Lebanese hostage crisis 'black spot' in Syria revolution: Rifi

BEIRUT: The hostage crisis of Lebanese soldiers and policemen is a “black spot” in the path of the Syrian revolution, Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi said Saturday, urging the opposition to exert all efforts to release the men.

“We have been supporters of the Syrian revolutionm and we had hoped for the collapse of the authoritarian regime there because at the end our children have paid a similar price as the Syrians,” Rifi said during his meeting with relatives of the captives in the Lebanese village of Qalamoun, where the families have been blocking a vital road for weeks.

“We were looking forward to a regime that respected human rights and dignity in Syria so we could build future ties with it based on respect,” he said. “The hostage crisis is a black spot in the path of the revolution and ... the future ties between us."

Rifi, an outspoken critic of the Syrian regime and a former police chief, called on the Syrian opposition to help secure the release of the at least 21 Lebanese soldiers and policemen who have been held by ISIS and the Nusra Front since August.

“You should reconsider this case and do all you can to release them. We want to build brotherly ties based on human rights.”

Using burning tires, some families of the soldiers have been blocking the Qalamoun road that connects the northern city of Tripoli with the Bekaa Valley. The relatives have also erected a tent in a bid to press the government to negotiate with the kidnappers and agree to a swap deal.

The families have been piling further pressure on the government since the killing of three soldiers, two by ISIS and another by Nusra Front, in retaliation for what the militants claimed was the government’s negligence and Hezbollah’s disruptions of the negotiations.

While ISIS and Nusra Front have different demands in exchange for their captives, the two radical groups have reportedly demanded the release of Islamist detainees from Roumieh Prison.

Rifi sought to reassure the families who celebrated the Eid al-Adha festival on the streets without their loved ones, saying negotiations had reached a “serious point,” without revealing details.

Meanwhile, the families of other soldiers that have been blocking the Dahr al-Baidar highway allowed a few vehicles to pass through as a sign of good will for the Eid.

Lebanese police arrest five, confiscate 12,000 kg of hashish

BEIRUT: Police confiscated more than 12,000 kilograms of hashish after a raid in the Beirut suburb of Dikwaneh Friday, arresting five people and seizing a cache of weapons.

The group, four Lebanese nationals and one Syrian, were arrested after a brief exchange of fire with the police north of Beirut.

Police confiscated an M4 rifle, two shotguns and a pistol along with 582 of ammunition, in addition to 12,750 kilograms of hashish, 444 grams of cocaine, 1,406 grams of Salvia divinorum and 873 captagon pills.

The detainees included two 17-year-old boys, both Lebanese.

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Police arrest Lebanese suspects in Sudanese man's murder

Lebanon grand mufti calls for religious, political reform

Abdul-Latif Derian deplores crimes committed by extremist forces in the region, saying such elements knew nothing...

Hezbollah: Lebanon needs Iran's assistance

BEIRUT: Lebanon must seriously consider Iran's offer of support to the Lebanese Army, a Hezbollah lawmaker urged Saturday, pointing out the country's dire need for arms.

“We should not listen to the conditions placed on us by some countries including the United States,” MP Nawaf Musawi, from the Hezbollah-aligned Loyalty to the Resistance bloc, said during a ceremony in the south Lebanon city of Tyre.

“We call on the Lebanese and the Lebanese government to work seriously and in a responsible manner with the proposal from the Islamic Republic of Iran to assist the Lebanese Army.”

Earlier this week, Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said his country would make a donation to the Lebanese Army to help the military fight the threat of terror.

“The donation comprises equipment that would help the Army in its heroic confrontations against this evil terrorism,” Shamkhani said after meeting with Prime Minister Tammam Salam.

Musawi expressed hope that the government “would study the matter very seriously and make a decision because the Army is in need of appropriate weapons to face the takfiri groups,” referring to ISIS and the Nusra Front.

The two groups, jihadist militants that are dominant players in the Syrian civil war, invaded the Lebanese border town of Arsal in August, taking more than 30 soldiers and policemen hostage before being driven out by the Army. The surprise attack, the worst spillover of violence yet from the more than 3-year-old Syrian civil war, raised tensions to the breaking point in Lebanon and has prompted a wave of international support for the country's woefully underequipped Army.

While the Syrian rebels have cited Hezbollah’s involvement in the Syrian civil war as the impetus for their attacks on Lebanon, Musawi held to the resistance party’s stance that it had engaged on the side of Syrian President Bashar Assad to prevent the jihadists from threatening the Lebanese.

“There are no guarantees to prevent the takfiri forces from coming to Lebanon except to commit to arms and be ready for confrontation along the Lebanese border with Syria,” he said. “This is why our mission expanded. Just we were concerned with the Zionist enemy, we have become concerned as well with the takfiri enemy.”

“And we have defeated them everywhere we confronted them.”

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Audio for this story from Weekend Edition Saturday will be available at approximately 12:00 p.m. ET.

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Weekly Address: We Do Better When the Middle Class Does Better

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In this week’s address, the President highlighted that six years after the Great Recession, thanks to the hard work of the American people and the President’s policies, our economy has come back further and faster than any other nation on Earth. With 10.3 million private-sector jobs added over 55 straight months, America’s businesses have extended the longest streak of private-sector job gains on record.

But even with this progress, too many Americans have yet to feel the benefits. The President reiterated the vision he set out earlier this week for steps that can lay a new foundation for stronger growth, rising wages, and expanded economic opportunity for middle-class families.

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Israel general: We know to do in Lebanon what we did in Gaza

BEIRUT: Israel would carry out a military operation in Lebanon similar to the one conducted in Gaza, which resulted in high civilian casualties, Israeli army Chief of Staff Benny Gantz said in an interview with Israeli media.

"[Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan] Nasrallah sees that the Israeli society didn't break apart and was ready to pay the price [in Gaza], and that we know to do in Lebanon what we did in Gaza," Gantz told Yedioth Aharonoth in his first remarks since the end of Israel's war on Gaza in August.

Israel has said that the major goal of the Israeli operation in Gaza was to destroy all tunnels constructed by Hamas in the enclave, boasting that the military has achieved such an objective during the weekslong air campaign.

More than 2,100 Palestinians and 72 people on the Israeli side were killed. Israel and Hamas signed a cease-fire on Aug. 26.

"We axed all Hamas's meaningful strategic strength, we destroyed all of their attack tunnels they intended to use, most of their rocket production industry, and prevented their achievements of breaching from the sea and air with drones."

Gantz said Israel remained a target by its enemies who he noted were busy in regional conflicts.

"Our enemies are currently busy with other problems, but who is next in line for all of them? Us!" Gantz said.

"If Hezbollah weren't busy now doing what Iran tells them to do in Syria, who is their fixed enemy? Us."

"If terrorist forces in the Golan stop dealing with [Syrian President Bashar] Assad, who's their enemy? If the thousands of refugees in Jordan need to act, who will they do that against? Will the jihadists in the Sinai only act against Egypt?" Gantz asked. "We are ready to act in Iran, and we should remain realistic about this threat which still exists."

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North Lebanon mufti: Roumieh detainees face blind injustice

BEIRUT: The continued detention of young Muslims in Roumieh Prison without trial is “blind injustice,” north Lebanon Mufti Sheikh Malek Shaar said Saturday, urging Tripoli residents to remain under the umbrella of the state.

During his sermon for the Eid al-Adha festival, Shaar also spoke against extremist groups tarnishing the image of Islam, saying the religion called for equality and justice for non-Muslim communities.

“In the Arab and Muslim worlds, in Lebanon and in Tripoli, we suffer from injustice. Injustice at our institutions, the port, the airport, the Lebanese University, and other institutions,” Shaar said at the Mansouri Mosque in the northern city of Tripoli.

“We are witnessing a collapse of infrastructure with problems in supplying water and electricity, roads and so many other issues.”

“This blind injustice has also affected hundreds of young Muslim men detained in Roumieh Prison for years without trial, without a proper investigation, without direction. How could the state to be hostile toward its citizens?”

Shaar also addressed young men in Tripoli who have grown frustrated with the injustice in their city and what they deem discrimination against the Sunni community, urging them to refrain from acts that could endanger the country.

“To the young, enthusiastic men who are riled up in Tripoli and the north, I want you never to carry arms on the nation and against citizens. I warn you against moving the battle here between us; between the city and security institutions such as the Army and security forces.”

“I warn you against raising slogans that could destroy the country.”

“We understand the injustice on us and the pain you feel but have confidence that we will not be lenient or back down from achieving this city's goals.”

“I warn you against doing injustice on your city as a result of others' injustice on you.”

Shaar defended Islam against the rise of extremist groups such as ISIS, which has taken swaths of land in Syria and Iraq while forcing many to flee and persecuting those who are left behind.

“This Muslim Shariah forbids us from even cutting a tree but paying much respect to the human being as the creation of God. It also forbids us from violating churches because they were built under Islamic laws.”

“This Shariah ordered us to preserve the human being, primarily women, the elderly and children, and to apply justice with Christians and Jews as long as they never attack us.”

“ Islam carries a message of forgiveness and embracing of others. ... Islam's Shariah does not stipulate persecution and killing but freedom, justice and equality.”

Rai rejects 'collective punishment' by relatives of Lebanese hostages

Lebanon's Arabic Press Digest - Oct. 4, 2014

The following are a selection of stories from Lebanese newspapers that may be of interest to Daily Star readers. The...

Lebanon's Arabic Press Digest - Oct. 4, 2014

The following are a selection of stories from Lebanese newspapers that may be of interest to Daily Star readers. The Daily Star cannot vouch for the accuracy of these reports.

An-Nahar

Bombs lie behind negotiations, extension is being cooked with a guaranteed majority

Sources told An-Nahar that the discovery of the bombs in Arsal came after the Army obtained information that there was an attempt to target an Army patrol unit during the Eid holiday, promoting the military to boost security measures in the region.

Military sources said the Army increased monitoring and security measures near entrances to the town's outskirts and allowed Arsal residents to do their job. While residents there had suffered disruptions in their work due to the presence of gunmen and the security measures, the sources said the Army was more understanding that people's livelihood rested on access to the outskirts.

As for the situation in Tripoli, the source said the group, which sympathizes with ISIS and Nusra Front, also known as the Shadi Mawlawi and Osama Mansour group, would be arrested sooner or later, keeping in mind the delicate situation in Bab al-Tabbaneh where they were hiding.

As-Safir

The kidnappers of soldiers call for safe passage between Arsal and its outskirts

Sources following up on the hostage crisis spoke of impossible conditions by the terrorists, saying not only were they demanding the release of detainees involved in Arsal clashes and a number of Roumieh prisoners, but they were also demanding safe passage between Arsal and its outskirts. This passage means the withdrawal of the Lebanese Army from areas, especially those overlooking Arsal and border crossings.

A security source said the bombs that were discovered Friday were only an attempt by gunmen to facilitate their movement into Arsal, proving that the measures taken by the Army were successful.

Al-Joumhouria

Politics on vacation but security remains a priority

Security and military source spoke about the raids the Army had conducted in all Lebanese areas, saying that the danger was present in any area at any time and that the pre-emptive plan had proven successful in the country.

"The circumstances force military forces not to neglect any bit of information whatever it is," the source said.

"The importance of the ongoing raids ... is that these operations are intertwined."

The source also said that the terror networks were dispersed across the country, which is what coordination among security agencies had recently uncovered.

Lebanon grand mufti calls for religious, political reform

BEIRUT: Lebanon's grand mufti Saturday deplored crimes committed by extremist forces in the region, saying such elements knew nothing about Islam, and called for religious and political reform and better care for the youth.

“What we are witnessing today of atrocities in the name of religion is proof that those who are committing such crimes know nothing about religion,” Abdul-Latif Derian said in his Eid sermon, the first since his election, at the Mohammad al-Amin Mosque in Downtown Beirut.

“We are today stuck between strife and crisis. Strife is forcing us to commit violations and carry out attacks and the crisis lies in our domestic conflict.”

“The strays and those who carry arms want people to do the same and depart from the nation.”

Derian gave his sermon in the presence of Prime Minister Tammam Salam as well as a delegation of Future lawmakers and Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Asiri.

Walking on a red carpet stretching from the entrance of the mosque to the street, Derian made his first official appearance as mufti accompanied by Salam.

In his sermon, Derian spoke of coexistence and the need for communication among the country’s various sectarian and political groups.

“Absolute equality between religions, individuals and peoples should not mean hostility but peace and unity because the latter is the source of our strength,” he said.

“Understanding religions means to coexist with other citizens of the nation and people of the world. ... Let us move be more affectionate and communicate with one another.”

The mufti, whose election ended a long simmering rift between the main Sunni political groups and Dar al-Fatwa, stressed the need for rehabilitation of political and religious institutions for coming generations.

“It is our responsibility to rehabilitate political, national and social life as well as [enact] reforms in institutions and at the level of education in terms of culture and religion,” he said.

“We are in need of reforms in religious education as well as charity organizations because these organizations are meant for everyone, not a specific group.”

“Our youths need to feel that they are cared for and that their society provides them with needed confidence and resources,” Derian said. “We are responsible for these young people and society before the security and military institutions and we should care for them so they can trust us.

“We should not leave them or neglect them while we complain of divisions.”