Excerpts: Hariri re Hizbullah fighting in Syria.Preventing weapons from
Syria reaching Hizbollah.Israel re weapon to Hizbullah via Syria.
Qatar-funded Al Jazeera U.S. launch.Syrian May 20, 2013

+++SOURCE: Naharnet (Lebanon) 20 May ’13:”Hariri Slams Official Silence over
Hizbullah fighting in Syria. . .”
SUBJECT: Hariri re Hizbullah Fighting in Syria . . .”
QUOTE: Hariri: ‘Hizbullah is seeking all means to take Lebanon to the abyss’
“

EXCERPTS:Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri criticized on Monday President
Michel Suleiman, Speaker Nabih Berri, caretaker Premier Najib Miqati, and
the Lebanese army command's silence over Hizbullah fighting in Syria
alongside the country's regime forces. . .

He wondered in a statement: “Where is the national, constitutional, and
moral responsibility towards the crime being committed by a major Lebanese
faction through meddling in the internal Syrian war?”

. . .

“The greatest tragedy in Hizbullah's involvement in Syria is the fact that
no one in the Lebanese state considers himself responsible for the
Lebanese-Syrian border or of the daily violations by hundreds of fighters
who have chosen to usurp the role of the state and ignore the wishes of the
Lebanese people,” he remarked.

On this note, Hariri slammed the official silence on Hizbullah's meddling,
asking: “Was there a decision taken that the Lebanese people were not
informed about and which entails the state's handing of its security,
military, and constitutional institutions to Hizbullah?”

Have they “acknowledged that Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is
above the state and its institutions?” wondered the former prime minister.

“The party's war in al-Qusayr is part of a decision to eliminate the
Lebanese state,” he declared.

“We are seeking responsible individuals who can stage the parliamentary
elections, while Hizbullah is seeking all means to take Lebanon to the
abyss,” he noted.

“The president, government, and all concerned officials must end the current
charade that sees the state act as an employee working for Hizbullah and its
regional sponsors,” Hariri continue.

At least 23 Hizbullah fighters were killed and 70 wounded in battles in the
Syrian border town of al-Qusayr, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights
said on Monday[20 May].

A handful of Hizbullah fighters killed in Syria have been brought back for
burial in Lebanon, with senior officials from the group occasionally paying
condolences in person to the families of those killed.

The Observatory said that at least 55 people were killed in Qusayr on
Sunday[19 May], most of them rebels, excluding those Hizbullah fighters and
regime soldiers.

Nasrallah has acknowledged that members of his movement are fighting
alongside Syrian troops against the rebels seeking Syrian President Bashar
Assad's ouster

+++SOURCE: Jordan Times 20 May ’13:”Israel acts to deny Hizbollah arms –
Netanyahu”, Agence France Presse

SUBJECT: Preventing weapons from Syria reaching Hizbollah

FULL TEXT:OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Israel is “acting” to prevent weapons from
Syria from reaching Lebanon’s Hizbollah and will continue to do so, Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday[19 May].

His remarks came two weeks after Israel carried out air strikes near
Damascus, which a senior Israeli source said were aimed at preventing the
transfer of sophisticated Iranian arms to Hizbollah, the Lebanese Shiite
ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Netanyahu said the Middle East was going through its most sensitive period
for decades, with the conflict in Syria at the centre of the turmoil.

“We are closely following developments and changes there, and we are
prepared for any scenario,” he said at the start of the weekly Cabinet
meeting.

“The government of Israel is acting in a responsible, determined and prudent
manner to ensure the supreme interest of the State of Israel which is the
security of its citizens according to the policy we set: to prevent as far
as possible leakage of advanced weapons to Hizbollah and terrorist
elements,” he said.

“We will ensure the security interests of the citizens of Israel in the
future.”

Israel has repeatedly warned that it would not permit the transfer of
advanced weapons or chemical agents to Hizbollah or to any other groups.

On January 30, another strike on Syrian soil, which was also attributed to
Israel by regional sources, destroyed what military intelligence officials
said was a shipment of Russian-made SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles destined
for Hizbollah.

Last week, Netanyahu met Russian President Vladimir Putin and warned him
against delivering advanced S-300 missiles to Damascus, which could severely
complicate any future air attacks on Syrian

+++SOURCE: Jordan Times 20 May ’13: Isreael preparing for ‘every scenario’
in Syria’s war”, Reuters
SUBJECT: Israel re weapons to Hizbullah via Syria
QUOTE:”Netanyahu . . .pledging to act to prevent advanced weapons from
reaching Hizbollah”
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held out the
prospect on Sunday of further Israeli strikes inside Syria, pledging to act
to prevent advanced weapons from reaching Hizbollah and other militant
groups.

Although Israel has not publicly taken sides in the civil war between Syrian
President Bashar Assad and rebels trying to topple him, Western and Israeli
sources say it has launched air strikes in Syria to destroy weapons it
believed were destined for Lebanon’s Hizbollah.

In public remarks at the weekly meeting of his Cabinet, Netanyahu made no
direct mention of those attacks, but said Israel was prepared to take action
in the future and was “preparing for every scenario” in the Syrian conflict.

Israel had a policy “to prevent, as much as possible, the leakage of
advanced weapons to Hizbollah and terror elements”, he said.

“We will act to ensure the security interest of Israel’s citizens in the
future as well.”

Tzipi Livni, a member of Netanyahu’s Security Cabinet and a former foreign
minister, said: “I don’t think there is anyone in Israel eager to take
action” in Syria, hinting at concerns that any strike could provoke a wider
conflict.

In an interview with Israel’s army radio, Livni also said Israeli
politicians ought to avoid taking sides.

“Israel isn’t popular in Syria. Therefore any such statement could only be
used as ammunition by one of the sides to try and divert the debate or the
violence towards Israel and that’s the last thing we need,” Livni said.

Israel has neither confirmed nor denied reports that it attacked
Iranian-supplied missiles stored near Damascus this month that it believed
were awaiting delivery to Hizbollah, which fought a war with Israel in 2006
and is allied with Assad.

A Russian shipment of Yakhont anti-ship missiles to Syria was condemned by
the United States on Friday, and Israel is also alarmed by the prospect of
Moscow supplying S-300 advanced air defence missile systems to Damascus.

Netanyahu held talks in Russia on Tuesday with President Vladimir Putin on
the Syrian crisis but gave no public indication whether Israel’s concerns
over the Russian weaponry had been eased.

Amos Gilad, a senior Israeli defence ministry official, said on Saturday the
S-300 and the Yakhont, weapons that could complicate any plans for foreign
military intervention in Syria, would likely end up with Hizbollah and
threaten both Israel and US forces in the Gulf.

“Yakhont is a cruise missile that can hit targets at sea and strategic
targets. [It is] a supersonic missile, [with] a range of 300km, very
sophisticated,” Gilad said on Israel’s Channel Two television on Saturday.

“The Russians sent it to Syria, beside the strategic defence system called
the S-300. There are a number of versions, and they are sending them one of
the good versions,” he said.

General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on
Friday Russia’s delivery of anti-ship missiles to Assad was “ill-timed and
very unfortunate” and risked prolonging a war that has already killed more
than 80,000 Syrians.

+++SOURCE: Jordan Times 20 May ’13:”Al Jazeera in big gambit with planned
U.S. launch”, Agence France Presse

SUBJECT: Qatar-funded Al Jazeera U.S. launch

QUOTE: Can Al-Jazeera win hearts and minds in America?”

EXCERPTSWASHINGTON — Can Al Jazeera win hearts and minds in America?

The pan-Arab news giant is laying the groundwork for the launch of Al
Jazeera America after its purchase of Current TV, a struggling US cable
channel.

It will likely face an uphill battle for viewers but could solidify its
journalistic brand, analysts say.

“Al Jazeera is going into extremely unfamiliar terrain,” said Adel Iskandar,
a professor of communication at Georgetown University and co-author of a
2002 book on the Qatar-based news organisation.

Iskandar noted, however, that Al Jazeera’s English-language operation around
the world “has done a spectacular job” in areas of the world “where
international broadcasters can’t afford to go”.

He said that Al Jazeera, with its “extremely deep pockets” thanks to funding
by Qatar’s royal family, has the money to hire a solid team of journalists
so that it can carve a niche in the difficult US market.

Al Jazeera has not released details on the launch and declined a request for
an interview. But it has announced plans to open offices in a dozen US
cities, including Detroit and Chicago, and hired some respected journalists.

. . .

Al Jazeera will be able to select from a wide range of journalists. The
group said it received 22,000 applications for some 800 job openings.

The US launch was announced in January, when Al Jazeera said it was
acquiring Current, a channel co-founded by former US vice president Al Gore.

Al Jazeera, whose English service has been available on a handful of US
cable systems, will be able to reach millions more US homes than it does at
present.

But the news channel could face a harsh reception from some quarters, with
critics complaining about the network known previously for broadcasting
videos from Al Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden.

Republican Congressman Tim Murphy asked the Federal Communications
Commission to review the deal for Current, citing “legitimate concerns about
the sale of an American news channel to a media corporation owned by a
foreign government”.

The conservative activist group Accuracy in Media accused Al Jazeera of
being a “mouthpiece of the Muslim Brotherhood and its various terrorist
affiliates”.

“Al Jazeera has already been shown to play a role in radicalising Muslims
abroad to make Americans into terrorist targets,” AIM’s Cliff Kincaid said.
“Is there any reason to believe its impact in America itself would be any
different?”

The reasons remain unclear for Al Jazeera’s US launch, likely to be a huge
financial drain and unlikely to turn a profit anytime soon.

Georgetown’s Iskandar said the group appears to be seeking to boost the
prestige and influence of Al Jazeera, and of Qatar.

“They want to be able to project an influential image for their nation
state,” he said.

But he noted that “there could be a certain naivete” by its owners about the
news business, and that things could backfire if Al Jazeera trips up, or is
seen as a mere tool of Qatar.

This has happened among Arabic-speaking audiences, Iskandar said, as the
network lost credibility for its coverage of the Syria crisis.

“Al Jazeera made a name for itself doing investigative reporting but has
lost a large amount of its audience in the Syrian conflict by being seen an
extension of the Qatari foreign ministry,” he said.

“In the US, there are a minefield of problems. They are walking into this
blindfolded, but that may be why they might succeed.”

+++SOURCE: New York Times 20 May ’13:”Hezbollah Suffers Losses in Fierce
Battle for Syrian City”By ANNE BARNARD
SUBJECT: Syrian conflict
QUOTE:”Hezbollah which is fighting its biggest battle yet on the side of
President Bashar al- Assad”
EXCERPTS:BEIRUT, Lebanon — Fighting raged on Monday[20 May] in the strategic
Syrian city of Qusayr, as the government unleashed new airstrikes and rebels
resisted fiercely in parts of the city even as their makeshift hospitals
overflowed with the wounded, Syrian opposition activists said.

The toll of dead and wounded also continued to rise for the Lebanese
militant group Hezbollah, which is fighting its biggest battle yet on the
side of President Bashar al-Assad. Both sides have depicted the fighting in
Qusayr as a turning point in the war that is raising regional tensions as
Hezbollah plunges more deeply into the conflict.

Funerals for Hezbollah fighters were being planned in the group’s
strongholds in the Bekaa Valley and southern Lebanon, relatives of the dead
said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition watchdog group,
reported that at least 23 Hezbollah guerrillas had died in the fighting. If
confirmed, that would be by far the largest toll for Hezbollah in a single
Syrian battle.

Echoes of the battle rippled across neighboring Lebanon, which is deeply
divided between supporters and opponents of Mr. Assad. In the northern city
of Tripoli, from which many Sunni Muslim militants have joined the Syrian
rebels, residents held a candlelight vigil late Sunday[19 May] in support of
Qusayr’s rebels. In Shiite areas, residents worried about relatives fighting
in Syria and prayed for victory in a battle Hezbollah has framed as a proxy
fight against its main foe, Israel, and an intervention to defend Shiites in
Syria, of both Lebanese and Syrian descent, and other minorities they say
are threatened by the uprising led by Syria’s Sunni majority.

The Joint Command of the Free Syrian Army, the loose-knit United
States-backed rebel umbrella group, issued a rallying cry that supporters of
Hezbollah were bound to see as inflammatory, calling the group “impure,” in
a phrase that could resonate as a sectarian slur against Shiites.

It congratulated rebels holding out in Qusayr, calling them “brave heroes
whose victories will be highlighted by history in letters made of light as
they have defended their land and their honor from the impurity of the
criminal terrorist members of Hezbollah.” It also taunted Hezbollah’s
leadership, saying, “We know very well how their gang is constructed and we
know how to take it apart and we will take it apart. We see heads that are
ripe for the picking.”

In a dig at Lebanese families sending Hezbollah fighters to the battle, the
Free Syrian Army said, “We can now say that every single family or
neighborhood in Baalbek or Hermel has a dead family member among their sons
who fought in Qusayr.”

. . .

Mr. Assad, according to people who have spoken with him, believes that
reasserting his hold in the province is crucial to maintaining control of a
string of population centers in western Syria, and eventually to military
campaigns to retake rebel-held territory in the north and east. Many
analysts say that it is unlikely that the government will be able to regain
control of those areas, but that it could consolidate its grip on the west,
leading to a de facto division of the country

==========
Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA