LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
September 17/09

Bible Reading of the day
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 7:31-35. Then to what shall I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? They are like children who sit in the marketplace and call to one another, 'We played the flute for you, but you did not dance. We sang a dirge, but you did not weep.' For John the Baptist came neither eating food nor drinking wine, and you said, 'He is possessed by a demon.' The Son of Man came eating and drinking and you said, 'Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.' But wisdom is vindicated by all her children."

Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special Reports
Lebanon last/By: Matt Nash/Now Lebanon/September 16/09
Bellemare to Al-Hayat: All Predictions about the Indictment’s Date Are Comical and the Tribunal is Moving Satisfactorily/16.09.09
Will Iran Become Part of the Arab League/By: Tariq Alhomayed/September 16/09
Iraqis tell Syria: Enough is enough-By Safa A. Hussein/September 16/09
Billion-Dollar Pyramid Scheme Rivets Lebanon/New York Times/September 16/09
Lebanon's Bernie Madoff: A Scandal Taints Hizballah-TIME/September 16/09

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for September 16/09
Mitchell meets with Sleiman, discusses regional developments/Now Lebanon
Amal-Hezbollah clash erupts in Bourj Abu Haidar/Now Lebanon
Syria's president in Turkey for Israel talks-The Associated Press
Sfeir Criticizes Appointment of Election Losers-Naharnet
PM-designate Hariri Vows to Launch Wide-Ranging Consultations to Form Efficient Cabinet-Naharnet
March 14: Efficient Cabinet is Needed to Safeguard the Constitution, the Republic-Naharnet
Fatah al-Islam Inmates Go on Hunger Strike in Roumieh-Naharnet
Iraqi official: Talks with Syria over attacks fail-The Associated Press
'We're carefully monitoring South Lebanon'-Jerusalem Post
'Syria, Somalia can't preach morality'-Jerusalem Post
In South Lebanon, Tension Increases Between UNIFIL and Hizbullah ...Middle East Media Research Institute
US envoy pushes Israel for settlement freeze-Daily Star
Hariri receives nominations for premiership from 54 MPs-Daily Star
Catholic Patriarchs in Orient hold talks in Bkirki-Daily Star
Fadlallah voices fears of delays in cabinet formation-Daily Star
Judge begins questioning of Barouk station suspects-Daily Star
Berri praises Day of Democracy celebration-Daily Star
Lebanese-Swede jailed in US over terror-camp plot-Daily Star
Tensions still simmering over border incident-Daily Star
Politicians come under fire on the streets of Beirut-Daily Star
Shatah urges reforms to ensure Paris III aid-Daily Star
Graziano says sustainable peace in south possible-Daily Star
Three people wounded in inter-family dispute-Daily Star
Lebanon aims to boost 'path of faith' religious tourism-By Agence France Presse (AFP)
Lebanon's 'Madoff' Ezzedine goes from fame to infamy-By Agence France Presse (AFP)

PM-designate Hariri Vows to Launch Wide-Ranging Consultations to Form Efficient Cabinet
Naharnet/Saad Hariri said following his reappointment premier-designate on Wednesday that he would launch consultations with all parties following Eid al-Fitr holiday and form an "efficient and harmonious" cabinet that respects the constitution and the results of the parliamentary polls. Hariri was reappointed Wednesday after he stepped down from the post last week over rising tension with the opposition. He was called on by President Michel Suleiman to form a government after 73 lawmakers nominated him to the post, a presidential statement said. "Following consultations with the speaker of parliament and MPs ... the president has called on Saad Hariri to form a government," it added. In his acceptance speech at Baabda palace, the designated premier hinted that he would take a tougher stand in dealing with his rivals' demands while insisting he was open to dialogue.
"The conditions they set in the first phase blocked the possibility of forming a national unity government," Hariri told reporters. "We now face a new challenge, and I do not want to make empty promises. "The promise I make to myself, before God and before the Lebanese is to respect the constitution, work to ensure the widest participation possible in government and continue dialogue," he added. Speaker Nabih Berri and his allies in the opposition, except for the Tashnag party, abstained from naming anyone for the premiership during two days of parliamentary consultations at Baabda palace. Berri's parliamentary bloc had voted in favor of Hariri's first appointment following the June vote. Hariri has accused his political rivals of blocking efforts to unlock a continuing political stalemate over the new cabinet. Hizbullah and its allies however insist that the line-up proposed by Hariri is not acceptable. Following his appointment, Hariri also thanked those who rejected to nominate him, saying such a stance gives a clear picture of the parliamentary status-quo and helps decide which direction dialogue is going to take.(AFP-Naharnet) Beirut, 16 Sep 09, 16:41

Amal-Hezbollah clash erupts in Bourj Abu Haidar
September 16, 2009 /Now Lebanon/NOW has learned that a clash between Hezbollah and Amal supporters erupted in the Bourj Abu Haidar neighborhood in Beirut and led to the deployment of armed men from both parties, who shot gunfire into the air. Soon after, both security forces and Lebanese Armed Forces arrived to contain the situation. The reason for the clash is unidentified.

Mitchell meets with Sleiman, discusses regional developments
September 16, 2009 /Now Lebanon/US Special Envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell arrived in Baabda on Wednesday to meet with President Michel Sleiman and discuss the Middle East peace process as well as the outcome of the former’s tour in the region. The meeting also addressed Sleiman’s upcoming visit to the United States to participate in the UN General Assembly scheduled to take place next week in New York

Lebanon last
Beirut seems correct to claim everyone else will have peace first
Matt Nash, NOW Staff , September 16, 2009
“No,” Saad Hariri said definitively. CNN’s Cal Perry had asked the Western-backed leader of the March 14 coalition in a post-election interview if peace talks with Israel were in the cards following the alliance’s electoral victory on June 7.
“People say Lebanon will be the last country to sign a peace agreement with Israel,” Perry continued.
“Not people. We say,” Hariri curtly corrected his interviewer.
While the Future Movement leader’s answers could be dismissed as the “politically correct” responses one would expect in Lebanon, Hariri may very well be right. Before the two countries can even begin discussing their disputes (whether over territory, refugees or security), the Lebanese would need to decide that they want to talk and find one voice to speak with.
Most of Lebanon’s top politicians currently oppose negotiations with Israel – though some in the majority camp, particularly Kataeb Party leader Amin Gemayel – encourage taking that step. But Gemayel himself, while he was president, was forced to withdraw a 1983 peace accord that Lebanon was ready to sign with Israel in the face of overwhelming opposition. The 1983 deal was the last time Lebanon talked about peace with Israel.
After the civil war, Lebanon conducted some negotiations with its neighbor to the south but under the watchful eyes of the Syrians, who occupied the country until 2005. Those talks were entirely controlled by Damascus, and Lebanon has not been an official state party to negotiations since 1994. (Hezbollah, on the other hand, until 2008 repeatedly indirectly engaged in prisoner swap deals with Israel.)
In Syria, which conducted indirect negotiations with Israel as recently as 2008, the leadership is united, so the decision to talk or not is somewhat easily made. Lebanon, on the other hand, has no central power structure, and the smallest decisions, such as which party should control which ministry, take months of wrangling and discussion.
Further, Lebanon’s leaders are close to regional and international powers that compete to see their wills imposed in the Mediterranean nation. Not only do they have to agree with each other, decisions made in Lebanon can easily be vetoed in Syria, Iran, Saudi Arabia or the United States. (The fact that these powers have competing interests merely complicates the process.)
The Lebanese are like the Palestinians in their current state of division, though the fractures in Lebanon are much older and more entrenched than they are in the Palestinian Territories. The Palestinians also have an established, long-running peace process in place with Israel. While current attempts to move forward with Israeli-Palestinian talks may fail, there is a framework in place to negotiate, and each side knows the other’s issues and demands well.
Lebanon’s demands, should it ever sit down directly or indirectly with Israel, are much less clear. The one thing almost everyone in Lebanon seems able to agree on is that the Palestinian refugees living here must leave. That alone might well require that a deal between the Israelis and Palestinians be in place first.
What territorial claims Lebanon would make in any deliberations with Israel, however, are much less clear. Lebanon seems to have dug its heels in on the issue of the Shebaa Farms and Kfar Shouba Hills, a claim Syria backs but will not provide the documentation to prove, while Israel and the United Nations insist the land is Syrian.
Hezbollah also intermittently stakes a claim to seven villages that, back in the 1920s, were part of the French mandate that included modern Lebanon and Syria, but by 1923 were included in the British mandate of Palestine. All territorial discussions are difficult and complex, but the ambiguity of claims Lebanon may make ensure negotiations will be even more hard fought.
For its part, Israel will likely demand security assurances from Lebanon that would undoubtedly involve the disarmament of Hezbollah and the Palestinians both inside and outside the camps. As Lebanon cannot even agree on these issues internally, it will likely be a long time the country is ready to discuss this – or anything else – with the Israelis.

Sfeir Criticizes Appointment of Election Losers
Naharnet/Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir on Wednesday criticized the appointment of election losers in the new government. "Perhaps there is a question mark on the appointment of those who were defeated in (parliamentary) elections since their reappointment would be against the will of the people," Sfeir said from Bkirki. That was a clear indication at thwarting the reappointment of Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun's son-in-law Jebran Bassil as telecommunications minister. Mustaqbal Movement leader Saad Hariri, who is poised to become prime minister for the second time in as many months, totally rejects the issue of bringing into Cabinet losers in the 2009 parliamentary elections – Bassil one of them. While he described the situation in Lebanon as "bad," Sfeir welcomed a national unity government made up of both the majority and the Opposition. Sfeir pointed to "external meddling" in the Cabinet formation process and hoped that "differences in opinion won't lead to fighting." Beirut, 16 Sep 09, 12:33

March 14: Efficient Cabinet is Needed to Safeguard the Constitution, the Republic
Naharnet/The March 14 forces on Wednesday called for forming a strong and efficient government to safeguard the constitution and defend the republic.
"The protection of the constitution and the defense of the republic require the fortification of the country with a constitutional, harmonious and an efficient cabinet as soon as possible," the March 14 general-secretariat said following its weekly meeting.
The statement added that a strong cabinet is needed to face security, social-economic and political-national threats.
The general-secretariat said the cabinet crisis can be solved only through constitutional institutions. It slammed the opposition for "hitting at this authority which is a strike to the republic and a stab in the heart of coexistence." Beirut, 16 Sep 09, 16:04

Hariri receives nominations for premiership from 54 MPs
Forty-three opposition lawmakers refrain from naming a candidate
By Elias Sakr /Daily Star staff
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
BEIRUT: Fifty-four MPs of the parliamentary majority nominated Future Movement leader Saad Hariri as premier Tuesday during binding parliamentary consultations with President Michel Sleiman while 43 opposition lawmakers refrained from naming a candidate. As the Future Movement, the Lebanese Forces (LF), the Phalange Party, the Democratic Gathering and “Zahle in the heart” blocs along with independent MP Michel Murr nominated Hariri as premier-designate, the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), the Liberation and Development and the Loyalty to Resistance blocs, not surprisingly, did not follow suit. Consultations with the remaining parliamentary blocs will resume Wednesday.
Hariri is set to be designated as premier for the second time Wednesday after he stepped down last Thursday, accusing the opposition of hampering his efforts to form a cabinet. The Future Movement leader is expected to secure 73 votes with the support of 71 MPs of the majority and two from the opposition’s Tashnag party.
Following Hariri’s re-designation, a heated debate is expected to arise gradually between opposition groups and the majority over the validity of the 15-10-5 cabinet make-up.
During deliberations with Sleiman at Baabda Palace, Liberation and Development bloc and Amal Movement MP Ali Hassan Khalil said his bloc did not nominate any candidate to head the cabinet because Hariri, prior to his designation, “did not commit to form a cabinet based on the 15-10-5 formula.”
The bloc, which is headed by Speaker Nabih Berri, had named Hariri in the first round of consultations in June.
In response to calls by the Development and Liberation bloc for Hariri to express his commitment to the 15-10-5 cabinet formula, the Future Movement leader said Monday “they want me to declare the cabinet’s structure from now [but] when I get appointed I will start negotiating, and [then] I would assess the level of cooperation by political parties.”
“Upon the request of the premier-designate, the bloc would cooperate openly and positively with him following his designation to form a cabinet but always based on the 15-10-5 structure,” Khalil said. The 15-10-5 structure grants the majority 15 ministers, the opposition 10 and Sleiman five seats, guaranteeing the president the tipping vote. Both the majority and the opposition are respectively denied absolute majority or veto power. Opposition forces as well Democratic Gathering bloc leader MP Walid Jumblatt have expressed their commitment to the agreed-upon 15-10-5 government formula following Hariri’s resignation. March 14 officials have said that it was up to the new premier-designate to decide upon the continued validity of the 15-10-5 formula, stressing the need to resume deliberations on the cabinet issue from scratch.
Future Movement MP Ammar Houri reiterated on Tuesday that the 15-10-5 cabinet make-up was no longer valid, adding that Lebanon’s democratic regime allowed for the possibility of a majority cabinet to be formed in accordance with the president’s approval. On Monday, Hariri stressed that he was one of the “biggest supporters” of the formation of a national unity government, adding that he has the right to adopt a “different” negotiations approach. “I have kept my hand extended but [the opposition] has always rejected our open approach,” he said at an iftar in Qoreitem. Houri added that the decision of Berri’s Development and Liberation bloc not to nominate Hariri for the post of prime minister had “liberated” the latter from constraints with regard to the cabinet’s formation, adding that the opposition aimed to further hamper the process.
Similarly, the Phalange Party slammed the opposition for tying the cabinet’s formation to a set of conditions, adding that the move conflicted with constitutional norms and conventions.
Following a meeting headed by Amin Gemayel, the party’s politburo issued a statement saying its bloc named Hariri in order to preserve Lebanon’s democratic regime and underline the outcome of the June 7 polls. “We demand that obstacles facing the cabinet formation following Hariri’s first designation be eliminated and [that the process] move on from previously proposed structures to new ones,” it said, in reference to the 15-10-5 cabinet formula. Over the past week, Some March 14 officials and several political analysts have hinted at the possibility of forming a technocrat government. The Phalange politburo also emphasized the need to take into consideration the true representational size of the Phalange Party and other Christian groups of the March 14 coalition in the next government.
The party added that Hariri’s government proposal, which he submitted to Sleiman before he stepped down, “does not serve the majority’s interests.” Meanwhile, LF MP Strida Geagea said her party nominated Hariri to underline the results of the elections, adding that the parliamentary majority leader had proved he held on to the principles of the March 14 Forces. Geagea also underlined the constitutional prerogatives of the premier-designate along with the president concerning their duty to form a cabinet. Conversely, FPM leader MP Michel Aoun said his party has reservations over Hariri’s nomination, adding that the Future Movement and the FPM were “very different.” “When we nominate a candidate, we grant him the authority to form a cabinet; thus we cannot award Hariri that authority, in accordance with the Constitution, if no understanding exists between us,” Aoun said. Aoun also urged all parties to commit to dialogue, adding that groups which refused to negotiate the cabinet issue “walked the wrong path.” Aoun tied his participation in the next government to the re-appointment of Caretaker Telecommunications Minister Jebran Bassil for a second term. The opposition so far has remained united in backing Aoun’s demands. Hariri has reiterated on several occasions his alliance’s opposition to the nomination of candidates who lost in the elections and has insisted on the principle of rotating ministerial portfolios among political parties. Bassil, who ran for one of two seats in his hometown of Batroun, lost to March 14 candidates.
Aoun and Bassil held prolonged talks with Sleiman over lunch in Baabda in a bid to eliminate complications regarding the cabinet issue. Meanwhile, Hizbullah MP Mohammad Raad said his bloc refrained from nominating a candidate but expressed the party’s willingness to cooperate with the premier-designate in order to form a national-unity cabinet that guarantees real partnership. Also, Hizbullah’s number two, Sheikh Naim Qassem, on Monday stressed his party’s commitment to a national-unity cabinet based on the 15-10-5 make-up as it preserves the country’s security and stability. Qassem added that a partnership cabinet promoting accord among the Lebanese would “restrain the margin of foreign and regional intervention in the country.” Separately, Frederick Hoff, the assistant of the US special envoy to the Middle East, held talks with the director general of the Lebanese Presidency Ambassador Naji Abi Assi at Baabda Palace to prepare for US envoy Georges Mitchell’s talks with Sleiman on Wednesday. The meeting was attended by US Ambassador Michele Sison.

Hariri ‘not upset’ over lack of support
BEIRUT: Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri stressed on Tuesday that he would pursue his efforts to form a national-unity cabinet but would do so on the basis of the outcome of the June 7 polls and in accordance with constitutional norms. “I am not upset with those who did not name me as premier-designate and I will not take a political stance; it is their constitutional right to refrain from nominating a candidate,” Hariri said. During an iftar at his residence in Qoreitim, Hariri said he would negotiate the cabinet’s formation with all parties but based on an approach of his choice. “I will negotiate based on my approach and in accordance with constitutional norms since this is my constitutional right similarly to the opposition’s right not to nominate me but to later cooperate with me,” Hariri said. He added that he worked hard prior to his resignation to reach an agreement on a national-unity cabinet and would resume his efforts away from the media. Tackling the need to preserve the country’s stability and meet the Lebanese people social and economic needs, Hariri urged political parties to resort to calm and wise political rhetoric. “I want to be clear; there is a majority that won the elections in accordance with the Constitution and if the opposition won the elections, we would have respected the Constitution; so let matters be solved in a constitutional manner,” he said. – The Daily Star

Iraqi shoe-thrower freed, accuses guards of torture
Zaidi says he will work to help orphans, widows
By Agence France Presse (AFP)
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Salam Faraj
BAGHDAD: Muntazer al-Zaidi, the Iraqi television reporter jailed for throwing his shoes at former US President George W. Bush, was freed on Tuesday and said he had been tortured with electric shocks and simulated drowning. Zaidi had been behind bars for nine months ever since he shouted, “It is the farewell kiss, you dog,” at Bush on December 14 last year, seconds before hurling his size-10s at the man who ordered the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Speaking at the office of his former employer, Al-Baghdadia television, Zaidi – who was missing a front tooth – said: “I was tortured with electric shocks, beaten with cables.” Denying however that he was a hero, he said he had been ashamed of the suffering he had seen in his conflict-wracked country and had seized the opportunity to insult the man he held responsible. “For me it was a good response; what I wanted to do in throwing my shoes in the face of the criminal Bush was to express my rejection of his lies and of the occupation of my country,” he added. “At the time that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said on television that he could not sleep without being reassured on my fate … I was being tortured in the worst ways, beaten with electric cables and iron bars.” He said he wanted an apology from Maliki, adding that his guards had also used simulated drowning on him – the technique of water-boarding used by the Americans on suspects arrested over the September 11, 2001, terror attacks.
“I am now free but my country is still captive. I am not a hero, but I have attitude and opinions,” he said. “I feel humiliated to see my country suffer, my Baghdad burning, and my people killed.” Television pictures earlier showed the reporter, wearing a sash in the colors of the Iraqi national flag around his shoulders, and sporting sunglasses and a thick beard, being led into the studios of his employer.
The journalist’s family and friends ululated, clapped and danced when they heard the news by telephone at their home in Baghdad. They have prepared a sheep for slaughter in celebration of his homecoming. Zaidi, 30, was to have been released Monday but legal red tape delayed this. Iraqi in-mates often find their liberty held up for several days to allow the necessary prison release documents to be signed and approvedThe journalist was initially sentenced to three years for assaulting a foreign head of state but had his jail time reduced to one year on appeal. His sentence was cut further on account of good behavior.
Although Bush, who successfully ducked to avoid the speeding footwear, laughed off the attack, the incident caused massive embarrassment, to both him and the Iraqi prime minister.
The leaders had been speaking at a news conference in Baghdad on what was Bush’s farewell visit to Iraq prior to being succeeded in office by Barack Obama.
Zaidi faces the prospect of a very different life from his previous existence as a journalist for Al-Baghdadia, a small, privately owned Cairo-based station, which continued to pay his salary in jail. His boss has promised the previously little-known reporter a new home as a reward for loyalty and the publicity that his actions, broadcast live across the world, generated for the station. But there is talk of plum job offers from bigger Arab networks, lavish gifts such as sports cars from businessmen, guaranteed celebrity status, and reports that Arab women from Baghdad to the Gaza Strip want to marry him. Without ruling out a return to work as a journalist for his old TV station, Zaidi told reporters he wanted to help Iraq’s widows and orphans, victims of the country’s war. “I am going to concentrate on humanitarian work and will occupy myself with widows and orphans,” he said.
A member of Iraq’s Shiite majority, Zaidi had personally experienced fallout from the tensions and violence affecting the country. He was kidnapped in Baghdad and held by unknown captors for three days in 2007 and then detained for one day by US forces at the beginning of 2008, according to his brother. Zaidi also told the judge at his trial that he had been beaten up several times since being taken into custody last year. The publicity that Zaidi garnered, however, means he is likely to be met by both adulation and bemusement among his countrymen, who were divided by his shoe-throwing gesture, considered a grave insult in the Arab and Muslim world.

Lebanon's 'Madoff' Ezzedine goes from fame to infamy
Nasrallah sets up crisis unit to help those who fell victim to fraud
By Agence France Presse (AFP)
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Rita Daou /MAAROUB: From wealthy Lebanese expatriates to local villagers to top Hizbullah officials: financier Salah Ezzedine spared no one as he allegedly concocted a Ponzi scheme that saw more than a billion dollars go up in smoke. Dubbed “Lebanon’s Bernard Madoff” by the local and international press, Ezzedine made headlines earlier this month after he filed for bankruptcy and was placed under arrest. Madoff, the disgraced Wall Street financier, is serving a 150-year sentence for fraud.
Lebanese authorities at the weekend charged the 47-year-old mogul and his business partner, Yussef Faour, with fraud, embezzlement, distributing bounced cheques and violating Lebanese fiscal law. Faour, who has also been arrested, is the deputy mayor of the southern Lebanese village of Maaroub, Ezzedine’s hometown, and – according to some local residents – a member of the Hizbullah party. Reports say Ezzedine, who also has ties to Hizbullah, squandered more than $1 billion of his clients’ money, mainly Shiites from southern Lebanon.
Ezzedine gained fame among Lebanon’s sizeable Shiite community in the early 1990s, when he began organizing pilgrimages to Mecca.
He then began to dabble in oil and diamond trade, but kept most of his financial business outside of Lebanon, mainly Iran, Algeria and China, residents of Maaroub told AFP.
Ezzedine’s publishing house, located in the southern suburbs of Beirut, was named after Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s late son Hadi and was shut down by state officials after his arrest. His victims say his entrepreneurial skills and reputation as a “good man” led many to look to him as their financial shepherd.
Jamil Fneish, a Lebanese living in Canada, told AFP that he and his six sons lost more than $1 million they had entrusted to Ezzedine.
Fneish, like many in Maaroub, says he is still stunned by the revelations concerning the local ‘golden boy’ who built the town hall, sports stadium and two mosques.
“He was a good man who was very generous with the poor,” said Ali, a local shopkeeper. “He would cover tuition fees, hospital bills and medicine costs for those in need.”
Even when Ezzedine struck an unlucky deal in aluminium trade, he still let his clients pay only “five percent interest instead of the usual 20 to 25 percent or more,” said Fneish, who travelled to Lebanon this summer and returned to Canada on Monday to rejoin his 11 children and 25 grandchildren.
Another Maaroub resident, Ali Fneish, said many in Lebanon’s Shiite community have borne the brunt of his financial foils.
“I hold Hizbullah and the Lebanese state responsible,” the 67-year-old said. “Are they not responsible for their people? And where were they when their people were investing their money illegally?” Mohammad al-Duheini, mayor of the southern village of Toura, said that around 250 local residents had placed their money with Ezzedine who would give them interest rates that topped 25 percent. “He managed to win the trust of the Shiites of south Lebanon and handled a lot of their money,” he told AFP.
Hizbullah leader Nasrallah insists that Ezzedine is not linked to the party but acknowledges that some party officials had invested money with him.
Among them is Hizbullah MP Hussein Hajj Hassan who has filed a complaint over a bounced cheque signed by Ezzedine.
Nasrallah at the weekend said that he had set up a crisis unit to help those who fell victim to the alleged fraud.
A banking official in southern Lebanon, who requested his name not be revealed, said he expected the number of lawsuits against Ezzedine to rise sharply.
“Our clients have deposited around 20 bounced cheques coming from one of Ezzedine’s companies, called ‘Through the Gulf for Trade and Industry,’” he said on condition of anonymity.
The cheques were written for a minimum of $200,000 each, he added.
Under Lebanon’s banking secrecy law, banks cannot reveal their clients’ names, assets or holdings except in cases of bankruptcy or if granted written authorization by the client.

Iraqis tell Syria: Enough is enough
By Safa A. Hussein
Commentary by
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
On the morning of April 8, 2003, Baghdad was in chaos. Rumors flew around that American tanks were seen in parts of the city. Most soldiers and Baathist civilian militants usually deployed in the streets of Baghdad abandoned their posts. Yet small new groups of heavily armed civilians appeared in parts of Baghdad. When I stopped one of these groups in the Al-Mansour neighborhood west of Baghdad, a young blond man with a Syrian accent identified the group as “Murabiteen,” a Koranic term that describes warriors committed to defending Islamic territory.
That was the first time I encountered so-called Arab volunteers who came to Iraq to “defend it against the American invasion.” Several months later, a senior security official stated that remnants of these volunteers were part of a growing security problem. Several hundred Syrian passports belonging to these individuals were seized by Iraqi authorities.
As the political process evolved in Iraq, so did Syrian intervention. Prior to recent improvements in security, more than 100 foreigners were lured to Iraq every month by Al-Qaeda, of which approximately 80 percent transited through Syria. During the past six years, tens of thousands of Iraqis have been killed or injured in suicide attacks executed by these fighters. Interrogation of captured foreign recruits reveals that Syria tolerated their movement across its border.
The Syrians say it is difficult to control a 600 km-long border. That may be true. But it is also true that more than 80 percent of these Al-Qaeda members enter Syria via Damascus airport, which is under tight security control. Moreover, reports about training camps for insurgent groups on Syrian territory are widespread.
Syria’s patronage and support for the Baath party are another story. Most senior Iraqi Baath leaders reside in Syria. There are arrest warrants and red alerts pending in Iraq against many of them due to their involvement in crimes and violence in Iraq. Because the Syrian authorities award privileges such as residence permits to Baath members, Iraqi migrants have an incentive to join the Baath party.
In addition to the formal Baath General Command of Armed Forces, located in Damascus, Baathists maintain militant groups there such as the Mohammad Army, Al-Rashideen Army and the Army of Men of the Naqshabandi Way. All these groups have publicly claimed responsibility for attacks against Iraqi civilian and government targets. They coordinate and sometimes cooperate with Al-Qaeda in Iraq and other terrorist groups. Recently, the Baathists formed the Liberation and Jihad Front as a framework for coordinating military operations with other terrorist groups. And Baath leaders have publicly stated that they will use violent means to topple the Iraqi government.
Iraq has made numerous attempts to resolve these issues through direct bilateral talks, meetings with neighboring countries and other multilateral talks. Iraqi negotiators complain about stubborn Syrian denials. During these talks, Syria has reduced the rate-of-flow of fighters into Iraq but has not stopped it.
Following the Iraq-US agreement on the withdrawal of American forces from Iraq, and last June’s successful American diplomatic engagement with Syria, many Iraqis hoped that Syria would cease its destabilizing activities against Iraq and do more to control its borders.
Yet reports continued to flow about Baathists planning coordinated attacks with insurgent groups to destabilize the Iraqi government. Some captured Baathists also pointed to plans in this direction. And intelligence reports indicated that suicide attacks would target vital and heavily populated areas in Baghdad.
So when the August 19 attacks targeting the Finance and Foreign Affairs ministries occurred in Baghdad, the indications pointed to Syria with its record of harboring Baathists and tolerating the passage of suicide bombers into Iraq. A few days later, after similar truck-bombs and members of a related terrorist cell were captured, initial investigations supported the earlier intelligence reports.
When Iran and Turkey offered to mediate to reduce Iraqi-Syrian tensions, Baghdad’s response was that Iraqis would talk directly with the Syrians. Yet Iraq welcomes efforts by both countries to convince Syria to stop harboring terrorists and criminals.
Some observers think that Iraqi accusations against Syria are mistimed, for two reasons. Firstly, political campaigning for the January 2010 elections is about to begin and some political parties may not support the government’s position for domestic political reasons. Secondly, they believe Syria is in the process of responding to Western and Arab efforts to distance itself from Tehran and don’t wish to encourage measures that might disturb this process. This approach ignores the fact that Syria benefits from more than 500,000 Iranian tourists per annum and that by 2012 Iranian investment in Syria will reach $10 billion.
The Iraqi government response that requested a United Nations-led investigation of foreign involvement in destabilizing Iraq in a way echoes the people’s cry: Enough is enough.
**Safa A. Hussein is a former deputy member of the dissolved Iraqi Governing Council. He served as a brigadier general in the Iraqi Air Force. Currently he works in the Iraqi National Security Council. This commentary first appeared at bitterlemons-international.org, an online newsletter that publishes views on Middle Eastern and Islamic issues.

Bellemare to Al-Hayat: All Predictions about the Indictment’s Date Are Comical and the Tribunal is Moving Satisfactorily
Tue, 15 September 2009
Baria Alamuddin
Leidschendam (The Hague) – The Chief prosecutor of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon - the international criminal tribunal for the prosecution of the criminal acts relating to the assassination of Rafik Hariri – Canadian judge Daniel Bellemare demanded those who are attempting to accuse the Tribunal of politicization to provide conclusive evidence that prove these claims, in order for him to respond to them in detail.
In an interview with Al-Hayat following his return from medical treatment in Canada, Bellemare reasserted that the Tribunal’s progress is “going very well” and at a pace that is satisfactory to him. He also said that the Tribunal is adding more experiences every day, calling his team “the dream team”.
He also stressed the importance of his work in what pertains to the future of security and stability in Lebanon, “because the results of this work will practically deter the murderous perpetrators, and render them fearful of retribution henceforth”. He pointed out that the Security Council is the only party that can stop the work of his tribunal court, while asserting that he considers it unlikely for the Council to do so, “no matter what the circumstances may be”.
Judge Bellemare, who appeared to be in good health, expressed his frustration at the rumours spread by Lebanese journalists that he is suffering from cancer, affirming that he is in good health, and that he will remain in his post until the tribunal’s work is done.
Moreover, the judge announced that he will not issue periodical reports as he did in the past, but that instead, the President of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon the Italian judge Antonio Cassese will issue a report in around two weeks, and which will simultaneously be presented to the Lebanese Government and the Security Council. However, this report will not contain any mention of the content or the date of the indictment and its issuance.
Al-Hayat interviewed Bellermare in his office at the Tribunal, which is located in Leidschendam, a suburb of The Hague, for more than one hour:
> When do you expect the indictment to be issued? Will be within weeks as it is rumoured, or will it take longer?
- It is very difficult to assign a specific date in this case, and these predictions being made make me laugh in fact. The difficulty here lies in the fact that I cannot predict the timing of the indictment, or the results of the investigations. All I can confirm is that we are adding more and more staff to our team, and everyone here is working diligently and with perseverance to finish work on this case, and I do not believe there is anyone who is keener than I am to finish as quickly as possible.
> But there are speculations being made every day. In fact, a prominent Western politician said that you still do not have any case to present to the Tribunal, and that you do not have sufficient evidence.
- Frankly, I find this to be quite interesting. I'm actually surprised by such a claim, because I, honestly, am the only one who is fully aware of the depth of this investigation and all its parts and components, while no one even in my team possesses such information, save for any diplomats or politicians. My surprise thus can be summarized in this question: On what grounds does this politician base his allegations?
> So you can say in full confidence that you have a complete and solid case that you can present to the Tribunal?
- Allow me to repeat what I had said earlier. I did not decide to go out of retirement only to become associated with a failed mission. You may still recall that I told the Security Council during my recent meeting there that I am still optimistic. That has not changed today. Rather, I am actually very optimistic, and if this situation should change, then I will report this to the Security Council accordingly.
> Do you mean that if you discover at some stage that your case is not solid along with the Tribunal, you will then go to the Security Council and announce that you do not have a case?
- Yes, indeed I will.
> The former director of the Lebanese General Security, Major General Jamil Sayyed filed a lawsuit against judge Detlev Mehlis in France. Are you afraid that you might meet the same fate?
- No ... I'm not afraid.
> Why are you not afraid? Is it because you have not taken any steps that can bother someone?
- There are no grounds for any person to file a lawsuit against me. Of course, I cannot stop anyone from doing something of the sort... But I'm not worried.
> Do you have immunity provided to you by the United Nations?
- No, I am not aware of any such immunity.
> You know that the political life in Lebanon is unstable and a cause for constant concern. Does the prospect of a change in government in Lebanon concern you in that it may affect the cooperation of the Lebanese government with you?
- This is a hypothetical question, and I cannot comment on it. What I can say however is that the [Lebanese] cooperation so far has been very agreeable and I do not expect that to change.
> Are you in dire need today for the Lebanese Government’s cooperation?
- This is also a hypothetical question, and the answer depends on the intended type of this cooperation, and in which field.
> Has there been any change in the quality of the cooperation of countries such as France, Syria or others with you? Also, how do you describe the international cooperation with you so far?
- I cannot name specific countries, and all I can say here is that we have requested the cooperation of several countries. The number of these in fact is 120 requests, and I can say that I am generally satisfied with the level of cooperation obtained, despite the fact that some countries whose cooperation we requested were slow in responding to our requests. As for those countries that did not respond to our requests in a timely manner, we usually develop specific mechanisms to entice them into responding quickly, and I think that this issue will not prove to be a problem for us in any case.
> Do you mean to say that you will go to the United Nations, and say that this or that country is not cooperating with us as required?
- I have not resorted to this so far. However, we may use this approach should everything else fail.
>What are the means available at your disposal to force a given country into cooperating with you?
- The lack of response by a given country may be caused by a number of factors, including sometimes the legal system itself in this or that country, and several other reasons that can be unrelated to the political will to help us, or its lack thereof.
> It has been said that the Tribunal’s budget is 85 million dollars, more than half of which was provided by the International Community and the rest by Lebanon. However, any political change in Lebanon may affect this funding; is this one of the challenges that you may face?
- First of all, the figure of 85 million dollars is not entirely accurate. In fact, the budget for this year is 60 million dollars, while the budget for 2010 is still being studied, and I do not think that it will reach the figure of 85 million.
> But are you concerned that support funds from Lebanon or other countries like the United States might cease for instance?
- U.S President Barack Obama reiterated his unfaltering support for our work, and the Americans have actually even provided additional financial support following the election of President Obama. Therefore, I'm not concerned at all about financial support, and there are no reasons whatsoever to make me believe that this support will stop.
> Some judicial sources believe that three years is not a sufficient period for investigating the case of Hariri’s assassination and the other cases, and that only one person leading the prosecution is not enough. What is your opinion about this?
- When it comes to the issue of more than one person undertaking the tasks of the prosecution, it must be mentioned that I do not personally conduct all the investigations. Rather, a large team is responsible for this job, and presents me with the necessary reports. Also, I do not believe it possible or beneficial that more than one prosecutor be handling the case, and we are indeed doing our jobs very well. With regard to the issue of the investigation period, this is based on the fact that the countries which contributed the funds to the Tribunal had approved this for three years. These countries did not specify a period of three years because they want lucrative returns on their contributions. Rather, this happened because these countries are optimistic about the court, its progress and its results, and I do not want to anticipate what will happen after three years.
> Will you personally remain in your post if the Tribunal’s work is not done within three years?
-This depends on the progress made.
> Will the United Nations extend the Tribunal’s mandate after three years?
- I do not know ... and I do not want to guess. This will be decided once when we get to that point.
> What are the most important challenges currently facing the Tribunal?
- The first challenge is security: my personal security and the security of my staff. You must have noticed the strict security measures that are in place. In fact, I have a taskforce assigned to protect me wherever I travel all over the world. This protection was established on the basis of the assessed risks and dangers surrounding me, and not because I have any desire to have it. The second challenge meanwhile, is that the investigations we are undertaking are very complex and sensitive, in addition to being broad and intertwining. While some believe that we can solve this case very quickly, and while some people may forget that these criminal acts were perpetrated by a professional group that strives to hide facts in a proficient manner, I repeat that recreating the crime scene and the crime’s elements take time since it is a precise process that is also very scientific and complex. For me personally, the size and the sheer complexity of the investigations remain the biggest challenge that we face in our work, among other things ... Our work is difficult, but we are doing our job in a very professional and scientific manner.
> Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah announced that he is not concerned with the Tribunal's findings, and that the very nature of your work is “conspiratorial”. What is your response to this?
- [The Judge smiles] First of all, you already know that I do not comment on what others say. However, this gives me the chance to respond in what regards the issue of politicizing the Tribunal, which is in effect exactly what those want. Allow me here to mention that these accusations which claim that the Tribunal is politicized have started even before we started our work, ever since the very beginning. I want to say to those who believe and say this: you are alleging this without any evidence, and I call upon you to provide us with proofs so that we can respond to this. All what this Tribunal has done so far is file a request with the Lebanese government for postponement, and the release of the four generals. If anyone believes that this is politicized, then he or she is welcome to provide us with evidence proving these claims and we shall respond. In fact, I will be quite happy to respond to these allegations.
You are aware that I and the Tribunal are both independent, and that these accusations are a distraction and disturb us and our work. We are working in all sincerity, and what is frustrating is that such allegations are not based on facts. People must believe us when we say that we have no political agenda whatsoever, that our work is solely based on evidence, and that I shall go wherever this evidence will lead me.
There is something else here that I would like to talk about, regarding these rumours, and that is the issue of those rumours which involve the professionalism of those working with us. There have been some questions about their level of knowledge and expertise. However, I am very proud of all the members of our team who were chosen from amongst hundreds, and who enjoy a high degree of professionalism. In fact, I believe that our team is a dream team, and all our staff are here willingly, and also because they are passionate and believe in their work.
The Lebanese must remember here that it is in no one's interests that terrorists who did not face the courts are currently free to roam among them. Frankly, all of these allegations are a part of the claim that the court is politicized, but they will not lead anywhere. People must also remember that the Tribunal is concerned with the people who have murdered, and was created to prevent further murders and criminal acts without those being punished.
> But what interest might these people have then, in spreading rumours about the politicization of the court?
- I do not know what their interest can be nor what they might be thinking, and I wish I knew. But allow me to mention that there are irresponsible journalists out there, such as those who started the rumour that I am dying of cancer, and the effect this had on my family in Canada. This is irresponsible journalism, and we must put an end to such claims at some point, especially that there are those who write allegations that are completely unfounded.
> Were you in a long vacation, or were you ill?
- I went through some medical tests, but as you see, I am in good health.
> Did you conduct an internal investigation following the publication of the article in the German “Der Spiegel” magazine, in which Hezbollah was accused of being involved in Hariri's assassination?
- What do you mean? I do not comment on press reports, and I do not deny nor confirm them. This is part of the allegations, and as I said, I do not respond to allegations.
> There are those who believe that the outcome of this Tribunal will threaten civil peace in Lebanon, and hence the region's stability. If you discovered at some point that this is true, will you stop your work in the Tribunal? Who has the authority to stop the work of this Tribunal? Is it Lebanon or is it the United Nations?
- Allow me to say here that the logic you are using is political, and I am trying to distance myself as much as possible from politics. With regard to who can stop the work of this Tribunal, only the Security Council has such an authority, but I do not think at all that this will happen. We are a legal construct based on legal grounds, but what if the Lebanese government requested the Security Council to suspend the work of the Tribunal.
> Are you concerned about such a possibility?
- I said earlier, and I will repeat it here: I will indeed resign if I feel there is any political influence over the Tribunal’s progress that I cannot deal with. I will resign in front of everyone and tell the whole world why I resigned.
> Can we safely assume that the four generals who were released have been acquitted, or might the Tribunal summon them again for questioning?
- The answer is simple, namely that the officers were not tried in the first place to lead us to think that they were acquitted. Rather, they were released because we did not have enough evidence to keep them in custody, and they, like all others, will be summoned should we have any new evidence against them.
> Do you have any facilities for detaining suspects in place?
- Yes, we do.
> What is the degree of the negative impact caused by the testimony of the two Syrian witnesses Hussam Hussam and Mohammed Zuhair al-Siddiq on the Tribunal, and will they be interrogated again?
- I will not comment about what the Tribunal does or may do. But let me say in this regard that prior to the decision to release the four generals, our investigators met with al-Siddiq in the UAE. Of course, any attempt to mislead the Tribunal disturbs me and is a waste of time and effort. Sometimes, these attempts have dire consequences, and the fact of the matter is that these misleading statements made us reassess our approach in the investigation.
> You spoke about a criminal gang that assassinated Prime Minister Hariri and his companions. Was this gang especially formed to assassinate Hariri, or was it a gang that had previously carried out other assassinations?
- This is a very important part, and is at the heart of the investigation which will show all these facts in the end.
> If you decide to resign...
- No ... No, I do not intend to resign; I am here to stay and over the long run.
> Are you going to visit Lebanon in the future?
- Of course, and I miss Lebanon and its good people.
> Will you issue a new report and submit it to the Security Council?
- No, this is not required of me. However, the Tribunal’s president Judge Antonio Cassese decided to issue a report biannually instead of once every year. This report is expected to be issued in nearly two weeks, and will simultaneously be submitted to the Lebanese government and the Security Council.
> What will your current endeavours and work mean for your future and your legacy?
- I do not think or care about my legacy, and I am not looking forward to any new posts after my current one. In fact, I will go back to retirement and the only thing I am seeking here is that I and my colleagues succeed in obtaining justice for the Lebanese people, and take the criminals to court and then prison. We are doing a massive and important work, which has high credibility for Lebanon, the people of the region and the world.
> There are calls meanwhile, for tribunals similar to yours to try the murderers of the late Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, and to try those who perpetrated the recent terrorist attacks in Iraq. Are you in favour of setting up such tribunals, or have you been requested to look into such cases?
- No, I have not been asked to do so. I do not think that it is useful to establish an International Tribunal for every terrorist incident, but perhaps the United Nations will consider in the future setting up a subsidiary UN court to look into similar cases.

Billion-Dollar Pyramid Scheme Rivets Lebanon
New York Times
September 16, 2009
The investor, a heavyset man in a gray polo shirt, sat back in a plastic chair in his hardware store and sighed, unable to explain how his life savings had vanished so quickly into thin air, The
“It’s a disaster, a tsunami,” he said. “Some farmers mortgaged their fields and brought in cash. Others sold land they had inherited from their parents. Teachers gave up all their savings. Old people lost everything they had.”
The money disappeared, judicial authorities say, in a billion-dollar pyramid scheme that has riveted Lebanon, The New York Times’s Robert F. Worth writes from Tura. Its mastermind, a businessman named Salah Ezzedine, was charged with fraud on Saturday and is being called the “Lebanese Bernie Madoff” in local newspapers. Bankers say it is the biggest fraud of its kind this country has ever seen.
But the dollar figures have drawn less attention here than Mr. Ezzedine’s close links with Hezbollah, the militant Shiite movement. Many of the investors — mostly Shiites living in Beirut and southern villages like this one — say those party links were the reason they chose to risk their hard-earned savings with a man who offered 40 and 50 percent profits but never showed any paperwork.
The scandal has embarrassed the party, which prides itself on a reputation for honesty and selfless piety. It has also illustrated the way many of Lebanon’s Shiites, despite their ascent from near feudal poverty just a few decades ago, remain in some ways a nation apart. Their residual distrust of mainstream Lebanese institutions, which helped fuel Hezbollah’s rise as a virtual state within a state, also appears to have made them vulnerable to Mr. Ezzedine’s schemes.
“We got guarantees that were stronger than any bank,” said the investor here, who like others associated with Mr. Ezzedine, spoke only on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. Asked whether he meant Hezbollah, he declined to answer, The Times said.
Hezbollah’s general secretary, Hassan Nasrallah, denied in a speech last week that the party had any official connection with Mr. Ezzedine. But a few days later, during a Ramadan dinner with Hezbollah supporters where he appeared by video link, Mr. Nasrallah conceded that the party would in practice be held responsible, and said it was setting up a “crisis network” to assess each investor’s losses. Several Hezbollah officials lost money, and at least one has filed suit against Mr. Ezzedine.
There have even been calls for Hezbollah to compensate the investors. So far, the party has said it will not do so, and it is easy to see why. The losses among southern Shiites alone run into the hundreds of millions, and Hezbollah is still struggling to rebuild the houses destroyed during its devastating monthlong war with Israel in 2006.
Mr. Ezzedine, 49, remains a mysterious figure. He was best known as the owner of Dar el-Hadi, a publishing house that specialized in religious titles and is based in the heart of Dahieh, Beirut’s Shiite southern suburb. More recently, in 2007, he founded Al Mustathmir, a financial institution based in Beirut that focused on money management. He was known as a deeply religious and charitable man, with a gift for winning people’s friendship.
It is still not clear what happened to the money, according to a judicial official with knowledge of the case who spoke on condition of anonymity, telling The Times that he was not authorized to comment publicly. Mr. Ezzedine, who is now in jail awaiting trial, invested in metals, oil and other commodities in Africa and the Middle East, The Times said, citing several people who knew him.
“Gold, steel, iron,” said the investor, who regularly bundled smaller contributions from dozens or even hundreds of villagers and then presented packages — anywhere from $100,000 to $500,000 — as a single investment to Mr. Ezzedine’s assistants. “Every time, I’d give them the money in a bag, and they’d give me a check for the same amount.”
He leaned forward and showed his cellphone, with a photograph on the screen of rows and rows of stacked $100 bills.
As he reeled off the project titles — zircon, titanium, African oil — the investor began to shake with melancholy laughter. Two friends sitting across from him in his threadbare store — who also lost money with Mr. Ezzedine — laughed with him. The laughs grew louder and louder, and soon all three men were collapsing into wild, helpless bouts of hilarity, tears forming in the corners of their eyes.
“On the day we first heard, we met in the mosque, and we were laughing hysterically for 24 hours,” the investor told The Times.
He soon grew sober again.
“I’m telling you this like it’s just a story,” he said. “But for us, it’s really hard. We are expecting family problems, social problems. Brothers who borrowed money from in-laws and lost it. I have a building I mortgaged.”
Although the scandal is not likely to affect Lebanon’s broader economy, it could create real problems in the Shiite community, where some major real estate owners and businessmen went into debt to finance their investments. The full extent of the alleged swindle remains unclear, but the judicial official said the amount lost appeared to be at least $700 million, and possibly more than $1 billion.
Curiously, some of the investors still defend Mr. Ezzedine. The deep loyalty to Hezbollah that may have helped cause the disaster apparently also prevents many victims from complaining.
In Mahroub, the village a few miles from Tura where Mr. Ezzedine grew up, many local people know him as the pious, likable man who used his money to build a beautiful new mosque a few years ago.
And in some cases the financial naïveté that Mr. Ezzedine played on may even help obscure any crimes. Mustafa Fneish, a wizened 54-year-old taxi driver in Mahroub, said he invested $10,000 with Mr. Ezzedine and had received an 80 percent profit on his investment, or $8,000. When asked whether he had received the principal back, he looked confused, and said no.
“All this happened because of the United States and Israel,” Mr. Fneish added, echoing a refrain that springs easily to people’s minds here. “When they discovered that Ezzedine was close to Hezbollah, they ruined him.”

Will Iran Become Part of the Arab League?
15/09/2009
By Tariq Alhomayed/the Editor-in-Chief of Asharq Al-Awsat,
In an interview with Iran’s Press TV, Walid Jumblatt said that Lebanon could turn to Iran to acquire the weapons it needs to protect itself from its enemies, adding that Israel does not hide its threat to Lebanon. That’s not all; Jumblatt further stated that “unity between Arabs and Iranians could help prevent a possible Israeli attack against either side,” quoting Arab League Secretary General Mr. Amr Musa on Arab-Iranian ties. So is what Jumblatt asking for achievable?
Of course not! However, we do not know if Jumblatt made these comments with conviction or if he was flirting with Iran to protect his own interests and the interests of his denomination or if he can feel danger looming. If Iran wanted to help Lebanon it would have ordered Hezbollah to stop providing Israel with excuses [to attack].
For those who suffer from selective memory in Lebanon, or in our region as a whole, let us remind them of the day rockets were launched from south Lebanon towards Israel at the height of the Gaza war. At the time, Hassan Nasrallah came out in response to accusations that Hezbollah was responsible for launching these rockets; Nasrallah accused these people of wanting to give Israel excuses to launch an attack on Hezbollah and at the time he was happy to sit by and watch what was happening in Gaza just like Tehran, as the Supreme Guide warned his citizens against getting involved in the battle, giving the excuse that there are no shared borders between Iran and Israel even though there is the Syrian front and the Hezbollah front. In the Gaza war Nasrallah was content with shouting in the media and sending his cells to Egypt.
So why did Nasrallah seal the door of excuses on Israel on that day but is not doing so today in order to protect Lebanon? The reason of course is to heat things up on the Lebanese front against Israel in order to serve Iranian goals regarding negotiations with the international community, as the Iranian regime, according to the proposals it offered the West, is presenting itself as having the solution to all the problems in our region.
Therefore, we are baffled by Jumblatt’s recent comments, especially as Mr. Walid Jumblatt is also calling for a Saudi-Syrian-Iranian agreement to form a Lebanese government and to just accept dialogue with Iran, which would mean accepting Iranian leadership of the region and its states. In this case we would have consented to Iranian control of Lebanon and Iraq and that’s not all as we are also being asked [to establish] Arab-Iranian unity!
This is a funny matter on its own, and even if Amr Musa said it, and even if Arab leaders called for this, then, just as we have said before, merely accepting Iranian interference or unity with Iran will be like throwing ourselves to the wolves, as we will be acknowledging Iranian leadership over us and our countries. Is there any defeat worse than that? Is this the way to protect the pan-Arabism that some people in our region and in Lebanon in particular commend?
The truth is that we Arabs are more dangerous to ourselves than Israel, Iran and others. It seems that there’s nothing left to do now but allow Iran to become a member of the Arab League!

Lebanon's Bernie Madoff: A Scandal Taints Hizballah
By Andrew Lee Butters / Beirut
Wednesday, Sep. 16, 2009
Time/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1924186,00.html?xid=rss-topstories
Business magnate Salah Ezzedine was known as a pious, generous man. Hailing from a small Shi'ite Muslim town in southern Lebanon, he was a success story among country's poorest, historically marginalized religious sect. With his reputation for generosity (he built a stadium and a mosque for his hometown of Maaroub, sponsored pilgrimages to Mecca, and published children's books), few were suspicious when Ezzeddine promised investors a share of his business with the lure of outstanding rewards — from 20% to 40% returns — and few details of how the scheme worked or guarantees or paperwork. Still, what he seemed to have — the implicit backing of Hizballah, the popular anti-Israeli militant group and political party — was as good as gold to its many loyal followers among the Shi'ites of Lebanon.
But now Ezzeddine's schemes — supposedly investments in oil, publishing, metals and television spread out from the Gulf to Africa — are unraveling on a spectacular scale — and it is casting Hizballah in an unflattering light. The house of cards began falling earlier this month, when his businesses went bankrupt, ostensibly from the effects of the global financial crisis. But rumors swirled in the press of a pyramid scheme of more than a billion dollars, and the local media dubbed him the Lebanese Bernie Madoff. Last weekend the Lebanese government charged him with fraud. All across the Shi'ite-populated regions of Lebanon, thousands of small investors — many of whom bundled small sums of money with their neighbors to give to Ezzeddine — feel betrayed by both the man and the organization. "I inherited $100,000 from my father to continue my studies, I invested them with Ezzeddine and now all my dreams are destroyed," says Mohammad, a 25-year old student from Maaroub. "I don't know what I was thinking when I invested with him. We thought he was Hizballah's financier."
(See pictures from inside Hizballah.)
Ezzeddine's exact connection to Hizballah is unclear. The organization denied having an official relationship with him, but Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah has acknowledged that the group was being tainted by association, saying he would mount an investigation to account for investor losses. But many investors have said that Hizballah officials not only encouraged them to put their money and trust in Ezzeddine, but also that his investments were halal, meaning acceptable according to Muslim laws which forbid profiting from interest (which they equate with usury).
(See pictures of Hizballah's youth movement: the Mahdi Scouts.)
"He was able to gain people's confidence easily due to his connections with Hizballah," says Mohammad Duhaini the mayor of Toura, another town in southern Lebanon, where he says at least 250 people had invested with Ezzeddine. Says Duhaini, "Most of those who dealt with him were supporters of Hizballah [and] many people were encouraged to do business with Ezzeddine due to Hizballah's propaganda for him." Indeed, one Hizballah source told TIME that some top leaders did business with Ezzeddine. The Lebanese press has published unsubstantiated reports that his enterprise collapsed when a check he wrote to a senior Hizballah official bounced, and that, as a result, the financier went into hiding until Hizballah security forces found him and turned him over to the government.
It seems surprising that the leaders of an institution as sophisticated as Hizballah would fall for a simple Ponzi scheme. But the organization does rely on a network of businessmen and fundraisers such as Ezzeddine, not just in southern Lebanon but also in West Africa, South America and wherever expatriate Lebanese do business. Hizballah has been trying to become financially independent from its main patron, Iran (which has its own financial problems) and earlier this year, a Hizballah official told TIME that the organization is close to becoming completely self-sustaining. What effect the Ezzeddine scandal has on those plans remains to be seen.
The worst part of the scandal for Hizballah might not come in dollars and cents but in damage to its reputation for honesty, competence and integrity which, after its status as the world's most formidable organization of guerrilla fighters, is what makes the Shi'ite political party popular not just in Lebanon but in the wider Arab world. Those traits were on display when Hizballah engineers and social service workers fanned out immediately in the aftermath of the war with Israel in 2006 to assess damage and offer assistance to its supporters who had lost their homes and business. Months later, Nasrallah launched a reconstruction program called Waad, or "promise", to rebuild every destroyed home by the beginning of 2010.
But since then, the organization has struggled under the burden of the massive development project. It scrapped ambitious plans to redesign the cramped urban environment of Beirut's southern suburbs, where Hizballah support is strongest and which Israel bombed most heavily. Yet, Waad is still well behind schedule to meet the 2010 deadline.
For the loyal rank-and-file, the scandal may not tarnish their faith in Hizballah. After all, it was Hizballah, not the Lebanese government, that freed southern Lebanon from Israeli occupation in 2000, and it was Hizballah that turned back the Israeli tanks in 2006. But on the back of several recent setbacks — the assassination of its operations chief last year, the electoral loss at the polls in June this year, the discovery this spring that an Israeli spy ring in Lebanon had bugged Hizbalalh's vehicles — Hizballah has lost some of its aura of invincibility, and its supporters no longer seem so ready to hit the frontlines and the barricades. With reporting by Rami Aysha/Beirut