Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for October 27/12
U.S. says EU undermines fight against Hezbollah
US official urges EU to name Hezbollah 'terrorists'
Reports: March 14 Expects a Change in Arab and International Stances
Suleiman on Eid al-Adha: Spare Lebanon Further Tragedies
Security Forces Free Kidnapped Syrian from Abductors
Al-Rahi Voices Sorrow that Eid Coincided with State of Grief over Victims
U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly : Hasan's Assassination Aims to Destabilize Lebanon
Reports: Jumblat Resents Al-Mustaqbal Stances, Lashes Out at Hariri
Sleiman: Dialogue needed to spare Lebanon tragedies
Makari: Risky security to freeze talks on electoral law
Syrian rebels ‘detain’ Lebanese reporter: TV
UK says it opposes strike on Iran 'at this moment'
Switzerland Toughens Sanctions against Syria
Italy ex-PM Berlusconi sentenced to 4 years in jail
Egypt handed over to Israel the body of an Israeli man with gunshot wound
Al-Qaida head attacks Morsi for ties with Israel
Car bomb attack kills five in eastern Syria
Syrian rebels detain “suspicious” Lebanese journalist
European Parliament visit to Iran cancelled
Terrorist' Car Bomb Attack at Church in East Syria
Syria bombards major cities, further undermining truce: activists

US official urges EU to name Hezbollah 'terrorists'
By HILARY LEILA KRIEGER, JPOST CORRESPONDENT 10/26/2012/Senior White House terrorism advisor Brennan says EU omission makes it harder to combat Lebanese group's activities.
WASHINGTON – The White House’s senior terrorism advisor slammed the European Union Friday for not designating Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, saying that omission made it harder to combat the Lebanese militant group’s activities. John Brennan, US President Barack Obama’s assistant for counterterrorism, urged the EU and member countries to designate Hezbollah. He noted that Ireland, where he was delivering his remarks, was among those countries that hadn’t done so. Failure to designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization makes it harder to defend our countries and protect our citizens,” Brennan declared, saying it complicates law enforcement efforts because of the problems invoking terror charges against Hezbollah suspects. “We call upon our European allies and partners—including the EU—to join us, not only in recognizing Hezbollah’s terrorist and criminal activities, but in condemning and disrupting those activities,” Brennan said. He added that European countries, like the US, must hold accountable Iran and Syria for their sponsorship of Hezbollah. Brennan said that without greater international recognition and action against Hezbollah’s terrorism, “the group will continue to operate with impunity and it will be able to raise funds that enable its terrorist activity.” He called on the international community to assume a “more proactive posture” against Hezbollah and to work with the United States to uncover its infrastructure and disrupt its networks. Brennan pointed to some positive steps taken by European countries, notably the UK’s designation of Hezbollah’s military wing as a terrorist entity, as well as efforts many other states have taken to derail Hezbollah’s criminal activity, which is used to finance its operations.But, he stressed, “This is simply not enough.”

U.S. says EU undermines fight against Hezbollah
October 27, 2012/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: The chief counterterrorism adviser to President Barack Obama has criticized the European Union for failing to blacklist Hezbollah as a “terror group,” saying it undermines international efforts to combat terrorism. “Let me be clear ... [European resistance] makes it harder to defend our countries and protect our citizens," John Brennan was quoted by The Washington Post Friday as saying in a speech in Dublin, Ireland. The EU has been under increasing pressure to designate the Lebanese resistance group as a “terrorist organization.”
In July, the regional organization turned down a request by Israel to blacklist Hezbollah following the deadly bombing in Bulgaria against Israeli tourists.
The EU regards Hezbollah as a party that is active in Lebanese politics that also has an armed wing. It says there is not enough evidence to warrant listing the Lebanese group as a “terror group” like the United States. Both Britain and the Netherlands argue that the EU should blacklist the group.
During his speech to Dublin’s Institute of International and European Affairs, Brennan placed Hezbollah on top of the list of "joint U.S. and European security challenges."
The U.S.-based newspaper quoted Brennan as saying that Hezbollah has ties with Iran and has established training camps for militants in both Yemen and Syria.
“Countries that have arrested Hezbollah suspects for plotting in Europe have been unable to prosecute them on terrorism charges,” he said.
Washington has repeatedly accused Hezbollah of sending fighters to Syria to aid President Bashar Assad to crush the uprising. Hezbollah denies the allegations.
In September, the U.S. imposed sanctions on Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah for providing training, advice and logistics support to Damascus.
According to the Jerusalem Post, the U.S. official also urged the EU to join his country to recognize “Hezbollah’s terrorist and criminal activities but also in condemning and disrupting those activities.”
Brennan added that should a lack of an international backing to fight Hezbollah persists, “the group will continue to operate with impunity and it will be able to raise funds that enable its terrorist activity.”

Hezbollah under Pressure
David Schenker/Weekly Standard
Washington Institute
October 23, 2012
Hezbollah's days of dominating Lebanon are likely numbered, and the militia's recent behavior suggests that it sees the writing on the wall.
To many Lebanese, the massive car bomb attack in Beirut on Friday that killed the Sunni Muslim head of internal security Wissam al Hassan and seven others evoked the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri. Members of the Shiite militia Hezbollah were indicted for the 2005 crime, and the organization -- along with Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's regime -- is a leading suspect in this latest outrage. Rather than a demonstration of strength, however, the attack highlights the militia's sense of insecurity.
For much of the past decade, Hezbollah has struck a cocky pose. But twenty months into a popular uprising in Syria that threatens to topple the Assad regime, interrupt Hezbollah supply lines, and leave the Shiite Party of God surrounded by a sea of Sunni Muslims, the organization is under unprecedented pressure and its normally confident leader Hassan Nasrallah seems concerned. While his speeches continue to reflect their perennial bravado, in recent appearances Nasrallah clearly isn't looking himself.
Most striking, the once-svelte, turbaned cleric has ballooned into corpulence. Perhaps the bunker lifestyle with its attendant lack of exercise is catching up with the aging sheikh. Or maybe Nasrallah is stress eating. Regardless, images of the now rotund, almost cherubic Hezbollah leader laboriously ascending the podium in September to deliver a fiery "death to America, death to Israel" speech (posted on the organization's Intiqad electronic magazine website) do not inspire the same level of terror as before.
Today, while the demise of Hezbollah is far from imminent, regional developments threaten to undermine the group's preeminent position in Lebanon. And the militia has responded by lashing out against (and perhaps killing its) local detractors, highlighting its anti-Israel agenda, and doubling down on Assad. Given the current stresses, it is difficult to predict how this normally disciplined and calculating organization will behave.
Late September in the West Beirut offices of the Union for Lebanese Journalists, a handful of anti-Hezbollah Shiites and reporters held a press conference. The panelists -- and several other like-minded Shiites -- had lately come under fire by the anti-American, pro-Hezbollah daily Al-Akhbar for their vocal opposition to the militia, a position documented in secret U.S. diplomatic cables published by Wikileaks. While careful to praise Hezbollah "resistance" operations against Israel, the speakers complained bitterly about the Iranian- and Syrian-backed organization's attempt to enforce ideological hegemony on its Lebanese co-religionists via a campaign in Al-Akhbar -- replete with threats of violence -- against the so-called "Shiites of the [American] Embassy."
The Al-Akhbar campaign isn't the first time Hezbollah has tried to intimidate dissident Shiites into quiescence. The militia, which holds a near political monopoly over Lebanon's Shiite constituency, has for decades quietly threatened those in the community who deviated from the orthodoxy to question the legitimacy of the group's arsenal and subservience to the clerical regime in Tehran. (In recent months, the paper had also attacked Wissam al-Hassan for his anti-Assad regime stance). But this orchestrated media campaign against Shiites seemed extreme, even by Hezbollah standards.
To be sure, the Al-Akhbar series is menacing, yet it also suggests a sense of desperation. It's no secret that Hezbollah has been struggling since the start of the Syrian rebellion. After backing revolts against authoritarian governments in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, and Bahrain, the self-described "Organization of the Oppressed" found itself in the uncomfortable position of justifying atrocities perpetrated by the despotic Assad regime in Syria. Worse, as the now steady stream of funerals for Hezbollah fighters seemingly confirms, the militia has been deploying troops next door to bolster Assad's forces.
Rumors of quiet burials of Hezbollah martyrs in south Lebanon have been circulating for months, especially since May when eleven Shiite "pilgrims" were kidnapped in Syria, reportedly including Ali Safa, the nephew of the organization's leader, Hassan Nasrallah. But Hezbollah only admitted its presence in Syria last week, after a prominent military commander responsible for the Bekaa was killed. Nasrallah talked about Ali Nassif's death during a televised speech on October 11, describing how his lieutenant died while defending Lebanese -- many of whom were Shiite members of Hezbollah -- living in Syria.
The explanation strained credulity, and the following day Shiite Lebanese journalist Nadim Koteich spent ten minutes on prime time television picking apart Nasrallah's tortured justification. For the past nineteen months, Hezbollah has been in the Lebanese Government and never once raised the issue of Lebanese in Syria before the cabinet. The explanation, Koteich said, "was just not convincing." Hezbollah supporters are also starting to ask questions. To wit, during a September visit to Lebanon, I was told about a founding member of the party who was shocked and dismayed to learn that his grandson had been deployed to Damascus to defend the Shiites' Seyyida Zeinab mosque.
While Hezbollah has been active in Syria, nearly six years have passed since the group's last significant military operation against Israel. In the absence of so-called resistance, Hezbollah is struggling to maintain its relevance in Lebanon. Accordingly, last month Hezbollah held a mass rally in the southern suburb of Beirut to protest the YouTube trailer mocking Mohammed, in which the keynote address was delivered by Hassan Nasrallah. It was his first public appearance since December 2011.
More recently, on October 11 -- perhaps in an effort to deflect growing criticism of the resistance's provision of military assistance to the Assad regime which has so far killed nearly 30,000 Syrian civilians -- Nasrallah claimed credit during a television appearance for flying an Iranian-built unmanned aerial vehicle, or UAV, over Israel. While the UAV stunt may at least temporarily remind Lebanese of the popular role Hezbollah has historically played in "resisting" Israel, the proliferation of body bags returning from Syria remains a problem for the organization.
Changing political dynamics in Beirut -- largely the result of events in Syria -- also pose a challenge for Hezbollah. Today, not only does the militia face the prospect of losing Assad, it also stands to lose the next elections and control of the Government. For while Hezbollah itself continues to command broad support among Shiites, the organization's Christian coalition partner, the Free Patriotic Movement led by Michel Aoun, appears to be losing popularity. At the same time, Lebanon's small but politically powerful Druze community headed by Walid Jumblatt is poised to bolt from the Hezbollah-led bloc and realign with the remnants of the pro-West, so-called March 14 coalition, enabling it to form a Government.
To be sure, this combination of developments will not lead to the unraveling of the militia anytime soon. Even if Hezbollah is unable to rearm, with an estimated 100,000 rockets and missiles in its arsenal, the organization could potentially conduct several more wars with Israel and has the wherewithal to indefinitely withstand all domestic adversaries.
However, the Syrian uprising has changed Nasrallah and will ultimately transform Hezbollah. The resistance today is not what it was in 2006. Diminished in stature if not capability, after Assad falls, the organization will almost certainly find itself in a more disadvantageous position in Lebanon and the region. Over the years, Hezbollah has demonstrated resilience, ingenuity, and the repeated ability to surprise. Make no mistake, the organization remains dangerous and will surely continue to threaten and kill Lebanese and target Israelis. But barring some dramatic change in the trajectory of events in Syria, Hezbollah's days of dominating Lebanon are numbered. As the militia's recent behavior suggests, Hezbollah sees the writing on the wall.
**David Schenker is the Aufzien fellow and director of the Program on Arab Politics at The Washington Institute.

Sleiman: Dialogue needed to spare Lebanon tragedies
October 26, 2012/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: President Michel Sleiman reiterated Friday his call for rival leaders to engage in dialogue aimed at resolving the government crisis. “Sleiman urged Lebanese on this occasion to rise above the wounds and have some faith, repeating his call for everyone to engage in dialogue to spare Lebanon more tragedies,” according to his press office. Sleiman has launched consultations with the country’s main political leaders to resolve the government crisis in the wake of last week’s assassination of a top intelligence chief in a Beirut car bombing. Over the weekend, Prime Minister Najib Mikati suspended his decision to resign and said he gave Sleiman time to consult the National Dialogue Committee to look into the matter. In response to the assassination of Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan last week, the opposition March 14 alliance, which blames President Bashar Assad for the killing, called on the government to resign, accusing it of providing cover for the crime. Earlier this week, the opposition decided to boycott parliamentary work and called for peaceful protests and sit-ins to pressure the government to resign. The Friday car bombing in the Beirut neighborhood of Ashrafieh, the first of its magnitude since 2008, has thrown the country into a political crisis as the international and Arab communities throw their support behind Sleiman, calling for stability in the country.
In his address Friday, Sleiman also said “Lebanon as a whole remembers during this Eid [al-Adha holiday] the painful periods that it has gone though as well as the recent criminal attack that led to the martyrdom of Lebanese citizens and material losses.”
Separately on his Twitter feed, the president urged Lebanese on the occasion of Eid al-Adha to unite in order to expose the perpetrators behind the killings that have plagued the country.
“On the occasion of this holy Eid [al-Adha], let us remember our martyrs and come together to expose the perpetrators of crimes and stop the chain of deaths and tragedy,” Sleiman said.
He added that unity would help build a homeland for generations to come.
In his statement Friday, Sleiman also mentioned Syria and expressed hope the cease-fire agreed on by rebel fighters and the government would pave the way for dialogue aimed at resolving the 20-month crisis that has left thousands dead. “[Sleiman] hoped that the holiday's cease-fire will be a start to end the violence as a prelude for dialogue between all rivals and the return of Syrian refugees to their homes and livelihoods,” his press office quoted him as saying.

Reports: March 14 Expects a Change in Arab and International Stances
Naharnet /Arab and international stances regarding the current situation in Lebanon are likely to take a turn soon because the reports received by most of these states on the assassination of Brigadier General Wissam al-Hasan were “inaccurate”, prominent source of the opposition March 14 alliance told the pan-Arab al-Hayat daily said. “Most of these states received inaccurate reports on the assassination of chief of the Intelligence Bureau of the Internal Security Forces. The reports did not reflect the real situation in Lebanon and therefore we expect a change in the Arab and international stances by the beginning of November,” the sources told the daily in a interview.They added: “Most reports to Western embassies in Lebanon considered, in the first moments of the assassination of Hasan, that the regime in Syria aims to export its crisis to Lebanon, and was betting on creating a power vacuum. “That however could drag the country into the unknown and therefore Lebanon must be spared any attempt to extend the crisis from Syria.”“European embassies are not only afraid of the confusion that would befall Lebanon under the insistence of the Syrian regime to export its crisis to Lebanon, but from the effects that could touch the role of the UNIFIL forces in the south of the Litani,” the sources said. They added that the European ambassadors were confused between supporting Lebanon's state in general and its institutions and supporting the current cabinet, noting “the change in the American and European stances stemmed from the international community's position that supports change of government but leaves the decision of the cabinet's resignation to the Lebanese because it is an internal affair.” March 14 demands the formation of a neutral cabinet that oversees the 2013 parliamentary elections, they added stressing “no need for dialogue as there are no differences on the ministerial statement which should remain under the same roof of the Baabda declaration.”
Hasan was assassinated in a massive car bomb in Ashrafyieh that left three dead and more than 100 wounded. The assassination was widely blamed on the Syrian regime.
Miqati announced last week that he does not hold on to the position of premiership and that he suspended any decision on his resignation until he holds consultations with Suleiman and the political parties.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton visited Lebanon on Tuesday. Her visit came following the support voiced by ambassadors of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, for the stability and continuity of government activity after they met Suleiman.
March 14 demanded Miqati's cabinet to resign following the assassination Hasan. They accused the cabinet of “covering” the crime, and blamed the Regime of Bashar Assad for the killing.

U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly : Hasan's Assassination Aims to Destabilize Lebanon
Naharnet/U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly stressed on Saturday that the assassination of Intelligence Bureau Chief Wissam al-Hasan only aims to destabilize Lebanon and called for punishing the perpetrators. In an interview to the Voice of Lebanon Radio (93.3), Plumbly stressed that the Security Council will not interfere in Lebanon's internal affairs or any decision to change the current government. Major General Wissam al-Hasan, chief of the Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau was assassinated last week in a massive car bomb in Ashrafyieh.
The assassination angered the opposition March 14 alliance which blamed the Syrian regime for the crime and accused the cabinet of Miqati for covering it. March 14 demanded the cabinet's resignation, reports said. “Forming a new cabinet in Lebanon is an internal affair, and the Security Council will not interfere,” Plumbly said, stressing the necessity that efforts exerted by President Michel Suleiman succeed. Plumbly met earlier with Head of the al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc Fouad Saniora, he said: “Saniora and I discussed the next steps to be taken and I believe that there is agreement on the core issues of the current crisis mainly the security situation and the policy of dissociation, in addition to holding the parliamentary elections.” “Its crucial that the dialogue initiated by President Michel Suleiman, and find the approval of all parties to preserve Lebanon form any divisions,” stressed the U.N. coordinator.

Reports: Jumblat Resents Al-Mustaqbal Stances, Lashes Out at Hariri
Naharnet/Head of the National Struggle Front bloc Walid Jumblat lashed out at Head of al-Mustaqbal movement Saad Hariri for insisting to topple the cabinet of PM Najib Miqati in light of the absence of another one to substitute it, the Saudi Okaz daily reported Saturday. “Jumblatt lashed out at Hariri because al-Mustaqbal movement insists to topple the cabinet of Miqati although there is no substitute,” unnamed sources told the daily. Former PM Saad Hariri on Thursday hit back at Progressive Socialist Party leader Jumblat, describing slain Intelligence Bureau chief Maj. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan as “the martyr of Lebanon” and slammed the Druze leader for refusing to resign from government. “Walid Jumblat is quoting me as saying that Wissam al-Hasan is the martyr of the Sunni sect. This is untrue and his ally (PM Najib) Miqati is the one who said that. Wissam al-Hasan is the martyr of Lebanon,” said Hariri on the social networking website Twitter during Jumblat's live interview on LBCI television.
Jumblat snapped back immediately during the interview. “Great. If Miqati said that then he committed a mistake and let us consider Wissam al-Hasan the martyr of the Lebanese state,” he said.
Earlier during the interview, Jumblat revealed that Hariri had telephoned him and asked him to withdraw his ministers from the government.
The sources told the daily that Jumblat was “annoyed” with the atmospheres that prevailed during a meeting between Head of al-Mustaqbal bloc Fouad Saniora and Arab ambassadors on Thursday.
Saniora told the ambassadors that March 14 alliance is adamant to topple Miqati's cabinet, but willing to extend its hand to President Michel Suleiman to form a new cabinet.
Moreover, Saniora had met Suleiman earlier Tuesday at the Baabda presidential palace and briefed him on the alliance's stance to boycott national dialogue session until Miqati's cabinet resigns.
Intelligence Bureau chief Maj. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan was assassinated last week in a massive car bomb in Ashrafyieh that left three dead and more than hundred wounded.

Terrorist' Car Bomb Attack at Church in East Syria
Naharnet/A car bomb blamed by the Syrian regime on "terrorists" exploded on Saturday in front of a church in the eastern city of Deir el-Zour, state television said.
"Armed terrorist groups have again violated the truce, by setting off a car bomb blast in front of the Syriac church in Deir Ezzor, causing significant material damage to the church facade," the broadcaster said, using the regime's term for armed rebels.
SourceAgence France Presse

We want a Lebanese government
Now Lebanon/October 26, 2012
Body text: US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton nailed it when she said that the “Lebanese people deserve so much better. They deserve to live in peace and they deserve to have a government that reflects their aspirations, not acts as proxies and agents for outside forces.” It’s hard to recall a statement that neatly crystallized Lebanon’s priorities, even if it came from Clinton – the most senior diplomat of a nation that is seen by millions as the world’s bogeyman. This should not detract from the essential truth it carries.
Indeed, those who are quick to lay the woes of the region on Washington’s doorstep should also remember that it is the US and rest of the West that has championed hardest for Lebanese self-determination.
Clinton’s wish is what many Lebanese today can only dream of because a regional power struggle has divided much of the country, and the needs of Lebanon and the Lebanese people have been shamefully ignored as our political class (including, let’s be fair, even some members of March 14, despite it being the bloc whose members are once again being harvested by the assassin’s bomb) seems hell-bent on sacrificing their country for the ambitions of our regional neighbors, dragging Lebanon into a cesspit of sectarian conflict.
Of those countries that seek to steer Lebanon on a course that suits their regional ambitions, Iran has been the most outrageous in its single-mindedness. Writing on this site, the US based analyst, Tony Badran, stated that Iran is not only happy to tell anyone who will listen that Hezbollah takes its orders from Tehran, the party will also be more than ready to take Lebanon into yet another conflict with Israel should it called upon to do so. Badran also has a compelling argument that the Islamic Republic might have had a hand in last week’s killing of Wissam El Hassan as part of its bid to shore up its influence in Lebanon at a time when the regime of President Bashar Al Assad may collapse at any moment.
Those Lebanese who are still laboring under the illusion that Tehran is nothing more than a benign benefactor, supporting the noble Resistance in its bid to protect Lebanese soil from Zionist infection should wake up to the reality before it is too late. There is little to admire or like in Israel, but for decades its presence and supposed aspirations have been nothing more than an opiate peddled by regional powers to ensure obedience to and support of successive repressive regimes, Iran included.
Next up is Syria, a country with greater territorial ambitions over Lebanon than Israel will ever have, and which is a key partner in Iran’s regional masterplan. The current Lebanese government has bent over backwards to accommodate its interests, while Damascus tries to put down a popular uprising with a brutality that has exceeded its own grim standards. Let us not forget that Damascus has consistently violated Lebanese sovereignty in its battle with the Syrian opposition and yet we have heard only a cursory peep of objection from our foreign ministry.
We ask those that still insist there is some warped reason for backing the Assad regime to list the benefits it has brought to Lebanon in the past four decades. Has it encouraged economic growth, strengthened our institutions or sought to enhance our sense of national self? Of course not? During its three-decade occupation, it sowed the seeds of division and discord, infiltrated every institution in a bid to control all aspects of Lebanese life, and routinely murdered those who challenged its authority. What was there to like?
But lest we be accused of not being even handed, the Gulf States, notably Saudi Arabia and Qatar, keen to influence the outcome of the Syrian conflict, have also shown scant regard for Lebanon’s fragile sectarian balance by arming its supporters in Syria through Lebanon’s porous northern border and stirring up anti-Assad feeling in a country that is by its very nature a religious tinderbox.
One week after the car bomb that killed Brigadier Wissam El Hassan, his driver and an innocent bank employee, we are still uncertain if the government will stand down or see out its term. Either way, our mindset must change. If we are ever to be a country that will fulfill its potential and live in harmony, we must stop looking to our regional backers for salvation. They care not one jot for us. We must start looking inside ourselves for the answers.

Syrian rebels ‘detain’ Lebanese reporter: TV
October 27, 2012/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Syrian rebels placed a Lebanese journalist "under house arrest" in the Aleppo district of Azaz, north Syria, LBCI reported Saturday. The Lebanese television station quoted a statement from the group – the rebels of Azzaz –saying that they "detained Lebanese journalist Fidaa Itani ... because his work was not suitable with the course of the Syrian revolution and revolutionaries." "Itani was placed under house arrest for a short period of time," the statement added. Speaking to LBCI, Abu Ibrahim, the head of a rebel group in Azaz, confirmed that Itani was abducted by rebels in that area. He added that Itani, a Syria correspondent for several media outlets, drew the suspicions of the fighters he was accompanying when the reporter started taking numerous pictures of locations. Abu Ibrahim said the rebels handed him Itani, adding that the reporter would remain in Azaz for a while. Abu Ibrahim is the head of the rebel group who kidnapped 11 Lebanese pilgrims in Azaz on May 22, shortly after crossing into Syria from Turkey. They were on their way back to Lebanon following a pilgrimage to Shiite holy sites in Iran.Two of the pilgrims have been released so far

Geagea: murder of Hassan by Syrian decision and domestic Lebanese execution
NNA - 26/10/2012- "The assassination of Security Intelligence Officer, Wissam Hassan, has been perpetrated by the Syrian and executed by Lebanese hands" Commander of the Lebanese forces Samir Geagea stated today. These accusations came during an interview accorded by Geagea to the French weekly magazine "le Figaro". Geagea commented that the assassination of Hassan, dealt a main blow to the Lebanese state especially with regards to Institutional Nation Building process. He stressed March 14 main objective is to form a new government capable of checking the Serial of political assassinations.
He however defends means of reaching this objective as being perfectly peaceful through sit-ins demonstrations and protests in down-town - Beirut.
He added that March 14 moves will continue up till Mikati government is toppled. Geagea accused cabinet Minister's of complicity in political assassinations. He criticized EU positions saying it was lax vis-à-vis murderers. Geagea perceives no risks in seeing Islamists coming to power in Syria, he concluded that Syrian and Lebanese Christians minorities never enjoyed special privileges under Assad's regime and therefore, there is no harm in seeing the dictator go.

Sleiman: Dialogue Spares Us Disasters!
N.N.A. Oct. 26, 2012 "National dialogue spares us further disasters," Lebanese President Michel Sleiman urged politicians to join the round table of talks in his Eid al-Adha(Feast of the Sacrifice) today.
The Presidential prompting came in his congratulatory Eid al-Adha message when he implored all members of the Lebanese body politic to pose in a moment of reflective mood over the current juncture such that they uplift themselves to lofty ideals. While asking them to place Lebanese higher interest above anything else, he deplored all political assassinations that took a heavy toll both materially and, in terms of people. He hoped for a lasting cease-fire in Syria as a prelude for a comprehensive national dialogue between Assad and the opposition and the return of the displaced to their homes.

Mass service dedicated to Ashrafieh victims
NNA - 26/10/2012 - Ashrafieh raised prayers on Friday in remembrance of its innocent fallen victims in the wake of last week's explosion. The mass service was held at Saint Joseph Church - Sagesse, headed by Beirut Maronite Archbishop Paul (Boulos) Mattar. In his religious sermon, Mattar described the explosion that "claimed the life of one of Lebanon's most honorable security men and several innocent people" as being a "huge catastrophe that hit the heart of the nation, shaking the State's entity in a dangerous manner!" Mattar considered that the Lebanese are before two choices at the current critical stage, namely to fortify their civil peace at any and all costs or else the region's wars would jeopardize the country's peace, restoring the past experiences of vengeance, divisions and crises, he warned. "It is high time that we realize that countries accord priority to their own interests and provide us with no free gifts," added Mattar. Hence, he highlighted the dire need for arranging matters of the country in a way that would guarantee its national fate and future, reminding that Lebanon can only rise through its people's unison, all together! Mattar raised prayers for the innocent fallen victims' souls to rest in peace. He also prayed for understanding to prevail towards forming a new government that would meet the aspirations of all Lebanese and win their support. It is to note that the mass service was attended by a number of political officials and prominent dignitaries, namely Cabinet Ministers Ncoula Sehnaoui, Freij Sabounjian and Gabi Layoun; in addition to Deputies Michel Faraoun, Hagop Paqradonian, Serge Tor Serkisian and Ghassan Mkheiber. Representatives of ISF Director General, Lebanese Forces Party Head and Kataeb Party Head also attended.

Rahi receives further congratulatory phone calls
NNA - 25/10/2012 Maronite Patriarch Mar Beshara Boutros Rahi received a phone call from former Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Thursday, congratulating him on his appointment a cardinal.
The phone call was an occasion to dwell on the general situation and developments, with both sides agreeing on following up consultations and efforts for the country's supreme interests.
Rahi also received congratulatory phone calls on the same occasion from former President Amine Gemayel, Patriarch Nerses Pedros 19th, Deputy Prime Minister Samir Mokbel, MP Hadi Hobeish, Lebanese Ambassador to Syria Michel Khoury, former minister Demianos Qattar, former minister Roger Edde, in addition to a number of bishops and political and social dignitaries.

First Lady visits Achrafiyeh victims in hospitals
NNA - 26/10/2012 First Lady of the Republic, Wafaa Sleiman, toured Friday various hospitals which received those injured by Achrafiyeh car-bomb, and checked on their health and progress as well as followed up on their cases with the medical teams.Last Friday a terrorist attack targeting Chief of Information Branch at ISF, Wissam Hassan, rocked Achrafiyeh locality in Beirut, killing him and several people, and wounding tens others, leaving numerous homeless. A medical team welcomed Sleiman at her first stop at Hotel Dieu Hospital, where she met with Zeina Shoeib, a victim who got wounded in the eye, and another young lady, Zeina Safy, who sustained injuries to her face and hands. The First Lady met with the family of 72 year old Evelyn Richa, who is still in intensive care, but is reportedly improving.
Sleiman also checked on Syrian national Mohammad Jassim, who continues to be in critical condition.
The Hotel Dieu visit concluded with a meeting with the medical and emergency teams, where she saluted them on the "work they have done in retaliation to the terrorist attack," and expressed her full sympathy for those who suffered from the assault. At Rizk Hospital, the First Lady met medical director, Dr. Antoine Zreik, and listened to the suffering of Antoinette Hadad, whose back, legs, and ears were affected by the bomb. The Lebanese-Canadian Hospital was Sleiman's third and final stop, where she met with the doctors of 10 year old Jennifer Chedid, whose head, face and body were so badly damaged that many thought she would not survive her wounds. Doctors revealed that the little girl has a long path towards recovery, but she was out of danger now.
Jennifer told Sleiman that she was determined to get her life back despite physical and psychological wounds.The First Lady lauded the "courage and faith of all the injured, especially those who remain in hospital for recovery."She wished them all a speedy recovery, describing them as "a living example of Lebanese resolve and capability to overcome adversities, and hold on to hope that the future must have more colorful, loving and safe days for them, which will definitely reflect on Lebanon's rise from suppression, and its return to its pioneer role in the region."

Missing man found dead in car trunk
NNA - 26/10/2012 Members of Information Branch of ISF found the body of Roland Nabil Choubeir, 22 years old, hidden in the trunk of a black BMW parked near Pasteur Hospital in Jounieh.
The body was riddled with gun bullets and knife stab wounds. Choubeir, from Fidar town in Byblos, left his home two days earlier and went missing with no information as to what lead to his murder. Authorities began an intensive investigation into the mysterious killing

Why Syria's Fragmentation Is Turkey's Opportunity
Soner Cagaptay and Parag Khanna/Washington Institute
The Atlantic/October 24, 2012
As Ankara's longstanding Kurdish conflict continues, its neighbor's breakup could create unexpected allies.
One-and-a-half years into Syria's civil war, the latest chapter is the armed hostility between Syria and Turkey, once a friend of the Assad regime. A century ago, it was Western powers that dismantled and carved up the Ottoman Empire after World War I. Today, Turkey can place itself in the driver's seat of shaping the borders of the emerging Near East map.
Syria's slide into ungovernability suggests that, unlike Libya at the moment, splintering and partition are increasingly likely outcomes, unless the Assad regime falls. If the conflict in Syria continues unabated, leading to full-blown sectarian war between Alawites and Sunnis, and violent ethnic tensions between Arabs and Kurds, the scenario that is more likely to unfold now is more along the Iraq model of de facto zones of semi-independent control.
Aleppo and Damascus would still likely be connected, though they would be pulled in different directions thanks to countervailing trade links. There would be a middling Druze enclave in the south. Alawites, or at least those who survive the impending and unfortunate cataclysm, would retreat to their traditional stronghold around the Mediterranean port of Latakia.
Most relevant to Turkey is the fate of Syria's Kurdish enclaves. Somewhere between 10-20 percent of the Syrian population is Kurdish, creating a strong case for a greater Kurdish zone of control and eventual autonomy together with fraternal allies in Iraq, particularly given that the largest concentrations of Kurds in Syria live in the north along the Turkish border areas and stretching eastward towards Iraq.
What is more, Turkish, Syrian, and Iraqi Kurds (at least the ones that live in Iraq's northwest, across the borders with Turkey and Syria) are linguistically united. These Kurds speak the Kurmanchi variety of Kurdish, as opposed to Iranians and northeastern Iraqi Kurds. They speak the Sorani variety of Kurdish, which is more different from Kurmanchi than Portuguese is from Spanish.
Syria's Kurds would likely turn to Turkey for support. They would appreciate Ankara as a balancing force against Arab nationalism, a lesson they would fast learn from the Iraqi Kurds, who have made Turkey their protector against Baghdad since 2010.
This presents Turkey with a crucial choice. It has traditionally been hostile to an independent Kurdish state or entity anywhere in the region, lest its own Kurdish population make similar demands. But its calculus could be changed by the prospect of chronically unstable Sunni Arab neighbors, and the need to counter Iran's Shiite axis -- currently stretching from Baghdad to the Assad regime to Hizbullah in Lebanon. The Balkanization of Syria presents a once-in-a-century opportunity for Turkey.
There are more immediate reasons for Turkish support of an independent Kurdish entity in Syria. The shelling across the Turkish-Syrian border present an important case for why Turkey might be better served by buffer states such as Kurdistan, rather than the far-less defined geographic realities today.
Also, with Assad's authority collapsing most rapidly in northwestern Syria, he appears uninterested in preventing the usage of Syrian territory by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) -- the militant group leading the fight for Kurdish independence in Turkey and perpetrators of numerous terrorist attacks there. Thus, Turkey ought to favor a new Aleppo-based government that seeks stability and order on its territory and that would act more responsibly, as Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has, in reining in PKK militias in northern Iraq. Indeed, Kurdish self-defense forces from Syria are now receiving training from Peshmerga forces in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Regardless of the Syrian Kurds' ability (or willingness) to rein in the PKK, Syria's main Kurdish political faction, the PKK-affiliated Party for Democratic Unity (PYD), has learned from watching neighboring Iraq that Sunnis will likely unite against Kurdish self-governance. Thus, ironically, while the PKK would continue to fight Turkey, the group's Syrian franchise might decide to make friends with Ankara.
Furthermore, as in Iraqi Kurdistan, Turkish infrastructure companies would be among the prime beneficiaries of investment in Syria's Kurdish region post-Assad, winning major contracts, as they did in Iraqi Kurdistan after Saddam. Turkish companies have practically built Iraqi Kurdistan, paving its roads, designing its airports, drilling for its oil, and constructing its urban communities -- not to mention being the necessary outlet for Iraqi Kurdistan's energy resources. Similarly, it is a necessary trade partner for any landlocked entity emerging in the post-Assad aftermath. Turkey's competitive advantage in Iraq, as an advanced economy that lies next door, will be its advantage also in post-Assad Syria.
In light of all these compelling reasons to support an independent Kurdish entity in Syria, Turkey may be convinced to reverse its long-standing opposition to any Kurdish autonomy in the region. But one major roadblock stands in the way of Turkey capitalizing on these developments: its own Kurdish population, which has long been agitating for its own autonomy.
As Turkey makes good friends with the Syrian and Iraqi Kurds, it has to keep its own disgruntled Kurds happy. Rising Kurdish nationalism across the region has excited the country's Kurds. Turkey has witnessed a rise in PKK attacks recently, with the group even launching a brazen, if aborted, fall campaign to take over towns in the country's southeast. Politically, Ankara's failed 2009 attempt to provide more cultural rights for Kurds has added to their frustrations. Such sentiments will be voiced prominently in the country's 2013 local elections, when the Kurdish nationalist Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) will likely retain control of major cities in southeastern Turkey.
It will be hard for Turkey to build a strong relationship with the Syrian and Iraqi Kurds when Turkish Kurds are locked in a centrifugal tendency away from Ankara. As it aims for influence in Syria and Iraq, Ankara has to make peace with its Kurdish community. If autonomy is the way to resolve the Kurdish issue in Iraq and Syria, in Turkey the path forward is more democracy. Currently, Turkey is debating whether to write its first civilian constitution. This presents the country with a timely opportunity to create a truly liberal charter that broadens everybody's rights, including those of the Kurds.
Kurdish nationalists have been suggesting lately that this is the Kurds' moment in history. The Kurds may indeed turn the Middle East's post-World War I alignment on its head, but they cannot do this without Turkey. This is in fact Turkey's Kurdish and Middle East moment -- if Ankara plays its hand correctly at home.
**Soner Cagaptay is the Beyer Family fellow and director of the Turkish Research Program at The Washington Institute. Parag Khanna is a senior research fellow at the New America Foundation.

Egypt handed over to Israel the body of an Israeli man with gunshot wound
DEBKAfile Special Report October 27, 2012/Egypt handed over to Israel at the Kerem Shalom crossing Friday night, Oct. 27, the body of a 43-year old Israeli man found on a northern Sinai beach near Sheikh Zuweid. The body was taken to the Institute of Forensic Pathology to discover his identity when a gunshot wound was found to have caused his death - not drowning as first believed. The body was fully clothed.
debkafile: Sheikh Zuweid is a stronghold of armed Salafi groups associated with al Qaeda. The circumstances of his death in Sinai are under investigation to find out if he was snatched from one of the Sinai resorts which Israelis still frequent despite terror warnings and murdered.
The latest warning is more comprehensive than ever before. Last Wednesday, Oct. 25, debkafile reported Israeli, Egyptian and US Middle East counter-terror forces were on high alert for coordinated attacks in Sinai on or around the Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha.
They acted on word received in the last ten days of preparations by Salafi and al Qaeda cells in Egyptian Sinai to unleash coordinated terrorist attacks on US and Egyptian targets in Sinai and across the border in Israel. The jihadis are bent on revenge for Israel’s targeted killing on Oct. 13 of Hisham Saidni and Abdullah al-Ashqar, two senior commanders of their Sinai-Gaza network, the Majlis Shura Al-Mujahideen
Israel’s IDF Sagi-512 Brigade and Shin Bet units are on guard around the Gaza Strip and Egyptian border; Egypt’s military, Interior Ministry and security forces are on high alert in Sinai; and the Multinational Force of mostly US units are on the ready at both its Sinai bases - Al-Gora near El Arish in the north and Sharm el-Sheikh in the south.
The US special forces unit posted last month on Jordan’s Syrian border was hurriedly transferred to the Red Sea port of Aqaba with a fleet of helicopters, in case the MFO comes under attack.
The Majlis Shura Al-Mujahideen is a roof organization of some 6,000 Egyptian, local Bedouin, Palestinian, Jordanian, Saudi, Yemeni and Libyan terrorists who subscribe to Al Qaeda’s jihadist philosophy. From their strongholds in central and southern Sinai, they have carried out most of the most recent spate of attacks on Israel and on Egyptian military targets in the peninsula.
After their combined assault of July 18 on Egyptian and Israeli military targets, in the course of which they massacred 18 Egyptian troops, Cairo announced the launch of a major offensive to root the terrorists out of their Sinai lairs. But four months on, the jihadis remain in control of large tracts of the rugged Sinai desert. And last week, they received a large increment from Libya. The Libyan reinforcements were discovered on their arrival in Sinai Oct. 15 with a large quantity of weapons including missiles, ready for the forthcoming Eid offensive.
Among them were some of the perpetrators of the murderous attack in Benghazi on Sept. 11which killed four Americans at the US consulate.
On the day they arrived, Al Qaeda’s Shumoukh Al-Islam website ran a eulogy for Hisham Saidni with a warning: “The blood of the Muslim heroes is not cheap, nor is it shed in vain. The Jews will pay dearly for every drop they spill and Israel should expect a devastating response.”
At the beginning of the week, intelligence watchers picked up the sudden disappearance of thousands of jihadis from their Sinai posts as though the earth had swallowed them up. It is suspected they have regrouped in locations closer to their targets ready to move.
This incoming intelligence prompted the US Statement Department’s travel advisory of Tuesday, Oct. 23, for US citizens visiting Sinai and Israel’s Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz’s warning that coordinated terrorist attacks may be in store from Sinai and its northern borders with Lebanon and Syria.

Syrian gov't bombards cities after bloody start to truce
By REUTERS 10/27/2012 12:32 Troops loyal to Syrian President Assad fire on Deir al-Zor, Damascus, Aleppo despite Eid al-Adha ceasefire; NGO: more than 150 killed Friday, mostly by snipers; 43 soldiers also killed in clashes, ambushes. BEIRUT - Syrian opposition activists reported a return to heavy government bombardment in major cities on Saturday, further undermining a truce intended to mark the Muslim Eid al-Adha religious holiday. Activists in the eastern city of Deir al-Zor, the suburbs of Damascus and in Aleppo, where rebels hold roughly half of Syria's most populous city, said that mortar bombs were being fired into residential areas on Saturday morning. The bombardment came on the second day of a truce called by international peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, who had hoped to use it to build broader moves towards ending the 19-month-old conflict which has killed an estimated 32,000 people. "The army began firing mortars at 7 a.m. I have counted 15 explosions in one hour and we already have two civilians killed," said Mohammed Doumany, an activist from the Damascus suburb of Douma, where pockets of rebels are based. "I can't see any difference from before the truce and now," he added. The Syrian military has said it responded to attacks by insurgents on army positions on Friday, in line with its announcement on Thursday that it would cease military activity during the holiday but reserved the right to react to rebel actions. More than 150 people were killed on Friday, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based opposition organization with a network of sources within Syria. Most were shot by sniper fire or in clashes, the Observatory said, highlighting a temporary drop in intensity of the civil war in which Assad's forces have been conducting daily airstrikes and heavy artillery raids in most cities. Forty-three soldiers were killed in ambushes and during clashes, it added, and state TV reported a powerful car bomb which killed five people in Damascus. Violence had initially appeared to wane in some areas on Friday but truce breaches by both sides swiftly marred Syrians' hopes of celebrating Eid al-Adha, the climax of the Haj pilgrimage to Mecca, in peace. Brahimi's ceasefire appeal had won widespread international support, including from Russia, China and Iran, President Assad's main foreign allies. The war in Syria pits mainly Sunni Muslim rebels against Assad, from the minority Alawite sect which is distantly related to Shi'ite Islam. Brahimi has warned that the conflict could suck in Sunni and Shi'ite powers across the Middle East. Brahimi's predecessor, former UN chief Kofi Annan, declared a ceasefire in Syria on April 12, but it soon became a dead letter, along with the rest of his six-point peace plan

Question: "What does the Bible say about ghosts / hauntings?"
GotQuestions.org
Answer: Is there such a thing as ghosts? The answer to this question depends on what precisely is meant by the term “ghosts.” If the term means “spirit beings,” the answer is a qualified “yes.” If the term means “spirits of people who have died,” the answer is “no.” The Bible makes it abundantly clear that there are spirit beings, both good and evil. But the Bible negates the idea that the spirits of deceased human beings can remain on earth and “haunt” the living.
Hebrews 9:27 declares, “Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.” That is what happens to a person’s soul-spirit after death—judgment. The result of this judgment is heaven for the believer (2 Corinthians 5:6-8; Philippians 1:23) and hell for the unbeliever (Matthew 25:46; Luke 16:22-24). There is no in-between. There is no possibility of remaining on earth in spirit form as a “ghost.” If there are such things as ghosts, according to the Bible, they absolutely cannot be the disembodied spirits of deceased human beings.
The Bible teaches very clearly that there are indeed spirit beings who can connect with and appear in our physical world. The Bible identifies these beings as angels and demons. Angels are spirit beings who are faithful in serving God. Angels are righteous, good, and holy. Demons are fallen angels, angels who rebelled against God. Demons are evil, deceptive, and destructive. According to 2 Corinthians 11:14-15, demons masquerade as “angels of light” and as “servants of righteousness.” Appearing as a “ghost” and impersonating a deceased human being definitely seem to be within the power and abilities that demons possess.
The closest biblical example of a “haunting” is found in Mark 5:1-20. A legion of demons possessed a man and used the man to haunt a graveyard. There were no ghosts involved. It was a case of a normal person being controlled by demons to terrorize the people of that area. Demons only seek to “kill, steal, and destroy” (John 10:10). They will do anything within their power to deceive people, to lead people away from God. This is very likely the explanation of “ghostly” activity today. Whether it is called a ghost, a ghoul, or a poltergeist, if there is genuine evil spiritual activity occurring, it is the work of demons.
What about instances in which “ghosts” act in “positive” ways? What about psychics who claim to summon the deceased and gain true and useful information from them? Again, it is crucial to remember that the goal of demons is to deceive. If the result is that people trust in a psychic instead of God, a demon will be more than willing to reveal true information. Even good and true information, if from a source with evil motives, can be used to mislead, corrupt, and destroy.
Interest in the paranormal is becoming increasingly common. There are individuals and businesses that claim to be “ghost-hunters,” who for a price will rid your home of ghosts. Psychics, séances, tarot cards, and mediums are increasingly considered normal. Human beings are innately aware of the spiritual world. Sadly, instead of seeking the truth about the spirit world by communing with God and studying His Word, many people allow themselves to be led astray by the spirit world. The demons surely laugh at the spiritual mass-deception that exists in the world today.

Obama is less dangerous than Romney!
27/10/2012
By Emad El Din Adeeb/Asharq Alawsat
US President Barack Obama emerged – with difficulty – from the third and final presidential debate, which mostly revolved around foreign policy, with better results than his Republican rival Mitt Romney.
In the third debate Obama was able to come up with that ‘magic mix’ combining “poise and strength”, whilst Romney had no poise whatsoever and continued his policy of angrily attacking his opponent without putting forth any practical argument that qualifies him to be the next US President and Commander-in-Chief and of the most powerful army in the world.
Foreign policy is a very important issue for the American voter, although American culture, with regards to its citizens, is based primarily on the premise of withdrawing within and focusing on domestic issues.
The importance of foreign policy for the Americans lies in the extent of its impact on decision of war and peace , for the common tax payer may have to pay the price for any wrong decision in this area.
The Americans paid a price for their convictions in the Second World War, when they stood against Hitler.
They paid a heavy price in the Vietnam War, which saw the largest protest movement in modern American history.
They also paid a price recently, and felt its severe impact, when George W. Bush sent hundreds of thousands of American soldiers and officers to Iraq and Afghanistan following the September 11 attacks. This has resulted in US treasury losses of $2 trillion.
Hence the American electorate, whether they are affiliated with the Republican Party or the Democrats, are scrutinizing the extent of the experience and capabilities of the country’s next president.
The President of the United States is the one with the right - he alone and no one else - to press the red button and launch a devastating nuclear war on the world.
The man in the White House is capable of declaring a conventional or nuclear war, and hence he must be trusted by the people, and must possess the ability and wisdom to weigh up matters on a scale of gold. The last thing the American citizen needs today is another military adventure that will result in a new bill for current and future American taxpayers to pay, given that they already have to pay a national debt of around $16 trillion, which has accumulated as a result of the errors of former presidents.