The Syrian leader, however, said his country will know how to handle these threats and expressed his confidence that Syria can overcome the external and internal crises.

Assad also said he is not worried about the current economic situation. According to him, Syria has common borders with more than one Arab country, and they constitute an outlet for “popular trade exchanges”. He also mentioned the existence of adequate reserves of wheat and other vital commodities. Assad also said the foreign exchange issue is not troubling.

Assad has completely closed the doors for any initiative, even by “our Russian friends.” This is in accordance to the position adopted by the Arab initiative, which “refused to foreign intervention in domestic affairs.”

Assad told his audience that “Syria will return to be the most important Arab state.” He noted that Syria is not indifferent to the positions of Arab countries regarding what is happening in his country, “The relationship with some countries is not too bad while the other nations are preoccupied with their own situation”. Hesaid

More than 50,000 mourners marched through the capital of Syria’s Kurdish heartland Saturday in a funeral procession for one of the country’s most prominent opposition figures a day after his assassination. Security forces fired into the crowds, killing five people, witnesses said.

The turnout was by far the largest in the Kurdish northeast since the start of the uprising against President Bashar Assad’s autocratic regime seven months ago.

But it remains to be seen whether Friday’s slaying of charismatic Kurdish opposition figure Mashaal Tammo will trigger a sustained, large-scale outpouring by Syria’s Kurds that might bolster the wider uprising against Assad taking place across the nation.

Protests against Assad’s regime began in mid-March. The Syrian regime has repeatedly blamed “armed gangs” for the unrest.

According to the United Nations, the Syrian regime’s crackdown on protests has killed more than 2,900 people.

Al Bawaba

“Hezbollah is qualified to be a terrorist party regardless whether it assassinated former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005 or not,” Allouch said

He said that Hezbollah is “carrying out its terrorism by moving toward the practice of the Wilayat al-Faqih” system in Lebanon, in reference to the present Islamic system of government in Iran

He also said that US President Barack Obama accused Hezbollah of political assassinations in a Sunday speech “because he might have certain data that backs his beliefs .”

US President Barack Obama accused Hezbollah of carrying out political assassination and pledged Sunday that the United States will stand up to the Iranian-backed militant group.

“Iran continues to support terrorism across the region, including providing weapons and funds to terrorist organizations,” Obama said in reference to Hezbollah

Hezbollah brought down PM Saad Hariri’s government on January 12 Special Tribunal for Lebanon ( STL) ’s imminent indictment which is widely expected to implicate Hezbollah members in the assassination of the father of caretaker PM

Lebanon has been run by a caretaker government since last January. Nagib Mikati was appointed in January as the PM designate with the backing of the Hezbollah led-March 8 alliance, MPs Walid Jumblatt and Mohammad Safadi . March 14 leaders have repeatedly said that intimidation from Hezbollah’s weapons helped secure the parliamentary majority for Mikati’s nomination.

Hezbollah reportedly threatened to kill Jumblatt and members of his parliamentary bloc if they did not vote for their candidate ( Mikati) during the presidential consultations aimed at appointing a PM designate to form a new government .

Jumblatt, Mikat, Safadi and all members of their blocs were elected by March 14 votes in the 2009 elections.

“Iran continues to support terrorism across the region, including providing weapons and funds to terrorist organizations,” Obama said in reference to Hezbollah

In February, Obama marked the sixth anniversary of the assassination of former Lebanese PM Rafiq Hariri by reaffirming his support for a UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon ( STL) .

Hariri and 22 others were killed in a car bombing February 14, 2005.

Hezbollah brought down PM Saad Hariri’s government on January 12 over STL’s imminent indictment which is widely expected to implicate Hezbollah members in the assassination of the father of caretaker PM

Lebanon has been run by a caretaker government since last January. Nagib Mikati was appointed in January as the PM designate with the backing of the Hezbollah led-March 8 alliance, MPs Walid Jumblatt and Mohammad Safadi . March 14 leaders have repeatedly said that intimidation from Hezbollah’s weapons helped secure the parliamentary majority for Mikati’s nomination.

Hezbollah reportedly threatened to kill Jumblatt and members of his parliamentary bloc if they did not vote for their candidate ( Mikati) during the presidential consultations aimed at appointing a PM designate to form a new government .

Jumblatt, Mikat, Safadi and all members of their blocs were elected by March 14 votes in the 2009 elections.

Just last week, on September 18, the spotlight was once again drawn to Sayyed when he was escorted out of the Beirut International Airport by Hezbollah security officers following his return from France. The Hezbollah security entourage was present because a summons had been issued for Sayyed to appear in court following a statement he made on September 12 attacking Prime Minister Saad Hariri.

But Sayyed is not Hezbollah’s only high-profile ally. Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun is also partnered with the Party of God, making the former head of General Security and the FPM leader indirect allies.

Sayyed’s past, however, is littered with incidents showing his opposition to Aoun, including instances in which police and intelligence agents oppressed Aoun supporters who were demonstrating against the Syrian presence in Lebanon.

1976: Jamil as-Sayyed joined the First Brigade of the Lebanese army in the Bekaa Valley. Prior to this he was stationed in Beirut, where he served with the armed corps. The First Brigade was under the control of Brigadier General Ibrahim Shaheen, who, under Syrian supervision, established the Arab Lebanese Army. At this time, Sayyed began to form links with the Syrian government.

1977: Sayyed took control of the First Brigade’s intelligence branch.

1984: Colonel Michel Rahbani was transferred to Beirut, and Sayyed was appointed chief intelligence officer in the Bekaa Valley.

1989-1990: Sayyed headed security for former Lebanese President Elias Hrawi.

1992: He was appointed deputy chief of military intelligence.

1998: Then-President Emile Lahoud appointed Sayyed as the head of General Security. The two worked closely together.

1999-2001: Lebanese journalist Samir Kassir, who frequently spoke out against the Syrian presence in Lebanon, was under surveillance by General Security.

2000: Sayyed was assigned with the task of cross-examining potential candidates for the soon-to-be-formed parliament and cabinet.

2001: Members of the Lebanese intelligence services, under Sayyed’s direction, arrested anti-Syrian protesters on August 9. Anti-Syrian Christian demonstrators, who were also Aoun followers, protested against a series of arrests made by army intelligence the previous day. (AFP photo/Joseph Barrak)

2002: Supporters of Michel Aoun were soaked when police fired a water canon at students during a sit-in at a Beirut university on October 31. The anti-Syrian, Christian opposition demonstrated to "defend freedoms" and put pressure on Lebanon's pro-Syrian government to resign.(AFP photo/Anwar Amro)

2004: A Lebanese student makes the sign for victory as he is sprayed with water by police on March 12. Five hundred students gathered for the 15th anniversary of Michel Aoun's declaration of a "war of liberation" against Syria. The demonstration resulted in clashes between students and police forces. Seven students were arrested to be held for questioning.(AFP photo/Ramzi Haidar)

2005: Following the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on February 14, Cedar Revolution demonstrators demanded that Sayyed resign. He handed his position as head of General Security over to his deputy, Asaad Taesh, on May 5. On August 25, Sayyed was arrested on suspicion of involvement in Hariri’s murder. He was held in prison for four years. (AFP photo)

2010: On September 12, Sayyed said that Prime Minister Saad Hariri “should take a lie detector test to prove he did not support or fund false witnesses in the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.” (AFP photo)

On September 18, he spoke to the press upon arrival at the Beirut International Airport. His earlier attack on Hariri prompted many responses, and led Lebanon’s top prosecutor, Judge Said Mirza, to summon Sayyed for questioning. Hezbollah, however, called on the judiciary to revoke Mirza’s decision, calling it politicized.

Read the complete article: Now Lebanon

Australian intelligence sources said that the three men under investigation all emigrated to Israel within the last decade. Each has visited Australia at different times to legally change their names and obtain new passports. The new passports were used to gain entry to a number of countries, including Iran, Syria and Lebanon.

The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation has been conducting the inquiry for six months, the newspaper reported, and the probe is unrelated to the assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai last month. Three Australian passports were used in that operation, which Dubai authorities attributed to Israel’s Mossad spy agency.

The individuals had changed their names from those that could be identified as European-Jewish to ones more typically identified as Anglo-Australian. One of the men changed his last name three times, the paper reported, and the other two twice each. The names were changed from those that could be identified as European-Jewish to those typical of Anglo-Australians.

The Herald reported that the three Australians are involved with a European communications company that has a subsidiary in the Middle East. In 2004, one of the individuals in question sought assistance at the Australian embassy in Tehran.

Two of the men contacted by the paper emphatically denied they were involved in any kind of espionage. “This is a complete fantasy,” said one. “I have changed my name for personal reasons.”

“I have never been to any of those countries that you say I have been to,” said the other. “I am not involved in any kind of spying. That is ridiculous.”

The man is also believed to hold British citizenship, and to have come under the surveillance of British intelligence after he changed his name.

The company’s chief executive strongly denied the man was ever employed by his firm, the paper reported, and adamantly rejected the idea that his company was being used to gather intelligence for Israel.

Australian intelligence declined comment.

Canberra said yesterday it is not satisfied with the Israeli ambassador’s explanation about the alleged fraudulent use of Australian passports in the Dubai operation, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said, according to the Herald. Rudd said his government had to “proceed very carefully” in the investigation because of its complex security nature.

Israel’s ambassador to Australia, Yuval Rotem, was summoned on Thursday for an urgent meeting with Foreign Minister Stephen Smith.

(Haaretz)