Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for December 14/12
Connecticut gun rampage: 28 dead, including 20 schoolchildren
Tearful Obama calls for action after shooting
Interpol rebuff of arrest warrants blow to Assad
Pro Axis Of Evil Lebanese Lawyer Salameh Says to Confine Syria Lawsuit to Saqr
Fragile truce along northeastern border strained
Death sentence handed down in Sahel Alma case
Phalange, Democratic Renewal and National Bloc Back to March 14 General Secretariat
Lebanese Security Forces Seize Pick up Truck Loaded with Unexploded Shells
Hezbollah's thief Abdul Latif Fneish Appoints Salameh as his Defense Attorney
Families of Slain Fighters in Tall Kalakh Give Authorities 48-Hour Ultimatum, Demand Expulsion of Syrian Envoy
Lebanese Wadi Khaled Residents Fleeing Syrian Gunfire, Shells
Head of the Mustaqbal bloc MP Fouad Saniora: Miqati's Proposal Does Not End the Political Deadlock
March 8 parties, committees criticize release of Azzi
Berri needs March 14 to foster solution to crisis
Relatives of Lebanese killed in Syria vow escalatory steps
Syrian sentenced to death in Sahel Alma case
Syrian Protesters Slam U.S. Blacklisting of al-Nusra as Fighting Rocks Capital, North
Scud use sign of desperate Syrian regime: analysts
Syrian rebels burn Shiite mosque: video
Russia still at odds with West on Syria: analysts
American troops, Patriot missiles to deploy on Syrian border
No interim government until Assad goes: Sabra

Connecticut gun rampage: 28 dead, including 20 schoolchildren
By Dan Burns and Chris Kaufman | Reuters –
NEWTOWN, Connecticut (Reuters) - Twenty schoolchildren were slaughtered by a heavily armed gunman who opened fire at a suburban elementary school in Connecticut on Friday, killing at least 27 people including himself in the one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history.
The 20-year-old gunman, who law enforcement sources identified as Adam Lanza, opened fire on a classroom at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, which serves children from ages 5 to 10.
Authorities found 18 children and seven adults, including the gunman, dead at the school, and two children were pronounced dead later after being take to a hospital. Another adult was found dead at a related crime scene in Newtown, bringing the toll to 28, state police Lieutenant Paul Vance said.
As reports of the shooting spread, panicked parents rushed to the school searching for their children as students covered in blood were being carried out of the building.
President Barack Obama, wiping away tears and pausing to collect his emotions in an address to the nation, mourned the "beautiful little kids between the ages of 5 and 10 years old" who were killed.
"Our hearts are broken today, for the parents, and grandparents, sisters and brothers of these little children and for the families of the adults who were lost," Obama said, his voice cracking.
"Our hearts are broken for the parents of the survivors as well, for as blessed as they are to have their children home tonight, they know that their children's innocence has been torn away from them too early and there are no words that will ease their pain," said Obama, who has two young daughters.
"Evil visited this community today," Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy told reporters.
Adam Lanza's brother, Ryan Lanza, was "either in custody or being questioned," a law enforcement source said.
The New York Times reported that the gunman walked into a classroom where his mother was a teacher, shot his mother and then 20 students, most in the same classroom, before shooting five other adults and killing himself. One other person was shot at the school and survived, the Times said.
Other media reports said the gunman's mother was found dead at a house nearby.
The gunman - who according to a media report carried four weapons and wore a bulletproof vest - was dead inside the school, Vance said.
The holiday season tragedy was the second shooting rampage in the United States this week and the latest in a series of mass killings this year, and was certain to revive a debate about U.S. gun laws.
POLICE, PARENTS SWARM SCHOOL
Chaos struck as children gathered in their classrooms for morning meetings at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, a city of 27,000 in Fairfield County, about 80 miles northeast of New York City.
Police swarmed the scene and locked down the school, rushing children to safety. Distraught parents converged, frantically searching for their daughters and sons. Neighbors and friends wandered in shock, looking for information.
"It's hard to believe that anything like this could happen in this town," said resident Peter Alpi, 70, as he fought back tears. "It's a very quiet town. Maybe it's too quiet."
Obama ordered flags flown at half-staff at U.S. public buildings.
"As a country, we have been through this too many times," Obama said, ticking off a list of recent shootings.
"We're going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics," Obama said in apparent reference to the influence of the National Rifle Association over members of Congress.
Obama remains committed to trying to renew a ban on assault weapons, White House spokesman Jay Carney said.
The Connecticut shootings appear certain to trigger renewed debate over U.S. gun laws. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, founder of the advocacy group Mayors Against Illegal Guns, said it was "almost impossible to believe that a mass shooting in a kindergarten class could happen.
"We need immediate action. We have heard all the rhetoric before. What we have not seen is leadership - not from the White House and not from Congress," he said. "That must end today."
French President Francois Hollande, in an open letter to Obama, said he was "horrified" by the shootings. British Prime Minister David Cameron said, "It is heartbreaking to think of those who have had their children robbed from them at such a young age, when they had so much life ahead of them."
BLOODIED CHILDREN LEAVE SCHOOL
Vance said the shootings took place in two rooms of Sandy Hook Elementary School, which teaches children from kindergarten through fourth grade, roughly aged 5 to 10.
Witnesses reported hearing dozens of shots; some said as many as 100 rounds.
"It was horrendous," said parent Brenda Lebinski, who rushed to the school where her daughter is in the third grade. "Everyone was in hysterics - parents, students. There were kids coming out of the school bloodied. I don't know if they were shot, but they were bloodied."
Lebinski said a mother who was at the school during the shooting told her a "masked man" entered the principal's office and may have shot the principal.
Lebinski's daughter's teacher "immediately locked the door to the classroom and put all the kids in the corner of the room."
Melissa Murphy, who lives near the school, monitored events on a police scanner.
"I kept hearing them call for the mass casualty kit and scream, ‘Send everybody! Send everybody!'" she said. "It doesn't seem like it can be really happening. I feel like I'm in shock."
The toll exceed that of one of the most notorious U.S. school shootings, the 1999 rampage at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, where two teenagers killed 13 students and staff before killing themselves.
A girl described to NBC Connecticut hearing seven loud "booms" while she was in gym class. Other children began crying and teachers moved the students to an office, she said.
"A police officer came in and told us to run outside and so we did," the unidentified girl said on camera.
The United States has experienced a number of shooting rampages this year, most recently in Oregon, where a gunman opened fire at a shopping mall on Tuesday, killing two people and then himself.
The deadliest came in July at a midnight screening of a Batman film in Colorado that killed 12 people and wounded 58.
In 2007, 32 people were killed at Virginia Tech university in the deadliest act of criminal gun violence in U.S. history.
(Additional reporting by Hilary Russ, Edith Honan, Chris Francescani, Peter Rudegeair, Ellen Wulfhorst, David Gregorio and Erin Geiger Smith; Writing by Daniel Trotta and Jim Loney; Editing by Peter Cooney)

Question: "What is the year 2012 Mayan prophecy?"
Answer: The ancient Mayans, in their “Long Count” calendar, had December 21, 2012, as the end of the calendar. This “end” of the Mayan calendar leads to many different interpretations. Some see it as nothing more than a reset, the beginning of a new cycle. Others see it as the date for the end of the world (or at least some type of universal catastrophe). So, what is the Mayan Long Count calendar, and does it have any relation to the end of the world? The Mayans developed their own calendar (The Long Count) ca. 355 B.C. They were able to use their observations and mathematical prowess to calculate the future movements of stars across the sky. The result was that the Mayans discovered the effect of the earth’s wobbling as it spins on its axis. This wobbling rotation causes the stars’ movements to drift gradually in the sky (an effect called “precession”) in a 5,125-year cycle. The Mayans also discovered that once every cycle the dark band at the center of the Milky Way (called the “Galactic Equator”) intersects the Elliptical (the plane of the sun’s movement across the sky).
During the year of the intersection, the sun reaches its solstice (a brief moment when the sun’s position in the sky is at its greatest angular distance on the other side of the equatorial plane from the observer) on December 21 for the Northern Hemisphere and June 21 for the Southern Hemisphere. At that time, the solstice occurs at the same moment of the conjunction of the Galactic Equator with the Milky Way. The year this occurs (in relation to our Gregorian calendar) is A.D. 2012, and happened last on August 11, 3114 B.C. With Mayan mythology teaching that the sun is a god and the Milky Way is the gateway to life and death, the Mayans concluded that this intersection in the past must have been the moment of creation. Mayan hieroglyphs seem to indicate that they believed the next intersection (in 2012) would be some sort of end and a new beginning of a cycle.
All the so-called “Mayan prophecies of 2012” are nothing more than wildly speculative extrapolations, based on the yet-uncertain interpretations by scholars of Mayan hieroglyphs. The truth is that, apart from the astrological convergence, there is little indication that the Mayans prophesied anything specific regarding the events in their distant future. The Mayans were not prophets; they were not even able to predict their own cultural extinction. They were great mathematicians and accomplished sky watchers, but they were also a brutally violent tribal people with a primitive understanding of natural phenomena, subscribing to archaic beliefs and the barbaric practices of blood-letting and human sacrifice. They believed, for example, that the blood of human sacrifices powered the sun and gave it life.
There is absolutely nothing in the Bible that would present December 21, 2012, as the end of the world. The Bible nowhere presents the astronomical phenomena the Mayans pointed to as a sign of the end times. It would seem inconsistent of God to allow the Mayans to discover such an amazing truth while keeping the many Old Testament prophets ignorant of the timing of the events. In summary, there is absolutely no biblical evidence that the 2012 Mayan prophecy should be considered a reliable prediction of doomsday.
Also included in the ancient Mayan prediction that December 21, 2012, would be the end of the world are the following theories: our sun is a god; the sun is powered by the blood of human sacrifice; the creation moment occurred at 3114 B.C. (despite all evidence that it happened much earlier); and the visual alignment of stars has some significance for everyday human life. Like every other false religion, the Mayan religion sought to elevate the creation instead of the Creator Himself. The Bible tells us about such false worshipers: “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator” (Romans 1:25), and “since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – His eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse” (Romans 1:20). To accept the Mayan 2012 prophecy is also to deny the clear biblical teaching about the end of the world. Jesus told us, “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Mark 13:32).

Death sentence handed down in Sahel Alma murder case
December 15, 2012 /The Daily Star
BEIRUT: A man convicted in the killing of a young woman at a monastery in Kesrouan last year was sentenced to death Friday. The Mount Lebanon Criminal Court, headed by Judge Faisal Haidar, issued a death sentence against Syrian Fathi Jabr al-Salateen for the premeditated murder and attempted rape of Myriam al-Ashkar, 28, who was found dead on Nov. 22 last year.
According to a copy of the court case, Salateen, who worked as a janitor at Our Lady of the Annunciation monastery in Sahel Alma, had tried to flirt with Ashkar after she stepped out of the monastery and stabbed her after she rejected his advances. Salateen stole several of Ashkar’s personal belongings, including jewelry and a cellphone, before he attempted to rape her. Salateen then dragged the conscious Ashkar a distance before slashing her throat and killing her. Ashkar’s body was found bloodied and naked from the waist down in the outskirts of Sahel Alma after a day-long search and rescue operation.Following a DNA test of two blood samples collected at the crime scene, the victim’s blood and the blood stains on the janitor’s pants matched. Salateen confessed to the crime after being arrested. The crime sent shockwaves across the country and prompted Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai to urge churches not to entrust the protection of religious places to non-Christian foreigners.
Judge Haidar also ordered compensation to the victim’s family in the amount of LL400 million ($267,000).

Relatives of Lebanese killed in Syria vow escalatory steps
December 14, 2012/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Relatives of Lebanese fighters killed in Syria earlier this month warned Friday they would take escalatory steps if the government fails to secure the repatriation of their loved ones by Monday.
"We are giving the government until Monday morning; if the bodies are not handed over, we will block roads in Mallouleh, Baddawi, Al-Qibbeh and Nour Square in protest,” said Sheikh Mohammad Ibrahim, who represents the relatives of the fighters killed in Syria. Ibrahim, who spoke during a news conference in Nour Square in the northern city of Tripoli, added that he would coordinate with residents in the northern region of Akkar to carry out the potential escalatory steps. Two weeks ago, news surfaced that around 21 Lebanese men were killed in an ambush by regime forces in the Syrian town of Tal Kalakh, which lies near the border with Lebanon. The Salafist fighters, who hailed mostly from Tripoli, were between the ages of 16 and 24. Days later, Syrian state television broadcast images of more than five dead bodies with Lebanese identification documents, saying that the men snuck into the country from Lebanon’s Wadi Khaled and that others in the group had been wounded.
Last week, Syria handed over the bodies of three of the fighters to their relatives. Damascus has said that it will transfer the remaining bodies in stages but without specifying dates.
The incident fueled clashes in Tripoli between supporters and opponents of President Bashar Assad. The fighting, which lasted for almost a week, claimed the lives of at least 17 people and wounded over 100.
During his chat with reporters, the sheikh criticized Lebanon’s government for neglecting the case of relatives seeking the return of their loved ones and demanded that those who were still alive to be returned from Syria.
“We have said that we wanted those who are alive before the dead because a security official has told us that [Israelis] ... treat their prisoners better than the criminal Syrian regime,” he said.
“Repatriating the bodies will not cost [Prime Minister Najib] Mikati anything but a phone call to his criminal ally Bashar Assad,” Ibrahim added. Mikati has appealed to the International Committee of the Red Cross to help retrieve the bodies of the slain Lebanese and obtain information about the fate of the others.
Ibrahim also said that General Security, the security apparatus tasked by the government to coordinate with the Syrian side with regard on the matter of repatriating the bodies, had showed the relatives photos of the dead and identified seven of them. According to a statement from Mikati’s office, the prime minister met the head of General Security Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim at the Grand Serail. The latter informed him of ongoing contacts with the Syrian side to repatriate the bodies, the statement said. Ibrahim told Mikati that repatriation would be finalized when authorities completed the identification process of the men, it added.

Pro Axis Of Evil Lebanese Lawyer Salameh Says to Confine Syria Lawsuit to Saqr
Naharnet/Lebanese lawyer Rashad Salameh said on Friday that he will limit the Syrian lawsuit against those who are allegedly involved in arming the Syrian opposition to al-Mustaqbal lawmaker Oqab Saqr only if he was proven guilty in the case. Salameh, who was appointed on Syria's behalf, said in comments published in the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat that “the parliament has to lift Saqr's immunity as he will not surpass the decision undertaken by it concerning the case.”“I don't see there's a reason to expand prosecution to include others as the final decision relies on the Lebanese judiciary that can either choose to keep the case dormant or carry out the necessary investigations,” Salameh pointed out. The lawyer stressed that he is waiting for the stance of General Prosecutor Judge Hatem Madi, who requested the recordings of interviews and a press conference conducted by Saqr in recent weeks and tasked the Central Criminal Investigations Bureau with examining audio recordings implicating him in the transfer of arms to Syria. “I know my limits... If I filed a lawsuit it will be restricted to MP Saqr... I will not file a lawsuit against former PM Saad Hairi no matter what, even if his name was in the recordings I will remove it,” Salameh told al-Hayat.
OTV and al-Akhbar newspaper recently revealed that Saqr had been carrying out arms deals with Syrian opposition members, with the television station airing leaked recordings of conversations between the lawmaker and Meqdad. The lawmaker accused OTV and al-Akhbar of tampering with the audiotapes, adding that he will file a lawsuit against them.
According to An Nahar newspaper, Salameh will file the lawsuit against Saqr on Friday or by Monday maximum, depending on the preparations of the necessary documents.
Media reports said on Thursday that the Interpol will not deal with the Syrian arrest warrants against Hariri, Saqr and Free Syrian Army member Louay al-Meqdad in line with its constitution and rules.
The move comes in light of requests by the Lebanese judiciary to question Syrian security chief Ali Mamlouk, a colonel identified only as Adnan as suspects in the case of former Minister Michel Samaha and Buthaina Shaaban, Assad's media adviser, to be questioned as a witness in the case. An Nahar also reported that the lawyer is expected to defend Mamlouk and Colonel Adnan, who have been summoned by Lebanese judiciary for questioning on January 14, 2013. On Monday, State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr completed his assessment of the Samaha case, requesting that the investigation expand to include the questioning of Mamlouk, Colonel Adnan, and Shaaban. He had requested that Mamlouk and Colonel Adnan be summoned as suspects in the case and that Shaaban be addressed as a witness. Samaha was arrested in August on charges of forming a criminal gang aimed at carrying out terrorist attacks in Lebanon at Syria's behest.

Head of the Mustaqbal bloc MP Fouad Saniora: Miqati's Proposal Does Not End the Political Deadlock
Naharnet/Head of the Mustaqbal bloc MP Fouad Saniora noted on Friday that Prime Minister Najib Miqati's recent proposal over the resignation of the government does not help ease the political crisis in Lebanon. He said during a press conference from his Sidon office: “Miqati's proposal does not end the political deadlock, but it only adds new conditions to resolving it.” The premier had proposed on Thursday that the cabinet resign once an agreement is reached over a parliamentary electoral law. He added that the new government that would be formed after it would be charged with overseeing the parliamentary elections.
Saniora remarked that Miqati had made similar proposals in the past. Addressing the recent clashes in the northern city of Tripoli, he voiced his rejection of Miqati's claims that had the army not deployed in the city an Islamic state would have been formed in the area. “What emirate is he speaking of?” he wondered. “Who halted the deployment of the army?” he asked. The Mustaqbal Movement and others had been demanding for months that the army deploy in Tripoli, asserted the former premier. Saniora wondered whether Miqati's statements fall in favor of Syrian claims that Tripoli is a hub of extremists.
Addressing Miqati, he asked: “Are you attempting to tarnish the city's image for some political gains?” On the Syrian regime's arrest warrants against former Premier Saad Hariri, Mustaqbal MP Oqab Saqr, and Syrian opposition member Louay al-Meqdad, Saniora said: “The warrants have no legal or political basis.”“The tactics of the Syrian regime will not yield any results,” he added.

Syrian Protesters Slam U.S. Blacklisting of al-Nusra as Fighting Rocks Capital, North
Naharnet /Thousands of Syrians took to the streets on Friday, criticizing Washington for blacklisting the rebel jihadist group Al-Nusra Front, as regime troops bombed southern districts of Damascus and clashes were reported around two military schools in the north of the country. The protesters demonstrated under the slogan: "There is no terrorism in Syria except that of Assad."
Protesters in the Eastern Ghouta region, just outside Damascus and which has come under regular air raids by the regime army, held up a sign reading: "Thank you to all the 'terrorists' in Syria who are fighting Assad."
"We are all Al-Nusra Front," it said, in reference to the jihadist group blacklisted by Washington on Tuesday. Lines of children and men linked arms and carried the three-starred flag of the revolution as they called for downfall of the regime in the street as shopkeepers looked on.
U.S. blacklisting of Syria's hardline Islamist Al-Nusra Front as a "terrorist organization" has drawn fierce criticism from rebels, opposition groups and activists, who have condemned the move as both ill-timed and ill-conceived.
The broad view is that the Salafist group is fighting courageously against Assad, whose ouster its members consider a religious duty, and has done nothing to warrant censure.
Washington blacklisted al-Nusra, which has claimed the majority of suicide bombings that have rocked the country in recent months, warning that extremists could play no role in building the nation's future.
Protesters, meanwhile, were also vocal on social media networks like the Facebook.
On the Syrian Revolution 2011 Facebook page, a retrospective of the most powerful scenes of the 22-month anti-Assad uprising were shown in a video footage -- from the original protests in Daraa to the massacre in the town of Houla in May. "From the famous honor Friday we demonstrated in all cities and towns, to make the freedom dream a reality," read the subtitles, set against a dramatic musical score, and referring to the first protest in Daraa on March 18 last year. "When Western countries feel threatened ... they try to minimize our great revolution and describe some revolutionaries as terrorists," the video said, professing "we will not allow anyone to interfere in our internal issues."
In the northwestern town of Kfar Nabal, demonstrators rejected exile for Assad, demanding that he be put on trial in Syria, where more than 43,000 people have died since the revolt erupted in March 2011, according to activists. Syrian activists also had a revolutionary message for the citizens of Damascus allies Russia and China: "Intelligent peoples governed by idiots, remove your tyrants!" read a banner held aloft in Kfar Nabal as a line of children cheered. Meanwhile, regime troops bombed southern districts of Damascus while rebels and soldiers battled around two military schools in the north of the country, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
"Several blasts rang out in Damascus as southern areas of the city were bombarded," said the Britain-based group.
Nine rebels and eight soldiers were killed in heavy clashes near the School of Administrative Affairs, a military academy between Aleppo city and the town of Saraqeb to the southwest.
"Classes were suspended there several months ago after rebels seized much of the surrounding area," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told Agence France Presse.
Just north of Aleppo, fighting broke out near another military academy, one of the largest in the country, said the watchdog, which relies on a countrywide network of activists and doctors in compiling its reports.
The insurgents, who have encircled the sprawling infantry school for three weeks, will nevertheless have to mobilize significant numbers of fighters to take on the 3,000 soldiers stationed there, Abdel Rahman said.
In the Tassil area of the southern province of Daraa, three civilians were killed and several wounded by artillery fire at dawn, the watchdog said. Fighting also broke out in the northwestern province of Idlib around the military base at Wadi Daif, under siege by rebels since they seized the nearby town of Maaret al-Numan, which was hit by air raids on Friday.
The Observatory said at least 42 people -- 14 civilians, 20 rebels and eight soldiers -- had been killed nationwide on Friday.
*Agence France Presse

Saqr: Interpol’s rebuff of Syrian warrants a blow to Assad, allies
December 15, 2012/By Hussein Dakroub/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Future bloc MP Oqab Saqr, currently at the center of allegations of arming Syrian rebels, said Friday that Interpol’s rejection of Syrian arrest warrants against him and former Prime Minister Saad Hariri had dealt a heavy blow to the regime of President Bashar Assad and his allies in Lebanon. “It seems that the blow which Assad and his regime have been dealt by Interpol was heavy and constituted an additional setback to this collapsing regime and some of its Lebanese followers,” Saqr said in a statement. “Interpol has confirmed in an official letter that the arrest warrants sent by the [Assad] regime were invalid like the state of the internal and international collapse that the architect of the warrants and his regime are experiencing,” he added. The International Criminal Police Organization, Interpol, could not be reached for comment on the Syrian arrest warrants issued this week against Hariri, Saqr and Louay Meqdad, a spokesman for the rebel Free Syrian Army, over allegations of arming and funding Syrian rebels.
However, Al-Mustaqbal newspaper said Interpol has rejected the Syrian arrest warrants.
Hariri has scoffed at the warrants, calling Assad a “monster” and saying that the embattled president would face trials for “shedding blood in Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq, the killing of children and the annihilation of the Syrian people.”Syria issued arrest warrants Tuesday for Hariri, Saqr and Meqdad over charges of providing weapons and funds for “terrorist groups” in Syria.
Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said Interpol’s office at the Internal Security Forces received the warrants at midday Tuesday, adding that copies had been sent to all Arab states. However, a judicial source said that Lebanon would likely ignore the Syrian warrants. Saqr said Interpol had dismissed the Syrian arrest warrants as worthless.
“Interpol has sent a clear message to Assad saying: Your Don Quixote warrants are not worth the ink used to write them and your reliance on forgeries of the Lebanese misleading [media outlets] are no longer useful at a time when the axis of deceit is facing a resounding collapse,” Saqr said.
Addressing Assad, he added: “Your days in power are numbered according to your closest supporters.” Saqr was referring to a statement by a Russian official.
Saqr accused the OTV station of Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun of continuing its forgery by reporting fabricated and false news attributed to Reuters which, according to OTV, allegedly quoted a Syrian dissident as saying that Saqr was sending arms to the Syrian opposition.
Former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, head of the Future parliamentary bloc, also dismissed the Syrian arrest warrants as worthless. “In fact, this case [the arrest warrants] is baseless. The second thing is that we must know that this regime in Syria has practically lost its Arab and international legitimacy as a result of the stances taken by the Arab League as well as the 130 states which have declared their recognition of the Syrian opposition and also Interpol’s stance on this issue,” Siniora told reporters at his office in Hilaliyeh, east of Sidon.
“I think we must not give this matter any significance at all. [The warrants] have no legal or political value,” he added.
On the day Syria issued its arrest warrants, Lebanon’s Investigative Judge Riad Abu Ghida set Jan. 14 as a date for an interrogation with two senior Syrian officers, Gen. Ali Mamlouk, the head of Syria’s national security bureau, and an officer identified as Brig. Gen. Adnan over their alleged role in a terror plot to destabilize Lebanon. The two men were indicted along with former minister Michel Samaha in August over the plot said to have been aimed at stoking violence in Lebanon. Meanwhile, a Lebanese lawyer appointed by the Syrian Embassy in Beirut said a lawsuit against Saqr would be finalized next week. “I am finalizing the lawsuit and I will present it Monday,” Rashad Salameh told The Daily Star. He added that the case relied solely on audio recordings aired by local media outlets of Saqr allegedly discussing supplying Syrian rebels with arms.
Salameh, a former Kataeb official, was appointed by Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdel-Karim Ali to file the suit against “anyone who participated, incited, funded and sent arms [to Syrian rebels] and were actual accomplices in shedding the blood of Syrians.”

Fragile truce along northeastern border strained
December 15, 2012/By Rakan al- Fakih./The Daily Star
HERMEL, Lebanon: A fragile truce between rival villages on Lebanon’s northeastern border with Syria is beginning to show signs of cracking. A five-kilometer stretch of unmarked border divides communities of Lebanese Shiites living inside Syrian territory from members of the Syrian opposition living in Lebanon. Tensions between the border villages, which lie a stone’s throw from each other, have been steadily rising since the start of the uprising in Syria, and have resulted in a series of kidnappings and armed reprisals. This escalation of violence has claimed the lives of many residents, including Hezbollah commander Hussein Ali Nassif from the northern Bekaa Valley, and has also resulted in residents on both sides migrating across the border to escape the tension. Many of those sympathetic to the uprising from Syrian villages have moved to the Lebanese village of Arsal through the illegal crossing of Masharih al-Qaa, while residents of the Shiite villages have relocated to Hermel and Beirut. With an estimated 5,000 Hezbollah fighters present in the region and roughly 6,000 Syrian opposition fighters located nearby in the Syrian city of Qusair and its outskirts, the area is a tinder box.
The latest incident in the tense region took place Wednesday, when Syrian troops destroyed a home using a landmine because it blocked the view from a checkpoint.
No casualties were reported in the explosion. The troops asked the home’s owner, Hussein Ezzedine, to evacuate his home before it was destroyed.
The head of the reconciliation committee for the border villages, Ali Zeaiter, said that a six-week truce in place was the result of major efforts by the committee, which includes senior figures from both sides of the conflict.
Both sides are still committed to the truce despite minor violations which are quickly contained by the committee, Zeaiter said, adding the two sides are acting responsively for the time being.
The truce between the villages has meant relative calm, but maintaining it is proving difficult in light of the steady escalation between the Syrian army and the armed opposition in Syria.
The ongoing detention of people kidnapped more than six months ago and the recent sectarian clashes in Tripoli, between supporters and opponents of the Syrian regime, are also fueling tensions.
Political sources said that Syrian rebels continued to hold seven Lebanese near the town of Qusair, while Hezbollah is holding four Syrian nationals for their alleged activities in support of the Free Syrian Army. Hezbollah officials declined to comment on the accusations.
Zeaiter explained that the truce requires that both sides commit to peaceful coexistence, allow civilians to move around safely, release captives and prevent any new kidnappings.
“Any problem is resolved on the spot before things get worse to make sure the losses remain minimal. Both sides are caught in a vicious cycle of revenge that will not end, irrespective of the outcome of the war in Syria,” he said. “The residents on both sides of the border are connected through the bonds of blood, business and land.”
Zeaiter added that the past two weeks have witnessed the safe transfer of five badly wounded Syrians to hospitals in the Bekaa Valley and north Lebanon, while two hostages have been released by the Syrian armed opposition groups. But the truce will not hold for long, Zeaiter predicted. Major developments in Syria and constant interference from countries outside the region will only create further obstacles to maintaining the peace, he said.
A Hezbollah official, speaking to The Daily Star on condition of anonymity, said he shared the pessimism that the truce will hold in light of information obtained by the group on the ongoing mobilization of the extremist armed group, Nusra Front, in the region. He also said that a confrontation between the residents of the border villages is inevitable as he maintained that the essential aim of the Syrian opposition groups was to displace the largest possible number of residents of these villages and seize control of the area.
The area could then be used by armed groups to facilitate safe passage between the rural parts of Homs and Qusayr and Wadi Khaled in Akkar on the Lebanese side, to secure a supply line of money and weapons to armed groups, he continued. The Hezbollah official went on to say that the Syrian opposition groups also wanted to besiege the predominantly Alawite regions in Syria that lie along the coastline and extend into the coastal mountain range. “If the [Masharih al-Qaa] region is seized, it will provide a bridge that links these areas and the interior regions of Syria including the capital, Damascus,” the official said, arguing that Syrian armed opposition groups had identified the capture of the Alawite-majority border village of Haidariya as a key part of the plan.
However, the rebels postponed carrying out the plan after realizing the strength of the Shiite villagers and Hezbollah fighters tasked with defending them, and this decision has allowed the truce to remain in effect, he said.
The official insisted that Hezbollah is only defending the residents of these border villages and that his party’s commitment to the truce and facilitating corridors for humanitarian needs served as proof of this.

March 8 parties, committees criticize release of Azzi
December 15, 2012 /By Youssef Diab/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: March 8 parties reacted angrily Friday to the release on bail of Charbel Azzi, a telecommunications engineer who was convicted of collaborating with Israel. The Association of Muslim Scholars, and a committee representing former Lebanese detainees in Israeli prisons, slammed the decision Thursday by Judge Alice Shabtini to release Azzi, who was convicted one year ago and sentenced to seven years in prison.
Azzi, who worked as a technical engineer for mobile phone operator Alfa, was detained in June 2010 over suspected involvement in an alleged network of Israeli spies, and was found guilty in December 2011.
The committee representing ex-detainees said Shabtini should be “held accountable” for her decision, and urged the authorities to examine all of the verdicts she had issued “to find out who is behind the decision” to free Azzi.
The Muslim Scholars Association called Shabtini’s decision a “scandal,” and urged that she be dismissed from her post.
The group called on President Michel Sleiman, Speaker Nabih Berri, Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi to take action by re-trying convicted collaborators, “from Fayez Karam to Charbel Azzi.”
Karam, a Free Patriotic Movement official, was sentenced to two years for contacting Israeli intelligence officials but benefited from a sentence reduction law and was released in April of this year after serving 18 months in prison. The group said collaborators should be returned to prison, “or at the least banned from leaving Lebanon.”The coverage by Hezbollah media of Shabtini’s decision was criticized by Batroun MP Antoine Zahra, who said that Al-Manar TV was guilty of “incitement against the judiciary” in its response and coverage of the judge’s decision. Zahra, a Lebanese Forces official, said, “One of the few bright spots in this vile time is having such honorable, honest judges in the judiciary [and other institutions].” He said the decision to release Azzi proved that the judiciary enjoyed a measure of independence and freedom from political considerations and pressures.
Judicial officials declined to comment on the case, although it was likely that Shabtini took into account Azzi’s time served in jail before he was tried and sentenced.

Sunni Syrian rebels burn Shiite mosque: video
December 14, 2012/Daily Star/BEIRUT: A video posted on the Internet shows Sunni Muslim rebels burning a Shiite mosque in north Syria - a sign that the country's civil war is spiralling into a sectarian conflict.
Dozens of fighters dressed in camouflage gear with Sunni-style beards are shown in the footage congratulating and kissing each other outside the burning Shiite 'Husseiniya' mosque. They also burned flags they said were Shiite.
A fighter holding a rifle says the rebel group is destroying the "dens of the Shiites and Rafida," a derogatory term meaning "deserters," which is used against Shiites.
Reuters could not independently verify the video, which was posted on YouTube on Wednesday and purports to be filmed in the northern town of Jisr al-Shughur.
Syria's revolt, like its population, is majority Sunni. President Bashar al-Assad and his late father President Hafez al-Assad are from the minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam, that has dominated power since the 1960s. Minority groups fear an Islamist takeover and many Christians, Shiites and Kurds are reluctant to support an armed revolt that included several Sunni extremist rebel units.
Syrians took up arms against authorities after attacks by Assad's security forces on protests that called for a democratic Syria. Since March 2011, 40,000 people have been killed.

Scud use sign of desperate Syrian regime: analysts
December 14, 2012 /By Rita Daou/Daily Star
BEIRUT: Syria's use of Scud missiles against rebels, as claimed by Washington and rebel fighters, is a desperate move by a regime that has exhausted its military capacity, analysts say.
A US official told AFP on Wednesday that the regime had fired Scuds, and a former Syrian officer who served in a battalion specialising in surface-to-surface missiles also claimed troops had done so.
Damascus denied that it had used the missiles.
Karim Bitar, research director at the Institute for International and Strategic Relations, said: "Scuds are cumbersome, inaccurate and very expensive and there is no military justification for using them. "Their use is therefore clearly part of the regime's psychological war against the rebels and countries that support them," he said.
Bitar said using Scuds was an indication that the regime was bracing for a decisive battle in Damascus, which "could change the rules of the game." Riad Kahwaji, founder of the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis (INEGMA), said Scud missiles "are weapons of terror.""They are used to make up for an inability to control the ground."
Scuds were last used by Libya's regime in the final days before Moamer Kadhafi was killed, said Kahwaji, referring to the 2011 NATO-backed rebel offensive against the longtime strongman.
"Here we are seeing a similar scenario," said Kahwaji. "It just shows the level of desperation. The regime has exhausted its military capabilities.
"It is like somebody with different size hammers. You use a small hammer first and it doesn't work, so you use a bigger one till you reach the sledge-hammer."
Kahwaji said he believed the regime had a sizeable store of such weapons in army-controlled locations between Damascus and the Alawite heartland of Latakia on the coast.
Former first lieutenant Aaraba Idriss said he was still in contact with officers and members of his former Battalion 57, part of Brigade 155, despite defecting 10 months ago.
He said they told him they fired five Scud missiles for the first time on Monday from their location in Nasiriyeh on the highway between Damascus and the central Syrian city of Homs.
Idriss said the "Golan-1" missiles were either Russian-made or Russian modified" and had a range of up to 300 kilometres (180 miles).
The Syrian foreign ministry categorically denied those claims, calling them "biased and conspiratorial rumours."
"It is known that Scuds are strategic, long-range missiles and are not suited for use against armed terrorist gangs," the foreign ministry said on Thursday.
However, a security source in Damascus told AFP on condition of anonymity on Thursday that the army had used a smaller, Syrian-made version of the Scud.
These developments come as the conflict, which has reportedly claimed more than 42,000 lives, enters its 22nd month.
In recent weeks, rebels have captured a series of key army bases and consolidated their grip on large swathes of north and east Syria.
This has prompted Syria's long-time ally Russia to admit on Thursday that the increasingly bloody conflict in Syria might culminate in a rebel victory.
An AFP correspondent in northwestern Syria on Wednesday witnessed what rebels said was the impact of a Scud, one of six missiles that hit around the Sheikh Suleiman army base, which they captured earlier this month.
"There were 21 olive trees here, now they're all gone," said the owner of the land where one of the missiles struck just outside the town of Darret Ezza.
No one was killed but the missiles shook the town, breaking windows and sparking fears of more attacks.

American troops, Patriot missiles to deploy on Syrian border
December 15, 2012 /Agencies
DAMASCUS/BEIRUT: Washington and Berlin prepared to deploy Patriot missiles and troops near Turkey’s border with Syria Friday as Russia backpedaled on statements indicating a rebel victory against Syrian President Assad was possible. As Western countries continued to ramp up pressure on Assad, thousands of Syrians took to the streets, criticizing Washington for blacklisting a rebel jihadist group. A Foreign Ministry spokesman in Moscow said Russia’s controversial support for President Assad’s regime was unchanged and that remarks by Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov a day earlier did not reflect official policy. Nonetheless, Washington was swift in welcoming Bogdanov’s observations while announcing the deployment of two Patriot missile batteries and 400 support troops to fellow NATO member Turkey.
Germany and The Netherlands also have agreed to provide advanced “hit-to-kill” Patriot weapons. The German parliament approved sending the missiles along with up to 400 U.S. soldiers. Last week, the Dutch Cabinet also gave a go-ahead for Patriots, along with up to 360 soldiers to operate them.
Bogdanov’s comments, reported by several Russian news agencies, had appeared to mark a major change in policy by Moscow, which has repeatedly used its veto powers in the U.N. Security Council to shield its Cold War ally. But Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich insisted Friday that there was no such shift. “We have never changed our position and we never will,” he said.
At the close of a two-day European Union summit British Prime Minister David Cameron said “inaction and indifference are not options” in Syria. The situation in Syria, with more than 43,000 now dead, is “truly dreadful and getting worse,” he said. A joint statement by EU leaders said they were “appalled by the increasingly deteriorating situation in Syria” and looking at “all options” to help the opposition and protect civilians. On a visit to an air base in southeast Turkey U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta reiterated U.S. concerns that Assad’s regime might resort to chemical weapons in desperation.
“You can’t imagine anyone who would do that to their own people. But history is replete with those leaders who made those kind of decisions, terrible decisions,” he said.
On the ground, Syrian troops bombed southern districts of Damascus while rebels and soldiers battled around two military schools in the north of the country, the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Nine rebels and eight soldiers were killed in heavy clashes near the School of Administrative Affairs, a military academy between Aleppo city and the town of Saraqeb to the southwest. They were among at least 42 people killed nationwide, including 20 rebels, the opposition Britain-based group reported.
In worrying signs of deepening sectarian tensions , a video posted online showed Sunni rebels burning the Shiite ‘Husseiniya’ mosque in north Syria. Fighters dressed in camouflage gear were shown congratulating each other for destroying the “dens of the Shiites and Rafida,” a derogatory term meaning “rejectionists.”Thousands of Syrians meanwhile took to the streets, criticizing Washington for blacklisting a rebel jihadist group, Nusra Front. “There is no terrorism in Syria except that of Assad,” they chanted, as seen in videos posted on the Internet. Protesters in the Eastern Ghuta region, just outside Damascus, held up a sign reading: “Thank you to all the ‘terrorists’ in Syria who are fighting Assad.”The U.S. blacklisting of Syria’s Islamist group as a “terrorist organization,” for alleged links with Al-Qaeda, has drawn fierce criticism from rebels and opposition groups, who have condemned the move as ill-timed and ill-conceived. An opposition leader tolerated by the Syrian regime said that the blacklisting may be used to justify foreign intervention in the country’s crisis.
“The question is, why did they [the Americans] put Nusra Front on their list of terror organizations,” demanded Qadri Jamil, Syria’s deputy prime minister for economic affairs and head of the Popular Front for Change and Liberation. “I am afraid it is to justify interference in Syrian affairs,” he told a news conference in Moscow, broadcast by Syrian state television.

No interim government until Assad goes: Sabra
December 15, 2012/By Lauren Williams/The Daily Star
MARRAKECH, Morocco: The head of the Syrian National Council, Christian Georges Sabra, says there can be no interim government until Assad leaves. Speaking to The Daily Star hours after the Friends of Syria group followed the U.S. in recognizing the Syrian National Coalition (which absorbed the former SNC last month) as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people at a meeting in Marrakech, Sabra clarified the new role of the Syrian coalition. While he welcomed the newfound recognition as “good” and “right” he cautioned against viewing the group of exiled opposition Syrians as a government, and said that the group needed to earn legitimacy from Syrians inside the country. “We can’t talk about a transitional government now. We can only talk about that after the collapse of the current Assad regime,” Sabra said. In granting recognition to the opposition body late Tuesday, U.S. President Barack Obama said of the coalition: “We consider them the legitimate representative of the Syrian people in opposition to the Assad regime.” While this was widely interpreted as recognition of the body as the de facto administration of the Syrian state, the exact responsibility this recognition entails remains vague. Sabra said it is important to distinguish between the role of an opposition administration to assist the toppling of President Bashar Assad, and an interim transitional government to be created in his wake. “We can talk about the opposition government in exile. But we must wait until we have a free land to elect a new government,” he added. Sabra said that while envoys could be appointed from the coalition to manage state relations, their role was to manage the efforts to topple the current regime.
He said the “Friends” recognition acted as tacit agreement from the U.S. to arm the opposition, and allowed the body to negotiate with states on an individual level to move that effort along.
“This helps us to fetch around for weapons here and there, to be supplied on a state by state basis,” he said.
“We have in place an administration of people who can manage, say, a fund for the Syrian people for the aid and humanitarian services, for the defensive capabilities, for the things they need to protect themselves. These are the sorts of services we can provide,” Sabra said, adding that the work, for now, was limited to liberated areas and was aimed at expanding control of territory through assisting local opposition councils.
“We need the people inside Syria to work to provide the bread, the work, administer the health care, the economy and defense, but these are the responsibilities of the elected government, which comes later.
“The temporary government can be built by the coalition, but the transitional government will be built by the coalition, along with Syrians inside the country,” Sabra added. He said the distinction was important in order to establish credibility among the Syrian population. The coalition and the SNC before it has been criticized for lacking legitimacy or adequate networks on the ground, a shortcoming Sabra acknowledged.
“We are not imposing this government on the people,” he said. Meetings have been held in recent weeks as to what the post-Assad transitional government may look like, and disagreements have already erupted over who could take a leadership role, diplomats and opposition leaders have confided to The Daily Star. The U.S. and Saudi Arabia are understood to have backed defected former Prime Minister Riad Hijab for the role of prime minister, while Qatar and Turkey supposedly back the current leader of the coalition, moderate Islamic preacher, Moaz al-Khatib. Sabra said the debate had been set aside for now, but admitted the role of leader of the coalition was “somewhat of a poisoned chalice.” “I have nothing personal against Riad Hijab but he was a part of the regime until just three months ago. He was America’s choice, not Syrian people’s,” he said. “I am sure he and others [defectors] will have a role in the future, but the public is not ready to accept him now. “It would be bad for him and bad for us,” he said, adding that Khatib was “popular inside.”
In explaining the discussions, Sabra relayed a joke currently circulating among Syrians: “We say ‘Riad Hijab for prime minister, [defected Brig. Gen.] Manaf Tlass for Defense Ministry, [former Foreign Ministry spokesperson] Jihad Makdissi for Foreign Ministry ... and Bashar Assad for president, when he defects.’”

Syria, Russia, China, Iran envoys urge political solution to Syrian crisis
December 15, 2012/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: The Syrian, Russian, Chinese and Iranian ambassadors to Lebanon said after a meeting Friday that a political solution is the only way to end the 21-month unrest in Syria and called for an immediate end to the violence. “The ongoing fighting in Syria, which targets the regime and is supported by some states, has so far only resulted in further death and destruction, and should stop immediately,” the envoys said, according to a statement from the Iranian Embassy in Beirut. The statement said that Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdel-Karim Ali, Iranian Ambassador Ghadanfar Rukn Abadi, Russian Ambassador Alexander Zasypkin and Chinese Ambassador Wu Zexian met at Abadi’s residence. The meeting came one day after Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Mikhail Bogdanov, said that Syrian rebels might defeat the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, statements that were denied Friday by Russia’s Foreign Ministry. The attendees highlighted the “necessity of reaching a political solution in Syria, which is the only option for emerging from the crisis in this country,” and “stressed the need to stop sending funds and weapons to armed groups.” The diplomats called for dialogue between the Syrian people and for free and transparent parliamentary elections, followed by presidential elections on schedule.
The ambassadors pointed to the failure of the “armed terrorist groups” in achieving their goals over the past two years, praising Syria’s army, government and people for confronting terrorist acts committed by these groups, the bulk of whom they said come from outside the country.

Iran: Grim mood as power struggle intensifies
By Amir Taheri/Asharq Alawsat
Like all systems caught in ideological tangles, the Khomeinist regime is, once again, facing one of its fundamental contradictions: Whether it is a republic, that is to say a political order based on the will of the people as expressed in elections, or an “Imamate” in which the “Supreme Guide” claims a divine mandate. That contradiction was highlighted in an epistolary duel last month between President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the two Larijani brothers, respectively heading the Islamic Majlis, the ersatz parliament, and the judiciary. Clearly, the brothers are angling for the presidency with Ali-Ardeshir, the man in the Majlis, as candidate. But they know that, unless they keep credible candidates out, they would have little chance of winning. Last time Ali-Ardeshir stood for the presidency he collected around four percent of the votes.
It is clear that the brothers have embarked on their shenanigans with more than a wink and a nod from “Supreme Guide” Ali Khamenei. On their own, they would have not had the support base to make so brazen a bid for the nation’s highest elected office. The two brothers are attacking across two fronts.
On one front they are trying to humiliate Ahmadinejad as he prepares to leave office in six months. Ali-Ardeshir has mobilised his friends in the Majlis to pass laws bypassing the government, annexing part of the duties of the executive branch. The other brother, Sadeq, a mullah, has rejected the president’s oversight of the judiciary. If established as systemic practice, these moves could drastically reduce the powers of the presidency.
On a second front, the brothers are trying to make it impossible for many potentially credible candidates from standing in next June’s presidential election.
A proposed amendment of the law regulating presidential elections requirements fixes new conditions designed to bar specific rivals.
For example, the stipulation that candidates should be no older than 75 years of age would exclude former President Hashemi Rafsanjani who is tempted to stand.
Another condition is that the would-be candidate must have a master’s degree from a university. That would exclude another potential candidate, former President Muhammad Khatami who has a B.A in chemistry, and former Interior Minister Abdullah Nouri who trained as a junior cleric.
The proposed amendments would also end the government’s control of the elections through the Interior Ministry.
That control could enable the Ahmadinejad faction to “arrange” a victory for its own candidate, assuming it manages to get him past the hurdles set up by the Larijanis. With elections conducted by a committee composed of men appointed by the Larijanis and Khamenei, the trio would be able to push their candidate across the finishing line.
The most significant new condition is that candidates should secure approval from at least 100 “senior political and religious leaders” before their application is submitted to the 12-man Council of Guardians for final consideration.
It is not clear how the supposedly “senior political and religious leaders” would be chosen. But the Larijanis have hinted that the decision would rest with the Majlis and the judiciary; organs they control. That means that the two brothers could veto candidates fielded by the Ahmadinejad faction.
Khamenei has made little secret of his desire to reduce the president to little more than an advisor to the “Supreme Guide”. To him Iran is an “Imamate” not a republic, a system invented by Western “Infidels” in the 18th century. Khamenei has hinted that the presidency might be abolished in favour of a system in which a prime minister appointed by the “Supreme Guide” handles executive affairs.
With less than six months left of his mandate, Ahmadinejad appears to have decided to fight for the preservation of whatever is left of the presidency’s status. He has published texts of letters he has written to the two Larijanis as well as Khamenei, reminding the trio that the president, elected by the people, enjoys a legitimacy that no other official, including the un-elected “Supreme Guide”, could claim. Ahmadinejad has cast himself as the custodian of the constitution and, believe it or not, the democratic voice of the people.
The tone of Ahmadinejad’s letters leaves little doubt about his determination not to be pushed into the oblivion without a fight. It is also clear that he wants his faction to be present in the next election with a credible candidate even if that means challenging the “Supreme Guide”.
Beyond personal rivalries, inherent to most political systems, the Khomeinist regime suffers from a deep crisis of identity. It is a profoundly despotic system with clear totalitarian ambitions. At the same time, however, it has democratic pretensions. The result is a double-headed eagle that is unable to fly very far in any direction.
If the system increases its despotic dose by depriving the presidency of whatever little power it has left, the result could be a greater loss of support among the narrow but determined elite of bureaucrats, technocrats and the military-security organs that keep the system afloat. If, on the other hand, the system gives more leeway to its democratic pretensions it could encourage the silent majority that was never won over by Khomeinism to challenge the very existence of the regime. The latest round in the power struggle for shaping the future course of Iran comes at a time of deepening economic crisis and the continued threat of military conflict with the United States and/or Israel. At the same time the Middle East’s political landscape is changing in ways that could only increase the Islamic Republic’s isolation. Change in Syria could also mean an end to the Lebanese branch of Hezbollah and Iran’s domination in Lebanon. At the same time, despite efforts by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, relations with Iraq are also on a sliding slope.
Not surprisingly, the mood in Iran these days is very grim.

Kuwait: Which of the two options?
By Hussein Shabokshi/Asharq Alawsat
Anyone attempting to understand or interpret what is happening in Kuwait these days must be genuinely perplexed. Powerful opposition voices are being put forward extremely vocally and strongly. The rational Kuwaitis have the absolute conviction that the stances adopted by the regime's loyalists and the opposition go beyond the declared reasons, and they reject the claim that the disagreement is over "technical" details of the proposed election and voting system. The rational Kuwaitis believe that what is happening in the country is not a matter of demanding a change in votes and constituencies, or the dispute over whether each voter actually has four votes or one.
In fact, Kuwait is suffering from a multi-faceted problem that has accumulated gradually. It has been caused primarily by the state of deep anxiety and uncertainty that has prevailed in the Kuwait people’s mindset ever since the Iraqi invasion. If one looks closely at the economy, namely the developmental situation in Kuwait, they would be amazed: Why has the country's infrastructure and government spending shrunk although incomes and oil prices are on the rise? Why is the Kuwaiti private sector suddenly nowhere to be seen, despite the fact that it is famous for its pioneering mobility and intellect, represented in its previous local investments and its inclination to invest abroad, whether in the Gulf states, the Arab world, Asia, Europe or North American? The Kuwaiti people are well-known for their enormous appetite for sovereign investments in international funds and companies; Kuwait’s distinguished domain in the Arab arena. Through this Kuwait earned enormous revenues and created what is known as the Kuwait Future Generations Fund, reflecting its bold sovereign investment future. Yet subsequent investigations into those in charge of these funds have led to a marked deterioration, causing Kuwait’s performance and role to shrink and allowing other countries steal the limelight in this particular field.
In the political sphere Kuwait came to be known as a state with a degree of freedom of expression superior to the rest of the Gulf, which was clearly reflected in its media, literature and arts. Of course, this was also reflected in the state of mobility and vibrant political life where the elites attempted to build a state of institutions, namely the judiciary and the parliament, and draft constitutional articles. However, present-day Kuwait is suffering from the political ambitions that cannot be contained. The parliament wants the right to form the government in order to overcome the suffocating state of affairs it is experiencing now. Many believe there will be a permanent struggle over the tiniest details, and that governance progress will be hindered, as long as parliament remains unable to form a government. For its part, the government believes that allowing the parliament's majority to form the government would tear society apart and lead to a suspicious atmosphere that could provoke riots.
Prominent parties have now emerged in the Kuwaiti crisis with considerable impact on political mobility. For example, the tribes have significant "weight" on the political street owing to their strength and ability to influence public opinion. This is particularly significant considering how the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafi ideologies, in their own directions, have infiltrated the tribal structure, hence giving the political discourse a striking religious and social dimension. We must also not neglect the role of the economy, the media and sectarianism as effective tools to target certain social classes. Within the political family itself there are also different trends. There are doves and hawks that incite members of parliament, businessmen, scholars and media representatives, all being manipulated towards mobilizing the street in a certain way.
The Kuwaiti scene is worrying because the issue at heart has nothing to do with "a starving people's revolution" or "victims in the slums". Rather, it is a quest for political gains and the redistribution of votes and seats in a new manner. There is no more room in the Kuwaiti constitution or in the Kuwaiti parliament to contain the new ambitions of some elements of the Kuwaiti political street. Therefore, the solution for such a stifling situation will either be entirely "innovative" or enormously costly!