LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
August 05/12

Bible Quotation for today
Luke 12/10-12/And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. When they bring you before the synagogues, the rulers, and the authorities, do not worry about how you are to defend yourselves or what you are to say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that very hour what you ought to say.’

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
The lost activists/Ana Maria Luca/Now Lebanon/August 04/12

Lebanon’s Arabic press digest - August 4, 2012 The Daily Star
Following are summaries of some of the main stories in a selection of Lebanese newspapers Saturday. The Daily Star cannot vouch for the accuracy of these reports.
An-Nahar
Government decision to halt Syrian deportations
The removal of the sit-in at the Electricite Du Liban Friday after 97 days since it launched turned into celebratory show at the EDL headquarters building presented by General Labor Confederation head Ghassan Ghosn and also served as a platform to demonstrate “victories” by the political forces in the majority that led the battle to resolve the dispute.
And if the end of the sit-in came as a result of a political deal between three political forces – Amal, Hezbollah and the Free Patriotic Movement – as what Energy Minister Gebran Bassil has posited, sources in the majority outside of these three political parties told An-Nahar that this crisis resulted in the following conclusions: Participants in the Cabinet realized that a collapse of the government was a red line and therefore they came to a settlement on the lines of “no victorious, no vanquished” formula; Despite the settlement, the image portrayed by the majority is no longer; resolving the issue of the contract workers will not end the electricity crisis.
Al-Liwaa
Opposition hints as questioning the government
Toward an official decision to freeze the deportation of Syrians
The issue of deporting 14 Syrian opponents of the Syrian regime by General Security kept busy different official, political and diplomatic sides and renewed the internal division over how to approach the issue of Syrian people wanted by the regime.
The opposition escalated its position with [former] Prime Minister Fouad Siniora revealing he would put a question to the government on its role in the deportation of the Syrians and indicated that the government was bound by the 2000 treaty against torture.
Interior Minister Marwan Charbel told Al-Liwaa that he would send the government a letter in which he proposes ways to specifically deal with detained Syrians at the judicial and legal levels.
Al-Joumhouria
Temporary rehabilitation of the Cabinet situation which could still explode
Palestinian authorities accuse Jibril of Yarmuk massacre
While Kofi Annan’s resignation as U.N.-Arab envoy to Syria remained in the spotlight, Annan advised Russia, China and Iran “to exert efforts to convince the Syrian regime to change its course … and to realize that the present government has lost all its legitimacy.”
The Palestinian leadership condemned the crime at the Yarmuk camp in Damascus and accused Palestinian sides of trying to involve the Palestinians in the Syrian conflict, pointing specifically to Ahmad Jibril of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command.

EU urges Lebanon not to send back Syrian refugees
August 04, 2012/ BRUSSLES: The European Union called on Lebanon Saturday not to send Syrian refugees back across the border, expressing concern that they were not being protected and could face torture if forced to return. A statement issued on behalf of the top EU diplomat, Catherine Ashton, said she was "concerned by the recent reports of expulsion by the Lebanese authorities of Syrian nationals to Syria." "Today Syria is in a situation where people's lives are at risk across the country, including well documented reports of torture," the statement said.
"Lebanon must ensure that no deportation takes place outside the framework of its international obligations, and that effective and transparent procedures are in place, in consultation with all appropriate domestic and international organisations..."The EU noted Beirut had given assurances with regard to respect for its international obligations and had extended support to those fleeing the violence in Syria.
"The EU is assisting the Lebanese authorities in addressing the constraints and challenges this situation places on the country, in terms of rule of law, protection, safety and security, social and economic development," it said. "The EU reiterates expectations concerning the responsibility of the Lebanese authorities to continue to provide protection, in line with the principle of non-refoulement," it added.
On Wednesday Lebanon deported 14 Syrians despite the raging violence over the border, drawing criticism from human rights activists.
The Lebanese authorities said the reasons for the expulsions were not political but a Human Rights Watch representative in Beirut said some of the deportees had expressed feared of persecution on their return. One of them might be a political activist, an HRW representative said, noting that the detainee had contacted HRW prior to being handed over to Syrian authorities at the border and expressed fear about what might happen to him. But a Lebanese security official told AFP that those deported were wanted for common law not political offences.

Bulgaria official: Burgas bombing was planned abroad
AFP/ 08.04.12/Top Bulgarian Interior Ministry official says attack was plotted abroad, although bomb was assembled locally .The fatal bombing that targeted Israeli tourists at Bulgaria's Burgas airport last month was planned abroad, but the explosive device was likely made in Bulgaria, a top Interior Ministry official said Saturday. "I can definitely say that the attack was plotted, prepared and implemented by people who are very far away from Bulgaria," Ministry Chief of Staff Kalin Georgiev told Bulgaria's 24 Hours newspaper in an interview. They come, act and leave," he said. "We also cannot talk about so-called homegrown terrorism. The people who prepared the attack did not use local criminal infrastructures for logistic support," he added. The bomb itself, however, was likely assembled on Bulgarian soil, Georgiev noted. "There is nothing specific about its make. Our experts estimate that it was assembled somewhere close as no one would risk carrying an activated improvised explosive device (IED)," he said. The bomb's components were legally available in any shop both in Bulgaria and abroad, he added. Discovering the bomber's identity was now "a prime task of the investigation," which was progressing, albeit slowly, Georgiev said. On Wednesday, Bulgarian authorities released a computer generated image of the terrorist; his severed head, which was found on the scene of the attack, was used to compose the image. Prosecutors said last week they were working with the authorities in Belgium, Britain and Finland in an effort to identify the suspect's origin. Seven people were killed, five of them Israelis, and 34 people were injured, when a blast tore through a bus shuttling Israeli tourists in the terminal of Sarafovo Airport last month.

Iran tests upgraded version of short-range missile
Associated Press/ 08.04.12/ Upgraded 300km-range missile is most accurate weapon in Iran's arsenal, defense minister says. Iran claims it has successfully test-fired an upgraded version of a short-range ballistic missile. Iranian Defense Minister Genenral Ahmad Vahidi says the solid-fueled Fateh-110 has a range of 300 kilometers (185 miles). He claims it can pin-point targets at sea, making it the most accurate weapon of its kind in Iran's arsenal.The general did not specify where or when the missile test took place. Past reports placed the ballistic missile in the possession of Hezbollah in Lebanon. Iran has been pushing to upgrade its missiles, which already can target Israel and other parts of the region. Officials say that they are focusing on missiles that can strike naval targets. The Fateh-110, or Conqueror, is a single-stage solid-propellant, surface-to-surface missile put into service in 2002. The earlier version of the domestically-produced missile had a range of 200 kilometers.Vahidi's comments were reported by state TV Saturday. The weapon was developed by Iran's Aerospace Industries Organization.

Number of Jihadists in Sinai on the rise
By Yousri Mohammed /Al Arish, Asharq Al-Awsat- Various prominent figures in the Middle East have expressed their concerns of the apparent imminent danger displayed by combatant groups moving to the Sinai Peninsula situated in Egypt. A popular destination amongst Israeli tourists, the Netanyahu administration was among those who issued out a warning urging Israeli’s to return to their homes and avoid the rising the danger of the region.
Fears over the safety of visitors to the peninsula aren’t unfounded. The Sinai bombings of 2004 targeted tourist hotels and killed 34 whilst injuring 171. The Israeli Prime Minister previously aired his concerns over what he believed to be the “lawlessness” state Sinai was descending into which contrasted greatly to the three decades of peace the country held with Egypt. In response to this, Arab critics have said the current unease and rising tensions act as a motive for Israel to step into the Sinai region and “achieve its ambitions under the pretext of the deteriorating security conditions”.
A growing number of sources have claimed that armed groups have made camp in the area, which resulted from the fall of the Mubarak’s government causing a lack of adequate security and creating a safe haven for groups with extreme Islamists fundamentalist values. According to informed members of the Egyptian security forces, Sinai’s lack of military personal allows such groups to build upon their resources and plan their attacks without fear of being roused. Further information has unearthed that if they are not stopped soon, their growing array of nationalities and expertise will propel them to be a frightening brunt. This appears to already be underway if the reports that they are in the possession of smuggled weaponry, en route from Libya and Sudan, are held to be true.
Many residents of Rafah, a prominent city located in North Sinai, have come forth with their accounts. They claimed that the groups are attracting young men with the promises of riches and, in some cases, paying for their marriages. Such a view of these young men doesn’t adhere with the previous notion presented to the world of the young Middle Eastern liberals who set and carried the protests in their countries. However, the danger felt by the Sinai community suggests that the tides have turned and the men have found another battle against perceived injustice to fight. On the other hand, reports have suggested that many of these men are escaped prisoners; their freedom gained amidst the chaos created by the revolution and greatly adding to their threat.
Egyptian political figures have contributed to the matter, the majority believing that these groups are exploiting the country’s current fragile “loose state in which they come and do whatever they want”. Indeed they, some of which have been identified to be Palestinian organisations, have not been particularly guarded with their intensions. Such groups as “the Mujahadeen Shura Council” have recently posted a video on the internet horrifically boasting of their targets near the Egyptian border with Israel and claiming that such actions are “a gift to our brothers” in other similar extremist groups. Similarly, another Jihadist organisation took responsibility for the calculated bombing of the main gas pipeline which supplied gas to the “Zionist Entity’. What these groups hold in common is the adherent view that they must eradicate infidels, in other words non-Muslims. This is further evidenced by the horrendous suicide bombings carried out by the Jihad Group, also believed to be situated in Sinai, in the Israeli and US embassies in the capital city of Uzbekistan. The attacks killed at least nine people whilst wounding many more.
However, some have been questioning the credibility of the danger posed. As far as individuals belonging to a town predominantly occupied by the desert dwelling Bedouin group see the fears are merely based on rumours. They have claimed that while they have heard of the presence of militant settlements in the deserts of Sinai, they haven’t come across them. While they cannot yet confirm the militant existence in the area, it would appear that the security force is depending on the Bedouin to attempt restraining the groups. This appears to be the preferred route as opposed to armed intervention as to ease the tension between the Bedouins and force. Furthermore, the security forces consider armed intervention to result in large losses that simply could not be afforded at amidst the country’s new developments.

Syrian fighter jets strike Aleppo, Assad rides crest of disintegrating country
DEBKAfile Special Report August 4, 2012/ UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was voicing the general consensus when he said Friday, Aug. 3, “The conflict in Syria is a test of everything this organization stands for.” He stopped short of giving the UN a failed mark. “World powers must overcome their rivalries to end the proxy war in Syria dividing the country into parts, in which different militias fight each other," he said, Nonetheless, the resolution approved by the general assembly roundly condemned the Assad regime and rapped the Security Council - but had no teeth.
Ban was speaking of a future danger. debkafile reports it is already happening. Day by day, new militias spring up to fight the Assad regime – five in the last 48 hours. They fall into three main categories: they represent one Syrian ethnic minority or another, Islamists streaming in from across the Middle East, or rebels groups armed and backed by Arab and Muslim intelligence bodies.
Common to them all is contempt for the mainstream Free Syrian Army which insists it is the umbrella organization for the entire rebel movement.
The biggest new paramilitary group rising from Syria’s war-torn landscape is the Kurdish coalition formed by the Syrian Democratic Union Party and elements of the Turkish PKK, which continue to arrive from Iraq and are taking up position on the Syrian-Turkish border. Kurdish fighters are occupying one northern Syrian town and village after another, laying the foundation for an independent Syrian Kurdish state which plans to link up with the Kurdish Regional Government of Iraq. The merger of Syrian and Turkish Kurdish militias with the Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga would produce a Kurdish army of 225,000 fighting men. Terrified that the separatism sweeping its brothers will infect the Turkish Kurdish minority - and suspecting Washington of surreptitiously supporting it - Turkish intelligence, the MIT, was instructed to establish and arm two Turkmen militias in the Syrian Kurdish region: Brigades of Mehmet the Conqueror and Brigades of Sultan Abdulhamid.
In Aleppo, the FSA has been displaced at the head of the campaign against government troops by a militia established by the Muslim Brotherhood and a rival set up by radical affiliates of al Qaeda, which is a hodgepodge of jihadists from Libya, the Gaza Strip, and Egyptian Sinai. Saudi and Qatari intelligence services are competing for the favors of these militias by supplying them with arms.
American intelligence analysts keeping watch on Syria warned Saturday, Aug. 4, that if the proliferation of fighting militias taking part in the conflict goes on, Syria will soon have more than a hundred mini-armies, some of them Christian and Druze. In no time they will be fighting each other.
American and European military sources explain their reluctance to provide the Syrian rebel movement with heavy anti-tank and anti-air weapons capable of tipping the scales of the fighting in Aleppo by their uncertainty about whose hands they will end up in. Saturday saw the state of battle in Aleppo undecided. In an attempt to break the tie, Assad sent MiG fighter-bombers to bomb rebel positions in the northern sector of the city. He hopes to recover control of Aleppo well before external powers reach a decision on supplying the rebels with heavy arms. In Damascus, Syrian troops backed by dozens of tanks and armored vehicles Friday night stormed Damascus' southern district of Tadamon, the last rebel bastion in the capital. Activists reported that troop were conducting house to house raids and had executed at least 12 people.

LBC: Two abducted Lebanese pilgrims escape following dispute
August 4, 2012/Now Lebanon /Two of the 11 Lebanese Shiite hostages in Syria’s Aleppo took advantage of a dispute between their captors to escape from their detention, LBC television reported on Saturday. The report added that a relative of one of the abductees was informed that the dispute happened when the leader of the group, Abu Ibrahim—who had promised to release two of the 11 pilgrims—had back tracked on his decision following a disagreement between Qatar and Turkey. The relative said that Qatar supported the release of the two abductees while Turkey inisted on all of them being released at once. LBC television also reported that the hostage-takers had been attacked by either the Free Syrian Army or a another rebel group, adding that the two abductees escaped during the melee. However, the station added that 11 abductees were all safe. In May, 11 Shiite pilgrims were abducted in Syria’s Aleppo while returning from a pilgrimage in Iran. Later in the month, a previously unknown armed group calling itself the "Syrian Revolutionaries—Aleppo Province" said that it was holding the group, while the Free Syrian Army had repeatedly denied its involvement in the abduction.
However, in July, Al-Jazeera television station broadcast a statement released by the abductors in which they announced that they will release two of the abductees and that they will be handed over to their relatives under the supervision of the council of Muslim Ulama in Lebanon and the state of Qatar.-NOW Lebanon

Over 40 Iranian pilgrims abducted in Damascus
August 4, 2012 /Forty-eight Iranian pilgrims were kidnapped from a bus in the Syrian capital on Saturday, their embassy's consular chief in Damascus told Iran's state television. "Armed terrorist groups kidnapped 48 Iranian pilgrims on their way to the airport," Majid Kamjou told the IRIB network, which gave the report on its website. "There are no reports about the fate of the pilgrims. The embassy and Syrian officials are trying to trace the kidnappers," he said. Hundreds of thousands of Iranians travel each year to Syria to visit a Shiite pilgrimage site, the Shrine of Zaynab, in Damascus. Tehran is the staunchest ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose forces are locked in a bloody conflict in Damascus and other cities against rebels his regime describes as "terrorists.” Several dozen Iranian pilgrims and engineers were abducted in December and January, with most being released months later. Many of the rebels come from Syria's Sunni majority, which is hostile to the support Shiite Iran has shown to the regime of Assad, whose family is Alawite, a Shiite offshoot.-AFP

The lost activists
Ana Maria Luca/Now Lebanon/August 4, 2012
The deportation of 14 Syrian citizens on Wednesday caused political bickering in the cabinet meeting in Beirut and prompted human rights activists to accuse the Lebanese government of collaborating with Damascus in hunting anti-Assad regime activists across the country.
General Security said in a statement that the expulsion of the Syrians was not politically motivated and that they had committed criminal acts, including theft, attacking the house of an army officer, insulting the military establishment and using false documents. “Any decision to deport Syrian, Arab or foreign nationals is a decision based on judicial and security cases in line with the standards set forth in regional and international agreements and treaties,” the statement said. “Exempted from this are those where evidence shows their lives might be in danger in their country if they were deported. This procedure has been used with Syrian nationals since the beginning of the painful events in [Syria].”
But human rights activists, politicians, lawyers and activists call the measure unsettling, as four of the expelled Syrians had asked not to be returned to Damascus for fear of persecution. A Human Rights Watch representative told journalists that one of the deportees had contacted HRW prior to being handed over to Syrian authorities at the border and expressed fear about what might happen to him.
“Even if they are criminals and they committed crimes in Lebanon, their deportation is not legal, given the situation in Syria,” Syrian activist Maan Abdel Salam told NOW. “I think Lebanon should respect international law and its own national law regarding the human rights situation of the Syrian people.” He added that this is not the first case of the Lebanese government handing Syrian nationals who were afraid of persecution to the Syrian authorities.
Several political parties in Lebanon, including the Progressive Socialists Party, which is part of the government, expressed disagreement with the decision to extradite the 14 people. Following Thursday’s cabinet meeting, PSP minister Wael Abou Faour said that neither Interior Minister Marwan Charbel nor Justice Minister Shaqib Qortbawi knew about the measure taken by the General Security. Later on, Minister
Charbel said that “nothing happens in the ministry without my knowledge.”
The Lebanese Forces, meanwhile, condemned the deportation “amid the absence of any law or judiciary that protects the rights of [those] under the control of the current regime” in a statement.
For his part, Minister of State for Administrative Reform Mohammad Fneish defended General Security’s move. “The General Security apparatus is doing its duties and role. It turned out that the [deported Syrians] were detained and accused of committing crimes,” Fneish told Al-Jumhuriya newspaper in an interview published Friday. He added that “every foreigner that commits [a crime] should be handed over to the authorities in their country.”According to Lebanese law, General Security has the right to deport foreign citizens when their visas or residency expire, in which case, they don’t need the approval of the ministers of interior or justice, lawyer Marwan Sakr told NOW. He also said that if the 14 people were criminals whose extradition had been requested by Damascus, the decision should have been up to the Lebanese general prosecutor’s office, not the General Security.
According to a human rights activist who studies violations of the rights of Syrian refugees in Lebanon, the 14 men were not anti-regime activists. “None of the activists in Beirut knew who they were, so we figured they were workers who were accused of theft and assault. We found out later on that most of them had served their time in jail in Lebanon,” said the activist on condition of anonymity. But he also said that their deportation was dangerous for them and their families because in Damascus they were received as activists and may now be punished by the regime. “Even if their deportation was legal and they had nothing to do with the uprising, their families still suffered,” he said. “The regime thought they were activists, and the families got in trouble because of it.”

March 14 to Hand Suleiman Memo on Stance from Next Dialogue Session
Naharnet/ 04 August 2012/Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc MP Ahmed Fatfat is holding talks with March 14 national dialogue participants to get their signatures on a memo he seeks to hand over to President Michel Suleiman, An Nahar daily reported on Saturday. The newspaper said the memo aims at setting the opposition coalition’s stance from the national dialogue that is scheduled to be held at Suleiman’s summer residence in Beiteddine on Aug. 16 should the alliance decide to attend. The president’s sources confirmed to An Nahar that Suleiman hasn’t yet received any final answer from the March 14 leaders. Suleiman postponed the dialogue last month after the opposition tied its participation to a government decision to provide security agencies with the so-called telecom data to help them investigate assassination attempts against MP Butros Harb and Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea. The telecom data has since been handed over to the security apparatuses. Hizbullah MP Mohammed Raad’s announcement that the national defense strategy was not currently necessary because Lebanon was still in the liberation stage, was another reason for the March 14 alliance’s boycott of the last session on July 24.

Reports: Several Lebanese Pilgrims Escaped Syria Captors
Naharnet/ 04 August 2012/Several of the 11 Lebanese who were kidnapped in Syria last May have escaped after the area where they were held came under severe shelling, media reports said Saturday.
While LBC TV station didn’t specify the number of the abductees who have escaped, it said there was initial information that the captors moved the remaining pilgrims to another location.
Al-Mayadeen network said the abductor of the men, Abu Ibrahim, was wounded as a result of the shelling. The TV stations did not reveal the area where the men were being held. When contacted by the National News Agency, the head of the committee following up the case, Sheikh Abbas Zogheib, said he can’t confirm yet the information. But he told NNA that contacts are underway with several officials, including General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim to follow up the case. The 11 pilgrims were kidnapped by a group of armed men in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo on May 22 while returning home from Iran. On Monday, Abbas Shoaib, managed to escape from his abductors for a few hours before being recaptured, media reports said.
Another abductee, Ali Abbas, who was allowed by his captors to talk to LBC in a telephone call on Sunday, confirmed that the 11 men are in the remote Aleppo area of Aazaz.

U.N. General Assembly Votes 133 to 12 to Slam Security Council's Inaction on Syria
Naharnet /03 August 2012/..The U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly passed a resolution Friday criticizing the Security Council's failure to act on the Syria conflict, which U.N. leader Ban Ki-moon said has become a "proxy war".
The resolution, which condemned President Bashar Assad's use of "heavy weapons" in his battle against the rebellion against his rule, was passed by 133 votes with 12 countries against and 31 abstaining.
Russia and China, which have vetoed three U.N. Security Council resolutions on Syria, were among high profile opponents of the resolution.
Many diplomats said Friday's vote was a show of frustration and anger at the lack of international action on the conflict.
Though the resolution is not legally binding, there was increased attention on the General Assembly action after the resignation of U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan and the mounting battle for the Syrian city of Aleppo. The resolution said members deplored "the Security Council failure to agree on measures" to make the Syrian government carry out U.N. demands to end almost 18 months of fighting.
It condemned "the Syrian authorities use of heavy weapons including indiscriminate shelling from tanks and helicopters" and demanded that the government refrain from using its chemical weapons.
Saudi Arabia drew up the resolution with Arab and western backing and its U.N. envoy said the success of the vote was "painful victory" because of events in Syria.
After the vote, Saudi Ambassador Abdallah al-Mouallimi told reporters the double vetoes gave "the impression that the Security Council was turning a blind eye to the painful reality."
He said there was "a consensus that does not support the paralysis of the Security Council, a consensus that says the United Nations cannot be oblivious to the suffering of the Syrian people, a consensus that demands action."
During negotiations ahead of the vote, demands that the motion include a call for Assad stand down and a call for sanctions against his government were dropped because of opposition from non-aligned countries. But it still welcomed an Arab League decision passed last month which calls for Assad to leave office.
Syria strongly opposed the resolution and its U.N. envoy, Bashar Jafaari, accused Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Gulf states of arming rebel groups.
Jafaari said the resolution showed the "hypocrisy" of Saudi Arabia and that it would have "no impact whatsoever".
While U.S. envoy Susan Rice welcomed the vote, many countries expressed reservations. South Africa, which voted in favor, said the resolution should have been tougher on the Syrian opposition.
The U.N. secretary general told the General Assembly the conflict has become a "proxy war" and that the international powers must overcome rivalries to end the violence.
Ban said growing radicalization and extremism had been predicted at the start of the conflict in March 2011.
"The next step was also forewarned: a proxy war, with regional and international players arming one side or the other. All of these dire predictions have come to pass," Ban told the assembly.
Ban turned his fire on the Security Council saying it had become "paralyzed" by divisions over Syria despite calls for "consequences" to be imposed for not carrying out Annan's peace plan.
"Now, with the situation having worsened, they must again find common ground. The immediate interests of the Syrian people must be paramount over any larger rivalries of influence."
Ban said the Syria conflict "is a test of everything this organization stands for" and recalled a recent visit to Srebrenica, site of a massacre he called "one of the darkest chapters in this organization's history."
U.N. peacekeepers were accused of not doing enough to stop the slaughter of 8,000 Muslim boys and men in the Bosnian town in July 1995.
"I do not want today's United Nations to fail that test. I want us all to show the people of Syria and the world that we have learned the lessons of Srebrenica," the U.N. leader said.
Russia and China have justified their vetoes by saying western nations want to force the downfall of Assad.
SourceNaharnetAgence France Presse.

Syrian Security Official Says 'Battle for Aleppo has Not Begun':
Naharnet/04 August 2012/The battle for Aleppo has not yet begun, and shelling by troops is just the start of what is to come, a senior Syrian security official in the region said on Saturday.
"The battle for Aleppo has not yet begun, and what is happening now is just the appetizer," the official told Agence France Presse on condition of anonymity, adding: "The main course will come later."The official said new military reinforcements had arrived, and that there were at least 20,000 troops on the ground.
"The other side is also sending reinforcements," he added, referring to the rebel forces.
SourceAgence France Presse.

U.N. nations condemn Syria; Russia, China seen isolated
By Louis CharbonneauظUNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. member states on Friday overwhelmingly voted to condemn the Syrian government at a special session of the General Assembly that Western diplomats said highlighted the isolation of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's supporters Russia and China.
The 193-nation assembly approved the Saudi-drafted resolution, which expressed "grave concern" at the escalation of violence in Syria and condemned the Security Council for its action, with 133 votes in favor, 12 against and 31 abstentions.
Dozens of other countries, including many Western states, co-sponsored the resolution.
As expected, Assad's staunch ally Russia was among the 12 countries that opposed the resolution in the assembly, where no country has a veto but all decisions are non-binding. Others that voted against it included China, Iran, North Korea, Belarus, Cuba and others nations that often criticize the West.
Some countries did not participate in the vote.
The resolution has the assembly "deploring the failure of the Security Council to agree on measures to ensure the compliance of Syrian authorities with its decisions."
It also calls for "an inclusive Syrian-led political transition to a democratic, pluralistic political system" and expressed "concern at the threat by the Syrian authorities to use chemical or biological weapons."
The United States and European powers blame Russia for the deadlock on the 15-nation council. Last month Russia and China joined forces in their third double veto on the Syrian crisis to strike down a resolution that would have called for an end to the violence and threatened Damascus with sanctions.
Many of the elements from the latest vetoed resolution were included in the text the assembly approved on Friday.
Russia blames the West for the Security Council deadlock, accusing it of encouraging and supporting Syrian rebels. Russian U.N. envoy Vitaly Churkin blasted the resolution as "harmful."
"Behind the facade of humanitarian rhetoric, the resolution hides blatant support to the armed opposition, which they're actively supporting, financing ... and they're arming," he said.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice welcomed the resolution's adoption.
"Despite the continued opposition of an increasingly isolated minority, the overwhelming majority of U.N. members clearly stands resolutely with the Syrian people as they seek to fulfill their legitimate aspirations," Rice said.
SPOTLIGHT ON RUSSIA AND CHINA
Syrian Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari, after the vote, complained that the meeting was "another piece of theater" organized by the Qatari president of the General Assembly, Nassir Abdulaziz al-Nasser, to pursue his country's agenda.
Saudi Arabia and Qatar support the rebels determined to oust Assad. Ja'fari repeated his country's accusations that both are supplying weapons to the opposition, adding that Friday's "resolution will have no impact whatsoever."
Several Western diplomats said an important reason for adopting a non-binding resolution at the General Assembly was to send a political message and shame Russia and China for opposing tough action against Assad's government in the Security Council.
"This vote shines the spotlight on Russia and China and humiliates them in a way that they don't like," a U.N. diplomat said on condition of anonymity.
Russia, which has its only warm water naval base outside the former Soviet Union in Syria, is Assad's key supporter and principal arms supplier.
China, diplomats say, has been supporting Moscow in exchange for Russian pledges to back Beijing on issues like North Korea and Taiwan at the United Nations.
Britain's U.N. Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant told reporters after the vote that a "colossal majority" supported the resolution, which had been revised to remove language explicitly backing Arab League calls for Assad to step down and urging states to implement sanctions against Damascus.
But the resolution still welcomes an Arab League decision calling for Assad to step aside, without giving details of that decision.
Those revisions secured the support of dozens of countries that might have opposed it otherwise, U.N. diplomats said.
Saudi Arabia's Ambassador Abdallah al-Mouallimi said "the number of votes in favor has exceeded all of our expectations."
French Ambassador Gerard Araud, president of the Security Council this month, also welcomed the adoption of the resolution, but said it was unfortunate the council has been unable to act the way that the assembly did. "The Security Council is blocked," he said. "I don't see how we could move forward on this issue."
Earlier U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the assembly that the brutality in Syria's biggest city, Aleppo, where forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and rebels continue to face off in bloody clashes, may be crimes against humanity.
"As we meet here, Aleppo ... is the epicenter of a vicious battle between the Syrian government and those who wish to replace it," Ban said.
"The acts of brutality that are being reported may constitute crimes against humanity or war crimes," Ban said. "Such acts must be investigated and the perpetrators held to account."
Both sides accuse the other of summary executions and mass killings in Aleppo.
Ban repeated that he intended to replace U.N.-Arab League mediator Kofi Annan, who announced on Thursday his intention to step down at the end of August. Annan said the Security Council deadlock was among the factors undermining his peace efforts.
(Reporting by Louis Charbonneau; Editing by Vicki Allen and Jackie Frank)

Question: "Could Jesus have sinned?
If He was not capable of sinning, how could He truly be able to 'sympathize with our weaknesses' (Hebrews 4:15)?
If He could not sin, what was the point of the temptation?"
Answer: There are two sides to this interesting question. It is important to remember that this is not a question of whether Jesus sinned. Both sides agree, as the Bible clearly says, that Jesus did not sin (2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:22). The question is whether Jesus could have sinned. Those who hold to “impeccability” believe that Jesus could not have sinned. Those who hold to “peccability” believe that Jesus could have sinned, but did not. Which view is correct? The clear teaching of Scripture is that Jesus was impeccable—Jesus could not have sinned. If He could have sinned, He would still be able to sin today because He retains the same essence He did while living on earth. He is the God-Man and will forever remain so, having full deity and full humanity so united in one person as to be indivisible. To believe that Jesus could sin is to believe that God could sin. “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him” (Colossians 1:19). Colossians 2:9 adds, “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.”
Although Jesus is fully human, He was not born with the same sinful nature that we are born with. He certainly was tempted in the same way we are, in that temptations were put before Him by Satan, yet He remained sinless because God is incapable of sinning. It is against His very nature (Matthew 4:1; Hebrews 2:18, 4:15; James 1:13). Sin is by definition a trespass of the Law. God created the Law, and the Law is by nature what God would or would not do; therefore, sin is anything that God would not do by His very nature.
To be tempted is not, in and of itself, sinful. A person could tempt you with something you have no desire to do, such as committing murder or participating in sexual perversions. You probably have no desire whatsoever to take part in these actions, but you were still tempted because someone placed the possibility before you. There are at least two definitions for the word “tempted”:
1) To have a sinful proposition suggested to you by someone or something outside yourself or by your own sin nature.
2) To consider actually participating in a sinful act and the possible pleasures and consequences of such an act to the degree that the act is already taking place in your mind.
The first definition does not describe a sinful act/thought; the second does. When you dwell upon a sinful act and consider how you might be able to bring it to pass, you have crossed the line of sin. Jesus was tempted in the fashion of definition one except that He was never tempted by a sin nature because it did not exist within Him. Satan proposed certain sinful acts to Jesus, but He had no inner desire to participate in the sin. Therefore, He was tempted like we are but remained sinless.
Those who hold to peccability believe that, if Jesus could not have sinned, He could not have truly experienced temptation, and therefore could not truly empathize with our struggles and temptations against sin. We have to remember that one does not have to experience something in order to understand it. God knows everything about everything. While God has never had the desire to sin, and has most definitely never sinned, God knows and understands what sin is. God knows and understands what it is like to be tempted. Jesus can empathize with our temptations because He knows, not because He has “experienced” all the same things we have.
Jesus knows what it is like to be tempted, but He does not know what it is like to sin. This does not prevent Him from assisting us. We are tempted with sins that are common to man (1 Corinthians 10:13). These sins generally can be boiled down to three different types: “the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life” (1 John 2:16 NKJV). Examine the temptation and sin of Eve, as well as the temptation of Jesus, and you will find that the temptations for each came from these three categories. Jesus was tempted in every way and in every area that we are, but remained perfectly holy. Although our corrupt natures will have the inner desire to participate in some sins, we have the ability, through Christ, to overcome sin because we are no longer slaves to sin but rather slaves of God (Romans 6, especially verses 2 and 16-22).

Saudi Arabia Deports 35 Ethiopian Christians For Practicing Their Faith
Washington, D.C. (August 3, 2012) –International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that on August 1, Saudi Arabia deported the last of the 35 Ethiopian Christians who were detained for holding an all-night prayer vigil. Saudi security officials assaulted, harassed and pressured the Christians to convert to Islam during their incarceration. “We have arrived home safe. We believe that we are released as the result of the pressure exerted by ICC and others,” said one of the prisoners speaking to ICC. He also said, “The Saudi officials don’t tolerate any other religions other than Islam. They consider non-Muslims as unbelievers. They are full of hatred towards non-Muslims.” The Christians were detained on December 15, 2011 while holding a prayer service at a private home. ICC was the first organization to break the news of the arrest on December 17. The Saudi officials originally accused the Christians of ‘mixing with opposite gender’ but when pressured by the U.S. officials, they started giving other reasons for the detention, including: being in the country illegally, and engaging in drug and human trafficking. ICC led the effort to release the Christians by organizing three different protests at the Saudi Arabian embassy in Washington D.C. and gathering petitions for the release of the prisoners. ICC also brought the plight of the Christians to the attention of the U.S. Congress, the State Department and the United States Commission for International Religious Freedom. After ICC brought the case to their attention, staff members from multiple Congressional offices began calling the Saudi embassy in Washington D.C. and holding meetings with Saudi officials to inquire into the situation of the Christian prisoners. The phone calls and the meetings put pressure on the Saudi Arabia to release the prisoners.
ICC’s Jonathan Racho said, “Saudi Arabian officials clearly demonstrated their utter disregard for religious freedom by arresting, mistreating and deporting the Christians for holding a prayer meeting. The Saudis deceive the international community by pretending to promote tolerance among followers of different religious beliefs; however, in reality they don’t tolerate any other religion besides Wahhabi Islam. The international community must pressure Saudi Arabia to respect religious freedom.”

U.N. General Assembly condemns Syria violence, big-power inaction
August 3, 2012/Los Angeles Times
The U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly Friday to condemn the Syrian government's latest attacks on its rebellious citizens, and criticized big powers on the Security Council for failing to take more decisive action to halt the escalating civil war. The resolution was mostly symbolic because the General Assembly lacks the authority to enforce its decisions by deploying peacekeepers or ordering sanctions. Those powers reside with the Security Council. But the 133-12 vote, with 31 abstentions, sent a message to the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad that the world body sees his crackdown on opponents as a violation of Syrians' rights and potentially the basis for war-crimes charges.U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told diplomats before the vote that the conflict in Syria "is a test of everything the United Nations stands for.""The acts of brutality that are being reported may constitute crimes against humanity or war crimes,” Ban said, referring to the latest outbreak of violence around Syria's largest city, Aleppo. He said the events there would be investigated, and those responsible "held to account." The resolution as originally proposed by a group of Arab states called for Assad to step down and for member nations to impose unilateral sanctions on the Syrian government. Those provisions were removed at the insistence of China and Russia, the two permanent Security Council members that have thwarted punitive action against Assad throughout the more than 16-month uprising. The General Assembly indirectly chastised Moscow and Beijing for putting their own economic and political interests ahead of the mission to bring about peace. The resolution included a statement "deploring the failure of the Security Council to agree on measures to ensure the compliance of Syrian authorities with its decisions." The wording was a clear blast at Russia and China for vetoing proposed sanctions on the government in Damascus and obstructing the Security Council's efforts to press for Assad's departure. Russia and China were among those who voted against the condemnation.
The resolution cited excesses by Syrian government troops in "killing and maiming, arbitrary arrest, detention, torture and ill-treatment, including sexual violence and use as human shields."
The diplomats' action also demanded that the Syrian government take the first step to end the violence by withdrawing heavy weaponry, ordering troops back to their barracks and locking down the nation's supplies of chemical and biological weapons. U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice said after the vote that the resolution included mention of a July 22 appeal by the Arab League for Assad to resign and a transitional government be put in place, a message she deemed an important reflection of the international community's will to see Assad removed.
Syria's U.N. ambassador, Bashar Jaafari, dismissed the General Assembly vote as "a piece of theater," and blamed "despotic oligarchies" in the region, alluding to resolution sponsors Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain. Before the General Assembly vote, the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees reported an increase in the number of Syrians fleeing the recent fighting around Aleppo. As many as 600 are crossing into Turkey each day, and the number of internally displaced in the war-wracked country is now estimated at 1.5 million, the refugee agency reported.

Aoun warns of third world war should Syrian regime collapse
August 04, 2012 /Daily Star/BEIRUT: Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun warned of a third world war in case the Syrian regime of President Bashar Assad collapses, adding that neither Russia nor China would allow such a scenario to occur. “I don’t think the Syrian regime would collapse, but if it gets close to collapse, a new world war will erupt because China and Russia won’t let the regime in Syria collapse,” Aoun said Friday. In an interview with Al-Mayadeen TV, Aoun said U.S. interests in the region are based on controlling Syrian oil and ensuring the safety of Israel. The 17-month-old Syrian uprising aims at more than regime change in Syria. “The U.S. is interested in Israel’s security and this requires targeting Syria,” he added. Aoun also warned against extremism. “There are already organizations loyal to Al-Qaeda under different names in the country and no one knows their connections.”

March 14: Nasrallah’s liberation strategy a ploy
August 03, 2012 02:00 AM The Daily Star
FILE - March 14 coalition members attend a meeting at Hariri's downtown residence in Beirut, Thursday, May 24, 2012. (The Daily Star/Mohammad Azakir)
BEIRUT: Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah’s call for developing a strategy to liberate Lebanese territory still occupied by Israel alongside a national defense strategy drew criticism from rivals in the March 14 coalition Thursday. Akkar MP Riad Rahhal, from the Future Movement, said Nasrallah’s call was an attempt to sidestep the real topics of National Dialogue.
“Nasrallah’s call for a strategy of liberation in addition to a defense strategy is a diversion in the direction of the National Dialogue table to come up with an excuse for his illegitimate arms,” Rahhal said after holding talks with Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea at his residence in Maarab. Rahhal said Hezbollah began using its arms like a militia following the events of May 2008, describing them as a cause of chaos. Nasrallah said in a speech Wednesday that in addition to a national defense strategy, Lebanon also needed a strategy of “liberation of the Kfar Shouba Hills and Shebaa Farms still occupied by Israel.”
He explained that a genuine national defense strategy should be based on coordination between the Lebanese Army and the resistance.
The March 14 coalition boycotted a National Dialogue session that was scheduled for July 24 after head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc MP Mohammad Raad said it was pre-mature to discuss a national defense strategy, adding that the country was in need of a strategy of liberation. Attendees had been set to discuss a defense strategy during the session.
Fares Soueid, the general coordinator of the March 14 coalition, said that Nasrallah had to choose between engaging in a strategy of liberation or adhering to U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended Israel’s summer 2006 war against Lebanon. “Let Sayyed Nasrallah, President Michel Sleiman and Prime Minister Najib Mikati announce the fall of the 1701 and summon U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly to the presidential palace and inform him of the matter,” Soueid told the Central News Agency.
“Let them ask him to pull out the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon and we will then engage together in a strategy of liberation,” he added.For his part, Zahle MP Elie Marouni, from the Kataeb (Phalange) Party, said Nasrallah reiterated in his speech his party’s insistence on retaining arms. “If we give the Lebanese Army political support ... then it should be the only force that protects us,” the lawmaker told a local radio station. Future bloc lawmaker Hadi Hobeish, who interpreted the speech slightly differently, said Nasrallah’s call for discussing a strategy for liberation along with a national defense strategy indicated a willingness to discuss a defense strategy, unlike Raad who refused to discuss a defense strategy until the remaining Israeli occupied Lebanese territories were liberated.

U.S. Extradition Request Denied for Daqduq
Alana Goodman | @alanagoodman
08.03.2012 /Commentary
Hezbollah terrorist mastermind and killer of American troops Ali Mussa Daqduq was in U.S. custody in Iraq and could have been transferred to Guantanamo Bay years ago. Instead, the Obama administration decided to let an Iraqi court try him. In a development that should come as a shock to no one, Daqduq has been cleared of charges, and the latest U.S. extradition request has been denied. The Associated Press reports the unrepentant terror leader might be back out on the streets before the end of Ramadan: The U.S. believes Ali Mussa Daqduq is a top threat to Americans in the Middle East, and had asked Baghdad to extradite him even before two Iraqi courts found him not guilty of masterminding the 2007 raid on an American military base in the holy Shiite city of Karbala.
But the July 30 decision by the Iraqi central criminal court, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, ordered that Daqduq be freed immediately. It also makes it clear that Iraq believes the legal case against him is over.
“It is not possible to hand him over because the charges were dropped in the same case,” the three-judge panel ruled. “Therefore, the court decided to reject the request to hand over the Lebanese defendant Ali Mussa Daqduq to the U.S. judiciary authorities, and to release him immediately.”
Daqduq was in Iraq to train militants to kill American troops. He is believed to be responsible for the death of five U.S. soldiers, four of whom were captured, tortured and shot execution-style. His release would deny justice for the families of those men, and free him up to plot further attacks on Americans and our allies.
Sen. Jeff Sessions tore into the Obama administration for losing control of the situation:
The Administration had years to transfer Daqduq to our detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, but because the President seemed to lack the political will to do so—I think because of campaign promises he improvidently made—one of the most dangerous, reprehensible terrorists ever in our custody will likely be allowed to go free. We should never have been in this position.
I and others saw this coming and we pleaded with the Administration not to allow it to happen. Sadly, our warnings fell on deaf ears and, sadly, we were proven correct. …
This policy cannot be defended. It has to end. So I urge the President and his team to act forcefully now. It may not be too late. With strong action we may be able to ensure that Daqduq is not released, that he is able to be tried for the murders he committed and the American soldiers he killed.
The Obama administration would argue that this isn’t their fault, that the Status of Forces Agreement required them to hand Daqduq over to the Iraqis when they pulled out. But that’s a cop out. The administration could have informed the Iraqis that, with all due respect, some prisoners are so reprehensible that they are simply not up for negotiation. They could have brought Daqduq to justice when they had the chance. Instead, they rolled the dice on the Iraqi court system, and lost — and the world may be less safe now because of it.