LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

Bible Quotation for today/Jews and Gentiles Are Saved by Faith
Galatians 02/15-21/"Indeed, we are Jews by birth and not “Gentile sinners,” as they are called. Yet we know that a person is put right with God only through faith in Jesus Christ, never by doing what the Law requires. We, too, have believed in Christ Jesus in order to be put right with God through our faith in Christ, and not by doing what the Law requires. For no one is put right with God by doing what the Law requires. If, then, as we try to be put right with God by our union with Christ, we are found to be sinners, as much as the Gentiles are—does this mean that Christ is serving the cause of sin? By no means! If I start to rebuild the system of Law that I tore down, then I show myself to be someone who breaks the Law. So far as the Law is concerned, however, I am dead—killed by the Law itself—in order that I might live for God. I have been put to death with Christ on his cross, so that it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. This life that I live now, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave his life for me. I refuse to reject the grace of God. But if a person is put right with God through the Law, it means that Christ died for nothing!

Obama Renews Sanctions on Assets Linked to Hizbullah
Naharnet /President Barack Obama renewed a “national emergency” which imposes a freeze on assets of people linked to Hizbullah, stressing that they still “undermine Lebanon's stability.”Obama said in a message to Congress on Monday that the situation in Lebanon made it necessary for him to renew the measure, which expires on August 1. "Certain ongoing activities, such as continuing arms transfers to Hizbllah that include increasingly sophisticated weapons systems, serve to undermine Lebanese sovereignty, contribute to political and economic instability in Lebanon, and continue to constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States," he wrote. "For this reason, the national emergency declared on August 1, 2007, and the measures adopted on that date to deal with that emergency, must continue in effect beyond August 1, 2013," Obama added. The U.S. considers Hizbullah a terror group and accuses Syria and Iran of arming it. In August 2007, President George W. Bush ordered a freeze on U.S. assets of anyone Washington deems to be undermining the Lebanese government. Bush didn't specify those who were affected by the decision, which came after a travel ban in June on Syrian officials and Lebanese politicians whom Washington accuses of infringing upon Lebanon's stability.SourceAgence France Presse.

Connelly Meets Aoun: EU Decision against Hizbullah Shows Party Cannot Act with Impunity
Naharnet/U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly hailed on Tuesday the European Union's decision to blacklist Hizbullah's military wing as a terrorist organization. She said after holding talks with Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun: “The decision sends a strong message that the party cannot operate with impunity and there are consequences for its actions, such as the Burgas bombing and its terrorist plot in Cyprus.”
The ambassador and MP discussed the political and security situation in Lebanon, as well as other regional issues. She said that government formation is a Lebanese process and that the Lebanese people deserve a government that reflects their aspirations and strengthens Lebanon's stability, sovereignty, and independence while fulfilling its international obligations. She noted the U.S. hoped to see a formation of a government with which the United States would be able to work more closely. Moreover, Connelly regretted the failure of some parties to respect the Baabda Declaration and noted that interference in Syria by those parties endanger Lebanon’s sovereignty, stability, and security.

UNIFIL Spokesman Says Lebanese Army to Take Over Eventually
Naharnet/UNIFIL Official Spokesman Andrea Tenenti stressed on Tuesday that the the Lebanese army will be handed over on the long term the complete supervision of southern Lebanon according to U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701.Tenenti described cooperation and coordination between the U.N. peacekeeping force and the army as “excellent.” He stressed that the conditions on the ground have significantly improved over the past seven years. UNIFIL currently has about 12,000 military and naval personnel from 35 countries deployed in southern Lebanon and with the Maritime Task Force off the coast. The civilian component of UNIFIL numbers more than 300 international and about 700 national staff members.

Al-Mustaqbal: Army Has Double Importance amid Current Circumstances
Naharnet /Al-Mustaqbal bloc lawmakers stressed on Tuesday on the significance of the army's role amid the current critical situation in Lebanon that is manifested in “Hizbullah's infringement of the state's prestige.”
“The army has a double importance in current circumstances, especially after the increased presence of outlaws,” the MPs said in a released statement after the bloc's weekly meeting at the Center House.
The statement elaborated: “The military institution is a main constituent in the country tasked with preserving stability and in the current critical conditions in Lebanon, it has a double role in taking care of the people's safety and applying the law.” "When Hizbullah is violating the state's prestige and when it is practicing political intimidation, the presence and the role of the army become more significant.”
The MPs reiterated their “full support to the state and its security institutions to preserve stability and confront the enemy and any attack against Lebanon's sovereignty.”
"The only immunity left for the Lebanese people is the state and its institutions. The army is in the forefront of these institutions.”
Regarding the parliamentary session that Speaker Nabih Berri called for, al-Mustaqbal lawmakers said that “holding on to the same agenda increases confusion in the country.”
Two parliamentary sessions with 45 draft-laws on the agenda, including the extension of Army chief Gen. Jean Qahwaji, have been recently postponed over the boycott of several blocs and Caretaker Premier Najib Miqati.
Berri insists on keeping the 45 draft-laws on the session's agenda intact and had previously vowed to continue to call on MPs for a General Assembly meeting until the agenda is discussed.
Meanwhile, Miqati argues that there is no balance between the powers of the legislative and executive branches amid a resigned government.
Miqati and the March 14 alliance say that the agenda's articles should be limited to one draft-law, which is extending Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji's mandate.
However, MP Michel Aoun's Change and Reform has a different reason to boycott the session. Aoun staunchly opposes the extension of Qahwaji's tenure.
Al-Mustaqbal lawmakers accused in their statement some political factions of “pretending to be keen on preserving the state's institutions.”
“But in reality, they are only covering corruption in ministries and suspicious deals,” the bloc stated.
In a separate matter, the statement condemned “the dangerous measures undertaken by Israel to change the identity of the Palestinian people.”
“We urge the United Nations, the Arab League and the U.N. Security Council to adopt the necessary measures against Israel's racial behaviors towards Palestinians,” it stressed.
The Israeli government in January approved the Prawer-Begin Bill in January, which calls for the relocation of 30,000-40,000 Bedouin, the demolition of about 40 villages and the confiscation of more than 700,000 dunums (70,000 hectares) of land in the Negev. The bill was also approved by the Israeli parliament in a first reading in June, and two more votes on it are expected.
Source/Agence France Presse.

Salam: Some Parties Seeking to Keep Resigned Cabinet for Lack of Accountability
Naharnet/Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam has denied that certain parties were seeking to thwart his attempts to form the new government, saying the conditions set by them were only aimed at extending the mission of the resigned cabinet. In remarks to As Safir newspaper published on Tuesday, Salam said he “had a feeling that no one was intentionally seeking to thwart” his mission.
“The explanation to what is happening is that some (parties) are seeking to extend the term of the caretaker government after they felt at ease for lack of accountability in it,” he told the daily.
Salam's press office said in a statement later Tuesday that his remarks to As Safir were not in reference to caretaker Premier Najib Miqati but to several ministers.
Salam reiterated that the delay in the formation of the new cabinet was the result of conditions and counter-conditions set by the different parties.
The Hizbullah-led March 8 alliance wants an all-embracing cabinet while the March 14 coalition is pushing Salam to keep Hizbullah away from the line-up over its participation in the war in Syria alongside troops loyal to President Bashar Assad. Salam denied receiving orders from Saudi Arabia to keep Hizbullah out. “No one can tell me what I should or shouldn't do.”
“I haven't been informed about a Saudi veto about Hizbullah's participation in the cabinet,” he said. The PM-designate stressed that he “only receives instructions from the national interest,” which he said is “the only criterion that controls the (government) formation process.”He stressed the importance of having a balanced government, saying the “crisis of confidence” among the Lebanese is increasing his conviction of giving centrists more power.
Salam reiterated that it was necessary to have ministers who do not constitute a provocation to the rest of the parties.
He warned “those seeking to transfer the crisis from the streets to the institutions, and specifically the executive authority,” saying such a move “would paralyze the government.”

Lebanon to Appeal for Aid during International Conference on Syrian Refugees
Naharnet/The increasing burdens caused by the soaring number of Syrian refugees fleeing the conflict in their country to Lebanon prompted the Lebanese state to prepare for a conference in cooperation with the U.N. refugees agency that aims at helping the country to confront the crisis. Caretaker Social Affairs Minister Wael Abou Faour said in comments published in As Safir newspaper on Tuesday that the conference seeks to differentiate between those who are refugees and those who are not. The conference will be held in September, Abou Faour pointed out. President Michel Suleiman, who will be accompanied by Abou Faour and caretaker Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour, are expected to attend the conference that will be held on the sideline of the 68th regular session of the U.N. General Assembly. Sources said that the dilemma facing Lebanon at the conference would be the international community and donor countries insistence to establish a trust fund to manage the financial assistance received to confront the mounting Syrian refugees crisis, which would be managed by the World Bank or the International Monitory Fund. Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel told As Safir that the refugees crisis requires “exceptional measures.” Sources pointed out the the number of refugees Lebanon is around 1,200,000, which is expected to reach around 2 million by the end of the year. The increasing number of Syrian refugees alongside a population of just four million has sparked mounting friction.
Many Syrian refugees are forced to sleep rough on the streets because they can not afford to rent somewhere to live. A recent opinion poll found that 54 percent of respondents believed Lebanon should close its doors to the refugees. A full 82 percent said that the refugees were stealing jobs from Lebanese. The conflict that erupted in Syria in March 2011 has spilled over the border into Lebanon where supporters and opponents of the Damascus regime have clashed frequently.

Report: Hizbullah Calls on Hariri to Return to Lebanon
Naharnet/Hizbullah had urged former Prime Minister Saad Hariri to return to Lebanon through diplomatic channels, al-Joumhouria newspaper reported on Tuesday. According to the newspaper Hariri had received several calls to return to the country, not only from Speaker Nabih Berri, but from Hizbullah also. However, the daily said that the Sunni leader is holding on to his decision to remain outside Lebanon over security fears.
The report pointed out that Hariri considers that the assassinations attempts in Lebanon hasn't reached an end yet. Last week, local newspapers quoted Berri saying: “Hariri must return to Lebanon to facilitate the resumption of the dialogue so that we cooperate to face the current challenges.”“I think Hariri can stay at the Center House if he has security fears,” the speaker said.

Aoun to Form 'National Front' to Defend Constitution, Says Qahwaji Term Extension 'Illegitimate'
Naharnet /Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Tuesday announced that he intends to form a “national front” to defend the constitution and prevent “the disintegration of the state,” describing the mechanism devised to extend the term of Army chief General Jean Qahwaji as “illegitimate.”“We want to immunize the military institution against those who want to tamper with its hierarchy and are issuing edicts that are harming the military hierarchy and manipulating the law,” said Aoun after the weekly meeting of the Change and Reform parliamentary bloc. “The dangerous thing is that the high-ranking authorities are behind the manipulation of law and they cannot be entrusted with the constitution or the laws,” Aoun lamented. He noted that “claims that they're seeking to avoid vacuum are a big lie and the issue (of extending Qahwaji's term) should have been at least raised in cabinet.”
“There is no need for this battle or for bypassing the laws,” Aoun added.
“What will we achieve? Will the illegitimate step create new legitimacy? No. Anything based on an illegitimate decision would be illegitimate and can be challenged according to the laws,” he went on to say. Aoun reiterated that his stance is “based on principles,” reminding that he had rejected any extension of the term of former Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi.
“We can't reject the extension of the ISF chief's term and accept to extend the terms of the army commander or the chief of staff. When they want to criticize our stance that is based on principles, they claim that we are against Sunnis or Shiites, but we have principles in our genes and our path is straightforward,” Aoun added.
“Constitutional violations are tantamount to a white coup that is aimed at seizing control of the constitutional powers ... and we will not remain silent over this coup,” he pledged.
The FPM leader stressed that all laws must be compatible with the constitution and “whoever tampers with the laws would be tampering with the foundations of the state.”
“They are dismantling the state and all state officials are with extension, which is a totally disgraceful thing. We claim that we have a state that was established in 1926, prior to the foundation of Israel which claims to be the sole democratic state in the Middle East,” Aoun added.
He noted that any ruler must be “a role model for respecting the laws and must be the guardian of the constitution and laws and must abide by them.”
“Gradual extension has become a rule for those who have lust for power and we don't know when will this rule come to an end,” Aoun said, referring to the recent extension of parliament's term.
“We have decided to form a national front for defending the constitution, which would consist of individuals who are representative of their society, with the aim of preserving our state and preventing its disintegration,” Aoun announced. He noted that the decree to extend Qahwaji's term violates Article 65 of the Constitution and “this should send the minister concerned to court.”
Caretaker Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn is expected to sign a decree on Wednesday that would postpone the retirement of Qahwaji for at least one year.
“We have taken the decision of confronting any violation committed by the constitutional authorities because we will not give up our land or identity,” Aoun vowed.
Asked about the state's handling of the aggravating Syrian refugee crisis, Aoun reminded of his previous warnings about Lebanon's limited ability to cope with the refugee influx, saying “let them weep over the situation of the refugees.” “They must realize that good governance must happen through confronting any situation on time,” he noted.

Death Sentence Demanded for Jammo's Wife in his Murder
Naharnet/The death sentence was demanded on Tuesday against Syrian journalist Mohammed Darrar Jammo's wife in his murder, reported the National News Agency. It said that General Prosecutor of the South Samih al-Hajj called for the death sentence against Siham Younis, her brother, and nephew. On Monday, three of Jammo's relatives were released from custody, reported LBCI television on Tuesday. It said that his daughter Fatima, sister-in-law, and brother-in-law were acquitted over a lack of evidence that they were linked to his murder. Jammo was killed on July 17 in Sarafand in Lebanon. His wife was arrested on suspicion that she may have planned the crime.
The 44-year-old journalist and political commentator was one of Syrian President Bashar Assad's and Hizbullah's staunchest defenders. In frequent appearances on television talk shows, he would staunchly support the Syrian regime's strong-armed response to the uprising and in at least one case shouted down opposition figures, calling them "traitors." He was killed when his wife's relatives burst into the first floor of his apartment in the town of Sarafand and opened fire on him. Initial reports that the murder was politically motivated were ruled out when security forces detained the relatives.

Husband Tapes Wife's Suicide from 8th Floor in Beirut
Naharnet/In a dramatic video that has shocked the Lebanese society, Amena Ismail is seen sitting on the balcony ledge of her eighth floor apartment before jumping to her death as her husband desperately tries to convince her not to commit suicide. “Your mother does not deserve this … you can forget about me if you're not happy with me ,” the husband, Kifah Fairouz Ahmed, tells his wife in a weeping tone moments before she throws herself from the building that is located in the upper-class Beirut district of Ramlet al-Bayda. LBCI television said the video was leaked by a policeman after Kifah handed it over to security forces. Media reports said Kifah is a diamond businessman, noting that he had returned with his wife Amena from Belgium only days before she committed suicide. The video was first uploaded to YouTube by civil society activist Louna Safwan.Al-Jadeed television quoted a source close to Kifah's family as saying that the couple had a good, harmonious relationship and that they were married around six months ago.Reports said Kifah was released on bail on Tuesday morning after a brief detention and video footage showed him taking part in the funeral in the southern city of Tyre.

Lebanese Airport Security Thwarts Attempt to Smuggle Qat to Lebanon
Naharnet/Customs agents at the Rafik Hariri International Airport thwarted on Tuesday an attempt to smuggle the narcotic leaf qat, reported the National News Agency. It said that an Ethiopian woman was attempting to smuggle 6.6 kilograms of the substance in her luggage. She was traveling to Lebanon from Ethiopia. She has been arrested and investigations are underway in the case.

Egypt's Ousted Morsi 'Well', Says Ashton
Naharnet/EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton met Egypt's ousted president on Tuesday, saying he was "well," but the country's political crisis seemed no closer to resolution despite her efforts.
Neither the interim government nor supporters of deposed President Mohammed Morsi showed any indication that they had shifted their positions after talks with Ashton, who left Cairo on Tuesday.
And Morsi loyalists said they would continue their demonstrations throughout the day, despite stern warnings from the military and National Defence Council and the deaths of 82 people at a protest on Saturday. Ashton became the first person to officially visit Morsi since his July 3 ouster, holding two hours of talks with him at an undisclosed location early Tuesday. "Morsi is well," she told reporters. "He has access to information in terms of TV, newspapers, so we were able to talk about the situation and we were able to talk about the need to move forward. "We had a friendly, open and very frank discussion," she added, declining to characterize Morsi's comments, or give details of where he is being held. Morsi has not been seen in public since his ouster and is being held in custody on allegations related to his escape from prison during Egypt's 2011 uprising.
On her last visit on July 17, Ashton unsuccessfully requested to meet the ousted president, and this time she made meeting him a condition of her trip. "I said that I would not come unless I could see him and that was freely offered to me." But she said her talks with Morsi and a string of government officials and opposition representatives were not intended to push the two sides to the table.
"We want to help facilitate the bringing together of ideas," she said, adding that she was hoping to find "common ground."
"I don't come here to say somebody should do this, somebody should do that, this is your country," she said. On Sunday and Monday, Ashton met army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, interim President Adly Mansour and Vice President Mohamed ElBaradei. She also met representatives of the pro-Morsi coalition, which said that "no initiatives" to resolve the crisis had been discussed, adding that it remained committed to Morsi's reinstatement.
"We are ready to talk to anybody, but we don't see anything positive from the other side," added Amr Darrag, a senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood's political arm. ElBaradei, speaking at a news conference with Ashton after a second meeting with her Tuesday, insisted Morsi would play no role in Egypt's political process going forward. "Mr. Morsi failed but the Brotherhood continues very much to be part of the political process and we would like them to participate in the political process," he said. ElBaradei stressed that ending violence was his "immediate priority." "I have always believed that violence is not the way, that we have to try every possible way to remove or to end polarization," he said. Morsi loyalists have rallied daily for his return to office and the Anti-Coup Alliance leading the protests called for major demonstrations on Tuesday. It urged Egyptians "to go out into the streets and squares, to regain their freedom and dignity -- that are being usurped by the bloody coup -- and for the rights of the martyrs assassinated by its bullets".
The calls raised fears of new bloodshed, particularly after warnings from the military and National Defense Council about the consequences if demonstrators overstepped their rights.
On Monday night, the emergency services revised their toll of those killed in Saturday's violence to 82, including a police officer. The incident was the bloodiest since Morsi's ouster, a period in which more than 200 people have died. The bloodshed and the persistent deadlock have prompted growing international concern. "We condemn the violence... We call for dialogue and for the release of president Morsi," French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told reporters on Tuesday. The violence has also sparked domestic criticism of the interim authorities with a group of Egyptian human rights groups calling on Monday for interior minister Mohamed Ibrahim to be sacked. Egypt's interim presidency has said it was "saddened" by the deaths, but called the protest area where they occurred a "terror-originating spot".
Unrest continued in the Sinai Peninsula meanwhile, with two policemen and a conscript killed in three separate shootings overnight, a security source said.
SourceAgence France PresseAssociated Press.

Pakistan Elects Mamnoon Hussain President
Naharnet/Pakistan on Tuesday elected businessman Mamnoon Hussain as its 12th president, state TV said, to replace deeply unpopular head of state Asif Ali Zardari, whose five-year term expires in September.
Lawmakers from both houses of the national parliament and four provincial assemblies voted in the two-man race for the largely ceremonial president of the nuclear-armed state.
In a sharp reminder of the challenges the country faces, dozens of heavily armed Taliban militants stormed a prison in the northwest overnight, escaping with more than 240 prisoners.
The economy has stagnated, a debilitating power crisis needs to be solved and US relations remain complicated by American drone attacks targeting Taliban and Al-Qaeda operatives.
Within minutes of the polls closing at 3pm, state media handed the vote to Hussain, based on unofficial results. The final tally is expected to be announced by the evening.
Hussain, a 73-year-old businessman and close ally of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Pakistan's financial capital Karachi had been considered certain to replace Zardari.
Zardari's opposition Pakistan People's Party (PPP), which lost heavily in general elections in May, boycotted Tuesday's ballot over complaints that the vote was brought forward from August 6.
The only other candidate is retired Supreme Court judge Wajihuddin Ahmed, nominated by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, the third largest party in parliament and led by cricket hero Imran Khan.
Hussain's loyalty to Sharif and low profile is expected to bolster the prime minister's authority and provide a stark contrast to Zardari, considered a sharp political operator behind the scenes.
A long-serving member of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) party, he briefly served as governor of the southern province Sindh under Sharif's last premiership in 1999.
On the eve of the election, Hussain told a PML-N meeting in the capital Islamabad that the office was a symbol of the federation of Pakistan and vowed to serve the country and its people.
Hussain made money in textiles and is a former president of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI).
"He had no political affiliation until 1999 but his polite discourse and professional ability impressed Nawaz Sharif who made him governor of Sindh," current KCCI president Azhar Haroon said.
Supporters say Hussain's election could be important domestically by giving the south some stake in the federal administration, otherwise dominated by Punjab, Sharif's power base.
Constitutional amendments passed by the last PPP government mean that the presidency is again a ceremonial post, a status likely to be cemented by the fact that Hussain has little personal clout.
Sharif won a commanding general election victory in May, which marked the first time a Pakistani civilian government completed a full term in office and handed over to another at the ballot box.
Source/Agence France Presse.

Kerry Says Final Israeli-Palestinian Deal in 9 Months
Naharnet/Israeli and Palestinian negotiators agreed Tuesday to meet again within the next two weeks, aiming to seal a final peace deal in nine months, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said.
The two sides will meet in either Israel or the Palestinian territories and "our objective will be" to reach a "final status agreement over the course of the next nine months," Kerry told reporters after Israelis and Palestinians ended a three-year freeze on talks.
After a morning of talks at the White House with President Barack Obama and at the State Department, the two sides had agreed that all the most contentious issues such as borders and refugees and the fate of Jerusalem would be on the table for discussion.
"The parties have agreed to remain engaged in sustained, continuous and substantive negotiations on the core issues," Kerry said, flanked by Israeli chief negotiator Tzipi Livni and her Palestinian counterpart Saeb Erakat. "They will meet within the next two weeks in either Israel or the Palestinian Territories in order to begin the process of formal negotiation.
"The parties have agreed here today that all of the final status issues, all of the core issues and all other issues are all on the table for negotiation," Kerry insisted. "And they are on the table with one simple goal: a view to ending the conflict, ending the claims. Our objective will be to achieve a final status agreement over the course of the next nine months."
The top U.S. diplomat also reiterated his view that time is running out for a two-state solution, insisting "there is no other alternative.
"We all need to be strong in our belief in the possibility of peace, courageous enough to follow through in our faith in it, and audacious enough to achieve what these two peoples have so long aspired to and deserve," he said.
Erakat praised Kerry's dogged efforts to resume the talks, stalled for three years, saying "no one benefits more from the success of this endeavor than Palestinians.
"I'm delighted all issues are on the table and will be resolved without any exceptions. It's time for the Palestinian people to have an independent sovereign state of their own."
And Livni said she hoped that a "spark of hope" would emerge from the new talks.
"It is our task to work together so that we can transform that spark of hope into something real and lasting," she said. "I believe that history is not made by cynics. It is made by realists who are not afraid to dream. And let us be these people."
Meanwhile, U.S. President Barack Obama praised the "courage" of Israeli and Palestinian negotiators when he met with them Tuesday after the relaunch of direct peace talks frozen for three years.
"The president used this opportunity to convey his appreciation to both sides for the leadership and courage they have shown in coming to the table," White House spokesman Jay Carney said.
Obama also expressed his "personal support for final-status negotiation," Carney said, while agreeing with the two parties to keep the details of the negotiations under wraps.
"All sides agree that it would be most conducive to this process to not read out details of meetings," Carney said. "We're going to abide by that."
Also, the United States, Russia, European Union and United Nations made a joint call Tuesday on Israel and the Palestinians not to "undermine trust" as they embark on landmark peace talks.
The diplomatic Quartet on the Middle East said it was determined to support the two sides' "shared commitment to achieve a negotiated two-state solution within the agreed timeframe of nine months."
The Quartet "calls on all parties to take every possible step to promote conditions conducive to the success of the negotiating process and to refrain from actions that undermine trust," said a joint statement.
The group praised the "courageous decision" of Palestinian president Abbas and Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu to launch the talks which started in Washington on Monday.
Envoys from the Quartet, which was set up to promote a road map toward peace between Israel and the Palestinians, would meet "soon", the statement said.
"While noting that much hard work lies ahead, the Quartet expresses its hope that renewed negotiations will be substantive and continuous and set a clear path towards a two-state solution, the end of conflict, and lasting peace and security for both Israelis and Palestinians," said the statement.
With a cast of characters that has presided over numerous failed Middle East peace efforts, the Obama administration launched a fresh bid earlier on Monday to pull Israel and the Palestinians into substantive negotiations.
Despite words of encouragement, deep skepticism about the prospects for success surrounded the initial discussions, which opened with a dinner hosted by Kerry. He named a former U.S. ambassador to Israel to shepherd what all sides believe will be a protracted and difficult process.
Former envoy Martin Indyk, who played key roles in the Clinton administration's multiple, unsuccessful pushes to broker peace deals between Israel and Syria and Israel and the Palestinians, will assume the day-to-day responsibility for keeping the talks alive for the next nine months.
Kerry called Indyk a "seasoned diplomat" and said he "knows what has worked and he knows what hasn't worked." Neither Kerry nor the State Department would say what has worked in the past, although the fact that there is no peace deal now would seem to indicate that nothing has worked in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian standoff.
President Obama echoed Kerry's hopeful sentiment in a White House statement that said Indyk "brings unique experience and insight to this role, which will allow him to contribute immediately as the parties begin down the tough, but necessary, path of negotiations."
The Israeli side is led by chief negotiator Tzipi Livni, a former foreign minister who was active in the Bush's administration's ill-fated Annapolis peace talks with the Palestinians, and Yitzhak Molcho, a veteran adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who was part of the Israeli team involved in Obama's two previous attempts to broker negotiations. Those two efforts relied heavily on Dennis Ross, a former Indyk colleague and Mideast peace envoy, and veteran negotiator George Mitchell. The Palestinian team is led by chief negotiator Erekat and President Mahmoud Abbas' adviser, Mohammed Shtayyeh, both of whom have been major players in failed negotiations with the Israelis since 1991.
Kerry spoke for about 45 minutes with representatives from the Israeli negotiating team and then another roughly 45 minutes with the Palestinian delegation before sitting down for dinner on the top floor of the State Department. "Not very much to talk about at all," Kerry joked just before starting dinner shortly after 9 p.m. They sat at a rectangular table — five U.S. officials lining one side and the two Israeli and two Palestinian negotiators on the other — to dine on sweet corn and shell bean soup, grilled grouper, saffron risotto, summer vegetables and apricot upside down cake.
Despite the presence of so many people whose past experience does not include success, Kerry and other officials voiced cautious optimism about the resumption of talks which he painstakingly negotiated during six months of shuttle diplomacy that began with Obama's own trip to Israel in March.
"It sounds like we're lucky to have decades of experience ready to come back to the table and make an effort to push forward," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. Previous attempts to get talks started have foundered on Israel's continued construction of Jewish settlements on land claimed by the Palestinians and Palestinian attempts to win international recognition as a sovereign state in the absence of a peace deal. Actual negotiations have died because the two sides have been unable to compromise on the most serious disagreements between them: borders, the status of Jerusalem, refugees and security.
With a U.S.-imposed gag order on revealing any details about the substance or framework of the talks, gauging progress will be difficult. But the outlines of any eventual peace deal are fairly well known: a Palestinian state based on the lines that existed before the 1967 war in which Israel seized east Jerusalem and occupied the Palestinian territories, with agreed land swaps and recognition of a secure, Jewish state of Israel.
But neither side will publicly commit to those goals, and getting there will require major concessions that will be difficult to sell to the Israeli and Palestinian public. Ahead of the initial discussions on procedures and guidelines for the meetings, which the U.S. hopes will grow into deeper, more substantive talks on the key sticking points, Kerry urged both sides to strive for "reasonable compromises on tough, complicated, emotional and symbolic issues."
He acknowledged that the path ahead would be long and difficult. But he said that Indyk had the respect and confidence of all involved and that his vast experience in Middle East diplomacy could only help. "Ambassador Indyk is realistic," Kerry said. "He understands that Israeli-Palestinian peace will not come easily and it will not happen overnight. But he also understands that there is now a path forward and we must follow that path with urgency. He understands that to ensure that lives are not needlessly lost, we have to ensure that opportunities are not needlessly lost."
Indyk, 62, will take a leave of absence from his current job as vice president and foreign policy director at the Washington-based Brookings Institution think tank.
In announcing Indyk's appointment, Kerry noted the former ambassador had opened the preface to his 2009 book, "Innocent Abroad: An Intimate Account of American Peacemaking Diplomacy in the Middle East," with lines from the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. "If men could learn from history, what lessons it would teach us," Kerry quoted.
He did not continue to the next lines as Indyk did in his book:
"But passion and party blind our eyes,"
"And the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern,"
"Which shines only on the waves behind us."
SourceAgence France PresseAssociated Press.

Erdoğan blundered by standing by Mursi
By: Nicholas Birch/Asharq Alawsat
Anybody watching Turkish TV over the last month could be forgiven for thinking that Mohamed Mursi was Turkish. News channels that broadcast wildlife documentaries during the recent Turkish protests aired long and impassioned debates about what was going on just across the Mediterranean. For pro-government commentators, it was a game of “compare the coup”—exactly which Turkish military intervention did the Egyptian one resemble the most? Was it 1960? 1971? 1980? 1997? (The foreign minister reckons it was 1997.) Anybody risking a more nuanced view faced accusations of groveling at the feet of tyranny.
Government circles in Turkey clearly fear that what has happened in Egypt could happen to them. too. More radical Turkish secularists doubtless hope it will. In reality, though, the parallels between the two countries are tenuous. The Justice and Development Party always was one of a kind, for all the talk in the Western press about it being a democratic model for the region. So, as it falls, is Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood. It isn’t just that coups are almost unthinkable in Turkey today, or that Turkey’s economy continues to grow while Egypt sinks further into insolvency. It is, above all, that Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has charisma and guile and Mursi has little of either.
Yet there is one crucial thing, other than a shared ideological heritage, that links the two men: the structural similarities of the political groups that they lead. Like the Muslim Brotherhood, Mr. Erdoğan’s political base owes its strength to its tightly-knit and hierarchical grassroots network. In opposition, that made it immensely resilient: it regrouped quickly after being swept from power by the military in 1997. Between 2003 and 2008, it linked shields and fought off military and judicial efforts to shunt it aside again.
But the same characteristics that gave it strength in the past have left it ill-suited to rule in a consensual way since it took full power. Mr. Erdoğan’s political charisma has always depended heavily on his having enemies. Enemies have enabled him to justify the extraordinary hold that he has over his party apparatus. First it was the Kemalist establishment. Then, with the army defeated, it was Israel. Now that he stands at the zenith of his power, it is the world, and half of his own people. Listening to him speak since the street protests kicked off late in May has been like listening to Saint-Just, the philosopher of the Jacobin Terror: “Since the people has manifested its will, everything opposed to it is outside the sovereign, and all that is outside the sovereign is the enemy.”
“I won more than half the vote, therefore I am the nation.” The domestic implications of this vision of perfect social homogeneity are obvious—society stops being a society and becomes a barracks. In Mr. Erdoğan’s case, though, there are also signs that it has rubbed off on his vision of the wider world too, fatally weakening his pretentions to regional leadership.
In the early years of his time in power, one of the guiding principles of his foreign minister’s foreign policy was “zero problems with neighbors.” In some ways, it is arguable whether the slogan differed that much from the most famous statement of Turkish foreign policy there is, Kemal Atatürk’s “peace at home and peace in the world”. (Both, when you think about it, are the sort of cautious stance you would expect the leaders of new and as yet unconsolidated regimes to strike.) But it seemed to tally with the government’s move away from Turkey’s traditionally conservative approach to the wider region towards a more proactive approach, and again it went down well in the West.
Gradually, though, and in parallel to Mr. Erdoğan’s rise to absolute power inside Turkey, his government’s claim to be a pragmatic big brother to the region, a broker between Israel and Palestine, willing even to push for peace with Armenia, morphed into something more ideological. Ankara weakened its admittedly limited leverage over Palestine through its strong support for Hamas. It fell out with Iraq over its support of Tariq Al-Hashemi. It may now be supporting radical Salafi groups against the Kurds in Syria. And it fumed over the fall of the Muslim Brotherhood while Riyadh and other regional capitals publicly gloated.
Mr. Erdoğan’s mistake has been to fall victim to his own intoxicating domestic rhetoric about being the voice of the people, the soul of Anatolia, the long-awaited champion of pure Turkish and Islamic values, and to assume that he speaks for a perfectly homogeneous mass of people. He doesn’t. His support base is not homogeneous. Turkey certainly isn’t. As for the wider Sunni Arab world, it couldn’t be more disparate.
Islamist politicians like Mr. Erdoğan are more powerful today than they have ever been. Paranoia and a barracks-room mentality served them well during their years in opposition. If the region is to escape from a vicious circle of coup and counter-coup, of secular authoritarianism followed by Islamic authoritarianism, though, they need now to replace it with something more nuanced.

Erdoğan is right to stand by Mursi
By: Dr. Osama Rushdie/Asharq Alawsat
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has not lost out after the coup which ousted his friend Mohamed Mursi, because at the end of the day, he is an elected leader who stands on firm ground. In the past ten years, he and his party elevated Turkey to become one of the world’s strongest 20 economies, the G20.
The Turkish economy still continues to perform miracles in an area which suffers from political and economic strife, as is the case in Greece and Cyprus, as well as the depression in Europe generally. It is also in a region full of political turmoil, as is the case in Syria, Iraq and Iran.
The military coup in Egypt toppled a legitimate government, and led to the ouster of the first elected president in Egypt’s history, a president who managed within a few months to strengthen long-established, historic relations between Egypt and Turkey.
When Erdoğan announced his support for the now-ousted President Mohamed Mursi, signs of an important regional axis began to appear, an axis which could share almost identical positions on regional and international issues.
The ouster of Mursi did not only destroy Egypt’s first attempt at democracy, it also led to a deep shock for Erdoğan and Turkey, who were reminded of Turkey’s own history of military coups and the military interference in politics, which Turkey has yet to fully recover from.
Since the coup of May 1960, which led to the execution of Prime Minister Adnan Menderes and the imprisonment for life of president of the republic, Celal Bayar, a failed coup by Colonel Talat Aydemir took place in 1963, followed by General Kenan Evren’s coup in 1980. Evren suspended party activities and then disbanded them. He introduced a new constitution in 1982.
The constitution included an explicit provision in article 13, which stated that socialist, fascist and religious parties were banned. Thus he outlawed parties which opposed the People’s Party and Ataturk-style secularism.
Article 96 of the parties’ law banned the use of terms such as communism, anarchism, socialism, fascism, nationalism, religion, ethnicity, language, caste, and creed, or any words which give similar meaning, so they can use that to disband opposition parties.
In December 1995, the Welfare Party, led by Necmettin Erbakan, and its ally, the True Path (Doğru Yol), formed a government. He became the first Islamic prime minister, a fact which angered the secularists and made them push the military to move against the elected government.
In 1998, the Welfare Party was banned, and Erbakan was prosecuted for violating the secular state charters. He was banned from political activity for five years. Democratic life became a minefield afterwards, and vague laws were used as an excuse to disband parties.
The 2003 elections then brought in the Justice and Development Party, the party founded by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan–mayor of Greater Istanbul during the Welfare Party government, Abdullah Gul, and a number of Islamists who separated from the Felicity Party (Saadet Partisi) which was an offshoot of the Virtue Party.
Other coup attempts took place after that to topple Erdoğan or disband his party using the Supreme Constitutional Court, but they all failed.
This long history made the Turkish government very sensitive to military coups, and rejected them. That gives it a historic and moral stance, a desire to stop the military from interfering in political life.
A stance based on evidence that the coups which took place against legitimacy in the world since the Franco coup in Spain in 1936, ended in one of the following four scenarios:
1- The establishment of a military dictatorship, which the international situation cannot bear in Egypt at this time.
2- The establishment of a military dictatorship under civilian cover, which is what the current coup is moving towards.
3- Ending up in a situation of chaos and political turmoil.
4- Embroiling society in civil war.
All these possibilities are alarming and undesirable, because they may add another country in the region to the list of failed states.
Turkey is expected to play an effective international role which would prevent the recognition of the military coup in Egypt, a coup which carries out massacres against peaceful protesters who are defending legitimacy.
Turkey, in addition to the African Union and other states which have realized the dangers of a military coup to the stability of Egypt, will put pressure on the coup perpetrators to quickly return to the democratic path and release political detainees, including Mohamed Mursi. They will also push for an end to extraordinary measures of oppression, campaigns of incitement, and the sponsorship of hatred in the media against the supporters of constitutional legitimacy and democracy.
The counterpoint to this piece can be read here.

Kerry in secret final-status talks with Netanyahu and Abbas on borders, security, Jerusalem, Jordan Valley

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report July 30, 2013/
The ceremonial launch of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations early Tuesday, July 30, over the Muslim iftar meal in the State Department Jefferson room, made a photogenic front for the real brass-tacks bargaining on core issues of the long Middle East dispute, which Secretary of State John Kerry has been handling discreetly with the principals, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. This was first revealed exclusively in the last DEBKA Weekly issue of Friday, July 26.
While the formal US-led talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams were being set up for the benefit of the public in the US, the Arab world, Israel and the Palestinians, Kerry was putting hard questions to the Israeli and Palestinian leaders and pushing for answers on borders, security, the Jordan Rift Valley and Jerusalem. From time to time, he brought Arab leaders into the process, especially from the Persian Gulf.
Abbas made his sudden trip to Cairo Monday, July 27 to demonstrate to the US Secretary and Israeli prime minister that he had his own lines to Arab rulers independent of Kerry’s tactics. In the end, his show fizzled. No important Egyptian leader had time to see him before the formal launch of talks in Washington or clue him in on the Egyptian military’s plans for the Gaza Strip and its Hamas rulers.
The technical aspects and negotiating procedures were left to the official negotiators, Justice Minister Tzipi Llivni and Saeb Erekat, to sort out Tuesday. However, debkafile’s sources in Jerusalem and Washington report exclusively that Kerry had meanwhile challenged Netanyahu on three core issues:
Would he adopt the security arrangements-versus-borders formula conceded by his predecessor Ehud Olmert to President Obama and Abbas in early 2009, in which he offered to cede around 94.6 percent of the West Bank to the Palestinians?
Although the Palestinians never accepted the offer, they are now trying to make it the starting-point of the current round of talks. If Netanyahu rejected this, Kerry asked what alternative he had in mind in terms of territory he is prepared to cede on the West Bank – bearing in mind that Jewish settlements stand on app. 9.8 percent of the West Bank (not counting Jerusalem).
In this way, the US Secretary quietly launched final-status negotiations on future borders
He also asked the Israeli prime minister what he meant in terms of the scope and depth of Israel’s proposed withdrawal when he insisted that Israel must retain a security presence on the Jordan Rift Valley which marks part of Israel’s eastern border. Kerry wanted to know if Jewish communities would be removed and only a military presence left in place.
This question jumped the process fast forward to the interrelations between security measures and the final borders between the Israeli and Palestinian states.
Kerry also wanted to find out how much financial aid Israel was ready to commit for raising the standard of living of West Bank Palestinians.
A question he addressed to both Netanyahu and Abbas related to the deployment of an international force as a buffer between the Palestinians and the Israel Defense Forces.
The prime minister was open to discussing this plan. Abbas gave his answer from Cairo Monday night when he declared that “not a single Israeli must remain in the Palestinian state, whether soldier or civilian.” He indicated that he would not object to an international force on the lines of UNIFIL in Lebanon or the Multinational Force in Sinai,or even NATO units.
He also asked Kerry to put forward ideas on the Jerusalem question and the shape of the Palestinian state’s borders.

A Spring Whose Flowers Have Withered
Mohammad el-Ashab/Al Hayat
The Arab spring has not failed, but the branches have withered and the fields have grown wildly, without any pruning. And just like some plants wrap around small wires and columns until they block the view and prevent the growth of fruits, there was a fascination which made people’s predisposition to believe that change has occurred push them to support any alternative for the previously dominant situation.
The Arab intellectuals and political elite had not yet recovered from the first shock generated by a street without leaders, that the second wave of the roaring spring came to sweep the mistakes and violations committed in the name of the legitimacy of the ballot boxes. And for the first time ever, problematic questions emerged in regard to the elections’ overruling of the action on the street or the street’s overruling of the legal and procedural mechanisms that guarantee the expression of the will. The difference is that the spontaneity with which the sentiments of anger and wrath are expressed on the street is more powerful than any voting, preceded by campaigns and psychological, cultural, and political preparations to persuade the voters.
What is interesting is that the various types of revolutions known around the world, which allowed the surfacing of the values of freedom, parity, justice, equal opportunity, fair competition and the rejection of segregation among other cosmic principles, did not accomplish their goals within months or years. Indeed, it took them decades to instill the culture of the revolution which had its victims. And what happened with the Arab spring remains closer to an eruption that exploded after it reached the point of suffocation, and just like in the May 1968 revolution in France, the students and youth will play a leading role that goes beyond the limits of universities and reaches the factories, fields, and administrations. But the Arab wrath did not find a leader similar to French President De Gaulle, while the intelligence monitoring devices did not pick up the waves of the winds, although they were clear on people’s faces and at the level of the various phenomena.
Because the psychological barrier was shattered, it is now impossible to revive the culture of patience which burdened the people and subjected them to unjust and oppressive ruling regimes. As for the post-spring rulers, they might have thought that the people’s patience will not run out again or that the ballot boxes will allow the perpetration of the prohibited, thus demonstrating a behavior that was more opposed and rejected than it was favored and tolerated.
What is noticeable at the level of the developments in Egypt is that they almost pushed the Egyptians to choose between blood and surrender, between the acceptance of the authority produced by the ballot boxes and the staging a coup against the coup. But what difference is there between using the street and threatening with violence, and what used to be imposed by the rulers who were toppled by the first wave of the Arab spring? Although the latter did not have the support of a public which is capable of expressing its position freely, their successors do not wish to succumb to a more liberated form of expression, i.e. demonstrations on the street. The ballot boxes are not a Catholic marriage. They are rather a contract that can be challenged by whichever side, knowing that in contractual law, the breaching of the contract imposes its annulment.
On the other hand, those downplaying the influence of the angry street are seeking its protection, which means that the behavior is the same in both cases. Nonetheless, it differs at the level of the threats to face the unknown and at the level of an experience that is not too far from that of the Islamic Salvation Front in Algeria, which lost its way while attempting to regain the people’s trust and saw the emergence of offshoots, some of which took to the mountains and carried weapons. The latter experience caused scars and wounds that made the Algerian more careful and cautious about anything smelling of violence and bloodshed.
The Egyptian experience is not taking place on an isolated island and has started to expand to Libya and Tunisia, while the Algerian one remained limited to its time and border. And this pushes towards the belief that the convictions reached by the Algerians after more than ten years of bloodshed, will be shared by other populations in Tunisia and Libya in the event of a deviation away from the democratic course.
It might have been better for the supporters of deposed President Muhammad Morsi to realize that the same mistakes will lead to the same results, knowing that the opportunity given to the Algerian Salvation Front to become a key partner in political action did not come around again when it had to engage in an open confrontation with the regime. At the same time, it kept reiterating that it was adopting a peaceful approach and that those opposing democracy tended to use violence.
Opportunities do not always recur and the Muslim Brotherhood organization in Egypt – after it heard President Morsi recognizing there were mistakes – can distance itself from the presidency, which has become closer to the lost paradise in Andalusia. This would not require more than a return to square one, i.e. an agreement over the general framework and roadmap during the transitional phase. Once this happens, whoever was supported by the street will not spare any legal means to express that, knowing that time does not always stop while awaiting the adoption of the decisions and the latter must race with it before it is too late.