LCCC
ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
October 07/09
Bible Reading of the day
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to
Saint Luke 10:38-42. As they continued their journey he entered a village where
a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. She had a sister named Mary (who)
sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. Martha, burdened with
much serving, came to him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has
left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me." The Lord said to her
in reply, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things.
There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not
be taken from her."
Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special
Reports
Extensive Interview with
Dr. Walid Phares/Jihad
like Yoga/October 08/09
The United Arab Emirates and the
Lebanese Scolding Party/By: Jameel al-Theyabi/October 06/09
Hizbollah embroiled in Ponzi
scheme/Telegraph October 06/09
Syrian-Saudi meeting contributes to
stability, Israel might drag Iran into confrontation/Now Lebanon/October 06/09
Aoun and the Blunt Sword of
Naturalization/By: Husam Itani/October
06/09
A new consensus/Now Lebanon/October
06/09
Ezzedine and elections at the top
of Hizbullah’s general conference agenda/By: Salim Khoury/Future News/ October
06/09
Latest
News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for October 06/09
Geagea
Gives President Suleiman 10 days to Confirm a Cabinet/Naharnet
Guaino: France Won't Solve
the Crisis, but will Help Solve it/Naharnet
MP. Ter Sarkissian:
martyrs and sacrifices cannot be forgotten/Future News
Rumors of Alleged Arab Terroists in Lebanon are Unfounded/Naharnet
MP. Ter Sarkissian: martyrs and
sacrifices cannot be forgotten/Future News
Washington Informs Jumblat that
U.S. Rejects to Meet Him Individually-Naharnet
Berri Won't Give Up Foreign, Health Ministries to Aoun-Naharnet
LF sues Yaacoub for
“slander in line with Al-Watan’s reports”/Now Lebanon
Suleiman, Assad in 'Near
Daily' Contact-Naharnet
Two Lebanese jailed for Baku plot-BBC
News
Engaging the Arab World on the Iran Nuclear Crisis/World
Politics Review
Universities await police requests for
information on students-Daily Star
Williams after Meeting
Hariri: Lebanon Needs Government to Tackle Challenges/Future News
Aoun: Comprehensive
Agreement to Be Announced Soon-Naharnet
Azerbaijan Jails 2
Lebanese 15 years for Israeli Embassy Plot-Naharnet
Siddiq Sentenced to Six Months for Entering UAE on Fake Passport-Naharnet
Aoun refrains from positive talk on cabinet-Daily
Star
Lebanon consumer confidence
shows slight drop-Daily Star
Merrill Lynch projects growth
in Lebanon at 5.8 percent in 2009-Daily Star
Experts
explore ways to create culture of organ donation in Lebanon-Daily
Star
Press Federation 'cannot
interfere' in media finances-Daily Star
Conference stresses need to
communicate with HIV patients-Daily Star
Japanese archaeologists
discover new Roman grotto in south-Daily Star
Academics from around globe
assess state of feminism in Arab world-Daily Star
Iran vows 'positive' approach to
next round of nuclear talks/AFP
King Abdullah to visit Syria this
week amid warming tie-AFP
Kabbani calls for Aoun to be more
flexible/Future News
Washington Informs Jumblat that U.S. Rejects to Meet Him
Individually
Naharnet/Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat has notified U.S.
Ambassador Michele Sison during their latest meeting that he is no longer a part
of the March 14 coalition, but that he remains to be part of the parliamentary
majority. Information made available to Naharnet said Jumblat's remarks came in
response that had been conveyed to him by Sison from the State Department
concerning his request to meet officials in the new U.S. Administration to brief
them on his stance on developments in Lebanon and the region and on his
viewpoint regarding the need for American openness to Syria. Washington's
response to Jumblat's request was that the U.S. Administration welcomes the PSP
leader's visit but only as part of a delegation that represents political
parties and figures within the March 14 alliance, and that there was no chance
for individual appointments. This is what prompted Jumblat to declare that he is
no longer a part of March 14 forces. In this respect, Jumblat said in remarks
published Tuesday by the daily As-Safir that he has responded to Sison's
question on what the U.S. can offer Lebanon, saying: "We only ask for your
support for the Syrian-Saudi rapprochement." The Druze leader has also
reiterated his commitment to what has become known as the "S-S" equation, a
reference to Syria and Saudi Arabia, stressing that he has no plans to visit
Damascus before PM-designate Saad Hariri initiates the trip. In his weekly
editorial in al-Anbaa on Monday, Jumblat expressed hope that the Syrian-Saudi
summit due to be held in Damascus on Tuesday would be an "occasion to push for
normal relations between the Lebanese and Syrians." Beirut, 06 Oct 09, 08:34
Berri Won't Give Up Foreign, Health Ministries to Aoun
Naharnet/No decision was taken regarding the issue of names and portfolios
during a meeting on Monday between PM-designate Saad Hariri and Free Patriotic
Movement leader Michel Aoun as the two sides maintained a wait-and-see attitude,
pending the position of other political parties vis-à-vis the issue of
exchanging key Cabinet seats. FPM sources told the daily An-Nahar in remarks
published Tuesday that Hariri and Aoun exchanged ideas and discussed proposals,
but that nothing has been made final. Al-Liwaa, however, quoted Parliamentary
sources as saying that Hariri and Aoun have agreed to maintain a 30-seat
national unity government based on the 15-10-5 formula and to overcome the issue
of bringing in election losers. The sources said the two leaders also agreed
that Aoun would sit with Hariri to discuss the names of ministers he wishes to
bring to the new government after having picked them. On the issue of rotation
of Cabinet portfolios, Al-Liwaa said recent contacts between the FPM, AMAL and
Hizbullah leaderships did not find positive results from Speaker Nabih Berri's
AMAL movement with regards to the possibility of giving Jebran Bassil the
foreign or health ministries. Beirut, 06 Oct 09, 11:10
Suleiman, Assad in 'Near Daily' Contact
Naharnet/President Michel Suleiman awaits the outcome of talks between Syrian
President Bashar Assad and Saudi King Abdullah that would certainly have an
impact at the domestic level.
Suleiman, according to the daily As-Safir, stressed that he is in "nearly daily"
contact with Assad as well as with the Saudi Kingdom. Suleiman said he was
trying to do his work in line with the Constitution in order to reach an
agreement on the new government that would, in turn, launch reforms in various
areas. Pan-Arab Asharq al-Awsat newspaper, citing Lebanese sources, said
Suleiman was likely to join the Assad-Abdullah talks if he was invited. Al-Liwaa
daily, however, quoted political circles as ruling out Suleiman's participation
in the summit "so long as a Cabinet lineup has not yet been reached." It said a
visit by PM-designate Saad Hariri was likely to take place within the framework
of Syrian-Lebanese summit.
Beirut, 06 Oct 09, 10:01
Ter Sarkissian: martyrs and sacrifices cannot be forgotten
Date: October 6th, 2009/Source: LBC
Serge Ter Sarkissian of the Lebanon First bloc said Tuesday the martyrs and the
struggle of the factions that won the parliamentary elections must be taken into
consideration in forming the cabinet. “The process of cabinet formation is
moving forward in a rapid pace and I call on all political factions to surpass
their differences to ensure Lebanon’s deliverance,” he told the Lebanese
Broadcasting Corporation station, though allies must maintain their unity.”“The
Armenians outside their homeland have the right to discuss the protocol
agreement reached between Turkey and Armenia. The Armenian authority which
studied it neglected the fact that Armenian expatriates and those residing in
Lebanon have the right to look at it,” he maintained.
“Openness on Turkey has a very important regional background and opening borders
between Turkey and Armenia will have a positive economic impact on Europe more
than the Iranian influence. Yet this does not imply giving up on the Armenian
cause.”
Ezzedine and elections at the top of Hizbullah’s general conference agenda
Date: October 6th, 2009/Salim Khoury
Future News
Hizbullah will hold its general conference before the New Year, after having
held several preliminary sessions for its organizational committees during the
last few months. The General Conference, which is Hizbullah’s final session this
year, is expected to include decisions at the organizational, political,
administrative, and ideological levels.
The main developments that occurred over the past few months will impact the
conference, its agenda, as well as its outcome.
The first development is financial, and was represented through the bankruptcy
of Salah Ezzedine.
Though Hizbullah denies any purposely relation to the bankrupt businessman, its
offstage figures admit that Ezzedine had invested his funds within the party’s
realm and that the depositors have trusted Ezzedine because he is affiliated
with the party. This case will pose new types of questions on Hizbullah’s
leadership, mainly how to confront the challenge of the parasites that had grown
within its public and political fields and which had benefitted from the party’s
ideological and political vibes making fortunes.
Hizbullah’s chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah had transmitted a message to the
party’s main leaders, sometime after the financial scandal, notifying them
against the phenomena and the necessity to confront it. From this prospect,
Hizbullah’s final session will touch on the details of the Ezzedine case, as an
expression of a social phenomenon within the party’s realm as well as its
organizational corpse. The final discussion is expected to deal with another
crucial topic: did Hizbullah become a fertile soil for opportunistic groups who
abuse its slogans to carry out corruptive practices at the financial and social
levels or even on more advanced levels?
The answers which the conference will give to these questions will determine the
nature of Hizbullah’s approach to these issues, especially as these concerns are
directly related to its internal body. Thus Hizbullah is expected to do a
decontamination crusade at the political and organizational levels ‘as a clear
message’ conveying the Secretary General’s persistence to confront Ezzedine’s
phenomenon within the party. Meanwhile, the second development is related to the
2009 parliamentary elections. In this context two outlooks will be enlisted on
the conference’s agenda: the first says that the elections have shown a failure
in the planning and follow-up criteria within the party, mainly at the levels of
managing internal issuances.
The advocates of this outlook believe that the party must determine the
accountability and put the responsible on liability as well as making proposals
to avoid the recurrence of the same faults in the future. On the other hand, the
second outlook says that Hizbullah lost the elections but did not lose its
position in the equation, and that the leader in charge of planning the
electoral campaign – in reference to Hizbullah’s second in command Sheikh Naim
Qassem- is not responsible for the party’s failure in the elections, but that
the responsibility lays on Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun, who
was charged, during the Doha agreement in 2008, with the mission of presenting
his visualization of the best way to divide the electoral districts. The
advocates of this outlook believe that Aoun has made a mistake in his vision for
the districts and that he should have divided the districts differently to serve
“his real capacity in the elections.”The conference, which is expected to make
substantial changes to the party’s political and organizational command, may
also raise other issues within its bid to sanitize its internal body.
Kabbani calls for Aoun to be more flexible
Date: October 6th, 2009/Source: NNA
Member of "Lebanon First" bloc MP Mohammad Kabbani called Tuesday on "Change and
Reform" bloc leader MP Michel Aoun to give up some of his previous requests that
prevented the cabinet formation. Kabbani, a Beirut MP said the opposition’s
suppleness is necessary for reaching the appropriate formula to forming the
government, thus assuring the country’s transition from one stage to another. In
an interview with “Future news” Television, he expressed his support to the
rotation of the portfolios procedure and that “they shouldn’t be limited to a
particular person” stressing that the financial ministry is sensitive because a
minister at odds with the PM would hamper the government’s work. He rejected the
opposition’s allegation that the Christians of the majority are obstructing the
process of cabinet formation and pointed out that some issues were still
unresolved, despite the positivity of the meeting that took place between
Premier-Designate Hariri and FPM leader MP Michel Aoun. “This meeting won’t be
the last, there will be other meeting after Premier-Designate Hariri consults
with his allies and take their opinions into consideration,” Kabbani said.
Ezzeddine fingerprints on Lebanon Central Bank’s clearance room
Date: October 5th, 2009/Future News
Clearance room of Lebanon Central Bank showed that the bouncing checks during
the first 9 months of year 2009 till September are increasing in both number and
value. The bounced checks of businessman Salah Ezzeddine clearly showed during
September, which is the month when bounced checks drawn by Ezzeddine began to
show.
The value of bounced checks during September reached 120 million dollars and the
highest value of bounced checks in one month year 2009 till August did not
exceed 81 million dollars, and in August Ezzeddine ceased payments before he was
received by the public prosecutor from Hizbullah. From January 2009 until July
of the same year, the bounced checks reached a minimum value of 52 million
dollars (February) and a maximum rate of 78 million dollars (July). The reason
behind the bounced checks is not necessary because of is not necessarily due to
the insolvency of the drawer, even in cases of non-availability of money.
Sometimes, banks deal with this kind of checks depending on the solvency of the
client and his duty credit and financial relations, but this was not provided to
Ezzeddine.
Williams after Meeting Hariri: Lebanon Needs Government to Tackle Challenges
Naharnet/United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams said
Monday that Lebanon is in need of a government that would face up to challenges.
His remarks came following a meeting at Center House with PM-designate Saad
Hariri where discussions focused on recent domestic and regional political
developments, particularly progress of the government formation process. "I
would like to take this opportunity to commend Saad Hariri for his untiring
efforts to bring about a truly national government," Williams told reporters.
While he praised the open dialogue policy adopted by the various political
parties, Williams hoped that the current round of consultations would reach a
successful conclusion.
"It has been almost four months since the parliamentary elections took place in
June; the country needs a government to tackle the very many challenges that
remain on hold, particularly with regards to social and economic reforms as well
as political and security challenges," he said. The U.N. official explained that
Lebanon was part of a broader regional context, stressing the positive
developments taking place at the regional level, particularly the progress in
relations between Syrian and Saudi Arabia. Williams informed Hariri on the U.N.
preparations to issue by the end of October the 11th report regarding
implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701. Beirut, 06 Oct 09, 09:08
Aoun: Comprehensive Agreement to Be Announced Soon
Naharnet/Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun said following talks with
PM-designate Saad Hariri at Center House on Monday that a comprehensive
agreement on a new government will soon be announced after Hariri completes his
consultations with all parties. Aoun added that he agreed with Hariri on some
points while the rest of the disputed points will be discussed in further
meetings in order to reach a "strong and coherent government". "The Cabinet is
not only formed of FPM and Al-Mustaqbal ministers, there are other parties that
should be involved in the dialogue process," said Aoun, adding that things
should not be rushed and people should not be reassured of positive developments
which are being denied later.
Aoun stressed on the necessity for further meetings and said that each
government with a pre-agreement on its policy statement and its foundations is a
strong government. He added that the harmony among the Prime Minister and the
ministers regarding the discussed issues is a factor that strengthens the
government. Beirut, 05 Oct 09, 17:00
PSP Leader Looks Forward to Syrian-Saudi Summit
Naharnet/Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat said "the upcoming
Syrian-Saudi summit will hark back the relations between Lebanon and Syria in
accordance with the Taef Accord." In his weekly article to al-Anbaa magazine,
Jumblat praised the heroic role of the Syrian military forces in shadows of the
1973 war against Israel. "Coinciding with this year's commemorative event is the
inter-Arab approach which is a most appropriate occasion to forget previous
confrontations and the harsh escalatory tones between Lebanon and its
neighboring country", MP Jumblat added. "Both countries should establish a
common ground abiding by the Taef Accord and based on a geography and a history
which bring them together", added Jumblat. Jumblat considered that "if Egypt
joined the Syrian-Lebanese-Saudi triangle, an Arab security network will be
created to make front to any future plans targeting the integrity, freedom and
sovereignty of the Arab region". These paralleled events should be taken
advantage of and "the Arab countries should unite against the Israeli
aggression", Jumblat concluded. Beirut, 05 Oct 09, 20:20
Azerbaijan Jails 2 Lebanese 15 years for Israeli Embassy Plot
Naharnet/An Azerbaijani court on Monday found two Lebanese men guilty of
plotting attacks on the Israeli embassy in the capital Baku, jailing them for 15
years each, a court spokesman said. "Lebanese citizens Ali Karaki and Ali
Najmeddine were sentenced to 15 years each," a court spokesman told AFP. He said
they were preparing attacks on the Israeli and US embassies, as well as the
strategic Gabala missile-detection radar station in the north of the
country.(AFP) Beirut, 05 Oct 09, 14:52
The United Arab Emirates and the Lebanese "Scolding" Party
Mon, 05 October 2009
Jameel al-Theyabi
http://www.daralhayat.com/portalarticlendah/63058
Isn't any country entitled to preserve its security and stability according to
its perception as a state, not according to the perception of other parties and
groups? Isn't any country that maintains absolute sovereignty over its territory
entitled to deport and keep who it wants in what preserves its security and
unity and solidarity? Isn't any country entitled to deport whoever it believes
has a presence that poses a threat to it and to its internal structure and
social fabric?
The United Arab Emirates is facing a two-dimension campaign by the Lebanese
press, especially the party-affiliated press, under the pretext of sectarianism,
after the UAE deported some the Lebanese nationals working on its territory for
security reasons. With this, the Lebanese newspapers in Beirut inaugurated a
party of "scolding" against the UAE. I do not know why these people overlooked
the UAE support for their country under many circumstances and crises. Why have
the spokesmen for the deportees overlooked the number of Lebanese people hosted
by the UAE and the aid it offered for many decades? Aren't there millions of
Lebanese who found a safe and decent life in the UAE? Why were they "annoyed"
just because a group, whose number does not exceed the fingers of one hand, was
deported and why did they overlook the large numbers of Lebanese working in the
UAE from all Lebanese sects? Didn’t they wonder about the destiny of other
Lebanese if the UAE decided to deport them?
The international conventions stipulate that the concept of national sovereignty
is an absolute right for every state, which is entitled to ratify the social and
political regime it wants, and decide to implement it on its territory. It also
has the right to preserve its security and stability and make decisions it deems
necessary to achieve the safety of its people. This means that if any state has
comments on any workers from other nationalities, for issues that undermine its
security and stability and unity, then it has the right to deport them, a right
secured by international laws and the rights of sovereignty over its territory.
Once the Lebanese deportees returned to Beirut, a wave of accusations and
fabrications were launched against the UAE, either because they wanted to go
back, or because they wanted to get even with its decision, as though it
committed a huge crime against them and placed them behind iron bars with no
electricity or water, while in fact they were retuned to their parents and
countries without undermining their humanity.
Three years ago, Britain decided to deport hundreds of thousands of Eastern
European nationals for reasons that concern Britain itself. These countries did
not object to the deportation of its workers because they know that this is an
absolute British right. Meanwhile, the United States deports thousands of
Mexicans every year. These countries are aware of the complete concept of "state
sovereignty" and "state interest", aside from outbidding and accusations, as
there weren't mutual campaigns in their media, or debates and charges leveled
from here and there targeting the intentions of the UAE, considering that the
issue involved the concerned state, its security, stability, and sovereignty.
A source has reported to a Lebanese newspaper that the investigation branch in
the passport control department in the UAE summoned him, and one of the officers
asked him for information about Hizballah and the moves of the Lebanese
community. When the Lebanese source answered that he does not have any
information – as he said – the officer directly told him that he is deported
from the UAE. The source further said that what happened to him was almost
applied with all the deportees. I do not know how we could believe such an
accusation from someone who spent 22 years in the UAE and was never asked for
any "secret" information for more than two decades. Then, suddenly, the passport
officers decided to ask him about "intelligence" information which they were
unaware of for all these years! Shouldn't this person – instead of "leveling"
accusations and giving them a sectarian aspect against a country that respected
and honored him and opened its arms for him for so long – thank the UAE rather
than hate it and its people?
Two days ago, the UAE officially informed the Lebanese Government that the
decision to deport a number of Lebanese working there "has nothing to do with
their sectarian affiliation because thousands of Shiites are still working and
living there."
Beyond no doubt, the UAE is entitled to protect its territory against any
attempts to turn it into a spot for factionism, sectarianism, and
confessionalism, or a spot for the birth of new political parties and movements
on its territory. I believe that the UAE is not in need for this explanation,
and it is enough for it to overlook these fabrications and accusations
considering that it is a country that maintains absolute sovereignty over its
territory, and works according to what achieves the interest of its people and
preserves its security and stability, and because it alone is entitled to decide
who to deport and who to keep on its territory. * Al Hayat, 05/10/09
Hizbollah embroiled in Ponzi scheme
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/lebanon/6261720/Hizbollah-embroiled-in-Ponzi-scheme.html#
Lebanon's militant Islamic group Hizbollah has had its reputation for
ideological purity tarnished by a growing scandal involving an alleged Bernie
Madoff-style Ponzi scheme.
By Abigail Fielding-Smith in Beirut
Published: 6:00AM BST 06 Oct 2009
A Lebanese businessman with close links to the party has been arrested on
suspicion of defrauding investors of up to £500 million.
A Hizbollah MP is among those who have lost money, and victims are thought to
include a number of other senior officials, ordinary members and supporters.
The scandal has forced Hizbollah on to the defensive, with its secretary
general, Hassan Nasrallah, having to deny involvement.
The scandal has been particularly damaging because financial speculation and the
accumulation of personal wealth appears to directly contradict the party's
religious ideology.
"Its public image has been tainted," said Amal Saad Ghorayeb, a Hizbollah
expert. "Wealth taints you if you are a Khomeinist ideological party."
Some investors now say they expect the party to compensate them, claiming they
were encouraged to invest with the businessman, Salah Ezzedine, because of his
closeness to Hizbollah officials.
"Hizbollah must do something," said one investor, 33, who asked to be called
Ali. "Ezzedine was close to them, they should be responsible about this."
Mr Ezzedine, a Shia known for his piety who also ran a number of legitimate
businesses, was charged with embezzlement after his scheme collapsed.
Hizbollah's Shia heartland in South Lebanon has been hit hard with one resident
estimating that at least 70 people in the towns of Toura, Shour, and Maaroub had
bought in. Some of them are thought to have been investing on behalf of several
other people.
"They are blaming me for the loss of their money," Ali said. He said he sold
family land and gathered money from his mother, sister and two friends to invest
£200,000.
Mr Ezzedine's middle men allegedly told clients they were investing in
commodities such as gold and iron, and promised profits of up to 40 per cent.
But the scheme – believed to be like a Ponzi, in which one investor's money
would be used to pay another – collapsed as losses spiralled out of control.
Investors say they had doubts about the improbably high returns and the lack of
paperwork but they were mollified by the strength of Mr Ezzedine's Hizbollah
connections.
"We heard people close to Hizbollah were doing business with him, and the party
said that he was a trustworthy person," Ali said. "I thought, what the hell,
everyone's making money, I should as well." Although the group has its own
private army, it is also a political party with a crucial role in current
negotiations to form the next Lebanese cabinet.
The party is not itself accused of wrongdoing, and is said to have helped in Mr
Ezzedine's arrest. But its implicit endorsement of Mr Ezzedine has put it in a
difficult position, and it has been forced to deny that it is considering some
kind of compensation scheme. The pro-Hizbollah newspaper Al Akhbar also ran a
critical editorial, saying that the apparent willingness of so many party
members and associates to invest in the scheme should sound an "alarm bell". The
organisation, famous for its probity and discipline, could be permanently
damaged, it said.
"People are kind of shocked now," said one resident of a South Lebanon village.
"They are not mad at Hizbollah, they can never be, they worship the party. "But
they started saying it looks like the poor will stay poor, fight and die poor,
and the rich become richer."
Two Lebanese jailed for Baku plot
Prosecutors say Azerbaijan's capital was targeted by Hezbollah
BBC 6/10/09/ -Daily Star
An Azerbaijani court has jailed two Lebanese men for plotting to attack the
Israeli embassy in the capital Baku, sentencing them to 15 years each. The men
were named by court officials as Muhammad Ali Karaki and Najmeddin Ali Hussein.
Four Azerbaijani nationals received jail terms ranging from 12 to 14 years, the
official news agency Turan said. The group was also found guilty of plotting an
attack on a Russia-rented radar station in northern Azerbaijan. The prosecution
linked the group to Lebanese Hezbollah, as well as its allies the Iranian
Revolutionary Guard, and the "al-Qaeda network", officials said. The staunchly
Sunni Muslim al-Qaeda is not known to have any links with Hezbollah, which is a
political and militant movement representing Shia Muslims in Lebanon. Defence
lawyers boycotted the sentencing, saying it was unjust, and pledged to appeal
against the verdict. "We believe that the court made its decision based on
personal opinions rather than on facts and evidence," said lawyer Vugar Khasiev,
in remarks quoted by the AFP news agency.
International press outlets have claimed that Hezbollah was preparing a
spectacular attack in Baku to avenge the assassination of its military leader
Imad Mughniyeh.
Aoun and the Blunt Sword of Naturalization
Mon, 05 October 2009/Husam Itani
In his latest television interview, General Michel Aoun addressed the
naturalization of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon at length, presenting his
interpretation of the issue, which the Lebanese have agreed to reject, including
their stance in the preamble to their constitution (Paragraph “I”).
In that same interview, the General refused to grant Palestinians residing in
Lebanon civil and social rights, including the right to work, because this would
according to him inevitably lead to their naturalization. Thus the Palestinians
are not allowed to practice a profession of any kind, because this would make
them demand, in a future that might not be so distant, to obtain Lebanese
citizenship. They must therefore remain besieged and contained in their refugee
camps, eaten away by unemployment and the cells of organizations with obscure
goals and motives, among them spreading the plagues and diseases of ghettos
packed with disappointments and with personal and communal tragedies.
And if an insane adventure has destroyed one of these sad refugees camps, the
scales of justice of the FPM (Free Patriotic Movement) led by Aoun stand
demanding that this camp not be rebuilt, because the Phoenician-Aramaean city of
Orthosia lies underneath, and not a stone must be replaced in the Nahr El-Bared
camp until proper excavations supervised by experts and archaeologists have
taken place. The least that can be said about this is that it is a righteous
cause being used for malicious ends. At the same time, Aoun and his followers
grow adamant in combating Palestinian acquisition of real estate and land in
Lebanon, as such acquisition confirms intentions of naturalization.
In the 1990s, those who were in power in Lebanon exploited the issue of
naturalization to keep the Christians in the grip of fear. The imbalance in the
number of Lebanese inhabitants to the benefit of Muslims is no secret. Thus
excessive talk of naturalization is only a way to increasingly terrorize the
Christians from the Muslims in order to ensure their loyalty to their greatest
leader. The reality is an entirely different matter, summed up by the fact that
no one wishes to naturalize the Palestinians in Lebanon, especially those
Palestinians who have tasted the bitter Lebanese cup after forcing the Lebanese
to sip the bitterness of their own cause. Moreover, those Palestinians, after
years of political and social pressures which many a side took upon itself to
subject them to, are but the shadow of what their numbers were in the 1970s and
1980s. Yet the only issue that has withstood the test of time is the ability of
different parties to exploit the fear of naturalization that the Christians
have, in order to keep them hostage to loyalties and fears that benefit those
whose voices rise highest in warning of naturalization.
A debate addressing the awareness that shapes the convictions of the General and
his companions would be meaningless. Indeed, the issue does not reside in
principles and ideas or in interests, as much as in a vision that deems it
permissible to resort to weapons – which have gone blunt from overuse – in an
internal battle, even if it comes at the expense of the dignity of a people that
has grown tired – and has tired the world – of calling for their right to return
to their occupied land. Yet as it seems, there is no one to hear their calls.
There is one point that calls for even more sadness and frustration, regarding
the complete silence observed by those who raise the banner of “marching to
Jerusalem, war until victory” and those who decree the inviolability of the
“auspices of the Holy City” in terms of negotiating over it. Those with whom
Aoun shares an “understanding” see nothing wrong in his public and implicit
contempt for the suffering of the Palestinian people in Lebanon, which has been
ongoing for many decades, and care not what the man says about the inhabitants
of the Holy City, who hold demonstrations supporting them in the face of Israeli
threats, as long as Aoun provides them with the cover they seek in the fields of
politics and in other fields which those well-informed know of. Indeed, such a
stance seems even worse than that of the General and even more harmful to the
Palestinians and to their right of return, upon which there is no compromise.*
Al-Hayat, 2009-10-04
Egypt's top imam orders student to remove conservative face veil
By Agence France Presse (AFP) /Tuesday, October 06, 2009
CAIRO: Egypt’s leading cleric ordered a student to remove her face veil while he
was was visiting an academy linked to the Al-Azhar University in Cairo, an
Egyptian newspaper reported on Monday. Al-Azhar’s Grand Imam Mohammad Tantawi
asked the student to remove her niqab, a face veil worn by devout Muslim women,
when he spotted her in a classroom, the daily Al-Masry al-Yowm reported, adding
that the student complied. Tantawi reportedly said the niqab was a tradition,
not an Islamic obligation. The newspaper also reported that Higher Education
Minister Hani Hilal decided to ban women wearing the niqab from entering
university residences. Sunni Muslim scholars are divided on whether a woman must
cover her face, with the majority saying it is not an obligation, but all
mainstream scholars agree a woman must cover her hair and her body with loose
fitting clothes. In the Middle East, the niqab has come to be associated with
Salafism, a brand of ultra-conservative Islam practiced mostly in Saudi Arabia.
Most Muslim women in the country wear the hijab, a veil that covers the hair,
but an increase in women wearing the niqab has apparently alarmed the
government. The Religious Endowments Ministry has distributed booklets in
mosques against the practice. – AFP
Interview
with Dr. Walid Phares
Jihad like Yoga? Dr. Walid Phares
05 Oct 2009
Interview in Nowe Panstwo - Our Times
Following is an interview with Professor Walid Phares in Nowe Panstwo (Our
Times), a Politics and History Journal in Poland, conducted by Olga
Doleśniak-Harczuk. The title of the interview in Polish is "ihad jak joga" which
translate to "Jihad like Yoga." In this extensive discussion, Professor Phares
addresses the strategic structure of al Qaeda, Europe's readiness to confront
the threat, the Obama Administration ability to win a war of ideas over the
Jihadists, the necessary Western Rethinking of the conflict, indoctrination and
penetration in the US, the role of Oil lobbies, the influence of theological
texts on Jihadists, the numbers of Islamists in Europe, Western inability to
fight this war, and Polish American relations in the war with the Jihadists.
Professor Walid Phares
QUESTION: In an interview, you mentioned the second generation of al-Qaeda. What
is the role of Usama bin Laden for the younger generation of terrorists? Is he
"only" a symbol of the global jihadists movement, or still a real "true-born"
leader?
WALID PHARES: al Qaeda as an organization has a hard core center linked to its
chief, Usama Bin Laden, and it has affiliate organizations operating in various
areas, such as Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, al Qaeda in the Arabian
Peninsula, al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, etc. In addition there are Jihadist
movements and organizations allied to al Qaeda, such as Taliban in Afghanistan
and Pakistan, Jemaa Islamiya in south Asia, Shabaab al Jihad in Somalia, Abu
sayyaf in the Philippines etc. The sum of all these organizations and movement
is a Salafist nebulous, which I define as combat Salafists. Those who believe
that terror Jihad is the shorter way to reach their goal of reestablishing the
Caliphate. In that web al Qaeda is seen as the center and its commander Bin
laden as the 'Fuehrer.'
But this Jihadi nebula is not the only one. There are other nebulae such as the
classical Wahabis, Muslim Brotherhoods, Deobandis, etc, who along with al Qaeda
nebulous form a large bloc of Global Salafi Jihadism. Bin Laden is the hero of
his own nebula and he is somewhat seen as a popular, but irresponsible leader
within the classical nebulae. So, as you see it is complex. But in terms of al
Qaeda, he is unquestionably the supreme leader. But in the daily practical life
of these movements, he is not the chief executive, he is sort of a high-ranking
symbolic leader. It is mostly Ayman Zawahiri who plays the role of chief
executive. And among the affiliates, it is the local emirs who lead the action.
QUESTION: How would you describe the European way of understanding and defining
the global jihad danger? Some European politicians seem to not take the global
terrorism seriously enough.
ANSWER: Europe's academic elite, or perhaps mostly Western European
intellectuals, have been influenced by the oil producing regimes for years, as
were most governments. Since 1973, the oil shock intimidated the economic and
political elite of the then Western Europe who feared a repeat of the boycott.
Since then, what, in my books, I have coined Petro Jihad left an influence on
the European perception of international relations, and soon enough on European
handling of Jihadism on the continent. European chanceries catered to the oil
producing regimes in the region, and thus to the ideologies of Wahabism and
Salafism. Academic scholarship, often funded directly or indirectly by oil
interests, advised European Governments and later on the European Union
institutions, not to confront these ideologies because it would ignite the wrath
of the petro-regimes. Even as the Jihadists, such as al Qaeda and others, hit
the US on 9/11 and later Madrid in 2004, London in 2005, and were behind
violence in the Netherlands, Italy, France, Belgium, Germany and Scandinavia,
the expert body at the European Union level has always and continues to advise
against coining the threat as an ideology and calling it Jihadism.
In my many briefings and testimonies over many years at European institutions, I
realized that European bureaucrats and their advisors avoid identifying terror
with an ideological root. They decline admitting that behind the actions of
Jihadi terrorism there is a totalitarian ideology, despite all research and
facts saying so. But I also noticed that central and eastern European
legislators and experts are more sensitive to totalitarian ideologies and to the
tactics of penetration used by the Jihadists. Naturally, eastern Europeans are
more experienced with terror having lived under totalitarian regimes for many
decades. However, let me also note that many Western Europeans are becoming much
more aware of the Jihadi threat because of their own research and the incidents
they have been observing on European soil. Today at the European Parliament,
there is a large group of MEPs who have been finally able to define the threat
as Jihadism and are moving in this direction.
QUESTION: After President Barack Obama’s speech to the Muslim World on June the
4th 2009, the spokesman of the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said: "It
shows there is a new and different American policy toward the Palestinian
issue." What role may Barack Obama have in the confrontation with global
terrorism in this context?
Sheikh Watching President Obama Speech in Cairo
ANSWER: During the electoral campaign the Obama team was clear as to the changes
they wanted to enact in foreign policy and regarding the ongoing confrontation
with the Jihadists worldwide. As advised by its experts, the Obama
Administration is changing US official outlook towards the past 8 years of
conflict. First it is abandoning the concept of a "war on terror." In fact it is
true that this is not a war against a tactic. One cannot wage a war against
Blitzkrieg for example. But what they came up with is a more serious mistake.
They abandoned the identification of the threat doctrine, as Jihadism, and they
narrowed it to al Qaeda. It would be as if in WWII the Allies were only fighting
the SS, the Luftwaffe, but not Nazism. The Obama Administration is as badly
advised as the European Union, on the ideological conflict, again because the
expertise behind this new policy is compromised by the influence of the oil
producing powers. If we don't identify the ideology and counter it, it will
continue to grow and indoctrinate and recruit people. Hence, in the Cairo speech
the President spoke of changes, but in the abstract. Nothing will change or move
forward as long as the Jihadi totalitarians aren't isolated internationally and
the democracy forces in the Muslim world are supported. That is not what is
happening now.
As far as the Palestinian question is concerned, it is not about appointing a
new envoy, which is not going to solve the problem. It is about identifying the
forces that are blocking the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians.
The latter, as in many ethnic conflicts, have so many issues to address. But the
forces obstructing the peace process are third parties: Hamas, Islamic Jihad,
Hezbollah, and Iran. So, the Jihadist axis in the region.
QUESTION: In your third book; The Confrontation. Winning the War Against Future
Jihad, You argue that there must be a "Western Rethinking" of the conflict. What
did you mean, Mr. Phares?
ANSWER: In my last book, I called for a Western rethinking of the conflict based
on the necessity of a strategic understanding of the threat and where it is
going to develop. Current and past Western policies clearly show that we aren't
going anywhere near the end of that conflict. First inside the US and Europe,
let alone Australia and Canada, the homegrown Jihadists are multiplying and
organizing. At some point, they will begin an "urban Jihad" where these cities
will witness acts of violence and war waged by these groups. In Iraq and
Afghanistan, despite the courage, sacrifices, determination and successes of US,
Coalition and NATO forces, all indicates that Taliban or al Qaeda and the likes
are still going to strike, eight years after 2001. So where is the problem? It
is in the fact that the West refused to fight a war of ideas along with the war
against the Terror forces. Hence, I had called on a strategic rethinking
beginning with debates at the European Parliament and the US Congress as well as
national legislatures to re-focus the conflict. And based on this, the West must
engage in an ideological campaign to isolate the Jihadi forces and engage with
the democratic forces in the Muslim world. Instead, the West now is doing the
opposite: retreating from defining the threat, fleeing the debate about it and
engaging the wrong forces: Taliban, Hezbollah, Iran and other Salafi Jihadists.
I also called on forming a large international alliance, or at least
coordinating with countries that have a Jihadi problem, such as India, and many
African states. And despite all the problems and crises, with Russia or with
Russian leaders who see eye to eye on the Jihadi threat. Another component of
the Western rethinking is to work on energy independence from oil regimes
supportive of these ideologies. Last but not least, a Western rethinking should
promote significant support, even moral, to dissidents, democracy seekers,
women, students and other sectors in the Muslim world who oppose the radicals.
And they do exist.
QUESTION: How strong is the ideological indoctrination of the jihadists in the
USA? I mean the influence on the public life, specially the infiltration of the
US academic world.
ANSWER: The ideological indoctrination by the Jihadists is mainly performed by
the oil producing regimes and the militant networks providing the human
resources. As with the end of the 1970s and mid 1980s, millions of petrodollars
have been invested in America on building a web of influence within the
educational system and foreign policy circles. Funding has targeted Middle East
Studies, Islamic studies, international relations studies under the aegis of
"better knowing the Middle East and its cultures." In fact that funding impacted
the American classrooms in two ways. On the one hand, it eliminated the study of
all issues related to human rights in the region, including women, minorities,
youth, etc. On the other hand, it blurred the vision of students regarding the
concepts of Jihad and the related ideologies. To some extent, mainstream studies
presented Jihad as some sort of Yoga! And from these specialized classrooms
graduated those who were hired by the US Government, media and NGOs. So, the
Wahabi funding basically derailed the understanding of the threat for years.
This is why the American public was stunned on 9/11 and couldn't understand what
was happening. It was manipulated educationally by apologists of the Jihadist
ideology so that the US Government is disabled from acting against the threat.
Which explained why the US did not respond rationally after the attacks of
Beirut in 1983, New York in 1993, Khobar in 1995, Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 and
after the attack against the USS Cole in 2000. It has all to do with the
blurring of the public vision of the threat. Today other democracies must be
attentive to this strategy, especially central and eastern European democracies,
which are targeted by oil producing regimes to fund similar programs. This is a
form of the war of ideas.
QUESTION: The Qur'an said: those who believe, fight in the cause of Allah, and
those who disbelieve, fight in the cause of Satan. So you fight against the
friends of Satan. Is the West civilization "a friend of Satan" for the jihadists
or is the using of references to Qur'an only a political argument without any
religious background?
ANSWER: This is a complex question. The Jihadists basically use the Koran and
Hadith as a pillar of their indoctrination agenda. In other words they cite
verses from the theological sources and convince their recruits that it is their
duty to carry out the orders of Allah. The fact that there are stipulations in
the text that mentions Jihad or kuffar (infidels) is not enough to produce a
Jihadist. It is the existence of a network of ideologues, cadres, operatives and
organizations which uses the theological texts to create an ideology. Once the
ideology is accepted as such, the person who is recruited doesn't see it as an
ideology but as a religious injunction, hence the confusion. I make a
distinction between what is theological, and that has its own debate, and what
is ideological and is part of the Jihadist efforts to expand. The West must
focus on the ideological tool not on the theological text. The latter must be
part of a natural debate within the Muslim world and with other groups.
QUESTION: According to the German Central Institute Islam Archive, the total
number of Muslims in Europe in 2007 war about 53 million. Mark Steyn, wrote in
his book America Alone that the future belongs to Islam - the West is growing
old and "Islam has youth and will." Is the West lost for opening the gates for
the Islamic invasion or is such a theory only an overreaction for global
changes?
ANSWER: Every social and demographic phenomenon has its apex and its regressive
moment. It is true that over the past decades, the numbers of the Muslim
population in Europe, outside the Balkans where they are native, has grown. But
that was the natural consequence of Western Europe's economic elites which
wanted cheap immigrant labor and also its Governments which were under the 1973
Oil shock syndrome. This quantitative equation was predictable and should not
surprise Europeans. So on paper, decisions made in the 1970s and 1980s in terms
of immigration policy were to affect the demographic balance. Why would
Europeans be surprised and shocked about what they have decided to do to enjoy
their lifestyle? Well, I guess the public is shocked nowadays because it was not
informed by its own elite that Jihadism was making progress within the immigrant
communities. That is the missing link. Because Jihad was equated to Yoga, the
public didn't pay attention until urban unrest hit its cities and Jihadi Terror
started to strike harder. At this point Europeans must put their priorities in
order. They need to deal immediately with the ideological issue then handle the
demographic equations. Unfortunately, since the European Union is afraid or
unwilling to touch the ideological issue, its populations are left alone to
figure out the problem. This is why you read and hear European essayists talking
about Muslim demographics instead of trying to isolate the Jihadist threat
first. Europe lacks strategists to deal with the issue and I am not saying the
US is in a better shape.
QUESTION: In Europe we had in the last years a strong wave of conversion to
Islam. How would you explain the growing interests for Islam in Europe even
after the 9/11.
ANSWER: One would ask where are these conversions to Islam coming from? The
committed Christians and Jews or the less committed? From Atheists or from
religious? Also, if you study the parameters of the converts and establish
common trends, what do you see? Is it happening in the mainstream of societies
or at the fringes? Is it happening to individuals who have a doubt about their
spiritual identity or to persons confident about it? You must ask sociologists
to research the question. But so far, it seems that the perception of
conversions is bigger than the actual conversions. For according to studies a
large segment of conversions comes naturally from non Muslim spouses of European
Muslims. It is like a snow ball. The larger the initial community is, the higher
the numbers of conversions are. The global numbers should not surprise people. I
guess the reason why Europeans are asking the question is the dwindling numbers
of the native populations versus the immigrants and also the shrinking numbers
of European practicing Christians. If Europe's mainstream population and
religions are regressing then yes the conversion to Islam becomes meaningful in
terms of numbers. Without getting into the details in this interview as this
subject is fascinating, the main question I raise is ‘why are Europeans so
surprised about all these matters. It was so predictable.’ What blocked them
from realizing this years ago? Here you may get interesting answers. Also one
must look at the entire equation as well: while it is true that there are many
conversions into Islam, but there are also significant conversions within the
Muslim communities of Europe, not only to Christianity but also to Atheism. It
is very complex.
QUESTION: In an interview, you said: "I wrote on the clash of civilization 14
years before Samuel Huntington. My message was basically a warning to the West
that jihadism is on the rise, and is going to hit America and the rest of the
free world". That was a very hard statement, especially when we know what
happened in New York 22 years later. Why did Western civilization ignore the
danger of global terrorism?
ANSWER: Indeed, when Eastern Europe was living under Soviet Communism, I
published my first book in 1979 in which I advanced the idea that the Jihadists
will push for a clash of civilizations and in following books I argued that the
struggle for freedom must come from the inside of the Muslim world. A Jesuit
scholar compared my early work with the dissident work of Andrei Amalrick and
said that what I was to the Muslim world what dissidents were to the Soviet
Union. But that was 14 years before Huntington's article on the clash of
civilizations. In following pieces and books, I warned that eventually the
Jihadists will strike the West, and they began in the 1990s, while many Western
and American writers were talking about the end of history. And in the years
preceding 9/11, I briefed members of Congress about the forthcoming threat to
mainland US and worldwide. Unfortunately my voice and the voices of other
colleagues were ignored. The dominant intellectual establishment, particularly
in Middle East studies, was financially penetrated by the Wahabis and other
apologists. Our theses were dismissed and often we were criticized. It was only
after America was savagely attacked by al Qaeda and later on Europe that my
expertise was sought and praised by many in the legislative and executive
branches. In my book Future Jihad: Terrorist strategies against America (against
the West was the international version) I showed the strategies of the Jihadists
forces over decades. In the following book, The War of Ideas: Jihadism against
Democracy, I explained why was it that the West ignored the warnings and looked
the other way. In short it was the result of a war of ideas waged by the
Jihadist global network. By inserting millions of dollars in America's Middle
East studies and foreign policy circles, the Wahabis derailed the country's
national security assessment. The 9/11 Commission asked the question why weren't
Americans prepared mentally to meet the threat. Many said it was a failure of
imagination. I counter argued and said it was a failure of education. The enemy
took out America's ability of perceiving, understanding and acting against the
threat before it happened. A sort of a Pearl Harbor took place.
QUESTION: Has Western civilization with their slogans of tolerance and
disposition/inclination to wishful thinking any chance to win the war against
jihad?
ANSWER: The slogans of tolerance are only the result of the Jihadists confusion
strategy. The Jihad oil lobbies have convinced the uninformed intellectuals and
policy makers in the US that acting against the Jihadists is acting against
Muslims. This is naturally wrong. In fact acting against the Jihadists is acting
to free Muslims from the fascist forces that are oppressing them. But
unfortunately America's intelligentsia (most of it) was fooled by the apologists
and the Jihadi propaganda operatives, as was the case with many Western
intellectuals during the Cold War. They were told that ordinary citizens in
Eastern Europe were very happy under the totalitarian regime. They didn't know
better until Solidarity began its uprising in Gdansk. Tolerance with fascism is
a form of collaboration with it. What the West must realize is that they were
made to believe that they had to be tolerant with the most intolerant forces on
the planet. This is the peak of deception, and unfortunately the Jihadist
propagandists were and are very good at it. In recent years many officials in
Western Europe, the US and Australia were made to believe that by using the term
Jihadists, they will be conveying legitimacy to the terrorists. They were told
that Jihad is in fact a sort of a Yoga, very spiritual! So when the expertise is
compromised, decision makers can and have made huge strategic mistakes. But the
good news is that the younger generations of American students, researchers and
professionals in the fields of national security are getting it. It will be a
question of time before a new more educated America rises from confusion and
lead.
QUESTION: And finally a polish accent. In February 2007, Sally McNammara wrote:
"Poland has supported America's global leadership role and has helped to expand
security in unstable and unfriendly parts of the world. Wherever America is
doing good in the world, Poland is not far behind." Mr. Phares, What is the
future of the American-Polish relations through the prism of the last
presidential elections in United States?
WALID PHARES: Polish participation in the defense of the free world and of
democracy worldwide is a solid fact. It has been recognized in America for
years. Its role in Iraq, Afghanistan and in countering terrorism worldwide made
of Poland a pillar of resistance against Jihadi totalitarianism. As I said
earlier, Poles have experienced oppression and terror, they know what it is and
thus they are more prone to understand the nature of the Jihadist threat perhaps
more than other Europeans who had colonies and empires and yet have caved in to
oil Jihad. Polish instincts against the threat are perhaps greater than those of
many Americans. But many in the United States are learning more about the
meaning of that threat. There is a silent, gradual intellectual revolution
happening in America regardless of its politics. Even if we know that the Obama
Administration is advised by experts and pressure groups that want to disengage
from the conflict and regress away from the international threat, as was the
case before Nazism’s rise in the 1930s, the public in America is moving in
another direction. The democratic political process in the US will correct
itself, no doubt about it. But Poland could help tremendously in that awakening.
If Poles learn more about the nature of Jihadism and its challenges and add to
it their own historical instincts, they could have a significant influence on
the US, not the other way around. Americans will be surprised to listen to the
narrative coming from Eastern Europe and they respect it very much. Warsaw,
Prague and Budapest are very symbolic in America's popular culture. If more
Polish intellectuals and writers engage in this field, surprisingly it will help
Europe and America get out of their confusion.
Even if the current US Administration plans on changing the role of Poland in
the web of international relations and let go of Poland's special role in the
war against the terrorists, it is clear that the American public, and the Polish
American community are too attached to the historic relations between the two
nations to allow this to happen
************
**Professor Walid Phares is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of
Democracies and teaches Global Strategies in Washington DC. He is the author of
three books on Jihadism. He has been appointed as a Co-Secretary General of the
Transatlantic Parliamentary Group on Counter Terrorism.
Syrian-Saudi meeting contributes to stability, Israel might drag Iran into
confrontation
October 6, 2009
Now Lebanon/
In an interview with Al-Jazeera television on Monday night, Syrian Foreign
Minister Walid al-Mouallem said that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s decision
to participate in the summit that was held in Riyadh last month as well as his
recent initiative to meet with Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdel Aziz contributes to
regional stability and to bridging the gaps between disputing countries. “The
lack of dialogue widens the gap between Arab countries,” Mouallem said, adding
that “Syria can play a role in eliminating the reasons for concern, while Saudi
Arabia can ease Syria’s concerns over certain issues.” Mouallem voiced fear over
a possible hostile military activity in the region, highlighting the
significance of dialogue in resolving problems, “since we have deep concerns
that Israel will drag other countries to war and involve Iran in a confrontation
to escape peace.” “The lack of trust between Iran and the West remains the main
problem,” he said, warning that any war in the region would have dangerous
consequences on all countries. Mouallem commented on the Syrian-Israeli
negotiations, saying that the “peace process would only become possible if
Israel responds to our demands, and Syria is not ready to waste its time in
futile negotiations.” He also touched on the Syrian-US relationship, saying that
“the US administration is interested in” Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister Faysal
al-Mekdad’s visit to Washington last Tuesday, “ especially since it was the
first visit to Washington by a Syrian official in more than eight years,”
describing the visit as a “good step, which should be built upon.”He added that
Damascus has agreed with Washington that their bilateral relationship should be
exclusive to the two parties and not a “hostage to [Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin] Netanyahu or any other regional country.” He also said that Damascus’
deliberations with the US proved that the Iraqi-Syrian conflict that followed
the bombings in Baghdad last August has not affected the US-Syrian relationship.
“The circumstances have changed, and the reason is that Iraq does not have
evidence of Syria’s involvement in the bombings,” Mouallem said, adding that
Syrian officials have heard from many UN members that the accusation was
political. On the Iranian nuclear program, Mouallem said that Syria refuses the
use of nuclear power for military purposes, saying, “We have objected to
Israel’s possession of nuclear weapons and submitted a draft resolution to the
UN to turn the Middle East into a demilitarized region.”“We have never mediated
between Iran and the West,” however, this does not prevent us from currently
playing such a role, he added.
A new consensus
October 6, 2009
Agency (SANA) confirmed on Monday afternoon that that Saudi King Abdullah bin
Abdel Aziz would visit Damascus in the coming few days.
The Iranian nuclear stand-off has sent regional leaders running for cover, and
most Middle East watchers are in agreement that the visit, along with that of
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to Saudi Arabia on September 23 during Eid al-Fitr,
may herald new movements in the notoriously sensitive tectonic plates of Middle
East politics.
The Americans, tied-up in Iraq and in Afghanistan, are hardly going to back an
attack by Israel on Iran’s numerous nuclear facilities, a move that would spark
a regional war. All the indications suggest that the Obama administration wants
to tie up loose ends in the Middle East, a state of affairs that is forcing
neighboring countries to make a new set of calculations. Already the notoriously
fickle Druze leader Walid Jumblatt is talking of a “Syrian-Lebanese-Saudi
triangle, an Arab security network [that would combat] any future plans
targeting the integrity, freedom and sovereignty of the Arab region.”
It is at times like these when Lebanese are at their most nervous. In 1990, a
similar milestone, this time in the shape of the first Gulf War, saw the US
“give” Lebanon to Syria in exchange for it joining the international coalition
to kick Iraqi President Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait. Now, with the possibility
of a resurgent Iran, a warming of relations between Syria and Saudi Arabia will
have consequences for Lebanon, where, like in Iraq, both countries have
significant stakes.
Many no doubt will see King Abdullah’s visit as heralding a breakthrough in the
latest political impasse to have blighted Lebanon. The country has been without
a constitutionally-mandated new government since the June 7 elections. The
temptation to breathe a short term sigh of relief must be tempered by the real
prospect that a new consensus on Lebanon’s future might be reached in the coming
days, one that could undo five years of sacrifice.
Lebanon deserves better. No one ever claimed that we could stand alone (indeed
the country has always been characterized by both its reliance on international
alliances and the habit of stronger neighboring nations to leverage the fragile
sectarian balance to achieve greater regional influence) but in recent years,
perhaps more so than any other time in Lebanon’s history, those who dreamt of
genuine statehood, of building on Lebanon’s imperfect, but nonetheless
democratic, electoral system and of breaking free from regional bondage to work
toward economic and social reform, have for once shouldered the burden.
Six months off the fifth anniversary of what the US so earnestly and
supportively dubbed the Cedar Revolution, those Lebanese who fought for freedom
and independence are still standing in a fight that has not been without bitter
cost. And with two election victories under their belt – the most recent under
the stiffest of pressure from an opposition that threw everything it could into
a campaign to restore Syrian hegemony – they can claim that the majority of
Lebanese want a future based on self determination.
The Lebanese have endured war and internal strife. It’s time to call in our
debts. All the pledges made since 2005 by the international community to ensure
Lebanon’s democratic and sovereign aspirations should be honored.