LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
October 21/12

Bible Quotation for today/
Luke 8:19-21. Then his mother and his brothers came to him but were unable to join him because of the crowd. He was told, "Your mother and your brothers are standing outside and they wish to see you." He said to them in reply, "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it."

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
Al-Assad and guaranteeing health/By Tariq Alhomayed/Asharq Al-Awsat/October 20/12

Hariri Calls on Lebanese to Heavily Participate in Hasan Funeral
Naharnet/Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri called on Saturday on the Lebanese to attend the funeral of Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau head Brigadier General Wissam al-Hasan en mass.
He stressed that the roads shouldn't be blocked to allow everyone to reach the Martyrs Square in downtown Beirut. “Everyone of you is personally invited to attend the funeral on Sunday,” Hariri said in a televised speech. General Hasan, killed on Friday in a car bombing, would be laid to rest in the mausoleum of Hariri, who was assassinated in 2005, Internal Security Forces chief Ashraf Rifi told al-Mustaqbal television earlier.The funeral would take place following afternoon Muslim prayers at al-Amine mosque in downtown Beirut, near the mausoleum, Rifi said.Under Hasan, the ISF played a central role in the August arrest of Lebanon's former information minister Michel Samaha, who has close links to Damascus. He was charged with planning attacks to spark sectarian strife in Lebanon.The agency was also deeply involved in seeking the arrest of those responsible for a host of attacks and assassinations between 2005 and 2008, starting with the Hariri assassination, for which Hasan blamed Damascus.In October 2010, the Syrian courts issued arrest warrants against 33 Lebanese figures, including General Hasan, for perjury in the case of the Hariri assassination.SourceAgence France Presse

Lebanon is the target
October 20, 2012/ The Daily Star
The late Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan had a number of enemies, and they are the enemies of Lebanon.
Hasan’s job was to uncover those who have been engaged in plotting against the country, and he was a person who didn’t stop at the conventional red lines, whether it was Mossad or the Syrian regime. Because of the post he held, as the head of the Information Branch of the Internal Security Forces, he played a central role in cooperating with the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. He also gained fame for overseeing the discovery and dismantling of Israeli espionage rings in the country, and most recently, Hasan acted as the lead player in foiling a plan to destabilize Lebanon once again, through violence.
The plot involved a former minister, and with the judiciary’s naming of Syrian officials in the investigation, the Information Branch’s actions were a case of putting the country’s security above any other consideration. Hasan’s assassination in Beirut has triggered several spontaneous reactions in the streets; it’s hoped that this type of protest action represents a one-time expression of anger and will not escalate.
This is because the perpetrators of Hassan’s killing have such a scenario as an objective.
The assassination was a broad daylight car bomb attack that killed four other people in the neighborhood of Ashrafieh, wounded dozens more, and terrorized an entire country. It is in the interest of no party in Lebanon. If the goal was to divert attention from the events in Syria, then people should remember this well and head off any attempt to take Lebanon further into tension and civil strife. The leaders of all major political parties and movements must act decisively to clamp down on any possibility that even more violence will result.
The important thing is to let the authorities act; they face a huge responsibility as they pursue a serious, prompt investigation while ensuring that the general situation remains stable.
Resorting to the street will not solve matters, but only escalate them. Such moves will translate into more casualties, and with Lebanon on the brink thanks to accumulated tension, any acts of violence can easily spin rapidly out of control. However, the resignation of the government would signal a sense of responsibility and admittance of failure – which in itself would contribute immensely to defusing the explosive situation created by this crime.

PM suspends resignation, opposition calls for ‘day of rage’
October 20, 2012/By Dana Khraiche The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Saturday he suspended his decision to resign and has given the president time to consult the National Dialogue Committee on the matter as the opposition March 14 called for a “day of rage” over the recent killing of a top intelligence officer.
Also Saturday, France urged President Michel Sleiman to avoid a political vacuum in Lebanon and that the Cabinet should continue its mandate while Britain said the international community would help prevent divisions in the country. “I am committed to my decision [to resign] until the president finalizes his consultations with the National Dialogue Committee but I am still committed to my original decision,” Mikati told reporters after an emergency Cabinet session headed by Sleiman at Baabda Palace.
The session convened to discuss the Friday car bombing in Beirut that claimed the life of Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan, who headed the police’s Information Branch since its inception in 2006.
Mikati, who held consultations with Sleiman prior to the session, said the president advised him not to resign at the present time “so as not to plunge the country into a state of paralysis.”
“The president has asked for a period of time to allow him to consult with the members of the National Dialogue Committee,” added Mikati, who also warned that the country was going through a major crisis.The prime minister admitted that his position was complicated by perceptions that the Sunni community in Lebanon was being targeted.
“I am going through a very critical phase because my sect feels that it is being targeted,” he said.
Friday’s attack that left at least five people killed, including Hasan, and wounded 110 others has raised concern of a return to the political assassinations that rattled Lebanon between 2005 and 2008.
Moments before Mikati spoke about his future as head of the government, the opposition March 14 coalition called for a “day of rage” Sunday at Martyrs’ Square in Beirut over Hasan’s killing and to demand that the government quit.
Hasan, 47, will be buried near the tomb of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri who was assassinated in a massive car bombing in 2005 as his convey traveled along the capital’s popular coastal road.
Reading the coalition's statement at Central House in Beirut, Future Movement MP Nuhad Mashnouq said the demo would call for the resignation of the Cabinet that was formed in June 2011 and voice a stance against the Syrian government.
“Let tomorrow [Sunday] be ... a day of anger in the face of the butcher [Syrian President] Bashar Assad and the black regime that rules Syria with the power of fire and destruction and wants to export blood and devastation to our country Lebanon,” Mashnouq, an outspoken critic of Damascus, said.
The coalition, which has on previous occasions called on Mikati’s government to resign, held the prime minister personally responsible for Hasan’s death and accused Assad over the assassination.
Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, the son of slain Rafik Harir, also called for mass participation for funeral and rally and said Hasan’s work prevented Assad from destabilizing Lebanon.
Hasan played a pivotal role in uncovering several Israeli spy networks as well as bomb plots in north Lebanon allegedly planned by former Lebanese Minister Michel Samaha.
The top intelligence official was a key player in the investigation that led to the August arrest of Samaha on charges of collaborating with members of the Syrian regime to plot terror attacks in Lebanon.
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, during a news conference minutes after Hariri’s short message, also called on his supporters to attend the gathering in the capital Sunday.
“The battle is now between good and evil, and we should put an end to the political assassinations in the country,” he said.
Geagea, a leading figure in the opposition, also urged the international community and Arab states to halt their support to the present government.
“I call on the Arab and international community to lift the cover off Mikati’s Cabinet that has lost all justifications for its continuation,” he said.
According to Sleiman's office, President Francois Hollande told his counterpart in a letter that it was necessary for government institutions to remain and that the Cabinet continues its work.
Hollande, according to the statement, described Hasan as a big loss for the country and said that the security chief had struggled against chaos.
Sleiman also met with British Ambassador to Lebanon Tom Fletcher who expressed his country’s condolences and said the international community was ready to support the Lebanese state to deal with the ongoing situation.
Fletcher also discussed with Sleiman ways of strengthening the security forces and supporting the political course in Lebanon, the president’s office said.
During his chat with reporters, Mikati said that Hasan’s killing could not be detached from the recent uncovering of bomb plots in the country, referring to the case of Michel Samaha.
“I do not want to make assumptions but considering the framework of the recently discovered bomb plots and yesterday’s [Friday’s] incident, a logical train of thought would naturally tie these two things together,” he said.
The government decided Saturday to refer Hasan’s case to the Judicial Council and called on the Telecommunications Ministry to handover all telecoms data since Sept. 19, 2012, to security and judicial authorities. The judicial body has been referred other assassination cases including those of Dany Chamoun, son of the late Lebanese President Camille Chamoun, Communist Party leader George Hawi, MP Gebran Tueni, journalist Samir Kassir and former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Ministers also agreed to modify the structure of the Internal Security Forces and to grant the police’s information wing a legal status.
The March 8 alliance, which dominates Mikati’s Cabinet, has repeatedly questioned the legality of the Information Branch.
Mikati, who hails from the northern city of Tripoli, was nominated on Jan. 25 of 2011 by the Hezbollah-led March 8 alliance to form the Cabinet that replaced Saad Hariri's toppled government.

Syria, Iran, Hizballah attack while US and Israel play computerized war games
DEBKAfile Exclusive Analysis October 20, 2012/The assassination of the anti-Syrian Head of the Lebanon's Internal Security Forces intelligence branch, Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan, Friday, Oct. 19, by a huge car bomb blast in East Beirut’s Ashrafiya district marked the brutal spillover of the Syrian bloodbath into a second Arab capital and the threat of itsl spread towards Israel.
Eighteen months ago, in May 2011, shortly after Syrians rose up against Bashar Assad, Rami Makhlouf, a leading architect of his tactics of suppression, warned, “If there is no stability here, there’s no way there will be stability in Israel.”
Israel should take careful note of the outrage in Beirut in which seven Lebanese were killed and 73 injured in order to liiquidate Assad's foe in Beirut.
In August, Gen. Al-Hasan uncovered a Syrian plot to destabilize Lebanon by a bombing campaign and arrested the pro-Syrian politician and ex-information minister Michel Samaha for complicity in the plot. He also led the investigation that implicated Damascus in the 2005 bombing atrocity that killed former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri.
Gen. Al-Hasan's murder brought forth angry protesters.They blocked roads and highways in several towns including the Beirut-Syrian road link as the Lebanese government met in emergency session Saturday, Oct. 20, and announced a day of national mourning.
In the wider sense, the murder of the Lebanese anti-Syrian terror crusader demonstrated that hopes in the West and Israel of the Syrian conflict eventually sundering the Tehran-Damascus-Hizballah axis were no better than pipedreams, just like the belief that liquidating Iran’s nuclear scientists or cyber warfare would turn Tehran back from its march towards a nuclear weapon.
After nearly two years, those illusions have been dissipated: The Syrian bloodbath is spreading more malignantly than ever with solid Iranian and Hizballah support and Tehran is closer than ever to realizing its nuclear aspirations.
This week, US President Barack Obama reined in Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and his chief of staff Gen. Necdet Ozel from expanding Turkish cross-border clashes with Syria by sending Gen. Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, to Ankara. His restraining hand kept Turkey from going beyond artillery backing for Syrian rebels inside a10-kilometer limit inside Syria. He also cautioned the Turks against sending their warplanes across the border into Syrian airspace.
Because of these curbs, US Ambassador to Turkey Francis Ricciardone was able to state Tuesday “We don’t see a possibility of war between Syria and Turkey.” He spoke to reporters in Ankara with the top American soldier beside him.
If they were talking, Turkish Erdogan could compare notes with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who has experienced similar Washington restraints against launching military action to curtail Iran’s nuclear program.
Whether or not the United States should step into the two blazing conflicts with two feet - or limit itself to extending military support from the outside to the forces willing to take on Syria and Iran - is a tough question which the two US presidential contenders, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney may address in their third and final pre-election debate in Florida, Monday, Oct. 22.
The differences between the rivals on this point don’t appear substantial. However their contest in the run-up to the Nov.6 election has diverted attention from Ankara and Jerusalem and rescued the Turkish and Israeli leaders from even tougher questions about their reluctance to act without America – Turkey versus Syria and Israel versus Iran - although the Syrian-Iranian-Hizballah menace is knocking on their doors.
They are not alone. The list of Middle East governments, shy of acting without America against encroaching threats from one or more of the three aggressors, includes Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the rest of the Gulf emirates.
The rulers of Russia, Iran and its Lebanese arm Hizballah, in contrast, were emboldened by the US ambassador’s comment in Ankara, its effect on Erdogan and Netanyahu’s non-response to the Iranian stealth drone’s invasion of Israeli air space. They concluded that both leaders would continue to sit on their hands.
And so Assad seized the moment for sending his air force to assault opposition forces with unprecedented fury. Cluster bombs were dropped without mercy on urban areas, causing an estimated 1,200 deaths and reducing entire villages and small towns to smoking rubble.
And his assassins struck across the border into the heart of Beirut for a devastating bombing attack that recalled the horrors of a former Assad bombing campaign against his Lebanese opponents, one of which dispatched the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri in 2005.
Every few days, the Syria-Hizballah-Iran bloc ratchets up the violence with a new outrage in the certainty that there will be no comeback.
Sunday, Oct. 21, the US and Israel launch Austere Challenge 12, which they are calling their biggest joint war game ever, to practice defending Israel against a missile attack.
But in tune with the general air of denial hanging over Washington and Jerusalem, the exercise has been reduced in scale to just 1,000 soldiers on each side, with most of the action conducted through simulated computer games. As every soldier knows, this is a far cry from real operations on a battlefield.
Both American and Israeli war planners also realize that even these games are only applicable to defenses against an Iranian ballistic missile attack - not a triple Iranian-Syrian-Hizballah missile assault. This would call for US-Israeli air force intervention. But the air force is not taking part in the war game.

March 14 Youth Groups Hold Open-Ended Sit-in at Martyrs Square, Erect Tents Near Grand Serail
Naharnet /March 14 youth groups held Saturday an open-ended sit-in at the Martyrs Square in Downtown Beirut against the assassination of Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau head Brigadier General Wissam al-Hasan.
The protesters also erected tents near the Grand Serail to press the resignation of the cabinet.“The sovereignty of this country will not be compromised,” al-Mustaqbal MP Ahmed Fatfat told protesters.
He called on the Lebanese to participate en mass the funeral of Hasan on Sunday.
“The Syrian-Iranian regime will not return to Lebanon,” Fatfat added.
The groups earlier demanded the expulsion of the Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdul Karim Ali.
“The protests will not end until Lebanon's Spring is achieved,” they declared.
In addition, they demanded that the “international community assume its responsibilities towards Lebanon.”
Hasan was killed on Friday in a car bomb in Beirut's Ashrafiyeh district.
Conflicting reports emerged over the number of dead in the blast with some sides putting the figure at three and others at eight.
At least a hundred people were wounded in the explosion.
Hasan was close to former Prime Minister Saad Hariri and hostile to the regime in Syria. He had been tipped to take over as ISF head at the end of this year.
The ISF played a central role in the arrest in August of former Minister Michel Samaha, who has close links to Damascus and was charged with planning attacks in Lebanon and transporting explosives in collaboration with Syrian security chief Maj. Gen. Ali Mamlouk.
Hasan also played a central role in the investigation in Rafik Hariri's murder in February 2005, as well as uncovering Israeli espionage networks and terrorist cells in Lebanon.

Lebanon on edge after car bomb kills security chief
BEIRUT, (Reuters) - Lebanese troops reinforced road junctions and official buildings in Beirut on Saturday and the government met to mull a response to the car bomb killing of a senior intelligence official opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Brigadier-General Wissam al-Hassan, who led an investigation that implicated Syria and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah in the assassination of former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri in 2005, and seven other people were killed by the explosion in a central district of the capital on Friday afternoon.
Lebanese politicians accused Assad of being behind the attack, which deepened fears that the sectarian-tinged civil war in neighbouring Syria was being carried into Lebanon.
Hassan, a Sunni Muslim, had helped uncover a bomb plot that led to the arrest and indictment in August of a pro-Assad former Lebanese minister - a setback for Syrian influence in Lebanon.
Sunni Muslims took to the streets and burned tyres across Lebanon over Friday night and Saturday morning to protest against the bombing, which revived memories of the carnage of Lebanon's own civil war. The blast also wounded about 80 people.
Protesters blocked roads to the international airport and in the northern, mostly-Sunni city of Tripoli. Rallies were also held and roads closed in the eastern Bekaa Valley and in the southern town of Sidon.
At a roadblock in south Beirut, a dozen unidentified gunmen in civilian clothes were seen standing next to the burning tyres.
Soldiers and police guarded street corners in Beirut's Ashrafiyeh, the mainly Christian district where the bomb exploded during rush hour, and at Martyrs' Square in the centre.
Lebanon's mufti, the senior Sunni religious figure, announced three days of mourning for Hassan.
The Beirut Star newspaper said the perpetrators clearly aimed to force Lebanon into a new round of chaotic violence.
"If the goal was to divert attention from the events in Syria, then people should remember this well and head off any attempt to take Lebanon further into tension and civil strife," it said.
The late Hariri's son, Saad al-Hariri, accused Syria's Assad of being behind the bombing. Lebanon's opposition March 14 bloc called on Prime Minister Najib Mikati's government, which includes ministers from Hezbollah, to resign.
The head of Lebanon's Internal Security Forces, Major-General Ashraf Rifi, described Hassan's death as a "huge blow" and warned that further attacks were likely.
"We've lost a central security pillar," he told Future Television. "Without a doubt, we have more sacrifices coming in the future. We know that, but we will not be broken."
IRANIAN VISIT
More than 30,000 people have been killed in Syria since a Sunni-led popular uprising against Assad, a member of the Shi'ite-linked Alawite sect, broke out 19 months ago.
International powers fear the conflict could inflame rivalries across the region as it intensifies.
Lebanon's religious communities are divided between those supporting Assad and those backing the rebels and the country had already felt the heat prior to Friday's bombing.
Sunnis and Alawites have clashed in Tripoli while the northern end of the Bekaa Valley, which borders Syria, has suffered from shelling and incursions.
Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, whose country is a powerful backer of Assad and Hezbollah, condemned the bombing and said he planned to visit Beirut on Saturday.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry, in a statement on its website, suggested Israel was to blame for the attack. A senior Israeli official dismissed the suggestion as "beyond pathetic".
Hassan, who had returned to Lebanon on Thursday night from Germany, had helped uncover many assassination attempts against anti-Syrian figures in Lebanon. He himself escaped several attempts on his life. Two Syrian officers, including General Ali Mamlouk, the head of Syria's national security bureau, were indicted along with Lebanon's former information minister Michel Samaha in August over a plot allegedly aimed at stoking violence in Lebanon.
The indictments were an unprecedented move against its more powerful neighbour, a dominant player in Lebanese affairs for decades. Syria sided with different factions during the 1975-1990 civil war and deployed troops in Beirut who stayed until 2005. As well as being the brains behind the Samaha investigation, Hassan led the investigation into Rafik Hariri's murder seven years ago and uncovered evidence that implicated Syria and Hezbollah - a charge they both deny. An international tribunal accused several Hezbollah members of involvement in the murder.
"OUR PROTECTOR"
Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, whose party still formally supports Mikati's government although he is bitterly critical of Assad and Hezbollah, said Hassan's death left Lebanon unsafe.
"He was our protector. This is a harsh blow but we will not be scared and we should not accuse anyone inside Lebanon so we don't give Bashar (al-Assad) an excuse to seize the country," he said.
Despite the accusations from Lebanese politicians, both the Assad government and Hezbollah condemned the bombing. Syria's information minister called it a "terrorist act".
The bombing also heightened concern among Western powers - who have strongly criticised Assad and called on him to quit - that the Syria war could ignite the region.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Hassan's killing was "a dangerous sign that there are those who continue to seek to undermine Lebanon's stability".
French President Francois Hollande urged Lebanese politicians to stay united and prevent attempts to destabilise the country. The Vatican and the European Union also condemned the attack.
Augustus Richard Norton, a Middle East specialist at Boston University, said it was too early to say who carried out the bombing.
"However, there is no doubt that al Hassan's death will bring smiles to the face of Bashar al-Assad and his cohorts," he wrote in a commentary.

Lebanese PM connects deadly car bomb to previous plots
By REUTERS 10/20/2012 16:34 . BEIRUT - Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Saturday he suspected the assassination of a senior Lebanese intelligence chief was linked to his role in uncovering Syrian involvement in an earlier bomb plot.As fear and anger gripped Lebanon over Friday's car bomb attack, Mikati also said the president had asked him to stay in his post despite his offer to resign and make way for a national unity government. In the streets of Beirut and other cities, gunmen and demonstrators blocked roads with burning tires to protest against the killing of Brigadier-General Wissam al-Hassan in the explosion in the capital on Friday afternoon.
Lebanese politicians have accused Syrian President Bashar Assad of being behind the attack, deepening fears that Syria's sectarian-tinged civil war is spreading to its neighbor.
The opposition March 14 bloc had called for the government, which includes ministers from the Shi'ite militant group Hezbollah, which is close to Assad, to step down.
Mikati, speaking at a news conference at the presidential palace, stopped short of blaming Assad directly.
But he said he suspected the bombing was related to the indictment in August of former minister Michel Samaha, a supporter of Assad, over a plot allegedly aimed at stoking violence in Lebanon.
"A prime minister does not anticipate investigations, but quite honestly ... I cannot separate in any way the crime that took place yesterday and the discovery of the conspiracy against Lebanon in August," he said. The slain Hassan had helped to uncover the bomb plot, which fueled sectarian enmity in a country where the balance between religious groups is fragile. He also led an investigation that implicated Syria and Hezbollah in the assassination of former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri in 2005.
Lebanon's religious communities are divided between those that support Assad in Syria's civil war and those that back the Sunni-led rebels. Lebanon is still recovering from its own 1975-1990 civil war, and the assassination threatens to bring a new bout of instability and bloodshed.
"Today, I am saying more and more that there should be a national consensus government," Mikati said. "The cabinet will eventually resign, but at the moment we must take a national stance, and I call on the Lebanese to unite together."
Guns in the streets
Squads of armed men gathered in the northern, mostly-Sunni city of Tripoli, where pro- and anti-Assad factions have clashed repeatedly this year.
In Beirut, troops reinforced road junctions and official buildings but many roads, including the highway to the international airport, were blocked by demonstrators.
Soldiers and police guarded street corners in Beirut's Ashrafiyeh area, the mainly Christian district where the bomb exploded during rush hour, and at Martyrs' Square in the center.
In Beirut's Sunni Muslim areas, where most people are opposed to the Alawite Assad, cars mounted with loudspeakers cruised the streets issuing calls for the government to resign.
Dozens of gunmen were in the streets and the mood was tense, witnesses said.
In the northern city of Tripoli, four people were wounded on Saturday by sniper fire on Jebel Mohsen, a neighborhood which is home to members of Assad's minority Alawite faith.
A pro-Hezbollah religious figure was killed in clashes in Tripoli on Friday night, residents said.
Lebanese soldiers opened fire on a group who took over a road in the Bekaa Valley, wounding two people, witnesses said. Rallies were also held in the southern town of Sidon.
'More bombs should be expected'
The late Hariri's son, Saad al-Hariri, also accused Syria's Assad of being behind the bombing, which killed at least eight people and wounded more than 80. Saudi Arabia, a close ally of the late Hariri and opponent of Assad, said it was an attack on Lebanon's security and stability.
The head of Lebanon's Internal Security Forces, Major-General Ashraf Rifi, described Hassan's death as a "huge blow" and warned that further attacks were likely.
"We've lost a central security pillar," he told Future Television. "Without a doubt, we have more sacrifices coming in the future."
Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, whose party still formally supports Mikati's government though he is bitterly critical of Assad and Hezbollah, said Hassan's death left Lebanon unsafe.
"He was our protector. This is a harsh blow but we will not be scared and we should not accuse anyone inside Lebanon so we don't give Bashar an excuse to seize the country," he said.
Lebanon's mufti, the senior Sunni religious figure, announced three days of mourning for Hassan. He will be buried with full honors on Sunday.
Hassan, who had returned to Lebanon on Thursday night from Germany, had helped to uncover many assassination attempts against anti-Syrian figures in Lebanon and had himself escaped several attempts on his life. Two Syrian officers, including General Ali Mamlouk, the head of Syria's national security bureau, were indicted along with Samaha, Lebanon's former information minister, in August over the plot.
The indictments were an unprecedented move against Syria, a dominant player in Lebanese affairs for decades. Syria sided with different factions during the 1975-1990 civil war and deployed troops in Beirut who stayed until 2005.
As well as being the brains behind the Samaha investigation, Hassan led the investigation into Rafik al-Hariri's murder seven years ago and uncovered evidence that implicated Syria and Hezbollah, though both deny involvement. An international tribunal accused several Hezbollah members of involvement in the murder.
Despite the accusations from Lebanese politicians, both the Assad government and Hezbollah condemned the bombing. Syria's information minister called it a "terrorist act."
The bombing also heightened concern among Western powers - who have strongly criticized Assad and called on him to quit - that the Syrian war could ignite conflict across the region.
More than 30,000 people have been killed in Syria since a Sunni-led popular uprising against Assad, a member of the Shi'ite-linked Alawite sect, broke out 19 months ago.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Hassan's killing was "a dangerous sign that there are those who continue to seek to undermine Lebanon's stability".
Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, whose country is a powerful backer of Assad and Hezbollah, condemned the bombing and said he planned to visit Beirut.

Hezbollah firing hundreds of rockets into Syria on daily basis – Syrian rebels
20/10/2012/By Yousef Diab.
Beirut, Asharq Al-Awsat – Syrian opposition forces have accused Hezbollah of actively taking part in the fighting in Syria, claiming that the Lebanese–based Shiite organization is firing hundreds of rockets into Syria on a daily basis.
Speaking exclusively to Asharq Al-Awsat, Syrian opposition Local Coordination Committee-member, Mohamed al-Homsi, accused Hezbollah of “intervening in the fighting alongside the Syrian regime with all of its power” adding “Hezbollah is firing its rockets – the same rockets that it claims are to fight Israel – into Syrian territory to kill Syrian people.”
Al-Homsi, who is a member of the Homs Local Coordination Committee, confirmed that “between 100 and 150 rockets and mortar shells are being fired by Hezbollah into the Syrian town of al-Qaseer and the surrounding villages on a daily basis, from the group’s military positions in Hermel [on the Syrian – Lebanese borer].” He also revealed that the previous few days have seen a strong intensification in the barrage of rocket fire from Hezbollah into Syrian opposition-held territory.
He told Asharq Al-Awsat “it has become clear that Hezbollah is taking part, with all of its strength, in this battle, which it considers itself to be a part of. Hezbollah has sent thousands of its troops, along with military equipment and arms, into Syria, deploying them throughout Homs and the surrounding areas, in addition to Hama, Aleppo, Zabadani and Damascus. They are engaging in fierce clashes with rebel forces”. Al-Homsi also revealed that “Hezbollah fighters are teaching the al-Assad regular forces and pro-regime Shabiha militias how to fight street battles" adding “Hezbollah elements are actively taking part in the conflict in Homs, from suppressing protests to leading the battles in Deir Baalba, Baba Amr, al-Qaseer and elsewhere.”
The British Daily Telegraph issued a report confirming that Hezbollah is launching rocket attacks into Syria, with one eye-witness saying “they [Hezbollah] are concentrating on hitting the villages where the Free Syrian Army are, to weaken them before launching a ground attack.”
Another activist informed the British newspaper that the rocket attacks began six weeks ago, adding “Hezbollah does this almost every night. It gets heavier when the fighting gets worse here.”
Responding to these accusations, Hezbollah MP Walid Sakaria, strongly denied that Hezbollah was firing any rockets into Syria, stressing that “it would be impossible to fire such rockets without people in the surrounding area hearing or seeing this.”
He also told Asharq Al-Awsat that “the accusations being leveled against us clearly demonstrate that Hezbollah is being targeted simply because it is an enemy of Israel and the US project in the region, and so we are not surprised to be facing such accusations.”
He added “the NATO project in the region requires Sunni – Shiite conflict which will ultimately lead to a peace agreement with Israel, according to the Israeli conditions. Therefore the accusations that Hezbollah is firing rockets into al-Qaseer and Zabadani represent an attempt to incite this conflict and to say that Shiite Hezbollah is striking the Sunni regions in Syria.”
The Hezbollah MP stressed that “the NATO project will not succeed unless it incites enmity between the Arabs and Iran and promotes the idea that Tehran represents a threat to the Arab world.”

At least 28,000 forcibly disappeared in Syria - Human Rights group
By Layal Abu Rihal/Beirut, Asharq Al-Awsat – The Avaaz Human Rights group that is working in Syria has claimed that “between 28,000 and 80,000 Syrians have been forcibly disappeared by the Syrian al-Assad regime over the past 9 months.” Avaaz Director Alice Jay issued a statement revealing that Syrians are being “plucked off the street by security forces and paramilitaries and being ‘disappeared’ into torture cells.” She added “whether it is women buying groceries or farmers going for fuel…nobody is safe.”
Jay stressed that this was a deliberate strategy on the part of the al-Assad regime to “terrorize families and communities”, adding “the panic of not knowing whether your husband or child is alive breeds such fear that it silences dissent.” The Avaaz Human Rights group director also asserted that “"the fate of each and every one of these people must be investigated and the perpetrators punished." She said that under international law, "the widespread or systematic practice of enforced disappearance constitutes a crime against humanity."
The Avaaz report quoted Syrian Network for Human Rights director, Fadel Abul Ghani, who revealed that at least 28,000 Syrians have been forcibly disappeared over the past 9 months, with 18,000 names being confirmed by family members. As for the remaining 10,000, information about their disappearance had been put forward, however the families of the missing have been reluctant to reveal names for fear of reprisals from the authorities.
Avaaz also cited Sawasya Human Rights director, Muhannad al-Hasani, who claimed that the number of enforced disappearances could be as high as 80,000. He said “people are being snatched at night, on the street what no-one is looking.”
As for why the Syrian regime is pursuing this campaign of enforced disappearances, Muhammad Khalil, a Syrian Human Rights lawyer based in Hassaka, opined that there are two reasons for this, namely “to directly get rid of the rebels and activists, and to intimidate the society so that it won’t oppose the regime.”
An Avaaz researcher, speaking exclusively to Asharq Al-Awsat, revealed that the human rights group will put forward this report and the names of the disappeared, as well as the testimonies it has collected, to the United Nations Human Rights Council [UNHRC] to investigate this.
The source also stressed that Avaaz will seek to launch a “media and human rights campaign demanding the disclosure of the fate of the Syrians who have been forcibly disappeared” adding “when we took the decision to work on this report 6 months ago, we expected that the number of disappearances would not exceed the thousands, however in reality this exceeds the tens of thousands.”
The Avaaz source also revealed that “we faced great difficulty in documenting the names, particularly due to the high number of cases, however we were able to confirm 18,000 names.”
In July 2011, Avaaz estimated the number of forcible disappearances at fewer than 3,000 cases. The organization compared the present situation in Syria to the period of junta rule in Argentina between 1977 and 1983 when approximately 30,000 people disappeared.
Avaaz stressed that the phenomenon of enforced disappearances is nothing new in Syria, particularly as some 7,000 people went missing and are still unaccounted for during the rule of Hafez al-Assad.
The Avaaz report included a number of cases of forcibly disappeared Syrian citizens, such as that of 26-year old Ahmed Ghassan Ibrahim, who disappeared in February from a suburb of Homs. He was reported missing by his mother Fayzeh al-Masri; the last time he contacted his family, the number he called them from was traced to a military security branch. The family was told by somebody who answered his phone that he had died, but they have been unable to confirm this. Ahmed’s mother, Fayzeh al-Masri, told Avaaz “we are certain that he would not have left us or his wife – who is expecting twins. We only want to know his fate.” There is also the case of Anas al-Shaghri, a 23-year-old Syrian who disappeared from the coastal city of Banias in May 2011, shortly after protests broke out against the al-Assad regime. Shaghri was a political activist in Banias who had taken part in non-violent protests. He was arrested by the regime forces, with a former prisoner telling the Syrian youth’s family that Anas was being held in solitary confinement and tortured. Shaghri’s sister told Avaaz “this left me in a state of fear and horror over my brother to the point where I cried every day just imagining what could have happened to him.” She added “every time we ask about Anas they deny that he was detained in one of their security branches. We hired a lawyer for this matter but to no avail.”
Another woman, identified by Avaaz as Mais, said that she has concealed her husband's disappearance from her children. She said "the children need a father in their lives. They always ask me, Where is Dad? Who took him?? And I don?t know how to respond. I have to lie to them. I tell them he is at work, that he is OK."

Al-Assad and guaranteeing health
By Tariq Alhomayed/Asharq Al-Awsat
Anybody who thinks, for a second, that the tyrant of Damascus will abide by any agreement or pledge is delusional. Indeed, not just delusional but also jeopardizing the Syrian people by seeking to grant al-Assad one opportunity after another. It is completely unacceptable for the international community and Arab world to accept – following the efforts of Lakhdar Brahimi – meaningless oft-repeated words and a mere Eid ceasefire! This is a truly unfortunate state of affairs!
Al-Assad’s massacres against the Syrian people are ongoing and taking place on a daily basis, and he is being openly supported in this by Iran and Hezbollah. At the same time as this, Mr. Brahimi is talking about a ceasefire, and that is truly astonishing! Ceasefires take place between the armies of two countries, not between a regime that rules with iron and fire and warplanes, utilizing the aid of Iran and Hezbollah, to suppress its own people, and then talk about a ceasefire! What al-Assad is doing is a crime, and he must be punished for this, not granted a ceasefire!
When Mr. Brahimi says that a ceasefire will reduce the number of people being killed, rather than this figure increasing, the question that must be asked here is: do we want to protect lives or merely reduce the number of people being killed? More to the point, is the loss of innocent lives just a question of numbers? By which we mean that the killing of twenty is acceptable, whilst the killing of one hundred is not? This is truly astonishing!
Therefore when we say that anybody who believes al-Assad is delusional, or seeking to grant the tyrant another opportunity, this is no exaggeration! For whilst the people of Syria are being mercilessly killed at the hands of the al-Assad regime forces, we find the tyrant of Damascus issuing a presidential decree organizing research and development in the field of genetic engineering “in order to guarantee the health of humans, animals, plants and the environment” according to the official state news agency. The state news reported added that “the decree aims to set the framework for research and development in genetic engineering in Syria…by setting guidelines for the import, export, transportation, production, circulation and use of genetically-modified organisms and their products.” Is there anything more absurd than this, particularly as the number of Syrians killed at the hands of the al-Assad regime forces now stands at 35,000? So does this regime care about humanity, for it to care about animals, plants and the environment? If this is not ironic, then what is?
Therefore, we must be aware that al-Assad accepting a ceasefire would be nothing more than a new maneuver, particularly as the opposition has already rejected this. In addition to this, al-Assad requires more time to facilitate the redeployment of his militias, as well as to allow his forces to catch their breath. We must also pay attention to the French statement that half of Syria today has been liberated. Therefore, what Mr. Brahimi should be working towards today is not a ceasefire lasting just a few days, but rather the departure of Bashar al-Assad, and then after this how to bring the tyrant before the International Criminal Court! If the UN envoy, or anybody else, says that this is impossibility, then our simple answer is: this is what we expect! For this reason, Mr. Brahimi must announce the failure of his mission, and put the ball in the court of the international community once more, rather than repeating the same mistakes made by Mr. Kofi Annan in Syria, namely granting al-Assad another chance!