LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS
BULLETIN
December 05/08
Bible Reading of the day.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 7,21.24-27. Not everyone
who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one
who does the will of my Father in heaven. Everyone who listens to these words of
mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The
rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it
did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. And everyone who
listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who
built his house on sand. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds
blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined."
Saint John of the Cross (1542-1591), Carmelite, Doctor of the Church
Maxims and Counsels (copyright ICS pubs.)/Hear and put into practice
The Father spoke one Word, which was his Son, and this Word he always speaks in
eternal silence, and in silence must it be heard by the soul.
Speak little and do not meddle in matters about which you are not asked. Do not
complain about anyone, nor ask for anything; and if it is necessary for you to
ask, let it be with few words. Do not contradict; in no manner speak words that
are not pure. Let your speech be such that no one may be offended, and let it
concern things which would not cause you regret were all to know of them. Keep
spiritually tranquil in a loving attentiveness to God, and when it is necessary
to speak, let it be with the same calm and peace. Be silent concerning what God
may have given you and recall that saying of the bride: «My secret for myself»
(Is 24,16)...To advance in virtue it is important that you be silent and act,
since by talking we become distracted whereas in keeping silence and working we
become recollected. As soon as you have learnt from someone what is necessary to
advance spiritually, you should not ask him to say anything further about it nor
continue talking but set yourself to work earnestly and in silence, with zeal
and humility, with charity and self-contempt.Before anything else, it is
necessary and fitting to serve God in the silence of one's disordered habits, as
of the tongue, so that nothing may be heard but words of love.
Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special
Reports
Michel Aoun's minority package tour-By Michael
Young 4/12/08
UN secretary general's message on the International Day of Persons with
Disabilities-By Ban Ki-moon 4/12/08
Trying to be helpful and failing - badly-By Marc
J. Sirois 4/12/08
New Message from Lawson Kass Hanna
to
General Kahwaji December 4/08
Lebanon's Auon in a Syrian gambit-By Sami
Moubayed - Asia Times Online
04/12/08
Latest News Reports From
Miscellaneous Sources for December
04/08
Lebanese Christian leader courts Assad-Financial
Times
Michel Aoun: The West Is Behind Exile Of Christians From Middle East-MEMRI
Israel Preparing Options for Strike at Iran Without U.S. Assent, Report-Naharnet
Lebanon's Hezbollah says it is sure to win 2009 legislative polls-Naharnet
Aoun
Lectures in Damascus About U.N. Support for Israel and Financial backing for
Terror-Naharnet
Aoun
After Open Heart Talks with Assad: Those in Beirut Should Apologize First-Naharnet
Suleiman Wants Arabs to Deal with the Lebanon's
President-Naharnet
Syrian Backed Palestinian Factions: We have no State to Open an Embassy in
Lebanon-Naharnet
Geagea Hammers Aoun-Naharnet
Damascus Wants to Place
its Embassy in a Christian Quarter-Naharnet
Blast Targets Cab in Zahle-Naharnet
92 Nations, Including
Lebanon, Sign Treaty Banning Cluster Bombs-Naharnet
Jumblat: Reconciliation
with Syria is Impossible ... We Want to Win Elections to Avoid Return to
Tutelage-Naharnet
Maronite Bishops Warn
Against the Spread of Chaos-Naharnet
3 Men Charged with
Threatening to Kill Harqous-Naharnet
Gebran Tueni Prize Goes to
Egyptian Journalist-Naharnet
Germany Ready to Help
Lebanon Control Border with Syria-Naharnet
March 14: Bellemare Final
Report Victory for Principal of Justice-Naharnet
Lebanon's future depends on regional situation - Merkel-Daily
Star
Aoun declares 'new page' in relations with Damascus-Daily
Star
Aoun's trip to Syria seen as bid to corner more votes in Lebanon-Daily
Star
Qabalan to head Higher Shiite Council-Daily
Star
Maronite bishops warn of 'chaos' if parliamentary elections are delayed-Daily
Star
Lebanon among first states to ban cluster bombs-Daily
Star
Lebanon's telecom regulator launches US-funded website
Layla Karam passes away-(AFP)
SSNP members charged in assault on reporter-Daily
Star
USJ bans political activities on all campuses-Daily
Star
Child victims bring home cruel reality of cluster bombs-(AFP)
UNESCO to hold workshop on role of media in drawing a youth policy in Lebanon-Daily
Star
UN, Italian Embassy host day of sports for Palestinian youth-Daily
Star
UNWRA, Palestinian association hold day of solidarity with disabled-Daily
Star
Beirut hip hoppers sound out the rhythm of peace-Daily
Star
Jimmy Carter Hopes New
Book on Mideast Won't be Controversial-Naharnet
Jumblat: Reconciliation with
Syria is Impossible ... We Want to Win Elections to Avoid Return to Tutelage
Naharnet/Druze leader Walid Jumblat said Wednesday that reconciliation with
Damascus is not possible, stressing that the ruling March 14 coalition wants to
win the 2009 parliamentary elections to avoid a return to Syrian tutelage.
"Reconciliation with the Syrian regime is impossible," Jumblat said in an
interview with Future TV late Wednesday, adding that March 14 did not get
assurances from France regarding assassination threats. Jumblat believed that
Syria has "relatively stopped assassinations only to focus on winning the
Lebanese elections in order to rule us again at the political, economic and
security levels without returning militarily."
"I know the structure of the Syrian regime and I know that they have no mercy
for anyone," he argued.
"The Syrian regime believes in physical executions and I believe that (Syrian
Interior Minister) Ghazi Kanaan was wiped out and did not commit suicide,"
Jumblat said in the interview conducted at his mansion in Beirut's Clemenceau
district. The leader of the Progressive Socialist Party assured that Syrian
meddling did not stop. "The method, however, has changed," adding that he is
against the joint Syrian-Lebanese Higher Council. On Middle East peace talks,
Jumblat insisted he does not want to link Lebanon's fate to Syrian-Israeli
negotiations. "I don't either want Lebanon to be a bargaining chip."Regarding
the long-awaited reunion with Hizbullah, Jumblat said: "I saw that there is no
benefit from a meeting at the political level. Main topics are to be discussed
on the dialogue table."
He said political differences do not necessarily mean that war is likely.
Jumblat, however, believed that the Resistance lost part of its national
consensus following the May events. "What happened in Beirut and the Mountains
stripped the Resistance's dignity away and was not in its best interest," the
Druze MP believed.
He wondered why Syria did not point a finger at Israel in the assassination of
top Hizbullah commander Imad Mughniyeh when Hizbullah accused the Jewish state
of killing Mughniyeh. Turning to the 2009 parliamentary elections, Jumblat said
that March 14 Forces' goal is to win the polls. "And the title for success is
March 14."
"We want to win the elections to strengthen the independence march," the PSP
leader emphasized. "If March 8 Forces win, (Syrian) tutelage will return,
Palestinian arms will remain and so will both the Lebanese and the Resistance
armies."
Jumblat said that he differentiates between Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and
the rest of the Hizbullah-led March 8 alliance. He described as "excellent" his
relation with the Lebanese Forces and the rest of the factions that make up the
March 14 coalition. Jumblat found it strange to hold a dialogue session once
every two months.
He said he "disagree" with President Michel Suleiman on the Shebaa Farms issue.
"We want Syrian documents that prove the Farms are Lebanese."
On the issue of terrorism, Jumblat said: "They have a terrorist factory starting
from Shaker Abssi all the way to Jawhar and Awad." "No Palestinian weapons are
outside the camps. These weapons are Syrian," he stressed. Jumblat labeled the
international tribunal "unique," adding that "nothing like it has been seen
since World War II." "They are the ones who are maintaining the security of the
airport," he said. "I don't believe terrorists are capable of infiltrating
through the sea.
"The border with Syria remains the source of terrorism," he insisted. The Druze
leader said that he gave his testimony to previous U.N. investigator Detlev
Mehlis "and I'm looking forward to go to The Hague to testify." The Americans,
Jumblat claimed, "do not torture their prisoners, except for Guantanamo prison."
Jumblat stressed that a person with a "rigid (political) party founded by Kamal
Jumblat like the Progressive Socialist Party does not fear anything.""I assure
Al Akhbar newspaper that I've got good guts," he said. Beirut, 03 Dec 08, 23:27
Geagea Hammers Aoun
Naharnet/Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea criticized Change and Reform Bloc
leader Michel Aoun for seeking to clear Lebanon's conscience in Damascus prior
to settling Lebanon's differences with Syria. "The President of the Republic of
Lebanon, who represents all the Lebanese people, is the person entrusted with
the task of clearing the collective conscience," Geagea stressed. "Clearing
conscience can only be achieved through settling pending issues (with Syria),"
he added.
"We want to overcome the past. But how should we handle out present status?"
Geagea asked. He said "hundreds of Lebanese citizens are jailed in Syria, We
have bases manned by Palestinians loyal to Syria and we have non demarcated
borders with Syria, especially in Shebaa Farms, not to mention persisting Syrian
efforts for more than three years to destabilize Lebanon." Aoun's reference to
French-German relations as a model for Lebanon's relations with Syria is "not
accurate. France had relations with Germany only after the Nazi regime was
toppled," according to Geagea. He accused Aoun of discussing with the Syrians
the formation of election tickets, saying "Iran pays the money and Syria
provides weapons, personnel and more." Beirut, 04 Dec 08, 10:40
Aoun After Open Heart Talks with Assad: Those in Beirut
Should Apologize First
Naharnet/Change and Reform Bloc leader Michel Aoun on Wednesday said he held
"open heart" talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad and advised "those in
Beirut" to apologize first. "Did those in Beirut, who were at one point
partners, apologize?" Aoun said in response to a question.
"Those in Beirut should apologize first," Aoun told a packed news conference on
the first day of a 5-day visit to Damascus. "Apologies should start from Beirut,
then we reach Damascus." Aoun predicted a "bright future" for relations between
Lebanon and Syria. "Our meeting today is a promise of a prosperous future," he
said.
"We are turning a new page where there is no victor, no vanquished," Aoun said.
"This is a return to normal relations." Aoun said he was offering his
"friendship to Syria." "As long as there is a will … we would certainly work out
solutions to previous pending problems and agree on a new approach that respects
interests of both states," he added. "We were foes, but never enemies," Aoun
said of his past experience with Syria that resulted in his defeat on Oct. 13,
1990.
Ignoring criticism of his visit from the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority
March 14 coalition, Aoun said his trip was justified now that Lebanese-Syrian
diplomatic ties have been established. He expressed confidence in resolving any
problem between Damascus and Beirut. On upcoming parliamentary elections, Aoun
said Syria was "supportive of the holding of legislative elections, but without
interfering" in the process. His talks with Assad covered, among several topics,
the issue of missing Lebanese citizens. "Committees are tackling this issue.
They are achieving progress and, certainly, they would reach a result," Aoun
said.
He said relations with Washington are like "unstable weather, sometimes sunny,
sometimes cloudy." The new U.S. administration, Aoun said, should change
"strategy" in the Middle East, not "just the behavior … if they don't, they
would be defeated." He declared commitment to the right of Palestinian refugees
to return to their pre-Israel homeland, stressing that "those who created the
problem should be responsible for the solution, not the states that have been
burdened by it for over 60 years." Beirut, 03 Dec 08, 14:39
Lebanon's Hezbollah says it is sure to win 2009 legislative
polls
Naharnet/Lebanon's Shiite militant group Hezbollah said it was sure of victory
in next year's legislative elections but would still seek to form a national
unity government with anti-Syrian rivals. Agence France Presse (AFP) reported
Thursday. "We want to make it clear from now that we will want to establish a
national unity government" with the Sunni-led coalition that is backed by the
United States and Saudi Arabia, Nawaf al Mussawi, a top Hezbollah official, told
AFP. "No one can lead Lebanon on his own and without consensus," he said.
Mussawi added that Hezbollah, which is considered a terrorist organisation by
Washington, felt confident of reversing the slim majority which its rivals
currently hold in parliament. The international community has made it clear that
it would closely watch the parliamentary elections next year that could well see
Hezbollah and its allies grab the majority. Such a scenario would deal a major
blow to the current Western-backed ruling parties in parliament which rode to
power in 2005 amid a wave of anti-Syrian sentiment following the assassination
of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri. Damascus has denied any role in the killing.
Hezbollah, which is backed by Syria and Iran, has veto power over major
decisions in the current national unity government formed in July following a
political crisis that brought Lebanon to the brink of civil war. The crisis was
defused following a Qatari-brokered deal in May that led to army commander
Michel Sleiman being elected president, the formation of a national unity
government and a new electoral law being drawn up. (AFP) Beirut, 04 Dec 08,
14:37
Suleiman Wants Arabs to Deal with Lebanon's President
Naharnet/President Michel Suleiman urged Arab states to deal with Lebanon
through its head of state who is "in charge of relations with other
states."Suleiman made the rather striking remark in an address to Arab
ambassadors accredited to Berlin. After emphasizing on Lebanon's good relations
with all Arab states, Suleiman told the Arab ambassadors: "We have groups and
parties that have links to and relations with this state or that. This is a
source of wealth. "These friendships should be invested in the interest of
entente and in the interest of Lebanon." "We want the (Arab) states to
deal with the state of Lebanon, specifically with the head of state, who is in
charge of relations with other states," Suleiman stressed. His remark coincided
with a visit to Syria by Change and Reform Bloc leader Michel Aoun who was
received by President Bashar Assad at his People's Palace. "This does not mean
at all that states should not deal with friends, be they individuals or groups,
but there is a level for dealing with the head of state and (another) level for
dealing with others," Suleiman noted. He said Lebanon's relations with Syria
have "been placed on the proper track … it is based on frankness between
President Bashar Assad and myself." Beirut and Damascus would exchange
diplomatic missions and ambassadors before end of the year, Suleiman reiterated.
"This would be followed by steps topped by exchanging information on terror," he
concluded.
Beirut, 04 Dec 08, 10:07
Blast Targets Cab in Zahle
An explosion targeted a taxi owned by Joseph Najjar in the eastern city of Zahle
before midnight Wednesday, causing material damage.The vehicle, a Dodge, was
parked near Najjar's home when the blast went off from underneath the car. The
explosion caused damage to the car and some parts of the house.
Beirut, 04 Dec 08, 05:41
92 Nations, Including Lebanon,
Sign Treaty Banning Cluster Bombs
Some 100 nations, including Lebanon, put their names Wednesday to a landmark
treaty banning cluster bombs, amid calls for major arms producers such as China,
Russia and the United States to join them. Norway, which began the drive to ban
cluster bombs 18 months ago, was the first to sign the Convention on Cluster
Munitions (CCM), followed by Laos and Lebanon, both hard-hit by the weapons.
Britain, formerly a major stockpiler of cluster munitions, also signed the
treaty.
"This is a historic day when a majority of states are committing to ban cluster
munitions, making a new international norm that will make a considerable
difference for thousands and thousands of people all over the world," Norwegian
Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said after signing the treaty in Oslo.
The anti-cluster bomb campaign gathered momentum after Israel's monthlong war
against Hizbullah in 2006, when it scattered up to 4 million bomblets across
Lebanon, according to U.N. figures. "In southern Lebanon, for more than two
years, children and the elderly have been victimized (by cluster munitions),"
Lebanese Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh said. Norway called a conference to ban
cluster bombs in February 2007. In May, more than 100 countries agreed in
Ireland to ban cluster bombs within eight years.
Dropped from warplanes or fired from artillery guns, cluster bombs explode in
mid-air to randomly scatter hundreds of bomblets, which can be just eight
centimeters big. Many bomblets fail to explode, littering war zones with de
facto landmines that can kill and maim long after a conflict ends.
Worldwide, about 100,000 people have been killed or maimed by cluster bombs
since 1965, 98 percent of them civilians, according to campaign group Handicap
International. More than a quarter of the victims are children who mistake the
bomblets for toys or tin cans.
Stoere said 92 countries signed the treaty on Wednesday. Organizers hoped more
than 100 of the 125 countries represented would have signed by the end of the
conference on Thursday. Thomas Nash, coordinator of The Cluster Bomb Coalition,
noted that 18 of 26 NATO countries are signing it, including Britain.
"We hope to see more states signing in the coming weeks, the coming months, the
coming years," Stoere said, lamenting that the world's biggest producers and
users of cluster bombs have refused to sign the ban. "Of course, (the treaty)
would have been a stronger instrument if we had the U.S., Russia, China, Israel,
Pakistan and India onboard. No doubt about it," he said.
"We have to put friendly pressure on them to sign," French Foreign Minister
Bernard Kouchner told reporters, adding "I have no doubt they will do it
someday."
Despite the absence of key countries, opponents of cluster bombs say the treaty
-- also known as the Oslo Convention -- should help stigmatize the use of such
weapons even by non-signatory countries."The treaty places moral obligations on
all states not to use cluster munitions," Norwegian Prime Minister Jens
Stoltenberg said.In a surprise turnaround, Afghanistan said Wednesday it would
sign the Oslo Convention after it had been seen as bowing to U.S. pressure to
refrain.
Before it can go into effect, the treaty must be ratified by the parliaments of
at least 30 countries.(AFP-AP-Naharnet) (AP photo shows Norwegian PM Jens
Stoltenberg speaking in Oslo City Hall) Beirut, 04 Dec 08, 06:32
Maronite Bishops Warn Against the Spread of Chaos
Naharnet/Maronite bishops on Wednesday warned that targeting the elections
process leads to chaos. The bishops, in a statement released after their monthly
meeting presided over by Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir, criticized "voices … that
say the persisting political situation does not encourage the holding of
parliamentary elections on schedule." It said the general situation reflects "a
split in opinions that could have a negative impact on daily life." The bishops,
who met at the seat of the Maronite Church in Bkirki, also urged politicians to
unify their stands to facilitate the nation's renaissance. Beirut, 03 Dec 08,
12:07
3 Men Charged with Threatening to Kill Harqous
Naharnet/Detainees Adonis Assaad Nasser, Mohammed Ali Awdeh and Ali Rida Hassan
were charged Wednesday with threatening to kill Future TV reporter Omar Harqous.
Court of Appeals Judge Joseph Maamari also charged the three detainees with
beating Harqous, causing bodily harm to the television reporter and leaving him
unable to work for 10 days. Harqous was admitted to the American University
Hospital for treatment from fractures and bruises suffered during an attack by a
group of Syrian Social National Party members as he was covering an event in
Beirut's Hamra Street last Thursday. Future TV said Harqous was attacked by more
than 15 SSNP members. The SSNP said only one person was involved in the quarrel
and he had turned himself in to security forces.
Beirut, 03 Dec 08, 17:38
March 14: Bellemare Final Report Victory for Principal of
Justice
Naharnet/The ruling March 14 Forces said Wednesday that the final report by the
U.N. commission investigating former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's assassination
is "a victory for the principle of justice."The coalition asked that the report
be labeled a "victory for the principle of justice which without it there will
be no resurrection of the state of law."March 14's comments came in a statement
following an extraordinary meeting of the coalition's general secretariat on
Wednesday to assess the 11th report by the head of the U.N. commission, Daniel
Bellemare, to the Security Council. Beirut, 03 Dec 08, 16:34
Israel Preparing Options for
Strike at Iran Without U.S. Assent, Report
Naharnet/The Israeli army is drawing up options for a strike on Iranian nuclear
facilities that do not include coordination with the United States, The
Jerusalem Post reported on Thursday. While its preference is to coordinate with
the U.S. defense officials have said Israel is preparing a wide range of options
for such an operation.
"It is always better to coordinate," one top Defense Ministry official explained
last week. "But we are also preparing options that do not include coordination."
Israeli officials have said it would be difficult, but not impossible, to launch
a strike against Iran without receiving codes from the US Air Force, which
controls Iraqi airspace. Israel also asked for the codes in 1991 during the
First Gulf War, but the U.S. refused.
"There are a wide range of risks one takes when embarking on such an operation,"
a top Israeli official said.
Several news reports have claimed recently that U.S. President George W. Bush
has refused to give Israel a green light for an attack on Iranian facilities.
One such report, published in September in Britain's Guardian newspaper, claimed
that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert requested a green light to attack Iran in May
but was refused by Bush.
In September, a Defense News article on an early warning radar system the U.S.
recently sent to Israel quoted a U.S. government source who said the X-band
deployment and other bilateral alliance-bolstering activities send parallel
messages: "First, we want to put Iran on notice that we're bolstering our
capabilities throughout the region, and especially in Israel. But just as
important, we're telling the Israelis, 'Calm down, behave. We're doing all we
can to stand by your side and strengthen defenses, because at this time, we
don't want you rushing into the military option.'"
The "U.S. European Command (EUCOM) has deployed to Israel a high-powered X-band
radar and the supporting people and equipment needed for coordinated defense
against Iranian missile attack, marking the first permanent U.S. military
presence on Israeli soil," Defense News wrote. The radar will shave several
precious minutes off Israel's reaction time to an Iranian missile launch.
In a related article at about the same time, TIME magazine raised the
possibility that through the deployment of the radar, America wants to keep an
eye on Israeli airspace, so that the US is not surprised if and when the Israeli
Air Force is sent to bomb Iran, a scenario Washington wants to avoid.
The U.S. army sent 120 EUCOM personnel to Israel's Nevatim Air Base southeast of
Beersheba to man the new radar.
Last week, Iran's nuclear chief Gholam Reza Aghazadeh revealed that the country
was operating more than 5,000 centrifuges at its uranium enrichment plant in
Natanz and would continue to install centrifuges and enrich uranium to produce
nuclear fuel for the country's future nuclear power plants.
"At this point, more than 5,000 centrifuges are operating in Natanz," said
Aghazadeh, who is also the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. This
represents a significant increase from the 4,000 Iran had said were up and
running in August at the plant.
The Islamic republic has said it plans to move toward large-scale uranium
enrichment that will ultimately involve 54,000 centrifuges.
Israeli officials said last week that the drop in oil prices and the continued
sanctions on Iran were having an effect, although they had yet to stop Teheran's
nuclear program. The officials said that while Iran was making technological
advancements, it would not have the necessary amount of highly enriched uranium
for a nuclear bomb until late 2009.
"There is still time and there is no need to rush into an operation right now,"
another Israeli official said. "The regime there is already falling apart and
will likely no longer be in power 10 years from now."
The Israeli Air Force was preparing for a wide range of options, OC Air Force
Maj.-Gen. Ido Nehushtan recently said, adding that all it would take to launch
an operation was a decision by the political echelon.
"The air force is a very robust and flexible force," he told Der Spiegel. "We
are ready to do whatever is demanded of us."
On Monday, Teheran dismissed the possibility of an Israeli strike, saying it
didn't take Israel seriously.
"We think that regional and international developments and the complicated
situation faced by Israel itself will not allow it to launch military strikes
against other countries," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi
told reporters in Teheran, according to the Press TV Web site. "Israel makes
threats to promote its psychological and media warfare," he said. Beirut, 04 Dec
08, 09:23
Jimmy Carter Hopes New Book on Mideast Won't be
Controversial
Naharnet/Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter has written a new book on the Middle
East with a title he hopes will not be as controversial as the last one, which
was called, "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid." Carter said that "We Can Bring
Peace to the Holy Land" will be published in January, just after the
inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama."I was going to call it, 'Yes, We
Can.' My wife talked me out of it," Carter joked toward the end of a panel
discussion on human rights at The Carter Center. He offered no further details
on the new text, to be published by Simon & Schuster.
As president, Carter brokered peace between Israel and Egypt. But Jewish groups
and some fellow Democrats strongly objected to his book published two years ago
because it compared Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories with former
racial oppression in South Africa. During the panel discussion at the conclusion
of a two-day forum of international human rights activists, Carter said the
"persecution of Palestinians" and lack of U.S. commitment to resolve the
Arab-Israeli conflict remains one of the most volatile issues in the Muslim
world.
He said when he took office in 1977, there had been four wars and Arab oil
embargoes, and he saw a need to begin tackling Middle East peace in the first
year of his administration. Those efforts led to the 1979 Camp David Accords.
"We've had very few efforts since then to bring about a comprehensive peace,"
Carter said.
Carter, 84, has been a prolific author since leaving the White House, in 1981.
His many best sellers include "An Hour Before Daylight" and "Our Endangered
Values."
Carter is expected to visit Beirut on December 9.(AP-Naharnet) Beirut, 04 Dec
08, 07:31
Aoun Lectures in Damascus About U.N. Support for Israel and Financial backing
for Terror
Naharnet/Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun, lecturing at Damascus
University on Thursday, said the United Nations that had partitioned Palestine
covers up "Israel's harm" committed against the Palestinian People. "The United
Nations that had never succeeded in condemning Israel due to the veto power … we
see it in oil fields, with or without an international resolution … and some
(powers) are exerting pressures to abrogate the right to return," Aoun said in
reference to the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their original
homeland in pre-Israel Palestine. He also accused "major powers of playing a
role in preventing the return to normal relations between Lebanon and Syria."
Aoun did not identify such powers by name. Aoun defended his document of
understanding with Hizbullah saying it "reflected on our community, enabled us
to maintain our national unity and helped the resistance achieve victory in the
most ferocious war staged by Israel against Lebanon."
The understanding with Hizbullah "empowered us against external threats … and
despite all obstacles we achieved national harmony around the resistance, its
principles and targets." Aoun praised the "miracles achieved by resistance
fighters" against Israel in the 2006 summer war between Hizbullah and the Jewish
state which killed 1,260 civilians in Lebanon and demolished the nation's
infrastructure. He said "terror groups in north Lebanon have a specific ideology
that no one is ignorant about its source and has financial resources that also
no one is ignorant about their source." Beirut, 04 Dec 08, 14:36
Syrian Backed Palestinian Factions: We have no State to Open an Embassy in
Lebanon
Naharnet/A coalition of Palestinian forces supported by Syria in Lebanon viewed
the initial approval by the Lebanese cabinet to change the Palestine Liberation
Organization (PLO) bureau to an embassy of Palestine "a dangerous resolution in
content, even if some consider it to be a formality," adding that the
Palestinian people do not have a state yet saying:" priority is in giving
(Palestinians) their rights in Lebanon first." In a published statement the
Palestinian coalition of factions said: " the people of Palestine do not have a
state yet, if some are to accept an illusion, then this won't be limited to a
purely Palestinian concern. Those that adopt this position cannot be considered
an authority by (Palestinian) refugees." The statement explained that priorities
of Palestinians in Lebanon begin by granting them their civil, social and legal
rights, to also settle all concerns via an open Lebanese-Palestinian dialogue
that will work on defining relations. It pointed that only a "united Palestinian
authority is the only surety for the dialogue," Palestinian factions statement
said. The Syrian backed coalition of Palestinian factions in Lebanon includes
forces on the ground that includes: Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Palestinian Front for
the Liberation of Palestine- General Command (PFLP-GC) and al-Saeqqa. Beirut, 04
Dec 08, 13:55
Damascus Wants to Place its Embassy in a Christian Quarter
Naharnet/Syria intends to open its embassy in Lebanon at the Christian quarter
of the capital Beirut prior to year's end.
"What is delaying the purchase of a (Syrian) embassy headquarter in Lebanon is
that Syria wants it to be besed at the eastern quarters of Beirut, or in other
words at the Christian neighborhood," The daily Pan Arab al-Hayat reported
Thursday, quoting a French source. The source added that finding this location
remains difficult.
The pan-Arab daily went on to add that France continues to closely monitor the
choice of ambassadors to both countries prior to year's end. It illustrated that
events in Lebanon have improved, but remain to be somehow fragile amidst terror
attacks in northern Lebanon, Tripoli and even Damascus. The French source said
to al-Hayat that ramifications of the French-Syrian dialogue on Lebanon does in
no way prevent French-Saudi relations from being "very warm and intimate " when
it relates to Middle East issues Beirut, 04 Dec 08, 10:44
Lebanon's future depends on regional situation - Merkel
Thursday, December 04, 2008
BEIRUT: German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday that the situation in
Lebanon depended on the resolution of political problems in the Middle East.
After meeting with President Michel Sleiman in Berlin, Merkel said: "Saying that
Lebanon will witness a good future depends on resolving the pending problems in
the Middle East.""Lebanon is going through a difficult situation and these problems affect the
people's everyday life," she added, noting that Germany was deploying all
efforts to "push the peace process forward."Merkel said that she hoped the new US administration would "preserve what has
been achieved so far."
She added that there were new faces who "are aware of the importance of this
process for the region as a whole, for the relations with Iran and for stability
in Iraq and Afghanistan."The German chancellor said her country encouraged peace talks between Syria and
Israel and cooperation on the issue of the occupied Shebaa Farms.
She also welcomed the normalization of relations between Lebanon and Syria,
saying: "We have welcomed President Sleiman, who worked on improving the
relations with Syria, as an agreement was reached to establish diplomatic
relations, which will manifest in the opening of embassies between the two
countries."
Asked about Germany's efforts to strengthen the borders between Lebanon and
Syria, Merkel said: "Germany had a leading project in this field, which is under
implementation. An evaluation of the project was conducted in the summer, and we
will strengthen all the Lebanese borders with Syria."
Sleiman, for his part, said Merkel had stressed her country's support for
Lebanon's unity, independence, sovereignty and stability, as well as the
country's state institutions, national dialogue and reconciliation.
He added that Germany offered to assist Lebanon with parliamentary elections
next year.
"We also stressed the need to speed up the implementation of the Security
Council resolutions, in particular Resolution 1701, and work together to fight
terrorism," Sleiman added.
"More efforts must be made by the international community and the European Union
to reach a fair and comprehensive solution for the crisis in the Middle East,
based on international resolutions, the Madrid Conference and the Arab
Initiative, which rejected all forms of naturalization," Sleiman siad.
Sleiman also reiterated that the exchange of embassies between Lebanon and Syria
would occur before the end of this year.
Sleiman began Wednesday a two-day official visit to Germany, where he met with
his German counterpart, President Horst Koehler. During the meeting, Sleiman
thanked Germany for its support of Lebanon and highlighted the "strong ties"
between the two countries.
Sleiman also said Lebanon could benefit from German experience in the economic,
development and cultural fields.
Koehler, for his part, stressed that his country was ready to support Lebanon
"in all that it asks for," describing bilateral relations as "excellent."
Sleiman is accompanied by an official delegation that includes ministers Bahia
Hariri, Elias Murr and Mario Aoun.
In a separate development on Wednesday, parliamentary majority leader Saad
Hariri said Lebanon's parliamentary elections would take place as scheduled in
May or June of 2009, even if he himself was "one of the victims."
In an interview with the Tunisian daily Al-Shourouq (Sunrise) published on
Wednesday, Hariri also rejected recent allegations that the Future Movement has
provided funding to the militant Islamist group Fatah al-Islam. Syrian state
television last month aired video "confessions" of detained Fatah al-Islam
suspects who made the allegations.
"It is unfortunate that this should happen when we [Lebanon and Syria] are on
the verge of diplomatic relations," Hariri said, highlighting the need for the
two states to forge ties on the basis of equality and mutual respect.
Hariri also warned against expecting immediate results from the national
dialogue sessions.
"National dialogue will be long-term, and I expect it to be calm and
constructive because it gathers Lebanese brothers to identify a strategic
defensive position for Lebanon," he said. "I can say that there is still no
progress in this regard."
Hariri also downplayed the rift between his Future movement and Hizbullah,
saying that the two parties had agreed to resolve points of controversy within
the framework of constitutional institutions. "Talks on the problems of
Hizbullah's weapons have made no progress so far," he added.
Also Wednesday, the March 14 Forces welcomed UN investigator Daniel Bellemare's
latest report on the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri as a
"victory for the principle of justice."
In a statement issued following an exceptional meeting, they said: "Without
justice, the state of law cannot be built."Bellemare, the Canadian prosecutor heading the International Investigation
Commission, delivered his latest report to the Security Council on Tuesday. The
report said the panel had identified new information that showed that more
people were potentially involved with the assassination. - With agencies
Aoun declares 'new page' in relations with Damascus
Previous enmity 'is an old story that is now over'
Compiled by Daily Star staff
Thursday, December 04, 2008
Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) leader Michel Aoun on Wednesday predicted a
"bright future" for ties between Lebanon and his former foe Syria after talks in
Damascus with Syrian President Bashar Assad. "We are turning a new page where
there is no victor and no loser. This is a return to normal relations," Aoun
told a news conference on the first day of a visit to the Syrian capital.
"Our discussions hold the promise of a bright future" for the two countries, he
said of his meeting with Assad, voicing confidence that any problems between
Damascus and Beirut would be resolved.
In one of the closing rounds of the 1975-1990 Civil War in Lebanon, Aoun as the
head of a disputed Christian government, waged a fierce "war of liberation"
against Syrian forces deployed in the country.
Forced out of the Presidential Palace in October 1990, he went into exile in
France and only returned to Lebanon in May 2005, a month after the end of
Syria's 29-year military presence."This is an old story that is now over. We must have better relations with
Syria," the FPM leader stressed.
He added: "I am a military man and I do not have hatred for any party with whom
I fight. The reason is that wars always end in negotiations and agreements."
"Today, we are opening a new page in history," he stated.On the Syrian side, Assad political adviser Buthaina Shaaban said that Aoun's
visit represents "a new era between Syria and Lebanon that will serve the
interests of the two countries and the two peoples."
Aoun also told reporters he hoped for a rapid solution to the issue of Lebanese
"missing" in Syria, whom support groups in Beirut number at 650 but whom
Damascus denies holding.Asked about the priorities to restore the Lebanese-Syrian relations, Aoun said:
"We have exchanged viewpoints and showed good will, but there were no demands by
any of the two parties and we did not set a schedule for priorities."
On the political front, he said Syria was "supportive of the holding of
legislative elections [due to be held in Lebanon in the spring] but without
interfering" in the process.
"Syria does not interfere in the elections; it does not send electoral money,"
he said, hinting at claims that Saudi Arabia was financing the March 14 Forces'
electoral campaign.
Shrugging off criticism of his visit from March 14, the anti-Syrian camp which
holds the parliamentary majority in Lebanon, Aoun said his mission was justified
now that diplomatic ties have been established between Damascus and Beirut.
During his meeting with Assad, Aoun discussed the "positive developments in the
Lebanese-Syrian relations" and the situation in Lebanon and the region, he said.
A report by Lebanon's National News Agency said that both leaders agreed to
establish future relations that "serve both countries' interests and that are
based on mutual respect of their sovereignty and independence."Aoun's critics accuse the former Lebanese Armed Forces chief of being a turncoat
and of kowtowing to his former adversaries for political gain.Aoun, 73, stunned Lebanon in 2006 when he entered an alliance with the Iranian-
and Syrian-backed Hizbullah.
He also caused a stir by visiting Iran in October.
The retired general is due to visit Christian holy sites during his visit to
Syria, which will last several days.
Syria and Lebanon launched diplomatic ties for the first time in October after
years of tense relations following the murder in February 2005 of former premier
Rafik Hariri. Damascus was widely blamed for the killing but denies involvement.
In a related development, Lebanese Forces (LF) leader Samir Geagea reiterated on
Wednesday that he disapproved of Aoun's visit to Syria.
Commenting on Aoun's statement that Syria would not interfere in the elections,
Geagea said: "It is true that Syria does not send money; in fact, it sends
weapons and militants and Iran takes care of the money."In remarks delivered from his residence in Maarab, the LF boss added: "We all
know that the Syrians receive regular visits from Lebanese politicians who are
seeking Syria's support in the upcoming parliamentary elections."
Geagea, a member of the March 14 Forces, added that "the Lebanese did not ask
Aoun to purify souls between Lebanon and Syria."
"This is a task that only the Lebanese president is entitled to do," he said.
In other remarks about Aoun's visit, LF MP Antoine Zahra said on Wednesday that
Aoun had "rushed" his trip to Syria, especially in view of the fact that several
sensitive issues between the two countries remain unresolved.
In an interview with Voice of Lebanon radio station, he said: "I think that the
visit was rushed after the painful history of the Lebanese-Syrian relations."
"Opening a new page falls within the competence of constitutional authorities
and not political parties," he added.
Also on Wednesday, the head of the National Liberal Party, Dory Chamoun, said
that Aoun had visited Syria to seek its support in the upcoming parliamentary
elections.However, Youth and Sports Minister Talal Arslan praised Aoun's trip to Syria,
describing it as a "historic visit."
"Late Pope John Paul II would have been very happy to see Aoun visiting Syria
and see how the Christians are engaging in a strategy of peace and openness," he
said. - Agencies
Aoun's trip to Syria seen as bid to corner more votes in Lebanon
Analysts say visit could backfire in polls scheduled for next year
By Michael Bluhm /Daily Star staff
Thursday, December 04, 2008
Analysis
BEIRUT: Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun traveled to Syria on
Wednesday in a bid to position himself as supreme leader of Lebanon's Christians
ahead of next year's pivotal elections, but questions remain whether his sojourn
will win him any more votes or followers, a number of analysts told The Daily
Star.
"He is putting himself as the sole speaker of the Christian community in
Lebanon," said retired General Elias Hanna, who teaches political science at
Notre Dame University.
"He is putting himself above all parties in Lebanon, including the presidency."
Aoun will spend several days in Syria, against which he declared a war of
liberation when he headed the Lebanese Armed Forces in 1989. Aoun fled to France
after losing that conflict in 1990, but he returned in 2005 and since 2006 has
aligned himself with Syria's allies in Lebanon, in particular with Hizbullah.
The reception being accorded to Aoun in Syria signals that, despite the history
of violence between the former general and Damascus, Aoun is cementing his
status as Syria's most important Christian partner in Lebanon, said Oussama Safa,
executive director of the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies.
"It's out in the open now that he is Damascus' Christian ally in Lebanon," Safa
said. The Syrians are cooperating in creating the impression that Aoun carries
more weight among the Christian community than Lebanese President Michel Sleiman,
Safa added. "This is really the main message."
Aoun is also using the visit to promote an image as chieftain of all Christians
in the Middle East, with his tour including several Christian sites and
gatherings with the Syrian faithful, said Paul Salem, director of the Carnegie
Middle East Center.
"The part has not been played before, really, in this way," Salem said, adding
that Aoun, however, was only one of a series of Lebanese Maronites to trek to
Damascus recently and has been working with Syria's Lebanese allies for almost
three years. One mustn't exaggerate the importance of this visit."
Aoun is traveling to Syria with his sights squarely trained on the general
elections slated for May 2009, which most expect to be tight and bitterly
contested, Hanna said. Aoun might well be asking Syrian President Bashar Assad
to help smooth over tensions with the Amal movement, Aoun's partner in the March
8 coalition, over how to divvy up districts such as Jezzine and
Marjayoun-Hasbaya which are mixed between Christians and AMAL's mostly Shiite
backers, Hanna added.
"He is playing it regionally for local politics," Hanna said.
Indeed, the sight of Assad and Aoun smiling together might score votes for the
former general outside his traditional Christian base, Salem said. "Strong
Syrian support in any election might be important for him and his party, who are
running in many districts," Salem said, adding that it was still unclear which
of Lebanon's rival factions held the upper hand.
In any case, the visit tightens the bonds between Aoun and his allies in the
Syrian-backed March 8 camp, who seem more skilled than their opponents in the
March 14 alliance in matters of planning and execution, Safa said. For the March
14 Forces, seeing their archenemy Damascus find a close ally in a popular
Christian leader represents a "very worrisome development," he added.
But other analysts questioned whether Aoun's Syrian gambit might cost him the
support of some Christian voters, who have long viewed Syrian interests in
Lebanon with skepticism.
With Lebanon's Sunni and Shiite communities split almost uniformly along the
political divide, the country's Christians will probably tip the balance in the
2009 polls, and Aoun might well be misjudging the strength of their antipathy
toward Damascus, Hanna said. The contours of the Christian community have
changed, not only since Aoun led his war of liberation against Syria, but also
since May 2005, when Aoun notched resounding victories in Christian-majority
regions, added Hanna,
"He is a stubborn guy," said Hanna, who fought with Aoun against Syria. "He is
narrow-minded. He miscalculated his war of liberation. When all the world wanted
Syria to stay in Lebanon, he declared a war of liberation. So now, when
everybody wants Syria to stay out of Lebanon, I hope that this choice of policy
will not hurt Lebanon and the Christians."
Hilal Khashan, chair of the department of political science and public
administration at the American University of Beirut, said he had seen polls
showing that Aoun's support in the Kesrouan region had plummeted to about 30
percent from 70 percent in 2005. Aoun's political strategy has been to mine the
frustration felt by Christians over the loss of some of their political
privileges in the 1989 Taif Accord, but he has made poor tactical choices, such
as siding with Syria and directing criticism toward the country's Sunnis,
Khashan added.
"Damascus is not the place to groom a Lebanese Christian leader," Khashan said.
"Aoun will not sweep in Kesrouan in the way he did in 2005. The mood in the
Christian street has changed a lot since then. This man has trouble with his own
constituency in Kesrouan. He will not have the same number of deputies to send
to the Parliament."
Throwing in his lot with Syria and fashioning grandiose designs as a Christian
master mirror the flaws that could cost Aoun in the polls: expedience in
choosing partners and outsize ambition, Khashan added.
"Michel Aoun has been eager to ally himself with anybody if this would allow him
to make any gains," Khashan said. "He is a maverick politician who doesn't
understand the intricacies of the Lebanese political system. The Lebanese system
is based on balances, very delicate balances. Aoun can never be part of a
balance. Wherever he operates, he wants to predominate."
Syria, meanwhile, also has much to gain from deepening its ties with Aoun, the
analysts said. Damascus has begun to break free of its international isolation
partly by agreeing to formal diplomatic ties with Beirut, at the same time it
has regained some of the sway that it lost here after Syrian troops departed
Lebanon in 2005 in the wake of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's
assassination, Safa said.
Although Syria has always denied involvement in the killing, the looming UN
tribunal to try suspects in the case might put pressure again on Damascus to
curb its interests in Lebanon, so having firm relationships with domestic
leaders such as Aoun would help Syria blunt any fallout from the tribunal,
Khashan said.
In addition, the mere fact that a former foe such as Aoun has come calling on
Assad also means a "feather in his cap" for the Syrian president, Salem said.
And when the past Syrian enemy remains a powerful figure in Lebanon, Syria
should not miss the chance to count Aoun as a friend, Safa said.
"It's a golden opportunity for them to grab a major Christian ally," he said.
"It comes at a time when Syria is really building its regained influence in
Lebanon. They need friends. It's an opportunity they shouldn't miss."
Layla Karam passes away
By Agence France Presse (AFP)
Thursday, December 04, 2008BEIRUT: Veteran Lebanese actress Layla Karam died at a hospital north of Beirut
late Tuesday following a lengthy illness. She starred in several Lebanese series
and Lebanese and Egyptian movies in the 1970s and 1980s. - AFP
SSNP members charged in assault on reporter
Daily Star staff/Thursday, December 04, 2008
BEIRUT: Prosecutor Joseph Maamari filed charges Wednesday against three members
of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party for assaulting journalist Omar Harkous in
the Beirut area of Hamra last week, security sources said. Harkous, a member of
the March 14-aligned Democratic Left movement, works for Al-Mustaqbal newspaper
and Future News television, also tied to March 14. Harkous was attacked by SSNP
members, whose party is part of the rival March 8 camp, while covering attempts
by municipal workers to take down political paraphernalia belnoging to the party
in Hamra. He was taken to the American University of Beirut Medical Center,
where he reportedly received treatment for six days. Maamari issued arrests
warrants for three SSNP members - Adonis Nasr, Mohammad Ali Awde, and Ali Rida
Hassan - who are accused of assaulting Harkous and threatening to kill him. -
The Daily Star
Michel Aoun's minority package tour
By Michael Young
Daily Star staff
Thursday, December 04, 2008
You have to hand it to Michel Aoun, he never goes half-way. Here was everyone
else staying in Syria for a few hours, two days at the most, and here is Aoun
opting for the full four-night, five-day holiday package tour, including visits
to religious sites, open buffets, Damascus by night, and an audience with the
dictator, all for the low price of his mortal soul.
There will be much dispute over Aoun's choices as he "reconciles" with his old
Syrian enemy - his partisans applauding the general, his adversaries finding
fault. But a more obvious question is what does Aoun gain from this trip that he
didn't have before embarking on the road to Damascus? And what does he lose? -
assuming that many Lebanese, perhaps most, still believe that Syria was behind
the killing of the former prime minister, Rafik Hariri, as well as of dozens of
others beginning in 2005.
To the first question, the easy explanation, an electoral one, is unconvincing
on its own. If Aoun's gambit is that he has to become friendly with Syria to be
assured that his candidates will be given more room on electoral lists in
predominantly Shiite constituencies, as well as Jezzine, then he has already
forfeited enough politically to achieve that. Rather, the general's deeper
ambition (if "depth" can in any way reasonably be applied here) is to become the
primary mediator between the Christians and Syria's regime. Aoun's immediate aim
is to displace President Michel Sleiman from that role, but more generally to
breathe life into a contentious notion associated with his principal Maronite
political ally, Suleiman Franjieh, but also with Aoun's own son-in-law, Gebran
Bassil: namely that Christians, in order to protect their community, have a
long-term advantage in entering into a strategic regional alliance of minorities
with the Shiites and Syria's ruling Alawites.
If there are any doubts about this, the symbolism of Aoun's visit is there to
dispel them. The point of the general's planed excursions to Christian shrines
in Damascus is to show that Christians thrive under Bashar Assad.
To the second question - what does Aoun have to lose by so flamboyantly settling
his differences with a regime accused of systematic murder in the past three
years? - the answer is: quite a lot. Through this gesture, the general has taken
his followers farther than ever in their divorce from the Lebanese sectarian
consensus. Aoun has repeatedly sold his alliance with Hizbullah as a successful
effort to preserve that consensus following the 2005 Independence Intifada. That
would only be true had Aoun remained a bridge between Sunnis and Shiites.
Instead he took sides, and is now thumbing his nose at the Sunni community once
more by effectively absolving the Syrian regime of guilt in the Hariri murder;
or worse, making it plain that he cares little about that guilt.
But it's the Christians who will ultimately have the most forceful say on Aoun's
Damascus trip. And whichever way you cut it, most Christians do not share the
general's views on an alliance of minorities, nor are they particularly eager to
embrace the Assad regime, preferring a colder relationship of mutual respect.
Aoun is under the impression that he can continue to manipulate Christian
misgivings about the Sunnis to his advantage. However, those misgivings only
have meaning in the context of domestic Lebanese affairs. Once the Christians
see the general wanting to take the community into a regional confrontation with
the Sunni Arab world, once they realize that Aoun's method for doing so is a
partnership with a deeply mistrusted Syrian leadership and with Iran, their
reaction will likely be one of suspicion, if only from a perspective of
self-interest.
Self-interest counts for a lot, but there is also the matter of principle. It
sends a very different message when Lebanese officials, mandated by the
government, meet with their Syrian counterparts, and when a parliamentarian like
Michel Aoun does so. That's not to say that Aoun had no right to visit Damascus,
only that by doing so outside the confines of formal state-to-state relations -
the desirable framework for ties between Lebanon and Syria - he injects a form
of unilateralism into his act that demonstrates he will ignore Syrian behavior
in Lebanon, regardless of how it violates Lebanese sovereignty and United
Nations resolutions. That's why Aoun's defending his visit as representing a new
page in Syrian-Lebanese relations is so manifestly vain. Aoun claims to be
representing all of Lebanon when he only truly represents himself.
Why should that matter? Because it would have been useful, just this once, for
the Lebanese to be united around their victims. Aoun's political career since
his return to Lebanon has centered on a perpetual struggle against the legacy of
Rafik Hariri, whom the general never forgave for having, in death, served as a
mobilizing force against the Syrian presence. By transforming his stay in Syria
into a grand tour, part political summit, part pilgrimage, by offering so large
a dispensation to Bashar Assad and demanding nothing in exchange (except for
what Assad will toss him by way of making the trip more palatable in Lebanon),
Aoun has betrayed the memory of even those who sided with him in his darker
moments: the soldiers who died for him on October 13, 1990, after Aoun had fled
to the French Embassy and refused to issue them with an order to surrender;
Gebran Tueni, who had his differences with the general, but always defended
Aoun's partisans when they were arrested and mistreated by the Lebanese security
services; Samir Kassir, who had engaged Aounist students at St. Joseph
University and encouraged them in their fight against Syrian hegemony; Antoine
Ghanem and Pierre Gemayel, who had, like Aoun, endured years of marginalization
at Syrian hands.
Egoism is sometimes a quality of great men. Aoun would agree after placing
himself at the same altitude as Charles de Gaulle reconciling France with Konrad
Adenauer's West Germany. But his is an egoism without a trace of greatness,
without vision or a center of gravity. Aoun took the package tour of Syria, the
one the budget tourists choose. He won't come away from the experience with his
reputation enhanced.
**Michael Young is opinion editor of THE DAILY STAR.
Pakistan and India have a clear duty to settle their differences
By The Daily Star
Thursday, December 04, 2008
Editorial
The latest row between India and Pakistan demonstrates the necessity of
sustained efforts by both countries to heal their decades-old rift. The
particular circumstances surrounding the source of their renewed animosity, the
bloody assaults on civilians in the Indian metropolis of Mumbai, are not
especially relevant, and neither are hopes that US President-elect Barack Obama
will ride to the rescue after his inauguration next month. The overriding fact
is that two nations equipped with nuclear weapons, by far humankind's deadliest
invention so far, remain perpetually on the brink of military confrontation.
Important strides have been made over the past few years to defuse relatively
minor disputes between the two South Asian rivals, to increase contacts between
their respective peoples, and to avoid an accidental nuclear war. But the really
crucial measures - striking a deal over the disputed Kashmir region, finding a
concern other than security to define bilateral relations, reducing the
likelihood of a deliberate nuclear exchange, etc. - remain virtually untouched.
Between them, Pakistan and India have a population of approximately 1.5 billion
people, but they are not alone in being at the mercy of the perennial enmity
between New Delhi and Islamabad. Their never-ending struggles serve to undermine
the stability of the entire region, including parts of China and Iran - and all
of highly vulnerable Afghanistan. This is not to mention the region-wide horrors
that could be expected to follow a nuclear war in South Asia.
Pakistan has particularly good reasons to desire a new and very different era in
its ties with India. The latter's economy has witnessed amazing progress in
terms of growth over the past decade, but the former's abysmal level of
development makes it especially incapable of bearing the burdens of continued
strategic competition. Many of the resources gobbled up by arms purchases,
maintaining massive a military force and developing nuclear warheads are badly
needed for education, healthcare and civilian uses of the atom like generating
electricity.
The Cold War is over, and the issues separating Pakistan and India have not
changed in six decades. Neither side can blame its alliances for their shared
problems, and nor can they rely on outsiders to forge a peace between them. No
longer are they fledgling, immature societies with the attendant insecurities.
They are nuclear powers with responsibilities to the rest of the world. It's
time they started acting that way.
Lebanon's Auon in a Syrian
gambit
By Sami Moubayed
DAMASCUS - When I lived in Lebanon in the 1990s, the streets of what was
once-called East Beirut were covered with graffiti saying "Aoun is coming back!"
This referred to former army commander and prime minister Michel Aoun, who was
ousted from Baabda Palace, the official residence of the president, by the
Syrian army in 1990. Last year, the same streets were filled with colorful
orange posters saying "Aoun for president". Aoun returned to Lebanon after 15
years in exile on May 7, 2005. The Syrian army had left a month before and Aoun
had marketed himself as the man who led the ejection of Syria through United
Nations Security Council Resolution 1559, which demanded an end to its
decades-long occupation of Lebanon.
He ran for parliament in 2005, won with a landslide victory, and ran for
president in 2007, but was defeated by current President Michel Suleiman in a
parliament vote in May this year. Aoun had returned to Lebanon on the offensive,
hateful of everyone and everything that kept him in exile for so long, and
promising destruction of the existing order and sweet revenge. The Beirut he
returned to in 2005 was very different from the war-torn city he had left
behind.
It did not bear the hallmarks of Rafik Hariri, the former Lebanese prime
minister assassinated in 2005, yet, all the actors of Beirut 1990 are still
there and most of them have been more than troubled by his comeback.
They were even more alarmed by the 73-year-old's groundbreaking five-day visit
to Damascus, which started on December 3. It is purportedly to signal that "the
general", as his supporters call him, has finally turned a new page with his
former enemies in Damascus.
At Beirut airport on his return on May 2005, Aoun told the masses, most of whom
were too young to remember the civil war, that Lebanon would never be governed
again by "political feudalism" and a "religious system that dates back to the
19th century". This, his first encounter with the press and well-wishers, was
less than diplomatic, when annoyed with all the commotion the ex-general barked
at those welcoming him, claiming they were noisy.
He then called for an end to the "old fashioned prototypes which represent the
old bourgeoisie which persists without any questioning", effectively a promise
to strike back at Lebanon's entire political establishment. His appearance at
Damascus Airport this week was very different, there he was seen smiling to the
TV cameras, aware of the shock waves he was sending through the pro-West March
14 Coalition which was no doubt watching from Beirut.
Aoun’s Syria trip is scheduled to include a visit to the "Street called
Straight", the Roman street that runs from east to west in the heart of old
Damascus; churches throughout the Syrian capital's Bab Touma neighborhood; and
the Grand Umayyad Mosque that was visited by Pope John Paul II in 2001.
He is also slated to speak to students at universities, and tour Christian
villages in the countryside, where a grassroots welcome is awaiting him.
Although officially only a party leader (the Free Patriotic Movement) and member
of parliament, who commands the largest Christian bloc, he was welcomed at
Damascus International Airport by Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Miqdad, and had
a high profile audience with President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday.
"We spoke with our hearts and minds ... so there remains no trace of a past in
which there are many painful things," said Aoun after meeting Assad, in
reference to his former "war of liberation" against Syria. "I left behind the
past when I came to Syria," he noted. "We want to build the future, not dwell on
the past."
Aoun added, "What was once forbidden has now become halal - very halal,"
claiming that his visit turns a new page in Syrian-Lebanese relations.
Before returning to Lebanon in 2005, Aoun had promised a "tsunami" in Lebanese
politics. His appearance in Damascus on Wednesday goes some way to achieving
that. The average age of his supporters when he returned was 20, young men and
women who were easily enchanted by the fiery speeches Auon gave from exile in
France. A generation hungry for reform and hope, they supported Aoun as an
exiled leader. They rooted for him again in 2007 when he was running for
president - a job he has coveted since 1988. But Aoun understood early on since
his return that Christian support alone is no longer enough to govern Lebanon.
The nation changed dramatically both during and after the civil war, and no
president could be voted into power if he were not supported by the Shi'ite
majority, which is loyal to Hezbollah and its leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Aoun last year made a pact with Nasrallah, pledging to support Hezbollah and its
war against Israel, and to run as running mates for the elections in 2009.
A long road for Aoun
Aoun was born in 1935 to a poor family in Haret Hraik, a Shi'ite neighborhood
that is currently a stronghold for Hezbollah. Aoun attended Catholic schools,
lived with a religious family, but declared years later that he "never
differentiated between Ali and Peter, or between Hasan and Michel".
One of the first questions fired at him by a journalist on his return to Lebanon
was whether he intended to visit his native neighborhood, which is swarming with
Shi'ite warriors today, and meet with Nasrallah. He replied affirmatively, but
this was long before he made his now famous pact with Hezbollah.
Aoun finished high school in 1955, enrolled at the Military Academy and
graduated in 1958, while a popular uprising was raging in Lebanon against
then-president Camille Chamoun. Aoun watched attentively as the Lebanese army,
which he was entering, remained loyal to its president.
When Aoun was 40, his country descended into civil war, as the Palestinian
Liberation Organization (PLO) of Yasser Arafat fought with the Muslims of
Lebanon against the Maronite forces of Pierre Gemayel, who were backed by Syria.
By the late 1970s, the Lebanese army had fractured along sectarian lines, yet
Aoun, having learned from the 1958 experience, remained loyal to the central
government. In the early 1980s, he became head of the "defense brigade" of the
Lebanese army, a unit separating East and West Beirut. In 1982, he was involved
in fighting against the Israeli army that occupied Beirut.
That same year, Aoun created the 8th Brigade, which fought the Syrian army in
the Souk al-Gharb pass overlooking Beirut. In June 1984, a reconciliation
conference was held for all warring parties in Switzerland - brokered by Hariri
- and army commander Ibrahim Tannous was fired and replaced by Aoun.
Aoun complied, but took no part in politics, giving no press interviews between
1984 and 1988. In September 1988, 15 minutes before the end of his term,
president Amin Gemayel appointed Aoun prime minister, breaching the National
Pact of 1943, which said that a prime minister had to be a Muslim Sunni, and the
president's office could be occupied exclusively by a Maronite Christian.
Lebanon's Muslim prime minister, Salim al-Hoss, who had taken over after the
assassination of prime minister Rashid Karameh, refused to step down, resulting
in two Lebanese governments. Aoun's team reigned from Baabda Palace.
When he came to power, Aoun only controlled limited areas of East Beirut. To
establish himself as a cross-confessional leader, Aoun began his war on the
Lebanese Forces (LF), a Maronite militia headed by Samir Gagegea, who is
currently his main rival in the Lebanese Christian community.
Aoun ordered 15,000 of his troops into action and wrestled the port of Beirut
from the LF. He shelled entire neighborhoods of East Beirut and infuriated the
Christians of Lebanon, who to date had kept East Beirut quiet and safe. On March
14, 1989, Aoun declared his "war of liberation" against Syria.
He even opened channels with Syria's arch enemies, such as Iraqi president
Saddam Hussein and Arafat, who described him as a "sword of nationalism" in
Lebanon. Aoun finally agreed to the ceasefire proposed by the Arab League in
September 1989, but refused to endorse the Taif Accord of Saudi Arabia of
October 1989, claiming it did not call for the withdrawal of the Syrian army
from Lebanon.
Aoun's "rebellion" ended rapidly when in August 1990, his friend Saddam invaded
Kuwait. The United States, eager to defeat the Iraqi dictator, wanted Arab
support in Operation Desert Storm.
It found no better way to achieve that than through an alliance with Syria for
the liberation of Kuwait. Syria's late president Hafez al-Assad sent his army to
the Arabian desert, and in reward the US gave him a green light to bring the
Aoun saga to an end. On the morning of October 13, 1990, the Syrian army
launched a massive operation on Baabda Palace and areas of East Beirut
controlled by Aoun. The defeated general fled to the French Embassy in Beirut
then moved to Paris, where president Francois Mitterrand gave him political
asylum.
Aoun remained in exile during the 1990s, when Hariri ruled Beirut, along with
the Syrian-backed president Elias Hrawi and Nabih Berri, the speaker of
parliament. It was these Lebanese leaders who prevented his return to Lebanon
because they feared his wrath for having obediently worked with Syria for so
long. Hariri was killed on February 14, 2005, and after Aoun’s return three
months later, he refused to attribute his comeback to the murder of Hariri, but
rather to his 14-year crusade from Paris. The new Aoun was older, wiser and
angrier than ever before. He wanted to take revenge on all who had wronged him
since 1990. There was no sense in taking revenge on the Syrians, he argued,
since they had left Lebanon. He instead focused his anger on March 14 leaders
like Prime Minister Fouad al-Siniora, and Walid Jumblatt, the current leader of
the Druze community.
He failed to become president in 2007, but the March 14 coalition said it would
never accept him - for different reasons. Muslim politicians like Hariri and
Siniora feared a strong Christian president like Aoun would overshadow their
Sunni prime minister. The same applied to Jumblatt, and Gagegea, who saw himself
- being the other Christian heavyweight - as the best candidate for the Lebanese
presidency.
To understand Aoun one must understand how faithful his supporters have been in
backing him. When he wanted to fight the Syrians, they were anti-Syrian to the
bone. When he wanted to ally himself with Hezbollah, they became strong
supporters of what the general was telling them to do. They support anything he
tells them. It's that simple. Such strict adherence to a political leader who is
not leading a confessional group and one who is switching sides so very
dramatically is rare even in a country like Lebanon.
Aoun has no states supporting him or furnishing him with money, like Saad
al-Hariri, the politician son of the assassinated premier, and Saudi Arabia, or
Hasan Nasrallah and Iran. He does not hail from a traditional political family,
like Maronite politician Suleiman Franjiyeh, Druze leader Jumblatt, or former
Sunni prime minister Omar Karameh. With no state behind him, and no political
family on his shoulders, it is remarkable that the general has survived so long
in the patron-client system of the Middle East.
He is now bracing himself for the upcoming parliamentary elections of 2009,
which he plans on tackling with Hezbollah. Aoun realizes that he cannot rule
Lebanon without them. For their part, Hezbollah leaders realize that they need
someone like Aoun to legitimize the "arms of the resistance" among Lebanese
Christians. Nasrallah is popular with Christians of south Lebanon but until Aoun
came along in 2005, there were Christians in Mount Lebanon who frowned on his
military tactics - especially after the liberation of South Lebanon in 2000 -
claiming that Lebanon was being made to pay the price for Hezbollah’s war with
Israel.
Depending on who you talk to in Lebanon, Christians are either still enchanted
with "the general" or have began to hate him, because of his alliance with
Hezbollah and his latest cozying up with Iran and Syria. Shortly before his
Damascus visit, Aoun landed in Tehran to meet with Iranian leaders - sending a
strong message to Saudi Arabia, which supports March 14. A pragmatic man, he
knows that all is fair in love and war; and all is justified in his quest to
become president of Lebanon.
Sami Moubayed is editor-in-chief of Forward Magazine in Syria.
(Copyright 2008 Asia Times Online (Holdings) Ltd. All rights reserved. Please
contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.)