Epstein Secrets

je Rod-Larsen Subject: FW: July 15 update Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2012 14:20:13 +0000 15 July, 2012 Article 1 The Sunday Telegraph Why I defected from Bashar al-Assad's regime, by former diplomat Nawaf Fares Ruth Sherlock Article 2. NOW Lebanon Scared by the tribunal, who me? Michael Young Article 3. Russia i

his rule, which EFTA00701861 included the massacre of more than 10,000 people during a Muslim Brotherhood uprising in the city of Hama in 1982. "Bashar doesn't strike you as being extremely intelligent, he seems to be someone who is led rather than who leads. But nobody has the ability to carry out

week. As the first senior diplomat to abandon the government, it is thought his departure may pave the way for others to follow, leaving President Assad's regime even more exposed. Yesterday, in a wide-ranging interview conducted by telephone from Qatar, where he has now sought refuge, Mr Fares mad

ir Dutch bubble. This week, the Lebanese state paid its contribution to the institution, without fanfare and without tension between Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Hezbollah. Is anyone asking the obvious question: Why does Hezbollah seem so sanguine about the tribunal? Could it be that the party now believ

Shia community. Let's take a closer look. In his many redundant speeches, Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah has been adamant about supporting the Assad regime of Syria. A few years ago, when Nasrallah made a speech, almost everyone in Lebanon would leave whatever they were doing to listen to what h

was formed, everyone perceived it as Hezbollah-controlled. It was thought that the party controlled the PM and all ministers. Today, Prime Minister Najib Mikati cannot be considered completely under Hezbollah's control. Mikati's under-the-table support for Syrian refugees in Tripoli and his recent stances

lims in Syria and throughout the region feel that Assad's Syria has unduly favored the Alawites, a sect o

A government spokeswoman has hinted that coming reforms will include greater freedom for the press and the right to form political parties. President Bashar al-Assad is due to address the country in the next 48 hours. His speech is eagerly awaited, but it remains to be seen whether it will be enough to defuse the

llenged the fundamentals of Syria's security state, a harsh system of controls over every aspect of society, put in place by the late Hafez al-Assad, Bashar's father, who ruled for 30 years from 1970 to his death in 2000. By all accounts, the debate HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_030032 --- PAGE BREAK --- 4 about how

er of civil war and making more difficult the task of forming a new government, a job President Michel Suleiman has entrusted to the Tripoli notable, Najib Mikati. If Syria were overrun with internal strife, Hezbollah would be deprived of a valuable ally -- no doubt to Israel's great satisfaction. Meanwhile, Tu