LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
April 13/2012
Bible Quotation for today/Life
in the Spirit
Romans 08/01-17: "There is no condemnation now for those
who live in union with Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit, which brings us
life in union with Christ Jesus, has set me free from the law of sin and death.
What the Law could not do, because human nature was weak, God did. He condemned
sin in human nature by sending his own Son, who came with a nature like our
sinful nature, to do away with sin. God did this so that the righteous demands
of the Law might be fully satisfied in us who live according to the Spirit, and
not according to human nature. Those who live as their human nature tells them
to, have their minds controlled by what human nature wants. Those who live as
the Spirit tells them to, have their minds controlled by what the Spirit wants.
To be controlled by human nature results in death; to be controlled by the
Spirit results in life and peace. And so people become enemies of God when they
are controlled by their human nature; for they do not obey God's law, and in
fact they cannot obey it. Those who obey their human nature cannot please God.
But you do not live as your human nature tells you to; instead, you live as the
Spirit tells you to—if, in fact, God's Spirit lives in you. Whoever does not
have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ lives in you,
the Spirit is life for you because you have been put right with God, even though
your bodies are going to die because of sin. If the Spirit of God, who raised
Jesus from death, lives in you, then he who raised Christ from death will also
give life to your mortal bodies by the presence of his Spirit in you. So then,
my friends, we have an obligation, but it is not to live as our human nature
wants us to. For if you live according to your human nature, you are going to
die; but if by the Spirit you put to death your sinful actions, you will live.
Those who are led by God's Spirit are God's children. For the Spirit that God
has given you does not make you slaves and cause you to be afraid; instead, the
Spirit makes you God's children, and by the Spirit's power we cry out to God,
Father! my Father! God's Spirit joins himself to our spirits to declare that we
are God's children. Since we are his children, we will possess the blessings he
keeps for his people, and we will also possess with Christ what God has kept for
him; for if we share Christ's suffering, we will also share his glory.
Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from
miscellaneous sources
In Syria, Annan’s
cover is too short/By Tariq Alhomayed/Asharq Al-Awsat/April
11/12
Where do we go from here/By: Raphael Thelen/Now Lebanon/April
11/12
Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous
Sources for April 11/12
US weighs limited
military action against Assad. Turkey may join
UN
Security Council urges Syria to meet ceasefire deadline
Diplomacy has “failed” in Syria, warns McCain
Report: UN envoy Annan arrives in Iran for talks on Syria crisis
As Annan deal falters, Russia pushes for end of Syria violence
Syrian military on offensive before truce
deadline
UN Council facing
Syria 'moment of truth'
Annan says
Syria fails to send “signal of peace”
Iran says cut oil supply to Spain, may halt flow to Germany, Italy
Spain has
stopped importing Iranian oil, official says
At least three generals among Syrian military dead, envoy says
Russia says two nationals detained in Iran
Santorum bows out of race leaving field to Romney the inevitable candidate
Mustaqbal Urges Govt. to Summon Syrian Ambassador over Shaaban’s Death
Aoun speaks out on slain Al-Jadeed cameraman, Geagea assassination
Qortbawi: Judiciary to fulfill duties regarding Shaaban murder
Baath Party calls for
respecting treaty with Syria
Arrest Warrants Issued against 3 People for Smuggling Arms to Syria
Lebanon's Arabic press digest - April 11, The Daily Star
Lebanese Judiciary indicts 4 for smuggling arms into Syria
U.K. praises Lebanon’s policy toward security
Syria Sticks to SANA Story on ‘Terrorist Groups’ in Shaaban Killing
Report: Two Soldiers Flee Lebanese Military Service, Join Free Syrian Army
Israel holds secret talks on involvement in Mideast nuclear disarmament
conference
Subservient Lebanese Judiciary Refuses to Hand over Complete Telecom Data to ISF
on Geagea Probe
UN Security
Council urges Syria to meet ceasefire deadline
April 10, 2012
/The
UN Security Council on Tuesday called on President Bashar al-Assad to keep a
Thursday deadline for a complete ceasefire in the Syria conflict.
In a statement read by US ambassador Susan Rice, the council backed a
demand by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan for the Syrian government to make a
"fundamental change of course" to end hostilities by am Damascus time on
Thursday. After Annan appealed for new UN backing, Security Council members
expressed "deep concern" at the Syrian government's failure to withdraw troops
and guns from cities and "stressed the importance that the parties meet the
deadline of April 12."
Council members also "underscored" Annan's statement that "the Syrian
leadership should now seize the opportunity to make a fundamental change of
course," Rice said. "It is essential that the next 48 hours bring visible signs
of immediate and indisputable change in the military posture of the government
forces throughout the country" as set out in Annan's six-point plan.
Syria had originally agreed to pull troops and guns out of population
zones by Tuesday. Annan said that despite the failure to keep the commitment it
was still possible to reach a target of a complete ceasefire by Thursday.-AFP/NOW
Lebanon
Annan says Syria fails to send
“signal of peace”
April 10, 2012
/Syria's
President Bashar al-Assad has failed to send the required "signal of peace,"
UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan told the UN Security Council on Tuesday. The
Syrian army continued "rolling military operations" against civilian targets in
the days ahead of a Tuesday deadline to get guns and troops out of Syrian
cities, Annan said in a letter to the council obtained by AFP.Syrian government
forces withdrew from some cities before the deadline but now have new targets,
he added."The days before April 10 could have been an opportunity for the
government of Syria to send a powerful political signal of peace," Annan said.
"In the last five days it has become clear that such a signal has yet to be
issued."
He said a "fundamental change of course" was needed by Assad to achieve a
ceasefire in the next 48 hours. Western nations have already said that Assad has
failed to keep his commitment to the Annan peace plan.-AFP/NOW Lebanon
Diplomacy has “failed” in Syria, warns McCain
April 10, 2012
/Diplomatic
efforts to halt Syria's bloodshed have "failed" and the world must send military
aid to rebels to stop further slaughter, US Senator John McCain said Tuesday at
a refugee camp in Turkey. "Make no mistake: the situation in Syria is an armed
conflict. This is a war," the Republican McCain said at a Syrian refugee camp in
Hatay, Turkey near the Syrian border, referring to the year-long conflict
between the forces of strongman President Bashar al-Assad and opponents to the
regime.
"Diplomacy with Assad has failed, and it will continue to fail so long as
Assad thinks he can defeat the opposition in Syria militarily," McCain said in a
joint statement with independent Senator Joe Lieberman, who has long backed
McCain's stance on Syria.
"And right now, using tanks and artillery and even attack helicopters,
Assad has the upper hand on the battlefield."The two lawmakers visited the
Syrian refugee camp Tuesday, the day regime forces were supposed to halt all
violence as part of a ceasefire deal brokered by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan.
The senators said their visit to Hatay was in no way related to that of Annan,
who was at the camp on the same day.
"We respect Mr. Annan's desire to find an end to the killing in Syria.
Unfortunately, Bashar al-Assad does not share this goal," McCain and Lieberman
said.
"The slaughter in Syria has now claimed more than 10,000 lives. And it is
not a fair fight," they said, adding "Assad is being armed and resupplied by
Russia and Iran" and that Iranian operatives may be on the ground helping
Assad's forces. "Under these conditions, no one should think that Assad will
stop killing and leave power anytime soon. Indeed, the unanimous opinion of
everyone we have spoken with on our visit is that there is no end in sight to
the horrific violence in Syria."
McCain has made several calls to help arm the rebels. President Barack
Obama's administration has refused, instead agreeing with Turkey last month on
the need to send "non-lethal" aid. "It was clear during this visit that the
Syrian people and our friends in this region are looking to the United States
for leadership on Syria, and unfortunately, they are not finding it," McCain
said.
Fifty-two people including 28 civilians were killed across Syrian on Tuesday,
monitors said.-AFP/NOW Lebanon
At least three generals among Syrian military dead,
envoy says
April 10, 2012
/At
least three senior Syrian generals were killed in the early months of Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad's attempts to put down an uprising, according to a
government toll sent to the United Nations. Fourteen colonels, 15 lieutenant
colonels, a major and three captains were also on the list of 721 military
killed between March 18 and November 24. The letter was sent to the United
Nations by Syria's UN mission in December but an annex giving the names and
ranks of the dead was only released on Tuesday. The three brigadier generals
killed include Adnan Zaydan Dib, a top officer in the Syrian special forces who
was wounded in Homs in August and died in hospital the following month,
according to the letter.
Since the list was drawn up, one other senior general was gunned down in
Damascus in February, official media said. Dissident soldiers killed another
general in Hama in January after refusing to carry out his orders, according to
Syrian activists.The Syrian government said last week that 2,088 soldiers and
security agents and 478 police have now been killed since mid-March.-AFP/NOW
Lebanon
Al-Rahi to
Head to Canada, U.S. and Mexico on Pastoral Visit
Naharnet/11 April 2012/Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi will head to
Canada, the United States and Mexico on a pastoral visit next week, al-Joumhouria
newspaper reported on Wednesday.
According to the daily, al-Rahi is scheduled to kick off his one-month
visit on April 22.Sources told al-Joumhouria that the preparations have ended,
noting that the patriarch will meet with high-ranking officials during his
visit.Al-Rahi toured a number of countries recently, including Turkey, Egypt and
Iraq.
Report: Two Soldiers Flee Lebanese Military Service,
Join Free Syrian Army
Naharnet/11 April 2012/Two
Lebanese army recruits have escaped the military service and joined the ranks of
the rebel Free Syrian Army to fight President Bashar Assad’s regime, As Safir
newspaper reported on Wednesday.An informed source told the daily that the
military service of the two recruits, who hail from the Wadi Khaled border
region of Akkar, was extended but after they were granted their leave of absence
“they left and never came back.”The army inquired the families of the two
recruits about their whereabouts and after a few days the officer whom they
worked with received a text message from the cell phone of one of them, saying:
“We salute you from the Syrian town of Qusayr… My colleague and I have joined
the Free Syrian Army in its fight against the Syrian regime.”
According to the source, the two men fled on April 1 and the Syrian
authorities were informed about the incident immediately in order to take the
necessary measures to detain them and hand them over to the competent Lebanese
authorities. Al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Tuesday that the army has exposed
soldiers who breached its security by stealing arms from its warehouses and
selling them to weapons dealers who in their turn smuggled the equipment to the
Free Syrian Army.
The report said that over 90 machine guns were missing from the eighth
battalion and a large quantity of ammunition.
However, sources told As Safir that the missing machine guns don’t exceed
20. In March, the army also discovered an al-Qaida- takfiri network headed by
Abu Mohammed Toufic Taha, which planned attacks on its bases.Taha is reportedly
based in Ain el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp.
Subservient Lebanese Judiciary Refuses to Hand over
Complete Telecom Data to ISF on Geagea Probe
Naharnet/11 April 2012, 05:25
A competent judicial authority refused to provide the Internal Security
Forces with the complete telecom data to continue their probe into the
assassination attempt on Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea.
An Nahar newspaper said that the judicial authority which is tasked with
assessing the possibility of providing the security forces with the telecom data
includes Head of the Audit Bureau Judge Aouni Ramadan, Head of the Shura Council
Shukri Sader and first president of the Court of Cassation Judge Hatem Madi.
Telecommunication Minister Nicolas Sehnaoui denied to al-Joumhouria
newspaper that his ministry is blocking the security authorities from obtaining
the telecom data.
“The ministry receives monthly around 300 applications by the security
forces (The General Security, the Internal Security Forces, the State Security
and the Army) and we approve their requests,” Sehnaoui told the daily. However,
he noted that providing the security authorities with “all the data” requires
the approval of the competent judiciary authority.
The dispute on telecom data emerged to the surface after Geagea escaped
an assassination attempt last week.
Sehnaoui revealed that the judicial authority failed to approve in March
the requests to provide the security forces with all the data.
He stressed that the telecom ministry has to “provide the security
authorities with all the required help in order to track down criminals and
terrorists to maintain stability and security” in Lebanon.
Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc condemned during its weekly meeting on
Tuesday the “ongoing telecom data scandal,” urging the cabinet to end this
dispute through enabling the security authorities to constantly be granted
access to the data.”
However, Change and Reform bloc leader MP Michel Aoun lashed out at the
March 14 forces for accusing Sehnaoui of preventing the ISF from obtaining the
telecom data.
“There is a legal process that needs to be followed…The committee of
judges is concerned with this issue and not the minister,” he said during the
block’s weekly meeting.
U.K. praises Lebanon’s policy toward security
April 11, 2012/ The Daily Star
/BEIRUT:
British Foreign Secretary William said Tuesday the U.K. supported the Lebanese
government’s policies that have helped maintain stability in the country.
“Britain praises the wise policies that the Lebanese government has
upheld which have helped in maintaining stability in Lebanon,” said Hague
following talks with Prime Minister Najib Mikati at the premier’s London
residence.The meeting between Mikati and Hague focused on bilateral issues and
Britain’s support for the Lebanese Army. They also discussed recent developments
in the region and Britain’s aid to the Army and the Internal Security Forces.
Following the meeting, Mikati said that relations between the two countries are
significant. “British-Lebanese friendship and bilateral relationships are deeply
rooted, significant and important,” Mikati said in a tweet to his followers, who
include Hague and U.K. ambassador to Lebanon Tom Fletcher.
Mikati said that the “meeting marked the U.K.’s continued understanding
of Lebanon’s position and full support for our country.”
Turkey seeks consensus for intervention in Syria
April 11, 2012/By Lauren Williams/The Daily Star
ISTANBUL: Sitting at a trendy bar in downtown Istanbul, Sami doesn’t have
the sense that his country is about to go to war. Sami is just one Turk in some
78 million, but represents just some of Turkey’s domestic considerations in
going it alone on Syria.
“We feel sorry for the people in Syria, but we should not intervene on
America’s behalf,” he says. “The ruling party AKP [Justice and Development
Party] is trying to prepare our society for intervention in Syria on the
argument of human rights and the threat of the PKK [Kurdistan Workers Party],”
says Sami. “I’m not sure it has anything to do with these things.”
Turkey’s position on Syria has oscillated over the last 13 months –
between cautious condemnation and more hawkish threats of intervention. But
increasingly hardened rhetoric in the week following the largely immobilized
“Friends of Syria” conference in Istanbul was matched with a raft of contingency
measures that indicate Turkey might finally be willing to act independently to
try to end a brutal crackdown which has killed in excess of 9,000 people,
according to U.N. data.
Opposition and diplomatic sources attending closed-door meetings with
Turkish leaders on the sidelines of the Friends conference expressed quiet
confidence that Turkey was pushing to overcome inaction by bewildered diplomats
at the U.N. and Arab League. The following day, The Wall Street Journal reported
Ankara had drawn up detailed plans for buffer zones to protect Syrian civilians
fleeing to Turkey if Turkish national security were compromised – a measure that
most accept would require military enforcement at some level.
Those threats were put to the test Monday when cross-border gunfire
allegedly from Syrian forces wounded at least five people, including two Turks,
inside a camp housing refugees. It was the first time the conflict had spilled
so directly into Turkish territory and came on the eve of the implementation of
a U.N.-backed deal for troop withdrawal brokered by international envoy Kofi
Annan.
Turkey did not respond militarily, but its diplomatic reply was swift and
stern.
“Syrian citizens who took refuge in our country from the brutality of the
current regime in Syria are under Turkey’s full protection. We will certainly
take necessary measures if such incidents reoccur,” a Foreign Ministry statement
said. The Turkish press also quickly noted the possibility Ankara may invoke the
1998 Adana Accord, containing provisions for Turkey to respond on the basis of
an agreement that Syria “will not permit any activity that emanates from its
territory aimed at jeopardizing the security and stability of Turkey,” according
to the pro-government daily Today’s Zamman.
Inevitably the Syrian problem has encroached on Turkey. But any
intervention in Syria will be a careful navigation of complex domestic economic,
political and security concerns.
Already hosting military leadership from the Free Syrian Army in a
so-called "military camp" in Hatay, Turkey also plays host to a raft of senior
opposition figures and members of the powerful Syrian Muslim Brotherhood among
members of the opposition Syrian National Council. And while agreeing to the
Friends arrangement to step up “nonlethal aid” to the rebel factions, opposition
insiders say they believe Turkey will “keep one eye open” when it comes to the
transport of lethal assistance through their borders.
Sinan Ulgen, a former Turkish diplomat and visiting scholar at the
Carnegie Institute for Peace in Brussels, says Turkey will use the incident to
put pressure on its international partners “to do more to get Assad to
leave.”“Turkey has been almost an outsider in the international community in
terms of their expectations of the Annan plan ... overall they have not
supported it,” he says.
Hundreds attack Bahrain's Shiite areas: reports
April 11, 2012/Daily Star
DUBAI: Bahrainis wielding knives and sticks attacked residents of the
kingdom's Shiite villages overnight beating them in retaliation for a bomb
attack against policemen, witnesses and the opposition said Wednesday.The
assailants, who according to witnesses came from Sunni neighborhoods, were
responding to messages posted online to avenge the bomb attack that injured
seven policemen in a Shiite village on Monday. "I saw hundreds of men carrying
knives, sticks and other sharp objects," on the outskirts of several Shiite
villages, said one witness who identified himself only as Hussein.
"They were stopping cars and asking passengers where they lived in order
to determine what sect they belonged to," he told AFP by telephone, referring to
the Sunni and Shiite communities in Bahrain.
Al-Wefaq, the largest Shiite opposition group, said the attackers were in
civilians clothes and "beat up" residents of Shiite villages.A statement by the
group accused security forces of failing to stop the attacks. "The security
forces did not carry out their duty, they did not disperse the (assailants) or
prevent them from attacking citizens," the statement said, adding that
authorities must "deal with these militias."
But Bahrain's interior ministry said police "prevented" a group of
unknown assailants from entering Al-Nuweidrat village, a Shiite community on the
outskirts of the capital Manama.
In a statement released late Tuesday, the ministry said assailants
"attacked 24-hour shops and destroyed two cars," after holding an "illegal
gathering."
But the Bahraini interior ministry did not mention attacks by Sunnis on
Shiite neighborhoods. The latest violence comes amid escalating tensions in
Sunni-ruled Bahrain over the deteriorating health of prominent Shiite activist
Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, who is on hunger strike and who has been condemned to life
in jail for plotting to overthrow the Sunni monarchy.
Anger is also mounting over the decision by Grand Prix Formula One
organizers to go ahead with the show in Bahrain scheduled for April 22.
The youth group of the "Revolution of February 14" has called for "three
days of rage" in the Gulf kingdom from April 20 to 22, and also launched a
campaign on Twitter to prevent the race from taking place.
In Syria, Annan’s cover is too short
By Tariq Alhomayed/Asharq Al-Awsat
We are now witnessing Mr. Kofi Annan’s mission in Syria officially
failing – as I said yesterday – as Bashar al-Assad fails to abide by any of the
points of Annan’s initiative. However rather than seeing decisive international
positions being taken against al-Assad, we find that everybody today – whether
the al-Assad regime itself or the international community – is trying to wrap
themselves in Annan’s cover, namely his initiative; however this cover is short,
and will always leave something exposed.
Annan himself said that it was too early to say that his plan had failed,
urging everybody to wait until 12 April to judge the initiative. Indeed, Annan
also said that it would be wrong to withdraw his initiative now unless there is
another initiative on the table, however this is absurd, for Annan’s mission has
cost the Syrians close to 1,000 lives in over 10 days, so must the Syrians now
bear more suffering with the extension of Annan’s mission, or in order for a new
initiative to be put forward which will result in the deaths of another 1,000
Syrians? This is truly absurd, particularly as the Syrian death toll is verging
on 11,000! Here it is clear that Annan’s “cover” is not even sufficient to cover
his own mission!
It is also clear that internationally, everybody wants to wrap themselves
in Annan’s mission. Washington said that “if” Annan announces his mission’s
failure, then the United Nations [UN] must take action at this point, whilst
France said that the claims that al-Assad forces had withdrawn from Syria’s
cities was a “flagrant and unacceptable lie”. For its part, the European Union [EU]
also asserted that al-Assad had not implemented Annan’s plan. Everybody is
repeating the same thing, but nobody is saying “what next!” This isn’t rushing
to conclusions, but due to the fact that innocents are being killed every day in
Syria: so why do the lives of the Syrian people have no value? This is not just
puzzling, it is sickening!
Walid Muallem tried to do the same thing in Moscow, especially when he
boastfully and arrogantly stated that the al-Assad regime had taken action to
show its goodwill, however if “goodwill” is killing men, women and children and
destroying homes, then we would hate to see their ill will! Muallem did not stop
here; for he also said that his country was committed to implementing Annan’s
plan…Muallem was repeating these lies whilst Arab satellite television was
reporting the number of Syrians who had been killed that day at the hands of al-Assad
regime forces, which stood at 50 at the time of writing! Here we see that even
Muallem was trying to wrap himself in Annan’s cover, which cannot possibly cover
him, not just because of his size, but also the size of the “flagrant and
unacceptable” lies of his regime, according to the French.
Here we find that everybody is trying to wrap themselves with Annan’s
cover, however – as we stated – this cover is short and will always leave
something exposed. Therefore it is shameful that the international community
should continue keeping pace with the al-Assad regime’s flagrant lies, and its
heinous crimes against the Syrian people. What we should see today is real
action on the ground to end this dark period in our region, as well as end the
suffering of the Syrian people at the hands of the tyrant of Damascus, Bashar
al-Assad!
Lebanon's Arabic press digest - April 11, The Daily
Star
Following are summaries of some of the main stories in a selection of
Lebanese newspapers Wednesday. The Daily Star cannot vouch for the accuracy of
these reports.
Al-Akhbar
Judicial decision bans access to data by security services
Dispute raged over cell phone data, which the Telecoms Ministry has
blocked the security services from accessing. The decision was made Tuesday by
the judicial committee tasked with granting access to the Internal Security
Forces to use cell phone data.
March 14 forces continued their campaign against Telecoms Minister
Nicolas Sehnaoui for blocking cell phone data from reaching the security
services.
Al-Shark
In an exception from the rule, March 14 [meets] in Maarab today
The General Secretariat of the March 14 coalition will hold an
extraordinary meeting at 5 p.m. Wednesday at the Lebanese Forces headquarters in
Maarab.
Future Movement’s politburo member, former MP Mustafa Alloush, said the
meeting aims to show “solidarity and support” for Geagea following last week’s
attempt on his life.
The meeting, Alloush said, is to demonstrate a unified front in rejecting
the renewed logic of terrorism in Lebanon.
Al-Liwaa
Aoun in conflict with Sleiman ... Future [bloc] criticizes barges deal
Controversy erupts during telecoms committee meeting over Sehnaoui’s
proposal
The Media and Telecommunications parliamentary committee will hold a
meeting Wednesday that will probably witness a sharp debate as Telecoms Minister
Nicholas Sehnaoui is expected to present a [controversial] proposal that
suggests the formation of a six-member committee to be chaired based on a yearly
rotation.
Meanwhile, following its weekly meeting Tuesday, the Future bloc
criticized the “lack of transparency and professionalism” in the deal to lease
electricity-generating barges.
Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun has kept up his dispute with
President Michel Sleiman over legalizing the spending of LL8.9 trillion.
Ad-Diyar
Will administrative appointments in the provinces take place before
by-elections?
Sfeir: If visiting Syria would have done any good, I would have done it
Reactions continued to pour in over March 14’s boycott of the Easter
service held by Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai as all attempts to reconcile the
two sides have failed.
Bishop Samir Mazloum stressed that "the doors of Bkirki and the church
are open to everyone.”
Mazloum quoted Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir as condemning the assassination
attempt on Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea.
“Targeting people of [high] stature such as the leader of the Lebanese
Forces Samir Geagea is not a good sign," Sfeir was quoted as saying.
Mazloum said that Sfeir believed that if visiting Syria would have done
any good, he would have done it.
Al-Mustaqbal
Future [bloc] holds government responsible for laxity over Syrian attacks
... Aoun does not comment
March 14 in Maarab: Standing united in the face of terrorism
March 14 forces have not turned the page on the assassination attempt on
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, but will hold an enlarged meeting at 5 p.m.
Wednesday in a show of solidarity with Geagea and to discuss the upcoming
challenges.
It seemed clear that the attack on the Lebanese media has embarrassed
Bashar Assad's allies in Lebanon.
Shaaban’s colleague, Abed al-Azim Khayyat, called on both President
Michel Sleiman and Prime Minister Najib Mikati to sack the Syrian ambassador
after Khayyat, who witnessed the horrific incident, confirmed that his colleague
was shot and killed by gunfire from Syrian government troops.
But significantly, MP Michel Aoun did not hear Khayyat’s statement and
said he will only respond after the investigation had been finalized.
As-Safir
Qortbawi reticent to announce higher Judicial Council candidate
Mikati: [Public] appointments soon ... London supports us
Prime Minister Najib Mikati told As-Safir that he will return to Beirut
this week to tackle oustanding issues and prepare for the general parliamentary
session.
Mikati ruled out Cabinet approval of a new batch of public appointments
during its April 20 meeting.
He said Britain, which will extend an invitation to Lebanese Army
Commander Gen. Jean Kahwaji to visit London, has expressed readiness to provide
military equipment to the army.
Meanwhile, Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi told As-Safir that he had
proposed a candidate to head the Higher Judicial Council other than the two
names suggested by President Michel Sleiman and Gen. Michel Aoun, adding that he
will only reveal the name during a debate in Cabinet.
Where do we go from here?
Raphael Thelen, April 10, 2012/Now Lebanon
The city of Homs in ruins. It seems that peace envoy Kofi Annan’s plan is
headed for failure, and many FSA fighters say keeping up the battle is the only
way to win. (AFP photo)
Antakya – “Bashar al-Assad is a liar,” says Abu Seif. “There won’t be a
ceasefire. Bashar won’t keep his promise.”
The 29-year-old Free Syrian Army fighter, who, like everyone else
interviewed for this article, asked that his name be changed for security
reasons, sits in the living room of a small apartment in the center of Antakya.
The Turkish city, which is close to the Syrian border, has become a hub for the
Syrian opposition. Half a dozen men sit next to Abu Seif on the couch, talking
about the situation in their home country. Piles of open suitcases and pillows
lie behind the couch. Nobody here believes in the ceasefire agreement. “The
Annan plan gives the Syrian regime just more time to kill us,” says Abu Seif’s
comrade Abu Ahmed Marajani of peace envoy Kofi Annan’s plan to end the violence
in Syria. Both Abu Seif and Marajani have for months fought the Assad regime’s
troops in their home city of Edleb. Under the Annan plan, the Syrian regime is
supposed to stop all attacks and pull back all its heavy weapons from population
centers by April 10. The FSA has to follow suit 48 hours later.
“The actions of the international community are just a game, just a
theatre,” says Marajani, while watching video of recent fights on his laptop. No
emotion crosses his face. “They are just doing this so they can say: ‘Look!
We’re doing something for Syria!’” Despite the general sense of cynicism about
the ceasefire, the FSA wants to abide by it. It has no alternative, says
Marajani. “When two brothers fight with each other, and the big brother suddenly
stops, do you think the smaller one continues?”
Since the beginning of the year, the Syrian army has been making military
gains, while the FSA is fighting hard but lacks weapons and ammunition. Since
Annan put forth his plan over one week ago, the government has stepped up the
violence and has surrounded rebel-held cities and begun shelling them. “We can’t
even attack the regime’s troops anymore. We can only act defensive,” says Abu
Seif, who was hit in the stomach by an anti-aircraft missile a couple of months
ago. A series of five operations saved his life, and he still has a scar as
large as a plate on his belly.
He took the money he had saved for his wedding and bought a Kalashnikov
from a Syrian army officer. “We need weapons from the international community.
You need feet to walk,” he says. “The only thing we can do at the moment is to
slow down the advance of the troops, to give the people time to flee.”
“Bashar used the cover of the Annan plan for the biggest military
offensive since the beginning of the revolution,” says Ahmed Beidar, a liaison
officer between the FSA and the civilian revolutionary council in the restive
city of Jisr al-Shughur. He and a group of other activists and fighters meet for
a day in Antakya to confer and plan ahead. Afterward they cross back into Syria.
Assad’s recent offensive is proof enough for Beidar that the president is not
going to keep the truce. “Douma, Homs, Hama, Edleb, Taftanaz, Aleppo,” he says,
listing the cities that were attacked over the past few days. “The situation is
so bad that we have to bury our dead in mass graves. We can’t keep up
anymore.”Next to Beidar sits Ala ad-Deen, the highest-ranking rebel commander in
the Jisr al-Shughur region. “The conflict can only be solved militarily,” he
says. “Nonetheless have we accepted the Annan plan and pulled back our troops.
We are going to wait until April 10.”
What happens after is, he says, is unknown. “Even without the support of
the international community, we can survive and sustain the fight indefinitely.”
Abu Seif and Marajani don’t see any alternative either. “Even if there
isn’t going to be no ceasefire agreement and no support from the international
community, we can’t stop fighting now,” says Abu Seif. “Bashar’s security forces
would hunt us down and kill us.”Marajani looks up from his computer. “I’m
afraid,” he says in a low voice. “If the international community doesn’t supply
us with weapons, we’re going to make them ourselves. It is easy to take
fertilizer and a cooking pot to build a bomb. We’re going to wage a guerilla
war.”
Spain has stopped importing Iranian oil, official
says
April 10, 2012
/Spain
stopped importing Iranian oil "at the end of February" because of the imposition
of a gradual European Union embargo, the Spanish Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.
"We haven't imported Iranian oil since the end of February as businesses have
diversified their buying because of European sanctions," a ministry spokesperson
said.
"This is the logical fallout of Spain's support for European sanctions," he
said, adding that this had complicated financial transactions with Tehran.
"Spain is badly hit because we used to import a lot of Iranian oil," he added.
Last year, Iran was Spain's third largest oil provider with a total of
7.5 million tons, just over 14 percent of its total imports, according to
official Spanish figures. Iranian media earlier Tuesday said Tehran had cut oil
exports to Spain as part of a pre-emptive stoppage of crude sales to EU
countries, which have called for a full embargo on Iranian oil imports as of
July 1.The European Union and the United States have been increasing sanctions
on Iran to punish it for activities they fear masks a drive towards nuclear
weapons capability -- something Tehran denies it is seeking.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday defiantly said Iran was able to
survive up to three years without selling any of its oil, which last year earned
it $100 billion.
"We have enough foreign currency so that, even if one barrel of oil is
not sold for two or even three years, the country will be managed well and the
enemies will not see their wishes [come true]," he said in a televised speech.
Iran is the second-biggest producer in OPEC, pumping some 3.5 million
barrels a day, 2.5 million of which are exported.-AFP/NOW Lebanon
Aoun speaks out on slain Al-Jadeed cameraman,
Geagea assassination
April 10, 2012
/Change
and Reform bloc leader MP Michel Aoun offered his condolences for the death of
Al-Jadeed cameraman Ali Shaaban. “The results of the investigation into
Shaaban’s murder were not officially published. We will comment on the issue
when the results are known,” Aoun said in response to the station’s accusation
that the Syrian army fired on Shaaban and killed him on Monday near the
Lebanese-Syrian border.
The Change and Reform bloc leader also commented on last week’s
assassination attempt against Lebanese Force leader Samir Geagea, saying that he
would not comment on the issue until the investigation into the incident was
wrapped up. “I am a bloc leader and a former army commander and premier. [That
is why] I wait for the investigation’s results.”
Aoun
also said there was “no reason” that he did not congratulate Geagea for his
safety. On
Wednesday, snipers targeted Geagea outside his Maarab residence in the district
of Kesrouan, but failed to hit him. The Change and Reform bloc leader also
retorted to statements criticizing Telecommunications Minister Nicolas Sehnaoui
for not handing telecom date to the relevant security forces.“You have to know
there is a mechanism for handing [telecom] data, and there is a cabinet decision
on the matter. The [telecommunications] minister has nothing to do with it.”
Aoun also commented on the upcoming 2013 parliamentary elections and said
he supported an electoral law based on proportionality and one electoral
district.“Proportionality [rids us] of sectarianism and [produces] a real
majority and a real minority.”-NOW Lebanon
US weighs
limited military action against Assad. Turkey may join
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report April 10, 2012/Tuesday night, April 10, after
Damascus skipped the truce laid down in the UN-Arab envoy Kofi Annan’s plan and
escalated its attacks on the Syrian population, a change of tone was detected in
the Obama administration. debkafile’s Washington sources report that, although
President Barack Obama is still flat against broad US military intervention in
Syria, administration circles feel America could no longer stay aloof from what
is happening there. They are thinking in terms of limited military action to
show Bashar Assad and the heads of his regime and army the first American red
lines against his brutal crackdown. One plan under discussion is for a US air
strike against an Assad regime and/or military target would be enough to dent
morale in Damascus and demonstrate to his loyal troops and the Syrian opposition
that the Syrian ruler is far from infallible.
This lesson might corner Assad into complying with Annan’s six-point peace plan,
especially the ceasefire and withdrawal of armored troops from Syrian cities,
which he ducked Tuesday.
The pretext Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem offered Russian Foreign
Minister Sergey Lavrov for missing the deadline, our Moscow sources report, was
that when the soldiers are pulled out of the cities, rebel forces will move into
the evacuated areas; the anti-Assad uprising would flare up again at full
strength across Syria. Moallem appealed to his host to persuade the Americans to
continue to abstain from military action in Syria and defend the need for Syrian
units to remain in the main cities, even against a complaint by Annan to the UN
Security Council accusing Damascus of flouting an agreed plan.
In consideration of this side play in Moscow, Annan was cautious in his comments
to reporters on his visit to a Syrian refugee camp in southern Turkey, saying it
was too soon to declare his plan a failure. He explained that the Syrian regime
had not taken issue with a single one of his six proposals and the situation
could improve once UN observers were on the ground. Annan offered Assad another
two days up until Thursday, April 12, to implement the agreed ceasefire.
Talking to reporters In Moscow alongside Moallem, Lavrov proposed that UN
observers move into Syria without delay. The team could be enlisted mainly from
the UNDOF (United Nations Disengagement Observer Force) serving on the
Syrian-Israeli Golan border. The Syrian minister was not in favor of the plan.
Tuesday night, the UN Security Council called on Bashar Assad to meet the
Thursday deadline for a truce. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced
the council would meet Thursday to hear Annan’s report.She spoke after
consulting with Lavrov. The Lavrov proposal would redeploy the main body of the
Golan UN force, which maintains a liaison office in Damascus, in positions for
enforcing the truce between Syrian and rebel forces in Syria’s main embattled
cities, preferably by April 12. The UN 1,000-strong force has two battalions,
one Austrian and one Philippine, and a small Croatian unit.
Our intelligence sources report that Assad objects to the plan because it would
be tantamount to internationalizing the civil war raging in Syria and pave the
way for rebels and protesters against his regime to gain UN protection.
Convinced that the Syrian ruler would never allow himself to be pushed into
accepting UN intervention, the Americans continue to keep limited military
intervention on the table.
They will let it simmer there until the Six-Power nuclear talks with Iran
beginning Saturday, April 14, in Istanbul are well under way, so as not to give
Tehran pretexts for toughening its bargaining position or pulling out of the
negotiations.
Turkey too is moving closer than ever before to real military action, not just
empty words. Armed Turkish assault helicopters flew Tuesday over the Syrian
border. They were there to warn Damascus that if Syrian soldiers again fired
across the border into Syrian refugee camps as they did Monday, April 9, they
would be targeted by the Turkish gunships.
Sources in Ankara reminded local and Arab media of the existence of the mutual
defense cooperation pact known as the “Adana agreement” which Turkey and Syria
concluded in 1998.
Article 1 states that "Syria, on the basis of the principle of reciprocity, will
not permit any activity that emanates from its territory aimed at jeopardizing
the security and stability of Turkey."
Under this article, Ankara feels Turkish military intervention in Syria is
legitimate. This reminder was offered the media, our military sources confirm,
to provide the legal grounding for a potential Turkish military move across its
border into Syria.
Russia says
two nationals detained in Iran
April 10, 2012 /Russia said Tuesday that two of its nationals
working in Tehran for a gold exploration firm have been detained by the Iranian
authorities and demanded to be granted immediate access to them. The Russian
Foreign Ministry said the two men -- identified as A. S. Kaisin and A. P.
Romanenko -- worked for a Kazakh-Iranian gold exploration firm called Zarkuh.
"The Russian embassy in Tehran in coordination with the Kazakh embassy has
undertaken urgent measures to establish its citizens whereabouts," the ministry
said in a statement. "Russia's ambassador to Iran Levan Jagaryan has reported
the incident to the relevant authorities in the country, including the Iranian
Foreign Ministry." The ministry added that Russia has asked that its consulate
staff be granted quick access to the detained. "We are awaiting a response from
the Iranian side," the Foreign Ministry said. The statement said the two men
were detained on Thursday but gave no other immediate details.-AFP/NOW Lebanon