LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
March 09/2013

Bible Quotation for today
Luke 12/8-12: "I tell you, everyone who confesses me before men, him will the Son of Man also confess before the angels of God; 12:9 but he who denies me in the presence of men will be denied in the presence of the angels of God. 12:10 Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but those who blaspheme against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. 12:11 When they bring you before the synagogues, the rulers, and the authorities, don’t be anxious how or what you will answer, or what you will say; 12:12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that same hour what you must say.”

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources

Strongmen Weep as Venezuela Bids Farewell to Chavez
Naharnet /Some of the world's most notorious strongmen wept openly Friday at the lavish state funeral of Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan leftist whose revolution won him friends and foes at home and abroad.
Venezuelan conductor and Los Angeles Philharmonic maestro Gustavo Dudamel led an orchestra's rendition of the national anthem to open the ceremony as Chavez lay in state in a flag-covered coffin after a 14-year reign.
Chavez's political heir, Vice President Nicolas Maduro, placed a replica of the golden sword of South American independence hero Simon Bolivar on his mentor's wooden casket as more than 30 heads of state applauded.
Presidents Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran and Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus sat next to each other, wiping away tears as a band played one of Chavez's favorite sentimental songs, typical from his native land.
Several Latin American leaders, including Cuban President Raul Castro, were invited to stand around the coffin, which was closed and covered in the yellow, blue and red colors of Venezuela, in an honor guard.
As well as alliances with a motley crew of anti-Western autocrats, Chavez had also built friendships with some Hollywood stars, including Oscar-winning actor Sean Penn, who attended the funeral.
Chavez's body will lie in state for seven more days and officials said his body will be embalmed and preserved "like Lenin" to rest in a glass casket in the military barracks where he plotted a failed coup in 1992.
Venezuela is giving Chavez a long farewell, with hundreds of thousands of people filing past his open casket nonstop since Wednesday. Though popular among the nation's poor, his policies alienated the upper-middle class.
Maduro was due to be sworn-in as acting president later Friday pending elections. But the opposition, which is gearing up to challenge Maduro in upcoming elections, said it would boycott the event.
Deputy Angel Medina of the Democratic Union Roundtable, an umbrella grouping of opposition parties, branded the hasty inauguration "another electoral act and a violation of the Venezuelan constitutional order."
Foreign Minister Elias Jaua and a crowd of flag-waving Chavez supporters greeted leaders as they arrived at the military academy for the funeral. The crowd chanted "Chavez lives, the struggle goes on!"
Ahmadinejad, looking emotional, hugged Jaua and pumped both fists in the air toward the Chavez loyalists.
When he had landed early Friday, the Iranian leader, whose nation's nuclear program has it locked in a diplomatic stand-off with the West, said "Chavez will never die, his soul and spirit are alive in the hearts of fighters."
Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus for 18 years with such little tolerance of dissent that he was once dubbed "Europe's last dictator" by the United States, smiled and also pumped his left fist at the crowd.
Castro, whose nation's economy relies on cheap Venezuelan oil shipments to stay afloat, waved both hands and then held them together.
Chavez's mother, Elena Frias, wiped her tears with a white handkerchief.
Leaders from Africa and the Caribbean attended the funeral but European nations sent lower-level delegations while the United States was represented by its charge d'affaires and two Democratic Party politicians.
Spain sent the heir to its throne, Prince Felipe, while Russian President Vladimir Putin, another close Chavez ally and opponent of the West, dispatched his foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov.
Under Chavez, Venezuela's oil wealth underwrote the Castro brothers' communist rule in Cuba, and he repeatedly courted confrontation with Washington by cozying up to governments who shared his "anti-imperialist" worldview.
Maduro said Thursday the body will be taken to the "Mountain Barracks" in the "January 23", a public housing project that was a bastion of Chavez support. The barracks is to be converted into a Museum of the Revolution.
It was there that Chavez spearheaded what proved to be a failed coup against then-President Carlos Andres Perez on February 4, 1992. His arrest turned him into a hero and lead to his first of many election victories in 1998.
But Maduro also suggested that Chavez may one day be moved elsewhere, a nod to popular pressure for him to be taken to the national pantheon to lie alongside Latin American independence hero Simon Bolivar.
Maduro, 50, has now taken on the leadership of Chavismo, a leftist movement that poured the nation's oil riches into social programs.
He will likely face off in elections against opposition leader Henrique Capriles, who lost to Chavez in presidential voting in October of last year.
The government said more than two million people had come since Wednesday to get a glimpse of their hero. Many stood in line through the night.
"It doesn't matter how many hours we wait. We will be here until we see him," said Luis Herrera, 49, a driver wearing a red beret who was in line with countless others in the middle of the night.
For the public viewing, Chavez was in a half-open, glass-covered casket in the academy's hall, wearing olive green military fatigues, a black tie and the iconic red beret that became a symbol of his 14-year socialist rule.
People blew him kisses, made the sign of the cross or gave military salutes as they walked by. A four-man honor guard and four tall candelabras flanked the coffin, with a golden sword at the foot of it.
In a country divided by Chavez's populist style, opinions of his legacy vary, with opposition supporters in better-off neighborhoods angry at the runaway murder rate, high inflation and expropriations.
Her won election last October, but saw a stronger than expected showing for his opponents, who plan to mount a powerful challenge in the next vote.
SourceAgence France Presse

U.N. Team Fails to Pick Up Held Peacekeepers from Jamla as Area Bombed
Naharnet/A U.N. convoy attempting to pick up 21 Filipino peacekeepers that their Syrian rebel captors had agreed to free was forced back by a barrage of army shelling on Friday, a watchdog said.
In New York the United Nations said efforts to secure the peacekeepers would resume on Saturday.
"Arrangements were made with all parties for the release of the 21 peacekeepers," said U.N. peacekeeping spokeswoman Josephine Guerrero, "but due to the late hour and the darkness it was considered unsafe to continue the operation. Efforts will continue tomorrow."
U.N. peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous said the village where the soldiers are being held came under intense shelling.
That was denied by Syrian U.N. Ambassador Bashar Jaafari, who said everything was being done to get them out safely.
Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said a U.N. convoy entered the village of Jamla to collect the peacekeepers but the army shelled the area.
"When the U.N. vehicles entered into Jamla, the Syrian army shelled a nearby village. The U.N. cars then withdrew from Jamla," said Abdel Rahman.
Ladsous and expressed hope that a possible ceasefire would lead to the freeing of the peacekeepers, who have been held by Syrian rebels since Wednesday.
"That village is subject to intense shelling by the Syrian armed forces," he said. "There is perhaps a hope, but it is not done yet... that a ceasefire of a few hours can intervene which would allow for our people to be released."
The peacekeepers "have been spread into five or four locations within that village in the basement of various houses."
Jaafari said: "Syrian forces are not targeting the village, they are doing everything in order to bring back safely the peacekeepers and get the armed terrorist groups out of there."
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland accused the Syrian regime of "making it impossible for U.N. negotiators to get in there and try to resolve it."
The Filipinos, members of the U.N. Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) monitoring the armistice line between Syria and Israel that followed the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, were abducted just one a mile to the Syrian side of the line. The rebels are demanding that Syrian troops move 20 kilometers (12 miles) back from Jamla, an area at the southern end of the armistice zone in the Golan, Philippine foreign affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez said.
He said Manila had received information suggesting the 21 peacekeepers would be released on Friday.
"We are trying to intensify our negotiations with the rebel groups," he said adding that the hostages were nonetheless being treated well.
The Observatory said the rebels had added a fresh demand.
"They are now demanding a new condition -- that the International Committee of the Red Cross guarantees the safe exit from the strife-torn area of Jamla of civilians," Abdel Rahman told Agence France Presse.
In Manila, the brother of one of hostages issued a televised appeal for the peacekeepers' release.
Xy-son Meneses said he was concerned for his brother, Captain Xy-rus Meneses, who appeared in an Internet video with the other captured Filipinos shortly after their abduction.
"They are not there to cause trouble but to help maintain peace in Syria so I ask if they can release them," he said.
Concern has been mounting that the abduction might prompt more governments to withdraw troops from the already depleted U.N. mission.
Israeli officials warned that any further reduction in its strength risked creating a security vacuum in the no-man's land between the two sides on the strategic Golan Heights, which it seized in the 1967 Six-Day War.
The Israeli army revealed that it helped eight U.N. peacekeepers redeploy through Israeli-held territory overnight from an isolated post in the area where the hostages are being held.
"Eight UNDOF soldiers were evacuated from a post located within the demilitarized zone in the Syrian Golan Heights," an army spokeswoman said, adding that Israeli troops escorted them north to another U.N. base.
World powers remain at loggerheads over the way forward, with Western governments firm in their demand for President Bashar Assad to quit, and China and Russia equally firm in their opposition to any imposed regime change. "You know that we are not in the regime-change game," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reiterated on Friday. "We are against interference in domestic conflicts," he told the BBC.
On Friday the Syrian army pounded rebel areas in the central city of Homs with warplanes and tanks, the Observatory said, as protesters demonstrated against the army offensive.
A total of 121 people were killed in the Syrian conflict on Friday, the Observatory said.
Source Agence France Presse

Joint US-Israel-Turkish-Jordanian HQ to operate in Syria in chemical war
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report March 8, 2013
USS Truman on standby for chemical warfare
A new US-led contingency headquarters for joint US, IsraelU, Jordanian and Turkish operations will go into action inside Syria if any or all these allies should come under chemical or biological attack. Agreement to establish this headquarters was finalized at the talks US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel held with visiting Israeli defense Minister Ehud Barak at the Pentagon Tuesday, March 5.
DEBKAfile’s military sources report that Hagel spoke of a chemical war in Syria in terms of an imminent and realistic eventuality. Washington expected the Syrian rebels close to al Qaeda to initiate this type of warfare and the Syria army to fight back in kind. Such an exchange could quickly spill over the Syrian borders to its neighbors, it was likewise predicted.
The abduction of 21 UNDOP Filipino UN observers Wednesday, March 6, by the Islamist Martyrs of the Yarmouk, is now seen as tying in closely with the next plans of the Islamist militias of the Syrian rebel force, headed by Jabhat al-Nusra, which are to cement their grip on the Syrian Golan, eastern Syria and the Upper Euphrates, where the important towns of Deir Azor and Abu Kemal are situated.
Therefore, the parties involved in their release refute the optimistic accounts of the blue-helmeted hostages’ early release issuing from Damascus, UN headquarters in New York and Middle East capitals.
By strengthening their holdings in eastern Syria, the Islamist militias believe they would pave the way for the creation of an al Qaeda-dominated territorial entity, the first of its kind, ranging from the eastern outskirts of Damascus to the northern approaches to Baghdad. Jabhat al Nusra, al Qaeda’s most effective combat force in Syria and Iraq, is determined to go through with this plan, even if it necessitates fighting with the chemical or biological weapons they have managed to get hold of. The kidnappings of UN observers have attracted worldwide attention and put the Islamist camp now dominating the Syrian rebel movement on the map as a force to be reckoned with and respected – internally and internationally. The US defense secretary warned his Israeli visitor that the intelligence data reaching him indicates that al Qaeda and its affiliates will prefer multiple chemical attacks inside Syria and across its borders for greater effect, rather than aiming for single targets. Each of the victimized countries will then have to decide whether to react at once, or wait for the member-governments under the new headquarters to get their act together for a collective response.Our military sources add that the new headquarters places under one roof the American, Israeli, Turkish and Jordanian counter-WMD commands operating separately since last year in Tel Aviv, Ankara, Beirut, Amman and areas abutting Syria. According to those sources, although US defense spending cuts have held up the overhaul and refitting of the USS Harry S. Truman carrier and its strike force and their departure for the Middle East, the ship and its air combat unit are nonetheless on standby for deployment in the event of chemical warfare raising its head in the Syrian conflict.

IDF ready for possible UN pullout from Syrian buffer zone

By YAAKOV LAPPIN03/08/2013 22:34/J.Post
Analysis: The Syrian Golan is heading down the road of anarchy, and is quickly becoming a hotbed for gunmen with radical affiliations as Syria continues its slow-motion collapse.
In January, the Japanese government, alarmed by the quickly deteriorating security situation in southern Syria, withdrew its troops from UNDOF, bringing the number of peacekeepers to below 1,000.
After the current hostage crisis is resolved, the remaining countries that make up UNDOF – the Philippines, India, and Austria – may choose to reconsider their presence, as battles rage between Syrian rebels, some of them radical jihadis, and the Assad regime. UNDOF was established in 1974 to act as a wedge between Israeli and Syrian forces, and oversee the ceasefire in place since the 1973 Yom Kippur War. But today, UNDOF is struggling to carry out its duties in the upheavals of a Syria ravaged by a bloody civil war.
The IDF is prepared for the possibility of an UNDOF withdrawal, just as it is ready for the presence of groups such as Jabhat al-Nusra (The Salvation Front), a rebel organization set up by al-Qaida in Iraq. According to recent security evaluations, radical rebel elements have established control in a number of Syrian villages close to the Israeli border, and are now in the midst of intense fighting with the Syrian army in the village of Jamla, also close to the border. Israel has long been on high – yet quiet – alert on its border with Syria, as the IDF observes the battles taking place under its nose, just over the frontier.
Soldiers can hear artillery fire and see the movement of rebel gunmen and Syrian soldiers. Although a new border fence with electronic sensors has been erected, the army is under no illusion that a hi-tech obstacle can stop all attacks. It is preparing for the potential of future jihadi attacks from the Syrian Golan, which might take the form of shells, small arms fire, attempts to infiltrate the border or bombings.
The current UN hostage crisis is being viewed by the IDF as an internal Syrian affair which has no direct consequences for Israeli security. At the same time, it is an unmistakable signal that the Syrian Golan is heading down the road of anarchy, and is quickly becoming a hotbed for gunmen with radical affiliations as Syria continues its slow-motion collapse.

STL calls for innovation in quest for accused
March 09, 2013/By Niamh Fleming-Farrell/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: The Special Tribunal for Lebanon hopes to see “novel and intensified efforts” from Lebanese authorities in the coming months to detain and turn over four men accused of involvement in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
In the court’s fourth annual report, released to the public Friday, the STL expresses its gratitude for the contributions of the Lebanese government to its investigation but also reminds Prime Minister Najib Mikati and his Cabinet that “trial in absentia does not detract in any way from the continuing obligation of the Lebanese authorities ... to locate, apprehend and surrender the accused to the Tribunal.”
Highlighting that 21 months have elapsed since the court issued indictments for Hezbollah members Salim Ayyash, Mustafa Baddredine, Assad Sabra and Hussein Oneissi, the report suggests “it may now be appropriate for the authorities to revisit their strategies and techniques” with respect to catching these men.
Mikati’s office, when contacted Friday, told The Daily Star the prime minister had “no comment on the matter.”
However, Lebanon’s public prosecutor, Hatem Madi, under whose jurisdiction the pursuit of the Ayyash et al falls, assured The Daily Star that his office is “doing the best we can to apprehend the indicted individuals.”
Madi added that he had not yet seen the annual report. The prime minister’s office last Monday announced it has received the annual report.
From The Hague, court spokesperson Marten Youssef emphasized Friday that STL president David Baragwanath is “fully aware of Lebanese efforts to detain the accused.” Youssef explained that Lebanese authorities file a confidential monthly report to the court on their work in this regard. Baragwanath has described these reports as “comprehensive,” he added.
The annual report covers the period from March 1, 2012, to Feb. 8, 2013.
Its content reflects on a year in which the U.N.-backed court saw off a defense challenge to its legality, authorized an in absentia trial for the accused, and both set and delayed a provisional start date for trial proceedings.
The report notes that the court has not yet commenced trial proceedings, however, less progress than anticipated in its third annual report.
However, the text does offer some justification for this delay: “The fact that the pretrial judge was unable to confirm the tentative [trial start] date of March 25, 2013 he had set in July 2012 ... illustrates the fundamental principle expressed in Article 16 [of the court’s statutes] – the right of each accused to a fair trial is absolute.”
On Feb. 21 pretrial judge Daniel Fransen agreed to postpone the trial start date in response to a motion filed by the defense. Among the defense’s reasons for requesting the postponement were the prosecution’s failure to disclose all relevant documents and the volume and unorganized state of the evidence received.
Fransen granted the prosecution, defense and victims’ representatives until March 8 to submit details of their preparedness for trial.
When The Daily Star spoke to Youssef Friday morning, only the victims’ representatives had made their submission.
Fransen has indicated he will set a new provisional trial date upon reviewing these parties’ submissions.
Aside from the trial delay however, the court has over the past year sought to expedite its progress, and on Feb. 25 it approved a variety of changes to its rules with the primary aim of speeding up proceedings.
Now facing into its fifth year, the court emphasizes in its annual report that “to ensure swift and fair proceedings constant cooperation in judicial matters with both prosecution and defense remains essential.”
The Tribunal also expects in the coming months to “hear witnesses in the Ayyash et al case against the four accused” and to continue its investigative activity.
Yet the court must also anticipate that its caseload may expand.
The pretrial judge has already deferred three “connected cases” to the Tribunal. In line with its mandate, the prosecution continues to investigate the Dec. 12, 2004 assassination of Marwan Hamade, the June 21, 2005 assassination of George Hawi and the July 12, 2005, attempted assassination of Elias Murr.
In addition to this, the prosecution states in the report that it is presently establishing a “Connected Cases Transitions Team” to examine whether any other attacks can be “connected” with the Feb. 14, 2005, bombing that killed Hariri and 22 others in central Beirut.The prosecution reports that the pretrial judge has elaborated on the criteria required for attacks to be deemed “connected,” noting that connection includes a combination of the following: modus operandi; purpose; the nature of the victims targeted; and perpetrators. Presently, attacks not referred to the Tribunal remain in the jurisdiction of the Lebanese judicial authorities. –

With additional reporting by Van Meguerditchian

President Michel Sleiman: No Gulf warning on disassociation
March 08, 2013 /By Jana El Hassan, Wassim Mroueh/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: President Michel Sleiman denied Thursday that representatives of Gulf countries he met with this week have issued a warning to Lebanon over its failure to abide by the disassociation policy toward unrest in the region.
Sleiman said that a delegation from the Gulf Cooperation Council informed him that Lebanon should stick to distancing itself from events in Syria as well as the region, and praised the role of Lebanese nationals in Gulf states.
“The statement issued by the presidential palace [Tuesday], after the meeting with the GCC secretary-general as well as with ambassadors of member states is clear. ... They expressed admiration and solidarity [with Lebanon],” Sleiman told a delegation from the Journalists Union that visited him at Baabda Palace.
“They urged Lebanon to disassociate itself from events in the region, but they did not hide their concern over some remarks and acts on ground. They praised Lebanese [working] in Gulf states,” he added.
March 14 officials have expressed concern that recent criticisms of Gulf countries, by some March 8 officials, would endanger the hundreds of thousands of Lebanese citizens that are working in the region.
The GCC secretary-general, Abdel Latif Bin Rashid al-Zayani, delivered a letter to Sleiman Tuesday on behalf of the group’s ministerial council. The letter expressed “extreme concerns” that Lebanon was not abiding by the disassociation policy. Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awad Asiri said Thursday that the letter reflects the eagerness of GCC leaders on preserving the special ties between Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, along with all the Gulf states.
“It was a letter stressing the eagerness of Gulf states to see Lebanon adhere to the Baabda Declaration and fully abide by the disassociation policy,” Asiri told a local TV station.
“What is happening in reality totally contradicts the declaration,” he said, adding that Sleiman showed interest in meeting the GCC’s demand.
The government’s commitment to the disassociation policy was furthered challenged this week after Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour requested Syria’s reinstatement in the Arab League, during a meeting of the body’s ministerial council Wednesday.
Mansour defended his stance Thursday and insisted that he did not deviate from the disassociation policy. He added that his proposal aimed at facilitating the process of reaching a political solution in Syria.
“I did not stray away [from Lebanon’s dissociation policy] since the events began in Syria. Lebanon adheres to the disassociation policy and yesterday we disassociated [ourselves] from the decision made [by Arab League foreign ministers],” Mansour told reporters at Rafik Hariri International Airport in Beirut upon his arrival from Cairo
“I cannot disassociate myself from dangers that threaten my country [if violence continues in Syria]. So is it a crime if Lebanon says that the Arab League should reinstate Syria’s membership and find a political solution?” Mansour asked.
Along with inviting the Syrian National Coalition to take Damascus’ seat at the Arab League, the body also decided to allow member states to arm the Syrian rebels.
Mansour warned that the “dangerous” decision to allow states to provide weapons to the opposition constituted a major threat to Lebanon.
“Arms that will flow to Syria in the future ... will they be carried by birds? Or will they be passed through neighboring countries like Lebanon? How can we fortify Lebanon’s borders when this happens?” he added.
The foreign minister told The Daily Star that he would be meeting with Sleiman and Prime Minister Najib Mikati later in the day in order to brief them of his trip to Egypt.
“I am waiting for the return of Minister Mansour to raise the issue with him. Results are what matter. He abided by the government’s disassociation policy on the issue of representing the Syrian opposition in the Arab League,” Sleiman said.
The Lebanese opposition accused Mansour of deviating from the disassociation policy and working for the interests of the Syrian regime.
Responding to his critics, Mansour said stances against him were part of a campaign that had targeted the Cabinet since its formation in June 2011.Separately, the head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc, Mohammad Raad, defended Mansour’s comments Thursday. The Nabatieh MP said that the stance reflects Lebanon’s disassociation policy with “utmost precision and national responsibility.”
“The clear stance of the foreign minister reflects his eagerness to preserve the interests of all Arab countries and their people that will be harmed by the continued destruction of Syria,” Raad added.
Meanwhile, Kataeb MP Sami Gemayel wondered whether Sleiman and Mikati approved of Mansour’s stance: “We will not accept that the president and the prime minister remain silent on this issue anymore and that measures are not taken against a minister that humiliates the Lebanese people and doesn’t make stances that protect the Lebanese and their rights.”

Bid in Lebanon for vote on Orthodox electoral plan advances
March 09, 2013/By Hussein Dakroub/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Attempts to reach consensus on a new electoral law appeared to be in a race Friday with a bid to push for a Parliament vote on the Orthodox Gathering’s proposal.
Interior Minister Marwan Charbel took the first major step toward holding the June 9 parliamentary polls by announcing that those wishing to run in the elections could register their names starting next week.
MP Ibrahim Kanaan, from MP Michel Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement, said he believed Speaker Nabih Berri would eventually call for a meeting of Parliament’s general assembly to vote on a new voting system, including the Orthodox proposal.
“The democratic process will go on. After the Orthodox proposal gained a majority [of votes] in the joint parliamentary committees, I believe Speaker Berri will be up to the challenge and call for a vote on the Orthodox proposal,” Kanaan told The Daily Star.
He said it was up to Berri to decide when to call Parliament’s general assembly to meet to vote on a new electoral law.
The OTV, the mouthpiece of the FPM, which strongly backs the Orthodox proposal, said it had learned that a Parliament vote on the draft would be held regardless of who accepted or rejected it.
The Orthodox plan, which designates Lebanon as a single electoral district in which each sect elects its own lawmakers through a proportional representation voting system, has deepened the political split in the country.
The four rival Christian parties, the FPM, the Lebanese Forces, the Kataeb Party and the Marada Movement, have fully endorsed the Orthodox proposal, which was also backed by Hezbollah and the Amal Movement.
However, the proposal has been rejected by President Michel Sleiman, Prime Minister Najib Mikati, the Future Movement, the Progressive Socialist Party and a number of March 14 independent Christian lawmakers who warned that the draft would deepen sectarian divisions in the country.
Both Berri and Charbel have ruled out holding the elections on time unless there id consensus on a new voting system.
In an interview with MTV Friday night, Charbel said that in the absence of an agreement on a new voting law, the elections would he held based on the 1960 system, which adopts the qada as an electoral district and is based on a winner-takes-all system. “If they agreed on a new law, this would abolish the 1960 law,” he said. Charbel added that if the rival factions failed to agree on a voting law, the elections would be postponed.
Earlier Friday, Charbel opened the door for candidates to register for the polls starting next week as rival parties said they had yet to decide on whether they would begin fielding their candidates.
Starting Monday, the Interior Ministry in Beirut will open its doors for those seeking to register as candidates for the 2013 elections, said a statement issued by Charbel’s office. The deadline for the submission of candidacy applications is April 10 and those seeking to withdraw their candidacy have until April 25, it added.
The announcement comes a few days after Sleiman and Mikati signed a decree calling for holding the polls on June 9 based on the controversial 1960 law, which has been rejected by officials on both sides of the political spectrum. The move sparked the ire of the Hezbollah-led March 8 coalition, with some in the group saying it aimed to revive the 1960 law used in the 2009 polls.
Sleiman said Thursday he strongly believed the polls would take place and not under the 1960 law, which he described as “dead.” But he warned that Lebanon’s security situation could deteriorate should the elections be postponed or not held. Commenting on Charbel’s announcement, MPs from the rival March 8 and March 14 camps said their parties were still undecided on whether they would submit their choices for candidates by the deadline set by the Interior Ministry. MP Atef Majdalani, from the Future bloc, told The Daily Star that the bloc would decide during a meeting next week on whether to submit the candidates’ names.
Kanaan also said a decision on whether to submit names would have to wait until his parliamentary bloc met next week.
However, while Majdalani put the announcement down to routine procedures, Kanaan described it as a “new violation of the national will.”
“The announcement is a routine step, part of the administrative procedures governing the Cabinet given that there is an electoral law in effect,” said Majdalani. “It doesn’t necessarily mean the elections will be held on the basis of the 1960 law,” he added. But if we fail to reach an agreement over a new voting system, I do not know,” he said.
Kanaan, for his part, blasted Charbel’s move, saying it was another way of challenging Parliament.
“Charbel’s step comes after the irresponsible behavior of President Michel Sleiman and the prime minister in violation of the national will of Lebanese citizen,” he said. “They are building their actions on ground that has been rejected by most of the Lebanese, which is the 1960 law,” he added.
Kanaan interpreted the procedures taken by the officials as a challenge to Parliament. “They are causing a clash between constitutional institutions: the presidency, the government and the Parliament as well as challenging the House,” he said. Charbel’s announcement came as the Future Movement and the PSP were working on a hybrid vote law that combines proportional representation with a winner-takes-all system in an attempt to break the deadlock over a voting system. The plan, according to political sources, calls for 70 lawmakers to be elected in a winner-takes-all system and 58 MPs through proportional representation. It also calls for dividing the country into 26 districts in a majority system and nine governorates through proportional representation. Meanwhile, the upcoming elections were among other topics discussed Thursday night between U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly and Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, an LF source told The Daily Star Friday. The two sides stressed the need for the elections to be held on time, the source said. – Additional reporting by Jana El Hassan.

For Lebanese women, the biggest battles are still ahead
March 08, 2013/By Samya Kullab/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: In a country where hearing the word “yes” with respect to amending women’s legal rights is rare, Rita Chemaly has reason to be excited: Three parliamentary commissions have accepted changes to grant female employees 10 weeks maternity leave subject to a parliamentary vote. As these seemingly tiny amendments have come a long way, it is appropriate that the National Commission for Lebanese Women, for whom Chemaly is a consultant, has called their national campaign to amend provisions in legislation that discriminate against women “The Long Road Ahead.”
Lebanon was once considered a pioneer of women’s rights after the country achieved important milestones to establish gender equality.
These included granting political rights to women in 1953, giving married women the right to choose their citizenship in 1960, allowing women to be elected in local councils in 1963, establishing equal social security benefits in 1984 and driving back honor crimes in 2011. However, Lebanon certainly has a long road ahead to becoming the regional champion of equal rights, as women have not been granted fully equal citizenship, despite the existence of constitutional guarantees and U.N. treaties pertaining to human rights that bear Lebanon’s signature.
The NCLW secured other small victories in 2012, including allowing employed females to grant social security coverage to their unemployed male spouses, winning mothers the right to claim family abatement allowance for their children and protecting female heirs’ exemption rights from duty fees under the inheritance law. However, any sign of progress with respect to the so-called “big laws” over the past year has come to an effective stalemate.
The nationality law still prohibits Lebanese women married to foreigners from granting their nationality to their husband and children. The inherent discrimination in the law stems from the country’s reliance on religious personal status laws that women’s rights groups have argued place women at a disadvantage.
After a ministerial committee rejected amending the nationality law in January on the grounds that it would disrupt the country’s demographic balance by potentially naturalizing Palestinians, NCLW responded with a detailed riposte. “For example, on the issue of the Palestinians, we wrote that we would ensure they don’t become citizens after the age of 18,” Chemaly said. “This was a condition we made to make sure the law would pass.”
Chemaly maintained that the absence of legal protection from domestic violence was one of the most dangerous barriers to women’s rights, as “the MPs are not taking a stand,” and Parliament has yet to vote on a bill.
“The fact is, Lebanese women are not considered full citizens and this is total discrimination,” Chemaly said.
While the subject of women’s rights is replete with legal hindrances, some women are making headway in the private sector, with a few even claiming they have never had to deal with inequality issues.
Arabianbusiness.com recently compiled a list of the 100 most powerful Arab women. Among them were 12 Lebanese, including No. 15-ranked Christine Sfeir, who runs the successful restaurant empires Dunkin Donuts Lebanon and Semsom. “I think it’s an issue of choice,” Sfeir said when asked about the disadvantages women face in the private sector. “There is no difference between men and women in the workplace; it is really about character and how much people want to work.”
Sfeir, however, said that in order for women to strike a healthy balance between work life and home life, “you need to have a supportive husband.”
“In the legal system and public sector this is where there is in an issue [for women’s rights], in the private sector it is about making choices and having a support system, because there are only 24 hours in a day,” said Sfeir.
“Ideally, for there to be equality, both men and women should also work inside the home,” said Dima Dabbous-Sensenig, director at the Institute for Women’s Studies in the Arab World.
“If the husband doesn’t pitch in, as is the case in a lot of Arab countries, then the working mother is doing more than her fair share of duties at home.”
Men are still men in the traditional sense, she added, and approve of women working because the household usually needs the extra income. According to Dabbous-Sensenig, what is needed most to propel women’s issues to the fore are role models in the public sphere and women who hold positions of power, especially in the government.
“Young women need to see older, more successful women in centers of power so that they are encouraged to believe in themselves,” she said, adding the deeply engrained confessional system works to thwart efforts to make serious progress with respect to women’s rights. But she pointed to the rising divorce rate as a statistic reinforcing the idea that women are increasingly able to picture themselves without the supporting role of a husband by their side.In Lebanon’s confessional system, where very few women are included in candidate lists and a mere four occupy seats in a 128-member Parliament, encouraging women’s representation in government has become the singular mission of the nongovernmental organization Women in Front and its co-founder Joelle Abou Farhat Rizkallah.
Some activists have argued that women’s lack of representation in Parliament has made it difficult to conceive of their role in public life, and in some cases might have impeded reforming basic laws that place them at a disadvantage.“Men clearly have a problem with women taking part in politics,” said Rizkallah. “And it’s difficult because the political structure is not easy to change and we have to work very hard to shake the mentalities of the Lebanese and encourage women to run for office.”

Geagea, Connelly discuss polls
March 08, 2013/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s upcoming elections were among other topics discussed Thursday evening between Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly, an LF source told The Daily Star Friday.According to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, both sides stressed the need to hold the elections on time.
Rival Lebanese political sides have yet to agree on a new electoral law for the upcoming polls, due in early June.Geagea and Connelly also discussed the overall political situation in the country, the source said.

Cardinals set Tuesday as start date for conclave
March 09, 2013/Daily Star /VATICAN CITY: Cardinals have set Tuesday as the start date for the conclave to elect the next pope, signaling that they were wrapping up a week of discussions about the problems of the church and who best among them might lead it. The conclave date was set Friday afternoon during a vote by the College of Cardinals. Tuesday will begin with a Mass in the morning in St. Peter’s Basilica, followed by the first balloting in the afternoon. In the past 100 years, no conclave has lasted longer than five days.That said, there doesn’t appear to be a front-runner in this election.
U.S. Cardinal Timothy Dolan, considered a papal contender, said in a blog post Friday that most of the discussions in the closed-door meetings covered preaching and teaching the Catholic faith, tending to Catholic schools and hospitals, protecting families and the unborn, and supporting priests “and getting more of them!”
“Those are the ‘big issues,’” he wrote. “You may find that hard to believe, since the ‘word on the street’ is that all we talk about is corruption in the Vatican, sexual abuse, money. Do these topics come up? Yes! Do they dominate? No!”Early in the week, the Americans had been pressing for more time to get to the bottom of the level of dysfunction and corruption in the Holy See’s governance that were exposed by the leaks of papal documents last year. But by Thursday afternoon, Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles tweeted the discussions were “reaching a conclusion” and that a mood of “excitement” was taking hold.
Also Friday, the cardinals formally agreed to exempt two of their voting-age colleagues from the conclave who in past weeks had signaled they wouldn’t come: Cardinal Julius Darmaatjadja, emeritus archbishop of Jakarta, who is ill, and Scottish Cardinal Keith O’Brien, who resigned last week after admitting to inappropriate sexual misconduct.
That formality brings the number of cardinal electors to 115; a two-thirds majority – or 77 votes – is required for victory. Benedict in 2007 changed the conclave rules to keep the two-thirds majority requirement throughout the voting process after Pope John Paul II had decreed that after about 12 days of inconclusive balloting the threshold could switch to a simple majority.
By reverting back to the traditional two-thirds majority, Benedict was apparently aiming to ensure a consensus candidate emerges quickly and ruling out the possibility that cardinals might hold out until the simple majority kicks in to push through their candidate. His decision might prove prescient, given the apparent lack of a front-runner in this conclave.
Lombardi said that a few items of business remain outstanding, including drawing lots for rooms at the Vatican’s Santa Marta hotel, where the cardinals will be sequestered once the conclave begins.
Friday, he showed a video of the room in which the new pope will sleep his first night as pontiff; it features a bed with a heavy, dark wood headboard featuring a carved image of Christ’s face. There is also a sitting area and a study.The pope is expected to stay there for a few weeks even after the election, since the papal apartment in the Apostolic Palace must be renovated. The apartment was sealed Feb. 28, just after Benedict resigned, and cannot be reopened until the new pope formally takes possession of it.Lombardi explained that after an eight-year papacy, certain plumbing and electric maintenance work that had been put off must be carried out – work that cannot begin, however, until the seal on the doors is broken.

AIPAC conference highlights Canada-Israel ties
By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL, JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDENT03/08/2013
Analysis: Canadian FM Baird earned accolades from experts on Israel, leading to a crystallization of Canadian-Israeli ties into a non-formal special relationship.
Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird Photo: Courtesy of Herzliya Conference
WASHINGTON – Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird electrified the massive pro-Israel crowd at this week’s AIPAC’s policy conference with his straight-talking affirmation of Israeli-Canadian shared values.
Known for his no-nonsense anti-terror policies toward Iranian- sponsored terrorism and its main proxy – the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah – Baird earned accolades from experts on Israel, leading to a crystallization of Canadian-Israeli ties into a non-formal special relationship.
In an interview with The Jerusalem Post, Baird studiously avoided the bobbing and weaving that frequently takes place with top diplomats on contentious Middle East crises.
Take the example of the EU’s refusal to list Hezbollah on its list of terrorist organizations. In contrast to this, Baird stated that the Lebanese group is “obviously a terrorist organization.”
He stressed Canada’s push to convince EU countries in international forums to outlaw Hezbollah, and noted that Canada will work on two tracks – at the NATO foreign minister’s meeting and during visits between the French and Canadian governments.
France is largely viewed as the most recalcitrant EU country blocking a move designating Hezbollah as a terrorist group.
Josh Block, who spoke at the AIPAC event and is head of The Israel Project, told the Post on Wednesday that “Canada’s model is extraordinary.”
Block, who served as a spokesman during the administration of former US president Bill Clinton, said that both Baird and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper deeply understand the “threat to civil society poised by intolerance and terrorism and the undercurrents of Islamic radicalism that are sweeping the region” in the Middle East.
Block added that “there is a moral clarity that Harper and Baird have brought to these issues.” He declared that, despite the many naysayers fearful of blowback from Arab countries regarding Canada’s pro-Israel position, claims that Canada’s embrace of the ethical high ground would “worsen relations with Arab world” turned out to be patently false.
Baird and Harper are “against anti-Semitism, terrorism and violence” and they “should be admired for their choices,” Block declared.
Mark Dubowitz, the executive director of the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies who is both a leading expert on Canadian-Israeli relations and an authority on Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons program, told the Post, that “the Canadian government deserves significant credit for its courageous and resolute stand against the threat represented by the Iranian regime to liberal democracies.”
Dubowitz explained that Harper, Baird and other government officials “have led the way in highlighting the regime’s atrocious human rights record, its pursuit of nuclear weapons capability, its overseas terrorist operations and its genocidal threats against Israel.
“The Canadian government has designated Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism, and expelled Iranian diplomats from Ottawa, who were Iranian intelligence officials running WMD [weapons of mass destruction] procurement and financing networks from the Iranian embassy and an intimidation campaign against Iranian-Canadians. The Canadian government has also added Iran’s two overseas terrorist units, the Quds Force and Hezbollah, to Canada’s list of terrorist organizations under the Canadian Criminal Code,” said Dubowitz.
While stressing Canada’s “record of achievement,” he added that “more can be done.” Dubowitz’s policy recommendations center around Canada adding “Iran’s entire Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to that Criminal Code terrorism list – like the United States did in 2007.”
“The Revolutionary Guards are the regime’s praetorians who direct Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile and terrorist activities, and are responsible for Iran’s vast system of domestic repression.”
Benjamin Weinthal is a European affairs correspondent for The Jerusalem Post and a fellow with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

Peres to Hollande: Iran about to miss last chance
Israeli, French presidents meet in France, discuss new Israeli government, status of Hezbollah, Iranian issue; 'If Iran advances development of nuclear weapon, the international community will take responsibility to prevent it,' Hollande says
Moran Azulay
Published: 03.08.13, 19:19 / ynetnews
President Shimon Peres met Friday with French President Francois Hollande following a summit with French leadership including Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.
The French president told his Israeli counterpart that he was honored to have him and that his country harbored great appreciation for Peres' promotion of peace.
Hollande also addressed Israel's new government and expressed his hope that it would work to promote peace with the Palestinians: "France stands by Israel and the Palestinians and will assist in any way possible to promote peace. We will continue to invest in the economy of the Palestinian Authority."
Hollande reiterated the fact the expansion of settlement in the West Bank was a hindrance to the peace process, as Peres stressed the importance of the two-state solution, adding that he strongly believed that once Israel formed a new government, the peace process would be renewed.
Peres also commended Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in saying that he fights against terror and is a supporter of peace.
As for the Iranian issue, Hollande noted that his country believed that "economic sanctions against Iran should be aggravated."
Peres noted that the Iranians were playing a dangerous game and might miss the last change that the international community was giving them.
In response, Holland stressed that "If Iran advances the development of nuclear weapon, it will be the international community, not only Israel, that will take the responsibility to prevent it. Iran is not only a danger to Israel, but also a real danger to the countries of the Persian Gulf, to Europe and the world."
President Peres addressed the issue of Hezbollah's status, insisting that the organization must be blacklisted as a terror group by the international community, a move which has become more pressing after Bulgaria announced that an investigation into the 2012 Burgas terror attack showed that Hezbollah was behind the bombing that took the lives of five Israelis and one Bulgarian national.
The president said that Hezbollah was ruining Lebanon from the inside, cooperating with Assad's dictatorship in Syria, representing Iran and continuously harboring missiles. He added that the Shiite group was executing terror attacks around the world, including on European soil, as was discovered regarding the Burgas attack.

Fears rise over Golan
AFP/Now Lebanon
As the power vacuum in the Syrian Golan Heights grows, Israel expressed concern peacekeeping troops would withdraw following a hostage crisis.
Tel Aviv on Thursday said that it was alarmed that the UN’s Disengagement and Observer Force monitoring the armistice line between the Jewish State and Syria could pull out after Syrian rebels snatched 21 peacekeepers.
"This kidnapping is likely to convince countries who participate in this force to bring their troops home, which would undoubtedly create a dangerous vacuum in no man's land on the Golan," an Israeli official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"Since its creation, this force has fulfilled its mission which was to keep the peace," he said.
Israel earlier in the week submitted a letter to the UN Security Council, warning that the country would “not stand idle” if the conflict in the Golan spilled over into the Jewish State.
Israel fears that the departure of UNDOF troops could leave a vacuum in the ceasefire zone between Syria and the Israeli-occupied sector of the Golan Heights, leaving it open to infiltration by hardline militant groups.
The top-selling Yediot Aharonot daily said Israeli officials were concerned that the UN force in the area would "be dismantled and that Al-Qaeda members will take control of the buffer zone between Israel and Syria."
Filipino members of the UNDOF peacekeeping force were taken hostage on Wednesday by gunmen who said they would be held until troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad pulled back from Jamla village in the southern province of Daraa.
The rebels accused the UN force of favoring Israel. Reuters reported that the rebels demanded Syrian regime troops withdraw from the Golan in return for releasing the hostages.
"They will be passed to safe hands when possible - because the area is surrounded and the [Bashar al-] Assad regime is bombarding it,” Reuters quoted the hostage takers as saying.
The UN pressed on with negotiations on Thursday to secure the release of 21 peacekeepers, while a video posted on the Internet showed footage of six members of the group of Filipino peacekeepers.
One of them said they were safe and being cared for, and the UN confirmed they had not been harmed.
"The mission has been in touch with the peacekeepers by telephone and confirmed they have not been harmed," UN spokesperson Martin Nesirky said in New York.
The European Union added its voice Thursday to worldwide calls for the "immediate and unconditional release" of the Filipino UN troops.
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton "is alarmed by the detention of more than 20 peacekeepers from the Philippines," said a statement from her Brussels office.
"The EU condemns arbitrary detentions and actions such as hostage-taking as they are serious breaches of international law... and demands the immediate and unconditional release of the peacekeepers."
The UN has reported a growing number of incidents in the Golan over the past year with its forces in the buffer zone coming under fire from the Syrian side, prompting moves to boost security for the mission.
For months, Israel has retaliated against stray fire onto its side of the armistice line, whether from Damascus troops or from the rebels, who are also hostile to its occupation of the Syrian territory.
Syria remains formally at war with Israel, which captured part of the Golan during the 1967 Six Day War and annexed it in 1981, a move not recognized by the international community.
Israel controls some 1,200 square kilometers of the strategic plateau, while around 510 square kilometers remain in Syrian hands.
By the end of February, there were about 1,000 troops from Austria, Croatia, India and the Philippines participating in the UNDOF force.
Last week, Croatia said it was withdrawing its 100 troops over fears for their safety, following similar moves by Canada and Japan in recent months.

Flipping 'Murphy's Law' in Lebanon
From 'What Can Go Wrong, Will', to 'If It Can Be Done, It Will'
Eli Khoury/Now Lebanon/Suppose we stop whining and speculate on Lebanon’s grand future. I mean it. For a minute, let us not look at the abysmal figures and awful indicators that we analyze daily about our country. Instead, let us imagine how good life in Lebanon would be if only we could improve the miserable conditions that we live and operate in.
An excellent example of an inspiring, no-hopes-barred description of how great life could be in Lebanon a few years from now was written under the title ‘Beirutopia’ by the British Ambassador to Lebanon, Tom Fletcher.
In his blog, Fletcher hints at a future where Lebanon is as competitive as Singapore and as rich as Qatar, where the constitutional settlement “for the first time is truly Lebanese”, where no elected politician holds his seat on a sectarian base, where Hezbollah General Secretary Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is among the leaders attending Lebanon’s centennial of statehood, and where the president reminisces on how she got hitched to her partner in one the country’s first civil marriage ceremonies.
Fletcher’s view on Lebanon 2020 are so heartwarming and bright that one hopes his telling becomes foretelling.
Beautiful, promising, and positive as it is, reading this vision did leave a bitter taste. Why does that which feels so clearly possible so viciously appear to be impossible? Could it be some sort of destiny that we will be forever ruled by incompetence?
Or could it be that what is impossible under the wrong management of our nation can be made possible, and much sooner than we think, if we put the right governance in place? To ponder that means to turn ‘Murphy’s Law’ on its head and assert not that what can go wrong invariably will, but that in Lebanon, if it can be done, it will.
Can we, the private sector and civil society of Lebanon, alter the course of events and create change management or, hopefully, a management change? I think we can. Let me elaborate.
It seems logical and safe to say that the prevailing political conditions are the primary hindrance to a healthy economy and productive environment. There are huge incentives for my industry to pour all of our passion and efforts into changing these detrimental conditions. Advertising and media, being a central talent of the Lebanese in general and one of the country’s largest exports, will likely benefit most from an improvement of our national conditions.
It might also be safe to say that the people who manage, create and work in advertising and media are people who, like those in many other industries, are decently educated and relatively progressive citizens; citizens and entrepreneurs who have dreams and care about where they would like to achieve them and how.
Based on these assumptions, can communications tell our citizens the truth and nothing but, so that they can finally act on what is in their best interest? And would they listen?
Let me put this to you in the way we do it: as a brief of targets to achieve in a communications campaign.
Here is my opinion, as one person in media, on what that brief contains: for authority to exist, our state has to have a monopoly over armed power. For security to exist, our nation needs its borders to be accurately defined and steadfastly protected from intrusions. For peace to exist, we need to be able to assert a productive balance of our national prerogatives and implement neutral foreign policy against pressures of global interests and regional conditions.
It is overdue that we receive the respectful treatment that is owed to us from both of our neighbors.
For communal harmony to exist, our political system needs a communal senate in duo with secular proportional representation in the Parliament, and the Senate has to be inclusive of one of our greatest assets, the diaspora. For social progress to exist, governance must be decentralized, as people’s interests are best represented at the level of their immediate environment and not in the whimsical hands of a central junta.
These are but some of the points in my brief. And finally, for a solution to exist, brave women and men need to act.
*Eli Khoury is chairman and CEO of Quantum Group and M&C Saatchi MENA.
This commentary was originally published in Executive Magazine on 5 March 2013.

With Syrian fighting at its doorstep, Israel prepares for next potential war with Hezbollah
Published March 08, 2013/Associated Press
REVIVIM JUNCTION, Israel – On a dusty field in Israel's southern desert, the military is gearing up for the next battle against a familiar foe: Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon.
As the Syrian civil war intensifies, military planners are growing increasingly jittery that the fighting could spill over into Israel, potentially dragging the Islamic militant group that is allied with President Bashar Assad into the fray. After battling Hezbollah to a stalemate in 2006, the Israeli military says it has learned key lessons and is prepared to inflict heavy damage on the group if fighting begins again.
The Israel-Lebanon border has remained largely quiet since that last war. But Hezbollah has since replenished its arsenal and has waged a shadow war with Israel around the world. The fall of the Syrian leader or alternatively an Israel strike against Hezbollah's other main patron, Iran, could spark another full-fledged war.
"There is an increase in tension because of Syria," a senior commander in the military's northern command said about a possible battle with Hezbollah. The commander, who traveled south to observe Thursday's exercise here, spoke on condition of anonymity in line with military protocol. In 2006, weeks of Israeli air raids killed more than 1,000 people, including hundreds of Hezbollah fighters, and key infrastructure was destroyed. But the heavy onslaught failed to prevent Hezbollah from firing some 4,000 rockets into Israel, and the fighting ended in a U.N.-brokered truce.
While the truce has largely held, Israel says Hezbollah has systematically restocked its arsenal with tens of thousands of even more powerful rockets and missiles capable of striking virtually anywhere in the Jewish state. Israeli military officials frequently say it is only a matter of time before the next war erupts.
In the meantime, Israel and Hezbollah have fought a covert war outside the borders of their countries. In 2008, Hezbollah's top military commander Imad Mughniyeh was killed in a car bomb in the Syrian capital of Damascus, an attack widely thought to be the work of Israeli agents. Hezbollah, for its part, is thought to be responsible for a bus bombing in a Bulgarian resort town last July that killed five Israeli tourists and their Bulgarian driver, as well as failed attempts to bomb Israeli diplomats in Thailand, India and Georgia.
Israeli military officials believe that Hezbollah, which is preoccupied with its own domestic problems and the precarious position of its Syrian ally, has no desire to reignite hostilities. But they say the Syrian civil war, as well as Israel's tensions with Iran, could easily upset the fragile balance. As Assad's grip on power weakens, Israeli military planners fear that Syria, backed by Hezbollah, might try to open a new front in order to deflect attention. Israel also fears that sophisticated Syrian weapons, including a chemical arsenal, could be transferred to Hezbollah. Israel has all but confirmed it carried out an airstrike in Syria in January that destroyed a shipment of anti-aircraft missiles allegedly bound to Hezbollah.
Likewise, an Israeli attack on Iran would almost certainly draw a Hezbollah reprisal. Israel has repeatedly hinted it is prepared to attack Iran's nuclear installations if it determines that international sanctions and diplomacy fail to curb the Iranian nuclear program. Israel and much of the West believe Iran is developing a nuclear weapon, a charge Iran denies.
Earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned of the potential link between Iran and Hezbollah.
"A nuclear-armed Iran would dramatically increase terrorism by giving terrorists a nuclear umbrella," he told members of the pro-Israel lobbying group American Israel Public Affairs Committee, known as AIPAC. "That means that Iran's terror proxies like Hezbollah ... will be emboldened to attack America, Israel, and others because they will be backed by a power with atomic weapons."
Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, has warned that anyone who thinks Hezbollah is vulnerable because of Syria's civil war is mistaken. He also said the group has all the weapons it needs in case war breaks out with Israel, and it would not need to import them from allies Syria and Iran.
"The resistance will not be silent regarding any aggression against Lebanon," Nasrallah said last month.
Israel is also taking a fiercer tone, saying it will act with far less restraint than it did in 2006, when it took out electric grids, roads and city blocks during the monthlong war that was sparked by a deadly cross-border raid by Hezbollah. Military officials say entire villages that host Hezbollah's arsenal would be considered fair targets.
During Thursday's exercise, near the Revivim collective farm, scores of Israeli reservists in full battle gear participated in a drill meant to simulate Israel's capture of a strategic hill overlooking a southern Lebanese village.
In the drill, three tanks kicked up dust as they charged forward and fired live rounds. In front of them, groups of soldiers lay flat on the ground and opened fire with propped-up guns as other soldiers stormed up the hill. Their targets were small cutout cartoon heads meant to represent Hezbollah fighters.
On a nearby Israeli army base, reservists have also been practicing urban warfare recently on a set made to resemble an Arab village, complete with concrete homes, narrow alleyways and mosque minarets.
Military officials say that while Hezbollah has upgraded its capabilities, Israel has also made important offensive and defensive changes since 2006, when it came under heavy criticism for its lack of preparedness and perceived sloppy performance.
They say the military now possesses sophisticated real-time intelligence and upgraded drones. For any potential land operation, it has fortified its Merkava armored personnel vehicles, activated a new tank-defense that can shoot down anti-tank rockets and recently deployed "Iron Dome," a rocket defense system that shot down hundreds of rockets during a recent round of fighting against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.
Despite its arsenal and political clout in Lebanon, Hezbollah's maneuvering space has been significantly reduced in recent years.
Hezbollah still suffers from the fallout of the 2006 war, which many in Lebanon accused Hezbollah of provoking by kidnapping Israeli soldiers from the border area. Since then, the group has come under increasing pressure at home to disarm. And though Hezbollah has been accused of fighting alongside the military in Syria, the group has largely been cautious with regards to the Syria conflict, knowing that any action it takes could backfire.
In addition, the group's reputation has been tarnished because its leader has supported Arab Spring uprisings in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, but has backed the Assad regime in Syria.
Associated Press writer Ian Deitch in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

Trial of Courier Tied to Terror Plots Ends, Putting Pressure on Hezbollah

Pavlos Vrionides/Associated Press
VIENNA — For days after his arrest by the Cypriot police, Hossam Taleb Yaacoub kept to the cover story he had spent years building: He was a Lebanese businessman looking for import opportunities, not an operative for the Shiite militant group Hezbollah scouting potential targets for terrorism.
.Under sustained interrogation, his story began to wobble. He admitted he had checked the arrival times for a flight from Israel but said it was only because a fellow merchant had asked him to, paying him $500 up front and promising $500 more when he got back to Beirut.
Finally, early on July 14, nearly a week after he was arrested, Mr. Yaacoub admitted that he was in Cyprus working for Hezbollah. The group had recruited him in 2007, when a man named Reda called him to a meeting at the Hezbollah bureau in Beirut that deals with student affairs.
“He told me that he needed me for the secret mission of Hezbollah,” Mr. Yaacoub told Cypriot investigators, according to depositions in the case. “I accepted because I considered that he needed me for something great, and I was for them the chosen one.”
Mr. Yaacoub’s trial, on charges he participated in a Hezbollah plot to strike at Israeli tourists in Cyprus, ended Thursday with written summations and the prosecution and defense sparring over contradictions between his testimony and statements he made in police depositions, some elements of which he now denies.
Those depositions describe the trajectory of an immigrant boy raised in a quiet Swedish town northeast of Goteborg who grew into a man with a life out of a suspense thriller, including secret courses in weapons training and trips financed by the Shiite militant organization.
His fate could have broad repercussions for Hezbollah. The combination of a bombing in Bulgaria last July that killed five Israelis and their bus driver — which took place less than two weeks after Mr. Yaacoub was arrested and for which Hezbollah has been blamed — and now Mr. Yaacoub’s trial in Cyprus has increased pressure on the European Union to list the group as a terrorist organization.
Terrorism experts watching the trial say that Hezbollah is showing growing proficiency and using great caution and care in planning its attacks. “They send this guy to Cyprus after all the training, all the courier stuff, which I think is part of the training as well as missions,” said Matthew Levitt, director of the program on counterterrorism and intelligence at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “People recognize you — very slow, methodical. This is old school.” Mr. Yaacoub was most likely chosen for covert operations because of his European upbringing and Swedish passport, an asset for anyone hoping to travel unobserved around Europe. Mr. Yaacoub’s father sold flower pots on the town square in Lidkoping. Neighbors recalled a quiet family that did not socialize much. Mr. Yaacoub became fluent in Swedish and proficient in English.
Mr. Yaacoub told investigators that his first handler, a man named Wahid, told him he was to operate in complete secrecy. “He always pointed out that nobody should know anything, neither my family nor my friends,” Mr. Yaacoub told investigators. In Beirut basements, he was taught to perform surveillance and to work undercover.
He was trained, he said, in how to handle his personal life in an inconspicuous manner that would not raise suspicions. That part of his training he called “theoretical.” The practical part of his training involved both military courses in handling weapons and trips abroad.
On his first mission, a delivery in the Turkish city of Antalya, Mr. Yaacoub waited outside a department store wearing a hat so the man making the pickup would recognize him. They exchanged code words, and Mr. Yaacoub handed over a bag containing the envelope he was to deliver.
“I don’t know what its contents were, and I had no entitlement to ask, because everything is done in complete secrecy within the organization,” he was quoted as saying in one deposition.
Last month, Mr. Yaacoub admitted in open court, in the Cypriot port city of Limassol, that he had worked as an operative for the militant group, receiving $600 a month. But he denied certain components of the story that appears in his depositions, like the assertion that Hezbollah had trained him to defeat polygraph testing. He says he was at times confused and intimidated while being interrogated. The story that Mr. Yaacoub told investigators had been methodically prepared to deflect suspicion while he gathered intelligence in Cyprus. He first traveled there in 2009 “to create a cover story for people to get to know me,” Mr. Yaacoub said, according to the depositions, “to keep coming with a justifiable purpose and without giving rise to suspicions.” To bolster his cover story, he spent one week in Ayia Napa on vacation, all expenses paid by Hezbollah.
His work began in earnest on his second trip to Cyprus, in December 2011, when he began collecting information on hotels, Internet cafes and even parking lots. “The organization uses large car parks to pick up and deliver cars and packages,” Mr. Yaacoub said.
After every mission he would have a formal debriefing with another Hezbollah official, one who was not his handler, about “where I went and what I did.”
“Although I believe in the armed struggle for the liberation of Lebanon from Israel, I am not in favor of the terrorist attacks against innocent people,” Mr. Yaacoub said. “For me, war and terrorism are two different things.”
Andreas Riris contributed reporting from Limassol, Cyprus, and Christina Anderson from Goteborg, Sweden.

IDF: We're ready for possible Hezbollah conflict

By REUTERS 03/08/2013 11:23 Select Language
Israel believes the Lebanese Shi'ite guerrillas also stand ready to retaliate if it carries out long-threatened strikes on the nuclear sites of Iran, another Hezbollah patron.
Related: IDF trains for potential clashes with HezbollahTank battalion complete war drill on Golan HeightsHezbollah fought Israel's far more advanced forces to a standstill when they last came to blows, in 2006, and rained more than 4,000 rockets on northern Israel. A UN-monitored ceasefire has largely held since.
But a senior IDF officer from the Lebanese front said on Thursday that tensions in Syria "had the potential to spill over and trigger a confrontation" with Hezbollah.
"We want to preserve the quiet, and we want the other side to know that if they take a step that necessitates we exact a price, they will pay dearly," the officer, who declined to be named, told foreign reporters while overseeing a simulated, regiment-strength battle with Hezbollah in a desert army base.
Israel is on the verge of being drawn in to the two-year Syrian insurgency.
21 UN peacekeepers were detained in Syria near the Golan Heights on Wednesday by fighters linked to the mainly Sunni Muslim armed opposition groups fighting to topple President Bashar Assad, who follows the Alawite faith derived from Shi'ite Islam.
Israeli UN Ambassador Ron Prosor has also written to the 15-member UN Security Council to complain about shells from Syria landing in Israel, warning it "cannot be expected to stand idle as the lives of its citizens are being put at risk".
Asymmetrical war
Iran's nuclear ambitions could also prove to be a flashpoint. Israel has threatened force to deny its arch-foe the means of making a bomb should international diplomatic alternatives fail. Tehran, which denies seeking nuclear weapons, has threatened wide-ranging reprisals if attacked.
The desert exercise reflected the enhanced training of IDF forces which, combined with the sabre-rattling of top brass, suggested an attempt to deter Hezbollah by warning that the next conflict could bring greater suffering for Lebanon.
"The way they behave will have repercussions on the population and infrastructure of southern Lebanon," the senior Israeli officer said, referring to Hezbollah's heartland where Israel suspects it has sown rocket launchers and gun-nests in Shiite villages. In 2006, 1,200 people were killed in Lebanon by Israel, most of them civilians, according to the United Nations. Hezbollah killed 160 Israelis, most of them soldiers within Lebanese territory.
Though sworn to Israel's destruction, Hezbollah casts itself primarily as Lebanon's defender. It says its arsenal has been unaffected by the Syrian turmoil and that it is now capable of paralyzing Israel with long-range rocket strikes, if war erupts. Asked if such a war would be more asymmetrical than in 2006, the senior Israeli officer said: "Yes. I don't in any way expect the casualty ratio to be similar. I want things to be as bad as possible for the other side and as good as possible for us."
He said Israel would try to give Lebanese civilians enough opportunity to evacuate - "such that I hope non-combatants will be significantly fewer than 40 percent (of casualties)".
Reserve soldiers drilled
Demonstrating Israeli plans to overrun Hezbollah-held ground quickly and suppress cross-border rocket salvoes, the troops who drilled on Thursday dashed across hillocks towards 10 mock guerrilla emplacements that had been raked with tank and machine-gun fire.
The exercise assumed around 100 Hezbollah fighters would face off against the 200 soldiers and Israel's heavier ordnance - an indication of the army's tactics of superior deployment.
The IDF soldiers taking part in the drill were all reservists, ages ranging from the mid-20s to early 40s, and trained to back up the standing army should it get bogged down on the Lebanese or other fronts.
One captain, who in civilian life is writing a doctoral dissertation on Balkan and Caucasus guerrillas, voiced a regard for Hezbollah that was more than merely academic.
"They have grassroots support and they fight on home turf," said the captain, who gave only his first name, Yiftach. Though he said he and his comrades were better prepared for war than in 2006, "Hezbollah worries me, to tell the truth".The regiment's commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Yogev Bar-Sheshet, acknowledged Hezbollah had improved its capabilities.
But he added: "We train all the time for various possibilities, for scenarios. If we need to fight, be it tomorrow morning, or in another week or year, we will be the best that we can be and we will win."
Speaking to high school students last week, Israel's armed forces chief, Lieutenant-General Benny Gantz, appeared to acknowledge the dangers Lebanese civilians could face.
"Would it be better to be a citizen of the State of Israel in the next war or a Lebanese citizen in the next war? Better to be Israeli citizens," he said.

Cyprus to rule on Hezbollah man’s terror involvement

By REUTERS 03/08/2013 02:28
LIMASSOL, Cyprus – A Hezbollah member appeared in a Cypriot court on Thursday for the last time before it rules on whether he plotted to attack Israeli interests on behalf of the Iran-backed terror group.
If the court finds the Lebanese-Swedish man Hossam Taleb Yaccoub guilty when it delivers a verdict on March 21, it will strengthen calls for the EU to follow the US lead and declare Hezbollah a terrorist organization.
The prosecution says Yaccoub tracked the movements of Israeli tourists in Burgas, a popular holiday destination in the eastern Mediterranean, noting arrival times of flights from Israel and registration numbers of buses ferrying visitors to hotels. He pleaded not guilty to eight counts of conspiracy, consent to commit a crime and participation in a criminal organization.
Yaccoub, who was 24 when arrested, has not denied he is a member of Hezbollah or that he carried out courier duties for the organization in Europe. He says he never plotted any crime but merely acted on the instructions of a handler, who always wore a mask whenever they met.In a wood-paneled courtroom packed with high school students observing the proceedings, Yaccoub nodded in greeting before taking his seat in the dock, head bowed as he listened intently to proceedings translated from Greek to Arabic.
Unlike earlier appearances, Yaccoub was clean-shaven, and had laces in his shoes. The hearing was mostly procedural, with prosecutors and defense lawyers filing their closing arguments in writing.
The EU has resisted pressure from the US and Israel to blacklist Hezbollah, arguing this could destabilize Lebanon’s fragile government and contribute to instability in the Middle East.
But a guilty verdict in Cyprus would add to the pressure created by the bombing in Bulgaria – with both countries EU members – for the 27- nation bloc to crack down on the organization.
Hezbollah, which is now a powerful part of Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s government, says the accusations against it are part of an Israeli smear campaign.
The fact that it is currently not designated a criminal group is a matter Yaccoub’s defense team is trying to use to its advantage.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has called on the EU, which Israel has pressed for some two decades to put Hezbollah on its terrorist list, to “draw the necessary conclusions.”
“The attack in Burgas was an attack on European soil against an EU country,” Netanyahu said.

Israel prepares for next war with Hezbollah
By By DANIEL ESTRIN, Associated Press –
As the Syrian civil war intensifies, military planners are growing increasingly jittery that the fighting could spill over into Israel, potentially dragging the Islamic militant group that is allied with President Bashar Assad into the fray. After battling Hezbollah to a stalemate in 2006, the Israeli military says it has learned key lessons and is prepared to inflict heavy damage on the group if fighting begins again.
The Israel-Lebanon border has remained largely quiet since that last war. But Hezbollah has since replenished its arsenal and has waged a shadow war with Israel around the world. The fall of the Syrian leader or alternatively an Israel strike against Hezbollah's other main patron, Iran, could spark another full-fledged war.
"There is an increase in tension because of Syria," a senior commander in the military's northern command said about a possible battle with Hezbollah. The commander, who traveled south to observe Thursday's exercise here, spoke on condition of anonymity in line with military protocol.
In 2006, weeks of Israeli air raids killed more than 1,000 people, including hundreds of Hezbollah fighters, and key infrastructure was destroyed. But the heavy onslaught failed to prevent Hezbollah from firing some 4,000 rockets into Israel, and the fighting ended in a U.N.-brokered truce.
While the truce has largely held, Israel says Hezbollah has systematically restocked its arsenal with tens of thousands of even more powerful rockets and missiles capable of striking virtually anywhere in the Jewish state. Israeli military officials frequently say it is only a matter of time before the next war erupts.
In the meantime, Israel and Hezbollah have fought a covert war outside the borders of their countries. In 2008, Hezbollah's top military commander Imad Mughniyeh was killed in a car bombing in the Syrian capital of Damascus, an attack widely thought to be the work of Israeli agents.
Hezbollah, for its part, is thought to be responsible for a bus bombing in a Bulgarian resort town last July that killed five Israeli tourists and their Bulgarian driver, as well as failed attempts to bomb Israeli diplomats in Thailand, India and Georgia.
Israeli military officials believe that Hezbollah, which is preoccupied with its own domestic problems and the precarious position of its Syrian ally, has no desire to reignite hostilities. But they say the Syrian civil war, as well as Israel's tensions with Iran, could easily upset the fragile balance.
As Assad's grip on power weakens, Israeli military planners fear that Syria, backed by Hezbollah, might try to open a new front in order to deflect attention. Israel also fears that sophisticated Syrian weapons, including a chemical arsenal, could be transferred to Hezbollah. Israel has all but confirmed it carried out an airstrike in Syria in January that destroyed a shipment of anti-aircraft missiles allegedly bound to Hezbollah.
Likewise, an Israeli attack on Iran would almost certainly draw a Hezbollah reprisal. Israel has repeatedly hinted it is prepared to attack Iran's nuclear installations if it determines that international sanctions and diplomacy have failed to curb the Iranian nuclear program. Israel and much of the West believe Iran is developing a nuclear weapon, a charge Iran denies.
Earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned of the potential link between Iran and Hezbollah.
"A nuclear-armed Iran would dramatically increase terrorism by giving terrorists a nuclear umbrella," he told members of the pro-Israel lobbying group American Israel Public Affairs Committee, known as AIPAC. "That means that Iran's terror proxies like Hezbollah ... will be emboldened to attack America, Israel and others because they will be backed by a power with atomic weapons."
Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, has warned that anyone who thinks Hezbollah is vulnerable because of Syria's civil war is mistaken. He also said the group has all the weapons it needs in case war breaks out with Israel, and it would not need to import them from allies Syria and Iran.
"The resistance will not be silent regarding any aggression against Lebanon," Nasrallah said last month.
Israel is also taking a fiercer tone, saying it will act with far less restraint than it did in 2006, when it took out electric grids, roads and city blocks during the monthlong war that was sparked by a deadly cross-border raid by Hezbollah. Military officials say entire villages that host Hezbollah's arsenal would be considered fair targets.
During Thursday's exercise, near the Revivim collective farm, scores of Israeli reservists in full battle gear participated in a drill meant to simulate Israel's capture of a strategic hill overlooking a southern Lebanese village.
In the drill, three tanks kicked up dust as they charged forward and fired live rounds. In front of them, groups of soldiers lay flat on the ground and opened fire with propped-up guns as other soldiers stormed up the hill. Their targets were small cutout cartoon heads meant to represent Hezbollah fighters.
On a nearby Israeli army base, reservists have also been practicing urban warfare recently on a set made to resemble an Arab village, complete with concrete homes, narrow alleyways and mosque minarets.
Military officials say that while Hezbollah has upgraded its capabilities, Israel has also made important offensive and defensive changes since 2006, when it came under heavy criticism for its lack of preparedness and perceived sloppy performance.
They say the military now possesses sophisticated real-time intelligence and upgraded drones. For any potential land operation, it has fortified its armored personnel vehicles, activated a new tank defense that can shoot down anti-tank rockets and recently deployed "Iron Dome," a defense system that shot down hundreds of rockets during a recent round of fighting against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.
Despite its arsenal and political clout in Lebanon, Hezbollah's maneuvering space has been significantly reduced in recent years.
Hezbollah still suffers from the fallout of the 2006 war, which many in Lebanon accused Hezbollah of provoking by killing and kidnapping Israeli soldiers from the border area. Since then, the group has come under increasing pressure at home to disarm. Though Hezbollah has been accused of fighting alongside the military in Syria, the group has largely been cautious with regards to the Syria conflict, knowing that any action it takes could backfire.
In addition, the group's reputation has been tarnished because its leader has supported Arab Spring uprisings in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, but has backed the Assad regime in Syria.

EU Still Cautious about Blacklisting Hezbollah
Bulgaria in EU | March 8, 2013, Friday| 435 views
European Commission chief José Manuel Barroso talked to the media after a meeting with Israeli President Shimon Peres. Photo by EPA/BGNES The European Union will be taking its time before blacklisting the Lebanese Islamist group Hezbollah, the European Commission said on Thursday.
"The European Union won't make a decision on whether to blacklist Hezbollah as a terrorist movement until an investigation into a bus bombing in Burgas has wrapped and the perpetrators have been prosecuted," European Commission chief, José Manuel Barroso said after a meeting with Israeli President Shimon Peres.
The investigation and subsequent trial "will show if we have to take political steps, but we can't decide before that," according to Barroso.
"Blacklisting an organisation as a terrorist movement takes careful consideration given the legal, political and security implications".
"Member states need to agree unanimously, it's not down to the European Commission," he added.
"Of course we are extremely concerned and we condemn in the strongest terms the attack on Israeli tourists in Bulgaria. As you know on February 5th Bulgaria announced the preliminary findings of the investigation into the attack at Burgas.
Bulgaria has asked for more help from Lebanon in the investigations and now things need to take their course. The investigative and judicial processes will show if we have to make any decisions, but we can't do anything before that".Barroso wrapped things up by saying: "The immediate goal is to bring the perpetrators of those terrorist attacks to justice.
There can be no impunity. Once we know who is guilty we can update the list of terrorist organizations and apply specific measures to combat terrorism."
Bulgaria in February implicated Hezbollah in a bombing in the Black Sea resort of Burgas last year that killed five Israelis, putting pressure on the EU to sanction the group.
Israel also has stepped up lobbying in Brussels and Paris, calling on European governments to follow the United States in listing the Shi'ite Muslim group as a "terrorist organization" and impose financial sanctions on it.
Many European governments are cautious, arguing that imposing sanctions on Hezbollah could destabilize the government in Beirut and contribute to tensions in the Middle East.
Hezbollah is a dominant force in Lebanese politics, with Prime Minister Najib Mikati relying on the group for support.

Address by Canada's FM, Mr. Baird to the Alberta Enterprise Group
March 8, 2013 - Edmonton, Alberta
Canada in the Asian Century
In all seriousness, I do have one of the best jobs in the world. As Canada’s foreign minister, I get to advance Canadian interests and stand up for Canadian values. It’s a job made much easier by this great province.
Canada’s image in the world is shaped, in no small part, by the strong and visible role Alberta plays in our federation and in protecting our image on the world stage. You can’t get more Canadian than this:
•an energy superpower;
•a supplier of the world’s best agricultural products;
•a centre for innovation and technology;
•world-class colleges and universities;
•vibrant cities with diverse cultural industries;
•majestic beauty; and
•of course, its famous hospitality.
As Canada’s foreign minister, I’m responsible for looking beyond our borders to build opportunities for jobs, growth, and economic prosperity for all Canadians. That means our government’s job is to solidify existing economic partnerships and establish and deepen new ones in this rapidly evolving world.
As Albertans, you’re acutely aware that the United States is going to remain our most valued partner. But we can’t put our eggs in one basket. That’s why our government has been expanding relations in further south in our hemisphere. Indeed, two-way trade, investment and the flow of people is steadily increasing, and will continue to intensify, energetically supported by a fellow Albertan, the Minister of State for the Americas Diane Ablonczy.
Diane and I have just returned from a 10-country tour of Latin America, where we underscored Canada’s interest in deepening trade cooperation.
Of course, Europe continues to be a close friend and ally. The Canada-Europe relationship will deepen further as we conclude the Canada Europe Trade Agreement, which will boost bilateral trade by up to 20 percent and increase Canada’s GDP by some $12 billion.
This agreement will be of great benefit to Alberta’s key sectors—agriculture, industrial machinery, wood products, services, investment and government procurement.
However, I would like to pay particular attention today to a burgeoning market for Alberta and the rest of Canada.
Our government is tremendously excited by the opportunities Asia offers for our nation’s long-term prosperity.
You know this, of course. Alberta is already benefiting from Asia’s growth and has the tremendous potential to take advantage of the profound change taking place in the region.
In fact, Albertans are more aware than most just how much is at stake: support for Asian trade agreements is higher in Alberta than anywhere else in Canada. Two out of three Albertans believe that relations with Asian countries should be a top foreign policy priority for Canada.
It is no coincidence that the University of Alberta has the strongest link to China of any Canadian university, with over 3,000 students and some 100 professors from China.
Well, I can tell you, it is. Our government gets this.
We get that Asia is full of new opportunities to expand Canada’s economic prosperity. We know that Canada must take an active role in this part of the world. It’s simply not a choice; it’s not an option; it’s a national imperative.
As Asia continues to prosper, the implications for Canada are immediate and they are profound.
But I don’t need to tell you that. You know this all too well.
So rather than go on at length about why our government is making this region a foreign-policy priority, let me share with you what we’re actually doing in four key areas:
•trade
•deepening relations with our partners
•regional security and governance
•promoting Canadian values
Canada’s Trade Agenda in Asia
As I’ve already touched on, it’s no secret that our government has been leading the most ambitious trade agenda in Canadian history.
We’re aggressive in our pursuits to build long-term prosperity for Canadians, and we don’t apologize for it.
Canada’s trading relations with Asia have more than doubled in a generation.
And Asian investment into Canada has grown by over 400 percent in the last two decades.
Canada continues to strongly encourage inward investment and will maintain an open, market-based approach to foreign investment into our country.
We see great potential for Canada to play a role in supporting the region’s economic expansion and modernization. Canada can be particularly strong in meeting the needs of Asia’s rising middle class—supporting its building of cities and related infrastructure, communications and IT needs, offering world-class education programs, financial services, diversified energy supplies and green technologies, and agriculture and agri-food products as diets evolve and improve.
We are very conscious that we live in an era of continued economic uncertainty, which is why we must diversify our trade to growing Asian economies.
The Keystone XL project is one example of a larger need to diversify our trade. We think this project has obvious benefits for both Canada and the United States, and we respect the American process for approvals.
We hope Keystone will move forward.
We remain committed to responsible resource development; to getting those resources to market, whether it’s the United States, Asia, or elsewhere.
We know that we have a lot of work to do on this front. While we have completed nine free trade agreements since 2006, we have yet to complete one with any country in Asia. While our trade and investment ties to the region are growing, they have yet to realize their full potential.
These sobering realities are a constant reminder that this region cannot be taken for granted. We have no room for complacency.
For this reason, we have made trade with Asia a top foreign policy priority.
Under the stewardship of my esteemed colleague, the Minister of International Trade, Ed Fast, Canada is pursuing agreements with India, Japan, South Korea, and is pursuing exploratory discussions with Thailand.
We have joined the Trans-Pacific Partnership [TPP] negotiations with 10 countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
This strategic partnership will open new markets and create new business opportunities to create jobs, growth and long-term prosperity for all Canadians.
It will enhance trade in the Asia-Pacific region while providing greater economic opportunity for Canadian businesses. I’m confident the TPP will set a high standard that the Doha Round has failed to achieve.
As we look forward, we are deepening our trade relationships with China, India, Japan, South Korea and with the ASEAN [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] region, among others.
Deepening Relations with Our Partners in Asia
Those of you who have done business in Asia will know that doing business in Asia is all about relationships.
Relationships matter. They build trust and understanding, help avoid and resolve differences, identify opportunities for partnerships, and get business done.
I’ve learned that effective diplomacy is based on relationships as much as business is. To establish these relationships, we need to be present and visible in Asia.
My first major bilateral visit as foreign minister two years ago was to the region. I have since returned six times and will return frequently. This is more than just symbolism. We understand that this type of high-level engagement is what’s required.
And it’s a commitment shared by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and my Cabinet colleagues.
We have made some 100 cabinet-level or prime ministerial visits to Asia in the past four years alone.
In a short period of time, we have signed bilateral and strategic dialogues with Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia and South Korea, escalating these bilateral relationships to the deputy minister or ministerial level, just as we have with India and China.
Of course, it takes more than regular visits to build a presence in the region. That’s why we’re investing in our diplomatic and related networks in Asia.
In times of fiscal restraint, we have more than doubled the number of offices Canada has in China and India. The proportion of resources we have dedicated to supporting our Asia engagements is at an all-time high.
We will open trade offices and diplomatic missions where we need them now and in the future.
We have just opened a consulate in Bangalore [India], have upgraded our presence in Chongqing and are opening our first ever embassy in Yangon, Burma. We have expanded existing missions in priority countries like Indonesia and Thailand. In fact, Canada has the second-largest network of offices in India of any country. We have eleven points of service in greater China and we hope expand it further.
We are also recognizing, and capitalizing upon, the positive role Canada’s private sector, universities, and civil society can play through their engagement abroad.
The important Canadian networks and actors are able to convey our values, advance concrete Canadian interests and bring jobs and prosperity to the communities in which they operate.
Canadian programming is being modernized to deepen partnerships with Canadians abroad, especially with the private sector, and notably in sectors where Canada brings notable strengths—and responsibilities—such as the extractive sectors, and financial services regulation.
Contributing to Security Cooperation in Asia
Just as we know that Asia is critical to creating expanded economic opportunity for Canadians, we also know that economic opportunity is enhanced by stable and secure markets in regions devoid of conflict. Security and prosperity go hand in hand.
And we’re making important contributions to foster peace and security in the region.
We’re actively participating in APEC’s Counter-Terrorism Task Force and co-chaired an ASEAN regional forum on counterterrorism last year.
We have established regular counterterrorism consultations with China and India to deepen our cooperation. We’re helping states prevent and respond to terrorism by providing training and equipment, and technical and legal assistance. We are contributing to our partners’ efforts to combat human smuggling throughout Southeast Asia before it arrives on our shores.
We’re supporting the creation of multi-agency intelligence units in Indonesia, Cambodia and Thailand. Canadian equipment and training has already had an impact in fighting callous organized crime groups that prey on vulnerable human beings.
We’re working to prevent shocks as diverse as financial crises, natural disasters and humanitarian catastrophes before they happen. This is far less costly than responding after the fact.
That’s why, in the Philippines, Canada is helping build a people-centred early-warning system as a means of enhancing local capacity for risk reduction and strengthening community resilience to the effects of natural disasters.
In Vietnam, we’re helping to bolster national disaster prevention, response and mitigation measures.
And we’re contributing to the Asian Development Bank’s efforts to shield developing countries from the worst of the global economic crisis.
But we remain concerned about a much more serious nuclear threat: nuclear terrorism. It presents a significant global security challenge. That’s why we have invested in nuclear radiological security projects in the region, and have been working on a project in Vietnam to convert one reactor to run on non-weapons nuclear materials. We’re helping to secure these materials.
Of course, in this region we have to remain vigilant against the provocations of North Korea. North Korea remains one of the foremost threats to security in Asia and beyond. Last month’s third nuclear test is yet another demonstration of the regime’s recklessness and its misguided focus on developing weapons of mass destruction rather than providing for the basic needs of its people. Canada will continue to work with partners to pursue a strong international response to North Korea’s provocation.
A Values Agenda: Promoting Freedom, Democracy, Human Rights and the Rule of Law
The fourth aspect of Canada’s engagement in Asia is the promotion of values and the tangible benefits they bring.
As we look for new opportunities to create jobs, growth and long-term prosperity, we recognize that our pursuit of an activist foreign policy is a delicate balancing act.
On one hand, in the uncertain global economy we find ourselves in, our actions need to be considered from an economic point of view.
On the other, my job is to promote Canadian values: freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law. And as you can imagine, this can be a challenge in many parts of the world. But when we get it right, the results are remarkable.
Take Burma as an example, where people are engaged in a struggle to claim their individual rights, to express their views, to voice their concerns and to have a say in how they are governed.
Canada stands ready to help them.
It was only a short time ago that I first met my Burmese counterpart and asked that his government demonstrate its stated commitment to reform through concrete actions.
When we met less than two years ago, Canada still had the toughest sanctions of any country against the Burmese regime.
But the country undertook a steady series of important steps, responding to the urging of Canada and others. Prisoners were released, Aung San Suu Kyi was freed, and generally free and fair by-elections were held.
We’re fully aware that Burma has a long road ahead, and conditions remain fragile. But it’s a road we’re ready to help them navigate.
We will soon open our first Canadian embassy—ever—in Burma.
We’re also establishing a full-service Trade Commissioner as part of the embassy, in the full belief that Canadian companies will have an important role to play.
Burma serves as an example of how Canadian values and Canadian interests are interconnected: Canada’s principled approach helped encourage reform, which in turn helped open new economic opportunities for Canadian companies and civil society.
Our commitment to support Burma and its people in their democratic development has also served to signal to our partners in Asia that Canada brings a comprehensive and constructive approach to the region.
It has demonstrated that we will act quickly and decisively to deepen relations and to bring concrete resources to bear when warranted.
It has shown that we will partner closely with Canada’s private sector to expand our engagement and to make the deepening of relationships a win-win proposition.
It is in our national interest to help those people who are seeking to create a free society, to give a voice to the voiceless and to enable every individual to live in peace and security.
The bottom line is that economic opportunity, whether ours or that of others, can be realized through free, transparent and open societies.
Conclusion
Allow me to close on this note:
We have planted the seeds of our future prosperity. And just as the Chinese bamboo requires years of nourishment before it sprouts from the ground, the seeds we have planted in Asia will only sprout if we continue to nourish them.
Our economic prosperity depends on it.
Our national security demands it.
Our collective cause implores it.
Rest assured, our government will do its part on these fronts and more.
Thank you.

GotQuestions.org
Answer: A common argument from atheists and skeptics is that if all things need a cause, then God must also need a cause. The conclusion is that if God needed a cause, then God is not God (and if God is not God, then of course there is no God). This is a slightly more sophisticated form of the basic question “Who made God?” Everyone knows that something does not come from nothing. So, if God is a “something,” then He must have a cause, right?The question is tricky because it sneaks in the false assumption that God came from somewhere and then asks where that might be. The answer is that the question does not even make sense. It is like asking, “What does blue smell like?” Blue is not in the category of things that have a smell, so the question itself is flawed. In the same way, God is not in the category of things that are created or caused. God is uncaused and uncreated—He simply exists.How do we know this? We know that from nothing, nothing comes. So, if there were ever a time when there was absolutely nothing in existence, then nothing would have ever come into existence. But things do exist. Therefore, since there could never have been absolutely nothing, something had to have always been in existence. That ever-existing thing is what we call God. God is the uncaused Being that caused everything else to come into existence. God is the uncreated Creator who created the universe and everything in it.

Canada Working to End Violence Against Women
March 8, 2013 - Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird and the Honourable Rona Ambrose, Minister of Public Works and Government Services and Minister for Status of Women, today issued the following statement:
“We join Canadians from coast to coast to coast, and others around the world, in steadfast resolve against the global scourge of violence against women. Canada is committed to ending all forms of violence against women at home and abroad.
“The cases of Jyoti Singh Pandey and Malala Yousafzai are high-profile and particularly barbaric examples that have made headlines in recent months. But we must also not forget the countless other victims around the world who contend with violence, in silence and without recourse.
“Canada’s theme for International Women’s Week 2013 is Working Together: Engaging Men to End Violence Against Women. We challenge men and boys around the world to work to end violence against women and girls.
“Together, today, we pay tribute to all fighting to uphold the rights of women and girls and to those committing to end violence against them.”