Bible Quotation for today/Yeat of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Matthew 16/05-12: "When the disciples reached the other side, they had forgotten to bring any bread. Jesus said to them, ‘Watch out, and beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.’They said to one another, ‘It is because we have brought no bread.’ And becoming aware of it, Jesus said, ‘You of little faith, why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? How could you fail to perceive that I was not speaking about bread? Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!’ Then they understood that he had not told them to beware of the yeast of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources 
Syria’s Christians caught in the middle/By: Patrick Tombola/Now Lebanon/May 10/13
Israeli Messages in Several Directions/By: Eyad Abu Shakra/Asharq Alawsat/May 10/13 

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for May 10/13

Nasrallah defiant after Israel’s Syria strikes
Now Lebanon/The leader of Hezbollah declared Syria and his party would face Israel in the Golan Heights. Hezbollah’s leader on Thursday responded defiantly to Israel’s recent air strikes in Syria, saying his group would receive advanced weaponry from Syria and support the "liberation of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights."“Syria will give the resistance qualitative weapons, which the resistance has never received before,” Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said in reference to Israel’s repeated warnings that the transfer of game-changing weapons to Hezbollah was a red line. “We, the resistance in Lebanon, announce that we are ready to receive any sort of qualitative weapons even if it is going to distrupt the [regional] balance,” Nasrallah added. He said that Syria also responded to Israel’s reported raids by “opening the Golan front” between both rival countries.
“We announce that we stand by the popular resistance in the Golan and we offer military and moral support for it to liberate the occupied Golan,” Hezbollah’s chief said.
“The resistance will operate freely in the Golan, which frightens Israel and [is why Tel Aviv] began to send messages [to restore] calm.”Israel reportedly targeted military sites near the capital Damascus early on Friday morning and again early on Sunday morning, with at least 42 soldiers reported dead in the second strike. The Jewish state has repeatedly warned it will intervene to prevent the transfer of advanced weaponry to Hezbollah, and media reports have said the strikes in Syria targeted weapon transfers to the Shiite group. The PFLP-GC announced Tuesday that it was given a “green light” by Damascus to strike Israel, after Syria’s Al-Watan newspaper said that Syria had approved beginning “resistance” operations against the Jewish state in the Golan. Nasrallah also tackled Lebanese politics, saying his party would vote in favor of the Orthodox law if it came to a vote in the crunch parliament session on the issue set to begin May 15. The Future Movement and caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati have both said they would boycott the upcoming parliament session if the law—which calls for proportional voting along sectarian lines—came to a vote. In remarks published Wednesday, Speaker Nabih Berri said that he will convene the parliament to meet from May 15 to May 18 to tackle a new electoral law, and if no agreement is reached on one, then existing draft laws would be put to a vote. Nasrallah also reiterated Hezbollah’s desire for parties to be represented in the cabinet based on their representation in the parliament, after Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam announced earlier in the day that he would not grant a “blocking third” veto in the government to any coalition in the country. Lebanon's political parties are jockeying over the composition of the new government as Salam has set to work on creating a cabinet to replace the resigned cabinet.

UN withdraws Golan observers from Position 86
By TOVAH LAZAROFF05/09/2013
UN relocates peacekeepers after rebels kidnap members of force, but assures that they will maintain presence along Syrian border. The United Nations has withdrawn peacekeepers from one of its stations along the Golan Heights, after rebel forces took four Philippine members of its force on Tuesday at that location, on the Syrian side of the border. As of press time, Syrian rebel forces were still holding the four members of the UN Disengagement Observer Force. The remaining peacekeepers from the station, Position 86, were relocated, according to UN spokesman Martin Nesirky, who spoke with reporters about the matter on Wednesday.
The UN is doing its best to keep the rest of its peacekeepers along the Syrian border in the Golan Heights, he told reporters. Another spokesperson assured The Jerusalem Post that the forces were still there. “UNDOF continues to do its utmost to ensure the implementation of its mandate while mitigating risk to its personnel,” Nesirky said.
“Everybody fully understands that they are operating in an extremely dangerous and unusual environment. They have a mandate that stretches back to the 1970s, and they have been carrying out that mandate faithfully since that time.” The peacekeepers “work in extremely difficult circumstances,” he noted. “Of course, if the security situation is such that they need to be relocated, they will be relocated. And then, when the situation allows, they will return,” he said. He added that “the Force is constantly reviewing and adjusting its security arrangements to address the dynamic and rapidly evolving situation in its area of operations.”
The withdrawal from Position 86 comes at a time when Israel is concerned about the future of the mission. In the last year, three of the six nations that participate in the mission – Croatia, Japan and Canada – withdrew their forces, leaving only some 1,000 peacekeepers along the border.
Austria has threatened that it could similarly pull its peacekeepers if the EU does not renew its arms embargo against Syria. It is worried that the neutrality of its peacekeepers would be compromised if the embargo were lifted and EU countries sent arms to rebel forces. There is some concern that if Austria’s were to pull its 377 peacekeepers, UNDOF would not have enough personnel on the border to be effective.
Separately UNDOF’s mandate, which gets renewed every six months, will be up for renewal at the end of June. Before that renewal, UN Secretary-General Ban- Ki Moon is scheduled to complete a report on the UNDOF forces in the Golan Heights.

Israeli- and Hizballah-controlled enclaves take shape inside Syria

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report May 8, 2013, 10:13 /
Syrian rebel forces continued to fall back this week against superior Syrian forces in the north, center and south. Wednesday, May 8, they lost the important town of Kirbet Ghazaleh in the Horan province of southern Syria. For the first time in two months, the main transit route opened up for Syrian troops to reach the Jordanian border from Damascus and the opposition forces holding ground along the Syrian-Israeli border.
The rocky Golan plateau split between Syria and Israel by a demilitarized zone is beginning to move onto center stage.Tuesday, Bashar Assad was quoted as saying the Golan will be the “front line of resistance” after giving radical Palestinians under his wing permission to install missiles there against Israel. Unidentified Syria military sources vowed to attack the Israeli army vehicles crossing the line to evacuate wounded rebels in need of medical care. Our military sources say that if Israeli army vehicles, presumably unmarked, are indeed entering Syria to pick up injured rebels, they are most likely alerted by local liaison agents in the battle zones who guide them to the spots were the injured men are waiting. The pro-Al Qaeda Jabhat al-Nusra will have deduced that the contact points between these local Syrian agents and the IDF are located in the 8 sq. km separation zone on the Golan, which has been patrolled by UN Disengagement Observer (UNDOF) peacekeepers since Israel and Syria signed an armistice in 1974.
Hence the abduction of four peacekeepers Monday. The rebel Islamist Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade which claimed responsibility released a photograph of the kidnapped UN troops sitting barefoot on a carpet and wearing light-blue U.N. armored vests, three of which were marked “Philippines.”This incident highlighted the high strategic importance of the Golan plateau.
Israel has set up a large field hospital near the Tel Hazakah observation and military post on Golan which overlooks southern Syria and northern Jordan. There, incoming Syrian war wounded are vetted and examined by Israeli army medics who decide whether to patch them up and send them back, or judge them badly hurt enough for hospital care. The seriously hurt are moved to one of the the nearest Israeli hospitals in Safed or Haifa.
This arrangement suggests a kind of security zone is evolving on the Israeli-Syrian border which may recall the alliance which evolved between Israel and the Maronite Christians of South Lebanon out of the 1976 Lebanese civil war. Israel then set up medical facilities for treating Lebanese Christian war wounded at several points on what came to be called the Good Fence. The Maronites willingly pushed Palestinian terrorist forces back from the border and were given permits to work in Israel and other benefits. The South Lebanese Army established at the time with 2,500 militiamen functioned effectively under Israeli command for two decades.
The whole system collapsed when in 2000 Ehud Barak, then prime minister, pulled Israeli forces out of the buffer zone and back to the border. It was then that Hizballah moved in.
No one has actually referred to the potential of the Lebanese scheme in one form or another growing out of Israel’s initial medical ties with certain non-Islamist Syrian rebel militias across the Golan border. But it may be happening on the quiet Foreign-controlled enclaves are in a more advanced condition in other parts of Syria under the Hizballah and/or Iranian forces assisting the Syrian army’s fight against rebel forces.
Hizballah has completely encircled Al-Qusayr, the central Syrian town which commands the main routes between Damascus, Homs and Lebanon. Civic leaders have sent emissaries to Hizballah commanders offering to capitulate against a pledge not to ravage the town and to save its inhabitants.
In Damascus, Hizballah’s troops along with Iranian Basij militiamen command the Shiite holy places.
And in the southwest, they are securing a cluster of 30 Shiite villages opposite South Lebanon, not far from the intersection of the Israeli-Syrian-Lebanese borders.
By pouring fighting men into Syria, Hizbballah is gambling on Israel not taking advantage of its heavily diluted strength on home ground to strike Hizballah strongholds in Lebanon or its supply routes from Syria.
Both Hizballah and Israeli appear to be in the process of relocating their lines of confrontation from Lebanon to Syria. Israel’s air strike Sunday, May 5, which hit Hizballah and Iranian targets, may have been the first skirmish between them on Syrian territory. It is unlikely to be the last.

Two Lebanese men From Tripoli die in Al-Qusayr battles
Now Lebanon/A Salafi Sheikh revealed to NOW the name of Lebanese man from Tripoli who was killed in Syria in a battle against Bashar al-Assad’s troops, while local media reported that another Lebanese man had been killed in fighting in Al-Qusayr. The Sheikh identified the man as Houssam Mansour, who hails from Tripoli’s Gold Street, and said he “was martyred in Al-Qusayr while fulfilling his Jihadist duty.”
“Mansour went to Al-Qusayr after Sheikh Salem al-Rafei issued a Fatwa [calling for] Jihad against the Syrian regime,” the Sheikh added. Meanwhile, LBC television reported that another Lebanese man was killed in Syria’s Al-Qusayr while battling against the regime. The TV channel identified the man as Hani Barakat from Tripoli’s Sunni-populated Al-Qobbeh area.
Two Lebanese Salafist sheikhs, including Ahmad al-Assir, called on their followers in April to join rebels fighting in Syria and to support Sunni residents of the embattled central province of Homs.
Their calls followed reports that Hezbollah fighters have been leading the fight against rebels in the Al-Qusayr area of Homs, where regime troops have been locked in fierce battles with rebels.
Hezbollah’s Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah denied in a televised address last week vowed that “friends” of the Syrian regime would not allow it to fall and that his party would defend Lebanese Shiites residing in Al-Qusayr.

Sami Gemayel to NOW: Dialogue only solution
Now Lebanon/Kataeb bloc MP Sami Gemayel commended the Monday meeting in which rival Christian leaders discussed the contentious issue of the electoral law.“We encourage such meetings [because] dialogue is the only way to solve the problem,” Gemayel said on Wednesday in an interview to NOW.
He also noted that his party is “open to dialogue with everyone.”On Monday, a meeting took place between Christian political figures in Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea’s residence in Maarab to discuss the issue of the electoral law to be adopted for this year’s parliamentary elections scheduled for June 16. Lebanon’s main Christian parties had previously voiced support for the Orthodox draft that calls for proportional voting along sectarian lines. However, they later announced that they would withdraw their support for the aforementioned law to facilitate agreement over a consensual law proposal.
Meanwhile, Gemayel reiterated that his party has no “ministerial requests” for Premier-designate Tammam Salam concerning the government lineup. He also refused to accuse any party of obstructing the process of forming the new cabinet. The country’s political parties are jockeying over the composition of the new government as Salam is working to create a cabinet that will replace the resigned government.
Some March 14 figures have called for the new government to not include ministers who are running for election as parliamentarians in the upcoming vote, while others have called for a “rotation” of portfolios. However, all the parties have denied setting conditions for the formation of the new cabinet. Elsewhere, the Kataeb MP condemned the public involvement of the Shiite party Hezbollah in the Syrian conflict as well as the counter-calls for Jihad in Syria made by a number of Lebanese Sunni clerics. “This is a catastrophe for Lebanon because they are dragging it into an unnecessary crisis.” The Kataeb official later stressed the necessity to remain neutral on regional and international conflicts. On Tuesday, Gemayel announced that his party will present a draft law to incorporate the disassociation policy into the constitution.
Hezbollah has come under criticism for reportedly fighting on the side of the Syrian regime against rebels in the Al-Qusayr area and outside Damascus, with news outlets in the past weeks reporting that a number of party members had been killed while fighting in Syria. However, Hezbollah’s Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah denied in a televised address last week that large numbers of fighters affiliated with his party had been killed in the fighting in Syria, but vowed that “friends” of the Syrian regime would not allow it to fall and that his party would defend Lebanese Shiites residing in Al-Qusayr.
As a counter-initiative, two Lebanese Sunni sheikhs, including Ahmad al-Assir, called on their followers in April to join rebels fighting in Syria and to support Sunni residents of the embattled central province of Homs.

Muqdad Says Syria Ready for Chemical Arms Investigation: We'll 'Respond Immediately' to Any New Israeli Strike
Naharnet /Syria will "respond immediately" to any new Israeli attack against its territory, its deputy foreign minister told Agence France Presse on Thursday, after two reported Israeli strikes on military targets last week. "The instruction has been made to respond immediately to any new Israeli attack without (additional) instruction from any higher leadership, and our retaliation will be strong and will be painful against Israel," Faisal Muqdad said.
He spoke in an interview with AFP in the Syrian capital. Senior Israeli sources said the strikes targeted weapons bound for the Hizbullah, a close ally of Damascus. Muqdad denied that. "They absolutely did not achieve their objective and they lied when they said they are targeting Hizbullah," he said. There is "no way Syria will allow this to happen again," he added.
Israel reportedly targeted military sites near the capital Damascus early on Friday morning and again early on Sunday morning, with at least 42 soldiers reported dead in the second strike.
The Jewish state has repeatedly warned it will intervene to prevent the transfer of advanced weaponry to Hizbullah, with which it fought a devastating 2006 war.
The strikes last week were the third time Israel is thought to have hit sites inside Syria since the beginning of an uprising against the regime of President Bashar Assad in March 2011. That first was in January of this year.
Meanwhile, Muqdad also announced that Syria is ready to receive a U.N. team to investigate claims of the use of chemical weapons in the country's conflict.
"We were ready and we are always ready, right now, to receive the delegation that was set up by (U.N. chief) Ban Ki-moon to investigate what happened in Khan al-Assal," he said.
Syria first asked for the inquiry shortly after accusing opposition rebels of using chemical weapons at Khan al-Assal near Aleppo on March 23 in an attack in which authorities say more than 30 people died.
Syria is under mounting international pressure over the possible use of banned arms. The United States said in April it believed the Syrian government has used chemical weapons but was awaiting definitive proof.
The country's uprising, which began with peaceful protests, has devolved into a bloody conflict that has killed more than 70,000 people, according to the U.N., and displaced millions of Syrians.
Source/Agence France Presse.Middle EastPoliticsSyriaIsrael.

Syria troops, Hezbollah advancing on Al-Qusayr
AFPlFierce clashes between rebels and fighters loyal to President Bashar al-Assad's regime raged on Thursday around insurgent-held Al-Qusayr in central Syria, a monitoring group said. An army officer told AFP the military seized control of Shumariyeh village near the town of Al-Qusayr. "The Syrian army seized back control of Shumariyeh in the Al-Qusayr countryside, and troops are currently on their way to the village of Ghassaniyeh" which has been under rebel control for more than a year, the officer said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed the claim.
"Backed by pro-regime militia and Hezbollah fighters, the army is advancing in the Al-Qusayr area," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP. "They have superior firepower and their campaign to take back Al-Qusayr is fierce," he added. Backed by fighters loyal to powerful Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah, which supports Assad, the Damascus regime launched an intensified bid last month to retake Al-Qusayr.
The town fell out of regime control more than a year ago, but has faced daily shelling and frequent aerial bombardment. It is strategically located near the Lebanese border and just south of Syria's third city, Homs, which lies on the road linking Damascus to the coast. Rebels battling to topple Assad's regime have long claimed that Hezbollah was involved in Syria's fighting. The movement's chief Hassan Nasrallah acknowledged last week that members of the group were fighting inside Syria. He also suggested that key Assad backer Iran and other states could intervene to support the Damascus regime against rebels.
Nasrallah is scheduled to deliver a speech later on Thursday. Lebanon has suffered a spillover of Syria's raging conflict, with frequent cross-border shelling targeting the north and the east of the small Mediterranean country.
On Thursday, three shells hit Hermel in eastern Lebanon, and two others hit Masharia al-Qaa nearby, a security source told AFP on condition of anonymity. Fighting also raged in flashpoints across Syria, among them Barzeh in northern Damascus, said the Observatory, which relies on a broad network of activists, doctors and lawyers for its reports.
More than 70,000 people have died in the Syrian conflict, the United Nations says.

Fate of May 15 Parliamentary Session Unknown as Several Bloc Threaten to Boycott
Naharnet /The parliamentary session set to be held on May 15 is expected to deepen the rift between the parties if lawmakers were called to vote on the so-called Orthodox Gathering proposal.
An Nahar newspaper reported on Thursday that al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc, Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat's National Struggle Front, the March 14 Independent Christian MPs and Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati would boycott the session if it aimed at voting on the proposal.
The head of al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc, Fouad Saniora, said in comments to al-Liwaa newspaper that the bloc's MPs will swiftly withdraw from the session if the Orthodox draft-law was put up for a vote.
The newspaper also reported that the Baath and the National Struggle Front bloc's MPs will not vote in favor of the proposal.
For his part, Miqati told An Nahar daily that he will not attend any parliamentary session that includes voting on the Orthodox proposal, considering it as “unconstitutional.”
He pointed out that caretaker Youth and Sports Minister Ahmed Karami supports his stance.
On Wednesday, Speaker Nabih Berri called for a parliamentary session on May 15 to tackle the endorsement of the new electoral law that has deepened the gap between the Lebanese foes.
He reiterated that he would call for a vote on the Orthodox proposal during the session as it is the only plan that was approved by the joint parliamentary committees unless an agreement is reached on an alternative plan before that date. However, according to media reports published on Thursday, President Michel Suleiman, who also rejects the adoption of the proposal, is expected to challenge it, 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.
The rival parties have so far failed to agree on an electoral draft-law threatening the postponement of the polls.

Syria to “respond immediately” to any new Israeli strike
AFP/Syria will "respond immediately" to any new Israeli attack against its territory, its deputy foreign minister told AFP on Thursday, after two reported Israeli strikes on military targets last week.
"The instruction has been made to respond immediately to any new Israeli attack without [additional] instruction from any higher leadership, and our retaliation will be strong and will be painful against Israel," Faisal Muqdad said.
He spoke in an interview with AFP in the Syrian capital. Senior Israeli sources said the strikes targeted weapons bound for the powerful Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah, a close ally of Damascus. Muqdad denied that.
"They absolutely did not achieve their objective and they lied when they said they are targeting Hezbollah," he said.
There is "no way Syria will allow this to happen again," he added.
Israel reportedly targeted military sites near the capital Damascus early on Friday morning and again early on Sunday morning, with at least 42 soldiers reported dead in the second strike.
The Jewish state has repeatedly warned it will intervene to prevent the transfer of advanced weaponry to Hezbollah, with which it fought the devastating 2006 Summer War.
The strikes last week were the third time Israel is thought to have hit sites inside Syria since the beginning of an uprising against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in March 2011. That first was in January of this year.
The uprising, which began with peaceful protests, has devolved into a bloody conflict that has killed more than 70,000 people, according to the UN, and displaced millions of Syrians.

Turkish PM, Recep Tayyip Erdogan: Syrian regime used chemical weapons
Now Lebanon/ Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told NBC news Thursday that the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons and crossed the US red line on the issue a “long time ago.”
“It is clear the regime has used chemical weapons and missiles,” he said in an interview with the US media outlet.
However, Erdogan did not specify the circumstances of the weapons’ use, simply saying that US President Barack Obama’s red line on the issue “has been passed a long time ago.”
"We want the United States to assume more responsibilities and take further steps. And what sort of steps they will take, we are going to talk about this,” the Turkish premier added.
"There are patients who are brought to our hospitals who were wounded by these chemical weapons.”Erdogan also denied that rebels had used chemical weapons, saying, “There is no way I can believe in this now. First of all, how are they going to obtain this? And who will give this to them?"
Turkey's foreign minister said earlier Thursday that his country’s authorities were conducting blood tests on wounded Syrian refugees to assess whether their injuries had been caused by chemical weapons. Turkish NTV news added that Erdogan will take several blood samples from Syrian refugees when he visits Washington on May 16. As critics complain that Obama let Syria cross the US "red line" against chemical weapon use, the US president said on April 31 that Washington believed chemical weapons had been used in the country's vicious civil war but did not know exactly who had fired them. He also warned against a rush to judgment on chemical weapons in Syria, but said proof of their use would trigger a "rethink" of his reluctance to use military force.

Future bloc to boycott parliament if only Orthodox draft voted on
Now Lebanon/Future bloc MP Mohammad Hajjar said on Thursday that his bloc would withdraw from the parliamentary plenary session if the Orthodox Gathering’s electoral law proposal was the only draft law discussed. “If the parliament session was limited to the vote on the Orthodox law, then the Future Movement will not participate in the voting and will withdraw from the session,” Hajjar told NBN.
He also reiterated that his party supports the mixed electoral law.
“The Future bloc has expressed flexibility in reaching an agreement on the electoral law, but unfortunately, the Free Patriotic Movement and Hezbollah do not want to reach an agreement,” he said. The Orthodox Law that calls for proportional voting along sectarian lines, while the mixed electoral draft law is based on majoritarian voting in 26 electoral districts and proportional voting in 9 other districts. In remarks published Wednesday, Speaker Nabih Berri said that he will convene the parliament to meet from May 15 to May 18 to tackle a new electoral law, and if no agreement is reached on one, then existing draft laws would be put to a vote. The country’s president and premier had signed in March a decree to hold the elections on June 9, which would see the vote held under the auspices of the 1960 law if no new law is adopted. In mid-April, the government officially changed the election date to June 16, from June 9, by way of a decree, and parliament approved a law extending all election-law-related deadlines to May 19.

US places sanctions onIran-Venezuela bank
AFP/The US Treasury Department on Thursday announced sanctions on a former Iranian-Venezuelan bank it said is being used to avoid restrictions placed earlier on other Iranian institutions.
The US Treasury said that the Tehran-based Iranian Venezuelan Bi-National Bank (IVB) was providing financial services to the Iranian Ministry of Defense and acting on behalf of the Export Development Bank of Iran.
Both the ministry and the EDBI are already under US sanctions for alleged support of terrorism and backing Iran's suspected effort to develop nuclear weapons.
The Treasury said the IVB had handled money transfers on EDBI's behalf with a Chinese bank, Bank of Kunlun, itself also blacklisted by the Treasury for its dealings with Tehran.
The Treasury noted that despite its name, "there is no evidence Venezuela retains any ties" with the four-year-old IVB, originally established as a joint venture between Iran and Venezuela.
The sanctions forbid any US citizens or institutions from doing business with the sanctioned institution, and freezes any assets it might hold in the United States.
The Treasury also named for sanctions a shipping firm, Sambouk Shipping, as involved in attempts by Tehran to break restrictions on its oil exports with the alleged help of Greek businessman Dimitris Cambis.
Cambis was singled out for sanctions in March for acquiring and managing a fleet of eight aging oil tankers secretly on Tehran's behalf. The Treasury said Thursday that the vessels had recently been renamed and/or reflagged.
"As Iran becomes increasingly isolated from the international financial system and energy markets, it is turning increasingly to convoluted schemes and shady actors to maintain its access to the global financial system," Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David Cohen said in a statement.
"As long as Iran tries to evade our sanctions, we will continue to expose their deceptive maneuvers."

Kerry Says Assad Cannot be Part of Syria's New Government
Naharnet/U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry insisted Thursday Syrian President Bashar Assad will have to step down as part of any political solution in Syria, as he held a third day of talks on the bloody conflict.
Speaking as he met Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, Kerry said all sides were working to "effect a transition government by mutual consent of both sides, which clearly means that in our judgment President Assad will not be a component of that transitional government." Kerry also officially unveiled $100 million (76 million euros) in additional U.S. humanitarian aid for Syrian refugees, almost half of which will go to help Jordan struggling to cope with a tide of people fleeing the 26-month war. Some 2,000 people are flooding across the border into Jordan every day, and the country now hosts some 525,000 refugees, Judeh said at the start of the talks in Rome.
"We have 10 percent of our population today, in the form of Syrian refugees. It is expected to rise to about 20 to 25 percent given the current rates by the end of this year, and possibly to about 40 percent by the middle of 2014," he said. "No country can cope with the numbers as huge as the numbers I've just described," he warned, adding Jordan was very grateful for the help of the international community.
Plans for an international conference to try to find a solution to the crisis were also continuing, Kerry said, after he agreed in talks in Moscow that he and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov would work in tandem on the issue. He had spoken with most of the foreign ministers from the countries involved and there is a "very positive response and a very strong desire to move to this conference and to try to find, at least exhaust the possibilities of finding, a political way forward." U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon had also been in touch, so "we are going to forge ahead very, very directly to work with all of the parties to bring that conference together," Kerry added.
It is hoped the conference, aimed at finding a path towards a transitional government in Syria, could be held by the end of May. Although no venue has yet been identified, Geneva could host the talks.
U.S. ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, has meanwhile also met with the Syrian opposition in Istanbul on Wednesday to discuss the way forward, Kerry said.
Since the war erupted to oust Assad, more than 1.5 million Syrians have fled the country into neighboring nations, including Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon, vastly straining their resources.
Up to four million more could be displaced within the country as they seek to flee the fierce fighting, which has already claimed some 70,000 lives.

Source/Agence France Presse.

Opinion: Israeli Messages in Several Directions
By: Eyad Abu Shakra/Asharq Alawsat
Thursday, 9 May, 2013
Many political commentators have attempted to discern Israel’s real reasons for the dual strike it launched on military targets in Syria at the end of last week.
Personally, I figure that neither Israel’s strategy—especially in the Benjamin Netanyahu era—nor the Syrian regime’s lies of “steadfastness” and “resistance” that we have heard for over 40 years require deep thinking or further explanation. Rather, I believe that it is naïve to consider the Israeli strategy in isolation from the Syrian regime’s purpose behind “steadfastness.” Therefore, I disagree with Omran Al-Zoubi, the Syrian information minister who hastily argued that Israel’s recent attack had exposed its support of the opponents of the Assad’s regime; neither do I agree with Hezbollah’s ideologues, who have repeatedly stated that the purpose of the attack was to punish the regime for siding with the resistance camp.
Zoubi’s words—which we quite understand and have become familiar with—insult the intelligence of serious observers of Damascene policy since the autumn of 1970 and those who are familiar with the calm Golan front, occupied since the October war of 1973, whose declared purpose was, according to Anwar Sadat, to “shake” rather than to “liberate.”
Unfortunately, since the autumn of 1973 the direct military confrontation between Syria and Israel has taken a unilateral form. Even with terms such as “steadfastness”—and, more recently, “resistance”—being emphasized, the regime in Damascus always chose to “retain the right to retaliate” for Israeli attacks on Syrian soil. “Retaining the right to retaliate” without specifying when and where has, as we heard recently, annoyed Zoubi’s fellow minister, Dr. Ali Haidar. To those who find Haidar’s annoyance surprising, we must note that he, together with Deputy Prime Minister Qadri Jamil, represent the opposition. That’s right: the very same “opposition” that is certified to operate in the government of a regime that has so far killed more than 100,000 Syrians and destroyed dozens of towns and villages.
Let’s get serious. I think those who believe that Israel’s attacks on Syria were meant to support and take the pressure off the rebels fighting Bashar Al-Assad are precisely those who benefit from the regime itself, either directly or indirectly, particularly given that Tel Aviv’s take on the more than two-year-old Syrian revolution has been suspicious, if not antagonistic. The same can be said about the Obama administration and the rest of the major Western powers. In what seems to be a game of reciprocal exploitation, the international community has contributed to destroying Syria and murdering its people. Neither the Western powers nor Russia and China seem to be concerned about the Syrian tragedy. On the contrary, they find in Syria a “theater of operations”—where they can exhaust their rival forces—and an arena to conduct negotiations.
Iran and Israel have broader and wider strategic interests in the region. It is highly unlikely that Iran was surprised by the fallout of Syria’s embroilment in sectarian clashes via Hezbollah and Asa’ib Ahl Al-Haq in Iraq, having reaped the fruits of the US-led invasion. On the other hand, it is hard to believe Israel’s concern over Syria’s slide toward sectarian “cleansing,” having been accused of exploiting religious and sectarian sensitivities and of dividing the Near East into conflicting sectarian entities.
Why did Israel choose to display strength at this exact time?
I heard, along with everybody else, Israel’s statements that the dual strike was not directed against the regime, but rather against a shipment of banned weapons bound for Hezbollah. However, it would be absurd and artificial to differentiate between the two allies. Hezbollah—every time one questions Damascus’ history of struggle in liberating Palestine—always defends Damascus’ axial role in supporting “resistance.” Israel understands that well.
On the other hand, Israel understands the nearly similar attitudes of Syria and Iran as far as war and peace are concerned, and how, since Assad Jr. came to power, Syrian policy became subordinate to that of Iran. Therefore, I believe that Israel, through the dual airstrike, wanted to send several messages and in several directions.
In a message to the Israeli interior—only days before John Kerry’s meetings in Moscow—Israel wanted to drive home that it is able to strike when it wants and where it wants in the Middle East, and that it is a key player in the projects of the region. In a message to the Syrian regime, Israel conveyed that it monitors all details and chooses the targets and the timing of its actions in line with its interests regardless of its allies’ and opponents’ stances, in the knowledge that Assad’s army is dedicated solely to maintaining internal security, rather than liberation.
In a message to Washington, Israel confirmed that it has its own take on the situation whether or not Obama chooses to be a backseat driver, and that its decision to get involved in the crises of the Middle East is not a matter only for the White House.In a message to Tehran, Israel attempted to probe the seriousness of Iran’s commitment in supporting Assad’s regime, and how far Tehran—and its allies in the region—can go when the situation reaches a decisive stage. As for its message to the Syrian opposition, Israel wanted to further embarrass and confuse the rebel forces, urging them to depend further on the West’s support. This comes in light of the opposition’s disappointment with the region’s major players on which they—the opposition—have gambled, namely Turkey and Egypt. I believe the Israeli strike delivered several messages, and it seems that the airstrikes produced a positive outcome for Israel.

Getting rid of Bashar Assad won't end Syria's civil war
by Gary C. Gambill/National Post
http://www.meforum.org/3501/bashar-assad-syria-civil-war
To hear Obama administration officials talk about the Syrian civil war, you'd think it all hinges on the fate of one man.
According to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Syrian President Bashar Assad "calculated that he could shoot his way out" of the mass uprising that erupted two years ago, and today either fails to appreciate that he can't or sees no viable alternative to going down with the ship. U.S. strategy is focused primarily on how to "change his current perception." The administration has held off on providing large-scale assistance to Syrian rebels mainly because it still hopes the dictator can, with Russian prodding, be made to "read the tea leaves correctly" and relinquish power to a transitional government before all hell breaks loose.
Hawkish critics of the administration's Syria policy also see Assad as singularly central to the conflict in Syria, counseling intervention in part because they think accelerating his downfall will bring the war to a swifter and more favorable end.
While either a negotiated or military end to the civil war would be welcome, given the staggering human cost of the conflict, both strategies for achieving this goal implicitly rest on the presumption that Assad and his immediate circle have so much power over their increasingly decentralized state and paramilitary pro-regime forces that a snap of his fingers – or of his neck – can bring an end to their fight against majority Sunni domination. But that presumption is flawed.
While Assad himself was never really the brains behind his regime, until a few years ago there was nevertheless a clear centralization of presidential authority over the Syrian security apparatus through his brother-in-law, Maj. Gen. Assef Shawkat. However, Shawkat was assassinated midway through the uprising. His wife Bushra, once considered to be as influential behind the scenes as her brother, departed with their children to the United Arab Emirates shortly thereafter.
It's not clear who wears the pants in the regime now. Though the president still enjoys substantial institutional legitimacy in the eyes of many Alawites and other minorities, this reserve has been gradually depleting as the inevitable collapse of the Baathist state looms nearer. Pro-regime forces are fighting with far more unity of purpose than the disparate rebel groups arrayed against them, but it is a cohesion built on desperation and shared sectarian anxieties, not loyalty to Assad. It is unlikely that he can still bring them to heel in the face of determined resistance within a security establishment deeply implicated in war crimes.
Meanwhile, the President's brother, Republican Guard commander Maher Assad — whom even regime supporters privately acknowledge to be psychotic (he once shot Shawkat in the stomach during a family argument) — has proven his mettle on the battlefield. He probably has the wherewithal to defy, if not abort outright, any effort by his brother to reach a negotiated settlement on terms acceptable to the rebels.
Moreover, manpower shortfalls have forced the Syrian army to cede effective control over many areas of the country to locally recruited militias and mercenary groups operating outside of the formal command structure, loyal only to whomever pays their bills.
Increasingly, this is Iran. Tehran is pouring financial and material resources into the conflict ($12.6-billion dollars so far, according to one estimate), and not only through the Syrian government. Its militant Lebanese Shiite ally, Hezbollah, is intervening directly in the Qusayr region and organizing indigenous militias among Syria's small Shiite minority. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has been training its own Syrian national militia, though U.S. and Israeli suggestions that it numbers up to 50,000 fighters may be overblown. Clearly, the Iranians are determined to keep Syria (or parts thereof) within their sphere of influence irrespective of whether and when the regime falls. They are not angling to help governing elites negotiate a better severance package.
Syria will be at war for as long as Iran is willing to finance and resupply clients committed to resisting the rebel takeover. The rebels are not unified enough (or moderate enough) to credibly offer concessions that might entice predominantly non-Sunni pro-regime combatants to spurn Iranian protection. If Assad chooses to take a golden parachute, others will surely be found to lead the fight against Syria's departure from the Iranian axis. They may, over time and at great human and material cost, be forced underground, but Syria will not be at peace until Iran throws in the towel (if then).
Consequently, the primary goal of U.S. policy should be to drive up the costs to Tehran of intervention in Syria as much as possible. Fortunately, these expenses already are skyrocketing. The growing financial toll of Iran's proxy war is a huge drain on its sanctions-ridden economy. Even worse are the reputational costs of a Shiite Islamist republic orchestrating murderous violence against Sunnis, who comprise the overwhelming majority of Muslims worldwide.
Already, the conflict has led Sunni governments to vigorously contest Iranian regional ambitions for the first time. Turkey's recent reconciliation with Israel is a harbinger of the strategic setbacks likely to attend continued Iranian aggression in Syria. With a restive Sunni minority (and widespread internet access) at home, Iran's leaders also could face troublesome domestic political repercussions if the conflict drags on much longer.
Tehran's only hope of snatching some measure of victory from the jaws of defeat is a ceasefire in place and an interim power-sharing formula that will allow its proxies to remain armed — thereby subverting the ensuing political process, much as Hezbollah did after the 1975-1990 civil war in neighboring Lebanon.
Overly zealous American pressure for a diplomatic solution (whatever the terms) will only encourage Iranian hopes that such a partial victory is still possible. A series of negotiated truces during the Lebanese civil war succeeded only in drawing it out for 15 years and saddling the country with a post-war political order more dysfunctional than its predecessor. A ceasefire in Syria before pro-regime forces are decisively defeated won't produce a sustainable transition to democracy – it will only lead Syria down the same path (which is why hardline rebels and their outside sponsors will never accept a truce).
But neither is intervention the answer. Indeed, Iran would dearly love to reframe its participation in a chronic sectarian conflict as a fight against imperial powers: Internationalization of the war therefore could bolster its strategic leverage. If Western governments become invested in the fighting, the temptation to reward Iran's disengagement from Syria with appeasement of its nuclear ambitions may become irresistible down the road. The best way the United States can make Iran cry uncle on both fronts is to not get involved in Syria.
**Gary Gambill is an associate fellow at the Middle East Forum.

Syria’s Christians caught in the middle
Patrick Tombola/Now Lebanon
RAS AL-AYN, Syria – Church Street was once a bustling meeting point where Christians of many denominations would gather in the afternoons, along with their Muslim and Kurdish school friends.
Since December of last year this multicultural street in Syria’s north-eastern border town of Ras al-Ayn has witnessed two successive battles, the first of which pitched the Free Syrian Army against Assad’s soldiers. Later, the same FSA fought Kurdish military forces. “Life before the revolution began two years ago was very good, we were all at peace with Muslims, Chechens, and Armenians,” says George, a 58 year-old former engineer from the Christian community. “But now nobody is in charge; I’m afraid that anyone capable of holding a gun could threaten my family or me.”
Today the city is currently split between Kurdish- and FSA-controlled areas. Church Street, named after the three churches – Orthodox Armenian, Syriac, and Catholic Syrian – built here, lies right in the middle, representing at times a buffer area, and at others, a war zone.
Members of the minority Christian community that have not already fled the violence, sift daily through the rubble of their homes wondering what might come next.
“At night here it’s like a forest, the strong one eats the weak, so the weak one stays at home or flees to Turkey” says 18 year-old Jean, while helping his father throw burned furniture from their gutted apartment onto the street.
Assad propaganda, Jean says, tried to instill fear in the Christian community by depicting Jabhat al-Nusra, an Islamist fighting group with ties to al-Qaeda, as fanatics bent on murdering any non-Muslims. However, Jean admits, that since the group has arrived in Ras al-Ayn, they have not attacked anyone for religious reasons, so the community’s fears have somewhat diminished.
Women are much more open in sharing their fears. “I’m a Christian girl, my hope is game over, no more studying, no more future, we are doomed,” says Diana, a 24 year-old former education student at Aleppo University. Along with a group of girlfriends that stand wearily outside their family house, she shares her dreams for the future. “I want to go to Sweden where I can finally continue my studies without living in fear, every day that goes by I wonder whether it’ll be my last one,” she says.
Not all members of the Christian community have remained on the sidelines of the conflict. When civilians began taking up arms against Assad’s army, Ziad and Naayem, two brothers that use to work as electricians in Ras al-Ayn and are members of the Assyrian Catholic community, decided to join the Free Syrian Army. “At first the revolution was peaceful, we were all together. Then Bashar came with his army and his planes and everyone got scared,” Ziad says.
The brothers say that once the revolution turned violent, the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) deserted protesters and sided with the regime, while the FSA stood its ground. They believe this is what caused much of the hatred and distrust between the two factions. “The revolution belongs to the FSA and everyone that fights with them, whether they’re Arabs, Christians, or anything else,” they say. Since then they’ve been tasked with manning the border crossing between Ras al-Ayn and the neighboring Turkish city of Nusaybin, which has seen a recent surge in Syrian refugees escaping the increasing violence.
Members of the Christian community do indeed have good reason to fear the current breakdown in law and order. Christians cannot rely on any military structure to protect them, unlike Kurds who represent around 10% of the total Syrian population. This has meant they are easy targets for thugs trying to make quick money through kidnappings for ransom.
Recently Joseph was driving down a side street in the Christian neighborhood when a group of men stopped him, begging him to take them immediately to a pharmacy to buy medicine. Once in the vehicle they brandished weapons and forced him to drive three hours away in the countryside of Aleppo.
“They tried to confuse me with videos of dead people so I would beg my family to pay the ransom,” he says. “These armed gangs exploit the vacuum of power; the situation is very bad and unstable.”A few weeks later he was kidnapped again and taken to Hasakeh, a city in eastern Syria. He was released shortly thereafter, but not before his family spent their last savings in an effort to get him home safe.
“We all have a father, son, uncle or relative that has been kidnapped at some point over the past eight months,” says Joseph’s 22 year-old son Elias. He walks through a patio from where the bullet-ridden dome of his Church is clearly visible. After a series of narrow corridors next to burned out classrooms, Elias opens the door to what once the playground of his former high school. Little is left intact: the sidewall has been knocked down, solid floor has turned into rubble, and a large crater sits right in the middle of the old basketball court. “Everyone says they are fighting for democracy, the FSA, the PKK, the regime, but from where I stand all I see is a destroyed playground,” he says as he kicks a school register with Hafez al-Assad’s face printed on its front cover.

Canadian MP, Wladyslaw Lizon in The Canadian House of Commons on Situation in Syria
Wladyslaw Lizon Mississauga East—Cooksville, ON
07/05/13
Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with my colleague, the member for Durham. It has been more than two years since the start of the conflict in Syria. Canada, along with the international community, continues to be horrified by the ongoing violence. The growing number of civilian deaths and the influx of refugees fleeing Syria underscore the appalling impact of the conflict on the people of Syria. Since early 2011, millions of people have been affected by the violence in Syria, with many fleeing the country due to the deteriorating humanitarian situation. Recent reports estimate that 80,000 people have died in the ongoing conflict, and thousands more have been wounded. It is estimated that more than 6.8 million people, close to one-third of the country's population, are currently in need of humanitarian assistance in Syria. There are currently more than 1.4 million Syrian refugees in the neighbouring countries of Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt. Canada commends these countries for opening their doors and taking in so many displaced families under such difficult circumstances. Since the beginning of the crisis, Canada, along with the international community, has continued to call for full, safe and unhindered humanitarian access to those in need. Given the enormity of needs, it is important that humanitarian assistance provided by the international community be coordinated. With Canada's support, humanitarian partners are providing lifesaving assistance and achieving tangible humanitarian results on the ground. I would like to highlight some examples. Inside Syria, our support, combined with the support of others, has enabled the United Nations World Food Programme to reach two million people with emergency food assistance in March 2013 and to scale up operations to reach2.5 million in April. Since the beginning of this year, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has distributed more than one million non-food basic relief items, such as mattresses, blankets, diapers, and kitchen sets to crisis-affected Syrians. The International Committee of the Red Cross has provided water treatment supplies, spare parts and generators. This ensured that more than 2.7 million people had access to drinking water between January and March of 2013. Since the beginning of this year, the International Committee of the Red Cross, working with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, has delivered emergency food assistance to more than 600,000 vulnerable people. They have also distributed household kits, including mattresses, blankets, kitchen sets, hygiene kits and candles to over 200,000 crisis-affected people. Canada's support does not end at Syria's borders. With so many Syrians pouring into neighbouring countries, we are supporting the regional approach of our humanitarian partners. Our partners on the ground tell us that thousands of Syrians are arriving in neighbouring countries every day, many in need of basic services, such as shelter, medical care, food and water. Reports are showing that the strain on communities hosting refugees is compounding other challenges in neighbouring countries. Tensions in host communities are on the rise, mainly due to the gaps in support for communities. Acts of violence and aggression against refugees are being reported in hosting countries. The strain of hosting more than 448,000refugees in Jordan, for example, is increasing tensions on scarce resources, including water, electricity, et cetera. In addition, Jordanians are facing high unemployment, high prices and poverty. Canada has reacted quickly to the situation. Our support is helping to alleviate some of the challenges taking root in these countries. For example, in both Lebanon and Jordan, wait times for registration of new refugees has been reduced. In Jordan, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees opened a new registration centre in Irbid in February and is registering approximately 700 refugees per day, in addition to the daily rate of around 1,000 refugees processed in Amman. Also in Jordan, our support to UNICEF has helped to provide access to safe drinking water to almost 175,000 people, and access to sanitation facilities for over 146,000refugees. In March 2013, the United Nations World Food Programme delivered emergency food assistance to more than 120,000 crisis-affected people through its voucher program. In addition to this, the entire refugee population of Zaatari camp, about 175,000 people, receives bread each day through the World Food Programme. In Lebanon, Canada's support to the United Nations World Food Programme helped to feed over 150,000 Syrians in February 2013 alone. It also helped UNICEF to vaccinate at least 207,000 Syrian and Lebanese children against measles, and provided 17,000 affected children with psychological support services, and enrolled over 17,000 affected children in education and learning programs. Our humanitarian partners weatherproofed 700 dwellings and rehabilitated more than 100 collective shelters. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees opened two new registration centres in February, bringing the total number of centres to four. In Turkey, Canada's support helped the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees distribute tents, blankets and kitchen sets to over 220,000refugees. It helped UNICEF enrol over 26,000 affected children in learning programs. In Iraq, Canada's assistance to UNICEF helped provide 13,500 refugees with access to safe drinking water, and over 36,000 children and women with access to essential health services. Canada will continue to look at ways to best support the Syrian population and to address the humanitarian needs arising from this crisis. Despite this, we all know that this humanitarian assistance is not enough, and that a political solution to end the ongoing conflict must be found. Canada continues to support the efforts of the international community to bring about an end to the violence. We have repeatedly called on all parties to end the violence. The violence in Syria must end. The people of Syria must be safe from violence. Civilians denied the necessities of life must be provided with humanitarian assistance. I assure members that the Government of Canada will continue to work with our partners in an effort to end the suffering of civilians in Syria, and ensure life-saving assistance reaches all those who need it. May 7th, 11:15 p.m. Situation in Syriahttp://open

Mr. Speaker, Canada has been working with the members of the United Nations and with other countries. Of course, I agree we have to talk with Russia and China. We have to talk with everyone. Russia and China are not the only countries that Mr. al-Assad has good relations with, or historic allys peaking, has had relations with. For whatever reason, they seem to support him. However, the democratic countries of this world should get together with the United Nations on bilateral agreements to make sure that everything that can be done is done to end the violence and the armed conflict. Continuing violence and fighting will not solve anything. War does not solve anything. It has to come to peace for a lasting solution to be achieved.

Mr. Speaker, we have a crisis of a huge magnitude in Syria. I am proud of our country, our government and everything that Canada has been doing to help Syrian refugees and to help people affected by this conflict. Today, our government has provided over $80 million to those affected by the crisis in Syria. Can more be done? Should more be done? I do not think it would ever be enough. We have to use our joint efforts with all of the international community toward ending the crisis in Syria, ending the violence and ending the fighting. That is the only solution that would last and that is the only solution that Syrian people are waiting for.