Introduction to the evening news 24-07-2012

Rustom Ghazaleh is back, this time not in Anjar, but to Syria's security forefront. Among the new Syrian appointments to replace security officials who died in Wednesday’s bombing, Assad appointed Ghazaleh as the head of political security alongside former head of the state security Ali Mamlouk. Mamlouk is now the head of the bureau of national security, to replace Hisham Bekhtyar.        

In light of ongoing clashes in Damascus and Aleppo, fears  rise on the prospect of the utilization of chemical weapons owned by the Syrian regime, amid continuous calls for a power transition. While U.S. Secretary General Hilary Clinton announced that it was not too late for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to negotiate an exit, a top leader in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard warned that Syria’s allies “will not allow regime change”, adding that “the friends of Syria and  resistance movements have yet to enter the game”.       

On another note, the abduction of 3 Syrians in the Bekaa and their release introduced a new way to deal with the case of the Lebanese detainees in Syria, amid fears of other waves of kidnaps.         

Politically, the Foreign Ministry’s failure to summon the Syrian ambassador to Lebanon regarding border violations raised many questions.  Yet, the "state is excused as it is busy destroying cannabis crops without providing agricultural alternatives".

This government that made concessions in everything and almost succumbed to road cut-offs and tire burnings, dealing a heavy blow to the remaining syndicate movements in Lebanon.  

And so, a general strike will be held in all ministries and public administrations the day after tomorrow to call for the ratification of the salaries and ranks scale bill for civil servants. 


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