LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
March 15/2012

Bible Quotation for today/Good Managers of God's Gifts
01 Peter 04/07-11: "The end of all things is near. You must be self-controlled and alert, to be able to pray. Above everything, love one another earnestly, because love covers over many sins. Open your homes to each other without complaining. Each one, as a good manager of God's different gifts, must use for the good of others the special gift he has received from God. Those who preach must preach God's messages; those who serve must serve with the strength that God gives them, so that in all things praise may be given to God through Jesus Christ, to whom belong glory and power forever and ever. Amen.

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
The killer of Children/By Tariq Alhomayed/Asharq Alawsat/March 14/12
The test of the Muslim Brotherhood’s rule/By Emad El Din Adeeb/March 14/12
The war between the Muslim Brotherhood and Hezbollah in Syria/By Hamad Al-Majid/March 14/12
Netanyahu's 'catastrophe law' prevents an Iran strike/By Nehemia Shtrasler/Haaretz /March 14/2012

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for March 14/2012
Bellemare implies Hezbollah implicated in Hariri killing
 Israel develops its own bunker buster
Americans will back U.S. military action if Iran seeks nuclear arms, poll shows
Iran official denies attempt to clean up alleged nuclear military site
Geagea: Rai's defense of Syria Endangers Christians
Sleiman, Aoun defend Rai from critics
Lebanon's Arabic press digest - March 13, 2012
Iranian-backed terror groups expanding reach in South America, warns general
Syrian Violence Escalates as Envoy Awaits Response
Assad accused of mining Syrian borders
HRW Slams Syria over Planting Mines along Lebanon Border
Syrian forces pound rebels, Annan awaits Assad reply
French War Surgeon Speaks of "Hell" in Syria
Syrian army tightens grip on Idlib
U.S. warns Americans against travel to Baalbek
Russia says it will keep selling weapons to Syria
Lebanon arrests seven suspected of planning attack
Report: Extremist Network Planned Attack on Military School
Army Thwarts Attempts to Smuggle Weapons out of Ain el-Hilweh
Suleiman Hails al-Rahi's 'Efforts to Preserve Free Christian Presence'
Jumblat Slams Israel Raids on Gaza: Murderer Regimes are Alike
Mustaqbal Urges Impartial Arab-Int'l Probe into Syria Massacres
Fitch: Syria turmoil underlines Lebanon economic risk
Army rescues Syrian abducted in Bekaa region
U.S. warns Americans against travel to Baalbek
Assad's army captures Syria rebel stronghold of Idlib, activists say
Amnesty: Syria detainees face systematic torture
Italian envoy stresses need to end Syria crisis and keep Lebanon stable
Qabbani, Ali discuss Syria bloodshed as protesters call for downfall of regime
Top official: Israel gave no guarantees in exchange for Gaza truce
Gaza militants fire rocket at Israeli town, despite truce
 Obama, Cameron pledge 'to tighten the noose' on Assad regime
Israelis warned of travel to Turkey over imminent terror threat
Egypt's parliament wants Israel's ambassador out

Bellemare implies Hezbollah implicated in Hariri killing
March 14, 2012/The Daily Star
Court prosecutor Daniel Bellemare of Canada looks on during a ceremony in Leidschendam, Netherlands, Sunday March 1, 2009. (AP Photo/Bas Czerwinski)
BEIRUT: Former Prosecutor for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Daniel Bellemare has made statements that appear to indicate his belief that Hezbollah is implicated in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Speaking about evidence concerning interconnected cellphone networks that resulted in the indictment last year of four members of the resistance party, Bellemare is quoted in a Canadian newspaper as saying: “Hezbollah didn’t know at the time that the cellphones were leaving traces. After that, the line went dead.”
The statement marks the first time Bellemare referred to Hezbollah directly. Previously, Bellemare had left open the possibility that the four indicted individuals, although benefiting from expertise gained through their membership in Hezbollah, could have carried out the attack without the knowledge of the party.
In Bellemare’s indictment, which the STL published in full two months after it was issued in March 2011, he concludes that given two of the four suspects’ standing in Hezbollah, they “had the capability” to kill Hariri.
The four men indicted for the attack, Mustafa Amine Badreddine, Salim Jamil Ayyash, Hussein Hassan Oneissi and Assad Hasan Sabra, are accused of terrorism and intentional homicide.Hezbollah has denied the allegations, with the party’s chief Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah describing the suspects as honorable men who have fought against Israel.
The resistance party has maintained that the U.N.-backed court is an “Israeli-U.S.” tool targeting the party and aiming to sow sectarian strife in the country. Nasrallah has also questioned the credibility of Bellemare and accused his team of having ties to the CIA. In his interview with the Ottawa Citizen, the first since he retired in late February, Bellemare described Nasrallah’s accusations as “insulting,” saying: “We were always driven by one thing: to find the truth.”The STL is a divisive issue in Lebanon, with the March 14 coalition insisting that the court is the only means to achieve justice, while the March 8 alliance supports Hezbollah’s stance. Bellemare announced last December that he would not seek to be reappointed as prosecutor for the court’s second mandate. In the interview, Bellemare also revealed that donor countries were eager to issue indictments.
“A lot of people wanted a quick indictment,” Bellemare said. “I resisted that all along. This is not the way we have been trained. This is not the way it should be done.”
He also talked about calls “to pull the plug” on the court. According to Bellemare: “The pressure we had was unbelievable. Donor countries wanted to see results. But when you can’t discuss the investigation, you have to tell them, trust me, it’s moving along.”When the arrest warrants were issued for the four suspects, Hezbollah said that it would never turn over the men. After failing to arrest the suspects, the court decided last month to try the four men in absentia. Bellemare, however, seemed optimistic that those who had assassinated Hariri would be tried and brought to justice: “I never despair,” he said. He also said the court was a first step for Lebanon to show that perpetrators are held to account. “Now, what people want is to send a clear message: Nobody’s above the law,” Bellemare said. “If you commit a crime, you will pay. This, to me, is a huge, huge step forward.”
Separately, the STL announced in a statement that Bellemare’s successor, Norman Farrell, as well as the Daniel Nsereko, the new Appeals Chamber judge, were sworn in.
“It is my devout hope and expectation that, with both prosecution and defense teams in place and the Chambers now back to full strength, we can together deliver justice in accordance with the law,” said Judge David Baragwanath, the head of the STL, during the swearing-in ceremony

Israel develops its own bunker buster
DEBKAfile Special Report March 13, 2012/ Israel has developed an improved precision, bunker-burrowing weapon which Israeli Military Industries (IMI) unveiled on March 6. The 500-pound MPR-500 is an electro-optical (laser-guided) bomb that can penetrate double-reinforced concrete walls or floors without breaking apart.
The bomb was shown in action penetrating four reinforced concrete walls with fragmentation from the explosion limited to a radius of less than three meters.
The new weapon is designed as an upgrade for the US Mk82 in Israel Air Force stocks. “The lethality, precision… and relatively low weight of the new weapon,” say its manufacturers, “enable its use against multiple targets in a single pass.”
After blowing the first hole in the targeted underground site, the next bombs continue to extend and deepen it.
The MPR-500 bridges an operational gap between the 250-pound US GBU-39 small-diameter bomb, 1,000 of which were approved for sale to Israel and the 5,000-pound GBU-28 American super-bunker buster. debkafile notes: The IMI’s presentation of the MPR-500 took place at the height of Israel’s argument with the Obama administration over the need for a near-term strike on Iran’s nuclear sites – especially those Tehran is busy transferring to fortified underground bunkers.
It attracted little attention because on the same day, Iran was invited by the Six Powers for nuclear negotiations, Tehran sent out its own invitation to UN nuclear inspectors to visit the suspect military site of Parchin (about which Iran has been hedging since) and the British cabinet received a top-secret intelligence briefing on the likelihood of an Israeli attack.
The Israeli Air Force is also reported to be planning to enlarge its Boeing-707 based aerial refueling tanker fleet, another key component in Israel’s ability to carry out an aerial strike against a target as distant as Iran. The expanded tanker fleet, by providing nearly 2 million pounds of fuel, would allow dozens of Israel F-15 and F-16 warplanes to carry more weapons on this mission. Israeli officials have consistently challenged the claims of some experts that the lack the military capacity for a successful strike against Iran’s nuclear facilties.

Geagea: Rai's defense of Syria imperils Christians
March 13, 2012/The Daily Star
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea speaks during the seventh anniversary of the assassination of Rafik Hariri in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2012. (The Daily Star/Mohammad Azakir)
BEIRUT: Lebanese Forces (LF) leader Samir Geagea slammed Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai’s stance on the unrest in Syria, accusing the influential religious leader of defending the Syrian regime and endangering Christians in the region.
“Practically speaking, the patriarch is defending this regime in Syria that we oppose,” said Geagea, who spoke to MTV in an interview Monday.
“Is Syria [in fact] the closest thing to democracy?” Geagea asked, responding to Rai's statement that Syria is the closest country to democracy in the region. Geagea added that Rai is "subjecting the position of Christians to danger by pitting them against others."
He also took issue with Rai’s recent statements about the “Arab Spring” turning into an Arab “winter,” saying they distorted the history of Christians in the region.
Last week, Rai said violence and bloodshed were turning the “Arab Spring” into an Arab “winter,” threatening Christians and Muslims alike across the Middle East.
Rai, whose Maronite Church also has a presence in Syria, said change could not be brought to the Arab world by force and that Christians feared the turmoil was helping extremist Muslim groups.
Geagea also said that the patriarch’s views differ from those of “ninety-nine percent of the people, including the Vatican, where Pope Benedict XVI urged Syria to recognize the ambitions and demands of the Syrian people.”
The LF leader said that the Syrian regime was largely responsible for weakening Christians in Lebanon and had killed thousands and imprisoned hundreds, including Butros Khawand, a prominent member of the Kataeb party.
“The Syrian regime killed – at least – presidents Bashir Gemayel and Rene Mouawad. Can a regime do worse than that?” he asked, adding that Rai’s stances were “dishonorable” and that he should further explicate his views so as to dispel the assumption that he supports Damascus.
“Is it reasonable for the Patriarch of the Maronites to have the same position as [Arab Tawhid Party leader Wiam] Wahhab, Russia and China? How can he justify this position?” Geagea asked, comparing Rai to Syria’s allies in Lebanon and the world.
Reiterating his full support of the “Syrian revolution” and the “Arab Spring” movement, Geagea expressed his disappointment over Rai’s stances, saying: “My basic position on the Syrian revolution is that I am against a dictatorial regime and with people demanding freedom and I’m sad for the patriarch. What will we say to our future generations about his support for the Syrian regime?”

Sleiman, Aoun defend Rai from critics
March 14, 2012/By Hussein Dakroub/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: President Michel Sleiman defended Tuesday Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai, saying the head of the Maronite Church was striving to preserve the presence of free Christians in the Levant in the face of popular upheavals sweeping the Arab world.
Sleiman’s remarks appeared to be in response to Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, who a day earlier lambasted Rai’s stance on the year-long popular uprising in Syria and accused the patriarch of defending the Syrian regime and endangering Christians in the region.
Speaking during a meeting with a delegation of Maronite bishops headed by Deputy Patriarch Roland Abu Jawdeh at Baabda Palace, Sleiman praised Rai’s efforts “to preserve the free Christian presence in the Levant as a message of civilization, interaction and dialogue that has characterized this region for ages.”
Sleiman praised Rai’s support for “democracy free of unilateralism, violence and extremism.” He renewed his support for Rai’s efforts to revitalize the Maronite Church and the patriarch’s keenness on minorities in the region in general, and particularly Christians.
For his part, Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun condemned Geagea’s verbal attack on Rai. “I was not surprised by the attack. But a personal insult and accusations against Rai are unacceptable and rejected. We are on his [Rai’s] side,” Aoun told reporters after a meeting of his Parliamentary Change and Reform bloc.
Sleiman and Aoun’s remarks came a day after Geagea accused Rai of defending the Syrian regime and endangering Christians in the region.
“Practically speaking, the patriarch is defending the regime in Syria while we are against it,” Geagea said in an interview with MTV Monday night. “Is Syria [in fact] the closest to democracy?” Geagea asked, responding to Rai’s statement that Syria is the closest country to democracy in the region. “Patriarch Rai is putting the position of Christians in danger because he is pitting them against others,” he said.
Geagea also took issue with Rai’s recent statements about the Arab Spring turning into an Arab “winter,” saying they distorted the history of Christians in the region.
“I am not proud of Rai’s statement. The patriarch’s latest statement supports the Syrian regime and its remaining in power,” Geagea said. He added that Rai’s assessment of the crisis in Syria differed from that of “99 percent of the people, including the Vatican, where Pope Benedict XVI has urged Syria to recognize the Syrian people’s ambitions” for change.
Last week, Rai said violence and bloodshed were turning the Arab Spring into an Arab winter, threatening Christians and Muslims alike across the Middle East. Rai, whose Maronite Church also has a presence in Syria, said change could not be brought to the Arab world by force and that Christians feared the turmoil was helping extremist Muslim groups.
Geagea said the Syrian regime was largely responsible for weakening Christians in Lebanon and had killed thousands and imprisoned hundreds, including Butros Khawand, a prominent member of the Kataeb Party.
“The Syrian regime killed – at least – [former] Presidents Bashir Gemayel and Rene Mouawad. Can a regime do worse than that?” he asked. Geagea said that Rai’s stances were “dishonorable” and that the patriarch should further explicate his views so as to dispel the assumption that he supports the regime in Syria.
Reiterating his full support of the Syrian revolution and the Arab Spring movement, Geagea expressed his disappointment over Rai’s stances, saying: “My basic position on the Syrian revolution is that I am against a dictatorial regime and with people demanding freedom and I’m sad for the patriarch. What will we say to our future generations about his support for the Syrian regime?”
Previous statements by Rai on Syria have also stirred controversy. During an official visit to France last year, Rai said that Assad should have been given a chance to carry out reform in Syria and voiced concerns over the fate of Christians in the region should a civil war break out between Alawites and Sunnis.
Meanwhile, Rai again condemned violence in Syria, either by the regime or rebel soldiers.
Apparently responding to his critics, Rai said in an interview with the Al-Jazeera satellite channel: “Where is the democracy they are talking about in Iraq today, particularly amid the emigration of Christians?”
“The [Maronite] Church is for everyone and is not with one against another. The Church will remain free with one national color, which is the Muslim-Christian National Pact,” he said.
Speaking at a dinner hosted in his honor by members of the Maronite community in Qatar Monday, Rai called on Lebanon’s rival political leaders to sit together to renew the National Pact on sectarian coexistence between Muslims and Christians. Rai visited Qatar as part of a regional tour that has also taken him to Jordan, and returned to Lebanon Tuesday evening.
“Lebanon is in crisis because it is affected by what is going on in the neighboring Arab world. Let’s be realistic. We are an indivisible part of this Arab world,” Rai said

Iranian-backed terror groups expanding reach in South America, warns general
By Carlo Munoz - 03/13/12/ The Hill/Iranian-backed terror groups are strengthening their ties to transnational criminal groups in South America and are working to expand their influence in the region, according to a top U.S. general.
“Iran is very engaged in the region,” Southern Command chief Gen. Douglas Fraser told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday. Iranian terror groups like Hamas and Hezbollah are involved in a number of “illicit activities” likely tied to the regional drug trade, according to Fraser.
“We do see evidence of international terrorist groups benefitting from ... illicit trafficking and money laundering” in South America, he said in a written statement to the panel. Specifically, both groups regularly look to South America to finance their operations in the Middle East through “licit avenues such as charitable donations, and illicit means, including trafficking in drugs, counterfeit and pirated goods,” according to Fraser.
Iran’s recent diplomatic push into South America could help Hamas and Hezbollah expand their foothold in the region. Iran “sees an opportunity” in South America, with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visiting the region six times over the past six years, according to Fraser. Tehran has expanded its network of embassies and cultural centers in Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia and Nicaragua during that time, he added.
Iran’s increased engagement with its South American allies is one way Tehran can get around the raft of economic and diplomatic sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies, the four-star commander said.
As Iran grows its official presence in the region, there could be a “natural coming together” of that effort and those led by radical Islamist groups, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) warned.

Lebanon's Arabic press digest - March 13, 2012
March 13, 2012/The Daily Star
Following are summaries of some of the main stories in a selection of Lebanese newspapers Tuesday. The Daily Star cannot vouch for the accuracy of these reports.
Al-Liwaa
March 14 manifesto renews calls for transitioning to the state in light of the Arab Spring
Mikati promises raft of appointments
Jumblatt criticizes Rai, condemns Assad: the West considers a political solution to be sufficient for Syria
Prime Minister Najib Mikati has announced that administrative appointments will be an item on the Cabinet’s agenda “very soon” as part of the mechanism agreed upon.
Meanwhile, a well-informed source told Al-Liwaa that the March 14 forces’ manifesto to be announced at the March 14 festival at BIEL is likely to be about preventing a collapse of the state amid the risks of continuing with its current approach [toward the Syria crisis]. Then it will address the Arab Spring which has emerged from the Lebanon Spring.
Ad-Diyar
Overspending issue discussed during meeting between Mikati, Hezbollah ministers
Kheireddine: Agreement in principle, differences on wording
The Grand Serail witnessed a series of meetings Monday in an effort to legalize extra-budgetary spending in which political leaders differed on the “wording” of the draft law.
March 14 was surprised by March 8’s return to the old language of accountability and rejecting the policy of “letting bygones be bygones,” a matter that could take the issue back to square one.
State Minister Marwan Kheireddine told Ad-Diyar that a broad meeting was held at the Grand Serail Monday between Mikati and several Cabinet ministers, including those representing Hezbollah as well as Nicolas Nahas and himself.
“There is an agreement in principle on solving the issue of a draft law on the $11 billion overspending, but the wording requires some time since the Arabic language is 'imprecise' and there are differences [between MPs] in this regard," Kheireddine said.
Al-Mustaqbal
Geagea criticizes Rai over support of Syrian regime
Hariri: Homs massacre a sign of Assad regime’s end
Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri has condemned the “heinous massacres at the hands of the enemy.”
“The least we can say is that the new massacre by Bashar Assad’s regime against innocent Syrian citizens in Homs does not only constitute a condemnation of this regime, but of the international community’s lack of humanity regarding the daily massacres of the Syrian people,” Hariri said.
Meanwhile, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea criticized Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai, saying in a late Monday night talk show on MTV: “Rai’s latest statement [shows] support for the Syrian regime and supports [Assad’s] stay in power. He is distorting our history.”
As-Safir
Lebanese Army monitored Fidaa and Jibran for 2 months ... arrested officer, a soldier and 5 civilians
The ‘takfiri cell’ planned to attack military academy ... military base
Well-informed sources told As-Safir that the “takfiri cell” – according to a preliminary investigation – is made up of members of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades.
They said the cell members had been under surveillance for several months following the arrest in north Lebanon of a Lebanese cleric which led to their capture.
Three of the suspects were identified as a student officer at the military academy, an adjutant and a navy commando officer (two from the north and one from the Bekaa).
Two of them were going by the noms de guerre of Fidaa and Jibran.
After interrogation of the three suspects, the adjutant was released for lack of evidence.
An-Nahar
New wave of refugees flock to north Lebanon
Geagea renews his campaign against Rai
While Prime Minister Najib Mikati remained committed to the “disassociation policy” as he spoke of “deliberate exaggeration” of the numbers of refugees fleeing the violence in Syria into Lebanon, a new massacre in Homs has led to a new wave of refugees flocking to the north.
Sources in north Lebanon told An-Nahar that by late Monday evening, dozens of Syrian families had entered Tripoli via Akkar while others had fled into the Bekaa.
Al-Akhbar
Two new tenders behind delay in power-generating ships
Prime Minister Najib Mikati has linked the issue of leasing electricity-generating ships with upgrading the terms and conditions of the offers, for the benefit of the Treasury.
Sources close to Mikati as well as parliamentary sources close to the Change and Reform bloc said the reason behind the delay in bringing the ships was that Mikati’s team received two better offers than those originally received by the committee in charge of this issue – one from a Turkish company and another from the U.S.
 

Syrian Violence Escalates as Envoy Awaits Response
VOA News
UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan speaks to the media after meeting with representatives of opposition Syrian National Council, in Ankara, Turkey, March 13, 2012.Violence continued across Syria Tuesday as former U.N. chief Kofi Annan awaited a response from Syria's government on his proposals to resolve the country's deadly violence from the on-going crackdown on dissent.
"I am expecting to hear from the Syrian authorities today since I have left some concrete proposals for them to consider. Once I receive their answer we will know how to react. But let me say the killing and violence must cease," he said.
Annan, now the U.N.-Arab League special envoy for Syria, commented in Turkey after meeting with members of the opposition Syrian National Council. He left Damascus on Sunday, after two days of talks ended without a settlement.
Activists say Syrian forces killed at least six people in a series of attack across the country. Also, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says rebels killed at least 21 members of forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad during ambushes in Idlib province and the southern Deraa region.
Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby called for an international probe into civilian deaths in Syria, saying they amounted to "crimes against humanity."
In another development, Assad set May 7 date for parliamentary elections. The elections are part of what the government calls a series of reforms based on a new constitution approved by referendum in February.
Opposition groups say the constitution is illegitimate and are demanding Assad's resignation.
Also, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland questioned the timing of the vote. "Parliamentary elections for a rubber-stamp parliament in the middle of the kind of violence that we're seeing across the country, it's ridiculous," she said.
The United States, Britain and Russia have each called for a halt to the violence in Syria, but the United Nations Security Council remains divided on how to resolve the crisis.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says his country will press Syria to accept a plan that calls for a "simultaneous" truce between government forces and armed rebels.
He commented Tuesday, a day after Security Council foreign ministers met in New York.
Russia and China have vetoed Security Council resolutions condemning the Syrian government's deadly crackdown on its opponents. They say the resolutions called for interfering in Syria's internal affairs.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said the Security Council has "failed" in its responsibilities to the Syrian people and that the diplomatic challenge now is to build on areas where the international community agrees. "It is encouraging that everybody is talking about a political process. Everybody is now talking about humanitarian aid being delivered, about a cessation of violence and everybody on the United Nations Security Council of course is supporting the work of Kofi Annan. So there are now many common elements, but the task of bringing them together in a resolution remains," he said.
U.N. officials estimate that 7,500 people have died in the year-long violence.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.

Lebanon arrests seven suspected of planning attack
March 13, 2012/By Mariam Karouny /Daily
BEIRUT: The Lebanese army has arrested seven people, including two soldiers, suspected of being part of a Sunni Islamist network which had planned to carry out attacks on military targets, security sources said on Tuesday. "The army arrested a Salafi network with connections to al Qaeda that wanted to blow up military bases," one of the sources said. "They had recruited two from the army - one is a sergeant and another is a student officer - and five civilians."He said the Lebanese army was negotiating the handover of the group's leader, a Palestinian, with the authorities who run one of the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.He said the seven suspects were arrested 10 days ago.Another source said the two army suspects were transferred to a military court four or five days ago. "The issue now is in the hands of the judiciary," he said. It was not immediately clear whether the suspects are members of the militant group Fatah al-Islam which the Lebanese army fought for three months in 2007 in the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared in north Lebanon.Approximately 425,000 Palestinians are registered as refugees in Lebanon by the U.N., many of them live in 12 camps scattered across the country in bad conditions.

Assad accused of mining Syrian borders
Updated March 14, 2012/
Syria's president Bashar al-Assad has called elections for May, as activists accused his regime of laying landmines at border crossings to stop refugees fleeing into neighbouring countries.
Mr Assad issued a decree setting May 7 as the date for parliamentary elections that were delayed last year. The vote is part of a raft of reforms announced by Mr Assad in a bid to calm a year-long uprising against his regime that began with democracy protests. But it has already been rejected by activists, and the United States says plans to go to the polls while violence in the country continues are "ridiculous". The elections would be the third time a legislative vote has taken place in Syria since Mr Assad came to power in 2000.
The last parliamentary poll in 2007 saw the National Progressive Front - a coalition led by Mr Assad's Ba'ath Party - seize the majority of the 250 seats in the assembly.
The announcement came amid reports the Syrian government is laying landmines along the borders with Turkey and Lebanon.
Borders mined
Human Rights Watch has accused the Syrian regime of planting landmines near its borders with Lebanon and Turkey, along routes used by refugees fleeing the country.
A UN report suggests nearly 250,000 Syrians have fled their homes since the uprising began.
"We released today pictures and even footage of some of these anti-personnel land mines that have been put under a lot of these access roads being used by the refugees," the deputy director of the group's Middle East division, Nadim Houry, told the ABC's 7.30.
"We've also interviewed some of the wounded from these mines in Lebanon and in Turkey.
"Really, these land mines are not just a threat today to the civilians fleeing, but they're also a threat to Syrians in the future as we've seen in so many conflict countries.
"We're really calling on the Syrian army to stop laying those mines and to remove those it has already laid."
Mr Houry said the latest landmine casualty was on March 5, when a young Syrian man crossing back into Syria from Turkey stepped on a mine and lost his right leg.
Peace envoy Kofi Annan, who left Syria on Sunday, has held talks with opposition groups as part of a new campaign to find a political solution to the crisis.
He has received a response from Mr Assad on "concrete proposals" which he had submitted to him in two rounds of talks in Damascus at the weekend.
"They did respond. Their responses are being considered," spokesman Ahmad Fawzi told AFP, declining to give details of Syria's response.
Massacre 'hysteria' Meanwhile the Assad regime has launched a counter-offensive against what it says are lies by foreign media groups hell-bent on serving the propaganda interests of gangs terrorising Syria. Anti-regime activists on Monday posted online videos showing the bodies of dozens of women and children they said were massacred by regime forces in Karm el-Zaytoun district of the flashpoint city of Homs, in central Syria.
Foreign news broadcasters beamed grisly images of the bodies of 26 children and 21 women, some with their throats slit and others bearing stab wounds, around the world, as the opposition pushed for foreign military intervention in Syria. Syrian state television quickly responded with counter-claims that Sunday's killings were carried out by "armed terrorist gangs" out to grab the propaganda spotlight and discredit Mr Assad's regime internationally. "We are used to them committing more crimes before meetings of the UN Security Council," it said, while denouncing "hysteria" in the foreign media over events in Syria. State television ran its own version of the massacre, showing bodies it said were filmed in Karm el-Zaytoun.
"The terrorists committed these crimes to satisfy their thirst for blood," it charged in comments broadcast throughout the day. The Arab League says it wants a neutral inquiry into crimes against the Syrian people, and says the elimination of entire families could be described as crimes against humanity. ABC/AFP

French War Surgeon Speaks of "Hell" in Syria
By JOHN HEILPRIN Associated Press
GENEVA March 13, 2012 (AP)
French surgeon Jacques Beres has operated in war zones for 40 years, but he says the carnage in Syria is among the most horrific he has ever witnessed.
Beres smuggled himself into the battered Syrian city of Homs for two weeks in February, setting up a makeshift hospital in a home where he operated on 89 wounded in a span of 12 days. Many were elderly or children. He saved most of them, but nine died on the operating table.
At a meeting of human rights activists Tuesday in Geneva, the 71-year-old Parisian — apparently the only Western doctor to get into Homs — spoke with passion about the bloodshed and the horrific conditions.
"This is a hell," said Beres, a co-founded of Doctors Without Borders and Doctors of the World who has worked in war zones including Vietnam, Rwanda and Iraq. "It's mass murder. It's totally unfair. It's unjustifiable."
Beres went to Syria at the request of two groups, France-Syrie Democracy and the Union of Muslim Associations in France. He crossed the border illegally from Lebanon to set up his operating table in an abandoned home with just three beds.
He said his biggest challenges were the basics: scarce electricity and finding enough room for stretchers.
Beres said that people in Homs, the heart of the Syrian rebellion, lived in despair despite their gratitude to journalists for telling the world of their plight.
"They say it's good that you're thinking about us, but they say it doesn't give us food, medicine or weapons," he told the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy.
The Syrian uprising began in March with mostly peaceful protests in a number of the country's impoverished provinces. As security forces violently suppressed them, killing thousands, the protests grew and escalated into an armed insurrection. The U.N. refugee agency said 230,000 Syrians have fled their homes since the uprising against Assad's regime began last year. The U.N. says more than 7,500 people have been killed in the past 12 months. Activist groups say the death toll for the 11-month-old uprising has surpassed 8,000.
Hadeel Kouki, a 20-year-old Syrian activist, told the group that she spent 52 days in prison after the Syrian military intelligence summoned her for questioning. She had handed out leaflets at her university, urging fellow students to demonstrate. "We have about 10,000 dead until now and the killing is constant. We have about 100 dead every day. This number includes a lot of children. They die in their homes," said Kouki, who studied English literature and law. Kouki said the first time she was arrested, she spent 40 days in prison under "horrible circumstances" and then was arrested twice more. The authorities, she said, "tortured me with electricity and abused me in very bad ways in prison."
She said she was released but denied the right to return to university at Aleppo. She is now in Egypt, engaged in cyber activism against Syrian President Bashar Assad.
The Assad regime insists that it is fighting foreign terrorists and criminal gangs, denying that the yearlong uprising is a popular revolt.
Kouki said there are no foreign fighters in Syria. "I can tell you all of that is not true," she said. "There were no foreigners, there were no terrorists. That's propaganda of the government."

Amnesty: Syria detainees face systematic torture
By the CNN Wire Staff/ March 13, 2012
(CNN) -- People arrested amid unrest in Syria are being subjected to systematic torture, including electric shocks, beatings and sexual violence, a report by rights group Amnesty International said Wednesday. Based on interviews in Jordan with dozens of Syrians who have fled the country, the report details "31 methods of torture or other ill treatment" at the hands of the security forces, army and pro-government armed gangs. This Thursday marks a year since unrest first broke out, prompting a bloody crackdown and massive wave of arrests by the Syrian authorities. The government says it is battling "armed terrorist groups" but international leaders and rights groups dispute that. The torture meted out to those arrested on suspicion of opposing the government has generally followed a set pattern, says the Amnesty International report, titled "'I wanted to die': Syria's torture survivors speak out." Many detainees say they were beaten on arrest, and then subjected to severe beatings on arrival at detention centers. But their accounts show the greatest risk of abuse came when they were interrogated, the report says. Several detainees describe being forced into a vehicle tire and then beaten with cables or sticks, the report says. Others tell of being suspended above the ground by their wrists and then beaten, and of being forced to strip naked, often for long periods in extreme cold.
An 18-year-old victim named as "Karim" told researchers that his interrogators used pincers to gouge flesh from his legs while he was held for 25 days in Daraa in December.
Another man, a 29-year-old Arabic language teacher identified as "Musleh," also described horrific treatment while being held in Daraa. "We were hung from wood -- crucified -- while blindfolded and handcuffed, and then beaten mercilessly and repeatedly between 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.," he told the Amnesty researchers.
Detainees also were forced to witness abuse and hear others -- sometimes relatives or friends -- being tortured and raped, the report says.
"I heard the screams of those being tortured for 24 hours a day. While in the cell we were busy praying for the safety of those who are being tortured," Musleh is quoted as saying.
The accounts reveal "a nightmarish world of systematic torture," said Ann Harrison, interim deputy director for Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa program.
"The testimonies we have heard give disturbing insights into a system of detention and interrogation which, a year after protests began, appears intended primarily to degrade, humiliate and terrify its victims into silence," she said.
She said the experience for detainees arrested over the past year is similar to that endured under former President Hafez Assad, father of the current leader, Bashar al-Assad.
Researchers spoke with dozens of Syrians in Jordan, including 25 who said they were tortured or ill-treated in detention before fleeing the country, an Amnesty press statement says. More than half the 19 cases featured in the report are from Daraa province, it adds.
The abuses are being routinely carried out despite Syria being a party to the Convention against Torture and other international agreements, the report says, and the Syrian authorities "appear to have no desire to try to stamp out these grave human rights violations."
The rights group urges Syria to take "urgent measures" to prevent further crimes under international law, including ending the arbitrary arrest and detention of those protesting peacefully against the government and halting the systemic use of torture. It also calls on the international community to take on responsibility for protecting the human rights of the Syrian people and ensuring violations are investigated and prosecuted. International leaders should also assist humanitarian agencies, rights groups and non-governmental organizations in helping the survivors of torture and their families, particularly in cases of sexual violence.
Lastly, the report urges the U.N. Security Council to act by referring the situation to the International Criminal Court for investigation, imposing a comprehensive arms embargo and freezing the assets of al-Assad and his associates. Russia and China vetoed a Security Council resolution last month that many other countries argued could have helped stop the violence. The resolution would have condemned al-Assad and called on him to step aside.
More than 8,000 people have been killed in the Syrian conflict, including many women and children, Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, current president of the U.N. General Assembly, said Tuesday. Opposition activists have put the toll at more than 9,000. About 30,000 Syrians have fled to neighboring countries in the past year, according to Panos Moumtzis, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees' coordinator for Syrian refugees.
CNN cannot independently confirm reports of casualties or attacks in Syria because the government has severely restricted the access of international journalists.
But most reports from inside Syria indicate the regime is slaughtering civilians to wipe out dissidents seeking al-Assad's ouster. The al-Assad family has ruled Syria for more than four decades. Members of the Syrian security forces are also among those killed as the initially peaceful protests have spiraled into widespread violence.

Netanyahu's 'catastrophe law' prevents an Iran strike
By Nehemia Shtrasler/Haaretz
The politician understands that in order to prevent a future catastrophe, he must generate a small crisis immediately.To survive in our political jungle, we must stick to a number of fundamental rules or laws. One of the more obvious ones is the "catastrophe law," which states that a politician will never act to prevent a future catastrophe, even if he is certain it is impending.
The reason he won't prevent it is not because he is evil or indifferent, but because the public would not appreciate it. The politician understands that in order to prevent a future catastrophe, he must generate a small crisis immediately. But the moment he creates the small crisis, the entire public will blame him for the unpleasant consequences. He will be declared a failure and one who panics easily, and will pay a heavy political price. Nobody will give him credit for preventing a catastrophe because no catastrophe took place.
Before examining the Iranian situation vis-a-vis the catastrophe law, here are two examples to prove it, one economic and the other military. The economic example pertains to the banking crisis of 1983. Yaakov Gadish, the treasury budgets commissioner, realized back in 1981 that the banks' share manipulation needed to be stopped. Gadish told then Finance Minister Yoram Aridor that the share manipulation must be stopped because that huge balloon would blow up one day and bring the whole economy down with it.
Aridor said fine, but first get the bankers' agreement to an orderly cessation of the manipulation. Gadish spoke to the bankers, but not all of them consented. He returned to Aridor and insisted that the treasury halt the manipulation unilaterally. But Aridor wasn't too keen. Being all too familiar with the catastrophe law, he knew that if he stopped the manipulation by himself, the bankers and public would accuse him of killing the goose that laid the golden eggs and made us all rich (on paper ). Nobody would credit him with preventing a catastrophe, which indeed came two years later in October 1983.
The military example regards the Yom Kippur War. Imagine if Golda Meir had come to her senses and ordered a preemptive strike on the Egyptian and Syrian armies in October 1973. Most of the public (and the whole world ) would have condemned her for warmongering. They would have claimed the other side was only conducting a drill and she, gripped by hysteria, had caused an unnecessary war in which dozens of soldiers had died. Who would have understood, let alone accepted, that by so doing, Golda would have prevented the Yom Kippur War and its 2,569 IDF fatalities?
Now for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Iran. If Netanyahu strikes Iran, he will break the catastrophe law, because he will be creating a small crisis to prevent a future catastrophe. The missiles expected to fall on Tel Aviv are nothing compared to the danger of Iran's nuclear missiles. And all this is even before the significant change expected to occur in Israel's strategic situation with regard to Syria and Hezbollah in the north and Islamic Jihad in the south, at the moment Iran turns into a nuclear power.
Some argue against attacking Iran, because it is impossible to know if the strike will destroy Iran's nuclear capability, especially since it is not certain whether Iran will attack Israel when it has nuclear weapons. They err in understanding their leaders' responsibilities. The leaders' entire role should be to assess the risks involved in dire future scenarios in an uncertain world. If they find that a future catastrophe which will cause enormous damage is possible, it is their duty to act now - even if the probability is low. Sometimes a leader must initiate a small war in order to prevent a big catastrophe in the future. That is precisely what his duty is.
The easiest thing is to frighten the public by discussing all the risks involved in an attack on Iran, without mentioning the consequences of not carrying out such an attack. For example, was then Prime Minister Ehud Olmert right to attack (according to foreign sources ) a nuclear facility in Syria in 2007? He too took a huge risk.
All this does not mean Israel should attack Iran now. In any case, the chances of that happening are slim, simply because Netanyahu knows the catastrophe law all too well.
 

The killer of Children
By Tariq Alhomayed/Asharq Alawsat
The latest massacre of Karm al-Zaytun in Homs is both distressing and shameful; it was a massacre of both Syrian women and children carried out by the al-Assad regime in front of the eyes of the international community, which remains silent and powerless. The massacre confirms that the cost of international inactivity will be very high in Syria and the region as a whole and the international community will not be isolated from the repercussions.
The details of the latest massacre are disgraceful in every sense of the word, and they show the al-Assad regime’s desire to enact revenge on the Syrians and abuse them in a savage, barbaric manner, with tactics including rape, mutilation, and killing children in grotesque fashion. Of course, nothing justifies these crimes, but the latest massacre clearly shows that events in Syria have taken a dangerous sectarian turn, at least on the part of the al-Assad regime. The nature of the killings does not suggest battle combat; rather the killings are strategic operations indicative of hatred, and a strong desire for murder and revenge, with no sanctity for women or children.
All of the above not only fuels the emotions of Syria alone, but the whole region. The al-Assad regime is undertaking brutal acts against the Syrians who do not have any means to defend themselves; the confrontation is not equal, and we are facing a regime that uses its entire arsenal to kill unarmed civilians in front of the eyes of the international community. Furthermore, the latest massacre took place after [UN-Arab League peace envoy] Kofi Annan had released statements expressing optimism for his mission in Syria, after his meeting with Bashar al-Assad. Here perhaps Mr. Annan - and others like him who are optimistic of reaching a diplomatic solution in Syria - should read what was published in Asharq Al-Awsat yesterday, citing the Turkish Foreign Minister, who said that he has visited Syria 62 times since becoming an advisor to the Turkish Prime Minister, and of course throughout those visits Bashar al-Assad has never fulfilled a single promise he made, or that his regime made, to the Turks. So what are Annan and others waiting for from a regime that has never abided by a promise it has made in the last ten years or more?
The al-Assad regime has decided to stay in power even if this means killing Syrians and today events in Syria have taken a dangerous sectarian curve. If the international community does not act with effective intervention to change the rules of the whole process in Syria, then the costs will increase day by day, and they will be paid by everyone, not just the Syrians or the people of the region. The al-Assad regime is counting on the sectarian dimension and acting accordingly, and here we see Iran, following the massacre of women and children in Homs, shamelessly declaring Tehran’s full support for Bashar al-Assad and his regime, so what is the international community waiting for? The story does not end with the UN Security Council, for protecting civilians is part of the international community’s duty, and this can be achieved outside the Security Council as long as the goal of this council is to protect the child killer in Damascus.
Therefore, there must be military intervention now, and we must see the mobilization of an international coalition of those willing to save the Syrians. Every day that passes without a decisive international stance means that the Syrian crisis will be prolonged, and its consequences will be catastrophic for the region. The international community and those influential within it must remember that what is happening in Syria will not expose al-Assad alone, but it will also expose all those who were able to do something to save the unarmed civilians but did not make a move.

The test of the Muslim Brotherhood’s rule
By Emad El Din Adeeb
Asharq Alawsat
The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood now holds the trump card for the upcoming presidential election, after it conclusively proved in the March referendum [on constitutional amendments] and the recent parliamentary elections that it possesses influential voting power in the Egyptian street.
Every presidential candidate now seeks the explicit and clear support of the Brotherhood.
Based on this concept, Egypt's political future can be imagined through the following equation:
1- The military establishment will relinquish power on a date no later than 30th June 2012.
2- The Muslim Brotherhood has won the vast majority of seats in both the parliament and the Shura Council.
3- For the first time there is now international blessing from the US, the European Union and a number of regional capitals for a current of political Islam coming to power.
4- On top of all this, the next President of the Republic will ultimately be determined by the votes of Brotherhood members, which means he will owe them and their upcoming government a huge political bill. If we go back to the 12th February 1949, the date when Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan al-Banna was assassinated, no one would ever have thought the day would come when the President of Egypt would be pro-Brotherhood, or the Islamists would have a majority government and the majority of parliamentary seats.
Given the current situation whereby the Muslim Brotherhood has become "empowered" politically for the first time, its members will be tempted to almost solely seize the reins of power and put the Islamic caliphate project into action.
The great challenge facing the Brotherhood now is: can it deliver on the public promises it long made whilst in opposition, or whilst its members were imprisoned in jails or detention camps?
How can the Muslim Brotherhood, at the top of the state, government and parliament, transform for the better the lives of 85 million Egyptian citizens, providing livelihoods, job opportunities, medication, education and other services?
How can the Muslim Brotherhood prove that the slogan [Islam is the Solution] it continued to chant for years is actually the "solution", more than just a slogan, and applicable on the ground?
Some political opponents of the Brotherhood say that the best thing to serve the group's critics is to enable the Islamists to seize power and hold a majority government. Then, according to their estimations, the Brotherhood’s project will be proven beyond doubt to be a failure.
Egypt now is in a position between those looking forward to the Muslim Brotherhood’s forthcoming project, and those skeptical about its ability to succeed.

The war between the Muslim Brotherhood and Hezbollah in Syria
By Hamad Al-Majid
Asharq Alawsat
If someone last year had said that some form of military confrontation was going to take place between Hezbollah fighters and armed militia affiliated to the Muslim Brotherhood, he would have been accused of insanity. The Brotherhood has very special and complex relations with Iran, as well as its adherer Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. As for the Hamas movement, a Muslim Brotherhood offshoot in Palestine, its relations with Iran have strengthened to the extent that the latter extends financial aid and pays part of Hamas' budget, as well as the salaries of its employees in the Gaza Strip. However, the Syrian revolution came as a surprise to everyone and sparked confusion, not only within the Syrian regime, but also with regards to the Brotherhood’s relations with Iran as well as its two allies in the region: Hezbollah and Hamas (with my deep conviction that Iran's alliance with the former is strategic and ideological, and its relations with the latter are tactical and timely).
Here the Muslim Brotherhood finds itself face to face with an issue that has gone beyond mere political skirmishes to a military confrontation, in line with the logical developments of any heated issue around the world (a political crisis must occur first and then a military confrontation may take place). It is not an exaggeration to say that the unlimited Iranian support for the Bashar al-Assad regime has led to open military confrontations between militant affiliates of the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria and fighters from both the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Hezbollah. This is because the Islamists, and principally the Muslim Brotherhood, are the backbone of the Syrian opposition, which is also an active participant in the armed opposition. At the same time, news has been leaked (from Brotherhood sources) reporting that both Iran and Hezbollah have members enrolled in Bashar al-Assad’s forces, in their fight against the Free Syrian Army (FSA), and this was evidenced in the footage showing Iranian soldiers being captured by the armed opposition.
Thus Syria has transformed into an arena for genuine political and military confrontation between the Shiite Crescent and the Muslim Brotherhood movement. Even if it is described by some as a cold war between the international Muslim Brotherhood Organization and the countries now ruled by Islamists on the one hand, and Iran and its ally the Bashar al-Assad regime on the other, over the Syrian revolution, the confrontation is still unprecedented. For example, the Ennahda movement which currently rules Tunisia, whose leader Rashed al-Ghannoushi has old and strong ties with the Iranian revolution, has also entered into this cold war, with Tunisia hosting a conference for the Syrian opposition and supporting politically. Although the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood originally adopted a somewhat vague position towards the Syrian revolution, and the movement was criticized sharply as a result, the Brotherhood has moved to adopt a more proactive stance in recent weeks. Even Hamas, a major beneficiary of Iranian financial support and Syrian logistical assistance, has broken its silence – albeit timidly – with regards to what is happening in Syria. It has begun to be liberated from its silence in the same manner that its leaders have also been liberated from Syrian pressure, or more precisely Syrian blackmail. This liberation took on qualitative steps when Hamas' leaders left Damascus, and reached its climax when Ismail Haniyeh, a senior leader of Hamas, issued statements during his recent visit to Cairo in which he advocated the Syrian people's demands.
The fruit of such a confrontation is that the moderation axis, whose relations with Iran and Syria have declined dramatically, now has a favorable opportunity to bridge the gap with the rising Islamic powers – those that have come to power in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya – and set aside their old differences, which were only a cause for further Iranian interference in the Arab region. This is because the ideological Iranian influence is like a harmful virus that only spreads in an infected atmosphere.

Aoun Hits Back at Geagea: Not for Him to Judge al-Rahi Remarks
by Naharnet /Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Tuesday snapped back at Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea who has criticized the stances of Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on the Syrian crisis.
“I’m not surprised by the campaign against the patriarch, but even at the peak of our dispute with the Maronite patriarchate, we did not launch such remarks against this spiritual post,” Aoun said after the weekly meeting of the Change and Reform parliamentary bloc in Rabiyeh.
“Personal accusations against the patriarch are rejected and unacceptable and we stand by His Eminence,” Aoun added.
Geagea on Monday slammed al-Rahi’s stances on Syria, saying his remarks “put all the Christians in the region in danger.”
“I can’t hide the fact that his statements had infuriated me, as they support the regime and contradict with our entire history and I cannot be proud of this rhetoric,” Geagea said in an interview on MTV.
But Aoun stressed that “it is not for Geagea to judge the value of the patriarch’s remarks.”
“Amid the toughest circumstances, we acknowledged the (former) patriarch’s spiritual leadership and did not use such words against him,” the FPM leader noted.
Addressing the extra-budgetary spending row, Aoun underlined that “there won’t be a settlement over the issue of financial auditing, but rather a foiling of such a scenario.”
“We have refused to surrender to the status quo and we produced a solution according to the constitutional standards,” he said.
Asked about the army’s busting of an extremist Islamist cell planning bombings against its barracks, Aoun said: “I don’t know if the army is largely infiltrated and we hope they will issue a statement whenever they discover anything new.”
Turning to the Syrian crisis, Aoun said that “the unrest in Syria is almost over because the military frontiers, such as Homs, do not exist anymore.”
“Of course the elections will take place and new forces will take part and I hope stability will be restored in Syria because that’s a good thing for Lebanon,” he added.
“What is the alternative if (Syrian President) Bashar al-Assad is ousted? What is the platform of the (Muslim) Brotherhood? Haven’t they read that democracy contradicts with the (Islamic) sharia law, according to the Salafists?” Aoun went on to say.