Hezbollah lawmaker Nawaf Mousawi has warned the US about interfering in Lebanon’s internal affairs ahead of the country’s municipal elections.

Mousawi accused the US embassy of impeding national reconciliation in Lebanon, the Lebanese daily Naharnet reported on Monday.

He said the US embassy in Awkar, Lebanon is “harming” national reconciliation efforts “through the policy of sabotage and fragmentation it is adopting in Lebanon and the region.”

“The Awkar den is also harming national dignity by turning its intelligence into tools to slaughter the Lebanese any time it wants,” he added.

He also said any US intervention in Lebanon is tantamount to direct Israeli intervention in Lebanon.

Increasingly, the moderate elements in Islam are coming to the front, arguing an anti-terror case.

Saudi Arabia’s highest religious authority issued a fatwa (edict) denouncing all acts of terrorism and criminalising its financing, Asharq al-Awsat daily reported today.

The Council of Supreme Scholars declared “any act of terrorism, including providing financial support to terrorists, a crime,” regardless of where it takes place, the London-based newspaper said.

According to the fatwa, the financier of acts of terrorism will be considered a “partner” in the crime, the newspaper said.

The council did not specify a penalty to the act of financing terrorism, leaving that decision for the Islamic courts to determine, the newspaper said.

Berlin’s Martin-Gropius Building is displaying masterpieces of Islamic art, including rare copies of the Holy Qur’an.

The Berlin exhibition shows some of the most important works of art from the Muslim world, including pages from ‘Shahnameh’ (Grand Book), a magnum opus by renowned Persian poet Abolqasem Ferdowsi. They are among the most remarkable in the world.

The exhibition also includes the oldest known Arabic manuscript of the ‘Canon of Medicine’ by Avicenna (980-1037), the Iranian physician and most influential Muslim philosopher-scientist, Mehr News Agency reported.

Also on show is a double page of the ‘Blue Qur’an’ from 9th century. The blue parchment sheets are inscribed with gold letters in Kufic script and are among the most valuable and elaborate Qur’anic manuscripts in the world.

Running from March to June, the exhibition is arranged under two main sections. First, ‘The Word of God’ consists of Qur’anic manuscripts, illustrated sheets and artifacts that deal with pilgrimage to Mecca or Islamic mysticism which have inspired many artists and architects. Second, ‘The Route of the Travelers’ takes visitors on a journey through the Muslim world.

The artworks on display, namely the paintings, drawings, book illustrations, manuscripts, inscriptions, metalwork, ceramics and wood carvings, reveal the extraordinary variety and overwhelming richness of Islamic culture.

Scotland Yard has bowed to Islamic sensitivities and accepted that Muslims are entitled to throw shoes in ritual protest — which could have the unintended consequence of politicians or the police being hit.

News of the concession has come to light amid a series of trials of more than 70 mostly Muslim demonstrators who were charged with violent disorder after last year’s Gaza protests outside the Israeli embassy in London.
Aquib Salim, 21, an IT student at Queen Mary, London University, who was involved in a shoe-throwing incident, is almost certain to avoid a prison sentence as a result.

Chris Holt, Salim’s solicitor, said he was likely to get a suspended sentence after he pleaded guilty to a single charge of throwing a stick at police lines. “The court accepted that the earlier shoe-throwing incident was simply a ritual form of protest and therefore not a criminal act of violence,” Holt said.

Judge Denniss agreed that the act of shoe-throwing should not be considered in a charge of violent disorder against the student because it was “a symbolic” gesture.

The concession has already been taken up enthusiastically by Muslim demonstrators, who pelted Downing Street with shoes in protest at the Israeli bombing of Gaza last year.

The secretary general for the World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought (WFPIST) Ayatollah Mohammad-Ali Taskhiri said religious scholars from all Islamic schools have a key role in helping prevent discord among Muslims.

Speaking at a meeting with Indian Muslim scholars in Tehran on Tuesday, Taskhiri stressed the need for unity among the Ummah and said “The holy Qur’an has equated differences and discord with adversity and affliction,” WFPIST’s public relations office reported.

Scholars, theologians and preachers should know that “Enemies [of Islam] are trying to sow discord among Muslims” and that it is their obligation to prevent divisions in the ranks of Muslims.

During the meeting prominent Indian Muslim scholars, including Dr. Qalb Sadeq and Abdul Wahab Khalaji , emphasized the need for Muslims to help the oppressed and downtrodden, close ranks and strive for the unity of Ummah.

American Muslims say following the September 11 terror attacks in the US, their rights have often been violated in the name of national security.

Muslim Americans complain that in the aftermath of the 9/11 incidents the definition and face of a terrorist became distinctly Muslim, making some followers of the faith targets of hateful words and acts, while making it difficult for others to keep jobs, go to school or even board a plane.

“9/11 made things worse. It added a lot on our shoulders. It brought stereotypes and bad policies in front and there were already bad policies in the past,” Nihad Awad, Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), told Press TV’s Erin Connors.

CAIR moved this week to ask the US Department of Justice to close loopholes that allow for profiling individuals based on their religion and national origin, something that some officials describe as ‘the way to a secure America’.

“The government has to act on active intelligent intelligence, not on racial religious profiling. It has shown over time to be ineffective and counterproductive,” Nihad emphasized.

Many observers maintain that acts of terrorism take place by members of other religions and ethnicities as well, but they are seldom labeled after their ethnic identity.

“It’s the act that defines what is illegal not the person or action,” said Sahar Aziz, who is on the Bill of Rights Defense Committee.

“It’s in everyone’s interest to support national security, not in everyone’s interest to support racial profiling as a means to do so, it’s not effective,” she said.

American and Israeli elements believe that Syria has transferred long and medium range surface-to-surface Scud missiles to Hezbollah which could target most of the Zionist entity’s territory, the Kuwaiti al-Rai newspaper reported.
 
According to the report, which is based on American sources in Washington, Israeli and Western intelligence services have discovered that the Syrian army has been training Hezbollah operatives on how to operate a line of missiles from Syria’s weapons arsenal including anti-aircraft and medium-long range Scud missiles.
 
The US sources told the paper that Israel has warned Syria, via Turkey and Qatar, of its intention to bomb Lebanese and Syrian targets should the missiles cross the border and reach Hezbollah. The Syrian ambassador to Washington was summoned for a talk.
 
The al-Rai paper further reported that US Senator John Kerry met with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus, who denied the reports. However, Assad did not convince the Americans, who fear that the transfer of missiles would lead to a regional war, especially if Israel should decide to act on its threat.
 
Ynet commented on the report saying that it should be noted that the Scud shipment has not changed the military balance as Hezbollah already possess long and medium range missiles and rockets which could go as far as Beersheba. However, the transfer bears a symbolic significance boosting the resistance group’s confidence since the only bodies which hold surface-to-surface ballistic missiles are sovereign states.
 
“Hezbollah has therefore become the only non-governmental organization in the world to hold such weapons. One can assume had the missiles been “tie-breaking weapons,” the Israeli army would have already taken action. It should also be noted that Israel is currently abstaining from taking any step which would divert international focus from Iran sanctions,” Ynet added.
 
The Scud missile is designated to hit population centers in the Tel Aviv Metropolitan area or Haifa. According to the Kuwaiti report, the missiles transferred to Hezbollah are not state-of-the-art and are apparently stationed deep inside Lebanon for fear of an Israel Air-Force strike.
 
Moreover, Israeli President Shimon Peres on Tuesday accused Syria of supplying Scud missiles to Hezbollah while publicly talking peace. “Syria claims it wants peace while at the same time it delivers Scuds to Hezbollah whose only goal is to threaten the state of Israel,” Peres told public radio.
 
“Syria believes it need do nothing more than let itself be courted by the world, while saying one thing and doing the opposite,” Peres said amid Israeli media reports of rising tensions.
 
He made the comments just hours before flying to Paris, where he is expected to discuss the issue with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
 
Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai declined to go into details of the alleged Scud shipments but said that “Hezbollah’s firing capacity has significantly improved.”
 
In February, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Lebanon of allowing Hezbollah to develop its stockpile of weapons.
Israel estimates Hezbollah’s arsenal at some 40,000 rockets, a significant rise from the group’s 14,000 rockets in 2006.
 
Vilnai said that Israel would again conduct military exercises this year to prepare for possible rocket attacks by Hezbollah.
 
SECOND LEBANON WAR LESSONS
It was reported last month that Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak discussed the transfer of weapons from Syria to Hezbollah during his Washington visit. It is likely that Barak, who fears a “tie-breaking weapon” in Lebanon, was referring to anti-aircraft systems which Hezbollah is after, having drawn lessons from the Second Lebanon War.
 
At the time, the group was armed with light shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles which were unable to seriously target the IAF. Hezbollah is therefore interested in obtaining heavy, sophisticated and long-range anti-aircraft systems such as radar detectors, radar-guided missile batteries and cannons which could damage the IAF’s aerial and intelligence freedom in Lebanon.
 
Arab and Western media recently reported that Hezbollah operatives have been training in Syria on using SA-8 man-portable anti-aircraft batteries which can target jets and helicopters at low and medium altitude.