Bible Quotation for today/The Narrow Door

Luke 13/22-30: "Jesus went through towns and villages, teaching the people and making his way toward Jerusalem.  Someone asked him, “Sir, will just a few people be saved?” Jesus answered them,  “Do your best to go in through the narrow door; because many people will surely try to go in but will not be able.  The master of the house will get up and close the door; then when you stand outside and begin to knock on the door and say, ‘Open the door for us, sir!’ he will answer you, ‘I don't know where you come from!’  Then you will answer, ‘We ate and drank with you; you taught in our town!’  But he will say again, ‘I don't know where you come from. Get away from me, all you wicked people!’  How you will cry and gnash your teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God, while you are thrown out!  People will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down at the feast in the Kingdom of God.  Then those who are now last will be first, and those who are now first will be last.”

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

Who loses and who gains from the Lebanese Cabinet’s fall/By Hasan Lakkis/The Daily Star/March 27/13

No Mutlag-Hezbollah Deal on Maliki/By: Hamza Mustafa/Asharq Alawsat/March 27/13

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for March 27/13

Pope wants to stay in simple residence for now
Lebanon disassociates on Syria at Arab League summit

Arab summit pledges support for Lebanon

Clan carries out further kidnapping in east Lebanon
Cyprus verdict could inhibit Hezbollah operations in Europe
Bahrain’s parliament declares Hezbollah a terrorist

Bahrain declares Hezbollah a terrorist organization after approving the measure, Manama’s majority Sunni parliament calls on fellow Gulf nations to follow suit

Berri spearheads talks to pave way for new PM
Mikati prepared to lead new, inclusive Cabinet

Touring Lebanon’s tension-filled Syrian border

Export ferry route to Jordan kicks off

Grand Mufti of Lebanon Sheikh Mohammad Rashid holds Hariri and Siniora responsible for his safety

Salameh: Lebanon's Central Bank maintaining stability
Future Movement favors consultations to form Cabinet: Jisr
Kerry in Paris to Talk Syria With French
Iraq’s deputy PM accused of striking deal with Hezbollah

Opposition takes Syria’s seat at Arab League
Opposition takes Syria seat at Arab League summit
In Syria, the Rebels Have Begun to Fight Among Themselves

Syria army recaptures Homs' Baba Amr: activists

In snub to Assad, opposition takes Syria's Arab summit seat

Arab leaders set up $1 bln Arab fund for Jerusalem

Pope wants to stay in simple residence for now
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis wants to stay for the time being in a simple Vatican residence instead of moving into the spacious and regal papal apartments, the Vatican said on Tuesday. The former Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina is still living in the Domus Santa Martha, a modern hotel-style residence inside the Vatican City where he stayed during the conclave that elected him on March 13. Although the papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace - which consist of more than a dozen rooms as well as quarters for staff and a terrace - are available, he shows no desire to move in any time soon, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said. In the past few days Francis has moved out of a single room in the residence, which has some 130 rooms, into a suite so he could have more space to work and to receive people, Lombardi said.
Francis has set a more austere tone for the papacy than his predecessor Benedict XVI, who gained a reputation for sumptuous costumes. Lombardi says the new pope enjoys the residence's community atmosphere where he lives alongside other clergy. The pope says Mass in its chapel every morning and invites Vatican workers and other guests to attend. "I can't make long-term predictions, but for now it seems he is experimenting with this type of simple co-habitation," Lombardi said. "It is still a period of getting used to things, of experimentation. Certainly in this phase he has expressed the desire to stay where he is," he said. Lombardi said the pope will be using the offices in the Apostolic Palace and its grand, frescoed reception rooms to meet heads of state and delegations, and will continue to appear each Sunday to deliver a blessing from the window of the papal apartments overlooking St. Peter's Square. (Reporting By Philip Pullella; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
 

Bahrain’s parliament declares Hezbollah a terrorist group

By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL, JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDENT03/26/2013
http://www.jpost.com/International/Bahrains-parliament-declares-Hezbollah-a-terrorist-group-307806

Lebanese media reports that Bahrain's lawmakers approved the measure to blacklist the Shiite organization; tensions have been high since Bahrain accused Hezbollah of seeking to overthrow its gov't in 2011.
Bahrain’s lawmakers voted on Tuesday to label the Lebanese militia Hezbollah a terrorist organization, the Lebanon-based news outlet Now Lebanon reported.
Tensions have been high since Bahrain accused Hezbollah of seeking to overthrow its government in 2011. According to a report sent to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in 2011, the ruling Sunni Khalifa family asserted that Hezbollah trained insurgents in Lebanon and the Islamic Republic of Iran to topple its government.
Hezbollah is a Shi'ite organization with intense ties with Iran’s Shi'ite clerical leadership. Counter-terrorism experts say Hezbollah and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps cooperate on targeting Western and Israeli targets for terror missions. The move to designate Hezbollah a terror entity comes on the heels of EU talks about banning Hezbollah within the 27-member body because of terror operations. Last week, a Cyprus criminal court convicted a Hezbollah member for plotting to kill Israeli tourists on the small Island. In addition to the foiled Cyprus plot, Bulgaria’s interior minister issued a report last month asserting two Hezbollah operatives participated in the terror attack on an Israeli tour bus in the Black Sea resort of Burgas. The bombing in Burgas resulted in the deaths of five Israelis, their Bulgarian bus driver, and severe injuries to 32 Israelis.
Major EU countries Germany and France have resisted including Hezbollah in the EU terror list because of insufficient legal evidence. JTA reported on Friday that Karl-Matthias Klause, the spokesman for the German Embassy in Washington, said “Our position is that we've always said that if we have proof that holds up in court, we can enter the procedure. There is a general readiness into looking into forbidding the military wing of Hezbollah.”
It is unclear if the legal verdict in Cyprus will influence a change in the German and French positions opposing a ban. The Netherlands is the only EU country to designate Hezbollah’s entire organization a terrorist group. The United Kingdom classifies Hezbollah’s military wing a terrorist organization. Proponents of a ban of Hezbollah argue a terrorist listing would freeze Hezbollah’s capability to fund-raise and procure weapons in Europe, as well as mount new terror attacks on European soil. Germany has a large contingent of Hezbollah operatives. According to the country’s domestic intelligence agency, 950 Hezbollah members operate legally in the Federal Republic.

Doha summit pledges support for Lebanon’s unity, stability

March 27, 2013/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Arab leaders meeting Tuesday in Qatar expressed solidarity with Lebanon, promising political and economic support for its government to help it maintain the country’s national unity, security, stability and sovereignty over all its territories.
The leaders praised the Lebanese Army’s role in asserting state sovereignty in the south and safeguarding stability and civil peace, according to a final statement issued at the end of a one-day summit chaired in Doha by Qatari’s emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani. The Arab League summit underlined the need for bolstering the capabilities of the Lebanese Army and security forces to enable them to carry out their security missions.
However, it was not immediately clear whether the leaders would provide military or financial assistance to shore up the Army’s military capabilities.
The summit also voiced its support for “the right of Lebanon’s government, people and resistance to liberate and recover the Shebaa Farms and the village of Ghajar, [areas occupied by Israel], and defend Lebanon against any [Israeli] aggression by all available means.” Meanwhile, Lebanon employed its policy of disassociation toward the crisis in neighboring Syria during the Doha summit and urged members of the Arab League to shoulder responsibility in protecting its stability. Addressing the summit, President Michel Sleiman urged both local parties and regional powers to help implement the Baabda Declaration, which calls for distancing Lebanon from regional conflicts, particularly the 2-year-old bloody conflict in Syria. “Out of fear of the Lebanese being plunged into strife and violence as a result of the ongoing fighting in Syrian territories, the parties to the Lebanese National Dialogue Committee agreed on the so-called Baabda Declaration on June 11 last year to spare Lebanon the potential negative repercussions of the Syrian crisis by distancing it from regional and international conflicts and [regional] axis policies,” Sleiman said in his speech. “On this basis, we disassociate ourselves from the [summit] decision pertaining to Syria,” he added.
Sleiman was apparently referring to the Arab summit’s decision to give Syria’s Arab League seat to Ahmad Moaz al-Khatib, leader of the Syrian National Coalition, and also to allow member states to offer military assistance to Syrian rebels. Sleiman told the leaders that Lebanon’s policy of neutrality toward the Syrian crisis needed to be strengthened with their help, citing the failure of Lebanese sides to abide by the Baabda Declaration.
“Nine months since the adoption of the Baabda Declaration, there is a pressing need to bolster it internally and regionally in light of opposing [domestic] sides having failed to abide by its provisions, which called for keeping [Lebanon] away [from regional developments] and preventing Lebanon from being used as a sanctuary, conduit or base for smuggling of weapons and fighters to Syria,” he said.
“But this also requires that the Syrian opposition sides in turn cease using Lebanon and its territories for military operations,” Sleiman added. He said Lebanon and other Arab countries had the duty of ensuring adherence to the Baabda Declaration and preserving the country’s stability. “The responsibility of abiding to the Baabda Declaration, maintaining the stability of Lebanon, its unity and civil peace is Lebanon’s responsibility first and foremost,” Sleiman said. “But from the standpoint of sisterly [relations] and solidarity, it is a joint Lebanese-Arab responsibility.”Sleiman also said Lebanon’s foreign policy aimed at preserving the best of the ties with Arab states.
“Despite the freedom of expression in Lebanon, within the limits of the law, it is certain that the policy of the Lebanese state, represented by its president here, is one of keenness of preserving the best of ties with sisterly Arab states on the basis of ties and solidarity and a rejection of interference in their internal affairs,” he said. Sleiman met on the sidelines of the summit separately with Saudi Crown Prince Salman bin Abdel-Aziz, Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, Jordan’s King Abdullah, in addition to heads of governments and foreign ministers

Lebanon disassociates on Syria at Arab League summit

March 26, 2013/ The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Lebanon employed its policy of disassociation toward the crisis in neighboring Syria during an Arab League summit in Qatar Tuesday and urged members of the top regional organization to shoulder responsibility in ensuring Lebanon’s stability. “Out of concern of the Lebanese being plunged into violence and strife over the recurring violence in Syria, the National Dialogue Committee agreed on the ‘Baabda Declaration’ ... to distance Lebanon from potential negative repercussions of the Syria crisis and distancing it from regional and international conflicts and [regional] axis policies,” President Michel Sleiman told heads of Arab states in Doha.
“On this basis, we disassociate ourselves from this decision pertaining to Syria,” Sleiman added. He also told the Arab leaders that Lebanon’s policy of neutrality toward the Syria crisis needed to be strengthened with their help, citing the failure of Lebanese sides to abide by the “Baabda Declaration.” “Nine months since the adoption of the ‘Baabda Declaration,’ there is a pressing need to bolster it internally and regionally in light of opposing [domestic] sides having failed to abide by its provisions, which called for keeping [Lebanon] distant [from regional developments] and preventing Lebanon being used as a sanctuary, conduit or base for smuggling of weapons and fighters to Syria,” he said.“But this also requires that the opposing Syrian sides in turn cease using Lebanon and its territories for military operations,” he added. The president said Lebanon and other Arab countries had the duty of ensuring adherence to the “Baabda Declaration” and preserving Lebanon’s stability. “The responsibility of abiding to the Baabda Declaration, maintaining the stability of Lebanon, its unity and civil peace is Lebanon’s responsibility first and foremost,” he said. “But from the standpoint of sisterly [relations] and solidarity, it is a joint Lebanese-Arab responsibility,” he added. Sleiman also said Lebanon’s foreign policy aimed at preserving the best of the ties with Arab states.“Despite the freedom of expression in Lebanon, within the limits of the law, it is certain that the policy of the Lebanese state, represented by its president here, is one of keenness of preserving the best of ties with sisterly Arab states on the basis of [sisterly] ties and solidarity and a rejection of interference in their internal affairs,” he said. He also highlighted the growing influx of Syrian refugees in Lebanon.
“The problem of the Syrian refugees is begging to represent an additional burden on the situation in the country, and their numbers have risen to what is approaching a fourth of Lebanon’s population,” he said.

Clan carries out further kidnapping in east Lebanon

March 26, 2013/The Daily Star
BAALBEK, Lebanon: A clan behind a spree of recent kidnappings in east Lebanon struck again Tuesday, snatching a passenger in a pickup truck in the region after promises to release one of their kin, who was abducted over the weekend, failed to materialize. The Jaafar clan kidnapped Nemer Fliti, a passenger in a pickup truck that they fired on and brought to a halt in the Harbta town of Baalbek, east Lebanon.
Fliti’s abduction came after promises to release Hussein Kamel Jaafar, a member of the Jaafar clan kidnapped Sunday, failed to materialize.
Jaafar, 37, was kidnapped near Khirbet Daoud in Arsal, northeast Lebanon, by a group of unidentified armed assailants. Retaliation by the Jaafar clan over the abduction soon followed, with a series of kidnappings of Arsal’s residents. The abductions took place on the international highway between Baalbek and Hermel.The clan still has five people in their custody. It has released four people in a gesture of good faith to push for more efforts to secure the return of their kinsman. According to the mayor of Arsal, Ali al-Houjairi, the kidnapped Jaafar is being held by an unidentified group in a Syrian town near the border with Lebanon.
Houjairi told The Daily Star that a delegation from Arsal’s municipality headed to the town of Maara in Syria, where Jaafar is reportedly being held, to negotiate with the kidnappers.
Meanwhile, the Lebanese Army, which boosted its presence in the northeast of the country after the series of tit-for-tat kidnappings, upheld tight security measures in the region.

Iraq’s deputy PM accused of striking deal with Hezbollah
Tuesday, 26 March 2013/Saleh al-Mutlaq is accused of sealing a deal with Hezbollah on his last trip to Lebanon. (Reuters) Al Arabiya - Members of the Iraqi List accused the Deputy Prime Minister, Saleh al-Mutlaq, of sealing a deal with the Lebanese Shiite Party Hezbollah.The agreement is reportedly based upon the stipulation that he returns to the cabinet and supports Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. He is accused of striking that deal during his last visit to Lebanon.Mutalq’s announcement that he will participate in today's cabinet session chaired by Maliki fueled the anger of the Iraqi List which said it will boycott the session. One of the list’s members said there is widespread popular anger towards Mutlaq and accused the latter of being an opportunist. He also rejected Mutlaq’s move to participate in the cabinet session at a time when major parties such as the Kurdistan Alliance and the Sadrist Movement voiced solidarity with the opposition and decided to freeze their membership in the government. Opposition parties also voiced their suspicion regarding the legality of today’s cabinet session after three blocs had announced they are boycotting it. Opposition parties added that there will not be a legal quorum even with Mutlaq’s participation. Meanwhile, Mutlaq said he is participating in today’s cabinet session to discuss protesters’ demands.
Protests against the government
Since late 2012, the mainly Iraqi Sunni protesters have called for reforms, including anti-terror laws that they say are used to persecute their community. The arrests of women following the detention of their male relatives under terrorism charges has also caused outrage.
The protests, inspired by the uprising in neighboring Syria, have resulted in the killing of nine demonstrators by the Iraqi army. The government is investigating the incident

Cyprus verdict could inhibit Hezbollah operations in Europe
Conviction makes Europe likelier to list Hezbollah as a terrorist group, which would bring new restrictions on Hezbollah that would have immediate operational consequences for the group, says U.S. official.
By JTA | Mar.26, 2013 /The conviction in Cyprus of a Hezbollah operative plotting to attack Israelis could undercut efforts by the terrorist group to carry out additional attacks outside the Middle East.
Last week's conviction was the second confirmation in recent months that Hezbollah is active on European soil. The first was when Bulgarian authorities identified the Lebanon-based terrorist group as being behind the July 2012 bombing in Burgas that left six people dead, five of them Israelis. Hezbollah also is believed to be behind recent plots against Israelis and Jews in India, Thailand and Azerbaijan. The Cyprus conviction makes Europe likelier to list Hezbollah as a terrorist group, and that would bring new restrictions on Hezbollah that would have immediate operational consequences for the group, says Daniel Benjamin, the top counterterrorism official at the State Department in President Obama’s first term. “If Hezbollah has to increase its operational security in Europe, if it can't use Europe to fundraise or travel through, it will be challenged to innovate to avoid being caught by European authorities,” Benjamin, now the director of the Dickey Center for International Understanding at Dartmouth College, told JTA.
The Cyprus court found Hossam Taleb Yaacoub guilty of a plot to attack Israeli tourists in the Mediterranean island nation. Yaacoub, who holds Lebanese and Swedish passports, was trained in the use of weapons and scouted sites in Europe, including a Cypriot airport. Yaacoub acknowledged membership in Hezbollah and staking out areas frequented by Israeli tourists, but said he did not know his work was part of a plot to kill Israelis. The court, which has yet to sentence him, rejected the denial. The evidence that led to Yaacoub’s conviction helps tip the balance toward listing Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, diplomats from two leading European Union member states told JTA. Hezbollah already is considered a terrorist group by the United States, Israel and several other countries.
“Our position is that we've always said that if we have proof that holds up in court, we can enter the procedure,” said Karl-Matthias Klause, the spokesman for the German Embassy in Washington. “There is a general readiness into looking into forbidding the military wing of Hezbollah.” The other diplomat, whose country has been among those resisting such a classification, said the Cyprus conviction would make it harder not to classify Hezbollah as a terrorist group. “Bulgaria and Cyprus changes the equation,” said the diplomat, who insisted on anonymity. “The topic becomes one of European solidarity.”
Matthew Levitt, a former counterterrorism analyst at the FBI and a senior terrorism analyst at the Treasury Department in the George W. Bush administration, said he had just returned from meetings in Europe with security and foreign affairs officials. “No one is debating anymore whether they are terrorists,” said Levitt, who is now a senior fellow analyzing counterterrorism at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “Now it’s more, will designating them as terrorist group undermine security in Lebanon? I can have that conversation; it’s a better one than 'are they terrorists?' "
The timing is propitious, said Levitt: Hezbollah is reactivating outside the Middle East for the first time in more than a decade, partly because of pressures on its two main sponsors, Iran and Syria. Its recent plots have been more hits than misses, which Levitt attributes to Hezbollah being out of practice and because Iran is rushing the group into staging attacks.
“Now you see in Cyprus what happens when they go back to tradecraft,” Levitt said, referring to Yaacoub’s careful monitoring of the comings and goings of Israeli tourists.
U.S. and Israeli officials for months have been pressing Europe to list Hezbollah as a terrorist group. Obama repeated the call last week during his Israel visit.
“When I think about Israel’s security, I think about five Israelis who boarded a bus in Bulgaria, who were blown up because of where they came from; robbed of the ability to live, and love, and raise families,” Obama told a convention center in Jerusalem packed with cheering university students. “That’s why every country that values justice should call Hezbollah what it truly is: a terrorist organization.”
The diplomat from the country reluctant until recently to list Hezbollah as terrorist said the issue is complicated by the fact that Hezbollah is part of the Lebanese government. Cutting off the group would curtail European influence in Lebanon at an especially sensitive time: Lebanon is absorbing refugees from the Syrian civil war, and there are concerns that the fighting in Syria may spill over into Lebanon.
“We have to keep in mind that Lebanon is very fragile and we have to avoid what could further destabilize it,” the diplomat said.
One possible solution touted in Europe would be to designate Hezbollah’s so-called military wing as terrorist while maintaining ties with its political operation in Lebanon.
The United States recognizes no such distinction, Levitt said, but if Europe wanted to do so, there likely would be no U.S. objection. “They want to make the distinction for convenience, they want to have leverage, so fine,” he said. One outcome U.S. officials should oppose, Levitt said, would be to designate only individuals with Hezbollah but not the group as a whole as terrorist. Benjamin said sparing Hezbollah’s political wing would not be a problem as long as the ban on the military wing made it harder to raise money and run agents. “A designation worth anything will include a ban on solicitation and fundraising in Europe, and provide the legal predicate for terrorism prosecutions,” he said. Should Europe take those steps, it could embolden other countries to do so as well, Benjamin said. “Hezbollah being designated by Europe will embolden other countries to step up cooperation around the world,” he said.
Argentina, that killed 85 people.

Grand Mufti of Lebanon Sheikh Mohammad Rashid holds Hariri and Siniora responsible for his safety
March 27, 2013/By Nafez Qawas/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Grand Mufti of Lebanon Sheikh Mohammad Rashid Qabbani warned Tuesday that former prime ministers Saad Hariri and Fouad Siniora would be held responsible in the event of any attempt against his life.
“I hold both [former] prime ministers Saad Hariri and Fouad Siniora responsible should my blood [be shed] or for any harm that targets me,” Qabbani told reporters following his meeting with the head of the Journalists’ Union, Elias Aoun, at Dar al-Fatwa.Despite the wishes of his opponents, Qabbani said that he would remain in his position until his term expired in September 2014: “I am staying in my office until the end of my term or if I die before my term expires. I say to them, if you are able to fire the grand mufti, do it. The move would shame the legacy of some Future Movement leaders.”
The rift between Qabbani and the Future Movement began to surface in 2011, when the mufti visited Hezbollah officials after the Special Tribunal for Lebanon indicted four members of the resistance group for their involvement in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
He also opposed the toppling of Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s government which was demanded by the Future Movement following the 2012 assassination of Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan.
“They don’t want a strong grand mufti. Their claim that I don’t have the authority to call for new elections is a lie. I am committed to holding elections for the Higher Islamic Council, even if some regions in Lebanon want to boycott it,” Qabbani added.The strained relationship between Qabbani and the Future Movement has led to disputes within Dar al-Fatwa. Tensions were heightened when 21 members of the council met last December, in a session chaired by the deputy head of the council, Omar Miskawi, and extended the term of the 32-member body for one year without the approval of the grand mufti.
Qabbani claimed that the extension had been illegal and called for the electing new members of the council on April 14. Attempts to resolve the crisis within Dar al-Fatwa have failed, despite numerous meetings held by leading figures in the community and the council to agree on an emergency session and resolve the ongoing disputes. “I am entrusted with holding the elections and I support amendments but [only] after the elections. Those that called for reforms prior to the polls had met with Siniora and then later held a session that involved fraud. We have evidence of this and the probe will reveal this in the lawsuit against them,” Qabbani said.
After a meeting at the Grand Serail last month, Mikati and the former prime ministers urged Qabbani to comply with their request to hold a special session of the council to elect new members, and warned that they would take the necessary measures if the issue was not resolved.Earlier this month, the grand mufti filed lawsuits against the Higher Islamic Council and an unidentified individual over what he described as the “fraudulent extension of the council.”Qabbani also said that the surge in the Sunni-Shiite tension in Lebanon was a reflection of regional and international tensions: “The conflict in Lebanon is not Sunni, Shiite or Christian, but a reflection of a regional and international conflict. Western countries are benefiting from the demands of the Arab people to push forward their own interests in the Arab world.”

Salameh: Central Bank maintaining stability
March 27, 2013/The Daily Star
DUBAI: The Lebanese Central Bank has taken the necessary measures to maintain the stability of local lenders, according to Governor Riad Salameh. “Despite the crisis in the region, the Lebanese Central Bank took all the measures that will lead to stability,” Salameh said in Dubai Tuesday. The governor added that the position of the Lebanese banks was solid, and said that aside from the oil system, the banking sector and the foreign currency reserves were at their best, and that “no one can ask us to change our monetary policy.”Salameh was speaking during a dinner banquet held by the Dubai & Northern Emirates Alumni Chapter at the Lebanese American University in his honor.He said the main focus was to create trust in the Lebanese monetary system and local banks. He noted that deposits at Lebanese banks had jumped from $6.6 billion in 1992 to $127.2 billion in 2012.
Salameh also focused on the growth of foreign currency and gold reserves from 1992 to date. He stressed that the global economy was still experiencing the impacts of the 2008 financial crisis that hit the U.S., Europe and parts of Asia.The reception took place at Al-Bustan Rotana and was attended by more than 500 invitees from the Lebanese community in Dubai.At the end of the reception, Salameh was awarded the shield of honor from the Dubai & Northern Emirates Alumni Chapter at the LAU.

Future Movement favors consultations to form Cabinet: Jisr
March 26, 2013/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Lebanese lawmaker should adhere to constitutional norms in naming the prime minister-designate rather than hold a National Dialogue session aimed at forming a new Cabinet, Future parliamentary bloc MP Samir Jisr said Tuesday. “There are constitutional principles stipulating that parliamentary consultations take place for lawmakers to name a prime minister designate ... we should then respect the Constitution and rules,” Jisr told The Daily Star. The Future MP’s stance on favoring parliamentary consultations over Dialogue echoed a similar position voiced by the head of the Lebanese Forces a day earlier. LF head Samir Geagea voiced opposition Monday to holding the cross-party talks in order to form a new government to replace the present one headed by Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati. Although stressing the need for parliamentary consultations, Jisr voiced his party’s willingness to attend a National Dialogue session, which political sources speculate could be held later this week, saying the obstacles that prevented the Future Movement from participating had been eliminated. “After the assassination of Brig Gen. Wissam al-Hasan [in October of last year] we boycotted the National Dialogue session on condition that the government resigns given its failure in providing security forces with telecommunications data ... but now the obstacle is no longer there,” he said. In remarks to pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat, Speaker Nabih Berri, who has called on the March 14 coalition to attend the inter-party talks, said Dialogue needed to take place prior to parliamentary consultations in order to agree on some principle issues that would facilitate the formation of a government. Mikati announced his resignation last week over what he said were obstacles in government to extending the mandate of Police Chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi, who retires on April 1, and the creation of a committee to oversee the June 9 elections. He also supported the formation of a neutral Cabinet, describing it as the only type of government capable of reducing tensions and political bickering in the country. Geagea said Monday a neutral government should be formed by the parliamentary majority, the March 14 lawmakers and the centrist politicians, primarily MP Walid Jumblatt, to supervise the upcoming polls that the LF leader said should only be briefly postponed for technical reasons.
Asked whether Jumblatt would side with his former allies in the March 14 coalition, Jisr said the possibility depended on the candidate to be named to form the new government.
Jisr, whose party has been one of Mikati’s staunchest critics, did not rule out naming the Tripoli MP as a new prime minister-designate but said: “I don’t want to say anything now before my party makes a final decision on that.”The Future parliamentary bloc will hold its weekly meeting Tuesday chaired by MP Fouad Siniora.Reactions to the recent resignation of the government over the weekend continued this week.
On Monday, the Kataeb Party described the resignation as a step in the right direction. “[The resignation of the government] is a step in the right direction after the series of the political, security and economic catastrophes that demonstrated the government’s inability to manage the country’s affairs,” The Kataeb Party’s political bureau said in a statement.
The bureau expressed “concerns of the signs of political vacuum.” It also stressed the need “to rely on constitutional mechanisms and keeping the caretaker period of the government as brief as possible and the formation of a national salvation government that can steer the country during this sensitive stage.”The March 14 party also urged that future ministerial statement include the adoption of the “Baabda Declaration, particularly keeping Lebanon neutral in relation to the axis politics.”“The resignation [should be buttressed] through halting all internal conflicts, particularly what is taking place in Tripoli, controlling the Lebanese-Syrian border and border crossings and preventing the arms and fighters from entering and exiting such borders as well as strengthen the situation at the national level by gathering at the National Dialogue table as well as stressing the need for respecting constitutional deadlines as well as the rotation of power,” it added.

Berri: No Dialogue could leave Lebanon without Cabinet
March 26, 2013/The Daily Star /BEIRUT: Lebanon could remain without a Cabinet for 15 years if the rival sides do not sit at one table to discuss a consensual government, Speaker Nabih Berri warned in remarks published Tuesday.“In the absence of an understanding, 15 years could pass without a government being formed,” Berri told pan-Arab newspaper Al-Hayat. “Dialogue must take place prior to [parliamentary] consultations in order to agree on some principle issues that would facilitate the formation of the government,” he stressed. Berri argued that if President Michel Sleiman launched binding parliamentary consultations on April 2 each of the rival political teams – The Hezbollah-led March 8 and the opposition March 14 – would chose its candidate and Sleiman would then name a prime minister-designate according to the person who had won the majority of the votes. But Berri believes that a Dialogue session, “even for an hour,” is essential as it would serve to enhance understanding, in the hopes that the opposing leaders would demonstrate the process of resolving conflict through communication. He insisted that a session of all-party talks does not have to discuss broad Dialogue guidelines. “We must meet to ease the tense atmosphere in the country. It is not important to call for a [Dialogue] session under the banners ‘government formation’ or an ‘elections law,’” Berri said. He called for the formation of a national unity government made up of the major political parties, adding that such a government “will bring everyone to the table to deal with the situation in light of the regional crisis and contribute to safeguarding the nation.” “Then Dialogue within the government will become permanent.”In response to a question regarding Lebanon’s disassociation policy toward the Syria crisis, Berri said: “Steps must be taken to help commit to [implementing] the agreement.”During a June 2012 National Dialogue session chaired by President Michel Sleiman, rival political leaders agreed to keep Lebanon at a distance from regional turmoil, particularly the ongoing fighting in Syria.Berri’s comments were just the opposite of Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, who reiterated Monday that National Dialogue was not the way to go. “I consider talking about a Dialogue session to form a new government a waste of time,” Geagea said, adding however that no political party was opposed to Dialogue as a general principle.
Following the resignation of the government of Prime Minister Najib Mikati over the weekend, Berri called on the March 14 coalition to return to Dialogue in order to form a new government and agree on an electoral law for the upcoming parliamentary elections due in early June. Political sources told The Daily Star Sunday that consultations were ongoing to hold a National Dialogue session this Thursday.

Who loses and who gains from the Cabinet’s fall?

March 27, 2013/ By Hasan Lakkis/The Daily Star
Following the resignation of caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s Cabinet, parliamentary and political sources told The Daily Star how the change is likely to affect Lebanon’s political forces.
Michel Aoun and the Change and Reform BlocAoun and his allies may have lost the most with Mikati’s resignation. They will not be able to achieve the same number of Christian ministers in any upcoming Cabinet, especially if March 14 and independent Christians take part. Further, ministers loyal to Aoun will not necessarily attain high profile portfolios as they did in Mikati’s government.
The Change and Reform Bloc had an effective veto power, and used it several times in the Mikati phase, forcing its allies – including Hezbollah and Speaker Nabih Berri’s Amal Movement – to support it. It will be difficult for Aoun to secure this level of power in any new government.
Future MovementThe Future Movement now has the opportunity to re-emerge as a force in the country’s political life. Taking part in the National Dialogue and meeting with March 8 groups from whom it was previously isolated, is an opportunity for the Future Movement to restore its position as an important decision-maker.
Also, the cabinet’s fall eliminated the Future Movement’s main talking point: that Mikati’s government had to go. It must now refocus and find a new reason to criticize its opponents.
March 14’s ChristiansChristian MPs in March 14 share the same gains and losses as the Future Movement, with the added benefit that with the likely loss of Aoun’s power they have the chance to take a share in the Cabinet. In addition, they will now be looked at in a new light, given that they have taken a different position than the rest of the Future Movement on the issue of the electoral law.
Other March 14 groupsBy taking part in negotiations, March 14’s role as a political player will be restored. Mikati’s resignation has succeeded in bringing together its members in a way that the anniversaries of both its founding date and the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri did not manage to do.
Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid JumblattJumblatt remains Lebanon’s political kingmaker and will be able to secure a majority for either March 8 or March 14. He is well aware of this reality and is evaluating his next move with the knowledge that his ministerial share is secured in any Cabinet.
No matter the shape of the next Cabinet, Jumblatt will come out on top. The Cabinet allowed his ministers, notably Social Affairs Minister Wael Abu Faour and Public Works and Transportation Minister Ghazi Aridi, significant freedom and financing to work on their choice of projects. This is likely to continue through the caretaker phase.President Michel SleimanOn the one hand, Sleiman’s ability to exercise his executive power is lost without a Cabinet. However, the losses to his political foe Aoun are a boon to Sleiman and he has finally achieved what he has been demanding for some time: National Dialogue. In presiding over this and parliamentary consultations over the next prime minister, he retains a certain amount of authority. Speaker Nabih BerriAlthough Berri lost a Cabinet that he helped form and his ministers took part in, the speaker now has a major role to help resolve the resulting crisis. He will play a big part in negotiating the next Cabinet, and as the only person who can convene Parliament, he can choose to do so on his terms.
Caretaker Prime Minister
Najib MikatiMikati is now free from the responsibility for a Cabinet he did not dominate and within which he was unable to tackle various security, political and economic issues. He has also regained the support of some March 14 members who have praised him for taking what they consider a courageous step. By resigning because Cabinet could not extend the term of ISF Chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi, Mikati has emerged for some as a defender of the rights and powers of the Sunni sect. He has likely gained backers in Tripoli, where both he and Rifi hail from, as well as some supporters from the Future Movement who see him as sacrificing his Cabinet for a man – Rifi – with ties to former Prime Minister Saad Hariri. Mikati will also win over Gulf countries, the U.S. and Europe, whose support for him has gradually decreased over the past few months. Mikati managed to leave the Grand Serail on his own agenda and not that of his allies – Aoun, Amal, and Hezbollah. This is in contrast to Hariri, who was ousted because of those three.
He will emerge with his clout as an independent political figure reinforced, and perhaps have a third shot at the post of prime minister. HezbollahTaking part and backing the Cabinet did not have an effect on Hezbollah’s role or power on a local level. It did, however, give it a degree of international cover as part of a government that some saw necessary for stability. Over the past few months, some Western powers have begun to accept Hezbollah’s part in Lebanese governance, even speaking about the difference between its political and military wings. This is evidenced by the fact the EU has not yet blacklisted the group as a terrorist organization after a Bulgarian investigation tied the group to a bombing that killed Israeli tourists. The party may have lost the legitimacy it gained for being part of this Cabinet, as the prime minister often spoke positively about the performance of its ministers. But overall, Hezbollah remains a key player regardless of the government that emerges because of its wide popular support and religious backing.
No new Cabinet will be created without its participation, either directly or through its allies.

Kerry in Paris to Talk Syria With French
By MATTHEW LEE Associated Press /PARIS March 26, 2013 (AP)/U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is in Paris for talks with French officials about aid to the Syrian opposition and the situation in Mali.
Kerry arrived in the French capital Tuesday on the last leg of a five-nation trip that also took him to Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Jordan with President Barack Obama and then on his own to Iraq and Afghanistan.
He will see the French foreign minister on Wednesday. France is one of several European nations that would like to send military aid to the Syrian rebels. It also has been urging the U.S. to boost its assistance.
Kerry will also meet with French business leaders and entrepreneurs to discuss how to promote economic growth and create jobs on both sides of the Atlantic, said State Department spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki.

Opposition takes Syria seat at Arab League summit
26 March 2013 /BBC/Syria's opposition National Coalition has taken the country's official seat at the Arab League summit in Qatar. The delegation led by Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib, who has said he will resign as head of the coalition, was applauded as it formally assumed the seat. Mr Khatib called it "part of the restoration of legitimacy" of which Syrians had "long been robbed". Later, the Arab League authorised member states to give military support to Syrian rebel groups. A resolution said the summit affirmed the "right of every state to offer all forms of self-defence, including military, to support the resistance of the Syrian people and the Free Syrian Army".
Meanwhile, Syrian state media reported that three people had been killed and several others wounded in a suicide car bombing in the northern Rukn al-Din district of Damascus.
Shells were also said to have landed in the centre of the capital.In the city of Homs, government troops were reported to have seized back control of the hotly-contested district of Baba Amr after two weeks of fighting.
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I convey to you the greetings of the orphans, widows, the wounded, the detained and the homeless”
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And at least 13 burned bodies were found in the village of Abel, just outside Homs, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based activist group.
In another development on Tuesday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Swedish scientist Ake Sellstrom would head a UN mission investigating the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria.
The Syrian government and rebels accused each other of firing a rocket containing poison gas at a village near the city of Aleppo earlier this month.
'Bandits and thugs'
The BBC's Jim Muir in Beirut says Syria's opposition won an important diplomatic victory when it took over the country's seat at the Arab League summit in Doha.
Mr Khatib was joined by the National Coalition's vice-presidents, George Sabra and Suheir Atassi, and its recently-elected interim prime minister, Ghassan Hitto.
The Syrian flag was replaced at the country's official seat with the green, white and black flag of the former Syrian Republic, which existed before the Baath Party and the Assad family came to power, and is used by the opposition.
The move angered the government in Damascus, which accused the Arab League of handing the seat to "bandits and thugs".
Mr Khatib gave an impassioned speech in the name of the 100,000 people he said had given their lives in the struggle so far, and the many others who have been wounded, tortured or imprisoned.
Syrian state media showed images of what was described as a suicide bomb attack in Damascus "I convey to you the greetings of the orphans, widows, the wounded, the detained and the homeless," he said.
He rejected attempts by some outside powers to control Syrian decisions, saying the country's future would be decided by the Syrian people alone.
And he also rejected all the reasons advanced by Western powers and others for the reluctance to provide the Syrian opposition with the means to defend the people because of concerns about arming foreign Islamist fighters.
"I don't know if the real issue has to do with whether he's a foreigner or he has a beard," he remarked.
Mr Khatib also said he had asked the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, to establish a defensive Patriot missile shield over northern Syria to protect people and allow refugees to return home.
He said he was awaiting a response from Nato on the issue. It was not long in coming, our correspondent adds, with officials repeating their position that the alliance had no intention of intervening militarily in Syria.
The National Council's seat at the Arab League comes at a time of disarray within its top ranks.
Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib - seen as a respected and unifying figure in Syria - announced his resignation on Sunday, a move so far rejected by the coalition.
He said he had promised to resign if certain "red lines" were reached. Although he did not specify what those red lines were, he did accuse world powers of failing to adequately protect the Syrian people.
But analysts say Mr Khatib is also concerned by the influence of Islamists and foreign powers like Qatar in the opposition coalition.
And his resignation came days after Mr Hitto, a US-based Islamist, was elected by the opposition to be prime minister of an alternative administration that could govern rebel-held areas from inside Syria.
Mr Khatib considered the move premature, and observers say he may have feared the move would further distance the exiled opposition leadership from what is going on inside Syria.

In Syria, the Rebels Have Begun to Fight Among Themselves
By Rania Abouzeid / Tal Abyad/March 26, 2013
The day started like a regular Sunday for Mohammad al-Daher, better known as Abu Azzam, the commander of the rebel Farouq Brigades in the vast swathe of eastern Syria called the Jazira, a region that stretches from the Turkish border to the Iraqi frontier and encompasses the three provinces of Raqqa, Hasaka, and Deir Ezzor. He had a series of meetings in the morning in a number of locations in the bustling town of Tal Abyad on Syria’s border with Turkey as well as in the partially destroyed former police station that is the Farouq’s headquarters. And he was going to visit his mother.
By late-afternoon, however, the burly 34-year-old Raqqa native would be lying in a hospital bed – wounded by members of the ultraconservative Islamist group Jabhat al-Nusra (which the U.S considers a terrorist organization with links to Al-Qaeda). Abu Azzam’s targeting has blown open a sharp rift and long-brewing conflict between the more-secular nationwide Farouq brigades and the Jabhat. The two groups are among the most effective, best organized and most well-known of the many military outfits aligned against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad — and the fight between them is just beginning.
Farouq has the upper hand in Tal Abyad, which lies opposite the Turkish city of Akçakale. It snatched the border crossing from Assad’s forces on Sept. 19, 2012, much to the chagrin of a number of other rebel groups – both secular units under the loose banner of the Free Syrian Army, as well as Islamist groups operating independently. It’s not the only border post controlled by the Farouq. The gateway to Idlib province, Bab al-Hawa, near the Turkish city of Reyhanli, is also in their hands. The Jahbhat, on the other hand, were at the forefront of taking Raqqa City, further to the south, the first provincial capital tofall to any rebel force.
By mid-afternoon, Abu Azzam stopped in to see his mother, Em Mohammad, in her modest first-floor apartment a short walk from the Farouq base. The young man stooped to kiss her right hand, he put his forehead to it before kissing her cheeks and embracing her warmly. “Finally, I see you!” she told him, gently scolding her son as he sat beside her. “You know the last time I saw him he was like this,” Em Mohammad said, picking up Abu Azzam’s two cell phones, holding one to each ear and pretending to issue orders into them, interspersing the talk of weapons and requests for battle updates with “Hi mother, how are you, how is your health?” The half a dozen men in the room all laughed. “I’m sorry,” Abu Azzam told his mother, “but what can I do?”
Turkish coffee was served in delicate thin-handled china cups. On this day Abu Azzam wasn’t in his unit’s military uniform. He was dressed in indigo jeans, a dark green crew-neck sweater, a black leather jacket and navy boat shoes. He has a Salafi-style black beard (without a mustache) that he frequently tugs at, and a smile so broad and disarming that it seems like it takes up his whole face.
He reached for his pack of Winston Silver cigarettes, before turning to his mother, a feisty, friendly woman in a long black dress and powder blue headscarf whom he bore a striking resemblance to. “Just so you don’t hear it elsewhere, they planted an (improvised explosive) device in my car yesterday,” he told her. Em Mohammad put her hand up to her mouth. She had lost Abu Hussein, the second of her three sons, on Feb. 20 in the battles for Raqqa province. He was also a member of the Farouq, a father of two little girls, and now her eldest son was telling her he was targeted. “May God protect you,” she told him.
“Nobody dies before his time,” Abu Azzam said, repeating a common Arabic phrase. In a chilling premonition of what would happen just a few hours later, he said: “I know that I am going to be killed either by the regime or by the Jabhat. There is no difference, they are both dirty.”
The IED consisted of several sticks of TNT wired to the ignition of a BMW vehicle Abu Azzam often travels in. A neighbor alerted the Farouq leader to the presence of the device.
Seated on the floor, Abu Azzam rattled off a laundry list of towns and cities he said the Farouq helped clear of Assad’s forces. “What did they liberate?” he said of the Jabhat. “They are just here to try and impose their rules on us.” He held up his cigarette: “They threatened to label me a kafir (unbeliever or apostate) because of this,” he said. (Some ultraconservatives consider smoking a sin.)
Some of the men in the room who had just returned from Raqqa city, relayed details of the Jabhat’s smear campaign there against Abu Azzam and the Farouq. “They’re calling us Farouq sarouk,” one said (Sarouk roughly translated in this context means thief). “Some of them say that we are non-believers.”
It’s not the first time Abu Azzam has clashed with conservative Islamists. Before taking Tal Abyad, he was in charge of the Bab al-Hawa crossing hundreds of kilometers away. A Syrian Islamist extremist called Abu Mohamad al-Absi, who led a group of foreign jihadis who at one point controlled one of Bab al-Hawa’s two gates, wanted to raise the black banner over the border crossing, something Abu Azzam opposed. Absi was kidnapped and killed in September 2012, most likely by the Farouq although they haven’t admitted it. The Jihadis retaliated in early January, killing Abu Azzam’s successor at Bab al-Hawa, Abu Ali. In several meetings with TIME over the past year, Abu Azzam has repeatedly said that the Farouq will not allow Islamic extremists to “hijack” the revolution.
There was a knock at the door. A religious cleric with a long gray beard, in a flowing white galabiya (a loose, floor-length robe) and a vest over it, entered the house. Em Mohammad and most of the men in the room were asked to sit inanother room while Abu Azzam met the man. “Please wait with the chief of staff,” Abu Azzam said laughing, referring to his mother. Other men in the Farouq jokingly call Em Mohammad “Anissa,” after Bashar Assad’s mother Anissa, a woman who some say acts as her son’s key advisor, and is even the real power behind the regime. That Em Mohammad is respected among the Farouq for her warmth, savviness and strength is without question, and those qualities would soon come to the fore in the hours ahead.
The meeting was brief and the sheikh didn’t stay for lunch, which was placed on a black plastic sheet on the floor as is customary. Store-bought kebabs, grilled tomatoes and green peppers, as well as minted yoghurt were laid out. Flat Arabic bread was passed around. “This is the first thing I’ve eaten all day,” Abu Azzam said. It was almost 4.30pm.
The three men seated around him, Bandar, Ramadan and Badr, were all old friends from the central city of Homs who studied at the university there. The four men all lived together before the Syrian revolution. When the uprising became armed, Abu Azzam, a fourth-year Arabic literature student living in the city, joined the Farouq as did most of his friends.
The Farouq Brigades emerged from Homs and nearby Rastan just months into Syrianuprising, now two years old. In the period since, operating under the FSA umbrella, they have formed units across the country, from Daraa in the south near the Jordanian border to the northern region bordering Turkey. The brigades take the name Farouq from Omar bin al-Khatab, a companion of the Prophet Muhammad, political architect of the caliphate and, historically, the second Caliph.
The men recalled their university days with laughter. The mood was light. “I’ve lost so much weight in this revolution,” Bandar said laughing. “Do you remember how we used to cook in Homs?” Abu Azzam’s specialty was molokhia, green leaves that are carefully picked and turned into a viscous green soup served with chicken and plain rice.
Ramadan recounted an incident that had happened earlier in the day in Raqqa city that TIME also witnessed. He had stopped at a street-side coffee stall in his white pick-up truck which has a black flag bearing the Muslim Shahada (There is no god but God and Mohammad is his prophet) mounted on it. Three teenage girls walked past, two in hijabs, tight jeans and figure-hugging sweaters that extended to their thighs, the third in a black abaya. The third girl looked at the armed men in the truck and brazenly took off her abaya. Under it, she was dressed like her friends. “She must have thought we were Jabhat because of the flag and wanted to make a point!” Ramadan said, “so I turned up the music so she would know that we weren’t.” He continued proudly: “See, this is Raqqa, and the Jabhat thinks it’s going to control it?”
Lunch was cleared and the men said their goodbyes. Abu Mansour, Abu Azzam’s deputy who is also his cousin, walked into the room, bid his cousin farewell and told him he was going to check on his family just across the border in the Turkish town of Akçakale.
Abu Mansour walked the short distance home. His niece had just served steaming hot Turkish coffee but before Abu Mansour could take a sip, one of his two cellphones rang. “What! Where are you? I’m coming now!” he said into the phone before jumping up, shoving his local Alhamraa cigarettes and his phones into his leather jacket and rushing out the door. It was a little before 5pm and Abu Azzam had just been shot.
Minutes earlier, on the other side of the border, Abu Azzam had also received a phone call, from one of his men. The Jabhat had set up a random checkpoint at a spot dubbed “Liberation Roundabout” on the main road in Tal Abyad and were detaining Farouq fighters and trying to disarm them. A few days earlier, 11 Farouq men were picked up by the Jabhat in town.
Abu Azzam grabbed a BKC machine gun and ran out of the door to intercede on behalf of his men. According to Em Mohammad, he didn’t ask any of his men to come with him but two followed him anyway. He had just reached the roundabout and stepped out of his car when a member of the Jabhat reportedly tossed a hand grenade in his direction before others opened fire. The melee was over within minutes, and Abu Azzam, as well as several other wounded men, were being ferried by passers-by to the border crossing into Turkey, where Abu Mansour was waiting to rush his bloodied commander in a taxi to the local hospital in Akçakale.
The hospital foyer was crowded with unarmed Farouq fighters in plainclothes, as well as others. Em Mohammad paced up and down. She was carrying a blue garbage bag containing her son’s clothes. She held up his indigo jeans. They were bloodied and there was a tear above the right knee.
Abu Azzam was shot in the left side of his abdomen, both his hands were bandaged and he sufferd shrapnel wounds to both legs, as well as above his right eye. One of the Farouq men’s phone rang. “Don’t do anything until we get men and ammunition,” he told the caller. “Calm down! Calm the men down! Here, speak to Em Mohammad and do whatever she says.”
Em Mohammad took the phone. “Please, you are all my sons. This is not the time for rash decisions. We must be smart. Calm down. We are all angry. This has become personal but we don’t want unnecessary loss of life. Please calm the men down, I’m counting on you.”
Abu Azzam was wheeled into the nearby X-ray room. His mother leaned forward gently through the crowd to cover his naked shoulder with the pale mauve sheet. One of the two Farouq fighters was lying on a gurney in the emergency room. He looked to be about 20 years old and was dressed in military camouflage pants and an aqua t-shirt. He had a shrapnel wound to his left ankle, which was bandaged. Tears welled in his eyes. “They shot Abu Azzam!” he said, before asking one of his colleagues for water, a request denied on doctor’s orders. “Then let me go back out there and fight!” he said. “Let me fight them!” he said, crying.
A gurney with a pale mauve sheet covering a dead man was wheeled out of the emergency room into the foyer, and toward the elevator to be taken to the morgue. The crowd in the foyer gathered around it as the sheet was lifted to reveal the man’s face. he had shoulder-length hair, and also looked to be in his early 20s. Em Mohammad and members of the Farouq didn’t recognize him, but a short man with a closely-cropped graying beard did. The dead man was a member of Jabhat al-Nusra, the short man claimed, before offering the dead man’s name. Em Mohammad started crying. “He’s so young, may God rest his soul,” she said, a generous sentiment given that the man had apparently just tried to kill herson.
Soon after, another dead man was also wheeled out, also identified by the short man as a member of Jabhat al-Nusra. “They have eyes and ears everywhere,” Em Mohammad said, referring to the short man. There were other characters in the foyer, men who were identified to TIME as Turkish intelligence agents. By 6 p.m., four policemen were guarding the entrance of the hospital and using a hand-held metal detector to check everyone coming through the doors.
Abu Azzam was to be transferred to a bigger hospital in Sanliurfa some 53 kilometers away. He let out a cry of pain as he was wheeled into a waiting ambulance. A thin stream of fresh blood escaped from under the large bandage over his right eye. (As of Tuesday, the Farouq commander was still in hospital, under Turkish guard, in a stable condition.)
Later on Sunday night, Abu Azzam’s sister and other female relatives crossed into Turkey in the dark, along with their children. They were taken to Abu Mansour’s home. Two Farouq men sat outside the front door, guarding it although they were both unarmed. One, a man in a black and gray tracksuit, sat on the stairs. With deep sadness, he said that the day’s events had made him want to forget about the revolution. “If this is what it has come to – to us fighting each other – then I want to sit at home and support Bashar,” he said. His view was not shared by most of the Farouq who were itching for a fight.
By Monday, no fewer than five Farouq liwas (or brigades although the term doesn’t strictly correlate to a brigade in the modern military sense) were on their way to Tal Abyad from the provinces of Aleppo and Idlib. There have been clashes in Tal Abyad between the two groups although by Monday afternoon the border crossing was reopened.
Abu Mansour, Abu Azzam’s deputy, said the Jabhat approached him and requested that the matter between the two groups be resolved in a Sharia court. As a goodwill gesture, they released 11 Farouq fighters as well as 22 others they had picked up earlier. They were also forced to retreat out of the various positions they occupied in Tal Abyad to their main base in the town. “The problem is that they have forgotten that we are all fighting Bashar,” Abu Mansour said of the Jabhat. “They want an Islamic emirate. They say that they are Islamists and we are apostates, but we will not accept that they have any sway or authority over us or others. May God heal Abu Azzam, that is the main thing, but in every province now, we will fight them.”

No Mutlag-Hezbollah Deal on Maliki
Hamza Mustafa/Asharq Alawsat
Source close to Iraqi deputy PM denies Media reports
Baghdad, Asharq Al-Awsat—Sources close to Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Saleh Al-Mutlaq have denied that he has struck a deal with Hezbollah to support under-fire Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki, Asharq Al-Awsat has learned.
Mutlaq, who is head of the Iraqi Front for National Dialogue—which itself is part of the opposition Iraqiya bloc— attended a controversial cabinet session in Baghdad on Tuesday to discuss the protesters demands. This comes amidst media speculations that the Iraqi deputy prime minister had struck a deal with Maliki, under the auspices of allies Lebanon’s Hezbollah, to return to the cabinet and support the prime minister. The Iraqiya bloc, the Sadrists, and others, have frozen their membership in the Baghdad government in solidarity with the widespread popular protests that have erupted across Iraq.
A source close to Mutlaq, speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat on the condition of anonymity, denied these media claims, emphasizing that they are “unworthy of response.”
The source added: “We have become used to some news website publishing fabricated and commissioned news with political aims. The appearance of such fabricated news becomes more frequent, the closer we get to the elections.”
He asked: “Why would Mutlaq strike a deal with Hezbollah to unite with Maliki when he is his deputy and there has been no break between the two sides?”
The source emphasized: “Dr. Mutlaq is committed to meeting the demands of the people.”
He also stressed that Mutlaq’s attendance of the cabinet session “came in the context of the cabinet’s announcement of the special session to discuss the demonstrators’ demands.”
He added: “This also coincided with the demonstrator’s announcement of the formation of a negotiating delegation; therefore we have entered a new phase that requires that we move from promises to practical applications.”
The source also denied the reports that Iraqiya bloc spokesman, Haider Al-Mulla, had been fired. He confirmed that “This news is also part of the campaign of lies and disinformation and Mulla himself issued a statement supporting Mutlaq and the Iraqiya bloc ministers who attended the cabinet session.”
In this statement, Mulla has stressed that the Iraqi cabinet’s discussion of the protester’s demands represents a step in the right direction.
He said: “We have always said that the priority in the current phase must be the people, not the government, and that is why we backed and supported the demonstrations that put forward legitimate national demands seeking to lift the injustice that has beset the people of Iraq, most prominently regarding the issue of Iraqi female prisoners, as well as regarding education. They have raised these issues repeatedly, calling for the government to respond quickly to their demands and for the cabinet to hold a special session to put in place a timetable to meet the protesters demands.”
Iraqiya bloc MP Hamid al-Zubaie informed Asharq Al-Awsat that Mutlaq—along with some other Iraqiya bloc ministers—took the decision to break the government boycott and attend the cabinet session “in the hopes of achieving something tangible.”
However Zubaie also stressed that this decision by a handful of Iraqiya bloc ministers does not represent a change in the coalition’s official position towards the cabinet boycott. He stressed that while the Iraqiya bloc hopes that this special cabinet session will have a successful outcome, the political crisis in Iraq remains unresolved.
He emphasized that “the crisis of trust remains in place because of his [Maliki’s] failure to implement pledges and agreements, ever since the Erbil agreement.”
He added: “Mutlaq has continued to take action, and this does not represent a departure from the Iraqiya bloc, however at the same time this does not represent an agreement [with Maliki].”