LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
May 08/09

 

Bible Reading of the day.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 13,16-20. Amen, amen, I say to you, no slave is greater than his master nor any messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you understand this, blessed are you if you do it. I am not speaking of all of you. I know those whom I have chosen. But so that the scripture might be fulfilled, 'The one who ate my food has raised his heel against me.' From now on I am telling you before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe that I AM. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me."

Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special Reports
May 7: The day of the jackal. By: Lina Saleh 07/05/09
May 7’ disgrace/Future News 07/05/09
True colors/NowLebanon.com 07/05/09

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for May 07/09
Hizbullah directs its speech against Baabda-Future News
Siniora: Integration between authorities is the basis of our regime-Future News
Why Nasrallah will not declare his program-Future News
Hariri stresses importance of unity and impending agreement with Islamic Group-Future News
US allies in Mideast cautious over Iran overtures-The Associated Press
Ahmadinejad, Assad vow support for resistance-(AFP)
Defense official: Israel has no territorial claims to Ghajar-Ha'aretz
Aoun Separates Himself from Berri in Jezzine, Keeps Old Kesrouan List
Cassesse Postpones Beirut Visit till July-Naharnet
Mossad on Alert Ahead of Lebanese Elections, Worried about Hizbullah Growth-Naharnet
Hariri Announces Beirut 3 List on Thursday, Beirut 1 Dilemma Solved-Naharnet
Netanyahu Postpones Decision on Pullout from Ghajar to Friday
-Naharnet
Raad: Wrong He Who Thinks the State Cannot Work Alongside Resistance
-Naharnet
Murr: One Army and One State, No One Can Ask Me to Believe Otherwise
-Naharnet
Jumblat Calls for Calm Political Rhetoric on May 7
-Naharnet
March 14 Warns of Attempts to Sabotage Polls and Destroy STL
-Naharnet
Syria Retracts Decision to Hand Over Suspects in Deadly Army Attack to Lebanon
-Naharnet
Albright Meets Lebanese Officials as Part of Poll-monitoring Mission
-Naharnet



Aoun announces Kesrouane – Ftouh electoral list

iloubnan.info - May 07, 2009, 12h03
BEIRUT – Change and Reform bloc leader MP Michel Aoun announced on Thursday the electoral list of the bloc in Kesrouane – Ftouh district. Speaking from his home in Rabieh, Aoun named the candidates Michel Aoun (himself), Nematollah Abi Nasr, Farid Khazen, Youssef Khalil and Gilberte Zouein to run in the district on June 7. Aoun had delayed the announcement of Baabda district electoral list for later. In parallel, MP Aoun is scheduled to announce later in the afternoon the platform of the Free Patriotic Movement and the respective electoral lists of his candidates in the other regions, four years after his return to Lebanon from exile on May 7, 2005.

May 7: The day of the jackal
Date: May 7th, 2009
Lina Saleh
Future News
Do you remember the violence of May 7, 2008? That was the day armed militias of Hizbullah and their friends invaded the streets of West Beirut, violated people’s lives, crossed every red line there is and savaged all norms of civilized behavior and human ethics.
Remember when you were accused of infidelity and high treason, when you feared for your family more than you did for yourself, feared that an armed attack might desecrate the privacy of your own home as peaceful neighborhoods were invaded?
Remember the bullets buzzing, and the militias of Amal and Hizbullah yelling religious slogans while invading their own capital city, an unprecedented sin? Remember the relentless enthusiasm with which they shot at unarmed civilians, their own countrymen, as if they were on a jihad?
Why did our countrymen want to tyrannize and silence their fellow citizens? More to the point: Why did they want to kill?
Remember when the militias forcibly silenced and violated the Almustaqbal media, pitilessly burned down the newspaper’s offices and the television station, and cut off broadcasts on Al-Sharq radio?
They used the force of arms to rip apart the freedom of journalism, to suppress sovereignty and independence. But they were deluded if they believed that their actions would bear fruit, and that their brutality would silence us. They underestimated the power of truth, which outshines the roar of bullets and missiles.
Two days after the “Lebanese” gunmen invaded their own capital, several members of the Almustaqbal newspaper team returned to the safety of their homes. Others preferred to stay where they were.
In the early morning light they heard the gunfire coming closer and closer to the building. They were besieged.
The encircled journalists heard the militiamen chant religious slogans and curse as they called on them to surrender. The journalists gathered in one room waiting for the end, expecting to be shot to death.
They stayed there for more than an hour, trying to phone for help from the security forces, but no one was ‘online.’
In life-or-death situations like that, the mind freezes. It focuses on the idea of survival as the gunmen curse and the gunfire crashes.
An hour later, the shooting stopped. The army rushed to the building to rescue the besieged journalists. The gunmen assembled in an abandoned house facing the television building, jeering the soldiers.
This grotesque situation raised many questions. Are human beings worthless? Is it so easy to kill people? For make no mistake, the attacks and the gunfire were not just meant to intimidate – they were meant to kill.
The journalists gazed at the building that was by now in flames, They wondered whether the newspaper would be published the next day. Agony and a deep sense of loss was written on their faces.
Nevertheless, the will to be heard and the determination to overcome all forms of tyranny, sabotage and oppression are more powerful than gunfire and terror. Almustaqbal’s administration decided to publish the newspaper from Dar Assayad, the leading publishing house in the Middle East in the Sin el-Fil district of Beirut.
But one crucial question still lingers in the minds of those journalists. They keep asking over and over what was the reason behind the inhuman, uncivilized and barbarian assaults upon them. But they can find none.
Pointing weapons at one’s countrymen is nothing to be proud of. It is without honor or dignity.
Wisdom lies only in calling for coexistence and dialogue among the political parties. It is not embodied in accusing others of treason or seeking to silence them by force of arms.
No one has the right to decide whether this Lebanese or that is good or bad, or to kill them in cold blood and force them into civil war. What happened on May 7, 2008, is a dark stain on Lebanon’s history.

May 7’ disgrace

Date: May 7th, 2009
Future News
The impudence of the parliament members and articulate speakers of the pro-Syrian militias of ‘March 8’ alliance hits the peak when talking about the attacks of ‘May 7, 2008’.
Once you hear them speaking you cannot but remember the saying of Said Takieddine “how fluent is the whore when preaching about chastity”. Those leaders justify their intolerable practices with statements that instigate people of the same nation against each other.
‘May 7’ attacks were an overthrow attempt against the legitimate authority, partnership, civil peace, and law. Giving these attacks any other explanation would mean accepting the criminal practices of Ariel Sharon when he invaded Beirut with hostility based on two concepts: hatred and violation, and the incidents of ‘May 7’ included both concepts.
No one can disregard the ‘May 7’ attacks, which shed the blood of 56 Lebanese. Moreover, the militias that carried out these crimes did not re-evaluate their practices to reassure that these events will never occur again, on the contrary, some of their leaders keep threatening the Lebanese of other similar attacks.
Which one of these criminals will visit the tomb of this day’s victim in the annual memory to apologize for his crime? Who will wipe the tears of the mother whose son was slain and explain to her the meaning of “partnership” which he refused when he pulled out of the government, shut down the parliament, and halted the security services from doing its duties?
Would the murderer dare say that he carried the riffle against his fellow citizen to protect Syria’s regime of murder and terrorism and his Persian ally? Has he enough courage to announce that the riffle targeting the Lebanese is that of a hit man?
These militias are simply asking us to act as if the parliament was never closed for one and a half year and public and private properties in Downtown Beirut were never occupied, and act as if roads were never blocked by street rats and thieves in the way of the Lebanese.
They want us to be the first to die, they want us to stand on the graves of our beloved, and to be a spearhead for sectary sedition, because we are the ones who exploit religious and social occasions to use our sectary language skills, and we are the ones who revive past incidents and project it on the present reality.
We are the sons of life and we will never be anything else. We are the modern and enlightened Arabism who believe in Lebanon the final nation of all the Lebanese, which is governed through equal partnership between Muslims and Christians, regardless of sizes and numbers. We are the people who fought Israel and protected our city from the occupation.
We did not establish militias or support its establishment, but we suffered the grudges of militias and their men who intruded in our lives and invaded our privacies and fought the battles of the Syrian Regime on the remains of our dead.
We are the sons of martyr Premier Rafic Hariri, the brothers of Mufti Sheikh Hassan Khaled, and the supporters of martyr MP Nazem el Kaderi.
We are the comrades of Kamal Jumblatt and George Hawi, and Pierre Gemayel and Walid Eido and Antoine Ghanem and Bassel Fleihan.
We are the readers of Gebran Tueini and Samir Kassir who exhausted the Lebanese-Syrian intelligence system.
We are the sons of ‘Lebanon First’ slogan and together we will keep working to build the state.
The blood of all who were slain on the 7th of May, the martyrs of the Second Independence, will remain brighter than sunlight. We will not falsely testify on their death no matter how high the prices were.

Cassesse Postpones Beirut Visit till July
Naharnet/The president of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Antonio Cassesse has postponed a scheduled visit to Beirut without giving a reason for the delay. Tribunal spokeswoman Suzanne Khan told pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat that Cassesse is "likely" to make a regional tour in July. "He did not cancel his trip," Khan made sure to point out. The paper quoted a judicial source in Beirut as saying Cassesse has informed Lebanon of the delay, but denied the STL has set a new date for his visit. The source believed that the U.N. was probably "disturbed by the uproar" which prevailed in the wake of the release of Lebanon's top four generals from nearly four years in jail without charge and the ensuing opposition campaign against the Lebanese judiciary. Cassesse was scheduled to visit Lebanon May 11 for talks with President Michel Suleiman, Prime Minister Fouad Saniora and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. He had also planned to meet the head of the Higher Judicial Council Judge Ghaleb Ghanem as well as Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar, and was scheduled to give a lecture in Beirut on the mechanisms for the STL's operation. Beirut, 07 May 09, 07:46

Mossad on Alert Ahead of Lebanese Elections, Worried about Hizbullah Growth
Naharnet/Lebanon poses a threat to Israel "more than any time before" due to Hizbullah's growth and development both on a political and military level as well as Iran's support for the Shiite group, according to Israeli security officials. Beirut station chief for the Israeli spy agency during the Israeli occupation of Lebanon Eliezer Tsafrir said "intensive Mossad activity, including recruiting agents to find out what is being plotted against Israel is necessary" to safeguard Israel's security. Referring to the suspects who have been recently arrested in Lebanon on charges of spying for Israel, Tsafrir told pan-Arab daily al-Hayat in remarks published on Thursday that their agents were "fully aware that the Mossad did not buy them a life insurance policy."
"They are aware of the possibility of being caught," he said, adding that all Israel "can do at this point is recruit more agents." Tsafrir believed that Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's constant hiding is "proof that he is aware of the possibility of being targeted." Dan Halutz, the former Israeli chief of staff, had confirmed that several attempts by the Mossad to assassinate Nassrallah failed. Al-Hayat quoted Israeli security experts as saying that Mossad activity has enhanced to follow up on the situation in Lebanon. Beirut, 07 May 09, 08:56
Raad: Wrong He Who Thinks the State Cannot Work Alongside Resistance Hizbullah MP Mohammed Raad said Thursday election results will determine the identity of the country and will be a gateway to stability."Wrong he who thinks that the state cannot work alongside the resistance," Raad said during a visit to Nabatiyeh. He stressed that the resistance seeks to build a state that would achieve "political, security and social stability, because stability is a source of strength for the resistance. This stability also cannot be attained without a resistance." Beirut, 07 May 09, 11:02

Netanyahu Postpones Decision on Pullout from Ghajar to Friday
INaharnet/sraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu postponed a decision on withdrawal from the Lebanese border village of Ghajar to Friday, pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat reported.
The newspaper said the village's notables had asked Netanyahu not to yield to U.S. demands for the Israeli pullout from the northern part of Ghajar, stressing the withdrawal does not take into consideration "their interests and needs."Ghajar is inhabited mainly by Alawites, most of whom have obtained Israeli citizenship even though they consider themselves Syrian.
The Israeli deputy regional development minister met with the notables Tuesday night and informed them that Netanyahu will postpone discussion of the withdrawal for a few days.
On Wednesday, officials from the Israeli and Lebanese militaries met with U.N. peacekeeping officials at the border crossing of Naqoura to discuss the U.N.'s withdrawal proposal.
Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported on Sunday that Netanyahu plans to seek cabinet approval of the withdrawal plan before flying to Washington in mid-May.
U.N. peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy, who is visiting Lebanon, attended Wednesday's meeting and is planning to press the withdrawal issue further when he visits Israel in the coming days.
"I hope that the ongoing discussions on the basis of UNIFIL's proposal of last year will lead to a speedy resolution of this matter," Le Roy said, according to a statement from the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon. Israel took the village of Ghajar when it captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war.
The village was divided between an Israeli-controlled part and a Lebanese section by the United Nations after the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the south in 2000.
Israel retook the northern part of the village in the 2006 war with Hizbullah and balked at withdrawing earlier due to security concerns. Beirut, 07 May 09, 10:19

Raad: Wrong He Who Thinks the State Cannot Work Alongside Resistance
Naharnet/Hizbullah MP Mohammed Raad said Thursday election results will determine the identity of the country and will be a gateway to stability. "Wrong he who thinks that the state cannot work alongside the resistance," Raad said during a visit to Nabatiyeh. He stressed that the resistance seeks to build a state that would achieve "political, security and social stability, because stability is a source of strength for the resistance. This stability also cannot be attained without a resistance." Beirut, 07 May 09, 11:02

Murr: One Army and One State, No One Can Ask Me to Believe Otherwise
Naharnet/Defense Minister Elias Murr said Wednesday he "cannot but recognize" the army as the only body that should be in command of Lebanon's weaponry.
After talks with Beirut Orthodox Archbishop Elias Audeh, Murr also urged politicians and the media to tone down the sectarian-charged rhetoric warning of its perils on the country and the military. "As defense minister I cannot recognize any other weaponry but that of the Lebanese army," he replied to a question on efforts to draw a national defense strategy.
"I cannot have faith in a future for Lebanon if we have a state within a state and an army within an army. This is only natural," he told reporters.
Murr refused to go into more details pointing out that the matter was still under debate. "The issue of weapons control has been on the table of national dialogue for a year, and political leaders have still not reached an answer," he said. He said a viable solution is for Lebanon to have "only one army, one state and no statelets.""Nobody can ask me as defense minister to accept any authority but the Lebanese army to have control over (Lebanon's) weapons." On the buildup to the polls, Murr agreed with Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir's fears of the sectarian-charged atmosphere in the country. "The (incitement) caused by candidates through the media does not facilitate the army's challenging mission, but makes it all the more difficult.... The patriarch is right to be concerned," Murr said. "Once the elections are over, who will compensate the people if the country descends into chaos because of such provocations? Will the candidates? Or will the political movements?" he asked. He said candidates are "fully responsible for their statements which can cause a lot of harm" adding that the media cannot be blamed for "giving the contenders a voice."Murr praised the military establishment and expressed faith in unity and steadfastness. Beirut, 06 May 09, 20:36

March 14 Warns of Attempts to Sabotage Polls and Destroy STL
Naharnet/The March 14 coalition said Wednesday the minority's decision to support the four generals and its previous opposition to any decision by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon are attempts to "kill" the court. "The decision of the March 8 forces to support the generals and its (the coalition's) previous rejection to any decision by it (the court) are attempts to kill this tribunal," the March 14 general secretariat said after its weekly meeting. The alliance reiterated its acceptance of the STL's decision last month to release the four generals who were held for almost four years in connection with ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's Feb. 2005 assassination. On the June 7 polls, the statement said that Lebanon is "witnessing an escalating political and security tension, which could be the beginning of a planned coup" to sabotage the elections. The March 14 forces also condemned attacks on the judiciary and demanded the respect of the judicial institutions' independence. The statement accused the March 8 forces of facilitating the escape to Syria of several individuals accused of attacking an army patrol in the Bekaa valley on April 13. Syria -- purportedly responding to intervention of some Lebanese political parties -- has retracted its decision to hand over the suspects to Lebanon. The daily An Nahar said Syrian authorities arrested overnight Saturday Hasan Abbas Jaafar, Mohammed Ali Jaafar and Fayyad Ismail after they crossed the border from Turkey. Beirut, 06 May 09, 16:17

True colors
From what we’ve seen from the opposition, we need a different kind of change
NOW Staff , May 7, 2009
Lest we forget the May events of 2008 in which the opposition subjected Lebanon to the kind of internecine violence not seen since the civil war. (AFP)
Exactly one year ago, the specter of the unthinkable loomed large over this nation. In the previous 18 years, Lebanon had endured occupation, foreign aggression and terror attacks while it sought to heal the wounds of 15 years of internecine strife. And yet during this fragile period of reconciliation and reconstruction, Lebanese of all stripes resisted the urge to take up arms against their brothers and sisters.
That was until May 7, 2008, when Hezbollah and their allies felt that their mini-fiefdom was under threat. The ultimate red line – in a nation splattered with many red lines – was crossed, and Hezbollah’s myth of martial purity was shattered. Among dead that day were a mother and her son, caught in withering crossfire, orchestrated by a militant, militarist and autocratic party that had done much to convince its followers that it was Lebanon’s noblest, most disciplined and most patriotic. The Amal Movement, ably supported by the SSNP’s warrior-savants, may have provided much of the cannon fodder, but the tactical brain came from Hezbollah’s underground command center in the Dahiyeh.
The party’s Christian ally, Michel Aoun, the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement, and a man who two decades earlier nearly reduced Lebanon to rubble in his bid to defeat the stranglehold of another militia, this time defended the actions of arguably the most powerful militia of all. The sham had been exposed.
The first anniversary of this shameful chapter in Lebanon’s modern history is worth remembering, because Aoun is today urging Lebanese to vote for his party on a ticket of “change”, as if change for its own sake will miraculously lead Lebanon into a bright new dawn; as if change were the only way to rid Lebanon of the apparent malaise that has plagued the Lebanese since they last visited the ballot box in 2005.
He is wrong and we should ignore him, if only because of the stand he took exactly one year ago and because the FPM’s showing at the polls will, in all probability, determine the outcome of this latest electoral contest.
Aoun and his March 8 allies are peddling the idea that the March 14 bloc has lost the plot; that it has become soft and arrogant, that its candidates are not up to much, that they are young and untested and only selected because they are the heirs-apparent of so-called political dynasties that most Lebanese do not want to see perpetuated.
They also say that, despite the momentous spring days in 2005, the majority coalition today represents nothing more than a hollow western construct of the now-discredited neo-cons. They claim that March 14 is living on a life support system provided by the House of Saud and is clutching at ambiguous straws of support from the new US administration.
Again they are wrong. The fact remains that March 14 has been the only positive political force in the country since the 2005 elections. It has tried to follow a path of economic development and the principles of basic governance. It set out to consolidate Lebanon’s sovereign and territorial aspirations and sought to build ties with the developed world, ties designed to deliver growth and development and ensure that Lebanon takes its place in the global economic community.
Just as important, March 14 put its full weight behind the establishment of the Special Tribunal on Lebanon, not for revenge, but because it sees the court as an opportunity to create a legal milestone in modern Middle East history, one that will put an end to the idea that political murder is an acceptable means to an end. In following all these paths, six of the coalition’s members – four of them MPs – have been assassinated, either blown up in their cars or riddled with bullets. The rest were forced into an exile of sorts, hiding behind curtains to avoid the sniper and avoiding unnecessary travel to evade the bomber.
March 14 neither dragged Lebanon into a war with its neighbor, nor has it taken to the streets to settle scores with lethal force. It does not, unlike some of its opponents, extol religious conservatism, nor does it place violence and sacrifice among its core values.
The posters push for change. The ubiquitous and tantalizing image of the hand holding the remote control tells us it’s that easy. Determining Lebanon’s future is not as simple as choosing a TV channel. Then again, if you believe that armed aggression is the best way to get things done, then anything is possible.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
Press Release

Embargoed for 00:01 GMT Thursday 07 May 2009
Lebanon: 7 June elections a key opportunity for human rights
Lebanon's upcoming national elections, due on 7 June, present a unique opportunity for the country's political leaders to commit themselves and their parties to introducing long-needed human rights reforms, Amnesty International said today as it published a five-point human rights agenda for Lebanon.
“These elections come at a critical juncture for Lebanon. They provide a key opportunity for the country's political leaders to put human rights at the centre of their parties' agendas and to turn the page on the abuses of the past and the systematic impunity that surrounded and fostered them,” said Malcolm Smart, Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme. “We are appealing to all Lebanon's political leaders to seize the moment and not to let this pivotal opportunity pass.”
The eight-page report identifies five key areas for reform by the new government that will take office after the elections. “The justice system needs a thorough overhaul as it lacks independence, is not impartial and still allows military courts to try civilians in breach of international standards,” said Malcolm Smart. “With the establishment of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, those responsible for the killing of former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri may now be brought to justice, but the creation of the Tribunal also underscores the need for reform of the justice system and for complementary mechanisms to be established to ensure that perpetrators of other grave human rights crimes are also held fully to account - or else the Special Tribunal may be seen as little more than 'selective justice'.”
Last week, four Lebanese military and security heads who had been arrested following the killing of Rafic Hariri in 2005 were released after 44 months in detention without charge or trial. “Unfortunately, their experiences were not at all unique,” said Malcolm Smart. “For far too long, Lebanon's security forces have arrested suspects and subjected them to detention without charge or trial, and sometimes to torture or other ill-treatment, and they have been permitted to do so with impunity. These practices must be stopped and the security forces must be required to obey and uphold the law.”
In the report, Amnesty International also calls for government action to address the legacy of past human rights abuses and to end discrimination and violence against women, including foreign domestic workers, and members of other marginalized groups, such as the thousands of Palestinian refugees who continue to live in Lebanon but who face legal and other obstacles in accessing basic human rights. It calls too for the abolition of the death penalty, noting that no executions have been carried out in Lebanon for several years.
“The past year has seen a number of positive human rights developments and the drafting by parliament of a Human Rights Action Plan that, if implemented, could provide a much-needed framework for future reform,” said Malcolm Smart. “Lebanon's leaders should embrace these developments and use the opportunity of the elections to commit to the implementation of a clear and comprehensive agenda for human rights reform if elected to office in the new parliament or government.”
For more information, please contact Nicole Choueiry, Press Officer for the Middle East and North Africa on +44 207 413 5511 (direct) +44 (0) 7831 640 170 (mobile), or nchoueir@amnesty.org
Public Document
****************************************
For more information please call Amnesty International's press office in London, UK, on +44 20 7413 5566 or email: press@amnesty.org
International Secretariat, Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London WC1X 0DW, UK
www.amnesty.org
-------------------------------------
East Mediterranean Team
Amnesty International, International Secretariat
Peter Benenson House, 1 Easton Street
London WC1X 0DW
United Kingdom
E-mail: Eastmed@amnesty.org
Tel: +44 (0)20 7413 5500
Fax: +44 (0)20 7413 5719

Ahmadinejad, Assad vow support for resistance
By Agence France Presse (AFP)
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
DAMASCUS: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad slammed Zionism as "occupation" and "aggression" Tuesday as he delivered his latest diatribe against Israel on a visit to key Middle East ally Syria. "The Zionist occupiers are destructive microbes, because Zionism itself is occupation, aggression, the use of assassination and annihilation," he told a joint news conference with President Bashar Assad in the Syrian capital.
"Zionism was created to threaten us. To support the Palestinian resistance is a humanitarian and popular obligation," Ahmadinejad said in remarks in Farsi that were translated into Arabic.
"Syria and Iran are united in supporting the Palestinian resistance," Ahmaadinejad said.
Ahmadinejad asked why it is the Islamist Hamas movement which controls Gaza that is blacklisted by the European Union and the United States, and not Israel after its devastating war on the territory at the turn of the year.
"They've attacked Gaza, killing people in their own land and massacring women and children ... and yet it's the Palestinians they accuse of terrorism," he complained.
Ahmadinejad also hit out at the continuing US military presence on Iran's borders.
"They weren't invited in. They're unwelcome visitors who should leave Afghanistan and the borders of Pakistan," the Iranian president said.
"We don't want honey from bees that sting us. Efforts must be made to rid the region of the presence of foreigners ... and to reform the unjust global political and economic system."
Ahmadinejad said that Iran and Syria were standing together to "resist foreign intervention and the major powers trying to impose their hegemony over the region."
The United States "has put pressure on Syria and Iran, but it needs us and wants to develop relations," he said.
"Circumstances are changing rapidly in our favor. We are on the road to victory."
Assad in turn hailed what he called the "natural" strategic alliance between Syria and Iran, which he said was "built on shared principles and interests."
"We agreed to support reconciliation in Iraq and look forward to the departure of the last foreign soldier," he added.
The United States and its key regional ally Israel have long sought to sour the three-decade-old alliance between Iran and Syria, which are the main foreign backers of the Lebanese group Hizbullah as well as Hamas.
The Obama administration has stepped up US contacts with Damascus and the acting assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs Jeffrey Feltman is due to leave for the Syrian capital on Wednesday on his second visit this year. In March, he made the first high-level US trip to Syria since 2005.
But on Monday, Washington baulked at calls by the Syrian president for it to open talks with Hamas and Hizbullah, saying the two groups had to renounce violence first.
"We would like to see Syria change the behavior of these two groups," State Department spokesman Robert Wood said.
Ahmadinejad was also due to meet exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal during his Damascus visit. - AFP
l TEHRAN: Iran's judiciary announced on Tuesday it will soon hear an appeal for a US-Iranian reporter jailed on spying charges in a case that has alarmed the United States.
"There is going to be an appeal trial next week for Roxana Saberi," judiciary spokesman Ali Reza Jamshidi told reporters, without giving an exact date. The Iranian week begins on a Saturday. He said the appeal would be held behind closed doors and that the bar association, the intelligence ministry and the prosecutor's representative had been informed.
In a move strongly opposed by the US, Saberi was sentenced last month by a Tehran revolutionary court to an eight-year jail term after being convicted of spying for America. - AFP with The Daily Star

Jumblat Calls for Calm Political Rhetoric on May 7
Naharnet/Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat hoped on Wednesday that political rhetoric on the occasion of May 7 events would be calm in order to open a new dialogue page. "I hope political rhetoric tomorrow on May 7 would be calm so that we work together and with President Suleiman on healing past wounds and opening a page of dialogue and reconciliation," Jumblat said after meeting President Michel Suleiman at Baabda palace. The Druze leader reiterated that he accepts the decision of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon to release the four generals who were held in connection with ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination. "We asked for the tribunal. That's why we have to yield to it and accept the court whatever its decisions were," Jumblat stressed. He also called for holding transparent elections and accepting the results of the June 7 polls.
Jumblat stressed that "the national dialogue should continue to be held until further notice and until the president decides there is no need to continue holding dialogue sessions."
On the Doha accord, Jumblat said: "The agreement should remain active" after the elections. Beirut, 06 May 09, 18:21

Murr: One Army and One State, No One Can Ask Me to Believe Otherwise

Naharnet/Defense Minister Elias Murr said Wednesday he "cannot but recognize" the army as the only body that should be in command of Lebanon's weaponry.
After talks with Beirut Orthodox Archbishop Elias Audeh, Murr also urged politicians and the media to tone down the sectarian-charged rhetoric warning of its perils on the country and the military.  "As defense minister I cannot recognize any other weaponry but that of the Lebanese army," he replied to a question on efforts to draw a national defense strategy.
"I cannot have faith in a future for Lebanon if we have a state within a state and an army within an army. This is only natural," he told reporters.
Murr refused to go into more details pointing out that the matter was still under debate. "The issue of weapons control has been on the table of national dialogue for a year, and political leaders have still not reached an answer," he said. He said a viable solution is for Lebanon to have "only one army, one state and no statelets.""Nobody can ask me as defense minister to accept any authority but the Lebanese army to have control over (Lebanon's) weapons."On the buildup to the polls, Murr agreed with Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir's fears of the sectarian-charged atmosphere in the country. "The (incitement) caused by candidates through the media does not facilitate the army's challenging mission, but makes it all the more difficult.... The patriarch is right to be concerned," Murr said. "Once the elections are over, who will compensate the people if the country descends into chaos because of such provocations? Will the candidates? Or will the political movements?" he asked. He said candidates are "fully responsible for their statements which can cause a lot of harm" adding that the media cannot be blamed for "giving the contenders a voice."Murr praised the military establishment and expressed faith in unity and steadfastness. Beirut, 06 May 09, 20:36

March 14 Warns of Attempts to Sabotage Polls and Destroy STL
Naharnet/The March 14 coalition said Wednesday the minority's decision to support the four generals and its previous opposition to any decision by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon are attempts to "kill" the court. "The decision of the March 8 forces to support the generals and its (the coalition's) previous rejection to any decision by it (the court) are attempts to kill this tribunal," the March 14 general secretariat said after its weekly meeting. The alliance reiterated its acceptance of the STL's decision last month to release the four generals who were held for almost four years in connection with ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's Feb. 2005 assassination. On the June 7 polls, the statement said that Lebanon is "witnessing an escalating political and security tension, which could be the beginning of a planned coup" to sabotage the elections. The March 14 forces also condemned attacks on the judiciary and demanded the respect of the judicial institutions' independence. The statement accused the March 8 forces of facilitating the escape to Syria of several individuals accused of attacking an army patrol in the Bekaa valley on April 13. Syria -- purportedly responding to intervention of some Lebanese political parties -- has retracted its decision to hand over the suspects to Lebanon. The daily An Nahar said Syrian authorities arrested overnight Saturday Hasan Abbas Jaafar, Mohammed Ali Jaafar and Fayyad Ismail after they crossed the border from Turkey. Beirut, 06 May 09, 16:17
 

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
May 08/09

 

Bible Reading of the day.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 13,16-20. Amen, amen, I say to you, no slave is greater than his master nor any messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you understand this, blessed are you if you do it. I am not speaking of all of you. I know those whom I have chosen. But so that the scripture might be fulfilled, 'The one who ate my food has raised his heel against me.' From now on I am telling you before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe that I AM. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me."

Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special Reports
May 7: The day of the jackal. By: Lina Saleh 07/05/09
May 7’ disgrace/Future News 07/05/09
True colors/NowLebanon.com 07/05/09

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for May 07/09
Hizbullah directs its speech against Baabda-Future News
Siniora: Integration between authorities is the basis of our regime-Future News
Why Nasrallah will not declare his program-Future News
Hariri stresses importance of unity and impending agreement with Islamic Group-Future News
US allies in Mideast cautious over Iran overtures-The Associated Press
Ahmadinejad, Assad vow support for resistance-(AFP)
Defense official: Israel has no territorial claims to Ghajar-Ha'aretz
Aoun Separates Himself from Berri in Jezzine, Keeps Old Kesrouan List
Cassesse Postpones Beirut Visit till July-Naharnet
Mossad on Alert Ahead of Lebanese Elections, Worried about Hizbullah Growth-Naharnet
Hariri Announces Beirut 3 List on Thursday, Beirut 1 Dilemma Solved-Naharnet
Netanyahu Postpones Decision on Pullout from Ghajar to Friday
-Naharnet
Raad: Wrong He Who Thinks the State Cannot Work Alongside Resistance
-Naharnet
Murr: One Army and One State, No One Can Ask Me to Believe Otherwise
-Naharnet
Jumblat Calls for Calm Political Rhetoric on May 7
-Naharnet
March 14 Warns of Attempts to Sabotage Polls and Destroy STL
-Naharnet
Syria Retracts Decision to Hand Over Suspects in Deadly Army Attack to Lebanon
-Naharnet
Albright Meets Lebanese Officials as Part of Poll-monitoring Mission
-Naharnet



Aoun announces Kesrouane – Ftouh electoral list

iloubnan.info - May 07, 2009, 12h03
BEIRUT – Change and Reform bloc leader MP Michel Aoun announced on Thursday the electoral list of the bloc in Kesrouane – Ftouh district. Speaking from his home in Rabieh, Aoun named the candidates Michel Aoun (himself), Nematollah Abi Nasr, Farid Khazen, Youssef Khalil and Gilberte Zouein to run in the district on June 7. Aoun had delayed the announcement of Baabda district electoral list for later. In parallel, MP Aoun is scheduled to announce later in the afternoon the platform of the Free Patriotic Movement and the respective electoral lists of his candidates in the other regions, four years after his return to Lebanon from exile on May 7, 2005.

May 7: The day of the jackal
Date: May 7th, 2009
Lina Saleh
Future News
Do you remember the violence of May 7, 2008? That was the day armed militias of Hizbullah and their friends invaded the streets of West Beirut, violated people’s lives, crossed every red line there is and savaged all norms of civilized behavior and human ethics.
Remember when you were accused of infidelity and high treason, when you feared for your family more than you did for yourself, feared that an armed attack might desecrate the privacy of your own home as peaceful neighborhoods were invaded?
Remember the bullets buzzing, and the militias of Amal and Hizbullah yelling religious slogans while invading their own capital city, an unprecedented sin? Remember the relentless enthusiasm with which they shot at unarmed civilians, their own countrymen, as if they were on a jihad?
Why did our countrymen want to tyrannize and silence their fellow citizens? More to the point: Why did they want to kill?
Remember when the militias forcibly silenced and violated the Almustaqbal media, pitilessly burned down the newspaper’s offices and the television station, and cut off broadcasts on Al-Sharq radio?
They used the force of arms to rip apart the freedom of journalism, to suppress sovereignty and independence. But they were deluded if they believed that their actions would bear fruit, and that their brutality would silence us. They underestimated the power of truth, which outshines the roar of bullets and missiles.
Two days after the “Lebanese” gunmen invaded their own capital, several members of the Almustaqbal newspaper team returned to the safety of their homes. Others preferred to stay where they were.
In the early morning light they heard the gunfire coming closer and closer to the building. They were besieged.
The encircled journalists heard the militiamen chant religious slogans and curse as they called on them to surrender. The journalists gathered in one room waiting for the end, expecting to be shot to death.
They stayed there for more than an hour, trying to phone for help from the security forces, but no one was ‘online.’
In life-or-death situations like that, the mind freezes. It focuses on the idea of survival as the gunmen curse and the gunfire crashes.
An hour later, the shooting stopped. The army rushed to the building to rescue the besieged journalists. The gunmen assembled in an abandoned house facing the television building, jeering the soldiers.
This grotesque situation raised many questions. Are human beings worthless? Is it so easy to kill people? For make no mistake, the attacks and the gunfire were not just meant to intimidate – they were meant to kill.
The journalists gazed at the building that was by now in flames, They wondered whether the newspaper would be published the next day. Agony and a deep sense of loss was written on their faces.
Nevertheless, the will to be heard and the determination to overcome all forms of tyranny, sabotage and oppression are more powerful than gunfire and terror. Almustaqbal’s administration decided to publish the newspaper from Dar Assayad, the leading publishing house in the Middle East in the Sin el-Fil district of Beirut.
But one crucial question still lingers in the minds of those journalists. They keep asking over and over what was the reason behind the inhuman, uncivilized and barbarian assaults upon them. But they can find none.
Pointing weapons at one’s countrymen is nothing to be proud of. It is without honor or dignity.
Wisdom lies only in calling for coexistence and dialogue among the political parties. It is not embodied in accusing others of treason or seeking to silence them by force of arms.
No one has the right to decide whether this Lebanese or that is good or bad, or to kill them in cold blood and force them into civil war. What happened on May 7, 2008, is a dark stain on Lebanon’s history.

May 7’ disgrace

Date: May 7th, 2009
Future News
The impudence of the parliament members and articulate speakers of the pro-Syrian militias of ‘March 8’ alliance hits the peak when talking about the attacks of ‘May 7, 2008’.
Once you hear them speaking you cannot but remember the saying of Said Takieddine “how fluent is the whore when preaching about chastity”. Those leaders justify their intolerable practices with statements that instigate people of the same nation against each other.
‘May 7’ attacks were an overthrow attempt against the legitimate authority, partnership, civil peace, and law. Giving these attacks any other explanation would mean accepting the criminal practices of Ariel Sharon when he invaded Beirut with hostility based on two concepts: hatred and violation, and the incidents of ‘May 7’ included both concepts.
No one can disregard the ‘May 7’ attacks, which shed the blood of 56 Lebanese. Moreover, the militias that carried out these crimes did not re-evaluate their practices to reassure that these events will never occur again, on the contrary, some of their leaders keep threatening the Lebanese of other similar attacks.
Which one of these criminals will visit the tomb of this day’s victim in the annual memory to apologize for his crime? Who will wipe the tears of the mother whose son was slain and explain to her the meaning of “partnership” which he refused when he pulled out of the government, shut down the parliament, and halted the security services from doing its duties?
Would the murderer dare say that he carried the riffle against his fellow citizen to protect Syria’s regime of murder and terrorism and his Persian ally? Has he enough courage to announce that the riffle targeting the Lebanese is that of a hit man?
These militias are simply asking us to act as if the parliament was never closed for one and a half year and public and private properties in Downtown Beirut were never occupied, and act as if roads were never blocked by street rats and thieves in the way of the Lebanese.
They want us to be the first to die, they want us to stand on the graves of our beloved, and to be a spearhead for sectary sedition, because we are the ones who exploit religious and social occasions to use our sectary language skills, and we are the ones who revive past incidents and project it on the present reality.
We are the sons of life and we will never be anything else. We are the modern and enlightened Arabism who believe in Lebanon the final nation of all the Lebanese, which is governed through equal partnership between Muslims and Christians, regardless of sizes and numbers. We are the people who fought Israel and protected our city from the occupation.
We did not establish militias or support its establishment, but we suffered the grudges of militias and their men who intruded in our lives and invaded our privacies and fought the battles of the Syrian Regime on the remains of our dead.
We are the sons of martyr Premier Rafic Hariri, the brothers of Mufti Sheikh Hassan Khaled, and the supporters of martyr MP Nazem el Kaderi.
We are the comrades of Kamal Jumblatt and George Hawi, and Pierre Gemayel and Walid Eido and Antoine Ghanem and Bassel Fleihan.
We are the readers of Gebran Tueini and Samir Kassir who exhausted the Lebanese-Syrian intelligence system.
We are the sons of ‘Lebanon First’ slogan and together we will keep working to build the state.
The blood of all who were slain on the 7th of May, the martyrs of the Second Independence, will remain brighter than sunlight. We will not falsely testify on their death no matter how high the prices were.

Cassesse Postpones Beirut Visit till July
Naharnet/The president of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Antonio Cassesse has postponed a scheduled visit to Beirut without giving a reason for the delay. Tribunal spokeswoman Suzanne Khan told pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat that Cassesse is "likely" to make a regional tour in July. "He did not cancel his trip," Khan made sure to point out. The paper quoted a judicial source in Beirut as saying Cassesse has informed Lebanon of the delay, but denied the STL has set a new date for his visit. The source believed that the U.N. was probably "disturbed by the uproar" which prevailed in the wake of the release of Lebanon's top four generals from nearly four years in jail without charge and the ensuing opposition campaign against the Lebanese judiciary. Cassesse was scheduled to visit Lebanon May 11 for talks with President Michel Suleiman, Prime Minister Fouad Saniora and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. He had also planned to meet the head of the Higher Judicial Council Judge Ghaleb Ghanem as well as Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar, and was scheduled to give a lecture in Beirut on the mechanisms for the STL's operation. Beirut, 07 May 09, 07:46

Mossad on Alert Ahead of Lebanese Elections, Worried about Hizbullah Growth
Naharnet/Lebanon poses a threat to Israel "more than any time before" due to Hizbullah's growth and development both on a political and military level as well as Iran's support for the Shiite group, according to Israeli security officials. Beirut station chief for the Israeli spy agency during the Israeli occupation of Lebanon Eliezer Tsafrir said "intensive Mossad activity, including recruiting agents to find out what is being plotted against Israel is necessary" to safeguard Israel's security. Referring to the suspects who have been recently arrested in Lebanon on charges of spying for Israel, Tsafrir told pan-Arab daily al-Hayat in remarks published on Thursday that their agents were "fully aware that the Mossad did not buy them a life insurance policy."
"They are aware of the possibility of being caught," he said, adding that all Israel "can do at this point is recruit more agents." Tsafrir believed that Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's constant hiding is "proof that he is aware of the possibility of being targeted." Dan Halutz, the former Israeli chief of staff, had confirmed that several attempts by the Mossad to assassinate Nassrallah failed. Al-Hayat quoted Israeli security experts as saying that Mossad activity has enhanced to follow up on the situation in Lebanon. Beirut, 07 May 09, 08:56
Raad: Wrong He Who Thinks the State Cannot Work Alongside Resistance Hizbullah MP Mohammed Raad said Thursday election results will determine the identity of the country and will be a gateway to stability."Wrong he who thinks that the state cannot work alongside the resistance," Raad said during a visit to Nabatiyeh. He stressed that the resistance seeks to build a state that would achieve "political, security and social stability, because stability is a source of strength for the resistance. This stability also cannot be attained without a resistance." Beirut, 07 May 09, 11:02

Netanyahu Postpones Decision on Pullout from Ghajar to Friday
INaharnet/sraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu postponed a decision on withdrawal from the Lebanese border village of Ghajar to Friday, pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat reported.
The newspaper said the village's notables had asked Netanyahu not to yield to U.S. demands for the Israeli pullout from the northern part of Ghajar, stressing the withdrawal does not take into consideration "their interests and needs."Ghajar is inhabited mainly by Alawites, most of whom have obtained Israeli citizenship even though they consider themselves Syrian.
The Israeli deputy regional development minister met with the notables Tuesday night and informed them that Netanyahu will postpone discussion of the withdrawal for a few days.
On Wednesday, officials from the Israeli and Lebanese militaries met with U.N. peacekeeping officials at the border crossing of Naqoura to discuss the U.N.'s withdrawal proposal.
Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported on Sunday that Netanyahu plans to seek cabinet approval of the withdrawal plan before flying to Washington in mid-May.
U.N. peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy, who is visiting Lebanon, attended Wednesday's meeting and is planning to press the withdrawal issue further when he visits Israel in the coming days.
"I hope that the ongoing discussions on the basis of UNIFIL's proposal of last year will lead to a speedy resolution of this matter," Le Roy said, according to a statement from the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon. Israel took the village of Ghajar when it captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war.
The village was divided between an Israeli-controlled part and a Lebanese section by the United Nations after the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the south in 2000.
Israel retook the northern part of the village in the 2006 war with Hizbullah and balked at withdrawing earlier due to security concerns. Beirut, 07 May 09, 10:19

Raad: Wrong He Who Thinks the State Cannot Work Alongside Resistance
Naharnet/Hizbullah MP Mohammed Raad said Thursday election results will determine the identity of the country and will be a gateway to stability. "Wrong he who thinks that the state cannot work alongside the resistance," Raad said during a visit to Nabatiyeh. He stressed that the resistance seeks to build a state that would achieve "political, security and social stability, because stability is a source of strength for the resistance. This stability also cannot be attained without a resistance." Beirut, 07 May 09, 11:02

Murr: One Army and One State, No One Can Ask Me to Believe Otherwise
Naharnet/Defense Minister Elias Murr said Wednesday he "cannot but recognize" the army as the only body that should be in command of Lebanon's weaponry.
After talks with Beirut Orthodox Archbishop Elias Audeh, Murr also urged politicians and the media to tone down the sectarian-charged rhetoric warning of its perils on the country and the military. "As defense minister I cannot recognize any other weaponry but that of the Lebanese army," he replied to a question on efforts to draw a national defense strategy.
"I cannot have faith in a future for Lebanon if we have a state within a state and an army within an army. This is only natural," he told reporters.
Murr refused to go into more details pointing out that the matter was still under debate. "The issue of weapons control has been on the table of national dialogue for a year, and political leaders have still not reached an answer," he said. He said a viable solution is for Lebanon to have "only one army, one state and no statelets.""Nobody can ask me as defense minister to accept any authority but the Lebanese army to have control over (Lebanon's) weapons." On the buildup to the polls, Murr agreed with Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir's fears of the sectarian-charged atmosphere in the country. "The (incitement) caused by candidates through the media does not facilitate the army's challenging mission, but makes it all the more difficult.... The patriarch is right to be concerned," Murr said. "Once the elections are over, who will compensate the people if the country descends into chaos because of such provocations? Will the candidates? Or will the political movements?" he asked. He said candidates are "fully responsible for their statements which can cause a lot of harm" adding that the media cannot be blamed for "giving the contenders a voice."Murr praised the military establishment and expressed faith in unity and steadfastness. Beirut, 06 May 09, 20:36

March 14 Warns of Attempts to Sabotage Polls and Destroy STL
Naharnet/The March 14 coalition said Wednesday the minority's decision to support the four generals and its previous opposition to any decision by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon are attempts to "kill" the court. "The decision of the March 8 forces to support the generals and its (the coalition's) previous rejection to any decision by it (the court) are attempts to kill this tribunal," the March 14 general secretariat said after its weekly meeting. The alliance reiterated its acceptance of the STL's decision last month to release the four generals who were held for almost four years in connection with ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's Feb. 2005 assassination. On the June 7 polls, the statement said that Lebanon is "witnessing an escalating political and security tension, which could be the beginning of a planned coup" to sabotage the elections. The March 14 forces also condemned attacks on the judiciary and demanded the respect of the judicial institutions' independence. The statement accused the March 8 forces of facilitating the escape to Syria of several individuals accused of attacking an army patrol in the Bekaa valley on April 13. Syria -- purportedly responding to intervention of some Lebanese political parties -- has retracted its decision to hand over the suspects to Lebanon. The daily An Nahar said Syrian authorities arrested overnight Saturday Hasan Abbas Jaafar, Mohammed Ali Jaafar and Fayyad Ismail after they crossed the border from Turkey. Beirut, 06 May 09, 16:17

True colors
From what we’ve seen from the opposition, we need a different kind of change
NOW Staff , May 7, 2009
Lest we forget the May events of 2008 in which the opposition subjected Lebanon to the kind of internecine violence not seen since the civil war. (AFP)
Exactly one year ago, the specter of the unthinkable loomed large over this nation. In the previous 18 years, Lebanon had endured occupation, foreign aggression and terror attacks while it sought to heal the wounds of 15 years of internecine strife. And yet during this fragile period of reconciliation and reconstruction, Lebanese of all stripes resisted the urge to take up arms against their brothers and sisters.
That was until May 7, 2008, when Hezbollah and their allies felt that their mini-fiefdom was under threat. The ultimate red line – in a nation splattered with many red lines – was crossed, and Hezbollah’s myth of martial purity was shattered. Among dead that day were a mother and her son, caught in withering crossfire, orchestrated by a militant, militarist and autocratic party that had done much to convince its followers that it was Lebanon’s noblest, most disciplined and most patriotic. The Amal Movement, ably supported by the SSNP’s warrior-savants, may have provided much of the cannon fodder, but the tactical brain came from Hezbollah’s underground command center in the Dahiyeh.
The party’s Christian ally, Michel Aoun, the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement, and a man who two decades earlier nearly reduced Lebanon to rubble in his bid to defeat the stranglehold of another militia, this time defended the actions of arguably the most powerful militia of all. The sham had been exposed.
The first anniversary of this shameful chapter in Lebanon’s modern history is worth remembering, because Aoun is today urging Lebanese to vote for his party on a ticket of “change”, as if change for its own sake will miraculously lead Lebanon into a bright new dawn; as if change were the only way to rid Lebanon of the apparent malaise that has plagued the Lebanese since they last visited the ballot box in 2005.
He is wrong and we should ignore him, if only because of the stand he took exactly one year ago and because the FPM’s showing at the polls will, in all probability, determine the outcome of this latest electoral contest.
Aoun and his March 8 allies are peddling the idea that the March 14 bloc has lost the plot; that it has become soft and arrogant, that its candidates are not up to much, that they are young and untested and only selected because they are the heirs-apparent of so-called political dynasties that most Lebanese do not want to see perpetuated.
They also say that, despite the momentous spring days in 2005, the majority coalition today represents nothing more than a hollow western construct of the now-discredited neo-cons. They claim that March 14 is living on a life support system provided by the House of Saud and is clutching at ambiguous straws of support from the new US administration.
Again they are wrong. The fact remains that March 14 has been the only positive political force in the country since the 2005 elections. It has tried to follow a path of economic development and the principles of basic governance. It set out to consolidate Lebanon’s sovereign and territorial aspirations and sought to build ties with the developed world, ties designed to deliver growth and development and ensure that Lebanon takes its place in the global economic community.
Just as important, March 14 put its full weight behind the establishment of the Special Tribunal on Lebanon, not for revenge, but because it sees the court as an opportunity to create a legal milestone in modern Middle East history, one that will put an end to the idea that political murder is an acceptable means to an end. In following all these paths, six of the coalition’s members – four of them MPs – have been assassinated, either blown up in their cars or riddled with bullets. The rest were forced into an exile of sorts, hiding behind curtains to avoid the sniper and avoiding unnecessary travel to evade the bomber.
March 14 neither dragged Lebanon into a war with its neighbor, nor has it taken to the streets to settle scores with lethal force. It does not, unlike some of its opponents, extol religious conservatism, nor does it place violence and sacrifice among its core values.
The posters push for change. The ubiquitous and tantalizing image of the hand holding the remote control tells us it’s that easy. Determining Lebanon’s future is not as simple as choosing a TV channel. Then again, if you believe that armed aggression is the best way to get things done, then anything is possible.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
Press Release

Embargoed for 00:01 GMT Thursday 07 May 2009
Lebanon: 7 June elections a key opportunity for human rights
Lebanon's upcoming national elections, due on 7 June, present a unique opportunity for the country's political leaders to commit themselves and their parties to introducing long-needed human rights reforms, Amnesty International said today as it published a five-point human rights agenda for Lebanon.
“These elections come at a critical juncture for Lebanon. They provide a key opportunity for the country's political leaders to put human rights at the centre of their parties' agendas and to turn the page on the abuses of the past and the systematic impunity that surrounded and fostered them,” said Malcolm Smart, Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme. “We are appealing to all Lebanon's political leaders to seize the moment and not to let this pivotal opportunity pass.”
The eight-page report identifies five key areas for reform by the new government that will take office after the elections. “The justice system needs a thorough overhaul as it lacks independence, is not impartial and still allows military courts to try civilians in breach of international standards,” said Malcolm Smart. “With the establishment of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, those responsible for the killing of former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri may now be brought to justice, but the creation of the Tribunal also underscores the need for reform of the justice system and for complementary mechanisms to be established to ensure that perpetrators of other grave human rights crimes are also held fully to account - or else the Special Tribunal may be seen as little more than 'selective justice'.”
Last week, four Lebanese military and security heads who had been arrested following the killing of Rafic Hariri in 2005 were released after 44 months in detention without charge or trial. “Unfortunately, their experiences were not at all unique,” said Malcolm Smart. “For far too long, Lebanon's security forces have arrested suspects and subjected them to detention without charge or trial, and sometimes to torture or other ill-treatment, and they have been permitted to do so with impunity. These practices must be stopped and the security forces must be required to obey and uphold the law.”
In the report, Amnesty International also calls for government action to address the legacy of past human rights abuses and to end discrimination and violence against women, including foreign domestic workers, and members of other marginalized groups, such as the thousands of Palestinian refugees who continue to live in Lebanon but who face legal and other obstacles in accessing basic human rights. It calls too for the abolition of the death penalty, noting that no executions have been carried out in Lebanon for several years.
“The past year has seen a number of positive human rights developments and the drafting by parliament of a Human Rights Action Plan that, if implemented, could provide a much-needed framework for future reform,” said Malcolm Smart. “Lebanon's leaders should embrace these developments and use the opportunity of the elections to commit to the implementation of a clear and comprehensive agenda for human rights reform if elected to office in the new parliament or government.”
For more information, please contact Nicole Choueiry, Press Officer for the Middle East and North Africa on +44 207 413 5511 (direct) +44 (0) 7831 640 170 (mobile), or nchoueir@amnesty.org
Public Document
****************************************
For more information please call Amnesty International's press office in London, UK, on +44 20 7413 5566 or email: press@amnesty.org
International Secretariat, Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London WC1X 0DW, UK
www.amnesty.org
-------------------------------------
East Mediterranean Team
Amnesty International, International Secretariat
Peter Benenson House, 1 Easton Street
London WC1X 0DW
United Kingdom
E-mail: Eastmed@amnesty.org
Tel: +44 (0)20 7413 5500
Fax: +44 (0)20 7413 5719

Ahmadinejad, Assad vow support for resistance
By Agence France Presse (AFP)
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
DAMASCUS: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad slammed Zionism as "occupation" and "aggression" Tuesday as he delivered his latest diatribe against Israel on a visit to key Middle East ally Syria. "The Zionist occupiers are destructive microbes, because Zionism itself is occupation, aggression, the use of assassination and annihilation," he told a joint news conference with President Bashar Assad in the Syrian capital.
"Zionism was created to threaten us. To support the Palestinian resistance is a humanitarian and popular obligation," Ahmadinejad said in remarks in Farsi that were translated into Arabic.
"Syria and Iran are united in supporting the Palestinian resistance," Ahmaadinejad said.
Ahmadinejad asked why it is the Islamist Hamas movement which controls Gaza that is blacklisted by the European Union and the United States, and not Israel after its devastating war on the territory at the turn of the year.
"They've attacked Gaza, killing people in their own land and massacring women and children ... and yet it's the Palestinians they accuse of terrorism," he complained.
Ahmadinejad also hit out at the continuing US military presence on Iran's borders.
"They weren't invited in. They're unwelcome visitors who should leave Afghanistan and the borders of Pakistan," the Iranian president said.
"We don't want honey from bees that sting us. Efforts must be made to rid the region of the presence of foreigners ... and to reform the unjust global political and economic system."
Ahmadinejad said that Iran and Syria were standing together to "resist foreign intervention and the major powers trying to impose their hegemony over the region."
The United States "has put pressure on Syria and Iran, but it needs us and wants to develop relations," he said.
"Circumstances are changing rapidly in our favor. We are on the road to victory."
Assad in turn hailed what he called the "natural" strategic alliance between Syria and Iran, which he said was "built on shared principles and interests."
"We agreed to support reconciliation in Iraq and look forward to the departure of the last foreign soldier," he added.
The United States and its key regional ally Israel have long sought to sour the three-decade-old alliance between Iran and Syria, which are the main foreign backers of the Lebanese group Hizbullah as well as Hamas.
The Obama administration has stepped up US contacts with Damascus and the acting assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs Jeffrey Feltman is due to leave for the Syrian capital on Wednesday on his second visit this year. In March, he made the first high-level US trip to Syria since 2005.
But on Monday, Washington baulked at calls by the Syrian president for it to open talks with Hamas and Hizbullah, saying the two groups had to renounce violence first.
"We would like to see Syria change the behavior of these two groups," State Department spokesman Robert Wood said.
Ahmadinejad was also due to meet exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal during his Damascus visit. - AFP
l TEHRAN: Iran's judiciary announced on Tuesday it will soon hear an appeal for a US-Iranian reporter jailed on spying charges in a case that has alarmed the United States.
"There is going to be an appeal trial next week for Roxana Saberi," judiciary spokesman Ali Reza Jamshidi told reporters, without giving an exact date. The Iranian week begins on a Saturday. He said the appeal would be held behind closed doors and that the bar association, the intelligence ministry and the prosecutor's representative had been informed.
In a move strongly opposed by the US, Saberi was sentenced last month by a Tehran revolutionary court to an eight-year jail term after being convicted of spying for America. - AFP with The Daily Star

Jumblat Calls for Calm Political Rhetoric on May 7
Naharnet/Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat hoped on Wednesday that political rhetoric on the occasion of May 7 events would be calm in order to open a new dialogue page. "I hope political rhetoric tomorrow on May 7 would be calm so that we work together and with President Suleiman on healing past wounds and opening a page of dialogue and reconciliation," Jumblat said after meeting President Michel Suleiman at Baabda palace. The Druze leader reiterated that he accepts the decision of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon to release the four generals who were held in connection with ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination. "We asked for the tribunal. That's why we have to yield to it and accept the court whatever its decisions were," Jumblat stressed. He also called for holding transparent elections and accepting the results of the June 7 polls.
Jumblat stressed that "the national dialogue should continue to be held until further notice and until the president decides there is no need to continue holding dialogue sessions."
On the Doha accord, Jumblat said: "The agreement should remain active" after the elections. Beirut, 06 May 09, 18:21

Murr: One Army and One State, No One Can Ask Me to Believe Otherwise

Naharnet/Defense Minister Elias Murr said Wednesday he "cannot but recognize" the army as the only body that should be in command of Lebanon's weaponry.
After talks with Beirut Orthodox Archbishop Elias Audeh, Murr also urged politicians and the media to tone down the sectarian-charged rhetoric warning of its perils on the country and the military.  "As defense minister I cannot recognize any other weaponry but that of the Lebanese army," he replied to a question on efforts to draw a national defense strategy.
"I cannot have faith in a future for Lebanon if we have a state within a state and an army within an army. This is only natural," he told reporters.
Murr refused to go into more details pointing out that the matter was still under debate. "The issue of weapons control has been on the table of national dialogue for a year, and political leaders have still not reached an answer," he said. He said a viable solution is for Lebanon to have "only one army, one state and no statelets.""Nobody can ask me as defense minister to accept any authority but the Lebanese army to have control over (Lebanon's) weapons."On the buildup to the polls, Murr agreed with Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir's fears of the sectarian-charged atmosphere in the country. "The (incitement) caused by candidates through the media does not facilitate the army's challenging mission, but makes it all the more difficult.... The patriarch is right to be concerned," Murr said. "Once the elections are over, who will compensate the people if the country descends into chaos because of such provocations? Will the candidates? Or will the political movements?" he asked. He said candidates are "fully responsible for their statements which can cause a lot of harm" adding that the media cannot be blamed for "giving the contenders a voice."Murr praised the military establishment and expressed faith in unity and steadfastness. Beirut, 06 May 09, 20:36

March 14 Warns of Attempts to Sabotage Polls and Destroy STL
Naharnet/The March 14 coalition said Wednesday the minority's decision to support the four generals and its previous opposition to any decision by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon are attempts to "kill" the court. "The decision of the March 8 forces to support the generals and its (the coalition's) previous rejection to any decision by it (the court) are attempts to kill this tribunal," the March 14 general secretariat said after its weekly meeting. The alliance reiterated its acceptance of the STL's decision last month to release the four generals who were held for almost four years in connection with ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's Feb. 2005 assassination. On the June 7 polls, the statement said that Lebanon is "witnessing an escalating political and security tension, which could be the beginning of a planned coup" to sabotage the elections. The March 14 forces also condemned attacks on the judiciary and demanded the respect of the judicial institutions' independence. The statement accused the March 8 forces of facilitating the escape to Syria of several individuals accused of attacking an army patrol in the Bekaa valley on April 13. Syria -- purportedly responding to intervention of some Lebanese political parties -- has retracted its decision to hand over the suspects to Lebanon. The daily An Nahar said Syrian authorities arrested overnight Saturday Hasan Abbas Jaafar, Mohammed Ali Jaafar and Fayyad Ismail after they crossed the border from Turkey. Beirut, 06 May 09, 16:17