LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
April 25/2012

Bible Quotation for today/Do Not Judge Others
Romans 14/01-12: "Welcome those who are weak in faith, but do not argue with them about their personal opinions. Some people's faith allows them to eat anything, but the person who is weak in the faith eats only vegetables. The person who will eat anything is not to despise the one who doesn't; while the one who eats only vegetables is not to pass judgment on the one who will eat anything; for God has accepted that person. Who are you to judge the servants of someone else? It is their own Master who will decide whether they succeed or fail. And they will succeed, because the Lord is able to make them succeed. Some people think that a certain day is more important than other days, while others think that all days are the same. We each should firmly make up our own minds. Those who think highly of a certain day do so in honor of the Lord; those who will eat anything do so in honor of the Lord, because they give thanks to God for the food. Those who refuse to eat certain things do so in honor of the Lord, and they give thanks to God. We do not live for ourselves only, and we do not die for ourselves only. If we live, it is for the Lord that we live, and if we die, it is for the Lord that we die. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. For Christ died and rose to life in order to be the Lord of the living and of the dead. You then, who eat only vegetables—why do you pass judgment on others? And you who eat anything—why do you despise other believers? All of us will stand before God to be judged by him. For the scripture says. As surely as I am the living God, says the Lord, everyone will kneel before me, and everyone will confess that I am God. Every one of us, then, will have to give an account to God.

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
Implications of Egypt's Gas Cut-Off with Israel/By Simon Henderson and David Schenker/April 24/12
Assad Must Be Forced to Allow Peaceful Assembly/By Andrew J. Tabler/Washington Institute/April 24/12
Nizar Nayouf, al-Haqiqa, and Syrian Christians/by Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi/The American Spectator/April 24/12
UN delegation of the “terrified” in Syria/By Tariq Alhomayed/Asharq Al-Awsat/ April 24/12
The Turkish coffee is bitter/By Hussein Shobokshi/Asharq Alawsat/April 24/12

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for April 24/12
Hungry Syrian soldiers desert Golan defenses, prowl for food
Israel denies it has access to Azerbaijan air bases
Israeli president: Israel missed chances for peace
Turkey rejects Israeli participation in NATO summit
Obama during visit to Holocaust museum: ‘I will always be there for Israel’
Obama announces sanctions for tech used in human rights abuses in Iran and Syria
EU Suspends Burma Sanctions, Slaps New Ones on Syria
Iranian oil infrastructure reportedly targeted by cyberattack
UN monitors tour Syria towns as violence persists
Iraqi Shiite Sadr Movement ready to drop Al-Maliki
Al-Sadr Met with Bahraini Oppositionist in Iran
Egypt offers to sell gas to Israel at new price
Netanyahu downplays Egypt's cancellation of gas deal with Israel
Egypt gas chief: Government not involved in decision to cut off supply to Israel
Egyptian MPs call on mufti to quit over Jerusalem trip
Netanyahu was briefed on efforts to stop '60 Minutes' report on Israel's Christians
Sarkozy courts France’s far-right voters
Armenia envoy: Denial as bad as genocide
For All Lebanese News in English Click Here/Now Lebanon
Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rai relieved that cabinet survived
South Lebanon: 5 wounded in Tyre bomb blast
Lebanese President Sleiman hopes for serious discussion of new electoral law
Israel to start work on Lebanon border wall: report
Lebanon's March 14 slams Bassil’s insinuations about assassination plots
Lebanon's EDL deficit in January jumps to nearly LL351 billion
Beirut: Siniora, LF want 2013 polls overseen by technocrats
3 suspects in Lebanon were charged with arms smuggling to Syria
Future Movement official condemns blast in Tyre
Lebanese army intercepts truck smuggling arms to Syria
Amal MPs condemn Tyre restaurant blast
Tripoli meeting condemns attack against pro-Syrian people protest
Qanso criticizes Bassil, says energy ministry "not competent" to handle oil issue
Body of deputy chief of professional diver’s syndicate found in Tyre
Bassil slams “politically immature” Sami Gemayel
Fatfat objects to government overseeing upcoming parliamentary elections

Hungry Syrian soldiers desert Golan defenses, prowl for food
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report April 23, 2012/The wretched plight of the troops manning Syrian defense divisions defending the Golan border and Mt. Hermon was clearly visible from lookout points on the Israeli side in the last two days, debkafile’s military sources report. The regular water and food supplies to their bases, the backbone of Syria’s defense lines against Israel, were stopped and redirected to the units fighting anti-Assad rebels in other parts of the country. Large groups of armed soldiers have gone AWOL to hunt for food. For the first time in years, some have approached the border fence. They don’t ask Israeli soldiers for food, but parcels thrown across the fence vanish in a trice. According to our sources, the 5th Division posted in the Golan town of Quneitra has suffered the largest number of desertions, estimated at more than 1,500 officers and men, around 15 percent of the full complement. But hundreds of dropouts occur daily from the 15th, 9th and 7th Divisions stationed in central and southern Golan. The district commands have meanwhile lost control of the Syrian-Israeli border deployment. Military facilities are deserted with no one to guard against trespassers. Gangs, local and from across Syria’s eastern borders with Jordan and Iraq, were quick to realize the bases are unguarded and have begun stripping them of equipment and looting everything they can lay hands on. These gangs are working stealthily so as not to drawing the attention of Assad’s security forces which might stop the looting. But they are most likely being used by Assad’s Sunni enemies in Iraq and Jordan as vehicles to plant terrorist cells inside Syria for attacking military targets. debkafile’s intelligence and counter-terror sources disclose this is what happened at the Golan village of Sahm al-Jolan near Quneitra Friday, April 20 when a large (100 kilo) bomb blew up as a Syrian military convoy was passing through. At least 10 soldiers were killed and 35 injured. The Syrian authorities stated that a remote-controlled explosive device blew up against a bus carrying soldiers. It is believed that a Jordanian Sunni terrorist band was responsible. That day too, five Syrian soldiers were killed in another attack in the southern Syrian town of Karak near the flashpoint town of Deraa

Israel to start work on Lebanon border wall: report
April 23, 2012/Daily Star
JERUSALEM: Israel is to start building a wall along part of its border with Lebanon next week to shield the northern town of Metulla, Channel 10 television reported on Monday.
It said the wall, more than two kilometres (over a mile) long and 10 metres (33 feet) high, was also aimed at preventing clashes between Israeli and Lebanese border forces whose posts are often just metres (yards) apart. The private broadcaster said Israel had informed Lebanon of the wall project and would coordinate it through the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).Military sources said in January that Israel was considering building a wall along a section of the 79-kilometre (49-mile) border, fearing cross-border sniper fire at newly built apartment blocks in Metulla.Although the two countries are technically in a state of war, Israeli and Lebanese military officials meet regularly in the presence of UNIFIL peacekeepers to liaise on border issues.

Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rai relieved that cabinet survived
April 22, 2012 /Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rai said on Sunday that he was relieved that the cabinet had survived the no-confidence vote. “We were afraid that the cabinet might fall, because if it fell, it would be difficult to form a new one… We thank God it survived,” the National News Agency quoted Rai as saying at the airport before flying to Mexico. Rai also denied that he would meet US officials during his tour to Mexico, US and Canada, and said that his visit would be pastoral. The patriarch also denied media reports saying that he supported an electoral law based on proportional representation. “[Media] is used to attribute many [false] statements to me, but the truth is I do not know what proportional representation is… I do not support any specific electoral law.”
Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s cabinet won a vote of confidence in parliament on Thursday, which was called for by Kataeb bloc MP Sami Gemayel, following the end of three days of plenary sessions.
Mikati’s cabinet is mainly dominated by ministers affiliated with the Hezbollah-led March 8 coalition.-NOW Lebanon

Body of deputy chief of professional diver’s syndicate found in Tyre
April 23, 2012 /The Lebanese army marine corps and civil defense forces found the corpse of the deputy chief of the syndicate of professional divers, the National News Agency reported on Monday.
The report also said that the victim, identified as 42-year-old Hussein Abu Khalil, was found along Mansoury beach, South of the city of Tyre, following his disappearance yesterday while scuba diving in the area. However, the report did not elaborate any further.-NOW Lebanon

Bassil slams “politically immature” Sami Gemayel
April 23, 2012 /Energy Minister Gebran Bassil said in remarks published on Monday that Kataeb bloc MP Sami Gemayel behaved in a “politically immature” way during last week’s parliament plenary session. “Gemayel expressed political immaturity during his parliamentary intervention, when, for instance, he took up issues related to my ministry without providing any numbers or facts,” Bassil told Al-Akhbar newspaper. He added that it was “unbelievable” that the Kataeb bloc MP had responded, when asked about the sources of his facts and figures, that he relied on the internet search engine “Google.”
Bassil also said that, the focus of the attacks of Future bloc MPs on the Change and Reform bloc instead of Hezbollah was an indication of the damage that the former was causing to the Future Movement’s political plans. “The Change and Reform bloc threatens the fundamental political project of the Future Movement, based on corruption and hegemony over the state.”
The minister also addressed the assassination attempts against the Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea. “If the attempt was not confirmed, I am worried that it would indicate that it was in the context of a return of [political] assassinations perpetrated by those who are propagating this topic.”He added that Geagea was not to be “trusted” when he talks about security issues.
On April 4 snipers targeted Geagea outside his Maarab residence in the district of Kesrouan, but failed to hit him.-NOW Lebanon

Turkey rejects Israeli participation in NATO summit
By Zvi Bar'el/Haaretz/The Turkish veto leveled against Israeli participation in next month’s NATO summit is the latest in a string of Turkish moves hindering Israel-NATO cooperation.Turkey has refused to allow Israel to participate in a NATO conference set to take place in Chicago on May 20, because the Israel has not apologized for the 2010 killing of Turkish activists in a raid on a ship taking aid to Palestinians, a Turkish official said on Monday. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu commented on the possible Israeli presence at the conference. “There will be no Israeli presence at the NATO meeting unless they issue a formal apology and pay compensation for the Turkish citizens their commandos killed in international waters,” said Davutoglu last week at a NATO conference in Brussels, according to the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet Daily News. Turkish opposition is similar to a veto, and is binding for all NATO member nations. Many member nations, including France, the U.S., as well as Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Secratary General, demanded that Turkey reverse its position on Israeli participation in the conference, and even threatened to oppose the participation of Egypt, Morocoo, Mauritania, and Algiera, other non-member nations invited to take part in the NATO “Mediterranan Dialogue” group. Turkey, however, abrogated any possibility of a reversing its stance on the issue. “The army of a country which you call a partner killed our citizens with a political order given by its administration. We do not call this kind of country a partner,” said Davutoglu.
“I promise that Turkey will be the first to defend citizens of NATO countries in any similar situation. I believe in the principle of solidarity among NATO member nations much more than the principle of discrimination, practiced by some of you,” Davutoglu fired back at his critics. This is not the first time Turkey has acted against Israeli participation with NATO. Take for example the Turkish opposition to the Israeli request to participate in the Mediterranan Dialogue group, affiliated with NATO, in Brussels.
Turkey also vetoed Israeli participation in the yearly “Active Endeavor” naval maneuver, in which four naval vessels from four different, non-member nations participate.
Turkey has also stated that Israel will not receive any information from NATO radar systems installed in Turkey, meant to provide warning of an Iranian missile attack.
Next month will mark two years since the Israeli raid on the Mavi Marmara, which lead to the unprecedented decline in relations between Israel and Turkey. Efforts to assuage the conflict, including the UN investigation, which suggested that Israel apologize and compensate victim’s families, have not made any changes in the Israeli stance on the issue.
According to Turkish sources, the two sides reached an agreement on the wording of an apology and payment of reparations, however due to political pressure in Israel, especially from Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Israel decided to call off the deal. Last year, U.S. President Barack Obama pressured Turkey to reach an understanding with Israel, but Turkey stated that without an official, public apology, no progress can be made. U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland commented on the poor relations between the two countries. "For quite some time now we have been continuing to talk to both our ally Turkey and our ally Israel about the relationship that they have with each other to encourage them to continue to get back to a place where they can have conversation with each other,” said Nuland. Commenting on the Chicago summit, Nuland added, “With regard to arrangements for the NATO summit and partnership events, as you know, Israel is one of NATO's partners in the Mediterranean dialogue. Those discussions are continuing as we head towards the May summit in Chicago.”
Meanwhile, Turkish international political standing has improved, due largely to Turkish opposition to the rule of Bashar Assad in Syria, Turkey’s role in renewing nuclear talks between Iran and the west, and strengthening ties with Arab nations that have undergone revolutions. Two years ago, diplomats and analysts were wondering which country had the most to lose from the rift in relations. Today, there is no longer any doubt that Israel is the loser in this very important struggle. Turkey is no longer in need of Israeli intervention with the U.S., Turkey’s economic situation is among the best in Europe, and Turkey has become a central diplomatic channel for solving regional conflicts. Israel, it seems, has accepted its loss of relations with Turkey, even though senior Turkish officials believe diplomatic efforts to improve relations would be worthwhile. **Natasha Mozgovaya contributed to this report.

Israel denies it has access to Azerbaijan air bases
By Reuters/During Azerbaijan visit, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman denies claims made last month that Israel could access Azeri air bases, saying that such reports 'are from the sphere of science fiction.'Israel denied on Monday that it had gained access to air bases in the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan, which borders its foe Iran. "Such reports are from the sphere of science fiction and do not correspond with the truth," Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told reporters in the Azeri capital Baku. Israel fears that Iran's nuclear program is aimed at producing weapons. Iran says it is purely for power generation and other peaceful purposes. Israel's defense minister said last week that military action aimed to ensure that Iran does not attain nuclear weapons remains an option even while nuclear negotiations between Tehran and six global powers are under way after more than a year's hiatus. There has been media speculation that Israel would seek to use Azerbaijan as a launching ground for potential attacks on Iran, and the U.S. journal Foreign Policy last month cited sources as saying the United States has concluded that Israel has recently been granted access to air bases on Iran's northern border. "People with a very rich imagination publish such stories ... Media publish a lot of speculation," Lieberman said, adding that he discussed bilateral relations as well as the "issue of Iran" with Azeri President Ilham Aliyev, but did not go into details. "Relations with Azerbaijan could not be better. They are trusting and productive," he said.
Azerbaijan, a mostly Shi'ite Muslim country with a secular government, is home to more than 9,000 Jews in a population of 9 million and has friendly ties with Israel as well as with the United States and Russia. A major energy producer, it exports oil to Israel and imports weapons and military hardware. Relations between Azerbaijan and Iran, its much larger southern neighbor, have been tense in recent months. Iran has accused Azerbaijan of assisting Israeli intelligence in killings of Iranian nuclear scientists. Last month, security forces arrested several Azeris and Iranians on suspicion of spying for Iran, plotting to attack Western targets and smuggling arms from Iran into Azerbaijan.

Netanyahu was briefed on efforts to stop '60 Minutes' report on Israel's Christians
By Barak Ravid/Haaretz /PM was fully updated by Israeli ambassador to U.S. Michael Oren on his attempts to halt an investigative report on Israel's treatment of its Christian community which he thought would harm Israel's interests.The attempts by Israeli ambassador Michael Oren to halt the broadcast of a "60 Minutes" investigative report on the Christian community in Israel and the West Bank were carried out after a series of consultations with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his political adviser Ron Dermer.
It is unclear whether Netanyahu or Dermer were the ones who instructed or suggested that Oren directly address the president of CBS in an attempt to prevent the broadcast, but the two were fully informed on the affair almost since its start. According to a senior Israeli official, Oren visited Israel two months ago for family matters, but met with Netanyahu and Dermer during his visit and updated them on the information he obtained regarding the report in "60 Minutes." During those consultations, Oren stressed that the report, in addition to other articles recently published on Israel's treatment of Christians, may harm Israel's strategic interests in all matters concerning Israel's image in the United States. Many Christian communities in the United States, in particular the Evangelical denomination, are considered great supporters of Israel. Netanyahu is closely associated with numerous Evangelical leaders and is a usual speaker at the annual conference of the organization Christians United for Israel.
Oren told Netanyahu and his advisers that the broadcast of the report may harm Israel's ties with those Christian communities in the U.S. Oren was very wary of the broadcast of the report, particularly in light of the fact that the embassy got wind of it from one of its communiqués, and not from "60 Minutes."
"We conducted a thorough examination and we found out that no official Israeli source was asked to comment on the assertions in the report," an Israeli diplomat said.
Israel's embassy in Washington met with "60 Minutes" several times and found that the report was almost ready for broadcast. In one of the meetings with the investigative reporters, an Israeli diplomat presented an issue of Newsweek with a cover story about the persecution of Christian communities in Arab states."The '60 Minutes' reporters said that this was not the subject of their article so it was not relevant," said an Israeli diplomat. The result of the consultations that Oren carried out with Netanyahu, Dermer, and other officials in the Foreign Ministry, was an op-ed that he published shortly afterward in the Wall Street Journal, in which he stressed that while Christians are victims of persecution throughout the Arab world, the Christian community in Israel is actually growing.
In parallel to the op-ed, Oren gave several interviews to Christian media in the U.S. and Netanyahu spoke before the Evangelical organization "Christians for Israel" that took place in Jerusalem in March.
"Israel’s Government will never tolerate discrimination against women, and values that ensure that Israel’s Christian population will always be free to practice their faith," Netanyahu said during his speech.
"[Israel] is the only place in the Middle East where Christians are fully free to practice their faith," he said. "In a time where Christians are under siege in so many places, in so many lands in the Middle East, I’m proud that in Israel Christians are free to practice their faith and that there’s a thriving Christian community in Israel." A senior Israeli official said that Oren's op-ed, together with Netanyahu's speech and the petition to the president of CBS, were meant to foil the broadcast of the investigative report, or to at least affect public opinion in the U.S., particularly in Christian communities, ahead of the broadcast.
Nonetheless, the attempt to thwart the broadcast of the report has brought up the issue of Israel's treatment of its Christian community all the more forcefully. A source in the Foreign Ministry even said that on some level, the preemptive campaign against the report just intensified the resolve of the "60 Minutes" reporters to air it. "We awakened the dead - instead of stifling the subject we just increased interest in it," the source said. Officials in the Prime Minister's Office said that, on the contrary, the attempts to affect the article proved successful. "The broadcast of the article was delayed for several weeks because they reexamined the entire report," officials said. "The article was malignant and harmful, but the wording was much softer than in the original version."

Implications of Egypt's Gas Cut-Off with Israel
By Simon Henderson and David Schenker
Policy Alert, April 23, 2012
Washington Institute
Yesterday's predictable but still surprising announcement that Egypt's state-run gas company has cancelled its natural gas supply contract with Israel is of immediate concern to Washington, not only because it may affect the peace treaty between the two countries, but also because it could increase the likelihood of vexatious disputes in the development of Eastern Mediterranean gas reserves.
Egypt's supply of oil and, later, natural gas to Israel is considered one of the foundations of the 1979 Camp David Accords. Although a commercial contract, the gas deal is covered by a 2005 memorandum of understanding between the two governments, which notes that the supply arrangement -- slated for an initial period of fifteen years -- "will contribute to enhancing peace and stability in the Middle East." Under the memorandum's terms, Cairo "guarantees the continuous and uninterrupted supply" of gas. But the deal has long been contentious in Egypt among liberals and Islamists alike -- one of the charges that deposed president Hosni Mubarak is facing alleges corruption in the contract. The deal's cancellation, reportedly on the grounds of Israel not paying for supplies, has been welcomed across the Egyptian political spectrum.
The contract's fate is perhaps destined to be worked out by arbitration, legal or political. Because of low volumes and frequent pipeline sabotage blamed on al-Qaeda and lawless Bedouin tribesmen in Sinai, Israel's immediate embarrassment about the cancellation is limited. When working properly, the contract supplied around four billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas per year, but since 2009, Israel has discovered new reserves off its coast totaling more than 750 bcm -- that is, the equivalent of 200 years' worth of what was coming from Egypt.
The challenge for Israel is that the first of these reserves, in the Tamar field, will not come onstream for another twelve months. Until then, the power stations that formerly used supplies from Egypt will have to burn expensive and relatively dirty fuel oil, which several of them have already had to do for months in light of the low-volume and sabotage problems. Electricity shortages are likely during the peak summer season despite emergency attempts to bring onstream a small offshore field that was previously considered commercially unviable. Additionally, Israel is instituting plans for a specialized offshore regasification vessel that will allow temporary imports of liquefied natural gas until the Tamar field is fully operational.
In the meantime, the Egyptian decision, though downplayed by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, will likely stiffen Israel's resolve to free itself from restrictive bilateral relations that might hamper the exploitation and export of gas from its other major recent find, the appropriately named Leviathan field. This is a further inconvenience for U.S. policy because Eastern Mediterranean gas developments in the past two years have raised Washington's expectations that regional tensions might be more amenable to resolution. So far, however, the gas discoveries have not been a game-changer. Although Israeli collaboration with Cyprus is advancing, it has exacerbated Turkey-Cyprus friction. And reported ideas for resolving Israel and Lebanon's offshore boundary dispute still seem fanciful. Jordan, itself hit hard by unreliable Egyptian supplies, is ignoring the logical option of buying gas from Israel and instead is talking to Qatar.
Washington is struggling to retain influence in Egypt's internal political struggle while also maintaining the structure of the Egypt-Israel peace treaty, which has long been a linchpin of U.S. policy in the region. Yet, while Washington's Egypt policy is in intensive care, U.S. policy on the development of Eastern Mediterranean gas reserves represents a different set of challenges, and the two issues should not be mixed. Egypt's otherwise disappointing decision provides an opportunity to separate them.
**Simon Henderson is the Baker fellow and director of the Gulf and Energy Policy Program at The Washington Institute. David Schenker is the Institute's Aufzien fellow and director of the Program on Arab Politics.

Assad Must Be Forced to Allow Peaceful Assembly
By Andrew J. Tabler
Policy Alert, April 18, 2012/Washington Insitute/
Videos and reports from Syria over the past week show that Bashar al-Assad's forces continue to violate the ceasefire outlined by UN special representative Kofi Annan on April 12. The regime has neither ended its use of heavy weapons in population centers nor -- an additional obligation -- pulled back its military. This suppression of dissent in centers of resistance has obviously constrained the people's right to freedom of peaceful expression and assembly, a key tenet of U.S. policy that is clearly outlined in point six of the Annan plan. As a result, Syrians are afraid to express their demands as part of the "Syrian-led political transition to a democratic, pluralist system" and have demonstrated in lesser numbers than expected over the past week. Even if a viable ceasefire can eventually be brokered, protests and other forms of civil resistance will be the key means to judge what the people want going forward.
It seems certain that the UN monitors who have arrived in Damascus over the past few days will be observing only those protestors brave enough to endure a military lockdown that is severely limiting the people's ability to use civil resistance to make Assad "step aside" -- the stated goal of President Obama. The regime has had a far harder time dealing with civil resistance over the past year than armed resistance. Assad's actions thus far indicate that he wants to use the Annan plan to grind down not only the armed opposition, but the overall protest movement as a whole.
The introduction of monitors is a positive development, but only insofar as it will help guarantee Syrians' right to peacefully express themselves in favor of the Assad regime stepping aside. Failure now to ensure that point six of the Annan plan is carried out will only strengthen the regime's hand against the opposition and ensure that the agreement addresses neither the symptoms nor the disease in the Syrian conflict -- a minority regime's brutal suppression of the youngest population in the Middle East outside the Palestinian territories.
To boost the Annan plan's effectiveness, the United States should immediately release daily satellite photography outlining the regime's violations and noncompliance with demands to stop using heavy weapons and to begin redeploying its forces, as it did on April 6 ahead of the previous April 10 redeployment deadline. Next, given the scale of continued regime operations in Syria, the distribution of protests, and the country's geographic size, the United States should demand a sharp increase in the number of proposed monitors, currently slated for 250. (In comparison, 2,000 observers were deployed in 1998 to Kosovo, which is barely a tenth the size of Syria.) Given the divisive nature of the Syrian crisis in international politics, monitors should be selected from a wide spectrum of countries, not the array of "neutral countries" of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa outlined by Syrian foreign minister Walid Mouallem earlier today. Monitors should be empowered to go where they see fit and given self-protection, secure means of communication, intelligence from the United States, and other services to assist the planning of operations and rapid response to unfolding violence. In addition, the protocol worked out between the UN and the Syrian regime must allow for full range of motion and access to all sites.
Last but not least, it is time to activate Plan B. The regime's limited implementation of the Annan plan to date indicates that there is little hope of convincing Assad to honor the agreement's other tenets, including engaging in an "inclusive Syrian-led political process to address the legitimate aspirations and concerns of the Syrian people," the "timely provision of humanitarian assistance," "release of arbitrarily detained persons," and ensuring "freedom of movement throughout the country" and a "non-discriminatory visa policy" for journalists. Therefore, the United States should explore ways to manage the Annan plan's breakdown and expand the agenda of tomorrow's "Friends of the Syrian People" ministerial meeting in Paris to include ways of better coordinating the activities of the alliance's "core group" -- i.e., the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt.
A major motivation for Syria's noncompliance and Moscow's willingness to provide cover for it -- as witnessed by Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov's April 17 criticism of the Friends meeting -- is both countries' desire to leverage compliance with the Annan plan against the formation of an effective coalition to deal with the crisis. This includes Assad's demands that Annan obtain written guarantees that the opposition will lay down its weapons, and also commitments regarding Qatar and Saudi Arabia's support of the opposition. Therefore, the best way to reverse the regime's violence and piecemeal implementation of the Annan plan -- hardly a good start for "dialogue" intended to produce a "Syrian-led political transition to a democratic, plural political system" -- is to accelerate the work of the Friends "core group." In the face of continuing evasion by the regime, the United States and others should begin concerted planning for more forceful measures, including military assistance to elements of the armed opposition and contingency preparations for armed intervention.
*Andrew J. Tabler is the Next Generation fellow at The Washington Institute and author of In the Lion's Den: An Eyewitness Account of Washington's Battle with Syria.

Al-Sadr Met with Bahraini Oppositionist in Iran
By Hamza Mustapha/Asharq Alawsat
Baghdad, Asharq Al-Awsat- Iraqi parliamentarian and member of the Ahrar Bloc affiliated with the Al-Sadr movement, Jawad al-Juburi, has stressed to Asharq Al-Awsat that, “there is nothing new in the position of the Al-Sadr movement whether by its leader Muqtada al-Sadr or any leaders within the Trend concerning the Bahraini revolution or all the revolutions that follow a liberation policy."
Al-Juburi commenting on a news report that a meeting took place in the Iranian city of Qom between Muqtada al-Sadr and elements representing the Bahraini opposition, told Asharq Al-Awsat that, "the Al-Sadr Trend is accustomed not to hide any of its stands, and its positions are declared and well known; therefore, there is nothing new here concerning a meeting with the Bahraini revolutionaries anywhere and by any leader of the Al-Sadr Trend," pointing out that "the Al-Sadr Trend supports all the change and revolutionary movements, particularly that of the Bahraini people."
Al-Juburi went on to say that "the issue does not require a meeting in Iran or anywhere else because the celebration made by the Al-Sadr Trend on the occasion of the departure of the occupation in which Al-Sadr delivered a speech was attended by a delegation of the Bahraini revolutionaries, and their representative delivered a speech. Therefore, our stand is declared and well known regardless of the nature of the political relations between Iraq and Bahrain." He stressed that the Sadrists "will continue to call for [revenge] for the blood of the Bahraini people which was shed unfairly and in an aggressive way only because they want to practice their freedom that has been enshrined by all laws, constitutions, and human rights." .
Bahrain participated in the Arab summit that was held in Baghdad last March with a delegation that was led by the Bahraini foreign minister after it had first announced that its representation will be at the ambassador's level. However, a pledge by the Iraqi Government that it would not raise the Issue of Bahrain in the summit and the announcement made by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on banning demonstrations against Bahrain during the summit led to upgrading the level of its representation in the summit.

Iraqi Shiite Sadr Movement ready to drop Al-Maliki
By Ma'ad Fayad/Asharq Al-Awsat /London, Asharq Al-Awsat - An official source in the National Iraqi Alliance (NIA) revealed that the Sadr Movement is working earnestly to form the next Iraqi government, pointing out that its efforts have reached the stage of naming a successor to Nuri al-Maliki, the current Prime Minister.The source, in a telephone interview conducted with Asharq al-Awsat from Baghdad yesterday, said that “the Sadr Movement has recently stepped up its meetings to discuss the possibility of forming the next government, whether this means working to withdraw confidence from the current al-Maliki government or after the next elections”. He added “In all likelihood, they are working to prepare the next Prime Minister in the event that the other blocs insist on withdrawing confidence from the al-Maliki government, in order to salvage the political, economic and security situation in the country, and out of the interests of the Iraqi people”.
The NIA is composed of various Shiite blocs, forces and figures, including the Dawa party - part of the State of Law Coalition led by al-Maliki, the Sadr Movement led by Muqtada al-Sadr, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council led by headed by Ammar al-Hakim, the Islamic Virtue Party led by Minister of Justice Hassan al-Shammari, the National Reform Trend (with one seat in parliament) led by former Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, in addition to Hussein Shahristani, the Deputy Prime Minister, and other Shiite figures. After the most recent legislative elections that took place in 2010, the NIA supported al-Maliki remaining in office and forming a government to counter the Iraqiya bloc led by Iyad Allawi, the former Prime Minister of Iraq who had won the most votes in the elections. The Iraqiya bloc accused the federal supreme court of being biased towards al-Maliki after it granted the NIA the right to form a government, rather than the bloc that had won the elections.
The official NIA source added that “The Sadr Movement has agreed in principle to nominate Qusay al-Suhail, Vice Chairman of the Iraqi Council of Representatives (parliament) to be the next Prime Minister instead of al-Maliki”. He added that “there are substantive grounds for nominating al-Suhail, most notably that the Sadr Movement considers him to be close to the Prime Minister, just as the Dawa Party and the State of Law bloc consider al-Suhail to be practically one of them, and his nomination would reassure them and al-Maliki that the next Prime Minster will not open the files relating to security failure, corruption, detentions and poor services, all of which al-Maliki is embroiled in, as well as the senior leaders of his bloc, his party and his affiliates”. He went on to say “this is not certain however, by which I mean it is not certain that the next president will not open those files. This is especially as Muqtada al-Sadr has attacked al-Maliki and government ministers for their failure to perform their responsibilities”.The source warned that “coordination is underway at the highest levels between the Sadr Movement, the Iraqiya coalition, the Kurdistan Alliance and within the NIA itself, towards approving the idea of the Sadr Movement forming the next government, in accordance with the principles of genuine national partnership”. He pointed out that “Nechirvan Barzani, Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and Vice President of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, met with al-Sadr in Qom over two weeks ago, and the meeting was geared in this direction. Likewise, the message of thanks sent by Massoud Barzani via Fuad Hussein, Chief of Staff to the President of the KRG, to al-Sadr last week regarding his stance on the attempted assassinations of Kurds in Arab Iraqi cities, along with the meetings between the Iraqiya bloc and the Sadr Movement, and the coordination of their positions, with Allawi paying tribute to al-Sadr on more than one occasion, describing him as a nationalist Iraqi leader, and his movement as a nationalist one, all give a clear indication of approval for the Sadr Movement to form the next government”.
The source said that “The Sadr Movement has 40 seats in parliament, and those MPs supported al-Maliki’s formation of the government. The Movement also has important ministers within the al-Maliki government itself, and the Deputy Speaker of the Parliament. However, this does not mean that it will remain silent about the deplorable political situation, or the issues of corruption or mismanagement, the victims of which are the Iraqi people”. He warned that “al-Sadr has attacked the Prime Minister before and criticized his monopoly over governance and his inclination towards dictatorship. Most recently, he alleged that the arrest of Faraj al-Haidari, chief of the Independent High Electoral Commission, was carried out in the interests of al-Maliki”.

UN delegation of the “terrified” in Syria
By Tariq Alhomayed/Asharq Al-Awsat
Rather than the delegation of international observers in Syria monitoring the al-Assad forces implementation of the ceasefire – according to the Annan initiative – we saw the Free Syrian Army [FSA] protecting the Blue Berets, particularly in Homs, where the head of the observer mission, Colonel Ahmed Himmiche, was present.
A YouTube video-clip has appeared showing the international monitors being targeted and shot at by forces belonging to the tyrant of Damascus, whilst members of the FSA formed a human barrier to protect them as they were beset by panic. Indeed this video-clip shows one FSA member protecting one of the international monitors from gunfire, reassuring him by saying “don’t be afraid!” Of course, anybody who views this YouTube video-clip understand the extent of the irony inherent in this situation, and as the saying goes, the worst disaster is the one that brings laughter, particularly when we are looking at a UN monitoring delegation transform into a delegation of the “terrified”. This represents a clear insult from the al-Assad regime towards the UN and international community, particularly as the targeting of this delegation took place on the same day that the UN Security Council took the decision to send more monitors to Syria! So after all of this, can we say that there is any expected benefit from sending international monitors to Syria? There can be no doubt that this is completely out of the question.
Al-Assad’s shelling of Homs, Deraa, Hama and other cities is on-going, and Syrian people are being killed on a daily basis, so after all of this how can we say that the delegation of international monitors will play an effective role, or confirm al-Assad’s compliance with the Annan initiative? The targeting of the international observers, and their being subject to gunfire in Homs, means that al-Assad has taken aim at Annan’s initiative, and this means that we cannot rely on this initiative, or wait another three months – which is the timeframe provided for the observer mission by the UN initiative – for al-Assad did not even wait a few days for his forces to fire upon the delegation of the “terrified”. What is funny is that Washington is claiming that its patience has run out, and that it will not renew the observer mission in 90-days, in other words Washington has already begun to negotiate – from today – about renewing the observer mission, which should end in 3 months! This is the true definition of absurdity, whilst it also makes light of the Syrian blood that has been shed non-stop over the past 12 months, particularly as this delegation of the “terrified” – on Friday – refused to monitor the scene, despite the huge anti-Assad demonstrations taking place, with the head of the observer mission saying that his team would not undertake any field trips for fear that “our presence is used for escalation.” Is this a joke? Must the FSA now also protect the international delegation of the “terrified” from the al-Assad forces?
It is clear that the international delegation of the “terrified” will not accelerate or delay anything in Syria, particularly at their current level, therefore the Emir of Qatar was right when he said that the Annan initiative has only a 3 percent chance of success! What everybody must be aware of is the fact that al-Assad only understands the language of force; anything other than this is nothing more than a license to kill, a waste of time and a deepening of the Syrian crisis.

The Turkish coffee is bitter
By Hussein Shobokshi/Asharq Alawsat
The political model extolled by all those belonging to Islamist political currents in our region is the one that has been achieved by Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey. This model is the argument that is put forward whenever anybody questions Islamist political currents’ readiness to lead governments.
However, the political scene in Egypt, especially where the Muslim Brotherhood and its official political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party – not to mention the Salafist al-Nour party– are concerned, seems to be highly tumultuous. Their reckless performances, not to mention their “distance” from the sought-after Turkish political model, have been cited as the cause of this chaos, and this is because what the Islamist political parties in Egypt are advocating ultimately has nothing to do with the Turkish model.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan is a man who is implementing democracy to its fullest extent, without enforcing any control, transgression or elimination of others. Despite his Islamist doctrine, Erdogan does not deprive other sects and denominations from their equal right to practice full citizenship without question or decrement. They are not judged by double standards. Moreover, there is true economic freedom which allows progress and development for all sectors. Over and above, there is respect for freedom of speech, freedom of expression and media freedoms. Thanks to this healthy political climate, we have not seen extremist figures in Turkey try to assassinate a Nobel Laureate, for example, as happened in Egypt with the attempted assassination of Naguib Mahfouz.
Turkey is a civil state that is ruled by an Islamist-flavoured party, which also enjoys a parliamentary majority. However the Turkish state and government respect the rights of the Turkish people; they respect [diplomatic] agreements and the rights of others. This is a state of law; it is the criteria and rule, it is the means through which noble goals are achieved. This is something that the Islamist movement ruling Tunisia understands, whilst the Islamist movements in Syria who are seeking power also eventually understood this. However their counterpart movements in Egypt – as well as other countries – have failed to fully appreciate this.
The Erdogan model should be taken as it is, because Erdogan himself is the product of the political atmosphere in Turkey, and it was this same atmosphere that allowed for the formation of political parties, as well as the freedom to stand for elections and participate in politics, so long as people’s rights are not infringed upon or violated. More than this, and I am certain this next statement will provoke the Armenians in particular, but it is the truth: there is more tolerance and coexistence today in Turkey than there is in Armenia itself. People there live in their shells, isolated from the outside world, no matter how much they try to coexist with others. Indeed, the Armenians today even refuse to marry outside of their Church.
We may be glad of the Islamist parties desire to imitate the Turkish mode, but they must take this model in its entirety. Turkish civilization possessed a degree of tolerance which allowed Mimar Sinan, the Christian Armenian architect, to become the most famous builder of Istanbul mosques. This same tolerance allowed Turkey's Muslim clerics to become a marja [Islamic reference] for tolerance and coexistence, away from hard-line attitudes and extremist behaviour. Again, this tolerance enabled Turkish culture to be a point of intersection for all world civilizations in a unique manner without elimination or offense.Some Islamist movements were shocked today after it became clear that they are unable to adopt the Turkish political model in full, and so they have become a deformed and underdeveloped creature, and this represents the core of the problem they are facing today for when the Turkish model could not be completed, it turned bitter.

EU Suspends Burma Sanctions, Slaps New Ones on Syria
Lisa Bryant | Paris /V.O.A
In this photo taken on Feb 23, 2012, people walk past a roadside stall selling the posters of Burmese democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and her late father in Rangoon, Burma. .The European Union suspended for a year most sanctions against Burma on Monday, while also adopting new ones against the Syrian government.
The European Union's move to suspend sanctions against Burma follows a series of political reforms by the ruling party -- and a declaration by Washington that it will also ease sanctions. Suspending sanctions for a year, rather than dropping them altogether, gives the EU leverage to pressure the Burmese government to adopt more reforms.
That message was sounded by British Foreign Secretary William Hague in remarks to reporters before meeting with his European counterparts in Luxembourg.
"I think that it's the right thing to do," Hague said. "Great progress is being made in Burma, but we remain very concerned about conflict and human right abuses in some ethnic areas in Burma, particularly in Kachin state. There are still political prisoners and there is a dispute about swearing in of opposition members to the parliament. So, I think all this illustrates why it would be right to suspend and not lift entirely the sanctions," he said.
The EU's decision was expected, particularly following a joint appeal from British Prime Minister David Cameron and Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The existing EU sanctions target hundreds of businesses and individuals in Burma and affect some international development aid.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton told journalists she will travel to Burma later this week.
"I'll be there next weekend in order to deliver the messages from this [European] Council and also to open the European Union office that we have there," she said.
The EU ministers also agreed to tighten sanctions against the government in Syria, where bloodshed continues despite this month's cease-fire agreement.
The new measures target Syrian imports of luxury goods and so-called dual-use products like fertilizers that the government could use to continue its repression. The turmoil in Syria, now entering its second year, is estimated to have more than 9,000 people.

Obama announces sanctions for tech used in human rights abuses in Iran and Syria
Washington Post/By Scott Wilson, Updated: Monday, April 23, President Obama outlined a series of policies Monday aimed at helping the U.S. government better respond to the threat of genocide around the world, declaring that “national sovereignty is never a license to slaughter your people.”
Speaking at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Obama invoked the international community’s vows of “never again” but also cited the difficulties of fulfilling that pledge in the 21st century, recalling post-World War II mass killings in Rwanda, Bosnia, Cambodia and other places to say, “We are haunted by the atrocities we did not stop, by the lives we did not save.”
Obama at the United States Holocaust Museum in Washington: Obama, at Holocaust Museum, said ‘seeds of hate’ must not be allowed to take root in people.
Obama announced the formal establishment of the Atrocities Prevention Board, which will draw senior officials from across the government. The panel will serve as a clearinghouse for real-time intelligence, policymaking and other issues related to the threat of mass killings.
He also announced the preparation of the first-ever National Intelligence Estimate — the consensus view of all U.S. intelligence agencies — appraising the potential for mass killings in countries around the world.
“We must tell our children. But more than that, we must teach them,” Obama said in a solemn 25-minute address. “Because remembrance without resolve is a hollow gesture.”
Obama spoke at a time when his policy toward Syria, where a government crackdown has killed thousands of civilians, is under sharp criticism from his Republican rivals for the presidency.
On Monday, he announced an executive order that allows U.S. officials for the first time to impose sanctions against foreign nationals found to have used new technologies, including cellphone tracking and Internet monitoring, to help carry out grave human rights abuses.
The order specifically targets companies and individuals aiding the Iranian and Syrian governments, but administration officials say it could be expanded in the future to include other countries using technology to crack down on dissent.
Under the order, the administration announced new sanctions, including a U.S. visa ban and financial restrictions, against a range of Syrian and Iranian agencies and individuals. Those include the Syrian General Intelligence Directorate, the Syriatel phone company and Ali Mamluk, the director of Syria’s general intelligence services.
In Iran, the sanctions target the elite Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Ministry of Intelligence and Security, the law enforcement forces and Datak Telecom.
“These technologies should be in place to empower citizens, not to repress them,” Obama said.
Obama reviewed several actions he has taken to prevent mass killings since assuming office. Last year, he cited an imminent threat to Libya’s civilians to explain his decision to intervene militarily against longtime leader Moammar Gaddafi.
In October, Obama dispatched 100 U.S. troops to Uganda and its neighbors to help the region’s governments hunt down Joseph Kony, the fanatical head of the Lord’s Resistance Army, notorious for its campaign of civilian slaughter and child kidnapping. On Monday, Obama announced that he was extending the deployment past its initial 150 days.
“That does not mean that we intervene militarily every time there’s an injustice in the world,” Obama said. “We cannot and should not.”
Michael Abramowitz, director of the Committee on Conscience at the Holocaust Memorial Museum, said the steps Obama outlined “are potentially — and I stress the word potentially — very important.”
“The government historically, and I say this across administrations, has not been up to the job of responding to mass killings and genocide,” Abramowitz said. “The test will be whether these tools are institutionalized across the bureaucracy, whether they gain bipartisan support, and whether they outlast this administration.”

Nizar Nayouf, al-Haqiqa, and Syrian Christians
by Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi
The American Spectator
April 23, 2012
http://www.meforum.org/3218/nizar-nayouf-al-haqiqa-syrian-christians
In an April 6 article for Ha'aretz I wrote with two co-authors, I traced the widely circulated claim that 90 percent of Christians had been ethnically cleansed from the Syrian city of Homs by Islamist militants back to a site known as al-Haqiqa (Arabic for "The Truth"). This site, despite claiming to oppose the Assad regime while being critical of the Syrian opposition, is accurately described by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) as a "pro-Assad" site.
Having shown the dubious veracity of the claim, I received abusive messages via Facebook on the following day from a Syrian journalist named Nizar Nayouf, who is currently living in exile in Europe. He started with, "Had it not been published in 'Haaretz', and you taught [note: I'm a student] in 'Oxford', I would think you are a member of the 'Al Qaeda' or 'Mujahid' with 'Abu Musab al-Zarqawi!!'" He also included a denunciation for working with the "U.S.-Israeli racist Daniel Pipes."
Nayouf's attacks didn't stop there. I was also greeted with my photo (along with a shot of Daniel Pipes) posted with the headline "Israeli Newspaper Recruits Daniel Pipes' Boys To Attack 'al-Haqiqa' and Defend the Criminals of the 'al-Farouq Brigade'" on the front page of the al-Haqiqa website.
In the purported exposé, al-Haqiqa supposedly cites an anonymous Iraqi student at Oxford University to claim that I am actually an Israeli spy directing a Mossad operation network in Iraqi Kurdistan, hiding under the pseudonym of Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi. As further evidence of this, al-Haqiqa draws attention to the fact that my profile picture on Facebook is an IDF paratrooper badge from the Yom Kippur War, as well as my affiliation with the Middle East Forum.
A self-proclaimed Marxist-Trotskyite and founder of the "National Council for Truth, Justice and Reconciliation in Syria" (SYNATIC), which is said to be the publisher of al-Haqiqa, Nayouf appears to have started life as a legitimate critic of the Assad dynasty. He was apparently imprisoned for just over nine years by the Syrian regime (from 17 March 1992 until 6 May 2001). He has also received numerous awards pertaining to press freedom.
Nonetheless, many of his recent articles, especially those on al-Haqiqa, push regime-friendly propaganda with numerous stories that can only be described as bogus.
Nayouf furthers his writing by playing to the fringe conspiracy-theorist community. In December 2011, Nayouf was interviewed by and contributed to a story with 9/11 conspiracy theorist James Corbett (an "independent journalist" who has also written a series of essays on the "New World Order"). The interview centered on Nayouf hilariously claiming (based on unnamed sources of his in Jordan) that U.S. troops were amassing on the Jordanian border with Syria.
Nayouf's other Arabic articles are rife with harebrained conspiracy theories. In a number of other pieces, he makes rambling references to American, Saudi, and Israeli plots against Syria -- many following a line established by the Assad regime.
In one note he published on Facebook and subsequently carried on other websites, Nayouf accused French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy and Free Syrian Army commander Riad al-Assaad of being agents for the CIA and French intelligence in an effort to assist with, "criminal acts in Afghanistan during the '80s and '90s for al-Qaeda." In the same note Nayouf addressed a nonexistent "campaign to expel Syria from UNESCO," stating "all those who take part in the campaign to expel Syria from UNESCO are committing an Israeli and Talbanistic crime."
He even accused Lebanon's pro-Western and anti-Assad Sunni Muslim party, al-Mustaqbal, of being a "gang of spies" hell bent on furthering "Wahabbism" in Syria. This was all part of an effort to "open the door for all forms of invaders, starting with the generals of Israel."
Often Nayouf mixes anti-Semitic themes with his critiques of Islamism by accusing the Wahabbism of being "Talmudic." In another article covering Mohamed Merah, the al Qaeda inspired gunman who murdered three French soldiers, three young Jewish students, and a rabbi, al-Haqiqa implied that the perpetrator might have been a controlled asset of the Israelis or French intelligence services.
Coming back to the article for Ha'aretz, it is to be noted that one of the reasons that the veracity of al-Haqiqa's original story on alleged mass ethnic cleansing of Christians from Homs was challenged is that the "report" made no reference to the phenomenon of imposition of jizya (the traditional "poll-tax" in Islam extorted from Jewish and Christian minorities living under the "protection" of Islamic law: a concept not dissimilar to the Sicilian Mafia's protection rackets).
And so, what does Nayouf have his al-Haqiqa outlet put out just three days after our article was published? An "exclusive" 1300-word report claiming that the al-Faruq Brigade has been imposing jizya on Christians in Homs Governorate. This is no coincidence: Nizar has clearly intended his outlet's "report" to be a refutation of the Ha'aretz article.
Credit for drawing attention to this al-Haqiqa report goes to BBC Monitoring Middle East (BBC-MME), which, like MEMRI, does a good job of highlighting Arabic media discourse for English speakers via a mailing list for subscribers. Indeed, it should immediately be noticed that the BBC-MME summary of the story does not in any way vouch for the claims made by al-Haqiqa. Had the BBC thought there was any veracity to the report, it would surely have highlighted the story on its website.
What further reveals the bogus nature of this latest al-Haqiqa story is the additional claim that "hundreds of Pakistani armed men" have flooded into the Homs area to fight the regime's forces. Nayouf's outlet traces this claim to "very reliable local sources" that account for this Pakistani presence by attributing the fighters' origins to Turkey and Europe (and the UK in particular).
Really? There no other reports in other outlets to corroborate these claims. Why have these Pakistani fighters come to Syria but did not similarly head to Iraq to fight the Shi'i-led Iraqi government's forces and the "infidel" coalition forces that were occupying a Muslim country at the height of the Iraq War?
In fact, hundreds of foreign Sunni jihadists were captured in Iraq by coalition forces, and none of them had Pakistani origins. A 2008 report from the West Point based Combating Terrorism Center only reported one Pakistani being detained at Camp Bucca, the main detainment center for third-party nationals in Iraq. The fact is that the overwhelming majority of foreign Sunni insurgents were Arab fighters from the Middle East and North Africa.
Dr. Jonathan Spyer is a senior research fellow at the GLORIA Center and spent time in February embedded with the Free Syrian Army (FSA) inside Syria. When asked about al-Haqiqa's report his answer was clear, "File under regime cut-out, fake opposition, straight out of the Ba'athist playbook.… Of course there are Islamist fighters in the FSA and this should not be denied or underestimated but this particular info sounds very much like regime info-ops."
For good measure, I also forwarded al-Haqiqa's story to left-wing journalist Nir Rosen. Like Nayouf, Rosen is no fan of U.S. policy in the region. Yet unlike Nayouf, Rosen has traveled extensively inside Syria (especially in Homs) over the past year.
Rosen stated that al-Haqiqa's story of imposition of jizya was completely fictitious, pointing out that even if the al-Faruq Brigade wanted to impose jizya, it is not in control of the areas named in the report, lacking sufficient organization to gain said control. Moreover, there is no evidence that the al-Faruq Brigade is led and dominated by Islamist militants wanting to impose jizya on Christians.
It is unfortunate that Nayouf and al-Haqiqa are continuing to disseminate false claims of mass persecution of Christians in Syria by the opposition, and putting such unsubstantiated stories in the mouths of "Christian sources" in Homs Governorate. The effect of this material portrays Christians as propagandists for the regime. This is something that will only inflame any anti-Christian sentiment that already exists and could turn claims of mass persecution into self-fulfilling prophecies.
Lacking arms or a defensible geographic hinterland to defend themselves, Christians are generally "sitting on the fence" and refraining from openly taking sides in the present conflict. It is not in their interests to be portrayed as partisans. Thus, Nayouf and al-Haqiqa are not helping Syrian Christians.
Let us hope they will desist from any further irresponsible dissemination of bogus reports and conspiracy theories.
Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi is a student at Brasenose College, Oxford University, and an adjunct fellow at the Middle East Forum.