Inside Roumieh’s walls, prisoners run the show
Miscellaneous Reports And News
Kenya's Interior Ministry: Attack is over, all hostages have been freed
Smoke pours from Kenya mall as forces "close in"
Gunfire, Explosions as Kenyan Troops Battle to Save Mall Hostages and 10 Suspects in Custody
At Least 81 Christians Killed as Twin Suicide Bombers Attack Sunday Service in Pakistan
Kenya mall attack: Ottawa victim from family of diplomats
Iran's Rouhani says will present 'true face of Iran' at U.N.
Iran takes charm offensive to U.N., agrees to nuclear talks
Kenya says mall gunmen came from several nations
Kenyan officials say forces rescued most hostages in terrorist siege at mall
Egypt: Court bans ousted president's Muslim Brotherhood group, orders its assets confiscated
Canada Promotes Freedom, Dignity and Security Agenda at United Nations
Assad Says 'Terrorists' Obey Foreign States, West Fighting 'Imaginary Enemy'
Jihadist groups turn on each other in Syria
Kerry to take part in major powers' talks with Iran this week
Assad criticises U.S. on threat of strikes
Syria-based Jihadists behind deadly Beirut car bomb: Nasrallah

Egypt: Court bans ousted president's Muslim Brotherhood group, orders its assets confiscated

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/egypt-court-bans-ousted-presidents-muslim-brotherhood-group-120714332.html
By Maggie Michael, The Associated Press | The Canadian Press –CAIRO - An Egyptian court on Monday ordered the Muslim Brotherhood to be banned and its assets confiscated in a dramatic escalation of a crackdown by the military-backed government against supporters of the ousted Islamist president Mohammed Morsi. The ruling opens the door for a wider crackdown on the vast network of the Brotherhood, which includes social organizations that have been key for building the group's grassroots support and helping its election victories. The verdict banned the group itself — including the official association it registered under earlier this year — as well as "any institution branching out of it or ... receiving financial support from it," according to the court ruling, made public on Egypt's state official news agency MENA. The judge at the Cairo Court for Urgent Matters also ordered the "confiscation of all the group's money, assets, and buildings" and said that an independent committee should be formed by the Cabinet to manage the money until final court orders are issued. The verdict can be appealed.
The Brotherhood was outlawed for most of its 85 years in existence. But after the 2011 ouster of autocrat Hosni Mubarak, it was allowed to work openly, formed a political party and rose to power in a string of post-Mubarak elections. In March, it registered as a recognized non-governmental organization. "This is totalitarian decision," leading group member Ibrahim Moneir said in an interview with Qatari-based Al-Jazeera Mubashir Misr TV. "You are losers and it (the Brotherhood) will remain with God's help, not by the orders by the judiciary of el-Sissi," he added, referring to military chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, who led the overthrow of Morsi on July 3.
The court did not immediately make public the grounds for its ruling. The verdict came in a suit raised by lawyers from the leftist party Tagammu party, accusing the Brotherhood of being a "terrorist" and "exploiting religion in political slogans." Several other courts are looking into similar suits.

Kenya's Interior Ministry: Attack is over, all hostages have been freed
By REUTERS, JPOST.COM STAFF 09/24/2013
Kenyan officials say their forces are "in control" of the Westgate shopping mall after it was under siege for more than 3 days by al-Qaida-linked terrorists al Shabaab, killing 62 people. NAIROBI - Kenyan officials said early on Tuesday that their forces were "in control" of a mall in the capital where Somalia's Islamist al Shabaab launched a raid that has killed at least 62 people."Our forces are combing the mall floor by floor looking for anyone left behind. We believe all hostages have been released," the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government in The Office of the President said on its Twitter handle. Nairobi mall attack death toll rises to 68 amid reports of Israeli rescue role Report: Israelis join Kenyan effort to rescue hostages from terrorists Thick smoke poured from the besieged Nairobi mall on Monday night, where Kenyan officials said their forces were closing in on Islamists holding hostages, three days after the raid began.It was unclear how many gunmen and hostages were still cornered in the Westgate shopping center, two hours after a series of loud explosions and gunfire were followed by a plume of black smoke, that grew in volume from one part of the complex. Kenya's interior minister told a news conference that the militants - all men, though some wore women's clothing during the assault - had set a fire with mattresses in a supermarket on the mall's lower floors. Two "terrorists" had been killed on Monday, he added. Another assailant had died on Saturday.
The gunmen came from "all over the world", Kenya's military chief said, adding: "We are fighting global terrorism here."
 

N.Y. meet on Lebanon a political message, not a pledging conference
September 24, 2013/By Mirella Hodeib/The Daily Star
The primary goal of the upcoming meeting in New York of the International Support Group for Lebanon is to mobilize international support for Lebanon rather than collect aid, diplomatic sources said Monday, a few days ahead of key talks to be held on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. “This is certainly not a pledging conference,” a diplomatic source closely following up on the preparations for the Sept. 25 convention told The Daily Star.
“The meeting aims to send a strong political message,” he added. “Because before you find the money, you have to remobilize the international community to help Lebanon.”
Now collectively operated by a steering committee directly affiliated with the office of U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the International Support Group for Lebanon is the brainchild of France.
For several months, Paris has actively lobbied for the formation of an international group whose mission is to shield Lebanon against the war in neighboring Syria through supporting Lebanese state institutions.
“France wanted to render practical the consensus over safeguarding Lebanon’s stability that emerged in the joint statement issued by the U.N. Security Council in July,” the source said. The source outlined the threefold objectives of the International Support Group for Lebanon, saying that supporting the country’s tormented economy and the poorly equipped Army as well as refugee pressure will figure on the agenda of this week’s discussions in New York. “We are building a case to support Lebanon,” the source pointed out, adding that the international community “was not helping Lebanon the way it should be.”
The source hoped that Thursday’s meeting would engender aid to Lebanon on several levels:
“We don’t have a miracle plan; we are in a laboratory and we’re brainstorming with the Lebanese to come up with a road map.”In addition to President Michel Sleiman, who will deliver the opening speech, the meeting on Lebanon is expected to be attended by French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres and a representative from the Arab League. It remained unclear whether the foreign ministers of the four other permanent members of the U.N. Security Council would attend.
The source admitted that the weakness of Lebanese state institutions constituted a “big hindrance” with regard to the collection of pledges and also mentioned “shoddy strategies” on the part of the Lebanese state.
The source however highlighted that the formation of a new government was not a condition for holding future donor conferences to help Lebanon in various fields.
“Expectations over the Thursday meeting should not be high,” said the source. “We are hoping to start a certain dynamic vis-a-vis Lebanon but we just cannot give money randomly.”
But according to the source, the recent assessment carried out by the World Bank on the economic losses incurred by Lebanon as a result of the conflict in Syria, as well as the five-year action plan presented by the Lebanese government to boost the capabilities of the Lebanese Army, are expected to provide leverage to Lebanon’s case during this week’s talks.
“The assessment of the World Bank – an objective and credible institution – comforts the international community,” the source said. With respect to the political deadlock in Lebanon, the diplomatic source said that while the international community hoped for the immediate formation of a new government capable of making decisions, “we should be ready to work even if there is no government.”
The source said that contact and dialogue between Europe and Hezbollah was ongoing even after the EU decision to blacklist the military wing of the party.
As for demands by Hezbollah’s opponents to exclude the group from any new government, the source said the upcoming government should be “a reflection of Lebanese consensus.”
“You need minimum consensus and a set of common denominators to empower a government and enable it to make decisions,” the source added.

Suleiman, Lebanese Delegation Make Last Minute Preparations for General Assembly Meetings
Naharnet /President Michel Suleiman headed on Sunday a meeting of the Lebanese delegation hours after arriving in New York to attend the U.N. General Assembly sessions and a conference of an international support group for Lebanon. The state-run National News Agency said the meeting was aimed at making last minute preparations for Suleiman's participation at the General Assembly and a speech he is scheduled to make. Their talks also focused on the Sept. 25 meeting to help Lebanon confront the Syrian refugee influx, which will be headed by Suleiman and U.N. chief Bank Ki-moon and attended by the foreign ministers of the five permanent Security Council members, the head of the World Bank, in addition to officials from different U.N. agencies such as the UNDP and UNHCR. Caretaker Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour, who is part of the official delegation, told Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5) that the international community should assume its moral and financial responsibilities towards Lebanon. “The repercussions of the Syrian crisis on Lebanon are huge,” he said. The Sept. 25 meeting will be based on an assessment report that the World Bank has prepared. Spillover from the Syrian war has cost Lebanon billions of dollars, deeply damaged its economy and harshly strained social services such as health, education and electricity, the World Bank has reportedly said in the report. It estimates that Lebanon will have to spend another $2.5 billion to bring access and quality of public services back to their pre-Syrian conflict level.

Legislative Session Postponed for 5th Time, War of Words between Fatfat and Bazzi
Naharnet/The parliamentary session, which Speaker Nabih Berri had called for, was postponed for the fifth time on Monday over lack of quorum. The new session will be held on October 23.
Development and Liberation bloc MP Ali Bazzi lashed out at MP Ahmed Fatfat in comments to reporters after the postponement of the session, saying that accusations that Berri is insisting on a wide agenda are not of his duties. Fatfat said earlier that al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc is boycotting the session over it's agenda. But the Mustaqbal MP's press office snapped back at Bazzi, saying "we are not surprised by the low political rhetoric of MP Ali Bazzi who once again preferred to use his insults for failing to have argumentative thoughts." Sources close to al-Mustaqbal said earlier in comments to al-Joumhouria newspaper that the movements MPs and the Lebanese Forces MPs insist on not attending the session over its agenda. While Change and Reform parliamentary bloc sources also pointed out that its MPs will boycott the session over an article concerning the extension of the mandate of security leaders. Sources close to Berri said that if the session was boycotted anew, he will postpone it to a date that would be set later. Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati's session will not attend the session. Miqati is currently present outside Lebanon, holding on to his previous stance. He argues that there is no balance between the powers of the legislative and executive branches amid a resigned government.
Berri has called on the parliament to convene on Monday at 10.30 a.m. without changing the agenda of the session. The session was postponed for a fourth time on August 20 over a lack of quorum. Several parliamentary blocks boycotted the parliamentary session over a dispute with the speaker over its agenda, which included 45 articles. Berri insists on keeping the 45 draft-laws on the agenda intact and had previously vowed to continue to call on MPs to a General Assembly meeting until the agenda is discussed.

Security Forces Begin Deploying in Dahieh, Taking over Hizbullah Checkpoints
Naharnet/..The state's official security forces began deploying on Monday in Hizbullah's stronghold in Beirut's southern suburbs of Dahieh. The army, Internal Security Forces, and General Security members will begin setting up checkpoints and taking over the party's checkpoints in the area. Hizbullah members have started leaving their posts to make way for the security forces, reported LBCI television.
The security forces began deploying in the area on Monday afternoon, with an army unit taking over a checkpoint in the Mar Mikhael neighborhood in Dahieh at around 4:30 p.m.
Other units headed off to take over checkpoints in the the Msharrafieh and Ghobeiri neighborhoods. Hizbullah members only left their posts after the arrival of the security forces.
Al-Jadeed television reported that the security forces will take control of 60 entrances of Dahieh, including various alleyways.
The task force in Dahieh includes 100 General Security members, 300 soldiers and 400 Internal Security Forces personnel. Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel later said from Dahieh: "The deployment is aimed at reassuring the people and giving them a sense of security despite the shortcomings we are suffering from." "The residents should support the security forces and they should not doubt their competency and capabilities," he added.
"I urge the residents of Dahieh to cooperate with the security forces, who are deployed to ensure their safety," he continued. "The problem in Dahieh and the phenomenon of autonomous security emerged because of our shortcomings," said the minister. "The Interior Ministry serves all the people and it does not discriminate between them," he stressed. Charbel hoped that the same security measures taken in Dahieh will be later implemented in the northern city of Tripoli, which had witnessed twin bombings targeting two mosques on August 23. Later on Monday, the minister toured some Dahieh neighborhoods to inspect the security measures.
Asked by a reporter about the participation of the General Directorate of General Security in the plan, Charbel said: "Deploying in Dahieh is among the duties of General Security, whose members are well-trained."
Asked whether Hizbullah will take part in overseeing the plan, Charbel said: "Only security agencies will be involved in the operations room and we won't only coordinate with Hizbullah, but also with all citizens in Dahieh."
"Hizbullah members won't exist on the ground anymore and their presence had more cons than pros," Charbel noted. The deployment in Dahieh is aimed at ending Hizbullah's measures of self-security following two deadly explosions that targeted its stronghold in the suburbs. Among the measures taken by Hizbullah was setting up checkpoints inside and at the entrances of the suburbs.
 

Nasrallah denies chemical arms charge
September 24, 2013/By Wassim Mroueh, Thomas El-Basha The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah denied Monday claims his group had received a large quantity of chemical weapons from Syria and urged Gulf countries not to wager on a military solution to the conflict in Lebanon’s neighbor.
“This is actually a laughable accusation. It is as if transferring a ton of chemical weapons to Lebanon is like transferring wheat, flour or regular ammunition,” Nasrallah said in a televised speech. “I categorically deny these accusations as baseless.”
The Syrian National Coalition has accused the Damascus regime of sending its Lebanese ally Hezbollah parts of its chemical weapons stockpile, regarded as the largest in the region.
Nasrallah said that these “dangerous” accusations had similarly “dangerous” repercussions on Lebanon.
“Some Lebanese should pay attention that they will be exposing Lebanon to dangers if they support these claims in media or in politics,” he said.
“Not on a single day did our brothers in Syria discuss with us the provision of chemical weapons nor did we ask for chemical weapons,” Nasrallah said.
The Hezbollah leader said religious considerations prohibited his group from acquiring the banned weapons.
A U.S.-led plot to hit targets in Syria over Damascus’s alleged use of chemical arms was put on hold earlier this month after Washington and Russia reached a deal that would rid Syria of its chemical arsenal.
During the speech Nasrallah also said that jihadists based in Syria were behind last month’s deadly car bombing in the neighborhood of Ruwaiss, located in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
“We reached definite results and we managed to clearly identify the side behind the blast in Ruwaiss ... where the group is based ... and the members it recruited to carry out [the attack],” Nasrallah said.
“Some are Lebanese and some are Syrians. It is a definitely a takfiri group that operates as part of the Syrian opposition and is based in Syrian territories,” he said.
Thirty people were killed and hundreds wounded in the Aug. 15 car bombing in the Ruwaiss neighborhood, in an attack widely believed to be linked to the crisis in neighboring Syria.
In May, Nasrallah admitted that Hezbollah members were fighting alongside forces loyal to President Bashar Assad against rebels seeking to topple the Syrian leader.
Nasrallah said Turkey had recognized late the dangers posed by the proliferation of extremist groups in Syria.
“Yesterday or today, Turkish President [Abdullah] Gul talked about the danger posed to Turkey by extremist groups in northern Syria,” he said.
Hezbollah dismissed accusations by Saudi Arabia and some Gulf countries that Hezbollah and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps were now occupying forces in Syria.
“This is a false description and not true at all. There are only dozens of Revolutionary Guard personnel in Syria. Do these occupy Syria?” Nasrallah asked.
“The [geographical] sizes of Lebanon and Syria are well known to everyone as well as their population sizes ... can a sane person in Lebanon, Syria, the Arab or entire world believe that Hezbollah has the ability ... to occupy Syria?” he asked.
He said accusations of the kind were aimed at compensating for the failure of the groups behind them.
“There is an international and regional axis that has been fighting in Syria for over two years ... and wagered on toppling the Syrian regime within two months, or three months, or five months and has failed,” Nasrallah said, referring to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries.
He urged Riyadh not to bet on a military solution in Syria, saying the way out of the crisis was through a political settlement.
“I call on Saudi Arabia, other Gulf countries, Turkey and other Arab and Islamic countries ... to reconsider their stance. ... Betting on a decisive military action [in Syria] will fail, is destructive and will lead nowhere,” he said.
“There are facts in politics and on the ground that indicate that the salvation of Syria and the region’s states, and peoples ... lies in a dialogue and political solution,” he said.
Nasrallah said he was not surprised by Bahrain’s decision to designate Hezbollah a terrorist group, stressing that this would have no bearing on his party’s support for the uprising there.
“The new stance by the government in Bahrain considers [even] contacting Hezbollah as amounting to a crime,” Nasrallah said.
“This for sure is not a legal or judicial issue but a political stance of which we are not surprised,” he said.Nasrallah said the reason behind the move was Hezbollah’s support for the Bahraini uprising that began in February 2011. “This is our fixed stance that we will not go back on,” he added.
Nasrallah reiterated Hezbollah’s willingness to take part in any National Dialogue session called for by President Michel Sleiman without any preconditions.
“We consider that the national interest lies in Dialogue regardless of the resulting outcome,” he said.
Nasrallah dismissed accusations by the March 14 coalition that his party was hindering the Cabinet formation process, saying both the March 8 and March 14 coalitions had their conditions.
He said that the Future Movement and its allies opposed granting Hezbollah and its allies veto power in the new government and insisted that the formula of the “Army, people and resistance” should not be part of the future Cabinet’s policy statement.

Hizbullah Chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in Televised Address on Latest Developments
Naharnet/Timeline
Nasrallah: This formula is not realistic because it is actually an 8-10-6 formula, since the premier-designate is a member of the March 14 forces and the minister he is supposed to name would abide by the same political decision, which would technically mean that March 14 would have 10 ministers.
Nasrallah: The 8-8-8 cabinet line-up formula is unrealistic.
Nasrallah: We are willing to discuss any topic, including the intervention in Syria.
Nasrallah: We are willing to discuss this issue more than any other topic.
Nasrallah: We want to understand what does intervention in Syria mean. Isn't it intervention when some leaders urge, contact, exert efforts and write articles in some media outlets to called on the American president to wage a military aggression against Syria? An aggression that would have dangerous repercussions on the region, the world and Lebanon. Is this neutrality? Is this self-dissociation? Which is more dangerous? This move or the sending of Hizbullah fighters to specific locations in Syria?
Nasrallah: Some said that Hizbullah does not want to discuss the intervention in Syria, but on the contrary, we want to discuss this point and we agree on Speaker Berri's agenda. We agree to discuss who started the intervention, its forms, the timing of our intervention and whether there is a national interest in it.
Nasrallah: Those who are obstructing dialogue in Lebanon are well-known and we are willing to take part in dialogue regardless of the issue of some parties' participation. We see a national interest in dialogue regardless of the possible outcome.
Nasrallah on national dialogue: Some parties have again rejected dialogue and set preconditions and they are the same parties who had impeded dialogue and insisted on Miqati's resignation. Following the cabinet's resignation, they did not return to dialogue and they set the precondition of forming a new cabinet.
Nasrallah: The head of a Lebanese party claimed that the wired telecom network was breaching people's privacy and he should ask one of the officers about this network, which is primitive and incapable of spying on anyone.
Nasrallah: The Bekaa is part of the battle with the enemy and we need to have communications with the Baalbek-Hermel region. Years ago a cable was installed on Zahle's outskirts and what has recently happened is that our young men were repairing it and that's the whole story. Unfortunately, some parties are seeking stunts and illusionary heroism.
Nasrallah: Hizbullah has never sought to install a telecom network in Zahle.
Nasrallah: I call on the Lebanese to be cautious while launching such accusations, which might have repercussions on everyone.
Nasrallah: I categorically deny these baseless accusations.
Nasrallah: These accusations have dangerous repercussions on Lebanon and on all people.
Nasrallah: The thing is not like transporting wheat, flour or conventional weapons and some parties in Lebanon joined the media campaign and said they fear that the chemical weapons might be transported to Lebanon.
Nasrallah: The U.S. defense secretary warned that chemical weapons might be transferred to Hizbullah and on the next day the Syrian Coalition claimed that the Syrian regime has delivered chemical arms to Hizbullah and some "smart" officials claimed that we have received a ton of chemical agents and this is a laughable accusation.
Nasrallah: All the details were passed on to the relevant state authorities, which must take the necessary measures, especially against the culprits who are inside Lebanon.
Nasrallah: We have managed to identify the culprits of the Rweiss bombing and their handlers. Of course it is a Takfiri group that is affiliated with the Syrian opposition and which is based in Syrian territory. Security agencies also reached this conclusion.
Nasrallah to security forces: Today, you are entrusted with the Dahieh region and when Dahieh entrusts the army and security forces with its blood, security and safety, this is the most precious thing that one can put at stake.
Nasrallah: I thank all the brothers and sisters, all the families, all the people. I thank the army, the security forces and the Palestinian factions, especially the family of the martyr Mohammed Samrawi over their noble stance on the regrettable incident in Burj al-Barajneh.
Nasrallah: Only the state is responsible for security in all regions and we will leave any point to which the state might send forces. Today it happened in Dahieh and tomorrow it might happen in Baalbek and we welcome and cooperate with any efforts that contribute to the success of the mission.
Nasrallah: Those who believe that Dahieh is not threatened do not live in this country or in this world. Allow me to say that they would rejoice at the death of people in Dahieh and Tripoli and that they would be saddened by our efforts to prevent that.
Nasrallah: Those who accuse us of seeking a mini-state condemned the measures and attacked them with the aim of demonizing this sincere national endeavor.
Nasrallah: From the very first day, we contacted the state and asked them to shoulder their responsibilities, but they said that they had a personnel problem and we expressed our understanding.
Nasrallah: Some parties said that this is Hizbullah's plan and accused the party of seeking autonomous security to "complete its mini-state scheme," but today's deployment refuted their claims, as Hizbullah would have rejected this issue if it was seeking autonomous security.
Nasrallah: From the very first moment, statements rejecting autonomous security were issued ... Some parties rejected autonomous security in principle and we respect and back this stance. We are advocates of this stance because we reject autonomous security and it has never been part of our agenda and we have never practiced autonomous security. We only resorted to this option when we found that there is a security vacuum and we only intervened to prevent the entry of booby-trapped cars.
Nasrallah: Following the August 15 attack in Rweiss, we shouldered a big responsibility and our men exerted efforts to prevent the entry of any booby-trapped car into Dahieh.
Nasrallah: We hope these security forces and state authorities will shoulder their full responsibility and assume all the intelligence and preventative missions.
Nasrallah: I call on everyone to deal with these security forces in a spirit of national responsibility. These men are shouldering a very big responsibility and they are performing a major mission for which they must be thanked.
Nasrallah: I call on all the residents of Dahieh and all visitors and passersby to show the highest levels of cooperation, respect, acceptance and responsiveness to the security measures, and I ask them to offer all the assistance and support needed to help them perform their mission.
Nasrallah: We support the pleas voiced by Tripoli's leaders and we hope all towns will be protected by the state.
Nasrallah: The issue of Dahieh was a bit sensitive because it was targeted twice and it is still facing threats, but the state must definitely extend its authority in all regions.
Nasrallah: We appreciate the national decision that has been taken by state officials and we very much welcome this decision.
Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in a televised address on the latest developments: The joint task force has taken over all the security checkpoints in Dahieh.
 

Inside Roumieh’s walls, prisoners run the show
September 24, 2013/By Samya Kullab/The Daily Star
ROUMIEH, Lebanon: The lofty concrete walls insulating the interior of Roumieh’s prison complex from the world outside strike an onlooker as rather forbidding. Numerous checkpoints leading to the inner facility validate this impression, as prison guards solemnly check the identification papers of visitors and question unfamiliar faces, measures which give the impression that they’re running the show.
But day-to-day life within the prison itself is far removed from the strict protocols suggested by the entry procedures: Between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., prisoners in plain clothes freely walk around their respective blocks, play cards, drink coffee, and while away their sentences.Concord between prisoners and guards is precarious, despite appearances, says Col. Ghassan Maalouf, Roumieh’s prison director. Guards are still haunted by the memory of the riots which broke out in April 2011, when inmates set their beds on fire and broke down cell doors, in protest over subpar living conditions. “We’ve been suffering ever since the riots of 2011,” Maalouf explains, “Much damage was done to the prison ... most cells and wings don’t have doors. More distressing, no decision was taken by the authorities to deal with [the underlying issues] which led to the riots.”
Doorless cells remain a constant reminder to prison staff that things can very easily get out of hand, Maalouf says. “Our officers are sometimes afraid, some of these prisoners have a reputation,” he adds, referring to inmates from Fatah al-Islam, who stand accused of killing Army soldiers during the 2007 clashes in Nahr al-Bared refugee camp. “We have to sustain their morale, let them know that we are standing behind them.”
Confronted with the constant threats of another riot, Maalouf said the only way to keep the peace was to communicate with the prisoners. “You have to deal with them, because they are ruling inside the prison, and we are ruling outside the building.”
Maalouf, who assumed his post four months ago, said making compromises with the needs of inmates has proven to be a viable way of maintaining order. Sometimes, though, he has to say no, like last week when inmates asked if bundles of vegetables could be delivered to their cells, or when Fatah al-Islam demanded that inmates from the Abra clashes be transferred to a different block.
“Until now compromise is working,” he says. “Thank God.”The key to this compromise between inmates and the guards lies in one crucial figure: the shawish, which refers to the prisoner who commands respect among his fellow inmates. In order not to deal with 900 prisoners directly, guards will usually rely on the shawish to communicate new rules and regulations.
And in return for maintaining order, Maalouf says, the shawish is rewarded with certain privileges: A nicer cell and an air conditioner. “I give them and I take from them this way,” he explains.
Abed, the shawish of Roumieh’s Block A, typically makes the rounds from cell to cell by mid-afternoon. His imposing figure is burly and heavily tattooed.
When asked what landed him behind bars he flatly responds “Murder,” and offers The Daily Star a cigarette.
“There are too many prisoners here,” he complains of the block.
Abed, who is serving a life sentence, has already spent 23 years in Roumieh. Much of that time was spent pumping iron in the gym and playing basketball, he says. If he had the choice to leave, he would prefer to remain incarcerated. “I was 18 when I got here, I don’t know any other job.”
Considered one of the best correctional facilities in the country, Roumieh lags as far as U.N. standards go.
The most outstanding shortcoming is widespread overcrowding, compounded with maintenance-related issues. As a facility, Roumieh was built with an infrastructure appropriate for 1,050 inmates, but it currently houses 2,391. Once renovations to repair damage caused during the riots of 2011 are completed, Maalouf expects that number to rise to 3,000.
He says the judiciary is partly to blame because of delays in trial procedures: “For example, if we are in trial today, the judge might schedule the next session for March 2014. This is a lot of time, the sessions should follow one another.”“The system is not running smoothly and the judiciary is to blame, but it is we who must face the prisoners so they hold us responsible,” he explains.
For prisoners, the overcrowded conditions mean sleeping in close quarters. Due to ongoing renovations in the prison’s Block D, hundreds of prisoners were transferred to Roumieh’s central complex, which was originally designed to be an entertainment center. One large room, Cell 4, was meant to serve as an auditorium but now contains 86 inmates. Tired of sleeping on thin mattresses so close to one another, some have asked family members to bring cardboard boxes or curtains, which they use to make improvised walls for privacy.
Despite congestion and undeniably fetid living conditions, life does go on in Roumieh, with some prisoners finding respite in the few activities offered.
The cherubic and insightful Nehmeh is usually found in the prison woodworking shop, where he spends four hours a day meticulously crafting frames for paintings depicting key biblical scenes. Commissioned by local churches, he says the activity allows him to develop a skill and offers him some distraction from waiting for the retrial to revoke his death sentence. He’s been waiting for 15 years.
“Most of the people here have been here for a long time,” he says. “Most of them were young and maybe, you know, made a mistake once, and are in here for life.”
Of the inmates willing to talk about their convictions, all proclaimed their innocence to The Daily Star and blamed a “backward” judicial system for their guilty verdicts.
The prison library is lined with books ranging from religious texts to Mark Twain’s “Tom Sawyer,” and ironically, J. Campbell Bruce’s “Escape From Alcatraz.”
Up the stairs, Hussein, convicted for collaborating with Israel, teaches daily computer classes. Having spent 14 years in the prison, he picked up on some computer skills and became the resident expert in Microsoft Office.
“The level of education here is low, most only finished primary school,” Hussein says.
A permanent fixture in the computer room is Iraqi national Idriss Ayasha, whose long white beard and fraying hairline betrays his old age. “I’m writing a novel about man’s place on earth,” he says, scrolling down the pages upon pages of text on the computer screen. On the way down to the opposite block, Fadi Zeaitar is waking up from an afternoon nap. He is one of the lucky ones who has managed to nab a two-bedroom cell. Convicted for cocaine trafficking, he reminisces how good business was before his arrest. “Thank God,” he says. At the candle-making factory next door, Youssef, serving a life sentence for murder, is busy melting colored wax. He displays his creations on a table: The most striking consists of a circular mold with carved hearts painted red and one name, “Nour.” “For my niece,” he explains.
Maalouf decides where certain inmates are placed. Those convicted of collaborating with Israel, for example, are huddled together in the basement of the entertainment complex. Their shawish, a bespectacled and sweet old man by the name of Bassem Abou Jaoude, says they would be assaulted if mixed in with the others.
Juveniles occupy their own floor on Block C of the prison. Theirs is the only one which is locked by the guards, “to save them from the negative influence of the adults,” Maalouf explains, “and sexual harassment.”
Inside the prison, added value is attached to items like cigarettes and phone credit. Hussan Issa, a former detainee, says he managed to sell two cartons of Marlboros for an iPhone. Phones are supposedly prohibited by the authorities, “but some inmates had four or five,” Issa recalls. “I have no idea how they got them or why they needed so many.” Marie Daunay, president of the Lebanese Center for Human Rights, which attends to the needs of the most vulnerable, says that in many ways prison society reflects that of broader Lebanon. Apart from village and family allegiances, prisoners are dependent on their family members bringing in food and hygienic supplies, leaving foreign inmates without relatives in the country out to fend for themselves. A report released by the center described how some inmates, who lacked familial support, were sometimes enslaved by their more resourceful counterparts. “You have detainees who buy their cells, so they become its owners, and they have domestic workers [also prisoners], who have to clean their cell, prepare their food and fetch them their tea,” Daunay says.
In the principal women’s correctional facility in Baabda, one female inmate, who requested to remain anonymous, said such practices were typical.
“When it’s my turn to clean the room, I pay one of the inmates to do it for me,” she says. “One of the few Bangladeshi girls, who doesn’t have family visiting.”
“She cleans the bathrooms, the showers, does the whole scrub,” she says. “Surely, if you have money, then you can have nicer things in the prison, like in winter you can get a rug on the floor or bed covers. But that doesn’t make it five star,” she says. “You are still a prisoner, and you still get the doors closed on you.”

Legislative Session Postponed for 5th Time, War of Words between Fatfat and Bazzi
Naharnet/The parliamentary session, which Speaker Nabih Berri had called for, was postponed for the fifth time on Monday over lack of quorum. The new session will be held on October 23. Development and Liberation bloc MP Ali Bazzi lashed out at MP Ahmed Fatfat in comments to reporters after the postponement of the session, saying that accusations that Berri is insisting on a wide agenda are not of his duties. Fatfat said earlier that al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc is boycotting the session over it's agenda. But the Mustaqbal MP's press office snapped back at Bazzi, saying "we are not surprised by the low political rhetoric of MP Ali Bazzi who once again preferred to use his insults for failing to have argumentative thoughts." Sources close to al-Mustaqbal said earlier in comments to al-Joumhouria newspaper that the movements MPs and the Lebanese Forces MPs insist on not attending the session over its agenda. While Change and Reform parliamentary bloc sources also pointed out that its MPs will boycott the session over an article concerning the extension of the mandate of security leaders. Sources close to Berri said that if the session was boycotted anew, he will postpone it to a date that would be set later. Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati's session will not attend the session. Miqati is currently present outside Lebanon, holding on to his previous stance. He argues that there is no balance between the powers of the legislative and executive branches amid a resigned government. Berri has called on the parliament to convene on Monday at 10.30 a.m. without changing the agenda of the session. The session was postponed for a fourth time on August 20 over a lack of quorum. Several parliamentary blocks boycotted the parliamentary session over a dispute with the speaker over its agenda, which included 45 articles. Berri insists on keeping the 45 draft-laws on the agenda intact and had previously vowed to continue to call on MPs to a General Assembly meeting until the agenda is discussed.

Jumblat: Deployment of Security Forces in Dahieh Proves there Can Be No Substitute to State
Naharnet /Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat hailed on Monday the plan to deploy official security forces in Beirut's southern suburbs of Dahieh. He said in his weekly editorial in the PSP-affiliated al-Anbaa website: “The deployment demonstrates that there can be no substitute to the state, which protects all Lebanese, especially in light of the mounting political, security, economic, and social challenges.”“Bolstering security is not limited to extraordinary security measures, such as the recruitment of 5,000 soldiers to the army, but it takes place through forming the appropriate political atmosphere to control security,” he added. Moreover, he stressed the need for factions to end the political deadlock in Lebanon that will also further bolster security. The PSP leader noted that regional and international powers are preoccupied with more pressing matters than Lebanon, which presents a “rare opportunity for the Lebanese to prove to themselves and the world that they have reached political maturity and have the ability to manage their own affairs without foreign meddling.”This therefore calls for the need to form a new government in order to avert political vacuum ahead of next year's presidential election, Jumblat said. A task force that includes 100 General Security members, 300 soldiers and 400 Internal Security Forces personnel is set to deploy in Dahieh on Monday. The step is aimed at ending Hizbullah's measures of self-security following two deadly explosions that targeted its stronghold in the suburbs. Among the measures taken by Hizbullah was setting up checkpoints inside and at the entrances of the suburbs.

Phalange Party: Dahieh Security Plan an Encouraging First Step Regardless of Concerns
Naharnet/The Phalange Party on Monday described the security plan that got underway in Beirut's southern suburbs as "an encouraging first step" to put an end to “all forms of autonomous security.”
“The Phalange Party sees in the security plan devised for Dahieh an encouraging first step to put an end to all forms of autonomous security across Lebanon, regardless of any concerns” that some parties might have over the move, the party said in a statement issued after the weekly meeting of its political bureau. A joint force of 800 men composed of soldiers from the army and security services began their deployment on Monday afternoon in the southern suburbs of Beirut, where they will take over security at checkpoints set up by Hizbullah in the wake of two bombings that hit its stronghold. Separately, the Phalange Party called for “intensifying efforts to secure the release of (Syrian) bishops (Boulos) al-Yaziji and (Yohanna) Ibrahim and the Lebanese citizens who were abducted in Aazaz, and to liberate the two Turkish citizens, which would strengthen confidence in the military and security authorities and put an end to the circumstances that pushed some Arab and foreign countries to ban their citizens from traveling to Lebanon.” Turning to the international conference that will be held this week in New York to help Lebanon cope with the influx of Syrian refugees, the party called for a "responsible national stance to contribute to the success” of the meeting. Addressing the Lebanese delegation that will take part in the conference, the Phalange Party proposed a series of “beneficial measures” at the humanitarian, social and security levels. It suggested “controlling the border and the legitimate and illegitimate crossings; addressing the problem posed by the numbers of refugees, which have surpassed all the limits of Lebanon's ability to cope at the demographic, economic and security levels; limiting the presence of refugees to specific locations near the Lebanese-Syrian border; and conducting an accurate survey of their numbers.”

Malala, Gordon Brown Back Schooling for Syrian Refugees in Lebanon
Naharnet/Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teen shot by the Taliban for championing girls' education, lent her support Monday to an initiative to provide schooling for thousands of Syrian school children in Lebanon.
The 16-year-old education activist attended a press conference unveiling the proposed initiative that would place some 400,000 Syrian refugee children in Lebanese schools. Malala did not address the gathering, but spoke one-on-one to one Syrian girl, Farah Haddad, who had been raised in Damascus, but was forced by the conflict to abandon her homeland for the United States. In October of last year, Malala was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman -- an attack that drew worldwide condemnation. Gravely wounded, the Pakistani schoolgirl was flown to Britain for surgery. She returned to school in England last March, after recovering from her injuries. Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, special envoy for global education at the United Nations, explained Monday that the proposed plan to teach children displaced by the war in Syria, "could start almost immediately by using schools in Lebanon which are already built and using teachers that are displaced from Syria to train these children." He added: "Instead of having only 30,000 children in Lebanon who are Syrian refugees getting education, we could have 400,000 children getting education over the next few months." The British former leader said he is seeking funding of about $175 million dollars to get the program off the ground. "That is on average only a dollar a day for every child who would benefit from this program in Lebanon and so 400,000 children would be beneficiaries," said Brown, adding that a meeting of potential donors would be held at the U.N. later Monday. The plan would "use existing Lebanese schools which are built and don't have to be constructed," he added. "It is possible to do this quickly."Source/Agence France Presse.

Gunfire, Explosions as Kenyan Troops Battle to Save Mall Hostages and 10 Suspects in Custody
Naharnet /Kenyan security forces were locked in a fierce, final battle with Somali Islamist gunmen inside an upmarket Nairobi shopping mall on Monday as huge explosions and a barrage of heavy gunfire echoed out of the complex. Thick black smoke billowed for several hours from the Westgate mall as Kenyan officials said the more than two-day-long siege -- in which the gunmen have massacred at least 62 people and taken dozens more hostage -- was close to being resolved. "We think the operation will come to an end soon," Interior Minister Joseph Ole Lenku told reporters camped outside the vast part Israeli-owned complex, which was popular with wealthy Kenyans and expatriates. "We are in control of all the floors," he said. "The terrorists are running and hiding in some stores... There is no room for escape." Lenku said most hostages had been freed, without giving specific numbers. Meanwhile, Kenyan police later on Monday announced they had arrested more than 10 suspects for questioning over an ongoing attack.
"We've arrested more than 10 individuals for questioning in relation to the Westgate attack," police said in a message on their Twitter account. Kenya's defense ministry said that "three terrorists have been killed so far", while "a few others have suffered injuries." Operations continued but troops had "sealed all possible escape routes", the ministry said in a statement, adding that the chances of any terrorists escaping were "very slim."
A Kenyan security source and a Western intelligence official said Israeli forces were also involved in the operation, along with British and U.S. agents.
The Kenyan Red Cross, which lowered an earlier toll after correcting for double-counting, said at least 63 people were recorded missing, thought to include hostages as well as those possibly killed or still hiding. Around 200 people were wounded, officials said. Two gunmen were also killed in the fighting. Somalia's al-Qaida-linked Shebab insurgents have claimed the attack, which began midday on Saturday, when the gunmen marched into the complex, firing grenades and automatic weapons and sending panicked shoppers fleeing. Kenyan army chief Julius Karangi said the gunmen were of different nationalities. Many foreign fighters, including Somalis with dual nationalities, are members of the Shebab force. "They are from different countries. We have sufficient intelligence this is global terrorism," Karangi said. Lenku denied that any of the insurgents were women.
"There are no women. All the terrorists are men," he said, noting: "Some of them had dressed like women." Shebab spokesman Ali Mohamud Rage warned that the hostages would "bear the brunt of any force directed against the mujahedeen" -- signalling that hostages were being used as human shields. Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta vowed that the attackers will "not get away with their despicable and beastly acts."
"We will punish the masterminds swiftly, and indeed very painfully," he declared in a televised speech to the nation on Sunday, revealing that a family member -- a nephew and his fiancee -- were among the dead.
A Kenyan security source and a Western intelligence official said Israeli forces were also involved in the operation, along with British and U.S. agents. The Shebab rebels said the carnage was in retaliation for Kenya's military intervention in Somalia, where African Union troops are battling the Islamists. "If you want Kenya in peace, it will not happen as long as your boys are in our lands," rebel spokesman Ali Mohamud Rage said in a statement posted on an Islamist website. Shocked witnesses said the gunmen tried to weed out non-Muslims for execution by interrogating people on their religion or asking them to recite the Shahada, the Muslim profession of faith. The dead include four Britons including a British-Australian, two French women, two Canadians including a diplomat, a Chinese woman, two Indians, a South Korean, a South African and a Dutch woman, according to their governments. Also killed was Ghanaian poet and former U.N. envoy Kofi Awoonor, 78, while his son was injured.
Mall worker Zipporah Wanjiru survived by hiding under a table with five other colleagues.
"They were shooting indiscriminately, it was like a movie seeing people sprayed with bullets like that," she said, bursting into tears. Security camera footage seen by Kenya's The Standard newspaper showed gunmen raking toilet cubicles with a barrage of gunfire, apparently after learning that people were hiding inside. Cafe waiter Titus Alede, who leapt from the first floor of the mall to avoid being killed, said it was a "miracle from God" that he managed to escape the approaching gunmen. "I remember them saying 'you killed our people in Somalia, it is our time to pay you back'," he said. Other survivors said they played dead to avoid being killed.
While the rest of Nairobi has largely been business as usual, deeply shocked Kenyans turned out in their hundreds to give blood, as well as raising more than $400,000 (300,000 euros) to support the families affected.
Israeli interests in Kenya have come under attack before, and the Westgate mall -- popular with well-to-do Kenyans, diplomats, U.N. workers and other expatriates -- has long been seen as a potential target.
World powers condemned the chilling attack, the worst in Nairobi since an al-Qaida bombing at the U.S. embassy killed more than 200 people in 1998. U.S. President Barack Obama called Kenyatta offering support "to bring the perpetrators of the attack to justice", while U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said the violence was "totally reprehensible". Somali Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon said the attackers were "brainwashed into destroying innocent lives, theirs included". On Monday, the International Criminal Court excused Kenyan Vice President William Ruto from his trial on charges of crimes against humanity over deadly 2007-08 post-election violence for a week so he can deal with the attack.Ruto's lawyer Karim Khan called the siege "Kenya's 9/11".SourceAgence France Presse.
 

Kenya says killed two militants in Monday operations
Reuters – NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's interior minister said gunmen holed up inside a Nairobi shopping mall had caused a plume of smoke by setting mattresses alight in a supermarket as a decoy, and said two of the "terrorists" had been killed on Monday. "We don't want to give you a definitive position on when we think the process will come to an end, but we are doing anything reasonably possible, cautiously though, to bring this process to an end," Interior Minister Joseph Ole Lenku told a news conference.The minister also said all the militants were men, although some had dressed as women, possibly explaining witness accounts that some of those who launched the assault on Saturday were women. (Reporting by James Macharia and Richard Lough; Writing by Edmund Blair; editing by Mike Collett-White)

Kenya says mall gunmen came from several nations
Reuters – NAIROBI (Reuters) - Gunmen involved in an attack on a Nairobi shopping mall came from several countries, a senior Kenyan security official said on Monday, without revealing what those nations were.
"We have an idea who they are, their nationality and even the number," said Julius Karangi, Kenya's chief of general staff, adding that militants were "clearly a multinational collection from all over the world."
"We have also have an idea that this is not a local event. We are fighting global terrorism here and we have sufficient intel (intelligence) to suggest that," he said.
(Reporting by Kevin Mwanza; Editing by Edmund Blair and Mike Collett-White)

At Least 81 Christians Killed as Twin Suicide Bombers Attack Sunday Service in Pakistan
Attack Sparks Christian Led Protests
9/23/2013 Washington D.C. (International Christian Concern) - International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that at least 81 Christians have been killed in a suicide bombing of a historical church in Peshawar, the capital city of Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Sunday. This bombing is the deadliest single attack on Christians in Pakistan's history and has sparked protests across the nation.
According to reports from Peshawar, two suicide bombers detonated themselves outside the gates of All Saints Church at 11:45 a.m. as the church's more that 600 members were leaving after the Sunday service. The resulting scene was that of mass carnage with shrapnel, body parts and blood littering the surrounding area. According to security officials, many of the dead are women and children and over 150 others were injured in the blast. Most of the wounded were brought to Lady Reading Hospital Peshawar and many of the bodies of the dead were buried in three mass graves late Sunday night. All Saints Church was established in 1883 and is considered one of the oldest Christian places of worship in Pakistan's volatile Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The Jundallah group, an affiliate with the Pakistani Taliban, has claimed responsibility for the deadly attack, labeling the murder of 81 Christians a "protest" to the U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan. The group's leader, Ahmad Marwat, promised that attacks would continue until the U.S. drone strikes were halted.
News of the attack has sparked Christian led protests in many of Pakistan's major cities including Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar. Relatives of the dead and injured gathered for a protest outside of All Saints Church, lighting tires on fire and claiming police and local government officials did not do enough to protect Christians and the church. In response to the attack, Pakistan's government has declared three days of mourning and is offering financial support to the victims and their families. Pakistan's new Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, issued a statement in which he pledged solidarity with Pakistan's Christian community. "Terrorists have no religion, and targeting innocent people is against the teaching of Islam and all religions," he said. Christians, making up only 2% of Pakistan's population, have been and continue to be persecuted by extremist elements in Pakistan's majority Muslim population. False blasphemy accusations, kidnappings, murders, forced conversions, forced marriages, rapes and widespread social discrimination only name a few of the types of persecution Christians in Pakistan are forced to endure because of their religious identity.

Kenya mall attack: Ottawa victim from family of diplomats
CBC – One of two Canadians killed in a Kenya mall shooting attack came from a family of foreign service officers who lived all over the world, CBC News has learned. Annemarie Desloges, 29, was off-duty and shopping with her husband, Robert Munk, at the Westgate shopping centre in Nairobi when Somali militants attacked with assault rifles and grenades Saturday. At least 68 people were killed, including Desloges and one other unidentified Canadian. The al-Qaeda-linked group al-Shabaab has since claimed responsibility for the attack, which reportedly targeted non-Muslims. According to Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) and the Canada Border Services Agency, Desloges worked at the High Commission of Canada in the Kenyan capital for both departments over the last two years. She was previously posted in Delhi starting in 2009, one year after entering the foreign service, according to a CIC statement, and she first joined the public service in 2006. Her husband also worked overseas and Robert Munk was injured in the mall shooting.
"She was an immigration officer who was with her husband, who was injured and then later released and she'd been in the country for a number of years," said Minister of Foreign Affairs, John Baird, on Sunday.
"She was an experienced immigration officer who served Canada for many years and obviously our thought and our prayers go out to her family." CBC News has learned her parents were both foreign service officers who are now retired and based in Orleans, an east Ottawa suburb. Desloges was a member of the Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers. The union released a statement on Sunday afternoon.
"Annemarie’s death inflicts a deep wound on the Foreign Service community," the statement read. "Annemarie was one of our bright young lights, and hers was a career brimming with promise. Today we grieve the loss not only of a warm and intelligent friend and colleague, but a lifetime’s potential tragically unfilled. The statement said Desloges would make frequent visits to refugee camps in Kenya, Ethiopia, Burundi, and Rwanda as part of her work, helping to re-settle thousands with her team of four. "Possessed of a strong work ethic, Annemarie was sharp and meticulous in her work — a true professional — and expressed herself with a poise and confidence which belied her youth." The name of the second Canadian victim has not been released by officials. However, CBC News spoke to family of Vancouver businessman Naguib Damji, who said he was having coffee in the Westgate mall when the attack began and he suffered a cardiac event and died. Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who was expected to comment on the attack later Sunday, extended his condolences to families of both of the victims.
"Canada condemns in the strongest possible terms this cowardly, hateful act that apparently targeted innocent civilians who were simply out shopping," Harper said. Desloges is the first Canadian diplomat killed overseas since 2006. Glyn Berry was killed by a suicide attack outside Kandahar, Afghanistan that also injured three Canadian soldiers. The Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development also said at the time, the last record it had of a Canadian diplomat being killed before 2006 was John Douglas Turner of Vancouver in 1964. He was presumed dead after the disappearance of an aircraft over Vietnam.

Iran's Rouhani says will present 'true face of Iran' at U.N.
By Marcus George | Reuters – By Marcus George
DUBAI (Reuters) - President Hassan Rouhani said on Monday he would use his visit to the United Nations this week to present the "true face of Iran" and to pursue talks and cooperation with the West to end Iran's nuclear dispute. A moderate conservative elected in June, Rouhani was speaking shortly before a five-day trip Western powers hope will shed light on a nuclear program they fear could yield nuclear arms. Iran has said it is pursuing peaceful ends, but recent, sometimes rancorous talks have served only to deepen suspicion. "Unfortunately in recent years the face of Iran, a great and civilized nation, has been presented in another way," Rouhani said, according to comments published on his official website. "I and my colleagues will take the opportunity to present the true face of Iran as a cultured and peace-loving country,"Rouhani did not make clear who he blames for any distortion of Iran's image. But the comments suggest he is intent on distancing himself from the controversial, outspoken approach to the West adopted by predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The United States and its allies have imposed increasing economic sanctions on Iran in recent years, partly a response to what the West regards as Tehran's failure to open its nuclear program to international inspection. Ahmadinejad had also raised concern with comments on the Holocaust and homosexuality. But Rouhani, a former nuclear negotiator under reformist president Mohammad Khatami, also targeted the West over sanctions he said had resulted in suffering. "On this trip, I will try to deliver the voice of the oppressed people of Iran to the world and we should say that sanctions are an illegal and unacceptable path," he told journalists before leaving, his official website reported. "The West should opt for the path of talks and cooperation and consider mutual interests," he said.
SANCTIONS BITING
Rouhani has vowed to improve Iran's ailing economy, which has suffered deeply as a result of the embargoes.
Last week Rouhani's tone was endorsed by Iran's most powerful figure, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who spoke of "heroic flexibility", suggesting a new willingness to engage in diplomacy with Iran's adversaries.
U.S. officials have left open the possibility that U.S. President Barack Obama and Rouhani could meet on the sidelines of the U.N. meeting, and a U.S. official has privately acknowledged the administration's desire to engineer a handshake between the two leaders. Later on Monday, Iran's foreign minister and lead nuclear negotiator, Mohammad Javad Zarif, is set to meet the European Union foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, formally starting the new era of negotiations between the two sides. An unnamed source close to Iran's negotiators was quoting by the state news agency, IRNA, as saying that the talks between the two parties have been "completely transformed" by the election of Rouhani. "This is a new game and it will have new rules and the aim is to reach common points of agreement between both sides," the source was quoted as saying. On Sunday, former president, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who is close to Rouhani, appeared to back Iran's attempts to improve relations with the United States. Referring to a letter he had written to the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, years ago, Rafsanjani said that the meaning of negotiating was not submission. "We can negotiate if they accept our positions and we accept theirs. That is all," read comments on his official website.
(Reporting by Marcus George, Editing by William Maclean and Ralph Boulton)

Kenyan officials say forces rescued most hostages in terrorist siege at mall
By Jason Straziuso And Tom Odula, The Associated Press | The Canadian Press –
NAIROBI, Kenya - Kenyan's military said late Sunday it had rescued "most" of the remaining hostages held by al-Qaida-linked militants in an upscale Nairobi mall after launching a major operation to end a two-day standoff that had already killed 68 people. The assault, which began shortly before sundown, came as two helicopters circled the mall, with one skimming very close to the roof. A loud explosion rang out, far larger than any previous grenade blast or gunfire volley. Kenyan police said on Twitter that a "MAJOR" assault by had started to end the bloody siege. "This will end tonight. Our forces will prevail. Kenyans are standing firm against aggression, and we will win," Kenya's National Disaster Operation Centre said on Twitter. Kenya Defence Forces later said it had rescued most hostages and had taken control of most of the mall. Officials did not immediately release the number of hostages rescued or the number that remained. Four Kenyan military personnel were wounded in the operation, the military said. The assault came about 30 hours after 10 to 15 al-Shabab extremists stormed the mall Saturday from two sides, throwing grenades and firing on civilians. Loud exchanges of gunfire emanated from inside the four-story upscale mall throughout Sunday. Kenyan troops were seen carrying in at least two rocket propelled grenades. Al-Shabab militants reacted angrily to the helicopters on Twitter and warned that the Kenyan military action was endangering hostages.
Kenyan officials said they would do their utmost to save hostages' lives, but no officials could say precisely how many hostages were inside. Kenya's Red Cross said in a statement citing police that 49 people had been reported missing. Officials did not make an explicit link but that number could give an indication of the number of people held captive. Kenya's Red Cross said the death toll on Sunday rose to 68 after nine bodies were recovered in a joint rescue mission. A United States State Department spokeswoman condemned the "despicable massacre of innocent men, women and children." U.S. law enforcement, military and civilian personnel in Nairobi were providing advance and assistance as requested by Kenya, spokeswoman Marie Harf said. Somalia's al-Qaida-linked rebel group, al-Shabab, claimed responsibility for the attack that specifically targeted non-Muslims. The attackers included some women. The Islamic extremist rebels said the attack was retribution for Kenyan forces' 2011 push into neighbouring Somalia.
Al-Shabab said on its new Twitter feed — after its previous one was shut down Saturday — that Kenyan officials were asking the hostage-takers to negotiate and offering incentives.
"We'll not negotiate with the Kenyan govt as long as its forces are invading our country, so reap the bitter fruits of your harvest," al-Shabab said in a tweet.
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta reiterated his government's determination to continue fighting al-Shabab.
"We went as a nation into Somalia to help stabilize the country and most importantly to fight terror that had been unleashed on Kenya and the world," said Kenyatta. "We shall not relent on the war on terror."
He said although this violent attack had succeeded, the Kenyan security forces had "neutralized" many others. Earlier in the day Kenyatta said he his nephew and his nephew's fiance were killed in the attack.
Former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga told reporters at the mall that "quite a number" of people were being held hostage in two locations of the mall, which includes stores for Nike, Adidas and Bose. Many hostages were believed to be in a grocery and general department store called Nakumatt. Kenyan security officials sought to reassure the families of hostages but implied that hostages could be killed. The security operation is "delicate" because Kenyan forces hoped to ensure the hostages are evacuated safely, said Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Lenku.
"The priority is to save as many lives as possible," Lenku said, adding that more than 1,000 people escaped the attack inside the mall on Saturday. "We have received a lot of messages from friendly countries, but for now it remains our operation," Lenku said. More than 175 people were injured in the attack, Lenku said, including many children. Kenyan forces were by Sunday in control of the mall's security cameras, he said.
Britain's prime minister, in confirming the deaths of three British nationals, told the country to "prepare ourselves for further bad news." Westgate Mall is at least partially owned by Israelis, and reports circulated that Israeli commandos were on the ground to assist in the response. Four restaurants inside the mall are Israeli-run or owned.
In Israel, a senior defence official said there were no Israeli forces participating in an assault, but the official said it was possible that Israeli advisers were providing assistance. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was discussing a classified military issue, would not elaborate.
Israel has close ties to Kenya going back many years. And in recent years, Israel has identified East Africa as an area of strategic interest and stepped up ties with Kenya and other neighbouring countries, due to shared threats posed by al-Qaida and other extremist elements. In 2002, militants bombed an Israeli-owned luxury hotel near Mombasa, killing 13 people, and tried to shoot down an Israeli airliner at the same time.
Kenyans and foreigners were among those confirmed dead, including British, French, Canadians, Indians, a Ghanaian, a South African and a Chinese woman.
Kofi Awoonor, a Ghanaian poet, professor and former ambassador to Brazil, Cuba and the United Nations, died after being injured in the attack, Ghana's presidential office confirmed. Ghana's ministry of information said Awoonor's son was injured and is responding to treatment. Kenya's presidential office said that one of the attackers was arrested on Saturday and died after suffering from bullet wounds.
Britain's Foreign Office said that Foreign Secretary William Hague has chaired a meeting of Britain's crisis committee and sent a rapid deployment team from London to Nairobi to provide extra consular support.
The United Nations Security Council condemned the attacks and "expressed their solidarity with the people and Government of Kenya" in a statement.
There was some good news on Sunday, as Kenyan media reported that several people in hiding in the mall escaped to safety in the morning, suggesting that not everyone who was inside overnight was being held by al-Shabab.
Police lobbed multiple rounds of tear gas throughout the day to disperse hundreds of curious Kenyans who gathered near the mall.
**Associated Press reporters Jacob Kushner in Nairobi, Kenya; Josef Federman in Jerusalem; Louise Watt in Beijing; and Cassandra Vinograd in London contributed to this report.

Canada Promotes Freedom, Dignity and Security Agenda at United Nations
September 23, 2013 - Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, along with the Honourable Christian Paradis, Minister of International Development and Minister for La Francophonie, the Honourable Lynne Yelich, Minister of State (Foreign Affairs and Consular), and Deepak Obhrai, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and for International Human Rights, will be in New York City from September 23 to 30, 2013, to attend a series of high-level discussions on a wide range of global issues during the 68th United Nations General Assembly. Prime Minister Stephen Harper will also be in New York City from September 24 to 26, 2013, to co-host a United Nations event that will focus on the major health challenges facing women and children around the world and to participate in a moderated discussion on the economy, hosted by the Canadian American Business Council.
“At a time of economic uncertainty, rapid social change and a volatile global environment in which certain regimes are threatening international peace and security and violating the rights of their own citizens, Canada has a vital global role to play in the defence of freedom, dignity and opportunity,” said Baird. “At this year’s General Assembly, Canada will work with its partners to encourage the United Nations to be more accountable, transparent and responsive to the challenges of a changing world.” During his visit, Baird will meet with key international partners to discuss the most pressing security challenges, including the Syrian crisis and the need to call international attention to the egregious state of human rights in Iran. “Canada is committed to delivering real results for those in need through effective and accountable partnerships,” said Minister Paradis. “We will continue to work with developing countries as they look to grow their economies, become more self-sufficient and create global prosperity.”
While in New York City, Minister Paradis will meet with his international counterparts and non-governmental partners to discuss Canada’s development priorities, such as increasing food security, promoting international labour standards and supporting sustainable private sector-led economic growth as a means to break the cycle of poverty. Minister of State Yelich will join the Canadian delegation and attend several high-level meetings, some of which will discuss supporting and creating more economic opportunities for women around the world. “Canada supports women’s economic empowerment by focusing on initiatives that increase women’s economic opportunities, strengthens their economic leadership and advances the rights of women worldwide,” said Minister of State Yelich. Also in New York, Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs and International Human Rights Deepak Obhrai will attend several important meetings discussing counter-terrorism. “Terrorism remains the great struggle of our generation,” said Obhrai. “Canada has shown great leadership in working with our allies to combat this scourge, and I look forward to continuing that work.”
Baird concluded by saying, “In a complex and changing world, Canadians have much to be proud of. Our strong team will continue to show principled leadership and strengthen Canada’s voice on the international stage.”
A backgrounder follows.
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Backgrounder
Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird
On September 24 and 25, Baird will attend events on preventing sexual violence in conflict and will host an event on combatting early forced marriage. Baird will also use this opportunity to meet with Commonwealth members on September 26 and 27.
Baird will work to strengthen bilateral relations with a number of countries in meetings with his counterparts.
He will conclude the visit by delivering Canada’s address to the United Nations General Assembly on September 30.
International Development Minister Christian Paradis
On September 23, Minister Paradis will attend the ministerial meeting of La Francophonie and the annual meeting of the Scaling Up Nutrition Movement, of which Canada is a leader. He will also speak at an event hosted by President Barack Obama on the protection of civil society. On September 24, Minister Paradis will address the annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative, hosted by former U.S. president Bill Clinton, on child protection. On September 25, Minister Paradis will attend a number of events and meetings regarding Canada’s leadership in helping developing countries meet the Millennium Development Goals.
Minister of State Lynne Yelich
On September 23, Minister of State Yelich will participate in the launch of the Knowledge Gateway for Women’s Economic Empowerment, a new online platform that will support women’s economic opportunities and leadership and further women’s contributions to local economies. Minister of State Yelich will also participate, on behalf of Minister Paradis, in a high-level meeting on the Millennium Development Goals and other international development goals for people with disabilities. On September 26, Minister of State Yelich will address the High-Level Meeting of the General Assembly on Nuclear Disarmament.

Why has Mahmoud Abbas given the nod to lone wolf Palestinian terror?
DEBKAfile Exclusive Analysis September 23, 2013/No word of condemnation has come from any Palestinian leader for the murders of two Israeli soldiers two days apart by West Bank Palestinians: Saturday, Sept. 21, Sgt. Tomer Hazan, 20, from Bat Yam, was found murdered in a water hole near the West Bank town of Qalqilya. Sunday, another 20-year old, 1st Sgt. Gal Koby from Tirat Hacarmel, was killed by a single Palestinian sniper’s bullet while on guard at the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron. The silence from Ramallah is well-orchestrated, a signal that Mahmoud Abbas, chairman of the Palestinian Authority, is in favor of picking off Israeli soldiers every few days, so as to boost his hand in the US-sponsored negotiations with Israel. Those talks have not advanced an inch, since the parties remain entrenched in their widely separate positions. Three months into the talks initiated by US Secretary of State John Kerry, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Yitzhak Molcho for Israel and the Palestinian Saeb Erekat have not even agreed on an agenda. On Sept. 8, Livni proposed a working agenda of 17 items. The Palestinians countered with an agenda of six items, all them relating to the most contentious “core issues” of the dispute. Livni’s list was dictated to her by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. She does not see eye to eye with the prime minister on Palestinian policy or negotiating tactics, but is bound to follow his guidelines or quit.
After presenting their conflicting agendas, the Israeli and Palestinian negotiators fell to an argument about priorities – security first, said the Israelis; borders, said the Palestinians. The Israeli side explained that agreement on credible security arrangements would determine the location of borders; whereas the Palestinians insisted on reversing the order. They cited Secretary Kerry as having promised them explicitly that the pre-1967 boundaries would be adopted as the borders of the future Palestinian state. Kerry has avoided putting any US position paper on the table in the absence of an American participant in the talks. This absence was the result of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s objections to former US ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk’s presence in the role of special US envoy. He maintained that the negotiations should be conducted directly and bilaterally between Israel and the Palestinians without US intervention. Netanyahu in any case never got on with Indyk during his years as ambassador a decade ago. The row over the rival lists erupted shortly after the prime minister told Livni and Molcho to put on the table what he called “Israel’s last offer” which was to withdraw from 60 percent of the West Bank in favor of a Palestinian state. This plan would have saved him having to evacuate a single Jewish settler from Judea and Samaria. No one outside Netanyahu’s inner circle expected anything less than a brusque Palestinian refusal to even discuss the offer. His action was widely seen as an inexplicable blunder. Since it became clear that the negotiations with Israel were going nowhere, tensions have been rising in the Palestinian arena. Until now, Kerry has been able to keep a heavy iron lid on tensions – mainly by forbidding both parties to utter a word on the state of the talks, on pain of US reprisals. This hush enabled the US Secretary to maintain the appearance of progress in the Middle East talks, and the Israeli and Palestinian leaders to look after their own political affairs.
Netanyahu, by maneuvers for avoiding the surrender of a single settlement, has preserved his government coalition intact. Abbas, acting through his henchmen, has let Palestinian terrorists partially off the leash - although for the time being only for attacking Israeli soldiers. Like Arafat before him, Abbas does not issue written guidelines. He has used winks and nods from the right quarters to generate a permissive climate for terrorist action. Provided they limit their targets to uniformed Israelis, it is given to understand that they will not be bothered by Palestinian security and intelligence agencies. Those agencies certainly know the identity of the Palestinian sniper who shot dead the Israel soldier in Hebron Sunday. If ordered by the Palestinian leader, they could quickly lay hands on him and pass him on to the Israeli authorities. The Palestinian Authority’s failure to do so has forced a crack in Kerry’s lid on the bubbling Palestinian stew. It remains to be seen whether or not Abbas continues to let the deadly attacks on Israeli soldiers continue, or even expand them. If he does, Netanyahu will have to turn away from domestic politics and give serious attention to countering the resurgence of Palestinian terror.

Stalled diplomacy
September 23, 2013/The Daily Star
Using the language of diplomacy, the Russian foreign minister said Sunday that the United States was using blackmail to try and force Russia and China to agree to a Security Council resolution on Syria that threatens force against the regime, and “shields” the opposition. In political terms, this means the following: Don’t expect anything that helps Syria and its people to result from the last few weeks of high-level negotiations sparked by the use of chemical weapons. For anyone interested in following this sorry saga of diplomatic and political time-wasting, at the expense of millions of Syrians, there are really only three operative words here: something that “shields the opposition” is something that Russia cannot tolerate. For Russia, a regime that uses mass detention, torture, artillery fire, tanks and airplanes, and most likely several doses of poison gas, against its people must be protected, while the rebels and civilians on the ground do not deserve any kind of shield raised in their defense. This weekend, activists and average Syrians grimly marked the one-month anniversary of the chemical weapons attack near Damascus with bitter commentary as they are fully aware of what is taking place in the diplomatic realm. Hundreds of people have lost their lives since that terrible day, but all the international community has to show for the flurry of contacts, statements and discussions in the meantime is a continuing disagreement over language. Perhaps the Obama administration and its allies thought that the best thing to do vis-à-vis the Syrian crisis was to continue to avoid getting involved. But by pursuing diplomacy in the wake of murders caused by weapons of mass destruction, all they are doing is sending a signal, loud and clear, to the Syrian people: Wait until the 2014 presidential elections in Syria, and maybe not even then, for a possible end to the nightmare. In the interim, expect the media to follow the latest twists and turns of the Geneva peace conference, and the latest affirmations by Assad that he intends to be a candidate next year, because it’s a “new story” compared to the old story, namely horrific levels of death and destruction, day in and day out. Some people have said the West became engaged on the chemical weapons issue in order to allow the opposition to level the military playing field, but the evidence isn’t encouraging. In the several weeks since the chemical attack, the mainstream Syrian rebels are facing even greater challenges from hard-line extremists in their midst. The poor political performance of the Syrian opposition and its supposed backers has allowed Russia to act as an “honest broker” for Syria just as the America acts as an “honest broker” when it comes to Israel. All of this means that average Syrians can expect months and months of further carnage, and less and less hope for a solution that could salvage their bloodied country.

Iranian President, Rohani Was Here
Ghassan Charbel/Al Hayat
Monday 23 September 2013
The Iranian President weaves the carpet of his term with threads given to him by the Supreme Leader. The limits of his powers are very clear. The president is the senior elected staffer in the Supreme Leader’s team. Hashemi Rafsanjani could not break the rules of the game despite his standing with the late leader of the revolution. Mohammad Khatami paid a price for his attempt to introduce threads that clearly did not carry the seal of the man with the last word. Ahmadinejad learned his lesson despite his attempt to bank on his popularity with the Revolutionary Guard. Mir Hossein Mousavi tried to borrow threads for his carpet from the people, and was subsequently barred from entry. Only the Supreme Leader has the final say in the affairs of the bomb, the role, and the relationship with the 'Great Satan,’ and so presidential elections are only a competition within the same house and under the mantle of the Supreme Leader.
The game of Iranian roles is very complex. Swimming among the reformists, hardliners, and moderates requires a great deal of caution. The same goes for well interpreting the sway of the clergy and its alignments, and of the generals of the Revolutionary Guard and their statements.
Hassan Rohani is the legitimate son of the revolution and its regime. He was a partner in the early days of ember and a partner in the most prominent bodies and issues. In essence, he can say what Ahmadinejad was saying, but in a different way, coating the actual stance with a smile and without showing the victory sign. He can find less crude and provocative words, and for this reason, he was dubbed the ‘negotiator cleric.’ Rohani made his way to the palace brandishing the word moderation. He chose a key as the symbol of his campaign. It was as though he wanted to suggest that there were many closed doors that Iran needed to open. Because democracy in Iran is simmered in local colors, many said that Rohani would not have won in the first round had it not been for the blessings of the Supreme Leader.
Before heading to New York, Rohani launched a number of messages in more than one direction. The bottom line of these messages was that he was not Ahmadinejad, neither in the subject of the nuclear issue and the Holocaust, nor in the subject of international and regional relations. The era of Ahmadinejad was a time of conquest, moving pawns, and infiltrating the social fabric here and there. Rohani is talking about 'constructive engagement' and the banality of bloody conflicts, and offering Iran’s mediation in the Syrian Crisis and dialogue and national reconciliation as the means to address crises.
Rohani will steal the lights in New York. Journalists will chase after him, and diplomats and experts will put him under observation. They will pause for long at the vocabulary of his speech and his statements, and will make comparisons with the fiery speeches of his predecessor. They will see in him some of Rafsanjani and a bit of Khatami. They will speak of an open window, and the need to grasp his outstretched hand, or at least, test the current Iranian intentions. They will ask whether this moderation is the result of a strategic shift, or whether it is a trick of a boxer and a ploy to improve Iran’s image. Skeptics will say that behind Khatami's smile and his calls for a dialogue of civilizations and cultures, Iran had continued its nuclear program and its program for seizing forward positions in the region.
Experience says that the actual and main key is not Rohani, but the Supreme Leader. What matters is not what the former says, but what the latter wants. This prompts us to ask the big question: Have the Supreme Leader’s calculations changed, or has he decided to modify his tactics?
This prompts even more questions: Does the Supreme Leader believe it’s time to make a deal with the dithering Barack Obama, like Vladimir Putin seems to have chosen to do? Does the Supreme Leader believe that saving the regional role is now more important than obtaining recognition of the legitimacy of high-level enrichment of uranium?
Did the impact of sanctions on his country’s economy force him to think seriously about a settlement to spare the regime later from what could be worse than the Green Revolution, which he had succeeded in suppressing? Does he believe that a settlement now would be better than a settlement later?
Does he feel that the Sunni-Shiite conflict has drawn limits to the Iranian dash in the region? Can Iran truly move on from the logic of threatening the security of oil supplies and Israel to the logic of engaging in stability building in the region? What is the price that Iran wants or that it can get?
What about the members of the Axis of Defiance, which are not living in the best of their days? Has the Iranian onslaught in the region surpassed Tehran’s ability to afford it, portending for it a Soviet-like fate?
Many countries in the world and the region will ask about Rohani’s statements and the Supreme Leader’s calculations. These questions heavily involve Bashar al-Assad, Nuri al-Maliki, and Hassan Nasrallah.
No doubt, Rohani is gentle, attractive, and a good interlocutor, but the ultimate question is this: Has the Supreme Leader changed? If not, then the world will say: Rohani was here. He was nice but he was weak, just like Mohammad Khatami before him.