LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
October 30/09

Bible Reading of the day
Matthew 13/24-30: He set another parable before them, saying, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while people slept, his enemy came and sowed darnel weeds also among the wheat, and went away. But when the blade sprang up and brought forth fruit, then the darnel weeds appeared also. The servants of the householder came and said to him, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where did this darnel come from?’ “He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and gather them up?’ “But he said, ‘No, lest perhaps while you gather up the darnel weeds, you root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the harvest time I will tell the reapers, “First, gather up the darnel weeds, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn.”

Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special Reports
Illusion of Political Sunnism/1/Future News/October 29/09
Awaiting Iran’s response/By: Matt Nash/Now Lebanon/October 29, 09
Canada Condemns Latest Attack in Pakistan/29.10.09
Behind the rockets/Ha'aretz/October 29/09
US can heed its own report on Lebanon/The Daily Star/October 29/09
Learning to abandon extremism/By Paul Salem/October 29/09

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for October 29/09
Sfeir: Hizbullah Serves Iran's Interest over Lebanon's /Naharnet
Hariri Visits Jumblat after Missing Baabda's Presidential Dinner /Naharnet
Lebanon Rocket Fire on Israel Claimed by Qaida-Linked Group /Naharnet
Franjieh in Damascus, Next 'Telecoms Minister' According to Reports /Naharnet
Civilians on high alert along Lebanese-Israeli border/Now Lebanon
Ban Defends Roed-Larsen, Says Implementation of 1701, 1559 Foundation of Stability /Naharnet
Shalom: Syria Aiding Hizbullah with Iranian Arms in Violation of 1701 /Naharnet
Feltman: U.S. Hopes Lebanon Forms New Government 'in the Coming Days' /Naharnet
Egypt Court Resumes Trial of Hizbullah Cell /Naharnet
Antoine Lahd sentenced to 15 years of hard labor/October 29.09
Gemayel: Justice and telecommunication, majority’s share/Future News
Lebanon Details Israeli Artillery Fire in Letter to U.N. /Naharnet
Aoun: Tuesday's Katyusha Not Innocent /Naharnet
Sleiman: Hariri and I will only sign national-unity cabinet decree that is based on National Pact/Now Lebanon
Suleiman, Blames Israel for Katyushas, Says Cabinet Deal 'Very Soon' /Naharnet
Franjieh Dines with Hariri, Plans Damascus Visit to Make Cabinet Deal Possible /Naharnet
Iran ready to cooperate on nuclear fuel/Reuters /Naharnet
Lebanon: Israel arranged Katyusha fire to keep tensions high/Ha'aretz
Israel Wants Graziano to Remain in his Post/Naharnet
Barak: Peace with Syria is central to regional agreement/Ha'aretz
US hopes for Lebanon cabinet in 'coming days'/AFP
Trial of suspected Hezbollah cell resumes in Egypt/Ha'aretz
UN envoy to Mideast: Hezbollah has large arsenal/Ynetnews
In Israel Drill, US Weighs European Shield Options/New York Times
Two Men Charged With Providing Support To Hezbollah/Wall Street Journal
'Arms cache in every S. Lebanon village'/Jerusalem Post
Barak: Israel strived for peace; Syria must act responsibly/Ynetnews
Hezbollah denies any dead in south Lebanon blast/Reuters
Shalev to UNSC: Hizbullah violating 1701/Jerusalem Post
Administrative problems delaying cabinet - Sleiman/Daily Star
Lebanese Army discovers four rockets in southern village/Daily Star
Hariri case combined '12 false witnesses'/Daily Star
Sleiman meets with head of Order of Malta in effort to strengthen relations/Daily Star
Hizbullah operative in Egypt accuses interrogators of torture/AFP
Resistance slams UN report urging party to disarm/Daily Star
Government void can impact stability, security - analysts/AFP
Takreem awards launched to fight negative Arab stereotypes/Daily Star
UNDP kiosk project looks to boost Baalbeck economy/Daily Star
Khalifeh oppposes school closures over H1N1 fears/Daily Star
Sidon meeting tackles threat posed by dump/Daily Star
Lebanon 'must move' to ban smoking/Daily Star

Sfeir: Hizbullah Serves Iran's Interest over Lebanon's
Naharnet/Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir said that there is "someone in the interior who is leaning on exterior force to attain parliamentary and ministerial gains". In that context, Sfeir considered that Hizbullah is serving Iran's interest more than serving Lebanon's one. In an interview with Al-Massira weekly, Sfeir said that March 14 should have taken command of the rule in Lebanon after the June 7 parliamentary elections. The Maronite Patriarch announced that arms and democracy do not match, in the same manner that parliamentary majority and minority cannot be combined in one government. While Sfeir stressed that foreign interventions were standing in the way of forming the anticipated government, he also added that Syria cannot be solely held responsible in terms of those interventions. The Maronite Patriarch said that weaponry should be in the hands of the Lebanese Army only, warning from reaching a stage that pushes everyone to arm. Sfeir stressed that there are some parties in Lebanon who wish welfare for other countries instead of wishing it for their own country.Answering a question, Sfeir said that he will not ask PSP leader MP Walid Jumblat to change his current localization nor ask him to adhere to it. On the other hand, Sfeir ridiculed the atmospheres spreading news about the existence of a severance of relations with Pope Benedict XVI. Beirut, 29 Oct 09, 18:41

Hariri Visits Jumblat after Missing Baabda's Presidential Dinner
Naharnet/Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri visited Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat in Clemenceau on Thursday's evening to discuss the latest developments regarding the ongoing contacts about forming the anticipated government. The PM-designate was accompanied by his top aide Nadir Hariri while Taymour Jumblat in addition to the Democratic Gathering MPs attended the meeting. After the talks, the PSP leader hosted the PM-designate and his aide for dinner. On Wednesday, a meeting between President Michel Suleiman and Speaker Nabih Berri was held in Baabda in parallel with the dinner held in honor of Matthew Festing, Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Hariri had apologized for not attending the presidential dinner falsing previous media reports about the possibility of a tripartite Suleiman-Berri-Hariri in Baabda. Beirut, 29 Oct 09, 20:14

Lebanon Rocket Fire on Israel Claimed by Qaida-Linked Group
The Brigades of Abdullah Azzam, a group linked to Al-Qaida, claimed it fired the Katyusha rocket from Lebanon that hit northern Israel last Tuesday
A group linked to Al-Qaida claims it fired the Katyusha rocket attack from Lebanon that hit northern Israel earlier this week, a U.S.-based group that monitors jihadist websites said on Thursday. Naharnet/The Brigades of Abdullah Azzam, Battalions of Ziad Jarrah, said it was responsible for Tuesday's attack, according to a statement released on Thursday by the Al-Fajr Media Centre, SITE Intelligence Group said. The group said it had prepared five rockets but only fired one, adding that the attack was to protest a Sunday raid by Israeli police on Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound. "The occupying Jews have dared to repeatedly raid the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Mosque ... In response to this aggression, a battalion among the Battalions of Ziad Jarrah" fired the Katyusha, it said. Israeli police twice entered Al-Aqsa mosque compound on Sunday and clashed with stone-throwing Palestinian youths, after Muslim leaders called on their followers to defend the site. The flashpoint site is holy to both Muslims, who call it Al-Haram Al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary), and to Jews, who refer to is as Temple Mount. Israel retaliated to the attack with an artillery barrage. No casualties were reported in either case. Abdullah Azzam was Al-Qaida chief Osama Bin Laden's mentor. He was killed in a 1989 bomb blast. Lebanese Ziad Jarrah was one of the plotters of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States which destroyed the twin towers of the World Trade Centre in New York and killed nearly 3,000 people. He is believed to have been one of the hijackers of United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania, killing all aboard.(AFP) Beirut, 29 Oct 09, 20:14

Canada Condemns Latest Attack in Pakistan
http://www.international.gc.ca/media/aff/news-communiques/2009/320.aspx
(No. 320 - October 28, 2009 - 1:15 p.m. EDT) The Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today issued the following statement condemning the bombing in Peshawar, the latest in a series of terrorist attacks in Pakistan:
“Canada condemns this latest brutal attack on the people of Pakistan. We extend our deepest sympathies to the families and friends of those killed and wish a speedy recovery to the injured. That many of the victims of today’s attack were innocent women and children is particularly heinous.
“We commend the Government of Pakistan for its will to maintain the fight against violent extremist groups. Canada supports the government’s resolve to bring peace and stability to the country. We will continue to work with Pakistan and our allies to help Pakistan meet the challenges it faces.“Canada is committed to promoting freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law.”
Natalie Sarafian
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
613-995-1851
Foreign Affairs Media Relations Office
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
613-995-1874

Antoine Lahd sentenced to 15 years of hard labor
Date: October 28th, 2009/Future News
The permanent judicial court led by General Nizar Khalil sentenced the ‘Southern Lebanon Army’ militia leader General Antoine Lahd with 15 years of hard labor for dealing with the Israeli enemy and obtaining the Israeli nationality. The court issued its verdict by absentia as it also decided to strip Lahd of his civil rights. Lahd had earlier been sentenced to death for dealing with Israel and killing Lebanese civilians when he led the Southern Lebanese Army militia

Feltman: Syria must rethink support of Hezbollah, Hamas if it wants better ties
Date: October 29th, 2009/Source: Reuters
The United States wants to move beyond dialogue to a more constructive relationship with Syria but will not trade away Lebanon's sovereignty to do so, a senior State Department official said on Wednesday. Jeffrey Feltman, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern affairs, also said that for such potential to be realized, Syria must address U.S. concerns about some of its regional policies, such as its support for "terrorist" organizations like the Lebanese movement Hezbollah and the Palestinian group Hamas, as well as its control of foreign fighters trying to enter Iraq. Feltman said while recent trips to Syria by himself and U.S. special envoy George Mitchell had laid the groundwork, "we believe that there is further potential for a positive, constructive U.S.-Syrian relationship.""Our dialogue with the Syrians is not going to come at the expense of Lebanon's sovereignty," he added in testimony to a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee. Feltman said that in Lebanon, there were expectations that a cabinet could be announced in the coming days, and "we certainly hope this is the case." He did not elaborate.
Lebanon held a parliamentary election in June, when voters endorsed the U.S.-backed anti-Syrian coalition led by Saad Al-Hariri, son of assassinated statesman Rafik al-Hariri. But the failure to form a new government since then has underlined the potential for setbacks in its fragile politics. Syria dominated Lebanon until the killing of Rafik al-Hariri in 2005, which led to the withdrawal of its troops from the country. Damascus still holds great sway through allies such as Hezbollah, a heavily armed Lebanese Shi'ite group which also has strong Iranian backing.
The administration of U.S. President Barack Obama started talks with Syria soon after he was inaugurated in January, ending a boycott of several years under his predecessor George W. Bush. During a trip to Syria in May, Feltman told the Syrian government the United States was committed to seeking a peace deal between Syria and Israel, a main objective for Damascus in its rapprochement with Washington.

Illusion of Political Sunnism / 1
Date: October 28th, 2009
Future News/It is not easy for any Lebanese regardless of his origin, political, moral and intellectual beliefs to see some of his compatriots inducing sectarian instincts, and brewing for a certain kind of civil war on the basis of assumptions and illusory goals aimed at proving themselves or justifying their political delirium.
This is precisely happening with all those who justify their political blunders by creating an imaginary enemy to stimulate their paralysis and lure their communities to support them blindly and their policy of “Haphazard banging" they adopt to purge themselves of heinous sins and horrific errors, and acquit themselves of the burden of blood they incurred to their innocent fellow citizens before the Taef accord. All the aforesaid applies on any human being deluded by the ‘Political Sunnism concept,’ because the reality requires us to delve into the seriousness of this statement and its validity in the world of political virtue. Those who are trying to suggest the existence of any sort of "Political Sunnism” only to justify their sectarian and religious extremism, are definitely poisoned by sick minds and rotten imaginations. The Political Sunnism is a derivative or simply an antonym to the Political Maronism that has never existed neither in the old nor modern history of Lebanon. This particular group that issues random rumors about "Political Sunnism" perceives the future of Lebanon at all levels including the political, economic, cultural and social, as well as the country’s foreign relations which would lead to the categorization of political context for society, which is impossible to happen.
If one probes to find Political Sunnism in Lebanon he will get nothing in return because all the stratum of the Lebanese population are equal regardless of their political, religious and moral affiliations. The following lines do not attempt to extol the Sunnis nor any other regardless of their ethnic and religious identities, rather than to invite all Lebanese to prompt them to construe the true meanings of the political headlines declared without taking into considerations the results and disastrous repercussions on the country and its people.
Anyone suggests the presence of “Political Sunnism” he would be admitting that Lebanon is a one-component society. The correctness of those rumors is tantamount to the “undelivered Promises.”
But to be honest, those who circulate similar unfounded rumors on the basis of the marginality of their positions to incur horrendous damages to the country similar to the explosion that wiped up the "dream of Lebanon” in the aftermath of the assassination of the martyr Prime Minister Rafic Hariri. In the dim and distant past, the Political Maronism conceived a distinguished future for Lebanon, its role in the region and its relationship with the world. It also enjoyed a balanced view that was essential in the formulation of the country's history and its educational system.
However, concrete facts confirm that this theory does not apply on Sunnis on the doctrinal and political levels as long as Almustaqbal Movement is built on a strong national awareness that surpasses the uncalculated sectarian irrational adventures. Almustaqbal Movement is in no way an ephemeral short-lived phenomenon, instead it is a political privacy that derives its principles from the philosophy of martyr Prime Minister Rafic Hariri that he instilled in his political practices viewed as valued assets to the country's history.
Martyr Rafic Hariri believed in pluralism, diversity and non-compulsory co-existence as example of interaction between Muslims and Christians and all Lebanese.
This faith in its outcome assumes that the country could not achieve peace unless all groups lived equally in the law, citizenship, rights and duties, and in recognition of state sovereignty and independence. In this sense, talks about “Political Sunnism” become a political bluff based on provocations and not on national political consciousness. Accordingly we construe that the problem lays somewhere else. It is illogical to debate on this trifling joke unless we succumbed to the fact that this is slogan meant to incite sectarian strife.
In a more appropriate word, Sunnis are accused of being relaxed and meticulous about scuffling with other communities, in return of tension and anxiety that dominated over the behavior of other communal groups.  From the start, the quest was to find a "political doctrine" based on fearing those suffer from inferiority complex, which would never be the case with Sunnis since they enjoy a demographic overwhelming predominance in the region that no sane human could circumvent or deny this concrete reality.
Throughout history, Sunni groups have never formed militias, military or sectarian ghettos set up in security zones, on the contrary some rival forces in the country twisted abhorrent lies accusing this sect of being armed forces. Anyone who reviews Lebanon’s history would easily pinpoint to the leaders of these militias, its victims and martyrs as well. If we adhered to the necessity of the debate, the true problem of the “Political Sunnism” is that throughout its path it has always resorted and adhered to the State in all its synonyms, it remained committed to the institutions, the rule of law, the safety of citizen, a flourishing economy and autonomous legitimate state’s security that would protect all citizens unexceptionally.

Sleiman: Hariri and I will only sign national-unity cabinet decree that is based on National Pact
October 29, 2009
Now Lebanon/President Michel Sleiman told Al-Akhbar newspaper in an interview published on Thursday that he and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri will only sign a national-unity cabinet decree based on the National Pact. The cabinet formation will soon be finalized, said Sleiman.
He also said that Hariri’s openness to the opposition sets the foundations for his career as a prime minister. The president told the daily that his role during the current period is significant, despite being limited by the constitution. “What we are facing today is a not a political crisis or a regime crisis, rather it is an administrative crisis,” There is something impeding governance as well as interrelations between state institutions,” Sleiman said, stressing that the current situation calls for reform, but not a change of system.
He also said that the National Pact is based on embracing the differences between Christians and Muslims, he described as “one of the faces of democracy.” It is not about consensus or power sharing, he said, but about the democratic state illustrated in the constitution that renders any authority illegitimate if it violates the National Pact.
Sleiman emphasized that all political parties in Lebanon, regardless of their affiliations, are working in Lebanon’s best interests, adding that all parties want a national-unity cabinet and a strong state. “If this is the case, then let us turn [words] into action.”He also spoke about his role in inter-communal relations and in reestablishing the trust of the international community in Lebanon, especially since diplomatic Lebanese-Syrian relations were established. He highlighted Lebanon’s important role in the world after its election as a two-year non-permanent member of the UN Security Council and its ability to survive the global economic meltdown, which he said shows Lebanon’s strong economy.
Sleiman commented on the exchange of fire between Lebanon and Israel on Tuesday, saying that “this issue is an excuse for Israel to continue violating Lebanese sovereignty,” adding that it shows that Tel Aviv is adamant about expanding its espionage activity in Lebanon due to Hezbollah’s presence.
-NOW Lebanon

Awaiting Iran’s response
Matt Nash , October 29, 2009
Now Lebanon/ Iran is expected to propose unspecified “modifications” Thursday to a deal concerning its stockpiles of low enriched uranium (LEU), Iran’s Mehr News Agency reported Wednesday, raising fears negotiations between Iran and world powers may break down. The deal, brokered by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), calls for Iran to send 1,200 kilograms of its 1,500 kilogram stockpile of LEU to Russia by the end of this year for further refinement and was agreed to in principle by negotiators from France, Iran, Russia and the United States in Vienna on October 21. Iranian news outlets earlier this week suggested Tehran might either refuse to send its LEU abroad or ship it periodically in small amounts instead of all at once, changes that could scuttle the deal.
“The deal was a good deal. I don’t think in principle it requires fundamental changes,” Javier Solana, the EU’s foreign policy chief said Tuesday, according to the Irish Times. Solana has chaired negotiations with Iran on behalf of China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States, known as the P5 plus 1.
This agreement is primarily a “confidence building measure to clear the way to [further] negotiations,” said Michael Adler, a public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center and contributor to thedailybeast.com. If Iran shipped the 1,200 kilograms of LEU all at once, it would need around one year to replenish its stockpile and would be unable to quickly produce a nuclear bomb, which the West suspects it of wanting though Tehran denies that charge. Around 1,500 kilograms of LEU is needed to make a nuclear bomb. The deal does not stipulate Iran cease enriching uranium.
The Iranians, according to Geneive Abdo, an analyst at the Century Foundation, a US-based think tank, and editor of insideiran.org, are divided on how to proceed.
“The information I’m getting from Iran is that they fear an Israeli attack and know that time is running out,” she said. “So they know they have to present some sort of compromise, but there is a huge disagreement on what that compromise should be. Iran feels that they’re put to a different test than their neighbors, so that’s why they’d probably want to come up with an alternative proposal with less scrutiny. ”Should Iran’s counter offer be unacceptable, the next logical step would be for the US and allies to seek tougher sanctions against Tehran at the United Nations Security Council. This is opposed by Russia and China, which both hold veto power, so punitive measures against Iran would likely be rather weak.
Even so, any sanctions would likely have a regional impact, said Paul Salem, director of the Carnegie Middle East Center. “[Sanctions] could mean escalating tensions on the traditional fronts which are Iraq, Lebanon maybe Hamas/Gaza, Afghanistan won’t be helped by such a thing. We could go from simmer to boil,” he said.
Furthermore, if the talks fail, regional states, particularly in the Gulf, would continue eyeing Iran warily. Many, Salem said, fear that should Iran actually pursue a nuclear weapon, it would become even more powerful regionally than it already is.
“Iran with a nuclear weapon would be so dominant that it could increasingly dictate terms on them,” he said. “Iran would be far and away the dominant player.”
If Iran accepts the proposal or suggests modifications that the P5 plus 1 nations agree to, the regional situation might calm down and negotiations would continue. Ultimately, it seems clear, the P5 plus 1 nations, particularly the US, would want talks to include the role Iran plays regionally, including supporting Hamas and Hezbollah. Iran, however, will almost certainly not be willing to hold those discussions without also bringing up the estimated 200 nuclear weapons in Israel’s stockpile.
“But we’ve got to get into talks to get to there,” Adler said. “If this [deal] falls apart, you have to wonder if the whole engagement process will fall apart.”

Feltman: U.S. Hopes Lebanon Forms New Government 'in the Coming Days'
Naharnet/Jeffrey Feltman, acting U.S. assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs said that his country hopes that Lebanon's political factions will agree on a cabinet "in the coming days" and looks forward to working with the new government. "Expectations are currently high that a cabinet could be announced within the coming days. We certainly hope this is the case," said Feltman. Feltman's comments came in prepared testimony for delivery to the House of Representatives' Foreign Affairs Committee's subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia. "The Lebanese people have waited too long for their government to return to the work of ensuring security, economic development, and political dialogue for all Lebanese citizens," said Feltman. "We look forward to working with the next Lebanese government and reiterate that our support for Lebanese sovereignty will not be compromised by our engagement with any other party," said the diplomat. The power vacuum was highlighted late on Tuesday when a rocket fired from Lebanon slammed into northern Israel and the Jewish state retaliated with an artillery barrage. On Wednesday morning, the Lebanese army discovered four more rockets, primed and ready to be fired at Israel from the border village of Hula, the origin of the previous day's attack.(AFP) Beirut, 28 Oct 09, 21:19

Lebanon Details Israeli Artillery Fire in Letter to U.N.
Naharnet/Lebanon has sent a letter to the United Nations over the Israeli artillery fire in retaliation to a Katyusha rocket attack from southern Lebanon on the Jewish state on Tuesday.
An Nahar daily on Thursday quoted a Lebanese diplomat as saying that the letter included details on the firing of nine shells on the outskirts of the towns of Houla and Mais al-Jabal, which caused material damage only. One of the shells did not explode. The shelling, according to the Lebanese letter, was accompanied by violation of Lebanese airspace as Israeli helicopters and drones flew over the two towns all the way to Tal al-Abbad. The letter said the Israeli attack was in violation of Security Council resolution 1701.The diplomat told An Nahar that Caretaker Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh has asked Lebanon's representative to the U.N. Nawaf Salam to deliver the letter to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon who in his turn should hand over the complaint to the Security Council president. The Lebanese move came the same day Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Gabriela Shalev has filed an official complaint with Ban and the Security Council president over the Katyusha rocket attack. Beirut, 29 Oct 09, 10:41

Egypt Court Resumes Trial of Hizbullah Cell
Naharnet/Egypt's Supreme State Security Court on Thursday will resume the trial of 26 members of the so-called Hizbullah cell accused of plotting attacks and spying on Egypt.
Those on trial include two Lebanese nationals, five Palestinians, a Sudanese and 18 Egyptians. Wednesday's trial saw the defense team withdrew completely from the case for lack of court jurisdiction. Hizbullah's operative Mohamad Mansour, one of the cell members, on Wednesday accused his interrogators of "brutal torture" that has left him deaf in one ear.
Mansour, on trial with 25 other defendants, told AFP during a break in a court session that he and all the others had been "brutally tortured," saying his health was failing.
"All the detainees have been tortured. I lost hearing in my right ear because of the constant torture. I was electrocuted and beaten," he said.
The men are accused of plotting attacks against ships in the Suez Canal and tourist sites. Most of the group, including five Palestinian suspects and one Sudanese, were rounded up between late last year and January. Four of the defendants, among them the alleged Lebanese ringleader Mohamad Qabalan, are being tried in absentia by the state security court after they fled the country. Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has said Mansour is a Hizbullah agent in charge of smuggling weapons to Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip.
One of Mansour's lawyers said Mansour had admitted in questioning that he proposed attacks against "Israeli targets" in Egypt to avenge the assassination of Imad Mughnieh, a senior Hizbullah commander, but was turned down by his superiors.
"I am innocent of any charges regarding attacks towards Egypt," said Mansour, who was kept in a black metal cage in the courtroom along with the other defendants.
"My task was to send support for our brothers in Gaza. I am in the resistance, like (the late French president Charles) De Gaulle. He's the hero of France, right?" said Mansour.
A handwritten letter by the defendants obtained by AFP alleged they were all tortured with electric shocks.
Local and international human rights groups say torture is routine in Egypt. "Every year, we have 12 to 20 deaths from torture in the country," said Hafez Abu Saada of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights. Earlier this month, the Islamist Hamas rulers of Gaza said Egyptian security men tortured a senior official's brother to death in prison in the northern city of Alexandria. Egypt denies the allegation. And Egyptian security officials say the defendants in the Hizbullah trial have been examined by doctors who found no traces of abuse.
The government has also dismissed accusations that the charges of plotting attacks in Egypt were fabricated to damage Hizbullah, which is not known to have carried out attacks in the Middle East outside Lebanon and Israel. In an acerbic speech in December, Nasrallah accused Cairo of complicity with Israel during its 22-day war against Hamas in Gaza that ended in January, outraging the Egyptian government. Egypt has accused Iran, Hizbullah's chief sponsor, of being behind the alleged plot and promised that the prosecution's evidence would "astonish" the Tehran government. But the defense says the prosecution has not presented the evidence it said was in its possession, such as explosives and arms allegedly found with some of the defendants.(Naharnet-AFP) Beirut, 29 Oct 09, 11:06

Ban Defends Roed-Larsen, Says Implementation of 1701, 1559 Foundation of Stability
Naharnet/U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has defended his special representative on the implementation of Security Council resolution 1559, Terje Roed-Larsen, against criticism of bias and expansion of his mandate. "My Special Representative on Security Council resolution 1559 enjoys my full confidence and trust, and he will continue his functions," Ban told a news conference in New York on Wednesday. He said all his special representatives and envoys "conduct their missions strictly" under his "guidance and instructions."
The Loyalty to the Resistance Parliamentary bloc criticized Roed-Larsen on Wednesday and said he was not welcomed. The bloc added that the envoy's latest report on the implementation of 1559 in which he wrote that Hizbullah's arms were in violation of the resolution is a "scandal and brazen bias."
Syria has also recently said that Roed-Larsen is expanding his mandate and covering issues that are not related directly to his mission.
Ban told the news conference that the full implementation of resolutions 1701 and 1559 "is the foundation and basic principle of ensuring and maintaining peace and stability, as well as prosperity, not only in Lebanon, but in the region.""We have seen many such cases where these resolutions have been violated, as we have seen recently over the last several weeks," he said. The U.N. chief said he has been emphasizing and urging Israeli and Lebanese authorities to fully comply with these resolutions. Ban also called on Israel to back the reconstruction of Gaza, deploring conditions there nearly a year after a devastating Israeli military offensive. "Ten months after hostilities ended in Gaza, we see no progress on reconstruction or the re-opening of borders," he said at the news conference. On Iraq, he said he was sending an envoy to the war-torn country following twin car bombings that killed at least 135 people in Baghdad at the weekend. "In response to a request from the government of Iraq, I will send Assistant Secretary-General Oscar Fernandez-Taranco to Iraq for preliminary consultations related to Iraq's security and sovereignty," Ban said. Beirut, 29 Oct 09, 08:35

Shalom: Syria Aiding Hizbullah with Iranian Arms in Violation of 1701
Naharnet/Israeli Vice Premier Silvan Shalom said on Thursday that Syria is smuggling Iranian arms to Lebanon in violation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701.
Shalom also cast doubt on Syrian President Bashar Assad's comments Wednesday that his country was interested in peace with Israel. "As far as it concerns us in Syria we have national support to continue talks with Israel," Assad said on Wednesday after meeting Croatian President Stipe Mesic. Speaking to Israel Radio, Shalom said Damascus wants peace with Israel in order to win points with the international community, while continuing to aid Hizbullah, Hamas and other militant groups. Beirut, 29 Oct 09, 12:01

Israel Wants Graziano to Remain in his Post
Naharnet/Israel has asked Italy to try to remain at the helm of the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) rather than handing over the responsibility to Spain as planned, a senior Israeli official said. "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week called (Italian) Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and asked him to try to keep the current commander of UNIFIL Claudio Graziano in his post," the official said. Graziano's term is due to end in a few weeks, with Spain slated to take over. The Israeli Haaretz newspaper said Netanyahu's move turned into a serious diplomatic incident, with Spain likely to take up the issue during talks with visiting Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak this week. While the military wanted Netanyahu to press Italy to keep Graziano in his post for at least another six months, the foreign ministry believes Israel should not have become involved to avoid insulting any of the major European countries participating in UNIFIL -- France, Italy and Spain, the daily said. "We have no preference regarding UNIFIL command. We will cooperate with any commander," a foreign ministry spokesman said. UNIFIL has some 13,000 troops from various countries stationed in southern Lebanon.(AFP-Naharnet) Beirut, 29 Oct 09, 11:27

Suleiman, Blames Israel for Katyushas, Says Cabinet Deal 'Very Soon'
Naharnet/Amid continued uncertainty over formation of a national unity government, President Michel Suleiman confirmed that he will "very soon" sign a deal with Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri on a Cabinet lineup. The government will "very soon be formed," Suleiman said in an interview published Thursday by the daily Al-Akhbar. "I can say that the dispute is no longer political, but administrative," he stressed. "But that doesn't mean that our system is not mired with flaws and gaps that need to be corrected in a timely manner."
"Certainly we don't need another system because we are not facing a regime crisis," he clarified. "Our system, as stipulated in the Taef Accord, is Constitutional; and we have agreed that it remains the same," Suleiman added. Turning to the Katyusha attack on northern Israel on Tuesday, Suleiman put the blame on Israel, saying an "Israeli agent" was responsible for the action.
"This work is a pretext for Israel to continue to violate Lebanese sovereignty, and a swift interpretation of what it had said about an expansion of intelligence activity in Lebanon because of Hizbullah's presence," Suleiman believed. Beirut, 29 Oct 09, 09:15

Franjieh Dines with Hariri, Plans Damascus Visit to Make Cabinet Deal Possible
Naharnet/Marada Movement leader Suleiman Franjieh dined with Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri to discuss ways to get out of the political stalemate and was reportedly planning to visit Damascus seeking help to make a Cabinet deal possible. The daily As-Safir on Thursday said Franjieh has, at the same time, maintained ongoing contacts with Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri and Hizbullah in an effort to reach a Cabinet deal. Franjieh was also said to have plans to visit Damascus before week's end as part of his efforts to find common ground between Hariri and Aoun, al-Liwaa newspaper reported. Hariri sources told As-Safir that a Cabinet lineup was still likely to be announced between end of the month and the first week of November. They ruled out a deal over portfolio rotation since this could have a negative effect on President Michel Suleiman's quota seats.
The sources, nevertheless, stressed that Hariri was open to negotiations in a bid to agree on alternatives that would "satisfy" Aoun, excluding the Justice Ministry. As-Safir said efforts were now focused on "seeking and finding a face-saving solution" for all political parties involved in the Cabinet . Beirut, 29 Oct 09, 08:12

Berri Meets Suleiman to Propose Solutions
Naharnet/A meeting between President Michel Suleiman and Speaker Nabih Berri was held in Baabda on Wednesday night in parallel with the dinner held in honor of Matthew Festing, Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. On Tuesday, well-informed sources about the ongoing cabinet formation negotiations told the Central News Agency that Berri's visit to Baabda on Wednesday may bring something new, especially that the house speaker had certain formulas that can be resorted to as exits to solutions. Meanwhile, PM-designate Saad Hariri apologized for not attending the presidential dinner in Baabda. Some sources previously mentioned that Hariri might visit Baabda on Wednesday to explore Berri's efforts outcome. The sources had mentioned the possibility of a Suleiman-Berri-Hariri trilateral meeting. Beirut, 27 Oct 09, 18:33

Aoun: Tuesday's Katyusha Not Innocent
Naharnet/Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun said that the Katyusha-type rocket launched from southern Lebanon into northern Israel on Tuesday night was not "innocent".
At a press conference held after the weekly meeting of Change and Reform parliamentary bloc, Aoun criticized the Lebanese parliamentary majority officials for disregarding the Israeli spying networks and talking only about Katyushas and Hizbullah's arms. Answering a question, Aoun said that all those in charge of security in the South are to be held responsible for the security breach. He named the Lebanese army and UNIFIL as those forces. Regarding the ongoing cabinet formation crisis, Aoun said that there was nothing new on the subject. However, he concluded that the governmental crisis will be eventually solved and FPM will occupy its position.
Aoun said that the negotiations regarding cabinet portfolios cannot be discussed in front of cameras and that his meeting with PM-designate Hariri will be held once any development occurs. He hoped for that meeting to be held "soon by God's will". "I'm with forming the cabinet according to standards that preserve rights. I'm the only one who has the right to keep current portfolios for 2 years given that we took charge of them recently but others have to follow the rotation concept," said Aoun answering a question on portfolios distribution.
In an interview published Wednesday by As Safir daily, Aoun said that Lebanon is strong due to its diversity and will not witness another civil war even if the Middle East was set on fire.
"If the entire Middle East was burned … Lebanon will not burn from the fires of the civil war … The secret of the country's strength and one of the main factors of immunity is its confessional diversity which gives it an added value in the whole region," Aoun told As Safir. Aoun also said the system is unbalanced. Asked if balance could be reached through the Taef accord or if the country is in need of another Taef, Aoun said: "Why do we call it Taef? Let us call it Beirut 1. Now the prime minister is the absolute ruler through his majority in parliament." The MP also called for proportional representation in cabinet and slammed the current electoral law that gave the prime minister predominance. Beirut, 28 Oct 09, 18:13

Iran ready to cooperate on nuclear fuel Module body
By Reza Derakhshi
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran will not retreat "one iota" on its nuclear rights but is ready to cooperate on issues regarding atomic fuel, power plants and technology, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Thursday. He said the provision of fuel for a Tehran research reactor was an opportunity for Iran to evaluate the "honesty" of world powers and the U.N. nuclear agency watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Later in the day Iran was expected to present its formal response to a U.N.-drafted nuclear fuel deal which is meant to help ease tension over Tehran's disputed nuclear program. Iranian media say the Islamic Republic will accept the framework of the deal but demand changes to it.
"As long as this government is in power, it will not retreat one iota on the undeniable rights of the Iranian nation," Ahmadinejad said in a speech in the northeastern city of Mashhad, broadcast live on state television. "Fortunately, conditions have been prepared for international cooperation in the nuclear field," he said. "We welcome cooperation on nuclear fuel, power plants and technology and we are ready to cooperate." The draft nuclear fuel deal was hammered out by IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei in follow-up talks to an October 1 meeting between Iran and six world powers in Geneva, where Iran also agreed to open a new enrichment site for U.N. inspections.
Ahmadinejad did not say whether Iran would accept the deal or what changes it might want. Iranian demands for changes in the deal could unravel the plan and expose the country to the threat of harsher Western sanctions.
"HONESTY"
The West suspects Iran is trying to develop nuclear bombs. Tehran denies this and says its program is aimed at generating electricity.
Under the draft deal put forward by ElBaradei after consultations last week in Vienna with Iran, the United States, France and Russia, Iran would send low-enriched uranium (LEU) abroad for processing and eventual use in a research reactor.
It calls for Iran to transfer about 75 percent of its known 1.5 tonnes of LEU to Russia for further enrichment by the end of this year, then to France for conversion into fuel plates.
These would be returned to Tehran to power the reactor, which produces radio isotopes for cancer treatment.
"Nuclear fuel supply for the Tehran reactor is an opportunity to evaluate the honesty of the powers and the agency (IAEA)," said Ahmadinejad.
He said Iran expected the world powers -- the United States, Russia, China, France, Germany and Britain -- to fulfill their commitments and keep their promises.
"We are moving on the right track ... and we have absolutely no concerns about a just and legal cooperation which observes the legal rights of the Iranian nation," he said.
Senior Iranian lawmakers have cast doubt on the fuel plan, some saying Tehran should import the fuel it needs for a research reactor rather than send its stockpile abroad. Others have suggested Iran should only agree to send its enriched uranium out of the country in stages.(Writing by Fredrik Dahl; editing by Tim Pearce)

The Spooks of Beirut
By: Rannie Amiri
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/opinion/?id=35354
Middle East on Line
First Published 2009-10-29, Last Updated 2009-10-29 08:51:44
Some politicians and their pettiness, belonging to both of the two main political camps, represent nothing more than intransigence; habitually shifting from one ineffective, transient set of conveniences, opportunities, or alliances, to another, says Rannie Amiri.
Lebanese parliamentary elections were held on June 7, and nearly five months later, there is still no government in place. And the reasons for it are all too predictable.
Despite threats in the run-up to the vote made by Vice President Biden and Secretary of State Clinton should the Hezbollah-led March 8 coalition win, and the illegal election-eve campaigning (read: fear mongering) of Maronite patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir, it was by all measures a free, fair ballot.
The winner was the Western-backed March 14 coalition, led by Future Movement head Saad Hariri. Due to the sectarian distribution of seats – ironically the great paralyzing factor in Lebanese politics yet one that has nonetheless managed to keep the country afloat—the winning alliance was able to clearly win the majority of seats in the National Assembly despite clearly losing the popular vote.
Hariri was nominated by his bloc to the post of prime minister and easily confirmed by the rest of parliament shortly thereafter.
The first question to face Hariri in forming the bloated 30-member cabinet was immediately apparent: would he continue to allow the opposition to wield veto-power as they did under Prime Minister Fouad Siniora (a right granted to them as part of the May 2008 Doha Accords)?
Remarkably, a solution was rather quickly reached: 15 seats would be allocated to Hariri’s bloc, 10 to the opposition, and five would be appointed by President Michel Suleiman. By mutual agreement, one of Suleiman’s appointees would be approved by Hezbollah, thus giving them the one-third plus one number of ministers needed for a veto. Problem solved.
Then came the unexpected announcement of Lebanon’s consummate political opportunist, Druze and Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) leader Walid Jumblatt. Despite roundly bashing Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah and Hezbollah during the campaign and in years prior, Jumblatt did an about-face in August by saying he would break ranks with Hariri and pull out of the March 14 coalition.
“Our alliance with March 14 forces was driven by necessity and must not continue,” Jumblatt said as he hurriedly sought to meet with Nasrallah. Never missing an opportunity to play kingmaker and stay politically relevant, Jumblatt has now indicated that although he will not be part of the government, he will keep his PSP within March 14 and not join the opposition.
It was nevertheless a setback for Hariri in forming his cabinet, and in September said he would step down as prime minister-designate. Within weeks, he was reappointed by President Suleiman and told to try again.
Many analysts concluded that nothing would solve the deadlock until a much anticipated Saudi-Syrian rapprochement took place. This occurred when King Abdullah paid an official visit to President Assad in Damascus in early October. Not wanting to make it too obvious that the dysfunctional Lebanese body politic was dependent on this reconciliation, it was understandable that it would take more than the declared “just a few days” before a cabinet was finally put together.
But weeks later, it has yet to happen.
Proving that all politics is indeed local, the present day impasse stems in part from the demand of Michel Aoun, head of the Free Patriotic Movement within the March 8 coalition and the most popular Christian politician in the country, that his group be granted five ministries (which is not unreasonable considering the number of seats he has in parliament) and that one, the Telecommunications Ministry, be given to his son-in-law.
Control of telecommunications is contentious since it was the Siniora government that wanted to strip Hezbollah of their own telecommunications network and eventually led to the outbreak of violence on Beirut’s streets last year. As for General Aoun, he built his reputation on his “War of Liberation” against the Syrians in the late 1980s. Not long after his return from exile in 2005, he joined forces with the pro-Syrian March 8 alliance.
It should now be obvious why Lebanon has had no government since the June elections.
As each of above scenarios illustrate, to blame are entrenched, feudal lord politicians and their patrons, who are incapable of moving past personal agendas and egos to address the country’s pressing needs. They include Saad Hariri (who despite his youth, has completely failed to usher in any fresh ideas), Jumblatt, Aoun, and parliament speaker and Amal leader Nabih Berri. The latter’s 17 long years at the post will now be extended another four. At least Sayyid Nasrallah’s Hezbollah movement has invested in essential social welfare services and programs to aid those historically neglected by the state, not to mention having to continuously worry about the threat of Israeli aggression—and convince others in the government the reality of it. Such politicians and their pettiness, belonging to both of the two main political camps, represent nothing more than intransigence; habitually shifting from one ineffective, transient set of conveniences, opportunities, or alliances, to another. This Halloween these spooks of Beirut will haunt the city, doling out tricks, but not much else.
**Rannie Amiri is an independent Middle East commentator.

Jamil Sayyed: Majority Wants Justice Ministry to Protect Mirza
Naharnet/Brig. Gen. Jamil Sayyed said that the parliamentary majority wants to keep Justice Ministry to protect Prosecutor General Saeed Mirza and others. Sayyed blamed the opposition for disregarding a very important case such as the "False Witnesses" one. In a press conference held on Wednesday, Sayyed said that Mirza forwarded the lawsuits against the "false witnesses" to Lahay's international court while knowing that it was not of its specialty.  Sayyed added that through a resolution from Mirza, false witness Mohamad Zuhair al-Seddeq became able to enter and leave Lebanon as any Lebanese citizen. In the presence of the Syrian lawyers who received the lawsuits Sayyed filed -- against Mohamad Zuhair al-Seddeq, Husam Husam, Abdul Halim Khaddam, Akram Murad, and Ibrahim Jarjour -- Sayyed said that no one can appeal those 5 lawsuits after the Special Tribunal for Lebanon confirmed that the witnesses were fake. Sayyed said that France responded positively to his lawsuit against former U.N. chief investigator Detlev Mehlis and former Lebanese ambassador Johnny Abdo. He added that the former French president Jacques Chirac had protected al-Seddeq. "Judge Daniel Belmar and STL's spokeswoman Radia Ashouri confirmed that STL's law does not allow it currently to pursue false witnesses," Brig. Gen. Sayyed clarified. Beirut, 28 Oct 09, 21:00

Behind the rockets
By Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff
Haaretz
Even though everyone involved is seeking to lower the media profile, it seems disconcerting developments are taking place along the borders of Israel, Lebanon and Syria. The Katyusha fire from South Lebanon at the Galilee panhandle on Tuesday is one manifestation of this trend, but the reasons for the tension taking hold of the region are not immediately evident.
Even the rocket fire - although as IDF Northern Command officers like to remind us, it was only a single short-caliber projectile - cannot be considered a negligible or unimportant incident. It's true that personal safety in the Galilee is relatively high, and that the bed-and-breakfast industry is flourishing, but the rocket strikes have become somewhat more frequent.
Tuesday's incident is the fourth this year, after just two such incidents over the previous two years, since the end of the Second Lebanon War in the summer of 2006. Yesterday the Lebanese Army discovered four additional Katyushas ready to be fired in the southern village of Houla, where the lone rocket was launched the day before. The Israel Defense Forces said the Katyusha, which landed in an open area outside Kiryat Shmona, was not preceded by an intelligence warning. What did precede it, however, was a hastily-coordinated visit by Defense Minister Ehud Barak to the Galilee and Golan Heights.
In remarks to the press during that visit, Barak reiterated his usual talking points: concern over Hezbollah's rearmament, the Lebanese government's responsibility, the importance Israel attributes to maintaining the deterrent capability it built up in the 2006 war, and Jerusalem's red line regarding "destabilizing weapons" entering Lebanese territory.
For the last two years, this last phrase has been a codename for a specific weapon, and all sides involved know exactly what it refers to. Israel has long been concerned that Syria might provide Hezbollah with advanced anti-aircraft missiles that would allow the group to down Israeli planes and helicopters on intelligence-gathering missions over Lebanon.
There have been several recent attempts to smuggle in such weapon systems, but all were ultimately thwarted through Israeli pressure bolstered by international mediators. Such smuggling attempts seem likely to recur, which is one of the factors contributing to the cross-border tension.
In a closed-door UN Security Council meeting Tuesday over the situation in South Lebanon, Terje Roed-Larsen (the UN secretary-general's special envoy for implementing the Israel-Hezbollah cease-fire) said Hezbollah's weapons stores are endangering Lebanon's future, and peace and stability throughout the region. It was a rarely-heard remark, testifying to the UN's familiarity with the state of affairs in the region.
The increase in rocket fire is also apparently linked to the internal Lebanese situation - the difficulty in establishing a new governing coalition nearly five months after parliamentary elections, Hezbollah's activity in the country's south, and the performance of UNIFIL peacekeepers and Lebanese Army troops near the Israeli border.
In the past, Israeli figures often claimed that nothing happened in South Lebanon without the explicit authorization of Hezbollah. Still, all of the rockets have been attributed to Palestinian or Lebanese Sunni extremist groups, rather than to Hezbollah itself.
There are, therefore, two possibilities: that these factions operate against Hezbollah's instructions, or with the group's tacit approval. Israeli intelligence has yet to provide a clear answer to this question. What is clear is that UNIFIL's activity has been limited - the UN peacekeepers rarely enter Lebanon's rural south, as any such monitoring is met by Hezbollah opposition, and resultant disturbances by the population.
UNIFIL's usefulness is therefore fading, meaning that a fundamental component of Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war, has never been implemented. The border between Lebanon and Syria remains completely penetrable, and weapons smuggling there continues unabated.

US can heed its own report on Lebanon
By The Daily Star
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Editorial
A report released by the US State Department on Monday seems to have confirmed what we already knew: that Lebanon’s political system is unfair, and inherently discriminatory. The report strongly condemned various aspects of Lebanon’s political system – with a particular focus on the judiciary – arguing that by allowing political groups to administer personal status laws risked perpetuating social inequality.
The findings of the report should be of no surprise to the Lebanese, aware of their system’s flaws as they are, nor should it surprise regional powers, who have done much to ferment divisions in the country. By actively supporting different sides in Lebanon, outside powers exacerbate what is already a precarious situation.
For years, those seeking to exert their influence in the region have undermined any notion of a Lebanese state, instead choosing to circumvent the government and interact with internal groups with whom they have the most in common. This course of action has only served to weaken the state and strengthen sectarianism.
It is the people of Lebanon who suffer from this fragmented and unjust system; a weak judiciary creates instability which impacts on all society. It hinders investment and causes citizens to seek security and other basic services elsewhere. In the absence of a functioning state, people have no other choice.
Most agree that at the root of any reform is an independent judiciary, capable of enforcing the rule of law. If the United States is sincere in its concern over the issues it raised in this report, its support for Lebanon must reflect this. A strong state with a stable legal system would perform the role currently being provided by Lebanon’s many sects, and in the process helps to foster unity. Our own politicians have on many occasions spoken of the need for judicial reform, yet little progress has been made; they must take responsibility for a lack of progress in this area. The United States too has an essential role to play in this reform. A new path of “soft diplomacy” propagated by the Obama administration could have no better testing ground than Lebanon. If the State Department is able to secure $500 million to train and equip Lebanon’s military, surely it can find a similar amount to perform what is arguably an equally worthy aim of reducing the tendency toward sectarianism in the country. The result of such an approach would be beneficial to the whole region, and go a long way to addressing the criticisms made in the report. Whether the US decides to follow this report with action will be a measure of how seriously they take Lebanon’s internal divisions. Should the effort be made, it is not unrealistic to suggest that Lebanon could become a “beacon of democracy” to shine over the Middle East.

Learning to abandon extremism
By Paul Salem
Daily Star
Commentary by
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Report after report from the World Bank, United Nations Development Program, and the Arab League emphasize that the education deficit in the Arab world is among the main causes of its underdevelopment. With 5 percent of the world’s population and the bulk of the world’s oil and gas, the Arab world nonetheless lags behind most of the rest of the world, and suffers from what can best be termed “educational poverty.” Without dramatic improvement at all educational levels, unemployment, illiteracy, and income inequality will continue to worsen, and the region will remain a danger to itself and its neighbors.
Even before the current economic recession, unemployment in the Arab world was estimated at 14 percent – the world’s highest average outside sub-Saharan Africa. Among young people and recent graduates, the figure is more than double.
The Arab world also has the highest population growth rate in the world, with almost 40 percent of its population now below the age of 15. According to some estimates, the Arab world accounts for one-quarter of the world’s unemployment among the 15-24 age group Just to keep up with the inflow of young people into the labor market, Arab economies will have to generate 100 million new jobs over the next 10 years, which will be impossible if education remains impoverished.
Enrolment ratios in the Arab world have improved over the past decade, but Arab countries still have one of the lowest average net enrolment ratios in the developing world. About one-fifth of eligible children, more than 7 million, are not in school, and 60 percent of these are girls. The average years of schooling for Arabs is less than half that for the East Asian states. Not surprisingly, despite progress in recent decades, illiteracy remains at around 30 percent on average, and in some Arab nations reaches 50 percent and 60 percent.
The quality of Arab education is also an obstacle. Today’s job market demands skills based on problem-solving, critical thinking, modern languages, and technology, but Arab educational systems generally remain traditional, rote-based, and authoritarian.
Research throughout the world shows that education is a key prerequisite for sustainable growth. The East Asian tigers invested heavily in education, and it paid off in terms of a capable and modern workforce. By contrast, development in the Arab world, driven largely by oil revenues, has left the population under-educated and economically marginalized.
Education is also important in the Arab context because of its special status in Islam, which, like Judaism and Christianity, is a religion of the book. The Gospel of St. John says, “In the Beginning was the Word”; the first word that was revealed to the Prophet Mohammad by the Angel Gabriel was “Read …” Among the Prophet’s sayings is, “It is the duty of every Muslim man and woman to seek learning.” Moreover, Islam does not have a priesthood, just scholars. The Arab golden ages, in 11th-century Baghdad and 14th-century Andalusia, are revered as periods of great learning. Schools and universities received large-scale support, and students and scholars traveled from city to city in pursuit of knowledge. After these golden ages, education fell into decline.
By the 1970s and 1980s, the Arab world’s post-independence states had made great improvements in their education sector. But they did not have the resources to keep up with their own growing populations. The dramatic levels of investment of the 1950s and 1960s tapered off, with the result that too many children are now either outside the school system or are receiving a low-quality education that leaves them without basic literacy and numeracy skills. And there are still too many disparities based on gender, location, wealth, disability, and other markers of marginalization.
What the West has most, and what the Arab world most needs, is education. It requires more schools and fewer guns; more universities and fewer aircraft carriers. The American University of Beirut, founded in 1866, has arguably done more to transform the Middle East in positive ways than any other comparable institution, yet it receives only $3 million in annual aid from the United States, which spends billions on armies and weaponry in the region.
Indeed, the cost of a single month of Western military spending in Iraq or Afghanistan would be enough to triple total aid for education in the Middle East. The cost of two cruise missiles would build a school, the cost of a Eurofighter a small university.
Education can also have a fundamental effect on forming values. Radical Islamists recognized this long ago and plowed their resources into schools. Saudi Arabia recognized it in the 1970s as it sought to expand its influence, and over the years the kingdom has funded thousands of schools and colleges that teach its stringent brand of Wahhabi Islam.
In Afghanistan and Pakistan, the radical vision is conveyed to the young in religious schools known as madrasas. Indeed, “Taliban” means “students.” The struggle for the future of the Arab and Muslim worlds that is being fought now will be won or lost not on the battlefield, but in the classroom.
***Paul Salem is Director of the Carnegie Middle East Center, Beirut. THE DAILY STAR publishes this commentary in collaboration with Project Syndicate © (www.project-syndicate.org).

The Big Freeze: U.S. Policy on Peace Process comes to Dead Halt and Likely to Remain that Way
By Barry Rubin*
October 21, 2009
http://www.gloria-center.org/Gloria/2009/10/the-big-freeze.html
If solving the Israel-Palestinian and Arab-Israeli conflict is the centerpiece of the Obama Administration’s Middle East policy—at times it seems the keystone of the government’s entire policy—there's an obvious problem derailing it.
Here it is. The president of the United States on several occasions and notably in his UN speech and high officials repeatedly have announced that they want and expect there to be quick, final status negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) to resolve all issues and end the conflict.
This event isn't going to happen.
When the president of the United States announces there will be talks soon and has no reason to believe that's true he's making a fool of himself. It is one of the most basic rules of presidential behavior that you don't put the chief executive’s prestige on the line, that you do not let him predict an imminent event, unless you know for darn sure it is going to happen.
Yet when President Barack H. Obama stood before the world's assembled leaders that's precisely what he did. For an administration approaching the end of its first year in office that's dangerous amateurism.
The fly in the ointment here is the PA and this is no minor detail. The PA says repeatedly that it will not even meet formally with Israel until all construction on all Jewish settlements on the West Bank plus east Jerusalem stop completely. Already, however, U.S.-Israel discussions have moved past that point. We don’t know precisely where they stand but clearly the administration isn’t pushing for a total halt and it isn’t pushing all that urgently on the issue.
Therefore, while Israel has succeeded in conciliating the United States, the PA is going to defy the United States. We know that it is serious in doing so because of what has just happened with the Goldstone report in the UN. The administration asked the PA not to take a leading role in pushing the report; the PA complied for about 48 hours and then internal pressure forced it to go back on its word. Most of this pressure was not the spontaneous outrage of the masses but from the hardline elements which dominate the ruling Fatah group as well as in the PA itself.
In short, PA leader Mahmoud Abbas is not going to back down on his demand. He is more afraid of his own colleagues, Hamas’s baiting him as a “moderate” (a compliment perhaps from the West but a deadly insult in Palestinian politics), and his own people than of Obama. Indeed, nobody is afraid of Obama which is one of the main problems with his foreign policy.
Disdaining the use of threats, leverage, and pressure, the Obama administration is not likely to push the PA very hard on this and even if it did Abbas would stand firm. Having extolled the Palestinians as peace-loving martyrs, courting Arab and Muslim opinion, treasuring popularity, the administration won’t get tough. No amount of funding or other goodies is going to move the PA or Abbas either. For Abbas, it is something like the classical choice which can be paraphrased as: Your money or your life?
So there is, and will be, a deadlock, month after month through into 2010. Is there some clever way out? I don’t see one and am willing to bet the administration doesn’t either.
Remember this president said repeatedly--in his Cairo speech, at the UN, almost daily--that he is going to solve the issue; that his predecessor missed easy opportunities to do so; that this is the world's main issue. So what's he going to do other than spin about how hard he's working and how much progress he's making?
In contrast, Abbas has an attractive policy alternative: strike a militant pose, blame America, seek rapprochement with Hamas. In addition, what both the United States and Europe fails to see is that the Palestinians don’t need or want rapid progress on negotiations or even a state except on what would be completely their own terms.
The Palestinians can also afford the luxury of believing—and this is what Western policy has taught them—that Europe and America needs them more than they need the West. Moreover they believe, and again this is what they have been shown, that intransigence on their part actually brings more criticism on Israel. If you believe, rightly or wrongly, that the world is about to condemn Israel as a pariah, war criminal state why make compromises with it?
This is the corner into which the Obama Administration has painted itself. And all that it has left is what might be called the cat strategy. Have you ever seen a cat miss a leap or have an embarrassing fall? It merely licks itself and looks around with an expression saying: I meant to do that. Everything is going according to plan.
But it isn’t.
The newest development is the idea, favored by many in the European Union, of endorsing PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad’s “plan” for there to be a Palestinian state within two years. Of course, this won’t happen either.
The whole thing is taking on a comic opera air. It reminded me of something. And then I remembered: the classical description of the Arab defeat in the 1948 war and Israel’s creation by Constantine Zurayk, vice-president of the American University of Beirut, in his book The Meaning of the Disaster. He wrote:
“Seven Arab states declare war on Zionism in Palestine, stop impotent before it and turn on their heels. The representatives of the Arabs deliver fiery speeches in the highest international forums, warning what the Arab state and peoples will do if this or that decision be enacted. Declarations fall like bombs from the mouths of officials at the meetings of the Arab League, but when action becomes necessary, the fire is still and quiet and steel and iron are rusted and twisted, quick to bend and disintegrate.”
For the Arab states, the fiery speeches do have a value of their own, cowing rivals and mobilizing the masses to support their local dictator. But when the United States acts like a pitiful, helpless giant—even if it is a nice and friendly, apologetic one—the world shudders and shakes. The evil, with laughter; the good, with tears.
If you find these articles useful and interesting, please read and subscribe to Barry Rubin's blog, Rubin Reports, at <http://www.rubinreports.blogspot.com>:
*Barry Rubin is director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center and editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal. His latest books are The Israel-Arab Reader (seventh edition), with Walter Laqueur (Viking-Penguin); the paperback edition of The Truth About Syria (Palgrave-Macmillan); A Chronological History of Terrorism, with Judy Colp Rubin, (Sharpe); and The Long War for Freedom: The Arab Struggle for Democracy in the Middle East (Wiley). To read and subscribe to MERIA, GLORIA articles, or to order books, go to http://www.gloria-center.org

The US should make a U-turn on its approach to Hezbullah
Past efforts to uproot the militant group have failed. Obama must try a different tack and focus on Israel and Lebanon.
By Rima Merhi
Christian Science Monitor
from the October 29, 2009 edition
Cambridge, Mass. - The US government has been trying unsuccessfully to uproot the military wing of Hezbollah for over a decade.
It continues to fail because Washington is headed in the wrong direction – the United States still does not understand Hezbollah's role or appreciate its multiple faces, and instead opts for quick solutions that add fuel to a burning Middle East. To uproot the military wing of Hezbollah in Lebanon, President Obama needs to make a U-turn and capitalize on the good relations this administration has with Israel. In the recent past, the US government has opted for three courses of action that have either backfired or proved ineffective in weakening the group.
First, the US supported an Israeli attack (in 2006) that forced Lebanon back 20 years and killed innocent civilians on both sides, without achieving any military objectives against Hezbollah. Then there was an attempt to defang Hezbollah through Iran, the group's main sponsor. When President Ahmadinejad was reelected this year, that failed as well. Most recently, Washington has tried to uproot Hezbollah through another ally, Syria. But with an international tribunal under way investigating the assassination of Lebanese Premier Rafik Hariri – which may or may not evict Syrian officials – the situation could become very complex. [Editor’s note: The original version of this essay misstated the nature of the international tribunal investigation.]
A big part of the problem is that the US is only looking at Hezbollah through a security lens. Washington only sees Hezbollah as a military wing backed by Syria and Iran. To make any headway, the US must acknowledge the diversity of Hezbollah's supporters and move beyond the group's military side to appreciate the religious, political, economic, and social ties that connect Hezbollah with its supporters. The alternative is to risk further alienating and marginalizing over a million Lebanese, mostly Shiite, on the border with Israel.
To be sensitive to this, it means that the real path for sustainable peace in between Lebanon and Israel involves Hezbollah's biggest enemy – Israel.
"We are a nation of today and tomorrow. Others look at the past. We are in peril if we do not do the same," said US Ambassador Ryan Crocker recently, as he pointed out that Hezbollah was created in 1982, when Israel invaded Lebanon in the civil war.
He's right. Israel essentially created Hezbollah, and only with Israel's help can the US uproot the military wing of Hezbollah.
Unlike President Bush, Mr. Obama's family background and open diplomacy gives him appeal in the Middle East. Obama can use this to the region's advantage. Obama is in position to help Israel see that working with Washington to engage in real dialogue to resolve disputes will work to Israel's advantage.
The US should now play the role of effective broker and help negotiate a long-term peace deal between Lebanon and Israel to destroy the legitimacy of Hezbollah's arms.
The UN Security Council, where the US is a member, needs to move beyond recent complaints made by both sides in violation of Resolution 1701 ending the July 2006 war, and address the root causes of the conflict.
Three main issues have floated around for too long because the political will to move forward on them has been absent:
1. Land dispute. A major point of conflict between Lebanon and Israel has been the border. Hezbollah regularly campaigns for the return of a part of land called Shebaa Farms. This land dispute dates back to 1967.
When Israel declared its withdrawal from all occupied lands in 2000, Hezbollah has insisted that so long as Shebaa Farms is not liberated, Israel remains an occupier, and this justifies the need for arms. The US could begin to address this by using the auspices of the UN to encourage Israel to use the land as a bargaining tool for peace.
2. Prisoners of war on both sides. Given that the last war broke out when Hezbollah kidnapped two Israeli soldiers, it should be a priority for the international community to pressure Israel and Hezbollah to put a plan forward to return all prisoners of war.
The US and international community can apply a carrot approach and link the financial assistance granted to both countries with this political objective.
3. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees living in Lebanese camps. The UN needs to find a just and durable solution to deal with these refugees. Given the link between poverty and extremism, Israel stands to benefit most from a solution to the refugee dilemma.
The sooner these issues are brought to the negotiating table and resolved, the greater prospect for peace and stability in the region. It will also help restore respect for the UN and for rule of law. It's the right time: Obama, more than any other recent US president, is in a position to successfully work with Israel to take the necessary steps. Even Hezbollah realizes that, in the long term, it cannot be part of the Lebanese government or a military force outside the government.
**Rima Merhi is a fellow at the Kennedy School of Government. She has worked as a researcher at the Middle East Institute, as a human rights activist, and as a freelance writer.