LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
January 25/2013

Bible Quotation for today/ A Servant's Duty
Luke 17/ 07-10: "Suppose one of you has a servant who is plowing or looking after the sheep. When he comes in from the field, do you tell him to hurry along and eat his meal? Of course not! Instead, you say to him, ‘Get my supper ready, then put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may have your meal.’  The servant does not deserve thanks for obeying orders, does he? It is the same with you; when you have done all you have been told to do, say, ‘We are ordinary servants; we have only done our duty."

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
Iranian Media’s ‘Fabrications’/By Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Alawsat/January 25/13
Syria after Brahimi...Another Lebanon/By Joyce Karam/Arabyia/January 25/13

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for January 25/13
Fire at liquor store in in the Mount Lebanon coastal town of Jadra.
Did Hezbollah, Foreign Agents, and Unions infiltrate the Republican Party?
Arabic paper, Al Hayat: Bulgarians blame Hezbollah for Burgas
Hezbollah Envoy Opposes Foreign Meddling in Syria
Hezbollah fighting in Syria to help Assad regime, Times
Canada Urges North Korea to Abandon Nuclear Weapons Program
Syria's food shortages worsening, UN says
In Syria, Addressing Medical Needs In An Embattled City
U.S. using Syria to get at Iran, Jumblatt says
Assad joins Damascus prayers, army bombards Homs
Rights group: Syria rebels accused of looting churches, destroying mosque
Russia: No Plan for Large Evacuation from Syria
Russia Criticizes Syria Rebel 'Obsession' With Assad Exit
Turkey: World should declare Assad regime's bombardments in Syria as war ...
Russia's Lavrov says Beirut flights not Syria evacuation
Syria Unlikely to See Peace in 2013, Says Iran Diplomat
NATO to activate Turkey's missile system near Syria border
Syrians Struggle in an Uneasy Lebanon
Lebanon: Two killed in Jbeil’s Lassa in personal dispute
Lebanese Civil Marriage Couple Stress 'Our Children Will Choose What They Want'
Al-Mustaqbal, Phalange Hold Intense Meetings on Electoral Draft-Law
Bassil Lauds Geagea's Stance, Says it is a 'Historic Moment'
Meqdad Denies Death of Abu Ibrahim: Efforts Are Ongoing to Release Lebanese Pilgrims
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea Stresses 'Nothing Could Separate' him from al-Mustaqbal
Kfar Zebian residents protest against Assir's trip to Faraya
Clinton forcefully defends handling of Benghazi attack
Israeli voters force Netanyahu to seek centrist partner
Netanyahu may keep defense, name Yair Shamir minister. Lapid - Dep PM + senior cabinet post
Iraq: Sadr Movement Withdraw from Maliki’s Committee
Egyptian protesters clash with security forces
Tribal movement wins Jordan vote, Islamists to protest

Fire at liquor store in in the Mount Lebanon coastal town of Jadra.
January 24, 2013/By Mohammed Zaatari/The Daily Star
JADRA, Lebanon: A fire erupted Thursday morning at a liquor store in the Mount Lebanon coastal town of Jadra. The fire was extinguished by the Civil Defense members, but all the merchandise in the shop, owned by Mohammad Ali Hussein, was destroyed. Security sources told The Daily Star that is not clear yet if the fire was started by accident or if the shop was targeted. According to the sources, the public prosecution will task a fire expert to investigate the incident and determine the cause of the fire. “We can’t confirm yet if the fire was intended, we will have to wait for the investigations,” the sources said. Shops selling alcohol are rare in the area, which is located on the southern coast of Lebanon, and several shops that sell alcohol in the region have been the target of attacks in the past.

U.S. using Syria to get at Iran, Jumblatt says
January 24, 2013/The Daily Star /BEIRUT: Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt accused the U.S. of using the Syrian war to exhaust Iran financially, militarily and politically on the Voice of Russia radio station Wednesday. He made the comments while in Russia to meet Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Jumblatt predicted Syria has a long and turbulent path ahead, expressing his regret that “several influential countries are contributing to enrage the war in Syria.”“The Iranian nuclear file will stay at the center of American interests [in the region] and in Syria the Americans are managing the war to exhaust Iran,” he said. “Syria must not be turned into a corpse in the Iranian-American confrontation because Syria is a central ring in the Middle East and it must be kept unified.”

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea Stresses 'Nothing Could Separate' him from al-Mustaqbal
Naharnet/Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has reportedly stressed that “nothing could separate” him from his al-Mustaqbal movement ally in the March 14 opposition alliance.
“Nothing and no one can separate us and we are keen on our ties with al-Mustaqbal movement as much as we have keenness on the best representation (guaranteed by) an electoral draft-law,” Geagea's visitors quoted him as saying.They told An Nahar daily published Thursday that the LF chief is comfortable to the common objective of the opposition regardless of the differences between its members on the draft-law that provides the best representation for the Lebanese. “We won't argue on seats or posts and the LF doesn't see any future without al-Mustaqbal,” the visitors quoted him as saying.
They said Geagea had exerted strong efforts for the resumption of the meetings of the March 14's general-secretariat, which convened on Wednesday following a several week standstill.
The Christian LF and Phalange parties from the March 14 alliance have announced their backing to the so-called Orthodox Gathering proposal which envisages Lebanon a single district and calls for each sect to vote for its MPs in a propositional representation system. Their Christian rivals from the March 8 allies – the Free Patriotic Movement and the Marada – are already staunch backers of the proposal.
But al-Mustaqbal has criticized it for harming the social fabric. An Nahar quoted al-Mustaqbal sources as saying that the opposition was developing ideas to unify the ranks of the March 14 alliance on the electoral draft-law and "confront the proposals" of the March 8 majority.

Bassil Lauds Geagea's Stance, Says it is a 'Historic Moment'
Naharnet/Energy Minister Jebran Bassil lauded Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea's stance in balancing fair representation in the next parliamentary elections with the problematic issue of disarmament, describing Geagea's position as “historic.”
“We might have doubted the stances of the Lebanese Forces before, but not anymore,” said Bassil, a member of the March 8 Free Patriotic Movement, in an interview to the al-Akhbar daily Thursday.
“We cannot do that today. We must give them credit for backing the Orthodox Gathering proposal despite those who reject it,” the minister added.
“We cannot but appreciate Geagea's saying that the right representation of all factions is constitutional and equally important to all other sovereign issues. We laud his historic stance,” added Bassil.
In an interview to the daily Wednesday, Geagea balanced between his Sunni allies and Hizbullah saying that “well representation of all factions is as important as disarmament. Equal representation is the major issue for the Lebanese Forces.”
The Christian LF and Phalange parties from the March 14 alliance have announced their backing to the so-called Orthodox Gathering proposal which envisages Lebanon a single district and calls for each sect to vote for its MPs in a propositional representation system.
Their Christian rivals from the March 8 allies – the FPM and the Marada – are already staunch backers of the proposal.
But al-Mustaqbal has criticized it for harming the social fabric.
Bassil stressed that March 8 will reject any electoral law that does not secure division of powers between Muslims and Christians.
“What we are suggesting is a draft-law that has real division of powers. Those who reject the Orthodox Proposal would also be rejecting real partnership,” he said.
 

Lebanon: Two killed in Jbeil’s Lassa in personal dispute
Two people were killed on Thursday in the Jbeil town of Lassa during a personal dispute. The involved parties were residents from the Kesrouan town of Wata al-Jawz, the National News Agency reported.
The report identified the victims as Ghassan Seifeddine and his son Hady. Meanwhile, the Lebanese Forces website reported that the assailant, identified as Anthony Elias Khalil, killed the Seifeddine family members in self-defense. “Three members of the Seifeddine family were beating Pierre Nakhoul after they stabbed him with a machete. Anthony Elias Khalil happened to pass by and saw them beating Nakhoul,” the LF website report stated.
“Khalil stopped his truck and started shouting at the Seifeddines in an attempt to have them stop. Two of them then attacked Khalil with a machete and a knife. It was at this point that Khalil took out a gun, shoot the two of them, and killed them,” the report added. The LF report cited Amz-Mayrouba Road as being the scene of the crime. “The situation in Lassa is extremely tense. Residents of the town threatened to exact retribution on the towns of Hrajel, Mayrouba and Wata al-Jawz,” the LF website report added.

Kfar Zebian residents protest against Assir's trip to Faraya

January 24, 2013/The Daily Star /BEIRUT: Residents of Kfar Zebian blocked the road leading to Faraya Thursday to protest against a trip by controversial Salafist Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir to the ski area, security sources told The Daily Star. The sources said that around 50 people blocked the road of Kfar Zebian leading to Faraya to protest against the trip. Media reports said that Assir’s trip was for entertainment. The Army was able to reopen the road ahead of Assir and his companions, but residents once again attempted to block the way. The road was finally reopened after the more than a two-hour protest and Assir was able to make his way to the ski area, along with his supporters. Interior Minister Marwan Charbel appealed to protesters to clear the way, and called on them to respect the state and Assir’s right to reach the ski area.
Former Minister Farid Haykal al-Khazen also arrived at the scene and asked protesters to clear the road. However, Khazen said that Assir’s visit was suspicious and said he hoped the Sheikh would cut his trip short.
“We don’t want to shove Kesrouan into unwanted conflicts,” said Khazen. Haykal, a member of the Free Patriotic Movement, said Wednesday he opposes Assir’s visit to the area and called on him to avoid such trips in the country’s current circumstances. The Lebanese Forces issued a statement denouncing the attempt to block Assir’s passage to Kesrouan, arguing that all Lebanese have equal rights to visit all Lebanese regions.
“The right of Lebanese people with diverse opinions and affiliations is sacred and there is no justification for blocking roads with fabricated reasons,” said the statement. The Salafist sheikh earlier told MTV that the Army was working on reopening the road and said there is no political cover for the protesters who tried to block his way. Assir also called for self restraint and asked his supporters to stay in the buses until the road is totally reopened by the Army. The sheikh headed to the area Thursday morning, along with hundreds of supporters. They gathered early Thursday morning outside the Bilal Ben Rabah Mosque in the southern city of Sidon and headed to Faraya in a convoy of more than a dozen cars and buses. Assir personally supervised the trip’s preparations in the southern city in the early morning hours. Security measures were enhanced on the road leading to Faraya in an attempt to secure a safe path for the sheikh and his supporters.

Arabic paper: Bulgarians blame Hezbollah for Burgas
By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL, JPOST CORRESPONDENT 01/23/2013/ Pan-Arab paper 'Al-Hayat' reports Bulgaria’s interior minister told EU leaders Hezbollah had played a role in Burgas suicide bombing. BERLIN – Bulgaria’s interior minister told European Union leaders last week that Hezbollah had played a role in the July suicide bombing of an Israeli tour bus, according to a report Tuesday in pan-Arab paper Al-Hayat.
The bombing in the Bulgarian seaside resort of Burgas resulted in the deaths of five Israelis and a Bulgarian bus driver.The London-based paper cited an unnamed “European source” who stated that Bulgarian Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov had briefed fellow European interior ministers at a confidential Thursday meeting.
According to the report, the European source said Tsvetanov had laid out evidence implicating Hezbollah in the terror attack.
However, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolai Mladenov, who visited Israel last week, denied that his country’s authorities had concluded their investigation.
Speaking on Monday on Bulgaria’s national channel BNT, he denied a Channel 2 report that his country had presented evidence to Israel showing a link between Hezbollah and the Burgas killings.
“The reactions in the media were probably because of the political tension in Israel now before their elections, and also because everybody in Bulgaria, Europe and Israel impatiently expect the results from the investigation of the Burgas attack,” he said.
Asked if Hezbollah had been behind the Burgas suicide bombing, Mladenov said, “No, I have not made any statements for the media, neither before nor during my trip to Israel. When the Bulgarian investigators, who are working very hard on the case, complete their work, the truth will have to be announced no matter what it is.”
One way or another, he added, “the results will be announced in Bulgaria first. It’s important that the results are announced here, not abroad in Brussels, the US or Israel.”
According to Al-Hayat’s European source, Germany and France are against including Hezbollah in the EU terror list because outlawing the Lebanese organization would create a more volatile Lebanon.
The number of Hezbollah members in Germany has grown from 900 in 2010 to 950 in 2012. With the exception of The Netherlands, the Lebanese group is a legal organization within the EU, and raises funds in Europe.
Al-Hayat reported that the Bulgarian authorities were slated to hold a press conference next week to discuss the Burgas investigation. According to the Sofia News Agency Novinite.com, Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev said the terror attack “will be in the focus of the upcoming sitting of Bulgaria’s Consultative Council on National Security on February 5.”
English-language Lebanese paper The Daily Star reported on its website Tuesday that “the Lebanese resistance group has not denied or confirmed any role in the bombing.”

Hezbollah Envoy Opposes Foreign Meddling in Syria
TEHRAN (FNA)- Hezbollah Member of the Lebanese Parliament Walid Sukkarieh slammed the world powers for their growing interferences in Syria, and stressed that the Syrian people are the only ones who are entitled to the right to determine their fate. Sukkarieh made the remarks in a meeting with Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani on the sidelines of the 8th General Assembly Meeting of the Islamic Inter-Parliamentary Union (IIUP) in Khartoum, Sudan on Tuesday.
He hoped that the Syrian nation would witness peace as soon as possible, stressing that no country has right to meddle in internal affairs of Damascus.
Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011 with organized attacks by well-armed gangs against Syrian police forces and border guards being reported across the country.
The US and its western and regional allies have long sought to topple Assad and his ruling system. Media reports said that the Syrian rebels and terrorist groups have received significantly more and better weapons in recent weeks, a crime paid for by the Persian Gulf Arab states and coordinated by the United States.
The US daily, Washington Post, reported in May that the Syrian rebels and terrorist groups battling the President Bashar al-Assad's government have received significantly more and better weapons in recent weeks, a crime paid for by the Persian Gulf Arab states and coordinated by the United States.
The newspaper, quoting opposition activists and US and foreign officials, reported that Obama administration officials emphasized the administration has expanded contacts with opposition military forces to provide the Persian Gulf nations with assessments of rebel credibility and command-and-control infrastructure.
Opposition activists who several months ago said the rebels were running out of ammunition said in May that the flow of weapons - most bought on the black market in neighboring countries or from elements of the Syrian military in the past - has significantly increased after a decision by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Persian Gulf states to provide millions of dollars in funding each month.
On December 16, the Iranian foreign ministry explained about the contents of a six-point plan for resolving the problems in Syria, saying stop of violence and preventing foreign military intervention stand atop the proposal.
According to the foreign ministry, the first step is stopping violence and preventing military intervention of other countries in the Syrian issue.
The second step is preventing the shipment of weapons and holding national talks. Setting up a committee of the representatives of the Syrian people and government to reach an agreement on necessary reforms, taking steps to hold elections, reforming the Constitution as well as holding parliamentary and presidential elections are among the other moves demanded by the Iranian proposal.
The Islamic Republic of Iran, which is a staunch supporter of the establishment of security and stability in Syria, has practically made a series of moves in the same regard, including its recent call for ceasefire which was staged in Syria in October, and the holding of the Syrian National Dialogue conference in Tehran between the Syrian opposition and government in November.
Over 200 Syrian religious and political figures, leaders of tribes and parties as well as representatives and leaders of the opposition groups joined the two-day meeting in Tehran at the time.
A number of Syrian parliament members as well as senior political figures from Sudan, Algeria, Turkey, Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq, Brazil and Zimbabwe also took part in the meeting.

Hezbollah fighting in Syria to help Assad regime, Times
January 23, 2013/Yalobnan
Armed with AK47s, sniper rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, the fighters in the video crouch and open fire as they patrol a war-damaged and abandoned Damascus district. In their camouflage uniforms, there seems to be little at first glance to distinguish them from the regime troops pounding rebel forces in the bloody fight for Syria.
But these men are said to be members of Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group and Iraqi Shiites according to a report by the Times. According to the report the foreign fighters are fighting to help Syrian president Bashar al Assad in defending the Shiite Shrines in southern Damascus, which underlines the increasing sectarian nature of the war.

Did Hezbollah, Foreign Agents, and Unions infiltrate the Republican Party?
By: Kerry Patton/Canada Free Press
Republicans are nothing more than Democrats in disguise,” a conservative friend told me recently. More and more conservatives are displeased with the Republican Party. Some believe the party has actually been infiltrated by not only left leaning persons but foreign influencers and Islamists as well.
It’s sad that in today’s political arena, a person cannot present sound critical questioning to their own party without being castrated. It appears that more and more self-proclaimed Republicans are playing a game of ad hominem attacks, just as Democrats do. If conservatives favor a two party system, it’s critical we fix a very broken Republican Party. The first step could be to begin vetting members appropriately. This requires asking critical questions and demanding answers.
Bearing Drift: Virginia’s Conservative Voice, an online media platform, recently published an article titled “Del. David Ramadan Kicks Butt!” The author praised Delegate Ramadan (R-87th) for his initiative on passing House Bills 1760 and 2120. Everything sounds good so far. But reading comments on the blog revealed a troubling pattern.
One commenter posed a very simple question. “Who is Imad David Ramadan?” The question should have been more appropriately presented by asking, “Who is Lebanese born Imad Afif Ramadan?” Yes, the person we know as “David” Ramadan is actually a Shi’ite Muslim born in Lebanon with the birth name Imad Afif Ramadan.
What’s interesting is the fact that the same author who wrote Del. David Ramadan Kicks Butt is the very author who in August of 2011 wrote Questions Swirl Around David-Imad Ramadan in 87th HOD. This article revealed David Ramadan’s past, including his ties to Lebanese Intelligence, the fact that he was formerly married to a Muslim woman who has gone missing, the fact that he filed bankruptcy, and his breach of the oath of American citizenship by signing a petition with his two brothers called DEMAND[ING] THE RIGHT TO VOTE AS CITIZENS OF LEBANON.
Something just doesn’t seem right about the entire debacle surrounding David Ramadan. Why would any online media outlet expose David Ramadan then months later do everything in its power to act like they are his best friend?
Let me be very clear. I am not saying one way or another David Ramadan is aligned with any international terrorist organization nor am I claiming he has ties to any foreign state. Nor am I claiming the team at Bearing Drift are doing anything wrong. Maybe they just had a sudden “change of heart.”
Some questions about Ramadan’s past do need answers, however. We the people deserve those answers without being chastised for posing such questions. And I promise, I will touch more on Bearing Drift and at least one of its board members here as well.
Some Republicans may believe Ramadan and Bearing Drift don’t matter so long as they continue the conservative path. I disagree. The conservative path is not about lies, deception, and monetary influence. That’s the path of today’s Republicans and Democrats. Again, I am not saying anyone has lied, deceived, or uses/ed foreign or domestic monetary value to influence duties. I just want answers.
We must not allow fellow so-called conservatives to jump on Republican bandwagons. Remember, through our party’s history, we have had many sell-outs. It’s time to weed out the fake conservatives wearing a Republican disguise. We cannot afford for our party to be further infiltrated.
And yes, we conservatives have allowed our party to become infiltrated. Let’s not forget the case of one Pakistani agent by the name of Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai who infiltrated our party not long ago in an attempt to influence our elected officials. The 62 year old Fairfax, VA resident was supported by the Pakistani ISI—the very organization who many believe supported in the aiding and harboring of Osama Bin Laden.
If you believe Nabi Fai is the only foreign agent to infiltrate and influence our party, you are wrong. It happens more often than you could imagine. He just happened to get caught.
But let’s go back to the comments on the original article posted by Bearing Drift for a moment.
Another commenter quickly did his best to protect David Ramadan—Brian W. Schoeneman. Brian never answered questions posed, but rather played a very politically correct progressive game—attacking a fellow conservative who initially asked questions about David Ramadan.
Who is Brian W. Schoeneman and why should you care about him? Brian sits on the board of directors for Bearing Drift. He admits to being friends with Imad Afif Ramadan. He said, “I know him pretty well. He’s a friend of mine. We ran for office together. He won, I lost.”
So what, right? Well, let’s take a deeper look at Mr. Schoeneman.
Mr. Schoeneman serves as the political and legislative director for the Seafarers International Union of North America (SIUNA), the nation’s largest maritime labor union. You read that correctly. Mr. Schoeneman is a labor union guy. Take a deep breath. That does not mean he isn’t necessarily a Republican.
Once again, I am reminded of what my buddy recently told me. “Republicans are nothing more than Democrats in disguise.” Ok, maybe he really isn’t a Democrat either. Maybe he is just a bit misinformed about infiltration and influence operations conducted by foreign agents. Then again, that is highly doubtful.
The SIUNA is an affiliate of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO). Yes, the AFL-CIO is led by Richard Trumka—a die-hard leftist. Do you believe for one second two of America’s largest labor organizations would ever allow someone like Mr. Schoenman to serve in such a critical position? Ever hear of guilt by association?
I hate writing this. I hate knowing many will immediately jump the gun and believe I am conspiracy theorists, a racist, an Islamaphobe, or a bigot. I am none of these things.
I am a conservative. I am a real conservative willing to present information to readers in an attempt to spark heated debate that will question the one party within our two party system representing conservatives.
We have a choice: allow our Republican party to continue down the wrong path of corruption, infiltration, and deception, or ask critical questions and expose critical issues. This should be done in the spirit of attempting to save the party.
If we do not make any attempt to preserve the true conservative foundation within the Republican Party, maybe it’s time some of us leave the party itself and find something that truly represents real conservatives.
I would hate to leave the party and I do not wish to do so, but what other choice does a person have these days?
We know of foreign influencers who swayed Republican politicians and their points of view. We know some self-proclaimed Republicans have ties with large labor unions, which are sworn enemies of the Republican Party and conservative principles. And now, we must question at least one elected official in Virginia in an attempt to determine his true background and allegiance. If we cannot question those we claim to support, then we must question our own values.
Kerry Patton, a combat disabled veteran, is the author of >b>‘Sociocultural Intelligence: The New Discipline of Intelligence Studies’</b> and the children’s book ‘American Patriotism. You can follow him on Facebook or at kerry-patton.com.

Canada Urges North Korea to Abandon Nuclear Weapons Program
January 23, 2013 - Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird today issued the following statement:
“Canada is deeply concerned about North Korea’s missile tests and apparent plan to conduct more nuclear tests. We urge the regime to abandon any such plans.
“The regime in Pyongyang has repeatedly violated its international obligations and poses a grave threat to the security and stability of the region, even as the people of North Korea starve and suffer.
“Further defiance of its non-proliferation obligations will lead to further consequences: Canada stands ready to work with the international community to take further measures if the regime continues to demonstrate total disregard for its people by choosing to fund military and nuclear programs.
“We welcome the United Nations Security Council’s latest sanctions against North Korea. These have already been imposed under Canadian law.
“Canada urges the regime in North Korea to abandon its reckless nuclear and missile programs and invest its limited resources in meeting the basic needs of its people.”
 

Syria after Brahimi...Another Lebanon?
By Joyce Karam /Al Arabia
U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi’s current mission in Syria has frozen in its tracks due to the military escalation, the lack of international consensus, and the belief among both the Syrian regime and the opposition that a military victory is possible. Nevertheless, the potential failure of Brahimi will drag Syria further into a protracted civil war before any agreement on a new power structure can be reached.
Brahimi’s mission
Brahimi, a seasoned diplomat who oversaw key regional crisis from Lebanon to Afghanistan to Iraq, took the Syria portfolio last August on the premise that he can find enough international support to end the conflict. That so far has displaced 600,000 people and taken 60,000 lives. Brahimi’s bet was on closing the gap between the U.S. and Russia by having them agree on a post-Assad transition framework, and then pressure the regime in Damascus into accepting it. Six months later, neither was achieved. The U.S. and Russia are still in disagreement over the role of the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in any future transition, and the fighting has only raged around the country and the capital. Brahimi’s repeated trips to Syria faced more scrutiny from the regime, leading to a verbal confrontation with Assad in their last meeting on December 24th.
Media reports close to the regime indicated that Assad snubbed Brahimi’s request to transfer his full authority to a transitional government and did not appreciate the envoy’s voicing doubts about his prospects of running again in 2014. Assad called the meeting to an end after telling Brahimi that he does not see himself as “a captain of who flees the ship when it starts shaking”.
Opposition divided
The status of the opposition does not help Brahimi’s in his task either. Almost two years into the conflict, the “National Coalition” -the main political opposition body - is still struggling to form a transitional government, a key element to grant it ground access and give it international legitimacy. The armed opposition, for its part, is also engulfed in its own divisions between the more radical groups such as Jubhat Nusra, and the more secular units inside the Free Syria Army. Jubhat Nusra labeled as “terrorist” by the U.S. administration, has gained ground in the last few months, after carrying key attacks against the regime in Idlib province and around Damascus.
Lebanonization of Syria?
Brahimi’s biggest hurdle today is the growing confidence in both the regime and the opposition that each can win and deliver a military knock-out punch to the other side.
However, and very much like neighboring Lebanon in 1975, Syria is systematically descending into a civil war. Similar to Beirut then, the grip of the central government is weakening in Damascus, while new militias are emerging and exercising control along sectarian and ethnic lines. Pro-regime armed groups such as Jeysh Shaabi and Shabiha have been acting as regime’s proxies while the military is stretched thin and fighting on several fronts. In a trend that was seen in Lebanon as well, the fighting is no more exclusive between the regime and the opposition. In Aleppo, the Jubhat Nusra rebels have clashed with the Kurdish (PKK) fighters, who in turn control most of Kurdish areas in the North after Assad withdrew his forces last June.
The Lebanon-ization of the Syrian conflict is something Brahimi familiar with and has repeatedly warned against. The envoy brokered the Taif agreement in 1989 which ended the Lebanese civil war after 15 years of fighting, and more than 150,000 deaths. At the core of Taif was a realization among the opposing Lebanese factions that neither can win, and a new power-sharing agreement is necessary to come in terms with the changing demographics inside the country. Regionally, the solid support behind the agreement from key countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iran facilitated Brahimi’s accomplishment that was also backed by the United States, right after the cold war.
Unless a regional and international consensus forms around Syria and along with that a readiness from the fighting factions to look for a real compromise, Brahimi’s mission is doomed to fail, and Syrians should brace for a long war.
**Joyce Karam is the Washington Correspondent for Al-Hayat Newspaper, an International Arabic Daily based in London. She has covered American politics extensively since 2004 with focus on U.S. policy towards the Middle East. Prior to that, she worked as a Journalist in Lebanon, covering the Post-war situation. Joyce holds a B.A. in Journalism and an M.A. in International Peace and Conflict Resolution. Twitter: @Joyce_Karam

Syrians Struggle in an Uneasy Lebanon
The New York Times
AL-MINYA, LEBANON — For Mohammed al-Ahmad and his wife Zuhour, this is the second cold, wet winter of the war. They passed the first in the Bab Amr district of Homs, a onetime rebel stronghold that was taken back by government forces last February, after a long and unrelenting siege. Much of the neighborhood was destroyed. They have no home to go back to.
This winter they are living in a soaked field some kilometers north of Tripoli, Lebanon’s second-largest city. The unofficial refugee camp here is home to more than 100. The mud in the narrow paths between tents is ankle-deep at spots and sticks to everything.
Inside Mohammed and Zuhour’s small tent, there is little respite from the harshness of life outside. In one corner, scraps of damp, moldy bread lie in a pile.
The roof, punched with holes, is not waterproof and offered little protection from the rain and sleet of the fierce storms this month. The tent flooded and water soaked their small stock of food.
Two of their five children lie on thin mattresses on the floor, tucked under blankets. They are still and quiet save for the sudden fits of coughing, an increasingly common sound in settlements like this. A third child, awake, has no coat or winter clothing. Zuhour is pregnant: Another child will soon be living in this flimsy shelter.
At the most recent count, there were 212,000 refugees in Lebanon, registered or awaiting registration with the United Nations refugee agency. A year ago, the agency had registered 5,000. The increase mirrors the intensification of a conflict across the border that the United Nations says has now killed 60,000.
In a report released this month, the International Rescue Committee, a crisis relief organization, characterized the situation of the 600,000 Syrian refugees spread across the region as a “deepening humanitarian disaster.” The millions more displaced inside Syria are “in desperate need and have little if any access to humanitarian relief,” it said.
According to the U.N.’s figures, Lebanon has taken in more refugees than any of Syria’s other neighbors. Unlike other countries hosting refugees though, it does not have any official refugee camps.
Camps are a “last resort,” said Ninette Kelley, the most senior representative of the U.N. refugee agency in Lebanon. Still, there is a “need to plan for camps in the event of a mass influx or in the event that local solutions are completely overwhelmed,” she added.
For now, the Lebanese government has no plans for camps, but Wael Abou Faour, the country’s minister of social affairs, conceded that may have to change: “I think that sooner or later we will have to go to camps because we are overstretched,” he said.
In the absence of official camps, unofficial ones are absorbing the rising flood of refugees into the country. Across Lebanon, tents are rigged between buildings, along the edges of highways and in vacant plots and fields.
In some areas close to the border, refugees squat in houses abandoned by the Lebanese who have fled the shelling and gunfire coming from Syria. In small apartments in cities, refugees sleep two to a bed to keep rents affordable. Without guaranteed shelter and with limited aid, many new arrivals say the basic cost of survival is their biggest challenge.
“We are living in a very desperate situation right now,” said Hassan Ali Afeer, 30, a refugee near the Syrian border in the Bekaa Valley town of Arsal. “We are barely living.”
Mr. Afeer’s situation is better than that of many. On a promontory on the edge of Arsal, a local official has donated a plot of land near a mosque where some refugees had been seeking shelter. Islamic charities have pitched in and built concrete huts for 45 families. They are cold, the roofs leak and supplies are scarce: but at least Mr. Afeer and the others living there pay no rent.
In contrast the landowner of the muddy camp in al-Minya charges refugees like Mohammed and Zuhour a monthly rent of $66 for their tent. It is cheaper than renting an apartment, but many struggle to pay even that much in this impoverished part of Lebanon — where work is hard to find for local people, let alone refugees.
Mohammed and Zuhour, like many others, cannot register with the U.N. refugee agency — an inability which limits the aid they can receive.
“We don’t have our family’s papers, we lost them in the shelling,” said 27-year-old Zuhour. “If we could register we would.”
Refugees are dispersed over 700 municipalities in Lebanon, according to the United Nations, and many are in hard-to-reach places, making aid distribution an uphill battle. In a country hindered by its own conflicts, where the government is often seen as unable to provide basic services for its own citizens, refugee support falls mostly on the shoulders of international and local aid organizations.
“Given the size of this country, the amount it has taken on and has had to cope with, given its own political and economic fragility, is truly outstanding,” said Ms. Kelley, the U.N. refugee agency representative.
Proportionally, she noted, the 212,000 refugees counted in Lebanon, which has a population of just four million, would be like having 15 million refugees in the United States. “If you put it in those terms it gives a sense of how weighty it is on this little country that is half the size of Wales,” she said.
A Lebanese delegation this month appealed to the Arab League in Cairo for $180 million from Arab states to help the country cope with the influx.
If the international community is unable to help Lebanon deal with the crisis, “we may see greater calls for dissatisfaction and it could become a situation that would not be as open, as humanitarian as you see today,” Ms. Kelley said.
“The situation is becoming very alarming,” said Mr. Abou Faour, the social affairs minister. “If you look at the Lebanese resources and our financial abilities, it’s becoming very alarming.
“It’s becoming a very huge burden on the Lebanese economy, on the security of Lebanon,” he said.
Beyond the country’s financial and logistic capabilities to handle the refugees, there are other factors at play that complicate the situation.
There is a carefully maintained sectarian balance in Lebanon that some fear could be disrupted by large new refugee communities. The country’s experience with its Palestinian refugee population, segments of which played a major role in Lebanon’s civil war, has made many apprehensive of refugee communities.
“No one is talking about that, but everyone is being concerned about that, that you are having a new balance,” said Mr. Abou Faour.
As of December, 97 percent of registered Syrian refugees in Lebanon were Sunni Muslims, according to U.N. statistics. Most, conscious of the country’s sectarian divide and some fearing a potential outbreak of hostilities here, have opted to live in Sunni-majority areas.
The war in Syria has deepened tensions here, with several outbursts of violence in the past year directly related to the conflict.
There is a danger, as refugees weigh more heavily on Lebanon, that the issue could become politicized and that the refugees could be dragged into Lebanon’s own conflicts.
Gebran Bassil, Lebanon’s energy minister, and son-in-law of the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement, Michel Aoun, has called for the borders to be closed to refugees, claiming that extremist elements are among those who have fled from Syria. Others, meanwhile, including the Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, have warned against politicizing the situation and called for the crisis to be treated as a humanitarian issue.
For many refugees though, thoughts are on more immediate matters, like getting enough money to eat and keep roofs over their heads.
Ahmed, 17, who did not want to disclose his last name, has resorted to leaving the camp in al-Minya to beg outside a nearby mosque on Fridays.
Syrian beggars are now a common sight in northern Lebanon and are viewed as an annoyance by many. Ahmed’s begging mostly yields sparse returns as he gets shooed away and cursed by the people he importunes.
“You have no dignity as a Syrian in Lebanon,” he said. “You get treated like this.” He took a drag from an imaginary cigarette, tossed it between puddles and stomped it out with his foot.

Iranian Media’s ‘Fabrications’
By Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Alawsat
Saad El-Katatni, a senior Muslim Brotherhood member and former speaker of the Egyptian parliament, has denied a story recently reported by the Iranian network Press TV about him meeting with the Iranian speaker of the parliament Ali Larijani in Sudan, affirming that he never travelled to Sudan in the first place.
Several Brotherhood members in Egypt also rushed to deny the story. This demonstrates the Egyptian government’s anger towards Iran’s fabrications, which were apparently meant to undermine Egyptian president Mohammed Mursi’s visit to Saudi Arabia to participate in the Arab economic summit.
There are several stories, all of which could in fact be fabricated, about meetings between Brotherhood members and Iranian officials. We all remember the false Mursi interview that was published in the Iranian official press. Yet what is really worth our attention here is the mysterious relationship between the Brotherhood and Iran; who is using who and why. It is easy to deny a report or claim an interview or meeting was fabricated, but the official invitation extended by President Mursi to his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a true story. This means after all that both countries enjoy a close relationship, and reinforces the suspicion that the Muslim Brotherhood has strong ties with Iran, although the validity of this assumption remains to be seen. Some Iranians want to see Mursi’s government besieged on the Arab level so that Egypt becomes a close ally to Iran and an alternative to Bashar Al-Assad’s collapsing regime. Meanwhile, some Brotherhood members in Egypt want to blackmail and intimidate Arab countries, especially in the Gulf region, to obtain political, partisan, and financial support. The second camp is represented by some Brotherhood writers who call for rapprochement with Iran under the pretext that Gulf countries do not support the Brotherhood’s rule, with the exception of Qatar, which is on good terms with Tehran. However, I do not think this latter camp distinguishes between media tampering and the official political strategy of a state.
It will not be easy for Mursi’s government, or any other Egyptian government for that matter, to forge an alliance with Iran unless it decides to drag Egypt into a series of domestic problems. Egypt gets one third of its remittances from the Gulf, not from Iran, and its international value is derived from its positive role in the region, not the other way round.
It seems unlikely that the Muslim Brotherhood would choose to risk the interests of their people in return for changing the political map. If this happens, it would be a totally different story.
Whether the Iranians are trying to undermine Mursi’s relationship with Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Gulf region or the Muslim Brotherhood are using the Iranian scarecrow to get closer to the Gulf, there are core issues that will become clear on both sides. These will not be revealed through press reports, but rather through the actions of the new Egyptian regime. They will be demonstrated in the Egyptian government’s relationship with senior officials in Iran, the nature of the deals they strike together, as well as any Brotherhood interventions or conspiracies in the Gulf states.
The most serious obstacle to hamper the relationship between Mursi’s government, the Gulf, and Iran would be dual policies, in other words when the statements and actions of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt do not to represent Mursi and his government. Yet this would be hard to believe because after all this is a Brotherhood government, and even if negative statements are sometimes issued they are attributed to other names.

Netanyahu may keep defense, name Yair Shamir minister. Lapid - Dep PM + senior cabinet post
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report January 23, 2013/Israel politics are in for a major shakeup. New faces will dominate the next cabinet under Binyamin Netanyahu, while 52 of the 19th Knesset members are new and more youthful faces. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is pondering keeping responsibility for defense while naming Yair Shamir (No. 2 in Likud’s partner Israeli Beitenu) minister for running the defense ministry, debkafile discloses. This would upset outgoing Vice Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon’s expectation of defense in the post-election Netanyahu government.
Since the results of Israel’s general election of Tuesday, Jan. 22, were out, Netanyahu (whose Likud-Beitenu garnered only 31 seats) has been locked in intensive negotiations with Yair Lapid, whose party came second with a stunning 19 seats, on the shape of the next government. They have also discussed inviting retired defense minister Ehud Barak to stay on as a non-political expert.
For now, debkafile reports, Lapid who is in a position to pick and choose the cabinet post he wants, has turned down the post of finance minister for himself, while admitting to his friends that he wouldn’t say no to the foreign ministry. Upon hearing this, ex-Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, said cynically Wednesday that the finance ministry was right down Lapid’s street in view of the strong social and economic agenda to which he committed his Future party. His party might resent his abdication of those goals, Lieberman commented.
Wednesday night, Lapid himself put paid to a chorus led by Labor’s Shelley Yacimovitch for his Future to join the left-of-center and the Arab parties to block Netanyahu’s efforts to build a coalition government.
Instead, he welcomed Binyamin Netanyahu as next prime minister. “I was glad to hear Netanyahu referring to all the things I have been aiming for,” he said to reporters. There will be no opposition bloc - certainly not with Hanan Zouabi,” said Lapid.
Netanyahu, speaking after the elections, spoke favorably of some of the objectives Lapid’s Future had set itself: Starting with averting the Iranian nuclear threat, he went on to speak of equalizing the burden between the secular and ultra-religious communities, bringing down prices, providing affordable housing and reforming the system of government.
Lapid refrained from answering when he was asked whether he would serve in the same cabinet as the ultra-religious Shas party (11 seats), which is a longstanding coalition partner of Likud and with which Netanyahu conducted separate negotiations Wednesday.
This dual track opened up the possibility of establishing a government led by Netanyahu and Lapid in two stages: In the first, this duo would be joined by the pro-settlement Jewish Home and its head, the high-tech millionaire Naftali Bennett (11) and Kadima led by Shaul Mofaz, which Wednesday night was poised to scrape past the threshold with two seats. This setup would command a slim majority of 63, enough to get the 2013-2014 state budget passed by the new Knesset. This task defeated the outgoing government because some of its provisions were unacceptable to Shas and so triggered the early election.
After that, Shas would be invited to join the government on the basis of the guidelines established in stage one, and expand its parliamentary majority to 75. With Torah Judaism (7) aboard too, the third Netanyahu government would command a comfortable 82
Bennet expects his Jewish Home party to win a twelfth seat when the army ballots are counted before official election results are released Thursday. He would be strongly in line for one of the economic portfolios in the new government, commerce and industry, for instance, or even finance.
Tzipi Livni, whose Hatenuah Party fell far short of her expectations and wound up with 6 seats, has been after Lapid to set up a joint front for the cabinet negotiations with Netanyahu. She anticipates his gaining the post of acting or vice prime minister plus a key cabinet post. She would then walk through the door to her former post as foreign minister, or so she hopes.
The Future party leader and the incoming prime minister have not commented on this plan

Sadr Movement Withdraw from Maliki’s Committee
By Hamza Mustafa
Baghdad, Asharq Al-Awsat—Sadr movement leader, Moqtada al-Sadr, struck a fatal blow to the seven-member committee tasked by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Malik to consider the demands of protesters, announcing the withdrawal of all Sadr movement trend ministers from this commission. This committee is headed by Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister for Energy and senior member of al-Maliki’s State of Law coalition Hussein al-Shahristani.
Speaking during a press conference held at the Sadrist headquarters yesterday, spokesman Sheikh Salah al-Obeidi said, “The seven-member committee—formed by the government to look at the demands of the protesters—has yet to take any practical decisions to contribute to resolving these demands in the correct manner.”
He added that, “The solutions put forward by the seven-member committee do not meet the size of the growing crisis in the country, in addition to failing to be aware of all the necessary operational aspects to resolve this.”
Obeidi indicated that, “Political bickering has dominated the work of the blocs during the current period, which hampered the efforts to resolve this issue in the correct manner.”
“Failure to listen to the view of the religious authorities worsened the protest crisis, particularly as they aimed to resolve this from the outset.” The Sadr movement spokesman added.
For his part, Sadr MP Mohamed Rida al-Khafaji, informed Asharq Al-Awsat, that Maliki, “is not serious about finding real solutions to the protesters’ demands, and if the religious authorities had not intervened he would have been able to transgress further, particularly as parties close to him had already begun to incite the street and play on sectarian tensions.”
“Since the beginning of the crisis the Sadr movement has taken the initiative to meet the protesters demands, the majority of which we view as being legitimate.” Khafaji said.
MP Khafaji also revealed that, “Sadr sent delegations to these governorates and these delegations returned with demands and these were raised to parliament and the government, while he also asked the prime minister to send an Islamic Dawa Party delegation to receive the protesters demands, however Maliki refused and rather than going to the people directly in his position as prime minister of Iraq, he began to make attempts to move the street and form a committee that has yet to do anything to meet the people’s demands.”
“The Sadrists will not be a party to this process of procrastination and stalling, particularly as we informed Maliki from the outset that the demands of the protesters are legitimate, their protests are spontaneous, and they do not have a unified leadership or demands.” He added.
The MP also informed Asharq Al-Awsat that, “We also warned against betting on the time factor because this is not in Maliki’s favor, we said that continuing this process of procrastination will raise the ceiling of demands and open the door to foreign interference and agendas.”
Khafaji clarified that “This dismissive dealing with the crisis forced the religious authorities to intervene . . . therefore we are withdrawing from the seven-member committee because we are not prepared to betray the religious authorities and because Maliki has made a critical mistake. He must reform his practices which are not in line with being the leader of everybody in the country, rather than in the interests of one party against another. They are all our people and their demands should be met.”
Iraq’s protesters welcomed the move taken by the Sadr movement to withdraw from the seven-member committee. Chairman of the Anbar tribes, Sheikh Humaid al-Shoka told Asharq Al-Awsat “The protesters demands are crystal clear and this does not require committees but serious measures to implement these.”
He stressed, “Since the outset we said that if the government was serious it would have begun immediate implementation of the majority of the demands that fall under its authority.”
Sheikh Shoka also asserted that “The step taken by Sadr to withdraw his ministers from this committee is a courageous one and demonstrates a sound view of this position. More importantly, it confirms our convictions that some parties are trying to play on sectarian tensions at a time when religious leaders are making courageous statements, particularly the religious authorities in Najaf as well as religious leaders like Sayyid Sadr and Sayyid (Ammar) al-Hakim, as well as what we are hearing from out tribal cousins in central and southern Iraq who understand the legitimacy of our demands.”
In other news, Iyad Allawi’s Iraqiya bloc announced that its ministers would continue to boycott cabinet meetings, adding that it is considering taking new positions should the government’s policy of stalling and procrastination should continue. Iraqiya bloc MP Talal Zobaie told Asharq Al-Awsat, “The Iraqiya bloc continues to be of the view that the issue can be resolved by dealing with the protesters directly, rather than through the formation of committees and the like.”
He added, “The continuation of this procrastination and stalling will prompt us to take other unprecedented actions such as completely withdrawing from the political process because we cannot bear false witness to a political process that is failing to seriously deal with the people’s demands.”
MP Zobaie emphasized that, “The best evidence of the lack of seriousness on the part of the government is the Sadrists’ decision to withdraw their ministers” adding “they are partners in the National Alliance that includes Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.”
Answering a question regarding the protesters’ refusing to deal with politicians, including Iraqiya bloc members, and whether there is any point in the Sadrists withdrawing under such circumstances, Zobaie said, “The protesters have every right to say this because they have truly gone to hell and back thanks to the politicians, however our position reflects our own view, particularly as we are a part of the Iraqi people and we must bear responsibility to history regarding what is happening.”