Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for July 11/13 

Lebanese President Michel Sleiman urges ending involvement in Syria crisis
July 10, 2013/The Daily Star/BEIRUT: President Michel Sleiman again called for ending the involvement of Lebanese groups in the Syrian conflict Wednesday and reiterated his support for the Baabda Declaration that backs political neutrality, a statement from his office said. “[Everyone] should abide to Baabda Declaration and stop interfering in the Syria crisis because it was proved that Lebanon has no interest in such [involvement],” the president’s statement said. The president has called for distance from the Syrian conflict several times particularly after Hezbollah’s intervention in the fighting. “We should look forward for real partnership inside [the country] because without it there would be no Lebanon,” the statement added. The Baabda Declaration is an agreement between Lebanese rivals to keep Lebanon away from regional conflicts, mainly the Syrian violence. Lebanon has been widely affected by the crisis in the neighboring country. Increasing cross-border attacks and a massive influx of refugees have challenged the country's peace and political balance. The president also voiced hope the Parliament resumes work on finding a new electoral law to hold delayed elections and preserve the process of democracy in the country.
 

UN calls on Hezbollah to end involvement in Syrian conflict
UNITED NATIONS/J.Post/ - The UN Security Council called on Lebanese Hezbollah militants on Wednesday to end any involvement in the conflict in neighboring Syria, while Lebanon's UN envoy pledged that his country would keep its borders open to Syrians fleeing the violence. Hezbollah has sent thousands of fighters to help Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces combat rebels, according to Israeli and Western estimates. Israel is now boosting its forces on the Syrian border, where it believes Hezbollah is preparing for the day when it could fight Israel. Car bomb in Hezbollah stronghold a sign of Syrian spilloverIDF reinforces Golan border with eye on Hezbollah"The Security Council calls upon all Lebanese parties to recommit to Lebanon's policy of disassociation, to stand united behind President Michel Sleiman in this regard and to step back from any involvement in the Syrian crisis," the UN body said. The statement did not explicitly name Hezbollah due to objections from Russia, council diplomats said. But they added that it was clear Hezbollah was the intended target of the council declaration. The 15-member council also expressed grave concern at the influx of almost 600,000 refugees into Lebanon during the conflict, which started more than two years ago as mainly peaceful protests against Assad, but descended into a civil war. The United Nations says as many as 100,000 people have been killed in Syria and four million have been internally displaced, while nearly two million have fled to neighboring countries.
 

Hezbollah MP: Fiery rhetoric behind Beirut bombing
July 10, 2013 /The Daily Star /BEIRUT: Hezbollah MP Hussein Musawi said Wednesday fiery rhetoric led to the bombing that ripped through Beirut’s southern suburb and will be the cause of more bloodshed to come.
Musawi also criticized his rivals in the March 14 coalition, saying their refusal to join a government which includes Hezbollah is deluded. “The provocative speeches ... constitute the primary reason for this villain, inhuman behavior which will lead to more bloodshed and serve a blow to the national economy and stability, and perhaps disrupt and sabotage certain national institutions,” Musawi said in a statement. Dozens were wounded when a car bomb exploded in a parking lot in the bustling neighborhood of Bir al-Abed, a Hezbollah stronghold, the first such attack in the area since 1985. Lebanese politicians and officials condemned the attack, describing it as way to incite sectarian strife in the country reeling under the repercussions of the Syrian crisis. Tensions are simmering in Lebanon over Hezbollah’s involvement in the fighting next door. The March 14 group refused to form a new government with Hezbollah until the party ends its activities in Syria, a conflict that has taken a sectarian turn. Musawi responded to the March 14 group as he reiterated his bloc’s demand for a national unity Cabinet. “It is useful to express condemnation in a unified national way for the Bir al-Abed crime and to form a national unity government and abandon the silly veto, which is the silly fantasy of those who promote it,” the lawmaker said.
“And if the veto is a foreign order, then can we ask those who don't understand our loyalty to the Faqih [Iran’s supreme religious leader] and by extension, to religion and ethics to help us understand their loyalty to ignorant [people] and to those who trade with nations?”The Hezbollah MP also refuted claims that there is a growing Sunni-Shiite conflict in Lebanon, saying such talk is part of U.S. designs on the region.
“The repeated talk about the Sunnis and Shiites is part of the American-Zionist project of chaos because our disagreements are solely political and nothing to do with the doctrine, or Sunnis, Shiites, Maronites, Orthodox ... any other talk but this comes from our enemies,” he said.

March 14: Bombing consequence of Hezbollah intervention
July 10, 2013/The Daily Star/BEIRUT: The recent car bombing in a Beirut suburb was a product of Hezbollah's intervention in the Syrian conflict, the March 14 coalition said Wednesday in a statement condemning the "terrorist act." “The [March 14] Secretariat General denounced this terrorist act which harmed a residential neighborhood and left a number of people hurt or wounded,” the coalition said in a statement following its weekly meeting.
“The Secretariat General has for months warned of the consequences of Hezbollah’s intervention in the Syrian crisis, which will reach everyone, without exception,” the statement said. Hezbollah’s intervention has triggered crises across Lebanon and could be a step towards Lebanon’s destruction, according to the alliance’s statement. Hezbollah has become deeply involved in the Syrian conflict, strongly supporting President Bashar Assad's army in its campaign against rebels controlling parts of the country. At least 50 people were wounded Tuesday when a car bomb exploded in the parking lot in the pro-Hezbollah neighborhood of Bir al-Abed.
March 14 stressed that the solution to the problem will come from supporting the state and its institutions and said Lebanon’s stability cannot be achieved without disarmament. “Peace in Lebanon requires the handover of all illegitimate weapons to the State pursuant to the Taif Agreement and [U.N. Security Council] resolution 1559,” the statement said.

Condemnations pour in over Beirut bombing
July 10, 2013/The Daily Star/BEIRUT: Lebanese political and religious figures continued to condemn a car bomb attack which rocked a bustling neighborhood in Beirut’s southern suburbs, unanimously warning that the country was passing a critical phase.Speaker Nabih Berri described the bombing as part of a "series of criminal" incidents, stressing the need to form a Cabinet amid “the dangerous times.” “[There is] a need to speed up the Cabinet formation process at this critical and dangerous time,” lawmakers quoted Berri as saying during his weekly meeting, adding that he was facilitating the process to form a government as soon as possible. “The terrorist bombing that targeted the southern suburb is more than just a message and requires that everyone take a responsible stance to face this criminal series [of events] targeting the nation,” he said. Meanwhile, Maronite Bishop Boulos Matar, head of the Maronite Beirut Bishops, described the attack as an attempt to target Lebanese unity. "The Lebanese have gone through a lot and so long as we are united no one can harm, irrespective of the conspiracy [being plotted],” Matar told reporters in Qana, south Lebanon. “There is someone working to sever the unity of Lebanese and God willing they will not succeed,” he added, describing the situation as “very critical.”
Dozens were wounded Tuesday when a car bomb exploded in a parking lot at a commercial and residential neighborhood of Bir al-Abed in Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold. This was the first bombing in the area since 1985. Aley MP Talal Arslan, the head of the Lebanese Democratic Party, said the attack should embolden the Lebanese to face the sectarian strife gripping parts of the country. "The suburbs bombing will strengthen our immunity and determination to face [those] harming the security of the nation and its citizens, and our ability to face all kinds of strife threatening various Lebanese regions,” Arslan said in a statement.
He also urged politicians to tone down their political rhetoric to avoid inciting sectarian strife. Arab League Chief Nabil al-Arabi also denounced the attack and reiterated his support to distance Lebanon from regional conflicts.
"This terrorist act aims to destabilize the country and incite strife between the sons of one nation," Arabi said in a statement. He also voiced support to "the Baabda Declaration which aims to fortify Lebanon against the dangerous repercussions of the Syrian crisis.”

FPM says still on good terms with Berri
July 10, 2013/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: MP Michel Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement remains on good terms with Speaker Nabih Berri, MP Naji Gharios of the Change and Reform bloc said, a day after the speaker announced the collapse of the March 8 coalition. “There are some disparities between our points of view and Berri, which is normal in any democratic alliance but we are still on good terms with him,” Gharios told The Daily Star.
The MP said that Berri’s decision to negotiate the share of portfolios between Hezbollah and the Amal Movement in the new Cabinet, excluding the FPM, aimed only at speeding the process of the Cabinet formation, stalled for over three months. “When Berri noticed that there was no progress in the Cabinet formation and that Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam was still holding on to his 24-member Cabinet lineup, he came up with the idea to open up new avenues in the formation process,” he said.
“This way, each group will have its ministerial portfolios in line with parliamentary representation,” he added.
The Cabinet formation has not progressed since Salam was tasked with the job on April 6, due to differences between political parties. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri announced the collapse of the March 8 coalition on Tuesday, putting an end to the Amal Movement’s frail alliance with the Free Patriotic Movement of MP Michel Aoun. Berri explained that March 8’s key demand to acquire veto power within the new government would no longer be valid after the alliance came to an end.
MP Nabil Nicolas, in an interview with Sawt Al-Shaeb radio station, described Berri’s statements as “objective” and said the speaker’s comments about ending the March 8 alliance brought comfort to his group.
“The statements of Speaker Nabih Berri about ending the March 8 alliance over domestic issues is objective," said Nicolas. “His statements relieved the [Change and Reform] bloc, which has been calling to be represent in the Cabinet in proportion to its seats in the Parliament.”Gharios denied that ties with the speaker were strained, saying the FPM remained on good terms with Hezbollah and Berri’s Amal Movement over “basic issues.”
According to the FPM lawmaker, his group has always been independent from the March 8 coalition and was only allied with “Berri and the resistance.”
“We were never part of the March 8 coalition and we will always be allied with both Amal and Hezbollah,” he said.
Aoun’s alliance with Hezbollah is based on a Memorandum of Understanding inked in February 2006 between the two groups and through which Berri enjoys warm ties with the Christian party.
However, ties between Aoun’s FPM and the speaker were strained over the extension of Parliament’s term and the controversial extension of the mandate of Lebanese Army chief Gen. Jean Kahwagi, which Aoun opposes.
Last week, no representatives from Aoun’s bloc attended Berri’s regular Wednesday meeting in the speaker’s Ain al-Tineh residence. However, two lawmakers from Aoun’s bloc, Gharios and Emile Rahme were present at this weeks meeting in Berri’s residence. MP Gharios denied that the FPM absence from last week’s meeting was deliberate.“We always attend Wednesday’s meetings, there was nothing exceptional last week but it happened that most of us were busy,” he said.

Jaafar clan receives bodies of abducted relatives
July 10, 2013/By Rakan al-Fakih/The Daily Star/HERMEL, Lebanon: The Jaafar family received the bodies of their relatives Wednesday who were kidnapped and killed in Syria by rebel groups nearly two months ago.
Ahmad Youssef Jaafar, 36, a father of two, and his cousin Mahdi Mohammad Jaafar, 24, a college student, were abducted on May 22 during a trip to the Syrian border village of Aqrabiyah to buy cheap groceries. The area was controlled by the Free Syrian Army at the time. The clan, a powerful Shiite family in east Lebanon, began negotiating with the opposition group in a bid to release the men who were from the village of Sahlet al-Maa.
A member of the FSA informed the family that the two were killed shortly after the abduction and were buried along with a Syrian soldier in Arjoun al-Dabaa in Qusair, where the rebels and the Syrian Army had fought fierce battles. The family lost contact with the FSA after the Army, with the help of Hezbollah fighters, regained control of Qusair. Members of the clan then traveled to the area where the men were allegedly buried and dug up the bodies before returning them to Lebanon. D.N.A tests proved the men were related to the Jaafars. The two bodies are currently in a hospital awaiting burial.

Hizbullah Denies Security Breach as Fneish Says Blast Aims at Destabilizing Country
Naharnet/Hizbullah caretaker Minister of State for Administrative Reform Mohammad Fneish considered on Wednesday that the blast that targeted Bir al-Abed neighborhood in Beirut's southern suburbs aims at destabilizing Lebanon's civil peace. “The culprits aim at moving security violations from an area to another across Lebanon and to create sedition and a sectarian rift among Muslims in particular,” Fneish told al-Joumhouria newspaper published on Wednesday. Sources close to the party told As Safir newspaper that the explosion is a “coward act” that targeted a residential area, ruling out reports that it's a security breach to Hizbullah.
At least 53 people were wounded in the explosion that was caused by a booby-trapped vehicle in the Hizbullah Stronghold neighborhood. “The attack didn't target any (Hizbullah) figure or center for the party,” the sources said, pointing out that the party boosted security near the houses of its leadership and its headquarters. “It's normal that cars park at a parking lot,” the sources said. Informed security sources told As Safir that preliminary reports are based on the footage taken by nearby security cameras. A security source also told the daily that a western security apparatus informed Lebanese security agencies days before the blast that an extremist group is plotting to carry out a bombing in Beirut's southern suburbs. Hizbullah sources told As Safir that the ongoing provocation against Hizbullah and its arms paved the way for such acts. The sources noted that Takfiri groups might be responsible for the the blast over Hizbullah's involvement in the battles in the neighboring country Syria. Officially neutral in Syria's conflict, Lebanon is deeply divided into pro- and anti-Assad camps. Hizbullah and its allies back President Bashar Assad, who adheres to the Alawite offshoot of Shiite Islam, while the Sunni-led opposition supports rebels seeking his ouster. For his part, Fneish praised in comments in al-Joumhouria the March 14 alliance's swift condemnation for the attack. He described the coalition's stance as importance, calling on the March 14 officials to reconsider their rhetoric.

Reports: Fundamentalist Groups Likely behind Dahieh Attack
Naharnet/Fundamentalist groups were probably responsible for the attack on the Bir al-Abed neighborhood in Beirut's southern suburb on Tuesday, reported the Central News Agency on Wednesday. Security sources denied to the agency that a Hizbullah official was the target of the blast, revealing that the security agencies have some leads that can direct them to the perpetrators. March 14 sources meanwhile said that such an attack on a Hizbullah stronghold was expected seeing as the party is involved in the fighting in Syria. Its involvement has paved the way for several groups to exploit the situation and work on creating chaos in Lebanon, they added. They also did not rule out the possibility that the attack could have been a set up to pin the blame on a certain side, when in fact another power may have been behind it. At least 53 people were wounded in the explosion that was caused by a booby-trapped vehicle in the Bir al-Abed neighborhood, which is a Hizbullah stronghold. On Wednesday evening, LBCI television reported that “an olive-green Kia entered the Bir al-Abed area at 10:45 a.m. and its driver parked it at the parking lot of the Islamic Cooperation Center before leaving the street to an unknown destination.” “At 11:00 a.m., exactly 15 minutes after the car was parked, the explosion went off,” it added. Security sources told the TV network that "reports in some newspapers and media outlets -- especially about intercepting phone calls between inmates in the Roumieh prison and the plotters of the attack – cannot be verified as long as the judiciary overseeing the probe has not been informed of the details and has not yet received the surveillance cameras and the footage from the main political party (Hizbullah) in Bir al-Abed.” “In the wake of the blast, members of Hizbullah removed the surveillance cameras that were installed in the area surrounding the parking lot and retrieved the footage from the businesses and shops,” the sources added. “All possibilities are being considered, although most of the fingers are being pointed at Takfiris,” the sources said. LBCI revealed that “Hizbullah has recently received information that Dahieh might be targeted by car bombs or suicide attacks and that one of them might be carried out by a man disguised as a Shiite cleric." "Hizbullah is on alert in Beirut's southern suburbs, monitoring and investigating any suspicious behavior, but it seems that the Bir al-Abed blast exceeded its expectations,” LBCI added.

Report: Bassil Tells Salam Change and Reform Not Part of March 8
Naharnet /Caretaker Energy Minister Jebran Bassil has reportedly informed Premier-designate Tammam Salam that the Change and Reform bloc was no longer part of the March 8 alliance. Al-Joumhouria newspaper said Bassil told Salam during a meeting they held on Tuesday that the Free Patriotic Movement's conditions in the cabinet line-up were separate from those set by Hizbullah and Amal movement. Bassil asked that the FPM be represented according to its parliamentary weight but the PM-designate rejected such a request, reiterating that he could not copycat the parliament in the cabinet. The Constitution states that all sects should be fairly represented in the government, Salam told Bassil, according to al-Joumhouria. The PM-designate stressed that the Constitution does not state the level of representation of political or parliamentary blocs. Al-Joumhouria's report came as An Nahar daily quoted sources as saying that Berri, who is the head of Amal, has asked for five representatives for Hizbullah and the movement in the new government. The speaker reiterated in remarks to several dailies that he disagreed with FPM leader Michel Aoun on several local issues, mainly the cabinet formation process and the representation of the March 8 alliance's members. “This means that the March 8 team that brought together Amal movement, Hizbullah and the FPM are no longer a unified team," Berri added.

Berri: March 8 No Longer Unified on Internal Issues
Naharnet /Efforts to line-up the cabinet gained momentum on Tuesday as PM-designate Tammam Salam met a number of officials and held talks with Speaker Nabih Berri who said that March 8 is no longer unified, and that each of its components will negotiate Salam separately on the cabinet formation, according to As-Safir. Berri told Salam that the Amal Movement and Hizbullah will negotiate on their share in the cabinet separately from their ally Free Patriotic Movement chief Michel Aoun, according to the daily. “We agree with Aoun that there are differences in view within the March 8 about some internal issues, mainly on the issue of the cabinet formation. Each party is to negotiate only on its own share in the cabinet,” Berri said. “March 8 that used to include Amal movement, Hizbullah and the Free Patriotic Movement is no longer unified to negotiate on internal issues,” he added, but stressed that strategic understanding still exists among the said parties regarding the resistance and the conflict with Israel. On the cabinet formation process, the Speaker added that previous demands of March 8 to obtain veto power in the cabinet are dropped in light of the differences that emerged among the alliance's members on extending the parliament's term and Army Chief Gen. Jean Qahwaji's tenure and on the role of the constitutional council.
Disputes between the FPM and Hizbullah emerged after Aoun openly opposed the extension of Qahwaji's term while Hizbullah never made such a position. Qahwaji's term ends this September when he turns 60, the maximum age for the post of the army commander. Berri added that he is keen to facilitate Salam's mission and will therefore submit a long list of candidates to the PM-designate, and is willing to introduce changes to that if it does not meet Salam's approval. He added that Amal Movement and Hizbullah demand to have 5 ministers in a cabinet of 24-members or 6 ministers in a cabinet of 30. On the demands of March 14 to return retired Internal Security Forces chief Ashraf Rifi to his post and extend the term of the Army chief, Berri suggested that the alliance put its request forward in a cabinet session. “I don't mind. Let them propose the issue in an extraordinary cabinet session, and if they did not agree, then the parliament would tackle the issue.”

Israel Denies Involvement in Bir al-Abed Blast
Naharnet/Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon denied that his country was involved in the blast that target Bir al-Abed neighborhood in Beirut's southern suburbs. “The civil war in Syria has spilled over into Lebanon after Hizbullah interfered in it,” Yaalon said. The minister considered that the explosion is linked to “the struggle between the Shiites and the Sunnis within Lebanon.”At least 53 people were wounded in the explosion that was caused by a booby-trapped vehicle in the Hizbullah stronghold neighborhood. Officially neutral in Syria's conflict, Lebanon is deeply divided into pro- and anti-Assad camps. Hizbullah and its allies back President Bashar Assad, who adheres to the Alawite offshoot of Shiite Islam, while the Sunni-led opposition supports rebels seeking his ouster.

Caretaker IM Marwan Charbel Denies Pelted with Stones during Inspection of Bomb Blast Scene
Naharnet/Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel denied on Wednesday that he was pelted with stones by residents of Beirut's southern suburbs, saying there was only a dispute between them and members of his security team. His press office said in a statement that the reports about the assault were “exaggerated.” In remarks to al-Joumhouria newspaper, Charbel said he was welcomed in the Bir al-Abed area when he inspected the scene of a car bomb blast. “What happened is that there was a dispute between my bodyguards and some young men who wanted to breach the security provided by them … A few minutes later an argument erupted,” Charbel said.
“One of the security members opened fire in the air to disperse the crowds, which led some of them to shout incomprehensible slogans,” he told al-Joumhouria. “The security team then took me away from the area,” the caretaker minister said. Reports said Tuesday that Hizbullah members fired in the air to disperse the protesters, who pelted Charbel with stones after he inspected the scene of the blast. Charbel was reportedly trapped for 45 minutes in a building before he was escorted through a backdoor. In other remarks to An Nahar daily, the caretaker minister said he had received a good welcome. But at the end of the inspection of the blast site and after making a short statement, a young men, who neither belongs to Hizbullah nor to Amal movement, threw a bottle on one of the guards. The guard then fired in the air, which forced his bodyguards to take him rapidly for cover to a building where he stayed there for a short time. Charbel described the bottle thrower as not normal.

Egypt orders Brotherhood chief held, Mursi in 'safe place'
July 10, 2013/Daily Star /CAIRO: Egypt on Wednesday ordered the arrest of the Muslim Brotherhood's supreme leader Mohammed Badie over violence in Cairo that left dozens dead while charging another 200 people over the bloodshed, judicial sources said. Badie and other senior Brotherhood leaders are wanted for allegedly inciting the clashes outside the Republican Guard headquarters at dawn on Monday where supporters of ousted president Mohamed Mursi were calling for him to be reinstated.
Mursi is currently being held in a "safe place, for his safety," foreign ministry spokesman Badr Abdelatty told reporters on Wednesday, adding: "He is not charged with anything up till now," he said.
His overthrow by the military a week ago, after massive protests calling for his resignation, has pushed Egypt into a vortex of violence that has claimed at least 88 lives, according to Amnesty International.
On Monday, in the worst incident, the Brotherhood claims police and troops "massacred" 42 of their supporters as they performed dawn prayers, with women and children among the dead.
The army said it came under attack by "terrorists".
The public prosecutor on Wednesday charged 200 people held over the bloodshed outside the military barracks, the judicial sources said.
The charges and arrest orders came as interim authorities were to start talks on forming a caretaker cabinet headed by new prime minister Hazem al-Beblawi.
However they face tough hurdles as opponents and supporters of Mursi alike have slammed a temporary charter aimed at steering the divided nation through a difficult transition.
Interim president Adly Mansour has set a timetable for elections by early next year, while appointing Beblawi as premier and Nobel peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei as vice president responsible for foreign affairs.
But cracks have emerged in the loose coalition that backed Mursi's overthrow.
The National Salvation Front (NSF), the main coalition formerly led by ElBaradei, denounced Mansour's decree and demanded amendments, while Tamarod, the movement that spearheaded the grassroots campaign against Mursi, complained about not being consulted.
After initially announcing its "rejection" of the decree, the NSF on Wednesday toned down its reaction, saying instead it "disagreed" with some of its provisions.
The Muslim Brotherhood had already rejected Mansour's temporary charter as a decree enforced by "putschists".
Beblawi, a former finance minister and economist, was on Wednesday to begin talks on forming his cabinet, the official MENA news agency said. He would offer the Muslim Brotherhood posts in the new government, the agency quoted a presidential aide as saying.
But the Muslim Brotherhood spurned the overture. "We do not deal with putschists. We reject all that comes from this coup," spokesman Tareq al-Mursi told AFP.
Amnesty International called for an "independent and impartial" investigation into the deadly unrest, after its findings suggested "the use of disproportionate force by the security forces".The latest violence in Egypt took place overnight in Sinai, where militants struck a police garrison with mortar rounds and heavy machine guns, security officials said, while two people were killed in a rocket propelled grenade attack on an army checkpoint according to medics. In addition to the security challenges, Mansour must also deal with the frayed coalition that helped topple Mursi.
An official with one of the parties in the NSF told AFP that Mansour's 33-article declaration foresees new "legislative, executive and judicial powers" for the interim president.
"You would look like a hypocrite now. It makes it look as if you are not against dictatorship, just against a dictatorship that is not from your group," he said.
Many within the coalition are wary of repeating the mistakes of the last military led transition, between Hosni Mubarak's ouster in 2011 and Mursi's election in June 2012. The Muslim Brotherhood has called for an "uprising" to restore Mursi. But the army warned it would brook no disruption to what it acknowledged would be a "difficult" transition.
The United States, which provides $1.5 billion in mainly military aid to Egypt, said it was "cautiously encouraged" by the timetable proposed for a new presidential election.
In a boost for the economy, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait between them have announced that they would give Egypt a combined total of $12 billion in assistance.

 

Egyptian army’s financial coup: 12 billion petrodollars from Saudi, UAE, Kuwaiti fans

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report July 10, 2013/In a dazzling display of monetary muscle, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates poured $8 billion in a single day into the coffers of Egypt’s army rulers in cash, grants, loans without interest and gifts of gas, a dizzying life-saving infusion into its tottering economy. Forking out sums on this scale in a single day – or even month - is beyond the capacity of almost every world power – even the US and Russia - in this age of economic distress. The Arab oil colossuses managed to dwarf Iran’s pretensions to the standing of regional power.
Tuesday, July 9, just six days after the Egyptian army overthrew the Muslim Brotherhood president Mohamed Morsi, a UAR delegation of foreign and energy ministers and national security adviser landed in Cairo. They came carrying the gifts of $1 billion as a grant and $2 billion in long-term credit.
In well-orchestrated moves, Saudi Arabia then stepped forward with a $5 billion package, of which a lump sum of $2 billion was drafted to Egypt’s state bank that day, followed by another $2 billion as a gift of Saudi gas, and a further $1 billion for propping up the sagging Egyptian currency.
The delivery by two Arab governments to a third of financial assistance on this scale and on a single day is unheard of in the Middle East, or, indeed, anwhere else.
As they celebrate Ramadan, 84 million Egyptians can start looking forward to a square meal at the end of their month of fasting.
This river of largesse was the outcome of a development first revealed by debkafile last week: The Egyptian military high command was not working alone when its operations headquarters put together the July 3 takeover of power from the Muslim Brotherhood; it was coordinated closely down to the last detail with the palaces of the Saudi and UAE rulers and the operations rooms of their intelligence services.
The last DEBKA Weekly issue 594 (July 5) carried details of the military-intelligence mechanism at work between the three governments.
The coming issue, out next Friday, July 12, offers further revelations of how this mechanism is designed to shore up Egypt’s post-coup regime and restore the strife-torn country, the most populous in the Arab world, to its traditional eminence. Cairo is assigned a lead role in a Sunni Muslim bloc stretching from the Gulf to Cairo (with room for quiet collaboration with Israel) to withstand the challenges posed by the alliance of Russia, Iran, Syria and the Lebanese Hizballah.
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The petrodollar shower for Egypt did not end with the $8 billion from Saudi Arabia and the UAE: Kuwait has pledged another $5 billion - later amended to $4 billion - in a secret communication to Riyadh. It will be released after the sheikhdom's parliamentary elections on July 27, and so raise total Gulf Arab bounty to Egypt to the staggering total of $12 billion.
Friendly assistance on this scale tends to diminish the relevance of Washington’s dilemmas over the continuation of its $1.3 billion aid package to Egypt after a military coup, of which $700 is due this year.
The suggestion that US aid may be used to hasten Egypt’s “swift return to a democratically elected civilian government” loses its force when Saudi Arabia and the UAE have both guaranteed to make up any shortfalls in US aid to Egypt.
On June 26, Syrian Deputy Prime Minister Kadri Jamil boasted that Moscow, Beijing and Tehran were contributing half a billion dollars per month to Syria’s war chest. “It’s not so bad to have Russia, China and Iran on your side,” he gloated.
Egypt can now boast to have far outstripped Syria in foreign support - $12 billion in a single month, compared with a mere $6 billion in a year
 

Fear for Lebanon
By: Randa Takieddine/Al Hayat
The criminal explosion that took place on Tuesday in the southern suburbs of Beirut requires urgent national vigilance by all political groups in the country, to save it from the repercussions of the disastrous situation in Syria and the transfer of the struggle between the Syrian regime and its people to Lebanon. The biggest mistake is that Hezbollah continues to take part in the fighting in Syria, because it will bring a calamity to Lebanon and increase Sunni-Shiite tension, which is becoming more dangerous every day. Foreign visitors to Lebanon say that no one wants a civil war. The tension and hatred in the country, which is divided politically, does not need much to bring about such a catastrophe, unless there is true vigilance by everyone in order to exit these deteriorating conditions. There is also growing institutional paralysis, as a result of the calculations by the political class, which put its interests above those of a people who have become fed up with this political class' useless divisions, tension and exchanging of curses. This policy, with the region on fire from Syria to Egypt and Iraq, requires putting an end to this policy, which is rejected, of managing the country.
As part of this illogical management of Lebanon's affairs, there was a somewhat surreal news conference recently by the caretaker minister of energy, Gebran Bassil. Bassil spoke about contracts and schedules that should be set down for natural gas exploration in Lebanon. He is a minister in a government that resigned, because of dissatisfaction by Hezbollah and its ally, General Michel Aoun, about decisions that Najib Mikati, the prime minister, wanted to carry out. After Mikati resigned and become a caretaker prime minister, because of the blocking of the government by Hezbollah and Aoun, Bassil is going about his business as if nothing has changed. He holds a news conference to ask for an extraordinary session of the Cabinet to award gas contracts to international companies, just as he continues to appoint employees at Electricite du Liban and the Qadisha Valley electricity company, as if nothing has changed, and as if there is no prime minister-designate, trying to form a government. The question today is: Why was Mikati's government forced to resign and the elections blocked, with Hezbollah behind it, and the extension of the term of Brig. Gen. Ashraf Rifi of the Internal Security Forces rejected? In the same context, Aoun asked his son-in-law Basil to assign a date for an extraordinary session to appoint a new commander of the army.
Lebanon certainly needs to award contracts to international firms for gas drilling, to benefit from these revenues, and it certainly should not keep the commander of the army's post vacant. But today it should be asked, as the prime minister-designate is unable to form a government: Why, then, was Mikati forced to resign and the Cabinet paralyzed, while unilateral decisions are taken by Aoun and his son-in-law to demand extraordinary sessions of a government that has resigned, as if nothing has happened? Agreeing to convene extraordinary sessions under these circumstances will cement the control by Hezbollah and its allies over political decision-making and prevent the formation of a new government, with ongoing efforts to block the attempts by the prime minister-designate. It is the best policy for someone who wants to take decisions without being held accountable. As long as things remain like this, why move quickly to agree to the formation of a new government? An institutional vacuum in Lebanon is dangerous for the country, its stability and its economy. Those who want to see good come to Lebanon do not ask only for extraordinary sessions to achieve personal and private political interests and aspirations. They should not block decisions that are in the interest of the country, as they did under Mikati, such as extending Rifi's term, which is what caused the fall of the government, putting the country's security in doubt.
Lebanon is in a dangerous situation because of the Syrian war and its repercussions, and Hezbollah's participation in fighting alongside the Syrian regime, which is killing its people. Sunni-Shiite tension is growing and the economy is in constant retreat because of political and security conditions. This requires those demanding extraordinary sessions of the caretaker government to work instead to avoid a vacuum, and form a government of salvation for the country, instead of salvation for their private interests. The Lebanese have become tired of the political class, which has failed to build a Lebanon that is pluralistic and prosperous, with true democracy. Hezbollah's participation in the fighting in Syria exposed everything the party claimed about being a resistance party, and that its weapons were aimed at Israel. It is fighting for Iran in Syria to resist the Syrian people, who have been displaced by their regime's fighting and its president's insistence on remaining. Many of them have been forced to seek refuge in Lebanon, and this has burdened the economy and the local labor market. If the demands of Aoun and his team in the government are met, to hold an extraordinary session of a caretaker government, why not form a new government? The best thing is for the country to retain a caretaker government, with an extraordinary session in which decisions are taken by the groups dominating the country, until a new president is elected next year, and also after Hezbollah and its ally Aoun and its government team take control over fundamentally-important decisions, via extraordinary Cabinet sessions. The postponement of the parliamentary elections and the prolonged caretaker Cabinet, ruling on an exceptional basis to meet the special interests of one group, along with Hezbollah's continuing battle in Syria against the Syrian people, to support a regime that uses its army, planes and tanks to liquidate its people in cities – this raises the question about Lebanon's future, as a large portion of the Shiites support Hezbollah.
The danger for Lebanon is growing under such circumstances. The rising Sunni-Shiite tension is a disaster for the country. The Salafist Ahmad al-Assir and his followers, and the participation by Hezbollah in fighting in Syria, and some government members' calculations in order to reap personal benefits – they are all elements of destabilization of a country that is on the edge of the precipice, along with its security, because of a political class that is doing harm to the Lebanese people.
 

The Muslim Brotherhood, Where To?
Abdullah Iskandar/AlHayat
The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt has entered a whole new phase, in which the fate of its relationship to power as an Islamic party will be determined on one hand, and the nature of its participation in power will be defined on the other. The Egyptian group was not the first Islamic party to reach power or participate in it in the Arab region, as it was preceded – prior to the Arab spring – by the coup of the Islamic Front in Sudan and the rise of the Justice and Development Party through elections. In addition, the Yemeni Islamists participated in power on more than one level, while the Islamic Ennahda Party in Tunisia earned – with the Arab spring – a majority that led it to power and the command of the coalition.
All these Islamic experiences in the authority were flawed by monopolization tendencies, the imposition of opinions and the attempts to Islamize laws and constitutional articles. Nonetheless, they remained the hostage of alliances with other parties, whether political, regional or tribal, as well as the hostage of the social and economic environment they dealt with. Hence, they were unable to impose the authority of the one party, even if some of them had infiltrated the military institution and subsequently enforced an absolute dictatorship. And in the midst of their conflicts and alliances, their Brotherhood character almost dissipated in favor of the necessities to remain in power.
The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, although it made some alliances to expand its electoral base, remained loyal to its ideology which calls for the imposition of its rule and absolute authority. In other words, its experience in power is that of Islamic party and not that of the party participating in power. The Egyptian Brotherhood was also loyal to the political climate in which it grew at the beginning of the 1930s, i.e. one of totalitarian and military parties, the rise of the Communist, Fascist and Nazi parties, the central command, and absolute power.
The failure in which the Brotherhood experience ended through Mohamed Morsi’s presidency was due to the group’s sustainment of that climate and inability to grasp the major development seen in Egypt and around the world ever since the issuance of Hassan al-Banna’s call and the structuring of the party he wanted around eight decades ago. In addition, it was due to the group’s inability to understand the aspirations that had accumulated in Egyptian society, ever since Sayyed Qutb considered half a century ago that violence and power were the only way to impose the group’s authority. These shortcomings pushed millions of Egyptians to the street to reject the Brotherhood rule, i.e. the use of obsolete ideas to handle modern and emerging problems, and to refuse to succumb to an absolute central command represented by the guide. Morsi’s exclusion and the launching of a transitional phase were the result of this wide-scale popular rejection.
The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt has known many stages at the level of political action, thus going from working underground to being tolerated, to being public then legitimate, before reaching power. However, none of the latter stages was appropriate for the Brotherhood to read into the changes and adapt to them as a political party. This intellectual and political stalemate was behind the group’s failure to be an inherent part of a normal political life in Egypt, especially when this possibility became a reality with the departure of the former regime and the assumption of the presidency by one of its members. This last failure might be its greatest and exposes the nature of the great flaw it suffers. But the failure did not only affect the management of the country, its complicated problems and foreign affairs, but also the integration of the Egyptian fabric, as the group continued to consider itself one with a special message to be imposed on all, whether parties, committees or institutions.
The question today surrounds the group’s political project. Can it still reconsider all its previous experiences – especially its short term in power – in order to redraft its course and organizational structure in a way going in line with the current circumstances? Or will it hold on to its history of repeated failures? The answer to that will be revealed by its position in the few coming days. Hence, if it accepts the new constitutional declaration and engages in political action in its context, it might be able to regain its status among the Egyptian parties. However, if it insists on the approach launched by its guide following Morsi’s exclusion, one could expect the repetition of what happened inside the quarters of the presidential guards, reaching the spread of violence in the country. If it does so, it would have decided to exit the Egyptian fabric once and for all.
 

What now for the Brotherhood?
By: Manuel Almeida /Asharq Alawsat
Monday’s massacre by security forces of more than fifty supporters of Mohammed Mursi, the Egyptian president who was deposed last week, is widely feared to have the potential to lead Egypt down the path of civil war. Regardless of which version of Monday’s events proves closer to the truth, this represents a critical juncture for the Egyptian Islamists to think through their political strategy towards yet another political transition, the second in two years.
With Mursi’s removal and arrest, the Islamists were given every reason to distrust democracy and, so far, the prospects for any kind of compromise look gloomy. In an understandably heated reaction on Monday, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the Muslim Brotherhood’s political wing, called for Egyptians to “rise up against those who want to steal their revolution with tanks and armored vehicles, even over the dead bodies of the people.” They reject the interim-government’s six month plan for a return to civilian government, and the offer of ministerial posts in Egypt’s transitional cabinet, as long as Mursi and many Brotherhood leaders are in jail.
Another prominent political force, the Salafist Nour Party, announced it was pulling out of the negotiations to form a new transitional government as an act of protest against the killings. This withdrawal from the political process was anticipated by their rejection of the first constitutional declaration issued by Egypt’s interim president, Adly Mansour, which called for the dissolution of the Shura Council, the country’s Islamist-dominated legislative body. They have also declined the offer to be part of the new transitional cabinet.
Two factors, however, may eventually lead the Brotherhood and the Salafists to embrace political negotiations. First, in the case of an open confrontation with the army, more of their members would be killed and many more arrested or forced to go underground again. This would do little to advance their cause.
Second, despite the many millions that called for Mursi’s removal (14 million, according to reliable estimates), the Brotherhood might still be Egypt’s first civilian political force and the Salafists the second, as the parliamentary elections have shown. This means that although the Islamists and the Salafists now have good reasons to distrust the ballot box, they would only stand to lose if they continue to reject the political transition process and are held responsible for derailing it.
The political edge that Islamists may still enjoy, regardless of how much it shrunk during Mursi’s clumsy presidency, should not deter the army and other groups from accommodating the Brotherhood and the Salafists in the political process rather than alienating them. It is the only viable solution to salvage what is left of Egyptian democratic hopes.
Mansour’s announcement on Monday of the formation of a panel within 15 days to amend the constitution, a referendum to approve those changes, and parliamentary and presidential elections to be held early next year, is a good place to start. Despite the resistance to this plan by practically all relevant political parties and groups, the army has already warned that it will not tolerate delays on this front.
One other way of easing tensions would be an independent investigation into Monday’s events. The future release of Mursi and prominent Brotherhood leaders, such as Khairat El-Shater, the influential former deputy chairman of the Brotherhood, Saad El-Katatni, head of the FJP and former speaker of parliament, and Rashad Al-Bayoumi, one of the Brotherhood’s deputy leaders, could also be planned under certain conditions. The army could also undo the closure of Islamist-controlled private television stations and the pressure now exerted over state-owned newspapers, actions which only give credit to the argument that last week’s events are nothing but a military coup.
There is also a window of opportunity to be explored by the secularists and the National Salvation Front (NSF), an alliance of various parties formed in opposition to Mursi. The NSF includes prominent figures such as Mohammed El-Baradei, Egypt’s new vice-president and head of foreign relations, and Amr Moussa, former secretary-general of the Arab League. Their challenge is to overcome the constant discord and political bickering that have characterized their actions since President Hosni Mubarak was deposed.
Now that their main objective has been achieved, the anti-Mursi camp—nothing but a circumstantial alliance—is already in the process of disintegration. The Nour Party opposed the proposal of Baradei as prime-minister, and both the party and the Tamarod (rebellion) movement rejected Mansour’s declaration on the changes to the constitution.
Some important Brotherhood members have broken ranks with the organization, e.g. Kamal Al-Helbawy, and there are divisions among the various Salafist groups, as the different reactions by Al-Nour and Al-Gama’a Al-Islamiya to Mursi’s ouster reveal.
Mursi was not in power for long, but his reign was damaging enough, politically and economically, to provide a powerful electoral argument that the last thing voters will want is Islamists unprepared to govern. Mursi’s attempts to Islamize Egyptian society through the media and the cultural scene, or by controlling what Egyptians drink, can also be a card to play—although a considerable percentage of the Egyptian population does want more Islam in politics, as indicated by a Pew poll roughly two years ago. The emphasis of the secularists should thus be on convincing the electorate of their ability, as opposed to the Islamists’ inability, to govern a country and to provide jobs, energy supply, and stability.
If the Egyptian army wants to avoid the dictatorial label, it will soon have to mull over whether or not to allow the FJP to run in the next parliamentary elections or, more unlikely, to name a new presidential candidate. If the FJP is again given the opportunity to be included in the political process, the generals will also need to consider the possibility that the Islamists might well win another election.
Yet another question remains over whether the Brotherhood will let their ideological views be shaped and moderated into a more pragmatic form by a future stint in parliament or in government. The cost of Mursi’s mistakes can force them to implicitly recognize that winning an election does not give them unconditional powers or a green light to ignore everyone else, from leftists to Salafists. Only time will tell if such recognition would not clash with their Islamist nature—that is, if they are allowed back into the political game. For Egypt’s sake, they should be part of this second transition.

Syrian rebel sheikh Sheikh Anas Ayrout. calls for war on Assad's Alawite heartland
July 10, 2013/Daily Star /AMMAN: An influential Islamist cleric turned rebel commander urged Syrian insurgents on Wednesday to focus their war on President Bashar al-Assad's Alawite heartland to create a "balance of terror" and help turn the tide of the conflict.
After seizing large tracts of Syria's north and east and parts of the centre, the rebels - short of heavy weaponry - have struggled to weaken Assad's grip over most major cities and his western Alawite communal stronghold along the Mediterranean coast that so far has been largely unscathed by the civil war.
"One has to concentrate on their strongholds and on their dwellings and their infrastructure. If (Alawites) continue living as they're doing in peace and safety while wedded to the regime they will not be affected. They will not think of abandoning Assad," said Islamist Sheikh Anas Ayrout.
He led anti-Assad street demonstrations in the coastal city of Banias early on in the conflict before forming one of the most influential and powerful rebel brigades.
Ayrout's rebels are part of the Islamic Syrian Liberation Front, an umbrella group comprising several of the most formidable formations, with thousands of fighters. Ayrout is also a member of the opposition Syrian National Coalition.
The uprising led by Syria's Sunni Muslim majority is increasingly rallying around Islamist appeals. This has heightened fear among Alawites, whose faith derives from Shi'ite Islam and who comprise about 12 percent of the population, and other minorities of a radical Sunni ascendancy in which hostile al Qaeda-affiliated groups would hold sway.
"(Alawites) are relaxed while areas that have slipped out of regime control are always under shelling (by government forces), always in pain," Ayrout said, referring to mainly Sunni areas of the north, centre and east of the countryy. "If you do not create a balance of terror, the battle will not be decided."
Over 100,000 people have died in Syria's two-year conflict. It began because Assad's forces fired live ammunition at pro-democracy demonstrations, provoking an armed insurrection.
SLIDE INTO SECTARIAN WAR
Alawites became identified with irregular "shabbiha" militia unleashed against anti-Assad protesters earlier in the uprising and later with elite army forces bombarding Sunni areas, leading many Alawites to fear bloody reprisals if Assad is toppled.
While Alawite figures in the opposition have called on the community to sever links with Assad, they say Alawites must not be targeted on the basis of presumed communal loyalty. But sectarian attacks on civilians are now common and entire villages of Sunnis and Alawites have been emptied by fighters. Ayrout acknowledged that rebels operating in Jabal al-Akrad and Jabal al-Turkman, two mountainous regions that overlook the coast and are under constant army shelling, had ejected Alawite inhabitants from several local villages. "We have to drive them out of their homes like they drove us out. They have to feel pain like we feel pain," Ayrout told Reuters by telephone from Istanbul, where he attended a meeting of the opposition National Coalition, of which he is a member. The insurgency against four decades of family rule by Assad and his late father has become the bloodiest of the Arab Spring revolt against autocratic elites common across the region.
While thousands of Alawite militiamen and troops have been killed, the majority of civilians killed have been Sunnis, according to opposition monitoring groups tracking the violence.
"We do not favour a sectarian war. But they brought it upon themselves," said Ayrout, an ultra-conservative Salafist whose father was a well-known Sufi Muslim preacher in Syria. "They preferred to side with Bashar and large numbers among them are now responsible for the destruction and the killings. They will have to face trial and justice if they want to continue living with us."
Alawites have dominated Syria's power structure through their control of the army and security apparatus for decades. During the 1970-2000 rule of Hafez al-Assad, many Alawites moved to cities and towns in the hitherto mostly Sunni coastal region from the nearby Alawite Mountains, drawn by jobs in the army, security services and government. Alawites now make up a significant part of the coastal population. The two main ports, Latakia and Tartous, serve as conduits for Russian weapons deliveries to Assad's forces.

Syria activists protest rebel siege of Aleppo districts
July 10, 2013/Daily Star/BEIRUT: Activists in Aleppo have held protests calling for the lifting of a rebel siege of regime-held districts of Syria's second city that has created food shortages, activists said on Wednesday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the first demonstration calling for the siege to be lifted came on Tuesday, adding that one protester was shot dead. It said it was unclear who had shot the demonstrator, but protesters took to the streets again on Wednesday. A video of Tuesday's protest posted by the Observatory on Wednesday showed a small group of youths chanting "the people want to break the siege".
Four men in black t-shirts, one of them armed with a handgun, are seen pushing the protesters back. The sound of gunfire can be heard, but it is unclear where the shooting comes from. Rebel forces have imposed a siege on several regime-controlled neighbourhoods, where government forces have unable to deliver food. The blockade has created food shortages and pushed up prices as Muslims begin the holy fasting month of Ramadan, when the observant traditionally break the daytime fast with feasting and hospitality at sundown.
Another video posted by the Observatory showed that the siege policy does not have the full support of the rebel fighters supposed to enforce it. The footage shows a woman accompanied by her child trying to cross into regime-held Ashrafiyeh with a pram full of shopping bags. "I came to buy food. We have nothing, our children are dying of hunger. My son is sick and needs medicine and to eat," the woman pleads with a rebel fighter armed with a Kalashnikov. Her plea sparks an exchange between two rebels, one trying to convince the other to let her pass with the food. "What crime has this woman committed? She bought two kilos of potatoes, two kilos of tomatoes and some bread to allow her to keep her children alive," one rebel says. The other fighter suggests consulting a rebel commander, but the proposal is rejected by his comrade. "I know what he'll say. He will repeat that this is Islam and the other side are apostates, but that's not true."
Rebel forces have sought to block the entry of food and medicines to regime-held parts of Aleppo for some time, but in recent days they have succeeded in blockading the districts completely after cutting off regime access to the area by blowing up a bridge and blocking a key road. In Damascus, a senior foreign ministry official told journalists the government was concerned about the plight of civilians in Aleppo, after talks with UN representatives.
"We had an important meeting to increase our joint efforts to send urgent humanitarian aid to Aleppo province and we agreed to begin this work from tomorrow," the official said.Rebel forces entered Aleppo a year ago and have seized large swathes of the northern city but have failed to capture all of it. Elsewhere in the country, the Observatory said a child and four women were killed when a shell hit their car in the hill resort of Zabadani, northwest of the capital. In the central city of Homs, where the army has been trying to retake rebel-held districts in the centre, the Observatory reported that troops had captured several parts of the Bab Hud neighbourhood.
The army offensive, now in its 13th day, has caused enormous damage, according to activists. One activist told AFP that hundreds of trapped civilians were experiencing food shortages and power cuts as they marked the first day of Ramadan. Nationwide at least 81 people were killed on Tuesday, the Observatory said.

Sixty dead or missing in Canada train disaster: police
July 10, 2013/c, The Canadian Press)
LAC-MEGANTIC, Canada: The number of dead or missing after the runaway oil tanker train disaster in a small Canadian town has risen to 60, police announced Wednesday, as the railway chairman headed to the scene.
The confirmed death toll remained at 15, Quebec provincial police inspector Michel Forget told a press conference. The coroner said remains were still being identified. The list of missing or presumed dead in worst train accident in recent Canadian history rose to 45. A fire ignited by the crash on Saturday tore through homes and businesses, razing part of Lac-Megantic, a town of 6,000 located east of Montreal near the US border.
The blaze forced about 2,000 residents to flee their homes. Most of them started returning on Tuesday. The freight train was operated by Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway. It had been stopped for a crew change in the nearby town of Nantes when it began to roll downhill without a conductor towards Lac-Megantic. It derailed at a curve in the tracks and several cars exploded. MMA chairman Edward Burkhardt has blamed firefighters in Nantes for the disaster, saying they unwittingly unlocked the train's brakes when they shut down the locomotive's engines to douse a small fire hours earlier.Burkhardt is likely to face angry residents and questions from police probing for criminal negligence when he arrives in Lac-Megantic to survey the devastation. Quebec Premier Pauline Marois meanwhile announced Can$60 million (US$57 million) in emergency aid and for reconstruction. "We will do everything we can" to help the victims, she told a press conference.
"This should never have happened," she added.
 

Gulf Aid to Egypt and U.S. Policy
By: Simon Henderson/Washington Institute
Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Kuwait's new financial aid to Cairo should be used to facilitate a political transition and stabilize Egypt's fragile economy.
Yesterday, Saudi Arabia announced a $5 billion aid package for Egypt that includes a $1 billion cash grant, $2 billion worth of petroleum products and natural gas, and $2 billion as a deposit in the Central Bank of Egypt, free of normal financing expenses. The same day, the UAE offered a grant of $1 billion and an interest-free loan of $2 billion; the announcement came shortly after the governor of Egypt's Central Bank visited the Emirates. And today, Kuwait pledged an aid package worth $4 billion.
Riyadh and Abu Dhabi's generosity shows their appreciation for Egypt's dire financial circumstances, but it also reflects their delight that Muhammad Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood administration has been overthrown. The Brotherhood is anathema to most of the hydrocarbon-rich Gulf states because it threatens their hereditary, feudal styles of government. On July 2, a UAE court announced prison terms for sixty-eight citizens who had been linked to the local Brotherhood branch and charged with sedition. Kuwait's attitude toward the Brotherhood is more nuanced: members of the group have held seats in the national assembly but are an irritant to the government.
For Washington, the new financial support is both welcome and worrisome. Egypt is vital to U.S. regional interests for a range of reasons, including its control of the strategic Suez Canal and its peace agreement with Israel. But the White House is still under congressional pressure to call the army's action against Morsi a coup -- a move that would likely require Washington to cut off its $1.3 billion annual aid package to the Egyptian military. Moreover, Saudi Arabia and the UAE's definitions of political progress probably differ from that of the Obama administration, especially over whether the Brotherhood should be allowed to participate in new elections.
Another complicating factor is the role of Qatar, whose government does not share Riyadh and Abu Dhabi's fear of the Brotherhood and infuriated both neighbors by supporting the Morsi administration with generous grants and loans totaling around $8 billion. It is not clear whether Doha will continue this assistance; President Obama likely broached the subject during his telephone conversation yesterday with Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, who took control of Qatar last month after his father abdicated.
Doha's generosity during the Morsi era was seen as a tactical ploy to undercut its larger neighbor and regional rival, Saudi Arabia. The two countries seem to be engaged in a similar diplomatic competition in Syria, where each is funding and arming rival groups of rebels. Given these and other factors, Riyadh, the UAE, and Kuwait are likely averse to working with Qatar on Egypt -- despite the fact that all four are members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, which pledged to support a "secure and stable transition in Egypt" during last year's U.S.-GCC Strategic Cooperation Forum.
For Washington, the priority should be to ensure delivery of Gulf funds and then help Cairo use the money wisely. A $1 billion loan from Western creditors needs to be paid back next month; foreign exchange coverage for imports has fallen perilously close to three-month's worth, a figure usually seen as a danger point. Meanwhile, high inflation and rising youth unemployment could escalate street unrest if left unchecked. Combining Saudi, Emirati, and Kuwaiti assistance with Qatari funds, U.S. aid, and contributions from others could help ease Egypt's economic challenges.
**Simon Henderson is the Baker fellow and director of the Gulf and Energy Policy Program at The Washington Institute.