LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

Bible Quotation for today/You are the salt of the earth,
Metthew 5/11-20: “Blessed are you when people reproach you, persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you. “You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost its flavor, with what will it be salted? It is then good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under the feet of men. You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill can’t be hidden. Neither do you light a lamp, and put it under a measuring basket, but on a stand; and it shines to all who are in the house. Even so, let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. “Don’t think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I didn’t come to destroy, but to fulfill. For most certainly, I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not even one smallest letter or one tiny pen stroke shall in any way pass away from the law, until all things are accomplished. Whoever, therefore, shall break one of these least commandments, and teach others to do so, shall be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven; but whoever shall do and teach them shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, there is no way you will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.

CIA chief “in surprise Israel trip over Syria”
AFP/John Brennan, director of the US Central Intelligence Agency, arrived in Israel late on Thursday on a surprise visit to discuss the situation in Syria, an official Israeli source said. The CIA chief went straight into a meeting in Tel Aviv with Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, the official said. Private television station Channel 10 said that Yaalon reaffirmed during the talks that Israel "will not permit the transfer of weapons" from Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon.The powerful Shiite group is a strong ally of both Israeli arch-foe Iran and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime. Brennan's trip comes two days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Russian President Vladimir Putin.Putin warned against any moves that would further destabilize the situation in Syria. "In this crucial period it is especially important to avoid any moves that can shake the situation," Putin was quoted as saying by news agencies, days after Israeli forces launched air strikes against regime targets in Syria. Netanyahu had been expected to warn Putin against delivering advanced S-300 missiles to Syria, which would severely complicate any future air attacks against Assad's regime.In his public comments, the Israeli premier did not indicate whether he succeeded in convincing Putin to halt arms supplies to Syria or whether the two leaders reached any firm agreements.

Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon to CIA Chief: We Will Not Permit Transfer of Weapons to Hizbullah
Naharnet/Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon stressed on Thursday that his country will not permit the transfer of weapons" from Syria to Hizbullah.” Yaalon's statement came during talks he held with Director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency John Brennan, who arrived in Israel late on Thursday on a surprise visit to discuss the situation in Syria, an official Israeli source said. The CIA chief went straight into a meeting in Tel Aviv with Yaalon, the official said. Private television station Channel 10 said that Yaalon reaffirmed during the talks that Israel "will not permit the transfer of weapons" from Syria to Hizbullah in Lebanon. Brennan's trip comes two days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin warned against any moves that would further destabilize the situation in Syria. "In this crucial period it is especially important to avoid any moves that can shake the situation," Putin was quoted as saying by news agencies, days after Israeli forces launched air strikes against regime targets in Syria. Netanyahu had been expected to warn Putin against delivering advanced S-300 missiles to Syria, which would severely complicate any future air attacks against Assad's regime.In his public comments, the Israeli premier did not indicate whether he succeeded in convincing Putin to halt arms supplies to Syria or whether the two leaders reached any firm agreements.

Report: Israel Warns Syria to Stop Sending Arms to Hizbullah
Naharnet /Israel is warning Syria to stop transferring advanced weapons to Hizbullah and hinted it is considering more air strikes to achieve this, the New York Times reported Thursday."Israel is determined to continue to prevent the transfer of advanced weapons to Hizbullah. The transfer of such weapons to the party will destabilize and endanger the entire region," an Israeli official told the paper."If Syrian President (Bashar) Assad reacts by attacking Israel, or tries to strike Israel through his terrorist proxies," the official said, "he will risk forfeiting his regime, for Israel will retaliate." The official contacted the paper Wednesday. He declined to be identified, citing what he called the need to protect internal Israeli government deliberations. Israel twice last week carried out air strikes near Damascus, attacks a senior Israeli source said were aimed at preventing the transfer of sophisticated weapons to Hizbullah, the Lebanese ally of Assad and Israel's arch-foe Iran. The new Israeli warning to Syria via the Times came two days after Russian President Vladimir Putin warned against any moves that would further destabilize the situation in Syria. He spoke after talks in Moscow with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Netanyahu had been expected to warn Putin against delivering advanced S-300 missiles to Syria which would severely complicate any future air attacks against the Assad regime.Netanyahu in his public comments did not indicate whether he succeeded in convincing Putin to halt arms supplies to Syria or whether the two leaders reached any firm agreements.SourceAgence France Presse.

Syrian-Israeli war of words via Putin edges into Syrian-Hizballah war of attrition.
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report May 16, 2013/
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Netanyahu ended their three-hour meeting in Sochi Tuesday, May 14, at loggerheads on Syria. In fact, Putin warned his guest that Israel and its army, the IDF, were heading for war with Syria in which Russia might well be involved – and not just through the advanced S-300 anti-air missiles supplied to the Assad government. The case Netanyahu and Military Intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi put before Putin and Russian foreign intelligence chief, SVR Director Mikhail Fradkov, fell on deaf ears.They found the Russian leader further infuriated by the docking that day at Israel’s Red Sea port of Eilat of the USS Kearsarge, carrying 1,800 marines and a consignment of 20 V-22 Osprey helicopters which US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel had promised to supply to Israel during his April visit.
Putin viewed the stationing of US forces in the Gulf of Aqaba just two hours away the Israeli-Syrian border for repelling Syrian-Iranian-Hizballah aggression against Israel or Jordan – signaled by the Kearsage’s arrival - as an act of bad faith by Washington. On the one hand, they want us to cooperate for an international conference to end the bloodshed in Syria, while on the other, they deploy military forces, he complained to Netanyahu.
The Israeli prime minister countered with a warning that Israel would continue to strike advanced weapons in Syria that were destined for Hizballah. And if President Bashar Assad hit back for Israel’s May 5 bombardment of weapons stores on Mount Qassioun near Damascus, Israel would intensify its bombardments of Syrian military targets and weapons until Assad was left to fight off rebel assaults empty-handed.
Putin rejected this threat as implausible.
Neither Putin nor Netanyahu put all their cards on the table, but the conversation ended with the Russian leader fully confident that his capabilities for safeguarding Assad were greater than Israel’s ability to destroy him.
In the end, Netanyahu and his party arrived home Tuesday evening with a bad feeling. They were certain that Moscow had given Assad the green light to go through with his threat to make the Syrian Golan and the Horan of southern Syria “a front for resistance” – i.e. the platforms for embarking on a war of attrition against northern Israel with the help of a flow of advanced weapons to Hizballah.
The Syrian ruler is strongly encouraged to adopt this path by Tehran. Hizballah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah has embraced it. And the radical Palestinian leader, Ahmed Jibril, head of the Assad-satellite Popular Front-General Command, has eagerly offered his services.
And indeed, Wednesday, the day after Netanyahu’s trip to Sochi, Jibril’s group let loose with mortar fire on the Israeli Mt. Hermon ski site, firing from a Syrian army position.
Israeli military sources confirmed later that these were no stray shells from a Syrian-army-rebel battle as in former cases, but a deliberate attack. In Jerusalem, it was taken as a direct consequence of Moscow’s account to Assad of the conversation between the Russian and Israeli leaders. They concluded that Assad took it for granted that he was now at liberty to go on the offensive against Israel.
Wednesday night, Netanyahu’s office reacted to this deterioration with a swift and strong warning.
Israeli media were informed bluntly that if the Assad chose to retaliate for Israel’s air strikes, he would be removed from power.
That same night, “a senior Israeli official” contacted The New York Times with a more detailed warning quoted by the paper: "If Syrian President Assad reacts by attacking Israel, or tries to strike Israel through his terrorist proxies, he will risk forfeiting his regime, for Israel will retaliate."
Within hours, early Thursday morning, May 16, Jerusalem had its answer from Damascus.
A Palestinian group calling itself “Martyrs of the Abdel Qader al-Husseini Brigades” (named for the commander of a Palestinian force fighting Israel in its 1948 War of Independence) claimed responsibility for the "rockets" aimed at an Israeli military observation post in the Golan Heights. They were fired in honor of Nakba Day, said the statement released in Damascus "We are not celebrating but avenging the blood of our martyrs."
A video showing the launch was appended.
Palestinian terrorist groups habitually use made-up names when claiming attacks, a practice often followed by al Qaeda, but this one was easily identified by Israel and taken to mean that Assad had begun using what the Israeli official referred to in The New York Times as "his terrorist proxies."
Depending on the next move decided on by Prime Minister Netanyahu, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon and Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, this incident could mark the tipping-point of a slide towards a war confrontation against Israel by Syria, Hizballah and other Assad proxies.

Geagea Says Syria, Hizbullah Waging Elimination War against LF with 'Aoun as Cover', Regrets Communicating with 'Liars'
Naharnet /Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Thursday accused the Syrian regime and Hizbullah of waging a “new elimination war” against his party, pointing out that Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun is only a cover for this attack. “The LF is exposed to a new elimination war similar to what happened in 1989, and it is using again the same tools used back then,” Geagea stated in a press conference during which he responded to attacks against his party after it withdrew its support for the Orthodox Gathering's draft electoral law. He explained: “The LF's stance towards the Arab Spring is the reason behind the Syrian regime's attack on it. The regime will not forgive us for our support for the revolution.”The second reason for the attack, Geagea added, is because his party “stands as an obstacle in front of Hizbullah's plans.”
"Hizbullah invented a Christian-Christian situation to attack us and has mobilized its media outlets to serve this purpose.”He noted: “There is an attempt to isolate the LF waged by Hizbullah, Aoun and their allies. But this will not take them anywhere.”The LF leader expressed that his “only mistake was communicating with liars in the first place.”"Aoun is trying to justify his failure by attacking us,” Geagea said, responding to the wave of March 8-affiliated media reports criticizing the Lebanese Forces for withdrawing its support for the Orthodox draft. "Betrayal is a character of those who betrayed the cause and those talking about betrayal are the same who withdrew the Orange Book from the market.”“My only mistake was that I agreed to communicate with them. It is unwise of you to think that I can betray Christians.”
"They are attacking us in matters that are not related to the vote on the Orthodox draft.”Commenting on the vote on the electoral law, Geagea revealed that Aoun wants the adoption of the 1960's law, adding that “his statements are a proof of this .”"I remind you that he was the one who said if the Orthodox proposal did not pass, he will go back to the 1960's law. But I am telling you the 1960's law will not be adopted in the upcoming elections.” "They noticed that the LF is the number one party among Christians and they are trying to change that in the elections." Geagea asked: “Why did he (Aoun) call for adopting a law based on proportional representation and that divides Lebanon into one district, or for adopting the cabinet's proposal if he so keen on Christians' rights?”"Did the 2006 war secure Christians' rights? Is there an interest for Christians in Aoun's alliance with an extremist party that has encouraged establishing other similar groups?" Geagea remarked. Speaker Nabih Berri postponed on Wednesday a parliamentary session that was set to discuss the so-called Orthodox Gathering proposal for lack of quorum, after Al-Mustaqbal and the LF struck a last-minute deal on the hybrid proposal which was also backed by Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat's National Struggle Front and March 14's independent Christian MPs.The Orthodox draft that considers Lebanon a single district and stipulates that each sect elects its own MPs under on a proportional representation system, is strongly backed by Hizbullah and the FPM. Meanwhile, the proposal of the March 14 alliance, excluding the Phalange party, calls for 54 MPs to be elected under the winner-takes-all system and 46 percent via the proportional representation system.
The country would be divided into six governorates.

Berri Withdraws Proposal Mixing Orthodox and 1960 Laws after Mustaqbal's Rejection
Naharnet /Speaker Nabih Berri withdrew Thursday evening a proposal that mixes the 1960 electoral law and the controversial Orthodox Gathering draft law after al-Mustaqbal Movement rejected it. Under Berri's hybrid vote plan, 64 MPs would be be elected according to the winner-takes-all system and the remaining half under the proportional representation system.
The speaker then adjourned the meeting of the parliamentary electoral subcommittee to 1:00 p.m., Friday, pending the response of the Free Patriotic Movement and Hizbullah regarding the hybrid law proposed by Mustaqbal and the Lebanese Forces, after LF bloc MP George Adwan provided them with answers to 11 questions they had asked concerning the proposal.
"The FPM and Hizbullah asked to be given until Friday to submit their remarks on Adwan's answers," LBCI television reported.
The TV network said a plenary parliamentary session will be held at noon Saturday. Mustaqbal sources told MTV that “Berri's proposal turns half of the Lebanese into citizens and the other half into followers of their sects."
Meanwhile, the movement's sources told NBN television: "We will not accept 'a half or quarter Orthodox law'," in reference to Berri's plan. NBN said "Berri was not holding onto his proposal and he suggested it in a bid to find a final chance for common ground."The TV network revealed that MPs have been informed that "there is another plenary session on Saturday," adding that "indications suggest that parliament's term will be extended with the aim of preventing the revival of the 1960 law." The Phalange Party is yet to declare an official stance, although LBCI television reported that the party was inclined to endorse Berri's proposal before it was dropped.
Earlier on Thursday, media reports said Berri made the proposal during a meeting of the parliamentary electoral subcommittee.
Change and Reform bloc MP Alain Aoun said that the rival MPs would settle their stances on the speaker's plan during the evening session. In addition to hearing Berri's proposal, the March 14 alliance provided responses to questions raised by the Phalange party and some of the March 8 coalition's representatives. Al-Mustaqbal MP Ahmed Fatfat, whose bloc struck a deal with the rest of the March 14 factions – except for the Phalange – on a hybrid vote law, had told al-Joumhouria newspaper that the dispute lied in the division of Beirut and Mount Lebanon.
A session chaired by Berri on Wednesday night “discussed the details of the administrative divisions that we had proposed,” Fatfat said. “March 14 will respond to the questions asked.”
Berri decided to chair the meetings of the subcommittee after he adjourned a parliamentary session that was set to discuss the so-called Orthodox Gathering proposal, which considers Lebanon a single district and stipulates that each sect elects its own MPs under on a proportional representation system. But the plan faced a huge obstacle after al-Mustaqbal and the Lebanese Forces struck the deal on the hybrid proposal which was also backed by MP Walid Jumblat's National Struggle Front and March 14's independent Christian MPs.
The Phalange, a major component of the March 14 alliance, rejected the proposal which lies in having 54 MPs elected under the winner-takes-all system and 46 percent via the proportional representation system.
In the same proposal, the country would be divided into six governorates under proportionality and 27 districts under the winner-takes-all system.
Phalange sources told al-Joumhouria that the party's objection to the plan came over its division of Mount Lebanon to two districts. The first includes Shouf and Aley and the second includes the qadas of Baabda, North Metn, Jbeil and Keserouan. “This amounts to the division of Christians in Mount Lebanon and giving Jumblat what satisfies him in addition to granting Hizbullah more Shiite weight,” the sources said.
They wondered what standard al-Mustaqbal and LF adopted when making such divisions and keeping other governorates intact. The Free Patriotic Movement from the March 8 alliance had similar reservations on the division of districts in Mount Lebanon. An Nahar daily reported that Berri informed the members of the subcommittee that he will chair several sessions until Friday afternoon and call for a general assembly on Saturday morning to vote on the new law. March 8 sources told the newspaper that the 1960 law could be used in this year's elections too after their proposal for the adoption of the Orthodox proposal was dropped.
The alliance will decide on its final stance during a meeting it will hold on Thursday night, the sources said.

Bassil Says LF Step Caused 'Fall of Taef, Turned it into Catastrophes': May 15 Is a Black Stain in History
Naharnet/Caretaker Energy and Water Minister Jebran Bassil described on Thursday the date of May 15, 2013 as a black stain in history, accusing the Lebanese Forces of causing “the fall of the Taef Accord.““Twenty-four years after the Taef Accord's catastrophe, we had the chance to improve its implementation before it turns into several catastrophes, but today the Taef Accord has fallen and so did the political system created by Taef,” Bassil said at a press conference tackling the electoral law.“Wednesday, May 15 resembles the year 1989 and people will realize that our choice is the right one.”
Bassil considered that the Orthodox Gathering's draft electoral law was a chance “to achieve equal power-sharing and proper representation.”“It is the most constitutional and fair law. It enjoyed Christian consensus and the approval of Bkirki and high-ranking Christian leaders. It also enjoys the support of more than half of Muslims.”But, at the moment of truth, they (the Lebanese Forces and al-Mustaqbal) announced another law and wasted the chance, Bassil commented. He expressed that the hopes of Christians have been betrayed, adding that there is a “feeling of frustration.”“Bkirki and the Phalange Party share our frustration,” he noted. “We lost Christian unity. We temporarily lost 64 seats, and we lost a real chance to organize the Christian arena and end the dispersion caused by some parasites and feudal lords.”The Free Patriotic Movement minister said that what happened was "a blow to Bkirki and people can interpret what happened and realize the amount of foreign pressure." He accused the Lebanese Forces of “putting its private interest above the public interest by choosing March 14 instead of the country and by choosing al-Mustaqbal over Christians.” “We, however, have won our dignity and we thank our allies, especially Hizbullah, and all Muslims who stood by us concerning our rights,” he remarked.
The Orthodox draft is still on the agenda, Bassil pointed out. “I ask every Christian to pray for its approval and light a candle.""After the Orthodox law, our options are open.”Speaker Nabih Berri postponed on Wednesday a parliamentary session that was set to discuss the so-called Orthodox Gathering proposal for lack of quorum, after Al-Mustaqbal and the LF struck a last-minute deal on the hybrid proposal which was also backed by Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat's National Struggle Front and March 14's independent Christian MPs.
The Orthodox draft that considers Lebanon a single district and stipulates that each sect elects its own MPs under on a proportional representation system, is strongly backed by Hizbullah and the FPM. Meanwhile, the proposal of the March 14 alliance, excluding the Phalange party, calls for 54 MPs to be elected under the winner-takes-all system and 46 percent via the proportional representation system.
The country would be divided into six governorates.

Jbeil Police Arrest Maid for Assaulting her Employer
Naharnet/Police arrested an Ethiopian maid for assaulting her 75-year-old employer and burning her with hot water in Jbeil, north of Beirut, the state-run National News Agency reported Thursday. NNA said that the house worker, 24, hit Samia Kh. on her head with a bronze statue and then sprayed her with hot water after she collapsed in her home in Mastita. The assault caused first degree burns on the old woman's face and chest, the agency quoted the medical examiner as saying.Samia was taken to Notre-Dame de Secours hospital in Jbeil.

Connelly Meets Geagea and Gemayel, Urges Timely Elections
Naharnet/U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly on Thursday stressed the importance of holding the parliamentary elections on time, during separate meetings with Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and Phalange Party chief Amin Gemayel.“In her meetings, Ambassador Connelly noted the overwhelming public support among the Lebanese people that elections be held in a timely manner and urged all parties to work in support of that goal,” said a statement issued by the U.S. embassy.She expressed U.S. support for the “extraordinary efforts exerted by Lebanese leaders to adhere to Lebanon’s legal and constitutional framework to hold timely parliamentary elections.”Connelly underscored that Lebanon’s democratic process is an “immensely valuable achievement and a linchpin to Lebanon’s stability,” noting that Lebanon’s “adherence to democratic values is also an important factor in international confidence in Lebanon and its economy.” She renewed the United States’ “commitment to a stable, sovereign, and independent Lebanon.”

Two Held in Lebanon for Smuggling Relics from Syria Cemeteries, Churches
Naharnet /..The General Directorate of General Security on Thursday announced that it has busted a network that has been smuggling antiquities from Syria into Lebanon.
“After the GDGS received a tip-off and after reporting to the Public Prosecution, a unit from the directorate's information affairs bureau raided a hideout containing a quantity of stolen relics,” it said in a statement.
“After assigning an expert from the Ministry of Culture, at the state prosecutor's request, it turned out that these relics date to the Byzantine, Roman and Aramaic eras,” the statement added.
During the raid, General Security agents managed to arrest two members of the smuggling network, “who confessed that the antiquities were stolen from cemeteries in Palmyra and churches in Homs.”The General Security is pursuing the rest of the network's members in order to arrest them and refer them to the relevant judicial authorities, the statement added.

Italy Praises Suleiman's Role in Abiding by Dissociation Policy
Naharnet/Italian Defense Minister Mario Mauro lauded on Thursday the role played by President Michel Suleiman to distance Lebanon from the region's crises.A statement issued by the presidency said Mauro, who visited Suleiman at Baabda palace, praised Suleiman for abiding by the Baabda Declaration, a document adopted by rival Lebanese leaders last year pledging to stick to the dissociation policy.The discussions between Suleiman and Mauro also focused on the cooperation between the two countries and the influx of Syrian refugees to Lebanon. Suleiman thanked Mauro over Italy's contribution of UNIFIL troops and for currently leading the peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon.The visiting defense minister also met with Premier-designate Tammam Salam and Army chief Gen. Jean Qahwaji.His talks with Qahwaji focused on the general situation in Lebanon and the region, and ways to improve military cooperation between the two countries mainly in the fields of training and logistics, said the state-run National News Agency.Mauro is also scheduled to meet with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati and caretaker Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn.

Mixed electoral law comes at expense of Kataeb, source says
Now Lebanon/ A source affiliated with the Kataeb party said on Wednesday that his party was disappointed with the agreement that was reached by the Lebanese Forces, Future Movement and the Progressive Socialist Party on the mixed electoral law. “It seems that the Lebanese Forces agreed with the Future Movement to increase its parliamentary bloc size and the share of the seats [it will hold] in mixed areas where the Future Movement enjoys a great [amount of] power,” the unnamed source told NOW.The source also said that the LF agreed with the PSP to maintain LF MP George Adwan’s seat in the Shouf district.He also said that the Kataeb was disappointed by the distribution of constituencies in the Mount Lebanon province according to the mixed electoral law. “Combining districts [that stretch] from Baabda to Jbeil to make them one constituency will [permit for] the Shiite voice to drown out [the Christian one], which is in the interest of the March 8 coalition,” the source said. “This will result in…another [crushing victory] for Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun,” it added.
The source also noted that the Kataeb's allies, the LF and the Future Movement, answered the demands of the PSP but did not heed the Kataeb’s call for combining the Baabda and Metn districts. “All in all, The Kataeb is the biggest [loser] in this electoral proposal,” it added. Earlier on Wednesday, Adwan announced the formulation of a mixed electoral law agreed to by most of the March 14 parties before the parliament's scheduled meeting.
“The law we agreed on would bring 54% of the MPs based on the majoritarian system in 26 constituencies, and 46% of the MPs based on proportionality in 6 constituencies,” Adwan explained.
The parliament was set to meet Wednesday with only the Orthodox law on its agenda, but after the LF, Future, PSP and independent Christian MPs unveiled their new proposal, Speaker Nabih Berri postponed the session to Friday and convened the electoral subcommittee. If the parliament fails to agree on a new electoral law by a May 19 deadline, the 1960 law that governed the 2009 parliamentary vote would go into effect for the upcoming elections scheduled for June 16. The main Christian political parties in Lebanon met in April at the seat of the Maronite Patriarchate in Bkirki and expressed their refusal of the 1960 electoral law and openness to an alternative to the Orthodox proposal.The gathering brought together the LF, Marada Movement, Kataeb and FPM, all of which had previously voiced support for the Orthodox Law.

Sources: Syrian Army Erects Earth Mounds on Border with Lebanon
Naharnet/The Syrian army has erected earth mounds in areas on the northeastern border with Lebanon and dug trenches to prevent vehicles from crossing, Lebanese security sources said Thursday.The sources told MTV that the operation began at the start of the week in the area of the Southern Great River all the way to the Wadi Khaled region in Akkar district.The Syrian troops also introduced five-meter wide and 1.5 meter deep trenches to prevent vehicles from crossing the border, they said. The operation included establishing surveillance posts and a barbed wire along the earth mounds, the sources added.Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) also reported that the Syrian army urged the residents of the two Lebanese regions of al-Owaishat and Tal al-Farah to leave their homes within five days over its plans to transform the area into a military zone.

Chamoun: Mixed electoral proposal not practical
Now Lebanon/National Liberal Party chief MP Dori Chamoun said on Thursday that the mixed electoral law proposal was not practical. “We approved of the mixed electoral law in principle, but I consider that it is not a practical [proposal]… it needs at least a year for the distribution of constituencies to be discussed,” Chamoun told NOW in an interview.“We need time to prepare people and teach them about proportionality and how it works,” he added. Chamoun went on to say that both the 1960 electoral law and the mixed electoral proposal were not good for the country. “We support [an electoral law based on] non-sectarian based individual constituencies. We support a non-sectarian parliament that does not exceed 99 MPs, and a senate formed of 22 Christians and 22 Muslims,” he said. On Wednesday, the Lebanese Forces alongside the Future Movement, independent Christian MPs and the Progressive Socialist Party announced the formulation of a mixed electoral law before parliament's scheduled meeting. However, this proposal was rejected by March 14’s Kataeb party and the Free Patriotic Movement. The main Christian political parties in Lebanon expressed their refusal to accept the 1960 electoral law in a meeting in April at the seat of the Maronite patriarchate in Bkirki, as well as their openness to an alternative to the Orthodox proposal, which calls for proportional voting along sectarian lines. The gathering brought together the LF, Marada Movement, Kataeb and FPM, all of which had previously voiced support for the Orthodox proposal.

Salam Denies March 14 Dictates, Vows Not to Form Cabinet 'Behind Back' of Parties
Naharnet /Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam denied on Thursday that the March 14 alliance and Saudi Arabia were dictating him the formation of the new government.In remarks to As Safir daily, Salam said: “I will not respond to any accusation and will not bicker with anyone.”“Everyone knew about my honesty and stances on the formation of the cabinet from the first day I carried out the parliamentary consultations,” he said.
“A campaign was launched against me that I sought to form a de facto government at a time when I was holding consultations with the (different) parties and hadn't taken any decision,” Salam told the newspaper.
He reiterated that he would not take any unilateral decision and “would not form any government behind the back of the main (political) parties.” “I have vowed to preserve the resistance and resign before others if any constitutional dispute emerged,” Salam said in response to the demands of the March 8 alliance for veto power. He also said a neutral cabinet and rotation in portfolios are beneficial for future governments.
“We should form a trustworthy cabinet that includes non-party members who are not provocative figures and not running in the elections,” he said. “They would be free from the obstacles of veto power.”“These are my principles,” the premier-designate stressed. “Then why don't we give this formula a chance even for a limited period?” he wondered.Salam stressed that the bickering parties could then “go back to their division of shares as they wish.”“We tried national unity and one-sided cabinets and the results were disappointing,” he said. “Why don't we learn from our experiences … and try other paths?” Salam asked.

Rahi Calls from Venezuela for a Vote Law that 'Meets Lebanese People's Aspirations'

Naharnet/Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi urged lawmakers to agree on an electoral law that meets the aspirations of the Lebanese people, the state-run National News Agency reported on Wednesday.
"MPs must reach an accord over a vote law that meets the aspirations of Lebanese people inside the country and around the world,” al-Rahi said after meeting with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas on Tuesday eve. Speaker Nabih Berri postponed Wednesday's parliamentary session to Friday for lack of quorum after the majority of March 14 alliance MPs and Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat's National Struggle Front reached a deal on the hybrid law. The lawmakers were set to vote on the Orthodox gathering's draft electoral law during Wednesday's session.
However, during a press conference that several of March 14's MPs held in parliament, Lebanese Forces MP George Adwan said: “We reached a deal on the hybrid law that Berri had previously proposed.”
Berri invited a parliamentary electoral subcommittee to hold consecutive meetings until 6:00 pm Friday under his chairmanship.Al-Rahi pointed out that the Venezuelan head of state gives a special attention to the Middle East, and relies on Lebanon's role in this respect. Meanwhile, Maduro said after the talks: “We discussed peace and the importance of healing wounds to defend peace."
He stated: "Peace, sovereignty, independence and self-determination are the Syrian people's rights.”"All foreign interference in Syria must stop, as well as acts of terrorism and divisions inside the country.”

Gemayel after Talks with PM-Designate: Berri's Proposal Can Be Solution for Electoral Crisis
Naharnet /Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel considered on Thursday that Speaker Nabih Berri's proposal for an electoral law can be a solution for the current crisis, calling for a proposal that secures national unity.
"The Phalange party supports any consensual suggestion that puts Lebanon's interest first and that secures partnership and national unity,” Gemayel said after meeting with Prime Minister designate Tamman Salam at the latter's residence in Beirut's Msaytbeh neighborhood. "We stand beside Berri in his efforts to reach a solution if it was practical,” the former president confirmed. Berri withdrew his electoral proposal on Thursday eve, after al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc strongly rejected it. Berri's had suggested earlier in the day a draft that mixes the 1960 electoral law and the controversial Orthodox Gathering draft law. According to his suggestion, 64 MPs would be be elected according to the winner-takes-all system and the remaining half under the proportional representation system. The political factions are yet to agree on an electoral law after the speaker postponed on Wednesday a parliamentary session that was set to discuss the so-called Orthodox Gathering proposal for lack of quorum. Al-Mustaqbal and the LF struck a last-minute deal on the hybrid proposal which was also backed by Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat's National Struggle Front and March 14's independent Christian MPs.The Orthodox draft that considers Lebanon a single district and stipulates that each sect elects its own MPs under on a proportional representation system, is strongly backed by Hizbullah and the Free Patriotic Movement.Meanwhile, the proposal of the March 14 alliance, excluding the Phalange party, calls for 54 MPs to be elected under the winner-takes-all system and 46 percent via the proportional representation system. The country would be divided into six governorates. Commenting on the cabinet's formation, Gemayel said: “The process should not take much time as Lebanon is in desperate need for it.” "We urge the PM-designate to form a cabinet quickly and we stand by his side to face dangers and risks ahead of the country.”“Lebanon does not need any additional complications and we must find a solution,” he pointed out.

Obama, Erdogan Vow to Up Pressure on Assad
Naharnet / U.S. President Barack Obama and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to crank up pressure on Syria's President Bashar Assad Thursday, but offered no concrete new measures to do so. Obama warned there was no "magic formula" to force Assad to leave power, as both the United States and Turkey want, but said he hoped a conference that Washington is organizing with Russia next month would be successful.
He gave no sign that he was ready to satisfy Turkish calls for Washington to overcome its reservations about directly arming rebels fighting Assad's regime."There is no magic formula for dealing with a extraordinary violent and difficult situation like Syria's," Obama said, after meeting Erdogan at the White House. "If there was, I think the Prime Minister and I would already have acted upon it and it would already be finished," Obama said.
Obama also said that his administration is constantly reviewing his options in Syria, beyond current non-military support for opposition forces and humanitarian aid to refugees."I preserve the option of taking additional steps, both diplomatic and military," Obama said. Erdogan said U.S. and Turkish goals in Turkey overlapped and said he would continue to discuss how to build a transition in Turkey and to support the opposition in talks later on Thursday with Obama.Meanwhile, the Turkish PM announced he would probably make his planned trip to Gaza in June and that he also was expecting to visit the West Bank.
Erdogan gave new details of the Gaza trip, which will test Turkey's relations with Israel after a U.S.-brokered rapprochement. "According to my plan, most probably I would be visiting Gaza in June," said Erdogan, who had earlier said that he would reveal details of the trip, which has been opposed by Washington, after meeting Obama. "But it will not be a visit only to Gaza. I will also go to the West Bank."The dual stops means Erdogan will hold talks with the Hamas rulers of Gaza and the Palestinian authority of president Mahmoud Abbas, likely in Ramallah.
"I place a lot of significance on this visit in terms of peace in the Middle East. I'm hoping that that visit will contribute to unity in Palestine," Erdogan said.
Washington had urged Erdogan to postpone visiting the impoverished Palestinian territory, saying it would be a "distraction" from its efforts to revive the moribund Middle East peace process.
Secretary of State John Kerry said during a visit to Turkey last month that the trip would be "better delayed", and urged Erdogan to wait for the "right circumstances."
But Erdogan hit back at Kerry's comments, saying: "We wish he had not said that" and Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc told reporters it was up to Turkey to decide what it would do.
Erdogan has said that his visit would be aimed at pushing for the lifting of Israel's embargo on the Gaza Strip but Washington fears such a trip could hurt the truce Obama brokered between Washington's two key regional allies.
The breakthrough came after Erdogan accepted an apology from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the deaths of nine Turks during a 2010 raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla as Obama left Israel after a visit in March.
Source/Agence France Presse

Written by : Eyad Abu Shakra/Asharq Alawsat
It is obvious that the priorities of the Syrian rebels are different from those of the US president and the British prime minister.
The Syrian issue is the main concern of the people who have suffered more than 100,000 deaths and the displacement of more than seven million citizens, inside and outside Syria.
However, if we look beyond the naiveté of believing that human rights are the only factor that moves major international politics, we find that the results of this week’s US-British summit are no longer surprising.
It no longer requires a genius to work out that President Obama has given in to the Russian interpretation of the Geneva Agreement on Syria. It has become clear that Washington has accepted the reality of Bashar Al-Assad remaining at the helm in Syria until the end of his presidential term next year, exactly as Russia and Iran wanted.
No one will believe Obama’s promises—or those of his British ally—whose rhetoric fooled many in the last few months: promises such as “a Syria without Assad” with no deadline, and without stating that Assad’s departure is a necessary prelude for any political resolution.
This sweet talk is merely a cover for the failures of a foreign policy that either lacks understanding or is comprehensively conspiring against a vital region whose people’s interests Washington sees no wrong in ignoring.
The question, in my view, has gone past worrying about the possibility of Syria falling under the control of fundamentalists, jihadists and takfirists. Allowing jihadists and takfirists into Syria was actually part of the regime’s secret backup plan. Once the regime guaranteed Russian and Chinese vetoes and direct strategic Iranian support, it gained the time it needed to survive the revolution.
The entry of these groups into Syria was calculated, taking into account the Syrian regime’s past in Lebanon and Iraq. The infiltration of these groups into Syria was largely taking place with the regime’s blessing and help, in order to create the fear needed to clean its slate and frighten the international community of the consequences of abandoning the regime.
Let’s leave the Syrian crisis alone for now and look instead at what is taking place outside Syria’s borders.
About 18 months ago, the rhetoric from senior Turkish leaders was threatening and stern, saying things like, ‘We will not stand idly by and watch the genocide in Syria.’
Assad has crossed a number of illusory red-lines, from the bombardment of Akçakale, a Turkish town on the Syrian border, to the targeting of Syrian refugee camps on the border or the downing of a Turkish fighter jet in international airspace and the two bomb explosions in Reyhanlı. Following all this, the rhetoric of Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has changed completely, stressing defensively that Turkey “will not be drawn into a deliberate Syrian trap.”
A few months ago in Lebanon, Hezbollah was keeping its role in fighting alongside the regime and against the Syrian people quiet. It was keen to keep the government of Najib Mikati as a flimsy cover for this role. Suddenly, however, Hezbollah—or Iran, the authority across the borders—decided it no longer needed such cover.
Meanwhile, the tension is escalating in Lebanon, where Hezbollah, using its supporters in parliament and the street, has opened a fierce political annulment battle. It warns prime minister-designate Tammam Salam of woe and destruction if he dares form a government from anyone other than politicians, because it sees that as marginalizing its camp.
At the same time, Hezbollah is ignoring the reservations of the Sunni leadership—including Najib Mikati—and the Druze leadership about discussing the Orthodox Election Law. It is further using its media to incite against its enemies and the enemies of the Syrian regime and to ridicule them.
The situation is no different in Jordan, which a few years ago was the first to openly warn against the Iranian-sponsored “Shi’ite Crescent,” and which is now trying to contain a humanitarian, political and security crisis that the Assad regime has often tried to export onto its territory.
This dark picture presented by the situations in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan, added to by the complex situation in Iraq, must have, at least, been explained to Washington by its ambassadors’ reports; a fact that removes the possibility of lack of information. To that end, too, there are experts and research centers in Washington—not to mention various international agencies’ reports—in addition to the allies who are interested in the situation in the Middle East, even if they have no borders with it.
Earlier this week, Iranian foreign minister Ali Akbar Salehi said his country was against the division of Syria. This was also discussed by President Obama and Prime Minister Cameron. The fact that both the two Western leaders and Iran refuse to accept, however, is that division has always been the last resort of minorities when they lose, as opposed to their thirst for hegemony when they are in control. The majority has no interest in division.
According to all this, the situation seems to be that a political decision has been taken to turn a blind eye to the suffering of the Syrian people, to let the regime play its negotiation cards as it pleases, and to delegate Moscow and Tehran to take care of the region’s affairs.
And Israel is not out of the picture. The Israeli prime minister’s visits to Beijing and Moscow must be taken seriously, even if the stated reason for the Moscow visit was discussing the problematic delivery of the S-300 missiles.
In light of the events of the past two years, the US administration’s adoption of Moscow’s interpretation of the Geneva Agreement represents a betrayal of the Syrian people which is, in many ways, parallel to Obama’s betrayal of the Palestinian people after the promises he made on his first presidential visit to the Middle East.