LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
December 08/2012

Bible Quotation for today/A Woman's Faith
Mark 07/24-30: " Then Jesus left and went away to the territory near the city of Tyre. He went into a house and did not want anyone to know he was there, but he could not stay hidden. A woman, whose daughter had an evil spirit in her, heard about Jesus and came to him at once and fell at his feet. The woman was a Gentile, born in the region of Phoenicia in Syria. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter. But Jesus answered, “Let us first feed the children. It isn't right to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs.” “Sir,” she answered, “even the dogs under the table eat the children's leftovers!”So Jesus said to her, “Because of that answer, go back home, where you will find that the demon has gone out of your daughter!”She went home and found her child lying on the bed; the demon had indeed gone out of her.

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
The predicament of the Brotherhood's support/By Tariq Alhomayed/Asharq Alawsat/December 07/12
Iran Threatens Aerial Freedom of Navigation in the Gulf/Eddie Boxx, Michael Eisenstadt, and Michael Knights/December 07/12

Paris: NATO-Arab Syria intervention imminent
DEBKAfile Special Report December 7, 2012/Sources close to the French Defense Ministry reported Friday, Dec. 7, that a Western-Arab military intervention against the Assad regime is due to begin shortly with the participation of the US, France, Britain, Turkey, Jordan and other anti-Assad Arab nations. debkafile: The reference is to Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar’s special forces.
Our military sources add that the French aircraft carrier Charles De Gaulle carrying a complement of marines is deployed in the Mediterranean, having joined the USS Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group and at least five British warships which are also carrying a large marine force. In the second and third weeks of November, British and French naval forces, plus 2,600 special ops combatants from both nations, performed landing-and-capture exercises against fortified locations on the coast and mountains of Albania as practice for potential operations against similar terrain in Syria, where the Alawite Mountains loom over the coastal towns of Latakia and Tartus.
The troops landing there would head for the Alawite Mts. to prevent Assad and his loyal units from retreating to his mountain stronghold and fighting on from there - as he plans to do if he is forced to flee Damascus.
French sources told Le Point magazine that the NATO mission for Syria, including the UK and the US, would be modeled on the Western intervention in Libya in 2011. It would combine an aerial blitz with ground action by special forces for destroying Assad’s chemical weapons stocks, his air force and his air defense systems. See earlier debkafile reports on the Syrian chemical warfare threat.

Army Units Continue to Deploy in Tripoli after 'Worst Night' in Fighting in Years
Naharnet /Army units continued their deployment in the northern city of Tripoli on Friday as they requested the residents to cooperate with them in informing them of any suspicious activity in the area. The Army Command had described the last round of fighting on Thursday night as the worst the city had seen in years. It added that its units were deploying in the neighborhoods of Jabal Mohsen, Bab al-Tabbaneh, and others that had witnessed clashes.
It is seeking to contain any armed presence in the city and restore calm and stability in Tripoli, added the statement. The Army Command revealed that it had raided on Thursday night the resting places of various gunmen involved in the fighting, succeeding in arresting a number of suspects and seizing several weapons and military equipment. In addition, it said that some army centers were subject to sniper attacks, which wounded seven soldiers and caused material damage to some military vehicles. The soldiers' injuries are not serious, it stressed. It urged the residents of Tripoli “to cooperate fully with the army”, warning them of the possibility of the gunmen of using them as human shields. Tripoli had witnessed its fiercest night of fighting in years along the Bab al-Tabbaneh, Qobberh, Jabal Mohsen, Rifa, al-Baqqar, and Mankoubin neighborhoods.
Twelve people were killed and over 75 were wounded in the latest round of clashes that erupted in Tripoli over the weekend in light of news that Lebanese fighters had been killed in an ambush in the Syrian border town of Tall Kalakh on November 30. The fighters, who mainly hail from the North and were seeking to fight alongside the Syrian opposition, were killed in an ambush by Syrian regime forces.

Lebanon seen as one of most corrupt countries
December 06, 2012/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Lebanon ranks as one of the 50 most corrupt nations worldwide, coming 128th out of 174 countries surveyed for perceptions of transparency, a report released Wednesday by an international watchdog showed.
Falling behind a global average of 43 points, Lebanon performed poorly with a score of 30 points, according to the 2012 Corruption Perception Index by Transparency International.
CPI ranks countries based on how corrupt its public sector is perceived to be by experts and businesses. The index uses the data to award scores ranging from 0, perceived to be highly corrupt, to 100, perceived to be very transparent. It is one of the most globally cited ways of measuring corruption.TI updated the methodology it uses for the index scores in 2012, making comparisons with previous findings unworkable. In 2011 and 2010, Lebanon occupied 134th and 127th ranks respectively. Nada Abdul Sater, head of the Lebanese Transparency Association – the local chapter of Transparency International – said Lebanon has fallen behind other countries in the region. “Our ambitions are now merely to catch up with some of the worst regimes, instead of competing with developed countries,” Abdul Sater told a news conference at UNESCO Palace.
She added that an array of corruption scandals in medicine and food safety, as well as the government’s failure to prosecute those involved, have played a role in worsening the public’s view of corruption.
Widespread allegations of public sector squandering and corruption scandals – including allegations of mass customs-evasion at Beirut’s port – have also played a role in widening Lebanese perception of corruption, she added.
“Silence and lack of accountability reinforce corruption. We call for [improving] the independence of the judiciary and empowering it to be able to face corruption,” she said.
Lebanon rated 14th out of 21 Arab countries measured, only ahead of Comoros, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Iraq, Sudan and Somalia.
“Following the Arab Spring, many Arab countries became free of regimes built on corruption and the plundering of public funds ... Today we started hearing about ministers resigning for merely being suspected of being involved in corruption,” Abdul Sater said. Internationally, Denmark, Finland and New Zealand tied in the first position with a score of 90, “helped by strong access to information systems and rules governing the behavior of those in public positions,” a statement by the organization said.Afghanistan, North Korea and Somalia came at the bottom of the index due to the lack of political leadership accountability and ineffective public institutions.
“Governments need to integrate anti-corruption actions into all public decision-making. Priorities include better rules on lobbying and political financing, making public spending and contracting more transparent and making public bodies more accountable,” said Huguette Labelle, chair of Transparency International.

President Amin Gemayel Meets Berri: We are Ready Return to Parliamentary Committee to Approve Electoral Law
Naharnet/He said after holding talks with Speaker Nabih Berri: “We support the resumption of parliamentary committee meetings as soon as possible in order to approve a fair electoral law.”
“We are prepared to overcome all obstacles and resume the meetings despite the security dangers,” he stated after the meeting at Ain el-Tineh. The government had approved in September a parliamentary electoral law based on proportional representation and 13 districts. The March 14-led opposition voiced its rejection of the law, demanding one that offers better representation. The opposition had also announced in October its boycott of government and parliamentary-related activity, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Najib Miqati's government. The boycott was prompted by the October 19 assassination of Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau chief Brigadier General Wissam al-Hasan in a massive car bomb in Beirut's Ashrafiyeh district. The opposition accused Syria of being behind the murder and the government of covering up for the criminals.

Lebanon opposes military intervention in Syria
December 07, 2012/The Daily Star /BEIRUT: President Michel Sleiman said Thursday Lebanon opposed foreign military intervention in strife-torn Syria, as a new bout of sectarian violence in the north raised fears of the conflict spilling over the border. Sleiman also said Lebanon was trying to insulate itself from any possible negative fallout from the bloody conflict in Syria. He spoke at a joint news conference in Athens after holding talks with his Greek counterpart Karolos Papoulias. The talks centered on regional and international developments as well as on expanding bilateral economic cooperation and trade exchange by implementing agreements signed by the two countries. “I stressed to President Papoulias our concern with sparing Lebanon any possible negative repercussions of the current crisis in Syria,” he said, according to a statement from Baabda Palace.
Referring to the 20-month-old conflict in Syria that has killed more than 40,000 people since the uprising against President Bashar Assad began in March last year, the Lebanese president said: “I hope the Syrians will be able to engage in dialogue and agree acceptable political solutions, without any escalation in violence, while remaining distant from the threat of fragmentation, extremism or foreign military intervention.
“The U.N. Charter and decisions by international organizations must be respected,” Sleiman added.
The president said he briefed Papoulias on his efforts to launch dialogue among the rival political leaders; neutralize Lebanon from regional conflicts; and preserve the pillars of democracy and stability.
Sleiman’s remarks came as fighting intensified Thursday between Assad’s Lebanese opponents and supporters in the northern city of Tripoli as sniper shots left people ducking for cover.
Security sources told The Daily Star that the death toll rose to nine from the fighting in the past three days between gunmen in the neighborhoods of Jabal Mohsen, whose residents largely support Assad, and rivals in Bab al-Tabbaneh, where residents back the Syrian revolution against the regime. Lebanon is deeply split over the conflict in Syria. The opposition March 14 coalition supports the anti-Assad uprising, while the Hezbollah-led March 8 alliance backs the regime. Sleiman said that in light of the “historic changes and challenges in the Arab world,” he and Papoulias underlined the need for enabling peoples in the region to achieve their demands for reforms, freedom and democracy by peaceful means. For his part, the Greek president stressed his country’s firm support for Lebanon’s stability and sovereignty on its territory and “the role played by President Sleiman to protect the country from the consequences of the situation in Syria.” “We spoke in detail about the Middle East problem which is considered as the most important problem that must be solved for the sake of peace, stability and security in this region,” Papoulias said. Sleiman said he and Papoulias praised last week’s vote by the U.N. General Assembly to recognize Palestine as a non-member observer state at the world body as “a step in the right direction” toward implementing U.N. resolutions pertaining to the Middle East and Palestine issues. “On this occasion, I affirmed to President Papoulias Lebanon’s rejection of any form of resettlement of Palestinian refugees on its territory based on the provisions of the [2002] Arab Peace Initiative,” Sleiman said.

Sheikh Maher Hammoud mediates for Hezbollah and Ansar Allah
December 07, 2012/By Mohammed Zaatari/The Daily Star
SIDON, Lebanon: An influential Islamist figure is conducting mediation efforts to repair a rupture in ties between Hezbollah and its largest Palestinian ally, Ansar Allah, according to sources familiar with the issue.
Sheikh Maher Hammoud, the imam of the Quds Mosque in Saida, is undertaking the effort after the Palestinian group Tuesday announced its “military, security and political disengagement” from its long-time ally.
Hammoud, according to the sources, has held a meeting with the leader of Ansar Allah, Jamal Suleiman, in the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp. The sources said Hammoud delivered a strong rebuke to Ansar Allah for its public declaration that its alliance with Hezbollah had ended, advising the group to reassess its move and work on quietly solving points of divergence with their former ally. The sources said Hammoud’s meeting did not generate any breakthroughs, but nevertheless managed to open a channel of communication between the two groups, as Hezbollah tasked a local official, known as Hajj Issam, with visiting Suleiman. The Ansar Allah leader communicated his criticisms of how Hezbollah dealt with his group, the sources said. The sources maintained that a financial dispute wasn’t the reason behind Ansar Allah’s announcement, but was rather the result of the core problem. They said Hezbollah received information that Ansar Allah had made efforts to open a channel of communication with a Gulf state supporting the Syrian uprising.
A Palestinian faction enjoying good ties with the Gulf country was trying to establish the channel of communication, they added. Hezbollah reacted by downsizing its financial support to Ansar Allah, before cutting off its aid entirely. Well-informed sources also told The Daily Star that Suleiman was told by Lebanese security officials that weapons permits for him and a number of Ansar Allah officials were no longer valid. The sources said that a number of Ansar Allah officials have now vacated their residences outside Ain al-Hilweh, relocating inside the camp. Separately, Col. Mahmoud Oweid, the senior military official in Ansar Allah, rejected media speculation that his group was responsible for launching rockets at Israel, or targeting UNIFIL peacekeeping troops. Oweid told The Daily Star that his organization denounced attacks on UNIFIL, saying that on “patriotic and religious” consideration, his group was bound to protect the force. He also denied launching rockets at Israel but said that Ansar Allah supported “anyone who throws even a rock at the Zionist entity.”
Ansar Allah, Hezbollah’s largest Palestinian ally, had its genesis in the 1980s, in a conflict between Amal and Hezbollah. While Fatah supported Amal, Suleiman, a Fatah officer, defected and backed Hezbollah.
Earlier this year, Suleiman’s son Khaled left Ain al-Hilweh to fight with Syrian rebels, but was later persuaded to return, as the move embarrassed Hezbollah, due to its ties to Damascus.

Hamas Official: Ties with Iran, Hezbollah intact
December 07, 2012 /0By Jana El Hassan The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Differences over Syria have not affected ties with Hezbollah and Iran, a senior Hamas official told The Daily Star, but he admitted some Iranian aid had been cut after Hamas severed ties with their former host.
Osama Hamdan, a Hamas politburo member, said it was important to separate Iran and Hezbollah’s historic support for the resistance to Israel from the current crisis in Syria.
“Trying to restrict discussion of ties with Iran to what is happening in Syria is wrong and does not benefit anyone in the relationship,” Hamdan said during an interview at the Hamas offices in Beirut late Wednesday.
Hamas, which has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, quit its headquarters in Syria earlier this year, following the onset of the anti-government uprising.
Hamas’ leaders have maintained that their position on the Syria crisis is neutral, insisting that their support for the people does not equate to enmity with Assad. Nonetheless, the split with Damascus has prompted ongoing speculation that Hamas’ ties with Syria’s main allies and traditional Hamas backers, Iran and Hezbollah, have been a casualty of the move.
Hamdan, 47, who served as a Hamas official representative in Iran for four years, acknowledged some differences but insisted Hamas’ policy toward Iran had not shifted.
“We didn’t have any changes in our policy toward Iran,” he said. “It is wrong to link the Palestinian cause to any other crisis in the region and it is wrong for anyone to think he can make use of the Palestinian cause. As a movement, when the differences erupted regarding the Syrian crisis, we preferred to keep silent,” he added.
Nonetheless, he admitted some financial aid to Hamas had been stripped back as a result of differences over Syria. Multiple media reports say Iran withdrew $300 million in financial aid to Hamas’ Gaza authorities in the Gaza Strip, led by Ismail Haniyeh. “The difference about the Syrian crisis spilled out on the support to the Cabinet of Haniyeh, but for us this is not the base, the base is that Iran supports the Palestinian resistance,” Hamdan said.
The status of the relationship was brought to attention again, after the recently negotiated cease-fire between Gaza and Israel, following a weeklong Israeli offensive against the Gaza Strip.
The cease-fire agreement was widely hailed as a political coup for Hamas, which, under negotiations brokered by a newly elected Brotherhood government in Egypt, won a greater degree of Western recognition and secured clauses guaranteeing the opening of border crossings to the Israeli blockaded Gaza Strip for goods and people.
“The Egyptian mediation was a major strike to the political blockade imposed internationally against Hamas. Hamas had ties at the international level with Russia and the African and Latin American regions, but for the first time, the West, represented by the United States and Europe, get in the line of negotiations, without a request by Hamas, but to save [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu from the trouble he was in,” Hamdan added.
“The agreement reached, is thus not just a cease-fire, but a political achievement to the resistance as well.” In announcing the cease-fire terms, Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal thanked both Iran for Iranian-supplied Fajr 5 rockets, which reached Tel Aviv from Gaza for the first time, but also – notably – thanked Egypt for their critical role in brokering the deal.
“Meshaal thanked everyone who supported the resistance in the latest aggression. But let me say it clearly, in the 2008 war against Gaza, it was clear that only one side [Iran], stood by us, but in this war, other groups supported us as well,” Hamdan said. “The Egyptians supported us and their stance was very different from their previous stances [under deposed President Hosni Mubarak’s era],” he said, but refused to compare the level of support offered by each country. He also denied media reports that Qatar, now hosting Meshaal following his exit from Syria, had offered financial assistance for a truce with Israel.
Egypt’s new Muslim Brotherhood affiliated President Mohammad Mursi has been outspoken in calls for Syrian President Bashar Assad to stand down. The Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, in turn, has emerged as a powerful player in the Syrian opposition movement. When asked whether Hamas had any ties with the Syrian opposition, Hamdan was diplomatic.
“When Hamas was in Syria, it had relations with all parties and groups and not just the regime. The regime was aware of that. Hamas has not cut any relations, but of course doesn’t allow its ties with any group to be a reason for interfering in Syria’s internal affairs.” Hamdan insisted the new arrangements resulting from the conflict in Syria had not affected ties with Hezbollah, insisting the relationship remained a firm cornerstone of resistance to Israel.
Media reports from Hezbollah-aligned outlets had suggested the relationship had cooled. Hamdan said the reports misrepresented the situation. “The ties [with Hezbollah] are good ... The basic rules and essence of our ties with Hezbollah have not changed. The media is trying to picture things as if there is a crisis between Hezbollah and Hamas, whereas that is not true, there are just different views between the two groups,” Hamdan said.

Lebanese Army enters rival north Lebanon neighborhoods
December 07, 2012/ The Daily Star
TRIPOLI, Lebanon: The Lebanese Army entered Friday the warring neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen in Tripoli, north Lebanon, following heavy overnight clashes between opponents and supporters of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
The Army Command issued a statement Friday calling on residents to report any suspicious activity in the vicinity.
“We call on residents living in areas that witnessed clashes in North Lebanon to cooperate with the army and report any suspicious activity,” the statement issued Friday afternoon said. Meanwhile, gunmen battling fighters in Jabal Mohsen, which strongly supports Assad, unified under a Salafist fighter wanted by Lebanese authorities. A late night meeting of the various groups in Bab Al-Tabbaneh, which oppose the Syrian president, agreed to appoint Husam Sabbagh, an Al-Qaeda-inspired fighter, as their military commander to lead the fight against Jabal Mohsen gunmen, sources among the groups said.
Sabbagh has several arrest warrants against him by Lebanese authorities for his prominent role during clashes between Fatah al-Islam and the Lebanese Army at Tripoli’s Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared in 2007.
Following their defeat, authorities sought the arrest of 570 Fatah al-Islam members, many, but not all, were apprehended. The sources said the groups, which met at Bab al-Tabbaneh’s Harba Mosque, unanimously picked Sabbagh to head the new leadership. Prime Minister Najib Mikati telephoned Friday President Michel Sleiman to discuss the Tripoli violence. The two agreed that a meeting of the Higher Defense Council be held under Mikati at Baabda Palace Sunday. Sleiman, who normally heads the Higher Defense Council, started an official visit to Greece Thursday. As deputy council head, Mikati – who spoke over the phone to Sleiman during a meeting at the Grand Serail with Interior Minister Marwan Charbel and police chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi – can chair the meeting. Charbel will head to Tripoli later Friday to chair a sub-council meeting to discuss the hostilities.
Mikati was also briefed by military commander Gen. Jean Kahwagi on the measures taken by the Lebanese Army. “The government continues to take all the necessary steps to maintain civil peace,” Mikati said in a statement Friday. Mikati, who hails from Tripoli, returned to Beirut Thursday evening from an official visit to Italy. He canceled a scheduled visit to Nice, France, due to unrest in the northern city.
At least 13 people have been killed and more than 60 wounded in the latest round of hostilities between the rival neighborhoods which erupted Monday after news broke that a group of Lebanese Salafist fighters were ambushed by Syrian soldiers in the Syrian town of Tal Kalakh. Reports differ on how many of the fighters were killed and wounded. Syrian state television has broadcast images of more than five dead bodies, saying that 21 Lebanese fell victim to the ambush. Syrian Ambassador Ali Abdel-Karim Ali told Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour earlier in the week that Syria would return the Salafists’ bodies beginning Saturday, in three rounds, within the span of week. Military Prosecutor Saqr Saqr has launched an investigation into the violence, aiming to prosecute those involved in the fighting as well as those who have fired on the Army.
Lebanese troops in trucks and armored vehicles entered the embattled districts at 6 a.m. Friday following a night of heavy exchanges of rocket-propelled grenades as well as mortar and machine-gun fire.

Opposition against unproductive Dialogue: Siniora
December 07, 2012 /Daily Star
BEIRUT: Former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said Friday the opposition was against Dialogue that leads to nowhere and not to the principle of all-party talks, according to a statement from his office. “The March 14 boycott to dialogue is not a rejection to dialogue but opposition to unproductive talks in light of the security threats surrounding [the country],” said Siniora. The statement said a Future Movement delegation, headed by Siniora, visited Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt at his Mukhtara residence in the Chouf Thursday evening and explained the opposition’s stance to the PSP leader. The delegation included MP Ahmad Fatfat and Future Movement officials Nader Hariri and Mohammad Chatah. Siniora also reiterated the March 14 coalition’s call for the resignation of Prime Minister Najib Mikati's Cabinet as a preliminary step to take the country to a new stage with less tension. The March 14 alliance chose to boycott Mikati’s government after the Beirut explosion in October that claimed the life of Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan, who headed the police’s Information Branch. The opposition has set the Cabinet’s resignation as a precondition for their participation in National Dialogue, which President Michel Sleiman has urged take place to resolve the government crisis.
PSP official said Friday that the meeting that took place between Jumblatt and the Future Movement delegation was unlinked to an initiative by the PSP to resolve the country’s political crisis. “The meeting between the PSP and Future officials was scheduled in advance and was not linked to the initiative launched by Walid Jumblatt over the government crisis,” PSP Secretary-General Zafer Naser told The Daily Star.
Officials following up on the meeting said the talks were constructive. Future MP Ahmad Fatfat told The Daily Star that the once tense ties between the groups had decreased as a result of the recent meeting.
“There might have been a political dispute between the PSP and the Future Movement at one stage but the meeting held in Mukhtara emphasized a lot of positive signs for the ties between the two groups,” said Fatfat.
Both Fatfat and Naser said although the upcoming elections were discussed at the meeting, it was too early for talks about possible future alliances between the former allies.
“We discussed the electoral law, and suggested [holding the elections with] small electoral districts to Jumblatt,” Fatfat said.
“We also told him that if no agreement over an electoral law is reached, the alternative would be to run the elections based on the 1960’s law after it is amended to meet the demands and secure the right of Christians in the country,” he added. Naser, for his part, said that although Jumblatt favored the 1960 electoral law, the PSP leader remains open to other suggestions and would welcome an agreement between all political rivals over a new electoral law. As for a change in government, Naser said Jumblatt was clear in the talks and explained his stance to the Future delegation and told them such a change needed to be based on internal consensus.
“The PSP leader reiterated to the gathering the need to resume all-party-talks,” said the source.
As for ties between Jumblatt and former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, Fatfat said: “We discussed the Hariri-Jumblatt dispute that came to the public’s attention and agreed it was nothing more than a small misunderstanding.”
“Misunderstandings happen all the time and we shouldn’t make a big deal out of the matter,” said Fatfat.
In September Jumblatt, during a TV interview, said he turned down Hariri’s request to withdraw his three ministers from the Cabinet in the wake of Hasan’s assassination. Hariri hit back at Jumblatt, accusing him of belonging to the Iranian-Syrian alliance.

Egypt struggle seen costing Mursi, even if he wins
By Tom Perry and Edmund Blair
CAIRO (Reuters) - The crisis unleashed by President Mohamed Mursi's bid to wrap up Egypt's transition on his own terms has eroded his nation's faith in their nascent democracy and will complicate the already unenviable task of government. His effort to drive through a constitution against the wishes of major sections of society, including a Christian minority, has damaged prospects for building consensus needed to tackle challenges ahead, such as fixing a broken economy. Having promised to be a president for all, Mursi stands accused of putting the interests of his group, the Muslim Brotherhood, ahead of others who say their aspirations are not reflected in the draft to be put to a December 15 referendum. On the other side, suspicions harbored by Islamists towards their secular-minded opponents have only deepened as a result of the turmoil ignited by Mursi's effort to fast-track the final stage of the transition from Hosni Mubarak's rule. With the more extreme among them opposed to the very notion of democracy, the Islamists say their rivals are not respecting the rules of the game that put them in the driving seat by winning free and fair elections. People anxious to see Egypt recover from two years of turbulence fear bad blood could persist and squash hopes for cooperation needed to help Mursi rule smoothly and deliver much-needed reforms. "If they succeed in the referendum, they will see that as a step forward, but not without cost," said a Western diplomat.
Though Mursi won international praise for mediating a truce in Gaza, the violence on his own streets worries the West and particularly the United States, which has given Cairo billions of dollars in military and other aid since Egypt made peace with Israel in 1979. U.S. President Barack Obama told Mursi on Thursday of his "deep concern" about casualties during protests. A victim of the polarization could be the Brotherhood's plans to forge electoral alliances with liberals in forthcoming parliamentary polls. The head of the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party told Reuters this week he saw such alliances as preferable to an ideological tie-up with other Islamists.
The divisions are now playing out in the streets. Seven people were killed and hundreds wounded this week in clashes between Islamists and their rivals. A call by Mursi for dialogue was rebuffed by activists who are to protest again on Friday. "We said that this state of polarization, if it was not dealt with properly, would reach this point, and it has," said Ayman Al-Sayyad, who quit his post as a Mursi adviser on Wednesday following an eruption of violence. "This was the scene that we were trying to avoid," he added in an interview with al-Hayat television. The inclusive image Mursi had tried to build around his administration was one of the first victims of the crisis that mushroomed following a November 22 decree that expanded his powers and protected his decisions from judicial review.
RESIGNATIONS
A Christian and a woman were among the first to resign from his staff, as surprised by the decree as most Egyptians. Despite an early bout of violence, Mursi showed no sign of wavering and appeared to brush off his critics.
"I see things more than they do," he told Time. With speculation swirling around how he took the decision, Egyptians long suspicious of the Brotherhood have concluded Mursi is running the country at the group's command.
In response, the Islamists complain that many of Mursi's attempts at outreach were rebuffed early on. Their view of the opposition has grown dimmer through the crisis. Brotherhood members have started to dismiss opponents as "feloul", meaning "remnants" - a pejorative implying loyalty to Mubarak. "The really unfortunate side effect of the last two weeks is the political atmosphere has become really toxic. I fear that could endure long past the current crisis," said Elijah Zarwan, a fellow with the European Council on Foreign Relations. "The next government is going to have to move very quickly to address many problems and it will need cooperation. In the current atmosphere, it is hard to imagine others cooperating." Such cooperation will be at a premium for introducing policies aimed at reining in a crushing budget deficit and staving off a balance of payments crisis. Egypt's economy has lost $70 billion to $80 billion of economic output since Mubarak was ousted, in one economist's estimate.
Top of the economic to-do list are measures to cut back on fuel subsidies - one of the biggest drains on state finances. Tweaks to such support are bound to be unpopular in a nation where both rich and poor have grown used to cheap petrol. "He has inherited an economy that is weak and needs serious surgery, so he is going to have to make controversial decisions over the next year or so," said Simon Kitchen, strategist at EFG-Hermes, an Egyptian investment bank.
"Ideally you want to do that in an environment where you have some sort of political consensus," he said.
"THEY BURNED THEIR BRIDGES"
Some subsidy reform and other steps to cut waste are part of a program agreed in principle with the International Monetary Fund for $4.8 billion loan designed to support the budget. The IMF board meets on December 19 to discuss approval of the loan, which would be seen by investors as a seal of approval for the government's reform program. Besides the economy, Mursi needs wider backing to tackle other problems including a judiciary which his opponents agree needs overhaul. But even when he sacked the unpopular, Mubarak-era prosecutor general, Mursi was criticized for showing an autocratic streak in the way he went about it. In the new system of government outlined in the draft constitution, Egypt's next parliament will have a say over the shape of government. A parliamentary election would go ahead some two months later if the constitution is approved in the referendum. With that in mind, the Freedom and Justice Party is already eyeing alliances to fight the parliamentary election.
FJP leader Saad al-Katatni said in an interview his preference was for an alliance with liberals, not the hardline Islamists whose backing has helped Mursi through the crisis. "Our preferred option is that the alliance not be ideological so that we don't have a split in the nation," he said. The Brotherhood had kept the nascent hardline Salafi parties at arm's length as they emerged after Mubarak's political demise. That trend has gradually been reversed as the Brotherhood has looked to fellow Islamists for support. "They burned their bridges with the secular camp and relied heavily on the Salafi camp. We don't feel that is where they naturally want to be right now," said the Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity. Sentiment from liberal parties suggests the Brotherhood will struggle to convince liberals that it is a trustworthy partner.
"I don't think the man realizes the degree of rebellion and rage the people have," said Ahmed Said, head of the liberal Free Egyptians Party, referring to Mursi. "The country is totally divided and polarized. You have two nations now."(Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Peter Graff)

Aoun rejects Lebanon elections under 1960 law
December 7, 2012 /Now Lebanon/Change and Reform bloc leader MP Michel Aoun said he would not accept for the upcoming 2013 elections to be held under the 1960 electoral law. “I will not [surrender] to them, and I will not accept that the electoral law be imposed on us,” Aoun told As-Safir newspaper in an interview published Friday. However, Aoun—who supported the cabinet’s proposed draft electoral law based on proportionality—said he was willing to vote for the Orthodox proposal, which proposes for citizens to vote on MPs from their own sects. “I call on [Lebanese Forces leader] Samir Geagea and other Christians in the opposition to [resort to] the parliament, and let us vote for the Orthodox proposal,” Aoun said. The Free Patriotic Movement leader also said that he could convince his Shiite allies, Hezbollah and the Amal Movement, to vote for the Orthodox proposal.
Aoun also denied media reports saying that he would run for the parliamentary elections in the Baabda district instead of Kesrouan. “I am staying in Kesrouan and I will run my election battle in it… I do not evade challenges. I face them,” Aoun insisted. Aoun also said that Hezbollah’s weapons “must be used against threats targeting the party’s weapons.” “If the threats were internal, then they must be faced because the back of the resistance must be protected,” Aoun said. The cabinet approved in August an electoral law based on proportionality and 13 electoral districts for the 2013 parliamentary elections, seeking to replace the 1960 electoral law based on simple majority. Many March 14 figures spoke out against the approved draft law, saying they would support a law based on smaller districts, while others backed an alternative proposal submitted by the so-called Orthodox Gathering that citizens vote for candidates by religious sect.-NOW Lebanon

Clinton says "desperate" Assad could use chemical arms
By Erika Solomon and David Brunnstrom | Reuters – Wed, 5 Dec, 2012..
BEIRUT/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Washington fears a "desperate" Syrian President Bashar al-Assad could use chemical weapons as rebels bear down on Damascus, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday, repeating a vow to take swift action if he does.
Rebels fighting to overthrow Assad said they had surrounded an air base near Damascus, a fresh sign the battle is closing in on the Syrian capital, a day after NATO agreed to send air defense missiles to Turkey.
The Western military alliance's decision to send U.S., German and Dutch Patriot missile batteries to help defend the Turkish border would bring European and U.S. troops to Syria's frontier for the first time in the 20-month-old civil war.
Heavier fighting erupted around Damascus a week ago, bringing a war that had previously been fought mainly in the provinces to the centre of Assad's power. Fighters said on Wednesday they had surrounded the Aqraba air base, about 4 km (2.5 miles) outside the capital.
"We still do not control the air base but the fighters are choking it off. We hope within the coming hours we can take it," said Abu Nidal, a spokesman for a rebel force called the Habib al-Mustafa brigade.
He said rebels had captured a unit of air defense soldiers, killing and imprisoning dozens while others escaped.
Syria's state news agency said the army was still firmly in control of the base, but did not comment on rebel claims that they were surrounding the area.
Accounts like this from Syria are impossible to verify, as the government has restricted media access to the country.
For several days, Western officials have repeatedly focused on what they say is a threat that Assad could use poison gas.
After meeting other NATO foreign ministers in Brussels, Clinton said: "Our concerns are that an increasingly desperate Assad regime might turn to chemical weapons, or might lose control of them to one of the many groups that are now operating within Syria.
"We have sent an unmistakable message that this would cross a red line and those responsible would be held to account," she added.
U.S. officials have said this week they have intelligence that Syria may be making preparations to use chemical arms.
Syria, which has not signed the international chemical weapons treaty banning the use of poison gas, says it would never use such weapons on its own people. Those comments were reiterated by Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Maqdad in a television interview with Sky News.
"ASSAD WILL NEVER LEAVE"
Maqdad made the first appearance by a government official for over a week, since fighting around the capital intensified.
He laughed off media reports that he had passed on a letter from Assad exploring the possibility of asylum during his recent trip to Venezuela, Cuba, Ecuador and Nicaragua.
"This is funny, this is laughable," he said. "I assure you 100 percent that President Assad will never ever leave his country."
But the rebels have been making advances across the country in recent weeks, despite punishing air raids, and have stepped up fighting outside Damascus. Wednesday saw fighting in a semi-circle of suburbs on the capital's eastern outskirts.
"The shelling is so loud, it feels like every other minute there is an air raid or an artillery shell hitting. We were woken up early by the sounds of the shelling in the eastern suburbs today," Ayman, who lives near the suburb of Jaramana, said by Skype.
Most of the areas being shelled are pro-opposition, apart from Jaramana, seen as a pro-government or neutral area, where town elders have refused rebel requests to pass through.
A rebel unit said fighters had attacked a checkpoint on the outskirts of Jaramana. Heavy fighting was also reported in the suburbs of Saqba, Irbeen, and Zamalka, according to the pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The army's strategy has been to divide Damascus, Assad's seat of power, from the countryside where rebels are increasingly dominant. Air raids and artillery have pounded rebel-held suburbs near the city for more than a week, in what activists call the worst shelling yet in the area.
A Syrian government source said the army had pushed rebels back 9 km (5 miles) from the capital.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged the government, the opposition and their foreign allies to end the bloodshed, which he said had killed more than 40,000 people.
"I am urging again that the parties immediately stop the violence and those countries who may have influence on both parties should be exerting their utmost efforts to influence them to stop," he said at a news conference in Kuwait.
"And those countries that may be providing military equipment and other assistance should stop."
MISSILE DEFENCE
NATO's decision to send air defense missiles to the Turkish frontier is a first military step into the region by an alliance that has so far refused to repeat the kind of armed intervention that helped toppled Libya's Muammar Gaddafi last year.
NATO says the Patriot missiles are purely defensive. Syria and allies Russia and Iran say the move increases regional instability and could set the stage to impose a no-fly zone.
Turkey, a NATO member hostile to Assad and hosting thousands of refugees, says it needs the air defense batteries to shoot down any missiles that might be fired across its border. The German, Dutch and U.S. batteries would take weeks to deploy.
"What it does do, of course, is send a very powerful signal," Lieutenant General Frederick Hodges, commander of NATO's new land command headquarters in the Turkish city of Izmir, told Reuters.
"The Assad regime, the father and now the current Assad, have in desperate times taken desperate steps, so this is a very clear signal about what is not going to be allowed. NATO is not going to allow an expansion of what the Assad regime is doing."
A Turkish foreign ministry official said: "The Patriots were requested to create a counter-measure to every possible kind of threat, first and foremost short-range ballistic missiles, because we know they have them."
Cengiz Candar, a veteran commentator at Turkey's Radikal newspaper who travelled with Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to Brussels this week, said the government was worried about some of Syria's 500 missiles falling into the wrong hands.
"The minister and his team were of the view that Syria was not expected to use them against Turkey, but that there was a risk of these weapons falling into the hands of 'uncontrolled forces' when the regime collapses," Candar wrote on Wednesday.
Fighting continued for a seventh day near the highway leading to Damascus International Airport, which opposition activists say has become an on-off battle zone.
Fighting around Damascus has led airlines to suspend flights and prompted diplomats to leave, adding to a sense the fight is closing in. Hungary said on Wednesday it would shut its embassy.
(Additional reporting by Peter Apps in London, Oliver Holmes in Beirut, Justyna Pawlak and Adrian Croft in Brussels, Nick Tattersall in Istanbul, Jonathon Burch in Ankara and Krisztina Than in Budapest; Writing by Peter Graff; Editing by Andrew Roche)

Canadian PM, Harper's support for Israel: Political, philosophical or both?
CBC/In 2010, while addressing an anti-Semitism conference in Ottawa, Prime Minister Stephen Harper launched into a full-throttle defence of Israel, saying that whatever the political cost, he would take a stand against those who would single out the Jewish state for condemnation.
And most supporters and critics of his agree that he has been true to his word. Whether Harper's unwavering support of Israel is part of a cynical political strategy to gain votes among the Jewish community, or part of a deeply held conviction, he has ignored criticism that Canada has abandoned its role as an honest broker in the Middle East.
"I think this is one of those happy incidences in politics where personal principle collides with or intersects with political self-interest, "said communications consultant Gerry Nicholls, who worked with Harper at the National Citizens Coalition, a conservative think-tank.
Harper's strong support of Israel was revealed again recently, when Canada found itself among only a handful of countries voting against the Palestinian bid for observer state status in the UN.
And the Harper government seemed to be alone in the world community in its reluctance to publicly condemn Israel's announcement to build housing units in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, even though it's at odds with Canada's position on settlements in the occupied territories.
Nicholls said he and Harper would discuss Israel from time to time during their stint at National Citizens Coalition, and that Harper was always very sympathetic to Israel.
"In our conversations, he'd say 'Gerry, I'm very pro-Israel.' And this is not something he needed to say for votes, this is not something he needed to say for cynical political advancement, because he was just saying it to me," Nicholls said.
"He was always saying that Canada needs to do more to support Israel, they're an important ally. So I think it's just a matter of his own personal beliefs."
But Nicholls said that Harper's position on Israel also helps him out politically, by mobilizing his base, particularly those among the Christian right who tend to be strongly pro-Israel.
However, Nicholls rejected the idea that Harper's support for Israel stems from any personal religious conviction.
"He looks at Israel not in terms of their religion. He doesn't look at them as being Jews. He looks at them as being people who uphold Western values."
Support for Conservatives, who have targeted Jewish ridings, has also increased among Jewish voters, who have traditionally parked their votes with the Liberal Party. According to an Ipsos Reid exit poll for the last election, 52 per cent of Jewish voters supported the Tories.
And a recent Nanos poll suggests that while half of Canadians prefer the government favour neither side, 19 per cent said the government should support Israel and only six per cent said it should favour the Palestinians.
Lawrence Martin, Globe and Mail columnist and author of the book Harperland: The Politics of Control, agreed that Harper's stance on Israel is driven by both political benefit and genuine conviction.
"He is a longtime supporter of Israel, sees it as a perennially threatened beacon of democracy and freedom in a region of violence and chaos. He has never had much kinship with the Arab world," Martin said via email.
But Harper's policy toward Israel, Martin said, has also been a major political success for him and "has won him strong support from a very important community and it has allowed him to cast himself as a principled leader."
Nowhere is this support more evident than at the United Nations. Harold Waller, a political science professor at McGill University, who specializes in Jewish political studies, said that while previous Canadian governments were supportive of Israel, Canada was somewhat mushy when it came to UN resolutions critical of Israel, and often abstained.
While there was a shift at the UN under the Paul Martin government to be more supportive of Israel, it increased under the Harper government.
"I think Harper's backing of Israel is unprecedented for any Canadian prime minister. He's much more a staunch supporter of Israel than any of his predecessors," Waller said.
In 2006, during the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, when many nations criticized Israel for using disproportionate force, Harper said the Israeli response had been "measured."
The prime minister was also reportedly the lone holdout of the final communiqué from the G8 meeting in France last year dealing with Israel, and was able to remove a reference about Israel's pre-1967 borders.
As well, Canada became the first country to announce it would review aid to the Palestinians following the parliamentary elections in 2006 that saw Hamas come to power. It also become the first country to announce it would not take part in the UN anti-racism conferences of 2009 and 2011, accusing those conferences of being forums to criticize Israel.
In 2010 then foreign affairs minister Lawrence Cannon raised some eyebrows when he condemned Israel's announcement to build 1,600 apartments in east Jerusalem, saying that "we feel that this is contrary to international law and therefore condemn it. We're very concerned with what is taking place."
His office quickly followed up, denying the government was escalating its language or changing its position on Israel, but also did not repeat Cannon's language that Israel's building plans were "contrary to international law."
And with Israel's announcement last week that it would build 3,000 more housing units in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, government officials again seemed reluctant to specifically condemn the actions, only saying that "unilateral action by either side is not helpful."
Nicholls, who has been critical of Harper in the past, accusing the prime minister of compromising some of his conservative principles, praised Harper's consistency on the issue of Israel, saying it's one of the few cases "where Stephen Harper NCC president is in perfect synch with Stephen Harper, prime minister of Canada."
"NCC president Stephen Harper would be saying the same thing and you don't often get that. I think most often NCC Stephen Harper would be raging at Prime Minister Stephen Harper, but this is one thing they'd both agree on."

Iran Threatens Aerial Freedom of Navigation in the Gulf
Eddie Boxx, Michael Eisenstadt, and Michael Knights/Washington Institute
December 5, 2012
By firing on a U.S. aircraft, Iran has upped the ante in the Gulf and set a bad precedent for international airspace rights worldwide.
Last month, Iranian jets intercepted and fired on an unarmed U.S. drone aircraft in international airspace. And this week, Tehran displayed what it claims is a captured U.S. Navy ScanEagle drone, a charge Washington flatly denies. These Iranian actions and rhetoric demonstrate a growing anti-U.S. campaign with drones as the cause celebre.
For now, Washington has opted not to retaliate for the November incident, but it needs to ensure that the confrontation does not become a precedent that limits U.S. aerial freedom of navigation in the Persian Gulf. The United States must preserve its patrolling rights, particularly in light of Iran's threat to regional shipping and apparent desire to pursue nuclear weapons. Given the short range from Iranian ports to major commercial maritime lanes, the ability to quickly detect any provocative naval preparations is paramount. If aerial surveillance and intelligence collection were rerouted further away from the Iranian border, coalition forces would face a severe intelligence gap in detecting the regime's offensive military preparations or, worse yet, suspected nuclear activity.
THE INTERCEPT
On the morning of November 1, two Iranian Su-25 Frogfoot ground-attack aircraft shot at a U.S. MQ-1 Predator drone. The use of non-radar-equipped Su-25s indicates that ground-based radar controllers in Iran tracked the Predator, launched the Su-25s at precisely the right time, and effectively guided the pilots to the drone, placing them in an optimal position to fire on this difficult-to-detect target. As the Su-25 has a fairly short range, ground controllers had to bring the shooters to the target with minimum delay. All in all, the intercept over the Gulf demonstrated competent pilot and controller skills and effective collaboration.
The use of Su-25s also indicates that the incident was a well-planned show of force. Tehran reportedly holds thirteen Su-25s, seven of which were Iraqi aircraft that it impounded after their pilots sought refuge in Iran during the 1991 Gulf War. Unlike Iran's F-5s, F-14s, and F-4s, the Su-25 is a close air support platform designed to fly low and slow over the battlefield; it is not an interceptor. Its use against the Predator suggests that the operation may have been initiated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which does not oversee any air-to-air fighters -- the Su-25 is its only high-performance aircraft. This would also indicate the degree to which the IRGC and the regular air force remain independent entities that do not work well together.
There may have been technical reasons for the decision as well: the Su-25's slow speed allowed it to shadow the Predator (which flies at around 100 knots) and attempt a hit with its cannon, a feat that would have been much more difficult for a faster fighter jet. For example, in 2006, an Israeli F-16 pursuing a Hizballah Ababil drone near Haifa was forced to slow down to near-stall speed (less than 200 knots) in order to intercept it; the pilot then had to use a helmet-mounted sight in conjunction with the highly maneuverable Python 4 missile in order to score the kill.
AERIAL FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION
The November incident was a watershed political event as well. IRGC commanders have been pushing the boundaries of unacceptable conduct for years, such as targeting America's closest ally by detaining British military personnel in Iraq in 2004 and 2007. The IRGC's Qods Force also orchestrated the January 2007 abduction and murder of five U.S. servicemen in Karbala. Since then, the IRGC has engaged in provocative behavior near U.S. Navy vessels in the Gulf, undertaking reckless mock attacks and dropping items in the path of American ships to simulate mines. Now that Iran has fired on a U.S. aircraft, it has upped the ante for military confrontation in the Gulf.
The exact location of the November incident remains unclear. Reports mention the area near the coastal city of Bushehr across the Gulf from Kuwait. Iran asserts that the intercept took place inside of twelve nautical miles, while the United States says it occurred in international airspace, sixteen miles from the coast and thus four miles outside of Iranian airspace. This illustrates the complicated nature of Gulf airspace boundaries, especially factoring in contested islands and an uneven coastline. The danger is that Tehran may believe airborne confrontations in disputed airspace are a good way to stimulate nationalist support for the regime as the effects of international economic sanctions take hold, thus creating an even more volatile situation in the region.
The incident also has several important implications for international law and custom. Historically, the United States has challenged aggressive incidents in international waters and airspace, and if this latest affront is left unanswered, it could limit U.S. freedom of action in the Gulf. Washington must establish that drones are no different from manned aircraft in legal terms -- reconnaissance missions (manned and unmanned) are authorized by international law. If this incident is left unresolved, the myriad RC-135 Rivet Joint, U-2, RQ-4 Global Hawk, and JSTARS aircraft monitoring hotspots worldwide could also be at risk when flying in or near contested airspace.
U.S. OPTIONS
Washington should first make a bigger diplomatic deal out of the November interdiction, arguing its case through UN agencies such as the International Court of Justice and International Civil Aviation Organization. The goal of such an approach would be to resolve any differences with Iran regarding its airspace boundaries and prevent future escalation. In the past, the U.S. Fifth Fleet has responded quickly and resolutely to Iranian maritime provocations, and Washington should do the same in the air. With a hefty $4 million price tag, Predator drones are certainly not expendable. Moreover, they are U.S.-flagged military aircraft and need to be treated as such.
The U.S. government should also propose a dialogue with Iran regarding Dangerous Military Activities (DMA) procedures. International law permits fighter aircraft to investigate another country's aircraft in international airspace, and during the Cold War, Washington and Moscow recognized the need for radio communications when conducting such flights. U.S. and Soviet representatives met and developed DMA protocol to ensure aircrew safety and alleviate any unwanted escalations due to potential "misunderstandings."
If Iran does not respond diplomatically, the United States should also undertake multinational freedom of navigation missions involving aircraft from maritime users of the Persian Gulf, especially the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. Such joint flights would improve interoperability and ensure lawful military activities in a corridor heavily used by civilian aviation. This would send Iran a clear message: international airspace boundaries, like maritime boundaries, must be honored.
Finally, as a last resort, Washington should consider giving Predator drones a self-defense capability, and advertising this fact. U.S. Central Command mounted Stinger missiles on Predators over a decade ago, when Iraq initiated its own short-lived campaign to shoot down the drones. Stingers are heat-seekers with a three-mile range, and such a capability might cause Iran to give Predators a wider berth; at worst, the missiles would give the aircraft a greater chance of survival if attacked. In addition, the administration should quietly signal to Tehran that it reserves the right to strike Iranian airbases if the regime launches offensive sorties, and that such retaliation would occur at a time and place of Washington's choosing. Even the IRGC may balk at trading an entire base for one unmanned U.S. aircraft.
Lt. Col. Eddie Boxx, USAF, is a visiting military fellow at The Washington Institute. Michael Eisenstadt is director of the Institute's Military and Security Studies Program. Michael Knights is a Lafer fellow with the Institute.

FSA targeting al-Assad regime air bases - Sources
07/12/2012/By Nazeer Rida
Beirut, Asharq Al-Awsat – Leading sources in the Free Syrian Army [FSA] have announced that battalions stationed in the Rif Dimashq governorate have “gained control of most of the air defense bases in the governorate”, adding “operations continues to gain control of all military air bases in the region”.
A well informed FSA source, speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat on the condition of anonymity, confirmed that the FSA had gained control of Aqraba military air base, which is located between Damascus International Airport and the city of Damascus. Aqraba air base is reportedly where the al-Assad regime military helicopters overseeing the district of Damascus and the surrounding area are stationed.
The sources claimed that the FSA gained control of Aqraba air base “after violent battles with regime forces along the road to the air base and the surrounding villages of al Ghouta al-Sharqiya”.
He added that the rebel brigades were able to “breach the fortifications of the air base despite artillery and rocket fire targeting their location”.
This development comes shortly following the announcement of FSA control of Marj Sultan air base last week. Syrian opposition brigades managed to enter and take control of Marj Sultan air base, which became the first military air base in Rif Dimashq governorate to fall into the hands of the opposition.
Other sources confirmed that the military airports “have considerable military strength and protective forces”, adding that the next key battle “will be for the Sayeda Zeinab military air base, which is also home to al-Assad regime helicopter gunships”. However, according to the sources, the strategic importance of this particular airport lies “in its runway, which is more than 3km long. This allows for the takeoff and landing of Sukhoi and MiG fighter jets”.
The Rif Dimashq governorate is home to 6 military air bases; Marj Sultan and Aqraba, which are now controlled by the opposition, Sayeda Zeinab, which “the FSA intends to attack as soon as possible” according to sources, in addition to Mezzeh military air base in al-Ghouta al-Gharbiya, and Damir and Nasiriyah air bases which have been used by the regime’s helicopters extensively throughout the current Syrian crisis.
In this regard, prominent sources in the FSA claimed that rebel forces were now in control of “most” air defense bases located in Rif Dimashq, of which there are 11 in total, following yesterday’s announcement that the FSA had gained control of Air Defense Brigade 22 in al Ghouta al Sharqiya.
The source pointed out that “all types of air defense in Rif Dimashq are now under our control, including air missile defense systems, radars and fixed and mobile missile systems which have now become operable”. He added that these weapons will be put into action “imminently.”
The source explained that these systems “will be used to monitor and respond to the regime’s military aircraft as soon as our air defense specialists arrive”.
Sources also revealed that it has been possible to seize control of these sensitive military systems and sites “after the headquarters of the air defense leadership fell into the hands of the rebels”. This headquarters, commonly known as Brigade 82, was responsible for various radar apparatus and air defense systems throughout Damascus and the surrounding area. The sources indicated that the opposition brigades “managed to seize two sophisticated radar devices that were found at the headquarters, in addition to surface-to-air missiles and short and medium range surface-to-surface missiles”.
Sources also told Asharq Al-Awsat that the regime’s forces now only control two air defense sites in Rif Dimashq, “one located south east of Harran al-Awamid, near Damascus International Airport, which is a very sophisticated air defense base, including espionage stations”. As for the second site, “this is located on Mount Kassioun”. The sources went on to say that the latter site is located specifically above Masaken Barzeh district and “includes surface-to-air and surface-to-surface missile systems, mounted and ready to launch”.
At the same time, the FSA are currently conducting operations to gain control of two military air bases in Aleppo and Deir al-Zour. Syrian opposition websites quoted activists as saying that the FSA “has been continuing its siege on Deir al-Zour military air base for several days”, and likewise announced that “a battle has begun for control of the Meng military air base in Aleppo”. Clashes are also ongoing between the regime’s forces and the FSA in the region of Neirab and around the vicinity of Neirab military air base, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Fugitive VP al-Hashemi attacks al-Maliki over Iran influence in Iraq
07/12/2012/By Maad Fayad
London, Asharq Al-Awsat – Fugitive Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, who is currently residing in Istanbul, has strongly denied that Ankara is “interfering” in Iraqi affairs. Speaking exclusively to Asharq Al-Awsat by telephone, al-Hashemi said “Turkey is not interfering in Iraqi internal affairs. I say this as a matter of fairness and history, for the Turkish government refused to get involved in any internal Iraqi issue and it has been careful to remain the same distance from all Iraqi political factions and politicians.”
Al-Hashemi, who is presently visiting Doha, stressed that “if the Turkish government were interfering in Iraqi internal affairs then it would have announced its support for the position of the Iraqiya bloc, which won the elections, however the Turkish brothers told us: this is an internal matter, and we advise you to participate in a national partnership government headed by al-Maliki, but that is up to you.”
He added “[Turkish Prime Minsiter] Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued his call – during the Justice and Development Party conference – to all Iraqi parties without exception, as well as to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Mailki.”
The Iraqi Vice President asserted that “the role of the brothers in the Turkish government is to express their views and foster rapprochement between the Iraqi political blocs to heal the rift in the political process.”
Al-Hashemi was responding to a statement made by Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki in which he said that he wants to see the tense relationship between Baghdad and Ankara improve, but warned Turkey against “interfering” in Iraqi affairs.
The latest incident in the deteriorating relationship between Iraq and Turkey saw Iraqi authorities deny entry to a plane carrying Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz en route to Erbil, capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region. Relations between the two countries have deteriorated after Ankara took the decision to host Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, who has been sentenced to death in Baghdad on charges of running death squads. In addition to this, al-Maliki is reportedly angry with Turkey’s move to foster closer ties with Iraq’s Kurdistan Region Government, which is presently in a dispute with the Iraqi federal government over oil and land rights.
Al-Maliki lately extended an olive branch to Erdogan, telling Turkey’s Hurriyet newspaper that “despite all the problems, we want good dialogue with Turkey. I am extending an olive branch from here. Security, oil, trade and culture; we are ready and want to work with you in every field”. However he added “do not interfere in Iraq’s politics and domestic affairs.”
Al-Hashemi fled to Turkey earlier this year when Iraqi authorities sought to arrest him. The fugitive Iraqi Vice President, a Sunni, has strongly denied all charges against him and accused al-Maliki, a Shiite, of seeking to incite sectarianism and monopolize power.
For its part, Ankara has said that it will not hand al-Hashemi over to Baghdad, saying that there is no truth in the accusations that have been made against him.
However the Iraqi Prime Minister, speaking to Turkey’s Hurriyet newspaper, viewed this stance as provocative, asking “what happens if I host PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan in Baghdad? How would you feel? Would Turkey and the Turkish people accept this?”
Al-Hashemi told Asharq Al-Awsat that “al-Maliki is not talking about Iranian intervention in all Iraqi affairs, and we have not heard any response to Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp [IRGC] commander Qassem Soleimani's statement that Iran has more influence than America in Iraq and that Washington should negotiate with Tehran, not Baghdad, regarding the situation in Iraq.”
He added “al-Maliki, and those with him, did not show any shame regarding these statements, which are degrading to all of the Iraqi people.”
The fugitive Iraqi Vice President also stressed that “al-Maliki did not mention Iranian Parliamentary Speaker Ali Larijani visiting Najaf before visiting Baghdad, however he was furious when Turkish Foreign Minsitry Ahmet Davutoglu visited Erbdil, after obtaining an official entry visa from the Iraqi Foreign Ministry!”
As for al-Maliki’s complaints regarding Ankara’s failure to hand him over to Baghdad, al-Hashemi told Asharq Al-Awsat “Firstly, Turkey is a country of institutions, and its judiciary is known for its integrity and independence, and they know that I am innocent, whilst they are also well aware of the manner that the Iraqi judiciary operates, unfortunately. In addition to this, al-Maliki was the one who sent me messages calling on me to leave Iraq, and I refused because I wanted to – and still want to – prove my innocence, whilst my presence in Turkey is temporary and I will return to my country soon, God willing.”

The predicament of the Brotherhood's support
By Tariq Alhomayed
Asharq Alawsat
Our region has witnessed and is witnessing several tremors over a brief period. There is the battle for the state in Egypt between the Muslim Brotherhood and the general public, the repercussions of the eight-day war in Gaza, the international recognition of the Palestinian state - if only as an observer – and the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime taking shape.
Each story on its own can be considered a tremor, but let us stop to consider the one that has struck the supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood in the region, or shall we call them the Brotherhood’s cheerleaders! They seem to have lost their senses judging by their responses to all those who disagree with them. Of course there are a number of reasons why many disagree with them, including the Brotherhood’s coup in Egypt, which is impossible to defend, as well as the eight-day war in Gaza and the manner in which it ended. In the wake of the end of the Gaza war, where the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas are now acting as guarantors of a ceasefire, we now hear their leaders insisting that all factions must respect the truce with Israel. Furthermore, Khaled Mishal recently acknowledged the 1967 borders, which means that there is now no difference between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority. In the wake of the Gaza truce, a strong tremor occurred within the ranks of the Brotherhood’s supporters, where they labeled any Arab who claimed the result not to be a victory for Hamas as “Zionists”, “agents” and “traitors”. The question here is: Traitors against whom? Agents of whom? How can they be Zionists when the Gaza truce is sponsored exclusively by the Muslim Brotherhood, the Egyptian President and Hamas? Praise for the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood’s role came from the leaders of Israel and America, and even Time Magazine described President Mursi as currently the most important man in the Middle East after the Gaza agreement, which ended on the same terms as previous agreements signed by the Mubarak regime in 2005.
The issue, or the predicament, does not stop here. Some say that it is the provocation of the liberal media against the Brotherhood that pushed them to seize power, and the question here is: Was this not the same excuse used during the emergence of al-Qaeda terrorism in Saudi Arabia? Let us stop here for a moment, for what is coming is even more dangerous. The world is currently warning Bashar al-Assad against using chemical weapons, with condemnation coming from America, Europe, NATO and of course Israel, and here lies the real predicament for the Brotherhood cheerleaders. Prime Minister Netanyahu has come out to say that his country is closely following the issue of chemical weapons in Syria, saying: “I heard President Obama's important remarks on the subject and we see things the same way”, i.e. with regards to intervention in Syria! And the question here is: what if we woke up and found Israel had attacked the al-Assad regime and destroyed its chemical weapons, would the Brotherhood cheerleaders then side with al-Assad, despite him killing more than 40,000 Syrians, merely because Israel had intervened? Or would they remain silent? If they choose the latter, then the question that must be asked is: what about the decades of Brotherhood provocation against the peace process and Israel?
This genuine predicament tells us that no one should involve religion in politics. Politics cannot be transformed into black and white through the pulpits or by issuing insults, for the matter is more complicated than that. This is the predicament in which the Brotherhood’s cheerleaders find themselves in today, particularly as they have failed to notice that the Brotherhood is America’s friend. In fact, we can add Israel to this list now, whilst the Brotherhood is no friend of moderate states or the liberals. Evidence of this can be seen in the Gaza truce, and the West’s silence towards the Brotherhood coup in Egypt, and therefore the Brotherhood and its cheerleaders are in a predicament, and the worst is yet to come!

Assad regime distributed gas masks and radiation suits to troops - Source
By Caroline Akoum/Beirut, Asharq Al-Awsat – Despite repeated international warnings to the al-Assad regime against the use of chemical weapons, the Free Syrian Army [FSA] has stated that it believes it likely that al-Assad will use such weapons as a last resort should it lose hope in the possibility of reaching a political solution.
On Tuesday, US President Barack Obama warned that al-Assad will face “consequences” should he use chemical weapons against the Syrian people. He said “the world is watching. The use of chemical weapons is and would be totally unacceptable.” For her part, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, speaking on Wednesday, said the use of chemical weapons would be a “red line” for Washington. She added “our concerns are that an increasingly desperate al-Assad regime might turn to chemical weapons, or might lose control of them to one of the many groups that are now operating in Syria.”
Captain Abdul-Salam Abdul-Razzaq, a Syrian army defector who was part of the al-Assad military’s “Chemical Weapons Department”, informed Asharq Al-Awsat that “the regime has already used this kind of weapon, albeit in a limited manner, namely in Baba Amr last year. The regime also threatened to use chemical weapons in al-Zabadani, distributing gas masks and radiation suits to its troops”. He added “these are only worn when chemical weapons are used.”
The al-Assad regime defector also revealed that “tests were being conducted on such weapons nearly 6 weeks ago in al-Muslimiya district in eastern Aleppo in the presence of Iranian experts.”
Captain Abdul-Razzaq also informed Asharq Al-Awsat that the al-Assad regime had provided its troops with pamphlets claiming that “it is the terrorist gangs that are using chemical weapons”, perhaps as the first step in a denial should it use such arms. He stressed that as of early November, chemical weapons were being stored in numerous warehouses around the country, but these were later transferred to the Rif Dimashq area.
He revealed that the Syrian regime is in possession of a large arsenal of chemical weapons which is under the control of Scientific Research Centres based in Homs, Aleppo, Damascus and Latakia. He said that these research centres are managed by three senior Brigadier Generals affiliated to the infamous Syrian Air Force Intelligence Directorate, adding that the chemical weapons are under the direct supervision of experts from Iran, Russia and North Korea. Abdul-Razzaq revealed that a recent decision was taken to relocate these chemical weapons, particularly as foreign intelligence apparatus, including America’s Central Intelligence Agency [CIA], had uncovered their previous locations.
As for whether the FSA possesses the necessary expertise to deal with a chemical weapons attack, Captain Abdul-Razzaq informed Asharq Al-Awsat that FSA elements possess only a limited understanding of this, mostly from chemical weapons drills they would have undertaken as part of the regular Syrian army before their defection.
He added “however, we have acted to raise the awareness of the troops, as well as the people, towards these kinds of weapons by distributing pamphlets that contain pertinent information, most importantly that such weapons are usually deployed by aircraft flying at low altitude trailing a cloud of smoke.”
He also revealed that “the explosion [of a chemical weapon] would be faint, not loud…whilst medium-sized dark-brown fragments will be clear to see at the site of explosion.”
Abdul-Razzaq stressed that it would be very difficult for the FSA to attack a chemical weapons warehouse, particularly as this would first require intelligence as to where these warehouses are located, and then the military capabilities to secure it.
For his part, FSA Deputy Chief of Staff Colonel Aref al-Hammoud informed Asharq Al-Awsat that “the Syrian regime is afraid and so it may take the international warnings into consideration. However the regime's savage history confirms that it would not hesitate to use chemical weapons to kill the largest possible number of its own people."
He added that "the Syrian regime has a huge arsenal of chemical weapons, and this has not been gathered today, rather this dates back several years. They are stored in warehouses in mountainous regions of Syria and guarded by Special Forces units, most prominently Unit 417 in Damascus and Unit 418 in Homs.”
Colonel al-Hammoud acknowledged that the regime may have transported these chemical weapons to more secure locations, particularly in light of its recent defeats at the hands of the rebel forces, adding that these new warehouses are on the list of FSA targets. The FSA Deputy Chief of Staff also stressed that should his forces manage to confiscate any chemical weapons, they will immediately deliver them to specialists to be disabled adding that the FSA will never use internationally banned weapons.
He said "in the event that the regime taking the decision to use chemical weapons, the FSA would not be able to combat this, as this primarily requires anti-aircraft weaponry to disable and mitigate the effects of these weapons as much as possible.”