LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
May 08/2013

Bible Quotation for today/Live As God Called You

01 Corinthians 07/17-24: " Each of you should go on living according to the Lord's gift to you, and as you were when God called you. This is the rule I teach in all the churches. If a circumcised man has accepted God's call, he should not try to remove the marks of circumcision; if an uncircumcised man has accepted God's call, he should not get circumcised. For whether or not a man is circumcised means nothing; what matters is to obey God's commandments. Each of you should remain as you were when you accepted God's call. Were you a slave when God called you? Well, never mind; but if you have a chance to become free, use it. For a slave who has been called by the Lord is the Lord's free person; in the same way a free person who has been called by Christ is his slave. God bought you for a price; so do not become slaves of people. My friends, each of you should remain in fellowship with God in the same condition that you were when you were called.

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Are You With Israel or Syria?
By: Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Alawsat
http://www.aawsat.net/2013/05/article55300921
There is no need to support either. When Israel attacks the Syrian regime, it is defending its security and its interests. We are willing to accept that Assad’s forces and their storage facilities have been attacked, since this helps disarm the regim and accelerate its collapse. Only Iran’s supporters condemned the attack. They did so out of fear for Tehran’s allies, including Hezbollah and Assad—not because of their hostility towards Israel.
Two years of massacres against unarmed Syrians has unveiled the greatest lie in the history of the country—the lie of resistance and opposition. The Syrian regime has never truly been against Israel, nor has it really defended Palestine: that was pure propaganda. Only a few knew this truth, while we were seduced by the lie. Hezbollah and its operations against Israel have no interest in protecting Lebanon or defending Palestine. It is merely an Iranian brigade that was founded more than 30 years ago in order to secure the interests of the ayatollah in Tehran. Over the years, Iran and the Assad clan, have sought to hijack the Palestinian cause in order to dominate Syria, occupy Lebanon and serve Iranian interests. Other groups and their leaders also did this—leaders like Abu Nidal, the founder of Fatah, and Ahmad Jibril of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine–General Command, as well as assorted other figures claiming resistance against Israel. All of them aimed to confront and assassinate the Palestinian Liberation Organization’s leadership under the late president, Yasser Arafat.
Both Mohammed Mursi’s Egyptian government and Iran have essentially supported Assad by denouncing the Israeli air strikes. The stance of Mursi’s cabinet—which is biased towards Iran, and thus in turn biased towards Assad—would have been excused if it had played an effective role in supporting the Free Syrian Army. So far, however, its public stance has been with Iran and Russia, which explicitly support Assad.
Mursi’s cabinet joined Moscow and Tehran in calling for what it referred to as a “political solution” to the Syrian crisis, and for national reconciliation between Assad’s regime and the opposition. This is not only a shameful stance but also impossible to achieve, considering the two years of slaughter and destruction carried out by Assad’s forces and his Shabiha (thugs).
Despite Egyptian and Iranian condemnation, it is certain that the Syrian people were happy that Assad’s warehouses and forces were shelled—regardless of Israel’s reasoning. The Syrians will be even happier if Turkey responds to the violations of its sovereignty and attacks the forces instead of merely issuing condemnations and statements. Syrians are fed up with statements, which in fact anger them a lot more than they grant them hope. And they are not concerned about regional political calculations regarding who shells Assad, whether they are Israelis, Westerners or Arabs. What matters the most for them is that this war machine—publicly supported by the Russians, the Iranians and Hezbollah—be destroyed.

Assad Meets Salehi, Says Syria 'Capable of Confronting Israeli Adventures'
Naharnet/Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi held talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad on Tuesday and said it was time to dissuade Israel from carrying out attacks such as its air strikes on Syria over the past week. "The time has come to dissuade the Israeli occupier from carrying out such aggression against the peoples of the region," he said, quoted by Syrian television after his arrival in Damascus on a previously unannounced visit.
"Iran stands at the side of Syria in the face of Israeli aggression, whose aim is to damage the security of the region and weaken the axis of resistance," said Salehi, whose country is a close ally of Damascus. The visit follows Israeli raids on Friday and Sunday against military targets near Damascus, including sites which Israeli sources said held arms from Iran bound for its Hizbullah allies in Lebanon, a claim denied by Tehran. Assad, also quoted on state television, said the Israeli attacks were clear proof of "the implication of Israel and regional and Western countries" in the armed revolt in Syria. "The Syrian people and their valiant army are capable of confronting the Israeli adventures, which are one of the faces of terrorism targeting Syria everyday," Assad added. And at a joint press conference with Salehi, his Syrian counterpart Walid Muallem said: "We have now been at war for two years. We are not afraid and we will not remain silent in the face of aggression."In the Jordanian capital earlier on Tuesday, Iran's top diplomat called for dialogue between the Syrian regime and "peaceful" opposition groups, warning that the impact of the conflict would affect the entire region. Iran has condemned the Israeli strikes and said it is ready to train the Syrian army, which is in its third year of a conflict against rebels seeking to overthrow Assad.

UN slams detention of peacekeepers in Syria, urges release
By REUTERS 05/07/2013/ UNITED NATIONS - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon strongly condemned on Tuesday the detention of four UN peacekeepers monitoring the ceasefire line between Syria and the Golan Heights and called for their immediate release, his spokesman said. "The Secretary-General calls on all parties to respect UNDOF's (the UN Disengagement Observer Force) freedom of movement and safety and security," Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky told reporters.Syrian rebel group, the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade, said earlier on Tuesday they were holding the four Filipino peacekeepers after clashes in the area had put them in danger.
The Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade made the announcement in a statement on its Facebook page, accompanied by a picture of four peacekeepers wearing light-blue UN flak jackets marked "Philippines."
At the United Nations, a spokeswoman said four peacekeepers had been detained as they patrolled close to an area where 21 Filipino observers were detained for three days in March.
Spokeswoman Josephine Guerrero said they were taken at Position 86, near the southern end of the narrow "area of separation" between Syrian and Israeli forces.
The Yarmouk Martyrs rebels said they "carried out an operation to secure and protect elements of the United Nations operating in the Yarmouk Valley ... during clashes and heavy shelling in the region".
They said the heavy presence of Assad's forces posed a danger to the peacekeepers, as well as "criminal elements" in the area.

US to arm Syrian rebels: Putin’s rebuke, Chinese “peace plan” mar Netanyahu’s Chinese trip
DEBKAfile Special Report May 7, 2013/Negative diplomatic ricochets are pursuing Israel in the aftermath of its air force attacks on Syria. In the first place, they are seen to have had no effect on Hizballah’s successful military intervention on the side of the Assad regime or the Syrian war at large. In the second, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, while in Shanghai, was given a sharp dressing-down by President Vladimir Putin Monday, May 6, a warning that Russia would not tolerate further Israeli attacks on Damascus and would respond. Putin did not say how, but he did announce he had ordered the acceleration of highly advanced Russian weapons supplies to Syria. debkafile’s military sources disclose that the Russian leader was referring to S-300 anti-air systems and the nuclear-capable 9K720 Iskander (NATO named SS-26 Stone) surface missiles, which are precise enough to hit a target within a 5-7 meter radius at a distance of 280 kilometers. In his phone call to Netanyahu, the Russian leader made no bones about his determination not to permit the US, Israel or any other regional force (e.g. Turkey and Qatar) overthrow President Bashar Assad. He advised the prime minister to make sure to keep this in mind. Our sources add: Since Syrian air defense teams have already trained in Russia on the handling of the S-300 interceptor batteries, they can go into service as soon as they are landed by one of Russia’s daily airlifts to Syria. Russian air defense officials will supervise their deployment and prepare them for operation.
Moscow is retaliating not just for Israel’s air operations against Syria but in anticipation of the Obama administration’s impending decision to send the first US arms shipments to the Syrian rebels.
Intelligence agencies in Moscow and the Middle East take it for granted that by the time Washington goes public on this decision, some of the Syrian rebel factions will already be armed with American weapons.
That the measure was in the works was signified by the introduction Monday by Bob Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, of legislation allowing the US to provide arms and military training to the Syrian rebels, US military instructors have been working with Syrian rebels at training camps in Jordan and Turkey for some months. So putting the arms in their hands only awaited a decision in Washington.
Putin’s message to Netanyahu was intended to reach a wider audience than Jerusalem, such as Barack Obama in Washington and President Xi Jinping in Beijing ahead of Netanyahu’s talks there Tuesday.
Therefore, when US Secretary of State John Kerry landed in Moscow that day, in an attempt “bridge the divide” between their governments on the Syria conflict, he was preceded by a barrage of Russian condemnation of the Israeli air strikes in Damascus “as a threat to regional stability,” a stiff warning from the Russian foreign ministry to the “West” to stop “politicizing the issue of chemical weapons in Syria,” and Moscow’s “concern that world public opinion was being prepared for possible foreign military intervention.”
In other words, the Russian leader rejected in advance and with both hands any attempt by the US to use the Israeli air strikes as leverage for a deal with Moscow for ending the Syrian war. US weapons supplies to the rebels would furthermore be matched by stepped-up arms supplies to the Assad regime, which Putin is totally committed to preserving. Kerry planned back-to-back meetings Tuesday with Russian officials focusing mainly on Syria but also covering the Russian angle on the Boston bombings, and hoped-for cooperation on the Iranian and North Korean nuclear issues. The Chinese government’s cold shoulder to Israel was exhibited less directly that Moscow’s but no less firmly. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas was invited to visit Beijing and meet President Xi two days before the prime arrived in the Chinese capital Tuesday to begin the official part of his visit. The Chinese president unveiled his peace plan before meeting the Israeli prime minister. This plan emphasizes, as the key to a settlement, the Palestinian right to a state on the basis of 1967 borders with east Jerusalem as its capital. It also adopts Abbas’s preconditions for talks, including a stop to settlement activities, an end of the Gaza blockade and “proper handling” of the Palestinian prisoners issue.
Clearly, Prime Minister Netanyahu would have been wiser to postpone his Chinese visit instead of taking off while Israeli air force blasts will still reverberating in Damascus. By staying at home, he would have displayed a firmer and steadier hand at the helm. And after taking off, he would have done well not to linger for two days in Shanghai first. This gave the Russian leader the chance to catch him wrong-footed and administer a strong, publicized rebuke, so bearing down on the agenda of Netanyahu’s forthcoming talks with Chinese leaders.

Report: Assad says Syria army capable of confronting Israel
By JPOST.COM STAFF, REUTERS 05/07/2013/According to Lebanese media, Syrian president describes alleged Israeli airstrikes on his country as "an act of terrorism" that his army is able to confront, during a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Salehi in Damascus. The Syrian army is capable of confronting Israel, Syrian President Bashar Assad said Tuesday in a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi in Damascus, according to Lebanese newspaper The Daily Star. Assad was responding to alleged Israeli airstrikes on Syria over the weekend, targeting what Israeli officials have said were Iranian missiles intended for Lebanese Shi'ite Hezbollah militants.
Related: •'Syria to permit Palestinians to attack Israel'•Iran warns of regional chaos in post-Assad eraAssad also reportedly described the strikes as an act of terrorism aimed at Syria.
"The Syrian people and its army who have made important achievements by fighting terrorist and Takfiri groups are capable of confronting Israel's ventures that represent one of the many faces of terrorism targeting Syria today,” The Daily Star quoted Assad as saying, citing a Syria state TV report. "The Israeli aggression on Syria reveals the extent of Israel and other regional and Western states' involvement in ongoing events in Syria," Assad was quoted as saying. Ahead of the meeting, Salehi told reporters in Jordan that there would be unforeseeable consequences if Assad was toppled and only a political settlement to Syria's civil war would avoid a regional conflagration. "God forbid, if there is any vacuum in Syria, these negative consequences will affect all countries ... No one knows what will happen," he warned.

Obama defends approach to probing Syria WMDs use
By REUTERS 05/07/2013/ WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama on Tuesday defended his deliberate approach to determining whether Syria used chemical weapons and pointed to the fates of Osama bin Laden and Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi as evidence that "we typically follow through on our commitments."Obama has drawn some fire for going it slow on Syria amid large casualties there in the country's two-year civil war. At a news conference with visiting South Korean President Park Geun-hye, however, he pushed back against the criticism.Obama said he has to make decisions based on hard-headed analysis, not on "a hope and a prayer," and that he cannot make a decision or organize international coalitions on the basis of simply "perceived" evidence of Syrian transgressions. The United States is currently investigating charges that Syria used chemical weapons and is seeking more evidence to support the allegations. The United States has said it has "varying degrees of confidence" that chemical weapons have been used by Syria's government on its people, which violates a "red line" that Obama had established against such action. Obama said he wanted to make sure the United States is proceeding deliberately and pointed out times during his presidency when he said he was going to act on an issue, and "I got it done."He cited the late bin Laden, killed by US special forces two years ago, and Gaddafi, driven from power by a US-backed rebellion and later killed in 2011.
"Whether it's bin Laden or Gaddafi, if we say we're taking a position, I would think at this point the international community has a pretty good sense that we typically follow through on our commitments," he said.

Tension in Tyre after Berri, Sadr posters torn down
May 07, 2013/The Daily Star /SIDON, Lebanon: Tension ran high in the southern port city of Tyre Friday after large posters of Speaker Nabih Berri and missing Shiite Imam Musa Sadr were torn down.
Security sources told The Daily Star that unknown individuals took down two huge posters of Berri and Sadr in the town of Jwayya, near Tyre. They said police have

Parties resume talks to end electoral law deadlock
May 07, 2013/The Daily Star /BEIRUT: The Easter holiday weekend which was rattled by dramatic developments in neighboring Syria gave way Tuesday to a number of meetings spearheaded by Bkirki between Maronite figures and their allies over a new electoral law for the upcoming elections. Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri discussed Tuesday with Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea recent developments with regard to a new electoral law for the upcoming elections. According to Geagea’s office, Hariri and the LF leader had a long phone conversation about the latest developments regarding the electoral law and “agreed to remain in contact to reach a joint and final vision on the subject.”Talks between the two come amid increased activity by Maronite Christian figures backed by Bkirki to resolve the deadlock over a new electoral law for this year's polls which risk being postponed given the lack of agreement among rival groups. Geagea also spoke with MP Michel Aoun, his long-time rival, over the weekend, two days before he held a meeting with caretaker Energy Minister Gebran Bassil, a member of Aoun’s ministerial bloc. The meeting was attended by Deputy Speaker Elie Ferzli, the creator of the Orthodox Gathering proposal, and LF lawmakers George Adwan and Elie Keyrouz.
Ferzli said Tuesday that further talks are expected between the Christian political figures, hinting at the possibility of a meeting between Geagea and Aoun.
Bkirki, the seat of the Maronite patriarchate, has also dispatched Bishop Bulos Matar who began a series of meetings with officials including Speaker Nabih Berri, MP Walid Jumblatt and head of the Future parliamentary bloc MP Fouad Siniora. Matar relayed Maronite Cardinal Beshara Rai’s message that the June elections must be held on time under a fair law that guarantees Christian representation.
The bishop met Tuesday with caretaker Social Affairs Minister Wael Abu Faour, a member of Jumblatt’s ministerial bloc. The two agreed that postponing elections would plunge Lebanon into the abyss. “There is an opinion that we both agree on, between us and the patriarch, which is that delaying this national, constitutional item has its own repercussions,” Abu Faour told reporters after meeting the Maronite bishop.
“If we enter [a phase of paralysis] by delaying the elections, that means Lebanon would be plunged into the abyss and in a very dangerous cycle which would mean a disruption of constitutional and political life,” he added.
He also said that he hybrid law which was proposed by Speaker Nabih Berri was the only viable electoral option.
"What is needed from some parties is to take a step back in order to reach a fair districting mechanism in the hybrid law,” he added.
Under the patronage of Rai, rival Maronite figures have held several meetings and agreed on adopting the Orthodox Gathering law to replace the 1960 law which was amended and used in the 2009 polls.
The Orthodox law, however, is opposed by the Future Movement, Jumblatt, President Michel Sleiman and a number of independent Christian figures.
MPs have failed to agree on a new law, even a hybrid law that would combine proportionality with a winner-takes-all system, raising the possibility of a delay and in turn an extension to Parliament’s term

Future bloc deplores Israel's "aggression" on Syria
May 07, 2013/The Daily Star /BEIRUT: The Future Movement parliamentary bloc condemned Israel’s “aggression” against Syria Tuesday and said the regime is incapable of responding to the attack because its army is engaged in the ongoing civil war against its own people.
“The bloc deplores and condemns the Israeli aggression on areas in Syria whatever the reasons may be,” MP Ammar Houri said, reading the bloc’s weekly statement.
“This aggression on Arab land is rejected outright and should be condemned by all Arabs and countries committed to abiding by international laws,” he added.
Israel carried out a series of attacks in Syria last week, targeting what President Bashar Assad’s government said on Sunday was a military center near Damascus.
The Future bloc also asked that the Arab League convene an urgent session to address the issue and for an immediate response by the U.N. Security Council “to deter Israel and put an end to its aggression and repeated violations.”
“The criminal regime in Syria is using its military arsenal, which was paid for by the Syrian people to face Israeli dangers, against its own people,” it added.
The bloc called on Hezbollah to withdraw its fighters from Syria and put an end to its military interference and “participation in crimes” as it held the party and Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah responsible “for the losses and repercussions of such interference inflicted on Lebanon and the Lebanese.”The Future bloc, headed by MP Fouad Siniora, also commented on Israel’s repeated violation of Lebanon's sovereignty, describing it a blatant violation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701. "It's necessary to put an end to [Israel's] practices that are serving to destroy all agreements and charters."
Meanwhile, MP Michel Aoun also condemned the aerial strike and described it as a “declaration of war.” "Israel's aggression on Syria is a declaration of war especially because it broke the 40-year-old truce between the two countries," Aoun told reporters following his bloc's weekly meeting. Aoun, head of the Change and Reform parliamentary bloc, also said that Washington's support of Israel's strike on Syria was "shameful."

Israeli strikes served to boost rebels' morale: Hezbollah
May 07, 2013/The Daily Star /BEIRUT: Boosting the morale of Syrian rebels seeking to topple President Bashar Assad was the aim behind recent Israeli areal strikes on targets in Syria, Hezbollah’s number two said Tuesday.
“An aggression by Israel against Syria has taken place which means that Syria represents an obstacle in the face of Israel. But Syria is unwavering in the face of [Israel],” Sheikh Naim Qassem, Hezbollah’s deputy secretary-general, said during a ceremony. “The bombing was an attempt to give terrorists and Takfiris who are fighting to destroy Syria from the inside a morale booster,” he added. The Israeli strikes, Qassem said, fit with the “Takfiri vision” that he said was destructive to Syria and backed by “conspirators” against the Damascus regime.
Hezbollah has described the demands of Syrian protesters as righteous but maintains that the violent events in Lebanon’s neighbor are part of a global conspiracy to bring down Assad’s government. Qassem said Syria was under attack by regional and international states in order to serve a blow to the Palestinian, Lebanese, Iraqi, and Iranian resistance groups.
He added that the conspiracy also aimed at relieving Israel from a backer of resistance groups and modifying the map of the “new Middle East” via Syria. He also warned Gulf countries that change would come to them as well. "If Gulf countries think they are in isolation of such a change, they are delusional," he said. He reiterated that the only viable solution to end the crisis in Syria was through national dialogue in the absence of foreign interference. “In any case, doesn't it catch your attention that Syria withstood for two years and three months against this international and regional war against it? Doesn't this demonstrate that the people [support] their regime and want Syria to remain at a distance from interference and foreign influence?” he asked. He also criticized what he said where the backers of the Takfiris in Syria, stressing the need to “confront this conspiracy by concerted efforts and available resources.” "Whoever is keen on [the lives of] Syria’s people should not be supporting car bombings, beheadings, or attacks on religious shrines,” the Hezbollah official said.
"What are those who support the Takfiris saying? What are they saying about the use of chemical weapons that's been proven [to have been used] at the international level?” he asked.

Bishop Matar Meets Suleiman, Saniora, Abu Faour over Vote Row
Naharnet /Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi, who is currently abroad, dispatched on Tuesday Beirut Bishop Boulos Matar to President Michel Suleiman, al-Mustaqbal bloc leader Fouad Saniora and caretaker Minister Wael Abou Faour as part of efforts to resolve the elections crisis. “We discussed the elections and the electoral law that we are looking forward to in Lebanon,” the bishop said after meeting Saniora. A presidential statement said Matar briefed Suleiman on his latest meetings with several officials on the electoral law. It did not elaborate. The bishop met later Abou Faour, who is a member of Walid Jumblat's Progressive Socialist Party. MP Akram Shehayyeb attended the meeting. Matar met on Friday with Speaker Nabih Berri and Progressive Socialist Party chief MP Walid Jumblat. He said following his separate talks with Berri and Jumblat that the discussions focused on the need to hold the polls on time through an electoral law that is fair to everyone. Lebanon's rival March 8 and March 14 alliances have so far failed to agree on a new law that would govern the elections.
Speaker Nabih Berri has set a May 15 parliamentary session that would have the so-called Orthodox Gathering proposal on its agenda for being the only plan that was approved by the joint parliamentary committees unless an agreement is reached on an alternative plan before that date. But several blocs and independent MPs are likely to challenge it even if it was adopted by parliament, which will bring the country back to the 1960 law that was used in the 2009 polls. That law considers the qada an electoral district and is based on the winner-takes-all system. But most parties have rejected it despite their failure to reach consensus on a new plan.

Al-Rahi Welcomes Geagea-Bassil Meeting, Says Bkirki Planning Maronite Leaders Summit
Naharnet /Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi has welcomed a meeting held between Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea and caretaker Energy Minister Jebran Bassil on the electoral law. Al-Rahi, who is currently visiting Brazil, told a delegation from Lebanese Christian parties in Sao Paulo that “Bkirki is at an equal distance from everyone” and that he is “in daily contact with the Christian parties.”The patriarch also described the meetings held between the parties as “good.” He revealed that Bkirki is planning to hold a meeting of Maronite leaders soon. Sources close to the Maronite church seat, told Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) that the meeting will be held within days before the patriarch's return to Beirut. Al-Rahi reiterated the importance of agreeing on a fair electoral law that appeases all sides and for holding the polls on time. Monday's meeting between the arch foes Geagea and Bassil, who is a high-ranking Free Patriotic Movement official, was attended by former deputy speaker Elie al-Ferzli and LF MPs George Adwan and Elie Kairouz, said the state-run National News Agency. Ferzli, who has been tasked by FPM leader Michel Aoun to discuss the issue of the electoral law with Geagea, told Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) that “what's important is to avoid the trap of the 1960 law.” He said Sunday that the Orthodox Gathering proposal remains the best option if MPs failed to agree on a new vote plan. The FPM, the LF, the Phalange party and the Marada movement had announced the plan 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 different 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.

Al-Mustaqbal Rejects Giving Legitimacy to May 15 Session on Orthodox Vote Law
Naharnet/Al-Mustaqbal lawmakers rejected on Tuesday to provide legitimacy to a parliamentary session set for May 15 if the rival parties failed to reach consensus on a new electoral law. In remarks to the Kuwaiti al-Anbaa daily, MP Ahmed Fatfat said al-Mustaqbal “will not give legitimacy to the session” set by Speaker Nabih Berri if the so-called Orthodox Gathering proposal was put on its agenda. MP Ammar Houri echoed similar remarks, telling Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5): “We will withdraw from the parliamentary session if the Orthodox proposal was discussed.” The plan, which considers Lebanon a single district and allows each sect to vote for its own MPs under a proportional representation system, has been approved by the joint parliamentary committees despite the rejection of al-Mustaqbal, the National Struggle Front and the March 14 alliance's independent lawmakers. Berri did not put the plan on parliament's agenda immediately after its approval to give the rival lawmakers more time to agree on an alternative. But he later set the May 15 session vowing to keep the MPs in parliament day and and night until they reach consensus on a substitute to the 1960 law that was used in the 2009 elections. That law considers the qada an electoral district and is based on the winner-takes-all system. But most parties have rejected it for failing to guarantee the appropriate representation for all the Lebanese and mainly Christians. Fatfat said in his remarks to al-Anbaa that al-Mustaqbal rejected granting Hizbullah and the Free Patriotic Movement a “gift to control the country.” Al-Mustaqbal believes that the Orthodox Gathering proposal, which is backed by Hizbullah and FPM chief Michel Aoun, is tailored to grant them hegemony. The bloc “won't give Aoun the opportunity to achieve his political objective at the expense of the future of Lebanon and the Lebanese,” Fatfat said. But he stressed that al-Mustaqbal will not vote either on any postponement of the elections to a period of more than six months.

Aoun Hits Back at Suleiman over Fatmagul, Asks Him to Help Create Financial Crimes Court
Naharnet/Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Tuesday snapped back at President Michel Suleiman over the issue of the malfunctioning Turkish power-generating ship Fatmagul Sultan, asking him to help create a court for financial crimes in Lebanon. At a press conference he held after the weekly meeting of the Change and Reform parliamentary bloc, Aoun said he unconditionally backs Suleiman's rhetoric on combating corruption, but urged him to “help us approve the law we had submitted to parliament on creating a special court for trying those accused of financial crimes against the public treasury.”
“There are several lawsuits that have been sitting in the drawers of the Central Inspection Authority for years, which are a lot more important than the lawsuit over the issue of the Turkish power-generating vessel Fatmagul Sultan,” Aoun added. A week ago, Suleiman tasked the Central Inspection Authority to investigate the causes of the malfunctions of Fatmagul Sultan. Last month, nine out of 11 generators on the Fatmagul Sultan barge stopped functioning, leaving it working at 15 percent of its capacity, which is 27 megawatts. The Turkish Karadeniz power company, which leased Fatmagul Sultan to the Lebanese government, announced on Thursday that the fuel it had received to operate the ship “was not convenient.” "Electricite du Liban is now providing Fatmagul with the convenient type of fuel, which will allow the vessel to go back to producing energy,” it said. Turning to the issue of the electoral law, Aoun said: “We are not aggrieving anyone or infringing on anyone's representation through the Orthodox Gathering law, so this uproar and the accusations against us are unjustified.”
“The Orthodox Gathering law returns rights to their owners and it contains mutual respect for rights and duties,” he noted.
“I don't have a personal interest and I'm not seeking anything for myself. I'm seeking the interest of Christians and their interest lies in regaining their rights. I call on all Christian leaders to think of that and of the interests of Christians,” Aoun explained. He recalled that when former premier Rafik Hariri was assassinated in 2005, “we were the first people to take to the streets and no one invited us, and when a war was waged against Shiites in the South (in 2006) we stood by them, and today we're standing by the marginalized Christians whose rights have been infringed upon.” On the Syrian crisis, Aoun said that “the kidnappings and acts of terror that are happening in Syria, the latest of which was the abduction of two clergymen, are very regrettable and it seems that anything can be generated by hatred and the issue should have received more attention.”
“Those who have stayed silent over the crime of the abduction in Syria are the same ones who do not mention the issue of refugees in Lebanon,” Aoun added.
Aleppo's Greek Orthodox Bishop Boulos Yaziji and Syriac Orthodox Bishop Yohanna Ibrahim were kidnapped on April 22 by armed men near the city of Aleppo while en route from the Turkish border.
The FPM leader condemned the latest Israeli air strikes on targets near Damascus, describing them as a “declaration of war after a 40-year truce” between Syria and Israel. Aoun also denounced Israel's latest violations of the Lebanese airspace, saying the U.N. “must take measures instead of counting and recording the violations.” Syria's government said on Sunday that Israel targeted three military sites near Damascus, while a senior Israeli source said the attacks hit weapons destined for Hizbullah.

Experts: Regional Players, Including Hizbullah, Openly Engaging in Syria War
Naharnet/Regional players, including Hizbullah, are intervening more and more openly in Syria, some emboldened by the chaos created by the conflict, others desperate to prevent the fall of the regime, experts say. The conflict between President Bashar Assad's government and rebel forces has divided the Middle East, with his allies -- Iran and Hizbullah -- lined up against Gulf states which back the uprising. Israel has publicly refrained from backing one side or the other, but warned that the turmoil must not result in the transfer of advanced weapons to arch-foe Hizbullah. Over the past week, the Jewish state has reportedly twice carried out air strikes against Syrian military sites, with senior Israeli sources saying they targeted Iranian weapons bound for Hizbullah. The strikes followed an admission by the party's leader Hassan Nasrallah that the group's members are fighting in Syria.
The leader also pledged that Assad's "true friends" would not allow his regime to fall. "Many people are now starting to see this as a zero-sum game," said Salman Shaikh, director of the Brookings Doha Center.
"If you look around the region, whether it's the Jordanians, the Israelis, Hizbullah and the Iranians... this is becoming much more of an existential struggle."
Since the start of the conflict, the sectarian fault lines dividing the Sunni-led opposition from the regime, which hails from the Alawite minority, a Shiite offshoot, have made the civil war an attractive target for regional intervention.
Sunni Arab states in the Gulf have openly backed rebel forces, while Shiite Iran and its partner Hizbullah have rallied to Assad's side. Israel has watched with concern, reluctant to lose a reliable enemy in Assad while increasingly worried both by the Salafist role in the revolt and by the involvement of Iran and Hizbullah, its biggest regional foes. "We're in a regional proxy war in Syria, it's quite clear, particularly between the key Gulf states and the Iranians and its partners such as Hizbullah," Shaikh said.
Israel's intervention in the conflict may be more opportunistic, analysts there said. "Israel is actually changing the equation and saying 'From now on, I won't allow what's being going on for 20 years -- the transfer of weapons to Hizbullah," Syria expert Eyal Zisser told Israeli army radio. "I am exploiting the weakness of Bashar who really has his hands tied and who really can't do anything to Israel, and every time that I hear that Iran is transferring weapons to Hizbullah, I won't allow it." For Hizbullah, which relies on Damascus as a weapons supply route and key regional backer, the fall of the Assad regime would be disastrous.
Iran, which has invested heavily in the Syrian government, is equally intent on maintaining its key foothold in the Arab world.
With the stakes so high and their roles increasingly exposed, regional players have little choice but to admit their interventions and have little to lose by doing so, experts said.
"Hizbullah has already declared that it is operational and active in Qusayr" in central Syria, Hizbullah expert Amal Saad-Ghorayeb told AFP. "The Iranians have admitted in the past that they have advisers there and yesterday we heard them say they were ready to train the Syrians... the involvement of these actors has become more open," she said. "But I also think that it has increased."
The intervention raises the prospect of a dangerous "regionalisation" of the conflict, the analysts warned.
"With all his problems, Assad does not want to start a war, but he could fire missiles at Israel," the Jewish state's former National Security Council head told Israeli radio.
"Maybe we're treading a very fine line."
Israel's air strikes also raise the specter of new violence between it and Hizbullah, which fought a devastating war in Lebanon in 2006, or a Syrian response that could swiftly escalate.
After an emergency cabinet meeting on Sunday, the Syrian government warned that the air raids had made the situation in the region "more dangerous."
"I don't think Hizbullah's going to respond to this," Saad-Ghorayeb said. "What's problematic is how Syria's going to respond," she said, adding that Damascus was unlikely to respond "conventionally" but would feel forced to produce some reaction to avoid emboldening Israel. "I think what's required now is for them (Syria) to find a way to respond in an unconventional way that wouldn't drag the region into a war."For Shaikh, the crisis has already drawn in much of the region, and the opposing stands of the United States, which backs the uprising, and Russia, the regime's strongest ally, pose an even greater threat.
"The danger is that we may get into a global proxy war because we also have great powers... on opposing sides," he said. "Containment should not be seen as an option here, it's not a containable crisis."
Source/Agence France Presse.