LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
April 04/2012

Bible Quotation for today//Human Guilt
Saint Paul's Letter to the Romans 01/18-32/ "God's anger is revealed from heaven against all the sin and evil of the people whose evil ways prevent the truth from being known. God punishes them, because what can be known about God is plain to them, for God himself made it plain. Ever since God created the world, his invisible qualities, both his eternal power and his divine nature, have been clearly seen; they are perceived in the things that God has made. So those people have no excuse at all! They know God, but they do not give him the honor that belongs to him, nor do they thank him. Instead, their thoughts have become complete nonsense, and their empty minds are filled with darkness. They say they are wise, but they are fools; instead of worshiping the immortal God, they worship images made to look like mortals or birds or animals or reptiles. And so God has given those people over to do the filthy things their hearts desire, and they do shameful things with each other. They exchange the truth about God for a lie; they worship and serve what God has created instead of the Creator himself, who is to be praised forever! Amen. Because they do this, God has given them over to shameful passions. Even the women pervert the natural use of their sex by unnatural acts.27 In the same way the men give up natural sexual relations with women and burn with passion for each other. Men do shameful things with each other, and as a result they bring upon themselves the punishment they deserve for their wrongdoing. Because those people refuse to keep in mind the true knowledge about God, he has given them over to corrupted minds, so that they do the things that they should not do. They are filled with all kinds of wickedness, evil, greed, and vice; they are full of jealousy, murder, fighting, deceit, and malice. They gossip30 and speak evil of one another; they are hateful to God, insolent, proud, and boastful; they think of more ways to do evil; they disobey their parents; they have no conscience; they do not keep their promises, and they show no kindness or pity for others. They know that God's law says that people who live in this way deserve death. Yet, not only do they continue to do these very things, but they even approve of others who do them.

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
Impose sanctions on al-Maliki/By Tariq Alhomayed/Asharq Al-Awsat/April 03/12

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for April 03/12
Russian warships launch drill from Tartus versus US-Israeli-Greek naval exercise
Netanyahu: Sanctions failing to convince Iran to back down from nuclear program
Clinton: Unilateral Israeli strike on Iran is in no one's interest
Netanyahu: We will strike those who threaten to attack Israel
Bashar's Iron Fist Goes Airborne and Thermobaric (videos)
Russia, Iran set to counter US/Israeli strike against Iran. US-led naval drill
U.S. Wants 'Urgent' U.N. Action if Syria Doesn't Heed April 10 Deadline
Syrian security foils infiltration by "armed terrorists" from Lebanon: SANA
'Syria vows to withdraw all military troops from towns by April 10'
Syria accepts April 10 peace deadline: Annan
Palestinian officer, Red Crescent employees suspected in attack against IDF troops
Barak Ravid / Former White House reporter Helen Thomas honored by Abbas
STL head urges Lebanon to hand over suspects: sources
Jumblatt says Hezbollah will eventually join 'Syrian resistance
Sleiman urges Cabinet to speed up its work
Fayez Karam released, says detention political
Lebanese Cabinet Approves Installation of High-Voltage Lines in Metn
Aoun: Miqati is Responsible for Any Delay in Electricity File
3 Lebanese soldiers wounded during gunbattle in Baalbek
Rallies for Lebanese nationality, professors' benefits
Jal el-Dib Residents Make their Voices Heard during Rush Hour Sit-in
Mustaqbal Deems Bassil’s Remarks on Negotiations on Leasing Power-Generating Ships as a Scandal
Sidon synagogue opens for rare prayers
European Parliament Members Urge Lebanon to Boost Aid to Syrian Refugees
Lebanon's Arabic press digest - April 3, 2012 The Daily Star
U.N. Experts Urge Probe of Ethiopian Maid Suicide in Lebanon
Jumblat Meets Akkar Delegation, Condemns Some Attempts to Link Terrorism to North
Egypt Brotherhood defends Shater nomination

Russian warships launch drill from Tartus versus US-Israeli-Greek naval exercise
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report April 3, 2012// Not 24 hours after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned that a pre-emptive strike (by the US and/or Israel) would violate international law, Moscow put muscle into his warning: Tuesday, April 3, the Russian guided missile destroyer Smetliviy arrived in the Syrian port of Tartus from its Black Sea base for a naval exercise. The warship’s support group is on the way. debkafile’s military sources report that the Russian flotilla carried a threefold message for Washington:
1. The Russian-Iranian strategy of propping up the Assad regime which has brought the Syrian ruler close to victory over his foes, will continue: Diplomacy will be propelled by military impetus.
2. Russia is providing the Assad regime with defense systems capable of repelling foreign military intervention.
3. Consigning the Smetliviy warship to Syria illustrates Moscow’s new rapid response policy: Russia is launching a naval exercise in the eastern Mediterranean to match the “Noble Dina” air and naval maneuver the US, Israel and Greece are conducting across a broad expanse of sea between Crete and the Israeli bases at Haifa and Ashdod.
Israeli warships and air force jets may therefore find themselves not just operating alongside US naval and aircraft but confronted suddenly by one of the largest destroyers in the Russian fleet (NATO-coded ASW-submarine warfare), whose decks are the launching base for anti-air, anti-ship and anti-submarine missiles.
The Smetliviy’s support group, believed to be a supply vessel and a submarine, passed through the Bosporus Saturday, March 31 on their way to Tartus.
Monday, April 2, debkafile reported: Russia and Iran set to counter US/Israeli strike against Iran. US-led Mediterranean naval drill

3 Lebanese soldiers wounded during gunbattle in Baalbek
April 03, 2012/April 03, 2012/The Daily Star
BEIRUT/BEKAA, Lebanon: Three Lebanese Army soldiers were wounded during a shootout early Tuesday in Baalbek, east Lebanon, after which the gunmen who fired on them took shelter in a resident's house.
Security sources told The Daily Star that machine gun fire and rocket-propelled grenades shattered the dawn's silence in Baalbek's Sharawneh neighborhood.
They said that an army detachment on the hunt for one of Baalbek's most wanted men, Hasan Abbas Jaafar, came under attack. Three soldiers – Ahmad Ali al-Ghoul, Wael Sobhi Milhem and Khaled Hasan Ismail – were wounded by an RPG in the ensuing battle. They were taken to Dar al-Amal hospital near Baalbek for treatment, with Ghoul reportedly in critical condition after a serious injury to his mouth.
Milhem was said to be in stable condition after suffering a shoulder injury. Ismail, who was lightly wounded, has been discharged from hospital.
Abbas is wanted by Lebanese authorities on dozens of warrants, including for attempted murder of Lebanese Army soldiers, theft and drug trafficking.
During military raids in Sharawneh that continued after daybreak, Lebanese troops arrested another wanted man, identified as Abbas Jaafar.
Jaafar is wanted on more than 30 warrants, including several for robbery and attacks on Lebanese security forces.
During the operation, the Lebanese Army blared announcements through loudspeakers mounted atop their vehicles calling on residents of Sharawneh to vacate the streets.
The Lebanese Army said in a communiqué later Tuesday that during the operation to arrest wanted men in Sharawneh, a military unit "came under heavy gunfire from gunmen, some of whom took shelter inside the house of a female lawyer." The statement accused the lawyer – identified only by her initials as L.J. – of trying to prevent soldiers from making any arrests and "urging the gunmen to confront the [military] patrol." The Army confirmed that three soldiers had been wounded, one seriously, in the exchange of gunfire, and that a fugitive had been arrested.
The statement said weapons used in the attack on the army patrol had also been confiscated.

Fayez Karam released, says detention political
 April 03, 2012/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Fayez Karam, the former Lebanese Army officer and politician convicted of passing information to Israel, said after his release from prison Tuesday that his detention was political.
"My detention and release were political par excellence," Karam, a close aide to Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun, told reporters following his release from the military police headquarters in suburban Baabda. Immediately after his release around 1:15 p.m., Karam headed to Rabieh to meet Aoun, after which he made his way to his residence in Kaslik, north of Beirut.
Karam's lawyer, Rashad Salameh, said the retired brigadier general was released after having completed his two-year prison term. Salameh explained that Karam’s release was in line with Parliament’s recent decision to reduce the prison year from 12 to nine months. "Karam benefits from the new law," Salameh told The Daily Star. Military prosecutor Saqr Saqr has circulated a notice to prisons across Lebanon instructing them to be sure to abide by the new law.
In September, Karam, 62, was found guilty of contacting Israeli intelligence and providing them with information on Hezbollah and its ally the FPM, of which the retired brigadier general is a member. The verdict did not find Karam guilty of spying for Israel. Karam’s release drew swift reaction from the Future Movement.
“Will the fighter, Brig. Gen. Fayez Karam, celebrate the liberation of south Lebanon on May 25, 2012?” Future Movement Secretary General Ahmad Hariri asked sarcastically.
“Fayez Karam should become minister of labor and collaboration,” Hariri mocked on his twitter account. Karam was the first political figure to be detained in Lebanon as part of a wide-ranging investigation launched in 2009 into Israeli spy networks. He had headed the Lebanese Army's anti-terrorism and counter-espionage unit during the 1980s and was close to Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun, who was army commander toward the end of the 1975-1990 Civil War. Aoun, who declared a “war of liberation” against the Syrian army in Lebanon in 1989, entered into a controversial alliance with Hezbollah in 2006, a year after his return to Lebanon from exile in France.
More than 100 people have been arrested on suspicion of spying for Israel since April 2009, including members of the Lebanese Army and the Internal Security Forces as well as telecom employees.

Sidon synagogue opens for rare prayers
April 03, 2012/By Mohammed Zaatari The Daily Star
SIDON, Lebanon: Prayers were said for the first time in decades in Sidon’s main synagogue Monday, as two rabbis visited what is now the house of Palestinian refugees and other Jewish sites in the city, drawing the surprise of locals. Rabbis Yisroel Dovid Weiss and Alter Vaskhkal from the anti-Zionist Neturei Karta International movement toured the city years after the last of Sidon’s known Lebanese Jews left, entering what was once a synagogue in the former Jewish neighborhood of the old city. Neturei Karta International calls for the peaceful dismantling of Israel.
A Palestinian family displaced during the June 1967 war – when Israel captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Gaza Strip, Syria’s Golan Heights and the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt – now lives in the synagogue. Taking off their shoes on the request of the current residents, Weiss and Vakshal, pro-Palestinian ultra-Orthodox Jews, performed prayers in the house.
The rabbis said they hoped the Palestinian family would soon return home, and that they are pained by the crimes and sufferings inflicted by the Zionist movement and Israel on Palestinians in and outside Palestine. Residents of the former Jewish neighborhood stood in its alleys as the rabbis walked by, observing them with surprise and calling out greetings. Weiss and Vakshal seemed comfortable, acting playfully with local children. Weiss stressed that Palestine should return to the Palestinians and that the Zionist occupation should end, calling Palestine the cradle of all civilizations as well as Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Speaking to reporters after meeting with former Sidon MP Ossama Saad, head of the Popular Nasserite Organization, Weiss said the Zionist movement had made irrelevant Palestine’s standing as the cradle of religions and civilizations, adding that it is a movement which directly fights God. Many Jews once lived in Sidon, especially in the former Jewish neighborhood. Their property is still registered in their names or in that of the Jewish community in Lebanon. A small number of Jews left the city fearing persecution after the foundation of Israel in 1948, which forced the displacement of hundreds of thousands Palestinians. Significant numbers of Jews began to leave Sidon after the Civil War began in 1975. Following the 1982 Israeli invasion of Sidon, some former Jewish residents who had fled the city returned. Accompanied by Israeli officers, they examined the Jewish cemetery, the synagogue, and the place where Zebulun, the head of one of the 12 biblical tribes of ancient Israel, is traditionally believed to be buried.During the 1982-1985 Israeli occupation of the city, returning Jews began to renovate the Jewish cemetery and Zebulun’s grave, which was hit by Israeli jets at the outset of the invasion. But Jewish sites were neglected once again after the Israeli army pulled out of Sidon in 1985.
Weiss stressed that there is no essential difference between Islam and Judaism, saying that people from the two religions lived together peacefully before the advent of the Zionist movement and the creation of Israel. He explained that Israeli acts of violence have harmed the Jews and prompted hostility toward them. Weiss and Vakshal visited the Zebulun site and the abandoned Jewish cemetery in the southern Dikirman neighborhood, carefully examining the names of co-religionists buried in the graveyard. Last week, the two rabbis participated in a march to Beaufort Castle in Nabatieh to mark Land Day, which commemorates a violent 1976 crackdown by Israeli troops on Palestinians protesting land confiscations.

Lebanon's Arabic press digest - April 3, 2012 The Daily Star
Following are summaries of some of the main stories in a selection of Lebanese newspapers Tuesday. The Daily Star cannot vouch for the accuracy of these reports.
Al-Mustaqbal
STL head informs officials in Beirut: Trials begin at end of year
Electricity-generating barges continue to shake government
The issue of leasing electricity-generating barges has returned to the forefront amid Energy Minister Gebran Bassil’s escalatory tone, which reveals the depth of the government crisis.
In parallel, the issue of a new election law was also brought up again in light of an announcement made by the Progressive Socialist Party that proportional representation aims at absenting MP Walid Jumblatt from the political scene.
However, President of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Judge David Baragwanath's visit to Beirut came to shed light on multiple aspects of the court’s work and to inform Lebanese officials that in-absentia trials will kickoff at the end of the year.
As-Safir
Mansour: Brazil ready to explore economic zone
Why is Israel seeking a maritime settlement with Lebanon?
Lebanese sources, speaking to As-Safir, revealed that Lebanon has been informed by Cyprus of Israel’s desire to find a settlement to the maritime border between the two sides.
Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour, also speaking to As-Safir, quoted Brazil's Special Envoy to the Middle East Cesario Melantonio Neto – who visited Lebanon during a tour that included Iran and Syria – as expressing his country’s readiness to provide assistance in the exploration of oil and gas in the exclusive economic zone.
An-Nahar
Government seeks decision on Mansourieh high-voltage lines
Signs of objections as election law returns to debate
The government once again faces a problem associated with the electricity crisis -- [the plan for] high-voltage electricity lines in Mansourieh, [which] faces growing opposition from local residents backed by political parties.The issue has been added to the agenda for a Cabinet meeting to be held at the Grand Serail Tuesday.
On the political level, objections to the adoption of a system of proportional representation and its timing and circumstances emerged Monday after the election law was brought up anew.
Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri met in Paris Monday with March 14 MP Marwan Hamadeh. The two men discussed the situation in Lebanon and the ongoing consultations between members of the March 14 coalition over the alliance’s structure.
Al-Akhbar
Positive meeting of barges' committee as administrative oil committee nearly finalized
Despite mounting tensions between the prime minister and the energy minister, a positive atmosphere prevailed over a meeting Monday of the barges’ committee.
This atmosphere is expected to remain during a Cabinet session Tuesday in which appointments to public posts will be discussed in parallel with finalizing the creation of an administrative body to oversee the petroleum sector.

Cabinet Approves Installation of High-Voltage Lines in Metn
Naharnet 03 April 2012/ Cabinet approved on Tuesday a bill on the installation of high-voltage electricity lines in the North Metn towns of Mansourieh and Ain Saadeh, reported LBC television.
It added that cabinet also approved the formation of a committee that would oversee the implementation of the decision.
An agreement was also reached to provide compensation to those affected by the installation of the power lines, reported MTV.
Prime Minister Najib Miqati called on the ministers at the beginning of the session to prepare all the files that the MPs will address during a parliamentary session to assess the cabinet’s performance on 17-19 April.“These session would be an opportunity (for the cabinet) to shed the light on the accomplishments carried out by the government,” Miqati told the ministers.
According to the National News Agency, Minister of State Salim Karam, Labor Minister Salim Jreissati, Sports and Youth Minister Faisal Karami, and Economy Minister Nicolas Nahhas didn’t attend the session.Media reports had predicted that the cabinet would agree on the installation of the high-voltage electricity lines, saying that it will likely adopt tough measures in its implementation, including providing a cover by the security forces to install the lines despite the rejection of the residents.
An Nahar newspaper reported that the ministries of finance, energy, and interior along with the Council of Development and Reconstruction will discuss the project to install 220 kilovolts.
The ministries, according to al-Liwaa newspaper, are waiting for the green light from the cabinet before launching the project.
An Nahar daily said the state will buy the property of the residents whose homes lie under the high-voltage electricity lines.
The Ministry of Energy demanded that the authorities swiftly install the power lines and use force to implement the decision assisted by the internal security forces, arguing that the electricity lines have no health risks on the residents.The Council of Development and Reconstruction revealed that ELEJECT Company, which won the tender, needs a 48-hours notification before kicking off the work.
The controversial plan seeks to connect a power plant in Mkalles to another in Bsalim to supply more power to the region.
However, the residents of the area argue that the project is dangerous on public health and call for the installation of the lines underground.
Sources told al-Liwaa newspaper that the government will also tackle the hospital tariffs, without discussing the appointment of top civil servants in administrative posts in state institutions.
According to the sources, the appointments will be on the agenda of the next cabinet session at the Baabda Palace.
The next cabinet session will take place on April 20 at the Grand Serail.

Aoun: Miqati is Responsible for Any Delay in Electricity File
Naharnet / 03 April 2012,
Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun stated on Tuesday that a final agreement with companies on leasing power-generating vessels has not been reached yet.He said after the Change and Reform bloc’s weekly meeting: “Prime Minister Najib Miqati is responsible for any delay in the electricity file.”“A single delay will take place at the expense of pumping electricity into the Lebanese power grid,” he added.The government had recently approved a proposal to lease power-generating ships, but negotiations are still ongoing with two companies that would provide them.
Addressing discussions on the parliamentary electoral law, Aoun remarked: “We don’t want to limit the representation of any side, however if that side’s political weight is small, we don’t want it to be taking a greater parliamentary share than it deserves.”He made his statement in an indirect reference to Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat.Transportation and Public Works Minister Ghazi Aridi had noted on Monday that adopting proportional representation in the electoral law would “target” Jumblat in order to limit his representation.Furthermore, Aoun voiced his support for proportional representation, hoping that the government would make proposals on the electoral law. Commenting on retired Brigadier General Fayez Karam’s release from prison, the MP said: “He was imprisoned, released, paid us a visit, and then left to Zgharta.” On Environment Minister Nazem al-Khoury’s refusal to approve the leasing of power-generating ships until a study is conducted on the pollution they may cause, Aoun said: “Water in Lebanon has been transformed into sewage, what has the minister done about that?”“Let them pay closer attention to what they have done to the environment and not to a ship that will be granting people electricity,” he stressed.

Bashar's Iron Fist Goes Airborne and Thermobaric
by Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi and Oskar Svadkovsky
The American Spectator/April 2, 2012
http://www.meforum.org/3203/syria-thermobaric-bombs
Huge balls of fire and mushrooms of smoke seen on the latest videos from Homs indicate that the Syrian army is using more powerful weapons in its assault on the remaining rebel strongholds in the city. This is what the daily shelling of Homs used to look like when the Baba Amro district was still under rebel control:
February 8, 2012
Explosions seen on the latest videos look rather different:
March 24, 2012
There is an oil pipeline passing through Homs that can produce similar effects when hit with shells. However, it seems unlikely that so many shells would repeatedly hit the pipeline or that the refinery is still operating.
One YouTube video identifies these as napalm bombs. Well, the balls of fire are certainly not entirely unlike videos of napalm bombing that can be found on YouTube. However, napalm is normally delivered with bombs and these are probably thermobaric or fuel-air bombs of the kind the Russians used in Chechnya. Given the regime's connections to Russia, it comes rather natural that Mr. Putin would share with Bashar Assad his rich experience in waging counter-insurgency in the Caucuses.
March 24, 2012
To the best of our knowledge, the first video starring a fireball in Homs hit YouTube on February 14. By now they have become a regular feature in opposition videos.
February 14, 2012
Though the Syrians usually call them rockets, they actually appear to be shells. At least in the next video some kind of a howitzer exit clearly precedes the shriek and the explosion.
March 29, 2012
Anyway, whatever the source of these fireballs is, the rebel strongholds in Homs and elsewhere now seem to be subjected to attacks with even more powerful types of weapons. And now for the first time here comes a video with a very clear view of a military helicopter firing a missile, though it's not obvious what the target was. No-fly zone, anybody?
March 25, 2012
Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi is a student at Brasenose College, Oxford University, and an adjunct fellow at the Middle East Forum. Oskar Svadkovsky is a computer networking professional based in Tel Aviv, and the owner of the Happy Arab News Service blog. He graduated in Indian and Chinese Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

STL head urges Lebanon to hand over suspects: sources
April 02, 2012/The Daily Star /BEIRUT: Special Tribunal for Lebanon President David Baragwanath reportedly urged Lebanese authorities Monday to cooperate in handing over Hezbollah suspects for trial.
Judicial sources, speaking to The Daily Star on condition of anonymity, said Baragwanath carries one message to Lebanese officials: the need for cooperation.
“The STL president has only one request of Lebanon: the need to cooperate. The principle of cooperation stipulates the need to hand over the suspects to the STL,” one source said.
No statements were made following a Monday morning meeting at the Grand Seril between Baragwanath and Prime Minister Najib Mikati.
The meeting was an introductory one, sources at the Grand Serail told The Daily Star. Baragwanath held talks with President Michel Sleiman at midday ahead of a scheduled lecture titled “Lebanon and the Internationalization of the Judicial System” at Sagesse University in Beirut.He also plans to meet Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi and State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza, according to judicial sources.
The STL unanimously re-elected Baragwanath earlier in March as the court’s president. Baragwanath was first elected head of the U.N.-backed court after the late Judge Antonio Cassese stepped down due to health reasons in October 2011. The STL has indicted four Hezbollah members for involvement in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005.Lebanese authorities have failed to apprehend the suspects and Hezbollah has refused to surrender them, prompting the court to decide to try them in absentia. Earlier this month, the prosecution at the STL requested that its indictment be amended and also that the charge of “criminal association” be added. The latter request has been refused on procedural grounds.

Jumblatt says Hezbollah will eventually join 'Syrian resistance'
April 02, 2012/The Daily Star /BEIRUT: Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt said Monday the Syrian National Council would eventually replace President Bashar Assad’s government, and predicted that Hezbollah would one day close ranks with the "Syrian resistance" against Assad. “On Land Day, a salute to the Syrian National Council which imposed itself Sunday at the Istanbul conference and will impose itself sooner or later as an inevitable alternative to an oppressive minoritarian familial regime,” Jumblatt said in his weekly statement to Al-Anbaa newspaper. The "Friends of Syria" conference, which gathered together representatives of over 70 countries in Turkey Sunday, recognized the Syrian National Council as “a legitimate representative of all Syrians” and “the leading interlocutor of the opposition with the international community.”On the occasion of Land Day, which commemorates a violent crackdown on March 30, 1976, by Israeli forces against Palestinian citizens of Israel protesting land confiscations, Jumblatt said Israeli and Syrian forces share certain traits.“In Palestine, there is an occupation force that confiscates land, destroys homes and kills Palestinians, and in Syria, there is a regime that confiscates land, destroys homes and kills Syrians,” he said. In a direct reference to Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah’s alliance with Syria, Jumblatt expressed his confidence that "the resistance in Lebanon will one day join the Syrian people's resistance." Jumblatt also reiterated his criticism of Russia’s support for Assad and said that it would have been better had Moscow, which has always supported the Arab people’s rightful demands, sped up the process of removing the Assad family from power and ended the Syrian people’s daily suffering.
The PSP leader, who has grown increasingly vociferous in his criticism of his former ally Assad, drew similarities between the paths of the "Palestinian liberation" movement and the SNC, adding that the former paid a heavy price before it arrived at where it is today.


Russia, Iran set to counter US/Israeli strike against Iran. US-led naval drill
DEBKAfile Special Report April 2, 2012/Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov issued a strong warning against a military attack on Iran Monday, April 2,, saying that a pre-emptive strike would violate international law. His comments, made during a visit to Armenia, stopped short of threatening (the US and/or Israel) of consequences. But they backed up and were in tune with the explicit threat from Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei last Thursday of strong Iranian resistance to foreign intervention in Syria and vow to defend Damascus as the “center of resistance against Israel.”
Western military observers link the two statements as representing an evolving Russian-Iranian front. After their shared success in delivering Bashar Assad from the revolt against his regime, the two partners are preparing to fend off a potential strike against Tehran’s nuclear program as well as shore up Iran’s regional interests from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean. They are getting set to counter two US-led steps, disclosed here by debkafile:
1. Although the US-backed Friends of Syria 2, which took place Sunday, April 1, in Istanbul, offered the Syrian Free Army no direct assistance or support, Saudi Arabia and Qatar established an international fund to pay rebel fighters a regular wage. They hope to lure more officers and men into defecting from the army units loyal to Assad.
Moscow and Tehran view this step as Arab intervention in the Syrian conflict.
2. The US, Israel and Greece launched a shadowy air-naval exercise in the Mediterranean Thursday, March 29. Codenamed “Noble Dina,” it appears to range across a broad sweep of sea up to Crete and including the waters off Turkey, Cyprus, and Israel Navy bases in Haifa and Ashdod ports.
None of the participants have admitted the maneuver is taking place, nor given out details. Some sources say it will end April 5, although this is not confirmed.
Russia and Iran appear to be treating the two events as interconnected.
Our military sources infer from the unusually broad area covered by the tripartite air and navy exercise - almost the entire eastern Mediterranean - that it is designed to simulate action in the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Aden.
Western naval sources in Naples disclose that the American, Israeli and Greek fleets are supported by a British Royal Navy flotilla cruising around the Straits of Gibraltar. They also report that the exercise is led by the USS Enterprise Strike Force. As soon as it is over, this aircraft carrier and strike group will head through the Suez Canal to the Red Sea and Persian Gulf, raising the number of US aircraft carriers facing Iran to three. Those sources also disclose that Israel contributed missile ships, submarines, fighter jets and assault helicopters to the drill.

THE FREE SYRIAN ARMY VS. THE SYRIAN NATIONAL COUNCIL -- WHICH SHOULD WE SUPPORT?
David Schenker - New Republic
A year into the Syrian uprising against Bashar Al-Assad, the dysfunctional nature of Syrian opposition politics isn't exactly news. But the resignation last month of Syrian dissident Kamal Labwani from the Syrian National Council (SNC) -- which he accused not only of being "undemocratic" and incompetent, but intent on undermining the secular basis of the revolution -- is an especially troubling indictment of the opposition's hapless government in exile. The Obama administration should heed Labwani's testimony, and reassess its diplomacy accordingly. Indeed, taking a cue from Labwani's experience, Washington should refocus its attention away from the SNC, in favor of providing more active support for the less centralized, but potentially more effective Free Syrian Army (FSA).
I can personally attest to the depth of Labwani's commitment to a free Syria. I first met him in 2005, when he was in Washington for meetings with Bush administration officials. During a meeting at the Pentagon that I attended, Labwani, a medical doctor who was a prominent member of the "Damascus Spring" reform movement in 2001, did not ask for U.S. assistance in toppling Syria's Assad regime. Instead, he spoke eloquently about the need for political reform in his country. When I asked him whether he feared being jailed on his return, he said he knew he would be arrested, but nonetheless believed it was important for U.S. officials to hear this message. As anticipated, Labwani was arrested upon his arrival in Damascus, and subsequently sentenced to twelve years of hard labor. He had spent five years in prison when he was released early last November, eight months after the start of the current uprising against the Assad regime.
Soon thereafter, Labwani joined the Turkey-based SNC, which was claiming to represent the Syrian opposition on the international stage. He quickly assessed, however, that his hopes for a democratic, pluralistic, and secular Syria would not be advanced through the organization. Fundamentally, Labwani wrote in his draft transition plan, the SNC was not created as "an operational body to win the revolution." This lack of mission led to ethnic, religious and ideological divisions exploited by the regime. The SNC was rife with "political competition" when what was required was to "push single-mindedly to secure victory against the dictator." Labwani was willing to serve time for trying to promote democratic change in Syria, yet he couldn't abide the ineffectiveness of the SNC.
He hasn't been alone in his frustration. International observers have found the SNC to be fractious, replete with infighting, lacking in credibility, and increasingly Islamist. In February, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton herself lamented the lack of a "viable" opposition.
While the SNC appears hapless, lately the FSA, which has little interest in being answerable to the SNC, has been taking positive steps to try and establish a more unified command. The FSA has largely been a franchise operation of around fifty battalions fighting the regime absent any centralized control, but in early March two rival officers vying for leadership of the FSA reconciled and issued a joint statement on YouTube directing troops to follow the orders of just one commander, Colonel Riad al-Assad. Even the SNC has started to come around to supporting the FSA, going so far as to establish a military council to support the force.
But, paralyzed by concerns about whether civilians will eventually have control over the military in post-conflict Syria, Washington has balked on providing military support to the FSA. When asked last week about the military opposition getting its "act together," State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland changed the topic. "What we have been calling for," she said, "is for the peaceful opposition to coordinate better … so a peaceful transition can go forward."
Such inaction has consequences. In recent weeks, the FSA has suffered a series of tactical setbacks, raising the specter of a lengthy war of attrition and prolonged survival of the regime. The Assad regime is continuing to receive Russian arms shipments, while the opposition is running low on ammunition. As much as the Obama administration and the United Nations would like to pursue a "non-violent" diplomatic and humanitarian strategy, notwithstanding U.N. envoy Kofi Annan's effort to promote a ceasefire, the process of transition in Syria -- after one year of crisis that has resulted in nearly 10,000 dead -- is unlikely to become "peaceful" anytime soon.
Like Washington, Labwani is also apprehensive about the future of Syria, but he has concluded that a two-tiered strategy of supporting both liberal politics and military action would be the best way to end the regime and stave off a post-Assad Islamist takeover. In a recent article posted on Fikraforum.org, a bilingual Arabic-English blog on democracy and reform (the site is affiliated with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, where I work), Labwani lamented the political trajectory of the Syrian uprising, away from "democracy and modernity … towards a renewed form of [religious] despotism." To reverse this trend, he proposed establishing a more balanced Transitional National Assembly that better reflects the opposition on the ground in Syria -- the "democracy activists who embody the will of the people to stand up to despotism and brutality" -- and "adopting an organized armed struggle that is national and non-partisan, with financial, logistical and political support of friends."
It would be so much easier for Washington if the Syrian opposition was disciplined and united like the Libyan Transitional National Council was, at least before they took power. Alas, a truly cohesive Syrian political and military opposition is not on the horizon. Instead of spending months trying to integrate these disparate groups, Washington would be better advised to lower the bar and err on the side of action.
As it is, when it comes to the Free Syrian Army, the administration is letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. The FSA is not perfect -- it may not even be good. But the alternative -- a diminished and increasingly Islamist opposition facing a resurgent Assad regime -- is much worse.
David Schenker is the Aufzien fellow and director of the Program on Arab Politics at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Copyrights © Reform Party of Syria (Project Syria, Inc.) 2003-2011

The Games Nations Play
Farid Ghadry Blog /
Reform Party of Syria /What's wrong with the Obama administration saying it wants regime change in Syria? It's not true. There are lots of things Mr. Obama cares about but the Syrian people, in terms of priority, are few notches down from the cocktail parties in the White House on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
What's wrong with Assad attacking the "Friends for Syria" meeting in Istanbul? He is so happy to see it take place because its intention is to open a dialogue.
What's wrong with Saudi Arabia demanding to arm the Syrian rebels? Behind the corridors, it is stopping every effort to arm the Syrians. Their public claims are intended to calm the Saudi street angry at seeing their unelected royalty letting Syrians get slaughtered. Saudi foreign minister had no choice but to play Molière in public.
What's wrong with Erdogan claiming to stand by the Syrian people? He allows the Bosphorus to be used by Russia to transfer arms to Assad.
What's wrong with the Islamists in Egypt (Brothers to the brothers in Hamas) claim they stand by the Syrian people? They let Iranian ships cross the Suez Canal to deliver arms to Assad.
What's wrong with the brothers of Hamas in Gaza standing-up ONCE publicly for the Syrian people and have sealed their lips ever since? They simply do not want the Syrians to take center stage from their cause; the one we have suffered from for over sixty years. They also like the Iranian regime because it thinks like them: Violence against their citizens, violence against women, and violence amongst each other.
The cake eating contest though goes to the Iranian regime for labeling the Syrian people terrorists and the Bahraini people revolting against the king freedom fighters. The distinction has nothing to do with freedom or terror but simply of religion, which is an area difficult to deceive the world with if you think religion has precedence over the national identity of a sovereign nation.
Then you have those poltroons in Qatar who believe themselves to be kingmakers. Their al-Jazeera platform spreads chicanery and craftiness under the title "We love the Syrian people". They really don't give a damn.
Given the above, the Russians are starting to look ok. At least they tell you in your face what they believe in whether you like it or not.
It's tiring to hear so many people make claims that are intentionally aimed to deceive the public-at-large; never in my lifetime have I seen so many countries stand by any people publicly only to save their skin, to see them get killed, or to work behind the scenes to help their butcher.
Copyrights © Reform Party of Syria (Project Syria, Inc.) 2003-2011