LCCC
ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
September 05/09
Bible Reading of the day
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ
according to Saint Luke 5:33-39. And they said to him, "The disciples of John
fast often and offer prayers, and the disciples of the Pharisees do the same;
but yours eat and drink." Jesus answered them, "Can you make the wedding guests
fast while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come, and when the
bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days." And he
also told them a parable. "No one tears a piece from a new cloak to patch an old
one. Otherwise, he will tear the new and the piece from it will not match the
old cloak. Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the
new wine will burst the skins, and it will be spilled, and the skins will be
ruined. Rather, new wine must be poured into fresh wineskins. (And) no one who
has been drinking old wine desires new, for he says, 'The old is good.'"
Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special
Reports
Syria’s legacy in Lebanon proves
trivial/Michael Young,
September 04/09
Lebanon cabinet formation 'Gordian knot': analysts-AFP
September 04/09
American University of Beirut Medical Team
Successfully Performs First Artificial Heart Implant in
Lebanon/Reuters
September 04/09
Attempts to mediate the crisis between Iraq and Syria are welcome-The
Daily Star
September 04/09
Analysis: For Assad, conflict is a raison
d'etre-Jerusalem Post/September
04/09
Latest
News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for September 04/09
Maliki wants probe of Baghdad bombings-AFP
Iraq sends anti-militant police to Syrian border-Reuters
Russia 'delivers SAMs to Syria'-United
Press International
Denmark to send 140 peacekeepers to Lebanon-The
Associated Press
Elias El-Zoghbi: Iranian democracy,
an inspiration/Future News/ September 04 09
Verbal Attacks on Tribunal Launched
at a Time of Intense Investigation into Hariri's Murder-Naharnet
No
Progress in Cabinet Crisis-Naharnet
UAE
Expels Lebanese Men for Alleged Security Reasons-Naharnet
UNIFIL-Army
Maneuvers to 'Improve Skills and Expertise'-Naharnet
International Tribunal
Signs 'Interim Agreement' with INTERPOL-Naharnet
Top Criminal, 3 Other
Wanted Men Arrested in House Raids in Bekaa-Naharnet
Interpol authorized to assist
Hariri tribunal-Daily
Star
Hizbullah silent over report that
group got chemical weapons-Daily
Star
Iraq challenges Syria to explain
militant aid-Daily Star
Ex-generals launch fresh attacks on
Hariri, judiciary-Daily Star
Another round of cabinet
consultations fails
in Lebanon-Daily Star
New Iranian minister suspected of playing role in Argentina's deadliest
terrorist attack/guardian.co.uk
Investment injection is a show of
faith in Lebanon-Daily Star
Syria welcomes Turkish-Armenia diplomacy-United
Press International
Ahmadinejad grabs security power centers-United
Press International, Asia
Venezuelan president bashes Israel in Syria trip-The
Associated Press
Wahhab slams remarks from
Netanyahu's office-Daily Star
Fadllalah calls for gender
equality, independent thought-Daily
Star
Security forces arrest triple
murder suspect-Daily Star
'Negligent' prison personnel
released on bail-Daily Star
One woman's struggle to achieve
independence-Daily Star
Army, UNIFIL conduct joint
maneuvers-Daily Star
Lebanon: Financier Is Detained-New
York Times
Sleiman calls for speedy government
formation-Beirut-Online News
MP Sakr warns against a new round
of assassinations-Now Lebanon
About 90 killed as NATO hits Afghan
fuel trucks-Now Lebanon
Tabourian: Electricity rationing
problem to be solved within a week or 10 days-Now Lebanon
Marouni: no signs for concessions
on Aoun’s behalf/Future News
Izzedine’s bankruptcy: CIA drowned
him to strike Hizbullah/Future News
Fayed: Aoun blocks the cabinet
formation/Future News
Lebanon cabinet formation 'Gordian knot': analysts
By Natacha Yazbeck (AFP) – BEIRUT — Hot-and-cold regional ties are a major
reason Lebanon still does not have a new government three months after
elections, and no solution is expected in the foreseeable future, political
analysts say. "The headline everyone agrees on is that there is no cabinet in
the near future as the matter now transcends local players," Ibrahim Bayram
wrote Wednesday in daily newspaper An-Nahar. "The cabinet crisis is hanging on a
hat stand, next to regional and international calculations and struggles."
In addition to drawn-out internal political bargaining, regional ties play a
major role in when the government will come about, analysts say.
The two key regional players are Saudi Arabia and Syria. The latter was the
powerbroker in neighbouring Lebanon for nearly 30 years until the 2005 murder of
former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri, who was close to the Saudi monarchy.
Damascus has denied widespread accusations that it was behind the killing, whose
perpetrators have still not been found and charged, but has consistently been in
Riyadh's sites over the incident. Along with the United States, Saudi Arabia is
a major backer of the ruling alliance, headed by Hariri's son, Saad. At the same
time, a coalition led by Shiite party Hezbollah is supported by Syria and Iran.
Hariri's alliance defeated the Hezbollah-led group in June 7 elections. Three
weeks later, President Michel Sleiman asked Hariri to form a government.
Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, an ally of Hariri, told the newspaper As-Safir on
Thursday that a "Syrian-Saudi partnership is the basis of creating an
appropriate atmosphere" for the government formation. "Lebanon was one area in
which Syria and Saudi Arabia thought they could make their rapprochement," said
Fawwaz Traboulsi, political science professor at the American University of
Beirut. "The idea was, I think, to see if the two could establish at least one
base of agreement," Traboulsi told AFP. "It worked for the election, but it
doesn't seem to be working for the cabinet."
A new imponderable is the current deterioration of ties between Iraq and Syria
after Baghdad alleged Damascus was being used as a staging post for insurgents
to launch deadly attacks in Iraq.
That could affect relations between Washington and Damascus and, by proxy, their
allies in Lebanon, according to Traboulsi.
Syria's relations with the United States have warmed after the election of
President Barack Obama. That has bolstered Damascus' position and strengthened
its allies in Lebanon, but Paul Salem, who heads the Beirut-based Carnegie
Middle East Centre, says there is a flipside to the coin.
"The negative side is, as we have just seen in the crisis between Syria and
Iraq, although things are improving, Syria still plays hardball, bargains hard,
causes trouble, sometimes helps, sometimes obstructs," Salem said.
"That's part of its mode of operation -- trying to get more gains from the
United States, from the Saudis and possibly from other players as well."
Meanwhile, the negotiations drag on.
Until now, a deal has been reached giving Hariri's alliance 15 seats in the
30-member cabinet, the Hezbollah-led bloc 10 and Sleiman appointing five.
But the rival blocs continue to disagree over such key jobs as foreign affairs,
finance, interior and telecommunications.
"The squeaky wheel gets the oil. If you've raised your demands, you're likely to
get a bit more at the end," Salem told AFP.
Christian opposition leader Michel Aoun -- who holds 27 of the Hezbollah-led
group's 57 seats -- has made a number of demands the Hariri crowd are unwilling
to accept. One is for Aoun's son-in-law, current Telecommunications Minister
Gebran Bassil, to get a post in the next cabinet.
Aoun has also demanded the prized interior ministry for one his people.
He and Hariri met this week in what both called an "ice-breaker," but Hariri
said on Wednesday that the opposition cannot impose its conditions.
"Logically, there is a majority that won elections, and a minority," he said.
"We certainly want this minority to participate in government, but the minority
does not impose its terms on the majority and say it wants such and such, or
else.
"This is frankly and clearly rejected, and I, Saad Rafiq Hariri, will not accept
this logic."
On Tuesday, Sleiman urged leaders to finalise the cabinet before he heads to the
UN General Assembly meeting in New York in September, but analysts are far from
optimistic.
Columnist Rafiq Khoury compares the stalemate to a "Gordian knot which cannot be
untied with the slice of a sword and which now cannot be resolved through logic
and wisdom."
But Salem says the delay is "not unheard of. It's unfortunate, but it's not
completely unusual."Lebanon entered a political crisis after all Shiite ministers resigned from the
cabinet in 2006. The situation was still unresolved in May 2008, when sectarian
fighting broke out in the worst bloodshed since the 1975-1990 civil war.
The crisis ended shortly afterwards, when Qatar brokered a deal for the
formation of a national unity government. However, it took another two months
before a government was hammered out, granting Hezbollah and its allies veto
power over major decisions.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
Hizbullah silent over report that group got chemical weapons
Daily Star staff/Friday, September 04, 2009
BEIRUT: Hizbullah refused to respond on Thursday to a report in Kuwaiti daily
Al-Seyasseh alleging the group had recently acquired chemical weapons from Iran.
“Who reads that paper anyway?” a source close to Hizbullah told The Daily Star
on Thursday. The Kuwaiti daily Al-Seyasseh, quoting “western and European”
intelligence sources, reported that Iran had provided Hizbullah with “thousands
of gas masks used in chemical and biological warfare” as well as new chemical
arms.
The weapons were flown from Iran and stopped at Syrian airports before being
transferred over land to locations in the Bekaa Valley and surrounding the
Litani River, the paper reported.
Israel has long held that the Shiite group has been receiving weapons capable of
hitting Tel Aviv from benefactors in Syria and Iran, which would constitute a
violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which put an end to the summer
2006 war with the Zionist state.
In a further allegation, the paper suggested that the explosion of a suspected
Hizbullah arms cache near Khirbet Silim in July took place at a location that
housed chemical weapons.
“Hizbullah was storing chemical weapons in its underground arms depot,” the
paper read, adding that three of the group’s members died in hospitals in Tyre
and Nabatieh following chemical contamination at the blast site.
Although sources for this information were not identified in the report, they
were said to be “intelligence sources in Europe” who acted in conjunction with
UNIFIL.
UNIFIL is currently carrying out its investigation into the blast site in
conjunction with the Lebanese Army and the paper reported that the peacekeeping
force had found evidence of chemical residue in soil samples surrounding the
depot.
Also on Thursday, Israeli media reported that its army was regularly conducting
military exercises to prepare its response to any attack from Hizbullah.
The daily Yedioth Ahronoth carried a dispatch from close to the Blue Line, in
which soldiers reportedly simulated “intense warfare” with Hizbullah fighters.
The report also alleged that the Israeli Army is on full alert and prepared for
any deterioration in fragile Blue Line security which “could be broken at any
moment.”
The report suggested that the Israeli Army is continuing its surveillance on the
Lebanese side of the Blue line which, if true, would also constitute a violation
of the recently renewed Resolution 1701. – The Daily Star
Verbal Attacks on Tribunal
Launched at a Time of Intense Investigation into Hariri's Murder
Naharnet/The latest verbal attacks on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon "were
predictable" as they came at a time when international investigators are
intensifying efforts to find the culprits behind ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's
assassination, a judicial source told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper. The source said
the attacks aimed at "hindering the work of international investigators who
began settling down at the tribunal's office in Beirut.""The campaign started
with the arrival of a delegation from the court to lay the groundwork (for their
investigation) despite obstacles facing some aspects of their mission which we
are trying to overcome," the source added. Well-informed sources also told al-Liwaa
newspaper that "hysterical campaigns" by some opposition figures against the
tribunal and the Lebanese judiciary are the result of the probe carried by
international investigators in cooperation with the office of the tribunal's
prosecutor in Beirut. Al-Liwaa said investigators have recently questioned
around 150 people, in a move that it described as "the last checkup" on the list
of names of those involved or have information on Hariri's Feb. 2005 killing.
Asharq al-Awsat's judicial source made his comments following former head of
General Security Department Maj. Gen. Jamil Sayyed's criticism of PM-designate
Saad Hariri on Thursday.
Sayyed slammed what he called Hariri's "arrogant" stance over the false
witnesses' case. "How does Hariri allow some of his stupid MPs to defend certain
judges and officers involved in (the false testimonies of) Mohammed Zuhair
Siddiq, Husam Husam and others?" Sayyed asked in a statement. He urged Hariri to
refer judges Saeed Mirza and Saqr Saqr to judicial inspection "instead of his
desperate defense of those involved" in the creation of false witnesses.
The judicial source told Asharq al-Awsat the parties that have launched the
accusatory campaigns are harmed by the tribunal's intensive work to find the
culprits in Hariri's case. However, he said "Jamil Sayyed has no impact on the
tribunal … What is happening now is nothing more than the launching of war (on
the court)." "The Syrian regime has entrusted a legal office with following up
developments at the tribunal … Would a legal office follow up on a case if the
side that commissioned it is not involved in the case?" the source wondered.
Meanwhile, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and the International Criminal
Police Organization have concluded an interim agreement on Interpol's assistance
to the court with regard to its investigations and other proceedings that
pertain to the crimes that fall under its jurisdiction. The agreement was signed
by President Antonio Cassese, on behalf of the STL, and by Ronald K. Noble, the
Secretary-General of Interpol, on behalf of his organization, said a statement
issued by the court on Thursday. Beirut, 04 Sep 09, 09:49
No Progress in Cabinet Crisis
Naharnet/Premier-designate Saad Hariri held a meeting on Thursday night with
Hizbullah and Amal representatives in Qoreitem to discuss the cabinet crisis.
Following an Iftar at Hariri's mansion, the Mustaqbal movement leader met with
Speaker Nabih Berri and Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's
representatives, MP Ali Hassan Khalil and Hussein Khalil, and several Hizbullah
MPs who had taken part in the Iftar.As Safir daily said Friday that Hariri
stressed to his guests he will not back down from efforts to form a national
unity cabinet.
Al-Liwaa newspaper, meanwhile, said that Hariri will meet with
Telecommunications Minister Jebran Bassil again in the next couple of days after
which the PM-designate would hand over the cabinet list to President Michel
Suleiman, who is expected to travel to New York later this month to attend the
U.N. General Assembly meeting there. Informed political sources told An Nahar
that majority and opposition figures have intensified efforts to prevent the
collapse of the media truth between al-Mustaqbal movement and the Free Patriotic
Movement. They reiterated that the first Hariri-Bassil meeting earlier in the
week only proved FPM leader Michel Aoun's "insistence on his demands." Beirut,
04 Sep 09, 11:14
UAE Expels Lebanese Men for Alleged Security Reasons
Naharnet/Security authorities in the United Arab Emirates have expelled in the
past two months more than 45 Lebanese businessmen and employees allegedly for
security reasons.
Al-Akhbar daily said Friday that most of those expelled are Shiites and had
received offers to work for the UAE's security services to gather information on
the Lebanese community in the country and Hizbullah in Lebanon. The newspaper
added that the move by UAE authorities intensified following the 2006 war
between Israel and Hizbullah and reached its climax last year.
President Michel Suleiman and Speaker Nabih Berri have discussed the issue and
the head of state sent an envoy mid-August to discuss with UAE authorities the
reason for expelling the Lebanese men.Al-Akhbar said UAE's decision was part of
an American campaign against Hizbullah and a presumed effort to stop the flow of
money to the Shiite group.
Beirut, 04 Sep 09, 12:09
UNIFIL-Army Maneuvers to 'Improve Skills and Expertise'
Naharnet/The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon and the Lebanese army
conducted on Thursday a live fire exercise 1 km south of the UNIFIL headquarters
in the coastal town of Naqoura. The maneuvers were conducted by UNIFIL's Field
Artillery Group of the Quick Reaction Force with the Lebanese army's 115th
Artillery Battalion and 62nd Infantry Battalion.
UNIFIL said in a statement that the joint exercise was aimed at improving the
skills and expertise of peacekeepers and Lebanese army battle groups, to
maintain their efficiency and mutual knowledge. During the exercise, the groups
fired several rounds of artillery at targets located off the coastline. The
maneuvers also included direct fire using machine-guns.
The common shelling exercise is the fifth of its kind. The first such joint
exercise was conducted by UNIFIL and the army in December 2008. Beirut, 04 Sep
09, 10:20
International Tribunal Signs 'Interim Agreement' with INTERPOL
Naharnet/The Special Tribunal for Lebanon and the International Criminal Police
Organization have concluded an interim agreement on INTERPOL's assistance to the
international court with regard to its investigations and other proceedings that
pertain to the crimes that fall under its jurisdiction.
The Interim Agreement was signed by President Antonio Cassese, on behalf of the
STL pursuant to article 10 of the Tribunal's Statute, and by Ronald K. Noble,
the Secretary-General of INTERPOL, on behalf of his organization, said a
statement issued by tribunal on Thursday.
It said the agreement, which entered into force on Aug. 24, is aimed at enabling
the STL to request assistance from INTERPOL for the purposes of the ongoing
investigations carried out by the Office of the Prosecutor of the Tribunal and
other proceedings undertaken by the tribunal in discharging its mandate, until a
more comprehensive cooperation agreement that is currently being negotiated
between the two bodies is concluded and enters into force.
The Office of the Prosecutor of the STL (OTP), which took a very active part in
the negotiation of the interim agreement, and the Operational Support
Directorate at INTERPOL's General Secretariat are responsible, on behalf of
their respective organizations, to ensure the implementation of the Interim
Agreement.
This responsibility, according to the statement, entrusted to the Office of
Prosecutor stems from the fact that the interim agreement was concluded to
primarily address immediate assistance needs of the OTP during the investigative
stage of its work. The agreement ensures continuity of the cooperation that
existed between INTERPOL and the U.N. International Independent Investigation
Commission (UNIIIC). Beirut, 03 Sep 09, 20:25
Top Criminal, 3 Other Wanted Men Arrested in House Raids in Bekaa
Naharnet/The Lebanese army on Thursday arrested four wanted men, including a top
criminal, in house raids in the village of Brital in the Bekaa Valley. The
Lebanese army command said in a communiqué issued late Thursday that the men are
wanted for several crimes and stolen vehicles. The State-run National News
Agency identified the top criminal as Ali Mohammed Ismail. It said Ismail was
arrested after being shot in the leg by Lebanese troops. NNA said automatic
weapons and drug packaging equipment were confiscated from his house.
Beirut, 03 Sep 09, 21:04
Hariri Proposes Rotating Portfolios as Rift Emerges Between FPM and Berri
Naharnet/Premier-designate Saad Hariri has suggested the concept of rotating
ministries as the Free Patriotic Movement criticized Speaker Nabih Berri for
describing some of its demands as unconstitutional. FPM sources told An Nahar
daily that Hariri suggested to Caretaker Telecommunications Minster Jebran
Bassil during their meeting on Wednesday to swap portfolios, meaning the
opposition would get the education instead of the telecommunications ministry
and the labor instead of the energy ministry.
The sources added that FPM leader Gen. Michel Aoun had asked Hariri during their
last meeting for a complete study on the "rotation concept." However, they said
Hariri's response to three issues – the number of seats that the FPM would get,
the key ministry and the right of each team to name its ministers – was
negative.
Aoun has been insisting on getting five portfolios – 4 for Maronites and one for
an Armenian –, a key ministry and naming Bassil as a minister despite opposition
by majority MPs.
Al-Liwaa daily said the Hariri-Bassil meeting was fruitless after the FPM
official insisted on getting three major portfolios and rejected the PM-designate's
rotation offer.
Furthermore, Bassil wasn't able to get Hariri's consent on the FPM's right to
name its own ministers. Although the two sides didn't agree on a date for
another meeting, sources close to Qoreitem told As Safir newspaper that Hariri
was awaiting Bassil's reply. However, a Change and Reform bloc member said:
"What we understood is that the ball is still in the premier-designate's court."
Meanwhile, the FPM's TV station, OTV, criticized Speaker Nabih Berri for
"considering the division of ministries an unconstitutional step in the absence
of a cabinet although Berri himself presided over parliament twice in the summer
of 2005" when there was no government. Media reports said earlier in the week
that Hariri had suggested division of ministries although the Premier-designate
denied making such a proposal to Aoun. Beirut, 03 Sep 09, 10:08
Sayyed Criticizes an 'Arrogant' Hariri in False Witnesses Case
Naharnet/Former head of Lebanon's General Security Department Maj. Gen. Jamil
Sayyed criticized PM-designate Saad Hariri's "arrogant" stance over the false
witnesses' case.
"How does Hariri allow some of his stupid MPs to defend certain judges and
officers involved in Mohammed Zuhair Siddiq, Husam Husam and others?" Sayyed
asked.
In a statement issued by his press office, Sayyed wondered: "How does the
PM-designate explain to the Lebanese and the Arabs his contradiction with
himself when he says he would obey all international tribunal rulings, while the
international tribunal invites him officially and publicly to hold false
witnesses and their partners in Lebanon accountable, but he rejects
accountability and does not obey court calls". Sayyed urged Hariri to refer
judges Saeed Mirza and Saqr Saqr to judicial inspection "instead of his
desperate defense of those involved" in the creation of the false witnesses.
Beirut, 03 Sep 09, 19:50
Tabourian Warns of Tougher Power Rationing
Naharnet/Energy and Water Minister Alan Tabourian on Thursday said he expected
tougher power rationing "just like every year."In remarks published by the
Central News Agency, Tabourian said that the amount of electricity from Egypt is
not sufficient to meet the required energy needs. Tabourian stressed that
"production" is the real problem.
Beirut, 03 Sep 09, 20:48
Tishreen's Editor-in-chief: Possible Jumblat Visit Would be Met with
Demonstrations
Naharnet/The editor-in-chief of Syria's Tishreen newspaper has reportedly said
there would be mass demonstrations against Progressive Socialist Party leader
Walid Jumblat if the Syrian regime approved his visit to Damascus. "We reject
and don't agree," Informer Syria website quoted Samira al-Musalima as saying
about a possible visit by the Druze leader to Syria.
Her stance came during a meeting of editors in chief and top media
representatives headed by Syrian Information Minister Muhsen Bilal. According to
the site, Musalima described Jumblat as a "traitor" and threatened to republish
her editorials in which she had allegedly unveiled the PSP leader's
"conspiracy." Beirut, 03 Sep 09, 15:21
Officers Jailed over Roumieh Prison Breakout Freed
Naharnet/Military Judge Maroun Zakhour on Thursday agreed to free three officers
and five soldiers after 12 days in jail for alleged "negligence of duties" that
might have facilitated the escape of eight Fatah al-Islam inmates from Roumieh
jail. They were freed on LL 400,000 bail.
Interior Minister Ziad Baroud had ordered the arrest of several prison officials
after a preliminary enquiry found "deficiencies that might have facilitated the
escape" of the Islamist prisoners.
Lebanese security forces aborted Aug. 18 a massive attempt by a group of eight
convicted Fatah Islam inmates to flee Roumieh prison. One prisoner managed to
escape, only to be recaptured a day later. Baroud had also ordered the Internal
Security Forces (ISF) to sack 60 of its officers from jobs at the country's 21
prisons and to move them to unrelated duties outside the prison system within 15
days. Baroud, who had admitted that Lebanese prisons were understaffed and
underequipped, said another 300 ISF members would be relocated to posts outside
prisons within two months. Beirut, 03 Sep 09, 18:00
Chavez from Damascus: Israel is 'Genocidal' State
Naharnet/Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, on a visit to Damascus on Thursday,
lambasted Israel as a "genocidal" and "killer" state and demanded the return of
the Golan Heights to Syria. "The state of Israel has become a genocidal state, a
killer state, enemy of peace," he said at a press conference with Syrian
counterpart Bashar Assad.
Venezuela and Syria are facing the same "struggles" and have the same "enemies,"
Chavez said, adding: "Israel has become the enforcer of the policies of the
American empire."
He called for the end to Israel's 42-year occupation of the Golan Heights and
urged the lifting of "the blockade of Palestinian territories."
"It is time to raise Nasser's flag again, for socialism, people power and the
liberation of the Arab people," the Venezuelan firebrand said, referring to
Egyptian pan-Arab nationalist former president Gamel Abdel Nasser. Assad said:
"Israel is not ready to make peace either in the short term or the long term...
all Israeli governments since 1991 are identical and right up to the present the
peace process has produced nothing new. "The only thing differentiating these
governments is their tactics but deep down they are the same and opinion polls
show that Israelis are not ready to make peace because they do not want to give
the land back," the Syrian president said. Chavez announced the two countries
will sign several agreements, mainly about energy. One is a plan for a refinery
joint venture in Syria. The Venezuelan president arrived on Thursday for a
two-day visit, part of a regional tour which has already taken him to Libya and
Algeria. Afterwards he is scheduled to go to Iran, Belarus and Russia and he
said at the press conference he will also stop briefly in Turkmenistan. On
Friday, Chavez will visit the southern province of Sueida, homeland of many of
Venezuela's million strong Syrian community.(AFP) Beirut, 04 Sep 09, 08:41
Ex-generals launch fresh attacks on Hariri, judiciary
By Patrick Galey /Daily Star staff
Friday, September 04, 2009
BEIRUT: Two former Lebanese generals detained for four years in the
investigation into the death of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri launched a
scathing attack on Thursday against some of the country’s most senior political
and judicial figures. Former head of General Security Jamil al-Sayyed issued a
statement criticizing what he alleged to be Prime Minister-designate Saad
Hariri’s “downplaying of the case of false witnesses” in the ongoing Special
Tribunal for Lebanon (STL).
He also attacked Hariri’s “stupid MPs from his block,” who Sayyed claimed
“defend some of the judges and officers” charged with investigation the
tribunal’s false witnesses.
Sayyed’s fellow detainee, former head of the ISF Ali al-Hajj, followed suit on
Thursday with his own withering assessment on the way the judiciary has handled
the case.
“The judiciary has not fulfilled its duties since 2005. [It] has been involved
in all the inaccuracies related to the investigation into the Hariri murder,” he
told Al-Manar television.
“The judiciary remaining silent on all the allegations made against it is a sign
that the judiciary admits [they are true],” he said.
Future Movement sources were not immediately available to comment on either of
the generals’ allegations.
However, a March 14 source, who has dealt extensively with the STL, told The
Daily Star Thursday: “We have decided not to comment at all on this. [Sayyed and
others] have been stressing this for a long time.”
Sayyed and Hajj were detained without trial – along with two other former
security chiefs – before their release in April this year, after the STL
prosecution found that incriminating evidence given by witnesses had been
falsified.
The trial has come under heavy criticism for its handling of witnesses who are
known to have falsely testified, including Mohammad Zuheir al-Siddiq, Hossam
Hossam and Ibrahim Jajoura.
Spokeswoman for the STL’s prosecution office, Radhia Ashouri, told reporters in
July that the men were no longer of interest for chief prosecutor Daniel
Bellemare.
Sayyed plunged the STL back into the media glare after he accused Hariri on
Sunday of faking evidence in his father’s assassination investigation.
Lebanon’s leading judiciary body, the Higher Judicial Council, met on Tuesday
and condemned Sayyed’s attacks, saying they aimed “to destabilize the society’s
trust in the judiciary.”
Sayyed also called the integrity of senior judicial figures into question. He
said Hariri, rather than defending the men, “should have ordered that the [State
Prosecutor] Sayyed Mirza and [Investigative Magistrate] Saqr Saqr be subject to
judicial inspection.”
Criticism of Sayyed’s recent outbursts has been comparatively restrained.
However, Future Movement MP Nuhad al-Mashnouq described the former Security
Chief as a “peacock” and suggested Sayyed’s Sunday news conference may have been
“Syria’s way of delivering a message to Prime Minister Hariri.”
Sayyed refused to respond on Thursday to any of Mashnouq’s claims.
Responsibility for Hariri’s assassination has been laid by many on Damascus,
although Syria has denied involvement.
Sayyed’s fierce attack named several individuals who he said should be dealt
with by judicial authorities for the way the investigation and, in particular,
the problem of false witnesses had been handled. “Mirza, Saqr [Internal Security
Forces Head of Intelligence] Wissam al-Hassan and journalists Fares Kashan and
Hani Hammoud and others involved in the plot of false witnesses [should] be
sacked and imprisoned,” said Sayyed.
Fellow detainee Hajj accused the STL of being “extremely politicized,” – an
allegation repeatedly denied by judicial and political figures.
When contacted by The Daily Star, the office of Mr Mirza said he “could not give
any comments about this case, ever.”
Sayyed’s statement concluded by saying that the judiciary reaching a decision
over false witnesses was in the country’s best interest.
“It is the right of the Lebanese, of Rafik Hariri, of the four former security
chiefs and their families that the truth be uncovered with respect to the false
witnesses’ case,” he said.
Wahhab slams remarks from Netanyahu's office
-Daily Star staff/Friday, September 04, 2009
BEIRUT: Tawhid Movement leader and former Minister Wi’am Wahhab condemned
Thursday the discriminatory statements issued by Eyal Gabbai, the office
director of Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu against the Druze community in
Palestine. Earlier this week, Gabbai said Israel would carry out infrastructure
works in lands owned by Druze, which Wahhab said was an “obvious plan to empty
Palestine of its Arab people to further validate the Jewish state.” He also
called on Palestinian Druze to condemn Gabbai’s comments, “especially those who
still rely on Israel to take care of them.” – The Daily Star
El-Zoghbi: Iranian democracy, an inspiration
Date: September 4th, 2009/Source:Future News
Elias el-Zoghbi, of the March 14 alliance, suggested Friday that cabinet seats
be given to losers in the legislative elections on condition they gain the
parliaments trust later, media outlets reported. “If the real deadlock hampering
the cabinet formation is MP Michel Aoun’s demand to reassign his son-in-law
Gebran Bassil, then let us inspire from the Iranian regime, since it has many
fans, and give losers in the legislative elections a cabinet seat on condition
they gain the parliament’s trust,” Zoghbi said. “This step does not contradict
the Lebanese constitution which emphasizes the necessity that the cabinet gains
the parliament’s trust based on its ministerial statement, and each minister
gains this confidence individually throughout his mandate,” he added. Zoghbi
added that deputies in the parliament must respect the will of their voters,
adding: “Let us give the parliament the right to vote for the confidence of each
minister individually and not the government as a whole. “Let us for once
inspire from the Iranian democracy in a positive manner instead of adopting
negative aspects.”
Syria’s legacy in Lebanon proves trivial
Michael Young,
Now Lebanon , September 4, 2009
Former Intelligence chief Jamil As-Sayyed during his fiery Sunday speech. (AFP/Anwar
Amro)
It may have been a coincidence, but I was offering condolences on Sunday when
the former head of the General Security directorate, Jamil al-Sayyed, read his
irate statement to the media. This made me think (as has the NOW Lebanon poll
this week): Was Sayyed’s tirade a sign of his political resurrection or the
opening lines of a political obituary?
We’ve come a long way since Sayyed declared, before the parliamentary elections,
that he would accept a cabinet portfolio if asked. Even though the government
has yet to be formed, we can be fairly certain that the general will not be in
it. From the moment Sayyed left prison in April along with his three colleagues,
it was plain that he had exited into a very different political climate than the
one prevailing during his last months in office four years ago. Instead of
Syria, it was Hezbollah that dominated his onetime political ecosystem, that
handled Sayyed upon his release, and that took the lead in televising his
appearance last weekend.
From being an initiator of messages, Sayyed appears to have become a transmitter
of messages – none more surprising than the comments he addressed at Michel
Sleiman. Sayyed told the president that he looked nothing like the man who had
once been army commander, and that it was better for him to leave office than to
succumb to the attractions of the Baabda Palace. “It is shameful Mr. President
for them to render you a hostage and to place you between what is right and what
is wrong,” Sayyed said. The word “right” was a warning – Syrian but also backed
by Hezbollah – that the opposition was displeased with how the president is
building a partnership with Prime Minister-elect Saad Hariri.
However, all this told us was that Syria and its allies are fighting a hard
battle against the natural reflexes of the Lebanese system. When they were in
Lebanon, the Syrians divided and ruled at will. They oversaw an order in which
they could consistently play the president, the prime minister and the speaker
of parliament off against each other. With their army gone, the Syrians are
having trouble replicating that. All they can do is threaten, kill and mobilize
peons to disseminate their political line – people like Wiam Wahhab, Nasser
Qandil, whoever Syria has named to head the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, and
others. For Sayyed, a man with considerable authority once, to now find himself
circulating among that congregation of misfits shows how greatly things have
changed.
This leads to a broader question: Why is it that Syria, despite a 29-year
military presence in Lebanon, was never able to leave behind enduring structures
of hegemony? Not that we’re complaining; but the reality is that the Assad
regime is almost solely reliant on its ability to use violence and extortion to
get its way in the country. It has no power of persuasion beyond that, its
allies are anemic, its popularity universally low, even among its Shia partners,
and its deep contempt for the Lebanese remains an obstacle to fruitful exchange.
It has named an ambassador in Beirut who, when he’s actually in the city, visits
with has-beens, affirming how indisposed Syria is to recognizing Lebanon as a
diplomatic equal.
Iran, in contrast, saw a brief opening in 1982 to create something more durable,
and gradually built up Hezbollah into what it is today, anchoring it in the Shia
community (or at least that part of the community not under Syrian orders), and
to an extent the state. The Iranians are, alas, builders of institutions, while
the Syrians have never seen an institution they have not tried to undermine,
ruin and loot. Perhaps it’s the Iranians’ imperial past that makes them what
they are, whereas Syria’s regime rests upon foundations created by rural
upstarts. Or maybe not. But in the annals of political control, rarely has a
state been given as much leeway internationally to rule over a country as Syria
was given to rule over Lebanon, only to leave behind such an inconsequential
legacy.
Political structures built solely on fear and corruption don’t survive once the
intimidation ends. You can say many things about Jamil al-Sayyed, but in his day
he could be a subtle enforcer of Syrian diktats. However, his performance on
Sunday, in its utter lack of subtlety, showed what his sponsors and allies have
reduced him to, and what they themselves have been reduced to. Once the cameras
were turned off, it was difficult to interpret the message. Sayyed was angry, so
presumably the Syrians were. But then what? By attacking everybody in unison,
Sayyed also seemed to attack no one in particular. Those targeted by him became
stronger in their solidarity and patiently waited until the storm in a teacup
blew over.
So is that a sign of greater power or greater weakness? Time will tell of
course. Sayyed has a great deal of information, and may decide to impart some of
it. Then again he knows that the Hariri tribunal still has him in its sights, so
the general may prefer caution. But nothing Sayyed does will reverse the fact
that Syria is having trouble convincing everyone that it has a natural right to
govern Lebanon again. Sayyed’s bitterness may have only been a façade for Syrian
frustration.
**Michael Young is opinion editor of the Daily Star newspaper in Beirut.
Izzedine’s bankruptcy: CIA drowned him to strike Hizbullah
Date: September 4th, 2009/Source: Future News
Bankrupt businessman Salah Izzedine apparently had financial links with
Hizbullah, as a report said that Izzedine, born in Maaroub village of Tyr
district, was one of the Shiite party’s investors in many countries. According
to the report, the US intelligence services, and within its bid to dry up the
financers of terrorism across the world, deliberately drowned Izeddine in the
dilemma of the stock market and was able to cause him a 300 million dollar loss.
The CIA then seized the rest of his money when he tried to retrieve the fortune
he had lost earlier and lost the transactions. The report estimated the funds
Izzedine had lost anywhere between 1.2 and two billion dollars, adding that half
of the funds belong to Hizbullah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, which had
invested the funds abroad. After Izzedine lost the funds, Hizbullah captured him
and kept him in custody for 10 days before handing him ‘empty-handed’ to the
Lebanese judiciary after it transferred what was left of his wealth to the party
as a compensation for its loss.
According to the report, this transaction has made it impossible to return some
of the funds to the affected impoverished Shiites, who had given their
lifesavings to Izzedine including the compensations they were given after the
July war of 2006, which Izzedine used to rebuild his affected real-estates.
Information estimated the losses of the Southern village of Yaroun, from 110 to
130 million dollars, while the village of Jwayya was mostly affected by the
bankruptcy as most of its people are expatriates and are well heeled.
Hizbullah’s MP Hussein Hajj Hassan was also among the victims of Izzedine as he
lost millions of dollars which he had taken from the people of the Bekaa village
of Shmistar and its surrounding, and according to the report Hajj Hassan claimed
an amount of 200 million dollars through the lawsuit he filed against Izzedine
through his agent attorney Ashraf Mussawi accusing of fraud and giving a check
without credit. Not to mention the massive losses that affected Fneich family
and other families of the MPS of Amal movement and Hizbullah.
Sources told almustaqbal.org that the judicial investigations about the Izzedine
case is ongoing covertly, given the political sensitivity of the case, and
awaiting the clarification of the nature of the procedures he was conducting and
the amount of funds he had obtained. The sources say that investigations are
trying to find out if the detained man had concealed accounts or if he had other
identities outside Lebanon. Banking sources note that if investigations proved
that Izzedine did not have any debit accounts in Lebanon, as sources in the
Central Bank of Lebanon told almustaqbal.org, then a large part of his business
would be relying on cash transactions for reasons imposed by his financial
association with Hizbullah and in order not to fall for international measures
that prohibit working with the party. According to the sources the international
Committee for Fighting Money Laundry and the embassies in Lebanon have been
following up on the case. The sources say the case will not come to an end as
any other case, given its multi-national complexions.
Fayed: Aoun blocks the cabinet formation
Future News/Date: September 4th, 2009
Rached Fayed, Almustaqbal Movement media coordinator blamed Free Patriotic
Movement leader Michel Aoun for blocking the creation of the cabinet and called
on those who claim that the reasons are external to help forming it. “Premier
designate Saad Hariri is trying to propose alternatives for Aoun’s demands. I
suggest waiting for Aoun’s return from his vacation to give his final word in
this concern,” Fayed told the Al-Alam television station. “There is a difference
between partnership and imposing preconditions. The premier designate has the
constitutional right to present a cabinet based on his own vision and outlook,”
the renowned journalist said. On Aoun’s demand to reassign his son-in-law
Telecommunication Minister Gebran Bassil to the same ministry in the upcoming
cabinet, Fayed Said “If Bassil was reassigned, Aoun would claim the leadership
of Christians; and if he was not, Aoun would act like a victim and would not
participate in the cabinet. “Moreover, he would wage the upcoming
municipalities’ elections under the slogan of being victimized; and if he won
these elections, he will exploit the results to claim that he has the popular
majority that is ‘more important than the parliamentarian majority’, a prelude
to invalidate the results of the legislative elections.”
“The latest positive political atmosphere in Lebanon refutes the allegation that
the delay in cabinet formation is related to the STL’s indictment decision,” he
said
“There is a regional interference in the Lebanese entitlement, though the
obstruction is not caused by a Saudi-Egyptian difference over the Lebanese file
because they do not interfere in Lebanese affairs,” he added. “There is no need
for another Doha Agreement unless a certain side intends to shake stability,”
Fayed did not elaborate.
The Doha Agreement was reached under Qatari auspices to end the armed clashes
that erupted on May 7, 2008. The clashes burst when the March 8 alliance militia
led by Hizbullah attacked Lebanese areas supportive of the Almustaqbal Movement
and Progressive Socialist party.