LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
March 14/2013

Bible Quotation for today/Stances In Life
Revelation 03/14-22: "To the angel of the assembly in Laodicea write: “The Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Head of God’s creation, says these things: “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of my mouth. Because you say, ‘I am rich, and have gotten riches, and have need of nothing;’ and don’t know that you are the wretched one, miserable, poor, blind, and naked; I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich; and white garments, that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see. As many as I love, I reprove and chasten. Be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, then I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with me. He who overcomes, I will give to him to sit down with me on my throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies.”

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

CBC/By Matthew Coutts
Newly-elected Pope Francis appears on the central balcony of St Peter's Basilica.The College of Cardinals made history on Wednesday by selection a non-European as the head of the Catholic Church.
Argentinian Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was named pope on the second day of the conclave in Vatican City on Wednesday, becoming the first leader of the Catholic church to come from outside of Europe.
Bergoglio appeared on the balcony above St. Peter's Square as tens of thousands of supporters cheered from below. He chose the name Pope Francis.
“Let us pray for the entire world so that there is a great fraternity, a great brotherhood. I wish that this journey that we begin today… is fruitful for the evangelization of this beautiful city,” he said from Vatican City, per a CBC News translator.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio elected as new pope, to be called Pope Francis
By Yahoo! Canada News
White smoke swirled from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel on Wednesday at 7:05 CET (2:05 ET) after the fifth round of voting by the 115 cardinals in the conclave. Since a two-third majority is required to elect a new pope, the appointed pontiff received at least 77 votes.
About an hour after the smoke appeared, French Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran took to the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica to announce the name of the 266th pope. As per tradition, Cardinal Tauran shouted "Habermus Papam!" (which means "we have a new pope!"). He then revealed that the former Archbishop of Buenos Aires would be the new head of the Catholic church.
The new pope will lead the world's 1.2 billion Catholics.
Bergoglio marks several firsts for the Catholic church. In addition to being the first Pope Francis in the history of Catholicism, he is also the first Jesuit pope and the first pope elect from outside of Europe in more than a millennium.
The 76-year-old pontiff-elect was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and became a cardinal of the Catholic church in 2001, proclaimed so by Pope John Paul II. Bergoglio is reported to have had the second-most votes after pope emeritus Benedict XVI in the 2005 papal conclave.
During his time as the Cardinal of Buenos Aires, Bergoglio was known for denying himself many of the pleasures that previous cardinals had enjoyed in the position. Bergoglio often rode the bus to work, cooked his own meals and regularly visited the slums that ring Argentina's capital. He considers social outreach, rather than doctrinal battles, to be the essential business of the church.
He has also had a tumultuous relationship with Argentine President Cristina Kirchner, who has imposed numerous socially liberal policies that often go against the wishes of the Catholic church. His outspoken criticism couldn't prevent Argentina from becoming the Latin American country to legalize gay marriage, or stop Fernandez from promoting free contraception and artificial insemination. His church had no say when the Argentine Supreme Court expanded access to legal abortions in rape cases, and when Bergoglio argued that gay adoptions discriminate against children.
Bergoglio has come under criticism in the past for the Catholic church's role in Argentina's murderous 1976-83 dictatorship. Many Argentines remain angry over the church's acknowledged failure to openly confront a regime that was kidnapping and killing thousands of people as it sought to eliminate "subversive elements" in society. It's one reason why more than two-thirds of Argentines describe themselves as Catholic, but fewer than 10 per cent regularly attend mass.
Under Bergoglio's leadership, Argentina's bishops issued a collective apology in October 2012 for the church's failures to protect its flock. But the statement blamed the era's violence in roughly equal measure on both the junta and its enemies.
[ Related: Will Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, Pope Francis, be a progressive force in Catholic Church? ]
This decision to elect Bergoglio came quite quickly in comparison to previous papal conclaves, in five rounds of voting over two days. In the past, conclaves have dragged on for weeks, months, even years. One 13th-century conclave lasting weeks was thrown into turmoil when one of the leading candidates died. More recently, though, conclaves haven't lasted longer than a week, with the longest conclave of the past century taking place in 1922, with the election of Pope Pius XI taking 14 rounds over 5 days.
With files from The Canadian Press

Cardinals divided over who should be pope
March 13, 2013/By Nicole Winfield/Daily Star
VATICAN CITY: Cardinals remained divided over who should be pope on Wednesday after three rounds of voting, an indication that disagreements remain about the direction of the Catholic Church following the upheaval unleashed by Pope Benedict XVI's surprise resignation.
In the second day of the conclave, thick black smoke billowed from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, prompting sighs of disappointment from the thousands of people gathered in a rain-soaked and chilly St. Peter's Square.
"I'm not happy to see black smoke. We all want white," said the Rev. ThankGod Okoroafor, a Nigerian priest studying theology at Holy Cross University in Rome. "But maybe it means that the cardinals need to take time, not to make a mistake in the choice."
The Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi insisted that the continued balloting was part of the natural course of the election and didn't signal divisions among cardinals. He noted that only once in the past century had a pope been elected on the third ballot: Pope Pius XII, elected on the eve of World War II.
"This is very normal," he said. "It's not a sign of particular divisions within the college, but rather of a normal process of discernment."
A winner must receive 77 votes, or two-thirds of the 115, to be named pope.
That said, a conclave has rarely before taken place against the backdrop of a papal resignation and revelations of mismanagement, petty bickering, infighting and corruption in the Holy See bureaucracy. Those revelations, exposed by the leaks of papal documents last year, have divided the College of Cardinals into camps seeking a radical reform of the Holy See's governance and those defending the status quo.
After the third ballot, the cardinals broke for lunch at the Vatican hotel and were returning for another two rounds of voting Wednesday afternoon.
The drama - with stage sets by Michelangelo and an outcome that is anyone's guess - is playing out against the backdrop of the church's need both for a manager who can clean up an ungovernable Vatican bureaucracy and a pastor who can revive Catholicism in a time of growing secularism.
The difficulty in finding both attributes in one man, some analysts say, means that the world should brace for a long conclave - or at least one longer than the four ballots it took to elect Benedict in 2005.
"We have not had a conclave over five days since 1831," noted the Rev. Thomas Reese, author of "Inside the Vatican," a bible of sorts for understanding the Vatican bureaucracy. "So if they are in there over five days, we know they are in trouble; they are having a hard time forming consensus around a particular person."
The names mentioned most often as "papabile" - a cardinal who has the stuff of a pope - include Cardinal Angelo Scola, the archbishop of Milan, an intellect in the vein of Benedict but with a more outgoing personality, and Cardinal Marc Ouellet, the Canadian head of the Vatican's important bishops' office who is also scholarly but reserved like Benedict.
Brazilian Cardinal Odilo Scherer is liked by the Vatican bureaucracy but not by all of his countrymen. And Cardinal Peter Erdo of Hungary has the backing of European cardinals who have twice elected him as head of the European bishops' conference.
On the more pastoral side is Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston, the favorite of the Italian press, and Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the back-slapping, outgoing archbishop of New York who has admitted himself that his Italian is pretty bad - a drawback for a job that is conducted almost exclusively in the language.
The American candidates, however, did get a boost of sorts on Wednesday: President Barack Obama, who has clashed with American bishops over his health care mandate, indicated the Catholic Church could certainly tolerate a superpower pope since Catholic bishops in the U.S. "don't seem to be taking orders from me."
In an interview with ABC News, he said an American pope would preside just as effectively as a leader of the Catholic church from any other country.
Lombardi said it was a "good hypothesis" that the pope - whoever it is - would be installed next Tuesday, on the feast of St. Joseph, patron saint of the universal church. The installation Mass is attended by heads of state from around the world, requiring at least a few days' notice.
Thousands of people braved a chilly rain on Wednesday morning to watch the 6-foot- (2-meter-) high copper chimney on the chapel roof for the smoke signals telling them whether the cardinals had settled on a choice. Nuns recited the rosary, while children splashed in puddles.
After the smoke poured out, the crowds began to dissipate, though a few hangers-on appeared ready to wait out the afternoon balloting.
"The more we wait, the better chance we have of having a surprise," said Ludovic de Vernejouls, a 21-year-old Parisian studying architecture in Rome.
Unlike the confusion that reigned during the 2005 conclave, the smoke this time around has been clearly black - thanks to special smoke flares akin to those used in soccer matches or protests that were lit in the chapel ovens to make the burned ballots black.
The Vatican on Wednesday divulged the secret recipe used: potassium perchlorate, anthracene, which is a derivative of coal tar, and sulfur for the black smoke; potassium chlorate, lactose and a pine resin for the white smoke.
The chemicals are contained in five units of a cartridge that is placed inside the stove of the Sistine Chapel. When activated, the five blocks ignite one after another for about a minute apiece, creating the steady stream of smoke that accompanies the natural smoke from the burned ballot papers.
Despite the great plumes of smoke that poured out of the chimney, neither the Sistine frescoes nor the cardinals inside the chapel suffered any smoke damage, Lombardi said.
The cardinals were spending their free time inbetween votes sequestered in the Vatican's Santa Marta hotel, an impersonal modern hotel on the edge of the Vatican gardens. They have no access to television, newspapers, cellphones or computers, and the hotel staff has taken an oath of secrecy to not reveal anything they see or hear.
The actual vote takes place in far more evocative surroundings: the Sistine Chapel frescoed by Michelangelo in the 16th century with scenes of "Creation" and "The Last Judgment."

Hezbollah's European Enablers
Matthew Levitt
National Post/March 11, 2013
Given Hezbollah's long and sordid history in Europe, and the fact that it has now resumed violent operations there, what will it take to get EU member states to ban the group?
This week, Prime Minister Stephen Harper will welcome his French counterpart, Jean-Marc Ayrault, who is making his first official visit to Canada since taking office last May. Their meeting provides a timely opportunity for Ottawa to teach Paris a thing or two about how to deal with Hezbollah.
Hezbollah has long sought to engage in financial and logistical support activities in Canada. Thankfully, Canadian law enforcement investigators and intelligence agencies have taken the threat seriously.
Hezbollah has been banned in Canada since 2002. But not so in France or the European Union as a whole. Indeed, France remains ardently opposed to banning Hezbollah. But recent events in Europe may bring change. This includes the conclusion of Bulgarian investigators that Hezbollah was behind the Burgas bus bombing in Bulgaria last July, which killed five Israelis and a local bus driver.
In fact, Hezbollah has been active in Europe since the terrorist group's founding in the early 1980s, when it engaged in a long list of attacks across the continent. But while it has continuously raised funds, procured arms and provided logistical support from Europe for attacks to be carried out elsewhere, it had been years since Hezbollah last carried out an attack on European soil. Then came the Burgas bombing in 2012.
In Cyprus, meanwhile, authorities arrested a suspected Hezbollah operative who collected information about Israeli tourists arriving in Cyprus in a plot eerily similar to the one that killed six people a few days later in Bulgaria. The suspect initially denied ties to terrorist activity, but later admitted being a Hezbollah operative. Before sending him on his mission to Cyprus, Hezbollah first used him as a courier, dispatching him to deliver packages to Hezbollah operatives in places such as Turkey, the Netherlands and France.
That there are Hezbollah operatives in Europe should not surprise. Hezbollah has maintained networks throughout Europe for some 30 years. Indeed, Hezbollah's first documented attack in Europe was in 1983 -- the same year Hezbollah bombed French, Italian and American troops in Beirut -- when Hezbollah's Islamic Jihad Organization claimed responsibility for bombs placed at a train station and aboard a train from Paris to Marseilles. This was followed in 1984 by the hijacking of TWA flight 847 from Athens to Rome and the arrest at Zurich airport of a Hezbollah operative carrying explosives in a cloth belt around his waist. He was on his way to Rome at the time, leading Italian authorities to arrest a Hezbollah cell there two weeks later. 1985 saw Hezbollah bombings in Spain, Denmark and France.
Between December 1985 and September 1986, Hezbollah operatives using a variety of cover names bombed 15 targets in Paris. The Paris cell finally was disrupted only after German authorities arrested Mohammad Ali Hamadi -- one of the TWA 847 hijackers -- who was caught at the Frankfurt airport in January 1987 carrying explosives destined for Paris. More arrests followed in Germany, including the 1989 arrest of Bassem Makki, who was plotting attacks on Israeli and American interests in Germany. Over the next few years, Hezbollah operatives and Iranian hit men assassinated Iranian dissidents in a series of murders across Europe.
In the 1990s, Hezbollah founded a special unit -- Unit 1800 -- dedicated to supporting Palestinian terrorist groups and infiltrating its own operatives into Israel to collect intelligence and execute terrorist attacks within Israel's borders. Hezbollah infiltrated a small number of operatives into Israel through Southeast Asia, but Europe was its preferred stepping stone into Israel. Some operatives, such as Hussein Mikdad, were Lebanese citizens with fair complexions who traveled on false documents. Others, such as Stephan Smyrek, a German convert to Islam, or Jihad Shuman, a British citizen, traveled to Israel through Europe on their European passports.
More recently, FBI investigations revealed the amazing extent to which Hezbollah forgers are producing counterfeit Euros and other European currency. Another investigation exposed Hezbollah robberies around the world and plans to launder and sell the stolen currency, including $2-million worth of stolen Swedish Krona. Yet another case involved a dual Lebanese-German citizen who used his Slovakian import-export company as a front to procure weapons -- including shoulder-fired anti-aircraft rockets -- for Hezbollah.
Given Hezbollah's long and sordid history in Europe, and the fact that it now has resumed violent operations in Europe, what will it take to get EU member states to agree to ban Hezbollah as the terrorist group it is? Last summer, Cyprus' foreign minister pledged that "should there be tangible evidence of Hezbollah engaging in acts of terrorism, the EU would consider listing the organization." Now here we are, tangible evidence in hand: The Burgas bombers traveled through Romania and Poland, the defendant in Cyprus though France and the Netherlands.
Yet unlike the Netherlands and Canada, which have designated Hezbollah as a terrorist group and proactively countered its terrorist activities, France remains a holdout, effectively protecting it from any meaningful European action. Perhaps Mr. Harper will take the opportunity to talk some sense into his French counterpart on this important issue.
**Matthew Levitt is director of The Washington Institute's Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence and author of the forthcoming book Hezbollah: The Global Footprint of Lebanon's Party of God.

Iron Dome for Obama’s Israel landing – in case of al Qaeda, chemical attack
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report March 13, 2013/
US President Barack Obama’s first engagement upon landing in Israel on March 20 will be a quick tour of the Iron Dome missile interceptor stationed at Ben Gurion international airport. After a round of handshakes, the officers and men operating the system will explain how it works.
The innovative counter-missile weapon is to be deployed there, not just as a spectacle to honor the US president for his contribution to its development, but out of necessity for his safety. Air Force One might be seen as fair game for the ground-to-ground missiles wielded by Al Qaeda units fighting Assad in Syria and its affiliates in the Sinai Peninsula at the very moment that the US President steps down to the strains of the IDF welcoming band.
In normal circumstances, personal security arrangements for a US presidential foreign visit are kept under close wraps and rarely visible to the public.
This time, debkafile’s counterterrorism sources report, the visit’s planners made an exception. They decided there was no option but to visibly install an Iron Dome battery inside the airport, because the first battery plus a Patriot interceptor stationed for more than two months north and south of Tel Aviv were not sufficient guarantee of security against rocket attack for President Obama’s arrival.
This decision set up two precedents:
1. Air Force One will land on the Ben Gurion airport runway on March 20 enclosed by two defensive rings of US and Israeli missile interceptors in the densest formation ever to guard an American president's arrival in Israel.
2. The Iron Dome battery will stay in place for the three days of Obama’s visits to Israel and Jordan. It will defend Jerusalem’s air space against rocket attack for the duration of his stay.
Still fresh in Israeli memories are Hamas attempts just five months ago to hit the airport and Jerusalem with rockets fired from the Gaza Strip on the orders of the Iranian general Gen. Hassan Shateri aka Hossam Khosh-Nevis. This Iranian officer was killed in January in Syria in unknown circumstances.
No one in US and Israeli security circles is seriously suggesting that Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Syrian ruler Bashar Assad or Hizballah’s Hassan Nasrallah are planning to hit the Israeli airport with rockets on March 20. But neither is any responsible official prepared to expose the president to the slightest risk.
After all, in the more than 120,000 square kilometers of the Damascus-Baghdad-Amman triangle and the 62,000 square kilometers of the Sinai Peninsula, it may be possible to find a jihadist commander willing to act on an order from al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zuwahiri to avenge the death of Osama bin Laden in on May 2 two years ago in Pakistan at the hands of American commandos.
Both groups of security experts appreciate that Zuwahiri has the motive for punishing the US president for ordering his death and, for the first time, the capacity to reach him from al Qaeda-controlled territory with surface missiles loaded with poison chemicals. Even if their weapon did not touch President Obama, it would be enough for one to explode on an Israeli or Jordanian air field at the time of his arrival for the terrorist organization to chalk up a major strategic feat.

Lebanon president meets Senegalese counterpart
Now Lebanon/Lebanese President Michel Suleiman met with his Senegalese counterpart Macky Sall on Wednesday as part of his official visit to Africa, the National News Agency reported. Sall and Suleiman agreed on “the importance of maintaining the two countries’ shared values.” Suleiman said that “Lebanon is keen on strengthening economic and cultural cooperation with Senegal,” adding that the purpose of his visit is “to communicate with the Lebanese community in Senegal and the country’s officials.” “Also, the visit’s main purpose is strengthening bilateral ties and raising them to the level of humanitarian relations,” he added. Meanwhile, Sall commended the “Lebanese community’s amazing dynamism and its remarkable contribution to Senegal’s society, economy, and development.” The NNA report added that three agreements were signed between the two countries. On Tuesday, the Lebanese President left Beirut for Senegal to start a tour of several African countries, where he is scheduled to meet top officials as well as members of the Lebanese communities in Africa.

March 14 to commemorate slain figures
Now Lebanon/The March 14 General Secretariat on Wednesday announced that it would observe on Thursday the passing of top luminaries of the alliance that were assassinated since 2005. “[Wednesday’s] meeting was to set up a program for placing wreaths tomorrow at the shrines of Cedar Revolution Martyrs who have died since 2005,” a statement issued by the secretariat said. The coordinating body of the pro-Western coalition added that it “followed up on preparations for its 8th annual anniversary commemoration [of the Cedar Revolution] to be held Sunday” in Beirut’s BIEL exhibition center. The alliance every year commemorates the historic March 14, 2005 rally in Downtown Beirut that resulted in Syria’s withdrawal from Lebanon. March 14 has accused the Bashar al-Assad regime of being behind the assassination of former PM Rafiq Hariri and a number of other top Cedar Revolution political figures.

March 14 in limbo ahead of uprising anniversary
March 13, 2013 /By Hussein Dakroub/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: The opposition March 14 coalition this week marks its eighth anniversary as it strives to remain relevant in the run-up to parliamentary elections amid criticisms of its “lofty slogans” and an incorrect wager on developments in war-torn Syria. But internal rifts over a voting system to govern the June 9 polls have apparently dealt a blow to the group’s efforts to face major domestic and regional challenges, particularly the divisive issue of Hezbollah’s arsenal and the repercussions of two years of turmoil in Syria. Furthermore, security threats have restricted the movements of March 14 leaders and kept others, notably former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, out of the country. Hariri, who has been living abroad for nearly two years, told a delegation from Lebanon’s private sector at his residence in Riyadh Sunday that he would not return to Lebanon “because there is a decision to kill me.”
Hariri’s absence has doubtless adversely affected the coalition’s unity and its political decision-making. But the biggest challenge facing March 14 is the elections, which could allow the coalition to form the next government as well as play a decisive role in electing a new president in 2014.
Summing up the March 14 coalition’s predicament, former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, head of the Future Movement’s parliamentary bloc, said in a speech in Sidon recently: “The March 14 coalition is not in good shape. But it will eventually emerge stronger.”A similar view was echoed by Fares Soueid, coordinator of the March 14 Secretariat-General.
Soueid said the upcoming commemoration event – a rally Sunday at the BIEL complex in Downtown Beirut – would highlight the themes of unity and civil peace.
“The Lebanese will see at the BIEL rally the unity of the March 14 coalition. The coalition will emerge stronger,” Soueid told The Daily Star.
He said the dispute within the March 14 parties over a new electoral law was being tackled and a solution would be found.
Soueid added the rally would issue an important political message to the Lebanese underscoring the need for “civil peace and [national] peace.”
The coalition was born when hundreds of thousands people rallied on March 14, 2005, in Beirut’s Martyrs’ Square to condemn the Feb. 14 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and demand the withdrawal of the Syrian army from Lebanon.
The protesters shouted slogans in support of freedom, sovereignty and independence that have since become the coalition’s main objectives.
March 14 leaders boast that the Syrian army’s withdrawal from Lebanon after nearly three decades of domination, and the establishment of the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon to uncover Hariri’s killers were the coalition’s two biggest achievements.
They also boast that the March 14 movement inspired Arabs to fight for freedom and revolt against their authoritarian leaders.
However, both supporters and critics of March 14 say the coalition has experienced frustrations both at home and regionally, mainly due to mistakes and miscalculations by its leaders that have reflected badly on the coalition’s performance and its popular base.
Critics point to March 14’s lofty slogans, centered on disarming Hezbollah and toppling the government of Prime Minister Najib Mikati, as some of the coalition’s blunders.
Similarly, the March 14 leaders’ wager on the downfall of Syrian President Bashar Assad last year, which would have given a major boost to the coalition, did not materialize.
“The March 14 coalition has effectively expired. Its component parts have little in common. The only thing that brought them together was their hostility to Hezbollah and Syria,” Hilal Khashan, a political science professor at the American University of Beirut, told The Daily Star.
“An alliance cannot be based on hostility. Its constituent parts must have something to pursue together. They must have a vision, or a plan of action in order for their alliance to endure,” he said.
Khashan said the slogans of “freedom, sovereignty and independence” were beyond the March 14 coalition’s capabilities.
“The March 14 coalition lacks serious self-direction,” he said. Simon Haddad, also an AUB professor of political science, concurred. “The March 14 coalition is in limbo, waiting for the situation in Syria to clear up because they have wagered on regime change in Syria,” Haddad told The Daily Star. “The March 14 coalition is at its worst stage and in its weakest point because the other side is more united,” he said. Haddad also blamed March 14 leaders for failing to offer their March 8 rivals “a national partnership program.”“They [March 14 leaders] put forward electoral slogans, such as ‘toppling Hezbollah’s arms and toppling the government,’ which they knew beforehand couldn’t be achieved,” Haddad said. “These slogans can’t lead to the country’s building and civil peace.”
Beirut MP Ghazi Youssef, from Hariri’s Future bloc, acknowledged that March 14 was experiencing a loss of momentum within its own popular base.
He said compromises made by March 14 leaders with the Hezbollah-led March 8 alliance since 2005, such as accepting an alliance in a national unity Cabinet headed by Hariri following the 2009 elections, had led to “frustrations” among the group’s supporters.
“The March 14 movement has lost its momentum. This year’s anniversary must address the March 14 people. The main challenge facing March 14 is how to regain its people who became apathetic toward participation in the movement’s rallies,” Youssef told The Daily Star. “The coalition must regain the Lebanese people, especially independents.”
He said the March 14 coalition had achieved “a sublime goal”: The liberation and independence of Lebanon from the Syrian regime.
“But there are other goals that have not been achieved yet, like the transition to the state and institutions. Therefore, the March 14 movement must turn to its people, whose dream is to move on to a civil state that guarantees public freedoms,” Youssef added. Tewfic Hindi, who is close to March 14, said the its leaders had committed “mistakes” and “failures” and their management of the political process was not up to people’s expectations.
“The March 14 failures had their roots in the troubled situation in Lebanon which is basically linked to regional and international struggles, particularly the situation in Syria which greatly affects the situation in Lebanon,” Hindi told The Daily Star. “Certainly, there are contradictions among March 14 members on an election law and shares” of parliamentary seats, Hindi said.
“March 14 is at odds over how to manage the political process, the stance on the parliamentary elections, the post-election period and the formation of a new Cabinet.”
Hindi said March 14’s slogan of “freedom, sovereignty and independence” was partially achieved eight years ago.
“But the demand for the building of a strong state and state sovereignty has not been fulfilled, because National Dialogue sessions on Hezbollah’s arms did not produce any results.”

Lebanon needs Arab aid to help with Syria influx: PM
March 13, 2013/By Michael Scott, Laila Bassam/Daily Star/
BEIRUT: Prime Minister Najib Mikati urged Arab states to help Lebanon cope with a flood of Syrian refugees who are stretching its scarce resources and will need at least $370 million in support this year.
Mikati said hospitals were full of Syrians, the sick and wounded from the civil war next door, and doctors were struggling to prevent outbreaks of disease among 340,000 refugees crammed into host communities around the country. Lebanon also faces rising crime - he said 700 Syrians were caught breaking the law in January, a high figure in a country of 4 million - and the influx of refugees into Lebanese homes had brought with it social problems including child marriage. "We are coming to a very critical point," Mikati told Reuters in an interview in his Ottoman-style government offices overlooking central Beirut. "We need help. Lebanon is bearing the burden of the events in Syria," he said. "We ask Arab countries to look supportively and sympathetically at Lebanon, because Lebanon needs these countries right now." International donors, including wealthy Gulf Arab states, have pledged $1.5 billion for refugees and displaced Syrians, but two Lebanese ministers - for social affairs and health - told Reuters on Tuesday they had not seen a penny of that money.
Lebanon's request for $370 million for the refugees, divided between the state and international aid agencies, was based on estimates that it would be hosting 250,000 refugees this year - a figure which has already been well exceeded. "There are no beds in Lebanese hospitals to admit Lebanese (patients) because most already have Syrians," Mikati said.
Child marriage - involving girls as young as 10 - was also on the increase, driven by the pressures of several families being housed under one roof.
"We are seeing a few problems in this issue and we believe in the near future this problem will be bigger and bigger," he added. Lebanon has no minimum age for marriage, Mikati said.
CAMPS "NOT A SOLUTION"
The wave of Syrian refugees, mainly Sunni Muslims, has altered the delicate sectarian balance of Lebanon's Shiite and Sunni Muslims, Christians, Druze and Alawites. They have joined an estimated 600,000 or 700,000 Syrian labourers and their families already living in the tiny Mediterranean country. Lebanon's own 1975-1990 civil war was fuelled in part by tensions over the presence of hundreds of thousands of mostly Sunni Palestinian refugees, and it has resisted building camps for Syrians to avoid them becoming a focus of sectarian anger. Mikati said setting up camps was now "one of the options" to house the refugees but that the scale of the crisis meant it was no longer a solution in itself. Facing calls from some ministers to close Lebanon's 372 km (245 mile) border with Syria, he said it would be "difficult to control" the frontier and made clear he believed it was impractical, but said it would be for his cabinet to decide. Mikati is a Sunni from the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, where support for the Syrian insurgents battling President Bashar al-Assad runs high. But he heads a pro-Assad cabinet dominated by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah and its mainly Shiite and Christian allies. Seeking to balance those powerful opposing loyalties, the premier has sought to maintain a policy of 'dissociation' from the conflict in Lebanon's once-dominant neighbour. But clashes between rebels and Assad's forces have spilled over the border sporadically. Tripoli has seen several rounds of deadly street clashes and Lebanon's security chief was assassinated in a Beirut car bomb after investigating an alleged Syrian plan to organise a bombing campaign in northern Lebanon.
BUDGET DEFICIT
The Syrian crisis and Lebanon's own political tensions have sharply cut economic growth from an average of 8 percent a year from 2007 to 2010 to barely 2 percent last year, when the budget deficit ballooned 67 percent to $3.93 billion. A draft budget presented to cabinet last week aims to trim that back to $3.48 billion this year and Mikati said ministers aimed to reduce it still further.
He did not specify where the savings might come, but said the economic decline had been halted. "I believe 2012 was the worst year, especially in the tourism sector," he said, referring to a pillar of Lebanon's economy. Passenger arrivals at Beirut airport in January and February were up on the same time last year, he said. And an influx of middle-class Syrians alongside impoverished refugees may also partly offset recent losses.
"We see...spending in Lebanon is getting better, although this will not get us back to the level we expected for 2012 of 5 percent," Mikati said. "We were expecting growth of 5 percent but we had around 1.5 to 2 percent.""This year, the best we are expecting is also 1.5 to 2 percent."

Lebanon's PM, Najib Miqati to take action if Mufti does not convene Islamic Council
Now Lebanon/Lebanon Prime Minister Najib Miqati said that he would call for an emergency session if the country’s Grand Mufti does not take the necessary steps to elect a new Higher Islamic Council.
The National News Agency reported on Wednesday that the premier called on former PMs to hold an emergency meeting in case Grand Mufti of the Lebanese Republic Sheikh Mohammad Rashid Qabbani does not answer the call to convene the Islamic Council before March 16 at the latest. Earlier in the day, Miqati met with former prime ministers Salim al-Hoss, Omar Karami and Fouad Siniora as well as a representative of Saad Hariri in order to discuss the best way to not obstruct the work of the Higher Islamic Council until a new council is elected. The current premier and former PMs have repeatedly called for holding elections in order to replace the current Islamic Council, its mandate having ended on 31 December, 2012. However, after the Mufti’s “insistence to disrupt the work of the council,” the Sunni political figures reiterated their call to “prepare and take the necessary normative and procedural decisions in order to start the process of… electing new members [of the council].” In November 2012, Qabbani called for a new election for the Higher Islamic Council at the end of the year, but clerics in the body allied with the Future Movement opposed the move, after which the Grand Mufti reversed his decision. The mostly Sunni Future Movement and Qabbani are at loggerheads over the management of the Dar al-Fatwa religious body. Qabbani told Al-Anbaa newspaper on Monday that the quarrel began when Miqati was appointed prime minister, and the Mufti refused the Future Movement’s request to issue a statement from the Higher Islamic Council demanding that Miqati step down from his post. He added that he later had a disagreement with the Higher Islamic Council as well, after the latter extended its own term without the Mufti’s approval.
Some reports have said that clerics in the council aim to unseat the Grand Mufti.

Lebanon interior minister praises Riyadh's Syria stance
Now Lebanon/Lebanon’s Interior Minister Marwan Charbel praised the stance adopted by Saudi Arabia regarding events in Syrian, the National News Agency reported. “The call made by the Saudi King [Abdallah Bin Abdel Aziz] since the outbreak of Syrian events mirrors the Lebanese official stance to solve the crisis through dialogue and apply the policy of neutrality,” Charbel said on Wednesday during the Arab Interior Ministers conference in Riyadh. Charbel also said that “the Lebanese government is committed to supporting Syrian refugee families within its means,” adding that “these means have reached their limit and it has become imperative that Lebanon receives urgent aid.” Lebanon has been facing difficulties dealing with the increasingly high number of refugees fleeing Syria’s violent uprising against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, which has killed more than 70,000 people since its outbreak in March 2011. The number of refugees on Lebanese territory has now exceeded 325,000 according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees’ latest report.

Lebanon speaker warns about repercussions of security situation
Now Lebanon/Lebanese Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri called on the country’s political figures to avoid inciting conflicts given the grave consequences they might lead to. “The deterioration of the security situation [has] big repercussions [on the country] in all areas,” the National News Agency quoted Berri as saying following his Wednesday parliamentary meeting. The speaker added that “stability must remain at the top of the [political] officials’ priorities.” Concerns over serious repercussions of Syrian violence on Lebanon have mounted as security incidents have rocked various Lebanese areas amid the inflow of hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees into the country. Deadly fighting recently hit Sidon’s Ain al-Hilweh camp, while Islamists have caused a stir in the country with protests in Sidon, Beirut and the troubled city of Tripoli, which has been host to numerous rounds of sectarian and Syria-linked clashes between the rival neighborhoods of Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tebbaneh.

Report: Lebanon's Foreign Ministry Covers Up for Corrupt Employee
Naharnet/Corruption scandals have reached the Lebanese embassy in Berlin as a report emerged to the surface on Wednesday that a gang is luring the Lebanese community in Germany to obtain the Lebanese nationality in return for large sums of money.A report published in al-Joumhouria newspaper on Wednesday pointed out that the forgery is led by an employee at the embassy, who is deluding mainly married couples of Lebanese origin, that he can process their personal papers in exchange for an amount of money. The newspaper said that several employees at the embassy and in Lebanon are covering up for the corruption scandal for personal interests.
According to the report, Lebanese Ambassador to Berlin Ramez Demachkieh has informed Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour about the fraud and took several measures against the employee, including a decision to end his service.However, the foreign ministry failed to take any measures against the suspect and suspended the decision taken by the ambassador to fire him.

LF MP says Orthodox proposal not best consensual law
Now Lebanon/Lebanese Forces bloc MP Antoine Zahra said that the Orthodox proposal is not the best law to get consensus.“The Orthodox Gathering electoral law proposal is the best in providing 100% proper representation but it is not the best law to get consensus,” the National News Agency quoted Zahra as saying on Wednesday in a press conference in Australia’s Sydney. The opposition parliamentarian also said that “it is natural everyone has decided not to run for the elections because there is a unanimous disapproval of the 1960 electoral law.” His comments come in response to media reports Monday that nobody has registered their candidacy for the upcoming elections after the Interior Ministry started the registration process. President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister Najib Miqati last week signed off on a decree to hold the elections on June 9, a move that would have the elections held according to the current 1960 law if the country’s political parties fail to reach a consensus on a new electoral law. Zahra also predicted that there might be a technical postponement of the elections in case the mixed electoral law were to be approved. Sources told NOW last week that the mixed electoral law the Future Movement and Progressive Socialist Party have reached consensus on is based on majoritarian voting in 26 electoral districts and proportional voting in 9 other constituencies.

Fearful Syrian voters will keep Assad in power: Qassem
March 12, 2013/By Michael Stott, Samia Nakhoul/Daily Star/ BEIRUT: President Bashar Assad is likely to run for re-election next year and win, with Syria remaining in military and political deadlock until then, said the deputy leader of Lebanon's Iranian-backed Hezbollah group. Sheikh Naim Qassem, who predicted a year ago that Assad would not be dislodged from power, said the Syrian leader would win a vote because his supporters understood that their communities' very existence depended on him. "I believe that in a year's time he will stand for the presidency. It will be the people's choice, and I believe the people will choose him," said the bearded, turban-wearing Shi'ite cleric, speaking carefully and deliberately. "The crisis in Syria is prolonged, and the West and the international community have been surprised by the degree of steadfastness and popularity of the regime."
Citing rifts among Assad's foes inside and outside Syria, as well as disagreements among world powers over Assad's future, Qassem said any talk of political solutions was futile for now.
"It will take at least three or four months" for any such solution, he said in a meeting with Reuters editors. "Maybe things will continue until 2014 and the presidential election."
The two-year-old revolt against Assad is the bloodiest and most protracted of the Arab uprisings. At least 70,000 people have been killed and the violence has stoked tensions across the Middle East between the two main branches of Islam. Shi'ite Iran and Hezbollah have supported Assad, whose Alawite sect derives from Shi'ite Islam. The mainly Sunni rebels are backed by Sunni powers Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey.
Some Western leaders have long predicted Assad's imminent demise, but Qassem said he was likely to be re-elected in 2014.
BLACKED-OUT WINDOWS
Wearing brown robes and a white turban, he spoke in a windowless office in Hezbollah's southern Beirut stronghold.
Journalists were driven to the undisclosed venue in a car with blacked-out windows, a security precaution in violence-prone Lebanon. Three Hezbollah leaders have been assassinated in the past two decades; the group blames Israel for the killings. Hezbollah, the most accomplished military force in Lebanon, fought Israel to a standstill in a 2006 war and, with its mainly Shiite and Christian allies, now holds a majority of cabinet seats in Prime Minister Najib Mikati's government. Mikati has tried to insulate his country from the fighting in Syria but Lebanese Shi'ites and Sunnis have both been drawn into the fighting. Hezbollah denies accusations that it has sent its forces into Syria to fight alongside Assad's troops. Despite significant and sustained rebel gains, Qassem said the Syrian authorities had scored a string of military successes since insurgents launched attacks in Damascus a few months ago.
"The regime has started winning clearly, point by point," he said. "And the tensions among the countries supporting the armed (rebel) groups have become clearer."Assad's forces still control central Damascus and large parts of the cities of Homs, Hama and Aleppo to the north. But they have lost swathes of territory in the rural north and most of the eastern towns and cities along the Euphrates River. In such areas, the Syrian military relies heavily on missiles, artillery and air strikes to pin back rebel advances.
RISK OF DISINTEGRATION
Qassem said Syria only had one viable option: "Either they reach a political solution, in agreement with President Assad... or there can be no alternative regime in Syria," he said. Asked whether Syria might fall apart, he replied: "Everything is possible."Syria's population includes Christians, Shiites, Alawites, Druze and Ismailis as well as majority Sunnis who include mystical Sufis and secularists as well as pious conservatives.
Qassem portrayed authorities as fighting to protect that diversity in the face of hardline Sunni Islamist rebels. "The regime is defending itself in a battle which it sees as an existential fight, not a struggle for power," he said.
Assad also faced international opposition from countries trying to break the "resistance project", a reference to the anti-Israel alliance of Syria, Hezbollah and Iran, he added.
Israel, which diplomats and regional security sources said bombed a convoy in Syria two months ago carrying weapons which may have been destined for Hezbollah, has warned that military action may be needed to stop Iran's nuclear programme. Israel and Western nations suspect Iran is seeking atomic weapons, a charge it denies. Israel says a "clear and credible military threat" against Iran is needed to halt Tehran's work.
But Qassem said the United States was reluctant to get dragged into a "costly" conflict with Tehran.
"It would not halt Iran's peaceful nuclear programme but would just delay it for a few years," he said. "In return America's interests in the region and those of its allies and Israel would be in great and unpredictable danger."
Washington's caution over Iran had echoes in what he said was its equivocal position towards Syria. Although the United States says it provides only non-lethal aid to the rebels, Qassem said the presence of U.S.-made weapons in Syria proved it had at very least given approval for third countries to ship arms to Assad's opponents. But the prolonged fighting had put Washington in a dilemma about whether to "follow the political path" instead, he said. "America has lost its way over the steps it wants to take in Syria. On the one hand it wants the regime overthrown, and on the other it fears losing control after the regime falls."

Kataeb MP says elections might be postponed
Now Lebanon/Kataeb bloc MP Elie Marouni pointed out to the fact that a technical delay of the upcoming parliamentary elections may occur because of the lack of consensus on a new electoral law.
The opposition lawmaker’s remarks came following a Tuesday meeting with his ally, Lebanese Forces bloc leader Samir Geagea, in the Maarab residence. Marouni also stressed his party’s keenness to “preserve the unity of the March 14 coalition as well as the good relationship the LF has with the Kataeb. Future lawmakers as well as Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumbaltt said that the electoral proposal they will present is in its final stages of preparation. The mixed electoral law they will propose is based on majoritarian voting in 26 districts and proportional voting in 9 other constituencies, according to sources.
The draft under discussion is meant to serve as an alternative to the controversial Orthodox law which has been endorsed by the country’s four major Christian parties – including the Kataeb Party and the LF - but was rejected by the Future Movement, the PSP and independent Christian MPs on the grounds that it would trigger sectarian divisions. Elsewhere, the Kataeb MP commented on Lebanese foreign minister’s controversial call for the Arab League’s reinstatement of Syria’s membership. “The FM’s stance… confirmed that he is the foreign minister of Iran and Syria and that he does not [respect] the president and does not coordinate with him,” Marouni said.
He went on to say that dismissing the minister is “the least” of what action should be taken against him. Last week, Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour called on Arab foreign ministers gathered in Cairo to reinstate the Syrian government to its seat at the Arab League, from which it was suspended in 2011. March 14 leaders slammed the statement, saying it violated Lebanon’s dissociation policy, and some also requested that the FM be dismissed.

Lebanon party leader warns against attacking Alawites
Now Lebanon/Arab Democratic Party leader Rifaat Eid denounced the assaults that the Muslim Alawites are being subject to in the northern city of Tripoli. “If something happens [to the Alawites], be sure that I will make you forget something called Jabal Mohsen,” Eid was quoted as saying in a press conference he held on Wednesday. Alawite residents of Jabal Mohsen have frequently clashed with the predominantly Sunni neighborhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh. These recurrent disputes also reflect a split in Lebanon's political scene in which opposition March 14 alliance back the revolt in Syria while the ruling March 8 coalition - led by Hezbollah - support the regime in Damascus. Elsewhere, Eid tackled the electoral law issue, slamming both the current 1960 law and the Orthodox proposal that was approved by the joint parliamentary commissions in February. “We do not benefit from the 1960 law, and the Orthodox law settles the [electoral] battle before it even starts,” the Arab Democratic Party leader said. Last week, Prime Minister Najib Miqati and President Michel Suleiman signed off on a decree to hold the elections on June 9, a move that would have the elections held according to the current 1960 law if the country’s political parties fail to reach a consensus on a new electoral law. This decision sparked angry responses from the March 8 coalition, who refuse to contest elections based on 1960 electoral law.

‘One million Syrians’ claim jolts Lebanon
Justin Salhani/Now Lebanon/Lebanese President Michel Suleiman reiterated his calls for international assistance in dealing with the increasing flow of Syrian refugees into Lebanon this week. According to Suleiman, Lebanon’s infrastructure is at a breaking point, with the country already harboring over one million Syrians, including refugees, guest workers, and their families. While Suleiman’s comments are cause for new concern, they are not vastly divergent from previous statements made by the President. NOW spoke to activists and political analysts about their thoughts on Suleiman’s claim that Lebanon’s infrastructure is on its last legs, and what they believe are possible solutions to the refugee influx. As of today, Suleiman is said to be preparing a report to present to the United Nations and has reportedly discussed the refugee situation with American officials from the Treasury Department in an effort to relieve Lebanon of increasing financial and infrastructural pressure. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees statisticslist around 350,000 refugees currently registered in Lebanon. Multiple sources though believe the figure to be closer to 400,000, as over 2,500 new refugees enter Lebanon daily. As to why Suleiman claimed Lebanon was struggling due to the presence of one million Syrians (refugees, guest workers, and their families), there are two main schools of thought. On one side, there are those who believe his comments are representative of Christians’ sectarian fears of the influx of Syrians, made up predominately of Sunni Muslims. On the other are those who believe Suleiman is hoping to garner additional aid from the international community. “I am strongly inclined to assume it is the sectarian dimension of the Syrian refugee situation that is causing alarm among Maronite Christians including the President,” said Hilal Khashan, a political science professor at the American University of Beirut, implying that Maronites are threatened by the influx of refugees because most of them are Muslim. “Why didn’t the same happen when Armenians came into Lebanon? Over the past 10 years since 2003 scores of Iraqi Christians came to Lebanon and not a single Muslim leader made a fuss about it. This is a sectarian question,” Khashan said. Lebanon’s government is split on a confessional basis with 50 percent of parliament seats distributed to Christians and the other 50 percent to Muslims, even though Muslims are believed to make up over 60 percent of the population. No statistics are official since no census has been taken since 1932. “Lebanon already had around one million Syrian [residents] if [workers’] families are included. Why doesn’t the arrival of one million [temporary] workers put pressure on Lebanon’s infrastructure?” wonders Khashan. He goes on to maintain that Lebanon’s infrastructure remains unaffected by population changes, refugees or otherwise. But some still believe the infrastructure of a country that already struggles to accommodate its own population of 4.5 million needs serious help if it is to accommodate the estimated 2,500 Syrians who enter Lebanon every day.
Some analysts predict further tension and eventual clashes between Lebanese and their Syrian guests. “It is becoming clear that [with the ever-growing number of refugees] an increasing friction and perhaps an explosion [could occur] as Lebanon is unable to accommodate” this many people, said Imad Salamey, an Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at the Lebanese American University. Salamey added that Lebanon is in dire need of support from the international community to accommodate the flood of refugees.
“You can now go to any small town in Lebanon and find a significant number of Syrian refugees….Sometimes there is an [antagonistic] relationship between refugees and locals,” Salamey said.
This strenuous relationship has manifested itself into what some call discrimination, as certain municipalities have begun attempts to implement curfews on foreigners. While Minister of the Interior Marwan Charbel has declared these curfews illegal, the growing tension between Lebanese and Syrian refugees is apparent.
Minister of Energy and Water Gebran Bassil has repeatedly stressed that Lebanon is unable to deal with the large influx of refugees; at one point he even called for limiting the number of refugees crossing the border by installing quotas. For his part, Suleiman has said that closing the border or applying quotas is not humanitarianly possible. Nor does it seem possible in a realistic sense with Lebanon’s army unable to cover the 375 km-long, badly-demarcated stretch of border. Activists and analysts have put forward other plans of action they believe will aid the Lebanese government and the refugees.
Maan Abdul Salam, a Syrian activist working in Lebanon, in a conversation with NOW, called for the measures taken to help Syrian refugees be carefully implemented, so as to avoid “affecting the legal aspect of Lebanon.” Abdul Salam stressed that these steps should be taken “in order to build healthier relationship between the refugees and the local community.”
While activists like Abdul Salam may stress for greater cooperation between the two communities, others still believe that only through further aid from the international community can the Syrian refugee crisis in Lebanon be abated. “Lebanon has needed international support to accomdate such a large number of refugees,” said Salamey.
“The international community needs to end the conflict in Syria and find a political settlement,” said Salamey of LAU. “If it can’t bring about a political settlement inside Syria then it needs to create safe zones to release bordering states from potential spillover.” Yara Chehayed contributed reporting. Follow her on Twitter @yarachehayed.

Iran may sue over ‘unrealistic’ Best Picture winner ‘Argo’
By Will Perkins/Agencies
Just when you thought the controversy surrounding Ben Affleck's Oscar-winning thriller "Argo" had begun to die down, along comes the nation of Iran to add yet another wacky -- and possibly legal -- dimension to the whole affair. According to numerous Iranian news outlets, the government of Iran is apparently determined to sue Hollywood over the what it argues is an "unrealistic portrayal" of the country in Affleck's Best Picture winner. Iran and its 1979 Islamic revolution form the backdrop for "Argo," which depicts a fictionalized version of the daring rescue of six American diplomats from Tehran.
See also: 'Argo' filmmakers thank Canada after Oscars wins
The country previously called Affleck's film anti-Iranian propaganda after its Oscar win, equating U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama's award show appearance as essentially a tacit endorsement of "Argo" by the Obama administration. However, the idea of a lawsuit against the movie is probably just more bluster by Iranian authorities. After a screening of "Argo," government officials reportedly met at an event called "The Hoax of Hollywood" (sounds like a great venue for a fair hearing) to discuss legal options. High profile French lawyer Isabelle Coutant-Peyre was also apparently in attendance to advise Iranian officials. Coutant-Peyre is, of course, famous for representing convicted terrorists Carlos the Jackal and Zacarias Moussaoui, the former of whom she is currently engaged to be married. Talk about an A-Team!
A statement released by officials after the meeting said that "awarding an anti-Iran movie is a propaganda attack against our nation and entire humanity." OK, then.
We'd like to point out the irony of the authoritarian Iranian regime criticizing another country over the use of propaganda and attempting to use legal recourse to fight Ben Affleck's right to free expression (where were you for "Daredevil" or "Gigli," Iran?). But, it probably wouldn't do any good. How, exactly, Iran plans to sue "Hollywood" as a whole is unknown, as is the legal basis for such a case under international law. It is assumed that the Iranian government is referring to the studios and producers involved in bringing "Argo" to the big screen.
Canada, whose role in the Hollywood film was greatly diminished to put the spotlight on American characters, probably has a much better case against "Argo" and Affleck. Perhaps the Great White North should follow suit and sue "Hollywood."

Al Qaeda’s Nusra fights to seize Syrian Golan in time for Obama visit
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report March 13, 2013/
Al Qaeda’s Syrian wing, Jabhat al-Nusra, led a Syrian rebel operation Wednesday, March 13, to occupy Golan and cleanse it of every last Syrian troop loyal to Bashar Assad. The Islamists had two more objectives:
1. To be in position for cross-border attacks on Israel and Jordan – possibly in the course of US President Barack Obama’s March 20-22 visits to those countries.
2. To use the “liberated” Syrian Golan as launching pads for a war of attrition against Israel and Jordan - like Taliban’s campaign against NATO forces in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Their deadline for achieving this objective is March 15.
Jabhat al-Nusra kicked off its Golan operation Wednesday, debkafile’s military sources report, by murdering Gen. Nour e-Din Habib, commander of the Syrian Army’s 90th Brigade, parts of which remain on the Golan. He was struck down from a well-planned ambush against his convoy. Also killed in the attack was Col. Radouan Rifai, the brigade’s senior liaison officer with the Syrian 3rd Extended Division.
The purpose of the attack was to disable the brigade by wiping out its top command.
Our military sources add that, in the course of the fighting Wednesday, the Nusra front uncovered a secret network of large tunnels running from different points on the Golan up to the Israeli border. They are big enough for the passage of entire Syrian units with their tanks and heavy trucks, allowing them to pop up without warning against Israeli border units and use their surprise to mow them down and advance into the Israeli sector.
debkafile reported earlier Wednesday:
US President Barack Obama’s first engagement upon landing in Israel on March 20 will be a quick tour of the Iron Dome missile interceptor stationed at Ben Gurion international airport. After a round of handshakes, the officers and men operating the system will explain how it works.
The innovative counter-missile weapon is to be deployed there, not just as a spectacle to honor the US president for his contribution to its development, but out of necessity for his safety. Air Force One might be seen as fair game for the ground-to-ground missiles wielded by Al Qaeda units fighting Assad in Syria and its affiliates in the Sinai Peninsula at the very moment that the US President steps down to the strains of the IDF welcoming band.
In normal circumstances, personal security arrangements for a US presidential foreign visit are kept under close wraps and rarely visible to the public.
This time, debkafile’s counterterrorism sources report, the visit’s planners made an exception. They decided there was no option but to visibly install an Iron Dome battery inside the airport, because the first battery plus a Patriot interceptor stationed for more than two months north and south of Tel Aviv were not sufficient guarantee of security against rocket attack for President Obama’s arrival.
This decision set up two precedents:
1. Air Force One will land on the Ben Gurion airport runway on March 20 enclosed by two defensive rings of US and Israeli missile interceptors in the densest formation ever to guard an American president's arrival in Israel.
2. The Iron Dome battery will stay in place for the three days of Obama’s visits to Israel and Jordan. It will defend Jerusalem’s air space against rocket attack for the duration of his stay.
Still fresh in Israeli memories are Hamas attempts just five months ago to hit the airport and Jerusalem with rockets fired from the Gaza Strip on the orders of the Iranian general Gen. Hassan Shateri aka Hossam Khosh-Nevis. This Iranian officer was killed in January in Syria in unknown circumstances.
No one in US and Israeli security circles is seriously suggesting that Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Syrian ruler Bashar Assad or Hizballah’s Hassan Nasrallah are planning to hit the Israeli airport with rockets on March 20. But neither is any responsible official prepared to expose the president to the slightest risk.
After all, in the more than 120,000 square kilometers of the Damascus-Baghdad-Amman triangle and the 62,000 square kilometers of the Sinai Peninsula, it may be possible to find a jihadist commander willing to act on an order from al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zuwahiri to avenge the death of Osama bin Laden in on May 2 two years ago in Pakistan at the hands of American commandos.
Both groups of security experts appreciate that Zuwahiri has the motive for punishing the US president for ordering his death and, for the first time, the capacity to reach him from al Qaeda-controlled territory with surface missiles loaded with poison chemicals.
Even if their weapon did not touch President Obama, it would be enough for one to explode on an Israeli or Jordanian air field at the time of his arrival for the terrorist organization to chalk up a major strategic feat.