Matthew 18 Who Is the Greatest

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
February 13/2012

Bible Quotation for today/The Parable of the Widow and the Judge
Luke 18/01-08: " Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to teach them that they should always pray and never become discouraged. In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected people. And there was a widow in that same town who kept coming to him and pleading for her rights, saying, Help me against my opponent! For a long time the judge refused to act, but at last he said to himself, Even though I don't fear God or respect people, yet because of all the trouble this widow is giving me, I will see to it that she gets her rights. If I don't, she will keep on coming and finally wear me out! And the Lord continued, Listen to what that corrupt judge said. Now, will God not judge in favor of his own people who cry to him day and night for help? Will he be slow to help them? I tell you, he will judge in their favor and do it quickly. But will the Son of Man find faith on earth when he comes?

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
Syria…let your conscience govern/By Tariq Alhomayed/ February 12/12
Nasrallah was not acknowledging Iran affiliation/By: Tariq Alhomayed/February 11/12
In Egypt, division rules/By: John Ehab/February 12/12

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for February 12/12
Lebanon: Syrian Freed in Ablah to Bring Ransom and Win Release of his Brothers, Employee
Future bloc leader Fouad Siniora condemns Tripoli fighting
Future bloc MP Mouin Merhebi: Hezbollah, Syria responsible for Tripoli ‘arms warehouses’
Qassem Lauds Army Deployment in North, Stresses Government Provides Stability
Cautious Tripoli Calm as al-Shaar Urges Ulemas to Unite their Stance
Saniora: Hizbullah Cabinet Helped Spread Misery and Confusion
Calm returns after 3 die in north Lebanon violence
Mansour: No interest in Lebanon recognizing SNC
Report: Juppe Asked Miqati not to Reject ‘Friends of Syria’ Group
Mikati: France to reduce UNIFIL presence in Lebanon
More wounded in north Lebanon as army vows to restore order
Tyre Protestors Shout Anti-Bassil Slogans Over Severe Power Rationing
Pope to Syria: Respect People's ‘Legitimate’ Hopes
Arabs Mull Action on Syria Violence as 4 More Civilians Killed in Homs
Syrian forces shell Homs, truce in mountain town
Rockets hit Homs opposition as Arab ministers meet
Official: Arab League Syria Mission Chief Resigns
Assad wins out against opposition as Russia and Iran strengthen ties
Weapons moving from Iraq to Syria: Iraq official
Iran helping Syria sidestep sanctions, documents prove
Iranians slam US, Israel on revolution anniversary
Satellite images show Syrian tanks inside restive city
Harel and Issacharoff / War games on two fronts
Palestinian killed, three injured in Israeli air raid on Gaza
Haniyeh in Iran: Hamas will never recognize Israel
Argentine President calls for regional involvement in Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Iran: 30 million lose email access
Larijani Warns Gulf Arab States not to Side with U.S.
Zawahiri Urges Lebanon’s Muslims to Help Syrian Rebels
'Idol' of Holocaust underpinning Israel is smashed: Iran
Bahraini police fire teargas at protester
Romney looks to hold off Paul in Maine Republican caucuses
Can Romney regain his lead after losing to Santorum?

Pope to Syria: Respect People's ‘Legitimate’ Hopes
by Naharnet /Pope Benedict XVI has called on the Syrian leadership to respond urgently to the "legitimate" demands of its people who have been facing an increasingly bloody crackdown by President Bashar Assad's regime. Benedict called for all sides, but especially Syria's political leaders, to enter into talks to end the uprising. Speaking Sunday from his studio window overlooking St. Peter's Square, Benedict said he was increasingly concerned about the "dramatic and increasing episodes of violence" in Syria. He said: "It is urgent to respond to the legitimate hopes of the diverse components of the nation, as well as the hopes of the international community." Around 6,000 people are believed to have been killed in Syria since the uprising began in March.

Future bloc leader Fouad Siniora condemns Tripoli fighting
February 12, 2012 /Future bloc leader Fouad Siniora said on Sunday that the latest fierce clashes in Tripoli are “strongly condemned,” adding that he is following up on events in the area “with security and military officials,” according to a press statement. “We reject any action that [is likely] to sow riot and internal dissension, regardless of the source,” Siniora said on the sidelines of a meeting with a delegation from the Future Movement held at his office in Saida. Three people were killed and 21 wounded in Tripoli during fierce clashes on Saturday between Lebanese Sunni Muslims hostile to the Syrian regime, and Alawites who support it, a Lebanese security official said. However, the Lebanese army later sponsored a truce between the two sides. Shooting broke out in Tripoli on Friday and renewed on Saturday. Commenting on accusations that the Future Movement is arming itself in Tripoli, Siniora said: “They haven’t got tired yet of their incessant allegations made against the Future Movement.” “We are against armament in any means…We [support] the government and [its revival] in order to take complete control of the security situation” in the country, Siniora added. Arab Democratic Party Secretary General Rifaat Eid told LBC television station on Saturday that the “arms warehouse,” which exploded in Tripoli, belongs to the Future Movement.-NOW Lebanon

Future bloc MP Mouin Merhebi: Hezbollah, Syria responsible for Tripoli ‘arms warehouses’
February 12, 2012 /Future bloc MP Mouin Merhebi on Sunday held “Syria and Hezbollah responsible for the arms warehouses” in North Lebanon’s Tripoli.Three Syrians were injured in an accidental explosion at a munitions depot in Tripoli on Friday, AFP quoted a security source as saying. The blast increased tensions in the city where shooting broke out earlier as gunmen deployed heavily in two rival neighborhoods, one group supporting and the other opposing the Syrian regime. Merhebi told Voice of Lebanon (100.5) that Lebanese “live in a military society where the army intelligence is ruling the country [and has been taking action without official orders].” “This behavior was the reason behind the Future Movement’s objection to the military landing in North Lebanon,” Merhebi added.
However, the MP said that the deployment of the Lebanese army along the Lebanese-Syrian border “is welcomed.” Future News reported on Thursday evening that “there is a remarkable Syrian military deployment on the Lebanese-Syrian border opposite the Lebanese border town of Wadi Khaled.” The Lebanese army late on Thursday reinforced its presence in the northern region of Wadi Khaled, which borders Syria and is close to the flashpoint province of Homs, AFP cited officials and local residents a saying. -NOW Lebanon

Saniora: Hizbullah Cabinet Helped Spread Misery and Confusion
by Naharnet /Al-Mustaqbal bloc leader Fouad Saniora slammed on Sunday Premier Najib Miqati’s Hizbullah-led cabinet, saying it helped spread confusion, economic regression and political failure.
In remarks to An Nahar daily on the seventh anniversary of ex-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s Feb. 14, 2005 assassination and a year after former PM Saad Hariri’s government was toppled, Saniora said: “The March 8 experience in the rule led to a failure after another.”“The experience with the government of Hizbullah says that it succeeded in spreading misery, poverty, confusion, economic regression, political failure and nothing more,” he said, adding “the Lebanese want results.”He also accused the Hizbullah-led March 8 coalition of being involved in several scandals such as alleged violations carried out by the energy and telecommunications ministries and the rejection of Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas to sign the transportation allowance decree linked to a recent official wage hike.
The leader of al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc, which is part of the March 14 opposition alliance, said the red diesel scandal filled the pockets of those involved in it while people suffered at their homes over the lack of the household heating supply during the winter season. The scandal erupted last month after people throughout Lebanon began complaining of a red diesel shortage during a one-month government subsidy. Complaints were also made that huge amounts of red diesel were sold to oil distribution companies by the Deir Ammar refinery in northern Lebanon on January 18 - the last day of the government subsidy of LL3,000 per jerry can. The oil companies have reportedly made millions of dollars in profits after selling an alleged 8 million liters at a nonsubsidized price.

Tyre residents protest power cuts, call on Bassil to “leave”
February 12, 2012 /A number of residents on Sunday morning blocked the road at the entrance of South Lebanon’s Tyre to protest electricity cuts, the National News Agency (NNA) reported.
The protesters congregated in front of the Electricité Du Liban company at the northern entrance of the city and chanted slogans calling on Energy Minister Gebran Bassil “to leave” and the government to fulfill its responsibilities. The demonstrators also held placards condemning “the electricity rationing hours and the corruption in the energy ministry.”
Bassil has said in response to continued electricity problems and protests that have erupted against him that his work is being obstructed and that the situation of the sector will worsen.
-NOW Lebanon

Cautious Tripoli Calm as al-Shaar Urges Ulemas to Unite their Stance
by Naharnet/A cautious calm prevailed in the northern port city of Tripoli on Sunday after two days of heavy gunbattles between two neighborhoods left at least three people dead and 23 injured. Media reports said there was no breach of the ceasefire that was reached on Saturday between the rival neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh, which is Sunni, and the dominant Alawite Jabal Mohsen. Only gunfire during the funeral of one of the victims stirred panic among the residents on Sunday morning. But they soon discovered that the gunbattles hadn’t renewed. The ceasefire was reached at a meeting held between Tripoli lawmakers at the residence of MP Mohammed Kabbara. The meeting was held in the presence of State Minister Ahmed Karami, MPs Samir al-Jisr, Moeen al-Merehbi and representatives of the army, the security services and religious leaders. They denounced any security breach in their city and stressed the importance of coexistence and safeguarding civil peace. Meanwhile, the army carried out raids in the two neighborhoods and arrested scores of people involved in the gunbattles. It also seized weapons. High-ranking security sources told An Nahar daily published Sunday that the incident in Tripoli was partly a message to Premier Najib Miqati that the city will not enjoy calm over the Syrian crisis. The gunbattles were a clear indication on how the Syrian regime’s bloody crackdown on protestors since last March is enflaming emotions in Lebanon. Syrian President Bashar Assad belongs to the Alawite sect. Tripoli Mufti Sheikh Malek al-Shaar headed a meeting of the Tripoli and North Ulemas “to set our stance from all the issues particularly of what’s going on around us in Syria.”“We are looking into finding a final solution” to the clashes between the Sunnis and Alawites in the city’s two neighborhoods, he said despite stressing that there couldn’t be any ultimate resolution as long as arms are widespread in the North. “No arms should be outside the control of the state,” al-Shaar stressed. “The loyalty of each party to the nation would be limited” if other countries and not Lebanon become a priority for them.

Syrian Freed in Ablah to Bring Ransom and Win Release of his Brothers, Employee
by Naharnet /A Syrian kidnapped in the Bekaa town of Taanayel was set free at dawn Sunday for the purpose of providing the abductees with a ransom in return for the release of his two brothers and their employee, the National News Agency reported. The four men - brothers Osama, Imad and Hisham Abdul Raouf and their employee Khaled al-Hamadeh - were kidnapped at gunpoint in Taanayel on Saturday night as they were heading to the Masnaa border crossing following a two-day visit to Lebanon. NNA said the kidnappers released 50-year-old Osama at 1:30 am on the Ablah main road tasking him with bringing a 2-million-dollar ransom in return for the release of his brothers and al-Hamadeh. An Nahar daily said Sunday that the four Syrians were in their black Mazda four-wheeler carrying the 801162 Syrian license plate when gunmen in a green Envoy SUV intercepted them and kidnapped them. It added that the Mazda is registered in Osama’s name.

Mikati: France to reduce UNIFIL presence in Lebanon
February 11, 2012/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Prime Minister Najib Mikati, on an official visit to France, said Saturday Paris would reduce its peacekeeper numbers in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and voiced optimism that the government crisis back home would be resolved. Mikati also said the issue of renewing the protocol for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon was a matter for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon following consultation with the Lebanese government. “Foreign Affairs Minister Alain Juppe informed me that there would be a reduction in the number of French troops working in the south but that this decision was not a political one but rather a cost-cutting measure,” Mikati told a group of journalists the French capital. Mikati, who is on a two-day official visit to Paris, said that during his talks with Juppe he had renewed his condemnation of last year’s attacks against UNIFIL, particularly two roadside bombs that targeted French peacekeepers.Five French peacekeepers were wounded in a roadside bomb in the southern coastal city of Tyre on Dec. 9, four months after a roadside bomb in the southern city of Sidon wounded five French troops. The prime minister also touched on the Cabinet crisis in Lebanon, saying that a resolution to the crisis, sparked over a row between him and ministers loyal to Free Patriotic Movement head MP Michel Aoun over administrative appointments, would eventually be reached. “In the end, we will reach a particular solution and my desire is to get back to productive Cabinet sessions and for these sessions not be merely in form only,” Mikati said.
“And I think things will work properly,” he added. Mikati has said that he will resume Cabinet sessions only if parties agree on a mechanism for a productive government.
Asked how Lebanon would be able to dissociate itself from regional events, particularly in neighboring Syria, Mikati said his main goal was to maintain stability in his country and strengthen its “immunity” to prevent any crises.“Lebanon cannot move beyond the reality it finds itself in. We are certainly committed to our excellent relationship with Arab countries and we respect Saudi king's position,” Mikati said, referring to Saudi King Abdullah's comments Friday over the crisis in Syria. Abdullah Friday slammed vetoes by Russia and China on an Arab and Western-backed resolution put forward at the U.N. Security Council aimed at ending the bloodshed in Syria. The Saudi king described the move by Moscow and Beijing as “unfavorable” and that it had shaken the confidence in the international body.
During his meeting with Juppe, Mikati said he had also expressed his concerns over the increasing presence of Syrian refugees in north Lebanon. “We [Juppe and I] spoke about the case of Syrian refugees in Lebanon and we are offering the necessary assistance,” Mikati said, adding however that Lebanon could only support a limited number given its “sensitivities.” “I fear the arrival of hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees that Lebanon would not be able to cope with,” he said. According to U.N. estimates, that there are currently 5,238 refugees, constituting 976 families, registered in the north with the United Nations Higher Commissioner for Refugees and with the Lebanese High Relief Committee, the highest number since an initial influx of over 5,000 last April, which later fell as many refugees returned to Syria. Lebanon is also home for more than 200,000 Palestinian refugees spread in several refugee camps across the country. On the subject of the renewal of the protocol of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which in June indicted four members of Hezbollah in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, Mikati told reporters the issue was a matter for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to decide following consultations with the Lebanese government.

Nasrallah was not acknowledging Iran affiliation
By Tariq Alhomayed/Asharq Al-Awsat
The Lebanese political and media arena has been thrown into uproar by the latest speech issued by Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, during which he said that God had blessed him with Iranian funding! Many people in Lebanon have raised their voices saying that this represents the first time that Hassan Nasrallah has acknowledged that he is a subordinate of Iran, and that he receives orders and finance from Tehran; however, in reality, there is nothing new about this! There is a simple reason for saying that there is nothing new about this, namely what Nasrallah said about his movement’s relationship with Iran is something evidenced by Hezbollah’s actions over the past years. This is something that could not fool a wise man or a reader of history, or indeed anybody who has monitored events in our region since 2000. Without going into ideology, and even if one were unable to analyze all these events and all the indications of Hezbollah – and its leaderships – affiliation to Iran from Nasrallah and his group’s behavior and actions, it would be enough to simply watch the video recording – leaked on YouTube and later broadcast by a number of Arab satellite channels – of Nasrallah himself announcing that he is implementing the Iranian agenda – the Khomeinist agenda – in Lebanon, in order to confirm this. Therefore, Nasrallah’s latest statement, in which he said that “yes, we received moral and political and material support in all possible forms, from the Islamic Republican of Iran since 1982”, was not – as many believe – intended to deny the accusation that Hezbollah is involved in drugs trafficking and money laundering to fund its operations. Indeed, this is not a new accusation, and Nasrallah responded to this previously when he said “God has blessed us with the Islamic Republic of Iran, which means we do not need money from anywhere else.” Therefore, Hassan Nasrallah really wanted to say something else, particularly to the Lebanese audience, and this is the crux of the matter.
In his last speech, Hassan Nasrallah wanted to reassure his followers and supporters, saying: the fate of Hezbollah is tied to Iran, not the al-Assad regime. He wanted to reassure his followers that Hezbollah’s support, and the key to its survival, is Iran, not al-Assad, for it is Iran that provides Hezbollah with “moral and political and material support in all possible forms”, not the al-Assad regime. This means that Hassan Nasrallah was telling his supports: don’t worry if the al-Assad regime collapses, for our survival is not tied to the Damascus regime, but rather the Wali al-Faqih regime in Iran. This is the message that Nasrallah wanted to send to his followers, and all the information available indicates that Nasrallah’s latest speech was not well received by the al-Assad regime. Of course, it is within the capabilities of some in Lebanon to confirm this, particularly the agents of the al-Assad regime; at this point they will know that the al-Assad regime has read Nasrallah’s speech in this manner, and not in any other.
Of course, this is the correct reading of the Hezbollah chief’s speech, for Nasrallah was now acknowledging his affiliation to Iran, for this is something that has existed for a long time, rather he was addressing his followers in Lebanon and telling them that there is nothing to fear if the al-Assad regime collapses, because the party that supports them “in all possible forms” is Iran, not al-Assad.

Syria…let your conscience govern
By Tariq Alhomayed
Asharq Al-Awsat
Today in Cairo the Gulf ministerial meeting will take place, followed by an Arab ministerial meeting, to discuss the al-Assad regime’s on-going criminal acts in Syria. These meetings come after the failure to pass a UN resolution against the tyrant of Damascus in the Security Council, whilst the al-Assad forces continue their criminal acts against the unarmed Syrians.
As they make their way to these meetings, the Gulf States and the Arabs must remember that today we are facing an unfamiliar Arab scene, where we have seen unarmed Arab people screaming on television over the past eleven months, without finding any assistance to protect them from the onslaught, or any attempts stop the criminal killing machine. The unarmed people are screaming in view of the al-Assad regime’s tanks, which bombard them before the eyes of the world without mercy or respite. This is not all; reports now indicate the involvement of the Iranian “Quds Force” in supporting the tyrant of Damascus against the defenseless Syrian people, and reports also indicate that Qassem Suleimani himself, commander of the Quds Force, is located in an al-Assad regime operations room in Damascus. This is not to mention Iran supplying weapons and equipment to the tyrant of Damascus in order to ensure the suppression of the Syrian people. And yet the world is still watching, despite the violence and killings.
This is the image that the Gulf States are faced with, and having already undertaken important steps, more is required from them. This is also the image that the Arabs are faced with, especially the feeble and sluggish among them, or those trying to hide behind flimsy and shameful excuses, even though eight thousand Syrians have died so far. It is true that some say that the Syrian crisis is now beyond the [capabilities of the] Arab League, but the League today must take more steps, even if they are indeed late.
The Arab League today must take three major steps; the first to expel the al-Assad regime from its organization. Secondly, it must recognize the Syrian National Council (SNC), and thirdly it must call for the establishment of the “friends of the Syrian people group”, to support the unarmed Syrians and undertake diplomatic efforts for everything relating to the Security Council. This alliance – the alliance of the friends of the Syrian people – must also undertake all it can to save the Syrian people, without reservation. The Arabs must remember that when the Israeli wars broke out in Lebanon and Gaza, which claimed nearly three thousand victims and lasted for around two months or less, the whole world mobilized to stop Israel’s killing and destruction. Even though America threatened to use its veto in the Security Council, it did not take long to stop the Israeli killing machine. Today, the al-Assad killing machine has been in operation for eleven months, and now the tyrant of Damascus is looking to ignite a fire in Lebanon, with the help of Iran, whilst the Syrians are still crying out and appealing to everyone’s conscience.
Therefore, the Arabs today must be governed by their consciences when they meet in Cairo, and take genuine steps against this criminal regime in Damascus. This can only be achieved by expelling the al-Assad regime from the Arab League, recognizing the SNC, and demanding that the international community form a group for the friends of the Syrian people. Anything less than this is a betrayal of the Syrians, who are crying out in a sad and painful scene.

Iran helping Syria sidestep sanctions, documents prove
By Barak Ravid /Haaretz
Tehran has given Assad more than $1b in effort to overcome oil embargo.
Iran has been helping Syria bypass the international sanctions imposed on it for massacring civilians, according to documents from the Syrian president's office obtained by Haaretz.
The documents show that Iran has given the Syrian regime more than $1 billion, which would help it overcome the oil embargo and other moves including restrictions on flights and sanctions against the central bank. The documents were leaked following a cyber-attack by hackers known as Anonymous against the e-mail server of the Syrian president's office. Seventy-eight employees in President Bashar Assad's office had their e-mail hacked. One of these accounts belonged to the minister of presidential affairs, Mansour Azzam; it included two documents signed by him that dealt with relations between Syria and Iran. The two documents were authored two months ago and detail discussions by senior Iranian delegations visiting Syria. The documents are written in ambiguous language and only in a number of places do they detail ways Syria would be aided to bypass sanctions. The document repeatedly refers to Syria's wish to "learn from the Iranian experience in this area
The United States, Turkey, the European Union, the Arab League and other countries have imposed severe sanctions on Syria due to the regime's attacks on civilians. As part of the sanctions, all Arab League members have ceased contact with the Central Bank of Syria, and commercial flights from Arab countries to and from Syria have stopped. The European Union has imposed an oil embargo on Syria.
Around 20 percent of Syria's gross domestic product derives from oil sales, with 90 percent of Syrian oil being exported to the EU.
On December 8, Azzam sent Assad and other senior figures a document entitled "Memo on the visit of the Iranian delegation to Syria." The delegation included 10 senior members of the office of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and representatives of the Central Bank of Iran and other Iranian ministries. The delegation met with Syrian Prime Minister Adel Safar, the head of the Syrian central bank, and the ministers of finance, trade and oil. As a result of the disturbances around the country and the sanctions, the Syrian regime is undergoing an economic crisis. The regime needs revenue, in part to pay the armed forces and the gangs of thugs - the Shabiha - it uses against the demonstrators. It also needs to pay the salaries of the tens of thousands of officials whose loyalty is vital.
According to the document authored by Azzam, the Iranian delegation announced that it has allocated $1 billion so Iran could buy basic supplies from Syria. Most of the items are very basic and include meat, poultry, olive oil and fruit. It is unclear if Iran actually needs these items or if this is a way to pump up the Syrian economy.
In parallel, the Iranians agreed to export to Syria fertilizer and raw materials for the petrochemical industry; it would spread out payments over a long period.
The Iranian delegations also discussed ways the Syrians could bypass the embargo on oil exports. The Iranians, who have large petroleum deposits, promised to examine the purchase of 150,000 barrels of oil from Syria per day for a year "to use it domestically or resell it to others." This way Syria would be able to continue to export oil despite the sanctions. In return, Iran would supply Syria spare parts for the petroleum industry that are hard to come by due to the sanctions. The document also shows that the two countries discussed ways to bypass sanctions on flights and air cargo. Turkey, for example, has closed its airspace to aircraft traveling to or from Syria, and most Syrian flights cannot land in most airports in Europe and the Arab world.
One option discussed is the creation of a hub in Iran for Syrian aircraft, bypassing the current hub in the United Arab Emirates. The Iranians also offered to service Syrian Air's planes. The Iranians also proposed the creation of an air-and-ground corridor for transferring goods to and from Iran. This would be done through Iraq, bypassing Syria.
As for banking, they discussed setting up a joint bank for transferring money through Russia and China, which are not taking part in the international sanctions against Syria and Iran. "Iran has promised to relay to Syria its know-how on ways for transferring funds from the country abroad and back, based on the experience Iran has accumulated in this field," it says. The second document, dated December 14, 2011, states that "the central banks of Syria and Iran agreed to use banks in Russia and China to ease the transfer of funds between the two countries, in view of the current conditions in Syria and Iran."

Assad wins out against opposition as Russia and Iran strengthen ties
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report February 11, 2012/Western intelligence sources reporting in real time found Saturday night, Feb. 11, that Bashar Assad's loyal military and security forces had by and large managed to subdue the rebellion against the regime. They are now purging the last pockets of resistance, especially in Syria's third largest city, Homs. Still to come are possible flare-ups here and there and inevitably more horror stories of atrocities, but to all intents and purposes Syria's eleven-month uprising is all but over. In recent days, mass demonstrations and battles with armed rebels have virtually disappeared from the streets of the main protest centers of Daraa, Hama, Deir al-Zour, Abu Kemal, Zabadan and the restive outskirts of Damascus, which armed rebels briefly captured last month. In Homs, soldiers of the 40th and 90th mechanized brigades are hunting down rebels hiding in the town and shooting them on sight. A new name joined the gallery of Syrian mass murderers this week: Gen. Zuhair al-Assad, commander of the brutal six-day tank-backed assault and siege of Homs. This kinsman of the president had no qualms about gunning down hundreds of civilians in order to liquidate a small armed rebel group. debkafile's military sources report that without outside armed intervention to halt the bloodbath – and there is no sign of any repetition of the NATO action which cut short Muammar Qaddafi's long reign – Bashar Assad will soon finish crushing the popular and armed resistance against him, helped by arms and military backing from Russia, Iran and Hizballah.
Military intervention is not on the cards for the United States - Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmed Davutoglu was told Friday, Feb. 9 when he arrived in Washington to request US participation in organizing a Turkish-Arab operation in Syria or, at least, the supply of Western and Arab arms to the Syrian rebels. Of the six revolts against Arab autocracies in the past year, two were crushed. The King of Bahrain was saved by Saudi and Gulf military support and now Assad looks like being the second survivor. The difference between them is that the Al-Khalifa House of Bahrain was rescued by Arab forces while the Syrian president is stamping out the uprising against him with the help of non-Arab powers, Iran and Russia. Both powers sent important officials to Damascus last week: Iran's al Qods Brigades commander Gen. Qassem Soleimani was there Sunday and Monday (5-6 Feb.) at the head of a large military-intelligence delegation. No sooner was it gone when Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and SVR intelligence chief Mikhail Fradkov were deposited at the door of Assad's presidential palace. According to debkafile's military and intelligence sources, both were on missions to finalize Russian-Iranian-Syrian collaboration in Syria and the Middle East after the regime finally suppresses the revolt. Saturday night, Moscow pledged to continue to shield the Assad regime at the United Nations.Although fighting continues in some places, Bashar Assad is at the threshold of a major success. His victory may be short-lived but it is significant all the same, offering kudos for the Iranian-Syrian-Hizballah alliance and a contretemps for the US, Israel and Saudi Arabia

Bahraini police fire teargas at protesters
February 11, 2012 / By Andrew Hammond
Daily Star/Manama: Bahraini police fired teargas and stun grenades to stop mainly Shi'ite protesters trying to march towards the roundabout at the centre of a failed pro-democracy uprising last year and detained two American rights activists who came to monitor. The activists had come as part of a group called Witness Bahrain which says it wants to observe events on the eve of the first anniversary of protests led mainly by the Shi'ite majority for democratic reforms in the Gulf Arab state. An official said they would be deported for giving false information about the nature of their visit on entering Bahrain.
Bahraini forces crushed the movement, with help from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, but escaped heavy censure from the United States, which shares Saudi fears that empowering Shi'ites in Bahrain would expand Shi'ite Iran's influence in the Gulf. The U.S. Fifth Fleet is based in the island kingdom. Groups of several hundred activists gathered at different points around Manama's old market district in an apparent effort to evade riot police, before suddenly marching towards the roundabout, now renamed al-Farouq Junction. "To the roundabout, to the roundabout," chanted protesters, led by prominent rights activist Nabil Rajab. Behind them, police using megaphones warned the crowd that the march was unauthorised and they should disperse. Police then fired teargas and stun grenades at the march.
Riot police seized the two Americans, Huwaida Arraf and Radhika Sainath, part of a team of activists calling themselves Witness Bahrain who are monitoring protests this week.
Police broke up a crowd of women protesters in an altercation over the arrest of the women activists, after police officers cornered Rajab in an effort to stop the march in a busy commercial district.
"In the coming days and weeks, Witness Bahrain will stand with people taking to the streets to demand democracy, equality and respect for human rights," the group said in a statement.
"Witness Bahrain will also maintain a presence in villages active in pro-democracy protests which are being subjected to night raids, teargassing and other attacks by the police."
Some rights activists were denied entry to Bahrain last month. Egypt's military rulers have began legal action against Americans and Egyptians for activities with non-government organisations that they say was not legal or authorised. Rajab said after police left that the protests would continue. "This proves to everybody that peoples' spirit is still alive and coming back, and we're not going to go away," he told Reuters. Demonstrations, sometimes organised by leading Shi'ite opposition party Wefaq with government approval, have grown in number and frequency as the February 14 anniversary of the uprising approaches. But youth protesters in Shi'ite villages have also clashed with security forces, throwing petrol bombs and iron bars and blocking roads with burning tyres.
Activists say at least two people have died in police custody in the past month and others have died from apparent effects of teargas, taking the total dead since February 14, 2011 to over 60. The government disputes the causes of death.
Bahrain's Sunni rulers have given parliament some more powers of scrutiny over ministers and budgets, but are resisting opposition demands that the elected parliament be given the power to approve cabinet appointments. Sunnis who had gathered at the al-Fateh mosque for a rally led by pro-government cleric Sheikh Abdul-Latif Al Mahmood said they were worried the Al Khalifa family-led government would give in to Wefaq's demands for parliament to form the cabinet. They said Shi'ites were using violence for political gain."We want to send a message to the government that we are against the terrorism and the government should listen to us as well," said a housewife who gave her name as Nour. "We are afraid. Bahrain was a land of peace, where we didn't lock our doors at night and women would go out without fear of anybody," said Hala Ahmed, a doctor. They said Sunnis were moving out of some districts because of the continuing clashes between police and youths.
Asked if he could agree with the opposition demand for a Western-style parliamentary democracy, Nader Mohamed said: "In the long run, yes, why not? But no in the current situation."

Iran: 30 million lose email access
February 11, 2012/Daily Star /TEHRAN: An Iranian news agency reports that more than 30 million people in the country have lost access to foreign email services such as Gmail, Yahoo mail and Hotmail.
The Saturday report by the semiofficial Mehr agency says that the authorities in the national telecommunications company declined to comment on the outage that began Thursday, saying that it had no connection to them. Iran has occasionally restricted the Internet since the turmoil that followed the 2009 elections and blocked websites including Facebook, Twitter, Voice of America and the BBC Farsi service.

Weapons moving from Iraq to Syria: Iraq official
February 11, 2012 /By Ammar Karim, Sammy Ketz The Daily Star
BAGHDAD: Jihadists are moving from Iraq to Syria and arms are also sent across the border to opponents of Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime, Iraq's deputy interior minister said in an interview with AFP Saturday. Adnan al-Assadi also called private security firms "a danger to security," and said that Iraq wants to reduce their number – which currently stands at 109 companies – and will not issue additional licences for them. "We have intelligence information that a number of Iraqi jihadists went to Syria," Assadi said, adding that "weapons smuggling is still ongoing" from Iraq into Syria.
Since March last year, Assad's regime has carried out a bloody crackdown on an uprising in which more than 6,000 people have been killed.
While there are still regular civilian protests that turn deadly in Syria, the focus has now also shifted to armed conflict with regime forces.
"The weapons are transported from Baghdad to Nineveh [province], and the prices of weapons in Mosul [the province's capital] are higher now because they are being sent to the opposition in Syria," Assadi said. He said that the price of a Kalashnikov assault rifle has risen from between $100 and $200 to between $1,000 and $1,500.
"The weapons are being smuggled from Mosul through the Rabia crossing to Syria, as members of the same families live on both sides of the border," he said.
And "there is some smuggling through a crossing near Abu Kamal," Assadi said, referring to a Syrian city.
There are large numbers of weapons in Iraq after three decades marked by multiple wars and a violent insurgency following the 2003 overthrow of now-executed dictator Saddam Hussein.
Assadi said some Arab jihadists have returned to their home countries to take part in revolutions there. "In the past, Syrians were fighting in Iraq, and now they are fighting in Syria, and also the Egyptians are fighting in Egypt, the Yemenis in Yemen, and the Libyans in Libya."
"Violence in Iraq is less now because Al-Qaeda has so many places to fight," Assadi said.
Egypt's former President Hosni Mubarak "used to send jihadists to Iraq and financed them to fight in Iraq, and [ousted Libyan leader Moammar) Gadhafi used to have many organizations fighting in Iraq," he said.Assadi also discussed the issue of private security companies in Iraq.
Iraq deeply mistrusts such companies and their employees have faced bureaucratic delays and detentions in recent months.
"When it comes to foreign security companies, we are between two fires – investment and development, and security," Assadi said.
"The foreign companies do not trust our security forces, and the embassies also do not trust our police. That is why they prefer contracts with foreign [security] companies."
"These security companies are a danger to security in the whole world," Assadi said. "We are working to decrease the number of the security companies and we are not issuing new licenses."
He added that Parliament should pass a new law on private security companies, including a provision increasing the guarantee they must pay the Interior Ministry to work in Iraq from $25,000 to $250,000.
Assadi said that of the currently 109 private security firms in Iraq, 36 are foreign. Overall they employ 36,000 people – 18,500 foreigners and 17,500 Iraqis.
He also referred to the case of Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, who has been charged with running a death squad and has been hiding out in the autonomous Kurdistan region in the north since mid-December. Assadi said that 60 people, "including members of [Hashemi's] bodyguard and two generals from the Interior Ministry," have been arrested in connection with the case.
Another 16 wanted people are with him in Kurdistan, he said.
The Hashemi case centers on his bodyguards, who are accused of training for and carrying out assassinations.
Assadi said the Defense Ministry is currently responsible for the 250 bodyguards each protecting the prime minister, speaker of Parliament and president of Iraq, and between 60 and 100 who guard their deputies. The Interior Ministry is responsible for screening the 30 bodyguards who protect each minister and those who guard MPs.The Interior Ministry employs 650,000 people, he said.

'Idol' of Holocaust underpinning Israel is smashed: Iran
AFP – .Iran has broken the "idol" of the Holocaust underpinning the creation of the Israeli state and US hegemony, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Saturday in a speech marking the anniversary of his country's 1979 Islamic revolution. "The Iranian nation has smashed a new and modern idol. The world arrogance (the United States) and colonialists (the West), in order to dominate the world, created an idol called the Zionist regime (Israel)," Ahmadinejad told a crowd of thousands in central Tehran. "The spirit of this idol was a story called the Holocaust... The Iranian nation with courage and wisdom smashed this idol to free the people of the West (of its hold)," he said. Ahmadinejad, who in the past has rejected the Holocaust as a "myth", shared the stage with the leader of Hamas in Gaza, Ismail Haniya, who reaffirmed that his group "will never recognise Israel." Iran denies Israel's right to exist and has said it will back any group trying to put an end to the Jewish state. Israel sees Iran as its principal foe and as the leading state sponsor of what it calls Hamas "terrorism".

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Holocaust trivialization by Canadian MP unacceptable - leading human rights group offers sensitivity training
TORONTO, 9 February 2012 – B'nai Brith Canada has called to task Larry Miller, MP for Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound, for crossing over the line when he compared the long gun registry to Nazi-era policies in a House of Commons speech earlier this week. While he later attempted to retract his comments, acknowledging them as inappropriate, he continues to insist that the similarities are "obvious and clear", even stating that "the truth is the truth and what he (Hitler) did at the time was his men went around and collected all the guns from the Jews. So I was just pointing out the similarities."Frank Dimant, CEO of B'nai Brith Canada stated, "MP Miller's continued insistence on using such a comparison is highly insensitive to those who suffered the brutality of the Nazi era. Linking Canadian government policies to the genocidal intent of an enemy regime is, in fact, insulting to all Canadians. "We strongly suggest that Mr. Miller needs to avail himself of the sensitivity training that our organization can provide, so that he will be able to understand how wrong it is to use the tactics of Holocaust trivialization to further a political agenda."

Reform Party of Syria
A UN Trigger System
Farid Ghadry Blog
The UN image on the world stage as the organization of choice to resolve global conflicts has taken a considerable beating of late over the tragedy of Syria. Its dominance, in proportion to its failures and successes, is finally catching-up with its conceptual ideology against realistic results. Countries waging wars are judged by a quantifiable number of body counts their wars produce. But how do you judge an intentional lack of action to stop wars when it produces as much collateral damage as wars do? The war in Iraq produced over 100,000 casualties but the world's lack of action in Darfur produced 300,000 casualties. Whether it was intentional or not, the UN system of governance indirectly responsible for the casualties in Syria must change. There is no trigger system, within the UN, to induce action no matter what crimes against humanity one country levels against another or against its own people. The veto power is supreme and transcends human life. Because no country today can hide the truth from the eyes and ears of the global community, the UN must find a way by which a veto becomes meaningless when unarmed civilians are being targeted by violent men and the body count becomes a tragedy our conscious can no longer accept. The actions of Russia and China of late with regard to Syria undeniably require us to act to fix the UN broken system. Such ideas may not be acceptable to countries whose defensive postures force it to deal with existential scenarios; especially if that country is surrounded neighbors who value life so cheaply. However, the trigger mechanisms can be narrow and clear enough to skirt abuse. If the UN is to sustain its dominant role over resolving conflicts, it has to reform itself to take into account the implacability of the veto power in the face of crimes against humanity. When a country turns its own heavy artillery against its own people and the UN is paralyzed to act because of its own governance rules, then it becomes incumbent upon its members to seek the necessary changes. If the UN does not act, the concept of the "Friends of Syria" the US State Department is pursuing today will become a standard by which nations under a pressure to act can avoid the UN to force an outcome more in line with what we expect from the UN.

Official: Arab League Syria Mission Chief Resigns
by Naharnet /The head of a controversial Arab League observer mission to Syria has resigned, an Arab League official told Agence France Presse on Sunday. The resignation of General Mohammed Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi was due to be officially announced at a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo later in the day, the official said, without saying why the Sudanese former military intelligence officer had quit. Arab countries were meeting in Cairo in a renewed push to end Syria's bloody 11-month crackdown on dissent, as fighting escalated. The resignation comes as the ministers discuss the possibility of sending a joint U.N.-Arab mission to Syria, the official said. He added that Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi also met with former Jordanian PM Abdel Ilah Khatib, who has been proposed as the next Arab envoy to Syria, the official said. Gulf Arab states that have spearheaded regional condemnation of President Bashar Assad's regime held talks in the Egyptian capital before a meeting of an Arab League committee on the crisis. SourceAgence France Presse.

Arabs Mull Action on Syria Violence as 4 More Civilians Killed in Homs
by Naharnet /Gulf foreign ministers were meeting in Cairo on Sunday to consider new action to end Syria's bloody 11-month crackdown on dissent, as fighting spread. The six Gulf countries, which have spearheaded regional condemnation of President Bashar Assad's regime, began talks in the Egyptian capital ahead of an Arab League gathering. As the meeting got under way, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported army shelling killed at least four civilians in the protest city of Homs, including three in the rebel stronghold of Baba Amr. The Observatory's Rami Abdel Rahman told Agence France Presse that another 30 tanks and armed personnel carriers were on the way to Homs, which armed forces have pounded for more than week, killing at least 500 people, according to activists. On the eve of the Cairo talks, the Syrian National Council said Arab recognition of the opposition umbrella group was imminent. Arab League foreign ministers were also expected to consider proposals for an observer mission, withdrawn last month because of an upsurge in violence, to be returned with U.N. reinforcement. U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon broached the idea this month as he bemoaned the Security Council's failure to agree a resolution on the crisis in the face of Chinese and Russian opposition. The 22-member League has put forward a plan for Assad to hand power to his deputy and for the formation of a unity government ahead of polls. The Gulf monarchies have ordered their envoys home from Syria and expelled Damascus' ambassadors, joining mounting pressure on Assad over the killings of civilians. In a tit-for-tat move, the Syrian government said it has asked Tunisia and Libya to close their embassies in Damascus. Government newspaper Ath-Thawra accused the Arab nations of being in the pay of Western powers. "There will probably be no surprises because the orders have already been sent. They do not decide anything; they just carry out orders. They have done that in the past and they will do it today," it said referring to the Cairo meetings.SourceAgence France Presse.

Iranians slam US, Israel on revolution anniversary
February 12, 2012/By Mohammad Davari/Daily Star
TEHRAN: Iranians, some holding placards declaring "Death to America" and "Death to Israel", on Saturday marked the anniversary of their country's 1979 Islamic revolution with mass marches and a speech by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Tens of thousands of demonstrators congregated in cities across Iran under winter skies, state television showed. The main rallying point was in Tehran, where Ahmadinejad was to address a crowd of around 30,000 in Azadi (Freedom) Square from a stage in front of which a full-scale model of a captured US spy drone was erected. In an unusual break with tradition -- and a pointed swipe at Israel -- the Hamas prime minister of Gaza, Ismail Haniya, was give a speech from the podium at Ahmadinejad's side, in which he vowed that the Islamist movement would never recognise the Jewish state. "They want us to recognise the Israeli occupation and cease resistance but, as the representative of the Palestinan people and in the name of all the world's freedom seekers, I am announcing from Azadi Square in Tehran that we will never recognise Israel," Haniya told the crowd. "The resistance will continue until all Palestinian land, including Al-Quds (Jerusalem), has been liberated and all the refugees have returned," he said. His reassertion of the longstanding Hamas position is likely to complicate Palestinian efforts to form a unity government in the teeth of opposition from the Jewish state, which blacklists the Islamist group as a terrorist organisation. The model drone and Haniya were clear signs of defiance by Iran's regime as it confronts US-led Western economic sanctions and Israeli threats of military action against its controversial nuclear programme. Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Ahmadinejad and other Iranian officials have said they would not abandon their "rights" to the nuclear activities, which they maintain are exclusively non-military in nature.The United States and Israel, however, see the nuclear programme as including research to build an atomic bomb that can fit into Iran's ballistic missiles -- a contention given some backing by the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, three months ago. The United States and the European Union have ratcheted up economic sanctions on Iran to an unprecedented level to try to force it to halt uranium enrichment and re-engage in long-stalled talks. Iran has instead defiantly stepped up its enrichment activities, notably in a fortified mountain bunker near the Shiite shrine city of Qom designed to be bomb-proof. Israel's government, voicing concerns that Iran could shield its nuclear programme from attack by the end of this year, has fuelled speculation of imminent air strikes against its long-time foe. Iran's anniversary commemorations mark the day 33 years ago that a revolution led by clerics, students and dissidents overthrew the US-backed shah and installed an Islamic theocracy. The United States cut off all diplomatic relations with Iran in 1980, after Islamic students stormed the US embassy in Tehran in November 1979 and took 52 Americans inside hostage in a crisis that lasted 444 days. Demonstrators on Saturday marched towards rally points, many holding Iranian flags, pictures of Khamenei and his predecessor Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, or the placards saying "Death to America" and "Death to Israel". The US drone replica on display in Tehran was that of an unmanned stealth aircraft, a bat-winged RQ-170 Sentinel, which Iranian officials said they brought down by hacking its flight controls as it overflew their territory in December on a surveillance mission.

Zawahiri Urges Lebanon’s Muslims to Help Syrian Rebels
by Naharnet /Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri voiced his support for Syria's uprising and urged Muslims in several countries, including Lebanon, to come to the aid of Syrian rebels confronting President Bashar Assad's forces. "I appeal to every Muslim and every free, honorable one in Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon, to rise to help his brothers in Syria with all that he can," Zawahiri said in a new video message released on jihadist Internet forums, U.S. monitors SITE Intelligence said on Sunday. A Muslim should help the rebels “with his life, money, opinion, as well as information," he added.
In the video titled "Onwards, Lions of Syria,” he criticized the Syrian regime for crimes against its citizens, and praised those rising up against the government. Zawahiri, shown in front of a green curtain in the video released Saturday which runs for over eight minutes, urged Syrians not to rely on the West or Arab governments, whom he said would impose a new regime subservient to the West. "Wounded Syria still bleeds day after day, while the butcher, son of the butcher Bashar bin Hafez, is not deterred to stop,” he said. Since March last year, Assad's government has carried out a bloody crackdown on an uprising in which more than 6,000 people have been killed.
SourceAgence France PresseNaharnet.

In Egypt, division rules
John Ehab, February 12, 2012
Now Lebanon/Egyptian students have led the call for a general strike to take place Sunday, the one-year anniversary of President Hosni Mubarak stepping down from office. The year has been marked by civil unrest and the Security Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) tightening its grip on power. Student unions at all major universities have prepared for a civil-disobedience campaign, and some are planning to march to Egypt's Ministry of Defense, the headquarters of SCAF, which was only supposed to command power for a few months after Mubarak’s ouster.
Among the groups that are participating in today's strikes are the April 6th youth movement, the revolutionary socialists, and the social media-based group "We are all Khaled Said,” named after a young protester who was killed by the security forces. The April 6th movement has asked people to dress in black and wave the Egyptian flag.
Protesters chant, "Don't go to work. Don't go to the factory. Don't go to university," the same slogan that was used at the movement's first strike on April 6, 2008 in support of the worker's union in Mahala. The landmark event was the largest labor strike under Mubarak’s presidency until January 25 last year, the day the revolution started.
In the city of Mahala, Kamal el-Fayoumi, a union activist, confirmed that the current strikes will be ongoing until SCAF hands over authority to a civil government. SCAF, alongside the cabinet, has condemned the call for strikes, calling it a conspiracy to put Egypt in a political deadlock and stifle the economy.
"We are facing a conspiracy tailored against the nation to bind the Egyptian state institutions and collapse the state for chaos to rule,” read an official statement by SCAF.
In line with official paranoia about conspiracies, last week authorities arrested 43 NGO workers, including 19 Americans, accusing them of working without authorization and receiving foreign funds. The arrests put Egypt at odds with the United States, the country’s number one aid provider.
The Freedom and Justice Party, the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, has also criticized the call for strikes. "Those who organized this strike have no philosophy, and they are putting the state in danger," said Mohsen Rady, a member of the party’s higher committee, on the Egyptian state satellite channel Al Masreya. "The parties who are supporting the strike are those that lost in the ballots that expressed the people's opinion," he added.
Abu el-Ela Madi, the head of the right-wing Wassat Party, called the civil-disobedience campaign "ambiguous" in a statement to the Middle East and North Africa News Agency (MENA). "If it was a one-day strike, it is not a problem, and it could create pressure to achieve the revolution’s demands. But if it is an open strike, then it comes at the wrong time," he said.
Liberal parties, who are usually critical of SCAF, agree that now is not the right time for an indefinite strike, and have said that protesters should remain open to dialogue with the military council. "This call for civil disobedience is irrational, as it makes demands without leaving room for negotiation," said Emad Gad, an MP from the leftist Social Democratic Party.
As expected, major religious leaders have also united to express their disapproval of the strikes and their support for the military’s power. The Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Mosque, Ahmed el-Tayeb, and the Coptic Orthodox Pope, Shenouda III, both claim that the strike is against the will of God.
But students are still hitting the streets in a display of just how strong sentiment against SCAF runs, and just how divided Egyptian society has become.