Zeinab Essa

A Year has passed on the global conspiracy against Syria, and the latter proved to be strong in both the battle field and the popular presence.
Twelve months of security, media, economic, diplomatic, political, and military pressure have passed and the conspiracy is back to round one.

It has become clear to the regime's opponents, whether moderate Arabs or Western coalition that Damascus' regime is cohesive, and so are its military and security forces.
After Dara and Homs, the Syrian authorities spread control over Idleb, dealing severe blows to armed opposition groups that are suffering major political divisions.

In Lebanon, both the food safety and military security top the list of discussion, as interests are focused on the expected speech of the Secretary General of Hizbullah His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah
.
Head of Extremist Cell to Surrender?

In regards with tracking head of the extremist cell that planned to attack Lebanese army sites, "as-Safir" Lebanese newspaper quoted Thursday sources of Islamic Palestinian organization within Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp as stressing that "the issue of handing in Abu Mohammed Tawfiq Taha, who lives in the camp, must be wisely dealt with."

The Palestinian sources warned of negative results of any quick action, stressing at the same time that "the Islamic organizations in the camp do not provide the accused with any incubating environment."

"As-Safir" sources added that "all the Islamic and national forces within the camp have lifted the lid on Abu Mohammad," pointing out that "a Palestinian commission of inquiry is contacting him to convince him with surrender."
"He seemed strong and calm," the sources added confirming that "it is required that Abu Mohammed surrenders and hands himself."
"It is not acceptable that the whole camp pays the price of an individual mistake."

For its part, military sources confirmed to "as-Safir" that the Lebanese army intensified security procedures in the vicinity of the camp, where cars are subjected to a thorough inspection before leaving outside the camp."
"The army meanwhile is studying other measures and may proceed with implementing them in the coming days," LA sources clarified.

Aridi Stresses Flexibility on Telecom Data

For his part, Minister of Transportation and Public Works Ghazi al-Aridi commented on the recently raised issue of blocking the army from obtaining telecom data.
In an interview with "an-Nahar" daily, Aridi stressed "the importance of flexibility in resolving the telecom data dispute as the security agencies had made achievements in the past by obtaining this data."
"President Michel Suleiman tackled the issue during his speech at the governmental session Wednesday," Aridi informed, viewing that "the issue is related to the national security which is above all personal and political ambitions."
"The efforts exerted by security institutions should be facilitated... especially when it's no longer related to the Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau," Aridi added.

Suleiman: Wagers on Syria Stall Dialogue

Stressing that the Lebanese army is the backbone of securing stability in the country, Suleiman called on the concerned ministries, including the interior, defense and telecom, to facilitate the work of the army.
During the governmental session Wednesday, Suleiman condemned "any attempt to attack LA," saying "the file has been referred to the competent judiciary."
In remarks to the "Daily Star" Lebanese daily, the president was adamant that "despite the recent discovery of a subversive cell that planned to attack Lebanese Army targets, al-Qaeda as an organization had no solid base of operations in the country."

At another level, Suleiman stressed Thursday that if "Lebanon can't put out the fire next door in Syria it should at least make no attempt to stoke the popular uprising there."
Asserting that "Lebanon's policy of disassociating itself from the Syrian crisis had earned praise from a number of countries," he affirmed that "no organized campaign of arming the Syrian opposition was under way inside Lebanon."

Suleiman also lamented "the inability to reconvene the National Dialogue process, with the "March 14" and "March 8" camps wagering on developments in the Syria crisis and therefore hesitant to commit themselves."
"We're concerned with seeing the situation in Syria stabilize, and transition to democracy. Therefore, this transition should be left to the Syrian people, and no one else," the President added.

Obama's Urgent Letter to Lebanon

In parallel, "al-Akhbar" Lebanese daily uncovered Thursday that Beirut diplomatic circles recently received an urgent letter from US President Barak Obama in which he criticized the Lebanese authorities on Syria.
According to the paper, White House director for the Middle East and North Africa Steve Simon carried a sharp tone message claiming that "the US administration has information about crimes committed against the Syrians refugees in Lebanon."

"Some refugees returned to the Syrian territories," the letter said assuming that "the Syrian army is carrying out a hot pursuit against these refugees in the Lebanese territory, and some were arrested and killed."
"The US administration is considering providing assistance to the Lebanese army to face this humanitarian situation, in addition to providing it with weapons to be able to defend its borders," the US letter concluded.

In its report, the daily stressed that the US hot message to Lebanon aims at pressuring Beirut towards being engaged in the Syrian crisis and towards linking aids to Lebanese army by deploying on the Syrian border.
Moreover, "al-Akhbar" uncovered that days after the letter, Deputy Secretary of US Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, David Cohen, held a meeting with the Lebanese side in Washington, attended by his assistant Daniel Glyers.
Cohen revealed that he is to visit during the next ten days, commissioned by the American administration, to discuss "troubling issues" with the Lebanese government.

A diplomatic source within the meeting informed the daily that "Cohen, told his interlocutors that his agenda includes two Lebanese issues, namely: Lebanese Canadian Bank, and Lebanon's commitment to international sanctions, specifically financial ones, on Lebanon and Syria."

Food Safety...Major Concern

On the Lebanese internal concern, Prime Minister Najib Mikati chaired a ministerial meeting Wednesday that discussed food safety.
Agriculture Minister Hussein Hajj Hassan, Economy Minister Nicolas Nahhas, Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi as well as other relevant figures attended the meeting.

Following the meeting, Hajj Hassan told reporters that Mikati gave orders to the relevant ministries and administrations to address all violations pertaining to food safety.

He also said that "the participants agreed to improve the capabilities of the ministries and the relevant administrations."
Hajj Hassan added that "decisions such as forcing warehouses that store food to be licensed should be finalized."


Source: Lebanese newspapers, Translated and Edited by moqawama.org