Two terrorists behead a British soldier on a London street, first such Islamist outrage in the West
DEBKAfile Special Report May 22, 2013,/http://www.debka.com/article/22986/Two-terrorists-behead-a-British-soldier-on-a-London-street-first-such-Islamist-outrage-in-the-West
Two as yet unidentified Muslin terrorists chanting Allahu Akbar assaulted a British soldier on a street close to the Royal Barracks at Woolwich in southeast London, shot him, hacked him with knives and a machete and finally beheaded him. This happened in broad daylight Wednesday afternoon, May 22, in the presence of dozens of witnesses, the first such outrage seen in a West European capital.
Witnesses told the police that the two terrorists covered in blood had held up body parts of their victim and shouted: "We swear by Allah never to stop killing you.”
British TV stations are airing gruesome scenes of the episode.
The terrorists drove up to their victim in a car, jumped out and after the murder wandered about in the area, apparently lying in wait for more soldiers to come out of the Royal Artillery command barracks 400 meters from the scene of their attack. London police reached the scene after 20 minutes. When the two killers ran towards them brandishing knives and a firearm, the police shot and injured them. They were taken to separate hospitals and placed under heavy guard in case of attempts to rescue them.
Police sources said later they were treating the incident as a politically-motivated Islamist terror attack, but have not identified the killers.
In the absence of Prime Minister David Cameron in Paris, Home Minister Theresa May summoned the Cobra emergency committee into urgent session. After examining intelligence input, the committee must decide whether the Woolwich outrage was a lone incident or to raise the terrorist alert level in London and the rest of the country.
Cameron cut short his trip to Paris and returns to London Wednesday night. He will deliver a speech to the nation after chairing a second emergency committee meeting Thursday morning.

Israel General Sees Increased Risk of Surprise War
Naharnet /Middle East unrest increases the chance of Israel becoming embroiled in a surprise war, the head of its air force said on Wednesday. "When you look (around) today I think that a surprise war can be born in very many configurations," Major General Amir Eshel told a conference near Tel Aviv in remarks broadcast on local television and radio. "I don't so much see a surprise war in the near term, but it can be born from isolated incidents which escalate very quickly and oblige us to act across the spectrum," he said, without elaborating. He said that the fall to rebel forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad, with his large stock of missiles, could precipitate conflict.
"If Syria collapses tomorrow, we are liable to find ourselves in this stew very quickly and in a very big way," he said. "The enormous arsenal parked there... will be spread all over the place and you find yourself having to act on a very broad scale."He said that Syria's order from Russia of advanced S-300 air defense weapons was just the latest in a long line of missile purchases. "From the small budget that Assad has, he has spent billions in the past few years to buy the best systems that the Russians can produce -- the SA 22, SA 17, SA 24, the S-300 which is on it's way," he said. Earlier, a defense official sounded a more upbeat note, saying that Israel's ability to deter attack on its positions in the occupied Golan Heights remains undiminished despite an uptick in fire from the Syrian side of the ceasefire line. "The good news is that the continued stability of the Golan Heights (and) the deterrent power of the Israeli army have not been weakened," senior defense adviser Amos Gilad told army radio. "Daily life goes on as usual," he said, in what appeared to be an attempt to calm nerves after two days of fire and counter-fire on Israel's northeast flank. Israeli chief of staff Lieutenant General Benny Gantz issued a personal warning to President Bashar Assad on Tuesday after Syrian troops fired across the armistice line on the Golan, hitting an Israeli military vehicle.The strategic plateau has been tense since the beginning of the conflict in Syria more than two years ago. Israel, which is technically at war with Syria, seized 1,200 square kilometers (460 square miles) of the Golan from its Arab neighbor in the 1967 Six-Day War. It annexed the territory in 1981 in a move never recognized by the international community.Source/Agence France Presse.

Kerry Says Thousands of Hizbullah Fighters in Syria, Party Dragging Lebanon into War
Naharnet/U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday accused Hizbullah of dragging Lebanon into war, noting that thousands of the party's members are fighting in Syria. In a joint press conference with Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh in Amman, Kerry also voiced concern that chaos might spill over from Syria into Lebanon, condemning the intervention of Hizbullah and Iran in the Syrian crisis. Fierce clashes have been ongoing since Sunday in and around the Syrian town of Qusayr after the Syrian army managed to storm the rebel stronghold with the help of Hizbullah fighters. Hizbullah had declared that it was offering assistance to Lebanese residents of Syrian border towns near Qusayr and helping them defend themselves against rebel attacks. Hizbullah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah later stressed that the Syrian regime's “friends” will not allow its downfall, admitting that his party's fighters were taking part in combat alongside regime troops in Qusayr and near the Sayyeda Zainab holy shrine in Damascus.

Hague Says Iran, Hizbullah Increasing Support for Assad Regime
Naharnet /British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Wednesday that Iran and Hizbullah were "propping up" Syrian President Bashar Assad.
"It is very clear that the Syrian regime is receiving a great deal of support, increasing support in recent months from outside Syria from Hizbullah and Iran,” Hague said in a news conference with his Jordanian counterpart Nasser Judeh in Amman. He said the Assad regime “is increasingly dependent on external support." The regime “is being propped up by others outside, further undermining its legitimacy. It also shows that is a crisis that is increasing the threat to regional stability."Hague stressed that Assad needs to go. “We have never been able to see any solution which involves him staying," He told the press conference ahead of a meeting of the Friends of Syria group. His comments came against the backdrop of a major push by Syrian regime forces and its Hizbullah allies to retake the rebel stronghold of Qusayr in central Homs province bordering Lebanon. Hizbullah has dispatched its fighters to bolster regime troops for the battle for the town, which lies between Damascus and the Mediterranean coast.Source/Agence France Presse

Germany Would Back Hizbullah Terror Listing
Naharnet /German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle supports an initiative for the EU to list the military wing of Hizbullah as a terrorist group, a spokesman said in Berlin Wednesday. Britain has filed a request to blacklist Hizbullah, which is to be discussed early next month. The United States has labelled Hizbullah a terrorist group for decades. A German diplomatic source said that "the German position is based on facts that are increasingly crystallizing and on progress made by Cypriot authorities in the investigation of terrorist activities." Bulgaria has blamed the party for an attack against a tourist bus at the airport of the Black Sea city of Burgas in which five Israeli citizens and the Bulgarian bus driver were killed in July last year. German foreign ministry spokesman Andreas Peschke told a regular government briefing on Wednesday that "all this has meant that Minister Westerwelle believes that a (terror) listing of at least the military wing of Hizbullah should be supported". The European Union set up a list of international terrorist organizations after the September 11, 2001 attacks against the United States. The bloc freezes the assets of groups and individuals that have committed or are known to be planning terrorist acts such as attacks or taking hostages, and bans financial support for them. On Tuesday, an EU diplomat close to the matter said the bloc hoped to clinch an agreement on putting Hizbullah on the list "by the end of June." The United States said on Tuesday it does not differentiate between Hizbullah's armed and political wings as it again urged Europe to blacklist the group. Currently, Britain and the Netherlands are the only EU nations to have placed Hizbullah on their own lists of terrorist groups.
Some EU members including France have been reluctant to take action against Hizbullah, arguing that this could destabilize Lebanon, and fearing reprisals against U.N. forces in southern Lebanon. Source/Agence France Presse.

France Warns against Tripoli Clashes, Accuses Assad Regime of Transferring Conflict to Lebanon
Naharnet /France accused the Syrian regime on Wednesday of trying to transfer the ongoing civil war in Syria to neighboring countries, particularly to Lebanon. "We are very concerned about the violent activities taking place in the northern city of Tripoli,” Spokesperson of the French Foreign Ministry Philippe Lalliot expressed. "It has become clear that (Syrian President) Bashar Assad's regime is trying to expand the crisis in Syria and transfer it to neighboring countries, particularly to Lebanon.”Lalliot stressed that Lebanon must not be dragged into the Syrian conflict, calling on all political factions to commit to the Baabda Declaration. In the Baabda Declaration, rival March 8 and 14 alliance leaders have affirmed their commitment to the Taef Accord and agreed to distance Lebanon from the policy of regional and international conflicts. "We reiterate France's full support to Lebanese authorities, especially to President Michel Suleiman that despite the tough regional conditions, is still bravely determined and committed to this policy of disassociation,” Lalliot stated. Fierce battles rocked Tripoli in the past few days with the death toll mounting to 12. The state-run National News Agency reported that 12 people were killed, including two soldiers, and around 130 others wounded in the clashes that erupted over the weekend.  The army has been deployed in the area since the outbreak but has failed to halt the fighting in the town, where clashes have frequently broken out since the March 2011 beginning of the conflict in neighboring Syria. The largely Sunni city is home to a small community of Alawites, an offshoot of Shiite Islam to which Syrian President Bashar Assad belongs. Clashes have often pitted residents of the Sunni district of Bab el-Tebbaneh against those from the neighboring Alawite area of Jabal Mohsen. The latest round began as the Assad regime launched an assault on the rebel stronghold of Qusayr, near the border with Lebanon.

Future bloc MP Mohammad Kabbara: Syrian regime, ADP targeting Tripoli
Now Lebanon/Future bloc MP Mohammad Kabbara issued a furious riposte to the Arab Democratic Party late Tuesday night after the latter said that it had “entered the battle” in Tripoli. “Finally the mask has fallen and the party of [Syrian President Bashar] al-Assad’s Shabiha in Jabal Mohsen have applied its threats to shell Tripoli and target it children, women and elderly,” the MP said after a meeting he hosted at his residence to address the worsening security situation in the city. “The threats of the Assad party as mouthed by the spokesperson of the ADP Rifaat Eid are a crime similar to mass killing… which is normally punished by imposing the death sentence.” Kabbara's comments come in response to ADP media official Abdellatif Saleh's warning that his party had "entered the battle and we will not let Tripoli [rest]."The Future MP also called the Lebanese Public Prosecution to step in and arrest Eid and his aides. Kabbara criticized the country’s top political and security officials for their response to the violence engulfing Tripoli.“Will caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati request the Public Prosecution to make a move against the barracks of Bashar al-Assad, which are aggressing Tripoli?”“President [Michel Suleiman] and Lebanese Armed Forces commander [General Jean Qahwaji] know that the Assad party in Jabal Mohsen is the aggressor. Will they then defend Tripoli and its people or will they keep putting pressure on the victims and be lenient with the killers?” the lawmaker inquired. The deteriorating security situation in the northern city took a turn for the worse on Tuesday evening after six people were killed and more than 27 injured in the Syria-linked sectarian clashes that have been raging since Sunday.The victims include two LAF soldiers who were killed when army troops came under heavy gunfire Monday as they attempted deploy on Syria Street separating Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tebbaneh.

Clashes Intensify in Tripoli as Death Toll Reaches 12
Naharnet /Clashes in the northern city of Tripoli intensified Wednesday afternoon, a day after fierce battles rocked the city, claiming the lives of at least 12 people. Meanwhile, the meetings of the leaders of the Bab al-Tabbaneh's fighting frontiers failed to reach an agreement on a ceasefire in the city, LBCI television revealed. MTV reported that the battles have intensified in the afternoon, adding that "all indications suggest that Tripoli will witness fierce battles in the evening." Al-Jadeed television elaborated saying that fierce clashes are ongoing in the Hariri Project-al-Amerkan Square area in Tripoli. "Traffic has stopped on the international highway between Tripoli and Akkar due to sniper activity," it noted. "Gunshots were heard in the Bab al-Tabbaneh and al-Barraniyeh neighborhoods in Tripoli." "The army has brought in more reinforcements to the Bab al-Tabbaneh area," Future TV remarked. The state-run National News Agency reported that 12 people were killed, including two soldiers, and around 130 others wounded in the clashes that erupted over the weekend. Earlier in the day, sporadic gunfire and sniper activity violated the cautious calm in the northern city. Tens of homes were damaged by the fighting and families fled to safer areas. Future TV said that the Nashabeh Mosque, which lies between Syria Street and Jabal Mohsen, went up in flames after it was hit during the clashes. Attempts to calm things down in the city failed after two rounds of talks between al-Mustaqbal MP Mohammed Kabbara and the leaders of the fighting frontiers in Bab al-Tabbaneh failed to reach an agreement on a ceasefire. Kabbara told LBCI: "All of Tripoli's politicians are asking the army to end the clashes, but in a fair way that doesn't aggrieve anyone."Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati stressed that the Lebanese army has the complete jurisdictions to take the necessary measures to halt the clashes in the city and detain security violators. He added: “I call on all leaderships and Tripoli authorities to adhere to the policy of disassociation, which was adopted when the government was in power and is being violated by internal forces after its resignation.” “I call on all sides to follow reason and exercise restraint over the developments in Tripoli,” he continued. He urged officials following up talks with security leaders over the situation in the city to cooperate with the army and security forces and to lift the political cover off violators.
Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam telephoned Army chief General Jean Qahwaji, who briefed him on the security situation in Tripoli and the measures taken by the army to stop the clashes. The army has been deployed in the area since the outbreak but has failed to halt the fighting in the town, where clashes have frequently broken out since the March 2011 beginning of the conflict in neighboring Syria.
The Arab Democratic Party pledged later in the day to remain committed to a cease fire, ordering its supporters to exercise restraint and not to respond to the fire sources.
The largely Sunni city is home to a small community of Alawites, an offshoot of Shiite Islam to which Syrian President Bashar Assad belongs. Clashes have often pitted residents of the Sunni district of Bab el-Tebbaneh against those from the neighboring Alawite area of Jabal Mohsen. The latest round began as the Assad regime launched an assault on the rebel stronghold of Qusayr, near the border with Lebanon.

Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji on Liberation Day: We Will Not Remain Silent against those who Target us
Naharnet /Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji announced on Wednesday that the Lebanese army will not be the scapegoat of Lebanese and regional disputes. He said: “We will not remain silent against those who target us.”He made his remarks on the 13th anniversary of the liberation of the South, which lands on May 25. “As part of the army, we took it upon ourselves to rise up to the challenges facing us, such as the repeated Israeli threats, interval political tensions, and threats to attack the army,” he added. Since Monday, the army has come under attack by gunmen as its soldiers attempted to contain clashes that broke out in the northern city of Tripoli between the rival neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen on Sunday. Qahwaji added: “We are facing a dangerous situation where the army and Lebanon have become targets.” He stressed: “We are facing these threats through dialogue and at other instances through our right to defend ourselves.”“Some sides have viewed our silence and dialogue as a form of weakness and therefore attempted to harm our unity through launching sectarian accusations,” added the army commander.“Inasmuch as we are ready to present sacrifices, we will refuse to have the army turn into the scapegoat of Lebanese and regional disputes,” he declared.
“We hold these sides responsible for the recent developments in Lebanon and attempts to create strife on the internal scene through putting the army in confrontation with the Lebanese people,” Qahwaji stated.

Caretaker Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn Urges Officials to Stop Tampering with Lebanon's Security
Naharnet /Caretaker Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn called on officials to stop meddling in the country's security, pointing out that the country will most likely fall into sedition if the clashes in the northern city of Tripoli weren't controlled by the army. “The army is playing an important role in the northern city... It was granted the green light by the political power to do what is necessary,” Ghosn said in comments to Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3)on Wednesday. On Tuesday fierce clashes took place in the northern city after as the Arab Democratic Party declared an open battle and warned that it “will not let Tripoli sleep.”
Ghosn called on officials to assume their responsibilities and lift the political cover off those who are meddling in the city's security. “The clashes in Tripoli are a mere reflection of the developments in the neighboring country Syria,” he noted. The army has been deployed in the area since the outbreak but has failed to halt the fighting in the town, where clashes have frequently broken out since the March 2011 beginning of the conflict in neighboring Syria. lashes have often pitted residents of the Sunni district of Bab el-Tebbaneh against those from the neighboring Alawite area of Jabal Mohsen.

Byblos locals “shocked” by Hezbollah member burial
Now Lebanon/March 14 General Secretariat coordinator Fares Soueid told NOW that the funeral ceremony in Lebanon’s Byblos of a Hezbollah member killed in fighting in Al-Qusayr was a “shock” to the residents of this city.
“The burial of a Hezbollah member in the town of Ras Osta, which is a village near Saint Charbel Monastery was a… big shock to Byblos locals,” Soueid told NOW on Wednesday.
He added that “Hezbollah’s influence… extends to all areas where Shiite [citizens] are present.”
“This is proof for Byblos’ public opinion, as it will [express its] judgment on everything that is happening in the upcoming parliamentary elections.”Shiite Hezbollah is a close ally of the Damascus regime, and its fighters have been battling alongside the army in the Al-Qusayr area for weeks, according to activists. A growing of Hezbollah fighters killed in Syria have been brought back for burial in Lebanon in recent weeks.
The group's leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has acknowledged that members of his movement are involved in the Syria conflict. The Syrian conflict has so far left more than 94,000 people dead according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights watchdog.

Asir's Supporters Block Sidon Roads to Prevent Burial of Hizbullah Fighter
Naharnet /Supporters of Salafist cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir blocked several roads in Sidon on Wednesday to stop the burial of a Hizbullah fighter at a Sunni cemetery in the southern coastal city. Media reports said several Sidon residents joined the protest. Their move prompted the mourners to bury the fighter at the cemetery of the Shiite sect in Sidon. Hizbullah has lately held funerals for members whom officials close to the group say died in the town of Qusayr in Syria's central province of Homs while fighting rebels seeking to topple the regime of President Bashar Assad. Rami Abdul-Rahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said Wednesday that the government and Hizbullah bombarded Qusayr with rocket launchers. Qusayr lies near the Lebanese border on land corridor linking the capital Damascus with the Mediterranean coast. Last month, al-Asir urged Sunnis to join the rebels. "There is a religious duty on every Muslim who is able to do so... to enter into Syria in order to defend its people, its mosques and religious shrines, especially in Qusayr and Homs," Asir said. He said joining the fight in Homs was "especially a duty for the Lebanese because Lebanon provides the only gateway" into central Syria. The cleric said his address mainly targeted "residents of the border areas," but added: "This fatwa (religious decree) affects us all, especially those who have military experience." Asir has seen his following swell in the past year, in part due to his firebrand speeches and staunch opposition to Hizbullah.

March 14: Hizbullah's War in Syria Part of its Agenda to Empty Lebanese State of its Institutions
Naharnet/The March 14 General Secretariat condemned on Wednesday Hizbullah's fighting Syria, linking its involvement to the eruption of clashes in the northern city of Tripoli.
It said in a statement after its weekly meeting: “Hizbullah's unjustified war is part of its agenda to empty the Lebanese state of its institutions.” “The war is targeted against the state and the will of the people,” it declared. On the Tripoli clashes, the general secretariat remarked: “The residents of the city should not ignore the fact that the infighting between civil groups has long been a plan of the Syrian regime.”
The clashes in Tripoli broke out over the weekend. They have taken place mainly between the rival neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh, which backs the Syrian revolt, and Jabal Mohsen, which supports the Syrian regime.
Twelve people were killed and at least 100 were wounded since the clashes erupted on Sunday. Commenting on the ongoing dispute over the parliamentary electoral law, the March 14 general secretariat urged lawmakers, especially those of the alliance, to pressure Speaker Nabih Berri to call parliament to session in order for them to vote on a law that will help achieve the interests of the people. “Respecting constitutional deadlines and electoral requirements will remain at the heart of our political practices and it would therefore be unacceptable to abandon them” given the democratic changes in the region, it added.
The political powers have so far failed to agree on a new electoral law, which is threatening to postpone the elections that are set for June 16.
Speaker Nabih Berri is holding consultations with political foes away from media spotlight as a last attempt for reaching common ground over a new electoral law before resorting to the extension of the parliament's mandate.
Addressing the efforts to form a new government, the general secretariat encouraged Premier-designate Tammam Salam to go ahead and form a capable cabinet that would be able to separate the developments in Syria from the local Lebanese scene. “We are in need of a national government that would put an end to the use of Lebanon as a base to support the Syrian regime,” it demanded.
On this note, it urged President Michel Suleiman to send a clear message to parliament to demand that all lawmakers, without exception, keep Lebanon away from the Syrian conflict. In addition, it renewed its demand to the caretaker government to order to the deployment of the Lebanese army along the Lebanese-Syrian border with the support of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon in accordance with U.N. Security Council resolution 1701. It also demanded that a message be sent to the Arab League and U.N., explaining that Lebanon is “the victim of regional Iranian policies.”These powers should therefore assume their responsibilities and protect Lebanon against these policies, it said. “The Arab and international circles' ignoring of Lebanon is tantamount to the abandonment of a country that gave the world numerous examples of coexistence,” continued the statement.

Berri Worried about 'Chaos' in Northern Lebanon
Naharnet/Speaker Nabih Berri expressed on Wednesday his concern over the security situation in northern Lebanon in light of the eruption of clashes between the rival neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen.
He also voiced his concern over the security situation in other regions in Lebanon, his visitors quoted him as saying during his weekly meeting with lawmakers held at his Ain el-Tineh residence. The clashes in Tripoli broke out over the weekend. They have taken place mainly between Bab al-Tabbaneh, which backs the Syrian revolt, and Jabal Mohsen, which supports the Syrian regime. Twelve people were killed and at least 100 were wounded since the clashes erupted on Sunday. Addressing discussions over the parliamentary electoral law, the lawmakers said that the speaker's contacts with various political powers are ongoing in order to resolve this issue. “No new development has been made over this matter,” they remarked. Berri is holding consultations with political foes away from media spotlight as a last attempt to reach common ground over a new electoral law before resorting to the extension of the parliament's mandate. The political powers have so far failed to agree on a new electoral law, which is threatening to postpone the elections that are set for June 16.

Al-Rahi Meets Pope, Requests His Blessing for Lebanon, Middle East
Naharnet/Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi met on Wednesday Pope Francis I with whom he took part in the daily mass held at the Vatican. The patriarch then held a closed-door meeting with the pontiff during which he requested that he offer his blessing to Lebanon and the Middle East. He hoped that he would also pray for its people and that “God would answer the prayers of the pontiff in the church and the world.”Al-Rahi is scheduled to remain in Rome to attend a three-day conference on immigrants and the displaced. He is expected to address the situation in the Middle East and the case of Palestinian, Iraqi, and Syrian refugees in Lebanon. The patriarch arrived in the Vatican at the end of a tour of South America before returning to Lebanon later this week.

Jumblat Calls For Full Army Support, Considers Failure to Back it a 'Conspiracy'
Naharnet/Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat called on Wednesday for full support to the Lebanese army's missions, warning that any failure to provide political and security coverage for the military's missions in the northern city of Tripoli would be considered a conspiracy. “All political parties are required today more than ever, to back the Lebanese army,”stressed Jumblat in a statement on Wednesday.
“They are required to back its national role to preserve stability and civil peace and confront the rising challenges as the result of internal divisions and the gradual spillover of regional developments into Lebanon, mainly the Syrian crisis and the clashes in the northern city of Tripoli,” he said. Jumblat denounced Tuesday's attacks against the military in Tripoli, calling for “decisive unwavering stances to back the military institutions with all means possible, and to provide total political coverage for its missions. Any thing other than that would be considered conspiracy against the military at these crucial moments.”
Army commandos joined on Tuesday other military brigades seeking to impose security in the northern city of Tripoli after deadly clashes between the rival neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen left several people dead and injured. The army has been deployed in the area since the outbreak but has failed to halt the fighting in the town where clashes have frequently broken out since the beginning of the conflict in neighboring Syria in March 2011.According to reports, gunmen have been firing at the army and attacking military positions that left two soldiers dead and many wounded. “Protecting the Lebanese army is a priority,” reiterated Jumblat, stressing that it is more important than the conflicts lingering between political factions to reach a deal on an electoral law that suits them.

Miqati Warns of State's Collapse: Interests of Sects Should Not Block National Unity
Naharnet/Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati warned on Wednesday that the persistence of the “severe political divisions” in Lebanon will “inevitably” lead to the collapse of the state, urging all sides to rise above sectarianism.He said before his visitors: “The interests of sects should not act as independent identities that prevent national unity and eliminate Lebanon's uniqueness.”“Lebanon is not passing through a stage of transition, but a fateful one, that requires us to double efforts” to overcome it, he remarked. “We must all exert efforts to restore trust between the political factions and start serious and responsible dialogue that maintains national and constitutional principles and averts total chaos,” stressed Miqati. To this end, he called on all sides to abandon their sectarian mentality as soon as possible “in order for them to reach an agreement over a parliamentary electoral law that would be accepted by the majority of the political powers.”“Achieving the rights of all Lebanese sects is a legitimate demand,” but it should not take place at the expense of the country's interests, added the caretaker premier. He therefore demanded that parliament convene in order to address the government's electoral law proposal, saying that it offers “a suitable base to launch discussions that can lead to a modern vote law.”The government approved in August 2012 a parliamentary electoral law based on proportional representation and 13 electoral districts. The political powers have so far failed to agree on a new electoral law, which is threatening to postpone the elections that are set for June 16. Speaker Nabih Berri is holding consultations with political foes away from media spotlight as a last attempt for reaching common ground over a new electoral law before resorting to the extension of the parliament's mandate.

IAEA: Iran Speeds Up Installation of Nuclear Equipment
Naharnet /Iran is making significant progress in expanding its nuclear program, including in opening up a potential second route to developing the bomb, a new U.N. atomic agency report showed Wednesday.
The International Atomic Energy Agency's latest quarterly update said that Tehran has accelerated the installation of advanced uranium enrichment equipment at its central Natanz plant. It also outlined further progress at a reactor under construction at Arak, also in central Iran, which Western countries fear could provide Iran with plutonium if the fuel is reprocessed. One Western diplomat told Agence France Presse the report "will only increase the concerns about Iran." Highly enriched uranium and plutonium can both be used in a nuclear weapon. North Korea used plutonium in two tests in 2006 and 2009, while uranium was used in the "Little Boy" atomic bomb dropped by the U.S. on Hiroshima, Japan in 1945. The new IAEA report, seen by AFP, said Iran has installed at Natanz almost 700 IR-2m centrifuges and/or empty centrifuge casings, compared with just 180 in February. None was operating, however.
The U.S. State Department stated that the latest U.N. report on Iran's nuclear program marks the "unfortunate milestone" of a decade of Iranian defiance of the body. The International Atomic Energy Agency's director general issued the report Sunday, ten years after the IAEA's first on the Iranian program in June 2003. "And in the past 10 years, Iran has brazenly ignored multiple Board of Governors' resolutions while advancing its enrichment program in blatant violation of its international obligations," State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said. "As the international community stated previously in Board of Governors resolutions and statements on Iran, we're going to continue to hold Iran accountable for its international nuclear obligations," Ventrell said. Ventrell said the United States looks forward to a meeting in June of the IAEA board, saying: "We're going to discuss the report and look how to best respond to with other members of the board."
Iran has said it intends to install around 3,000 of the new centrifuges at Natanz -- where around 13,500 of the older models are in place -- enabling it to speed up the enrichment of uranium.
The U.N. Security Council has passed numerous resolutions calling on Iran to suspend all enrichment and heavy water activities -- of the kind under development at Arak -- and has imposed four rounds of sanctions.
Last year additional unilateral U.S. and EU sanctions targeting Iran's oil exports and its financial system began to cause real problems for the Persian Gulf country's economy.
Israel, the Middle East's sole if undeclared nuclear-armed state, has refused to rule out military action against Iran, as has U.S. President Barack Obama. Iran says that its atomic activities are peaceful. Diplomatic efforts to resolve the impasse, most recently in six-power talks with Iran in Kazakhstan in April, have failed to make concrete progress.
Despite developments at Natanz, the IAEA report noted that Iran has not started operating any new equipment at its Fordo facility, built under a mountain near the holy city of Qom.
Fordo is of more concern to the international community, since it is used to enrich uranium to fissile purities of 20 percent and Natanz mostly to five percent, technically much closer to the 90-percent level needed for a bomb.
The IAEA report showed that Iran has produced so far 324 kilos (714 pounds) of 20-percent enriched uranium, 44 kilos more than three months ago, but that 140.8 kilos have been diverted to fuel production, up from 111 kilos. Experts say that around 250 kilos are needed for one bomb. At the research reactor under construction at Arak, meanwhile, which Iran says will start operating in the third quarter of 2014, the IAEA said that the plant's large reactor vessel "has been received but ... yet to be installed".But the agency also "observed that a number of other major components had yet to be installed, including the control room equipment, the refueling machine and reactor cooling pumps." Iran had not provided the IAEA with updated design information for the IR-40 reactor at Arak since 2006, the IAEA added, saying this was "urgently required".
The IAEA is meanwhile also trying to press Iran to provide access to documents, sites and scientists involved in what it suspects were research activities, mostly in the past but possibly ongoing, towards developing the bomb.
At one of these sites, the Parchin military base near Tehran, the new IAEA report said that in addition to months of activity leveling the area that the agency wants to inspect, Iran has now covering a "significant proportion" with asphalt. "I don't think they are doing themselves any favors," one senior official familiar with the probe said, adding that some rubble from the site had been dumped in lakes.
Source/Agence France Presse.

Hezbollah and the Fighting in Syria
Abdullah Iskandar/Al Hayat/The commotion surrounding foreign implication in the ongoing fighting in Syria is focusing on the Lebanese Hezbollah, knowing that numerous foreign combatants joined the battles, including Sunni extremists who came from various countries to fight the regime and Shiites who came from Lebanon and Iraq among other places to fight the armed opposition. All these foreign fighters are implicated in the Syrian fight, along with Hezbollah. So why this focus on the Party of God? Naturally, any civil fighting is loathed and condemned, and any fueling of this fight is denounced. In addition, any foreign implication in it constitutes a violation and undermining of the country’s sovereignty, as there is no foreign implication that is legitimate, and another that is illegitimate - under whichever pretext - unless it is made in accordance with a Security Council decision. And this has not yet been seen at the level of the Syrian situation. When there was talk about Al-Nusra Front, the issue was not related to the fighting of foreigners within its ranks, but rather to its extremist ideology which caused it to be classified as a terrorist group. But the talk about Hezbollah on the occasion of the Al-Quseir battles, in which it is fiercely participating and where dozens have fallen among its elements, has become a matter of aggression and occupation, because the party is a political entity with proclaimed loyalties and ties with Iran. Hence, its participation in the fight is an intervention in the affairs of another state as per International Law, whereas the fighters of Al-Nusra Front remain individuals whose status does not amount to the level of an intervention regardless of their horrific acts and the crimes they commit, and they will be held accountable based on Criminal Law.
In that sense, the participation of Hezbollah – with what it represents – is a foreign intervention, with all the consequences this implies in International Law. This is why there is great interest in the expansion of this participation, which in turn reflects the expansion of Iran’s participation that also falls under the stipulations of this law. In parallel, this public participation by Hezbollah in the fighting in Syria reveals strategic change in the political rhetoric, after its previous Lebanese task has transformed into a recognized Iranian intervention tool in the sovereign affairs of another state. The party’s forced exposure of this shift which affected its primary role, is a setback at the level of the claims related to its political role under the banner of resistance against the Israeli occupation of Lebanese territories, and a return to its main role as a Shiite party following the Vileyat-e Faqih under the banner of defending the rejectionism axis this time around.
The party’s exploitation of the resistance in Lebanon was successful, or at the very least earned it political support from the majority of the Lebanese and the various sects, who considered it was fighting Israel to liberate the land without truly considering why it was this party in particular – with all that it represents – that was assigned to carry out resistance and liberation.
By relinquishing resistance in favor of rejectionism, the party became forced to defend the Syrian regime, not only because it is its political ally, but also because it is a minority regime, i.e. a sectarian ally. And in order to justify its military intervention, the party’s position - since the eruption of the Syrian crisis – gradually went from understanding the popular demands and stressing the necessity of meeting them under the ceiling of the regime, to stating there are infiltrators and agents who should be deterred among the protesters, to assuring there are Lebanese living on the Syrian side of the border and defending themselves, to pointing to the presence of Shiite shrines threatened by the Takfiris, to addressing preemptive strikes to the Takfiris in Syria to prevent it from falling in their hands. In other words, the protection of the Syrian side in the rejectionism axis requires the fighting of the vast popular majority in Syria to serve the minority regime, which would explain the fierce combats in Al-Quseir and the size of the losses suffered by the party in that area, considering that Rif Homs is the node connecting the Lebanese Shiite depth and the minority depth in Syria.

Syria's Opposition Urges Rebels to Join Qusayr Battle
Naharnet /Syria's opposition urged fighters across the country Wednesday to "rush to the rescue" of rebel stronghold Qusayr, while appealing to the international community to set up a humanitarian corridor to the embattled town. Syria's acting National Coalition opposition chief George Sabra issued the call for rebel reinforcements to the town as Syrian troops backed by fighters Hizbullah battled for control of Qusayr. "Revolutionary battalions and Free Syrian Army, rush to the rescue of Qusayr and Homs," Sabra said in a statement, urging brigades around the country to send forces and weapons, "however small." "We call on the international community to open a humanitarian corridor to rescue the wounded and take in medicine and assistance to 50,000 besieged people," he added. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights watchdog estimates around 25,000 civilians are trapped inside Qusayr, with thousands more still in villages around the town in central Homs province bordering Lebanon. Sabra also urged the U.N. Security Council "to convene an emergency meeting and go beyond expressing concern to action." "Our country's borders and sovereignty and the lives of its citizens are being violated. We call on the Security Council to take a position equal to the seriousness of this situation," he said. The Syrian army backed by Hizbullah fighters launched a long-expected assault against Qusayr on Sunday, reportedly entering the town and seizing several municipal buildings. The fighting has since left more than 100 people dead, the Observatory said on Tuesday, most of them rebel fighters and Hizbullah members. The regime has made recapturing Qusayr a key objective due to the town's strategic location between the capital Damascus and the Mediterranean coast, and near the border with Lebanon.
Source/Agence France Presse.

Britain, France to Drum Up Support to Arm Syrian Rebels
Naharnet/French President Francois Hollande and British Prime Minister David Cameron Wednesday said they would seek European support for their proposal to arm the Syrian opposition to fight regime forces.
"We are prepared to lift the arms embargo further so that the opposition can present themselves as the legitimate voice of the Syrian people," Cameron told reporters during a brief stopover in Paris on the way back from Brussels. Cameron said the situation in Syria was quite confused. "Sometimes we hear of successes by the opposition, sometimes we hear of successes by the regime.. What we need is a political solution."
Hollande said the proposal to lift the embargo would "have very precise conditions which are to eventually provide arms only once we know whom they are intended for and their use."He said the regime forces "have arms while the opposition does not and there is effectively an imbalance." The French leader added: "We want to bring the Europeans to this line of thought" during a meeting on Monday in Brussels of European foreign ministers. European Union sanctions against Syria are up for renewal at the end of the month, with France and Britain pushing for a lifting of the arms embargo so the rebels can receive weapons.The United States and Russia, which back opposite sides in the conflict, earlier this month proposed a peace conference dubbed Geneva 2 to bring together rebels and representatives of President Bashar Assad's regime. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says more than 90,000 people have been killed in the conflict in Syria since it began in March 2011.Source/Agence France Presse.

U.N. Says 'Mounting Reports' of Syria Chemical Weapons
Naharnet/A top U.N. envoy said Wednesday there are "mounting reports" of the use of chemical weapons in Syria's civil war and called on the Damascus government to let in U.N. investigators.The United Nations has been alerted to new chemical weapons since the start of April, according to diplomats. U.N. leader Ban Ki-moon "remains gravely concerned about the allegations of the use of chemical weapons" in the 26-month-old conflict, U.N. special envoy on the Middle East peace process Robert Serry said. "Amid mounting reports on the use of chemical weapons, we once again urge the government of Syria to allow the investigation to proceed without further delay," Serry told the U.N. Security Council. Serry did not give detail of the new reports. But Western nations have passed on details of new allegations, diplomats said. "We continue to get information about new incidents and we will continue to pass those to the secretary general," said one Western diplomat. The diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also gave no detail, but said the alleged attacks had occurred "since the beginning of April." President Bashar Assad's government called for a U.N. investigation but has blocked U.N. experts who have called for access to all parts of the country so that they can look into opposition claims as well.
Syria has insisted that any investigation be limited to government claims that opposition rebels fired chemical weapon shells at Khan al-Assal, near Aleppo, on March 23 when more than 30 people reportedly died.
Following official requests by Britain and France, Ban has demanded that the experts also investigate the alleged use of the weapons at Homs in December.
Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on May 10 that Syrians showing signs of chemical attacks had been brought to hospitals in Turkey, and that "remainders of missiles" that he believes were used in such attacks have been found. Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu added that authorities were conducting blood tests on wounded Syrian refugees to assess whether their injuries had been caused by chemical weapons. Turkish authorities have not said, however, when the suspected attacks were staged. The U.S. administration said on May 15 that it believed small amounts of chemical weapons had been used at least twice in Syria but that it was awaiting full confirmation. A team of U.N. experts led by Swedish scientist Ake Sellstrom is already studying evidence brought out of Syria. Serry said the team was continuing its work.
Source/Agence France Presse.

Two terrorists behead a British soldier on a London street, first such Islamist outrage in the West
DEBKAfile Special Report May 22, 2013,/http://www.debka.com/article/22986/Two-terrorists-behead-a-British-soldier-on-a-London-street-first-such-Islamist-outrage-in-the-West Two as yet unidentified Muslin terrorists chanting Allahu Akbar assaulted a British soldier on a street close to the Royal Barracks at Woolwich in southeast London, shot him, hacked him with knives and a machete and finally beheaded him. This happened in broad daylight Wednesday afternoon, May 22, in the presence of dozens of witnesses, the first such outrage seen in a West European capital. Witnesses told the police that the two terrorists covered in blood had held up body parts of their victim and shouted: "We swear by Allah never to stop killing you.” British TV stations are airing gruesome scenes of the episode. The terrorists drove up to their victim in a car, jumped out and after the murder wandered about in the area, apparently lying in wait for more soldiers to come out of the Royal Artillery command barracks 400 meters from the scene of their attack. London police reached the scene after 20 minutes. When the two killers ran towards them brandishing knives and a firearm, the police shot and injured them. They were taken to separate hospitals and placed under heavy guard in case of attempts to rescue them. Police sources said later they were treating the incident as a politically-motivated Islamist terror attack, but have not identified the killers. In the absence of Prime Minister David Cameron in Paris, Home Minister Theresa May summoned the Cobra emergency committee into urgent session. After examining intelligence input, the committee must decide whether the Woolwich outrage was a lone incident or to raise the terrorist alert level in London and the rest of the country. Cameron cut short his trip to Paris and returns to London Wednesday night. He will deliver a speech to the nation after chairing a second emergency committee meeting Thursday morning.

The plot against Egypt
By: Osman Mirghani /Asharq Alawsat
The nature of the relationship between the military and the Muslim Brotherhood will determine many issues in Egypt. In spite of all the statements that have been issued to the contrary, there is every indication that the silent standoff between the military and the presidency—or rather the military and the Brotherhood—continues to escalate. The most recent development in this crisis was the kidnapping of Egyptian soldiers in Sinai and the contradictory statements that were issued following this. The presidency was unable to hide these discrepancies in official statements, to the point that a presidential spokesman had no choice but to correct common misunderstandings of the president’s statement. Did people really misunderstand? Or is the presidency trying—in vain—to hide what is clear for everybody to see? In fact, the tension between the army and the Brotherhood is no secret. Since the early months of the revolution, this has been a hot topic among the public and in the media. In fact, these tension continued to intensify as protestors demanded that the army intervene to “resolve” the political crisis gripping the country. Many warnings have been issued—from known and unknown sources—regarding this confrontation that neither the military nor the Brotherhood wants to be the first to acknowledge. The Brotherhood and its affiliates warn of plots to “overthrow” the elected president, emphasizing that they would not “permit” the revolution to be hijacked or power usurped. For its part, the military warns against insulting or questioning its national role, stressing that its role is to defend the homeland and people. Moreover, many military sources have claimed that patience is wearing thin among the members of this institution, warning the Brotherhood of the army’s anger. With Abdul Fatah Al-Sisi, Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces and Egyptian Defense Minister, warning of the collapse of the state, and with the army emphasizing that its role is to defend the people, official statements from the presidency denying the existence of any tensions are unconvincing. It is difficult to believe the Brotherhood’s denial when its members and affiliates are publicly praying for the “annihilation of the army;” or when they ridicule the defense minister, describing him as an “actor” attempting to woo the public. In this atmosphere, one may ask: is it possible to avoid confrontation? If not, who will strike first?
Following the abduction of 7 soldiers in Sinai, the army asked the president’s permission to launch an offensive to secure the hostages’ release. The president, however, was inclined to negotiate with the kidnappers, preferring to solve the issue “without bloodshed.” The discrepancy between these two stances is obvious; and the spokesman’s claim that the president’s statement was misunderstood was patently absurd. How can one justify negotiating with kidnappers demanding the release of so-called jihadists who were arrested after attacking police stations in Sinai?
The negotiations that the president called for will ensure immunity for the kidnappers, encouraging them to kidnap more troops in the future and barter them for demands. This is something which will make Sinai a hotbed for gunmen, outlaws, and extremists who have reportedly established training camps in the Sinai peninsula in an attempt to establish “an Islamic Emirate” there.
When protestors took to the streets against the Brotherhood, the presidency did not prefer to solve the issue “without bloodshed.” However, after extremists kidnapped soldiers and issued demands, the president
chose to act peacefully. The situation in Sinai is getting more dangerous and the gunmen more daring, especially after they saw the government’s inability to uncover who was responsible for killing 16 soldiers last summer. This was an incident that Mursi used to reshuffle the army and relieve Field Marshal Mohamed Tantawi and Lieutenant General Sami Anan from their posts.
The Brotherhood and the military are involved in a tug-of-war; and the developments in Sinai will have an impact on Cairo and perhaps all of Egypt. According to Egypt’s Al-Ahram newspaper, Al-Sisi previously warned that dragging the military into the political process might transform Egypt into Afghanistan or Somalia. The defense minister’s statement indicates that some deals are being made under the table to drag Egypt into a quagmire of violence, instability, and armed confrontation. After witnessing the military establishments in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen being preoccupied with fighting extremists and terrorists, one cannot help but worry about Egypt and what the future may hold for the country.