LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
March 11/2013

Bible Quotation for today/ “Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.
Matthew 22/15-22-15: " Then the Pharisees went and took counsel how they might entrap him in his talk. They sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are honest, and teach the way of God in truth, no matter whom you teach, for you aren’t partial to anyone. Tell us therefore, what do you think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, “Why do you test me, you hypocrites? Show me the tax money.”They brought to him a denarius. He asked them, “Whose is this image and inscription?”They said to him, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” When they heard it, they marveled, and left him, and went away.

http://www.aawsat.com/leader.asp?section=3&issueno=12520&article=720129
On 1 December 2011 I wrote a column asking whether the Shi’ite star had set, in reference to the repercussions of the Syrian revolution at the time and what they would entail. Today, two years on from the outbreak of the revolution, we are now in a new phase. We are now seeing a Shi’ite pincer being operated on Syria, from two sides, and the hand holding that pincer is Iran.
The Syrian rebels have made undeniable progress on the ground and there are now concrete international movements. Furthermore, the Arab stance is escalating, especially in light of the concluding statement of the recent meeting of Arab foreign ministers, which “stressed the right of each state according to its wishes to offer all types of self-defense, including military, to support the resilience of the Syrian people and the Free [Syrian] Army.” Given all of the above, Iran’s allies, Iraq and Hezbollah, are beginning to move militarily against the Syrian rebels, flanking them from Iraq and Lebanon, thus putting the Syrian revolution at the center of the jaws of the Shi’ite pincer. The question is why?The quick and obvious answer is that Iran has accepted that the fall of the Assad regime is inevitable and only a matter of time. Therefore it is pushing its allies to intervene militarily now not to defend Al-Assad, but to send a message to the regional powers and the international community that Iran will not stand by idly, and that its primary project—namely to spread the Khomeini revolution and extend Tehran’s influence in the region—will not be destroyed that easily through the overthrow of the Assad regime. Yet Tehran is well aware that the fall of Assad would mark the end of its project in the region, meaning an internal crisis for Iran, not for Hezbollah or Nuri Al-Maliki. Therefore, Iran is mobilizing now through the Shi’ite pincer—Hezbollah and Maliki’s forces—to impose a fait accompli on Syrian territory for the post-Assad regime, regional powers, and the international community. Iran wants to impose this before it has to face its own internal dues, and the difficult days that will follow Assad’s downfall. In doing so, Iran has effectively become responsible for the remnants of the Assad regime, the Alawi sect, and anyone who wants to fight the new regime in Syria. Iran is doing all this—placing Syria between its Shi’ite pincers—to say that there will be no Syria without Assad or without Iranian influence.
These are the features of the Iranian plan for post-Assad Syria, and this is what the Syrians must be aware of. The revolutionaries must not miss an opportunity here when it comes to Iran. The matter also requires regional and international awareness, for as I have said before Iran’s real power lies in subversion and not in providing solutions. Therefore, Tehran should not be granted any more responsibility than it deserves, and the world must be ready to thwart its project through a clear agreement on the features of post-Assad Syria. It must send a clear message to Tehran that its pincer will break, and this can only be achieved through actions, not words.

في الأول من سبتمبر (أيلول) 2011 كتبنا في هذه الزاوية عن «أفول النجم الشيعي» وذلك عطفا على تداعيات الثورة السورية، وما سوف يترتب عليها، واليوم، وبعد مرور العامين على الثورة، نجد أن مرحلة ما بعد أفول النجم الشيعي قد تحولت إلى كماشة شيعية على سوريا، ومن طرفين، واليد الممسكة بتلك الكماشة هي إيران.
فمع تقدم الثوار السوريين على الأرض، والتحركات الدولية الملموسة، وقبلها الموقف العربي المتصاعد، وخصوصا ما جاء في البيان الختامي لاجتماع وزراء الخارجية العرب الذي شدد على «حق كل دولة وفق رغبتها في تقديم كافة وسائل الدفاع عن النفس بما في ذلك العسكرية لدعم صمود الشعب السوري والجيش الحر»، مع كل ما سبق تحرك حلفاء إيران، العراق وحزب الله، عسكريا ضد الثوار السوريين، من العراق ولبنان مما جعلهم، أي الثوار، واقعين بين فكي الكماشة الشيعية، وعليه فإن السؤال هو: لماذا؟
الإجابة السريعة، والواضحة، هي أن إيران استوعبت أن سقوط نظام الأسد بات حتميا، ومجرد مسألة وقت، ولذا فإنها تدفع بحلفائها للتدخل عسكريا الآن وليس للدفاع عن الأسد، بل لإرسال رسالة للقوى الإقليمية، والمجتمع الدولي، بأنها، أي إيران، لن تقف مكتوفة الأيدي وهي ترى مشروعها الوحيد القائم على نشر الثورة الخمينية، وبسط نفوذ طهران بالمنطقة يدمر عبر إسقاط نظام الأسد الذي استثمرت به مطولا عبر نظام الأسد الأب والابن بهذه السهولة، فطهران تدرك جيدا أن سقوط الأسد هو سقوط لمشروعها، مما يعني أن الأزمة لن تكون أزمة حزب الله أو نوري المالكي، بل إنها ستكون أزمة بالداخل الإيراني، وهو أمر متوقع، طال الزمان أو قصر.
ولذلك فإن إيران تتحرك الآن عبر الكماشة الشيعية، حزب الله وقوات المالكي، لفرض أمر واقع على الأراضي السورية بالنسبة لنظام ما بعد الأسد، والقوى الإقليمية، والمجتمع الدولي، وبالتالي فإن إيران تريد أن تفرض على الجميع أن يعيدوا حساباتهم من الآن، ويتوقعوا أياما صعبة بعد الأسد، وتفعل إيران ذلك من أجل أن تفرض على من يأتي بعد الأسد التفاوض معها، وبالتالي تصبح إيران هي المسؤولة عن بقايا نظام الأسد، بل ومسؤولة عن الطائفة العلوية نفسها، وكل من يريد محاربة النظام الجديد بسوريا. تفعل إيران كل ذلك، أي وضع سوريا بين كماشة شيعية لتقول بأنه لا سوريا بعد الأسد، أو من دون نفوذ إيراني!
وهذا هو التحدي القادم في سوريا، وهذه هي ملامح الخطة الإيرانية لسوريا ما بعد الأسد، وهو ما يتطلب وعياً سورياً، على مستوى الثوار لتفويت الفرصة على إيران، ويتطلب أيضا وعياً عربياً ودولياً، فكما قلنا من قبل فإن قوة إيران الحقيقية هي التخريب، وليس تقديم الحلول، ولذا فلا ينبغي منح طهران ما لا تستحقه، وإنما يجب الاستعداد لإفشال مشروعها من خلال اتفاق واضح على ملامح سوريا ما بعد الأسد، والتأكيد لطهران بأن كماشتها ستكسر، وذلك بالأفعال، وليس الأقوال.

Israeli Police: Man Disappeared on Border with Lebanon
Naharnet /Israel’s police announced on Sunday evening the disappearance of an Israeli citizen in Kiryat Shmona settlement near the Lebanese border. “We urge Israelis to help us find the disappeared man and to deliver all information about him to concerned authorities,” a statement released by the police said. Yediot Ahronot newspaper revealed that forces en masse are searching for the disappeared citizen near the border with Lebanon.
Israeli forces have reportedly been training for over a week on the northern border, as a measure taken to face any possible future war with Lebanon.

Hezbollah deputy: Regime has everything under control
Published: 03.10.13, 11:57 / Ynetnews/Hezbollah's second in command Naim Qassem was interviewed by Kuwaiti newspaper al-Anbaa in his first interview since he was injured when a convoy of Hezbollah officials and Syrian officers going from Beirut to Damascus exploded. In the interview he said, "it is clear that the Syrian regime is ruling the main cities and a wide range of districts in Syria, including the capital, Damascus. I do not think that the Syrian regime's end is nearing. The regime has everything under control." He added that if Israel operates in Lebanon, "we have the right to respond as we see fit." (Roi Kais)

Briton and six hostages likely killed in Nigeria, UK says
Now Lebanon/Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Sunday that a Briton held hostage in Nigeria was "likely to have been killed at the hands of his captors" along with six other foreigners.
He condemned the deaths, claimed by an Islamist group on Saturday, as "an act of cold-blooded murder" and said Britain would work with the Nigerian government to hold those responsible to account. "It is with deep sadness that I must confirm that a British construction worker, held hostage in Nigeria since 16 February, is likely to have been killed at the hands of his captors, along with six other foreign nationals who we believe were also tragically murdered," Hague said in a statement. "This was an act of cold-blooded murder, which I condemn in the strongest terms."He offered his condolences to the families of those killed, adding: "Responsibility for this tragic outcome rests squarely with the terrorists. "I am grateful to the Nigerian government for their unstinting help and cooperation. "We are utterly determined to work with them to hold the perpetrators of this heinous act to account, and to combat the terrorism which so blights the lives of people in Northern Nigeria and in the wider region." Nigerian Islamist group Ansaru on Saturday claimed to have killed seven foreign hostages abducted from a construction site last month in the country's restive north.

Hezbollah MP calls on cabinet to refer wage increase file to parliament
Now Lebanon/Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Ali Fayad on Sunday called on the cabinet to refer the series of ranks and salaries file to the parliament. “The cabinet should let the parliament discuss the [wage increase] from all points of view, so that all the [parties’] stances can be clarified,” Fayad was quoted by the National News Agency as saying. The Hezbollah affiliated MP also said that the teachers and public employees have the right to have their salaries increased because the economic and social situation has become increasingly stressful. Lebanese school teachers and government employees are engaged in an ongoing open strike that began on February 19 and has seen general protests across the country demanding the government speed up its approval of salary raises. The Lebanese cabinet approved a new ranks and salaries system in September 2012. However, a debate is ongoing regarding the requisite funds to cover the wage increase for public employees.

Hezbollah expanding its telecom network, sources tell NOW
Now Lebanon/Sources claimed that Lebanon’s Shiite party Hezbollah is publically broadening its special network of telecommunications in southern towns along the border with Israel. “Hezbollah is expanding its telecommunications network in southern border towns without any interference from the Lebanese army or UNIFIL troops,” sources told NOW on Sunday. They added that Hezbollah has been “on full alert in the border area for three weeks.”Hezbollah has been the center of a longtime controversy surrounding its possession of weapons as well as the independent communication network that the party has developped.
This issue has been previously addressed by Radio Free Lebanon, which mentioned that the Shiite party has established a wiretapping network in several towns along Lebanon’s western mountain range. It added that part of the data Hezbollah collects from this network is immediately sent to Iran. Kataeb bloc MP Elie Marouni addressed this issue publicly, saying that his party has already exposed Hezbollah’s telecommunications network in Beqaa’s Tarchich and Mount Lebanon’s Sannine. However, “the government did not respond [because] Hezbollah has the authority [in this instance].”In previous years, Tarchich residents stood against the establishment of infrastructure for Hezbollah’s network in their town. This was one of many incidents that took place in the area along the western Lebanese mountain range, although some towns in the region are loyal to the Shiite party.

Reports: Moussa Sadr Executed by Defected Group, Years after Gadhafi’s Order
Naharnet/A source revealed on Sunday that Libyan slain dictator Moammar Gadhafi's former spy chief Abdullah al-Senussi confessed that revered spiritual leader Moussa al-Sadr was not hanged right after Gadhafi’s order in late August 1978.“Al-Sadr was held captive for two or three years at the headquarters of the Libyan military intelligence along with his two companions,” the source said quoting Senussi.
It added: “He was later handed over to a defected group lead by Palestinian national Sabri al-Banna who executed the death penalty order”.
“Al-Sadr was buried at the same location where this group resided”.
Senussi, who is according to the same source cooperating well with the investigators, expressed that Gadhafi “felt a pressure to hang the Lebanese cleric after campaigns accused him of hiding al-Sadr”.
“Staged attempts to make Gadhafi look like he left Libya to Rome by sending a lookalike did not succeed,” Senussi said, elaborating that this encouraged the Libyan dictator to order the killing of the three men.
Imam Sadr was invited to Tripoli by Gadhafi and was trying to negotiate an end to the Lebanese civil war (1975-1990), in which Palestinian factions were involved.
Gadhafi was believed to be shipping weapons to the Palestinians and other groups and Sadr, according to reports, was hoping to convince the Libyan leader to refrain from stoking the unrest in Lebanon.
But his visit to Tripoli along with his two aides took a sour turn after he got into a heated argument with Gadhafi who ordered that the three men be "taken away," according to an indictment against the slain Libyan leader issued by Lebanese authorities. Gadhafi’s regime had stated that the three left Tripoli to Italy, which after conducting an investigation into the case denied the claims.
In 2004, the passports of Sadr and Yacoub were found in a hotel in Rome.
In August 2008, Lebanon issued arrest warrants against Gadhafi and some of his aides, accusing them of kidnapping Sadr and his companions.

Zahra criticizes FPM’s approach on electoral law
Now Lebanon/Lebanese Forces bloc MP Antoine Zahra on Saturday evening rejected calls for choosing between the Orthodox Gathering electoral draft law and the electoral law based on proportionality and one electoral constituency. “Those who want us to choose between two extremes, the Orthodox proposal and the law based on one electoral constituency are searching to achieve the interest of Syria and Iran rather than that of the Christians,” Zahra said in a reference to the Christian party, the Free Patriotic Movement. Last week, LF leader Samir Geagea and Future bloc leader MP Fouad Siniora met at the former’s Maarab residence and voiced their shared approval on the mixed electoral law. Sources told NOW that Progressive Socialist Party, Future Movement and independent March 14 Christian MPs have reached an agreement on a mixed electoral law.They added that the law is based on majoritarian voting in 26 electoral districts and proportional voting in 9 other districts. Meanwhile, March 8’s Change and Reform bloc party have called for the Orthodox law—which the LF previously backed—to be brought up for a vote in a general session of the parliament, but Speaker Nabih Berri has said that he would not convene the legislature until consensus on a law can be reached. The Orthodox draft law calls citizens to vote for candidates of their own sect. It was strongly rejected by the Future Movement and the PSP.

Reports: Suleiman, Miqati Discuss Formation of Committee to Oversee Elections
Naharnet /President Michel Suleiman met with Prime Minister Najib Miqati on Sunday and the two statesmen discussed the latest developments on the Lebanese scene, the National News Agency reported.
Later on Sunday, sources confirmed to al-Manar television that Suleiman and Miqati discussed the formation of a committee to oversee the electoral process, as well as the law to be adopted and the upcoming cabinet session scheduled to take place on March 21.Both men have also reportedly talked about finding means to finance the new wage scale, in addition to the premier’s efforts in this respect.The formation of a special committee in charge of overseeing the parliamentary elections is a mandatory requirement for the electoral process to take place, as per the 1960’s law. Both leaders have signed the decree that sets the elections on June 9, drawing accusations by the Hizbullah-led majority alliance that they want the polls to be held based on the current law which adopts the qada as an electoral district and is based on the winner-takes-all system.Interior Minister Marwan Charbel announced that those wishing to run in the elections could register their names starting Monday further raised fears that the 1960 law would govern the upcoming polls.The deadline is April 10 and those seeking to withdraw their candidacy have until April 25.But parties from both the March 8 and March 14 opposition alliances haven't yet decided whether to submit their choices for candidates by the deadline set by Charbel.

Telecom Ministry Rejects Use of its Cables over Report on Hizbullah Network
Naharnet/The Telecommunications Ministry dubbed on Sunday illegal any official or unofficial attempt to install private telecom networks, saying it was keen on protecting its systems.The ministry issued a statement in response to a report by Free Lebanon radio that Hizbullah has lately developed a wiretapping network and established several centers in areas that fall in Lebanon's western mountain range.The party has also installed radars that are connected to a central system which uses the data to send information directly to Iran, it said. The report also said that Hizbullah was using landline networks to expand its own telecom system in several areas to send photos and videos through internet services.The Telecommunications ministry said it was committed to a statement it has issued in 2011 that says: “No side, whether it is official or unofficial, has the right to use the ministry’s network for its personal use without first receiving legal permission from the ministry to do so.”That statement was issued after an alleged attempt by Hizbullah to install a private telecommunications network in the Metn town of Tarshish was thwarted in October 2011 by residents and representatives from the town’s municipality.The ministry also said Sunday that it rejects the use of its phone cables and is keen on the safety of the phone network.

Israel PM in final throes of forming coalition
Now Lebanon/Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday entered the final stretch of talks to form a new coalition government which will be sworn in just days before a visit by US President Barack Obama.
Time is of the essence for the Israeli leader who is facing a final deadline of March 16 to announce the shape of his new government after receiving a two-week extension to the initial 28 days he was given.
If he fails to piece together a working majority of at least 61 MPs, the task will be handed to another party leader. He has also been under the additional pressure of preparing for a long-awaited visit by Obama, who will arrive on March 20 for a three-day trip visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories -- his first since becoming president.
Protocol dictates that Netanyahu inform President Shimon Peres when he has succeeded in forming a government, after which the new coalition must be approved by the parliament, or Knesset, and sworn in. Israeli media suggested the government could be in place as early as Tuesday, but it was not clear whether the procedure would be delayed as Peres is wrapping up a week-long tour of Europe from which he will only return on Wednesday.
"It's clear that at this stage, we are in the midst of an irreversible process," said former foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman, who was involved in the negotiations. "There is no doubt that there will be a government this week."
With the deadline looming, Netanyahu has in recent days stepped up the pace of negotiations which began five weeks ago, and after much hesitation, reportedly agreed to work with Yair Lapid's centrist Yesh Atid and Naftali Bennett's far-right Jewish Home party. Lapid's faction, which was only set up in April 2012, won a shock victory in the January election, taking 19 of the Knesset's 120 seats, while Bennett's Jewish Home swept into fourth place with 12, with both agreeing they would not enter the coalition without the other. Former foreign minister Tzipi Livni, head of the centrist HaTnuah (six seats), has already agreed to join the coalition and take on the role of justice minister as well as playing a key role in a ministerial team in charge of peace talks. Netanyahu is also expected to bring in centrist party Kadima (two seats) to join a government headed by his Likud-Beitenu, which combines his rightwing Likud with the hardline Yisrael Beitenu of Lieberman. Likud-Beitenu's poor election showing, which saw it shedding a quarter of its 42 seats to win a narrow victory with just 31, has forced an unwelcome change on Netanyahu who spent the past four years in a comfortable rightwing-religious coalition.
But the pact between Lapid and Bennett has forced Netanyahu to give up on his so-called "natural partners" -- the ultra-Orthodox Shas and United Torah Judaism -- with Yesh Atid and Jewish Home bent on changing the draft law to compel more ultra-Orthodox men to serve in the army. "Netanyahu has found it hard to part from the all-too comfortable coalition," the Maariv daily said. "Today he is heading for the unknown."
As for the division of ministerial portfolios, media reports were unanimous that Likud's Moshe Yaalon would take the defence ministry, while Netanyahu would temporarily hold on to foreign affairs while Lieberman is on trial for alleged fraud and breach of trust. Lapid, a former TV anchor who gave up his job to enter politics just last year, was seen taking the finance portfolio, while Bennett would likely become minister of trade and industry in a cabinet of 24-25 ministers, down from 30 in the outgoing government. The housing portfolio, a key ministry for the settler lobby, was seen going to Uri Ariel, a far-right settler and number two within Jewish Home. As far as the peace process and the Iranian nuclear threat, Netanyahu would retain "full control," said political commentator Hanan Crystal.
"He is not only head of the government, but Likud-Beitenu has the upper hand in the foreign and defense ministries," he told AFP, saying Livni "won't have any influence on the negotiations with the Palestinians.
"What she obtained was purely symbolic and only aimed at giving the impression that she has not broken her promise."

Health Minister Ali Hasan Khalil says National Dialogue session to resolve electoral deadlock

March 10, 2013 03/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Health Minister Ali Hasan Khalil criticized Sunday what he described as pressure exerted on Lebanon to hold elections based on the 1960 law, adding that a consensus on a new electoral proposal should be reached via a National Dialogue session. "Let's talk frankly, the 1960 law is long gone and we will not allow [the country] to go 60 years back. We say that because it’s an expression of the political consensus that we heard from all forces including officials, parties and movements [in rejecting the 1960 law],” Khalil said. Khalil, whose remarks came during a commemoration of three martyrs who were killed in an Israeli explosion in 1984, was referring to a decision by President Michel Sleiman and Prime Minister Najib Mikati to sign a decree calling for the June 9 elections based on the current law.
“We should translate the Lebanese consensus on the death of the 1960 by ending this mental pressure exerted to force us to consider the law as a de facto one,” the minister, who is Speaker Nabih Berri's aide, added.
Most of the country’s politicians have rejected a return to the 1960 law, an amended version of which was used in the 2009 parliamentary elections based on the qada system. However, lawmakers have so far failed to reach consensus on an alternative proposal, raising the possibility of a delay in elections and a subsequent extension of Parliament’s term.
Khalil said that the pressure exerted on Lebanon is also accompanied by foreign pressure to hold the elections on time based on the old law, adding that speeches by politicians have deepened the crisis in the country.
Sleiman and Mikati’s decree, which sparked the ire of March 8 coalition figures, was coupled with Interior Minister Marwan Charbel’s decision to open the doors for candidates to register for the polls starting next week.
“It is now necessary to exceptionally hold a Lebanese dialogue session to agree on a new electoral law or else we are in front of a true crisis and the constitutional path will be followed via the Parliament according to mechanism,” Khalil said. Meanwhile, March 14 MP Michel Faroun said during a radio show Sunday he would agree to a National Dialogue session for the sake of reaching a political consensus on forming a neutral government and postponing the election. But advisor to former Prime Minister Saad Hariri Dawoud Sayegh told LBCI earlier Sunday that the March 14 group has not yet unanimously decided on delaying the polls.
“If we do not carry out the rotation of power, we would have failed in democracy,” Sayegh said. “March 14 and its components, Future Movement, Lebanese Forces and the Kataeb, have reached a formula that is now being discussed with the Socialist Party and we have not reached the decision to postpone elections,” he added. Media reports Sunday said that the draft law under study by the opposition group mandates that 45 percent of MPs are elected based on proportional representation in 10 districts while 55 percent are voted for based on a winner-takes-all system in 26 districts. It also stipulates that Chouf and Aley are joined in one district at the request of MP Walid Jumblatt. Talk of a hybrid law that combines both proportionality and majority systems took center stage when political parties failed to agree on a single proposal.
Although the joint parliamentary committees voted in favor of the Orthodox Gathering law which mandates that every sect elect its own MPs, Future Movement, and Jumblatt, along with the president have rallied against its adoption.

Future MP: Hezbollah awaiting end of Syria war to hold elections
Now Lebanon/Future bloc MP Ammar Houri said that Hezbollah is trying to postpone the parliamentary elections in an effort to predicate future political decisions on the outcome of the Syrian war.
“[Hezbollah] does not want to hold the elections, and wants to keep the current cabinet in power in order to wait until the Syrian [conflict concludes] so as to [deal with] the internal affairs accordingly,” Houri told Voice of Lebanon (100.5) radio on Sunday. Talks began on the possibility of delaying the parliamentary elections after the country’s political parties failed to reach a consensus on a new electoral draft that would replace the 1960 law which is currently on the books. The joint commissions approved the Orthodox law in February, but many parties objected to this proposal, claiming that it would trigger sectarian divisions in the country.
In this regard, the Future Movement and the Progressive Socialist Party – who both refuse the adoption of the Orthodox proposal – started developing a new electoral draft that would serve as an alternative to the 1960 law.
Houri said that the Future Movement is “deliberating with its allies, especially the Christians” to fill them in on the details of the proposal they are working on with the PSP.
The opposition official added that PSP leader MP Walid Jumblatt is communicating the draft to Speaker Nabih Berri who, in turn, will present it to his ally Hezbollah.
Earlier in the week, Sources told NOW that the mixed electoral law that the Future Movement and the PSP reached is based on majoritarian voting in 26 electoral districts and proportional voting in 9 other constituencies.

Obama in Jerusalem March 20, Israel says
Now Lebanon/US President Barack Obama's three-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories will begin on March 20, Israel said on Sunday, in the first official announcement of the much-anticipated visit.
A statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bureau said Obama was due to arrive Wednesday, March 20, at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv and then head to Jerusalem for talks with President Shimon Peres and a dinner meeting with Netanyahu. The White House has not announced specific dates for the Obama visit, his first to Israel and the West Bank as president.
Israeli media reports and a Palestinian official have said that it will run from March 20-22 and take in talks with both Israeli and Palestinian leaders in Jerusalem and Ramallah.
According to the official Israeli program released by Netanyahu's office, Obama is due to visit on Thursday the Israel Museum in Jerusalem and then travel to Ramallah in the West Bank to meet Palestinian Authority officials.
Later on Thursday he is scheduled to deliver a speech at the International Convention CenteR in Jerusalem and in the evening attend a dinner reception at the official residence of Peres.
On Friday the American president is to attend a ceremony at Mount Herzl, where he will lay a wreath on the grave of assassinated former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin before heading to the Yad Vashem Holocaust institute.
Obama will also be taken to see a US-funded Iron Dome missile defense battery on Wednesday or Friday, the statement said, before taking off for the next leg of his trip in Jordan.
Obama noted there would be no big Middle East peace initiative on the table during the trip which he said would be "an opportunity to consult with the Israeli government about a broad range of issues -- including Iran, Syria, the situation in the region, and the peace process," a US official said last week.Palestinian-Israeli peace talks have been deadlocked for more than two years.
Netanyahu has said his talks with Obama would focus on three issues: Iran's nuclear program, the conflict in Syria and the diplomatic process with the Palestinians.

'Americans are training Syria rebels in Jordan'
By REUTERS 03/10/2013/According to German paper 'Der Spiegel,' the training is focused on use of anti-tank weaponry.

BERLIN - Americans are training Syrian anti-government fighters in Jordan, the German weekly Der Spiegel said on Sunday, quoting what it said were participants and organizers.
Spiegel said it was not clear whether the Americans worked for private firms or were from the army but said some wore uniforms. The training focused on use of anti-tank weaponry.
Some 200 men have already received such training over the past three months and there are plans in the future to provide training for a total 1,200 members of the "Free Syrian Army" in two camps in the south and the east of the country. Britain's Guardian newspaper also reported that US trainers were assisting Syrian rebels in Jordan. British and French instructors were also participating in the US-led effort, the Guardian said on Saturday, citing Jordanian security sources. Jordanian intelligence services are involved in the program, which aims to build around a dozen units totaling some 10,000 fighters to the exclusion of radical Islamists, Spiegel reported.
"The Jordanian intelligence services want to prevent Salafists (radical Islamists) crossing from their own country into Syria and then returning later to stir up trouble in Jordan itself," one of the organizers told the paper.
The reports could not be independently verified.
A spokesman for the US Defense Department declined immediate comment on the Spiegel report. The French foreign ministry and Britain's foreign and defense ministries also had no comment.
More than 70,000 people have been killed and 1 million refugees have fled the Syrian conflict.
It started as pro-democracy protests but has turned into a sectarian war between rebels mainly from Syria's Sunni Muslim majority and state forces defending Syrian President Bashar Assad, who follows the Alawite faith derived from Shi'ite Islam. The United States has said it would provide medical supplies and food directly to opposition fighters but has ruled out sending arms for fear they may find their way to Islamist hardliners who might then use them against Western targets. Saudi Arabia and Qatar are widely believed to be providing weapons to the rebels, and Arab League ministers decided on Wednesday to let member nations arm them

Syria rebels launch surprise dawn assault in Homs

March 10, 2013/Daily Star
DAMASCUS: Syria insurgents launched a surprise dawn raid Sunday to retake a key district of the central city of Homs, as Islamists set up a religious council to administer rebel-held areas of the oil-rich east.The assault on Baba Amr district came as UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres warned that the number of Syrian refugees, which has already passed the million mark, could double or triple by the end of the year.
Activists said the raid sparked fierce fighting on the ground and saw President Bashar al-Assad's forces call in air strikes in a bid to repulse the rebel fighters.
They said the attack was a bid to take pressure off other rebel-held areas following the launch last week of a widescale army offensive in Homs, which has been dubbed 'capital of the revolution' against Assad's forces.
Regime troops seized Baba Amr from rebels just over a year ago after a bloody month-long siege that left the district in ruins and claimed hundreds of lives, including those of two foreign journalists.
"We announce the 'great victory battle' to liberate neighbourhoods (controlled by the army), namely Baba Amr, and ease the pressure on our comrades and on besieged Homs districts," a rebel said in a video posted on the Internet. Omar, an activist who is in touch with the insurgents, said rebels infiltrated Baba Amr under cover of darkness. "Those manning the army checkpoints barely had time to realise what was going on," he said.
The army later massed reinforcements around Baba Amr, Omar said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said troops sealed off several streets around Baba Amr amid shelling and clashes in the district, with air raids following hours later. Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said the "surprise" dawn assault came after troops had reduced their presence in Baba Amr to target other rebel-held districts. The watchdog said at least 11 soldiers were killed in Baba Amr.
Days ago the army, which controls around 80 percent of Homs, Syria's third-largest city, launched an offensive to reclaim Khaldiyeh in the north and other rebel enclaves in the old city, using helicopters to bombard the neighbourhoods, which have been besieged for eight months.
In the oil-producing east, where rebels hold large swathes of territory, insurgents including the jihadist Al-Nusra Front have set up a religious council to administer police, judicial and emergency services in the area, the groups said in a statement. "God commanded the Islamic battalions to form a religious council in the east to administer the affairs of the people and fill a security gap," said the statement, distributed by the Britain-based Observatory.
Video footage showed a convoy draped with black flags bearing Islamic inscriptions in the Deir Ezzor area and rebels attaching a banner to a building in Mayadeen, on which is written "Religious Committee of the Eastern Region." Unknown before the uprising, Al-Nusra Front since mid-2012 became the spearhead of the insurgency ahead of the mainstream rebel Free Syrian Army.
The jihadists, who have claimed responsibility for suicide attacks, have made no secret of their aim to see Syria become an Islamist state.
Syria's opposition National Coalition for the second time in weeks postponed talks on the formation of an interim government, a senior member of the opposition grouping said, citing "deep rifts" on the issue.
The meeting was initially scheduled for last month in Istanbul but was postponed until Tuesday this week. It has now been delayed again, with a possible new date between March 18 and 20, said Samir Nashar.
"There are too many opinions... and this calls for more time and more consultations," said Nashar.
At least 160 people were killed across Syria on Saturday, and if no solution is found to the bloodletting the number of refugees could greatly multiply, Guterres told reporters in Ankara.
"Now if this escalation goes on and nothing happens to solve the problem we might have in the end of the year a much larger number of refugees: twice or three times the present level" of one million, he said.
Many refugees are living in dire conditions in camps across Syria's borders, with officials in Jordan on Sunday reporting that a man was killed in a fire that swept through his tent during the night at the Zaatari camp. Two of his children were seriously injured in the blaze.

By Mubasher Bukhari | Reuters
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Hundreds of Pakistani Christians took to the streets across the country on Sunday, demanding better protection after a Christian neighborhood was torched in the city of Lahore a day earlier in connection with the country's controversial anti-blasphemy law.
Police fired into the air in Lahore and the country's largest city, Karachi, to try to disperse protesters furious at the arson attack, which caused no casualties and was the result of an allegation of blasphemy.
Rights campaigners say the anti-blasphemy law in Pakistan is widely used against religious minorities, including Christians, Ahmadis and Shi'ite Muslims, usually on flimsy pretexts.
Aside from a Taliban insurgency, U.S. ally Pakistan is facing hardline Sunni groups who are determined to wipe out the Shi'ite minority. Suicide bombings have killed over 200 Shi'ites this year, triggering revenge attacks against Sunnis. Christian protesters smashed the windows of buses and clashed with baton-wielding police in Lahore, near the Saint Joseph Colony neighborhood that was set on fire.
A protest in another Christian neighborhood of the city turned violent when protesters blocked the main road and attacked vehicles, police said. In Karachi, Christian protesters threw stones at shop windows.
"We tried to disperse them peacefully ... They started throwing stones at police, resulting in several officers receiving injuries," senior Lahore police official Rai Tahir told Reuters.
Elsewhere throughout Punjab province, Christians held small, peaceful protests.
Punjab's Law Minister condemned the protests: "We will bring the culprits (arsonists) to the gallows ... But Christians should not take the law into their hands".
Tahir said more than 150 Muslims were arrested in Lahore of suspicion of torching the homes, and will be tried in anti-terrorism courts. Hundreds of residents had fled their homes, escaping the violence.
In Islam, allegations of blasphemy are treated seriously. Police said two men, one Christian and one Muslim, argued in Lahore on Friday, leading to the Christian being accused of blasphemy. He is reportedly in police custody.
The recent case of a young Pakistani Christian girl accused by a cleric of burning pages of the Koran highlighted the danger of the country's anti-blasphemy law for ordinary Pakistanis, including Muslims outside the Sunni majority.
(Writing by Amie Ferris-Rotman; Editing by Michael Georgy and Giles Elgood)

Saudi Arabia says no intention to pull money from Lebanon
March 10, 2013/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Saudi Arabia does not intend to pull out its money from Lebanese banks, Second Deputy Prime Minister Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz said Sunday.
During a meeting with a delegation from the Economic Committees headed by former Minister Adnan Kassar, the prince assured the delegation that “Saudi Arabia has no intention to withdraw any Saudi deposits whether by investors or by the Saudi government, from Lebanese banks.”
According to the National News Agency, the Saudi official also said that the news Saudis had withdrawn money from Lebanese banks was a false rumor that has recently circulated.
He added that Riyadh was keen on maintaining the best ties with Lebanon and with Lebanese expatriate in its country.
"The kingdom's policy toward Lebanon will not change, because Lebanon has a special place in the kingdom," the prince, who was recently appointed to deputy prime minister, said.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Mohammad Safadi said over the weekend there is no financial or security reason for Saudi nationals to pull their money from Lebanese banks.
In a statement released by his office, Safadi said he was surprised to hear that Saudis have allegedly withdrawn their money and said: "I don't see any financial, security or political reason for the withdrawal of Saudi money by the government or Lebanon because there is mutual trust between Lebanon, as a people and government, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as people and leadership.”
Rumors began circulating Friday that Saudi nationals and officials were withdrawing their money from Lebanese banks against the backdrop of the Gulf Cooperation Council’s stance with regards to some parties in the country who have sided with the Syrian regime.
Foreign Affairs Minister Adnan Mansour’s call earlier this week for the Arab League to reinstate’s membership sparked the ire of Lebanese officials and figures. GCC has voiced its concern that Lebanon is failing to commit to its policy of disassociation with regards to regional events, adopted at the beginning of the crisis in Syria.
The alleged move by Saudis was also reportedly the result of remarks made by Lebanese lawmakers, particularly MP Michel Aoun, who said last month that the uprising in Bahrain was justified. The GCC said it considered Aoun’s comments as interference in the affairs of Manama.
Safadi also said that Saudi Arabia still supports “Lebanon's political, security and financial stability and it has demonstrated such a support on several occasions in modern history.”
He added that the country’s banking system allows for the free movement of money as well as its secrecy and that depositors have the freedom to do whatever they please with their funds.
According to Al-Markaziah website, Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh denied Saturday reports that Saudis have withdrawn their money.
A report on the website quoted Salameh as saying that the “rumors come in the framework of political conflicts and the exchange of accusations between Lebanese parties and negatively reflect the monetary and economic atmosphere in the country.”

Amal MP: Lebanon FM should be awarded over Syria stance
March 10, 2013/Amal Movement MP Hani Qobeissy condemned on Sunday the calls for firing Lebanon’s foreign minister Adnan Mansour from the cabinet over his controversial remarks on Syria during the Arab League ministerial meeting in Cairo.
The Amal MP went on to praise Mansour’s comments about Syria, saying that the minister “deserves an award for his stance.”
Arab League ( AL) ministers debated last Wednesday whether to award Syria’s vacant seat in the regional bloc to the opposition Syrian National Coalition, diplomats said.
Damascus was suspended from membership of the Cairo-based League in November 2011, eight months into what began as a peaceful popular uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.
But Mansour who was preparing to hand over the chairmanship of the Arab Ministerial Council to Egypt called for scrapping the decision to suspend the membership of Syria from the Arab League.
“I call for Syria’s membership of the Arab League to be lifted,” adding “Communication with Syria … is essential for a political solution.”
“We have held meetings over two years and taken decision after decision thinking that with them we will be providing Syria with security and stability by removing the regime and replacing it with another – while Syria sank into blood and destruction,”added Mansour.
Qatar, which has led efforts at the League against Damascus, blamed Assad for nearly two years of bloodshed in Syria in which an estimated 70,000 people have been killed.
“The person who brought a sea of blood is Bashar because he did not commit to the Arab decisions and did not cooperate with us,” Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani told the meeting.
Mansour came under fire in Lebanon following the AL meeting:
Commenting on Mansour’s stance during the Arab League meeting , MP Akram Chehayeb a key member of Jumblatt’s National Struggle Front said in an interview with Kuwaiti Newspaper Assyasseh: “We usually do not pay much attention to what Mansour says , since events have shown that the Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdel Karim Ali is acting as the de facto Lebanese Foreign minister”.
Former PM Saad Hariri was quoted as saying :
“What kind of a dissociation policy is this and who authorized him to speak on behalf of the Syrian regime” .
Hariri asked: “Is he the Foreign minister of Lebanon or Syria ?”
Lebanese Prime Minister Mikati’s government is dominated by Hezbollah which has been supporting the Syrian regime in its crackdown against the uprising . Mikati according to observers cannot fire Mansour for disobedience because he is a member of the Amal party which is headed by Speaker Nabih Berri a key ally of Hezbollah. Besides, said one observer : “Mansour expressed the stance of the unelected supreme leader of Lebanon , Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah as is evident from Raad’s statement “.
Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc leader MP Mohammed Raad defended on Thursday the remarks made by Minister Mansour on Syria during the Arab League ministerial meeting in Cairo , saying that they “accurately reflect the Lebanese government’s policy of disassociation with regards to Syria”.
Mikati, along with president Michel Suleiman have sought to follow a policy of “dissociation” from the conflict in Lebanon’s dominant neighbor, but they are powerless since the Iranian backed Hezbollah militant group calls all the shots now in Lebanon , according to observers
One million refugees have fled Syria, piling pressure on its neighbors the United Nations refugee agency said on Wednesday. Lebanon, which is hosting the largest number of Syrian refugees despite being the smallest country in the region is struggling to support them.
On Thursday Mansour commented on the criticism against his statements and said that he was “ doing what is best” for Lebanon and all its people.

Robert Fisk: A misty-eyed farewell to Lebanon's smoky nargile dens
Long View: Against expectation, Lebanon’s anti-smoking campaign has been a success and one of the region's longest lasting habits is finally coming to an end
Who could have believed the Lebanese would stop smoking? Law 174 is actually being obeyed. No smoking in any restaurants or cafes. Even the blessed nargile is banned, the glorious water pipe that originated in early 16th century India. There may be a civil war next door and 336,000 Syrian refugees in Lebanon but a nation famed for its smokers appears to be giving it all up. It doesn’t hurt that Michael Bloomberg, the New York city mayor, has sent £400,000 to Lebanon’s anti-smoking campaign. But what’s amazing is that smoking a pipe was one of Lebanon’s – and Syria’s – longest lasting habits.
I am indebted here to Christian Sassmannshausen, a PhD student in Islamic Studies at the Freie Universitat of Berlin whose wonderful article “The Stuff of History: Everyday Objects, the Construction of Ambiguous Meanings and the ‘Afterlife’ of Social Things” appears in an equally wonderful book on Islamic Art in museums and who traces the history of popular smoking in the Levant. The consumption of tobacco, he writes – and let’s call him Christian and be done with it – started as a luxury for the affluent, but by the late nineteenth century just about everyone was smoking.
He quotes a 19th century writer called Jessup: “Do the Syrian people all smoke? Almost all of them. They speak of it as ‘drinking a pipe, drinking a cigar’ and you would think that they look upon tobacco as being as necessary to them as water. Old and young men, women and even children smoke, smoke while they work or rest…They even measure time by their pipes so that if you ask the distance to a point in a journey, the answer very likely will be, it is two, or three, or five pipes distant…The Orientals [sic] spend so much time smoking that someone has said ‘the Moslims [sic] came into power with the Koran in one hand, and the sword in the other, but will go out with the Koran in one hand and the pipe in the other!’”
Lebanon, back in those days, was part of Syria and one of Tripoli’s major exports was tobacco (along with soap, silk, sponges and citrus fruits). Tobacco, according to Christian, was incorporated into courtship and wedding rituals, a suitor being expected to present lots of sugar, coffee and tobacco to the bride’s father, conforming to a popular Islamic notion of fertility and plenty. “The quality and price of tobacco as well as the nargile functioned as a social marker distinguishing the owner,” he writes.
Christian has illustrated his article with a photograph of six men posing with nargiles in the 1870s, captioned by one of them: “Les mauvais sujets de Tripoli” – The Bad Boys of Tripoli. All are related and are Greek Orthodox Christians and served as vice-consuls, one of whom converted to Protestantism after an alliance with the daughter of the American and Belgian vice-consul in Tripoli. The nargile, Christian suspects, had an immoral connotation when associated with wine bottles or opium. But the men are all wearing the red tarbush – the kind of hat that King Farouk wears in photographs and which I still remember in the streets of Beirut in the late 1970s – which means that they were ostentatiously Ottoman.
Smoking was – as one might say – hotly debated in the newspapers of the time. Al-Muqtataf – roughly meaning ‘The Harvest’ - carried articles on smoking in Greater Syria and the health effects of pipes and alcohol. One Tripoli newspaper wrote about those who smoked rice rather than tobacco in their water-pipes, presumably because rice was cheaper although it apparently caused chest pains and continuous coughing. Men and women smoked the nargile – they still do in Lebanon – although one thing I notice is that the packs of cigarettes that used to adorn tables at home are slowly disappearing in Beirut. They were always a sign, I think, of status – the more expensive the cigarette, the richer the host – although in Egypt the ghastly ‘Cleopatra’ can still be found in drawing rooms.
Smoking, they say in Lebanon, also quenches hunger, and pipes were much used in Greater Syria, I’m told, during the great hunger of the First World War when up to 1.5million Lebanese and Syrians died. The poorest people of the 1870s could only afford a nargile made of a coconut shell, the richest a highly decorated water-pipe with elaborate designs. I long ago put down my ancient Dunhill pipe but I still possess a unique ash tray, made from the broken branch of one of the ancient cedars of Lebanon – remember the Temple of Jerusalem? – which was sold to me by an old man in Bcharre, the home of that great Blake-like Lebanese poet Khalil Gibran. Bcharre is only sixty miles from my Beirut home. Or should that be six pipes distant?
Standard and Custom Design Smoking Shelters
www.columbiaequipment.comWho could have believed the Lebanese would stop smoking? Law 174 is actually being obeyed. No smoking in any restaurants or cafes. Even the blessed nargile is banned, the glorious water pipe that originated in early 16th century India. There may be a civil war next door and 336,000 Syrian refugees in Lebanon but a nation famed for its smokers appears to be giving it all up. It doesn’t hurt that Michael Bloomberg, the New York city mayor, has sent £400,000 to Lebanon’s anti-smoking campaign. But what’s amazing is that smoking a pipe was one of Lebanon’s – and Syria’s – longest lasting habits.
I am indebted here to Christian Sassmannshausen, a PhD student in Islamic Studies at the Freie Universitat of Berlin whose wonderful article “The Stuff of History: Everyday Objects, the Construction of Ambiguous Meanings and the ‘Afterlife’ of Social Things” appears in an equally wonderful book on Islamic Art in museums and who traces the history of popular smoking in the Levant. The consumption of tobacco, he writes – and let’s call him Christian and be done with it – started as a luxury for the affluent, but by the late nineteenth century just about everyone was smoking.
He quotes a 19th century writer called Jessup: “Do the Syrian people all smoke? Almost all of them. They speak of it as ‘drinking a pipe, drinking a cigar’ and you would think that they look upon tobacco as being as necessary to them as water. Old and young men, women and even children smoke, smoke while they work or rest…They even measure time by their pipes so that if you ask the distance to a point in a journey, the answer very likely will be, it is two, or three, or five pipes distant…The Orientals [sic] spend so much time smoking that someone has said ‘the Moslims [sic] came into power with the Koran in one hand, and the sword in the other, but will go out with the Koran in one hand and the pipe in the other!’”
Lebanon, back in those days, was part of Syria and one of Tripoli’s major exports was tobacco (along with soap, silk, sponges and citrus fruits). Tobacco, according to Christian, was incorporated into courtship and wedding rituals, a suitor being expected to present lots of sugar, coffee and tobacco to the bride’s father, conforming to a popular Islamic notion of fertility and plenty. “The quality and price of tobacco as well as the nargile functioned as a social marker distinguishing the owner,” he writes.
Christian has illustrated his article with a photograph of six men posing with nargiles in the 1870s, captioned by one of them: “Les mauvais sujets de Tripoli” – The Bad Boys of Tripoli. All are related and are Greek Orthodox Christians and served as vice-consuls, one of whom converted to Protestantism after an alliance with the daughter of the American and Belgian vice-consul in Tripoli. The nargile, Christian suspects, had an immoral connotation when associated with wine bottles or opium. But the men are all wearing the red tarbush – the kind of hat that King Farouk wears in photographs and which I still remember in the streets of Beirut in the late 1970s – which means that they were ostentatiously Ottoman.
Smoking was – as one might say – hotly debated in the newspapers of the time. Al-Muqtataf – roughly meaning ‘The Harvest’ - carried articles on smoking in Greater Syria and the health effects of pipes and alcohol. One Tripoli newspaper wrote about those who smoked rice rather than tobacco in their water-pipes, presumably because rice was cheaper although it apparently caused chest pains and continuous coughing. Men and women smoked the nargile – they still do in Lebanon – although one thing I notice is that the packs of cigarettes that used to adorn tables at home are slowly disappearing in Beirut. They were always a sign, I think, of status – the more expensive the cigarette, the richer the host – although in Egypt the ghastly ‘Cleopatra’ can still be found in drawing rooms.
Smoking, they say in Lebanon, also quenches hunger, and pipes were much used in Greater Syria, I’m told, during the great hunger of the First World War when up to 1.5million Lebanese and Syrians died. The poorest people of the 1870s could only afford a nargile made of a coconut shell, the richest a highly decorated water-pipe with elaborate designs. I long ago put down my ancient Dunhill pipe but I still possess a unique ash tray, made from the broken branch of one of the ancient cedars of Lebanon – remember the Temple of Jerusalem? – which was sold to me by an old man in Bcharre, the home of that great Blake-like Lebanese poet Khalil Gibran. Bcharre is only sixty miles from my Beirut home. Or should that be six pipes distant?