LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
October 22/12

Bible Quotation for today/Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 10:38-42. As they continued their journey he entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. She had a sister named Mary (who) sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me." The Lord said to her in reply, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her."

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
The martyred Brigadier General/By Emad El Din Adeeb/Asharq Alawsat/October 21/12
Killed by the al-Assad regime and Hezbollah/By Tariq Alhomayed/Asharq Al-Awsat/October 21/12
Blood with flowing tears/By Mshari al-Zaydi/Asharq Alawsat/October 21/12

Massive Participation in al-Hasan's Funeral at Martyrs Square, Saniora Says No Dialogue before Govt. Leaves
Naharnet/Thousands of mourners participated in Sunday's funeral of slain Major General Wissam al-Hasan, chief of the Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau, who was killed by a powerful car bombing on Friday blamed on the Damascus regime.
Anti-Syria opposition chief ex-premier Saad Hariri had called for a huge turnout for the funeral of the fallen general and thousands of people took part in the ceremony outside the Mohammed al-Amine Mosque in Beirut's Martyrs Square.
Hasan was laid to rest next to slain former prime minister Rafik Hariri whose tomb is adjacent to the mosque.
The slain general was the head of Hariri's guard platoon.
"We will not engage in dialogue before the departure of the government. We will not engage in dialogue over the blood of the martyrs and the Lebanese," said ex-PM Fouad Saniora in a speech at Mohammed al-Amine Mosque.
"This government is responsible for the assassination of martyr Maj. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan, so it must leave," he stressed.
"The latest of your achievements was unveiling the conspiracy of (ex-minister Michel) Samaha and (Syrian security chief Ali) al-Mamlouk, so they killed you," Saniora added, addressing al-Hasan.
Saniora called on Prime Minister Najib Miqati to resign or be "accused of covering the criminals."
He also called for forming a "salvation government that represents the Lebanese" and replaces "the government that is trying cover up the crime."
"If you stay in your position, that means that you approve what happened and what will happen ... This government was born from the womb of Hizbullah and Syria," Saniora added.
Hasan investigated the 2005 assassination of ex-PM Hariri in a car bombing also blamed on Syria.
His wife and children on Saturday flew back to Beirut from Paris where he had taken them for safety. His wife Anna was in tears as she arrived at the Beirut Rafik Hariri International Airport with sons Mazen, 17, and Majed, 12.
Hasan was also close to ex-PM 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.
"We are going to bid farewell to Wissam al-Hasan, but we want to continue what we embarked on in 2005," said al-Mustaqbal bloc MP Ahmed Fatfat.
"The Syrians left Lebanon then, and we want to prevent them for good from returning; we also want the Iranians out," he said, in a reference to Assad's chief regional ally. He also accused the government and Hizbullah of wanting to "bring Bashar Assad back to Lebanon."
Hours before the 4:00 pm (1300 GMT) funeral, hundreds of people were making their way amid heavy security to Martyrs Square, which was dotted with huge billboards of a saluting Hasan and the slogan "a martyr for truth and justice."
Many carried the flag of Lebanon or those of al-Mustaqbal Movement and the Lebanese Forces. Others held placards with photos of Hasan and slain PM Rafik Hariri.
“One Revolution in Two States,” read a banner carried by mourners.
Tamam Ali, a 27-year-old Mustaqbal activist, warned: "It's not just today. We were here yesterday and we'll be here tomorrow and in the future.
"First of all, we want the fall of this government. We want the Syrian embassy kicked out and we want an end to Hizbullah's power of arms."
Law student Manal Sharqawy said "the Syrians are no longer here, but there are Lebanese who work for them. The government is responsible for what happened and we want them to leave."
Hizbullah called Friday's attack "an attempt to destabilize Lebanon and national unity." Syria condemned what it called a "terrorist, cowardly" attack.
A ceremony was also held to "honor and mourn" Hasan at ISF headquarters, after which his body was transferred to the Mohammed al-Amine Mosque that dominates the skyline of central Beirut for the funeral.
The ISF played a central role in the arrest in August of former Lebanese information 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.
The opposition March 14 camp has accused the Syrian regime of the assassination and called on Prime Minister Najib Miqati to resign.
Miqati revealed on Saturday that he has taken the decision to “no longer hang on to the premiership,” urging the formation of a national unity government.
He said: “I suspended my decision to resign at President Michel Suleiman's request.”
He made his statements after an extraordinary cabinet session held at the Baabda Palace in wake of the assassination.
The premier explained that Suleiman requested a timeframe for him to consult with members of the national dialogue table over his decision not to remain in the premiership.
Miqati told reporters: “The request for a timeframe stems from a realization that Lebanon is facing a plan to create strife in the country.”
“This is a national issue and we are keen on an preserving the nation. We do not want to leave Lebanon in a vacuum,” he declared.
“Those who have placed personal gain over national interests have met a bad fate, such as exile or assassination,” he added.
“I call on the politicians to unite, set their differences aside, and make the formation of a new government an easy task,” demanded the premier.
On Hasan's murder, he revealed that cabinet decided to refer the case to the judicial council.
He also demanded that the Telecommunications Minister hand over the telecom data in the case, dating back to September 19, to the investigation.
“I do not want to jump to conclusions in the case, but we cannot separate Hasan's murder to that of the arrest of former Minister Michel Samaha,” Miqati noted.
Hasan was killed on Friday in a powerful car bombing in the Ashrafiyeh district in Beirut.
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.
SourceAgence France Presse

France Says Syria 'Likely' Involved in al-Hasan Assassination
Naharnet/French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Sunday that Syria was probably involved in the Ashrafiyeh car bombing that killed Intelligence Bureau chief Maj. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan and at least three other people. "It is likely... Everything indicates that this is an extension of the Syrian tragedy," Fabius told French television, accusing Syrian President Bashar Assad of spreading his country's conflict beyond its borders. "I wish to express how much we condemn this dreadful attack, how much we are in solidarity with the Lebanese people and government," Fabius said.
He called Assad a "manipulator" who wanted to spread the "contagion to Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon."The French foreign minister also accused Hizbullah of involvement in the Syrian conflict. "Hizbullah is in the Lebanese government and we don't see much of their role," he said. "But their presence in the conflict has been apparent in the past few days, such as the drone which overflew Israel." On October 6, a drone sent by Hizbullah managed to enter Israeli air space before being shot down near the Dimona nuclear reactor. Fabius said that Hizbullah, which is backed by Iran, wanted to "demonstrate more clearly" their support for Assad's regime, adding: "We cannot accept that."Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah had boasted that his group sent the sophisticated unmanned drone and said the device was built by the Jewish state's arch-foe Iran.*Agence France Presse

Suleiman Asks Govt. Not to Provide Cover for Criminals, Urges Speedy Indictments in Samaha, Nahr al-Bared Cases
Naharnet /President Michel Suleiman on Sunday stressed that the government “must not provide cover for perpetrators and criminals” and called for “speeding up the indictments” in the cases of ex-minister Michel Samaha and the Nahr al-Bared clashes, in a speech eulogizing slain Maj. Gen. Wissam a-Hasan, chief of the Internal Security Forces' Intelligence Bureau.
“I cannot but express my deep feelings of grief and pain over the martyrs, topped by Maj. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan and Chief Warrant Officer Ahmed Suhyooni, and I extend my warmest condolences to the families of the martyrs, their comrades, the minister of interior, the prime minister and everyone who loved the martyrs,” said Suleiman at the ISF headquarters in Ashrafiyeh.
Prime Minister Najib Miqati also attended the honoring ceremony. “I see that this institution is being punished by the assassination of its chief, the martyr Major General, as the Intelligence Bureau has managed under his leadership to unveil the networks of espionage and terrorism and to foil harm and a major strife by seizing the explosives” that were transported by ex-minister Samaha from Syria to Lebanon, added Suleiman. The president, who awarded al-Hasan the National Order of the Cedar in Grade of Grand Officer, said the slain general “managed to thwart the conspiracy and prevent it through his soul and blood.” “This assassination is targeted against the Lebanese state and the martyrdom requires us to close ranks and cooperate at the level of citizens and the institutions, especially the political and security institutions. The judiciary and the security agencies cannot perform their duties without the support of the political authority,” Suleiman added.
“I call on security authorities to be firm and strict, as they enjoy the people's support, and I call on politicians, the government and the political officials not to provide cover for the perpetrators. Make security forces and judges feel that they have real support and this is out duty,” he went on to say.
“Enough! Unveil the crimes, starting with the assassination of ex-PM Rafik Hariri and the rest of the figures,” Suleiman asked the authorities, calling on the judiciary to “speed up the indictments in the cases of Michel Samaha and Nahr al-Bared.”

Several Hurt as Angry Mourners Try to Storm Grand Serail
Naharnet /Several people were injured as security forces used tear gas on Sunday to repel demonstrators trying to storm the Grand Serail, the headquarters of the Lebanese government in downtown Beirut, amid calls for Prime Minister Najib Miqati to resign. Following the funeral nearby of slain Maj. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan, chief of the Internal Security Forces' Intelligence Bureau, "young people headed towards the building in the city center, but security forces blocked them by firing into the air and using tear gas," a policeman on the scene told Agence France Presse.
The group was estimated at a couple of hundred people. During funeral orations for slain Maj. Gen. al-Hasan and his bodyguard Chief Warrant Officer Ahmed Suhyooni, former premier Fouad Saniora called on Miqati to resign and stressed that the March 14 forces will not engage in dialogue before the government's departure. Also during the funeral, an angry pro-March 14 journalist, Nadim Qteish, called on mourners to head to the Grand Serail. Clashes stopped around half an hour later, after opposition chief ex-PM Saad Hariri and Saniora urged protesters to refrain from storming the Grand Serail and to end the confrontation. "We are not advocates of violence and I call on all supporters to leave the streets immediately," said Hariri in a televised appeal. "It is true that we demanded to topple the government, but we want to this matter to be done in a peaceful manner," Hariri added. "We want to keep Lebanon safe, a country for freedom and democracy. I reiterate my request to all supporters to depart immediately and I will ask security officers in charge of the Center House to protect the Grand Serail because what happened is totally unacceptable,” he announced. For his part, Saniora said: "We express our great appreciation for the feelings of the citizens, but the use of violence is unacceptable." Saniora noted that "the Grand Serail is a building for the Lebanese state and we must protect it.""This approach is unacceptable and does not serve our cause," he added. "We will not back down from our demand, which is the government's departure, and our morals do not approve the storming of the Grand Serail or any other institution," Saniora went on to say. Meanwhile, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea called on all the supporters of the LF and the March 14 forces to refrain from attacking the Grand Serail and to "express their demands peacefully."Phalange Party Central Committee Coordinator MP Sami Gemayel also denounced the violence, stressing that "the calls for storming the Grand Serail were not voiced by March 14.”

Miqati Calls Jumblat to Inform Him of Resignation and PSP Leader Rejects It
Naharnet/Intensive contacts were held overnight Friday-Saturday between Prime Minister Najib Miqati and Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat and his ministers, during which Jumblat rejected Miqati's suggestion that he would submit his resignation, official sources said. “Jumblat rejected Miqati's resignation out of fear of a governmental vacuum and the inability of any caretaker cabinet to control security should the situations deteriorate,” sources close to the premiership told the pan-Arab al-Hayat newspaper in remarks published Sunday.
“Only a few contacts were held with President Michel Suleiman via his entourage who communicated with some March 14 leaders, who noted that the absence of an alternative to the current government would push things to further deterioration as 'we would be killed and no one would hold the murderers accountable,'” the sources added.
They noted that consultations over Miqati's possible resignation continued until Saturday morning, when he met with the ministers of the National Struggle Front who later held talks with Suleiman ahead of the cabinet session.“Suleiman said he does not mind that efforts be made to reach a settlement by forming a new government but stressed that the proper environment must be created before performing such a step,” the sources said. News of a possible resignation by Miqati sparked the attention of some Western powers, with British Prime Minister David Cameron telephoning the premier overnight Friday, especially that Miqati had told some parties that he does not want to serve as a caretaker PM and that he would leave the country should he take the decision of stepping down.
The opposition March 14 camp has accused the Syrian regime of assassinating Internal Security Forces' Intelligence Bureau chief Maj. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan in a massive car bombing on Friday, calling on Miqati to resign.
Miqati revealed on Saturday that he has taken the decision to “no longer hang on to the premiership,” urging the formation of a national unity government.
He said: “I suspended my decision to resign at President Michel Suleiman's request.”
He made his statements after an extraordinary cabinet session held at the Baabda Palace in wake of the assassination.
The premier explained that Suleiman requested a timeframe for him to consult with members of the national dialogue table over his decision not to remain in the premiership.
Miqati told reporters: “The request for a timeframe stems from a realization that Lebanon is facing a plan to create strife in the country.”
“This is a national issue and we are keen on an preserving the nation. We do not want to leave Lebanon in a vacuum,” he declared.
“Those who have placed personal gain over national interests have met a bad fate, such as exile or assassination,” he added.
“I call on the politicians to unite, set their differences aside, and make the formation of a new government an easy task,” demanded the premier.
On Hasan's murder, he revealed that cabinet decided to refer the case to the judicial council.
He also demanded that the Telecommunications Minister hand over the telecom data in the case, dating back to September 19, to the investigation.
“I do not want to jump to conclusions in the case, but we cannot separate Hasan's murder to that of the arrest of former Minister Michel Samaha,” Miqati noted.
Hasan was killed on Friday as his unmarked car crossed a street adjacent to the bustling Sassine Square in Ashrafiyeh in Beirut
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.

Beirut demo calls on Cabinet to quit
October 20, 2012/By Martin Armstrong The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Young demonstrators angered by the recent assassination of a top intelligence officer in Beirut gathered Saturday at Martyrs’ Square in the capital and called on the government of Prime Minister Najib Mikati to step down over the affair.
The protesters, many belonging to the youth wings of March 14 coalition parties, waved their respective party flags and held posters of Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan, one of the several killed in the Friday car bombing that ripped through the Beirut neighbourhood of Ashrafieh.
“A martyr of truth and justice,” read one of the posters, in a eulogy to the man who headed the police’s Information Branch since its inception in 2006.
Many at the rally blamed the regime of President Bashar Assad for Hasan’s killing.
Ahmad Mansour, 25, a member of the Muslim Students League wing of Al-Jamaa Al-Islamiya, said it was evident Damascus was behind the officer’s death.
“I object to the cruel attempts of the Syrian regime to draw Lebanon into Syrian conflict. It is clear that Syria was behind the Ashrafieh bombing since it came so close after his [Hasan’s] work on the Samaha case,” said Mansour.
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.
Standing beside a poster that read “It is better to die on our feet, than to live on our knees” Mansour blasted the government, accusing members inside it of supporting Assad.
“We reject the hypocrisy of the people in government who support the Syrian regime and the government’s general failure to protect the lives of the Lebanese people,” he said, adding that Hasan’s death was a chilling reminder of the spate of political assassinations that took place in the country between 2004 and 2008.
Similar objections were expressed by Ahmad, 20, an engineering student at the Beirut Arab University.
“Bashar Assad killed Hassan,” said Ahmad, a Future Movement supporter standing below the flag of the Free Syrian Army.
“The government needs to step down. They need to resign because they represent Hezbollah, Syria and Iran and this is not a true reflection of the Lebanese people,” he said.
Prominent March 14 figures, including television journalist May Chidiac, March 14 Secretary General Fares Soueid and Future Movement MP Ahmad Fatfat, also took part in the rally and urged the widest possible participation.
Fatfat said Assad was trying to retake control of Lebanon but that the youth movement could repel these attempts.
“It is true that Bashar Assad is trying to return to Lebanon. Bashar Assad exited Lebanon after efforts by the Lebanese youth and will not return because of [efforts by the] Lebanese youth and the Syrian people,” he said. The Syrian army presence in Lebanon ended in 2005 after mass demonstrations in Martyrs’ Square that were fuelled following the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Chidiac, herself a victim of an assassination attempt which she barely survived, reiterated the opposition’s demand that the Syrian ambassador to Lebanon be expelled.
During the protest partisan chants representing particular political parties could be heard alongside the Lebanese national anthem in a demonstration including supporters from the Kataeb, Lebanese Forces, Future Movement, Progressive Socialist Party, the National Liberal Party and Al-Jamaa Al-Islamiya.
“There is no freedom without blood, there is no freedom without martyrdom,” one chant rang.
Some at the gathering voiced fear over the future. “We fear there may be more to come,” said 23-year-old Wael, who chose not give his real name.
Like his peers, Wael, a member in the youth wing of the Progressive Socialist Party, said Hasan’s killing formed part of a long history of interference by Lebanon’s neighbour.
“We are here because one of our national icons was assassinated yesterday. His death is one of many and represents the continuation of foreign interference in Lebanese politics,” he said, holding a picture of Kamal Jumblatt, the founder of the PSP. “We are asking the prime minister to resign. We don’t necessarily hold him directly responsible [for Hassan’s death], but the policies that the current government have pursued concerning the situation in Syria have facilitated this event,” he said Speaking to reporters at Baabda Palace following an emergency Cabinet meeting over Hasan’s assassination, Mikati said he suspended his decision to resign and would give President Michel Sleiman the time to consult the National Dialogue Committee on the matter.
The prime minister also said that it was difficult not to see a link between Hasan’s death and the work he was involved in, namely the case of Samaha.
Earlier in the day the March 14 coalition called for a massive turnout at Martyrs’ Square Sunday for a rally as well as the burial of Hasan, who will be laid to rest near the tomb of Hariri.

Aoun slams March 14, says Hasan is Lebanon's martyr
October 21, 2012/ The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Michel Aoun Sunday described slain Brig. Gen. Wissam Hasan as the “nation’s martyr” and slammed the March 14 coalition for using his death for political reasons. “We consider Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan and those who fell with him as Lebanon’s martyrs and we join everyone in honoring him,” Aoun said in a televised news conference from Rabieh, north of Beirut. “Some are portraying him as their own martyr and that reflects negatively on the meaning of martyrdom and they are moving him away from the nation and into a political dispute,” he added.
The assassination of Hasan in a car bomb Friday drew strong condemnations from across the country’s political spectrum, particularly from the March 14 coalition who immediately called for the resignation of the government. Hasan was the head of the Internal Security Forces’ Information Branch. March 14 also held Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s Cabinet responsible for Hasan’s blood and asked their supporters to turn for the security chief’s burial ceremony at Downtown Beirut. “There is no nobility in a behavior that uses the martyr as political means,” Aoun, a harsh critic of the Information Branch and Hasan, said.

One killed in north Lebanon clashes
October 21, 2012/By Antoine Amrieh, Misbah al-Ali /The Daily Star
TRIPOLI, Lebanon: One person was killed Sunday during clashes in the northern city of Tripoli between opponents and supporters of President Bashar Assad. Fifteen-year-old Syrian Rola Fakhro was killed by random gunfire in the Jabal Mohsen area. Gunmen from the rival neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen hurled rocket-propelled grenades.
The fighting erupted minutes after Future Movement MP Fouad Siniora delivered a speech at the funeral of slain Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan in Beirut asking the government to resign and holding Prime Minister Najib Mikati's Cabinet responsible for the assassination. Thousands of March 14 supporters gathered in Martyrs’ Square near the Mohammad al-Amin Mosque where the security chief was laid to rest alongside the tomb of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri who himself was a target of a 2005 car bomb. Meanwhile, Tripoli's political and religious figures are expected to hold a meeting at the residence of North Lebanon Mufti Malek Shaar to discuss the recent alarming developments in the city. Earlier Sunday, four people were wounded by sniper fire while sporadic sounds of gunfire, which began Friday following news of the assassination of head of Internal Security Forces Information Branch, continued well into the night. A number of rocket propelled grenades were tossed in the Talaat al-Omari area as well as in the area of Abu Ali River. Rival groups in the anti-Assad, Sunni-dominant neighborhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh and their rivals in Alawite-majority neighborhood of Jabal Mohsen have clashed on several occasions this year, leaving scores of people dead and over 100 wounded. The Army strengthened its presence in the city following deadly fighting in August after rival political groups agreed to a tentative cease-fire. As news emerged of the killing of Hasan Friday, angry residents blocked several roads in Tripoli using burning tires along with other areas in the northern region.
The opposition March 14 coalition has accused Assad of being behind the car bomb that ripped through a residential area near the busy Sassine Square in the Beirut district of Ashrafieh Friday afternoon leaving at least 5 people dead including Hasan and 110 wounded. The group, which has a strong support base in Bab al-Tabbaneh, has also called for the resignation of Mikati’s Cabinet.
Mikati offered his resignation Saturday and called for the formation of a national consensus Cabinet, but was asked by President Michel Sleiman not to rush a decision, as he consults members of the National Dialogue Committee on the matter.

Vehicle at scene day before Ashrafieh bomb: source
October 21, 2012 /By Youssef Diab The Daily Star
BEIRUT: A stolen vehicle containing two bombs was parked at the scene of the Ashrafieh bombing a day prior to the killing of Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan, a security source told The Daily Star Sunday.
“The car was parked at the scene of the bombing a day before detonation,” the source said. The source added that two bombs were placed in the car to guarantee the vehicle would explode.
“The assassins probably placed two bombs in the car to guarantee it will explode,” said the source. The source also said that the car likely to have been used in the bombing was a Toyota RAV4.
“Forensic evidence and explosives’ experts were able to find some parts of the vehicle used in the bombing and said the car was likely a stolen Toyota RAV4,” the source said.
According to the source, the investigation into Hasan’s probe is still at the evidence-gathering stage and it is too early to talk about any “positive results” in this regard.
Earlier on Saturday, Judge Hatem Madi, tasked with overseeing the probe into Friday’s car bomb, told The Daily Star Saturday that work currently centers on collecting evidence including footage from surveillance cameras at the site of the explosion.“Security agencies have begun grabbing footage from surveillance cameras set up on buildings and companies surrounding the site of the explosion and have also begun work on gathering telecommunications data,” Madi said.He added that the Information Branch has launched the investigation and have formulated several hypotheses, without revealing any further details. A car bomb exploded Friday afternoon in the busy Sassine Square area of the Beirut district of Ashrafieh, killing at least five people including the head of the Internal Security Forces Information Branch Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan, and wounding 110. The explosion, estimated to have involved 50 kg of TNT, raised fears of a return to the series of political assassinations that have plagued the country between 2005 and 2008. In an emergency session at Baabda Palace Saturday, the Cabinet asked the Telecommunications Ministry to release all “telecoms data” since Sept. 19 deemed necessary for such investigations to security agencies. Ministers also agreed to modify the structure of the Internal Security Forces and to grant the police’s information wing legal status as a separate department rather than its current status as a branch of the ISF The March 8 alliance, which dominates Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s Cabinet, has repeatedly questioned the legality of the Information Branch.
Madi also said that other security agencies are assisting in the investigation and are attempting to indentify the type of car used “after it turned into a piece of metal given the extent of the explosion and the site of the bomb.” He added that no arrests have yet taken place but stressed that the current phase of the probe merely focuses on gathering information and building hypotheses.Friday's assassination drew strong condemnations from all political parties in the country particularly the opposition March 14 group, which held Mikati personally responsible for the blood of Hasan.In a news conference Saturday following the emergency Cabinet session, Mikati offered his resignation and gave President Michel Sleiman time to consult members of the National Dialogue Committee on the matter.

The martyred Brigadier General
By Emad El Din Adeeb/Asharq Alawsat
Brigadier General Wissam al-Hassan, head of the intelligence branch of the Lebanese Internal Security Forces, was assassinated in a car bomb explosion in Beirut's Ashrafiya district. This is a harbinger of great danger, signaling that the theatre of the al-Assad regime’s criminal practices is widening beyond the Syrian people. We have warned repeatedly that the regime in Damascus will seek to expand its theater of operations whenever it feels it is becoming increasingly besieged politically, militarily and economically. Now it is turning its attention to the best security men in Lebanon, who have acted in a manner far from subordination to Syrian security. I knew Wissam al-Hassan personally when he was responsible for the security of the martyred former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. He was a man of few words but great security expertise. He once told me that: “an independent Lebanon must have internal security that stems from within and national sovereignty that does not follow any political reference in Damascus or religious reference in Tehran”.Brigadier General al-Hassan played a pivotal role in providing crucial evidence in the case of the assassination of martyr Rafik Hariri and his companions, and then he had a major role in thwarting a group of Israeli spy cells that had been active over the past few years inside Lebanon.
The last successful operation carried out by his intelligence branch was to provide a complete file, with video and audio, implicating the former Information Minister Michel Samaha - who was thought to serve as a special political advisor to the Syrian President and his security apparatus - in the bombing and killing of an Islamic figure during their visit to Akkar; a Christian majority area.
The Syrian security forces considered this file to be a severe blow, and the first documented exposure of their criminal activities in Lebanon. As for Hezbollah, its statements have long confirmed that the party rejects al-Hassan and his intelligence branch, calling for it to be abolished with all its men and its activities.
The assassination of Brigadier General Wissam al-Hassan was carried out in order to achieve the following aims:
1. To send a response to the arrest of former minister Michel Samaha.
2. To attempt to incite sedition by killing a high-level Sunni security official in a Christian area.
3. To intimidate and terrorize all Lebanese political forces, most notably the Future Movement headed by Saad Hariri.
4. To send Saad Hariri a message that any kind of support for the Syrian opposition will be paid for with the heads of his allies.
A short time ago, Wissam al-Hassan was on an official visit to Germany where he met with security leaders there. He was told: “your apparatus, despite the lack of equipment, hardware and finance, is among the most efficient intelligence forces in the region”.
His death was an assassination and a criminal operation.

Killed by the al-Assad regime and Hezbollah
By Tariq Alhomayed/Asharq Al-Awsat
There is no doubt that the al-Assad regime and Hezbollah were behind the assassination of Brigadier General Wissam al-Hassan. He was not killed because he was “anti-Syria”, as one news agency claimed, but rather because he was a professional security figure, an honest patriot and a brave man, the likes of which is rare to find in Lebanon today.
I knew Wissam al-Hassan for nearly three years, and I was closely acquainted with him for more than a year and a half. I did not know if he was a Sunni or a Shiite; I did not ask, for this was the last thing I cared about, but I never heard the man utter a single word that could be interpreted as sectarian, or any inflammatory language. He used to refer to Hezbollah, despite its many sectarian acts and crimes against Lebanon and the Lebanese, as “the party”, and if he talked about the tyrant of Damascus he would say “our neighbors”. Hence he was not killed because he was “anti-Syria” in orientation, but rather because he was a professional security figure and a Lebanese patriot who sought stability for his country. He was also among the largest storehouses of Lebanon’s secrets and knew all movements of all parties in the region’s gang, whether in Beirut or Damascus.
Those who knew Wissam al-Hassan were aware that he was a candidate for assassination, and that this could happen at any moment. In the last meeting we had, he told me face to face: “The situation is dangerous, and what’s coming is going to be spectacular!” I asked him what he was talking about, to which al-Hassan explained: “there is a significant and serious operation that will soon be revealed”. I interrupted him asking about the nature of this operation, and he smiled as usual and said “it’s going to be big and you’ll be able to distinguish it”. Two days later the story of former [Lebanese Information Minister] Michel Samaha was revealed, which snowballed into even more accusations against figures very close to the al-Assad regime’s circles. Today, Wissam al-Hassan can be considered a victim of his devotion to the security of Lebanon, and I have no doubt that he was aware he would be killed at the hands of those whom he exposed. Yet he was a brave man in every sense of the word, a true believer in what he sought to achieve, and he was amazing proof of God’s mercy.
The assassination of the martyr Wissam al-Hassan tells us that those who killed him are the same ones that killed the martyr Rafik Hariri. The assassination of al-Hassan also tells us that the al-Assad regime, which is inevitably going to fall, will not leave until it has killed off Lebanon’s finest men, if it doesn’t succeed in inflaming the whole country in the process, just as it has destroyed Syria. The al-Assad regime has not just opted to burn Syria but the region as a whole. The actions of this criminal regime, along with its aides in Hezbollah and Iran before them, represent a declaration of war against the entire region and its stability. This is why we must accelerate the arming of the Syrian rebels, and provide them with everything they need in terms of military aid and so on. This is a task for the Saudis, the Turks and the Qataris. Likewise there is a need for international mobilization, through an alliance of the countries willing including France, the UK and the USA, in order to accelerate the fall of the criminal regime in Syria.
Our region will never know stability with the al-Assad regime, and today we need to turn the page on Lakhdar Brahimi and open the page on arming the rebels and accelerating the fall of al-Assad instead, otherwise the late al-Hassan is only one of a long list of assassination victims.

Blood with flowing tears
By Mshari al-Zaydi/Asharq Alawsat
What is happening in Syria – the Levant – today represents a blot on all of humanity; this represents a disgrace on the conscience of the international community, and particularly the Arab world which claims to be based on values of freedom, dignity, humanity and civilization.
What is taking place in Syria is a violation of every human norm and standard, even during traditional wars. This is something that “none beside Allah can avert” [Surat An-Najm; Verse58].
This is something that has only one inevitable result; Bashar al-Assad and his criminal gang will be toppled, whether this happens today or tomorrow. However the international community will pay the price of this betrayal, cowardice and lack of vision, not to mention the political brokering with Russian Tsar Vladimir Putin and his cold-hearted foreign minister Sergey Lavrov.
As for Obama and his “super” political team, they rushed to get involved in the wrong place in the Middle East, namely Tunisia and Egypt, whilst they are now reluctant to get involved in the right place, namely Syria. This has resulted in the situation deteriorating to the point that we now fear the outbreak of a large-scale civil war. Syria has become a vital destination for fundamentalist and radicals, and this is something that was not noticeable during the early days of the revolution. During this time, the ever-present slogan was “One, one, one…the Syrian people are one.” However due to the weakness and inattentiveness of the Obama administrative, the situation has deteriorated, whilst the Russians and Iranians have also gone too far in the game of extortion.
All of this prompts one to think outside of the box, and brings to mind a well-known incident in the history of the Levant, this geographical area which has always been the arena for international conflict in the Middle East.
An Arab poet and intellectual, living almost 1,000 years ago, lived through a tumultuous incident in the history of the Levant, such as that being witnessed today. The only difference is that the conflict at the time was with the Crusaders, whilst today it is with a criminal sectarian regime that claims to be the protector of the beating heart of Arabism.
When the Frankish Crusaders captured Jerusalem in 1099, they committed such crimes against the people that testimony of this wrung the hearts and brought tears to the eyes of the Caliphs ministers
Abu al-Muzaffar al-Abiwardi, one of the greatest Arab poets, composed a poem about this subject, writing:
We have mingled blood with flowing tears, and there is no room left for pity
To shed tears is a man’s worst weapons when the swords stir up the embers of wars
Dare you slumber in the blessed shade of safety, where life is soft as an orchid flower?
How can the eye sleep between the lids at a time of disasters that would wake any sleeper?
While your Syrian brothers can only sleep on the backs of their chargers or in vultures bellies!
Must the foreigners feed on our ignominy, while you trail behind the train of a pleasant life, like men whose world is at peace?
When blood has been spilt, when sweet girls must for shame hide their lovely faces in their hands!
When the white swords’ points are red with blood, and the iron of the brown lances is stained with gore!
At the sound of sword hammering on lance young children’s hair turns white
This is war, and the infidel’s sword is naked in his hand, ready to be sheathed in men’s necks and skulls
I see my people slow to raise the lance against the enemy:
I see the Faith resting on feeble pillars
For fear of death the Muslims are evading the fire of battle, refusing to believe that death will surely strike them.
Must the Arab champions then suffer with resignation?
This is a message from the poet about the tragedy of the Levant, almost one thousand years ago, tears and blood and war! However in the end, the sun will shine over the Levant, long after the invaders have been repelled, whether this is the Crusaders or Moscow, Washington, Tehran and the Southern Suburbs of Beirut!

Obama-Khamenei summit would cap long back-channel dialogue
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report October 21, 2012/US President Barack Obama has agreed to hold direct talks on Iran’s nuclear program with its leaders, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Is this a surprise? On April 16, 2012, debkafile disclosed that Washington and Tehran were conducting back-channel talks in Paris and Vienna, Sources close to Obama have now leaked word to the New York Times that the dialogue is to be elevated to direct talks at summit level. This disclosure, despite its subsequent denial by the White House, has three clear objects:
1. To slow down the Republican contender Mitt Romney’s momentum in opinion polls ahead of the Nov. 6 election. Obama’s campaign advisers believe the president’s willingness to engage Iranian leaders directly on their nuclear program, in contrast to Romney’s tougher stance, will appeal to the American voter’s reluctance for US military action.
2. To preempt Romney’s presumed plan to drop the disclosure of the back-channel dialogue as a bombshell in their last debate on foreign policy scheduled for Monday, Oct. 22 in Florida.
3. To reassure Tehran that the Austere Challenge 12 joint US-Israeli war game starting Sunday Oct. 21 – albeit in reduced form - will not be the opening shot for an “October surprise” on Iran.
This kite was flown by David Rothkopf, who is close to the Democratic leadership, in Foreign Policy on October 9, although it was not picked up by anyone else in Washington or Jerusalem. Under the heading an “October surprise,” he cited a White House faction as recommending to Obama that the US join Israel in launching a surgical operation against Iran’s nuclear facilities before the US election.
Obama is now signaling Tehran that he has rejected this advice in favor of upgrading his dialogue with Iranian leaders.
However, beyond the calculus of campaign strategy, it is important to note that the clandestine dialogue in progress for the best part of a year has produced no breakthrough in the controversy on Iran’s nuclear aspirations. This is mainly because Obama’s emissaries have never stipulated plainly that Tehran must stop uranium enrichment as a quid pro quo for the dialogue to continue. Just the reverse: they let it be known that Washington does not object to Iran’s enrichment program per se so long as it is not used for building a nuclear weapon.
The differences between the two sides centered on the American demand for the International Atomic Energy Agency to be allowed 24/7 monitoring access to the enrichment projects to determine that parts of the stock did not suddenly disappear for use in manufacturing a bomb. Tehran has only agreed to inspectors paying visits once a fortnight.
Vice President Joe Biden was outspoken about this during his debate with Paul Ryan on Oct. 11. He actually said that the quantities of enriched uranium accumulated don’t matter - only what Iran does with it. This admission aroused little notice although it implied that the Obama administration is willing to let Iran approach a very risky threshold.
It also indicated a very wide gulf still existing between the Obama administration’s indulgent attitude toward a nuclear Iran and Israel’s insistence on red lines for limiting the quantities and grades of enriched uranium Iran is permitted to accumulate.
At the same time, Israel keeps on backtracking on those red lines: When Iran moved its enrichment plant into an immune zone earlier this month, one red line disappeared. And Israel is no longer openly challenging Washington’s assurance that a decision by Khamenei to go forward and start building a weapon would reach US intelligence at the precise moment it is made.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak have therefore been forced back step by step and have silently fallen in behind Obama.
For his part, the US president believes a summit with Iran’s rulers will enhance his chances of reelection. But he is leaving Netanyahu to face the Israeli voter in three months with nothing remaining of his pledge to prevent a nuclear Iran, and clutching at the outward concurrence between Israeli and US intelligence appraisals of Iran’s nuclear progress.
There is no real concurrence; the gap is as wide as ever. But by failing to deny Israeli affinity with the United States on this issue, Netanyahu and Barak are not only helping Barack Obama but also encouraging Tehran to keep going.

Car bomb in Damascus, several killed: TV
AMMAN (Reuters) - A car bomb exploded near a police station in the central Bab Touma district of Damascus on Sunday, witnesses said, and state television said several people were killed.
Ambulances sped to the site and security forces cut off access to the area. Several cars were burnt, the witnesses said.
The explosion took place as President Bashar al-Assad was meeting international envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, who has called for a temporary truce in Syria's civil war.
Damascus residents said Assad's forces shelled several districts on the edge of the Syrian capital overnight. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors violence across the country, said 140 people were killed in Syria on Saturday.
(Reporting by Khaled Yacoub Oweis; Editing by Dominic Evans and Janet Lawrence)

Iran, like U.S., denies plan for one-on-one nuclear talks
DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran followed the United States on Sunday in denying that the two countries had scheduled direct bilateral negotiations on Iran's controversial nuclear program. The New York Times, quoting unnamed U.S. administration officials, had said on Saturday that secret exchanges between U.S. and Iranian officials had yielded agreement "in principle" to hold one-on-one talks.
"We don't have any discussions or negotiations with America," Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi told a news conference. "The (nuclear) talks are ongoing with the P5+1 group of nations. Other than that, we have no discussions with the United States."
The P5+1 group comprises the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council - the United States, Britain, China, France and Russia - plus Germany.
The United States has been working with the P5+1 to pressure Iran on its nuclear program, but with few results. The United States and other Western powers allege that the program is aimed at developing nuclear weapons, but Tehran says it is purely peaceful.
The White House also denied the newspaper report, which came two days before President Barack Obama faces Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney in a televised foreign policy debate.
"It's not true that the United States and Iran have agreed to one-on-one talks or any meeting after the American elections," U.S. National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said in a statement.
"We continue to work with the P5+1 on a diplomatic solution and have said from the outset that we would be prepared to meet bilaterally."
Salehi said on Sunday it was planned that Iran would hold talks with the P5+1, "probably in late November", according to the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA).
"NO DATE"
But a spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who is coordinating the efforts of the P5+1, said that "we hope that we will pick up discussions soon, but there is no date at the moment".
The P5+1 has held a series of inconclusive meetings with Iranian officials in the past year. While Western officials say there is still time to negotiate, they also have been ratcheting up sanctions, which are contributing to mounting economic problems in Iran.
The New York Times said Iran had insisted that its direct talks with Washington should not begin until after the U.S. election on November 6, which will determine whether Obama serves a second term or is succeeded by Romney.
The report looked likely to fan campaign debate over foreign policy, where Romney has been accusing Obama of being an ineffective leader who has left his country vulnerable.
He has also accused Obama of failing to give adequate support to Israel, which sees the prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran as a threat to its existence and has tried in vain to persuade Obama to spell out at what point the United States would use force to prevent Iran acquiring nuclear weapons.
Iran has repeatedly denied Israel's right to exist.An Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander was quoted on Sunday as praising the launch of a drone into Israeli airspace by the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah this month.
"This issue showed that the Zionists (Israelis) and Americans must know that no place is safe for them anymore," Mohsen Kazemini was quoted as saying by Fars.
Separately, the Guards' top commander, Mohammad Ali Jafari, said on Sunday he saw no chance of a military strike on Iran, ISNA reported.
Jafari's comments were in contrast to a statement last month in which he said he expected Israel eventually to go beyond threats and attack Iran.
(Additional reporting by Andrew Quinn in Washington; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

Assad tells Syria envoy arms flows to rebels must stop
DAMASCUS (Reuters) - A car bomb killed 13 people in central Damascus on Sunday as President Bashar al-Assad told an international mediator seeking a truce in Syria's civil war that the key to any political solution was to stop arming rebels.
The bomb exploded outside a police station in the mainly Christian central Bab Touma district of the capital while Assad held talks with United Nations-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, who is pushing for a temporary ceasefire to mark the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha.
State news agency SANA said the president said Syria supported "any sincere effort to find a political solution to the crisis, based on respect for Syrian sovereignty and rejecting foreign intervention."
Any proposal "must be centered around the principle of halting the terrorism and ... commitment by the countries involved in supporting, arming and harboring the terrorists in Syria to stop these actions", SANA quoted Assad as saying.
Syrian authorities blame neighboring Turkey in particular for the bloodshed because it has sheltered mainly Sunni Muslim rebels fighting to overthrow Assad, from Syria's Alawite minority which is an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam. Gulf Sunni powers Saudi Arabia and Qatar also support arming the rebels.
Syria's conflict, which started with peaceful protests for reform, has escalated into a civil war marked by heavy use of artillery and air power by Assad's forces and regular bombings against symbols of his authority in Syria's main cities.
The Interior Ministry said the Bab Touma bomb, on the edge of the old city of Damascus, killed 13 people. Security forces cut off access to the area. Television pictures showed shattered glass on the road and several burnt out cars.
HOPING FOR CALM
Speaking after his meeting with Assad, Brahimi gave few details of the talks but reiterated his call for a pause in the violence, which activists say has killed more than 30,000 people since the uprising against Assad erupted in March last year.
"Everyone can start this (ceasefire) when they want, today or tomorrow for example, for the period of the Eid and beyond," he told reporters at a Damascus hotel. Eid al-Adha begins at dusk on Thursday, lasting for three or four days.
Brahimi said he had contacted opposition figures inside and outside Syria, including rebel fighters, as well as officials in neighboring countries, some of which support the insurgency.
"They answered that they would respond positively to a (ceasefire) initiative from the government," he said. "We hope this Eid in Syria will be calm, even if it is not a happy Eid."
He added: "If we do find that this calm continued through the Eid, we will try to build on it. If that does not happen, we will try nevertheless and work to open the path to hope for the Syrian people."
Turkey has called for all sides to observe Brahimi's truce. Iran, one of Assad's major backers, has also supported the call but said the main problem in Syria was foreign interference, such as arming the rebels.
The United States, which has been a vocal critic of Assad but has little apparent influence on the ground, threw its weight behind the ceasefire call on Friday.
A previous ceasefire in April collapsed after just a few days, with each side blaming the other. Mediator Kofi Annan resigned his post in frustration a few months later.
The violence has spread across Syria's frontiers. Assad's forces exchanged cross-border artillery fire with Turkey several times this month and on Friday a huge car bomb in Beirut killed a top intelligence official whose investigations had implicated Syria in trying to stoke violence on Lebanese soil.
Syria's Information Minister Omran Zoabi told reporters on Friday: "We condemn this terrorist explosion and all these explosions wherever they happen. Nothing justifies them."
(Writing by Dominic Evans; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

Israeli navy takes control of activist boat bound for Gaza, Canadian in custody
By Diaa Hadid, The Associated Press | The Canadian Press
JERUSALEM - Israeli troops commandeered a Gaza-bound ship on Saturday as the vessel tried to break through Israel's blockade of the seaside strip ruled by the Islamic militant Hamas group.
European lawmakers and other pro-Palestinian activists aboard — including one former Canadian MP — did not resist, and the Finnish-flagged vessel was diverted to an Israeli port.
The trip by the ship, Estelle, marked the latest challenge to the air, land and sea embargo of Gaza that Israel imposed after Hamas seized the territory in 2007.
Israeli officials say they need to enforce the blockade to prevent weapons smuggling.
Hamas called for more attempts to break the sea blockade.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement praising the military for enforcing the blockade, said there "is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza" and accused the activists of trying to "to provoke and slander Israel's name."
"If human rights were really important to these activists they would have sailed for Syria. We will continue to protect our borders," he said.
Six Israeli naval vessels stopped the Estelle when it was about 30 nautical miles from Gaza, and masked soldiers boarder the ship and ordered it to sail to Israel's Ashdod port, said a spokeswoman for the activists.
The Swedish-owned Estelle left Naples, Italy, on Oct. 7 with about 30 people from eight countries, including Israeli activists, lawmakers from Norway, Sweden, Greece and Spain, and 79-year-old former NDP MP Jim Manly.
Manly's son issued a statement Saturday afternoon saying his father, who is also a retired United Church minister, was in Israeli custody
"While he is in good health for his age, he is not as resilient as he was in his youth and has medication he needs to take daily. I hope that the Israeli Defence Forces respect his human rights and legal rights and treat him with the respect and dignity he deserves," said Paul Manly.
Jim Manly's wife Eva has said her husband was on the Gaza-bound vessel to bring attention to "the suffering of the Palestinians of Gaza." She said she lost contact with Manly early Saturday.
"It's hard to imagine what threat one sailboat, loaded with humanitarian supplies and a small number of people, could do to" Israel's mighty military, she said.
The Harper government has been critical of similar missions in the past, calling them unhelpful.
A similar flotilla in 2010 ended in bloodshed — nine people were killed and 45 injured after Israeli soldiers boarded a Turkish vessel trying to break the blockade.
Ottawa warns Canadians against all travel to Gaza, saying the security situation along the coast remains volatile.
Israeli military spokeswoman Lt. Avital Leibovich accused the activists on Saturday of staging a provocation.
"We have this blockade because there are constant smuggling attempts of weapons, munitions that eventually reach the hands of terror organizations inside Gaza," she said.
Over the past decade, Gaza militants have fired thousands of rockets and mortar rounds toward Israeli border towns.
Although Hamas and Israel have maintained an unwritten truce for more than two years, violence occasionally flares in the area. Most recently, an Israeli strike on a prominent al-Qaida-inspired jihadi prompted two days of tit-for-tat rocket fire and strikes last week.
Victoria Strand, a spokeswoman for the activists, said the takeover of the Estelle by Israeli forces was a "demonstration of ruthlessness."
The ship was carrying cement, basketballs and musical instruments, Strand said. It was emblazoned with "Ship to Gaza" on one side, and also flew the colourful red, green, black and white Palestinian flag.
Israel, aided by Egypt, closed Gaza's borders after Hamas seized control and drove out forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas more than five years ago. Israel eased its restrictions after its raid of a Turkish-led blockade-busting flotilla in 2010 left nine activists dead and sparked international condemnation.
Still, Israel continues to block sea access to Gaza and severely restricts its ability to export goods and import raw materials.
Activists say the blockade amounts to collective punishment of Gaza's 1.6 million residents, denying them the chance to trade and travel freely. Neighboring Egypt continues to impose restrictions at its passenger crossing with Gaza.
The blockade has deepened the hardships in Gaza, where three in four residents rely on U.N. food aid to get by, according to U.N. figures.
Israeli Defence Ministry spokesman Joshua Hantman said the goods onboard would be checked before entering Gaza through the Israeli-controlled land crossing, Kerem Shalom.
He said Israel allows some 50,000 tons of goods into Gaza every week. Gaza residents also use dozens of smuggling tunnels linked to neighbouring Egypt to bring in contraband goods, particularly construction materials.
Hantman said militants have tried in the past to smuggle weapons into Gaza by sea. In 2011, a vessel carrying 50 tons of weaponry sought to reach Gaza, while in 2009, a boat tried to bring in some 500 tons of weapons, he said.
A Hamas spokesman condemned Israel's actions as "piracy."
"This confirms that the (Israeli) occupation is maintaining its control and isolation of Gaza. There must be more flotillas of solidarity activists to Gaza," said Fawzi Barhoum.
— with files from Associated Press writers Ibrahim Barzak in Gaza City, Karl Ritter in Stockholm and The Canadian Press.

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