. The West must understand, he said, “There
is nothing higher than the exalted supreme leader’s fatwa to define the
framework for our activities in the nuclear field.”
Egyptian-made cluster bombs used in Syria - HRW
By Caroline Akoum and Abdul Sattar Hatita
Beirut/Cairo - Human Rights Watch (HRW) yesterday released a detailed report
alleging that the Syrian regime’s forces are using a new, more indiscriminate
kind of cluster bomb, further claiming that the bombs are Egyptian-made. While
the Egyptian President is yet to respond to the report, an Egyptian military
expert told Asharq Al-Awsat that Egypt does not manufacture cluster bombs.
However, an HRW official stressed that “the information we have proves the
authenticity of the report”.
In response to Asharq Al-Awsat’s questions, a source in the Egyptian
presidential institution said that the report dealt with a military subject that
he was unable to comment upon. He added: “any comment on this subject should
come from a military official in the armed forces”. He went on to say that the
president’s response would not be immediate, and that the details of the report
need to be examined.
While no Egyptian army spokesperson was available for comment, Major General
Sameh Seif el-Yazal, a military expert, said that what was revealed in the HRW
report was “illogical” and contrary to Egypt’s stance, siding with the Syrian
rebels. Asked whether Egypt had perhaps supplied the cluster bombs to the Syrian
regime at an earlier period, Seif el-Yazal said that Egypt “as far as I am
certain, does not manufacture cluster bombs or any other internationally-banned
explosive. Egypt only makes conventional munitions in Arab Organization for
Industrialization (AOI) factories”.
Seif el-Yazal went on to say that Egypt and the Egyptian armed forces “are not
providing the Syrian army or the revolutionaries with any weapons or ammunition,
whether directly or indirectly, not even through a third party. This is for
certain”.Seif el-Yazal called into question the credibility of HRW’s
information, adding that “another thing is that Egypt’s current relationship
with, and support for, the Syrian rebels confirms that it cannot support the
Syrian regime in any way”. He added that the current regime in Egypt has
declared its full support for the Syrian rebels on several occasions, and “it
would be irrational and inconceivable for the Egyptian state to support the
rebels and then send munitions to the Syrian regime, which is in a state of
collapse”.
However, Nadim Houry, director of HRW’s Beirut office, confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat
that the organization has information to prove what was revealed in the report,
saying: “we obtained what we published from several sources. The report also
includes photographs, taken by an international journalist, depicting these
Egyptian-made bombs, but we cannot ascertain the year Syria obtained them”.
Houry pointed out that “Egypt is one of the countries that manufacture cluster
bombs, and HRW has already asked them to stop producing this kind of
internationally prohibited weapon”.
Stephen Goose, director of HRW’s Arms Division, said that “Syria is escalating
and expanding its use of cluster munitions, despite international condemnation
of its embrace of this banned weapon. It is now resorting to a notoriously
indiscriminate type of cluster munition that gravely threatens civilian
populations”.
In turn, a Free Syrian Army (FSA) officer told Asharq Al-Awsat that Syria had
obtained the bombs from Iran and Russia during the 1990s, while at the same time
verifying that the regime is using surface-to-surface missiles marked with the
stamp of the “Egyptian National Organization for Military Production”. He added
that “the information we have confirms that the Syrian regime used cluster bombs
for the first time in November, specifically in the areas of Rastan and Jabal
al-Zawiya in Idlib province. In recent times they have become more widely used,
for example they were reported in Daraa and Rastan yesterday”. The officer
explained that “the regime initially sought to use these bombs in areas that
were difficult for its artillery to reach. As for today, there are fewer
obstacles preventing them from being used, although they often need to be
dropped from Sukhoi or MiG 21 aircraft, the former which can drop 7 or 8 bombs,
the latter of which can drop two. Each bomb consists of around 900 smaller
explosive fragments, with one fragment alone capable of killing two people”.
The officer believes that the regime has possessed a large arsenal of such
munitions for decades, and that some of them are now obsolete. He pointed out
that al-Assad possesses enough to “wipe out Syria” and does not need to get hold
of any more, adding that the regime these days is relying on low-cost weaponry
as much as possible, and therefore has resorted to using barrels of “TNT”,
cluster bombs and what are known as thermobaric explosives. Furthermore, the
officer indicated that “the regime also used chemical weapons in small
quantities in the region of Rastan at the end of 2011, through the sewage
system. This led to cases of suffocation among citizens”. In a similar vein, the
officer confirmed the deaths of 6 FSA elements 15 days ago as a result of a
chemical weapon attack in Duma, after they had succeeded in capturing the
headquarters of the al-Ishara battalion. According to the officer, the FSA
elements had entered the headquarters to examine the interior and subsequently
suffered convulsions and severe breathing problems. They died within a few
hours, and these are the symptoms of a chemical attack. In its recent report,
HRW states: “Evidence indicates that Syrian forces used BM-21 Grad multi-barrel
rocket launchers to deliver cluster munitions in attacks near the city of Idlib
in December 2012 and in Latamneh, a town northwest of Hama, on January 3, 2013”.
These rocket launchers are mounted onto a truck and are capable of firing 40
shells nearly simultaneously, at a distance of up to 40 kilometers.
The report goes on to say that “On December 12, an international journalist
visited an uninhabited forested area outside the village of Banin in Jabal al-Zaweya,
where she photographed cluster munition remnants and the remnants of
ground-launched rockets used in an attack on December 5”. HRW also reports that
“a fighter for the armed opposition group the Free Syrian Army was killed on
December 5 after handling an unexploded submunition”. HRW’s report is based on
interviews with witnesses, videos posted online and photographs taken by an
international journalist. The organization yesterday reiterated its call for the
regime’s troops to “immediately cease all use of cluster munitions, which have
been comprehensively banned by 111 nations through an international treaty”.