LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
January 10/2012

Bible Quotation for today/Judging Others
Luke 06/37-42: "Do not judge others, and God will not judge you; do not condemn others, and God will not condemn you; forgive others, and God will forgive you.Give to others, and God will give to you. Indeed, you will receive a full measure, a generous helping, poured into your hands—all that you can hold. The measure you use for others is the one that God will use for you. And Jesus told them this parable: One blind man cannot lead another one; if he does, both will fall into a ditch. No pupils are greater than their teacher; but all pupils, when they have completed their training, will be like their teacher. Why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but pay no attention to the log in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, Please, brother, let me take that speck out of your eye, yet cannot even see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite! First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will be able to see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.


Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
Syria’s lesson to Lebanon: Revolution is an attitude/By: Hanin Ghaddar/January 09/12 
The mother of all questions/By: Hazem Saghiyeh/January 09/12 

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for January 09/12 
Arab ministers give Syria mission green light to continue
Arab League accused of Syria cover-up
Egyptian Copt tycoon faces trial for insulting religion
Future bloc MPs say FPM politically “bankrupt
Future bloc MP Khodor Habib: Reports of Al-Qaeda presence in Lebanon are ‘to scare Christians’
Russian, French warships off Syria, Iran, US drones over Iranian coast
Panetta: U.S. will not allow Iran to develop nuclear bomb, block Strait of Hormuz
U.S. vows response if Iran closes Strait of Hormuz
Iran sentences American to die for spying
Khamenei says Iran will not yield to sanctions
Pope says observers can foster 'fruitful dialogue' in Syria
Syrian troops fire on protesters, activists say
Arab League accused of Syria cover-up
Turkey Urges Syrian Opposition to Use 'Peaceful Means'
Arab League Urges Syria to End Violence, Says Observer Mission to Continue
Report: Russian naval force arrives at Syria port in 'show of solidarity'
Hezbollah says Ban Ki-moon not welcome in Lebanon
President Sleiman calls for independent body to monitor polls
MP, Merwan Hamade: STL work, indictments will continue
Future MPs stand with Arsal in face of Al-Qaeda claims
Mikati: Deal on wage hike reached
Hariri: Arabs should have referred Syria case to U.N.
Newly discovered catfish species in Lebanon potentially fatal to humans, experts warn
PSP official says communication with Syria severed
Thousands stolen from restaurant northeast of Beirut
Mustaqbal MPs: Those with History of Squandering Funds Musn’t Accuse Others of Such Crimes
Hariri Says Assassination ‘Rumors’ Began by Broadcasts on BlackBerry
Al-Fajr Brigades Confirm their ‘Existence’ as al-Hout Denies ‘Misquoted’ Statements
Lebanese Diplomatic, Administrative Appointments on Cabinet Agenda on Tuesday

Russian, French warships off Syria, Iran, US drones over Iranian coast
DEBKAfile Special Report/ January 9, 2012/ 10:21 US, Russian French and British air and naval forces streamed to the Syrian and Iranian coasts over the weekend on guard for fresh developments at the two Middle East flashpoints.
The Russian carrier Admiral Kuznetsov anchored earlier than planned at Syria's Tartus port on the Mediterranean Sunday, Jan. 8, arriving together with the destroyer Admiral Chabanenko and frigate Yaroslav Mudry. To counter this movement, France consigned an air defense destroyer Forbin to the waters off Tartus.
debkafile's military sources report a buildup in the last 48 hours of western naval forces opposite Iran in the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea in readiness for Tehran to carry out its threat to close the Strait of Hormuz. Britain has dispatched the HMS Daring, a Type 45 destroyer armed with new technology for shooting down missiles, to the Sea of Oman, due to arrive at the same time as the French Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier.Our sources report too that Saturday, the giant RQ-4 Global Hawk UAV, took off from the USS Stenning aircraft carrier for surveillance over the coasts of Iran. The Stennis and its strike group are cruising in the Sea of Oman at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz after Tehran announced it would not be allowed to cross through.
This was the first time the US has deployed unmanned aerial vehicles over Iran since its RQ-170 stealth drone was shot down by Iran on Dec. 4. It was also the first time the huge drone was ordered to take off from an aircraft carrier for a Broad Aerial Maritime Surveillance Mission (BAMS).
US military sources reported Monday, Jan. 9 that the Global Hawk's mission is "to monitor sea traffic off the Iranian coast and the Straits of Hormuz." The US Navy was ordered to maintain a watch on this traffic, another first, after Iranian Navy chief Adm. Habibollah Sayyari said in a televised broadcast Sunday night that the Strait of Hormuz was under full Iranian control and had been for years.
Also Sunday, Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the US Chiefs of Staff, warned in no uncertain terms that Iran has the ability to block the Strait of Hormuz “for a period of time.” He added in a CBS interview: “We’ve invested in capabilities to ensure that if that happens, we can defeat that.” Gen. Dempsey went on to emphasize: "Yes, they can block it. We've described that as an intolerable act and it's not just intolerable for us, it's intolerable to the world. But we would take action and reopen the straits."Appearing on the same program, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned of a quick, decisive and very tough American response to any Iranian attempt to close the Strait of Hormuz. They both spoke a few hours after a spokesman for the Revolutionary Guards said the supreme Iranian leadership had ruled the Strait must be closed in the event of an oil embargo imposed on Iran by the European Union.
debkafile's military sources report the constant escalation of military tension around Iran and Syria in recent days as not just stemming from the rapid advances Iran is making toward production of a nuclear weapon, but from fears in the West and Israel that Tehran and Damascus are in step over their military plans for the Persian Gulf and Mediterranean sectors.
After the Admiral Kuznetsov docked in Tartus Sunday with much fanfare, the Syrian Navy commander Dawoud Rajha was received on the deck by a guard of honor of marines under a flyover of Russian Su-33 and Su-25 fighter-bombers. This was taken as a signal of Moscow's willingness to back the Assad regime up against any Western military intervention as well as a gesture of support for cooperation between Syria and Iran in their operational plans. Sunday, the Iranian media issued divergent statements about the situation at Iran's underground uranium enrichment plant at Fordo, near Qom: In English, the site as described as going on stream soon, while the Farsi media reported it was already operational.The head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization Fereydoun Abbasi Davani declared furthermore," …the Islamic Republic is capable of exporting services related to nuclear energy to other countries."
This statement showed that Tehran has no fear of raising the level of its threats to the West up to the point of offering to hand out its nuclear technology to other countries in a gesture of uncontrolled proliferation.

Pope says observers can foster “fruitful dialogue” in Syria
January 9, 2012 /Pope Benedict XVI on Monday called for a "fruitful dialogue" between political forces in Syria with independent observers present and said Arab Spring states should oppose discrimination.
"I pray for a rapid end to the bloodshed and the beginning of a fruitful dialogue between the political forces, encouraged by the presence of independent observers," he told 160 ambassadors to the Vatican in a speech.The Arab League is leading an observer mission in Syria aimed at halting 10 months of bloodshed between the government and the opposition, but it has been accused of only serving to cover up the regime's deadly crackdown on protests.The head of the Roman Catholic Church pinpointed youth malcontent in the wake of the global economic crisis as one of the driving factors behind the Arab Spring revolutions and said that the countries affected were still in a state of uncertainty. "It seems evident to me that the best way to move forward is through the recognition of the inalienable dignity of each human person and of his or her fundamental rights," he said. "Respect for the person must be at the center of institutions and laws.”
"The building of stable and reconciled societies, opposed to every form of unjust discrimination, particularly religious discrimination, represents a much vaster horizon than that of short-term electoral gains," he added. The rise of Islamist political forces in North Africa following last year's revolutions in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia has raised concern in the Vatican over the future of Christian minorities in the region.
-AFP/NOW Lebanon

Turkey urges Syrian opposition to use “peaceful means”
January 9, 2012 /Turkey has called on the Syrian opposition to continue its resistance against President Bashar al-Assad's regime through "peaceful means," a foreign ministry spokesperson said Monday.
"The Syrian opposition demands democracy and we told them during a meeting [on Sunday] that this should be done through peaceful means," the spokesperson told AFP, referring to Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu's talks in Istanbul with the opposition Syrian National Council. Davutoglu's meeting with a 10-member delegation led by Burhan Ghalioun, leader of the Syrian National Council, is the third after his contacts with the group on October 13 and November 17, said the spokesperson. The Syrian National Council has an office in Istanbul, he noted. Turkey, a onetime ally of Syria, has joined the Arab League in putting pressure the Damascus regime, whose crackdown on dissidents has claimed more than 5,000 lives according to UN figures. A team of Arab League monitors has been in Syria since December 26, trying to assess whether Assad's regime is complying with a peace accord aimed at ending its deadly crackdown on dissent. Critics say it has been completely outmaneuvered by the government and has failed to make any progress toward stemming the crackdown. They have called for the mission to pull out. Turkey has repeatedly called on the Syrian leadership to stop the deadly crackdown on opponents. Ankara says that around 7,500 Syrians have fled across the border with its southern neighbor in the face of the crackdown.Colonel Riyadh al-Asaad, who heads a group of defectors called the Free Syrian Army, is based in a Turkish border camp.But Turkish officials have said repeatedly that Ankara will not let its territory be used to launch attacks against the Syrian regime after Syria-based news reports cited armed groups' infiltrations from the Turkish side.
-AFP/NOW Lebanon

Arab ministers give Syria mission green light to continue
January 9, 2012 /Arab ministers meeting in Cairo gave a widely criticized observer mission to Syria the green light to continue, and pledged to boost the number of monitors as violence Sunday claimed more lives.The Arab ministerial committee on Syria "has decided to give Arab League observers the necessary time to continue their mission according to the protocol," which states that the mission is for the duration of one month.The ministers also agreed to increase the number of observers and said they may seek "technical assistance from the United Nations."
Arab ministers were in Cairo to review the observer mission's record, amid growing calls for the bloc to cede to the United Nations the lead role in trying to end nearly 10 months of bloodshed.
The committee also called anew on Syria "to fully and immediately implement its commitments" under the Arab plan, calling on all parties "to immediately stop all forms of violence."
The head of the mission, General Mohammed Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi, is to give a report on the League on January 19 on Syria's compliance of the plan, the ministers said.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem Al Thani, who chaired the meeting, called on Syria to "take a historic decision."
"We hope there will be decisive steps by the Syrian government to stop the bloodshed," Sheikh Hamad told reporters after the meeting.
He said a report by the observers discussed at the meeting showed that "killing has been reduced. But even one killing [is too much]."
The Arab body stopped short of asking for UN help, but said that Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi would "continue coordinating with the United Nations Secretary General to reinforce the Arab League mission's technical aspects."Hamad said the League hoped to raise the number of observers to 300 "within the next few days" from around 163 now deployed in Syria.
A team of Arab League monitors has been in Syria since December 26, trying to assess whether President Bashar al-Assad's regime is complying with a peace accord aimed at ending its deadly crackdown on dissent.Critics say it has been completely outmaneuvered by the government and has failed to make any progress towards stemming the crackdown. They have called for the mission to pull out.
The Arab League has admitted to "mistakes" but defended the mission, saying it had secured the release of prisoners and withdrawal of tanks from cities.
It said rather than pull out, it planned to send more observers.
"No plan to withdraw the observers is on the agenda of the Arab ministerial committee meeting on Syria," the bloc's deputy secretary general, Adnan Issa, told AFP on Saturday.
"We are not talking about a pullout but reinforcing the mission."Sunday's meeting came amid further violence in Syria, in which at least 13 civilians were killed by security forces and 11 soldiers died in clashes with deserters, human rights activists said.Syrian security forces and pro-regime militias shot and killed 13 civilians in different parts of the country, including 10 in the central flashpoint province of Homs, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
And fighting between the Syrian army and deserters in the southern Daraa province took the lives of 11 soldiers, according to the Observatory.
Another 20 soldiers were wounded in the fighting in the village of Basr al-Harir in Daraa province, south of Damascus, while nine soldiers defected to join the rebel troops, the group added.
The Britain-based watchdog also reported heavy machinegun exchanges between the army and deserters in the Daraa town of Dael. There was no immediate word on casualties.
Cradle of the anti-Assad protests that began in March, Daraa has been one of the provinces hardest hit by the crackdown.
On Saturday, Syria held funerals for 26 victims of a suicide bombing in Damascus, promising an "iron fist" response.
The opposition pointed the finger for Friday's bomb at the regime itself, as it did after similar attacks in Damascus on December 23 killed 44 people.
The Assad regime has consistently asserted that the unrest sweeping the country is the work of armed rebels, not largely peaceful demonstrators as maintained by Western governments and human rights watchdogs.After the Damascus bombing, the United States condemned it and again called for Assad to step down, while UN chief Ban Ki-moon said "all violence is unacceptable and must stop immediately."The Syrian National Council, an opposition umbrella group which includes the Muslim Brotherhood, said the bombing "clearly bears the regime's fingerprints."It said the UN Security Council had to address the bloodshed, which the world body estimated in December had killed more than 5,000 people since March.-AFP/NOW Lebanon

Arab League accused of Syria cover-up
January 9, 2012 /The opposition Muslim Brotherhood accused the Arab League of seeking to "cover up the crimes" of the Syrian regime, after the pan-Arab organization decided to extend its observer mission."It is clear that the observer mission in Syria seeks to cover up the crimes of the Syrian regime by giving it the time and opportunity to kill our people and break their will," Brotherhood spokesperson Zuhair Salem said.He charged in a statement received on Monday that the Arab League mission had failed "to raise the responsibility of the regime for the deaths of thousands of Syrians, among them hundreds of children."The mission had "put the executioner and the victim on an equal footing, drawing a parallel between the official killing machine with its tanks, cannons and rockets ... with individual acts of self-defense."But Salem vowed that anti-regime protesters, undeterred, would "advance on the path to the liberation of the country."At a meeting in Cairo on Sunday, an Arab ministerial committee gave their widely criticized observer mission to Syria the green light to carry on and pledged to boost the number of monitors.The committee "decided to give Arab League observers the necessary time to continue their mission according to the protocol," which states a one-month term.The ministers also agreed to increase the number of observers and said they may seek "technical assistance from the United Nations" in the face of 10 months of unrest in Syria that has cost thousands of lives.The committee urged Damascus "to fully and immediately implement its commitments" under the Arab plan, calling on all parties "to immediately stop all forms of violence."
-AFP/NOW Lebanon

Syria’s lesson to Lebanon: Revolution is an attitude
Hanin Ghaddar, January 9, 2012
Syrians who reside in Egypt hang an effigy of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during a demonstration in Cairo on January 8. (AFP/Khaled Desouki)
No one in Lebanon expected the Syrians to challenge President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. No one thought for a second that the Syrian revolution would go on for this long, elevating the country to its right place at the heart of what is today called the “Arab Spring.” Our stereotypes and misconceptions of the Syrian people blinded us. Our arrogance plagued our understanding of the simple reality that the Syrians have been suffering under a dictator too. We refused to differentiate between the regime and the people, and chose, as usual, the easier way to deal with our fears: isolating and victimizing our fate and political fabric.
Sadly, many Lebanese still refuse to accept the fact that they are not an exception and that the Syrians, whom they have humiliated for so many years, are actually fighting for democracy and freedom in the most courageous of ways. Meanwhile, the Lebanese sit by idly in the shadows, secretly hoping they can win our battles. We failed to fulfill our uprising, the Cedar Revolution, in 2005 and failed to create bonds or channels with the Syrians in the years after. Instead, we alienated ourselves.
Today, we see Syrians dying daily from the comfort of our living room TV. We hide our shame behind self-involved concerns of sectarian civil war spreading to Lebanon or Islamists seizing power and threatening minorities. Those concerns, of course, cannot be denied, but it’s important to note that these will only materialize if the minorities - both in Lebanon and Syria - stay silent.
If Christians, Druze and Allawites join the Sunnis in their fight for freedom, the regime will not be able to turn the struggle into a sectarian war. But many Lebanese, with their sick sectarian mentalities, refuse to see the possibility of a genuine call for freedom and dignity in Syria.
The Lebanese tend to think of Syrians as either construction workers or soldiers in the Syrian army, which occupied the country in 1976 during the civil war. Now we refuse to see beyond our fears caused by the Syrian regime's atrocities. When the army pulled out in April of 2005, many of us humiliated the men who stayed behind by relegating them to build our houses and work only menial jobs.
I don't blame the Syrian people if they hate us, or if they have lost all faith in us. The Syrians today can look us straight in the face and shake our stubborn, exceptional belief in Lebanese superiority. Every day they send us the message that freedom, political awareness and democracy are not exclusive to the Lebanese people. They have demonstrated, with meaningfulness, the necessary components of a true revolution.
They have regained public space. The Syrians were deprived of public space for 40 years. They could not have their own “Tahrir Square,” so they occupied the streets, nearly everywhere. No Arab revolution witnessed the same sweeping scope in demonstrations. Cities, towns and villages all over Syria have taken to the streets in one call for freedom.
They have regained their citizenship. Demonstrators in Syria, from urban intellectuals to rural tribes and farmers, all realized that the only way to achieve their dream is to adhere to civil means of activism: non-violent protests, calls for basic human rights and democracy. To get their message out, activists resorted to citizen journalism and social media. In spite of the regime’s severe crackdown, the level of coordination and professionalism among activists has been impeccable.
They know that any armed group, including the Syrian National Army, must be an entity whose only mission is to protect and defend peaceful protesters.
They also understand that political power is for the people. The Lebanese, who for years have had relative access to democratic means, have instead preferred to submit to sectarian leaders who prefer the state remain paralyzed and unaccountable. Unlike us, and despite inevitable disagreements among opposition figures, the Syrians decided from the beginning that there is no such thing as a leader, but a representative whose only goal is to work on behalf of the people. For example, the Syrian National Council will likely face internal restructuring and change in leadership in the very near future.
The Council did not have credibility until the people on the ground supported it with their slogans, and now it is losing legitimacy because the same people disapprove of it. Today, the people on the streets will decide who represents them. The Syrians, whom we have disrespected and ridiculed, told the world that they too deserve freedom and dignity. Without diplomatic manoeuvres or corrupt compromises, they saw their moment and took advantage of it. They have put us all to shame. We Lebanese should apologize to the Syrians for not only what we have done, but what we have failed to do. We need their courage today more than ever. We need to cling to their dreams and power. Maybe we could learn something from them, maybe we could start by sacrificing a bit of our arrogance.
*Hanin Ghaddar is managing editor of NOW Lebanon.

The mother of all questions
Hazem Saghiyeh, January 9, 2012
Let us take for granted that Islamic political movements have come to power in a given Arab country through electoral processes. Does this mean a reenactment of the unelected religious regimes, the likes of which we have witnessed and are still witnessing nowadays? It is probably not the case. The reason is that Islamic movements never fail to assert that they will abide by the electoral process and the peaceful transition of power. They also display an apparent flexibility when talking about the Western forces that will exert pressure in the future to hold on to parliamentary democracy.
There are enough arguments to say that a religious movement coming to political power these days will find itself confronted to questions it cannot answer. Indeed, religion – and any religion at that – has nothing to say regarding inflation, the labor force and the problematic issues of economic cooperation and complementarity, which are put forth by globalization, provided that “religious reference authorities” do have something to say on foreign policies, culture and modern education. The contradiction with elected religious governments is to grow worse as the economy, especially as securing youth employment, will acquire an increasingly central importance across the region in the future. Young men and women and, in general, all sectors that care about freedom and about some form of modernism will not be easily brought back under repression following the experience of uprisings and appropriation of public space. This assumption does not mean in any way that we should hail the arrival of Islamic forces to power. This, as such, represents a major setback for values and relations we want to impute to ourselves. Yet this setback, which is due to many factors, the latest of which being the extended and deep-ranging repression of current regimes, has come to represent an irresistible popular demand. As it has become known, resistance against this demand in Algeria about two decades ago caused a horrific civil war. At the time, the Islamic Salvation Front won the first round of the elections only to have the authorities abrogate the results of the vote. As the latest count shows, one cannot speak of democracy and refuse to allow Islamists or anyone else to come to power through general elections.The negative results of this setback will undoubtedly emerge as long as Islamic forces are in power. Women and culture will see their freedoms attacked; minorities are likely to suffer, and so are public education and reason. Yet all this would be nothing if Islamists can be persuaded to abide by the principle of transition of power. At the end of the day, this will be the mother of all questions Arabs – and especially Islamists among them – will have to answer.
*This article is a translation of the original, which was posted on the NOW Arabic site on Monday January 9, 2012

Future bloc MPs say FPM politically “bankrupt”
January 9, 2012 /Future bloc MPs Hadi Hobeich and Jamal al-Jarrah said on Monday that the Free Patriotic Movement is politically “bankrupt.”During a press conference held at the parliament, the MPs defended Future bloc leader MP Fouad Siniora and slammed the FPM’s accusation that Siniora is not concerned about public funds. FPM leader MP Michel Aoun has repeatedly called for penalizing the Future bloc leader over alleged theft.“Aoun, who claims that Siniora is not concerned about public funds, has a history in embezzlement; [so] he does not have the right to make such claims [against Siniora],” said Jarrah.-NOW Lebanon

Egyptian Copt tycoon faces trial for insulting religion
January 9, 2012 /Egyptian telecom magnate Naguib Sawiris faces trial for insulting religion after tweeting a caricature of Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse in Islamic garb, an Islamist lawyer who filed a legal complaint against him said Monday.The court will hear the case against Sawiris, a billionaire Coptic Christian who founded the liberal Free Egyptians Party, on January 14, said the lawyer Mamduh Ismail, a member of the ultra-conservative Al-Gamaa al-Islamiya group."The case has been referred to court," said Ismail.But the prosecution, which refers such cases to courts, could not confirm that Sawiris would go on trial. Sawiris sparked a firestorm of criticism after tweeting a cartoon of Mickey Mouse with a beard and Minnie Mouse in a face veil, joking that the cartoon characters would be forced to dress conservatively if Islamists took power.He apologized for the caricature after Islamists called for a boycott of his cell phone service provider Mobinil.The list that Sawiris' party was on won no more than 15 percent of the vote over three rounds of parliamentary elections since November that have been dominated by Islamists.He could not be reached for comment.-AFP/NOW Lebanon

Hariri: Arab League fell into Assad’s trap
January 9, 2012 /Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri said on Monday that the Arab League is falling into Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s “trap.”“I think it is sad that the Arab League is falling into this trap, but I am confident that the Syrian people will be free,” Hariri said via the social networking website Twitter.The Future Movement leader added that the Arab League should have taken the issue of the Syrian crisis to the United Nations.He also said that “the Syrian regime has fallen,” adding: “There will not be a civil war there.”The Arab ministers' meeting in Cairo gave a widely criticized observer mission to Syria the green light to continue, and pledged to boost the number of monitors. Meanwhile, Assad’s troops have cracked down on protests against almost five decades of Baath Party rule which broke out mid-March, killing over 5,000 people and triggering a torrent of international condemnation.-NOW Lebanon

Sleiman calls for “modern” electoral law
January 9, 2012 /President Michel Sleiman called on Monday for establishing a “modern and developed” electoral law that is in agreement with the principles of the Lebanese constitution and society.
During a conference entitled, “Lebanon and the proportional representation system for the 2013 parliamentary elections,” Sleiman voiced hope that a “consensual vision” that serves “correct parliamentary representation” is achieved between the Lebanese parties. He also said that an electoral law that “is devoted to sectarianism” should not be established, adding that an electoral law should help maintain Lebanon’s institutions. “An electoral law must guarantee the [proper] representation of women and youth,” Sleiman also said, adding that Lebanese expatriates’ right to vote should not be ignored.
Lebanese parties are presently debating the electoral law for the upcoming 2013 parliamentary elections. After the parliament agreed on drafting a law based on proportional representation, some parties rejected the proposed law and called for adopting the 2009 electoral law, which is based on simple majority representation.-NOW Lebanon

Iran judge sentences American to death for spying
January 9, 2012 /An American ex-Marine, who also holds Iranian citizenship, has been sentenced to death by an Iranian judge for spying for the CIA, the Fars news agency reported on Monday.
Amir Mirzai Hekmati, 28, was "sentenced to death for cooperating with a hostile nation, membership of the CIA and trying to implicate Iran in terrorism," the verdict said, according to Fars.
Hekmati, who was born in the United States to an Iranian immigrant family, was shown on Iranian state television in mid-December saying in fluent Farsi and English that he was a Central Intelligence Agency operative sent to infiltrate the Iranian intelligence ministry.He had been arrested months earlier.Iranian officials said his cover was blown by agents for Iran who spotted him at the US-run Bagram military air base in neighboring Afghanistan. But Hekmati's family in the United States told US media he had travelled to Iran to visit his Iranian grandmothers and he was not a spy.
In his sole trial hearing, on December 27, prosecutors relied on Hekmati's "confession" to say he tried to penetrate the intelligence ministry by posing as a disaffected former US soldier with classified information to give. The United States has demanded Hekmati's release. The State Department said Iran has not permitted diplomats from the Swiss embassy – which handles US interests in the absence of US-Iran ties – to see Hekmati before or during his trial. -AFP/NOW Lebanon

Future bloc MP Khodor Habib: Reports of Al-Qaeda presence in Lebanon are ‘to scare Christians’
January 9, 2012 /Future bloc MP Khodor Habib said on Monday reports of Al-Qaeda presence in Lebanon were “to scare the Christians” in the country.
“Some want to turn the issue of Al-Qaeda from the Syrian regime’s way to escalate tension to a way to scare the Christians,” Habib told the Free Lebanon radio station.
“This is what [MP Michel Aoun’s] Free Patriotic Movement is doing,” the MP added. Habib commented on the crisis in Syria, saying that President Bashar al-Assad’s regime “cannot continue ruling if the people do not want it.” Assad’s troops have cracked down on protests against almost five decades of Baath Party rule which broke out mid-March, killing over 5,000 people and triggering a torrent of international condemnation. Meanwhile, Lebanese Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn warned of the presence of Al-Qaeda cells in the Lebanese town of Aarsal, which is near the Syrian border.
A suicide bombing hit Damascus on Friday, killing 25 and wounding dozens of mostly civilians, state media said, blaming "terrorists" for the second such attack on the Syrian capital in two weeks.
-NOW Lebanon