Blast 'hits Hezbollah heartland in Beirut'

Gunmen kill leading figure of Yemeni Shi'ite group Tue, Jan 21 04:35 AM EST image 1 of 3 SANAA (Reuters) - Unknown assailants shot dead a leader of the Yemeni Shi'ite Muslim Houthi group in Sanaa on Tuesday while driving to attend the final session of reconciliation talks aimed at tackling the country's political and security challenges. Yemen has been torn by rising violence and lawlessness as the U.S.-allied country struggles to overcome political turmoil after long-serving President Ali Abdullah Saleh stepped down following months of mass protests against his rule in 2011. Officials said that Ahmad Sharafeddin, a Houthi delegate at the reconciliation talks who had been dean of the law faculty at Sanaa University, was killed when gunmen opened fire on him in his vehicle from a speeding car in central Sanaa. They said he died instantly and the gunmen escaped. http://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/nation/2014/01/21/4704035/ It was not immediately clear who was behind the assassination, but another Houthi leader, Abdulkarim al-Khiwani, accused hardline Sunni Muslim militants of carrying out the attack. The Houthi group fought radical Sunni Salafis in northern Yemen from October until earlier this month, when a ceasefire was reached earlier to relocate the Salafis to another city some 250 km (155 miles) away. But clashes have continued in other parts of northern Yemen with tribesmen allied to the Salafis. More than 210 people have been killed in the fighting that erupted in late October after the Houthis accused the Salafis of recruiting foreign militants in preparation to attack them. The Salafis, who follow an austere brand of Sunni Islam, say the foreigners are students of Islamic theology. The sectarian rivalry has cast a shadow over reconciliation efforts in Yemen, a neighbor of top oil exporter Saudi Arabia and home to one of al Qaeda's most active wings. Tuesday's attack was the latest in a string of killings against high-profile Yemenis and foreigners. Last week an Iranian diplomat was killed in Sanaa when he resisted gunmen who were trying to kidnap him. Despite the challenging security conditions, President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi addressed the final session of the reconciliation talks, which is due to produce a new constitution for Yemen and approve a federal system for the country. The talks, which began in March last year, have been stuck on southern separatist demands to revive the state that merged with North Yemen in 1990. The delegates have agreed on a federal system but have yet to work out some of the details, which will be tackled by a special committee headed by Hadi. (Reporting by Mohammed Ghobari, writing by Sami Aboudi; editing by Yara Bayoumy and Tom Heneghan) ======================= Bomb rips through southern Beirut Blast 'hits Hezbollah heartland in Beirut' (AFP) – 10 minutes ago Beirut — An explosion hit Hezbollah's southern Beirut bastion on Tuesday, the Lebanese Shiite movement's television channel Al-Manar said. The blast took place on a busy commercial street that was targeted by a deadly suicide car bombing in early January. "The explosion took place on Al-Arid street in Haret Hreik," Al-Manar reported. An AFP photographer near the scene reported plumes of smoke rising over the densely populated neighbourhood. The television channel broadcast footage of scores of firemen working to put out a blaze, as scores of people gathered at the scene of the blast. Copyright © 2014 AFP. All rights reserved An explosion has rocked a busy suburb in southern Beirut that is known to be a Hezbollah stronghold. It is the second time in just two weeks that the area has been hit by a bomb blast. The number of casualties is currently unknown, but Al Jazeera's Nisreen el Shamyleh, reporting from Beirut, said that the explosion was near a government building. "This is a very targeted area of Beirut," our correspondent said. "It is a very busy area and very residential." Shia armed group Hezbollah's involvement in the Syria conflict has resulted in violence spilling over the border into Lebanon's capital city. More soon. ============== Know my name Fouzia Nasir Ahmad Share Email 0 Comment(s) Print Published at 2014-01-26 07:39:10 It was Jan 13, 2013, when 21-year-old Eltaf Hussain was on his way to the dharna outside Bilawal House, Karachi to protest against Hazara killings in Quetta. “How can the rest of the world go on with their daily business, when such a terrible incident has happened to us?” he thought? “Why doesn’t the world stop after so many people have been killed?” Hussain belongs to the Hazara community of Quetta, a city where he has spent most of his young life. “After completing my intermediate at the Tameer-i-Nau Public College in Quetta, I took a year off as things became dramatically worse for Hazaras. One day my father said to me: ‘you can’t live your life like this’. I then decided to move to Karachi with the sole purpose of continuing my education as it was impossible to do that in Quetta.” While the Alamdar Road massacre projected the plight of the Hazara onto the national consciousness, it was by no means the beginning of the pogroms against this community. “I remember that a long time back I was with my father at Sariab Road and he wanted me to wear dark glasses to cover my eyes. I was annoyed even though I knew that anybody can tell from our eyes that we are Hazara. Later I realised why my father was saying that. He always wore glasses himself. Not long ago, I had to go to the Board Office in Quetta and I covered my face. I wasn’t happy doing this but I knew that this way I would be safer. Things have changed for us over time.” The year 2008 was a turning point for Pakistan’s Hazaras, when individuals from the community began to be targeted regularly. “Government officials from our community, professionals and even police officers were killed,” recalls Hussain. “There was an incident in Jinnah Town, and then two people were killed on Samundari Road. Wherever they would see a Hazara person, they would kill him,” said Hussain. While the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi has claimed credit for the mass casualty attacks, Hussain suspects there are also those who are seeking to exploit the situation. “When killings are rampant, other elements take advantage too, so anyone threatened by Hazara businessmen also thought it was good opportunity to get rid of them under the umbrella of sectarian killings. For instance, the owner of a shop on Sariab Road did good business and he was targeted. Since the past five or six years, Hazara traders, who were mostly mobile phone distributors have been completely removed from the main bazaars like Sariab Road and from outside the market areas”. Indeed, the Hazara are clearly being pushed into increasingly ghettoised neighborhoods. “Mehrabad in the east, and Hazara Town, are the two main Hazara pockets in Quetta,” says Hussain. “The suburbs of Quetta, like Mastung, are dangerous while Sariab Road is prohibited for us. Sectarian groups there have also targeted security personnel and even FC can’t move freely. There are two routes out of Hazara town: Kirani Road and Spinney Road, and Kirani road is blocked for us. It is open for everyone else but FC personnel does not allow Hazaras to take that road because it is risky. Everybody cannot afford private transport or taxis and people prefer to take a bus to get into town. But we can’t do that anymore.” What astounds him is that in both Hazara Town and Mehrabad, FC personnel are present at all entry points, yet explosive material and suicide bombers managed to enter through the check posts. “If I carry a gun for my protection, I will be thoroughly checked and my arms recovered by FC but it seems that not everybody is checked. There has to be a security lapse somewhere,” says Hussain. For Hazaras, it is not just routes but their entire association with the larger community that has been sealed. “Earlier, we would allow outsiders to come inside our localities for water supply through tankers and sanitation purposes but now we have our own people to do that. As a community, we are cut off from the rest of Quetta. No one can travel by bus anymore and around 60 per cent of students do not go to schools and colleges anymore. It is really sad because our community is very keen on education and despite being a minority, Hazara people used to have a record participation in educational activities. I would have liked my brothers to go to the same college that I went to but it is not possible now.” For such a small, and tightly-knit community, the attacks almost always hit close to home. “The Alamdar Road incident was not far from our house and when it happened, all I could think was how close to it my family was and how I could have lost my mother.” When the Sardar Bahadur Khan University for Women was attacked by terrorists, his sister was two buses away. After the incident her education was discontinued. She was so traumatised that I could not speak to her about it for three weeks. Our localities used to be very pleasant for any visitor. Now we can’t socialise freely with friends outside our locality. We are small minority, so even if 10 people are killed, it is a huge incident for us and each one of us gets affected.” For Hussain, Karachi offers a respite. “We don’t have the same opportunities in Quetta. In Karachi, life is more normal for us and people are a little bit sympathetic. Here, we are not identified as Hazaras. People think we could be Chinese, or Baltis”. He paused and smiled. “A friend of mine who is a charming fellow enjoys posing as a Chinese sometimes just for fun”. There are other differences as well. “There are days one is completely despondent but then, we see a positive social response like the Bilawal House dharna. We would never see that in Quetta, but in Karachi, even Sunnis joined us. It gives us tremendous hope.” His described how his fellow students in Karachi have a completely different exposure to him. “They are amazed to hear what I have been through in my life. They are your regular ‘burger types’ and have never seen dead bodies, blood or the victims of bomb blasts. I feel that the youth of Pakistan should know about the Hazara, their history, culture and the present situation because to live and work together, they must trust each other, and to be able to trust each other, you have to know each other”.

Sunni leader says Hezbollah leading Lebanon into 'Syrian fire'

Sat, Aug 17 12:33 PM EDT image BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's leading Sunni Muslim politician Saad al-Hariri accused Hezbollah on Saturday of dragging the country deeper into Syria's civil war after the Shi'ite militant group's leader said he was ready to go to Syria himself to fight. Hariri, a former prime minister, was responding to a speech by Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah who said that a car bomb in Shi'ite southern Beirut would only redouble the group's military support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. "(Nasrallah's) speech takes Lebanon into deeper involvement in the Syrian fire," Hariri tweeted. "It's a pity to squander the blood of the Lebanese in such a way". The death toll from Thursday's car bomb, already the deadliest attack in Beirut since the 1975-1990 civil war, rose to 27 on Saturday when the body of a six-year-old boy was found in the damaged ground floor of a nearby building. Hariri's father Rafik al-Hariri, who also served as prime minister several times, was killed along with 21 others in a 2005 bombing. A U.N.-backed tribunal has indicted four Hezbollah members over the killing. "What happened (on Thursday) was an ugly crime, but Hezbollah's war in Syria is crime as well," Hariri said, criticizing Nasrallah for calling for restraint at home while reinforcing his commitment to the battle in Syria which has polarized Lebanon and sharply raised sectarian tensions. Most Sunni Muslim Lebanese support the rebels battling to overthrow Assad, whose Alawite sect is an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam. Many Shi'ite Lebanese support Assad and Hezbollah's support in the neighboring country has grown from a political to a full military role. Hezbollah guerrillas led Assad's fight to recapture the Syrian border town of Qusair in June from mainly Sunni rebels, and have also fought in the city of Homs and near the Shi'ite shrine of Sayyida Zeinab south-east of Damascus. Nasrallah said on Friday the Syrian war was a battle against radical Sunni "takfiri" groups, who he also blamed for Thursday's bomb. Many Sunni jihadi fighters from Lebanon and other Arab countries have joined the fight against Assad, and some have threatened retaliation in Lebanon unless Hezbollah withdraws from Syria. The two-year conflict has killed 100,000 people inside Syria and the violence has spread across the Lebanese border, with rocket attacks in the Bekaa Valley, street fighting in the Mediterranean cities of Sidon and Tripoli, and bombs in Beirut. (Reporting by Dominic Evans; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

Egypt PM dispute stalls government, Islamists call more protests

Yasmin Mogahed I ask you to bare with me and read through until the end and really reflect: It's mind blowing to realize that for every physical, seen reality, there is a complimentary spiritual, unseen reality. And we will fail if we only recognize the physical realities. We will fail if we don't look through the illusion of what we can 'see' with our eyes (Quran 2:3-5). For example, if someone's body is sick or dies, we mourn. But we feel no sadness for the walking bodies, with sick or dead hearts. If we see someone whose eyes are blinded, we feel sorry for them and label them 'handicapped'. But what of those whose eyes can see, but whose hearts are blind? We fight hard to feed the starving bodies--as we should. But who’s fighting to feed the starving souls? We wage war on physical poverty--as we should. But who’s waging war on the spiritual and moral impoverishment that's eating away at our community? We fight hard against physical oppression—as we should. But we continue to oppress our own selves by our sins and alienation from God. We look at the captives, and think that is imprisonment. And then we look at the people living for their desires, and we think that is freedom. We fail to recognize that true freedom and captivity is on the inside. As you read through the Quran, you begin to see that in the hereafter, these ‘spiritual realities’ take on a physical form. The ones who were spiritually blind in this life, become physically blind in the next (20:125-126). The ones whose hearts were veiled from God in this life, become physically veiled from God in the next (83:15). The ones who were chained by their nafs and desires in this life, become physically chained in the next (69:32). The ones who were spiritually at the forefront and nearest to God in this life, become physically at the forefront and nearest to God in the next (56:10-11). The ones who had spiritual light in this life, will have physical light in the next (57:12).

Meera Masr To all the people,it's not a military COUP.We as Egyptians didn't have democracy for choosing Morsi from the beginning.The brotherhood group made forgery in the elections& there r cases against Morsi for elections' forgery.They prevented most of christians in Miniaa TO VOTE.They bought votting by oil bottles& sugar bags for poor people,whom are a lot,They also manipulated religion in a fake way not real to convince people that they r Muslims who will achieve Sharia.This not true, they didn't achieve one thing of their promises.Morsi said in his election program"we have 200 million pouds for projects.He said"in 100 days,I'll achieve safety,organize traffic&we'll present for Egyptians El Nahda Islamic project" which they themselves do not know what it is ,till now.They r terrorists came by the will of Mr. Obama.Obama spent over them 1.5 billion dollars for theire elections&8 billion for dividing Egypt like Sudan & Irak and aslo for the sake of protecting Israel from terrorism.But we not going to be the goat of this transaction.Besides,Morsi ran awy from jail in 28 January 2011& became a president.It'a a black comedy isn't it?!!!!.Morsi made a dictator conistitutional declaration giving him allllllllllll rights without sergeant from anyyyyy one.What political stupidity!!!!!we r the Egyptians who went out 33 millions to ask our great army to ousted Morsi, thank our army for their respond of our demand to ousted the facist dictator terrorist Morsi. NO COUP had 33.5 Million signed petitions and a set date three months before it happened.THE ARMY GAVE MORSI ONE WEEK TO SOLVE PROBLEMS.THEN 48 HOURS THEN ACCORDING TO THE PEOPLE'S WILL,THEY SAID OUTTT MORSI.300 EGYPTIAN PEOPLE WERE KILLED BY HAMASS,EL KA3DA&MBH'S SUPPORTERS NO COUP had millions of people waiting for it in the squares.MBH KILLED 300 EGYPTIAN PEOPLE from 30-6 till now By Mike Collett-White and Yasmine Saleh CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's political transition after President Mohamed Mursi was ousted by the military stumbled at the first hurdle, after the choice of liberal politician Mohamed ElBaradei as interim prime minister was thrown into doubt by Islamist objections. ElBaradei's nomination had been confirmed by several sources and state media on Saturday, but just before midnight a presidential spokesman told reporters that the prime minister had not in fact been chosen. The abrupt U-turn came amid opposition to the appointment by the Nour Party, Egypt's second Islamist force after Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood movement, highlighting the challenge the military faces in finding consensus among liberals and conservatives on who should run the country. Clashes between tens of thousands of pro- and anti-Mursi protesters swept the Arab world's most populous nation on Friday and at least 35 people were killed and more than 1,000 wounded. The violence, which saw rival factions fighting street battles in central Cairo and many others cities and towns, underlined the pressing need for a swift political solution seen as inclusive to all. "We extend our hand to everyone, everyone is a part of this nation," the spokesman told reporters. "The Muslim Brotherhood has plenty of opportunities to run for all elections including the coming presidential elections or the ones to follow." Minutes after he spoke, state media reported that the public prosecutor ordered that four top Brotherhood leaders held this week be detained for a further 15 days on accusations that they incited violence against protesters. The four included Saad el-Katatni, head of the group's political wing, and Khairat El-Shater, its political strategist. ISLAMIST SUPPORT CRUCIAL The Brotherhood has said it wants nothing to do with the military's plans for a new interim government. It believes Mursi should be reinstated, and has pledged to keep protesting until he is. The Nour Party, however, had agreed to the army-backed transition plan leading to new elections. Its withdrawal from the process would strip that plan of vital Islamist support. And following the Nour rejection, the interim administration headed by Adli Mansour delayed naming the new prime minister. On Sunday, people were still reeling from one of the bloodiest days in over two years of tumultuous upheaval since autocrat Hosni Mubarak, who ruled for 30 years, was toppled in a popular uprising that was part of the 2011 "Arab Spring". The Brotherhood called for another day of protest on Sunday, meaning that relative calm on Saturday may prove to be only a temporary lull. Huge protests were staged on June 30 to pressure Mursi into resigning amid growing anger at economic stagnation and the perception among many that the Brotherhood was seeking to take control of every part of the state - a charge it fiercely denies. Millions took to the streets to cheer his ouster on Wednesday, but for many Islamists it was a bitter reversal that raised fears of a return to the suppression they endured for decades under autocratic rulers. The military said it had not carried out a coup, but merely enforced the will of the people. ALARM OVERSEAS The events of the last week have raised alarm among Egypt's allies in the West, including main aid donors the United States and the European Union, and in Israel, with which Egypt has had a U.S.-backed peace treaty since 1979. On Saturday, President Barack Obama condemned the violence, and said the United States was not working with any particular party or group in Egypt. Washington has not condemned the military takeover or called it a coup, prompting suspicion within the Brotherhood that it tacitly supports the overthrow of the country's first freely elected president. Obama has ordered a review to determine whether annual U.S. assistance of $1.5 billion, most which goes to the Egyptian military, should be cut off as required by law if a country's military ousts a democratically elected leader. U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel held three conversations with the head of Egypt's armed forces on Friday and Saturday, emphasizing the need for "a peaceful civilian transition in Egypt," the Pentagon said on Saturday. "He also noted the importance of security for the Egyptian people, Egypt's neighbors, and the region," Pentagon spokesman George Little said in a statement, without characterizing the reaction of Egyptian General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Egypt can ill afford to lose foreign aid. The country appears headed for a looming funding crunch unless it can quickly access money from overseas. The local currency has lost 11 percent of its value since late last year. Newspapers on Saturday quoted ElBaradei as saying he expected Gulf Arab monarchies that were hostile to the Brotherhood's rule to offer financial support to the new authorities. Only gas-rich Qatar provided substantial funds to Mursi's government, totaling $7 billion in loans and grants. Turkey and Libya also provided smaller loans and deposits. (Additional reporting by Mike Collett-White, Maggie Fick, Sarah McFarlane, Tom Perry, Paul Taylor, Patrick Werr in Cairo and Steve Holland in Washington; Writing by Mike Collett-White; Editing by Eric Walsh) ============ Healing Egypt: Three steps to unify a divided nation The uprising of millions of Egyptians since June 30 has led to sharp polarization. Growing up in Egypt, I never saw the country as divided as it is today. Efforts to rebuild the nation must focus on justice, reconciliation, and inclusiveness. By Ahmed Zewail, Op-ed contributor / July 11, 2013 Supporters of Egypt's ousted president, Mohamed Morsi, protest before breaking their fast during the Islamic month of Ramadan, in Nasr City, Cairo, July 10. Op-ed contributor Ahmed Zewail writes: 'No civil, liberal government can succeed, even after new elections, if the Islamists are forced to work underground as a foe and the country remains divided.' Manu Brabo The uprising of millions of Egyptians since June 30 has led to sharp polarization. Some consider the removal of Mohamed Morsi a coup by the army against an elected president. Others treat it as the second revolution, or the continuation of the January 25, 2011, revolution. The media, especially in the West, is mainly concerned with the definition of a coup and whether the military should be punished by stopping US aid to Egypt. Gallery: Monitor Political Cartoons.Related stories The Monitor's View: Why Egypt now deserves world's help Opinion: Halting aid to Egypt over military 'coup' would hurt US interests Opinion: Don't view Egypt's coup with a Western lens The Monitor's View: After military ouster of Egypt's Morsi, a chance to get it right Global Viewpoint: With Morsi ouster, Egypt fails democracy test Opinion: Muslim women of today – not just the past – must be respected in Egypt, Syria .Ads by Google خطة لخطف الرئيس المصري الاخوان: مؤامرة عربية لخطف محمد مرسي www.nuqudy.com The Christian Science Monitor Weekly Digital Edition The picture is not this simple, and the current situation is more than a coup definition; it is the healing of a country that has enormous potential and strategic position in the already troubled Middle East. The real question is: What can be done for Egypt in its democratic transition, with Egyptians being strongly polarized? The proposed immediate action plan presented here can change the current situation and make the country move forward. OPINION: Halting aid to Egypt over military 'coup' would hurt US interests Growing up in Egypt, I never saw the country as divided as it is today. We now have two main political groupings: the Islamist parties and the civil, or liberal, political parties. What is also new is the youth movement – more powerful than present liberal parties – that uses the latest in technological tools to lead these street uprisings (millionea) because they want to live in a developed and prosperous Egypt. On the one hand, the liberals in the country believe that the Muslim Brotherhood failed the democratic process because, although Mr. Morsi won the popular vote, he did not succeed in uniting the nation and serving as president of all Egyptians. Morsi's appointment of Muslim Brotherhood members in leading positions of the county (so-called “Akhwanet Egypt”), his unexpected constitutional decrees, and his insistence on keeping a government seen by many as incompetent all were issues that led the youthful “rebel movement” to collect more than 20 million signatures calling for early presidential elections to remove him. On the other hand, supporters of Morsi believe that he came to power democratically as the first elected civilian president in Egypt’s history. As such, he should only have been able to be removed after completing his term in office. Only such a course, in their view, would protect the constitution (hematite el-sharia) that was passed by a national referendum with two-thirds majority. The Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party was a majority in the elected parliament. The Egyptian army had one of two options: either defend Morsi’s claim to power, leaving millions on the streets and the country as a whole sinking economically, and having national security being threatened with chaos; or interfere and put the country on a new course without being directly involved in governance. So far, the latter is what the army has chosen to do. Unlike the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces in the January 25 revolution, First General Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi remains without a political title. The chief justice of Egypt has been sworn in as the new president. ======================== But the central question is how this predicament of division can be solved. I propose a plan of three specific points: First, and immediately, a council should be formed to consider the latest constitution and the articles of disagreement. Within three months, the constitution should be amended and approved by the people in a referendum vote so the country can be united on future binding principles of society and the election processes that follow. Second, the parliamentary election should precede the presidential election. Again, within another three months, Egyptians will know the political identity and spectrum of their parliament, and from this new election will emerge the majority and minority parties, inclusive of civil and Islamic parties. Third, and most important to end the current polarization and violence, is the formation of a supreme presidential council, a board of trustees, made up of three groups. This council should have one-third representation by the civil parties, one-third representation by the Islamist parties, and one-third representation by wise men and women who are independent and not politically associated with any party. Perhaps five to a maximum of 10 people from each group would be sufficient. This body would have the authority to discuss in depth the upcoming proposed changes to the Constitution and the proposed election process, and to vote on them. This way they are part of shaping the future; from the beginning they are included in the political process at the highest level. Disagreement may occur, but in the end, a vote among the members will be binding for all. It is critical that during this transitional period the leadership does not repeat the past, and must deal with the Islamists fairly and inclusively. Also, Morsi must be treated justly in accordance with the law. Finally, the media must live up to the occasion. It must stop “reverse polarization” and work toward convergence, not divergence. The Muslim Brotherhood and the Salifist parties are a real force in the Egyptian society. No civil, liberal government can succeed, even after new elections, if the Islamists are forced to work underground as a foe and the country remains divided. In fact, this is evident even after the June 30 event, when the Salifist al Nour party had a final say on who became the prime minister for the translational period. THE MONITOR'S VIEW: Why Egypt now deserves world's help Reducing Egypt’s predicament only to the issue of a coup without realizing the central issues of division and violence in today’s Egypt is too simplistic and dangerous. Every effort should be made to help build the new democratic nation with reconciliation and forgiveness, for the sake of Egypt and not for the benefit of one party or one group. Ahmed Zewail is the 1999 Nobel Prize winner in chemistry and is a former US envoy to the Middle East. ALSO BY THIS WRITER: Islam is not the problem in Egypt ================================= Egyptian forces kill dozens of supporters of ousted Islamist Sat, Jul 27 18:03 PM EDT 1 of 8 By Tom Perry and Shadia Nasralla CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian security forces shot dead dozens of supporters of ousted Islamist President Mohamed Mursi on Saturday, witnesses said, days after the army chief called for a popular mandate to wipe out "violence and terrorism". The bloodshed, near the military parade ground where President Anwar Sadat was assassinated in 1981, plunged the Arab world's most populous country deeper into turmoil following two turbulent years of transition to democracy since veteran autocrat Hosni Mubarak was swept from power. Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood, braced for a military crackdown, said men in helmets and black police fatigues had fired on crowds gathered before dawn on the fringes of a round-the-clock sit-in near a mosque in northeast Cairo. Activists rushed blood-spattered casualties into a makeshift hospital. Some were carried in on planks or blankets. One ashen teenager was laid out on the floor, a bullet hole in his head. The United States, treading a fine line with an important Arab ally and recipient of over $1 billion a year in U.S. military aid, urged respect for the right to peaceful protest, and warned that Egypt was at a "pivotal moment". Brotherhood spokesman Ahmed Aref said 66 people had been killed and another 61 were "brain dead" on life support machines. More than 4,000 were treated for the effects of tear gas and gunshot or birdshot wounds, he told reporters. "Innocent blood was spilled," Aref said. "We have gone back 10 years." The Health Ministry reported a total of 65 dead, while the head of the ambulance service, Mohamed Sultanm, said later that 72 had died. "They are not shooting to wound, they are shooting to kill," another Brotherhood spokesman, Gehad El-Haddad, told Reuters early on Saturday. "The bullet wounds are in the head and chest." Egypt's Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim denied that police had opened fire, saying local residents living close to the Rabaa al-Adawia mosque vigil had clashed with protesters in the early hours after they had blocked off a major bridge road. He said police had used teargas to try to break up the fighting. Well over 200 people have been killed in violence since the army toppled Mursi on July 3, following huge protests against his year in power. The army denies accusations it staged a coup, saying it intervened to prevent national chaos. SISI'S CHALLENGE Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians had poured onto the streets on Friday in response to a call by army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for nationwide demonstrations to give him backing to confront the weeks-long wave of violence. His appeal was seen as a challenge to the Brotherhood, which organized its own rallies on Friday calling for the return of Mursi, who has been held in an undisclosed location since his ousting and faces a raft of charges, including murder. Ibrahim said Mursi was likely to be transferred shortly to the same Cairo prison where former leader Mubarak is now held. Leaders of the Brotherhood, a highly organized movement with grassroots support across Egypt, appealed for calm on Saturday, but activists at the vigil voiced fury. "The people want the execution of Sisi," a cleric shouted to the crowd from a stage by the mosque. "The people want the execution of the butcher." Interior Minister Ibrahim said the pro-Mursi sit-ins would "God willing, soon ... be dealt with" based on a decision by a public prosecutor, who is reviewing complaints from local residents unhappy with the huge encampment on their doorstep. The European Union and major European powers deplored the violence. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged dialogue and restraint. "At this critical juncture, it is essential that the security forces and the interim government respect the right of peaceful protest," he said. "This is a pivotal moment for Egypt." The Pentagon said U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel had spoken by phone with Egyptian army chief Sisi and urged steps "to prevent further bloodshed and loss of life." Washington has delayed delivery of four F-16 fighters, part of the $1.5 billion in aid it provides every year, mainly in military hardware, but says it does not intend to cut off aid to a country seen as a vital ally and which has a peace deal with neighboring Israel. Turkey, a vocal supporter of Mursi, accused the West of turning a blind eye. "Those who were silent when Egypt's national will was massacred are silent again when people are massacred," Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who has faced down large protests against his own government this year, said in televised comments. "What happened to the EU (and) European values, where are those who go around giving lessons in democracy?" "BULLETS WHIZZING" Witnesses said police first fired rounds of teargas at Brotherhood protesters gathered on a boulevard leading away from the Rabaa mosque, with live shots ringing out soon afterwards. "There were snipers on the rooftops, I could hear the bullets whizzing past me," said Ahmed el Nashar, 34, a business consultant, choking back his tears. "Man, people were just dropping." Dr. Ibtisam Zein, overseeing the Brotherhood morgue, said most of the dead were hit in the head, some between the eyes. The bodies were wrapped in white sheets and laid on the floor, their names scrawled on the shrouds. A cleaner busily mopped the floor, washing away pools of blood. Haddad said the Brotherhood remained committed to pursuing peaceful protests, despite Saturday's deaths - the second mass shooting of its supporters this month by security forces, who killed 53 people on July 8. Brotherhood activists at Rabaa said they would not be cowed and warned of worse bloodshed if the security forces did not back down. "We will stay here until we die, one by one," said Ahmed Ali, 24, helping treat casualties at the field hospital. Egyptian-born Youssef al-Qaradawi, one of the most prominent Sunni clerics in the Middle East, urged Egyptians to join the Brotherhood vigil, according to a statement on his website. "People must come out of their homes to stand in the face of the criminal murderers with all bravery," he said. (Additional reporting by Shadia Nasralla, Yasmine Saleh, Tom Finn, Maggie Fick, Omar Fahmy, Edmund Blair, Michael Georgy, Noah Browning and Ahmed Tolba in Cairo, Abdel Rahman Youssef in Alexandria, Arshad Mohammed in Washington, Sami Aboudi in Dubai and Ayla Jean Yackley in Istanbul; Writing by Crispian Balmer and Matt Robinson; Editing by David Evans and Sonya Hepinstall) ================================ Millions take to the streets of Egypt in an ever-growing media fantasy If that many were demonstrating, who was driving the trains, buses, underground, operating the airports, manning the police and army, the factories, and hotels? 1 / 1Getty ImagesShare2K 215 4 2K Ads by Google British Expat In Qatar? Discover Your £80k+ Pension Options Free, Clear & Honest Expert Advice! Your.QROPSchoices.com/Free-Guide5 Signs of Alzheimer's Doctor: 5 Warning Signs You're About to Get Alzheimer's Disease www.newsmax.comExpatriate Savings Advice £50k-£1m Or £250+ Regular Savings? Find The Best Interest Rates Today! www.OffshoreSavingsDesigner.comWhy does the Egyptian crisis appear so simple to our political leaders yet so complicated when you actually turn up in Cairo? Let’s start with the Egyptian press. Flowering after the 2011 revolution, the Egyptian media moved into lockstep the moment General Abdel Fatah al-Sisi and the lads chucked President Mohamed Morsi out of power on 3 July. Indeed, one popular television group – upon whose airwaves I occasionally spoke in the post-Mubarak era – appeared after the military takeover with their reporters and presenters all praising the new regime. And here’s the rub – they all appeared on screen in military uniform! Of course, fantasies had to be created. The first of these was not the perfidious, undemocratic, terroristic nature of the Brotherhood – this idea had been fostered at least a week before the coup. No, it was the demonstration scoreboard that fed into the dreams of the world. “Millions” were on the streets calling for Morsi’s overthrow. These millions were essential for the supreme fantasy: that General al-Sisi was merely following the will of the people. But then Tony Blair – whose accuracy over weapons of mass destruction in Iraq is well known – told us that there were “17 million Egyptians on the streets”! This was worthy of an exclamation mark. Then the US State Department told us there were 22 million on the streets of Egypt. Then just three days ago, the Democracy Index informed us that there were 30 million taking part in demonstrations against Morsi and only one million Morsi supporters on the streets! This is truly incredible. The population of Egypt is around 89 million. Stripped of its babies, children, pensioners of advanced age, this suggests that more than half the active population of Egypt was demonstrating against Morsi. Yet unlike Egypt in 2011, the country kept running. So who, during what the Egyptian Writers Union now called “the largest political demonstration in history”, was driving the trains and buses, the Cairo underground system, operating the airports, manning the ranks of the police and army, the factories, hotels and the Suez Canal? Al-Jazeera, thank heavens, brought in an American expert on crowds to demonstrate that these figures emerged from a dream world in which both sides eagerly subscribed, one that physically could not exist. Around Tahrir Square, it was impossible to gather more than a million and a half people. In Nasr City – a Morsi demonstration point – far fewer. But the groundwork had been laid. So last week, the US Secretary of State John Kerry was able to tell us that the Egyptian military “was asked to intervene by millions and millions [sic] of people, all of whom were afraid of a [descent] into chaos, into violence. And the military did not take over, to the best of our judgement – so far – to run the country. There’s a civilian government. In effect [sic], they were restoring democracy.” All Kerry failed to mention was that General al-Sisi chose the “civilian” government, reappointed himself defence minister, then appointed himself deputy prime minister of the “civilian” government – and remained commander of the Egyptian army. And that General al-Sisi was never elected. But that’s OK. He was anointed by those “millions and millions” of people. And what did the military spokesman say when asked how the world would react to the “excessive use of force” that killed 50 Muslim Brotherhood demonstrators on 8 July? Without reservation, he replied: “What excessive force? It would have been excessive if we had killed 300 people.” That speaks for itself. But when you’re up there among the 17 million, 22 million, 30 million, the “millions of millions”, who cares? Now to the Department of Plain Speaking. Let me quote here the best commentator on the Middle East, Alain Gresh, whose work in Le Monde diplomatique, is – or should be – essential reading for all politicians, generals, “intelligence” officers, torturers, and every Arab in the entire region. The Muslim Brotherhood, he writes this month, proved itself “fundamentally incapable of adapting to the pluralist political deal, to emerge from its culture of clandestinity, to transform itself into a political party, to make alliances. Sure, they created the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), but this remained totally under the control of the Brotherhood.” And what was al-Sisi’s real role in all this? He gave us an intriguing clue in his infamous 25 July call on Egyptians to authorise the army to “confront violence and terrorism”. He said he told two Brotherhood leaders prior to the overthrow that the situation was “dangerous”, that reconciliation talks must begin at once. The two leaders, al-Sisi said, replied that “armed groups” would solve any problem that arose. The general was outraged. He said he gave Morsi a week before 30 June to try to end the crisis. On 3 July, he sent Morsi’s Prime Minister, Hisham Qandil, and two others “to former President Morsi to convince him to be proactive and call for a referendum on his remaining in power… His answer was ‘no’.” Al-Sisi told Morsi that “political pride dictates that if the people reject you, you should either step down, or re-establish confidence through a referendum. Some people want to either rule the country or destroy it.” Of course, we can’t hear Morsi’s point of view. He has been publicly silenced. Thank God for the Egyptian army. And all those millions.

Lebanese army seals parliament after protests, Syria-linked tension

Lebanese army seals parliament after protests, Syria-linked tension Fri, Jun 21 09:40 AM EDT 1 of 4 By Dominic Evans BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Lebanese army sealed off Beirut's parliamentary district with razor wire and threatened stern action against violence on Friday after a night of unrest stoked by the war in Syria and political paralysis at home. Around 100 protesters, angered by the postponement of June's parliamentary election until next year, scuffled with police on Thursday night near parliament. Twenty camped out overnight outside the ring of barbed wire, vowing to maintain the protest. As the largely peaceful demonstration unfolded in central Beirut, protesters blocked roads with burning tires elsewhere in the capital and in Bekaa Valley towns in eastern Lebanon. Demonstrators said they were acting in solidarity with residents of the Sunni Muslim Bekaa town of Arsal, which they say has been cut off by security forces investigating the shooting of four Shi'ite Muslim men on Sunday. Sectarian violence has intensified across Lebanon and particularly in the Bekaa region because of the conflict raging across the border in Syria, where Lebanon's Shi'ite militia Hezbollah and Lebanese Sunni gunmen have joined opposing sides of the 27-month-old civil war. Rockets from suspected Syrian rebel positions have hit Shi'ite towns in Lebanon since Hezbollah intervened decisively to recapture the Syrian border town of Qusair for President Bashar al-Assad's forces earlier this month. The army also discovered a rocket launcher in an area east of Beirut on Friday. The rocket was still in place, and apparently had not gone off due to a technical fault, a security source said. The fighting in Syria has already driven half a million Syrian refugees into Lebanon and worsened a political stalemate which forced the election delay and held up efforts to form a new government. Former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, a Sunni leader, warned this week of the potential for "state collapse". President Michel Suleiman has appealed to Hezbollah to bring its fighters home from Syria, saying that further entanglement there by the Iranian-backed movement will fuel instability in Lebanon, still scarred by its own 1975-1990 civil war. ARMY WILL CONFRONT "OUTLAWS" The army said several military posts and patrols were targeted on Thursday night by protesters, some of them armed, and four soldiers were wounded in exchanges of gunfire. Security sources said at least two demonstrators were hurt in a protest near the main border crossing with Syria at Masnaa. "The army leadership again urges citizens to be calm and not to follow rumors and sectarian emotions," the military said in a statement. "It will not be lenient in confronting with force any outlaws or those who harm the armed forces." The statement said gunmen fired on army posts in three towns close to the Masnaa border crossing early on Friday. The army returned fire and arrested 22 suspects in raids following the incidents. Travelers trying to reach Lebanon from Syria on Friday morning said the frontier was closed for several hours due to the skirmishes, but reopened later in the day. Army commander General Jean Kahwaji was quoted by the local As-Safir newspaper as saying the military would not tolerate any threats to Lebanon's security during what he described as "very critical and very difficult" times. In central Beirut, activists said they would keep up their protest against the 17-month extension of parliament, agreed by politicians after they failed to break a deadlock over planned changes to the electoral law. "We called for a protest yesterday against the extension and against the violation on Lebanon's democracy," protester Marwan Maalouf said. "This is a new coup against the republic. "Security forces used force against the protesters so we decided to set up tents here in a peaceful way to protest the extension. There is a year and a half, we won't let them rest." (Editing by Alistair Lyon)

U.S. to increase military support to Syria rebels

حزب اللہ کے سیکریٹری جنرل نے کہا کہ شام میں تکفیری گروہ قتل، ذبح اور چھری پھیرنے کی باتیں کر رہے ہیں اور ایسے اقدامات بھی کررہے ہیں، ان کی کوشش ہے کہ اب مذہبی منافرت اور فرقہ واریت کا کارڈ استعمال کریں، جن کے پاس منطق اور عقل نہ ہو وہ ایسا ہی کرتا ہے۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ کچھ معروف عربی ٹی وی چینلز اسی طرح انٹرنیٹ اخبارات سب میں یہی صورت حال ہے البتہ ہمارے حوالے سے یہ کوئی نئی بات نہیں لیکن مذہبی منافرت اور فرقہ واریت کی یہ کوششیں بزدلانہ عمل ہے۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ شام کے مسئلے میں ہم دو سال سے کہتے آئے ہیں اور کوشش کی ہے کہ مذاکرات سے حل ہو اور ہم اب بھی یہی چاہتے ہیں۔ انہوں نے شام میں اسلامی تحریک مزاحمت کی موجودگی کے بارے میں کہا کہ اس بحران میں ہم آخری تھے جو عملی طور پر اور انتہائی محدود پیمانے پر وارد ہوئے ہیں کیونکہ ہم دیکھ رہے ہیں کہ شام میں امریکہ اور اسرائیل ایک ایسے وسیع ایجنڈے کو نافذ کرنا چاہتے ہیں جس سے نہ صرف وہ شام بلکہ خطے میں فلسطین قبل اول سمیت متعدد اہم مسائل کو اپنے حق میں کرنا چاہتے ہیں، ہمیں اس ایجنڈے کا مکمل ادراک ہے اور یہ ایجنڈا پورے خطے کو تباہ و برباد کرے گا۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ آپ مجھے بتائیں کہ جسے یہ شامی اپوزیشن کہہ رہے ہیں وہ کون ہے؟ کیا شام کی عوام ہے؟ شامی اپوزیشن کی چھتری تلے دسیوں ہزار غیر ملکی مسلح افراد جو پوری دنیا سے اکھٹے ہوئے ہیں کو جمع کیا گیا اور عرب ممالک ان کی پشت پر بیٹھے ہیں اور جمہوریت اور تبدیلی کی بات کر رہے ہیں جن کے اپنے ملک میں انتخابات تک نہیں ہوتے۔ United States to meet Taliban to seek Afghan peace عراقی معروف شیعہ انقلابی رہنما سید مقتدیٰ الصدر نے شام میں دہشت گردوں کی ہرزہ سرائیوں پر شدید تشویش کا اظہار کرتے ہوئے القاعدہ کے ناصبی تکفیری دہشت گردوں کے سرغنہ کو خبر دار کرتے ہوئے نتیجہ خیز وارننگ دی ہے اور کہا ہے کہ القاعدہ دہشت گرد شا م میں دہشت گردانہ کاروائیوں کا سلسلہ فی الفور بند کر دے۔ Sayyed Nasrallah said that since the start of the crisis in Syria Hezbollah had a clear view that there was a scheme that has repercussions on Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, the region, the Muslims, the Christians, the Sunnites and the Shiites. His eminence pointed out that the resistance through its decisions is defending Lebanon, its land and its state. The resistance leader stressed that what’s coming on in Syria is not between a regime and people, saying: “This issue is over. There are sides who don’t care for the people killed, they just want for the regime to fall. They imagine that the alternative for this regime is another one. However the alternative is the chaos.” His eminence noted that the Syrian people are parted, some is with the regime and the other is against it, adding: “And we are with the regime. We are also with reforms.” “We are with people who call for reforms, whether they are with the regime or against it. However we are against those who are destroying Syria,” Sayyed Nasrallah told crowds. Sayyed Nasrallah: Mistaken Who Thinks That Takfiris Can Change Our Position inShare.0diggSaturday, 15 June 2013 08:46Written by Shiitenews Reporter Hits: 34 Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah stressed that the resistance will be where it should, assuring that the struggle in Syria is between two projects and not between two sects. During a ceremony held by Hezbollah for the occasion of the Injured Fighter Day, Sayyed Nasrallah said that post-Qusayr stage is the same of pre-Qusayr since no change in developments taking place in Syria. In this context, he stressed that the accusations of unbelief launched by Takfiris will not change the position of the resistance, and “who thinks that he can force us to change our stance through killing and terrifying is mistaken.” As he said that the resistance is not interested in the battle taking place in Syria, Sayyed Nasrallah said that Hezbollah should be engaged in this battle since it is aimed at destroying the whole region, not only Syria. His eminence pointed out that Hezbollah is the last side to take part in the Syrian fight, since there are many Lebanese parties, including al-Mustaqbal party, who were engaged in the struggle before. Clear View for the Crisis in Syria Sayyed Nasrallah said that since the start of the crisis in Syria Hezbollah had a clear view that there was a scheme that has repercussions on Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, the region, the Muslims, the Christians, the Sunnites and the Shiites. His eminence pointed out that the resistance through its decisions is defending Lebanon, its land and its state. The resistance leader stressed that what’s coming on in Syria is not between a regime and people, saying: “This issue is over. There are sides who don’t care for the people killed, they just want for the regime to fall. They imagine that the alternative for this regime is another one. However the alternative is the chaos.” His eminence noted that the Syrian people are parted, some is with the regime and the other is against it, adding: “And we are with the regime. We are also with reforms.” “We are with people who call for reforms, whether they are with the regime or against it. However we are against those who are destroying Syria,” Sayyed Nasrallah told crowds. On the other hand, he said that talks about starting to arm the Syrian opposition is false since providing arms to the foreign-backed militants who are fighting the Syrian government is taking place since long ago. Hezbollah The Latest Side to Take Part in Syria Fight Meanwhile, Sayyed Nasrallah said that Hezbollah was the latest Lebanese side to take part in the Syrian fight, noting that many other parties have been engaged in the Syrian crisis even before Hezbollah was. “We didn’t keep our participation in the Syrian fight a secret. We didn’t say that we are offering milk and blankets,” Sayyed Nasrallah said, referring to al-Mustaqbal party MP Oqab Saqr who denied that his party is engaged in the Syrian crisis. “… And if our fighters are killed in the battle in Syria we don’t burry them there and silence their families in Lebanon,” Sayyed Nasrallah added. Sayyed Nasrallah also assured that the struggle in Syria is not sectarian, noting that those who are presenting it as a sectarian struggle are weak. He called for exerting efforts in a bid to face some Arab channels which are inciting for sedition and giving the struggle sectarian explanations through fabrications. “We won’t change our position through fabrications, killing and terrifying,” his eminence said, noting that post-Qusayr is the same stage as pre-Qusayr. He said that the other side of the struggle is determined to go ahead with it, stressing that the resistance is to be where it should be as it will hold the responsibility it had held from the beginning of the crisis. Sayyed Nasrallah also pointed out that Hezbollah is ready to debate over Syria, noting in this context that some sides are offering initiatives that need to be discussed. Call for Self Restraint Talking about the Local issues, the resistance leader said that there nothing new concerning the issue of the elections, noting that the Lebanese are awaiting the decision of the constitutional council to know if the elections are to take place or not. His eminence urged the utmost degrees of self restraint and the avoidance of any form of fight and tension. “We urge the Lebanese, Palestinians and Syrians who are in the Lebanese territories to practice the utmost degrees of self restraint, especially the crowds of the resistance.” He also slammed what some Lebanese people are doing of shooting bullets in the air, saying that this action is being a noticeably increasing in Lebanon. His eminence called for the halt of this phenomenon, saying it’s rejected since it harm and bother others. “The phenomenon of shooting in the air has noticeably increased nowadays and during every occasion,” Sayyed Nasrallah said, adding: “we asked clerics across Iran and Iraq about the issue of shooting in the air. The only answer was that it is forbidden to do so.” Concerning the rockets fired on some Bekaa towns, Sayyed Nasrallah said that some media outlets are circulating rumors that these rockets are fired from the town of Ersal, in a bid to explain the issue by sectarian means. Hi eminence stressed that rockets fired on Sareen, Baalbeck and Hernel were not from Ersal, saying that armed groups in Syria are who are firing them and promising that this issue will be over soon. He warned in this context that media outlets along with intelligence services are working hard to incite sedition between Sunnites and Shiites. Resistance Saved Lebanon Talking about the occasion, Sayyed Nasrallah saluted the injured fighters along with their families who sacrificed for the sake of their country, stressing that Lebanon was liberated thanks to resistance and its fighters. “The resistance, with this sacrifice, liberated Lebanon from the Israeli occupation. It saved Lebanon and its history should not be forgotten.” In this context his eminence warned that “there is a huge media campaign which is working to defame the image and the history of the resistance.” The resistance leader dismissed talks about uprooting Hezbollah of the Lebanese structure as saying: “We were born here, we were grown up here, we lived here and we will be buried here… No one can root us up.” “One of the most powerful armies in the world was crushed by our fighters in Bint Jbeil, Maroun Ras… Who are these stupid people who are talking about rooting us up?” Iranian Elections: Festival of Democracy Meanwhile, Sayyed Nasrallah congratulated the Iranian leadership and the nation for the high public turnout in the Islamic Republic 11th presidential elections. "I want to congratulate Imam Khamenei and the Iranian nation for this festival of democracy, because this democracy strengthens the right positions in the region," he said. "Through this democracy, the Leader with all his powers has only one vote and the other Iranian citizens of different ethnicities are also at the same level. They participate in the election for the future of their country." His eminence hoped that some Arab countries witness similar democracy فَإِنَّ حِزْبَ اللَّـهِ هُمُ الْغَالِبُونَ ۔۔ (اللہ کی ہی جماعت غالب آنے والی ہے۔) سورة المائدة۔ قائد حزب اللہ سید حسن نصر اللہ کا لبنان سے کیا جانے والا شام اور مشرق وسطی میں مجاہدین اسلام کی القصیر میں ناصبی سعودیوں کو شکست دینے کے بعد پیدا ہونے والی صورتحال پر خطاب پاکستان میں امریکی اور اسرائیلی سازش کا شکار ہو گیا۔ تقریر جو کہ المنار ٹی وی کی ویب سائٹ سے براہ راست نشر ہونے والی تھی،،، المنار کی ویب ساٹ اور آی پی کو بلاک کر دیا گیا۔ لیکن جیسے ہی سید حسن نصر اللہ کا خطاب ختم ہوا امریکی ایما پر بلاک کی گئی ویب سائٹ کو کھول دیا گیا۔ یہ اس بات کا ثبوٹ ہے کہ دشمن ہماری طاقت سے خوف زدہ ہے۔ اور ڈرتا ہے کہ اُسکی خقیقت کا پول دنیا کے سامنے نہ کھل جائے اور وہ طرح طرح کی مکروہ چالیں چلتا ہے۔۔ ... مگر خدا کا وعدہ ہے ۔۔۔۔ وَمَكَرُوا وَمَكَرَ اللَّـهُ ۖ وَاللَّـهُ خَيْرُ الْمَاكِرِينَ ۔۔ سورة آل عمران اور یہودیوں نے عیسٰی علیھ السّلام سے مکاری کی تو اللہ نے بھی جوابی تدبیر کی اور خدا بہترین تدبیر کرنے والا ہے۔ ____________________________________________________See More سید المقاومہ قائد حزب اللہ سید حسن نصر اللہ شام اور مشرق وسطی میں مجاہدین اسلام کی القصیر میں ناصبی سعودیوں کو شکست دینے کے بعد پیدا ہونے والی صورتحال پر آج شام پاکستانی وقت کے مطابق شام 7 اہم خطاب کریں گے جو شیعت نیوز کے قارئین شیعت نیوز پر براہ راست ملاحظہ کر سکتے ہیں شامي فوج نےشمالي شہر حلب ميں اپني پيشقدمي جاري رکھتے ہوئے نبتل اور الزہرا کے علاقوں ميں دہشتگردوں کے محاصر کو توڑنے کي کوشش کي ہے تاکہ ان علاقوں کے باشندوں کو مدد پہنچائي جاسکے – شامي فوج نے اسي طرح کفر حمرا اور کفرداعل علاقوں ميں بھي پيشقدمي کي ہے - حلب کے مضافتي علاقوں ميں شامي فوج کي پيشقدمي ميں سيکڑوں دہشتگرد مارے گئے ہيں اور ان کے قبضے سے بھاري مقدار ميں اسلحہ و گولہ بارود بھي برآمد ہوا ہے - تکفیریوں نے اس علاقے کے رہنے والے ایک شیعہ عالم دین حجۃ الاسلام و المسلمین سید ابراہیم السید کے کمسن بیٹے کو اس کی ماں کے سمیت تمام اہل خانہ کے سامنے ذبح کردیا۔ نضال الشعب السوری ضد بشار الأسد جائز ومشروع وتاریخی، لکن امریکا، ایران، حزب اللہ، السعودیة، قطر اختطفوا ھذا النضال وحولوہ صراعا طائفیا U.S. to increase military support to Syria rebels Fri, Jun 14 06:10 AM EDT 1 of 7 By Matt Spetalnick and Erika Solomon WASHINGTON/BEIRUT (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has authorized sending U.S. weapons to Syrian rebels for the first time, a U.S. official said on Thursday after the White House said it has proof the Syrian government had used chemical weapons against opposition forces fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad. The U.S. decision came as Assad's surging forces and their Lebanese Hezbollah allies turned their guns on the north, fighting near the northern city of Aleppo and bombarding the central city of Homs after having seized the initiative by winning the open backing of Hezbollah last month and capturing the strategic town of Qusair last week. The White House said Washington would provide "direct military support" to the opposition but did not specify whether it would include lethal aid, which would mark a reversal of Obama's resistance to arming the rebels. But the U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the package would include weapons. Syrian rebel and political opposition leaders immediately called for anti-aircraft and other sophisticated weaponry. The arrival of thousands of seasoned, Iran-backed Hezbollah Shi'ite fighters to help Assad combat the mainly Sunni rebellion has shifted momentum in the two-year-old war, which the United Nations said on Thursday had killed at least 93,000 people. U.S. and European officials anxious about the rapid change are meeting the commander of the main rebel fighting force, the Free Syrian Army, on Friday in Turkey. FSA chief Salim Idriss is expected to plead urgently for more help. Obama has been more cautious than Britain and France, which forced the European Union this month to lift an embargo that had blocked weapons for the rebels. After months of investigation, the White House on Thursday laid out its conclusions that chemical weapons were used by Assad's forces, but it stopped short of threatening specific actions in response to what Obama said would be a "game changer" for Washington's handling of the conflict. "The president ... has made it clear that the use of chemical weapons or transfer of chemical weapons to terrorist groups is a red line," said Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security adviser. "He has said that the use of chemical weapons would change his calculus, and it has." 'CHEMICAL WEAPONS ... ON A SMALL SCALE' "Our intelligence community assesses that the Assad regime has used chemical weapons, including the nerve agent sarin, on a small scale against the opposition multiple times in the last year," Rhodes told reporters. He said the U.S. intelligence community had high confidence in the assessment and estimated that 100 to 150 people had died from detected chemical weapons attacks in Syria to date. The U.S. announcement followed deliberations between Obama and his national security aides as pressure mounted at home and abroad for more forceful action on the Syria conflict, including a sharp critique from former President Bill Clinton. Rhodes said the U.S. military assistance to the rebels would be different in "both scope and scale" from what had been authorized before, which included non-lethal equipment such as night-vision goggles and body armor. "We want anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons," George Sabra, acting leader of the National Coalition political opposition bloc, told Al-Arabiya television. "We expect to see positive results and genuine military support." U.S. Senator John McCain, who said he had been told by a reliable source that Washington would provide arms to the rebels, called for the establishment of a no-fly zone and said the United States needed to neutralize Assad's air power. "They (rebels) have enough light weapons. They've got enough AK-47s. AK-47s don't do very well against tanks," McCain told CNN. "They need anti-tank weapons and they need anti-air weapons." The Wall Street Journal, citing U.S. officials, reported that the administration's proposal included a no-fly zone stretching up to 25 miles inside Syria. Western governments that predicted months ago that Assad would soon fall now believe that support from Tehran and Hezbollah are giving him the upper hand. But they also worry that sending arms to rebel fighters could empower Sunni Islamist insurgents who have pledged their loyalty to al Qaeda. While Britain and France have yet to announce their own decisions to start arming the rebels, their diplomats have been making the case that the best way to counter both threats is to beef up support for Idriss' mainstream rebel force. Strengthening the FSA with money, weapons and ammunition, they argue, would help combat Assad and also provide a counterweight among the rebels to al Qaeda-linked groups. France in particular has developed good relations with Idriss while providing funds and non-lethal support, and seems eager to send him military aid. FIGHT FOR ALEPPO Assad's government says its next move will be to recapture Aleppo in the north, Syria's biggest city and commercial hub, which has been divided since last year when advancing rebels seized most of the countryside around it. Syrian state media have been touting plans for "Northern Storm," a looming campaign to recapture the rebel-held north. The United Nations, which raised its death toll for the war to 93,000 on Thursday, said it was concerned about the fate of residents if a new offensive is launched. "All of the reports I'm receiving are of augmentation of resources and forces (for an Aleppo offensive) on the part of the government," U.N. Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay told Reuters Television. Assad's army appears to be massing some troops in its footholds in Aleppo province, particularly in Shi'ite areas such as the enclaves of Nubel and Zahra, although some opposition activists say the government may be exaggerating the extent of its offensive to intimidate rebel supporters. Activists reported fighting in the area around Aleppo on Thursday, especially near an airport that rebels have been trying to capture. The government has also launched an offensive in Homs, the closest big city to its last victory in Qusair and one of the last major rebel strongholds in the country's centre. "There was a fourth day of escalations today on the besieged neighborhoods of Homs' old city. Early in the morning, there were two air strikes ... followed by artillery and mortar shelling," said Jad, an activist from Homs speaking via Skype. Ahmed al-Ahmed, an activist in Aleppo, said the government's reinforcements in the north were just a distraction from Homs. "They've turned the world's attention to watching northern Aleppo and fearing an attack and massacres as happened to our people in Qusair, to get us to forget Homs, which is the decisive battle." Hezbollah's participation has deepened the sectarian character of the war, with Assad, a member of the Alawite offshoot of Shi'ite Islam, backed by Shi'ite Iran and Hezbollah, while Sunni-ruled Arab states and Turkey back the rebels. The 7th century rift between Sunni and Shi'ite Islam has fueled violence across the Middle East in recent decades, including the sectarian bloodletting unleashed in Iraq since the 2003 U.S. invasion and the Lebanese civil war of 1975 to 1990. Leading Sunni Muslim clerics met in Cairo on Thursday and issued a call to jihad against Assad and his allies on Thursday, condemning the conflict as a "war on Islam. (Additional reporting by Mariam Karouny in Beirut; Stephanie Nebehay and Tom Miles in Geneva; John Irish in Paris; Khaled Yacoub Oweis in Amman; Omar Fahmy and Asma Alsharif in Egypt; Roberta Rampton, Mark Felsenthal, Jeff Mason and Susan Heavey in Washington; Writing by Peter Graff and Jim Loney; Editing by Mike Collett-White and Peter Cooney)

Hezbollah in big Syria battle, Obama 'concerned'

It was Hilary Clinton, agreeing with Israeli analysis, who said that Assad has lost legitimacy and that he must go. The Israelis went further and gave Assad until the end of 2012. The British and the French followed suit. Turkey, Jordan, Israel, Egypt, Tunisiaia have already been involved in recruiting, arming and financing Jihadists from all over the world and facilitating their entry into Syria. On the otherhand, the Iranians and Hizbullah insisted that they will never allow Syria to be ruled by the USraelis and continued sending men, weapons and oil to the besieged Assad regime. After threats and counter threats and thousands of victims and industrial-sclae destruction of Syrian infrastructure, Assad army started to push back the rebels and to regain control of some strategic positions. But two major events may have changed the course of events: 1.The announcement of the Nusrat Front that it is a branch of Al-Qaeda which has finally opened the eyes of the Usraeli-led West. And, 2.The Israeli massive bomardment of Syrian army positions and facilities which brought sympathy for Assad inside and outside the country. Afraid of being seen as supporters for Al-Qaeda, the Usraeli-led West have finally accepted the Russian plan for a political solution to the Syrian problem. They will also have to accept a role for Iran in any furture negotiations or fonferences. No matter what will happen, the USraelis have stopped calling on Assad to go and decided on working to limit the effects of Al-Qaeda influence in Syria. If a winner must be nominated in the battle of Assad, it must be Iran. Adnan Darwash, Iraq Occupation Times 13-05-13 ==== Hezbollah in big Syria battle, Obama 'concerned' Mon, May 20 17:26 PM EDT 1 of 3 By Khaled Yacoub Oweis and Dominic Evans AMMAN/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas have fought their biggest battle yet for Syria's beleaguered president, prompting international alarm that the civil war may spread and an urgent call for restraint from the United States. About 30 Hezbollah fighters were killed on Sunday, Syrian activists said, along with 20 Syrian troops and militiamen loyal to President Bashar al-Assad during the fiercest fighting this year in the rebel stronghold of Qusair, near the Lebanon border. That would be the highest daily loss for the Iranian-backed movement in Syria, highlighting how it is increasing its efforts to bolster Assad; it prompted U.S. President Barack Obama to voice his concern to his Lebanese counterpart, Michel Suleiman. If confirmed, the Hezbollah losses reflect how Syria is becoming a proxy conflict between Shi'ite Iran and Arab states like Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which back Assad's mostly Sunni enemies. Dozens of dead in sectarian bombings in Iraq on Monday and killings in the Lebanese city of Tripoli compounded a sense of spreading regional confrontation. Western powers and Russia back opposing sides in the cross-border Syrian free-for-all, which is also sucking in Israel - though Washington and its allies have fought shy of intervening militarily behind fractured and partly Islamist rebel forces. The White House said Obama spoke to Lebanese President Suleiman and "stressed his concern about Hezbollah's active and growing role in Syria, fighting on behalf of the Assad regime, which is counter to the Lebanese government's policies". The Beirut government, however, has limited means to influence the politically and militarily powerful Shi'ite group. The two leaders agreed "all parties should respect Lebanon's policy of disassociation from the conflict in Syria and avoid actions that will involve the Lebanese people in the conflict". Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country was "preparing for every scenario" in Syria and held out the prospect of more Israeli strikes on Syria to stop Hezbollah and other opponents of Israel obtaining advanced weapons. Israel has not confirmed or denied reports by Western and Israeli intelligence sources that three raids this year targeted Iranian missiles near Damascus that it believed were awaiting delivery to Hezbollah, which fought a war with Israel in 2006. FOG OF WAR Syrian opposition sources and state media gave differing accounts of Sunday's clashes in Qusair, long used by rebels as a supply route from Lebanon to the provincial capital Homs. Hezbollah has not commented but in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley on Monday several funeral processions could be seen. Pictures of dead fighters were plastered on to cars and mourners waved yellow Hezbollah flags. Several ambulances were seen on the main Bekaa Valley highway and residents said hospitals had appealed for blood to treat the wounded brought back to Lebanon. The air and tank assault on the strategic town of 30,000 people appeared to be part of a campaign by Assad's forces to consolidate their grip on Damascus and secure links between the capital and government strongholds in the Alawite coastal heartland via the contested central city of Homs. The government campaign has coincided with efforts by the United States and Russia, despite their differences on Syria, to organize peace talks to end a conflict now in its third year in which more than 80,000 people have been killed. A total of 100 combatants from both sides were killed in Sunday's offensive, according to opposition sources, including the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Such a death toll would indicate at least hundreds had taken part. Troops have already retaken several villages around Qusair and have attacked increasingly isolated rebel units in Homs. "If Qusair falls, God forbid, the opposition in Homs city will be in grave danger," said an activist who called himself Abu Jaafar al-Mugharbil. State news agency SANA said the army had "restored security and stability to most Qusair neighborhoods" and was "chasing the remnants of the terrorists in the northern district". Syrian television also showed footage of what it said was an Israeli military Jeep which it said the rebels had been using and which showed the extent of their foreign backing. An Israeli military spokeswoman said the vehicle was decommissioned a decade ago and dismissed the footage as "poor propaganda". Opposition activists said rebels in Qusair, about 10 km (six miles) from the Lebanese border, had pushed back most of the attacking forces to their original positions in the east of the town and to the south on Sunday, destroying at least four Syrian army tanks and five light Hezbollah vehicles. The Western-backed leadership of the Free Syrian Army, the loose umbrella group trying to oversee hundreds of disparate rebel brigades, said the Qusair fighters had thwarted Hezbollah with military operations it dubbed "Walls of Death". Syrian government restrictions on access for independent media make it hard to verify such videos and accounts. "NO DIALOGUE WITH TERRORISTS" The fighting raged as Western nations are seeking to step up pressure on Assad - Britain and France want the European Union to allow arms deliveries to rebels - while preparing for the peace talks brokered by Russia and the United States next month. British Foreign Secretary William Hague said "no option is off the table" over the possible arming of rebels if the Syrian government does not negotiate seriously at the proposed talks. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, whose country has shielded Syria from U.N. Security Council action, said Syrian opposition representatives must take part without precondition, apparently referring to their demands for Assad's exit before they come to the table. Assad has scorned the idea that the conference expected to convene in Geneva could end a war that is fuelling instability and deepening Sunni-Shi'ite rifts across the Middle East. "They think a political conference will halt terrorists in the country. That is unrealistic," he told the Argentine newspaper Clarin, in a reference to Syria's mainly Sunni rebels. Assad ruled out "dialogue with terrorists", but it was not clear from his remarks whether he would agree to send delegates to a conference that may in any case falter before it starts due to disagreements between its two main sponsors and their allies. The fractured Syrian opposition is to discuss the proposed peace conference at a meeting due to start in Istanbul on Thursday, during which it will also appoint a new leadership. Among divisive factors in the rebel camp is fundamentalist Islam, practiced by some fighters and opposed by others. In the latest Internet video from Syria to cause discomfort for rebels seeking Western backing, anti-Assad Islamists flogged two men they said had infringed a ban on marrying newly divorced women. Attacks by troops and militias loyal to Assad, who inherited power in Syria from his father in 2000, have put rebel groups under pressure in several of their strongholds in recent weeks. Assad, from Syria's minority Alawite sect, has been battling an uprising which began with peaceful protests in March 2011. His violent response eventually prompted rebels to take up arms. Hezbollah has supported Assad throughout the crisis but for months denied reports it was fighting alongside Assad's troops. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put the Hezbollah casualties on Sunday at 28 dead and more than 70 wounded, while 48 rebel fighters and four civilians were also killed. Tareq Murei, an activist in Qusair, said six more people were killed on Monday as Syrian army artillery and Hezbollah rocket launchers bombarded rebel-held parts of the town. Video footage purportedly showed a Syrian tank on fire at a street corner in the town. In another video a warplane was shown flying over the town amid the sound of explosions. Lebanese security sources said at least 12 Hezbollah fighters were killed in Qusair on Sunday. Seven were to be buried in the Lebanese town of Baalbek and nearby villages on Monday, they said. (Additional reporting by Erika Solomon in Hermel and Dan Williams in Jerusalem; Writing by Dominic Evans; Editing by Samia Nakhoul, Alistair Lyon, Giles Elgood and Alastair Macdonald) ========================

What will Hezbollah do if the Assad regime falls? - analysis

What will Hezbollah do if the Assad regime falls? - analysis January 05, 2013 12:42 AM (Last updated: January 05, 2013 02:28 PM) By Hussein Dakroub The Daily Star Members of the Hezbollah guerilla group parade during the annual rally to mark Al-Quds Day, Jerusalem Day, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, in this Friday, Oct. 28, 2005, file photo. (AP Photo) BEIRUT: What Hezbollah will do if and when the regime of Syria’s embattled President Bashar Assad is toppled by the widening armed rebellion is of increasing concern to the Lebanese. Also, Arab and foreign countries have repeatedly voiced concerns through their ambassadors in Beirut over the country’s stability and security in a post-Assad era. The issue has gained much credence in recent weeks amid growing signs pointing to predictions of the “imminent collapse” of the Assad regime by senior Western officials as well as Syrian rebel and opposition groups. The past few weeks have witnessed major developments in favor of the Syrian opposition, auguring ill for the Assad regime, which has clearly failed to crush the rising popular uprising despite the excessive use of military force, including warplanes to pound rebel positions since the revolt began in March 2011. Political analysts told The Daily Star that Hezbollah was positioning itself to deal with the possible collapse of the Assad regime and the consequences for Lebanon, including a change in the balance of power in favor of the party’s opponents in the March 14 camp. While they ruled out the possibility of a Hezbollah attempt to take over power in response to the fall of the regime in Syria, the analysts warned that the party would react in a military manner if provoked. “Hezbollah will not react to the fall of the Assad regime by attempting to seize power in Lebanon unless provoked by local Lebanese adversaries,” said Hilal Khashan, a professor of political science at the American University of Beirut. “The party will not use its military power to take over the political system unless it is provoked. If provoked, Hezbollah will react in a military way like what it did in May 2008,” he added. Khashan was referring to the street clashes between pro- and anti-government gunmen in Beirut in May 2008 after Hezbollah fighters briefly took over west Beirut to protest a government decision to dismantle the party’s private telecommunications network. More than 80 people were killed in Beirut and Mount Lebanon. “What Hezbollah will do is contingent on what the March 14 coalition will do. If they [March 14 parties] try to monopolize power in Lebanon or jeopardize the party’s position, Hezbollah will respond,” Khashan said. Fadia Kiwan, head of the political science department at Saint Joseph University, also ruled out a Hezbollah military action to control Lebanon in a post-Assad Syria. She said Hezbollah was keeping a low profile internally, while closely following up the military developments in Syria and positioning itself for Assad’s possible downfall. “With the collapse of the regime in Syria, Hezbollah will be cornered politically to make many concessions in order to arrive at an internal settlement on the shape of a new government,” Kiwan told The Daily Star. “But if provoked, particularly with fresh calls to hand over its arms, Hezbollah will react in an appropriate manner,” she said. A similar view was echoed by Simon Haddad, professor of political science at AUB, who said Hezbollah was worried about the emergence of “a hostile regime” in a post-Assad Syria. “The downfall of the regime in Syria is a matter of time. Hezbollah is preparing itself for facing the security and political repercussions of the regime’s fall in Lebanon,” Haddad told The Daily Star. He said a Hezbollah military reaction to the fall of the Syrian regime seemed remote. “The situation since the May 7 [2008 clashes] has changed and most Arab countries have become hostile to Hezbollah because of its support for the Assad regime,” Haddad added. “Hezbollah is ready to accept political changes in Lebanon and will be in a defensive position after the downfall of the regime in Syria,” Haddad said. “But if it comes under a military attack by an internal party, Hezbollah will respond,” he added. Hezbollah officials contacted by The Daily Star refused to discuss the party’s options in a post-Assad Syria, noting that they did not expect the regime to fall in the first place. “When and if it happens, we will act accordingly,” a Hezbollah official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. However, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah has sought to reassure worried Lebanese that the party will not attempt to seize power in Lebanon. Referring to Hezbollah’s brief takeover of west Beirut during the 2008 May clashes, Nasrallah said in a recent speech: “We had a chance to take over power in 2008, but we did not do it.” He reiterated this position last month, calling the party’s attempt to seize power in Lebanon an act of “madness.” “Hezbollah’s experience in politics does not qualify it so far to lead Lebanon. It is madness to think that Hezbollah wants to take over power in Lebanon because experience has proved that no party or a Lebanese sect can rule Lebanon alone,” Nasrallah said during an open dialogue with university students on Dec. 7. The fast-moving developments in Syria have focused attention on the dire consequences of Assad’s downfall at the local and regional levels. Strategically, Hezbollah and its regional master, Iran, have the most to lose, while their regional foe Saudi Arabia has the most to gain from regime change in Syria. A hostile post-Assad Syria would deprive Hezbollah of its only land supply route and deny Iran its main access to an Arab world long suspicious of Tehran’s expansionist designs. The rise of a hostile regime in Syria, even a moderate Sunni-dominated government, would tilt the balance of power in Lebanon in favor of Hezbollah’s political opponents, presenting the party with a tough challenge. Clearly, the uprising in Syria has put Hezbollah on the defensive, greatly tarnishing its image in the Arab world as a popular resistance movement against Israeli occupation because of its staunch support for the Assad regime. The group’s siding with the Assad regime in its current military confrontation with the rebels, ran in sharp contrast with Hezbollah’s declared support for Arab revolts in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Yemen and Bahrain. “Hezbollah’s fate depends in part on the outcome of the Syrian crisis. If rebels defeat the Assad regime, the group might have to reconsider its political and strategic options,” Paul Salem, director of the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, wrote in an article last month. “If the Assad regime survives, Hezbollah will likely be reinforced,” he said. Khashan, the AUB professor, said a regime change in Syria would weaken Hezbollah politically in Lebanon “but not to the point of empowering the March 14 coalition.” “The situation in Lebanon is extremely tense. Hezbollah is keeping a low profile and will not provoke anybody,” he said. “Hezbollah’s main concern is to keep its arms and to be left alone.” Khashan said the fall of the Assad regime may not necessarily mean tipping the balance of power in Lebanon. “Only if the Sunnis take full charge in Syria, one can talk about a change in the balance of power in Lebanon,” he said. “It depends on what the post-Assad Syria will look like.” Talal Atrissi, an expert on Iran and Middle East affairs, said Hezbollah is preparing for all eventualities, including the collapse of the Assad regime. “Hezbollah is preparing for a possible dialogue and understanding with the forces that will take over power in Syria. It is also readying itself for the possibility of a military confrontation with these forces if they opted for a confrontation through the March 14 parties and Lebanon’s Salafist forces that are allied with the Syrian opposition forces,” Atrissi told The Daily Star. “Hezbollah’s response depends on how Syria’s new rulers as well as the March 14 parties and the Salafist forces allied with the Syrian opposition will react,” he said. Atrissi added that Hezbollah would respond to any attempt to “besiege it politically in Lebanon.” “If Hezbollah is attacked by a Lebanese party backed by the Syrian opposition forces, it will respond fiercely,” he said. “At the same time, the party is ready for dialogue and cooperation with the new [ruling] forces in Syria if they wanted.” Tewfic Hindi, a Lebanese politician close to the opposition March 14 coalition, said a regime change in Syria was inevitable, adding that Hezbollah was acting to pre-empt the consequences of the regime’s fall. “Hezbollah is offering a full package to the March 14 coalition ahead of the regime’s fall: A new electoral law, elections with predetermined results, the formation of a new Cabinet, and probably an agreement on a new president,” Hindi told The Daily Star. “If the March 14 coalition agrees to such a package, it’s fine. If not, Hezbollah will try to prevent [this year’s] elections from being held by destabilizing the situation,” he said. He ruled out “a military adventure” by Hezbollah to take over power in Lebanon, even though the toppling of the Assad regime would put the party in “a difficult position.” A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Daily Star on January 05, 2013, on page 3. Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2013/Jan-05/200989-what-will-hezbollah-do-if-the-assad-regime-falls---analysis.ashx#ixzz2HBkZKjEs (The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)

Beirut car bomb kills leading Syrian foe

Fri, Oct 19 15:07 PM EDT 1 of 17 By Oliver Holmes and Mariam Karouny BEIRUT (Reuters) - Senior Lebanese intelligence official Wissam al-Hassan, who led the investigation that implicated Syria and Hezbollah in the assassination of former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri, was killed by a huge car bomb in Beirut on Friday. Hassan was also the brains behind uncovering a bomb plot that led to the arrest and indictment in August of former Lebanese minister Michel Samaha, an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in a setback for Damascus and its Lebanese allies including Hezbollah. Saad al-Hariri, the son of Hariri, accused Assad of killing the top intelligence official. The bomb, which exploded in a busy street during rush hour, killed seven other people and wounded about 80, officials said. The attack prompted Sunni Muslims to take to the streets in areas across the country, burning tires in protest. Rubble and the twisted, burning wreckage of several cars filled the central Beirut street where the bomb exploded, ripping the facades and balconies off buildings. Firefighters scrambled through the debris and rescue workers carried off the bloodied victims on stretchers. The blast came as many parents were picking up their children from school. The attack brought the war in neighboring Syria to the Lebanese capital. The Syria conflict, in which 30,000 people have been killed in the past 19 months, has pitted mostly Sunni insurgents against Assad, who is from the Alawite sect linked to Shi'ite Islam. Lebanon's religious communities are divided between those supporting Assad and those backing the rebels trying to overthrow him. Hassan, a Sunni Muslim from northern Lebanon, was a leading opponent of Assad within the Lebanese intelligence services. "He is dead," an official who worked with Hassan told Reuters. Two Syrian officers, including General Ali Mamlouk, the head of the Syrian national security bureau, were also indicted with Samaha in an unprecedented move against the more powerful neighbor - a major player in Lebanon's affairs for decades. The indictment said their targets included politicians and religious figures. Hassan had been a close aide to Hariri, a Sunni Muslim who was killed in a 2005 bomb attack. He led the investigation into the murder and uncovered evidence that implicated Syria and Hezbollah, Lebanon's pro-Iranian Shi'ite Muslim group. Hariri supporters accused Syria and then Hezbollah of killing him - a charge they both deny. An international tribunal accused several Hezbollah members of involvement in the murder. "His (Hassan's) killing means striking the head. The (anti-Assad) officials are all exposed now and in danger of assassination. It will be easy to assassinate them now or they will have to leave the country. He was their protector," the official said. Hassan, who returned to Lebanon on Thursday night from Germany, has helped uncover many assassination attempts against anti-Syrian figures in Lebanon. He himself recently escaped attempts on his life. The civil war in Syria, where the Alawite-led administration is fighting an opposition dominated by Sunni Muslims, has shaken Lebanon's own sectarian balance, triggering fighting between Sunnis and Alawites in the northern city of Tripoli. BLOOD ON THE STREETS The bombing, which was reminiscent of scenes from Lebanon's own 1975-1990 civil war, ripped through the street where the office of the anti-Damascus Christian Phalange Party is located near Sassine Square in Ashrafiyeh, a mostly Christian area. Phalange leader Sami al-Gemayel, a staunch opponent of Assad and a member of parliament, condemned the attack. "Let the state protect the citizens. We will not accept any procrastination in this matter, we cannot continue like that. We have been warning for a year. Enough," said Gemayel, whose brother was assassinated in 2006. In the aftermath of Friday's bomb, residents ran about in panic looking for relatives as security forces blanketed the area. Ambulances ferried the wounded to hospitals, which put out an appeal for blood donations. An employee of a bank on the street pointed to the blown-out windows of his building. "Some people were wounded from my bank. I think it was a car bomb. The whole car jumped five floors into the air," he said. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said the government was trying to find out who carried out the attack and said those responsible would be punished. Syria had long played a major role in Lebanese politics, siding with different factions during the civil war. It deployed troops in Beirut and parts of the country during the war and they stayed until 2005. In Damascus, Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoabie told reporters: "We condemn this terrorist explosion and all these explosions wherever they happen. Nothing justifies them." Tension between Sunnis, Shi'ites and Christians in Lebanon has continued after the civil war but has increased due to the Syria conflict. Khattar Abou Diab, a Middle East expert at the University of Paris, said the attack was clearly linked to the Syria crisis and Hassan was one of the few security chiefs protecting Lebanon's sovereignty and independence. "This is now revenge against a man who confronted the Syrians and revenge against a district, a Christian district in the heart of Beirut. Regional powers are fighting in Syria and now also want to fight in Lebanon," he said. Hezbollah's political opponents, who have for months accused it of aiding Assad's forces, have warned that its involvement in Syria could reignite the sectarian tension of the civil war. "They warned of the implications of the Syrian crisis and here it comes," said Nabil Boumonsef, a columnist at the Lebanese newspaper An-Nahar. "They are dragging in Lebanon so that it becomes a conflict arena," he told Reuters. Hezbollah, which last week denied that its guerrillas were fighting alongside Assad's troops in Syria, said it condemned the bombing. "Hezbollah sees in this heinous crime a sinful attempt to target stability and strike against national unity and calls on the security forces and judiciary to exert maximum efforts to uncover the perpetrators and bring them to justice," it said. The U.S. government also condemned the bombing and reiterated its concerns about increasing sectarian tensions in Lebanon and a spillover from Syria. French President Francois Hollande urged Lebanese politicians to stay united and prevent attempts to destabilize the country. The Vatican also condemned the attack. Bombings were a hallmark of the civil war but the last such attack in Beirut was in 2008. Beirut has undergone massive reconstruction to repair the war damage and in recent years has enjoyed a tourist boom, boosted by Beirut's pulsating nightlife. That source of revenue, crucial to Lebanon's prosperity, is now also under threat. (Reporting by Mariam Karouny, Oliver Holmes, Laila Bassam and Samia Nakhoul in Beirut and John Irish in Paris; Writing by Angus MacSwan; Editing by Giles Elgood)

Israel may strike at ship allegedly carrying Iranian rockets to Gaza – report

Hezbollah says could hit all of Israel in future war Sun, Nov 25 08:37 AM EST 1 of 2 By Dominic Evans BEIRUT (Reuters) - Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah warned Israel on Sunday that thousands of rockets would rain down on Tel Aviv and cities across the Jewish state if it attacked Lebanon. Speaking four days after the ceasefire which ended a week of conflict between Israel and the Islamist Hamas rulers of Gaza, Nasrallah said Hezbollah's response to any attack would dwarf the rocket fire launched from Palestinian territories. "Israel, which was shaken by a handful of Fajr-5 rockets during eight days - how would it cope with thousands of rockets which would fall on Tel Aviv and other (cities) ... if it attacked Lebanon?" Nasrallah said. The Fajr-5s, with a range of 75 km (45 miles) - able to strike Tel Aviv or Jerusalem - and 175 kg (386 lb) warheads, are the most powerful and long-range rockets to have been fired from Gaza. But Hezbollah, which fought Israel to a standstill in a 34-day war six years ago, says it has been re-arming since then and has a far deadlier arsenal than Hamas. Nasrallah has said Hezbollah could kill tens of thousands of people and strike anywhere inside Israel if hostilities break out again. "If the confrontation with the Gaza Strip ... had a range of 40 to 70 km, the battle with us will range over the whole of occupied Palestine - from the Lebanese border to the Jordanian border, to the Red Sea," Nasrallah said. Hezbollah could hit targets "from Kiryat Shmona - and let the Israelis listen carefully - from Kiryat Shmona to Eilat", he said, referring to Israeli's northernmost town on the Lebanese border to the Red Sea port 290 miles further south. The movement has warned that any Israeli attack against the nuclear facilities of its patron Iran, which has armed and funded the Lebanese Shi'ite Muslim militant group, would inflame the Middle East - though it has not specified its own response. In a move it said showed it could penetrate deep inside Israeli defenses, it flew a drone over Israel last month. The drone was shot down after flying 25 miles into southern Israel. Israel says its Iron Dome missile defense system knocked out 90 percent of the rockets fired from Gaza which were on course to hit populated areas. TENS OF THOUSANDS MARK ASHURA Nasrallah, who has lived in hiding since 2006 to avoid assassination by Israel, was speaking by video-link to tens of thousands of Shi'ite faithful in southern Beirut commemorating Ashura, the day when the Prophet Mohammad's grandson Hussein was killed in battle 13 centuries ago. Wearing a black turban and robes in a sign of mourning, the 52-year-old cleric said his Shi'ite movement wanted to prevent sectarian tension in Lebanon - fuelled by the civil war in Syria - plunging his country into renewed conflict. "We want to avert strife and Israel is our only enemy. We have no enemies in Lebanon," Nasrallah said. Many Sunni Muslim political leaders blamed Hezbollah's ally Syria for last month's bomb attack which killed a top intelligence official and plunged Lebanon into political crisis. The opposition March 14 coalition blamed Syria for the assassination and called on the Lebanese government, dominated by allies of Hezbollah and Syria, to quit. Sporadic clashes have erupted since then, including a shootout in the southern city of Sidon two weeks ago when three people were killed after supporters of a Sunni cleric tried to tear down Shi'ite Ashura banners. On Saturday the army said it arrested five people and seized 450 grams (1lb) of explosives in Nabatiyeh on the eve of an Ashura march in the southern Lebanese town which was attended by thousands of Shi'ite mourners, many striking their heads with blades to draw blood to mark the tragedy of Hussein's death. Security sources said the arrested men were Syrians suspected of planning an attack on the Ashura processions but Nasrallah, speaking late on Saturday, suggested they were trying to send arms to the conflict in Syria. "We already know that many Syrians arrive in Lebanon to buy weapons," he said. "Neither weather nor rain can frighten us, nor can explosions or security threats stand between us and Imam Hussein". (Additional reporting by Laila Bassam in Beirut and Dan Williams in Jerusalem; Editing by Louise Ireland) =========================== Published: 25 November, 2012, 14:38 TAGS: Arms, Conflict, Military, Politics, Iran, Israel, War, Vessels, Security, Transport, Violence TRENDS: Israel-Gaza strikes AFP Photo / ISNA / Amin Khoroshahi Israel has reportedly vowed to destroy rockets and other weapons being sent to Gaza by Iran. Tel Aviv issued this threat despite a recent ceasefire following eight days of bitter conflict between Gaza and Israel. Israeli spy satellites spotted a cargo vessel in the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas that was allegedly Gaza-bound and carrying arms, the Sunday Times reported. “Regardless of the ceasefire agreement, we will attack and destroy any shipment of arms to Gaza once we have spotted it,” an Israeli defense official told the newspaper. The vessel reportedly began its voyage last week just as Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire ending eight days of violence in Gaza, in which over 150 Palestinians died. The cargo is believed to include Fajr-5 rockets, similar to those used by Hamas in the conflict, and Shahab-3 ballistic missiles. The ship is set to travel through the Red Sea, Sudan and Egypt, according to the Sunday Times report. The newspaper also cited Israeli officials speculating that Iran could be moving longer-range ballistic missiles into Sudan, which could be aimed at Israel from the African country. The Sunday Times’ report comes a day after the Hamas leadership announced they aren’t ready to stop arming themselves, despite the recently-agreed truce and ceasefire. "We have no choice but to continue to bring in weapons by all possible means," senior Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar told reporters, adding that he expected Tehran would "increase its military and financial support to Hamas." Earlier on Wednesday, exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal thanked Shia-majority Iran for what he described as arms and funding. On Saturday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad expressed support for Gaza in the bloody conflict, praising what he called Palestinian "resistance and perseverance" against Israel, which he said must now "bow" to Palestinian rights, IRNA news agency reported. The eight-day Israeli assault on Gaza killed 168 Palestinians, mostly civilians. It also led to $300 million in economic damage, a Palestinian Chamber of Commerce report said. Hamas fired Fajr-5 rockets against Israel, an unsettling revelation for the Israeli public. The country was last targeted by the 3-meter-long missiles during its 2006 war with Lebanon, and was expecting smaller-range rockets to be used in the recent conflict. Hamas' Farj-5 arsenal was able to strike Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, cities that were not attacked during the previous escalation of violence between Israel and Gaza in 2008. The IDF was forced to rapidly deploy an additional battery of its Iron Dome air defense system to counter the threat. =============== Saudi diplomat shot dead in Yemen - Al Arabiya TV Wed, Nov 28 06:22 AM EST SANAA, Nov 28 (Reuters) - A Saudi diplomat was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Wednesday, Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television reported, citing diplomatic sources. The station give no further details. Yemen has been grappling with a number of security problems including the local offshoot of al Qaeda. SANAA, Yemen: A Saudi diplomat and his body guard have been shot dead in Yemen capital Sanaa, reports said on Wednesday. According to the report, Yemen security officials say gunmen have killed the diplomat, who was a member of Saudi military delegation. Another reports says, the diplomat and his Yemeni guard were killed on 50 Meter Road. Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television citing diplomatic sources also confirmed the incident, however, the station gave no further details. =========== Trotsky permanent revolution and Al-Zawahiri Perpetual Jihad Posted 27 June 2011 - 05:38 AM Bin Laden may be remembered as the Muslim warrior who was able to attack targets inside America and who had forced the Americans to launch very costly wars on Afghanistan and Iraq respectively, in 2001 and 2003. Many believe it was Dr Ayaman Al-Zawahiri who should be credited with expanding the limited agenda of Bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda from freeing the holy Saudi Arabian lands, from the boots of the American infidels, to fighting continuous Islamic Jihadi wars throughout the world similar to Trotsky’s permanent socialist revolution. Because of the death of the 19 attackers and because of security reasons, the full details of what had happened on September 11, 2001 are still unknown. Nevertheless, the ability to launch damaging attacks on the WTC and the Pentagon despite the presence of 15 US intelligence agencies showed Al-Qaeda to having operators with quasi superhuman talents. While in Egypt, Medical Doctor Al-Zawahiri was credited with planning the assassination of President Anwar Al-Sadat on October 6, 1981, following his visit to Israel. Those close to Bin Laden know that their leader is not the person with the exceptional capabilities or with the high intelligence but they give credits to others, some still faceless, and to Dr Al-Zawahitri in carrying out spectacular attacks. It will take Al-Zawahiri some time before proving his worth in evading the US bullets and in launching the next attack which he promised to avenge the death of Bin Laden. Al-though Al-Qaeda hasn’t been in the news lately despite their daily attacks in Iraq, Pakistan and Yemen. However, Dr Al-Zawahiri’s job is being facilitated by the American unlimited support for the intransigence of the extreme right-wing government of Netanyahu-Liebrman in Israel and by the American desperate attempts to undermine the on-going Arab people uprisings against the USraeli Arab agents in government. The Americans have eliminated the enemies of the Islamic revolution in Afghanistan (2001) and in Iraq (2003), naturally to the cheers of the Iranians. The Arabs will also cheer the Americans if they eliminate their enemies in Israel. . Be reasonable and ask the impossible from the American Zombies whom I have given up on them. Mr Jesse Ventura believes that the shooting of four innocent students at the Kent University Campus by the Ohio National Guard on May 4, 1970=27th Safar/1425 shocked America and lead to the end of the Vietnam war. At the time, the students were demonstrating against Nixon-Kissinger's attempt to extend the Vietnam war to Cambodia. Following the shooting, four million US students went on strike that opened the eyes of the rest of the nation. Mr Ventura advised the 'Occupy Movement', to make sacrifices in order for the nation to hear their warnings of the danger of the mafias controlling the US Banks and its Financial institutions. Despite 5000 universities and high teaching institutes, the Americans are unable to connect the dots and end up being ruled by imbeciles like Ronald Reagan and G.W. Bush. The stupid Americans went to invade and destroy Iraq while they should have invaded Saudi Arabia. They are currently trying to undermine Iran while they should concentrate on Pakistan where most of the terrorists are being bred and exported. The Americans can't name one single Iranian or Iraqi who have carried out terrorist attack anywhere on earth. Bin Laden was a Saudi so were 15 out of the 19 who carried out the attacks on 9/11. Al-Zawahiri is an Egyptian so was Mohammed Al-Atta. Al-Zarqawi was a Jordanian. Adnan Darwash, Iraq Occupation Times