Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for August 05/12
Wartime tasks split: US to smash Iran’s missiles, Israel tackle Syria, Hizballah
Iran threat: It won’t work without the US
Israel realizes: Only US can stop Iran
ISIS: Iran completed clean-up of nuclear site
IAF to receive upgraded Arrow interceptor soon
IAF strikes southern Strip; terrorist killed
Abbas cancels statehood parley over travel ban
Syria rebel video claims to show abducted Iranians
Clinton to hold Syria talks in Turkey on Aug. 11
Iran warns against foreign intervention in Syria
Syria's first astronaut defects
Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili in Beirut Monday to Tackle Syrian Crisis
Al-Arabiya Video: Syria Rebels Say Hostages Iranian Guards
Assad's forces pound rebel stronghold in Aleppo
Hezbollah: Syrian opposition's militarization mooted reform
Saudi Invites Iran for Extraordinary Muslim Summit
President Michel Suleiman Continues Efforts to Hold National Dialogue on Time
Report: 14 Deported Syrians Released, One Returned to Lebanon
Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai says Lebanon needs new leaders
Lebanon’s Arabic press digest - August 5, 2012
Lebanon's army is an increasingly compromised one
Interior Minister Marwan Charbel : East Lebanon cannabis farmers might be compensated
Lebanon's Puppet's PM Mikati says not attached to current Cabinet

Wartime tasks split: US to smash Iran’s missiles, Israel tackle Syria, Hizballah
http://www.debka.com/article/22242/Wartime-tasks-split-US-to-smash-Iran’s-missiles-Israel-tackle-Syria-Hizballah-
http://www.debka.com/article/22242/Wartime-tasks-split-US-to-smash-Iran’s-missiles-Israel-tackle-Syria-Hizballah-
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report August 5, 2012/An authoritative US military source told debkafile Sunday, Aug. 5 that the American armed forces are standing ready for war with Iran. Without going into the thorny question of who should lead the operation to dismantle Iran’s nuclear program, the US or Israel, it is understood that one of the US Air Force’s tasks will be to destroy Iran’s Shehab-3 ballistic missile batteries which have Israel and Saudi Arabia within range.
This task is not as formidable as Iranian spokesmen would have the world believe. Tehran’s entire stock of those missiles is no more than 30-40. That quantity is not nearly enough to take on the entire gamut of potential wartime foes, the United States Middle East bases, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan and Turkey. They would quckly be picked off by American Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense Systems and Israeli Arrow guided interceptor rockets, which are synchronized through the advanced US X-Band radar systems installed in the Israeli Negev and southeast Turkey.
In any case, it is hard to believe that Iran would empty its entire ballistic missile arsenal in a single blazing assault at the start of war. “They are too canny to leave themselves without some Shehabs in reserve for crises even more acute than the outbreak of war,” said the US military source.
He went on to explain that by wiping out the Shehabs, the US high command would leave the Israeli Air Force free to take on the thousands of rockets Syria, the Lebanese Hizballah and the Palestinian Hamas and Jihad Islami have stored ready for shooting in support of an Iranian missile offensive - not just against Israel, but Turkey and Jordan as well.
Saturday, the Iranian Defense Minister, Gen. Ahmad Vahidi, announced that his ministry’s aerospace industries had successfully test-fired the fourth generation of high-precision Fateh-110 missiles with a range of over 300km.
He said that the new missiles can hit and destroy both land and sea targets, enemy concentration points, command centers, missile sites, ammunition dumps, radars and other targets with 100 percent precision. debkafile’s military sources add that the Fateh-110 is the core weapon Syria and Hizballah have stocked for destroying strategic targets in Israel, Jordan and Turkey.
Sunday, Aug. 5, a senior Israeli defense official reported that Israel is upgrading its Arrow II ballistic missile shield, designed to intercept medium range rockets and fill the gaps left by Iron Dome. The announcement in Tehran was taken in Israel as a threat and an indication that the improved Fatah-110 had already been dispatched to its Damascus and Beirut destinations, so exacerbating the perils of Syria’s Scud missiles and chemical weapons which its government has threatened to use against external enemies.

Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili in Beirut Monday to Tackle Syrian Crisis
by Naharnet /Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili is scheduled to visit Lebanon on Monday where he is expected to meet with a number of senior officials, various media reports said on Sunday. The pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat stated that the talks will focus on the developments in Syria, with some sources describing his meetings as “crisis talks” given the escalation of events in the neighboring country. Jalili is set to hold talks with President Michel Suleiman, Speaker Nabih Berri, Prime Minister Najib Miqati, and Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour on the latest local and regional developments during his “short trip to Lebanon,” said the daily. Sources did not confirm or deny to Asharq al-Awsat whether the Iranian official will hold talks with Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. The daily An Nahar reported Sunday that he is scheduled to attend an Iranian Embassy iftar on the occasion of Quds Day, which falls on Monday.

Report: 14 Deported Syrians Released, One Returned to Lebanon
Naharnet /The 14 Syrians, who were deported by the Lebanese authorities, were released on Saturday amid reports saying that one of them returned back to Lebanon. Al-Jadeed television station said that the Syrian authorities released the 14 men. It noted that one of the deported men, Tariq al-Hamwi, managed to return back to Lebanon. On Wednesday, the General Security deported 14 Syrians and said the reasons for the expulsions were not political but a Human Rights Watch representative in Beirut said some of the deportees had expressed fears of persecution on their return. Interior Minister Marwan Charbel demanded General Security Chief Abbas Ibrahim to halt the implementation of all the judiciary verdicts against Syrians in Lebanon in an attempt to end the disputes that emerged over the issue. Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat accused on Thursday Ibrahim of utterly following the Syrian regime’s orders by deporting the 14 Syrians, calling the cabinet to “sack him if necessary to halt this ongoing charade.” Sources told the Central News Agency that Charbel informed the concerned officials that he is determined to “take a series of extraordinary measures to ensure that Lebanon is disassociating itself” from the turmoil in Syria. The sources said that the minister intends to issue a form that any Syrian who intends to go back to his country would sign, in an attempt to confirm that they returned on their free will.

President Michel Suleiman Continues Efforts to Hold National Dialogue on Time
Naharnet /President Michel Suleiman is continuing his consultations to resume the national dialogue on August 16 as he is seeking to ensure that all participants are present at the all-party talks, reported the daily al-Mustaqbal on Sunday. Sources close to the president highlighted the need to resume the talks amid the critical local and regional situation. They stressed that he will not back down from his demand to continue the talks. Meanwhile, prominent March 14 political sources ruled out the possibility that the dialogue will be held on time “because the consultations would not have been ripe prior to the date.”It is likely therefore that the national dialogue would be postponed again. The all-party talks were initially postponed over the March 14 camp’s decision to boycott the meeting over the failure to hand over telecom data to the security forces and the failure to tackle Hizbullah’s possession of arms. The telecom data has since been handed to security forces. The sources revealed that Suleiman’s consultations are focusing on the fact that the defense strategy for Lebanon is more important than the telecom data issue.The security situation in Lebanon has also been at the heart of his efforts to resume the national dialogue, they added. They explained that the March 14 forces want to make certain that all sides are approaching the talks seriously, which would be demonstrated in launching discussions on the defense strategy and possession of arms outside the authority of the state.They highlighted Suleiman’s recent speech on Army Day during which he stated that there can be “no partnership with the army in its mission in maintaining security and defending Lebanon’s sovereignty”.The sources interpreted the statement as a need to limit the possession of arms in Lebanon to state authorities as stipulated by the Taef Accord.
They added that the March 14 forces are awaiting Hizbullah’s “clear and honest reaction” to the president’s remarks.

Al-Arabiya Video: Syria Rebels Say Hostages Iranian Guards
Naharnet /Alleged Syrian rebels posted Sunday an online video of Iranians kidnapped in Damascus, charging they were elite Revolutionary Guards, and warning Tehran of further abductions over its support for Damascus. Fighters of the al-Baraa Brigade of the rebel Free Syrian Army have "captured 48 of the shabiha (militiamen) of Iran who were on a reconnaissance mission in Damascus," said a man dressed in FSA officer's uniform in the video posted on YouTube.  "During the investigation, we found that some of them were officers in the Revolutionary Guards," he said, showing documents taken from one of the men, who appeared in the background. In the footage, a group of men appeared sitting on the floor, while gunmen behind them carried the old Syrian flag that has been adopted by the rebels.
"We warn Iran that we will target all its installations in Syria... The fate of all Iranians working in Syria will be just like the fate of those, either prisoners, or dead," the bearded officer said.
"God is great," the gunmen chanted as he finished reading his statement. Al-Arabiya television aired an interview with a man it identified as al-Baraa Brigade commander Abdel Nasser Shmeir.
"They are 48, in addition to an Afghani interpreter," said the officer, who is the FSA chief in the east Damascus suburb of Ghouta, claiming that the captives were members of a 150-strong group sent by Iran for "reconnaissance on the ground." But a Syrian opposition source dismissed the videotape as a fake designed to cover-up the responsibility of hardline Sunni Islamist group Jundallah.
The source said that the faction -- which has no relation with the Sunni rebel group of the same name active in southeastern Iran -- was one of an array of Sunni Islamist factions that have proliferated in Syria in recent months. The group also has no links with the mainstream FSA, the source said. "Jundallah are an extremist Islamist group whose religious discourse is based on inciting hatred against Shiites and Alawites," the source told Agence France Presse on condition of anonymity, referring also to the minority sect of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The video "was just a cover-up for the fact that this operation was carried out in order to target Iranian Shiites," the source said. The source also voiced skepticism about the suggestion that the kidnapped Iranians were Revolutionary Guards.
"It makes no sense that the hostages would be members of the Revolutionary Guard," the source said. "If they were, why would they be travelling on a bus on the unsafe airport road?"
The source noted that Shiite pilgrims -- from Iran and elsewhere -- have continued to visit holy sites in Syria despite the mounting insecurity, because they believe in the sanctity of their journey, even if it involves serious risk. The source also blamed Jundallah for recent killings of Alawite and Shiite civilians, as well as 15 Syrian troops, in Yalda, outside Damascus.
Iran has appealed to Qatar and Turkey -- both governments with close relations with the Syrian opposition -- for help in securing the release of the 48 hostages it says were visiting the Sayyida Zeinab shrine, a Shiite pilgrimage site in the southeastern suburbs of Damascus. Tehran has repeatedly denied it has sent any military units to Syria. Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said on Saturday before the latest abduction was made public that "Iran has no armed forces in Syria and the Syrian government has not made such a request," according to Iranian state television channel IRIB. "Syria has a powerful military and also enjoys popular support. The Syrians can handle the adventures that foreigners have created in their country," Vahidi said.

Lebanon’s Arabic press digest - August 5, 2012
August 05, 2012/The Daily Star
An-Nahar
Jalili visits Beirut amid stories on the fate of the kidnapped
State and security officials have not been informed of any details about the 11 Lebanese kidnapped in Syria whose case resurfaced following conflicting news of an attack on them and their kidnappers.
This development comes following the ruckus over General Security’s deportation of 14 Syrians and the entry of Palestinians into Lebanon from Syria following the bombing of the Yarmouk camp in Damascus. These developments brought back to the fore the effects of the Syrian crisis on Lebanon.
What proved noteworthy Saturday was the report by An-Nahar's correspondent in Sidon quoting Palestinian sources in Ain al-Hilweh camp that the shooting Saturday night was in joy at the return of a group supporting Fatah al-Islam and Jund al-Sham headed by Osama al-Shihabi from Syria. Three months ago, this group reportedly left the camp for Syria.
Secretary of Iran's Higher National Security Council Saeed Jalili will visit Lebanon Monday and meet several high-ranking officials in a noticeable visit to discuss the repercussions of the Syrian crisis on Lebanon.
Al-Mustaqbal
Iranian national security official visits Beirut 'officially' and the kidnapped in Syria are OK
The repercussions of the Syrian crisis on Lebanon continue and Iran's interference in the interest of Assad grows. At a time when Iran's Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi says that “arming the Syrian opposition will have dire consequences in the region," warning that the fighting in Syrian could extend beyond its borders, the secretary of the Iranian Higher National Security Council arrives in Beirut Monday on an "official" visit to meet top Lebanese officials.
As we wait to see what message Jalili has for Lebanon, the repercussions of Lebanon's vote in the General Assembly against the Arab and international consensus continue, while the unknown fate of the 11 kidnapped Lebanese has returned to the spotlight amid an escalation in fighting and an increase in conflicting news regarding the kidnappers. The official spokesperson for the kidnappers, Mohammad Nour, denied that their location was attacked Saturday night and affirmed that the head of the group, "Abu Ibrahim," was not hurt.
Ad-Diyar
Mikati to Saudi Arabia against Hariri's wishes, will represent Sleiman in the Islamic summit
Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri put all his efforts into preventing Prime Minister Najib Mikati from visiting Saudi Arabia to represent President Michel Sleiman in the Islamic Summit scheduled for March 14.
It would have been an interesting thing to see a Christian man [Sleiman] at the Islamic Summit. But Sleiman's busy schedule and perhaps his negligence of the issue made Mikati decide to go as his representative. Hariri used his clout with the administration of Saudi Arabia to pressure Mikati not to come. Hariri also made secret calls to the president in an attempt to convince him not to designate Mikati as his representative. Hariri, who feels strong in Saudi Arabia and with its administration, is met with the weakness of Mikati, who is looking for a role in the kingdom and trying to make it satisfied with him and his Cabinet.
The following are the weak points of the Lebanese state with regard to the Islamic summit issue, its symbols and leaders: firstly, it is shameful for Hariri to try to prevent Mikati from coming to Saudi Arabia because he is acting in a malicious way rather than as a statesman. Secondly, it would have been better to have the Maronite President Michel Sleiman at the Islamic summit
Thirdly, how long will the Sunni-Sunni war between Salafists and fundamentalists on the one hand and, on the other, the middle forces represented by Mikati, Mohammad Safadi and Future Movement backed by Saudi Arabia last? The fourth point is that there is pressure on the Lebanese embassy not to conduct a reception for Mikati and instead make his visit exclusively for the summit.
Al-Hayat
Disputes inside the government return
The Cabinet of Prime Minister Najib Mikati had barely overcome the problem threatening the unity of its majority until it fell into another one.
Media and political sources following up on the problems of the Cabinet said that the success of the government lies in its ability to resolve their problems, particularly the recent one which saw teachers retract their decision to boycott the correction of official examinations in the hope of a new salary scale, the end of the contract workers' strike and the end of Sheikh Ahmad Assir's sit-in in Sidon. The resolution of these problems gave the government a push to continue and lessened complications preventing it from continuing its work.
But soon another problem occurred; General Security’s decision to deport 14 Syrians to their country -- which was met with severe opposition by the National Struggle Front Parliamentary bloc headed by Walid Jumblatt in Cabinet last Thursday when the ministers insisted on clarifying details of the issue and opening an investigation into it.
Head of the Future Movement Parliamentary bloc Fouad Siniora reiterated his party's and March 14's demand for the resignation of the government when commenting on Mikati’s comments Friday that the “humanitarian reality of the Syrian refugees is receiving all our care and it is not acceptable for it to be an obstacle in the face of applying judiciary sentences." Mikati's words infuriated Jumblatt, who said Mikati accepted the story by the General Security and closed the issue despite objections by his ministers and regardless of information they had received that among the deportees were political activists.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai says Lebanon needs new leaders
August 05, 2012/The Daily Star/BEIRUT: Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai said Lebanon is in need of new leaders who work for the sake of the public good, adding that citizens should start evaluating their representatives with a free conscience. “Lebanon needs new people who can resist injustice, corruption and the waste of public money,” Rai said in his Sunday sermon in the north Lebanon town of Diman, the patriarch’s summer residence. Rai also said that “Lebanon needs renewal of its people, leadership and structure to keep pace with modernism and globalization,” and contribute to the region’s stability.
To accomplish these goals, Rai added, the country needs people who can handle economic, social and political affairs “in a spirit of impartiality [and work] for the sake of the public good.”
Addressing the Lebanese, Rai said: “Citizens should judge the performance of their representatives based on awareness and freedom of conscience."
"The fate of the country must no longer be in the hands of those who are not concerned with its fate," he added.

Iran warns against foreign intervention in Syria
August 05, 2012/Daily Star
DUBAI: Iran warned against foreign intervention in Syria on Sunday and said the conflict there could engulf Israel, Iranian media said.
Iran's Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani accused the United States and regional countries he did not name of providing military support to rebels fighting to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Iran. Syria has accused Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia of backing rebels in Syria and fuelling violence there. Iran has supported Assad's efforts to crush the 17-month revolt and has accused Western countries and Israel of interfering in the crisis. "The fire that has been ignited in Syria will take the fearful (Israelis) with it," Larijani said on Sunday, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).
"What really allows these countries to interfere in internal Syrian affairs?" Larijani was quoted as saying. Larijani is considered a moderate conservative and a close follower of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the most powerful man in Iran who decides foreign policy. Larijani is also a critic of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and widely expected to run for president in 2013.
Gholam-Ali Haddad Adel, a key ally of Khamenei and father-in-law to the paramount leader's son, Mojtaba, said on Sunday the people of Syria should not allow the United States and Israel to break the "resistance front", IRNA reported.
"Since the Americans and (Israelis) do not want to solve the Syrian issue, they continue to make the...region insecure," Haddad Adel was quoted as saying. On Friday, following his visit to Moscow to discuss Syria, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said "terrorist groups" supported by foreign forces were operating in Damascus and Aleppo, IRNA reported.
Amir-Abdollahian said "tens of thousands of weapons" had entered Syria from neighbouring countries and were being used by groups including al Qaeda. "Unfortunately America and regional countries ... do not take steps to control the borders," Amir-Abdollahian was quoted as saying.
Amir-Abdollahian said he did not believe Syria would be attacked by foreign powers, but that if it were, it would not need Iran's help in defending itself. "Syria has been ready for years to respond to any military attack against it by (Israel) or other countries, and can respond strongly to any military action by itself and with complete readiness," he was quoted as saying.
Iran and Russia support the six-point plan presented by former UN peace envoy Kofi Annan to solve the crisis. A frustrated Annan resigned his post last week, blaming "finger-pointing and name-calling" at the U.N. Security Council for his decision to quit.
Iran has blamed the United States and countries in the region for the failure of Annan's plan.

In al-Yammouneh, Charbel Promises to Compensate Bekaa Cannabis Farmers
Naharnet /Interior Minister Marwan Charbel on Sunday announced that the government would provide compensations to the Bekaa’s cannabis farmers whose crops were and will be destroyed.
Speaking from the Bekaa town of al-Yammouneh, whose residents have staged a sit-in in protest at the destruction of cannabis crops, Charbel said he will raise the issue during a cabinet session on Monday and that he will suggest three proposals, one of which would be paying compensations to the farmers.
“I stand by both the state and the people and I pledge to you that I will seriously tackle this issue,” Charbel vowed.
“I have three proposals for you, one of which I am not willing to back down from and that is granting you compensations,” he added.
Later on Sunday, MTV reported that the cabinet will likely pay L.L.500,000 in compensation for every dunum of cannabis destroyed over the past few days.
Al-Yammouneh residents, who ended their sit-in following Charbel's remarks, on Saturday blocked with burning tires the three entrances leading to the town and its fields, setting up a tent in the middle of the road to protest the army and security forces’ destruction of the cannabis crops.
Yammouneh municipality head Mohammed Shraif, who participated in the sit-in, stressed the residents’ support for the army, security forces, and Resistance.
He also denied reports that some 250 gunmen had arrived in the region to confront the security forces.
He stated that the sit-in is aimed at highlighting the residents’ demand for a “decent way of life.”
Addressing President Michel Suleiman, he asked about al-Yammouneh lake project that was supposed to help create job opportunities in the town, saying that it has been neglected.
Addressing security authorities, Shraif urged them to “realize the dangerousness of this phase,” reminding them of the pledges they had been receiving since 1995 over being provided with alternate crops to grow in the region.
“The destruction of the cannabis crops has turned into the destruction of the souls of the citizens who have been seeking to earn a decent living, given the government’s absence,” he added.
He urged the MPs of the region to visit the area “because our response will take place during the parliamentary elections.”
“The MPs themselves should destroy the crops,” he stressed. Moreover, Shraif called on various spiritual leaders to consider the difficulties al-Yammouneh residents are experiencing.
The head of the Bekaa anti-drug bureau Elias Zoaiter had visited the scene of the sit-in to try to negotiate an end to the residents’ action, but to no avail. The residents’ action thwarted the security forces from resuming the destruction of the cannabis crops.
They have since remained deployed in the area.
Meanwhile, Liberation and Development MP Ghazi Zoaiter denied to the National News Agency on Saturday claims that al-Yammouneh residents had armed themselves to confront the security forces.
One person was injured on Saturday when cannabis farmers opened fire on a van transporting workers to help the Internal Security Forces destroy cannabis fields in the eastern Bekaa valley, NNA reported.
Hussein Nayef Salim, 57, was wounded in the waist after around 15 bullets hit the van in the town of Hawsh Barada in Baalbek.
The incident came a day after the Lebanese army command said two soldiers were injured after gunmen opened fire on the troops and ISF personnel in Yammouneh.
The soldiers fired back at the source of the shooting and the army carried out raids to arrest the suspects, while the process of eradicating the crops continued in accordance with the scheduled program, the army said. The ISF’s general command said that around 200 dunums of cannabis fields were destroyed on Friday, upping the total areas of eradication in the Bekaa to 6,615 dunums.

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel : East Lebanon cannabis farmers might be compensated
August 05, 2012 /The Daily Star/BEIRUT: Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said Sunday that the state might compensate east Lebanon farmers for the eradication of their cannabis crop, ending protests that have dogged authorities carrying out the crackdown. "I will use the Cabinet session tomorrow [Monday] to raise the issue of destroying cannabis. There are three ideas that I will put forward: one of them is compensation," Charbel told Baalbek residents and reporters in the town of Yammouneh, east Lebanon. Authorities recently launched a crackdown on cannabis fields in the Baalbek area, burning hundreds of dunams. Charbel, who expressed sympathy for the farmers and their demands, was able to convince protesters to end a sit-in they had begun a day earlier.
Since the Lebanese Army and the Internal Security Forces began the destruction of cannabis fields in the Bekaa region last week, there have been several incidents in which security forces have been targeted. Two policemen and two soldiers were wounded Friday in separate shootings in Yammouneh.
As residents continued Sunday to block the Baalbek town of Yammouneh in protest at authorities’ decision to eradicate cannabis fields, the Jaafar clan vowed to stand in the way of the crackdown.
In a statement released Sunday, the Jaafar clan vowed to "confront with resolve the destruction of that plant, given that it is the only source of living in the area." It added that all of the clans and families in the region would stand in the face of what it described as an attempt to starve the people. On Sunday, protesters blocked the main road leading to the town. On Saturday, residents of Yammouneh blocked the three entrances to the village with burning tires, boulders and vehicles, preventing access to tractors tasked with uprooting cannabis in the area. Around 35,000 dunams in the northern Bekaa are believed to be used for the cultivation of cannabis, which has long flourished in the fertile valley. The total area of cannabis fields eradicated in the Bekaa and elsewhere thus far in the ongoing operation has reached 6,615 dunams, the ISF said in a statement Thursday.

Hezbollah: Syrian opposition's militarization mooted reform
August 05, 2012/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Hezbollah MP Mohammad Raad said Sunday that the militarization of the Syrian opposition has eliminated the argument for reform in the troubled country, but reiterated his party’s stance that the solution to the crisis can only be reached via dialogue.
“The aggressive spirit introduced to some Arab regimes by some of the Syrian opposition members led to the militarization of the opposition, thereby ending the argument for reform and democracy,” Raad said in a ceremony in the southern village of Arabsalim. “The issue is no longer one of reform and human rights in Syria,” he added.
Hezbollah has repeatedly accused "some Arab countries" -- without naming them -- of arming the Syrian rebels in their fight against President Bashar Assad’s government, which the resistance party supports. The party’s Secretary-General, Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah, has even accused the March 14 coalition of financing and arming the Syrian opposition. The coalition has denied the allegations.
During his speech Sunday, Raad said that the solution to the 17-month old crisis in Syria can only be reached through dialogue between the warring forces in the country, adding that arriving at such a solution would restore stability.
“As long as there is funding and incitement for the insurgency, the crisis will continue,” the Hezbollah parliamentarian warned.
He also expressed regret over the international community's preoccupation with Syria, which he said distracts attention from what Israel is doing in Palestine, but said Hezbollah would remain vigilant with regard to the Palestinian-Israeli issue.

Mikati says not attached to current Cabinet
August 05, 2012/ The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Prime Minister Najib Mikati said he was ready for the possibility of forming a new government to replace the current one, in remarks published Sunday. He also defended the General Security apparatus’ recent deportation of 14 Syrians to their country, saying that the humanitarian conditions of Syrian refugees should not preclude court rulings in criminal cases. “The Cabinet can go today before tomorrow, I don’t have a problem [with this],” An-Nahar quoted Mikati as saying. “Beware of thinking that I am attached to it. On the contrary, I’d prefer to form a government of one [political stripe] like in any other country in the world. And when this is possible -- and I hope it will be soon -- I will be ready,” the prime minister said. Mikati added that his government, which is dominated by the March 8 political coalition, has succeeded in resolving some issues, but admitted that it failed in other fields “as a result of known political complications.” “Beware of thinking for a moment that anyone can intimidate us with the fate of the government,” he said. Since the formation of Mikati’s Cabinet in June of last year, the opposition March 14 coalition has repeatedly demanded the resignation of the government and has held it responsible for all security and socio-economic problems, including assassination attempts on opposition figures. Mikati defended the General Security’s deportation of 14 Syrians to their country due to criminal offenses they have committed. “There are Syrian detainees in Lebanon accused of crimes related to politics; Syrian authorities are asking for their handover [but] we have rejected their request.”He added that the General Security’s decision to expel the 14 Syrians was not related to politics or events in Syria, adding that six of the 14 men had attacked an army officer and (separately) vandalized his house, four men forged official signatures, two carried out thefts, one sexually assaulted someone and the other distributed pornographic movies. “The humanitarian reality of the Syrian refugees should not preclude the implementation of court rulings against perpetrators of crimes or offenses which have nothing to do with politics,” he said.

Assad's forces pound rebel stronghold in Aleppo
August 05, 2012/By Hadeel Al Shalchi/Daily Star
ALEPPO, Syria: Syrian army tanks shelled Aleppo on Sunday and a helicopter gunship strafed rebel positions with heavy machinegun fire as they fought for control of the country's biggest city and key battleground of the 17-month uprising. After U.N. Security Council paralysis on Syria forced peace envoy Kofi Annan to resign last week, and with his ceasefire plan a distant memory, rebels have been battered by the government onslaught in Aleppo and the capital Damascus. A Reuters correspondent in Aleppo witnessed fierce street fighting in the Salaheddine district, a gateway into the city of 2.5 million people. Tanks pounded alleyways where rebels sought cover and one shell hit a building next to the reporter, pouring rubble onto the street and sending huge billows of smoke into the sky.
State television said Assad's forces were "cleansing the terrorist filth" from the country, which has been sucked into an increasingly sectarian conflict that has killed some 18,000 people and could spill into neighbouring states.
In Damascus, jets bombarded the capital on Saturday as troops kept up an offensive they began a day earlier against the last rebel bastion there, a resident said.
Both cities - vital prizes in the battle for Syria - were relatively free of violence in the early months of the uprising but fighting flared in Damascus shortly before a July 18 bomb killed four of Assad's inner circle. It later erupted in Aleppo.
On Saturday, a rebel commander in Aleppo said he expected a Syrian army attack on rebels "within days", echoing the head of the U.N. peacekeeping department who said there had been a "considerable build-up of military means".
"We know they are planning to attack the city using tanks and aircraft, shooting at us for three to four days and they plan to take the city," Colonel Abdel-Jabbar al-Oqaidi said.
SHOPPING DISTRICT IN RUINS
Once a busy shopping and restaurant district where residents would spend evenings with their families, Aleppo's Salaheddine district is now white with dust, broken concrete and rubble.
Tank shell holes gape wide on the top of buildings near the front line, and homes of families and couples have been turned into look outs and sniper locations for rebel fighters.
Large mounds of concrete are used as barriers to close off streets, the whiff of weapon fire and rotting garbage intermix. Lamp posts lie horizontally across the streets after being downed by shelling, their wiring swinging idly in the wind.
Civilians trickle back to collect their belongings and check on their homes. Late on Saturday a confused elderly man stumbled into 15th street as rebels exchanged fire with the army.
"Get out of the way! Get off the street!" fighters shouted, grabbing him and taking him to shelter from sniper fire.
"I just wanted to buy some blackberry juice," he told the fighters, his face reflecting confusion and horror at the damage to his street. Instinctively, he took his personal ID out of his chest pocket to show the rebels, a habit from the strict days of the Assad security officials.
During the day, others emerged from damaged buildings. A couple stood shaking with fear at an intersection a few meters from the fighting, as a medic waved a car down to help take them to safety. "Just to hold power he is willing to destroy our streets, our homes, kill our sons," wept Fawzia Um Ahmed, referring to Assad's determined counter-offensive against the rebels.
"I can't recognise these streets any more."
REBEL WEAPONS
Rebels tried to extend their area of control in Aleppo from Salaheddine to the area around the television and radio station on Saturday, but were pushed back, an activist said.
Syrian television said a large number of "terrorists" were killed and wounded after they tried to storm the broadcaster.
Outgunned by Assad's forces, the rebels are constantly on the hunt for captured weapons.
On one Salaheddine street, a rebel fighter drove up in a pick-up truck mounted with an anti-aircraft weapon, one of 15 that rebels said were seized during fighting last week.
But the weapon could not be aimed at the sky and neither did it fire. It remained parked on a side street. "We only have 200 rounds per weapon," said Abu Furat al-Garabolsi, an army officer who defected. "We have to be totally sure we will shoot a plane when we fire it otherwise we won't be able to replenish what we have used."
After Annan's resignation, the U.N. General Assembly voted on Friday to condemn the Syrian government and criticise the U.N. Security Council's failure to agree tougher action, in a resolution that Western diplomats said highlighted the isolation of Assad supporters Russia and China.
Russia called the vote a "facade of humanitarian rhetoric" behind which Assad's foreign enemies were arming the rebels and worsening the violence that has elements of a proxy war between Sunni and Shi'ite Islam which could spill beyond Syrian borders.
Assad is a member of the Alawite faith, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam that has dominated Syrian politics through more than 40 years of his family's rule in a country that has a Sunni Muslim majority.
The mostly Sunni Muslim Gulf Arab states and Turkey have called for Assad to go. Assad still has the backing of Shi'ite Iran and Lebanon's armed Shi'ite Hezbollah movement.
On Sunday Syrian rebels claimed responsibility for kidnapping 48 Iranian pilgrims in Syria and said they were checking their identities to show that Tehran was involved in fighting for Assad, a rebel officer said.
The interview was aired after the Dubai-based al-Arabiya television broadcast a video showing armed men checking the identity cards of the kidnapped Iranians.
The fighters were "still checking the documents that prove the identity of these detainees and will make our findings public in due course," said a man identified as Captain Abdel Nasser al-Shumair, commander of the al-Baraa brigade of the Free Syrian Army. He said his men had been tracking the abducted Iranians for two months before they were seized.
Tehran has asked Turkey and Qatar to help secure the release of kidnapped men, Iran's state news agency IRNA said.
e visiting Nigeria, Ghana and Benin next week on her way to the Istanbul talks.
In Ghana, she was expected to attend the funeral of President John Atta Mills, who died suddenly last month after an illness.

Saudi Invites Iran for Extraordinary Muslim Summit
Naharnet /Saudi King Abdullah invited Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for an extraordinary summit of Muslim leaders to be held this month in the holy city of Mecca, state news agency SPA reported Sunday.
The Saudi monarch "sent a written letter to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad inviting him to attend the extraordinary Islamic solidarity meeting which will be held in Mecca" in mid-August, SPA reported.
Tensions have been running high between the Sunni-dominated kingdom and Shiite Iran as both regional powers had taken opposite stances on the uprisings in Bahrain and Syria.
Iran had voiced support to a Shiite-led uprising in Bahrain which Saudi Arabia had sent troops to crush last year.
In Syria, the kingdom had called for arming rebels against the regime of President Bashar Assad -- who belongs to the Alawite minority, an off-shoot of Shiite Islam -- while Iran has been repeatedly accused of sending military aid to the Syrian government. Tehran has denied the claims.
Saudi Arabia last month called for the summit in a bid at "unifying the ranks" of Muslims.
Saudi Arabia hosts the headquarters of the 57-member pan-Muslim body -- the Organization of Islamic Cooperation which is based in the Red Sea city of Jeddah.
SourceAgence France Presse

Lebanon’s army is an increasingly compromised one
By Joseph A. Kechichian, Senior Writer
August 5, 2012/gulfnews.com
Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on emailShare on printMore Sharing Services1.Beirut: The Lebanese army has long been viewed as the state’s sole standing legitimate institution, but spillover violence from Syria has compromised the integrity of the Lebanese forces at a critical time in Lebanon’s history where a government led by a coaltion of Hezbollah and its allies has been put in an awkward situation as its ally, the regime of Bashar Al Assad, is quickly losing control of Syria.
For nearly two years, tens of thousands of Syrian refugees fled across the northern borders and settled in the Akkar region, often with relatives. Notorious clashes in Tripoli rekindled dormant animosities between Sunni and Shiite neighbourhoods. Accusations that arms were smuggled from Lebanon into Syria mobilised Syrian Arab Army troops to open fire on Lebanese citizens, cross the frontiers at will, kidnap or kill with impunity, all of which raised tensions further.
Despite the need for a presence on the border with Syria, Lebanese troops flexed their muscle in Tripoli, and on May 20 killed two prominent Sunni clerics, Ahmad Abdul Wahid and Mohammad Mirhib. Officially, the Lebanese forces said the deaths were a mistake after the car driving the two men failed to stop at a checkpoint. But the execution-style deaths provoked Sunni protesters who have been long-time critics of the regime of Bashar Al Assad and its interference in Lebanese politics — specifically with backing up Hezbollah and its allies. The Lebanese forces saw their movement in the country severely limited by the March 8 dominated government. The March 14 opposition demanded the army deploy on the borders and defend Lebanese sovereignty after several instances of Syrian troops firing at people from across the border. However the government of Prime Minister Najeeb Miqati chose instead a policy of disassociation. In 2007, the Lebanese forces were glorified by the public for their heroic fight against Fatah Al Islam, an offshoot of Al Qaida who took over the Palestinian Nahr Al Bared refugee camp.
At the time, and following a post-robbery incident, extremists slaughtered 27 soldiers in their sleep, seized various armoured personnel carriers and attacked additional posts. The LAF responded with force, killing 226 members of Fatah Al Islam and capturing about 220. At the end of a nearly four-month-long war, an additional 141 LAF soldiers died, while 66 civilians perished as well.
Through the bloody ordeal, the vast majority of Lebanese applauded the LAF. A few weeks ago, Judge Ghassan Uwaydat ordered the release of 126 prisoners, recommended the death penalty for 88 people charged with involvement in the clashes, and issued arrest warrants for 222 suspects still at large, although few believed that justice would be carried out. Simply stated, and because the vast majority of the condemned men were Sunnis, any decisions to proceed with legal proceedings was likely to add fuel to the fire.
Speaking at the August 1 LAF ceremony, President Michel Sulaiman attempted to regain his lost influence, and doused the boiling sectarian cauldron. He called on the judiciary to stand with the LAF, and insisted that the military espoused a culture that aimed to protect all of Lebanon. Remarkably, the head of state pleaded for an end to illegal weapons — “no random arms” in his carefully chosen words — and wished politicians would agree on a national defence strategy. While laudable, these goals have fallen hostage to the war in Syria as well as internal Lebanese sectarian tensions. Contentions for power between the Hezbollah dominated March-8 government and the March-14 opposition have essentially weakened the army.

Iran warns against foreign intervention in Syria
(Reuters) - Iran warned against foreign intervention in Syria on Sunday and said the conflict there could engulf Israel, Iranian media said.
Iran's Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani accused the United States and regional countries he did not name of providing military support to rebels fighting to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Iran. Syria has accused Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia of backing rebels in Syria and fuelling violence there. Iran has supported Assad's efforts to crush the 17-month revolt and has accused Western countries and Israel of interfering in the crisis. "The fire that has been ignited in Syria will take the fearful (Israelis) with it," Larijani said on Sunday, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).
"What really allows these countries to interfere in internal Syrian affairs?" Larijani was quoted as saying. Larijani is considered a moderate conservative and a close follower of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the most powerful man in Iran who decides foreign policy. Larijani is also a critic of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and widely expected to run for president in 2013.
Gholam-Ali Haddad Adel, a key ally of Khamenei and father-in-law to the paramount leader's son, Mojtaba, said on Sunday the people of Syria should not allow the United States and Israel to break the "resistance front", IRNA reported.
"Since the Americans and (Israelis) do not want to solve the Syrian issue, they continue to make the...region insecure," Haddad Adel was quoted as saying. On Friday, following his visit to Moscow to discuss Syria, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said "terrorist groups" supported by foreign forces were operating in Damascus and Aleppo, IRNA reported.
Amir-Abdollahian said "tens of thousands of weapons" had entered Syria from neighboring countries and were being used by groups including al Qaeda. "Unfortunately America and regional countries ... do not take steps to control the borders," Amir-Abdollahian was quoted as saying.
Amir-Abdollahian said he did not believe Syria would be attacked by foreign powers, but that if it were, it would not need Iran's help in defending itself. "Syria has been ready for years to respond to any military attack against it by (Israel) or other countries, and can respond strongly to any military action by itself and with complete readiness," he was quoted as saying.
Iran and Russia support the six-point plan presented by former UN peace envoy Kofi Annan to solve the crisis. A frustrated Annan resigned his post last week, blaming "finger-pointing and name-calling" at the U.N. Security Council for his decision to quit. Iran has blamed the United States and countries in the region for the failure of Annan's plan.
(Reporting by Yeganeh Torbati)

Clinton to hold Syria talks in Turkey on Aug. 11
LILONGWE Aug 5 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary State of State Hillary Clinton will travel to Istanbul next week to hold talks with the Turkish government on the crisis in Syria, a State Department spokeswoman said on Sunday. "Secretary Clinton goes to Istanbul for bilateral consultations with the Turkish government on Syria as well as to cover other timely issues," spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a statement sent to reporters during a visit by Clinton to the southern African nation of Malawi. Clinton's planned talks in Istanbul on Aug. 11 will form part of renewed international efforts to tackle the escalating crisis in Syria, where forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad are fighting to put down a rebel uprising. Prospects over the possibility of a negotiated solution have dimmed since United Nations peace envoy Kofi Annan resigned this week complaining of paralysis in the U.N. Security Council over the Syria peace efforts. Nuland also announced that Clinton, whose current Africa tour will take her to South Africa later on Sunday, would also be visiting Nigeria, Ghana and Benin next week on her way to the Istanbul talks. In Ghana, she was expected to attend the funeral of President John Atta Mills, who died suddenly last month after an illness.

Syria rebel video claims to show abducted Iranians
August 05, 2012/Associated Press
BEIRUT – A pan-Arab television station aired a video Sunday purporting to show Syrian rebels guarding a group of Iranians abducted a day earlier and promising more attacks on Iranian targets.
Armed men in the video identify themselves as members of the rebel "Baraa Brigades" and say that at least one of the 48 captives was an officer of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards. They claim they Iranians were on a "reconnaissance mission" in the capital Damascus at the time they were abducted. Iran says they are pilgrims who were visiting a shrine.
"We promise Iran and all those who support this regime ... we will strike at all (Iranian) targets in Syria," one of the rebels says in the video. "The fate of all Iranians who operate in Syria will be the same as those we have here, either captive or killed, God willing."The abductions threaten to pull Syria's close ally Iran deeper into the country's civil war. They also raised questions about the extent to which President Bashar Assad's regime can control the center of its power in the capital.
Last month, rebels and Syrian regime forces fought intense battles for a week in Damascus, the opposition fighters' biggest challenge so far in the capital. The government claimed Saturday it was now in full control of all districts in Damascus after purging one of the last rebel-held areas. But several residents reported hearing loud explosions and gunfire from several districts of the capital throughout the night.
Gunmen snatched 48 Iranian pilgrims just outside Damascus on Saturday in a brazen attack. The pilgrims were on a bus taking them from the suburb of Sayeda Zeinab, about 10 miles south of Damascus, to the airport to return home when they were kidnapped, according to the Iranian state news agency, IRNA.
Mainly Shiite Iran is a close ally of the beleaguered Syrian government, which is dominated by the minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam. Syria has long welcomed Iranian pilgrims visiting the ornate, gold-domed shrine of Sayeda Zeinab, the Prophet Muhammad's granddaughter.
But the rebels in the video claimed there was an officer in Iran's Revolutionary Guard among the group and showed what was purportedly his ID and a permit to carry weapons.
IRNA said Sunday that Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi had spoken by phone with his Turkish and Qatari counterparts and demanded their intervention to help release the Iranians. Turkey and Qatar have supported the overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim rebels in Syria.
The Turkish and Qatari foreign ministers promised to make efforts for the release of Iranian pilgrims, IRNA reported Sunday.
In Tehran, a senior member of an influential parliamentary committee advised Iranians against traveling to Syria, state-run Press TV reported, in a high-ranking acknowledgment that Syrian rebels have expanded their hold over key roads and other areas once firmly under Assad's control. The comment by Kazem Jalali, a member of Iran's Committee on Security and Foreign Policy, does not represent an official Iranian discouraging travel to Syria, but the views of the parliament group often shape policies.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will visit Istanbul later this week for talks with Turkish officials over the worsening crisis in Syria, the State Department said Sunday. Turkey, which has taken in tens of thousands of Syrian refugees, has beefed up its military presence along the border.
The main battle in the civil war has now shifted to Syria's largest city, the commercial hub of Aleppo, some 215 miles north of Damascus. Rebels seized several neighborhoods there two weeks ago and the regime has struggled to dislodge them ever since in a stark demonstration of the rebels' growing strength and organization and the regime's loosening grip on the country
On Sunday, Syrian opposition groups and activists said fierce clashes were still ongoing as rebels tried to expand their hold and inch closer to the historic city center.
Local activist Mohammad Saeed said there is fighting only a few hundred yards from the medieval citadel overlooking the city center. Heavily armed government troops have been steadily shelling rebel-controlled districts, mainly in the southwestern part of the city, for the past two weeks.
Saeed and the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported heavy shelling and clashes Sunday mainly in the districts of Salaheddine, al-Sukkari and Hananou.

The Iranians in Damascus!
By Tariq Alhomayed/Asharq Al-Awsat
At a time when a Syrian regime source declared that al-Assad’s forces had taken complete control over the capital Damascus, an official in the Iranian embassy in Damascus announced that 48 Iranians had been kidnapped in the city, so what does this mean…the news that al-Assad’s forces control Damascus, and the abduction of Iranians?
The two news items reveal, in all simplicity, a lack of credibility for both the al-Assad and the Iranian regimes. The al-Assad regime is incapable of controlling Damascus, and the Iranians are not being truthful when they say that they do not have a hand in what is happening in Syria. Tehran is openly involved in supporting al-Assad, and no one can believe that the abducted Iranians were visiting what was said to be a Shiite shrine, as the Iranian official announced, at a time when Syria is witnessing armed conflict between the rebels and the regime, especially ongoing armed clashes in Damascus. How could anyone believe that the Iranians would travel at this particular time to visit these shrines? When we take into account the assassination of a security official at the Iranian embassy in Damascus a few days ago, not to mention the arrest of a Lebanese Shiite group in Syria said to be affiliated to Hezbollah, this is not believable at all.
Therefore, the announcement of 48 Iranians being abducted in Damascus at the same time as an al-Assad official declares the regime’s full control over the capital means that the Syrian regime is still hiding the truth. Reality dictates that al-Assad is facing serious difficulties in imposing his control over the capital Damascus, not to mention Aleppo and the rest of the Syrian cities. Hence we can understand the announcement of the upcoming visit of the Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Saeed Jalili, to the Lebanese capital Beirut on Monday, where it is said he will hold a “crisis meeting”, and without doubt Jalili will discuss his country’s crisis and predicament as the al-Assad regime in Syria teeters on the brink.
Therefore, the implications of these two news items are very important, they tell us al-Assad is unable to impose his control on Damascus, and that Iranian involvement in Syria has become even clearer, no matter how hard the al-Assad regime and the Iranians try to deny it, or attempt to divert attention away by warning the Arabs, and others, of the consequences of intervening in Syria’s affairs.
The facts today tell us that Iran is intervening in Syria’s affairs, and supporting al-Assad’s repression of the unarmed Syrians. The Arabs and the international community are seeking to intervene to save the Syrians from the al-Assad killing machine, which has been relentless ever since the outbreak of the revolution nearly 17 months ago, fuelled by Russian and Iranian weaponry. Meanwhile, Iran’s intervention in Syria has sectarian motives, in order to enable Iran and its agents in the region to continue to export the Khomeini Revolution, and penetrate further in order to expand Iranian influence at the expense of Arab interests. The story in Syria is not the story of a proxy war as alleged by some, including UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, rather it is a story of people rising up in search of dignity and security, against a criminal regime that will do anything to stay in power, including killing its own people and destroying the country with blatant Iranian support.

Arab Spring: The third wave!
By Emad El Din Adeeb/Asharq Alawsat
The Arab revolutions known as the “Arab Spring” have all had different impacts, responses, and have come at varying costs. In short, we in the region are not facing one, repeated scene, but we are actually dealing with a popular movement rising up against different models of regimes, and therefore results come at varying costs and at different times. In my personal judgment, since the beginning of the Arab Spring we have faced several different types of revolution against different forms of regime, which can be divided as follows:
First: What are known as “soft dictatorships”, where an individual plays the ruling role and the powers of governance over the country and the people are concentrated in the hands of a very small circle for a long period of time. In such models there is no chance of the transfer of power, leading to increased corruption and a lack of hope for reform.
I think that the “soft dictatorship” model applies to the cases of Egypt and Tunisia. In these cases the regimes fell within three weeks, with minimal use of military force to try and enforce their survival.
Second: The “savage dictatorship”, where the regime governs on tribal or sectarian foundations, upholding the rule of a minority with excessive armed force. The army and the security services are used as a direct repressive means. In this model, the regime does not hesitate to use any level of armed violence against its opponents, even to the extent of launching a civil war against unarmed citizens. The “savage dictatorship” model applies directly to the Libyan and Syrian cases; the tribal-centric Gaddafi regime in Libya and the Alawite al-Assad regime in Syria. One of the key lessons learned from modern history is that when a minority ruling system, be it sectarian or tribal, resists its opponents, the human and material costs are always expensive, and the timescale to overthrow such a regime may take months or even years. The third wave: the poor monarchies: These regimes are hindered by their geographical circumstances, history, and a lack of resources. They have a weak economy and a high ceiling of demands, with growing calls for more freedom and economic salvation. In these cases, the regime can become threatened firstly by its inability to increase freedom, because if it did so it could face an alarming coup, or secondly by its inability to manage new economic resources to revive the country, reduce unemployment, and improve wages and services. The regime is caught between a rock and a hard place; not being able to provide greater freedom and not being able to improve economic conditions at the same time. These pressures put the cohesion of the entire regime structure at risk. In my opinion, this model applies to the cases of Morocco and Jordan. In this regard, pressure has begun to build on Abdelilah Benkirane’s government in Rabat and Fayez al-Tarawneh’s government in Amman, in a manner that is now impossible to bear. The likeliest outcome is that these men will be sacrificed for the survival of the regime, and to prolong its stay in power. Therefore, we are in the middle of the second and approaching the third wave of the Arab Spring, which will be even greater and more dangerous

Salafism in Tunisia: A brief history
By Mohammed Al-Jazairy
Tunis, Asharq Al-Awsat- When trying to make sense of the state of Salafism in Tunisia, the main thing which baffles any visitor to the country is the lack of political presence of Salafi political parties. Apart from Hizb ut-Tahrir, which will be examined in this article, these are entities which have a long history in Tunisia.
It is certain that Salafism in Tunisia has a particular identity of its own. Before returning to Tunisia in an effort to integrate itself into the new post-revolutionary political system, it existed primarily outside Tunisia’s borders and nearly always operated in countries and regions which were in the throes of ideological crises. Afghanistan, Yemen and Iraq, countries riddled with armed conflict, are examples of this. This accounts for the Jihadist nature of the movement, as well as it rejecting politically scientific foundations, contrary to what is found in the case of its counterparts in other Arab countries.
The partisan reality of the Tunisian ‘Jihadi’ Salafi movement is in a clear state of fragmentation. There exist no charismatic leaders willing to unite these different fractions into one being for which to develop its policies and organize its strategic demands. This fragmentation is also apparent in the huge variation in the philosophies of these separate political strands, each with its own adherents who claim them ‘symbols of Tunisian oratory’. Add to this the alleged ‘major infiltration’ of other parties into the Salafi movement, such as Ennahda Party, left-wing figures and the Security Police; not to mention gangs smuggling alcohol and drugs into the country.
It is worth remembering that the loud volume of these groups is overly representative of their size on the ground. Tunisian analysts estimate them to be more than 6,000 in number, spread over various regions.
In order to fully understand the situation of Salafism in Tunisia it is important to bear in mind the influences of the movement on the political memory of the country.
News of the inherent danger in Salafi ‘Jihadi’ activities first circulated after Tunisian security forces discovered a training camp operating at Tabarnak Mountain, south of the capital Tunis. The camp was led by Tunisians trained in Algeria with the group ‘Salafi Call and Combat’, which would later give birth to Al-Qaeda’s North African wing. Confrontation between the former and the Tunisian Army resulted in the death of the cell’s leader and the other members’ detainment.
Tawfiq Medini, specialist researcher and author of “A history of the Tunisian political opposition, from the beginning to the revolution”, one of the most comprehensive publications on the subject of Tunisian political history, says: “Ten days after the first battle, the rest of the elements of the group were arrested. The Salafi leaders operating in Tunisia today include Seif Allah Ben Hassine, who leads an organization known as ‘Ansar al-Sharia’, and who is a student of the Jordanian Abu-Qatada. It is said that he managed a training camp in Afghanistan for North Africans before his arrest and imprisonment in Tunisia.
“Ben Hassine and the elements of the Suleiman Organization were allowed to leave prison after the revolution to form pressure groups which, in the beginning, focused their efforts in the border areas in supporting refugees. They prevented the music and theatre groups which came to entertain the refugees from performing. It is most likely that Tunisian Jihadi Salafis are an integral part of a wider, international network; as the name ‘Ansar al-Sharia’ is also used by the Al-Qaeda Salafis who operate in Yemen.”
In the town of Sousa, where there is a large presence of organizations of this sort, the Faculty of Arts was the location of a noteworthy incident which was covered by local newspapers. A group of Salafis stormed the faculty, allegedly supporting the right of a Niqab-wearing woman to register there. However, the incident ended with the group vandalizing the car of the faculty’s director.
What is the main difference between Tunisian Salafi groups and the Muslim Brotherhood’s Ennahda party which, after all, shares with them the same ideological point of reference?
On the subject of disagreement between these two sides, Adel Alami, President of the ‘Association for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice’ says in his interview with Asharq Al-Awsat that in theory, such problems are created “within the political divide. These disagreements did not arise until Ennahda assumed a role in the corridors of power. The most prominent discord surrounds their inability to arrive at a final decision regarding the definition of certain legislation, the public display of vices such as alcohol, nudity in the street and not wearing the veil. Such manifestations do not indicate that we are true Muslims. As we approach the Holy month of Ramadan, there is a large amount of trepidation that public breach of the Islamic law of fasting will be permitted by the authorities.”
Alami, whom Asharq Al-Awsat met in a glitzy hotel lobby, seemed calm. His thick beard was carefully trimmed and while somewhat casually dressed in trousers and a shirt, still donned the distinctive Tunisian hat. He was keen to express his rejection of all forms of violence, whatever justifications there may be.
Alami added, “Ennahda has promised that it is fulfilling the all the political requirements. However, we are not comfortable with the party not stipulating that sharia is the only source of legislation. As Salafis, we will not abandon this demand.”
En route to the famous Zitouna Mosque in the capital, it is necessary to pass through a long and crowded alley, packed with popular shops and peddlers with their distinctive chants and groups of tourists. This alley leads to the ancient mosque with its large courtyard and Islamic engravings, in distinctly Andalusian character. In a corner of the mosque five youths gather in a circle to study the Holy Quran after the end of the Friday prayers: they are all bearded and wearing the distinctive clothing of the Salafi groups.
Chatting with Asharq Al-Awsat about their concept of the new, post-revolution Tunisia, they all agree that “real Islam ought to prevail over the new Tunisia,” and that they do not belong to any political party or organization which carries out acts of violence. However, only one of them has mentioned that he follows Sheikh Khatib Idrisi.
Who is Khatib Idrisi? Medini says that Idrisi was “imprisoned between 2006 and 2009, charged with issuing a fatwa which encouraged engaging in jihadi operations as well as failure to report a terrorist crime. Idrisi’s followers are active on social networking websites. He has his own official Facebook page.
“Idrisi has called for protests against the satellite channel Nesmah, but restricted these protests to the separate governorates of the country, warning against taking them to the capital and thus being dragged into operations involving destruction and arson. However, the Salafis did indeed stage a large demonstration through the streets of the capital after Friday prayers, denouncing the channel with the slogan “the people want an Islamic Caliphate.” In the evening they burned down the house of the channel’s director.”
Tunisian academic Amal Qarami wrote an article in the ‘Ennahar’ newspaper in which she claimed: “The Salafis are not one bloc. Hizb ut-Tahrir, which is still banned, is present on the political scene via the slogans of the demonstrations which call ‘apply sharia’ and for establishment of ‘the Caliphate’. As for the so-called ‘Jihadi’ Salafi movement, it does not hesitate to use violence, has no time for dialogue with others and aims to purge society of secularism.”
The separation between Hizb ut-Tahrir and other jihadi Salafi factions, which Qarami presents, raises questions regarding exactly how the followers of the two movements are in fact different.
To return to Medini, whose political publications are considered among the most useful when it comes to understanding political activity in Tunisia, and who in an excerpt from his book “A history of the Tunisian political opposition” regarding Hizb ut-Tahrir before its entry into Tunisia, says: “The Jordanian Taqiy-al-Din al-Nabahani is considered the principal theoretician of Hizb ut-Tahrir due to the books he penned. Perhaps the most prominent of these is “The System of Islam”, which perhaps was first published under the title “The Road to Belief”. It is the most important book of Hizb ut-Tahrir, as teaching it to new members takes nearly two years. This is in addition to other books, namely “The Economic System in Islam”, “The Governmental System in Islam”, “The Social System in Islam”, “The Islamic State”, “The Foundations of Progress” and “The Islamic Character”.”
Regarding the entry of Hizb ut-Tahrir’s literature into Tunisia, Medini says, “The establishment of Hizb ut-Tahrir’s Tunisian branch was delayed until the 1980’s. It was established by Mohamed Fadel Cheetara, who joined Hizb ut-Tahrir during his studies in Cologne, West Germany. After his return to Tunisia, he entered into a series of secret contracts with a number of Islamist figures in an effort to recruit them into the party. This was until he convened the founding meeting of the local committee.”
The leaders of Hizb ut-Tahrir have attempted to “infiltrate the military institution with the aim of planting organizational cells within the ranks of the army, and to attract senior officers to educate them in an Islamic way.”
Later on, “some elements of Hizb ut-Tahrir were referred to the military court, which sentenced a number of the accused military personnel to 8 years in prison and 11 civilians to 5 years – these included Mohamed Jerbi, leader of Hizb ut-Tahrir in Tunisia.”
It is worthwhile noting that the overwhelming majority of the Salafi spectra do not belong to the traditional, politically ‘scientific’ Salafi tendency, which exists elsewhere (in Saudi Arabia, for example). Nor do they have any religious authority in the Arabian Gulf which serves to theorize their political activities.
Interestingly enough, renowned Tunisian leftist, Chokri Belaid, is one of the most prominent lawyers defending the members of the Salafi tendency and has handled nearly 90 percent of the files belonging to Salafis wanted by the security forces.
Belaid stresses that the Salafi movement in Tunisia has become “an open field to many political spectra, to the extent that it has become out of control politically.”
He explains, “There is a Salafi faction that is highly-disciplined in the composition of its literature. This belongs to Al-Qaeda. Then there is a reforming Salafi faction, then a Salafi faction infiltrated by Ennahda Party, then a Salafi faction infiltrated by security organizations, and finally a Salafi faction infiltrated by international intelligence organizations.”
Belaid accuses The Ennahda Party of lumping the Salafi tendency “under the rubric of protecting all that is sacred and of giving the Salafis a free hand, enabling them to climb the pulpits of mosques in order to paint the picture that in the midst of the political chaos there is an extreme religious right wing represented by the Salafis on one side and on the other an extreme left wing. Ennahda stands in the middle, centrist. Now, Ennahda finds itself controlling but a small wing of the Salafi tendency, as the Salafi factions that operate above ground are infiltrated by gangs smuggling alcohol and drugs. This is true to the extent that some of the groups specializing in arson also have a long history in the secret smuggling of alcoholic drinks."
Alami also confirms this. He points out, “There are groups affiliated to the Salafi movement – yet originally they were deviants and convicted criminals released from prison. Their robbery and rape cases are well-known. These groups have found their haven in this hard-line tendency, and because they are criminals, they are controlled by cruelty. In the chaos they have found a ‘breathing space’ with the Salafi brethren – the hard-line character is their common denominator. Some of them have remained as unlicensed merchants of alcoholic drinks, hiding among the members of the Salafi movement.”
Abdessattar Ben Moussa, President of The Tunisian League for the Defense of Human Rights - one of the oldest independent human rights organizations in North Africa - has warned: “Violent, outlawed members of Salafi groups evade punishment. They roam round attacking wherever they go in order to spread terror, committing physical and psychological violence against women, intellectuals, journalists, creative figures, trade unionists, politicians and human rights activists. They violate academic freedom, educational institutions, houses of worship and the headquarters of trade unions and political parties. This is coupled with their exploitation of religion and their deeming citizens to be infidels.”
What is certain is that even the pulpits of mosques are no longer completely under the influence of governmental decisions: the political vacuum has led to some mosques recruiting preachers with known backgrounds in activism.
A notable incident involving mosques no longer under government supervision is related by Medini: “The Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki and the partisan members participating in the governmental coalition have all confronted the actions of the Egyptian Islamist Wajdi Ghunaym, who travelled across the country visiting mosques affiliated with the Ministry of Islamic Trusts. He related to them an address dividing the Tunisian people into two halves: infidels and Muslims. It also ridiculed the national anthem, condoned the hitting and circumcision of women, allowed raising arms against the state, considered the people’s possession of sovereignty as infidelity and deviation, claimed that personal freedom was null and void and tantamount to corruption and allowed the imposition of the penalty for desertion on anyone who practices freedom of religion. Habib Luz, Deputy of the Constituent Assembly and a leading member of Ennahda was seen accompanying Ghunaym.”
This state of internal conflict has been conveyed in Ghannouchi’s comment, as Medini tells, “Ghannouchi has considered that the problem is not represented by this Islamic caller, but by the media which incites revolt. Moreover, one of Ennahda’s ministers has said that Tunisia is open to all forms of opinion – from the extreme right to the extreme left. At the same time, Tunisian President Rachid Ghannouchi has described Ghunaym as ‘a virus’. After this happened, conflicting demonstrations were held by the Salafis and the secularists.”
What is certain is that the ‘jihadi’ Salafi movement in Tunisia is in its ‘formation’ stage, yet lacks any real clear direction. Nonetheless it is efficient in its practice of violence, and lacks a peaceful political form which would be able to participate in making important decisions regarding the political future of Tunisia.
The principle feature of fragmentation in the higher levels makes it difficult to control the actions of the movement effectively, due to its lack of united leaders who are able to reach mutual agreement. On the other hand, other sides concerned consider that all participants in the situation in which Salafism finds itself are under security surveillance. Their threat can be contained if there is political pressure to do so from the decision makers.
However, the future of Tunisia remains unknown in this respect. This is especially true in light of frequent news reports relating the discovery of huge amounts of weaponry smuggled in from neighboring countries.