Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for October 30/12
Families of Lebanese in Syrian prisons say kept out of the loop
French President Francois Hollande warns of attack on UNIFIL
Lebanese TV host Nadim Koteich to be investigated for inciting Serail protesters
 Lebanon’s army commander General Jean Kahwagi  warns of armed groups in Tripoli
Lebanese Pro Axis of Evil Cabinet defies calls to quit, sets meeting
Despite tension, ties between Hariri and Jumblatt reparable
Journalist Fidaa Itani ‘free to go but remaining in Syria’
Future Movement MP Ahmad Fatfat: Killings will persist if arms out of state control
Fight breaks out between FPM, LF student supporters
Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati to remain in office, urges Dialogue
Lebanon's Arabic press digest - Oct. 30, 2012
'War of extermination' in Syria: Qatar PM
Report: Abou Ibrahim Killed by Kurds while Trying to Storm Aleppo Town
Syria air force general killed as air strikes pound rebels
Fighter jet carries out first air strike on Damascus city: activists
Israeli PM: Strike on Iran would be good for Arab world
Syria on a cliff edge between Assad and Al Qaeda
Syrian jets bomb area near Homs to break rebel siege
Muslims Attack Coptic Christians in Egypt After Mass
Kuwait opposition activist held for ruler insults
Sign in Iran asks Iraq not to search Syria-bound planes

Families of Lebanese in Syrian prisons say kept out of the loop
October 30, 2012/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Relatives of the Lebanese detained in Syrian prisons Tuesday criticised the fact they have been kept out of meetings at the Justice Ministry to follow up on their family members.
“We denounce being kept away from the meetings Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi is holding to follow up the case of Lebanese detained in Syrian prisons... We should be addressing the case,” a statement from the families of the detained said.
The families said Qortbawi intends to hold a meeting Wednesday to address forming an Independent National Commission to investigate the Lebanese detained in Syria in conjunction with the thousands who went missing during the Civil War.
Relatives of the detained oppose forming such a commission and argue that joining the case of the detainees with the case of the missing will allow the Syrian regime to shirk its responsibility.
“We have already said we are against such a commission and the issue of the detained should be addressed with their families and relatives, and nobody else,” said the statement.
According to the statement, the families of the detained are entitled to solve the case in person and have the right to take the legal measures against anyone who takes away such right.
“We have the right to sue anyone who takes away our representation and speaks on our behalf,” the statement said.
The statement was signed by Fatima Abdullah, whose brother Ali is being held in Syria, and Elie Roumieh, brother of Beshara Roumieh, who has been in Syrian prisons for almost three decades, and others.
“We met earlier with Prime Minister Najib Mikati and got his word that he will solve our problem, but minister Qortbawi insists on meeting with organizations that have no right to address the case of the detained in Syria,” said the families.
Around 600 Lebanese are being held in Syrian prisons and eyewitness accounts and documents have indicated that many are still alive and in Syria, say the families of the detained Lebanese.
In August, Qortbawi sent a draft decree to the government to establish an Independent National Commission tasked with investigating the fate of Lebanese missing persons whether in Syria or elsewhere. The Cabinet has not yet discussed the proposal.
Officials at SOLIDE (Support of Lebanese in Detention and Exile), an NGO, have backed a national commission that would address the case of all missing persons.

Lebanon's Arabic press digest - Oct. 30, 2012
October 30, 2012/ The Daily Star
Lebanon's Arabic press digest.
Following are summaries of some of the main stories in a selection of Lebanese newspapers Tuesday. The Daily Star cannot vouch for the accuracy of these reports.
Al-Joumhouria
Government avoids any decision contrary to the spirit of consultations conducted by Sleiman
As concerns mounted over the flooding from Hurricane Sandy, which swept through the East Coast affecting the U.S. presidential race, Lebanon was busy with the hurricane caused by the assassination of Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan and its political impact, which is growing in the country and is affecting the relationship between the March 8 and March 14 coalitions.
As of Wednesday, the opposition will translate words into deeds when March 14 will boycott parliamentary meetings and any activity involving the government.
In parallel, the Mikati government, seeking to activate its work, meets at Baabda Palace Wednesday. Cabinet will discuss diplomatic appointments from outside the agenda. Meanwhile a decision on a salary raise will be postponed until after the return of Central Bank governor Riad Salameh from abroad.
The Union Coordination Committee was set to strike Nov. 8 in the event the government failed to refer the pay hike to Parliament for approval.
Al-Mustaqbal
March 14 political declaration outlines steps to confrontation ... committee meetings boycotted
Hezbollah makes decisions, Mikati implements: Cabinet [meeting] Wednesday
After Hezbollah decided that the government headed by Najib Mikati will carry on until the upcoming parliamentary elections, according to MP Ali Fayyad, as if nothing had happened, Mikati carried out the decision and called for a Cabinet meeting Wednesday.
Meanwhile, consultations conducted by President Michel Sleiman did not bear fruit. Sleiman, nevertheless, reiterated that "dialogue remains the best way to solve all the problems."
As for the Maarab meeting at the residence of Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, Al-Mustaqbal has learnt from an LF source that the conferees discussed the local, regional and international situation in all its aspects.
March 14 leaders have “pulled together to outline the steps to confrontation whatever the circumstances,” the source added.
The source stressed that March 14 – as much as it wants to bring down the government – also seeks to stop the “killing machine ... and will successively reveal the steps to confrontation and each step will be announced in a timely manner.”
Al-Liwaa
Opposition tasks Siniora to negotiate with Sleiman ... and gets ready for confrontation until elections
Protests at diplomatic appointments likely to postpone decision, Mikati to Bulgaria and Hungary this weekend
As the anticipation phase begins, opposition sources remain silent about the strategy of confrontation which March 14 is materializing successively as a result of meetings in Jeddah between former Prime Minister Saad Hariri and the head of the Future parliamentary bloc Fouad Siniora and Future Movement officials.
The same goes for the Maarab meeting last Saturday night which was held without prior notice and which resulted in a roadmap drawn by March 14 leaders from this moment until the 2013 parliamentary elections.Sources that took part in the Maarab meeting told Al-Liwaa that the conferees assigned Siniora to conduct intensive talks with political leaders, particularly with President Sleiman, and the various political parties to agree on a neutral government that would oversee the upcoming elections.
An-Nahar
March 14 formed committee to draft policy statement after Maarab meeting
An-Nahar has learned that a committee was formed to draft a policy statement after the meeting in Maarab between leaders of the March 14 coalition.
A statement is in the works that will explain March 14’s point of view regarding the recent developments and firm up the coalition’s political line in this respect.
Sources said the statement is likely to be finalized within days and will be announced during a political event that is being prepared.

 Lebanon’s army commander General Jean Kahwagi  warns of armed groups in Tripoli
October 30, 2012/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s army commander General Jean Kahwagi warned against the northern city of Tripoli staying under the control of armed people.
“Tripoli, the northern capital, shouldn’t remain at the mercy of armed people,” said Kahwagi during a tour in the city Tuesday.
According to a statement from the Lebanese Army, the general inspected the Army positions in Tripoli, as part of the security plan implemented by the military in the region.
The plan stipulates increasing Army patrols in the north to keep the situation under control. It also gives the army the right to retaliate at any open fire whatever its source.
“Some armed groups went out of control, benefitting from the political tension in the crisis, to mess with the security of civilians... The Army will not tolerate with such groups,” said Kahwagi.
According to the commander, the Army has also implemented the necessary and effective security measures in the northern regions which include non-Lebanese groups.
He also reiterated the call to respect the sovereignty of Lebanese lands.
Kahwagi also called on soldiers to treat all Tripoli residents equally and stay away from political disputes to preserve the independent work of the military institution.
Tripoli, Lebanon’s second-largest city, continues to experience sporadic outbreaks of gunfire between the neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen.
The fighting between supporters and opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have claimed the lives of many civilians and led to the injury of others.
Although a cease-fire has been reached in the region, tensions remain high.

Lebanese Pro Axis of Evil Cabinet defies calls to quit, sets meeting
October 30, 2012 /By Hasan Lakkis/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s Cabinet will convene Wednesday, defying the opposition’s calls for its resignation over the assassination of the country’s top intelligence officer.
The session will be the Cabinet’s first after Mikati’s decision to suspend sessions following Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan’s assassination, which the opposition largely blame on the Syrian regime, while holding Mikati responsible for covering up the crime. Mikati appears to be looking to boost his government’s chances of surviving the opposition pressure by attempting to make headway on a number of pending issues, such as diplomatic appointments. Government sources told The Daily Star that a positive move on such appointments is possible during the session despite the fact that the issue is not on the meeting’s agenda. The sources said the appointments could be put on the table if the different parties making up the government coalition manage to suppress differences among them. A March 14 source told The Daily Star that the Cabinet meeting is an affront to the feelings of many opposition supporters. Meanwhile, President Michel Sleiman, who will chair the next Cabinet session, renewed Monday his call for National Dialogue to resolve the government crisis. He added that dialogue, not violence, was the only solution to the country’s problems.
“Dialogue will remain the sophisticated means and the only solution to the current problems,” Sleiman said, according to a statement released by his office.
The March 14 coalition has announced that it will boycott government work and not engage in dialogue until Mikati resigns.
“Sleiman renewed his call for everyone to be insightful given the reality and the critical circumstances that the region is going through to keep Lebanon at a distance from repercussions and negative effects,” his office said. The president said distancing Lebanon from regional turmoil would help the country overcome this phase and build a state that truly meets people’s aspirations.
Although Mikati said he was considering resignation soon after the assassination, he has since said that he will not step down until a new government is formed in order not to plunge the country into paralysis.
Mikati’s position was boosted by Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt, who said last week he had turned down a request by former Prime Minister Saad Hariri to withdraw his ministers from the Cabinet. Jumblatt joined March 14 leaders in accusing Syrian President Bashar Assad of being behind Hasan’s killing but parted ways with the opposition coalition when it came to the fate of the Mikati government. Hasan, the head of the Internal Security Forces Information Branch, was killed in a car bomb along with at least two others in the Beirut district of Ashrafieh.
The president has launched consultations with the members of the National Dialogue committee in a bid to resolve the current crisis, but his efforts hit a dead end after March 14 rejected his calls for all-party talks. In his address Monday, Sleiman also said that “resorting to violence and the use of arms for purposes other than defending the nation does not resolve” outstanding issues, particularly the crisis.
“I think that dialogue with an open mind and pure intentions that places the country’s interest above all remains the safest way to fortify the nation against foreign dangers and against the Israeli enemy and its daily violations of [U.N. Security Council Resolution] 1701,” he added.
Meanwhile, Mikati stressed the need to reveal the circumstances behind Hasan’s assassination, a statement from his media office said. “The investigations into Hasan’s killing should be intensified to reveal the circumstances behind the crime and punish the criminals for their deed,” Mikati said following talks with State Prosecutor Hatem Madi. According to the statement, Madi briefed Mikati about the preliminary investigations into the assassination. Mikati also hailed the Cabinet’s decision to benefit from international expertise to support the Lebanese judiciary in its investigations. “All expertise will be utilized in order to assist the investigation in the murder,” he said. “Moving ahead in the investigations until the end is a national demand by all sides, and also a personal demand from my part due to the close ties I had with the late Hasan,” Mikati added. A U.S. investigation team visited Beirut last week and began gathering evidence at the scene of the bomb.
The FBI delegation, according to Lebanon’s prosecutor, was an assisting technical team and does not have the right to intervene in the investigation or to interrogate anyone or be informed of a witness’ testimony. Mikati also met with ISF chief Gen. Ashraf Rifi at the Grand Serail Monday. Sources close to the premier told the The Daily Star Mikati had visited his hometown of Tripoli earlier in the day where he held a meeting with supporters. Meanwhile, Parliament’s Deputy Speaker MP Farid Makari said the March 14 coalition agreed on a “complete action plan” during a meeting held at the residence of Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea in Maarab last Saturday.In comments to Al-Markaziya news agency, Makari said the details of the action plan will be soon released.

Israeli PM: Strike on Iran would be good for Arab world
By REUTERS 10/30/2012 18:59 Netanyahu tells French magazine Israeli strike on Tehran could remove a potential threat and ease tensions in the Middle East. Photo: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post /PARIS - Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu sought on Tuesday to convince Arab states that an Israeli military strike on Iran would benefit them, removing a potential threat and easing tensions across the Middle East. Netanyahu has made a number of veiled threats to attack Iran's nuclear program and has appealed to the United States and the United Nations to set a limit for Tehran on its further development. Related: •Why Netanyahu will not attack Iran•PM praises EU for bolstering sanctions against Iran In an interview published on Tuesday with French magazine Paris Match, Netanyahu said such a strike would not worsen regional tensions, as many critics have warned.
"Five minutes after, contrary to what the skeptics say, I think a feeling of relief would spread across the region," he said.
"Iran is not popular in the Arab world, far from it, and some governments in the region, as well as their citizens, have understood that a nuclear armed Iran would be dangerous for them, not just for Israel," he said. Israel believes Tehran intends to build atomic weapons and has consistently urged the West to increase up sanctions. Iran says it is enriching uranium for peaceful energy purposes only.
The United States and other Western countries have rejected Netanyahu's demand to set a limit for Iran and have urged him to refrain from military action to give diplomacy and sanctions a chance to work.
Netanyahu, who is running for re-election in January at the head of the right-wing Likud-Beytenu party, told the United Nations last month that a strike could wait until spring or summer when he said Tehran might be on the brink of building an atomic bomb. During his two-day visit to France, Netanyahu will travel to the southern city of Toulouse with President Francois Hollande for a ceremony of remembrance for the victims of an Islamist gunman who killed seven people there in March, including three Jewish children.

Syria on a cliff edge between Assad and Al Qaeda
DEBKAfile DEBKA Video October 30, 2012/The collapse of the Eid al Adha truce brokered by UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi left Syria careering into unknown territory.
The powers which castigate Bashar Assad for butchering his people refuse to abandon their hands-off policy for clipping his wings. On this point, there is little difference between US President Barack Obama and his Republican rival Mitt Romney, except that the latter says Syrian rebels ought to be given heavy arms for defense against Assad’s army, tanks and air force.
Even America’s allies in the region are being held back from direct military confrontation with the Assad regime. Turkey was on the verge of expanding its border clashes with Syria into active backing for the rebels with a view to carving out a buffer strip, a safe haven and a no-fly zone on and over Syrian soil. But then, last week Obama sent the Gen. Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint US Chiefs, to Ankara to hold Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan back from any cross-border action. He was followed by his deputy.
Assad, the Syrian rebels – and al Qaeda too - sense that the country is now up for grabs. This realization is shared by their various sponsors, including Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan and the Emir of Qatar.
The Syrian ruler therefore feels he is sitting pretty with no one around who is willing or able to stop the indiscriminate air bombardment of urban areas which he began to intensify in the last week.
By the same token, Russia and Iran don’t face international opposition to the arms and personnel back-up they are providing Assad’s forces.
In sharp contrast, the Obama administration is entangled by his critics at home in a crisis over the circumstances surrounding the terrorist murder of US ambassador Chris Stevens and 3 diplomats at the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya. The administration is accused of failing to provide the necessary security before and during the consulate raid.
The ambassador played a key role in US undercover operations to neutralize Libya and the region against destabilizing jihadists.
As an indirect consequence of the crisis around his death, the supply of SA-7 missiles from Libya to the Syrian rebels has dried up.
After looking around him, Assad felt he could safely put into practice his plot for the assassination of the Lebanese security chief Brig. Gen. Wassam in Beirut on Friday, Oct. 19.
By a single stroke, the Syrian knocked over the mainstay of US-Saudi intelligence operations in Syria. But, as a vital hub for the American war on al Qaeda in the region, the Lebanese security chief’s importance far transcended a single conflict. His death was a major blow for US intelligence.
So the two murders eliminated two linchpins of the US undercover war on al Qaeda in the region and left a free field for Assad and the jihadists to fight it out between them for supremacy.

Hezbollah and sacrificing al-Assad
By Tariq Alhomayed
Asharq Al-Awsat
It is not strange for two western newspapers – one British and one American – to publish similar reports on Hezbollah and the predicament that the group is beginning to find itself in, domestically, within the Arab world, and even within the Islamic world. For the events in Syria, which the Lebanese group is involved in as part of its insane support for al-Assad, not to mention the assassination of Wissam Hassan, are placing Hezbollah in the eye of the storm.
America’s Washington Post and Britain’s Sunday Telegraph both issued reports about the presence of divisions within Hezbollah regarding the approach it should follow in Syria, and the danger of rushing to the defense of Bashar al-Assad. This is something that has led to the group losing its popularity in Lebanon and the region as a whole. Hezbollah’s defense of al-Assad has exposed the group’s lies and sectarianism. However what is striking in the Sunday Telegraph report is the quote attributed to a Lebanese source with connections to senior Hezbollah circles. The source said “there is an awareness inside Iran and Hezbollah that they are going to have confrontation with the Sunnis, or are going to have to bridge the gap between them” adding “the hardest topic is Syria. The future of Hezbollah and the Shia is directly related to the future of Syria. If Bashar is to be sacrificed, let’s sacrifice him and not Syria.” This statement is important, but is Hezbollah still capable of sacrificing al-Assad and preserving Syria?
I strongly doubt this, for it is difficult to find a solution following the death of approximately 15,000 Syrians at the hands of al-Assad regime forces, whilst it will be even more difficult to repair communal relations. If Hezbollah is sincere – although it is difficult to believe this – the group is capable of minimizing its losses, as can Iran; however what is certain that public confidence in Hezbollah has suffered, and it will not be easy to restore this. One might say: Do you believe that Hezbollah will truly sacrifice al-Assad to preserve Syria? To answer, I believe that Hezbollah wishes to do this, but this is a difficult proposition; however al-Assad will fall whether Hezbollah likes it or not. What is clear today, from such leaks regarding the presence of divisions between Hezbollah’s civilian and military leadership on Syria and the issue of sacrificing al-Assad, is that this all points to the presence of genuine concerns within the Hezbollah movement. This is something that I referred to in one of my previous articles following Hassan Nasrallah’s extensive interview with al-Mayadeen TV.
These leaks also indicate that Hezbollah is beginning to sense that it is facing a real predicament following the assassination of Lebanese security official Wissam Hassan. Hezbollah has begun to feel the extent of the loathing towards it from a large segment of the Lebanese people, not to mention its loss of the Syrian street, not to mention the Arab street. Therefore it is natural that there are those in Hezbollah who sense the threat represented by this situation, whilst others are blinded by arrogance. Anybody who knows the Hezbollah leadership can cite its arrogance, which is something that has also overwhelmed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, particularly following the 2006 war and the group’s occupation of Beirut. Following this, Nasrallah was transformed into a man who did not hear the word “no”!
Therefore, Hezbollah thinking about sacrificing al-Assad now to preserve Syria is not important, particularly as nobody will cry over his fate. In addition to this, any value in any “deal” to topple al-Assad is decreasing more and more, whilst Hezbollah’s losses are increasing. This is what the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement should be worrying about, rather than sacrificing al-Assad and preserving Syria.

Despite tension, ties between Hariri and Jumblatt reparable
October 30, 2012 /By Hussein Dakroub/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Although the sudden strain in ties between former Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt appears to have jolted the opposition March 14 coalition, matters have not reached the point of no return between the two, politicians and analysts said Monday. They predicted that relations between the leader of the Future Movement and the PSP chief would be repaired ahead of next year’s parliamentary elections. Ironically, the strain in ties came more than a month after an ice-breaking meeting between the two leaders gave a big boost to the March 14 coalition, raising the opposition’s hopes for regaining the majority in the 2013 elections. The tension broke out during a TV interview in which Jumblatt said that he had turned down Hariri’s request following the assassination of police intelligence chief Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan to withdraw his three ministers from the Cabinet.
“Yes, there is tension between Hariri and Jumblatt. But this tension has limits. Relations between the two men have not reached the point of no return and they can be repaired,” Simon Haddad, a professor of political science at the American University of Beirut, told The Daily Star.
“The Sunni popular base was upset with Jumblatt because he did not withdraw his ministers from the Cabinet in line with the Future demand for the government’s resignation following Hasan’s assassination,” he said. Beirut MP Ammar Houri from Hariri’s parliamentary Future bloc said efforts were under way to end the rift between Hariri and Jumblatt.
“Matters are being tackled,” Houri told The Daily Star, declining to give details as to whether mediators were striving to defuse tension between the Future Movement and PSP leaders.
For his part, Jumblatt tried to play down the crisis with Hariri. “I don’t want to clash with any party, be it the Future [Movement] or others,” he told As-Safir newspaper in remarks published Monday.
He reiterated his position supporting the government, but offered to participate in a new government only if there was consensus on it between the rival March 8 and March 14 parties.
Haddad said Jumblatt does have an interest in letting his ties with Hariri plummet beyond repair for electoral reasons. “Similarly, March 14 parties do not have an interest in alienating Jumblatt because they do not have a Druze alternative,” he said.
Former Future MP Ghattas Khoury said he hoped for a solution soon for the tension between Hariri and Jumblatt. “So far, there are no contacts or mediators between the two leaders ... Ties between Hariri and Jumblatt have not reached a final break,” Khoury told The Daily Star. He said Jumblatt will have to take a political stance on domestic issues following the March 14 calls for the resignation of Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s Cabinet and the formation of a new government in the wake of Hasan’s assassination. “The March 14 position is firm and final: the departure of the government and the formation of a new Cabinet,” Khoury said. He added that on strategic issues, such as the 19-month-old conflict in Syria, Hariri, the March 14 parties and Jumblatt had similar stances in supporting the uprising against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
“But on domestic issues, the attitudes are not identical. Jumblatt must take a stance that conforms with our political stance,” Khoury said.
The March 14 parties have blamed Assad for Hasan’s assassination. They also held the government responsible for the assassination and called on Mikati to step down.
Hariri has also demanded the government’s resignation, while former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, head of the Future bloc, called for the formation of a “neutral salvation Cabinet,” saying there can be no dialogue between rival political parties before the government steps down.
In an interview with LBCI TV last Thursday, Jumblatt said he had rejected Hariri’s request to withdraw his three ministers from the Cabinet in order to avert the country falling into a power vacuum.
Jumblatt, who has also blamed Assad for Hasan’s killing, defended Mikati in the face of fierce campaigns by the March 14 parties which called on him to resign hours after a car bombing killed Hasan, his driver and a woman in the Beirut district of Ashrafieh on Oct. 19. He acknowledged political differences with Hariri over the Mikati government and a new election law.
Hariri hit back at Jumblatt on the same night, accusing him of belonging to the Iranian-Syrian alliance. “May God forgive you Walid Beik. Stability in your view is to stay within the Syrian-Iranian alliance. Mabrouk Ya Beik,” Hariri said on Twitter. He also accused the PSP chief of lying and rejected Jumblatt’s remarks that Hariri considered Hasan a martyr of the Sunnis rather than of the country as a whole.
“Walid Jumblatt is lying. I did not say that Wissam al-Hasan was a martyr of the Sunnis. It was Mikati who said this,” Hariri added on Twitter.
A senior PSP official said the fate of the government and a new election law were at the root of political disagreements with Hariri.
“Political differences are a normal matter. Our position on the government is clear: We support the government’s stay in office because we are against a power vacuum. We back consensus on the formation of a new government,” Zafer Nasser, the PSP’s secretary-general, told The Daily Star.
“We don’t want a problem with any political party. We are advocates of dialogue because the situation in the region is critical and dangerous and the situation in Lebanon is sensitive.”
Nasser said the PSP has rejected a proposal by March 14 Christian parties that would divide Lebanon into 50 electoral districts in the same way it had rejected the government’s draft electoral law, which would divide Lebanon into 13 medium-sized districts based on a system of proportional representation.
The Future bloc, which rejected the proportional representation system, has voiced support for the small electoral districts’ proposal.
“The country is in a crisis. There are [March 14] demands for bringing down the government. This raises a big question: What is the alternative if the government fell?” Nasser asked. He said the alternative is for the March 8 and March 14 parties to reach “national consensus” on the formation of a new government. Jumblatt’s ice-breaker meeting with Hariri in Paris Sept. 3, the first between the two leaders in 19 months, was viewed as a big boost to the March 14 coalition, and enhanced the opposition’s chances for clinching the parliamentary majority in the 2013 elections.
The meeting came a few weeks after the PSP leader had sent clear signals that he was preparing to walk out of the current parliamentary majority.

Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati to remain in office, urges Dialogue
October 30, 2012/The Daily Star /BEIRUT: Prime Minister Najib Mikati said national disputes should only be resolved via Dialogue, criticizing the opposition’s decision to boycott government work as well as talks aimed at resolving the government crisis. “National issues are not resolved via stubbornness, arrogance or reactionary stances but through dialogue in order to develop common goals shared by Lebanese to fortify the nation under these dangerous regional circumstances,” Mikati’s office quoted him as saying. He added that he would remain in office to fulfill his responsibilities in order to prevent a power vacuum.The March 14 coalition demanded Mikati’s resignation and the formation of a “neutral, salvation” government in the wake of the Oct. 19 assassination of Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan.
The group accused Syrian President Bashar Assad of the killing, claiming the Cabinet provided the necessary cover for the crime.
A day following the assassination, Mikati offered to resign and give President Michel Sleiman time to consult with the National Dialogue committee to resolve the government crisis.
But Sleiman failed to convince March 14 to join talks, with the coalition insistent on Mikati’s resignation as a prerequisite.
Mikati also said that the opposition’s “reactionary position” would not change his decision to remain in office, saying: “We cannot leave the country in a vacuum that might lead to chaos. What is required from all leaders, instead of negativity and boycott, is to meet at the Dialogue table.”
“Let us come together on what protects the nation and fortify it from dangers instead of restoring to negativity and boycotting that proved to be futile,” Mikati added.
On Tuesday, Mikati met with France Ambassador to Lebanon Patrice Paoli, Kuwait's Ambassador Abdelaal al-Qinai and Canada's envoy Hilary Shields Adams at the Grand Serail.
He also met with the head of Middle East and Near East Affairs at the German Foreign Ministry as well as Arab League Envoy Abdel-Rahman Solh.

Lebanese TV host Nadim Koteich to be investigated for inciting Serail protesters
October 30, 2012 /The Daily Star /BEIRUT: State Prosecutor Hatem Madi referred Monday a case against a Lebanese television host to the Central Criminal Investigations Department over his alleged role in inciting protesters to storm the headquarters of the prime minister. Ahmad Jamil Jezzini, a Lebanese citizen who lives in Beirut, filed a lawsuit against TV host Nadim Koteich for encouraging violence against the Grand Serail, disturbing civil peace and inciting people to commit acts of violence. “I waited for two days, thinking that he would be arrested or someone would file a complaint against him,” Jezzini told a local TV station. After no one did so, he presented the lawsuit to Madi himself, Jezzini said, stressing that he was acting on his own. Addressing thousands of mourners during the funeral of Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan in Beirut’s Martyrs Square on Oct. 21, Koteich called for a march toward the nearby Grand Serail, the headquarters of Prime Minister Najib Mikati, in a bid to force him to resign. “Whoever wants to bury Wissam al-Hasan and go home is free to do so, but there is someone in the Serail who should be politically buried,” Koteich told the crowds. “Break all the barriers, in one direction toward the Serail. Down with Najib Mikati ... oh boys and girls, let’s all head to the Serail.” Meanwhile, the Future Movement of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri expressed its surprise at the state prosecutor’s decision. “Koteich’s speech during the funeral did not trespass the traditional democratic frames observed in Lebanon since Independence,” the Future Movement said in a statement.
Hasan headed the Internal Security Forces Information Branch and had close ties with Hariri. He was killed in an explosion in the Ashrafieh neighborhood of Beirut. The March 14 coalition had held the Cabinet responsible for the crime and called on Mikati to resign. Upon Koteich’s call, the protesters clashed with ISF personnel guarding the Grand Serail before heeding pleas by Hariri and Former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora to retreat. Several protesters and ISF members were wounded. “There was no attack against the Grand Serail, what happened was a clash between protesters and security forces,” Koteich told the television station in his defense. “This happens in every demonstration.” Koteich said that a group of lawyers are handling his case, adding that he would give his testimony Thursday.
Koteich was criticized by supporters and members of the March 8 coalition for his call to storm the Grand Serail. A Facebook group entitled “Together to Arrest Inciter Koteich” was also created.
The Lebanese Forces for its part asked in a statement why the judiciary has not yet taken action against those who incited violence against Hasan and his colleagues in the ISF, particularly after he uncovered in August a plot by former Minister Michel Samaha to carry out terrorist attacks in the country. The LF asked why the judiciary has not taken action against those whom it said had facilitated Hasan’s assassination by preventing security bodies from having access to telecoms data necessary to uncover crimes, rather than pursuing a journalist who was overwhelmed with anger.

Journalist Fidaa Itani ‘free to go but remaining in Syria’
October 30, 2012/By Van Meguerditchian/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Lebanese journalist Fidaa Itani has been freed from house arrest in Syria but has chosen to remain in the country, a mediator between Lebanese officials and Syrian rebels told The Daily Star Monday. “He is free now; he is no longer under house arrest. Fidaa Itani’s case has been solved and it is up to him when to return back to Lebanon,” said the mediator, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
A former reporter for Al-Akhbar newspaper, Itani now works for LBCI and was in Azaz, near Aleppo, on a field report when he was detained by a group of Syrian rebels. Itani is now preparing a new report on the 9 Lebanese pilgrims who were kidnapped in Syria in May, two of whom have been released so far, the mediator said. Interior Minister Marwan Charbel refused to confirm or deny that Itani has been freed but said he would return to Lebanon this week. LBCI television chief Pierre Daher also said he would not confirm the news of Itani’s release until the journalist himself personally speaks to LBC, saying “everything else would be pure speculation.”The rebels, who belong to the Azaz Northern Storm Brigade, said Itani was detained after they had received a number of suspicious reports about him from Syrian rebels across the country. According to the mediator, Itani would likely return to Lebanon via Turkey in a matter of hours or days, depending on when he would conclude his report on the pilgrims, who are also being held in Azaz. Hours after video footage of Itani was uploaded to YouTube by the rebels Sunday, the head of the Syrian National Council Abdel-Basset Sida condemned the journalist’s detention and called on the rebels to cease interference in the work of the media.
“We denounce and reject the kidnapping of Fidaa Itani,” Sida told a local newspaper in an interview published Monday, vowing that the Lebanese journalist would soon be released.
The SNC chief also said that those participating in the Syrian revolution should respect and preserve the freedom of others. “The revolution should abide by the [U.N.] charter on human rights and respect the freedom and dignity of journalists as they are supporting the revolution and helping it to echo throughout the world,” he said. Sida, who heads the largest political umbrella of the Syrian opposition, also rejected all forms of kidnappings and detentions by the rebels. The YouTube video, which was also posted on the Facebook page of the Azaz Northern Brigade, was created to communicate to Itani’s family that he was in good health. “I am the journalist Fidaa Itani. I am under house arrest at the Azaz Northern Storm Brigade ... And I am fine,” Itani said in the 20-second clip. Officials in Beirut had voiced optimism earlier Monday and said that their talks with mediators had achieved positive results regarding Itani’s detention.
“Journalist Fidaa Itani will be released in the nearest future, and his detention was only part of an investigation linked to the field reporting he was working on,” said Labor Minister Salim Jreissati, who chairs the ministerial committee on the kidnapped Lebanese in Syria. “There were serious discussions between the Interior Ministry and the relevant channels today,” Jreissati said.
Jreissati also called on the Lebanese to avoid traveling to conflict-torn regions in Syria until further notice. “I also call on the journalists to avoid traveling to regions like Azaz, where Fidaa was detained and other Lebanese were kidnapped,” the minister added. The 9 Lebanese hostages were kidnapped shortly after entering Syria from Turkey, following a pilgrimage to holy sites in Iran.Radwan Hamzeh, head of the Audiovisual Journalists’ Union, stressed the increasing dangers facing journalists working in Syria. “The union warns against a great danger to the freedom of the journalists in light of the detention of Itani, who was placed under house arrest by an armed group in the Syrian region of Azaz,” Hamzeh said in a statement.

French President Francois Hollande warns of attack on UNIFIL
October 30, 2012/By Antoine Ghattas Saab/The Daily Star
A letter French President Francois Hollande sent to his Lebanese counterpart Michel Sleiman Saturday includes information the French Defense Ministry received about a plan to target the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, according to sources familiar with the letter. This possible attack aims to prevent the peacekeepers from preserving stability in the south, and from containing any confrontation between Hezbollah and Israel. The letter adds that the individuals involved in the plot are fundamentalists who are receiving support from regional powers.
European countries are on alert because of possible attacks against their troops in UNIFIL, especially given the mounting political crisis in Lebanon following the assassination of Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan.
According to the sources, the letter affirms that France is closely following Sleiman’s efforts to convene the National Dialogue committee and supports his attempt to reach a formula for a new Cabinet that is backed by all rival groups. There is information that the French Ambassador to Lebanon Patrice Paoli is ready to hold talks with politicians from the March 8 and March 14 camps, to convince them to attempt Dialogue and to stop paralyzing the state and its institutions. According to this information, Paoli will convey France’s perception of the dangers of paralysis caused by March 14’s decision to boycott all parliamentary sessions that include members of the Cabinet, with the exception of a discussion by the joint parliamentary committees on the election law. Paoli will tell the rival Lebanese coalitions about the security information his country has on the possibility of increasing violence in Lebanon as a result of the crisis in neighboring Syria. This will require that rival groups take initiative to encourage unity in order to confront the looming threats to the country. Sources say Paoli will also discuss rumors about hit lists targeting politicians from both camps, and tell them that these rumors mean that politicians must put minor disputes aside and look for common ground on state building on the political, economic, security and administrative levels. Of the utmost importance should be agreeing on a defense strategy that allows for the use of Hezbollah’s capabilities but puts them under the command of the Lebanese Army, the sources added. Separately, diplomatic sources in Beirut say they are not concerned about Lebanon’s stability, describing it as guaranteed by Sleiman and the country’s security bodies. The sources say that if the Cabinet resigns, the president could act as a safety valve until a new Cabinet is formed.
The sources add that all Lebanese parties must agree on the Sunni figure to head the next neutral Cabinet. They add that this role will likely be filled by a figure from outside Parliament and all parties, who is neutral and has no ties to external powers. They continue that the new Cabinet’s mission is to preserve stability and prevent the Syrian crisis from spilling over into Lebanon, approve a new election law and hold transparent polls.

Future Movement MP Ahmad Fatfat: Killings will persist if arms out of state control
October 30, 2012/The Daily Star/BEIRUT: Future Movement MP Ahmad Fatfat said Monday that political assassinations will continue in Lebanon as long as there are arms outside of the state’s control, adding that the campaign launched by the opposition to bring down the government will continue through peaceful means. “The killings will continue in this country as long as there is a group that is convinced that it is capable of preserving its arms out of state’s control,” Fatfat said. In an interview with a local radio station, the Future Movement official admitted that the resignation of Prime Minister Najib Mikati is difficult but said the way to start tackling the series of assassinations starts with the resignation of the government. “We will continue our struggle until the killing machine is stopped through the resignation of the government, the deployment of the Lebanese Army along the Syrian border and the handing of the accused to the judiciary,” Fatfat said in reference to the four Hezbollah members who were indicted by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon last year for plotting and implementing the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Report: Abou Ibrahim Killed by Kurds while Trying to Storm Aleppo Town
Naharnet/Ammar al-Dadikhi, aka Abou Ibrahim, the infamous abductor of the Lebanese pilgrims in Syria's Aazaz, has been killed during an attempt to storm a town in Aleppo's countryside, the Beirut-based, pan-Arab television al-Mayadeen reported on Monday. “Kurdish popular committees killed Abou Ibrahim and four members of his group as they were trying to storm the town of Qastal Jindo in Aleppo's countryside,” al-Mayadeen said. Abou Ibrahim, the head of the so-called Northern Storm Brigade, shot to notoriety in mid-summer when his group claimed responsibility for kidnapping a group of Lebanese Shiite pilgrims in Aazaz. Anti-regime activists in Aazaz and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights have denounced Abou Ibrahim as a criminal.
The man was reportedly wounded in a Syrian airstrike on Aazaz on August 16. Eleven Lebanese pilgrims were kidnapped by rebels in Aazaz on May 22 as they were returning home from a pilgrimage in Iran. One abductee was released in August in what his captors said was a “goodwill” gesture and another was released in September. The kidnappers had repeatedly linked the release of the Lebanese captives to Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, a close ally of the Syrian regime, apologizing over his stances on the Syrian revolt. On Saturday, the Northern Storm Brigade said it had detained Lebanese journalist Fidaa Itani. Itani has reassured that he is in good health in a YouTube video, clarifying that he is “under house arrest.”
In a statement published on its website, the Aazaz Northern Storm Brigade said that Itani was in its custody due to security reasons.
The statement pointed out that Itani was not arrested because of his nationality or political affiliation and that he will be asked to leave Syrian territory after a few days.
Itani, who works for LBCI television and other news channels, was detained “because his work is incompatible with the path of the Syrian revolution and rebels,” the rebels posted on their page.
They pointed out that “reports and videos have not proven yet Itani's involvement with any party that works against the revolution, but his presence as a journalist no longer receives approval in areas controlled by the rebels.”When contacted by LBCI, Abou Ibrahim confirmed that Itani is in the custody of Aazaz rebels, and that he was detained while accompanying a group of fighters in Aleppo.
“Itani was taking photos of a lot of military operations which made us suspicious and therefore we took him to Aazaz,” Abou Ibrahim said.
Meanwhile, al-Jadeed television quoted sources informed on the negotiations to free Itani as saying that al-Mustaqbal bloc MP Oqab Saqr is exerting "strenuous efforts" to free him.
He is expected to be released in the next two days, it revealed.

Muslims Attack Coptic Christians in Egypt After Mass
10-30-2012 /Assyrian International News Agency
(AINA) -- Yesterday Muslim Salafis assaulted Christians after Sunday mass, angry that Christians from neighboring villages who have no churches attend mass in the village of Tala, el Fashn, in the Beni Suef Governorate. The pastor of St Georges Church Father Cheroubim Chehab could not go out of church for hours after mass.
Eyewitnesses reported that as Christians left the church, they found a huge mob of mostly young Salafi Muslims waiting for them, armed with batons. The assault lead to 5 Copts being hospitalized after suffering broken limbs, and the torching of two cars which transported the congregation from the other villages.
The pastor of the church contacted the police, asking for help, however, they appeared hours later, only after Dr. Naguib Gabriel, head of the Egyptian Union of Human Rights Organization, complained to the ministry of interior against el Fashn police and told them that no forces appeared in the village, and gave the names of six of the perpetrators and asked whether the police in el Fashn are afraid to arrest them. "I want the whole world to know," he said, "that a priest and his congregation are presently held captives in their church, afraid of the Salafi Muslims surrounding the church."
Cheroubim said that he looked from the roof of the church and the mob, from Tala and neighboring villages, was huge. "80% had beards." He said that he stayed inside the church as he "wanted no friction with the Muslims nor with the angry Copts, who wanted me to take other steps."
Later in the afternoon high officials from the security and police departments in Beni Suef arrived to the village for a reconciliation meeting, and while they were preparing for the meeting, Muslims went into Coptic homes and attacked the inhabitants. Five were hospitalized.
The problem started between the two parties nearly three months ago during Ramadan, when Salafist youths stopped Copts from neighboring villages from attending mass. "We had a meeting with the Muslim elders," said Rev. Cheroubim, "who told us to wait until after Ramadan when the youth will leave, however, when we wanted a second meeting to solve the matter, we were told to wait until security is better. When security was better Copts from other villages complained that they have been prevented from praying for three months since Ramadan." He said that only ten men from outside the village came to attend mass, so a large mob of Salafis waited for them after mass. "Muslims from the village held back the village Copts, so that the Salafis were able to beat and terrorize those Copts from outside the village."
Village Muslims insist that the church is an association and not a church and is for serving the village Christians only, who make up nearly 8% of the inhabitants.
Rev. Cheroubim said that he has been serving in St. George's church for 5 years and all that time Copts have come from neighboring villages to pray. "It was only during the last 10 days of Ramadan that this started, with complaints about the way the Christian girls are dressed, then it is not a church but an association, then no Copts to come from outside the village, but the main reason is mainly, as one Salafi from the mob was shouting, is that they want to the church closed."
High officials from Security department arranged for a reconciliation meetings in late afternoon with a group of Muslims and Christians, in which it was agreed that if the is officially licensed then Copts from outside can attend services any time, but if it is an association, then only village Copts will be allowed to attend the services. A penalty clause was included in which any part that attacks the other will pay 500,000 Egyptian pounds. Compensation for damages to the Coptic side will be paid by the government. No one was arrested.
According to Dr. Gabriel, St. George's Church was licensed five years ago. Rev. Charobim told Copts-United News the Deputy Security Director told the Christian party during the reconciliation meeting "Thank God for the outcome -- in other places people get killed."
The situation is now calm in the village.
By Mary Abdelmassih

'War of extermination' in Syria: Qatar PM
October 30, 2012/DOHA: Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani has accused the Syrian regime, with the complicity of the international community, of waging a "war of extermination" against its people. Sheikh Hamad in an interview with Al-Jazeera satellite channel late on Monday took issue with UN-Arab League peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, who earlier in the day had characterised the deadly conflict ravaging Syria as a "civil war."
"What is happening in Syria is not a civil war but a war of extermination against the Syrian people," Sheikh Hamad said.
This war, he charged, was being waged "with a licence to kill, endorsed firstly by the Syrian government and secondly by the international community."
He was apparently referring to Russia and China, which have repeatedly vetoed UN Security Council resolutions threatening action against President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
"We have confidence in Mr Brahimi... but we need him to develop a clear proposal for a solution that can be put before the Security Council paving the way for a transition period and a transfer of power," said Sheikh Hamad.
Brahimi, who saw the truce he had brokered for the four-day Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday shattered in an explosion of violence soon after it took effect on Friday, said in Moscow the situation in Syria was "bad and getting worse."
"If it's not a civil war, I don't know what it is," he said after talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Brahimi, who is also due to visit China, is to go to the UN Security Council in November with new proposals to push for talks between Assad and the opposition.
Qatar is widely accused of arming rebels fighting Assad's forces.
It called, without success, in the UN General Assembly last month for an Arab intervention force in Syria and a no-fly zone to protect refugees.


Fight breaks out between FPM, LF student supporters
October 30, 2012/ The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Fighting broke out between student supporters of the Free Patriotic Movement and Lebanese Forces Tuesday at the public university in Jal el-Dib over party differences.
Although the spark behind the fight was not clear, both the LF and the FPM exchanged allegations, accusing the other of creating problems.
The National News Agency reported that the fight at the Lebanese University’s Law College was over party flags. LU administration and security forces intervened to end the fight.
No injuries were reported.
Hours after the incident, the LF Student Assembly released a statement entitled "Malice, aggression, then slander," saying the incident began when pro-FPM students were aggravated when the LF flag was hung.
"Simply a Lebanese Forces flag, provoked the allies of their own interests, so they brought it down and threw it on the ground," it said.
"Shame on that standard of young men who are supposed to be the finest of future lawyers and politicians ... Shame on such a mentality drained in malice, lies and slander,” the statement added.
The assembly claimed that an LF student was beaten and their party flag was brought down by two people, Paul Hashem and another person identified by his first name as Jad, who are not university students.
"We are almost certain that they're inciting problems to rush and claim slander on their website and orange station,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, Tayyar.org, a news website affiliated with the FPM, accused the LF of disrupting an activity by the former.
“Because freedom belongs to the Lebanese Forces only and democracy for them only, their supporters repressed an activity by the Free Patriotic Movement in the Law College of Lebanese University which led to a fight between the two parties,” the report said.