Judiciary released Al-Qaeda-linked convict
A man convicted of having ties to Al-Qaeda and who claimed to have been part of a group that allegedly killed former...
Saturday, 23 August 2014
Captured soldiers: They will kill us, if Hezbollah remains in Syria
BEIRUT: Nusra Front released a video of captured soldiers and members of the Internal Security Forces asking Hezbollah to withdraw from Syria or else their kidnappers would kill them.
"This apostate group is killing our Sunni families in Syria while it has no business in doing so. I call on my people in Taraya to hold protests against this apostate group. If they don't, we will be killed,” a soldier who identified himself as Mahmoud Maarouf Hamaye said.
Hamaye was among nine ISF officers and troops who were seated in a group with a large tent-like material hanging in the back alongside the Nusra Front black flag.
“If you don't withdraw from Syria, these people will kill us. You have no business in Syria and I am a Shiite,” an ISF officer said, addressing the camera.
“I call on my relatives and every Shiite [to know] that Hezbollah has nothing [to do in Syria] ... they are killing heroes.”
The video was released Friday evening on the YouTube channel of the so-called Network of the White Beacon Correspondents, a group that publishes statements and video issued by the Al-Qaeda-linked group.
The five-minute video was titled "bits from a movie of Lebanese security forces demanding Hezbollah's withdrawal from Syria."
Militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria are still holding 11 soldiers as well as the body of a deceased soldier. Nusra Front still holds 15 ISF members and three soldiers.
The security members were captured during the battle between militants from Syria and the Lebanese Army after the arrest of Imad Jomaa, a commander of an ISIS brigade, took place in the border region of Arsal.
For five days, troops battled the gunmen in a fight described by the Army as an organized plan to gain control over Arsal. The clashes ended with a cease-fire and the withdrawal of the militants from Arsal.
In the video broadcast by two local channels, another hostage asked residents of his Bazalyeh village to block roads and demand Hezbollah withdraw from Syria "because they and everyone else don't care about us."
“I want to reassure my family that I am OK. But if Hezbollah continues to interfere in things that are none of its business, then I will not be OK. We will die if Hezbollah continues in Syria, regardless of how Nusra Front is treating us in a good manner [now],” an ISF officer said.
Raising his voice, the security member said the bombings in Beirut’s southern suburbs began after Hezbollah announced that it had regained control of the Syrian town of Qusair.
“Is it of Muslim values to help an oppressor against the Muslim community?” another asked.
One of the captured police officers insisted that they were the ones who asked Nusra Front to record the video and “speak against Hezbollah."
“ Nusra Front is not what you think. God sees how we are being treated by Nusra Front. We pressured them to go public to speak against Hezbollah.”
Obama urges renewal of US Export-Import Bank
EDGARTOWN, Mass. -- President Barack Obama is trying to rally support for a taxpayer-subsidized bank that he says creates jobs.
In his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama urges business owners to lobby Congress to renew the U.S. Export-Import Bank.
The bank provides loans, loan guarantees and credit insurance to foreign buyers of U.S. products. But it will cease functioning unless Congress renews its charter before October. Some Republican lawmakers who supported the bank in past years now want to put it out of business.
In the Republican address, party chairman Reince Priebus (ryns PREE'-bus) says there will be less government spending, flexible health care and better education under complete GOP control of Congress. The party needs to pick up six seats in the November elections to win back the Senate.
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Obama's address: http://1.usa.gov/1fxQMoK
Republican address: http://bit.ly/1myUoWD
Weekly Address: The Export-Import Bank
President Barack Obama tapes the Weekly Address in the Blue Room of the White House, Aug. 18, 2014. (Official White House Photo by Amanda Lucidon)
In this week’s address, the President highlighted the progress made towards rebuilding our economy, including the creation of nearly 10 million new private sector jobs in the past 53 months and the rise in the number of American exports to an all-time high. That growth is in part thanks to the actions of the U.S. Export-Import Bank, an organization that creates American jobs by helping to take American businesses global. The charter of the Export-Import Bank is slated to expire next month, unless Members of Congress renew it, as has happened 16 times in the past with support from Democrats and Republicans. The President asked business owners and employees to reach out to their representatives, who are home this month, and let them know how important it is that the Export-Import Bank continue its work so that American businesses can continue to grow.
Transcript | mp4 | mp3
Three Syrians arrested for belonging to extremist group: NNA
Three Syrians arrested for belonging to extremist group: NNA
Security forces arrest three Syrians in the Bekaa for belonging to a fundamentalist group and attempting to spread...
Geagea: Lebanon would be ISIS’ graveyard
BEIRUT: Lebanon will be the end of ISIS fighters if they decide to come, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has said, adding that he would not withdraw from the presidential race without a solution to the impasse.
“Who said ISIS will come to Lebanon or that they are capable of reaching Lebanon? If they come, [Lebanon] would be their graveyard to say the least,” Geagea told Ash-Sharq al-Awsat.
“I have never underestimated ISIS’ criminality. On the contrary, I see them as a group of criminals because I could never imagine a human being could slaughter a hostage in cold blood in front of a camera.”
“But based on their behavior and ideology, I don’t see them having the elements to build anything serious because their presence is the result of chaos in Syria and Iraq.”
Geagea also said that Lebanon should close its borders to prevent the infiltration of ISIS fighters via the porous Syrian-Lebanese boundary, blaming Hezbollah for the government’s failure to sealing off the frontier.
“So why not close the border? They say that the number of troops is not enough. That is correct but there are 50 countries that want to help the Army control the Lebanese-Syrian border,” said Geagea, who has supported the March 14 coalition’s call for the deployment of a peacekeeping force along the border with Syria.
“Why don’t we take advantage of such offers since they would use technologically developed means that would only require five soldiers to monitor every 10 kilometers?” he asked.
“Because the boys in Hezbollah do not want to control the Syrian-Lebanese border because they are doing their usual by running, climbing and swimming over it,” he added sarcastically.
Geagea, one of the March 14 coalition’s main figures, sounded pessimistic when talking about the presidential stalemate, saying he would be committing political suicide if he withdrew form the race without a solution.
“I do not see an end to the presidential stalemate as long as [former] General Michel Aoun insists on becoming the president,” he said.
Geagea said the presidential vacuum suited Hezbollah especially after the party’s “experience” with former President Michel Sleiman, who repeatedly criticized the group over its involvement in the Syrian conflict.
“The other group is not willing to discuss a solution. Therefore, the only thing left is to hold the election and whoever garners most of the votes wins but if I withdraw from the race without a solution, that would be suicide.”
Geagea urged Christians in Iraq not to fear ISIS and to “hold on to their land and unite,” saying that Christians can only live and survive under a democratic system
“Christians are the roots of culture there ... they did not arrive to that land yesterday. I realize it's difficult and we have to help them but they should hold on to their land.”
Chance to elect Lebanon-made president lost: Berri
BEIRUT: The Lebanese lost their chance of electing a Lebanon-made president, Speaker Nabih Berri has said, noting that the country could have been at the forefront of defending the rights of persecuted peoples in the Middle East.
“It was unfortunate that the Lebanese wasted the opportunity to elect a president via a purely Lebanese decision while influential countries were busy with other things,” Berri was quoted by his visitors as saying, according to Al-Akhbar.
"If it wasn't for narrow personal interests and verbal altercations, Lebanon would have been, in this critical time, a beacon of the East and able to defend the rights of Palestinians and everyone who is being persecuted, primarily the Christians who were forced to migrate,” he said.
Lebanese politicians have been unable to agree on a consensus candidate and elect a new president to replace former President Michel Sleiman whose term expired May 25. Berri along with MP Walid Jumblatt have launched contacts to end the political deadlock over the election.
With no end in sight to the presidential stalemate, some lawmakers have begun promoting the idea of postponing the parliamentary election scheduled for November, citing security concerns and the absence of a president.
The local daily also quoted Berri as reiterating his opposition to extending Parliament's mandate saying he was not convinced of the reasons put forward to do so.
The speaker has said that extending Parliament’s mandate would be futile given that paralysis in the legislative branch in light of a boycott by Christian MPs and some March 14 lawmakers of legislative sessions. The boycotting MPs argue that Parliament should only convene over urgent matters while the presidential seat is void.
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