6 Lebanese Army soldiers, Including 2 Officers, Martyred in Clashes with al-Asir's Gunmen in Abra, Saida
Naharnet /Two army officers, a sergeant and three soldiers were martyred and several others were wounded Sunday in a clash with supporters of Islamist cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir in the Sidon suburb of Abra, the Army Command said in a statement. It identified them as First Lieutenant Samer Jeryes Tanios, Lieutenant George Elian Bou Saab, Sergeant Ali Adnan al-Masri, First Soldier Rami Ali al-Khabbaz and soldiers Bilal Ali Saleh and Elie Nicola Rahme. "An armed group loyal to Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir attacked, for no reason, a Lebanese army checkpoint in the village of Abra" on the outskirts of the southern port city of Sidon, it said in an earlier statement.
"Two officers and a soldier were martyred, while several others were wounded. Several military vehicles were damaged," the statement added.
The fighting erupted when Asir supporters surrounded an army checkpoint in Abra, where a vehicle transporting other supporters of the cleric had been stopped, a security source told Agence France Presse. "After the armed men attacked (the army) with gunfire" the army fired back, the source added. LBCI television said the clash in Sidon allegedly erupted over the army's arrest of two individuals linked to the Bilal bin Rabah Mosque.
According to state-run National News Agency, one of Asir's supporters was killed and 15 other partisans were wounded.
The army vowed it "will not tolerate" the latest developments, and that it "will continue to fulfil its mandate to suppress strife."The military will "strike back with an iron fist anyone who... spills the blood of the army", the statement added. Amjad al-Asir, the cleric's brother, was defiant when reached by telephone by AFP. "The army is with Hizbullah -- we're being bombarded from all sides," he told AFP as explosions were heard in the background. "Sheikh Asir will stay on the battlefield along with those who support him. We will resist to the last drop of blood." OTV said "Asir's gunmen widened their attacks and are firing towards Haret Saida from Abra." "An RPG landed in the Alman area in Sidon district and a citizen identified as J. D. was wounded," al-Jadeed said. "Sniper gunfire is targeting every military vehicle that passes in the vicinity of Abra and all roads linking the South to Beirut have been blocked by masked supporters of Ahmed al-Asir," military sources told MTV. Al-Jadeed said the army came under sniper fire on Sidon's seaside road and "masked gunmen are trying to block roads near the Hariri mosque.""The army reopened the Sidon-Beirut corniche road and is chasing the gunmen who blocked it," al-Mayadeen television said. Agence France Presse reported that explosions were heard two kilometers away. An AFP correspondent saw civilians fleeing the fighting, both by car and on foot. Businesses in Abra closed for the day in the face of the raging gunfire. "The shells are raining down on us, and there is intense gunfire," a witness told AFP by telephone.

Sidon Clashes Spill Over as Roads Were Blocked in Tripoli, Army Positions Become Target to Fire
Naharnet/Sunday’s clashes in the southern city of Sidon spilled over other Lebanese regions, as roads were blocked in the North, the Bekaa and Beirut and army patrols came under fire in Ain el-Hilweh refugee camp.
This come after two army officers, a sergeant and three soldiers were martyred and several others were wounded earlier on Sunday in a clash with supporters of Salafist cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir in the Sidon suburb of Abra, the Army Command said in a statement. The fighting erupted when Asir supporters surrounded an army checkpoint in Abra, where a vehicle transporting other supporters of the cleric had been stopped, a security source told Agence France Presse. LBCI television said the clash in Sidon allegedly erupted over the army's arrest of two individuals linked to the Bilal bin Rabah Mosque. “The Lebanese army checkpoint in al-Taamir is being targeted by gunfire from the Ain el-Hilweh camp,” Future television reported. The state-run National News Agency National News Agency confirmed the news, saying that one of the Lebanese army's positions came under fire from the Taamir-Ain el-Hilweh area. Also, an army base was hit with an RPG at the Abu Ali roundabout in the northern city of Tripoli, but no casualties were reported, LBCI television said. “Several roads were blocked with burning tires in Tripoli in protest at the clashes in Sidon.” The same source noted: “Gunmen on motorcycles are roaming Tripoli's streets and an exchange of gunfire erupted between the army and gunmen at the Abu Ali roundabout.”Moreover in the North, a number of young men blocked the el-Mina-Beirut highway in Tripoli facing the Quality Inn Hotel in solidarity with al-Asir. But later on Sunday, roads leading to the Abdul Hamid Karami Square in Tripoli were reopened in both directions.Meanwhile in Beirut, dozens of young men roamed the Tariq al-Jedideh area on motorcycles while chanting slogans in support of Salafist cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir.“Young men blocked the al-Barbir road near al-Khasheqji mosque with trash bins,” Radio Voice of Lebanon (100.5) noted. LBCI said protesters blocked the road in Beirut’s Verdun Street in protest at the Sidon clashes.The tension of Sidon also spilled over to the Bekaa as the Taalabaya-Saadnayel road was blocked in both directions, al-Jadeed television said. “Gunmen appeared in al-Masnaa area and in the central Bekaa town of al-Fayda as the Qob Elias-Aammiq road was blocked with burning tires in support of Asir.”“The Ras Baalbek road was blocked with burning tires in protest at the martyrdom of Captain George Abu Saab in Sidon’s Sunday clashes,” LBCI added. According to LBCI, the Halba-Qobaiyat road in the northern city of Akkar was blocked at the intersection of the town of Menjez.

Suleiman Assures: Army is Fully Authorized to Strike Perpetrators in Sidon
Naharnet/President Michel Suleiman assured on Sunday that the army is “fully authorized” to strike the attackers in the latest clashes between the gunmen of Salafist cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir and the army’s forces in the southern city of Sidon. “The military institution is granted the full authorization to hit the attackers and arrest the perpetrators and the instigators and bring them to justice,” Suleiman said on Twitter. He explained: “This is in order to preserve the security of the Lebanese and the dignity and image of the army.” In a released statement, the president also slammed calls for troops to defect from their units.“Joining jihad against the army only serves the interests of Lebanon's enemies, he stated. “These calls will not be heeded by Lebanese and Palestinian citizens or army troops.” Suleiman called for a security meeting to be held on Monday in Baabda Palace. He had discussed the situation in Sidon in phone conversations with caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel and Army chief General Jean Qahwaji. Two army officers, a sergeant and three soldiers were martyred and several others were wounded Sunday in a clash with supporters of al-Asir in the Sidon suburb of Abra, the Army Command said in a statement. The fighting erupted when Asir supporters surrounded an army checkpoint in Abra, where a vehicle transporting other supporters of the cleric had been stopped, a security source told Agence France Presse. Meanwhile, LBCI television said the clash in Sidon allegedly erupted over the army's arrest of two individuals linked to the Bilal bin Rabah Mosque.

Report: Suleiman to Face More March 8 Criticism over Syria Violations Memos
Naharnet/President Michel Suleiman is expected to come under more criticism by the March 8 camp, at the Syrian regime's behest, over his memorandums objecting to the Syrian violations of Lebanese territories, reported the Kuwaiti daily al-Anba on Sunday. Sources told the daily that the Syrian regime “has been angered” by the president's stances and it has tasked its allies in Lebanon to launch campaigns against him “ahead of obstructing his role as president during the last year of his mandate.” They explained that Hizbullah cannot afford to lose the president's backing because such a development will mean the loss of the party's legitimacy.
“It is this legitimacy that Damascus used in order justify the presence of the Syrian army in Lebanon” during its period of hegemony over its neighbor, they continued. Furthermore, they revealed that the Baabda Declaration that was approved in June 2012 is another factor that has incurred Syria's disappointment with Suleiman. The Declaration was unanimously agreed upon by members of the National Dialogue and it calls for Lebanon to disassociate itself from regional crises, especially the conflict in Syria. The March 8 campaign against Suleiman is expected to be confronted by one by its rival March 14 camp in support of the president. The alliance has praised him for his national positions “that demonstrate his keenness to maintain Lebanon's sovereignty.” Earlier this week, Suleiman submitted memorandums to the United Nations and Arab League over Syria's violations of Lebanese territories. His step was criticized by March 8 officials, with MP Assem Qanso accusing him of committing high treason. The president has since requested that caretaker Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi take measures against the lawmaker. Shells fired in the conflict between regime forces and Syrian rebels have frequently landed in Lebanese territories in recent months.They have increased since Hizbullah became involved in the fighting alongside the Syrian regime forces with rebels retaliating to the party's involvement by shelling the Lebanese region of al-Hermel. Syrian regime troops have carried out attacks on Lebanese border areas, mainly air raids on the northeastern town of Arsal, which has become an escape route for rebels and people running away from the fighting in Syria.

Salam Urges an End to Sidon’s ‘Premeditated Clashes’
Naharnet /Prime Minister designate Tamma Salam called on Sunday for drawing an end to the "premeditated clashes" in the southern city Sidon. “We call for supporting the army and the security forces in their bid to put an end to Sidon’s clashes,” Salam said in a released statement. He stressed: “Perpetrators must be arrested and armed appearances should be terminated because they are threatening the lives of the residents and the civil peace in the city.”The premier-designate had discussed the current situation in Sidon in phone calls with President Michel Suleiman, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati, former premier Fouad Saniora, caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel and the southern city’s MP Bahia Hariri.Meanwhile, Miqati condemned the attacks against the army, the "security valve of Lebanon and the Lebanese people.""We call on the people to embrace the army and support its mission in safeguarding security and stability," Miqati said in a released statement. He added: "We also warn against getting dragged into attempts to blow up the situation in Lebanon.""We urge wisdom, patience and avoiding emotional reactions to what is taking place which do not serve this critical situation."Two army officers, a sergeant and three soldiers were martyred and several others were wounded Sunday in a clash with supporters of Salafist cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir in the Sidon suburb of Abra, the Army Command said in a statement.The fighting erupted when Asir supporters surrounded an army checkpoint in Abra, where a vehicle transporting other supporters of the cleric had been stopped, a security source told Agence France Presse.Meanwhile, LBCI television said the clash in Sidon allegedly erupted over the army's arrest of two individuals linked to the Bilal bin Rabah Mosque.

Hariri Warns against Confrontation with Army: Hizbullah Sin Mustn't be Excuse to Target Army
Naharnet/Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri warned on Sunday against any attempt to drag the southern city of Sidon into a “confrontation with the state,” holding Hizbullah responsible for “provoking the city’s residents.”
“We warn against attempts to drag Sidon into a confrontation with the state and the army ,” Hariri said in a statement he released commenting on the latest clashes between the military institution and supporters of Salafist cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir. He added: “We also demand adopting all necessary measures required to stop the ambulant discord threatening Lebanon.”Hariri held Hizbullah responsible for Sidon’s clashes “through provoking the citizens in the city and spreading security outposts in the neighborhoods.”  “Hizbullah's sin should not be an excuse to break the law or to use weapons against the Army or any other legitimate security forces,” he noted. “We urge the citizens not to be dragged into any negative reactions that would provide cover for the acts committed by Hizbullah and give those harmed by the extension of State authority the chance to achieve their political and security goals.” Hariri considered that preserving stability and coexistence in the city is “the responsibility of all,” warning against jeopardizing them. “We call for concerted efforts in order to protect stability and coexistence, which will only be achieved through the State and its institutions in particular through the army,” Hariri stressed. He continued: “And we rely on the wisdom of the military institution’s command to take measures that protect the city and avoid falling into the traps of the instigators and the calls launched by those who hide behind Hizullah’s weapons awaiting opportunities -in the name of the defense of these arms- to undermine the prestige of the State and of all forces calling for an end to the policies of hegemony.” Hariri expressed his deepest condolences to the families of the victims “who pay every day exorbitant prices due to the proliferation of illegal weapons and the rule of the logic of intimidating the state.”“The army’s martyrs are the martyrs of the entire nation and their loss is a loss for every Lebanese who believes in the state and its institutions.” Two army officers, a sergeant and three soldiers were martyred and several others were wounded Sunday in a clash with supporters of al-Asir in the Sidon suburb of Abra, the Army Command said in a statement. The fighting erupted when Asir supporters surrounded an army checkpoint in Abra, where a vehicle transporting other supporters of the cleric had been stopped, a security source told Agence France Presse. LBCI television said the clash in Sidon allegedly erupted over the army's arrest of two individuals linked to the Bilal bin Rabah Mosque.

Bahia Hariri: Sidon Clashes Stir Premeditated Sedition
Naharnet/Al-Mustaqbal bloc MP Bahia Hariri stated on Sunday the clashes in the southern city of Sidon between the gunmen of Salafist cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir and the army “aimed at stirring a premeditated sedition.”
“Today we are counting on the army more than ever and these clashes are aimed at stirring a premeditated sedition,” Hariri said in a phone call with Future television. The Sidon MP assured that she rejects “all forms of stockpiling arms in the city.” “We warn against being dragged into the game of weapons,” she pointed out. “After we were besieged in our houses, I'm confident that what happened is aimed at destroying the city and we all heard the threats.” Hariri stressed, however, that Sidon “will not be abandoned,” urging the city’s residents to “take a stand against the possession of arms.”“The state and the army are the only guarantee to the city and to Lebanon.” Two army officers, a sergeant and three soldiers were martyred and several others were wounded Sunday in a clash with supporters of al-Asir in the Sidon suburb of Abra, the Army Command said in a statement.The fighting erupted when Asir supporters surrounded an army checkpoint in Abra, where a vehicle transporting other supporters of the cleric had been stopped, a security source told Agence France Presse. LBCI television said the clash in Sidon allegedly erupted over the army's arrest of two individuals linked to the Bilal bin Rabah Mosque.

Jumblat: Sidon Must be Returned to its People away from 'al-Asir Phenomenon'
Naharnet/Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat on Sunday called for supporting the army in order to “foil strife,” saying the clashes-hit southern city of Sidon “must be returned to its people away from the 'Asirist phenomenon',” in reference to Islamist cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir. “The army and the state are our only option and I contacted everyone to tell them that Sidon must remain the capital of the resistance and must be spared the Syrian conflict,” Jumblat said in an interview on al-Jadeed television, in the wake of clashes in Sidon's Abra between the army and Asir's supporters that left six army troops dead, among them two officers. “Why should we be dragged into the Syrian trap in Sidon and Tripoli? Let us dissociate ourselves in order to foil sedition and we support the army,” he added.
He revealed that MP Bahia Hariri was “complaining of the presence of gunmen near her residence,” adding that he contacted Hizbullah security chief Wafiq Safa and “he promised me to withdraw the gunmen from the area surrounding Abra.”“Sidon must be returned to its people away from the 'Asirist phenomenon' and the other activities,” Jumblat added. He stressed that “we cannot ask the army to negotiate with those who killed its officers and soldiers.” “There is a major rift and we must not await for the Syrian crisis to be resolved as they maliciously announced in Doha that the Syrian war will be long,” Jumblat said.
He revealed that he will dispatch caretaker Social Affairs Minister Wael Abu Faour to Saudi Arabia to “consult with” former Prime Minister Saad Hariri on means to “pull the country out of the governmental vacuum.” “To those who attacked us with eggs and tomatoes I say: we made the right decision," Jumblat added, referring to protesters who condemned the 128 MPs for the extension of parliament's term over “security reasons.”

Explosive Found Near Baath Party Center in Bekaa
Naharnet/An explosive was discovered at dawn on Sunday near the headquarters of the Arab Socialist Baath Party in the Bekaa, reported the National News Agency.The army has since dismantled the bomb that was located in the town of Jlala, said Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3).The bomb that was set to explode was placed inside a carton box and weighed a kilogram.The Army Command later issued a statement confirming the discovery. It said: “A suspicious object was found in front of the office of a political party in Jlala in the Bekaa.”After close inspection, it discovered that it was a handmade bomb that weighed about a kilogram. It was dismantled and moved to a safe location. Investigations are underway to determine the assailants, added the army statement.

Beirut/Report: Limited Number of Parties Possess Grad Rockets Found at Ballouneh
Naharnet/Investigations are ongoing over the discovery of two 122mm Grad rockets in the Kesrouan region of Ballouneh on Friday, reported the daily An Nahar Sunday.Informed sources told the Central News Agency that initial investigations determined that the only forces that possess such rockets in Lebanon are Hizbullah and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command.Should neither of these two parties be responsible for the rockets, then they could be attributed to small terrorist cells, they added. An Nahar said that the investigations are currently focusing on how the rockets and their launch pads were placed in the region and what their target was. Sources told the daily that the incident was aimed at intimidation and creating confusion in Lebanon.“The location where the launch pad was stationed makes it hard to determine the rockets' target,” they added.
The Central News Agency noted that the rockets located in Ballouneh differ from the ones that were fired at Beirut's southern suburbs in May. It explained that the two rockets that targeted the suburbs were fired in a traditional manner whereas the rockets found at Ballouneh were set to be remotely fired. A rocket was fired from the region, but the other one failed to take off due to a technical malfunction, it added. A strong blast was heard in the early hours of the morning on Friday in the Kesrouan district. The blast that reverberated across several districts at around 12:43 am could have been caused by a rocket launch. Later on Friday, launch pads with one of them a 122mm Grad rocket installed on it were discovered in the town of Ballouneh in Kesrouan. In May, two rockets slammed into the Hizbullah stronghold of Beirut's southern suburbs, wounding four.

Who will deal with Hezbollah and Al-Qaeda tomorrow?
By: Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Alawsat
I heard Fareed Zakaria disagree with American Senator John McCain’s call to support the Syrian revolution against Assad’s regime. His justification is that the overall outcome will be much worse.
Speaking on CNN, he said that the solution is to stay away from the Syrian conflict because intervention means unforeseen implications, and results that will be horrific.
Zakaria’s call to just sit and watch television because non-intervention will spare the superpower the consequences of a war later, is wrong, and there are three future possibilities that should concern the man in the White House.
The first is the end of Iranian sanctions. Obama is the first American president, since the Reagan era, who punished Iran with actions, not just words. He is the only one who implemented economic sanctions instead of just threatening to implement them. The sanctions on Iran during the past two years have been more painful and effective than anything that Washington did in the past 20 years.
But Syria represents a major pillar in Iran’s defense policy. If Assad falls, Iran will lose its most important ally and become weaker. This is what more than one military and civilian leader expressed to justify going to fight in Syria. So if Washington is pursuing Iran across the world to prevent it from selling its oil, or exchanging its currency with dollars, why does it let it win in Syria, which means allowing it to impose its authority on Iraq, Syria and Lebanon? This does not make sense if Washington is really determined to pressure Tehran, whether to force it to alter its stance on its nuclear program or to weaken it regionally.
The second is the rise of Al-Qaeda. American intelligence tirelessly pursues a few dozen Al-Qaeda terrorists in Yemen and bombs them. So how can it ignore Syria when it has become the largest hotbed in the world for Al-Qaeda fighters, whose numbers are now double that of Yemen’s? After one or two years, Washington will be forced to confront the new Al-Qaeda in Syria. A media report reminded many of the arrest of a cell that recruits youth in the Moroccan city of Ceuta, under Spanish rule. Imagine the depth of recruitment activity that spreads in the Islamic world and outside it by using Syria as an excuse!
The third reason is the danger to the region beyond Syria’s borders. Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey are threatened because of the repercussions of the Syrian crisis. The Assad regime wants to export its crisis to its neighbors. Today, one-fifth of Jordan’s residents are Syrian refugees, and the number will double in a year’s time since the Syrian capital is only a one-hour drive from the Jordanian border. So how will the US deal with the repercussions of a war against regimes that support it?
It’s for these three reasons that the US will inevitably find itself forced to intervene. All of these reasons will materialize: Iran’s expansion in Syria, the rise of Al-Qaeda and the threat against neighboring Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. What Zakaria is saying is true. It’s true that intervening to prevent massacres may prevent the regime’s crimes and may also allow some rebels to commit crimes. But not intervening will make Washington’s influence weaker.Since humanitarian tragedy is no longer enough to move the American public opinion to intervene, particularly since failures in Iraq and Afghanistan, then the real motive in Syria will be to prevent disasters that will affect the world’s security. When we speak of intervention, we do not mean an intervention similar to the Iraqi and Somali models. We do not mean direct intervention by involving ground forces, but an intervention by strongly supporting rebels, with arms, logistics and intelligence. Finally, to those Americans who doubt they will benefit from toppling Assad, only to replace him with power vacuum or terrorist groups, I say two things: The first thing is that Assad will inevitably fall no matter how long it takes. The second is that the West will then find itself with no ally in Syria when he does.
The required support does not aim to topple the regime itself, but aims to empower the the Free Syrian Army (FSA) to make it the supreme military authority, so it fights against all illegal forces when the regime falls. In other words, the FSA will play an important role like the Yemeni, Mali or Tunisian governments. Without support today, who will fight Iranian groups, Hezbollah fighters and Al-Qaeda tomorrow? We should support the FSA and the moderate political opposition in order to establish a regime capable of bearing its national and international responsibilities.


Report: Govt. Formation Efforts to Resume as Berri Contacts Suleiman
Naharnet/Efforts to form a new government are set to kick off next week in light of the visit of caretaker Social Affairs Minister Wael Abou Faour to Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam, reported the daily An Nahar Sunday. The meeting, held three days ago, are set to kick-start the government talks, it said while revealing the Speaker Nabih Berri had contacted President Michel Suleiman to that end.It noted that the telephone call was the first form of direct contact between the two officials in 50 days. Suleiman urged during the telephone call the speaker to speed up efforts to reach an agreement over a new parliamentary electoral law, added An Nahar. Meanwhile, Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat 's envoy, Abou Faour told the daily: “Salam has launched a new round of consultations to form a cabinet and he is not bound by any deadline.”On Saturday, Suleiman met with Salam at the Baabda Palace to discuss the formation of a new government. The premier-designate stressed that he is still keen on the establishment of a 24-minister cabinet that grants each of the three political blocs eight ministers. He also repeated his rejection of granting any political camp veto power in a new government. The March 8 camp has been demanding that it be granted such an authority in a cabinet, but Salam had said in the past that a cabinet with veto power would render it ineffective.In addition, Salam's proposal of the 24-minister cabinet has been accepted by all powers, expect the March 8 alliance.Furthermore, the efforts to form a new government are expected to encounter a new hurdle with the March 14 camp's refusal of Hizbullah's inclusion in the cabinet given its participation in the fighting alongside the regime in Syria.

Lebanese Option Party Commemorates Death of Hashem al-Salman in Front of Iranian Embassy
Naharnet/ The Lebanese Option Party staged a rally in front of the Iranian Embassy in the Bir Hassan area south of Beirut on Sunday. The rally was held in memory of the death of party member Hashem al-Salman during a demonstration in front of the embassy two weeks ago. Tens of supporters of the party, civil society activists, and members of Salman's family arrived in front of the embassy where they laid flowers near the facility. The supporters then sang the Lebanese national anthem before leaving the scene. The rally was held amid the heavy deployment of the army. On June 9, Salman was killed and at least eleven others were wounded in a scuffle between supporters of Hizbullah and protesters near the Iranian Embassy in Beirut. The demonstrators were holding a sit-in near the embassy to protest Hizbullah's involvement in the war raging in Syria.
The Lebanese Option Party is led by the March 14 Shiite politician Ahmed Asaad.

Egypt Court Damands Sami Shehab Arrest, Says Hizbullah, Hamas Helped 2011 Jailbreak
Naharnet/ An Egyptian court said on Sunday that Hizbullah and Hamas helped prisoners, including current President Mohammed Morsi, escape during the 2011 uprising.
The head of the court in the Suez Canal city of Ismailiya asked the state prosecutor to investigate the circumstances of the January 2011 breakout from the Wadi Natrun prison, northwest of the capital.
He said that the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist group from which Morsi hails, had organized the escape with members of Hamas and Hizbullah.
The court also called on the state prosecutor to ask Interpol to circulate an arrest warrant for Sami Shehab, a Hizbullah official who had been convicted of plotting attacks in Egypt and who was serving a prison sentence at Wadi Natrun before escaping, along with members of Hamas.Morsi said at the time that there had been no need for he and 33 other members of the Brotherhood to escape as the people "opened the doors" for them.
Source/Agence France Presse.
 

The Left Is With Bashar, and Also the Right
Hazem Saghieh/AlHayat
Ten days ago, a large delegation of far-right European parties visited Syria and met with President Bashar al-Assad, showering praise on him and his regime. One of the members of the delegation was Nick Griffin, head of the British National Party (BNP), in addition to parliamentarians representing the Movement for a Better Hungary (Jobbik), the French National Front founded by the infamous Jean-Marie Le Pen, the Italian Tricolour Flame Movement, the Swedish National Democrats Party, and the Belgian National Front.The common trait among all these factions is that they come from fascist backgrounds or are offshoots of fascist parties. At home, they have anti-immigration platforms, particularly as far as Muslim immigrants are concerned, and are known for their hyperbole concerning the ‘threat’ of the so-called ‘Islamization of Europe.”
This right-wing delegation, on its way to meet Assad, could well have met with a leftwing delegation just leaving a meeting with Assad as well, led by people like the Briton George Galloway or the Frenchman Alain Gresh.
With a little imagination, one can see the two delegations, the one going in and the one leaving, issuing a joint statement where the supposed differences between the right and the left disappear, to focus instead on two common points:

First, that the ‘secular’ Syrian regime is facing a radical extremist Islamic threat, and second, that this same regime is standing against the U.S. attack on the region, its peoples, and its riches. Observers had seen something similar happen in Iraq shortly before the 2003 war. Back then, some of the poles of the left and the right in Europe flocked to meet with Saddam Hussein, and praise his steadfastness and denounce his enemies, the American invaders.
The two sides both have deep reservation on parliamentary democracy, going back to their theoretical references, and both are unabashedly hostile to the United States and everything American. They both, in varying degrees, harbor anti-Semitic views, but which are much more dramatic among the rightwing parties. Hostility to Muslims, too, is a shared feature between them.
This brand of the right does not conceal its vitriol when it comes to its attitudes on Islam and the Muslims, and makes issues like identity, immigration, and hostility to Muslim immigrants, and even violent attacks against them, the basis of its policies and practices.
And this brand of the left, in the name of standing up to ‘American imperialism’ and siding with those who do too, seems to find it too much for the Muslims of Iraq, and after them the Muslims of Syria, to demand their right to end mass murder against them, choose their own political system, and have the same freedoms enjoyed by the Europeans.
In such a climate, whether rightwing or leftwing, secularism is championed along with tyranny, that is, as a punishment against all backward people, while exonerating military regimes from all responsibility. In both cases, individually or together, it is clear that the old Europe with its two marginal and meager wings, on the sidelines of democratic life, supports Bashar al-Assad and sponsors him.
As for Assad himself, who is being celebrated, he is no exception to the longstanding Arab political tradition of opportunism, which affixes every odd thing to anything else, and then welds its conflicting features together with much blood, while shouting slogans against America and Israel!

The Stagnant Nature of Ideology
Mostafa Zein/Al Hayat
The fall of the Ottoman Empire after World War I represented the end of political Islam’s dream of a return to the caliphate. Nationalist political parties thus spread in the Arab World, which had just emerged from the tyranny of sultans who had ruled in the name of religion for centuries. Even Turkey itself rebuilt its state on nationalist bases, and succeeded in keeping large parts of Syria on the eve of World War II in 1939, in exchange for remaining neutral.
After years of the rule of nationalist, or national, political parties, Islamist movements have returned, in the age of “awakening”, to demand the rule of Sharia Law, and the return to the caliphate. Yet they are being confronted with the reality of the presence of minorities and of nationalist sentiment wherever they have been able to rise to power. In Turkey, for example, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) inherited a system of government based on a chauvinist form of nationalism, in addition to Ottoman history, which combined nationalism with religion. And when Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan tried to forcefully impose a certain code of conduct associated with the Muslim Brotherhood on citizens who had voted for him in order to get rid of the rule of the military, he was confronted with a reality different from the ideology he had been trying to spread. He found himself having to imprison dozens of journalists, political activists, Kurds, Alevis and people from other minorities, in addition to Islamists with secular and nationalist leanings. Erdogan paved the way for imposing his authority by declawing the army, when he jailed dozens of its leaders on charges of plotting for a coup against the government, and appointed men loyal to him as Chiefs of Staff. He also strengthened the police and the gendarmerie with advanced weapons, so as to make of them a parallel army he could use to confront those who would oppose him, as he did in Taksim Square. And despite his profound belief in political Islam and its role in “educating society”, Erdogan also believes that spreading “his revolution” in the region requires striking the chord of nationalism as well.
Iran represents another model of Islamist rule. The Supreme Leader, or Vali-e-Faqih, is tantamount to a caliph, and the function of modern state institutions – the parliament, the cabinet of ministers, the presidency, the defense of the constitution, etc… – is to implement the plans he devises. In other words, they represent the link that connects him to the masses of the faithful. Everyone remembers the number of struggles fought by the regime of the Islamic Revolution against nationalist trends. Yet in spite of this, Tehran waged the war against Iraq on both nationalist and religious bases.
The Islamic Republic too combines religion and nationalism.
Models of Islamist rule in Arab countries – such as Tunisia, Egypt and Libya – differ from the Iranian and Turkish models for many reasons, the most prominent being perhaps the fact that these two powers have emerged only recently, in addition to the weakness of Arab nationalist sentiment in the three countries, which had been under “isolationist” rule for a long period of time.
In Egypt, for example, the Muslim Brotherhood is trying to “Brotherhoodize” state and society. It is profoundly “Brotherhoodizing” the state by appointing officials to the vital centers of the civil administration, from the smallest districts and up to ministries, the judiciary and every sensitive position. And it would not be unlikely for it to control the army and security forces in the years to come, exactly as Erdogan has done in Turkey. In other words, it is trying to completely reshape the state and the country’s public opinion on ideological and political bases that have nothing to do with religion, which is why it is clashing with nationalists, patriots and political parties, not to mention Coptic Christians. And here we are, a few days away from a popular movement of protests, to which millions of Muslims are expected to participate, against attempts to “Brotherhoodize” them and to “Brotherhoodize” state institutions. The Muslim Brotherhood is also preparing to confront this movement with its own millions, and no one can guarantee that the two sides will not clash.
The societies we have been discussing are Muslim societies that have evolved with time and have become part of the modern age, while the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood did not evolve, and has instead delved deeper into a remote past, trying to restore it in its every detail – details which are unknown and are not fit for every place and time.
The “Brotherhoodization” of state and society implies seeking after eternal rule that does not recognize the alternation of power. And what are the Muslim Brotherhood’s claims of democracy but a deceptive slogan?
 

US troop buildup in Jordan after Turkey shuts US-NATO arms corridor to Syrian rebels

DEBKAfile Special Report June 22, 2013/The US decision to upgrade Syrian rebel weaponry has run into a major setback: debkafile reveals that Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan phoned President Barack Obama in Berlin Wednesday, June 19, to report his sudden decision to shut down the Turkish corridor for the transfer of US and NATO arms to the Syrian rebels.
Against this background, the US President informed Congress Friday, June 22, that 700 combat-equipped American military personnel would remain in Jordan at the end of a joint US-Jordanian training exercise. They would include crews of two Patriot anti-aircraft missile batteries and the logistics, command and communications personnel needed to support those units. The United States is also leaving behind from the war maneuver a squadron of 12 to 24 F-16 fighter jets at Jordan’s request. Some 300 US troops have been in Jordan since last year.
Erdogan’s decision will leave the Syrian rebels fighting in Aleppo virtually high and dry. The fall of Qusayr cut off their supplies of arms from Lebanon. Deliveries through Jordan reach only as far as southern Syria and are almost impossible to move to the north where the rebels and the Hizballah-backed Syrian army are locked in a decisive battle for Aleppo.The Turkish prime minister told Obama he is afraid of Russian retribution if he continues to let US and NATO weapons through to the Syrian rebels.
Since the G8 Summit in Northern Ireland last week, Moscow has issued almost daily condemnations of the West for arming “terrorists.”
Rebel spokesmen in Aleppo claimed Friday that they now had weapons which they believe “will change the course of the battle on the ground.”
debkafile’s military sources are strongly skeptical of their ability - even after the new deliveries - to stand up to the onslaught on their positions in the embattled town by the combined strength of the Syrian army, Hizballah troops and armed Iraqi Shiites. The prevailing intelligence assessment is that they will be crushed in Aleppo as they were in Al Qusayr.That battle was lost after 16 days of ferocious combat; Aleppo is expected to fall after 40-60 days of great bloodshed. The arms the rebels received from US, NATO and European sources were purchased on international markets – not only because they were relatively cheap but because they were mostly of Russian manufacture. The rebels are thus equipped with Russian weapons for fighting the Russian arms used by the Syria army. This made Moscow angrier than ever.
Until now, the Erdogan government was fully supportive of the Syrian opposition, permitting them to establish vital command centers and rear bases on Turkish soil and send supplies across the border to fighting units. He has now pulled the rug out from under their cause and given Assad a major leg-up
This about-turn is a strategic earthquake – not just in terms of the Syrian war but also for the United States and, as time goes by, for Israel too.
Ten years ago, Erdogan pulled the same maneuver when he denied US troops passage through Turkey to Iraq for opening a second front against Saddam Hussein.
President Obama reacted by topping up the US deployment in Jordan by 700 combat-equipped troops to 1,000. Patriot missile interceptors and F-16 fighter jets are left behind from their joint war game for as long as the security situation requires. debkafile: The joint US-Jordanian maneuver was in fact abruptly curtailed after two weeks although it was planned to continue for two months until the end of August.
The widening disruptions of the surging Syrian war are on the point of tipping over into Jordan and coming closer than ever to Israel.