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

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for May 07/13

Syria and Israeli Air Strikes
By: Tariq Alhomayed/Asharq Alawsat
Two messages can be read from the Israeli raids on Syria, which took place today and on Friday evening and were subsequently confirmed by American officials. The first is that Israel is unconcerned by Hassan Nasrallah’s threats, which were reissued in his speech last Thursday. The second is that Assad’s defense capabilities are not as significant as the Americans have portrayed.
This is not the first time an Israeli air strike has targeted a shipment of advanced missiles—nor will it be the last. The recent air strike on Syrian territory was justified in the same way as that which preceded it—when Israel targeted a shipment of weapons said to be on its way to Hezbollah. An official within the Ministry of Defense told CNN that Israel would do everything necessary to prevent the transfer of arms to “terrorist” organizations, that it had done so in the past and that it “will do so in the future, if forced.” This air raid serves as a message to Hezbollah that Israel is not bothered by Hassan Nasrallah’s threats, in which he has promised that Assad’s regional and global friends—i.e. Iran and Hezbollah—will not allow his government to fall. Similarly, Israel wants to show they are ready in the event that Hezbollah tries to act on Iran or Syria’s behest. Of course, this further complicates the crisis in Syria, but who said that it was not complicated in the first place? The situation as it stands is as follows: Assad has attacked locations along the Jordanian border, Hezbollah has taken part in the killing of Syrians, and Israel has hunted targets of its choosing within Syrian territory. Is there a possible scenario more complex than this? Furthermore, the second message surrounding the Israeli air raid was that should an imposition of a no-fly zone—or even military action by NATO or a coalition of the willing—be desirable, the Syrian government’s air defense systems are not as capable as the US had portrayed. Israeli aircraft fly in Lebanese and Syrian airspace as they wish, and Assad’s air defense systems are unresponsive. The regime is concerned with the bombing of Syrians, not confronting Israel. This second message is for the international community. Even if Israeli aircraft were outside of Syrian airspace when they delivered their payloads, as was announced, this means that the US and the international community have the ability to constrain Assad within hours. This is the opposite of what is currently being said about Assad’s defense systems. This is not an oversimplification. Rather, it is an attempt to reveal exaggerations about Assad’s Air Force capabilities. The Syrian regime is like a dead body waiting to be buried—this is what the Israeli air strikes demonstrated. The question, therefore, remains the same as it has been since the beginning of the revolution. What are the Americans and the international community waiting for in order to intervene? How long will it be until the groups that are not currently gathered in Syria—Al-Qaeda, Iran, Hezbollah, and Israel—do so?

Influential US senator offers bill to arm Syria rebels
By REUTERS 05/06/2013/WASHINGTON - US Senator Robert Menendez, the chairman of the influential Senate Foreign Relations Committee, introduced a bill on Monday that would provide weapons to some vetted groups of Syrian rebels. Menendez, a Democrat, was one of a few senators pushing the White House to provide for lethal aid to some of the rebels fighting the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad even before reports that chemical weapons had been used in the conflict. The bill would have to get through the committee and be approved by both the Senate and House of Representatives, and signed by US President Barack Obama before becoming law.

IDF on war alert. Iran-Syrian-Hizballah war of attrition threatened. US set to act on Syria
DEBKAfile Exclusive Analysis May 6, 2013/Israel’s two air force strikes on Syria in three days – the second targeting the emblems of Assad rule overlooking Damascus from Mt. Qassioun – appear to be part of a tactical plan put together by the US Israel, and two Sunni powers, Turkey and Qatar, to break up the Tehran-Damascus-Beirut radical bloc and eventually force Iran to give up its nuclear bomb aspirations.
This is how it will be interpreted by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Bashar Assad and Hassan Nasrallah as they prepare their responses for the Israeli attacks.
Without officially confirming those strikes ever took place, Israel insisted that its air force and rockets singled out the advanced Iranian weapons waiting in Syria for transfer to Hizballah - and Hizballah itself. This message was designed for a purpose: It was meant to support Washington’s argument to Moscow that Israel had not aimed its bombs and rockets against Assad and his army – only the Iranian and Hizballah military presence in Syria.
But it didn’t quite work that way, because no one in Damascus slept a wink early Sunday, May 5, as Israel rocket blasts shook the city in what was described as a 4 magnitude earthquake and inflicted heavy casualties – not on the Hizballah brigades fighting in Syria, but Syrian elite units stationed around Mt. Qassioun.
The columns of fire over Damascus flashing across world screens caused the Assad regime and army serious loss of face.
Syrian officials could do no less then broadcast dire threats of war, but may be poised to do more.
Monday, May 6, the Syrian ruler spelled out his next plan of action in a message posted to Moscow: A third Israeli strike would incur an instantaneous Syrian response, he warned. Damascus would let Palestinian organizations off the leash to mount attacks against Israel from the Syrian Golan.
What this presages, according to our military sources, is the launching of a cross-border war of attrition mounted from Syria and Lebanon by Syrian and Hizballah soldiers posing as Palestinian fighters.
That is if Israel continues its assaults on Syria.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Monday that Israel’s “acts of aggression against Syria will not go unanswered and Tel Aviv will receive a crushing response.”
Washington is meanwhile expected to follow up on the Israeli operation in Syria by the end of May, early June, with operations ranging from US arms supplies to the Syrian rebels to demolishing Syria’s air force facilities and missile sites by US air strikes from Turkey, Europe and Israel. Barak Obama used this tactic to overthrow Muammar Qaddafi in Libya two years ago.
The Obama administration made a point of getting these options into print in Monday’s media after saying in answer to a question about the Israeli air strikes: “Israel justifiably has to guard against advance weapons reaching Hizballah.”
debkafile’s military sources: Since the Syrian rebels are being systematically ground down and falling apart under the crushing weight of the Syrian army backed by Iranian and Hizballah troops and Moscow, feeding the rebels more weapons may no longer avail. So this would be the less probable of the two options.
And meanwhile, Israel’s military operation has altered the military equation for Syria. And so President Barack Obama will again try to proposition Vladimir Putin for a joint effort to end the Syrian war. He would not be averse even to Russian forces landing in Syria to enforce the termination of hostilities.
The US president got nowhere with his past bids to break up the Iranian-Syrian-Hizballah front - mainly because he was outmaneuvered by Russia.
On April 27, before Israel embarked on action against Syria, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov forged a new Russian alliance with Hizballah in Beirut. This was Putin’s answer to Obama’s direct appeal for a partnership in the effort to terminate the Syrian conflict.
Obama’s rejoinder was the green light he gave Israel to go for Iranian and Hizballah targets in Syria.
The claim by a “senior US intelligence official” that Israel did not apprise Washington before embarking on its Syrian operation does not hold water. The Netanyahu government might have embarked on a “justifiable” operation against advanced Iranian arms for Hizballah on its own, but would not have stuck its neck out to strike Syria’s elite troops on Mt. Qassioun without first clearing it with the Obama administration.
But the new direction now indicated may derail Washington’s plan for a superpower deal to bring the horrendous Syrian crisis to a close. The local players, Khamenei, Assad and Nasrallah, are getting ready to grab the wheel and push the US and Israel off the driving seat.
Assad warned Moscow Monday of his plan for a war of attrition against Israel, using Palestinian fighters as cutouts, while Iran, Syria and Hizballah turned their missile batteries around to face Israel.
Having taken the calculated risk that Syria would be too busy with its own war to embark on a major reprisal, Israel Sunday night placed the country’s northern borders and region, including the big port town of Haifa - and its early warning systems - on the highest level of war alert, closed its northern airspace to civilian traffic for a couple of days, stationed Iron Dome anti-missile batteries at vulnerable points, and advised local authorities to go on standby.
All the parties concerned, from Washington and Moscow, to Jerusalem, Tehran, Damascus and Beirut, were waiting Monday on tenterhooks to see who made the next move.

U.N., U.S. Say No Proof Chemical Weapons Used in Syria
Naharnet/U.N. investigators into rights abuses in Syria stressed Monday they had no conclusive proof that either side in the conflict has used chemical weapons, after a team member cited "concrete suspicions" that rebels have used sarin gas. "The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic wishes to clarify that it has not reached conclusive findings as to the use of chemical weapons in Syria by any parties to the conflict," the commission said in a statement. Meanwhile, the United States said it was "highly skeptical" of an assertion that Syrian rebels had used chemical weapons, after a U.N. human rights investigator suggested the opposition had deployed sarin gas. "We find it highly likely that any chemical weapon use that has taken place in Syria was done by the Assad regime. And that remains our position," said White House spokesman Jay Carney.
Late Sunday, Carla del Ponte, a former war crimes prosecutor and a member of the commission, told Swiss public broadcaster RSI that "according to the testimonies we have gathered, the rebels have used chemical weapons, making use of sarin gas." She acknowledged there was "still not irrefutable proof, (but) very strong suspicions, concrete suspicions that sarin gas has been used... by opponents, by rebels, not by government authorities."
Her comments come amid growing Western suspicions that Assad's regime has used chemical weapons in the 26-month conflict and follow Israeli raids on military sites near Damascus over the weekend. The commission of inquiry did not mention del Ponte's comments specifically, only stressing that it was "not in a position to further comment on the allegations at this time".
The commission's Brazilian chief Paulo Sergio Pinheiro reminded "all parties to the conflict that the use of chemical weapons is prohibited in all circumstances under customary international humanitarian law". Set up two years ago at the behest of the U.N. Human Rights Council, the commission has so far been unable to gain access to Syria as Damascus has ignored repeated requests for entry. Instead, it has interviewed over 1,500 refugees and exiles as a basis for its reports and its charges that both the government forces and their allies and opposition forces have committed war crimes in Syria, where more than 70,000 people have been killed since the violence exploded in March 2011. The commission is set to publish its next report on the situation in Syria at the end of May and will present its findings to the Human Rights Council during its next session in June.
Source/Agence France Presse.

Israel Raids on Syria Killed at Least 42 Soldiers
Naharnet/Israeli raids on Syrian targets at the weekend killed at least 42 soldiers, a watchdog said Monday, as U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon led calls for restraint to prevent the war spilling over borders. "At least 42 soldiers were killed in the strikes, and another 100 who would usually be at the targeted sites remain unaccounted for" after the Israeli strikes near Damascus, said Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The Britain-based watchdog group had earlier given a toll of at least 15 soldiers killed. "These three sites (targeted) would usually have around 150 soldiers in them, but it's not clear if they were all there at the time of the strikes."Sunday's pre-dawn Israeli raids were the Jewish state's second such attack on Syria in 48 hours. A senior Israeli source said the raids targeted Iranian weapons destined for Lebanon's Hizbullah.
Iran and Hizbullah are steadfast allies of Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime, and arch-foes of of Israel. The strikes came ahead of a visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's to China, another ally of Assad's regime. Ban, meanwhile, warned against any escalation of a conflict that has killed more than 70,000 people in Syria since it erupted in March 2011. "The secretary general calls on all sides to exercise maximum calm and restraint, and to act with a sense of responsibility to prevent an escalation of what is already a devastating and highly dangerous conflict," his spokesman Martin Nesirky said. "The secretary general urges respect for national sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries in the region, and adherence to all relevant Security Council resolutions." Ban spoke by telephone with Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi, whose 22-member bloc demanded U.N. Security Council intervention to stop such Israeli attacks. Egypt condemned the raids as a "violation" of international law, Britain warned of "increasing danger" to the Middle East, and France called for a political solution to the conflict. Russia, the Assad regime's most powerful ally, said it was "especially" concerned by the Israeli strikes, warning they threatened neighboring Lebanon.
China implicitly criticized the Israeli strikes as Netanyahu arrived in Shanghai, saying "we are opposed to the use of force and believe that the sovereignty of any country should be respected".
The Syrian regime's main regional ally Iran said the strikes would shorten Israel's existence, and denied the weapons targeted were from the Islamic republic. Damascus said in a letter to the Security Council that Israeli warplanes launched an "aggression," firing missiles against three army positions. A diplomatic source in Beirut told AFP the sites were the Jamraya military facility, a nearby weapons depot and an anti-aircraft unit in Sabura, west of the capital. The letter said claims Syria was transferring anything were "unfounded" and accused Israel of coordinating with "terrorist groups" -- the regime term for rebels fighting to oust Assad. Official Al-Ikhbariya television quoted unnamed sources as saying that "Syrian missiles are ready to strike specific targets in case of any (further) violations". Sunday's strike came about 48 hours after a reported Israeli raid on a weapons storage facility at Damascus airport. Residents of the Damascus district of Dumar said Sunday's strike felt "like an earthquake".Video footage appeared to show missiles lighting up clouds, blazing fires, and an explosion producing a massive orange fireball. Israel reportedly targeted the Jamraya facility earlier this year, in a January 30 raid its officials have implicitly acknowledged. Source/Agence France Presse.

Geagea Holds 'Positive' Meeting with Bassil and Ferzli on Electoral Law
Naharnet /Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Monday held talks at his headquarters in Maarab with caretaker Energy and Water Minister Jebran Bassil and former deputy speaker Elie al-Ferzli. LF MPs George Adwan and Elie Kairouz also attended the meeting, according to the National News Agency. "I visited Rabiyeh after my meeting in Maarab and what's important is to 'avoid the trap' of the 1960 law," Ferzli told Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3). MTV said the conferees were "very relieved because talks witnessed extreme positivity." It said the LF and the FPM discussed "all the information they have and agreed that the current period is critical at the Christian, Lebanese and regional levels and that the electoral law must be approached from this angle, not according to narrow calculations." "Each party voiced its opinion concerning proper Christian representation and they agreed to hold further meetings," MTV added. Meanwhile, LBCI television quoted sources informed about the meeting as saying that it reflects “serious intentions from the two parties, the LF and the FPM, in an attempt to push things forward towards an electoral law which will be approved in 10 days” during the plenary parliamentary session.
“Discussions are aimed at finding a common stance before May 15,” the sources added, noting that “the positive atmospheres can be attributed to the fact that all Christian parties are seeking equal power-sharing” between Christians and Muslims. “Equal power-sharing is nonnegotiable and this was reiterated in the Maarab meeting and until today it is represented in the Orthodox Gathering law in the absence of an alternative law,” the sources added. Ferzli, who has been tasked by Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun to discuss the issue of the electoral law with Geagea, said Sunday that the Orthodox Gathering proposal remains the best option if MPs failed to agree on a new vote plan. In remarks to Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3), Ferzli described his meeting with Geagea in Maarab on Saturday as “positive.”
The Orthodox Gathering is still the “number one proposal if there was a failure to agree on a new law before a parliamentary session” set by Speaker Nabih Berri for May 15, he said.
An Nahar daily said Sunday that Aoun asked Geagea to meet with Ferzli during a recent telephone call that the FPM chief made.
The FPM, the LF, the Phalange party and the Marada movement had announced the proposal as their choice for a new vote law. But last month, the rival Maronite leaders decided to suspend their proposal in a bid to give rival groups a chance to agree on an alternative law. They however declared the 1960 election law as “dead and buried” and pledged not to run for elections under it.
An Nahar quoted Geagea as saying that the LF and its ally in the March 14 coalition al-Mustaqbal bloc are working hard to reach consensus on a hybrid vote law that combines the winner-takes-all and proportional representation systems. Berri had first made the proposal, but the rival parties are making behind the scenes negotiations to introduce amendments to it.
They have until May 15 to reach consensus on a new law before Berri calls for a session to agree on a system that would govern this year's elections.

Report: Salam to Resign if Main Political Bloc Quits New Govt.
Naharnet /Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam stated that a government that lacks a “main component of the country” will lose its legitimacy, reported the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat Monday. Sources monitoring the government formation process told the daily that Salam will resign if a main bloc, such as the March 8 camp, quits the cabinet. They added that the camp should therefore adopt a more positive and flexible approach towards the premier-designate given that “he will not the violate the rules that he has set for himself regarding the formation of the cabinet.” Salam had proposed to the March 8 camp the formation of a cabinet in which the camp has seven ministers, the March 14 alliance eight, and centrists nine. Sources told al-Hayat that the role of the centrist bloc “should not be questioned” seeing as it will act a positive power in the government that will enforce its decisions. The March 8 camp rejected this proposal, prompting Salam to suggest a government formula where each bloc enjoys eight ministers. The camp again rejected this suggestion, demanding that it be granted veto power in cabinet seeing as it “enjoys 45 percent of lawmakers in parliament.”Salam has been adamant in his rejection of allowing any bloc to receive veto power in the new government, saying that such a cabinet cannot be productive.
In November 2006, Hizbullah and AMAL's six ministers resigned from government ahead of a scheduled session during which it was set to approve the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.
The months following their resignation were marked by March 8 camp protests demanding the resignation of the cabinet of then-Prime Minister Fouad Saniora.
They deemed the government as illegitimate following the resignation of a main component of the country, but Saniora however refused to resign. They also demanded that they be granted veto power in a new government.

Charbel Reveals Ibrahim Will Start Contact over Swap Deal, Considers Pilgrims Videotape 'Positive Initiative'
Naharnet/Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel received on Monday the names of 371 Syrian women detainees to be exchanged with the Lebanese pilgrims abducted in Aazaz, revealing that General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim will start his contacts with the Syrian side over the swap. "I have received from Ibrahim the list of the 371 Syrian women detainees and I have examined the names in it,” Charbel said in a released statement.
He noted: "Ibrahim will start his contacts with the Syrian side over swapping the women detainees for the Lebanese hostages in Aazaz.”Earlier on Monday, the caretaker Minister described the release of a video for the abducted Lebanese pilgrims as a “positive initiative” by the kidnappers. “We expect to receive the list of names of the Syrian women imprisoned by the regime within 48 hours,” Charbel said in comments published in the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat. He pointed out that General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim will contact Syrian authorities after the Interior Ministry receives the names of the detainees to negotiate their release, denying that Lebanese authorities was handed over the names. Charbel expressed hope that the case would end shortly. The men, who have been held hostage in Syria since May last year, appeared in a videotape over the weekend as their families warned that they "do not want to see any Turk" in Lebanon after May 22 should Turkey fail to secure the release of their loved ones. They said the video dated to April 30.
Earlier this week, the pan-Arab television al-Mayadeen reported that the abductors have demanded the release of 282 women detainees from Syrian prisons.
Eleven Lebanese pilgrims were kidnapped by armed rebels in Syria's Aleppo region as they were making their way back home by land from a pilgrimage to Iran on May 22.
Two of them have since been released, while the rest are still reportedly being held in the town of Aazaz. The families of the pilgrims have held Turkey and Qatar responsible for their ordeal, while accusing the Lebanese government of not exerting enough efforts to secure their release. They have held daily sit-ins to press for their demands to set the nine men free.
Asked if Lebanese authorities contacted the Syria regime concerning the matter, Charel said: “I think the regime would cooperate and we will face no problems.”
“We must be handed over the list of names,” Charbel added.

PM, designate Tammam Salam says ‘no need for blocking third’: source
May 06, 2013/ The Daily Star /BEIRUT: Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam believes there is no need for granting the March 8 coalition veto power in any new Cabinet, arguing that he can meet their concerns, a source close to Salam told The Daily Star Monday. Meanwhile, Christian political party sources in both the March 8 and March 14 coalitions told The Daily Star that a possible agreement over a Cabinet formula would be reached once there was a deal over a new electoral law. “There is no need for a blocking third ... Allowing any bloc to receive the veto power in the new government will result in an unproductive Cabinet,” the source quoted Salam as saying. “I will be the guarantor for the March 8 team. I will step down if any of their ministers feel they should resign if the Cabinet fails to take into consideration the March 8 concerns,” Salam said, according to the source.
The March 8 coalition has been calling for the blocking third in the next Cabinet. According to the source, Salam, who was nominated on April 6 to form the next Cabinet, will meet later this week with a March 8 delegation as part of consultations over the formation of the government. The source said Salam was adamant that he should fulfill his mission, adding that he would not back down from his efforts to form the new Cabinet.
“Salam will not step down, he will keep up negotiations with all groups,” the source said.
Salam also said that he was keen on forming a “Cabinet of national interest” that joins all groups together.
“A government that lacks a main component of the country will lose its legitimacy,” Salam was quoted as saying.
The source also said that Salam insisted on having a “centrist bloc” in his Cabinet. A report published in Al-Hayat newspaper Monday said Salam had proposed to March 8 officials a Cabinet made up of seven ministers from the Hezbollah-led coalition, eight ministers from the rival March 14 alliance and nine centrists.
However, March 8 reportedly rejected the offer and insisted it be granted veto power in the Cabinet given that it “enjoys 45 percent of [seats] in Parliament.”
Salam has been trying to bridge the gap between the country’s political rivals ever since his appointment following the resignation of now caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati in March.
Meanwhile, sources from Christian political parties in the March 8 and March 14 camps told The Daily Star said a three-way split of Cabinet seats between the different sides would be acceptable provided that an agreement over a new electoral law is reached.
However, the sources voiced pessimism over a possible agreement over a new electoral law and said a recent visit by Cardinal Beshara Rai’s envoy to Speaker Nabih Berri did not yield any positive results.
Last week, Rai dispatched a special emissary to Berri and MP Walid Jumblatt with a clear message demanding that the June parliamentary elections be held on time.
The sources expected a breakthrough in the Cabinet formation process prior to May 15. They added that if there was no deal on a new electoral law, Parliament was unlikely to be convened.
Meanwhile, Berri met with Jumblatt’s envoy, caretaker Social Affairs Minister Wael Abu Faour, for talks on the Cabinet formation as well as a new voting system for the upcoming elections. Abu Faour said that the meeting fell under “ongoing consultations and coordination” between Berri and the PSP to reach an agreement on both the elections law and the formation of a new government.
The minister said that there was progress concerning the Cabinet formation and a possible understanding looming on the horizon.
“This week might witness additional efforts and progress in the formation of a government that will win national understanding and consensus,” he said.
Separately, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea met Monday with caretaker Energy and Water Minister Gebran Bassil for talks over the elections law, a source from the LF told The Daily Star.
The two-hour meeting was attended by former Deputy Speaker Elie Ferzli, the creator of the Orthodox Gathering proposal, and LF lawmakers George Adwan and Elie Keyrouz, the source said.
“Those gathered exchanged views over the electoral law but there was no specific agreement between them,” said the source.

Robbers Make Off with $15,000 Worth of Candy in Akkar
Naharnet /Thieves robbed on Sunday night a van loaded with candies and sweets in the town of Zouk Halba in the northern region of Akkar, reported the National News Agency Monday. It said that the van was loaded with almost 15,000 dollars worth of sweets upon the robbery. It was later found on the side of a main highway in Akkar devoid of its products. Investigations are underway to uncover the assailants.

Jumblat Denounces Israeli Attack in Syria, Says it Complicates Conflict
Naharnet/Progressive Socialist Party chief MP Walid Jumblat condemned on Monday the Israeli attack against Syria, saying it further complicates the conflict in the neighboring country. “The attack offers the Syrian regime an excuse to accuse the opposition of collaborating with Israeli,” Jumblat told al-Anbaa. He pointed out that “whatever the stance was regarding the Syrian regime it doesn't justify the Israeli attack.”
Israeli raids on Sunday hit three military sites outside Damascus, the second such reported attack in 48 hours, reportedly targeting weapons bound for Hizbullah which is an ally of President Bashar Assad's regime.
The Syrian government warned that the regional situation was "more dangerous" following the raid as fears grew of a spillover of the conflict. The Jewish state has frequently warned it would act to stop the transfer of advanced weapons systems or chemical weapons to Hizbullah, with which it fought a devastating war in 2006. Jumblat lashed out at the international community of inaction in Damascus as it is “overlooking the daily massacres in Syria.”
He also slammed the international community for “magnifying the threats that would be carried out by the Takfiri groups to justify its why it's refraining from arming the opposition.”
Jumblat said that the regime is waging a “cleansing campaign across the country,”He reiterated calls on Druze in Syria to join the Free Syrian Army. More than 70,000 people have been killed since the violence exploded in March 2011, according to U.N. figures.

Patriarch Yazigi calls for release of Syrian archbishops
Now Lebanon/Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East Yuhanna X Yazigi expressed his wish that the two archbishops kidnapped in Syria last month would be released. “I wish that the two archbishops would return… safe and sound,” the National News Agency quoted Yazigi as saying on Monday during Easter Mass in the Mariamite Cathedral of Damascus. Yazigi’s bother, Archbishop Boulos Yazigi - head of the Greek Orthodox Church in Aleppo – along with Archbishop Yuhanna Ibrahim - head of the Syriac Orthodox Church in Aleppo - were kidnapped in a village in northern Syria on March 22. The abduction was denounced by regional and international political and religious figures, who all called on the kidnappers to release the Christian spiritual leaders.

Falling into Assad's trap
By: Orly Azoulay. Ynetnews/ 05.06.13/
Op-ed: Israel's military activities in Syria could easily turn into match that will ignite next war . Syria has officially announced that it sees the Israeli strike as a declaration of war. It's safe to assume that Assad, whose regime is becoming shakier with every day that goes by, will not rush to direct his missile launchers towards Israel. But the strike will definitely stabilize him in the eyes of his people. At times of an external crisis, the inclination of a nation – any nation – is to unite around its existing leader. When the Syrian nation hears from its leaders about the graveness of the danger approaching the country from the direction of Israel (which is setting warehouses on fire on its territory), even the rebels will take a break – and so the Israeli warplanes, which went on a mission beyond enemy lines, could be the ones connecting Assad to the governing breathing machine and allowing him to survive a bit more. Iran regularly transfers missiles and ammunition to Hezbollah, and the smuggling route crosses Syria's territory. Why did the Israeli government decide now of all times to attack the weapons, which according to foreign reports are not the most dangerous arms to be transferred over the years from Iran to Hezbollah? Just like it marked targets in Gaza in the past, it appears that Israel is now marking them in Syria: Targeted killings around Damascus. Yet the difference is that Hamas in Gaza doesn't have an organized army, while Assad has thousands of missiles directed at Tel Aviv. In the current situation, Assad doesn't have much to lose as his regime is unstable. A threatened leader usually acts out of madness rather than out of reason, and so Israel's military activities in Syria could easily turn into the match that will ignite the next war, even if that was not our intention. Within several days we could find ourselves inside mud which we didn’t plan and have been avoiding throughout the revolutions rising in the countries surrounding us. With such an explosive situation in Syria, there is no wonder that the United States, as well as the rest of the countries of the free world, have decided to sit idly by and not to intervene for the time being, to sit and to plan a much more reasonable operation.

Canada Condemns Church Bombing in Tanzania
May 6, 2013 - Andrew Bennett, Canada’s Ambassador for Religious Freedom, today issued the following statement:
“Canada strongly condemns the cowardly attack on the newly inaugurated Saint Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church in the northern Tanzanian town of Arusha, which killed at least two persons and injured more than 50 others.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. “Tanzania is one of Canada’s key partners in Africa. Tanzania is renowned for its religious tolerance. It is a country where Christians and Muslims, the country’s two most prevalent religious groups, generally live side by side in peace and harmony. This tragedy is a reminder that all countries must be vigilant against those who would seek to undermine religious freedom.
“Canada urges the Tanzanian authorities to launch a full investigation into the attack and to bring the perpetrators of the attack to justice.”

Silencing Speech on Islam
by Andrew E. Harrod/American Thinker
May 4, 2013
http://www.meforum.org/3498/silencing-speech-on-islam
Bavaria's Interior Ministry announced April 12, 2013, that the provincial Office of Constitutional Protection (Verfassungsschutz) will monitor local chapters of the website Politically Incorrect (PI) and the small conservative Freedom Party (Die Freiheit). As reported in the media, Bavaria is the first province in Germany to take this step, an important German milestone in ostracizing criticism and/or condemnation of Islam.
As the ministry website explains, the Federal Republic of Germany is a "militant democracy [wehrhafteDemokratie]." The Verfassungsschutz hereby functions as an "early warning system" against threats to a free society. Verfassungsschutz offices at the federal and provincial levels "observe anti-constitutional efforts" (including with secret surveillance) across the political spectrum and report to authorities and the public.
The press release announcing the decision stated that a "hostility to Islam had developed outside of rightwing extremism that was significant for theVerfassungsschutz." The press release thereby focused on the provincial chapter of Die Freiheit that "consisted, among others, of the hardcore of the local Munich PI group." The "central leadership person" here was Michael Stürzenberger, the spokesman of the PI group and provincial Die Freiheitchairman since early 2012.The objective of these groups, Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann accused, was "to stoke general fears of Muslims and to defame them on the basis of their faith as enemies of a society of law. Freedom of religion, human dignity, and the principle of equal treatment as core elements of our underlying free democratic order are thereby harmed."
The press release further criticized a referendum campaign initiated by these groups in late 2012 opposed toa Center for Islam in Europe-Munich (Zentrumfür Islam in Europa-München or ZIE-M). Stürzenberger and his associates have opposed ZIE-M's building because of, among other reasons, the questionable views and background of its proponent, the imam Benjamin Idriz, a man who himself has previously appeared in BavarianVerfassungschutz reports. The press release condemned this campaign as a "platform for generalizing Islam-hostile propaganda."
In his press release speech, though, Herrmann "distinguished" such propaganda "from criticism of Islam" such as the "referendum against the ZIE-M" that is "in principle... within... the fundamental right of free expression." Herrmann argued that "rightwing extremists" exploit the fact that "other elements of the population critically deal with Islam, for example with respect to" gender equality. Hermann's speech and the press release itself, meanwhile, noted that the "threat to Germany due to international Islamist terrorism remains unvaryingly high." Accordingly, Herrmann and the press release both stated that Verfassungsschutz monitoring did not apply to those "who support the referendum with their signature."
The Bavarian action fulfills a wish often expressed in the past by various German media outlets, Stürzenberger's mutual enemy Idriz, and Sebastian Edathy, Social Democratic (SPD) chairman of the German parliament's interior committee. Yet analysis of PI and Die Freiheit, widely seen as a German version of Geert Wilders' Dutch Freedom Party (Partijvoor de Vrijheidor PVV), does not reveal anti-constitutional sentiment. Regular PI readers know that this popular (over 100,000 visitors on one record day) conservative German website criticizes Islam's aggressive and authoritarian aspects in a manner very similar to Robert Spencer's American Jihadwatch website. Indeed, Spencer cooperates with PI's Stefan Herre in Stop the Islamization of Nations (SION) and has participated in an August 4, 2012, international "counterjihad" conference in Stockholm with Stürzenberger. Other conservative outlooks such as support for American and Israeli national security measures round out PI's issue portfolio.
Given Herrmann's own references to Germany's Islamist threats and to elements that "critically deal with Islam," it is not apparent why PI and Die Freiheit deserve Verfassungschutz attention. Like Wilders, Stürzenberger in response to the monitoring has written that PI's "educational work does not direct itself against Muslims, but rather against the political ideology of Islam. Muslims are its first victim, above all women. We want to free them."
Verfassungsschutz monitoring alone entails no legal penalties, yet as Germany's supreme court already ruled in 2005, such a listing is a state "intervention-like measure" with "indirect effects." This listing has a "disadvantageous" effect upon a media's "action possibilities" in terms of advertisers, writers, and readers. Contrary to the Bavarian case, the 2005 decision demanded that anti-constitutional sentiments be "sufficiently weighty" to justify a Verfassungsschutz naming.
Analysis of the present case indicates a related concern raised by the 2005 decision. Inappropriate Verfassungsschutz statement compiling does not allow for proper public distinguishing between entities like PI merely under monitoring and others already designated "extremist." Thus the high court demanded that any such listing "differentiate clearly" between the two. Yet Munich's national daily, the Süddeutsche Zeitung, cavalierly referred to PI as "extremist" and "hostile to the constitution."
"There are days on which a country falls over," a German lawyer summarized in an email his dispirited view of the PI case. "It is then still difficult to speak of rule of law. Today is such a day. Bavaria pursues people as rightwing extremists and constitutional enemies merely because they speak the truth about Islam.... The world should know." Advocates of open debate concerning Islam or any other matter, both within and without Germany, should heed this lawyer's concern. After all, a threat to free speech anywhere, is a threat to free speech everywhere.
This article was sponsored by The Legal Project, an activity of the Middle East Forum.