LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
May 28/14

Bible Quotation for today/Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God

John 11,32-44/When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, ‘Where have you laid him?’ They said to him, ‘Lord, come and see.’ Jesus began to weep. So the Jews said, ‘See how he loved him!’But some of them said, ‘Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?’Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, ‘Take away the stone.’ Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, ‘Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead for four days.’
Jesus said to her, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God? ’So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upwards and said, ‘Father, I thank you for having heard me.
I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me. ’When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!
The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, and let him go.’

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources For May 28/14

Pakistan woman stoned to death by family for marrying man she loved
By REUTERS
05/27/2014 21:58
http://www.jpost.com/International/Pakistan-woman-stoned-to-death-by-family-for-marrying-man-she-loved-354555
Farzana Iqbal was waiting for the High Court in the eastern city of Lahore to open when a group of around dozen men began attacking her with bricks.
Pakistan honor killing
Women mourn over the body of their relative, Farzana Iqbal, who was killed by family members, in an ambulance outside of a morgue in Lahore. A 25-year-old woman was stoned to death by her family outside one of Pakistan's top courts on Tuesday in a so-called "honor" killing for marrying the man she loved, police said. Farzana Iqbal was waiting for the High Court in the eastern city of Lahore to open when a group of around dozen men began attacking her with bricks, said Umer Cheema, a senior police officer. Her father, two brothers and former fiance were among the attackers, he said. Iqbal suffered severe head injuries and was pronounced dead in hospital, police said. All the suspects except her father escaped. He admitted killing his daughter, Cheema said, and explained it was a matter of honor. Many Pakistani families think a woman marrying her own choice of man brings dishonor on the family. Iqbal had been engaged to her cousin but married another man, Cheema said. Her family registered a kidnapping case against him but Iqbal had come to court to argue that she had married of her own free will, he said. Around 1,000 Pakistani women are killed every year by their families in honor killings, according to Pakistani rights group the Aurat Foundation. The true figure is probably many times higher since the Aurat Foundation only compiles figures from newspaper reports. The government does not compile national statistics. Campaigners say few cases come to court, and those that do can take years to be heard. No one tracks how many cases are successfully prosecuted. Even those that do result in a conviction may end with the killers walking free. Pakistani law allows a victim's family to forgive their killer. But in honor killings, most of the time the women's killers are her family, said Wasim Wagha of the Aurat Foundation. The law allows them to nominate someone to do the murder, then forgive him. "This is a huge flaw in the law," he said. "We are really struggling on this issue."

Sudanese Ordered to Hang for Apostasy 'Gives Birth in Jail'
http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/132422-sudanese-ordered-to-hang-for-apostasy-gives-birth-in-jail
Naharnet /A Christian Sudanese woman, sentenced to hang for apostasy in a case that has sparked international outcry, has given birth in jail, her husband said Tuesday. "Until now I did not see them. They didn't allow me to go in and see," Daniel Wani told Agence France Presse. "I'm disappointed really," he said from a prisons office where he was continuing efforts to see his wife and newborn daughter. Meriam Yahia Ibrahim Ishag, 27, is being held at a women's prison in Khartoum's twin city of Omdurman. Wani said he and his wife have not yet chosen a name for their baby. Ishag already has a 20-month old son, who is also incarcerated with her, rights activists say. A Khartoum-area court sentenced her to death on May 15.Born to a Muslim father, she was convicted under the Islamic sharia law that has been in force in Sudan since 1983 and outlaws conversions on pain of death. Wani said he is normally granted a weekly visit to the prison but had sought special permission to see his wife again after she gave birth. Ishag was "frustrated" when he saw her on Monday, he said. "We weren't able to speak. There is a guard sitting there beside us," said Wani, a Christian who says he was born in Khartoum. "The mother and the baby seem to be doing okay," a Western diplomat who is familiar with Ishag's case told AFP. But he said: "It's a cruel treatment to be in such a situation."Giving birth in a jail "is certainly not the best place, for physical and psychological reasons," the diplomat said. "We gave you three days to recant but you insist on not returning to Islam. I sentence you to be hanged," Judge Abbas Mohammed al-Khalifa said as he passed the verdict against Ishag, addressing her by her father's Muslim name, Adraf al-Hadi Mohammed Abdullah. Khalifa also sentenced her to 100 lashes for "adultery." Under Sudan's interpretation of sharia, a Muslim woman cannot marry a non-Muslim man and any such relationship is regarded as adulterous. "I am a Christian and I never committed apostasy," Ishag calmly told the judge before he passed sentence. London-based Amnesty International said Ishag was raised as an Orthodox Christian, her mother's religion, because her Muslim father was absent. The Western diplomat said of her case: "For the image of Sudan, it's certainly no good."Britain and Canada last week summoned the Sudanese envoys to their countries over Ishag's case, which they say conflicts with Sudan's international human rights obligations. United Nations rights experts have called the conviction "outrageous" and said it must be overturned. "Choosing and/or changing one's religion is not a crime at all. On the contrary, it is a basic human right," they said after the verdict. Britain denounced the court's decision as "barbaric," while the United States said it was "deeply disturbed" and Canada said it was "shocked and appalled." The Citizen newspaper, in an earlier editorial, said members of Ishag's family filed the court case "for other hidden purposes."Wani declined to comment on what was behind the legal action against his wife. He said an appeal has already been filed. The woman would be allowed to nurse her baby for two years after the birth, before any death sentence is carried out, legal experts have said.
If she is hanged, Ishag will be the first person executed for apostasy under the 1991 penal code, said Christian Solidarity Worldwide, a British-based group working for religious freedom.
Information Minister Ahmed Bilal Osman has said Sudan is not unique in its law against apostasy. "In Saudi Arabia, in all the Muslim countries, it is not allowed at all for a Muslim to change his religion," he said.Source/Agence France Presse

STL rejects Al-Akhbar request for postponement
May 27, 2014/By Kareem Shaheen /The Daily Star
BEIRUT: The Special Tribunal for Lebanon rejected a request by the editor of Al-Akhbar newspaper for a postponement of his contempt hearing, scheduled for Thursday, saying there was no excuse to delay his appearance. Ibrahim al-Amin, the editor-in-chief of the pro-Hezbollah daily, is accused of contempt and obstruction of justice by The Hague-based court, which is tasked with prosecuting those responsible for the 2005 bombing that killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 21 others. The allegations are linked to reports that included the details of individuals the newspaper claimed are witnesses in the case. The STL argues that publishing these details endangers the lives of the individuals, whether or not they are witnesses, and undermines public confidence in the tribunal. Amin was initially supposed to appear before the court in mid-May, on the same day as Karma al-Khayyat, a senior editor at Al Jadeed TV, who is also accused of contempt of court. But Amin refused to attend the hearing, saying he had not been able to appoint a defense lawyer. In another letter to the court before Thursday’s hearing, Amin asked that the hearing be postponed by a serious sufficient period of time.” Among the issues Amin wants the court to address before his hearing is the very right of the court to try Lebanese journalists for contempt. But the STL’s contempt judge said the issues raised by Amin can be addressed after his initial appearance before the court. “There is no reason to once again postpone Mr AI Amin' s and Akhbar Beirut S.A.L. 's appearances before me,”Judge Nicola Lettieri said in an order published on the tribunal’s website. “All the matters that Mr AI Amin is concerned about can and will be raised before me, but at a public hearing.”The trial has caused controversy in Lebanon, where the court’s opponents accuse it of stifling freedom of the press.

Harb from Maarab: Institutions Can't Continue Functioning as if There's No Problem in Country
Naharnet/Telecom Minister and presidential hopeful Butros Harb announced Tuesday that state institutions cannot continue functioning amid the current presidential vacuum, following talks with Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea in Maarab. “The March 14 forces have taken a unified decision and said that state institutions cannot continue their work in the absence of a president as if there is no problem in the country,” Harb said after the meeting. The country was plunged into a presidential vacuum on May 25 after parliament failed to elect a successor to president Michel Suleiman despite having held five electoral sessions. The March 14 forces on Tuesday boycotted a parliamentary session dedicated to discussing the new wage scale but said they are willing to attend when a final agreement is reached.
Harb warned that any attempt to “paralyze institutions with the aim of imposing a certain political equation will not go without resistance.”
“Whoever wants the country to function properly must head to parliament, confront there and abide by the rules of presidential election, and therefore they must accept its result,” the minister added, noting that “any other behavior would harm democracy and political balance in Lebanon.” And as Harb expressed his appreciation and support of the syndicates' social demands, he stressed that the March 14 forces do not want to attend parliamentary sessions in this regard for mere debate. The minister revealed that “all parties are preparing a study under the sponsorship of Speaker Nabih Berri” regarding the controversial new wage scale draft. “When we reach an agreement over this issue that has to do with social security and domestic peace in the country, we will change our stance over the issue of legislation and head to parliament to fulfill the social demands of teachers, (public) employees and members of the armed forces,” Harb promised. In an apparent jab at Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun, the minister criticized “those who are saying 'either I become the president or I will obstruct the elections and put the blame on others.'”
“This is a rejected approach and we cannot tolerate it,” Harb underlined. Asked whether the “obstruction” will spread to cabinet, the minister hoped the government's work will not be affected “because it has to do with people's daily affairs and we must not stand in the face of people's interests.”“We're inclined to facilitate the country's interests and we will deal positively, according to the Constitution's rules and without introducing new norms,” Harb went on to say. In response to another question, Harb again denied receiving any “serious” information about the death in Syria of Mahmoud Hayek, who was charged with a botched 2012 assassination attempt against him.

Al-Rahi Rejects 'Spring that Comes via Destruction', Calls for Palestinian State with 'at Least' E. Jerusalem as Capital
NaharnetظMaronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi announced Tuesday from the Palestinian town of Beit Sahour his rejection of the “spring” that comes through “weapons and destruction,” condemning the Israeli separation barrier that limits the Palestinians' freedom of movement. “We thank the Lord because all the eyes of the world are focused on the land of Palestine and on the Holy Land and because the entire world has realized that this cause is a sacred cause,” al-Rahi said in his sermon as he presided over a mass in the Palestinian town. Beit Sahour lies east of Bethlehem and it is under the administration of the Palestinian National Authority. It was occupied by Israel from June 1967 until December 1995. The population of around 12,500 is 80% Christian, mainly Greek Orthodox, and 20% Muslim.
“You are one of the peoples that have endured and suffered the most and whose wounds are still bleeding. We in Lebanon are witnesses of the dire situation of the Palestinian people,” al-Rahi added.
“It's time for this Palestinian people to rise from its death and pains to life and peace,” the patriarch said. In an apparent reference to the Arab Spring uprisings, al-Rahi added: “We are speaking of spring, but spring will only come when we acknowledge that the human has sanctity, and any spring that comes through weapons and destruction becomes an attack against God and human.”
“This land is our land. Our history is here, our identity is here and our message is here. We thank you for preserving the Holy Land. We support your demand to have an independent state with at least east Jerusalem as its capital,” al-Rahi added. Earlier on Tuesday, al-Rahi celebrated mass in the Church of the Resurrection in the Old City of Jerusalem to pray for peace in the Middle East.
On Monday, al-Rahi visited a parish in central Israel, becoming the first Lebanese religious leader to go to the Jewish state since its creation in 1948. Cardinal al-Rahi's critics have said the pilgrimage implies normalization with Israel at a time when the two countries remain formally at war. Al-Rahi said his journey, tied to a visit to the region by Pope Francis, celebrates the roots of Christianity in the region. In a veiled response to his critics, he said his motives were misunderstood. "With all the difficulties that you heard about, with all the explanations that are not related to our visit, with all the understandings that have nothing to do with our thoughts, we came here for the goal of strengthening our belief," he said. Bishop Boulos Sayyah, a senior Maronite cleric, added that al-Rahi's visit is purely religious. He said it is not linked to "the regrettable situation that exists between Lebanon and Israel." Israel has invaded Lebanon several times, occupying part of the country's territory for 18 years until it withdrew in 2000 following armed resistance. In 2006, a 34-day war between Israel and Hizbullah left 1,200 Lebanese and 160 Israelis dead. Lebanon bars its citizens from visiting Israel or having business dealings with Israelis. However, Maronite clergy are exempt from the ban to enable them to stay in touch with the faithful in the Holy Land. About 11,000 Maronites live in Israel.
The cardinal is on a weeklong visit to the Holy Land. He spent the first two days in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, lands Israel occupied in the 1967 Middle East war, but on Monday ventured into Israel for the first time. The cardinal began his day on Monday at a monastery west of Jerusalem. He was flanked by clergy and a scout troop that played musical instruments. Inside, al-Rahi led a small group in prayers. From there, he made his way to a Maronite parish in Jaffa, an ancient port that has been incorporated into Israel's second largest city, Tel Aviv. Police blocked off roads in front of the church to clear the path for his convoy. Inside the church, al-Rahi blessed worshipers who reached out to touch him and take pictures of the cardinal with their phones. Later in the week, al-Rahi plans to meet with parishioners in northern Israel and celebrate Mass for Lebanese Christians who fled to Israel in 2000 after having fought alongside Israeli troops during Israel's occupation of south Lebanon.
Al-Rahi's visit overlapped with a Holy Land pilgrimage on Sunday and Monday by Francis. Al-Rahi accompanied the pope during his tour of biblical Bethlehem in the West Bank on Sunday, but followed a separate program on Monday when the pontiff's itinerary included meetings with Israeli leaders. Pro-Hizbullah Lebanese media outlets have portrayed al-Rahi's visit to Israel as a "historic sin." But the cardinal was embraced by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who awarded him the "Star of Jerusalem" medal for visiting the city and strengthening its links to the Arab world.

Wage Scale Suffers Spillover of Presidential Vacuum
Naharnet/The vacuum in the presidency on Tuesday spilled over into parliament, which once again failed to approve a controversial wage hike draft-law, angering civil servants and mainly teachers who vowed to go ahead with their plan to boycott the official exams. A legislative session that had been postponed to Tuesday was adjourned by Speaker Nabih Berri to June 10 over lack of quorum caused by the boycott of the majority of Christian lawmakers. Lebanese Forces MP George Adwan said during a press conference in parliament that legislation amid a vacancy at the presidential palace “is not permissible.”He laid the blame of the vacuum on the MPs who boycotted the session that were aimed at electing a president. “The March 14 alliance supports social demands,” Adwan said. His rival from the Change and Reform bloc MP Ibrahim Kanaan, also a Christian, called for consensus on the rights of civil servants within the limits of the state's capabilities. The settlement on the controversial draft-law takes place among the different parliamentary blocs, he said in a press conference. President Michel Suleiman left Baabda Palace on Sunday after the expiry of his six-year term and amid the failure of parliament to elect a new head of state over differences between the March 8 and 14 alliances on a consensual candidate. The vacuum at the presidential Palace prompted Christian MPs to boycott legislative sessions.
But the boycott of Tuesday's session angered civil servants. Mahmoud Haidar, the head of the association of state employees, told protesters near the Education Ministry in Beirut that the public sector and official exams will be “paralyzed” if MPs did not approve the pay raise. “What happened today is a boycott of people's rights,” said head of Public Secondary School Education Teachers Association Hanna Gharib at the protest held in the UNESCO area.“The interests of civil servants cannot be boycotted ...There is no state without civil servants,” Gharib, who heads the Syndicate Coordination Committee, told the protesters. Addressing MPs, he said: “You are mistaken. The SCC can't be besieged.”The SCC, a coalition of private and public school teachers and public sector employees, holds onto its stance, he said. “We won't back off from our demand for the 121 percent wage hike.”He was referring to the raise as initially approved by ex-PM Najib Miqati's government in 2012.
A ministerial-parliamentary committee has reduced the total funding from LL2.8 trillion ($1.9 billion) to LL1.8 trillion ($1.2 billion). However, Gharib said at the protest that the SCC will receive its rights "whether (officials) call our move a revolt or not.”He gave MPs until June 7 – the first day of official exams - to agree on the wage hike. But the postponement of the legislative session to discuss the wage scale to June 10 was a clear sign that the exams would not be held although Education Minister Elias Bou Saab said there were no changes in the dates. "The official exams will be held on time," he said in a press conference. Bou Saab urged parliament to adopt the pay raise by June 7, warning that failure to do so would leave the future of students in limbo.

Arrest Warrant for 40 Detainees over Roumieh Drug Trafficking
Naharnet /Military Examining Magistrate Judge Fadi Sawan issued on Tuesday an arrest warrant against 40 civilians and military personnel for involvement in drug trafficking at Roumieh prison, the state-run National News Agency reported. NNA said that Sawan accused in his indictment the 40 suspects, including two officers, of drug trafficking and abuse in Lebanon's largest prison. The judge referred the suspects, who are all in custody, to the permanent military court for trial, the news agency added. Earlier this month, two officers and 13 inmates were charged with smuggling drugs into the prison. Roumieh is the largest and most overcrowded of Lebanon's prisons. It has a capacity for 1,500 inmates, but over 4,000 are imprisoned there.

Meqdad Family Hands Over Third Suspect in Shuqair Murder
Naharnet /Al-Meqdad clan handed over on Tuesday a third member of the family involved in the murder of a man over the weekend in the Bekaa town of Nahle. According to Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) Hussein Kleem al-Meqdad was handed over to the army intelligence on charges of involvement in the murder of Mohammed Shuqair. The Internal Security Forces said in a communique issued on Monday that members of al-Meqdad family shot Shuqair in the head after intercepting his vehicle on Sunday afternoon. The statement said that H. and K. al-Meqdad's Mercedes vehicle intercepted Shuqair's Renault Clio car during a car chase then opened fire at him, wounding him in the head. It said that the third suspect was still at large. Al-Meqdad clan had deplored the incident in a statement.

Zasypkin: Saudi-Iran Dialogue Helpful but Solution to Presidential Deadlock is Lebanese
Naharnet /Russian Ambassador to Lebanon Alexander Zasypkin said that dialogue between Riyadh and Tehran helps the rival parties to agree on a new president but the solution to the political crisis should be made in Lebanon. In remarks to the Kuwaiti al-Anbaa daily published on Tuesday, Zasypkin said: “The Iranian-Saudi dialogue is a helping factor but the solution (should be) Lebanese.”“This solution should mature so that there is consensus on the name of the new president,” he added. Russia does not back any candidate for Lebanon's top Christian post, the diplomat told the newspaper. But Moscow will not spare any effort to push the Lebanese rivals to elect a new head of state, he said. The International Support Group for Lebanon, which includes the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, including Russia, urged on Monday “Lebanon’s leaders to engage intensively to ensure the election of a new president without delay.” “We underline again that there is no international impediment to this: on the contrary, while the process must remain a purely Lebanese one, Lebanon’s friends within the international community stand ready to offer Lebanon every possible encouragement and support at this time,” said U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly on behalf of the Group.

Sources: Berri Mulling to Chair Dialogue Sessions to Resolve Political Crisis
Naharnet/Speaker Nabih Berri is mulling to call for a national dialogue session to find ways to resolve the political crisis resulting from the vacuum at Baabda Palace, parliamentary sources said.
The sources told pan-Arab daily al-Hayat published on Tuesday that “the complicated political situation that is accompanying the presidential vacuum, led Speaker Nabih Berri to study the possibility to invite for a national dialogue.” The all-party talks, which ex-President Michel Suleiman was chairing, aims at finding a solution to the crisis, they said. Suleiman chaired on May 5 a largely-boycotted national dialogue session, which called for continued talks on the country's defense strategy and stressed the importance of the implementation of the Taef accord. The meeting was the last before his term expired on last Sunday. As Safir daily said earlier this month that Berri could take over the initiative to chair the national dialogue sessions if there was a presidential vacuum over the failure of lawmakers to elect a new head of state. The all-party talks were first launched by Berri in March 2006.

FPM Holds Closed Doors Meetings to Tackle Presidential Impasse
Naharnet/The Free Patriotic Movement is holding behind closed doors meetings to discuss the presidential deadlock and the party's options. According to the Kuwaiti newspaper al-Anbaa on Tuesday, the FPM so far held a series of meetings away from media spotlight in this regard. Sources told the daily that FPM leader MP Michel Aoun insists on his stances and rejects any settlement concerning the presidential elections. On Monday, Aoun slammed the presidential vacuum, saying it damages the legitimacy of other state authorities. The Change and Reform bloc, which is led by Aoun, also announced after its weekly meeting that all legislation amid the presidential vacuum is “illegitimate.”"Our priority remains electing a new president and reaching consensus over an electoral law.”Lebanon has been plunged into a leadership vacuum after Michel Suleiman's presidential term ended on Sunday with rival political blocs still divided over a new leader. Over the past two months the parliament convened five times to try to elect a successor to Suleiman but failed during the last four sessions due to a lack of quorum. The political paralysis is mainly due to a deep rift between two rival camps over the conflict in Syria, the powerful neighbor that dominated Beirut for almost 30 years until 2005.

Mashnouq Slams Resistance, Says Arms to be Removed of Political Equation
Naharnet /Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq lashed out at the resistance on Tuesday, saying that the arms of Hizbullah should be removed from the country's political equation.
“I believe that we surpassed the period of the resistance. It became a regional power that even the Lebanese don't have the decision whether to use it or not,” Mashnouq said in an interview with the Saudi al-Watan newspaper. He pointed out that the dispute over the arms of the resistance requires a “wide political consensus, which isn't available yet.”“It's important that we differentiate between the strategic and regional power... which will be the core of any upcoming dialogue,” the minister told his interviewer. Mashnouq explained that the strategic arsenal should be used to confront Israel while the regional arsenal is linked to Iran. Asked if the security plans implemented in the northern city of Tripoli and the Bekaa Valley could be enforced in other regions, the official ruled out such a move.“Arms are spreading in some areas in Lebanon, in particular the south, but other than that security is slowly returning to the country.”He pointed out that “security will be implemented also in Beirut's southern suburbs according to agreements (with different factions) and not through a simple plan.” “There are guarantees that the arms (of Hizbullah) will not be used against any Lebanese.”In April, a security plan was implemented in Tripoli in an attempt to put an end to the clashes that frequently erupt between the city's rival neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen. It was then implemented in the Bekaa region, with the security forces cracking down on gunmen, car theft gangs, and other outlaws. On the conflict in the neighboring country Syria, Mashnouq said that “only one group participated in the ongoing conflict.”
“It's a losing battle.”The March 14 official said that the cabinet is seeking to unify its endeavors regarding the threats imposed by the high surge in Syrian refugee numbers. He said when asked if Hizbullah could be sued over its crimes in Syria that “the Lebanese government isn't the side concerned with such an act.”Hizbullah's involvement in Syria's spiraling conflict has been condemned by the Syrian opposition, which views it as a "declaration of war," and by Lebanese opponents of the Shiite movement, who fear Lebanon may be dragged into Syria's conflict. On the Saudi detainees in Lebanon, Mashnouq considered that “the ties with Saudi Arabia are very important.”“In few months the cases of Saudis arrested in Lebanon will be resolved.”However, he noted that “the cases of those who were detained on accusations linked to Fatah al-Islam were dissociated as they will face trial on charges of terror and murder.”Concerning a decision by Saudi authorities to lift a travel ban to Lebanon after the security situation improved in the country, Mashnouq hailed the decision. “All that Saudis are asking for is security and peace in Lebanon,” he remarked. The minister said that “no one will assault any Saudi national, intentionally at least.” “I will personally guarantee the political and security situation in the country,” he added. Several Gulf states, including Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have repeatedly issued travel advisories, warning their citizens against visiting Lebanon due to the security chaos.

Syrian National Seriously Wounded by Landmine along Northern Border
Naharnet/A Syrian national was wounded on Tuesday in a landmine while he was trying to enter Lebanese territories through an illegal border crossing in the town of Debabiyeh in north Lebanon. According to the state-run National News Agency, Syrian Abdullah Kh. A. was seriously injured in the landmine explosion and one of his legs was amputated. He was swiftly admitted to Halba public hospital for treatment. The NNA said that he was in a critical condition. Since the eruption of the uprising in Syria in March 2011, security forces and the army have arrested a number of gunmen and individuals who sought to enter Lebanon illegally. The Syrian army had laced the Lebanese-Syrian border with landmines in attempt to curb what it called arms smuggling and the entry of defectors into Lebanon. Lebanon and Syria share a 330-kilometer border but have yet to agree on official demarcation.

Wanted Hizbullah Commander Killed in Syria
Naharnet/A senior Hizbullah commander branded by the FBI as one of the world's most wanted terrorists was killed fighting in Syria, residents of his village in southern Lebanon told Agence France Presse Tuesday. Hizbullah has deployed thousands of fighters into neighboring Syria to back President Bashar Assad's army as he battles insurgents who have been trying to overthrow him for the past three years. "Fawzi Ayoub was killed fighting in Syria. His funeral was held in (his home village of) Ain Qana yesterday (Monday). Many people came to the funeral, to give their condolences to his family," a resident of the village said on condition of anonymity. According to another resident of Ain Qana, some 50 kilometers (30 miles) southeast of Beirut, "Ayoub was a leading Hizbullah commander in the Aleppo area" in northern Syria. The FBI's website says Ayoub was indicted in the United States in 2009 for "willfully and knowingly" trying to enter Israel, Hizbullah's arch-enemy, with a fake U.S. passport "for the purpose of conducting a bombing." Ayoub, who had lived in Canada, was arrested in Israel in 2000. He was released three years later in a prisoner swap with Hizbullah. Source/Agence France Presse

Chemical Weapons Watchdog Team in Syria Not Kidnapped and 'Safe'
Naharnet/A Syrian rebel commander said a team from the world's chemical weapons watchdog investigating an alleged chlorine attack against rebel-held Kafr Zita managed to visit the town Tuesday, hours after coming under attack. Inspectors overseeing the dismantling of Syria's weapons program had been forced to return to their base after their convoy was attacked, but all were safe, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said. "All team members are safe and well and heading back to their operating base," said Michael Luhan, spokesman for the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The Syrian foreign ministry reported earlier that six investigators had been kidnapped with their Syrian drivers while on a fact-finding mission in the central province of Hama. The team had been investigating allegations that Syrian government forces unleashed a chlorine attack on a rebel-held village in Hama province last month. If confirmed, the attack would be in breach of Syria's commitments under the Chemical Weapons Convention. The foreign ministry accused rebels of kidnapping the team, while opposition activists said the regime planted an explosive device under one of the vehicles to try to stop investigators from investigating the alleged use of chlorine. OPCW director Ahmed Uzumcu urged all parties in the Syrian conflict to cooperate and ensure the weapons inspectors could do their job under difficult conditions. "Our inspectors are in Syria to establish the facts in relation to persistent allegations of chlorine gas attacks," he said. "Their safety is our primary concern, and it is imperative that all parties to the conflict grant them safe and secure access," Uzumcu said. Then, on Tuesday afternoon, the OPCW team "arrived in Kafr Zita in the company of the Syrian Saiqa force, which is part of the (rebel) Free Syrian Army," said Colonel Mohammad al-Ali, general commander of the faction. Amateur video distributed by activists showed two white U.N. vehicles parked in what appeared to be Kafr Zita, and opposition fighters meeting with a member of the delegation. The visit to Kafr Zita was aimed at investigating allegations that Syrian government forces unleashed a chlorine attack on the town last month. If confirmed, the attack would be in breach of Syria's commitments under the Chemical Weapons Convention. The Syrian government signed the convention last year as part of a Russian- and U.S.-brokered deal under which it pledged to destroy all of its chemical arsenal. Syria was not required to declare its stockpile of chlorine -- a toxic but weak agent -- as it is widely used for commercial and domestic purposes. But its use for military purposes would still be a breach of Damascus's undertakings under the convention. Activists and doctors have also alleged the use of chlorine gas as a weapon targeting rebel-held areas in Idlib province, in northwestern Syria.Source/Agence France Presse

OSCE Says Lost Contact with Observers in Ukraine's Donetsk as Putin Calls for 'Immediate End' to Violence
Naharnet /A team of international monitors with the OSCE was detained at a checkpoint in restive eastern Ukraine on a day of deadly fighting between government forces and pro-Russian gunmen, officials said Tuesday. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said it had lost contact with the four-member team as they were on patrol in the main rebel-held city of Donetsk on Monday.
Their disappearance comes more than a month after another OSCE team of military observers was captured by pro-Moscow rebels in eastern Ukraine and held in the flashpoint city of Slavyansk for over a week. "The team was on a routine patrol east of Donetsk when contact was lost (on Monday evening)," the Vienna-based OSCE said in a statement about the latest incident. "We have been unable to re-establish communication until now," it said, adding that it was in contact with the government as well as regional authorities to try to locate the team. It said the four were international members of its Special Monitoring Mission -- a Dane, an Estonian, a Swiss and a Turk. Fierce fighting erupted in Donetsk on Monday when Ukrainian government forces launched air strikes against pro-Russian separatist gunmen who seized the airport in the eastern industrial city. The local mayor said Tuesday that 40 people had been killed in the gunbattles, including two civilians and the rest combatants. Earlier on Tuesday, Russia called for an "immediate end" to violence in eastern Ukraine. Maintaining Moscow's tough tone after the weekend election of Ukraine's new president Petro Poroshenko, President Vladimir Putin again accused Kiev of carrying out "punitive" operations in eastern regions. In a call with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, Putin "underlined the need for an immediate end to the military's punitive operation in southeastern regions and the establishment of peaceful dialogue between Kiev and regional representatives," the Kremlin said in a statement.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also called for an end to the fighting, accusing Kiev of using the military against civilians. "The number one task for the Kiev authorities and the test of their durability... is bringing an immediate end to the use of the army against the public and an end to any violence by all sides," Lavrov said in Moscow at a news conference with Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu.
Lavrov said there were no immediate plans for Ukraine's new leader to travel to Moscow for talks on the long-running crisis.
"The question of a visit to Russia by Poroshenko is not being considered and is not being discussed through diplomatic or any other channels," Lavrov said. But he repeated promises that Moscow was ready to work with Poroshenko. "We hope that he will act in the interests of all the Ukrainian people. If that is the case he will find us a serious and reliable partner," Lavrov said.
"We have an interest in resolving the crisis in Ukraine and working with all of those who want the same thing."Lavrov mocked those calling for new sanctions on Russia, saying: "It's funny, people are busy trying to find some reason to put pressure on us, it's laughable."He suggested the United States and European Union, who together have imposed sanctions on dozens of Russian officials, were looking for an excuse to punish Moscow even before the Ukraine crisis. "As for the West's sanctions against Russia, if it had not been Ukraine, it would have been something else," he said. He said that prior to the crisis the West already "had many problems with Russia, on the Syrian question, on Iran's nuclear program, in connection with (fugitive U.S. intelligence leaker Edward) Snowden. And they were not at all happy that we were organizing the Olympics." Meanwhile, a U.S. defense official said Tuesday that Russia has withdrawn "several thousand" military personnel from the Ukrainian border in the past few days but tens of thousands of soldiers remain deployed in the region, . The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Russian troops "continue their repositioning and to move off the border."
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who ordered the deployment of close to 40,000 troops on the Russia-Ukraine border in March, according to NATO, said on May 19 the soldiers had been recalled to their garrisons. Estimating the Russian drawdown in the "thousands," the U.S. official added that "tens of thousands remained massed on the border. "There are still enough forces there to create all sorts of destabilization," the official said. Ukraine's army said Tuesday it had regained control of the airport serving Donetsk in eastern Ukraine after fierce fighting with pro-Russian militants. Putin, accused of supporting the separatists, demanded that Ukrainian authorities immediately halt operations against the militants. Source/Agence France Presse

Syrian Ambassador Says World Fears Vote
Naharnet /Syria's ambassador to Lebanon said Monday the upcoming Syrian presidential election will be the resounding answer to all those who doubt that his government will prevail in its current conflict.
Sitting in his office at the hilltop Syrian Embassy just outside the Lebanese capital, Ali Abdul Karim Ali said he expects a huge turnout for the vote scheduled to be held abroad on Wednesday and in Syria on June 3.He said the world criticizes and opposes the Syrian election because it fears the results. "The Syrian people will say their word in these elections, and their word is the one that counts. Not Obama's word, Cameron's or Hollande's," Ali said, referring to the American, British and French leaders who have described Syria's insistence to hold the vote amid a raging civil war as a mockery.
President Bashar Assad is all but guaranteed a victory as opposition groups are boycotting the vote and balloting will only be held in government-controlled areas of the fragmented country, where rebels hold vast territory and where entire blocks have been destroyed and emptied of their original inhabitants because of the fighting. More than 160,000 people have been killed and millions of others displaced from their homes since the uprising against Assad erupted in March 2011, then morphed into a civil war. Lebanon is hosting more than a million refugees. Hundreds of thousands of others are scattered across Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and beyond. Ali said Syrian refugees in Lebanon, as in other countries, will be able to vote at the embassy Wednesday. On Monday, the embassy was packed with Syrians registering to cast their ballot. "Western countries are trying to portray the election as a mockery but even public opinion in Europe no longer buys it," Ali said. The ambassador, Syria's strongman in Lebanon who hails from the same minority Alawite sect as the Syrian president, has good reason to be confident. The Syrian military has successfully advanced against rebels around the capital Damascus and in the country's central region and has pushed ahead with a crushing offensive in Syria's largest city, Aleppo. Western support for the rebels fighting to topple Assad has diminished as Islamic militants have gained more power and influence among their ranks. Ali spoke Monday as he watched television scenes of Egyptians voting in elections that retired field Marshall Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is expected to win easily. "Our friend al-Sisi," quipped Ali about the man who last summer ousted Egypt's Islamist president Mohammed Morsi. Ali said the world will eventually thank Syria for blocking the advance in the region of "terrorists" and Islamists, including the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. "Syria will earn the respect of even those who were cursing it because it prevented the victory of this terrorist axis which has become a threat to the entire world and not just Syria," he said. Source/Associated Press.

Obama about-turns on Syria: US military training and weapons for moderate Syrian rebels
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report May 27, 2014/Arab watchers around the Middle East are waiting agog for US President Barack Obama’s address at the US Military Academy at West Point Wednesday, May 28, as forecasts abound that he will unveil a major policy U-turn on the Syrian conflict. debkafile’s military sources report that the new policy is in fact in motion ahead of the presidential disclosure. It is a program to expand US involvement in the war against the Assad regime and al Qaeda elements by providing moderate rebels with military training and a regular supply of sophisticated weapons, instead of the widely-spaced dribs and drabs hitherto. It may even include anti-air systems which Washington has withheld so far. The Arab world sees Obama as moving to counteract Russian, Iranian and Hizballah intervention in the Syrian conflict. It is seen in some quarters as also payback for Russia’s annexation of Crimea. At all events, a Saudi source commented in Riyadh: “For the first time in years, president Obama is ready to take direct action against Iran’s strategic interests in the Middle East.” The West Point speech will also be watched carefully in Moscow, where expanded US input in support of the rebels is seen as a direct assault on the Russian position in Syria. debkafile’s sources report that Moscow is preparing to beef up and upgrade its arms consignments to Syria so as to arm Assad for contending with the advanced American hardware incoming to the rebels. Obama will unveil his plan for Syria the day after announcing his decision to leave 9,800 in Afghanistan - after the US combat mission is over at the end of 2014 - to train Afghan forces and support counter-terrorism operations. That decision is contingent on the next Afghan president signing a bilateral security agreement, which the incumbent Hamid Karzai refused to do. Washington appears confident that both of the candidates facing the June 14 run-off will agree to approve the accord.
The latest DEBKA Weekly 636 of May 23 disclosed President Obama’s revised approach to US military intervention in Syria, offering details of his plan. The US military training camps are already up and running, we reported. The rebel trainees arrive through Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Turkey, take the US courses and then cross into Syria.The US army has furthermore laid out the secret routes for sending the new weapons supplies to the fighters in Syria. By this policy reassessment, the Obama administration aims to achieve the following strategic objectives:
1. Creating a distance between the Israeli and Jordanian borders and the threats posed to those countries by the Syrian Army and its allies, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, the Lebanese Hizballah and Iraqi Shiite militias.
2. Keeping those hostile forces at bay additionally from US military facilities in Jordan and Israel.
3. Establishing a US military intelligence foothold on the Damascus periphery to challenge Russian and Iranian exclusivity as the only major powers with operational access to the Syrian capital.
4. US military intelligence agents on the spot would seek to establish ties with high-ranking Syrian general command officers and the field commanders of units deployed in and around Damascus.
5. Creating a barrier to stave off Al Qaeda encroachments on Damascus or the Syrian-Jordanian and Syrian-Israeli borders and so preventing the jihadis from gaining jumping-off positions for attacks inside those countries.