Bible Quotation for today/The Last Days
 02 Timothy 03: " Remember that there will be difficult times in the last days.  People will be selfish, greedy, boastful, and conceited; they will be insulting, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, and irreligious;  they will be unkind, merciless, slanderers, violent, and fierce; they will hate the good;  they will be treacherous, reckless, and swollen with pride; they will love pleasure rather than God;  they will hold to the outward form of our religion, but reject its real power. Keep away from such people.  Some of them go into people's houses and gain control over weak women who are burdened by the guilt of their sins and driven by all kinds of desires,  women who are always trying to learn but who can never come to know the truth.  As Jannes and Jambres were opposed to Moses, so also these people are opposed to the truth—people whose minds do not function and who are failures in the faith.  But they will not get very far, because everyone will see how stupid they are. That is just what happened to Jannes and Jambres

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

Muslim Cleric Calls U.S. Aid to Egypt 'Jizya'/By: Raymond Ibrahim/March 19/13

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for March 19/13

Obama Urges 'Immediate' Steps from Iran on Nuclear Issue

Assad to Beirut: Sack Lebanese army chief or more air raids. Jordan feared next

Arab banks threaten to quit Cyprus over tax plan

New Israeli Knesset speaker swears in 33rd Israeli gov't
Lebanon scrambles to avert strife

Report: 38 Hizbullah Fighters Killed in Syria Buried Secretly in Lebanon

Bulgaria Plans Bomb Tests to Advance Burgas Bus Attack Probe

Miqati Agrees with Berri, al-Rahi on 'Complete Plan' to Resolve Electoral Law Dispute
Amal, Hezbollah assist in arrests of sheikhs' assailants: Charbel

Amal, Hezbollah Condemn Attack on Sheikhs in Beirut: Attempt to Incite Strife
Israel Pressures Obama to Stop Hezbollah Getting Syrian Missiles
Hezbollah MP slams US ambassador 'interference'
Hezbollah buries fighters killed in Syria in Lebanon
Hezbollah's Strategic Shift To Be Probed By Congress This Week

U.S. Says Syria Bombing Lebanon 'Absolutely Unacceptable', Violates Sovereignty
Syrian planes 'bomb' Lebanon border area
State media: Syrian war planes hit targets along volatile border with Lebanon
Attack on sheikhs could trigger strife, Lebanon mufti warns

Suleiman Meets with Nigeria's President over Hostages

Rome talks revive Berri’s electoral law

Future seeks extension of Rifi, Kahwagi terms
Syrian Planes Bomb Khirbet Younin, Wadi al-Khayl in Arsal Outskirts

Shahhal from Tariq al-Jadideh: We'll Fight Those Who Want to Assault Innocents

Syrian Woman Steals Husband's Money, Escapes with Gunmen in Bekaa

Qabbani Lashes out at Lebanese Leaders Urging them to Stop Fire From Spreading

Qassem Condemns Attack on Sunni Clerics, Calls for Penalizing Perpetrators

Hand Grenade Wounds Woman in Tripoli, Gunshots Heard in Syria Street

Israeli Aircraft Drop Heat Balloons Off Naqoura

Fabius Reiterates France's Support for Disassociation Policy: We're Keen on Preserving Stability in Lebanon

Phalange Party Demands Military Plan to Contain Unrest: We Call for International Help to Respond to Syrian Threats

Jumblat Calls for Respecting Disassociation Policy, Warns against 'Assad's Trap for Lebanon 

Obama Urges 'Immediate' Steps from Iran on Nuclear Issue
Naharnet/U.S. President Barack Obama urged Iran on Monday to take "immediate and meaningful steps" to move "toward an enduring, long-term settlement" with the world over its disputed nuclear program. In a White House statement, Obama added that if Iran took such action "the Iranian people will begin to see the benefits of greater trade and ties with other nations, including the United States."SourceAgence France Presse

Assad to Beirut: Sack Lebanese army chief or more air raids. Jordan feared next
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report March 18, 2013/
The Syrian conflict spread in earnest to Lebanon Monday, March 18, when the Syria Air Force carried out bombing runs over Syrian rebel jumping-off bases inside Lebanon that are used for their attacks on government forces.
debkafile’s military sources report that the warplanes also bombed Lebanese border valleys used for smuggling men and arms into Syria.
The targets, between one and five kilometers inside Lebanon, were the town of Arsal, where many of the Sunni Muslim inhabitants support the Syrian rebellion, and the outskirts of the towns of Khirbet Younin and Wadi al-Khayl in Arsal’s barren mountains. No casualties were reported.
debkafile can disclose exclusively that Saturday, March 16, Syrian ruler Bashar Assad sent an ultimatum to Lebanese President Michel Sleiman through intelligence channels consisting of three stipulations:
1. Sack Lebanese army chief Gen. Jean Kahwaji without delay. Assad accused the general of refusing to deploy the Lebanese army for cracking down on Syrian rebel bases of operation in Lebanon and so stemming the flow of rebel strength into the embattled country.
2. The Lebanese president, himself a former army chief, was required to take responsibility for army action to purge the Lebanese border region of rebel forces.
3. President Sleiman was given 48 hours to order the Lebanese army into operation against the Syrian rebels. When this did not happen, Assad made good on his threat. As soon as his ultimatum expired Monday afternoon, he sent his air force into action across the border into Lebanon.
debkafile’s military sources estimate that the air strike Monday was not a one-off event. Lebanon is probably in for expanding Syria air operations against its territory in the coming days.
It appears that the Syrian ruler timed his war action against Lebanon to coincide with President Barack Obama’s visit to Israel and Jordan, starting Wednesday, March 20. He may be planning further escalation as the week goes on.According to some forecasts, Assad may be expected to launch attacks on Syrian rebel targets in Jordan as well as Lebanon..
 

Report: 38 Hizbullah Fighters Killed in Syria Buried Secretly in Lebanon
Naharnet/Hizbullah had recently buried in Lebanon 38 of its fighters, who were killed on Syrian territory, al-Joumhouria daily reported quoting the joint military command of the Free Syrian army.
“Most of them were killed in the Reef of Homs while four fighters were killed in Damascus,” media head of the Free Syrian Army Fahed al-Masri pointed out.
“The corpses were transferred secretly to Lebanon and arrangements for the burial were made after buying the silence of the deceased's relatives,” the newspaper reported.
It was hard to identify some corpses as a result of severe burns and injures, it added.
Hizbullah has in recent months allegedly buried a number of fighters killed in Syria, without publicly disclosing how the men were killed, or where.
Sources close to Hizbullah have said only that the men were killed "while carrying out their jihadist duty."Moreover, two Hizbullah snipers were killed in clashes in Reef Homs, according to Syrian activists.
On Sunday, a Hizbullah member killed in fighting in Syria was buried in southern Lebanon, several residents of the man's village told Agence France Presse.
The residents said that the funeral of Hassan Nimr Shartouni, 25, was held in Mays al-Jabal after the arrival of his body from Syria where he was killed in fighting on Saturday.
The Syrian conflict, which began with peaceful protests against President Bashar Assad regime, is now in its third year.
The United Nations says that at least 70,000 people have been killed, and more than one million Syrians have been forced to seek refuge abroad. Millions more have been internally displaced.
On Saturday, at least 126 people were killed in fighting across the country, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights watchdog -- 54 rebels, 28 regime forces and 44 civilians.

Hezbollah buries fighters killed in Syria in Lebanon
By Paul Iddon /Digital Journal
Hezbollah has buried fighters of its organization that were killed fighting alongside Assad's forces in Syria stating the slain were killed "whilst carrying out their jihadist duty." Hezbollah has over the course of the past few months buried fighters belong to the organization who were killed in Syria. (Global Post, March 17 2013) The group has admitted that its members who live in Syrian villages on the border with Lebanon have participated in battles against the Syrian ragtag rebel opposition to show its support to the Assad regime. Hezbollah in turn says these forces are fighting the "armed groups" purely as a measure of self-defense. (Middle East Online, March 17 2013)
Hezbollah has been steadfast in its refusal to discuss allegations which insist that it has backed Assad by sending fighters to aid his embattled regime.

Hezbollah MP slams U.S. ambassador ‘interference’

March 18, 2013/The Daily Star /BEIRUT: Hezbollah’s Baalbek-Hermel MP Nawar Saheli denounced Sunday what he called “flagrant interference” by U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly in internal Lebanese affairs when, he said, she demanded that “the forthcoming elections be held on the basis of the 1960 law.”“We in Lebanon do not accept [foreign] ambassadors or ministers to interfere in our internal affairs. She [Connelly] should have applied the law in her country,” Saheli told a sports event organized by Hezbollah in the northern Bekaa Valley town of Al-Ain. He urged those within the March 14 alliance who are keen on Lebanon’s sovereignty to ask the U.S. ambassador to respect diplomatic rules and not interfere in internal Lebanese affairs. Earlier this month, Connelly told reporters after meeting Speaker Nabih Berri that parliamentary polls should be held on time regardless of whether politicians reach a consensus on a new electoral law. “We encourage Lebanon to hold its elections on time,” she said. Lebanese politicians have been at loggerheads over which electoral law will govern the 2013 polls.

Bulgaria Plans Bomb Tests to Advance Burgas Bus Attack Probe
Naharnet/Bulgarian investigators said Monday they will conduct test explosions to help move forward a probe into last year's airport bus bombing that killed five Israeli tourists and a Bulgarian, as media reported dead ends in the case.Bulgaria had accused Hizbullah in February of being behind the Burgas attack. Two buses were to be blown up using bombs that were similar in composition and strength to the one used in the July 18 attack at Burgas airport on the Black Sea, investigation chief Georgy Iliev told state BNR radio. The aim of the experiment is to find out where the still unidentified bomber stood at the time of the detonation and whether he was carrying the bag with the explosives on his shoulders, or whether it was placed in the bus's luggage compartment. Iliev's comments came as Bulgarian media reported that the probe had come to a standstill after investigators failed to obtain key information they had requested from Australia, Canada, Lebanon, the United States and Morocco. Key questions about the bomber's identity, the bomb and the organization of the attack still remain unanswered, reported the Presa newspaper. Chief prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov told the newspaper that the evidence collected so far was not conclusive enough to stand up in court. Israel immediately blamed Iran and Hizbullah for the deadly attack which left more than 30 other Israelis injured. However, and after months of keeping silent on the issue, Bulgaria pointed a finger at Hizbullah last month, leading to renewed calls for the EU to formally declare it a terrorist organization. The bomber's name is still not known, with his DNA and fingerprints failing to find matches in international databases. Investigators said in February that two Hizbullah-linked accomplices had been identified as Australian and Canadian passport holders. On Saturday, Bulgaria's caretaker prime minister Marin Raykov said it did not plan to initiate a procedure for blacklisting Hizbullah. "We will only present the objective facts and circumstances. Let our European partners decide," he told BNR radio.SourceAgence France Presse

Miqati Agrees with Berri, al-Rahi on 'Complete Plan' to Resolve Electoral Law Dispute
Naharnet/Prime Minister Najib Miqati on Monday announced reaching a “complete plan” to resolve the dispute over the electoral law but declined to reveal its details.
MTV quoted Miqati as saying that his discussions in Rome with Speaker Nabih Berri and Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi “focused on the means to spare Lebanon any constitutional vacuum.”
“During the meeting, an agreement was reached on a complete, two-paper plan concerning the issue of the parliamentary elections, but I won't reveal the details to avoid obstructing it, and Cardinal al-Rahi will discuss it with the Christian parties in a bid to reach an agreement on an electoral law,” Miqati added, according to MTV.
In a statement issued later by his office, Miqati said: “We discussed several proposals but I will not reveal the details now, because the issue is now in the hands of His Eminence, and he will exert efforts with the components of parliament, especially the Christian parties, in a bid to reach the longed-for solution and approve a new electoral law that ensures proper representation for all the Lebanese and spares us a constitutional vacuum.”
Asked about the means to achieve the desired electoral consensus, Miqati said: “We discussed this issue and His Eminence will conduct the necessary contacts in this regard.”
Berri, Miqati and al-Rahi held a first round of deliberations on Sunday in Rome, where there will attend the inauguration mass of Pope Francis I on Tuesday.
The speaker expressed hope that the Lebanese parties would reach common ground over the electoral law, stressing that the cabinet will remain.
Consecutive meetings will be held between al-Rahi, Berri and Miqati, media reports said.
Al-Rahi, according to LBCI, revealed that Berri asked him to exert efforts to bridge the gap between the Lebanese foes over the electoral law.

Amal, Hezbollah assist in arrests of sheikhs’ assailants: Charbel
March 18, 2013/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Hezbollah and Amal helped Lebanese Army secure the detention of 10 of the assailants behind the recent attacks against four Sunni sheikhs in Beirut, Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said Monday, as protests erupted once more over the incidents that raised tensions in the country. Meanwhile, Hezbollah reiterated its condemnation of the incident and said it would not shield any of those involved in the incidents.
“Ten people have so far been detained and they are being interrogated,” Charbel told reporters after talks with Grand Mufti Mohammad Rashid Qabbani at Dar al-Fatwa, adding: “We need to know the motivation behind the incident ... Hezbollah and Amal cooperated with us in capturing the assailants.”Sheikh Mazen Hariri and Sheikh Ahmad Fekhran, two Sunni scholars, were attacked in Beirut’s Khandak al-Ghamik Sunday evening shortly after leaving the Mohammad al-Amin Mosque in the downtown area.
In a separate incident later Sunday, Sheikh Ibrahim Abd al-Lattif and Sheikh Omar Imani were attacked in Shiyah on their way to Chtaura in the Bekaa Valley.
The assault on the Muslim scholars with Dar al-Fatwa, Lebanon’s highest Sunni authority, saw political leaders scramble to condemn the attack, with several warning of attempts to ignite Sunni-Shiite strife that could plunge the country into an all-out conflict. Protesters, still outraged over the incident, briefly blocked the roads in Qasqas and Cornich al-Mazraa with burning tires.
During the news conference at Dar al-Fatwa, Charbel said he had contacted heads of sects in the country, who he said had unanimously denounced the incident, “particularly Hezbollah and Amal.”
Meanwhile, Hezbollah's Deputy Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem contacted Qabbani, who had earlier urged Shiite leaders to lift "political cover" from the perpetrators in order to detain them.
According to Hezbollah’s media office, Qassem regarded the attack "as part of the strife [some] seek between Muslims and Lebanese” and rejected any protection for the perpetrators.
"He praised the mufti's refusal to be dragged into strife and limiting the responsibility to the assailants without holding responsible [Lebanon’s] sects, which have already disowned this condemned incident," a statement from Hezbollah said. "Qassem urged for the judiciary to continue its work ... rejecting [political] cover by any one,” it said. The Hezbollah official also relayed Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah’s insistence on the priority of Muslim and Lebanese unity as well as confronting strife. In fiery remarks at the Maqased hospital after visiting two of the sheikhs, the mufti warned that the attack could trigger a sectarian conflict and asked Shiite political and military leaders to lift political cover from the perpetrators. “From this point, strife begins. This is how it begins when some shave the beards of Sunni Muslim scholars," he said, adding that what the incidents were the result of a "political war" and provocative rhetoric. The mufti, who has recently handed over day-to-day management of Dar al-Fatwa to Muslim scholars over disputes with the top Sunni administrative body, also said that the campaign against him by Sunni political officials had paved the way for the perpetrators “to dare and assault the preachers.”Also Monday, the Committee of Muslim Scholars met with the head of the Lebanese Army Gen. Jean Kahwagi at his office in Yarze. The military chief affirmed "the military’s determination to fend off strife and confront swiftly and firmly any breaches to citizens' security and stability in various Lebanese areas.”
Various Lebanese officials condemned the incident, with Prime Minister Najib Mikati blaming the culture of violence in the country on political rhetoric.  “What happened last night reaffirms the need that all parties in Lebanon stop firing up [their partisans] and stop the tense rhetoric instead of trying to evade collective responsibility to protect the country and throw unsubstantiated accusations on the government,” Mikati said in a statement.

Hezbollah’s Strategic Shift To Be Probed By Congress This Week‏
By Jim Kouri -- Albany Tribune/This week, the House Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade will gather a number of experts to discuss the evolution of the Lebanon-based terrorist group Hezbollah, the subcommittee’s chairman, Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, stated Sunday on Fox News Channel. According to Chairman Poe, the hearing on Hezbollah’s new strategy is scheduled for Wednesday, March 20, 2013, and witnesses testifying include Will Fulton, a research analyst with the American Enterprise Institute; Dr. Matthew Levitt, the Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence director, a part of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy; and Roger Noriega, the former assistant secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, now a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
“Hezbollah has historically been a terrorist organization whose activity has been isolated in the Middle East,” said Rep. Poe.
Hezbollah is the puppet of Iran worldwide. Under the guidance of the Iranian regime, this jihadist group has expanded its reach and shifted its strategy to operate in virtually every corner of the world including Latin America and Europe, he noted in his announcement on Friday. “I look forward to hearing testimony about the relationship between Hezbollah and the Iranian regime, how this threat has grown in recent years, and what implications this dangerous alliance has for U.S. national security,” Rep. Poe said.
This latest probe of the terrorist group Hezbollah follows a series of hearings held by other congressional committees. For example, according to the Examiner, the Committee on Homeland Security’s Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence held a hearing entitled “Hezbollah in Latin America – Implications for U.S. Homeland Security.” The committee was chaired by Rep. Patrick Meehan, R-Penn., in July 2011.
“Hezbollah continues to expand its presence in Central and South American taking advantage of its already close relationship with Venezuela’s despot Presidente Hugo Chavez,” according to Rep. Meehan’s hearings.
As far back as 2007, the Bush Administration’s chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine General Peter Pace, warned members of the Senate Armed Services Committee that elements of radical Islamic groups were active in South America recruiting and training terrorists.
Pace mentioned Hezbollah and al-Qaeda, yet the Democrat-controlled Senate ignored Gen. Pace’s warning.
There have also been intelligence reports that allege the Iranian-supported terrorist group Hezbollah, is also a prime employer in Latin America. Security experts have stated that the ties between the countries of Venezuela and Iran are based on several shared interests, such as access to military and petroleum technologies and avoiding international isolation.
Hezbollah’s growing influence in Latin America is a “potential risk” to the region, according to Rep. Meehan.
**About Jim Kouri
Jim Kouri, CPP, formerly Fifth Vice-President, is currently a Board Member of the National Association of Chiefs of Police, an editor for ConservativeBase.com, and he's a columnist for Examiner.com. In addition, he's a blogger for the Cheyenne, Wyoming Fox News Radio affiliate KGAB (www.kgab.com). Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty.
 

Amal, Hezbollah Condemn Attack on Sheikhs in Beirut: Attempt to Incite Strife
AlManar/The leadership of both Hezbollah and Amal Movement condemned the assault against Dar al-Fatwa clerics Sheikh Mazen Hariri and Sheikh Ahmed Fakhran who were beaten up on Sunday while passing through the Beirut area of Khandaq al-Ghamiq. Amal and Hezbollah leaderships urged the Lebanese army and security forces to take appropriate measures and hold the perpetrators accountable. They also described the attack as an attempt to incite strife. For his part, Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammad Rashid Qabbani called the army and security forces to take appropriate action and arrest those behind the attack on Sheikhs. “We have full trust in the police and the judiciary; we won’t allow similar attacks to be repeated,” Sheikh Qabbani said. He considered that the attack on the Sheikhs is an attack on all the Lebanese and the Dar al-Fatwa.
The army had managed to arrest ten people involved in the attack and searching for others are underway, Interior Minister Marwan Charbel announced.
Charbel said some of the perpetrators were acting under the influence of drugs, adding that the incident was condemned by all parties. “The Army and the police know the identities of the sheikhs’ attackers, most of whom were under the influence of hashish when they carried out the attack,” Charbel told Al-Jadeed TV. Prime Minister Najib Mikati tweeted from Rome, saying the perpetrators would be tried irrespective of their political affiliation. “May God protect Lebanon from these troubles, all perpetrators will be held accountable,” he said.

Israeli Aircraft Drop Heat Balloons Off Naqoura
Naharnet/Israeli aircraft on Monday released scarlet heat balloons over Lebanon's regional waters, in the first such violation in around a year.
"Israeli warplanes dropped more than 30 scarlet heat balloons between Naqoura and Tyre within two hours," state-run National News Agency reported.
Meanwhile, LBCI television said Israeli warplanes fired "five flare bombs over the sea off Tyre's coast."
Earlier on Monday, the Lebanese army issued statements about a series of violations of Lebanese airspace by Israeli jets.
Israel has escalated its flights over Lebanon in recent weeks.

Israel Pressures Obama to Stop Hezbollah Getting Syrian Missiles
Monday, 18 Mar 2013 /By Jim Meyers/Israel will pressure President Obama during his visit that starts Wednesday to launch air strikes against Syria’s missiles before they can fall into the hands of Hezbollah, according to a report from The Guardian. If the United States won’t act, Israel will at least ask for full American support for an Israeli military action against the missiles.
The Obama administration has so far indicated that it will intervene militarily in Syria only to prevent the Assad regime from using its chemical or biological weapons against Syrian rebels.
In January, Israeli warplanes destroyed a Syrian convoy that the Israelis say was carrying Russian-made missiles to Hezbollah, and a Western diplomat told The Guardian that Israel considers another war with Hezbollah “inevitable.”
© 2013 Newsmax. All rights reserved.

Attack on sheikhs could trigger strife, Lebanon mufti warns

March 18, 2013/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Grand Mufti Mohammad Rashid Qabbani warned Monday that the recent attacks on four Muslim preachers could trigger a sectarian conflict in the country.
“To all I say, this is how strife begins,” Qabbani said at Beirut’s Makassed Hospital after visiting Sheikh Mazen Hariri and Sheikh Ahmad Fekhran, two Sunni scholars who were attacked in Beirut’s Khandak al-Ghamik Sunday evening shortly after leaving the Mohammad al-Amin Mosque in the downtown area.
In a separate incident Sunday, Sheikh Ibrahim Abd al-Lattif and Sheikh Omar Imani were attacked in Shiyah on their way to Chtaura in the Bekaa Valley.
The attacks on the Muslim preachers, scholars at Dar al-Fatwa – Lebanon’s highest Sunni Authority – almost plunged the country into chaos after road blockades were put up in Beirut as well as in the southern city of Sidon and in east Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley.
The Lebanese Army, however, swiftly moved to arrest the perpetrators.
Qabbani blamed the attack on the various Lebanese leaders – Shiites and Sunnis – in the country and linked the beatings to unrest in neighboring Syria.
“Shiite political and military leaders and Sunni leaders, too, and all other Lebanese leaders are responsible for what has happened,” he said in a fiery speech to reporters at the Beirut hospital.
“Lebanon is being targeted with the purpose of dragging it into the regional fire [conflict],” Qabbani said.
“There is a big conspiracy against us and we must prevent this strife at the outset.”
He called on Lebanon's Shiite sect to stop its support for the assailants.
Prime Minister Najib Mikati, for his part, said political rhetoric was to blame for the culture of violence.
“What happened last night reaffirms the need that all parties in Lebanon stop firing up [their partisans] and stop the tense rhetoric instead of trying to evade collective responsibility to protect the country and throw unsubstantiated accusations on the government,” Mikati said in a statement.
He linked Sunday's attacks to the tension in the country over the crisis in Syria.
“We repeat that the dangerous situation in the region and its present and possible repercussions on Lebanon cannot be confronted except through all sides coming together once more at the National Dialogue table without preconditions in order to [defuse the situation] on the street,” he said.
Rival political parties in Lebanon are particularly divided over the conflict in neighboring Syria, with the March 14 alliance voicing support to Syrians seeking to end the rule of President Bashar Assad and the Hezbollah-led March 8 coalition strongly supporting the embattled Syrian leader.
Mikati held rival political parties responsible for preventing tension on the streets.
“All parties, whether opponents or loyalists to [Damascus], have the prime responsibility of controlling the street and seeing to it that their supporters are not dragged into the tense situation,” added Mikati, who along with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri is in Rome to attend the inauguration of Pope Francis.
President Michel Sleiman, for his part, condemned the “flagrant” attack on the sheikhs and called for justice to take its course.
Sleiman, who is currently on a West Africa tour, telephoned Qabbani as well as the defense and interior ministers, urging them to "impose strict punishments on the perpetrators."
Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri also warned against strife and said President Bashar Assad would not hesitate to “use the blood of Lebanese” to save his government from falling.
“Some are working in secret and in public to plunge Lebanon into a series of suspicious incidents and shameful acts, such as the attack against the sheikhs in Beirut and the southern suburb,” said Hariri, according to a statement from his office.
Earlier Monday, Interior Minister Marwan Charbel also blamed Lebanese political and religious leaders for the deterioration of the security situation in the country.
“This is exactly what I have been worried about. I have repeatedly warned that the edgy political and sectarian rhetoric, particularly from religious figures, is very dangerous,” Charbel told the Voice of Lebanon radio station.
“The situation could easily turn [to the worse],” he said.
Qabbani's office said Monday the mufti received separate phone calls from Sleiman and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, each stressing that they were exerting extensive efforts to uncover the identity of the perpetrators.
The interior minister stressed Monday that political leaders held the key to solving the security crisis.
“The solution is in the hands of all Lebanese politicians. The solution begins with them by meeting at Parliament under the slogan of [maintaining] ‘security in the country,’” Charbel said.
He also stressed that security forces were able to carry out their mission and achieve desired goals when leaders halted providing “political cover.”
At least five people were arrested for taking part in the Sunday attacks, which took place in the two majority Shiite Beirut neighborhoods of Shiyah and Khandak al-Ghamik.
“A Lebanese Army patrol raided the houses of the assailants and managed to arrest five of them,” a statement from the Lebanese Army command said.
It said judicial authorities were interrogating the detainees.
The statement said the Army was still in pursuit of the remaining suspects.
Charbel said the attackers had no political affiliations, but described them as drug addicts with criminal records.
Also commenting on the attack, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea voiced appreciation that Hezbollah and the Amal Movement had condemned the incident, but said more needed to be done on their part.
“This [denunciation] must be coupled with support for security forces to arrest all the perpetrators,” Geagea said in a statement.
He urged protesters not to block roads “but remain calm,” noting that knee jerk reactions did not serve the logic of the state.
The Druze Spiritual Council also denounced Sunday’s attacks and warned that such violence would lead to discord.
“Such suspicious acts are totally rejected and they constitute a dangerous threat to civil peace that could ultimately lead to strife,” The council said in a statement.
Shiite scholar Sayyed Ali Fadlallah joined the denunciation of the attacks and called for holding a Sunni-Shiite meeting to prevent attempts at igniting strife.
“The attacks against the Muslim scholars are an attack against us all and not just a particular sect,” said Fadlallah.

Syrian planes 'bomb' Lebanon border area
Officials say no casualties in the air strike, which reportedly targeted Syrian rebel positions in Lebanon's Arsal town.
Syrian warplanes have bombed the border area with Lebanon for the first time, Lebanese army officials say, reportedly targeting Syrian rebel positions inside Lebanon. Officials on Monday said that four missiles hit the Lebanese border town of Arsal, where many residents back the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The mountainous, desert area is also ideal for the smuggling of arms and the flow of fighters across the border. Local residents say the missiles had fallen in an agricultural area and there were no injuries in the incident. Al-Manar television, which belongs to the Pro-Assad Lebanese Shia Hezbollah movement, reported that the warplanes had targeted two barns used by "armed men" in the Wadi al-Khayl area of Arsal.
The latest attack comes four days after Damascus warned it may strike at Syrian rebels taking refuge across the frontier.
Lebanon has a policy of "dissociation" from the two-year civil war in Syria but officials say they feel their country is increasingly at risk of being dragged into a conflict that the UN says has killed 70,000 Syrians.
Syria's Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that a "large number" of opposition fighters had crossed Lebanon's northern border into the Syrian town of Tel Kalakh last week.
"Syria expects the Lebanese side to prevent these armed terrorist groups from using the borders as a crossing point, because they target Syrian people and are violating Syrian sovereignty," it said in a message to the Lebanese government, according to state media.
It said Syria's "patience is not unlimited", even though "Syrian forces have so far exercised restraint from striking at armed gangs inside Lebanese territory."
Lebanon’s opposition largely backs the Syrian uprising, while Hezbollah and its allies stand by Assad's regime.
Syrian rebels accuse Hezbollah of dispatching fighters to battle alongside Assad's force.
Source: Al Jazeera And Agencies
 

State media: Syrian war planes hit targets along volatile border with Lebanon
Published March 18, 2013/Associated Press/BEIRUT – Lebanon's official news agency says Syrian warplanes have hit targets along Syria's border with Lebanon. The state-run National News Agency says Syrian jets struck targets on Monday in a remote area near the town of Arsal. The shelling comes just days after Damascus warned Beirut to stop militants from crossing the border to fight with rebels. A senior Lebanese official confirmed the fighter jets' activity along the frontier, but says it was not immediately clear if targets inside Lebanese territory were hit. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. Lebanon has been on edge since the uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad began in March 2011. Gunmen on opposing sides of Syrian civil war have frequently clashed in Lebanon, raising concerns that fighting could spread.

Muslim Cleric Calls U.S. Aid to Egypt 'Jizya'

http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/muslim-cleric-calls-u-s-aid-to-egypt-jizya/

March 18, 2013 | Raymond Ibrahim
As earlier suggested, the wonderful thing about Salafis—those extra “radical” Muslims who seek to emulate as literally as possible prophet Muhammad’s teachings and habits—is that they are so unabashed and frank about what they believe. Such is the degree of brainwashing that they have undergone. Unlike the Muslim Brotherhood, which was founded much earlier, doublespeak is not second nature to the Salafis.
The most recent example comes from Al Hafiz TV, an Egyptian Islamic station. During a roundtable discussion on the U.S. and foreign aid to Egypt, an Islamic cleric, clearly of the Salafi bent—he had their trademark mustache-less-beard—insisted that the U.S. must be treated contemptuously, like a downtrodden dhimmi, or conquered infidel; that Egypt must make the U.S. conform to its own demands; and that, then, all the money the U.S. offers to Egypt in foreign aid can be taken as rightfully earned jizya.
Historically, the jizya was money, or tribute, that conquered non-Muslims had to pay to their Muslim overlords to safeguard their existence, as indicated in Koran 9:29. As the spirit of Islam continues making a comeback, Muslims around the world continue calling for non-Muslims, especially Christian minorities under Islam, to resume paying the jizya, which was abolished in the 19th century thanks to European intervention.
According to the sheikh, Egypt must be less cooperative with the U.S. and at the same time insist for more monetary aid. If so, the sheikh believes that “America will accept; it will kiss our hands; and it will also increase its aid. And we will consider its aid as jizya, not as aid. But first we must make impositions on it.”
When the host asked the sheikh “Do the Americans owe us jizya?” he responded, “Yes,” adding that it is the price Americans have to pay “so we can leave them alone!” When the host asked the sheikh if he was proclaiming a fatwa, the latter exclaimed, “By Allah of course!” The sheikh added that, to become a truly Islamic state, Egypt must “impose on America to pay aid as jizya, before we allow it to realize its own interests, the ones which we agree to.”... As earlier suggested, the wonderful thing about Salafis—those extra “radical” Muslims who seek to emulate as literally as possible prophet Muhammad’s teachings and habits—is that they are so unabashed and frank about what they believe. Such is the degree of brainwashing that they have undergone. Unlike the Muslim Brotherhood, which was founded much earlier, doublespeak is not second nature to the Salafis.
The most recent example comes from Al Hafiz TV, an Egyptian Islamic station. During a roundtable discussion on the U.S. and foreign aid to Egypt, an Islamic cleric, clearly of the Salafi bent—he had their trademark mustache-less-beard—insisted that the U.S. must be treated contemptuously, like a downtrodden dhimmi, or conquered infidel; that Egypt must make the U.S. conform to its own demands; and that, then, all the money the U.S. offers to Egypt in foreign aid can be taken as rightfully earned jizya.
Historically, the jizya was money, or tribute, that conquered non-Muslims had to pay to their Muslim overlords to safeguard their existence, as indicated in Koran 9:29. As the spirit of Islam continues making a comeback, Muslims around the world continue calling for non-Muslims, especially Christian minorities under Islam, to resume paying the jizya, which was abolished in the 19th century thanks to European intervention.
According to the sheikh, Egypt must be less cooperative with the U.S. and at the same time insist for more monetary aid. If so, the sheikh believes that “America will accept; it will kiss our hands; and it will also increase its aid. And we will consider its aid as jizya, not as aid. But first we must make impositions on it.”
When the host asked the sheikh “Do the Americans owe us jizya?” he responded, “Yes,” adding that it is the price Americans have to pay “so we can leave them alone!” When the host asked the sheikh if he was proclaiming a fatwa, the latter exclaimed, “By Allah of course!” The sheikh added that, to become a truly Islamic state, Egypt must “impose on America to pay aid as jizya, before we allow it to realize its own interests, the ones which we agree to.”
While the Egyptian cleric was focused on “international jizya”—that is, money paid by one non-Muslim nation to a Muslim nation, U.S money to Egypt—other Muslims have been receiving and enjoying individual “jizya” from Western, infidel governments, in the form of welfare aid.
Just last February, for example, Anjem Choudary, an Islamic cleric and popular preacher in the United Kingdom, was secretly taped telling a Muslim audience to follow his example and get “Jihad Seeker’s Allowance” from the government—a pun on “Job Seeker’s Allowance.” The father of four, who receives more than 25,000 pounds annually in welfare benefits, referred to British taxpayers as “slaves,” adding, “We take the jizya, which is our haq [Arabic for “right”], anyway. The normal situation by the way is to take money from the kafir [infidel], isn’t it? So this is the normal situation. They give us the money—you work, give us the money, Allahu Akhbar [“Allah is Great”]. We take the money. Hopefully there’s no one from the DSS [Department of Social Security] listening to this.”
Thus, the non-Muslim world should be grateful to the Salafis for always and ever exposing Islam’s teachings and beliefs. Immensely proud of and indoctrinated in their Islamic heritage, and like the earliest Muslim conquerors drunk with power and pride, convinced that Allah is on their side and they can do no wrong, today’s Salafis are unabashed when it comes to the things of Islam, from evoking them to upholding them.
But of course, all this honesty is for naught for those many in the West who, having eyes and ears, do not see or hear reality.

New Israeli Knesset speaker swears in 33rd Israeli gov't

By LAHAV HARKOV03/18/2013
J.Post/New coalition approved by vote of 68-48; PM presents 33rd government, says it has opportunity to enact domestic reform.The 22 ministers of the 33rd government swore to be faithful to the State of Israel and its laws in doing their job on Monday evening, as the opposition accused them of detachment from the public and making secret political deals.
The Knesset meeting opened with the election of Yuli Edelstein as Knesset speaker, followed by speeches by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and opposition leader Shelly Yacimovich (Labor).
“As prime minister, I have a major responsibility to the one and only Jewish state. Our existence here cannot be taken for granted, and our presence here is not coincidental,” Netanyahu said.
The prime minister called for the new government to act “in the spirit of cooperation and partnership,” and promised it will serve all of the Israeli public, including those outside the coalition.
While acknowledging internal challenges, like lowering housing costs, Netanyahu said he cannot ignore threats outside of the state’s borders.
“The first priority is to defend the country’s security and citizens,” he stated.“The challenges are greater than they have been since the establishment of the state. We face great threats. Iran has yet to cross the red line but is getting closer to it. Syria is splitting into pieces, and weapons are leaking out.”
Still, the prime minister said the government opens its arms to peace and will work to keep treaties with Egypt and Jordan.
Netanyahu called US President Barack Obama’s visit, scheduled to begin on Wednesday, “an opportunity to give thanks” for continued aid from Washington in recent years.
Yacimovich gave a speech highly critical of the incoming government and its tactics.
“The coalition negotiations cannot be called new politics.
Everything here is old and well known,” she began.
The Labor leader pointed out that the leaders of the four coalition parties are wealthy, adding that they don’t know what it feels like to not be able to make ends meet.
“You are all capitalists. It’s the opposite of the Zionist vision,” Yacimovich stated.
“There is a detachment from what is happening in Israeli society. It’s not just money but values and the right to education and a roof over our heads.”
Yacimovich also referred to Netanyahu’s attempts to bring Labor into the coalition, saying she values the fact that the prime minister is an ideologue and unwilling to back down from his beliefs, but that the gap between her worldview and his is too large to bridge.
“You may not have wanted to sit with these coalition partners, but don’t worry; they’re just like you,” she quipped.
Yacimovich said that “Zionism is a state of all for all. This is a government of exclusion and not unity. It excludes the ultra-Orthodox and Arabs. The new world never looked so old.”Later, before the government was sworn in with 68 MKs in favor and 48 opposed, MKs from Labor, UTJ and Hadash demanded to know whether there were any hidden political deals not mentioned in the coalition agreement.
According to Knesset legal adviser Eyal Yinon’s interpretation of the law, agreements made verbally must also be presented to the Knesset ahead of votes on a new government.
Home Front Defense Minister Gilad Erdan disclosed the already known agreement between Netanyahu and Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman, in which the prime minister will save the Foreign Ministry for Liberman until after the conclusion of his corruption trial. If Liberman is declared innocent, he will assume the position of foreign minister.
In response to questions about the agreement between Likud and Yisrael Beytenu, Edelstein explained that only deals relevant to government positions need to be disclosed.
Still, Liberman took the stand to say that Likud Beytenu is a faction made up of two parties, like many other factions, including Bayit Yehudi, which consists of the vestiges of the National Religious Party and Tekuma.
Earlier Monday, Liberman denied rumors of a split between the Likud and Yisrael Beytenu.
“It’s possible, but it’s not planned for the near future, and we have not even gotten to the point of learning lessons [from the months of unity]. In the Likud and maybe in Yisrael Beytenu, some would prefer if it were otherwise, but I and the prime minister intend to keep a joint faction,” he said at a press conference in the Knesset.
The most important thing, Liberman emphasized, is to bring the new government into a regular routine, and after that, he will start thinking about whether or not to separate from the Likud.
The Yisrael Beytenu leader also referred to the new deputy foreign minister, Ze’ev Elkin, saying that he approves of the appointment.
“I think he surprised everyone in the last term, and was one of the most successful coalition chairmen ever,” Liberman added.
Netanyahu also praised Elkin’s work as coalition chairman and welcomed his replacement, MK Yariv Levin, at a Likud Beytenu faction meeting Monday afternoon.
After Netanyahu spoke and Levin thanked him, the prime minister dismissed the press in the room, but Energy and Water Minister Silvan Shalom did not let Netanyahu have the last word.
Shalom stood up and mentioned that he is one of the veteran lawmakers in the room and had years of experience as a journalist in the Knesset. Then, he called Elkin one of the best coalition chairmen the legislature has seen and gave Levin tips for the job.
The minister’s surprise speech can be viewed as the opening shot of a rebellion by dissatisfied Likud MKs.
Shalom spent nearly 12 hours in Netanyahu’s office Sunday, insisting on receiving a more senior ministry than what he had been offered.
Other younger Likud MKs who expected to be made ministers and weren’t have expressed frustration, and former Knesset speaker Reuven Rivlin has repeatedly snubbed the prime minister after being replaced by Edelstein.
Several appointments were made within the Likud on Monday, including Tzipi Hotovely as deputy transportation minister and Miri Regev as chairwoman of the Knesset Interior and Environmental Committee. Moshe Feiglin was named deputy Knesset speaker, which means he, along with several other MKs, will preside over plenum meetings when the speaker is not there.
Former deputy minister Gila Gamliel will be a regular MK with no other position, but says Netanyahu promised her a ministerial position within the next year.