LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
January 05/2012

Bible Quotation for today/Praising the Lord
Psalm 107/39-43: "When God's people were defeated and humiliated by cruel oppression and suffering, he showed contempt for their oppressors and made them wander in trackless deserts. But he rescued the needy from their misery and made their families increase like flocks. The righteous see this and are glad, but all the wicked are put to silence. May those who are wise think about these things; may they consider the Lord's constant love.

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
Time for Al-Dabi’s team to leave/By Tariq Alhomayed/January 04/12
U.S. Must Resist Iranian Threats/By: Riki Ellison/January 04/12

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for January 04/12
Israeli drone over Turkish-Syrian border. Battles in Syrian-Jordanian-Israeli border triangle
U.S. says will continue to deploy warships in Persian Gulf despite Iranian threats
Iran Defence Minister repeats warning to U.S.
Romney wins Iowa caucuses after tight race with Santorum
Chemi Shalev / Romney may have won, but Santorum is the hero of Republican photo-finish in Iowa
Turkey FM to visit Iran for nuclear talks
Israeli, Palestinian envoys agree to meet again in Jordan next week
Syrian rebel leader threatens to escalate attacks
Syria says 'terrorists' strike gas pipeline, state media reports
Minister Baird and Minister of State Ablonczy Continue to Call for Canadians to Leave Syria
French Senate to Vote on Armenian Genocide Law this Month
Israel Preparing for Possible Hizbullah Attack on Dimona Reactor
Maronite bishops urge removal of Palestinian arms outside camps
Group claims kidnap of 5 Iranians in Syria, warns Hezbollah
March 14: Ban’s Visit to Lebanon a Reminder to End Arms Chaos
Now Lebanon: Lebanese press round-up: January 4, 2012
Geagea Says Meeting with Hariri Tackled Post-Assad Regime Stage
Hariri dismisses report of financial woes
2 die after car plunges into north Lebanon sea  
Lebanon: Gasoline up LL100, diesel down LL300
Lebanon: 3 wounded as car falls off Beirut bridge, man found dead in Chtaura  
March 8 Asks Aoun to Accept Shura Council Decision as FPM Refuses ‘Side Agreement’
Sand Theft in Tyre
Appointments of Top Civil Servants, Diplomats to be Tackled by Cabinet Next Week

Israeli drone over Turkish-Syrian border. Battles in Syrian-Jordanian-Israeli border triangle
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report /January 4,
Military tensions are building up on Syria's borders. Wednesday, Jan. 4, Turkish military sources reported sighting an Israeli Eitan (Heron) drone in the sky above the Turkish Hawk Brigade 14 stationed on the northern Syrian border at Kirikhan in the Hatay district of southern Turkey. The Israeli drone was said to have hovered over the encampment for four hours.
A request by local Turkish officers to fire anti-air missiles to down the Israeli Eitan went unanswered by the Turkish general staff until the drone was gone. According to the Turkish sources, two Turkish F-16 fighter jets were scrambled from the Diyarbakir 2nd Air Force Command Strike Center and stayed overhead as long as the Israeli drone was present. debkafile reports this is the first time Israeli UAV's have been reported monitoring events on the Turkish-Syrian border. On Dec. 16, our sources disclosed 21 Syrian Scud missile launchers had been stationed opposite Hatay province as a warning to Turkey, NATO and Arab forces to stay out of the Syrian uprising.
Then, on Dec. 27, our military sources reported that that Qatar had organized and funded an airlift to Hatay of Libyan militia fighters under the command of former Abdelhakim Belhaj, ex-al Qaeda and commander of Islamic Fighting Group in Libya-IFG which seized control of Tripoli. He has established a command post in the Turkish town of Antakya (Antioch). The Libyan and Free Syrian Army-FASA fighters are training together in Turkish military camps, the mainone being the Hawk Brigade 14 over which the Israeli drone hovered. It is expected to be the main jumping off base for any foreign military intervention in Syria. Across the border meanwhile, Syria continues its military buildup. At the opposite end of Syria, the southern Horan province, fierce battles raged Tuesday, Jan. 4 between Syrian troops and mutineers of the 38th Mechanized Brigade, the bulk of which has gone over to the anti-Assad opposition. Both sides fighting with heavy T-72 tanks and artillery around Sida, a village in the Syrian-Jordanian-Israeli border triangle, suffered dozens of casualties.
The 38th Brigade belongs to the 7th Division which is stationed on the Syrian-Israeli border which cuts through the Golan. Sounds of gunfire were clearly heard in Israel. The brigade was the largest military unit to have deserted Bashar Assad's army in the ten-month popular uprising against his regime.


Minister Baird and Minister of State Ablonczy Continue to Call for Canadians to Leave Syria
(No. 3 - January 4, 2012 - 9:00 a.m. ET) Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird and the Honourable Diane Ablonczy, Minister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas and Consular Affairs), today issued the following statement:
“The security situation in Syria is increasingly volatile. Today, we reiterate our call to all Canadian citizens still in Syria: the time to leave is now.
“On December 15, 2011, we announced a voluntary evacuation of Canadian citizens in Syria and expedited services to help them leave the country as soon as possible.
“This initiative has allowed us to assist hundreds of Canadians and their dependents to obtain the necessary travel documents in order to leave Syria.
“Indiscriminate violence and brutal repression by Syrian authorities continue unabated. Assad’s increasingly isolated regime has lost all legitimacy and is desperately clinging to power.
“We call once more on President Assad and his backers to step down immediately and make way for a free and democratic Syria where the fundamental human rights of all its citizens are respected.
“We continue to stand with the Syrian people in their search for a brighter future.”
Canadian citizens in Syria requiring consular assistance should contact the Canadian Embassy in Damascus at 963 (11) 611-6692, 611-6851, or 611-6870, or call Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada’s Emergency Operations Centre collect at 613-944-2471. An email may also be sent to sos@international.gc.ca.

Group claims kidnap of 5 Iranians in Syria, warns Hezbollah
January 04, 2012/The Daily Star /BEIRUT: A previously unknown Syrian opposition group has claimed responsibility for the December kidnapping of five Iranians in Homs and warned both Iran and Hezbollah of the consequences of supporting Damascus.
The previously unheard of group, calling itself the "Movement against the Shiite tide in Syria,” made the claim in a fax sent to the Nicosia offices of Agence France Presse Tuesday. “We took upon ourselves the task of detecting and hitting all forms of support provided by both Iran and Hezbollah to the criminal [Syrian] regime," the statement said. The group said the first achievement was “the detention of five Iranians as an initial warning to Iran and Hezbollah of the consequences of their ongoing support of the Syrian regime to suppress the blessed Syrian revolution in all parts of the country in general, and in Homs, the heart of the revolution.”
“We warn Iran and Hezbollah that their members will face the same fate as the five Iranians if they don’t immediately stop providing all forms of support to the criminal regime,” the group said. Iran’s English-language Press TV reported on Dec. 21 that five Iranian technicians working in Syria were kidnapped by unidentified gunmen in the city of Homs. Syria's state news agency SANA said that eight engineers "of different nationalities" disappeared after heading by bus to their work at a power plant in Homs province. Iran, Syria's closest regional ally, welcomed Syria's agreement to admit Arab League monitors to oversee the implementation of a peace plan aimed at ending unrest in that Arab country. According to United Nations estimates, over 5,000 people have been killed in President Bashar al-Assad's crackdown on protesters demanding reforms.

Syrian rebel leader threatens to escalate attacks
04/01/2012/BEIRUT (Reuters) - The commander of Syria's armed rebels has threatened to step up attacks on President Bashar al-Assad's forces, saying he was frustrated with Arab League monitors' lack of progress in ending a government crackdown on protests.
"If we feel they (the monitors) are still not serious in a few days, or at most within a week, we will take a decision which will surprise the regime and the whole world," the head of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), Colonel Riad al-Asaad, told Reuters in an interview.
The Arab League said on Monday its monitors were helping to stem bloodshed, 10 months into a popular uprising against Syria's ruling family, and asked for more time to do their job. But since the team's arrival last week, security forces have killed more than 132 people, according to a Reuters tally. Other activist groups say 390 have been killed.
Eighteen security force personnel were killed in the southern town of Deraa as dozens of deserting soldiers returned fire on police who shot at them as they fled their posts, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Security forces also opened fire and killed two people at a protest in the central city of Hama, the same day that activists met monitors and said the team seemed powerless to help them.
The monitors are checking whether Syria is implementing an Arab League peace plan by pulling troops from flashpoint cities and releasing thousands detained in the revolt, one of a series of Arab uprisings that have toppled four leaders in a year.
MAJOR ESCALATION?
Asaad, whose FSA is an umbrella group of armed factions, said he was waiting for the League's report on its first week before deciding whether to make a "transformative shift" that he said would mark a major escalation against the security forces.
"Since they (the monitors) entered, we had many more martyrs," he said, speaking by telephone from his safe haven in southern Turkey. "Is it in the Syrian people's interest to allow the massacre to continue?"
A committee of Arab ministers will discuss the monitors' preliminary report on Saturday, Arab League sources said.
The League mission has already been plagued by controversy. Protesters have complained about its small size and were appalled when the head of the mission suggested he was reassured by first impressions of Homs, one of the main centres of unrest.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said on Tuesday it was crucial that monitors were able to act independently. Protesters have complained that security forces regularly accompany monitors, making them difficult to approach.
"Do they truly have genuinely free access to information? We are waiting for the report they will produce in the coming days for more clarity," Juppe told the French news channel i>tele. The U.S. State Department noted that violence against the protesters had not stopped, and said it was concerned by reports that soldiers were donning police uniform to mask their actions.
"In some cases the regime is actually putting out its own false reports that monitors are on the way, demonstrators come into the streets, and then they fire on them," spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.
"The Syrian regime has not lived up to the full spectrum of commitments that it made to the Arab League when it accepted its proposal some nine weeks ago."
MONITORS "AFRAID"
Activists who met the monitors in Hama on Tuesday said they doubted whether the monitors had freedom of movement.
Mohammed Abul-Khair told Reuters he was among activists who had met monitors without security escorts present, handing them details of detainees and suspected detention centres. The monitors said they had found it hard to meet activists until now, but appeared sympathetic, he said.
Others said the team seemed unprepared or unwilling. They said the monitors had set up an office in a government-controlled area hard for activists to reach, and complained that many observers did not bring cameras or notepads on visits.
"I don't think they are sympathetic, I think they are afraid," said activist Abu Faisal, also present at the meeting. "We wanted to take them to one of the narrow alleys where there had been a lot of shelling. They wouldn't go past the buildings where there were snipers.
"People here are getting shot. They are here to get the facts but they are cowards and too afraid to do it," he said.
Juppe said he believed in the Arab League's determination, but the United Nations could not stand idly by as more people died. He said Russia continued to block decisive U.N. action. "The (U.N.) Security Council cannot remain silent," he said. "The savage repression is totally clear, the regime has no real future and that's why it's up to the international community to speak out."
More than 5,000 people have been killed in Assad's crackdown on the protests, according to a United Nations estimate.
Armed rebellion has begun to overshadow what began as peaceful protest as rebels fight back. Damascus says it is battling foreign-backed "terrorists" who have killed at least 2,000 members of the security forces.Rebel leader Asaad last week ordered a stop to attacks on security forces during the monitors' visit, but reports of assaults have continued to come in, highlighting concerns that the FSA does not fully control all armed rebels.Nuland underscored Washington's repeated warning that an escalation of violence would only exacerbate the problem.
"That's exactly what the regime wants ... to make Syria more violent and have an excuse to retaliate itself," she said.
HUNGER STRIKE
Political detainees at Damascus's central prison started a hunger strike in protest over observers who met jailed felons during a visit, but not political prisoners, their relatives told the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights."The people the monitors met had nothing to do with recent events, so these (political) prisoners went on strike and are demanding monitors visit them," said Rami Abdelrahman, head of the British-based Observatory. The government bars most foreign journalists from Syria, making it difficult to verify witness accounts.
Arab League Secretary General Nabil Elaraby said on Monday that Syria's military had now withdrawn from residential areas to the outskirts of the cities, but that gunfire continued and snipers were still a threat. He asked Syrians to "give the monitoring mission a chance to prove its presence on the ground."
Elaraby said the monitors had succeeded in getting food supplies into Homs, one of the centres of the violence, and had secured the release of 3,484 prisoners. Before the mission began, the rights group Avaaz said 37,000 were in detention.

Time for Al-Dabi’s team to leave
By Tariq Alhomayed/Asharq Al-Awsat
My colleague Mshari Al-Zaydi, along with others, has written demanding the removal of the head of the Arab League observer mission in Syria, or the “spectator” mission as I have previously branded it. The Arab Parliament called for the observer delegation to withdraw immediately, and day by day it is losing the confidence of the Syrian opposition, so what is the solution?
The logical answer is that al-Dabi’s team should leave immediately, and apologize for not completing its task, for it has now lost all confidence. This is clear, especially after its contradictory statements. Al-Dabi’s team recently made two statements, the first to confirm what Nabil el-Araby had said [in support of al-Dabi], and the second in an attempt to refute the comments of one of its members, whom I described as “the only genuine observer”, because he said that he had seen snipers in Daraa. Al-Dabi’s team claimed that in fact he hadn’t said that, although the statement was clearly shown on video! After this, how can al-Dabi be trusted? This is also not to mention his relationship with the al-Assad regime!
The solution does not only lie in the departure of al-Dabi, or the immediate withdrawal of the Arab spectators, as demanded by the Chairman of the Arab Parliament, but it also lies in correcting the error, and improving the work of the Arab taskforce in Syria, to undertake genuine tasks, not only observations. What is happening in Syria is known by everyone except those who want to argue, simply to give more time to the tyrant Bashar al-Assad. Thus, the plan to send Arab observers to Syria should be augmented in order to verify the implementation of the terms of the Arab protocol, and fundamentally prove that the Arab League is trustworthy. This is especially necessary given the strange statement attributed to Ahmad Bin Hali, an Arab League official, who called for Arab observers not to issue any further comments on the situation in Syria! So now will the observers deliver their findings to al-Dabi, who can then write what he likes in the final report? This is not reasonable.
The Arab League should declare its need to utilize international authorities, and respected legal figures, as the King of Bahrain did, or along the lines of Special Tribunal for Lebanon. This is necessary in order to activate the clauses of the Arab initiative, including the entry to the Arab and international media into Syria, the immediate withdrawal of tanks and the Shabiha from the streets, and the release of detainees. The deadline for these terms to be implemented should be limited period of time not exceeding three days. Then the Arab League would show it was serious about protecting the Syrian civilians, and applying the Arab initiative, because what we are witnessing today is nothing but a blatant attempt to save al-Assad, although it is better to think that the League is simply not able to implement its initiative towards Syria. Beyond that –and most importantly – the Arab League must initiate the transfer of the Syrian file to the UN Security Council, where it will be entrusted to a specific Arab commission, not necessarily the League itself, but rather a commission comprising of Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait, Libya and Morocco, and all those who have a desire to stop the al-Assad killing machine. This commission must then proceed with intense diplomatic efforts from Russia to America, via Europe, to provide a UN or international resolution securing both a buffer and no-fly zone for the Syrians.
This is what must be done, instead of waiting for the completion of al-Dabi’s mission that holds no credibility, and does not protect the unarmed Syrians.

U.S. Must Resist Iranian Threats
Riki Ellison/January 4, 2012/Family Security
As the new year of 2012 begins and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta moves forward in downsizing the Department of Defense's budget for 2013, Iran recently demonstrated its military capabilities, showing a direct threat to the U.S. 5th Fleet deployed in and out of Bahrain In a 10-day Naval exercise concluded today and intended to demonstrate Iranian control over the strategic Strait of Hormuz, Iran successfully fired three missiles. On Sunday Iran test-fired an anti-radar, mid-range surface-to-air Mehrab missile during Naval drills in its Southern waters. On Monday Iran fired the shore-to-sea Qader missile, with a range of about 125 miles, and the surface-to-surface Nour missile, which has been upgraded from previous generations.
From the Iranian perspective, in protection of their nuclear quest, this demonstration is an attempt to deter a potential pre-emptive strike from Israel and reaction from the United States as well as to show Iranian resolve and strength to its neighbors and the West.
Maintaining ample and effective deployed U.S. and Allied ballistic missile defense and cruise missile defense capabilities in the Persian Gulf region and in the United States 5th Fleet is paramount to keeping peace and stability in this region. Missile defense systems in the Persian Gulf counter Iran's military capability and its threats to the region while ensuring offensive capability to strike back.
Today, the United States has limited capability on its Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) ships deployed to the 5th Fleet; more inventory of anti cruise and anti ballistic missiles are needed, as well as upgrades to these Aegis BMD Ships. It is critical that the U.S. Navy is given all it requires to sustain stability in this highly volatile region to ensure freedom of international waters, the safety of all our troops stationed in the Persian Gulf, and to prevent escalation in regions like this and Korea into a major war.
It is important to note, as allies in the Middle East are sharing the missile defense financial burden, that last week the Department of Defense awarded the sale of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system with AN/TPY -2 Radars and 96 missiles to the United Arab Emirates.
Funding and support for missile defense by putting more capability into our war fighters' and allies' hands must continue and be increased in 2013, as the price for peace far outweighs the cost of war.

Maronite bishops urge removal of Palestinian arms outside camps
January 04, 2012/ The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Maronite bishops underlined Wednesday the need to speed up a controversial decision on a pay hike package and called on political leaders to implement a longstanding deal on the disarmament of Palestinian groups outside refugee camps.
The Cabinet is expected to approve Wednesday a previous agreement reached between the private sector and the General Labor Confederation after the Shura Council turned down for the third time a government plan to improve the salary package.
The Shura Council made it clear Tuesday that the government was obliged to stick to the government’s previous decree on the wage hire. On the latest pay hike decision, the Shura Council said the government had no legal right to add transportation allowances to the basic salary, describing this move as unprecedented.
“The bishops look at the fragile living conditions and the soaring prices and warn against being indecisive on this salary issue that has become subject to political bickering without taking into account the views of the parties involved – workers and employers,” said a statement at the end of the monthly Maronite Bishop Council meeting.
Voicing concern about the country’s “fragile” security situation, the bishops called on political leaders “to stand firm on a decision taken during [a previous meeting] of the national dialogue committee regarding the issue of weapons.”
During previous all-party talks, rival leaders from the March 8 and March 14 coalitions agreed to dismantle Palestinian military bases outside refugee camps.
National dialogue, which was launched in 2006, has repeatedly been adjourned as a result of the successive political crises that have shaken Lebanon.
The aim of the talks is to agree on a national defense strategy over neighboring enemy – Israel. But a major stumbling block to reaching agreement has been Hezbollah’s arsenal. Hezbollah argues that the Lebanese Army is ill-equipped and as such its weapons are needed to defend the country against Israeli attacks.
The bishops, who met in Bkirki, seat of the Maronite church, also urged political leaders to resume talks on a national defense strategy and said security matters should be discussed within security institutions. This was a clear reference to Defense Minister Fayez Ghosen whose controversial statements about the presence of Islamist Al-Qaeda in Lebanon has sparked an ongoing dispute between the opposition and majority, as well as in the government itself.

Hariri dismisses report of financial woes
January 04, 2012 /The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri dismissed Wednesday reports that his party was struggling financially and that it had fired 35 percent of its staff.
Commenting on a recent media report that his Future Movement had fired a large number of employees on low incomes, Hariri, on his Twitter feed, said: “What do you expect to say about such hatred?” Al-Akhbar newspaper published a report Wednesday saying that Future Movement had allegedly fired 200 employees, 35 percent of its staff, from its offices in Hamra, Beirut. The report added that most of those who had been fired were on low-incomes. It also reported that those in high-ranking posts would see major cuts to their salaries. The pro-Hezbollah daily also quoted officials in the party as saying that the strategy of restructuring the movement would also take place in other affiliated companies including Future TV and Al-Mustaqbal newspaper. There have been several media reports alleging that Hariri’s family has been facing financial problems, reporting delays in paying employees’ monthly salaries. Other reports have focused on Hariri’s businesses outside the country, particularly the Riyadh-based Saudi Oger.
In March 2011 Forbes magazine ranked Saad Hariri, second son of the late Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, as the 595th richest person in the world with a net worth of $2 billion. His elder brother, Bahaa, was ranked as the 459th richest person in the world with a fortune of $2.5 billion. In response to another question regarding a school owned by the Hariri family that has delayed the monthly salaries of three teachers, Saad Hariri tweeted that "all salaries will be paid and are paid.”

Now Lebanon: Lebanese press round-up: January 4, 2012
January 4, 2012 s
Press round-up for Wednesday, January 4th from the morning edition of Lebanon’s An-Nahar, Al-Akhbar, As-Safir, and Ad-Diyar newspapers.
Note: There is no press round-up on Sundays
•Opening Titles
The cabinet takes its time to assimilate the third abrogation of the wage [draft].
The Civil Service Board: Appointments according to a mechanism that favors competence.
The LAF does not oppose the building of a wall in Kfarkila within Israeli territory.
Jumblatt: Druze [Syrians] have to abstain from taking part in repression in Syria.
•Local News
The State Shura Council abrogated for the third time the cabinet’s wage adjustment decision based on the proposal of Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas.
Circles close to PM Najib Mikati told An-Nahar that “a thorough review of all vacant administrative positions is being made in order to fill in the vacancies in one comprehensive package while focusing on the role of monitoring institutions in order to regulate the action of institutions.”
In this respect, PM Mikati met with Civil Service Board Chairman Khaled Qabbani and Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour, who discussed diplomatic appointments with the prime minister.
Circles predicted that the Council of Ministers’ session next Tuesday will be held at the Baabda Presidential Palace under President Michel Sleiman’s aegis in order to settle the wage adjustment issue.
Following his meeting with PM Mikati, CSB Chairman Khaled Qabbani told An-Nahar: “Administrative appointments are ruled by a mechanism that has already been adopted by the Council of Ministers; accordingly, the CSB adheres to it.”
An-Nahar has learned that the wage issue is unlikely to be discussed in today’s session of the Council of Ministers, which is to be held at the Serail and chaired by PM Mikati even if from outside the agenda. [Rather, it will be adjourned] pending the upcoming cabinet session in Baabda under President Sleiman’s aegis.
An-Nahar has learned that March 8 key leaders called on the Change and Reform bloc to deal positively with the Shura Council’s decision in order to “preserve the interests of workers and employees.”
General Confederation of Lebanese Workers’ President Ghassan Ghosn told An-Nahar that the GCLW “will abide by the agreement signed with economic committees since its aim is to ensure the continuity of the economic cycle and take workers’ interests into consideration.”
Military sources told An-Nahar that the Kfarkila area often witnessed verbal disputes between the Lebanese Armed Forces and the Israeli Defense Forces, which often degenerated into brandishing weapons onto the other party.
During the UNIFIL-sponsored meetings, the IDF expressed its reprobation more than once. The Israelis eventually proposed the construction of a small wall, which was already there, and its extension along a greater distance.
The Lebanese Armed Forces did not oppose the idea at the time, especially since the wall was to be built on Israeli territory, contributing to separating the two armies from one another and preventing any verbal or military clashes.
MP Walid Jumblatt noticeably said that Syria’s Druze community “knows that the popular movement is not abating … the time has come to abstain from taking part in the police or military troops leading the repression against the Syrian people.”
•Opening Titles
Workers’ rights are endangered: The Shura Council abrogates the transportation allowance.
•Local News
Workers are exposed to the genuine danger of having their wages reduced rather than adjusted, as the State Shura Council issued a negative opinion yesterday on the wage adjustment draft decree, whereby the transportation allowance was considered an expense rather than [part of the] wage.
The substance of the Shura Council opinion clearly revealed that the aim is to allow the “uncontested adoption” of the agreement between the General Confederation of Lebanese Workers leadership and some employers’ committees.
The Shura Council expressed its opinion in principle, whereby “the cabinet may intervene in order to assess the cost of living increase and the means to translate it into a wage increase only in the event of collective negotiation leading to an agreement or when no such agreement is reached following collective negotiation.”
•Opening Titles
Is the Council of Ministers to start the oil drilling journey today?
The endless story of wages: A third slap to the cabinet; an attempt to buoy up the “Baabda Agreement”; the FPM is against “sorcery.”
•Local News
Informed sources predicted that majority forces are to intensify their contacts in order to ensure the consensus needed to revert to the draft agreement that was already signed between the General Confederation of Lebanese Workers and economic committees at the Baabda Presidential Palace.
As-Safir has learned that some majority key leaders will inform General Michel Aoun of the need to deal rationally and reasonably with the Shura Council’s decision and not to approach it based on the logic of winners and losers.
Free Patriotic Movement leadership sources told As-Safir that the FPM has no intention of approving the agreement between the GCLW and economic committees, as it is laden with legal contraventions.
Circles said that the Change and Reform bloc will only accept the adjustment of the legal situation of wages according to regulations and “will reject ‘sorcery-like practices’ when dealing with this issue.”
Speaker Nabih Berri met with GCLW President Ghassan Ghosn. Speaker Berri’s circles told As-Safir that it is natural – against a backdrop of the State Shura Council’s decision – to revert to the agreement between the GCLW and economic committees in its capacity as the sole refuge.
In an interview on OTV, Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn asserted: “We have clear information. The LAF raided Aarsal to look for Hamza Qarqouz. I have warned the Lebanese against Al-Qaeda’s presence [in Lebanon] as I am at the helm of an institution that is entrusted with the citizens’ security.”
Ghosn said that he admonished Interior Minister Marwan Charbel, saying: “If I were him, I would not have said what I did.”
In addition to the complications regarding appointments, the Al-Qaeda issue was discussed yesterday evening during the meeting between Maronite Patriarch Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rai and Energy Minister Gebran Bassil in the presence of former Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir and several bishops.
As-Safir has learned that Bassil briefed Patriarch Rai on “extremely important information available to the Free Patriotic Movement on al-Qaeda’s presence in Lebanon.” Bassil gave a detailed explanation of “the clear imprints of its branches and ‘sister organizations’.”
•Opening Titles
The political clash between Mikati and Aoun is resumed over competence and wages.
The Shura Council brings down Nahhas’ draft; wages are adjourned until the Baabda session under Sleiman’s aegis.
•Local News
Sources within the Change and Reform bloc said that General Michel Aoun was displeased throughout the bloc’s meeting and voiced his dissatisfaction with the current situation, especially following information, whereby PM Najib Mikati and his team exerted pressure on the State Shura Council.
A Change and Reform MP said that the issue is not legal, but rather political par excellence, as the [Shura Council’s] decision was in favor of the centrists.
General Aoun remarkably did not give a press conference to announce the Change and Reform bloc’s stance following its meeting as usual. MP Michel Helou was tasked instead with reading the statement.
Sources close to PM Najib Mikati said that the wage issue will not be discussed during the Council of Ministers’ meeting at the Serail today, because the presidency of the Council of Minsiters has yet to be officially notified of the Shura Council’s decision.
Commenting on Aoun’s campaign against PM Mikati’s statement regarding [the premiership] competences, sources close to the prime minister expressed surprise at this unjustified campaign, as PM Mikati was speaking of the competences of the premiership as a matter of principle and did not mean [to allude to] any party.
The sources stressed PM Mikati’s refusal to get involved in any political controversy, saying that the Council of Ministers will discuss today the oil issue, the amendment of the electricity law and 72 other items.
PM Mikati is trying to adopt a package of appointments before heading to France in mid-January to meet with French officials, including French President Nicolas Sarkozy.


"Under Islam ruled by Saudi Arabia, an Arab reads 4 pages annually when individuals in countries like the United States read 11 books."
Only with Regime Change in Saudi Arabia, Arabs Will Get a Chance at Renaissance
Farid Ghadry Blog/Reform Party of Syria
The analogy between the European Renaissance that started in 1423 when the first non-Latin books were printed and the Arab Renaissance about to start with the prevalence of the non-despotic and non-exclusionary language of the Internet is one worthy of our consideration. As books and their varieties opened the minds of Europeans back then, the Internet is playing a similar role in the lives of our youths today. Similarly, as Europe in the early 15th Century reverted to its golden age when Greek philosophers, painters, and writers ruled with their wisdom, Arabs will revert to theirs when al-Khwarizmi and Avicenna ruled with their knowledge and enlightenment. Italy preceding the Renaissance was a string of many states of which ruined Rome was one leading with a powerful but corrupt Church. Today, the Arab world is a string of many states led by a powerful and corrupt Muslim state called Saudi Arabia. And as the Renaissance started in Florence with Donatello's curiosity and Brunelleschi's imagination, so will the Arab Renaissance start in Syria with the spark of today's Rebellion leading the way to a wiser era. Why Syria? Because it has the disposition, the history, and the Christian minorities still umbilically connected to a western civilization the way Erasmus and Petrarch, very early on, connected with Ancient Greek to fight ungodliness and ignorance.
Standing in the way is Saudi Arabia ruling over ignorance, injustices, despotism, cronyism, and the Dark Ages of our times. The heart of our Renaissance will start beating the day the al-Saud of Saudi Arabia are deposed to yield to full separation of Mosque and State. While the Medicis in Florence invested in and promoted the freedom necessary to enlighten and to catapult learning beyond Florence, the al-Saud are investing in suppressing freedom at home and elsewhere to extend the darkness Arabs live under. Under Islam ruled by Saudi Arabia, an Arab reads 4 pages annually when individuals in countries like the United States read 11 books. The US State Department and all the NGO's funded by the US Congress are spending billions in the Middle East to promote democracy, the rule of law, and respect for human rights in the region; but it's all a waste of good US tax money if the US also supports simultaneously despotism in countries ruled like medieval fiefdoms. What is the use of learning about democracy and the rule of law if our people cannot practice it? Because of US policies, Arabs have become perpetual students of their values but non-practitioners.
Today, Saudi Arabia is silencing the voices of freedom in my native country. As someone who knows this country intimately having been a temporary citizen of theirs, I am appalled by the vast divide between their introvert actions and their extrovert words. Saudi Arabia is not the country that I knew in the early seventies. It seems the wealthier they get, the dirtier their policies get and the more arrogant their Islamic values become.
Copyrights © Reform Party of Syria (Project Syria, Inc.) 2003-2011

The Arab League Observers' Mission Aims at Killing Syrians
Farid Ghadry Blog/Reform Party of Syria
"All the profits the west generates from the commercial favoritism of corrupt Arab rulers is spent on its security as a result of the fear, hate, paranoia, and sometimes terror emanating from the very same countries." The Arab League is in deep trouble. There is an Arab street anger brewing against its deadly policies. Over the weekend, Gen. Dabi, the Sudanese leading the mission of 70 observers and one of Omar al-Bachir trusted men, refused to include in his mission the immediate removal of snipers in Syria hunting down Syrians. In other words, al-Dabi's mission is really to observe Assad kill as many Syrians in order to stop the Rebellion. The controversy was addressed by the Algerian Foreign Minister Murad Medelci who timidly announced on public French radio that "The Arab observer team will be enhanced soon. We will have a more credible assessment of the situation."Further, French President Nicolas Sarkozy weighed-in today to ask Assad to step down. He referred to his massacres as "disgusting. His Foreign Minister Alain Juppé cited his skepticism towards the mission of the Arab League. Bravo France. It is no accident that al-Dabi was chosen by the Arab League to head this mission from hell. He is one of Omar al-Bachir's generals who was directly involved in the Darfur Genocide that exterminated 300,000 civilian Sudanese.
As al-Dabi observed his boss kill at will, he has been sent to Syria to inspire the Assad killing machine. How else can one interpret his refusal to demand that IRGC snipers are removed from rooftops?
Why are western leaders silent on the Arab League's treachery and deception against its own people? How long before the west realizes its own interests lie in freedom, accountability, and economic justice, the very same principles behind Bastilles and the ensuing Revolutions of 1848, which enveloped some 50 countries all the way to South America?
Look at the contemporary results enjoyed by Western freedom breeding great achievements. Saudi Arabia is the cause of all evil and the west must help Arab aspirations for a future mirroring theirs.
All the profits the west generates from the commercial favoritism of corrupt Arab rulers is spent on its security as a result of the fear, hate, paranoia, and sometimes terror emanating from the very same countries. With all due respect, the west reads today like a Leopold von Sacher-Masoch novel. Submissively pervasive.
Our medievalism, represented by the Arab League, is cannibalizing western values (i.e. 4,000 Wahabbi extremist Mosques built in the west the last 30 years and not one church in Saudi Arabia).
Western doctrines of neutrality towards corrupt rulers can no longer co-exist in a Google-Facebook-Skype-Twitter-YouTube age (The GOFASTY age) when millions can interact with each other in nanoseconds. Nimble minds must face nimbler realities and the fogged minds of submissive men are winding their clocks backwards.

March 8 Asks Aoun to Accept Shura Council Decision as FPM Refuses ‘Side Agreement’
by Naharnet/The allies of Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun in the March 8 forces are pressuring him into being “rational” and “dealing positively” with the Shura Council’s rejection of a wage hike proposal made by Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas who is loyal to Aoun.
An Nahar and As Safir newspapers said Wednesday that March 8 leaders are urging Aoun’s “Change and Reform bloc to deal positively with the decision of the Shura Council under the slogan of preserving the interests of workers and employees.”
The March 8 forces are also asking Aoun to deal with “rationality and pragmatism” with the Council’s rejection of the cabinet decision on the wage boost that was proposed by Nahhas – a member of the Change and Reform bloc ministers in the government.
The majority forces are seeking to send a clear message to Aoun that they should respect decisions issued by legal and judicial institutions, the dailies said.
Despite a positive reaction to the March 8 requests, FPM sources told As Safir daily that they would reject a decision reached between the General Labor Confederation and the Economic Committees before the cabinet's approval of Nahhas’ proposal last month.
Their deal lies in setting the minimum wage at LL675,000 – excluding the transportation allowance while the cabinet decision, which was rejected by the Shura Council on Tuesday, called for raising the minimum salary to LL868,000 – a sum that includes a LL236,000 transportation allowance.
The FPM sources said that the GLC-Economic Committees deal is “full of legal violations and the Shura Council would definitely reject it if the cabinet issued a decree on it.”
If the “side agreement” that was reached under the sponsorship of Premier Najib Miqati was put to vote in the government, the Change and Reform bloc would vote against it, they told As Safir.
The FPM sources sent an indirect warning to Miqati, saying the agreement’s “spokespersons” should assume their responsibilities if that formula was adopted.
“We won’t be partners” in that, they said.
Following a meeting it held in Rabieh on Tuesday, the Change and Reform bloc decided to form a committee to study the Shura Council’s rejection of the wage hike decree.