Obama Reiterates to Suleiman Rejection of Hizbullah Intervention in Syria, Voices Support for Christians
Naharnet/..President Michel Suleiman on Tuesday told U.S. President Barack Obama that “the international community and the United States must offer support in order to secure the success of the meeting of the international support group for Lebanon and to help the country cope with the burden of the Syrian refugee influx," state-run National News Agency reported. According to NNA, Obama voiced support for Lebanon's sovereignty and independence, lauding Suleiman's “efforts” and reiterating Washington's “rejection of Hizbullah's intervention in Syria.” The U.S. leader noted that Hizbullah must disarm and “stressed his support for Christians in Lebanon given the fact that the developments in the region are affecting their presence,” according to LBCI television. Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5) said Obama also expressed his support for the Lebanese army.
“Obama lauded Suleiman's stances, describing them as excellent, not only for Lebanon but also for the entire international community,” MTV reported.
The two presidents met on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, where Suleiman is expected to deliver a speech on Tuesday night. Separately, LBCI said following his return from New York on Friday, Suleiman will head to Riyadh at an official invitation for talks with top Saudi officials. “The outcome of Suleiman's visit to Saudi Arabia might lead to a breakthrough in the cabinet formation process,” LBCI quoted sources as saying.
Suleiman met on Monday with Herman Van Rompuy, the President of the European Council. NNA said their discussions focused on the EU's assistance to Lebanon in addition to the growing number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon.The president also met with Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi. He attended on Monday night a reception held by Obama in honor of the heads of delegations and their spouses at the Waldorf Astoria. On Wednesday, Suleiman along with U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon will head a meeting of an international support group for Lebanon, which is burdened by the flow of refugees from Syria. The meeting, which will include the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, will examine ways to help Lebanon maintain political stability and security, and confront the continuous flow of Syrian refugees.
The U.N. refugee agency UNHCR has registered more than 746,000 Syrians in Lebanon, though many others remain unregistered.
The Lebanese government puts the number of Syrians in the country at 1.3 million, though that figure includes Syrians who were already in the country when the conflict began 30 months ago.

Obama Says Assad's Regime Must Face Consequences, Urges Democracy in Egypt
Naharnet /U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday demanded that the world take action on Syria, saying that the regime must face consequences after the use of chemical weapons.
Speaking before the U.N. General Assembly, Obama defended his threat of force against Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime and denounced critics who accuse the United States of inconsistency.
"There must be a strong Security Council resolution to verify that the Assad regime is keeping its commitments, and there must be consequences if they fail to do so," Obama told world leaders. Obama lashed out at doubters who questioned whether Assad carried out the August 21 chemical attack near Damascus, which U.S. intelligence says killed some 1,400 people. "These rockets were fired from a regime-controlled neighborhood, and landed in opposition neighborhoods," Obama said. "It is an insult to human reason -- and to the legitimacy of this institution -- to suggest that anyone other than the regime carried out this attack," he said.
"I do not believe that military action -- by those within Syria, or by external powers - can achieve a lasting peace. Nor do I believe that America or any nation should determine who will lead Syria," Obama said.
"Nevertheless, a leader who slaughtered his citizens and gassed children to death cannot regain the legitimacy to lead a badly fractured country," he said of Assad.
Obama's remarks come as the United States and Russia wrangle over a U.N. Security Council resolution that would accompany an agreement by Syria to give up chemical weapons. The U.S.-Russia deal at least temporarily halted a push by Obama and supported by France for a military strike on Syria. Obama also tackled Egyptian politics, warning that continued U.S. support for the country depends on its progress back to a democracy, as it struggles through a political upheaval. Obama said the United States had "purposely avoided choosing sides" after the military's July 3 overthrow of president Mohammed Morsi, but warned "our support will depend upon Egypt's progress in pursuing a democratic path." Washington has been watching the unfolding events in Egypt with concern, worried that the new military leadership under General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi may renege on its promise to hand back to civilian rule. And Obama lashed out at the new military interim government for decisions which he said were "inconsistent" with democracy. "Morsi was democratically elected, but proved unwilling or unable to govern in a way that was fully inclusive," Obama insisted. "The interim government that replaced him responded to the desires of millions of Egyptians who believed the revolution had taken a wrong turn, but it too has made decisions inconsistent with inclusive democracy -- through an emergency law, and restrictions on the press, civil society, and opposition parties."
On Monday, a Cairo court banned Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood and ordered all its assets seized, in an echo of the prohibition placed on the party under long-time autocratic leader Hosni Mubarak.
Mubarak was toppled in the 2011 revolution which saw Morsi come to power as Egypt's first ever democratically elected president. Earlier this year, Obama put on hold some $1.3 billion in mainly military aid to Egypt as it tracks the course of the political upheavals. "Of course, America has been attacked by all sides of this internal conflict, simultaneously accused of supporting the Muslim Brotherhood, and engineering their removal from power," Obama said. "In fact, the United States has purposely avoided choosing sides. Our over-riding interest throughout these past few years has been to encourage a government that legitimately reflects the will of the Egyptian people, and recognizes true democracy." He vowed that "going forward, the United States will maintain a constructive relationship with the interim government that promotes core interests like the Camp David Accords and counter-terrorism." Obama also defended his administration's somewhat vague policies towards Egypt. It was long accused of shoring up the Morsi government despite accusations that it was seeking to introduce Islamic law and deny the rights of civil society.But when the military ousted Morsi, Washington refused to call his overthrow "a coup.""Our approach to Egypt reflects a larger point: the United States will at times work with governments that do not meet the highest international expectations, but who work with us on our core interests," Obama said. "But we will not stop asserting principles that are consistent with our ideals, whether that means opposing the use of violence as a means of suppressing dissent, or supporting the principles embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights."
SourceAgence France Presse.

Bahrain FM Slams Nasrallah as 'Criminal'
Naharnet /Bahrain's foreign minister on Tuesday lashed out at Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, calling him a "criminal" with no right to criticize the kingdom over its treatment of its Shiite opposition. "The people of Bahrain are above being addressed by a criminal whose hands are stained by the blood of innocents in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq," Bahraini Foreign Minister Khalid al-Khalifa wrote on Twitter. "Any contact with terrorist Hizbullah is a contact with the enemy," said Khalifa, whose Sunni-ruled kingdom, along with other Gulf monarchies, views Hizbullah as a terror group. Nasrallah on Monday dismissed the government of Bahrain as "dwarves whose oppression will get them only disappointment," warning that the Bahrain government "should not assume it can continue to oppress its people and pressure the outside world to remain silent." Nasrallah insisted that his party does not meddle in Bahraini affairs to back the country's Shiite majority, saying that Bahrain's Shiite opposition "does not belong to any (foreign) state or side." "What is happening in Bahrain is very dangerous," said Nasrallah, pointing to the justice ministry's decision to seek a judicial order to shut down a Shiite clerics' group, and to the latest arrest of a top figure in the main opposition association Al-Wefaq. The sharp riposte to remarks made by Nasrallah comes amid a ratcheting up of sectarian tensions across the region as Sunni and Shiite Muslims back opposing sides in Syria's civil war.
Gulf monarchies, which are supporting the Sunni-led rebellion against the Syrian government, have been infuriated by Hizbullah's open intervention to keep Syria's President Bashar Assad in power. They have collectively agreed to impose sanctions on Hizbullah supporters.
SourceAgence France Presse.

Washington and Europe rush headlong towards accepting a nuclear Iran

DEBKAfile Special Report September 24, 2013/The Iranian delegation arrived at the UN General Assembly in New York this week to an enthusiastic Western welcome led by the Obama administration, without having rescinded one iota of its aggressive policies or nuclear ambitions.
“We welcome an Iran ready to engage seriously through that (diplomatic) process given that it represents the international community’s commitment to hold Iran accountable, but also being open to a diplomatic resolution.”
This convoluted message was how Ben Rhodes, US Deputy National Security Adviser, referred Monday, Sept. 23, to the US Secretary of State John Kerry’s get-together with Iranian Mohammad Javad Zarif Thursday, along with foreign ministers of the five world powers. Their acclaimed purpose is to test Tehran’s willingness for progress in nuclear negotiations. But before this test, the Obama administration agreed to the highest-level face-to-face contact between the US and Iran since the 1979 Iranian revolution.
Rhodes did not shut the door on a meeting, even a brief one, between President Barack Obama and President Hassan Rouhani at this week’s annual gathering of world leaders in New York.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague and European Union Foreign Executive Catherine Ashton had already met the new Iranian foreign minister Monday, after which Ashton commented that she had found him resolved to go forward with talks (on Iran’s nuclear program) and “many things flow from that.”
How to account for this burst of eagerness in Washington and Europe for a rapprochement with the Revolutionary Republic of Iran?
Has Tehran agreed to give up its nuclear weapon program? The new president and even supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei say their government will never develop a nuclear bomb. So what if they said so? Have their words caused Iran’s nuclear facilities, open and concealed, to suddenly vanish like a desert mirage?
Has Iran announced itself ready to open up all its nuclear facilities to international watchdog inspections? Will Rouhani make this offer when he addresses the UN Assembly Wednesday?
Has Iran promised to stop developing ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear warheads?
And what about the Islamic Republic’s long sponsorship of state terrorism against Israeli and Jewish targets across the world? Have those death-dealing networks been recalled home?
And has Tehran started pulling its troops out of Syria and terminated its partnership in butchery with Bashar Assad, given up its control of Lebanon or stopped sending rockets to Hizballah?
Has anyone noticed that Iran is building a Red Sea Naval base at Port Sudan facing the coast of Saudi Arabia? Or that a large-scale munitions production and distribution center for supplying Iran’s Middle East allies is going up in Sudan?
And finally, has Iran abandoned its ambition to wipe Israel off the map, or stopped denying the Nazi Holocaust?
The slick new president easily ducked the second question by saying: “I’m not a historian.”
He and members of his regime have suddenly been given free license to fill the op-ed pages of important Western media with smooth propaganda for Western audiences.
But while polishing his civilized aspect towards the West, Rouhani made sure the day before he flew to New York to display Iran’s steel teeth with its largest display ever of missiles with a range of 2,000 kilometers. The 30 weapons on show included 12 Sejil and 18 Ghadr missiles which can reach Israel and US Gulf bases - although Rouhani stated with a straight face that they were “for defensive purposes only.”
The turbaned Iranian president has an obvious motive for gulling the West into accepting the Islamic Republic’s conversion from a regime bent on “exporting the Islamic revolution” to a lover of peace: He was elected to end the sanctions crippling the country, without giving up the regime’s objectives.
It is less clear what moves President Obama to swallow the Iranian bait and go for a historic US rapprochement with the revolutionary republic. On every occasion, he protests that Israel’s security is his overriding concern. Yet he is rushing to accept a nuclear Iran whose avowed ambition is to destroy Israel.
Under their slick new façade, the ayatollahs have not changed their spots. Washington has.
Sources close to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu say he is determined to tear the false veil off Iran’s face – even if he is a lone voice, when he addresses the UN later this month.
Last Thursday, Netanyahu tried throwing water on Rouhani’s claims that Iran’s nuclear program was peaceful, calling them fraudulent. He dismissed Iran's offer to engage in diplomacy as false “media spin,” which should not fool anyone.But no one in the West was listening. And at home, people were asking what happened to Netanyahu’s solemn pre-election pledge to stop Iran attaining a nuclear bomb.

Ban Hails Lebanon's Efforts to Confront Burden of Syrian Conflict
Naharnet /U.N. leader Ban Ki-moon said on Tuesday that Lebanon was able to confront the turmoil in the neighboring country Syria “outstandingly,” stressing that the international community was unified over maintaining the country's stability. “The international support group for Lebanon is set to enable the United Nations and it's key partners to aid Lebanon in various fields,” Ban said in comments published in An Nahar newspaper.
He noted that the support group was established to reflect the unity of the international community concerning Lebanon and its needs. The UNHCR has registered more than 746,000 Syrians in Lebanon, though many others remain unregistered. The Lebanese government puts the number of Syrians in the country at 1.3 million, though that figure includes Syrians who were already in the country when the conflict began 30 months ago. The crisis in Syria has placed enormous strain on Lebanon, politically and economically.Lebanon has struggled to absorb ever-growing numbers of refugees, who have placed additional burdens on already scare resources including water. President Michel Suleiman headed on Monday to New York to attend the General Assembly, which will convene to September 27.  A meeting of the International Group to Support Lebanon at France's initiative will be held on September 25 to help Lebanon cope with the large influx of refugee. According to An Nahar daily published on Tuesday, the memorandum of understanding set by Ban Ki-moon points out that the “turmoil in Syria is enormously affecting Lebanon's security and stability.”It stresses that “any obligation by the United Nations will be reflected by resolutions agreed upon by the Security Council.”

Lebanese Army not under Hezbollah control: Sleiman

September 24, 2013/The Daily Star /BEIRUT: The Lebanese Army is not under Hezbollah’s control despite criticism from some groups, and international support for the military is critical, President Michel Sleiman said in remarks published Tuesday.“Those who believe that the Army is under the influence of Hezbollah are wrong," Sleiman told the French newspaper Le Figaro. His remarks were translated into Arabic and published by the local daily Al-Joumhouria. Sleiman was speaking to the newspaper in New York where he is attending the United Nations General Assembly meeting and making an international appeal to help Lebanon's cope with large numbers of Syrian refugees and preserve the country's security from the war next door.The president said boosting support for the Army can help insulate the nation from violent spillover of the Syrian conflict and could lead to changing control of Hezbollah’s armed presence in the country.Sleiman said he believes the solution to Hezbollah’s disarmament would be providing military aid to the Lebanese Army. “Strengthening the Lebanese Army with anti-aircraft defenses and artillery systems is the only way that will convince Hezbollah to handover its weapons,” Sleiman said, while adding that Hezbollah’s military agenda has led to the rise of Sunni extremist groups.
“This issue will find a definitive answer in the defense strategy draft I submitted to the Lebanese National Dialogue committee and was welcomed by the U.N. Secretary-General,” he said.
Sleiman has proposed a plan to incorporate Hezbollah’s weapons into Army control under a new national defense strategy. The plan has seen very little consideration. Sleiman, however, lamented at the failure to implement U.N. resolutions over the past two decades. “Hezbollah played a leading role in the liberation of a large section of Lebanese territory occupied by Israel until 2000, while U.N. resolutions remained ink on paper for the past 22 years,” he said. On the issue of Syrian refugees, Sleiman said it is in the interest of the international community to help Lebanon cope with the influx of refugees. Sleiman will attend a special gathering to support Lebanon as it struggles to cope with spillover from the Syrian conflict to be held on the sidelines of the U.N. meet. The president is expected to make an appeal for aid and hold several high level meetings with international leaders over Lebanon’s situation.  “Today there is turmoil in the region, so it is in everybody’s interest to help us overcome this difficult stage,” Sleiman told Le Figaro. He pointed to a recent World Bank report that said the Syria war will cost Lebanon $7.5 billion in economic losses by the end of next year. Over a million Syrians have fled across the border into Lebanon since the start of the crisis in March 2011. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees is aiding over 755,000 Syrian refugees in Lebanon. Sleiman will deliver a speech before the conference which will lay out the need for friendly states to support Lebanon, its constitutional bodies and its political, security and economic stability.Lebanon has repeatedly called for international assistance to address the refugee crisis, complaining that pledged assistance from the international community has failed to materialize.

Suleiman to Stress to Obama 'Inevitability' of Political Solution in Syria
Naharnet/President Michel Suleiman will inform his U.S. counterpart during talks in New York on Tuesday that there should be a peaceful solution to Syria's war, An Nahar daily reported. The newspaper said that the discussions between Suleiman and Barack Obama will focus on two major issues: Support for Lebanon's stability and the country's stance from the developments in Syria. Suleiman will brief the U.S. president on “his vision on the inevitability of a political solution in Syria and the importance of this solution for the region, Lebanon and international interests,” said An Nahar. A chemical weapons attack near Damascus in August brought the U.S. to the brink of a military strike. But an idea floated by Secretary of State John Kerry turned into a last-minute overture from Russia — a backer of Syrian President Bashar Assad — and resulted in a deal to turn Syria's chemical weapons stockpiles over to the international community.  Suleiman met on Monday with Herman Van Rompuy, the President of the European Council. The state-run National News Agency said their discussions focused on the EU's assistance to Lebanon in addition to the growing number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon. Van Rompuy renewed the EU's full support for Lebanon and expressed readiness to increase assistance for the refugees. He also hailed Suleiman's efforts in keeping stability and national unity, in addition to his call for dialogue, said the NNA. The president also met with Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi.
He attended on Monday night a reception held by Obama in honor of the heads of delegations and their spouses at the Waldorf Astoria. Suleiman will address world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday night. According to An Nahar, his speech will tackle the dangers of extremism in the region and urge the international community to protect minorities, including Christians.Suleiman told the French Le Figaro newspaper published Monday that there is a limited rise of Sunni extremism in Lebanon. But he stressed that terrorist groups haven't been able to resurface since their elimination in the Nahr al-Bared battles with the Lebanese army in 2007.
Asked about Hizbullah, Suleiman stressed “those who think that the army is under the control of Hizbullah are mistaken.”He reiterated that he has only criticized the party for its involvement in Syria's war and urged it to withdraw its fighters from the neighboring country. The only way to convince Hizbullah to hand its arms to the Lebanese state is through the consolidation of the military’s capabilities, he said. On Wednesday, Suleiman along with U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon will head a meeting of an international support group for Lebanon, which is burdened by the flow of refugees from Syria. The meeting, which will include the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, will examine ways to help Lebanon maintain political stability and security, and confront the continuous flow of Syrian refugees. The U.N. refugee agency UNHCR has registered more than 746,000 Syrians in Lebanon, though many others remain unregistered. The Lebanese government puts the number of Syrians in the country at 1.3 million, though that figure includes Syrians who were already in the country when the conflict began 30 months ago.

Appeals for Humanitarian Organizations to Aid Monastery in Maaloula
Naharnet /The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East urged on Tuesday the Syrian Red Crescent, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the governmental and non-governmental organizations NGOs to aid the ancient Syrian Christian village of Maaloula. “Humanitarian organizations should send aid convoys to the historic Saint Takla convent and those who are trapped in it,” an appeal issued by the Patriarchate said.
The appeal pointed out that convent in the village, which is on a UNESCO list of tentative world heritage sites, is “passing through difficult times.”“The convent is currently in the middle of an area where fire exchange is taking place, which makes aiding it a daunting and dangerous process.” "The generator has gone out because of the fighting, halting the supply of water to the convent and threatening the lives of those inside," the statement added.
The rebels launched the assault on Maaloula at the beginning of September after a Nusra fighter blew himself up at a regime checkpoint at the entrance to the mountain village.
The village, about 60 kilometers northeast of Damascus, is home to 3,300 residents, some of whom still speak a version of Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus Christ that only small, scattered communities around the world still use today. It is full of troglodyte caves dating back to the first centuries of Christianity, and also houses the Mar Takla Greek Orthodox convent. “We call on all the Syrians to engage in dialogue as an only solution to end the rift. And we call on the fighting sides to neutralize all landmarks that indicate the country's distinctive cultural role and avoid harming and Damaging them,” the Patriarchate added.

Mansour Urges International Community to Assume its Responsibilities, Aid Lebanon
Naharnet/Caretaker Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour called on the international community to assume its humanitarian and moral responsibilities to help Lebanon confront the burdens caused by the soaring number of Syrian refugees fleeing the conflict in neighboring Syria. “The meeting of the International Group to Support Lebanon will enable the countries to cover Lebanon's needs and support its capabilities,” Mansour said in an interview with As Safir newspaper on Tuesday. He pointed out that the international community realizes that Lebanon is aiding the Syrian refugees despite its “modest capabilities.”Mansour is accompanying President Michel Suleiman, who is currently in New York to attend the meetings of the United Nations General Assembly. “The numbers of Syrian and Palestinian refugees in Lebanon exceeded 1.3 million, which prompted us to deal with the matter with complete seriousness,” the caretaker FM said. A meeting of the International Group to Support Lebanon at France's initiative will be held on September 25 to help Lebanon cope with the large influx of refugee.
The meeting will include the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, and will be attended by Suleiman.
The U.N. refugee agency UNHCR has registered more than 746,000 Syrians in Lebanon, though many others remain unregistered. The Lebanese government puts the number of Syrians in the country at 1.3 million, though that figure includes Syrians who were already in the country when the conflict began 30 months ago. Mansour expressed fear that the repercussions of the soaring numbers of refugees constituted “not only a humanitarian crisis but also affected the security and health care in the country.” “We need to strengthen the Lebanese army and offer it all the facilities to enable it to confront the security challenges,” he pointed out. The crisis in Syria has placed enormous strain on Lebanon, politically and economically.Lebanon has struggled to absorb ever-growing numbers of refugees, who have placed additional burdens on already scare resources including water.
The conflict in Syria has also exacerbated tensions in Lebanon, where Hizbullah backs the Syrian regime, while Lebanon's Sunni support the Sunni-dominated opposition.
On Tuesday, Mansour held talks with with his Bulgarian, Tunisian and Georgian counterparts on the sidelines of the General Assembly. He also held talks with British deputy Foreign Minister Alistair Burt .
 

Aoun Blames Cabinet Delay on Salam's 'Violation of Constitution, Failure to Consult with Parliamentary Blocs'
Naharnet/Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Tuesday lashed out at Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam, accusing him of “violating the constitution and the parliamentary tradition” and seeking to form a cabinet without consulting with the parliamentary blocs. “It seems that the PM-designate is seeking to stir a clash with us, as if he has the right to form the cabinet without consulting with the parliamentary blocs. Let him form it with al-Nusra Front if he wants,” Aoun said after the weekly meeting of the Change and Reform bloc in Rabieh. “This is unacceptable and we don't want to hear such things. We've been hearing about the rotation of portfolios ... and it is well-known that in the wake of the (previous) cabinet's resignation, the appetite of some parties for petroleum was teased and I don't want to address the issue in a personal manner because it is not only about the minister's success," added Aoun, referring to caretaker Energy and Water Minister Jebran Bassil, who is his son-in-law and a top FPM official. Aoun noted that “if someone wanted to act in an upright and impartial manner, he would not have sought a rotation of portfolios in a cabinet that has only a 5-month term.”  “There are bad intentions and according to the constitution, the jurisdiction to form a new cabinet is not only limited to the PM-designate, because the cabinet represents the MPs and not him in person and we must choose our representatives,” he pointed out. Aoun stressed that the norms must be respected, noting that the cabinet has not yet been formed “due to the conditions of the PM-designate, who is violating the constitution and the parliamentary tradition.” The FPM leader underlined that the cabinet must reflect “both the outcome of parliamentary consultations and the will of the PM-designate and the president.” “Negotiations are the only means to form a new cabinet or else you can 'dream' about having a new cabinet,” added Aoun.

Deployment ploy
September 24, 2013/The Daily Star
Lebanon’s national police, Army and security bodies are fanning out this week in the southern suburbs of Beirut, and while some might praise the move as a step in the right direction, several aspects of the deployment are worrying, if not outright disappointing. The move itself is one of those developments that makes people scratch their heads more than jump for joy. The deployment is supposed to see 800 personnel from the Internal Security Forces, the Army and General Security take up positions in the streets of the southern suburbs, to replace the Hezbollah checkpoints that proliferated in the wake of two car bombings earlier this summer.
One wonders if the numbers, equipment and training of this force – drawn from three separate institutions – will be sufficient. The caretaker interior minister, Marwan Charbel, has recently been trumpeting his idea that municipal police around the country should boost their presence and help take the load off the national police. Then, in an area that has functioning, decently funded municipalities, the solution supposedly arrives in the form of security and military personnel from the national, and not local level. The problem is that the authorities’ response to the situation in the southern suburbs of Beirut resembles a Band-Aid more than a solution. Instead, all key political factions in the country should reach detailed agreements over the Army, the ISF and other security bodies – how much spending, and for what, do these institutions deserve? Can they be held accountable for their performance, and how, without producing the inevitable “sectarian crisis” if the head of a given state body is criticized or deemed incompetent? The paralysis at the executive branch level, as everyone knows, is holding up the regular business of government. There are state security and military bodies with vacant or soon-to-become-vacant posts. Do the authorities see any problem with failing to figure out who should take over as the head of the Gendarmerie, for example, a body whose responsibilities largely mirror those of the ISF? Are the responsibilities and powers of those taking up position in the southern suburbs of Beirut clear? Will they be there to enforce the laws everyone else must obey, or will the ultimate say go to Hezbollah and other local actors that wield actual influence in the suburbs? The authorities must do much more if they want to begin the long process of winning the trust and confidence of the public. Too many times, a given security move is talked up in the media as if a new chapter is about to unfold – then, things gradually return to normal. Just like earlier promised security crackdowns, the move to the suburbs can only be evaluated weeks and months from now, in order to see whether things have truly changed, or whether the key missing ingredient – accountability – will finally emerge.

Relatives of Abducted Pilgrims Vow to Prevent Turks from Setting Foot on Lebanon Soil
Naharnet /..The families of nine Lebanese pilgrims kidnapped by rebels in Syria staged on Tuesday a sit-in near the Turkish embassy in Rabieh, vowing to forbid Turkish nationals from setting their feet on Lebanese soil. “We will harass all Turks in Lebanon. They can leave the country if they don't like our move,” spokeswoman for the families of the abducted pilgrims Hayat Awali told LBCI TV's reporter. She vowed to continue with such measures until the return of the kidnapped men from Syria. “We will cut the road to every Turkish tourist in Lebanon,” Awali said, adding that the protesters will prevent Turkish citizens from entering Lebanon every time a Turkish plane touches down in Beirut. The families accuse Turkey of protecting the kidnappers. Ankara is a main backer of the rebels who are fighting troops loyal to President Bashar Assad in an attempt to oust him.
The National News Agency said that the protesters headed later Tuesday to downtown Beirut to hold a sit-in near the Turkish Cultural Center but the security forces prevented them from doing so. Eleven Lebanese pilgrims were kidnapped in May 2012 in Syria's Aleppo province that borders Turkey as they were making their way back to Lebanon by land from pilgrimage from Iran. Two of them have since been released, while the rest remain held in the town of Aazaz. A previously unknown group calling itself Zuwwar Imam al-Rida has claimed the kidnapping of two Turkish Airlines pilots, demanding Ankara use its influence with Syria's rebels to secure the release of the abducted pilgrims. The pilots were kidnapped in August while on their way from Rafik Hariri International airport to a hotel in Beirut. Lebanese authorities have arrested three suspects and charged them in connection with the abduction.

March 14: Dahieh Security Plan Must Compel State to Take Control of Arms
Naharnet /The March 14 General Secretariat hailed on Tuesday the security forces' deployment in Beirut's southern suburbs of Dahieh on Monday. It said after its weekly meeting: “The security plan in Dahieh should act as a precursor to the state implementing its right to take control of all arms throughout Lebanon.” It hoped that the measures in Dahieh will be implemented throughout the country. Around 1,000 army troops and security forces deployed Monday in Dahieh where Hizbullah normally keeps a tight grip on security. The security points were established after car bombings in the area killed 27 people on August 15 and wounded more than 50 on July 9. Following the bombings, Hizbullah turned the southern suburbs into a fortress with guards in civilian clothes policing the streets, stopping and searching cars, and asking motorists for their identity cards.
Addressing President Michel Suleiman's participation at the United Nations General Assembly, the March 14 General Secretariat remarked: “We praise the president and international forces' efforts to provide all of Lebanon's needs during this critical time in the region.”“The political, diplomatic, military, and financial aid will help it overcome the pressures that are threatening its political, social, economic, and security stability,” it continued. It thanked the international support group for addressing the case of Syrian refugees in Lebanon. It hoped that the international community would offer “clear and tangible support for the complete implementation of U.N. Security Resolution 1701 and the Baabda Declaration, which is based on keeping Lebanon away from regional crises.”Suleiman will address world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday night. On Wednesday, Suleiman along with U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon will head a meeting of an international support group for Lebanon, which is burdened by the flow of refugees from Syria. The meeting, which will include the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, will examine ways to help Lebanon maintain political stability and security, and confront the continuous flow of Syrian refugees. The U.N. refugee agency UNHCR has registered more than 746,000 Syrians in Lebanon, though many others remain unregistered. The Lebanese government puts the number of Syrians in the country at 1.3 million, though that figure includes Syrians who were already in the country when the conflict began 30 months ago.

Judge Issues Arrest Warrants Against Two Syrians over Masnaa Attacks
Naharnet /Military Tribunal Judge Imad al-Zein issued on Tuesday arrest warrants against two Syrians accused of preparing explosives, and targeting cars passing along the Masnaa road. According to the state-run National News Agency, al-Zein completed interrogations with the detainees, who are charged with belonging to an armed terrorist group, preparing explosives, targeting vehicles and arms trade. The two Syrians were identified as Firas Zaitoun and Ons Majzoub. The number of detainees reached five and three others charged in absentia. One man was killed and three others wounded in the July 16 attack that targeted a convoy belonging to Hizbullah on the Masnaa road. It was the fourth time that a vehicle had been targeted by an explosive device in the Bekaa region, which is a stronghold of Hizbullah.

Kenya Troops 'in Control' of Mall, Americans and Briton Among Attackers
Naharnet /Kenyan troops are in "control" of Nairobi's Westgate shopping mall three days after a deadly siege by Islamists, who, according to Kenya's foreign minister, include "two to three Americans" and a British woman.
As the interior ministry said early Tuesday that all hostages trapped by the militants are believed to have been freed, Kenyan Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed underlined the global scope of the attack. Somalia's al-Qaida-linked Shebab insurgents have claimed the attack, which began midday on Saturday when the armed militants marched into the complex, tossed grenades and fired automatic weapons and sent panicked shoppers fleeing. A government spokesman told Agence France Presse the siege, in which the attackers massacred at least 62 shoppers and staff, was close to being declared over. He said special forces combing the building were no longer encountering any resistance. "Our special forces are inside the building checking the rooms. We think that everyone, the hostages, have been evacuated, but we don't want to take any chances," Manoah Esipisu said.
"The special forces call this sanitizing. At the moment they have not met any resistance, but of course we are not ruling out the possibility that there are a couple of them hiding in a remote room or corner," he added.
"We're in control of Westgate," the interior ministry said in a message on Twitter. Throughout the night the area around the mall was quiet, with security personnel either moving or appearing relaxed. No details on the numbers of hostages released have been given, but 63 people were earlier recorded missing by the Red Cross, a figure thought to include hostages as well as those possibly killed. Almost 200 were wounded in the attack, and at least 11 Kenyan troops were wounded in intense gun battles on Monday, the army said.
Special forces on Monday also killed at least three gunmen and wounded several in bitter fighting in the part Israeli-owned complex, which was popular with wealthy Kenyans and expatriates. A Kenyan security source and a Western intelligence official said Israeli forces were also involved in operations, along with British and U.S. agents.
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. In an interview with U.S. public broadcaster PBS, Kenya's top diplomat said Americans and a British woman were among the attackers. "The Americans, from the information we have, are young men, about between maybe 18 and 19," she said.
Asked if the Briton was a woman, she replied: "Woman. And she has, I think, done this many times before." Interior Minister Joseph Ole Lenku had earlier denied that any of the insurgents were women: "All the terrorists are men," he said, noting: "Some of them had dressed like women."Police said they had also arrested more than 10 people for questioning. Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, whose nephew was killed along with his fiancee, called the attack "despicable and beastly." The Shebab rebels said the carnage was in retaliation for Kenya's military intervention in Somalia where they 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 attackers 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 six 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.
British businessman Louis Bawa said his daughter Jennah, 8, and wife Zahira were among the dead. He told the Daily Telegraph that "my heart just stopped" when he was asked to identify them from photographs taken of those killed at the mall."The people who did this, they are vigilantes, they are animals," Bawa said. "They are using religion as an excuse to kill people. Zahira and Jennah were Muslims, but these animals just shot them the same as all of the others." 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. Some 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.Source/Agence France Presse.

Kenyan officials say 3 soldiers dead, 8 injured in fight with militants at mall
By David Rising, The Associated Press | The Canadian Press – NAIROBI, Kenya - Kenyan officials say three soldiers have died and eight others have been injured in a fight with militants who attacked an upscale mall in Nairobi.The Kenyan Interior Ministry said Tuesday, the fourth day in fighting at the Westgate mall, that three soldiers "have succumbed to their injuries" and that eight others are still receiving treatment.
Earlier, the Kenyan Red Cross confirmed at least 62 people have been killed, but spokesman Abbas Gullet said it was still not known how many more may be dead inside the building.
A government official told The Associated Press that the morgue was preparing for up to 60 bodies, though the official didn't know an exact count. He insisted on anonymity for fear of retribution for talking to the press.

International prosecutor says she is ready to help Kenya bring mall attackers to justice
By The Associated Press | The Canadian Press –THE HAGUE, Netherlands - The International Criminal Court prosecutor said Tuesday she is prepared to work with Kenya to bring to justice the attackers responsible for the deadly siege on an upscale Nairobi shopping mall. Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said in a statement that while Kenya has primary jurisdiction in the slaying of civilians in the Westgate Mall, the atrocity could also fall under the court's jurisdiction. Bensouda's statement came a day after the Hague-based court adjourned the trial of Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto and let him fly home to help deal with the mall crisis. Ruto is on trial for allegedly orchestrating violence in the aftermath of Kenya's 2007 presidential election. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.The al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab militant group attacked the mall on Saturday, killing at least 60 people. Kenyan security forces continued operations Tuesday to end the siege.The International Criminal Court is a tribunal of last resort — meaning that it takes on cases only where national jurisdictions are unable or unwilling to prosecute them. It is not clear if Kenya would want ICC help investigating and prosecuting the mall attack. The country has sought to have the case of Ruto — and the ICC prosecution of President Uhuru Kenyatta on similar charges linked to the 2007-08 post-election violence — returned to national authorities. The Hague-based court has a vexed relationship with Kenya and other African nations. Some countries in the African Union are calling for a withdrawal from the 11-year-old court. The topic is expected to be discussed by African Union nations next month. All of the indictments issued so far by the court have been against African suspects.

Kenya attack: Why al-Shabaab live-tweeted the assault
CBC – When al-Shabaab launched its deadly attack on the Westgate Mall in Kenya's capital of Nairobi, it brazenly and boastfully live-tweeted the assault, a move that revealed how social media savvy the al-Qaeda-linked organization has become. "If any group was going to do this, it probably was going to be al-Shabaab because of their use of social media," Raffaello Pantucci, a senior research fellow at the London-based Royal United Services Institute, told CBC News "They're clearly an organization that sees the value," said Pantucci, who focuses on counter-terrorism. "Broadly speaking they've been quite canny about how they've done all this."
Al-Shabaab launched its attack Saturday, killing a reported 62 people, including two Canadian citizens. Canadian officials have also confirmed that at least two Canadian citizens were among the 175 injured in the attack at the upscale shopping mall. During Saturday's attack, the group's Twitter account @HSMPress (the HSM stands for "Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen") gave an updated account of events, while explaining the purpose of its actions. "The Mujahideen entered #Westgate Mall today at around noon and are still inside the mall, fighting the #Kenyan Kuffar inside their own turf," the group tweeted.
Earlier Sunday, al-Shabaab tweeted from a different 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-Shabaab said in a tweet. But Twitter is just one of the social media tools the group employs. Facebook and YouTube have also been exploited to broadcast its message and ideology, which is generally aimed at a younger, Western audience. That social media is so heavily used by al-Shabaab is hardly surprising as the organization started back in 2006 with a primarily young membership. "Al-Shabaab has always been more cutting edge in terms of usage of media," Rudolph Atallah, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Africa Center, told CBC News. The group has also been fairly creative in its use of audio and visual images in its development of recruitment-like YouTube videos — showcasing its leaders and the organization's capabilities, all to appeal to a younger generation, Atallah said. But it seems to be most productive on Twitter. And since a terrorist organization is fundamentally about trying to broadcast a message, Twitter is the perfect vehicle, Pantucci added.
Its feeds have been shut down a number of times for violating Twitter's terms of use, only to spring up again in another form, said Kenneth Hall, a Queens University political science research assistant who researched al-Shabaab and its use of social media. Al-Shabaab is fairly prolific and, like many users, has been involved in Twitter wars with different groups, including a tweet spat with a spokesman with the Kenyan military.
"There was actually a fairly lively back and forth between the two accounts where al-Shaabad was taunting the Kenyan military," Hall said. "There's definitely a hint of arrogance in the way they do their social media," Hall said. "It's about capability. That they're not only capable of pulling off these attacks in the first place but they're also capable of broadcasting these things to the world before any Western media outlet is able to." But the group also uses social media to boast about attacks that the Western media doesn’t cover, Atallah said. "When that happens, al-Shabaab is good at going on Twitter and Facebook, showing photos of their handiwork," he said.That also helps shore up its credentials among al-Qaeda, which has had a strained relationship with al-Shabaab in the past.But a top priority remains the recruitment of foreign fighters, who have at times become disillusioned with the organization. "The amplification on Twitter, the amplification on Facebook…are all ways to show, one, viability, and two, it amplifies their message to recruit more," Atallah said. Kenyan officials have said that fighters from an array of nations participated in the attack on the mall. "Obviously, the Twitter feeds and the social media feeds have had some impact in this," Atallah said.

Millions of Syrian children lack basic food, face malnutrition, warns international aid group
By Barbara Surk, The Associated Press | The Canadian Press /BEIRUT - As Syria's civil war rages into its third year, millions of children in the country are at risk of malnutrition and face severe food shortages, an international aid organization has warned. Save the Children said four million Syrians — more than half of them children — are unable to produce or buy enough food. Thousands are trapped in battle zones in and around Syria's major cities, such as Aleppo in the north and in the central city of Homs, cut off from access to all but the bare minimum foodstuffs needed to survive, the U.S.-based group said in a dramatic report released Monday. Food shortages are compounded by an explosion in prices of basic staples, the group said, adding that one in 20 children in areas around the capital of Damascus is severely malnourished. Ever since the conflict erupted in March 2011, leading aid groups have demanded that the warring sides — Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces and the rebels fighting to overthrow his regime — enable access to civilians trapped in the fighting. More than 100,000 people have been killed in the conflict and millions have been uprooted from their homes. But their calls have consistently met obstacles. "The world has stood and watched as the children of Syria have been shot, shelled and traumatized by the horror of war," said Roger Hearn, Save the Children's regional director for the Middle East. "The conflict has already left thousands of children dead, and is now threatening their means of staying alive."
The United States and Russia brokered an agreement for Syria to give up its chemical weapons but U.N. diplomats say they are at odds on details of a Security Council resolution spelling out how it should be done and the possible consequences if Syria doesn't comply. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Tuesday that U.N. chemical weapons inspectors would return to Syria as soon as Wednesday.
In Damascus, however, a government official said the issue of the inspectors' return to Syria and its timing was "still under discussion." The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
On their previous trip to the country, the U.N. team led by Swedish expert Ake Sellstrom complied a report that said nerve agent sarin was used in the Aug. 21 attack near Damascus. The U.S. and its allies say Assad's regime was behind the attack, which according to Washington killed 1,400 people. Activist groups say the death toll was significantly lower, but still in the hundreds.
Damascus blames the rebels for the attack, and Russia, a close ally of Assad, said the U.N. report does not provide enough evidence to blame the Syrian government. It has also demanded that U.N. inspectors probe other attacks that allegedly included chemical agents. "We are pleased that our call for U.N. inspectors to return to Syria to investigate other episodes has brought results," Ryabkov told the Russian parliament Tuesday, according to state news agency RIA Novosti. He did not elaborate. On Monday, the opposition Syrian National Coalition accused government forces of tightening their months-long siege in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta, where the August attack took place. "Assad's forces are starving people to death in those areas," the coalition claimed. "Famine looms in the horizon as more than two million people remain under siege."
At the U.N., the head of the organization's World Food Program demanded Monday that a potential cease-fire agreement include access for aid workers.
Ertharin Cousin told The Associated Press that an agreement, which will be discussed at the start of the annual U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, envisions a cessation of hostilities so chemical experts trying to bring Syria's stockpile under international control can travel across the country, including to many conflict areas where WFP and other humanitarian workers have been unable to bring in desperately needed aid.
WFP is currently feeding 3 million people inside Syria and 1.2 million in neighbouring countries. Cousin said the goal is to step up supplies so that 4 million internally displaced people and 1.5 million refugees are getting food by the end of October. *Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations and Jim Heintz in Moscow contributed to this report.

Russia: U.N. Syria Resolution Could 'Mention' Chapter VII
Naharnet/A U.N. Security Council resolution on Syria could mention an article which allows force or sanctions, a top Russian diplomat said Tuesday, as Moscow and Washington seek a compromise on a text backing a deal to rid the regime of chemical weapons.
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov stressed that the key Chapter VII of the U.N. Charter could be invoked only if the chemical weapons accord agreed between Russia and the United States is violated by either side in the Syrian conflict. Speaking to the Russian parliament, Ryabkov also slammed the "illogical" position of the United States and its Western allies for seeking to threaten the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad in the resolution. It was not clear if Ryabkov's comments on Chapter VII could ease the dispute over the resolution, which threatens to overshadow the U.N. General Assembly and take the shine off the U.S.-Russia weapons accord.
Ryabkov said that U.N. inspectors would be returning to Damascus on Wednesday to investigate an August chemical attack outside the Syrian capital, which the West blames on the Syrian regime and which Russia says could have been carried out by the rebels. The invocation of Chapter VII in a U.N. resolution has been a point of controversy between the United States and Russia ever since the two Cold War foes forged their landmark agreement in Geneva this month to rid Syria of its chemical weapons.
"Chapter VII can be mentioned only as an element of the measures against violators... if there is a refusal to cooperate, carry out obligations or if someone -- it does not matter who -- uses chemical weapons," Ryabkov said, quoted by Russian news agencies.
He emphasized that the resolution to be adopted by the U.N. Security Council should be aimed at bolstering decisions by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
"There can be no discussing the adoption of a resolution under Chapter VII about the automatic implementation of sanctions or all the more the use of force," he told the State Duma lower house of parliament.
He said that the Assad regime had already shown its good will to adhere to the accord by joining the convention for the prohibition of chemical weapons.
"In this situation the attempts of the Americans -- actively supported by the British and the French -- to push the U.N. Security Council to adopt a resolution which would contain a direct threat to Syria look absolutely illogical."
"Contacts with the Americans (after Geneva) are, unfortunately, not going as smoothly as we would like," he added.
He later appeared to qualify his earlier remarks on Chapter VII, saying there "does not have to be any reference" to Chapter VII in the U.N. resolution backing up the OPCW's decisions.
The five permanent Security Council members -- the United States, Russia, France, Britain and China -- held new contacts on a resolution on Monday.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius reaffirmed that any resolution had to allow for possible measures under Chapter VII of the U.N. Charter if Assad fails to keep the plan.
Ryabkov said he hoped the resolution could be agreed next week, although there was no "100 percent guarantee".
The deal in Geneva averted the threat of military action against the Syrian regime by the United States, a move that Russian President Vladimir Putin had warned would be an aggression breaking international law.
"The threat of an aggression has for the moment just been put on hold but not removed," Ryabkov said.
Ryabkov expressed satisfaction that U.N. chemical weapons experts would be returning to Damascus "tomorrow, September 25" to investigate the chemical weapons attack outside Damascus in August.
He said it was possible to make "substantial refutations" of all arguments that the Syrian government may have been behind the attack and complained that the United States was still pinning the blame on the regime "without exhaustive proof". A tentative Saturday deadline had been set for the full accounting of Syria's arsenal under the plan which calls for its chemical weapons to be destroyed by mid-2014.
There are hopes that the deal could pave the way for peace talks to end the 30-month conflict which has killed more than 110,000 people and forced two million more to flee abroad.
A special correspondent in Syria for the Spanish newspaper El Periodico has been kidnapped by rebels, the paper announced late Monday in its online edition.
The paper said Marc Marginedas has been "in the hands of a rebel group since September 4, the last day he was in contact with editors in Barcelona".
SourceAgence France Presse.

The danger of marginalizing regional partners in Syria

By : Yousef Al-Dayni/Asharq Alawsat
Anyone who has been following the Russian–American agreement must think that the Syrian crisis is on the brink of a political settlement. But that is not an accurate picture of the situation, as all the Russians could do was buy more time so that all partners would eventually get lost in a diplomatic and media maze. The Russians’ aim was to prevent a possible strike against the Assad regime.
Such a strike is not really desired by the Americans, who retain the phobias they developed during the Iraq war. But the US does want to exhaust and weaken all sides in the Syrian struggle, and the US media has been telling us this quite clearly. The point would be that then the winner, whomever it may be, would not be in a position to threaten Israel’s security.
Russia is not really in a good negotiating position, but that does not matter because America is so fragile in dealing with the Syrian crisis despite all what has been written by media representatives and analysts about Russia restoring its political standing through its most prominent—and only remaining—ally. Exaggerating Syria’s role and location in the eyes of Russia is a mere flight of fancy with regards to reading the region’s geopolitics. The Russian military bases in Syrian harbors are of no value. Furthermore, Russia, having failed to remain steadfast in protecting the Caucasus and other states under its geographical sovereignty, now can merely mount political pressure in a bid to secure a deal should the Assad regime be overthrown.
The real dilemma produced by US–Russian cooperation on the Syrian issue is the attempt to remove regional partners from the political equation in a provocative manner, even though the parties that have been making real efforts to end the conflict since the start of the crisis are all Arabs. The Syrian crisis was brought to the international community’s attention because of the historic stance of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the moderate Arab states. Besides, there can be no successful political solution if regional partners are ignored.
The Russian initiative, although biased against the Syrian people being oppressed by the bloodthirsty regime of Bashar Al-Assad, has come at a politically opportune time. The initiative has exploited the hesitation of President Obama, the human-rights activist who seemed to have entered into the profession of statesman by mistake. The initiative has basically guaranteed Israel’s security by seeking to control the weaponry in the possession of the Syrian regime. It is indisputable that Israel is now safe, given the fact that Syria was never and will never be a threat to Israel’s security with its chemical arsenal—it can now only use words and slogans. In addition to this, demilitarizing the Syrian chemical arsenal will require a long time to accomplish—there are approximately 1,000 tons of neurotoxic agents distributed to 40 facilities—so Assad has been given more time to destroy his own people.
Moderate states now are in need of a diplomatic strategy different to the American–Russian discourse that is promoting the eradication of chemical weapons, for this is a political and moral mistake. The problem with the Assad regime is not only that it is in possession of arms that could pose a threat to Israel. Rather, the real crisis lies in killing over 100,000 people in cold blood—without using chemical weapons—in a manner that violated all customs and laws of human rights.
If it is true that the interest of the US and its major ally in the region lies in eradicating chemical weapons, it is also true that the Arab partners’ interest lies in protecting the Syrian people against the Assad regime and its oppressive nature, which has nothing to do with chemical weapons.
In the end, no matter how international partners attempt to maintain Assad’s legitimacy through the chemical arms eradication deal, neither the Syrian people nor regional partners will accept it. In fact, eradicating these weapons will not mean an end to Assad’s alliance with Iran or its adherents in the region, and so Syria’s issue will remain contingent upon regional balances. The American and Russian intervention may contribute to eliminating the Assad regime, but it will not help solve the Syrian crisis.