LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
November 11/08

Bible Reading of the day.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 17,1-6. He said to his disciples, "Things that cause sin will inevitably occur, but woe to the person through whom they occur. It would be better for him if a millstone were put around his neck and he be thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he wrongs you seven times in one day and returns to you seven times saying, 'I am sorry,' you should forgive him." And the apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith." The Lord replied, "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to (this) mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.

Saint Cyprian (c.200-258), Bishop of Carthage and martyr
The good of patience (copyright Fathers of the Church, Inc.)"You should forgive him."
"Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things" (1Cor 13,7).By this the apostle Paul showed that love can persevere steadfastly because it has learned to endure all things. And in another place he says: "Bear with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace" (Eph 4,2-3).Neither unity nor peace can be preserved unless brothers cherish one another with mutual forbearance and preserve the bond of unity with patience as intermediary. How then will you be able to endure these things: not to swear or curse; not to seek again what has been taken away from you; on receiving a blow to offer the other cheek also to your assailant; to forgive your brother who offends you not only seventy times seven times, but all his offences without exception; to love your enemies; to pray for your adversaries and persecutors, if you do not have the steadfastness of patience and forbearance?We see what happened in the case of Stephen. When he was being killed by the violence and stones of the Jews, he did not ask for vengeance but forgiveness for his murderers, saying: "Lord, do not hold this sin against them" (Acts 7,60).

Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special Reports
Al-Qaida-Iraq's Message to the New 'Ruler of the White House, By: Dr. Walid Phares 10/11/08
Secret Order Lets U.S. Raid Al Qaeda in Many Countries.By ERIC SCHMITT and MARK MAZZETTI 10/11/08
Planning an Invasion of Lebanon?By OLIVIER GUITTA (Middle East Times) 10.11.08
Palestinian infighting is a surefire way to block Palestinian aspirations-The Daily Star 10/11/08

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for November 10/08
Syria and Lebanon agree to jointly fight terror, control borders-Monsters and Critics.com
Syria and Lebanon to boost border, anti-terror controls-AFP
Formal report drafted on Syria atom probe-Reuters
Rumsfeld's secret raids on Syria-guardian.co.uk
Quartet: Mideast peace process should continue-(AFP)
'They never hurt me:' Canadian journalist freed by Afghan captors-(AFP)
Border issues on agenda for Baroud's visit to Damascus-Daily Star
Security forces arrest Fatah al-Islam member-Daily Star
Still a minefield for U.S. presidents-Chicago Tribune
Israeli spies linked to murder of Hezbollah chief-Times Online
South Korea re-commits to UNIFIl role-Daily Star
March 14 wins polls at dentists' group-Daily Star
Israeli troops shoot worker on border- (AFP)
Weekend Grand Serail security incident under investigation-Daily Star
Fatah's security forces flex their muscles at Ain al-Hilweh- (AFP)
OPEC president refuses to rule out another cutback in output if prices stay low-(AFP)
Bank, NGO launch new micro-credit plan in Jbeil-Daily Star
Shatah says legal work for cellular sell-off should be wrapped up soon-Daily Star
Lebanon exports world's most expensive chocolate-Daily Star
The defense debate: 'Is it really about Lebanon and about us?'-Daily Star
Funds for Nahr al-Bared far from what is needed-By IRIN News.org

Secret Order Lets U.S. Raid Al Qaeda in Many Countries
By ERIC SCHMITT and MARK MAZZETTI
WASHINGTON — The United States military since 2004 has used broad, secret authority to carry out nearly a dozen previously undisclosed attacks against Al Qaeda and other militants in Syria, Pakistan and elsewhere, according to senior American officials.
These military raids, typically carried out by Special Operations forces, were authorized by a classified order that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld signed in the spring of 2004 with the approval of President Bush, the officials said. The secret order gave the military new authority to attack the Qaeda terrorist network anywhere in the world, and a more sweeping mandate to conduct operations in countries not at war with the United States.
In 2006, for example, a Navy Seal team raided a suspected militants’ compound in the Bajaur region of Pakistan, according to a former top official of the Central Intelligence Agency. Officials watched the entire mission — captured by the video camera of a remotely piloted Predator aircraft — in real time in the C.I.A.’s Counterterrorist Center at the agency’s headquarters in Virginia 7,000 miles away.
Some of the military missions have been conducted in close coordination with the C.I.A., according to senior American officials, who said that in others, like the Special Operations raid in Syria on Oct. 26 of this year, the military commandos acted in support of C.I.A.-directed operations.
But as many as a dozen additional operations have been canceled in the past four years, often to the dismay of military commanders, senior military officials said. They said senior administration officials had decided in these cases that the missions were too risky, were too diplomatically explosive or relied on insufficient evidence.
More than a half-dozen officials, including current and former military and intelligence officials as well as senior Bush administration policy makers, described details of the 2004 military order on the condition of anonymity because of its politically delicate nature. Spokesmen for the White House, the Defense Department and the military declined to comment.
Apart from the 2006 raid into Pakistan, the American officials refused to describe in detail what they said had been nearly a dozen previously undisclosed attacks, except to say they had been carried out in Syria, Pakistan and other countries. They made clear that there had been no raids into Iran using that authority, but they suggested that American forces had carried out reconnaissance missions in Iran using other classified directives.
According to a senior administration official, the new authority was spelled out in a classified document called “Al Qaeda Network Exord,” or execute order, that streamlined the approval process for the military to act outside officially declared war zones. Where in the past the Pentagon needed to get approval for missions on a case-by-case basis, which could take days when there were only hours to act, the new order specified a way for Pentagon planners to get the green light for a mission far more quickly, the official said.
It also allowed senior officials to think through how the United States would respond if a mission went badly. “If that helicopter goes down in Syria en route to a target,” a former senior military official said, “the American response would not have to be worked out on the fly.”
The 2004 order was a step in the evolution of how the American government sought to kill or capture Qaeda terrorists around the world. It was issued after the Bush administration had already granted America’s intelligence agencies sweeping power to secretly detain and interrogate terrorism suspects in overseas prisons and to conduct warrantless eavesdropping on telephone and electronic communications.
Shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, Mr. Bush issued a classified order authorizing the C.I.A. to kill or capture Qaeda militants around the globe. By 2003, American intelligence agencies and the military had developed a much deeper understanding of Al Qaeda’s extensive global network, and Mr. Rumsfeld pressed hard to unleash the military’s vast firepower against militants outside the combat zones of Iraq and Afghanistan.
The 2004 order identifies 15 to 20 countries, including Syria, Pakistan, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and several other Persian Gulf states, where Qaeda militants were believed to be operating or to have sought sanctuary, a senior administration official said.
Even with the order, each specific mission requires high-level government approval. Targets in Somalia, for instance, need at least the approval of the defense secretary, the administration official said, while targets in a handful of countries, including Pakistan and Syria, require presidential approval.
The Pentagon has exercised its authority frequently, dispatching commandos to countries including Pakistan and Somalia. Details of a few of these strikes have previously been reported. For example, shortly after Ethiopian troops crossed into Somalia in late 2006 to dislodge an Islamist regime in Mogadishu, the Pentagon’s Joint Special Operations Command quietly sent operatives and AC-130 gunships to an airstrip near the Ethiopian town of Dire Dawa. From there, members of a classified unit called Task Force 88 crossed repeatedly into Somalia to hunt senior members of a Qaeda cell believed to be responsible for the 1998 American Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.
At the time, American officials said Special Operations troops were operating under a classified directive authorizing the military to kill or capture Qaeda operatives if failure to act quickly would mean the United States had lost a “fleeting opportunity” to neutralize the enemy.
Occasionally, the officials said, Special Operations troops would land in Somalia to assess the strikes’ results. On Jan. 7, 2007, an AC-130 struck an isolated fishing village near the Kenyan border, and within hours, American commandos and Ethiopian troops were examining the rubble to determine whether any Qaeda operatives had been killed. But even with the new authority, proposed Pentagon missions were sometimes scrubbed because of bad intelligence or bureaucratic entanglements, senior administration officials said.
The details of one of those aborted operations, in early 2005, were reported by The New York Times last June. In that case, an operation to send a team of the Navy Seals and the Army Rangers into Pakistan to capture Ayman al-Zawahri, Osama bin Laden’s top deputy, was aborted at the last minute.
Mr. Zawahri was believed by intelligence officials to be attending a meeting in Bajaur, in Pakistan’s tribal areas, and the Pentagon’s Joint Special Operations Command hastily put together a plan to capture him. There were strong disagreements inside the Pentagon and the C.I.A. about the quality of the intelligence, however, and some in the military expressed concern that the mission was unnecessarily risky.
Porter J. Goss, the C.I.A. director at the time, urged the military to carry out the mission, and some in the C.I.A. even wanted to execute it without informing Ryan C. Crocker, then the American ambassador to Pakistan. Mr. Rumsfeld ultimately refused to authorize the mission.
Former military and intelligence officials said that Lt. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, who recently completed his tour as head of the Joint Special Operations Command, had pressed for years to win approval for commando missions into Pakistan. But the missions were frequently rejected because officials in Washington determined that the risks to American troops and the alliance with Pakistan were too great.
Capt. John Kirby, a spokesman for General McChrystal, who is now director of the military’s Joint Staff, declined to comment.
The recent raid into Syria was not the first time that Special Operations forces had operated in that country, according to a senior military official and an outside adviser to the Pentagon. Since the Iraq war began, the official and the outside adviser said, Special Operations forces have several times made cross-border raids aimed at militants and infrastructure aiding the flow of foreign fighters into Iraq.
The raid in late October, however, was much more noticeable than the previous raids, military officials said, which helps explain why it drew a sharp protest from the Syrian government. Negotiations to hammer out the 2004 order took place over nearly a year and involved wrangling between the Pentagon and the C.I.A. and the State Department about the military’s proper role around the world, several administration officials said.
American officials said there had been debate over whether to include Iran in the 2004 order, but ultimately Iran was set aside, possibly to be dealt with under a separate authorization. Senior officials of the State Department and the C.I.A. voiced fears that military commandos would encroach on their turf, conducting operations that historically the C.I.A. had carried out, and running missions without an ambassador’s knowledge or approval.
Mr. Rumsfeld had pushed in the years after the Sept. 11 attacks to expand the mission of Special Operations troops to include intelligence gathering and counterterrorism operations in countries where American commandos had not operated before.
Bush administration officials have shown a determination to operate under an expansive definition of self-defense that provides a legal rationale for strikes on militant targets in sovereign nations without those countries’ consent. Several officials said the negotiations over the 2004 order resulted in closer coordination among the Pentagon, the State Department and the C.I.A., and set a very high standard for the quality of intelligence necessary to gain approval for an attack.
The 2004 order also provided a foundation for the orders that Mr. Bush approved in July allowing the military to conduct raids into the Pakistani tribal areas, including the Sept. 3 operation by Special Operations forces that killed about 20 militants, American officials said.
Administration officials said that Mr. Bush’s approval had paved the way for Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates to sign an order — separate from the 2004 order — that specifically directed the military to plan a series of operations, in cooperation with the C.I.A., on the Qaeda network and other militant groups linked to it in Pakistan.  Unlike the 2004 order, in which Special Operations commanders nominated targets for approval by senior government officials, the order in July was more of a top-down approach, directing the military to work with the C.I.A. to find targets in the tribal areas, administration officials said. They said each target still needed to be approved by the group of Mr. Bush’s top national security and foreign policy advisers, called the Principals Committee.

Al-Qaida-Iraq's Message to the New 'Ruler of the White House'
By WALID PHARES
Published: November 10, 2008
SETTLING LOCAL SCORES -- The Salafist agenda is to settle scores with local societies and seize power in Arab and Muslim lands without being delayed by U.S. power.
Reactions to the election of a new U.S. president are fusing from across the Arab and Muslim world. Reflecting the fundamental interests of the various regimes and movements, the most radical groups - including al-Qaida - have been sending messages in different directions.
While we will come back later to draw a wider map of these attitudes, hopes or worries, let's note a particular declaration made by al-Qaida's central figure in Iraq (or so he is projected to be) in which he outlines his conditions to deal with America in the new era.
Two days ago, a jihadist outlet, al-Furqan, released an audio speech by Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, self-described as the "emir of the Islamic State of Iraq."
The under 30-minute Internet broadcast was titled, "Message to the New Governors of the White House (and Other Christian Leaders)." It can also be translated as "to the new rulers," i.e. the president and vice president-elect.
After a mandatory "theological" segment taking on Christians, Jews and apostate Muslims, the speech wandered erratically between issues high on the jihadist agenda worldwide, particularly on the necessity for the United States to call it quits in the region and pull out.
In essence Baghdadi, one of al-Qaida's most lethal "generals" on the battlefields of the Middle East, asked the United States under the new administration to withdraw from Iraq and Afghanistan and to withdraw its military presence from the Muslim world.
Interestingly, his message to whom he described as the new "governors," or technically, "masters" of the White House, connect with a dominant theme throughout not only al-Qaida's command but also the jihadist forces and regimes around the world.
Ideologically, despite their divisions and diverse strategies, the Salafists and Khomeinists have a common approach on how to deal with the United States. And this attitude has been embodied by multiple speeches, statements, and declarations since the early 1990s.
From the powerful doctrinal positions of Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi on al-Jazeera, al-Qaida's Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, to Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the "agenda" is one: the United States must pull its forces outside the region and keep them inside its own borders.
Baghdadi and many other jihadist commanders, commentators and activists see the big picture as an effort, or a jihad, against all kuffar (infidel) forces in the region. In his speech addressed to the new U.S. leadership, al-Qaida Iraq's "emir" also warned France and Russia from interfering inside the borders of his future caliphate.
He specifically asked the "White House, the Elysee and the Kremlin" to back-off from Iraq, Afghanistan and Chechnya. Listening to the audio allows one to understand the mindset of the terrorists we're dealing with: they have a one-world view even if they are "local," which contradicts the recent assertion by many experts in the field.
And to underline the jihadist historical view of the world, "Abu Omar" reminds America that a century ago America was a "neutral" nation, growing peacefully until it began intervening in foreign wars, including the conflicts with empires, fascists and the Soviets.
And as I argued in my book "Future Jihad," he reveals that the U.S. menace is really about provoking changes within Muslim countries: changes, of course, which would encourage democracy against jihadism.
Increasingly, observers of this global movement must see the overarching dimension of the conflict with the Salafists and Khomeinists. It is not about George W. Bush or Barack Obama, or about Jacques Chirac or Nikolas Sarkozy, Boris Yeltsin or Vladimir Putin.
It is about pushing for a jihadist agenda. "Get your troops out and be neutral in this conflict," has become the main slogan of jihadist propaganda for many years now. If anything it clearly indicates to analysts that the Salafist agenda, for example, wants to settle scores with local societies and seize power in Arab and Muslim lands without being delayed by U.S. power.
This is the core of their contemporary confrontation with Washington's policies. They want to establish Taliban regimes in as many countries as they can, including Iraq and Afghanistan.
Baghdadi ends his summations by revealing his conditions for a "new stage." In addition to pulling out and not interfering with the action of his movement, he wants an immediate release of all prisoners.
Even more revealing was his offer to sell oil to the United States at a fair price and authorize commerce with America. Stunningly to many, al-Qaida acts as if it is already the forthcoming caliphate, setting the agenda for the entire region.
It is not surprising to me, because for decades I have argued that democracies are dealing with a force possessing a political agenda of its own, not with individuals who are reacting to Western - or American - foreign policies.
If anything, these statements by al-Qaida, and other similar attitudes expressed by political propagandists, remind us of typical totalitarians in action: using terrorism whenever they judge it efficient to intimidate their foes and confuse their adversaries. The unwavering goal is to advance and consolidate their positions. The national-socialists and the fascists of the 1930s and WWII are, in this sense, authentic predecessors of the 21st century jihadists.
**Dr. Walid Phares is the director of the Future Terrorism Project at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies and the author of "The Confrontation: Winning the War against Future Jihad."
 

Planning an Invasion of Lebanon?
By OLIVIER GUITTA (Middle East Times)
Published: November 10, 2008
SYRIA’S HAND IN LEBANON -- Most of the proof of Syria's hand in Fatah al-Islam’s reign of terror emerged after the end of the 15-week war between the group and the Lebanese army at Nahr al-Bared refugee camp, in northern Lebanon, during the summer of 2007.
One leader that could not wait for U.S. President George W. Bush to be out of office is Syrian President Bashar Assad. Assad profusely congratulated his favored candidate: Barack Obama. President-elect Obama should be careful in his dealings with the Syrian regime. In fact, quite possibly, Assad might be pondering if he could get away with reoccupying Lebanon.
The whole strategy of finding excuses to re-invade Lebanon is little by little being put in place. The most ominous signs were the deployment of 10,000 Syrian special forces on the northern border followed by the recent deployment of additional troops on the eastern border. Syria explained that it was to prevent Sunni Salafists terrorists from entering Syrian territory.
The third step took place on Thursday when Syrian state television broadcast "confessions" from members of the Islamist terror group Fatah al-Islam (FAI).
Not only did the FAI militants admit being behind a suicide bombing in Damascus in September but also Wafa al-Absi, the daughter of FAI's leader Shaker al-Absi, stated that FAI got money from Saad Hariri's anti-Syrian Future Movement.
By undermining the current Lebanese parliamentary majority, Syria is trying one way or another to regain control of what it still considers part of its territory.
Why is this so obvious?
FAI is first and foremost a creation of the Syrian intelligence service that has been used to destabilize the Lebanese regime that kicked out the Syrian occupation army in 2005.
Numerous experts describe FAI as a Syrian vehicle influenced also by al-Qaida. Indeed, al-Qaida, which uses the Palestinian camps in Lebanon as a transit point, definitely influenced FAI, whose ideology went from the "liberation of Palestine" to a worldwide jihad against the crusaders and the Jews.
In November 2006, Salafist militants of FAI infiltrated Lebanon through Heloua, a remote Lebanese village out of reach for the Lebanese army since it is considered a Syrian enclave. According to a Western military expert, Palestinians have been receiving light weapons from Syria, which is then redistributed to other refugee camps in Lebanon.
So FAI settled in the Palestinian camp of Nahr al-Bared, in the north of Lebanon. Hostile to their presence, Fatah leaders in the camp stated that FAI's only contact was with Syria. That is just the tip of the iceberg: a slew of facts clearly link up FAI to its Syrian patron. The confessions of the FAI commando arrested for the February 2007 bombing of two commuter buses carrying Lebanese Christians are very explicit on Syria's role.
But most of the proof of Syria's hand in FAI's reign of terror emerged after the end of the 15-week war between FAI and the Lebanese army at Nahr al-Bared during the summer of 2007. Ghazi Aridi, the former Lebanese information minister, revealed that "some of [FAI]'s leaders were linked to Syrian security services."
He added: "Lebanese intelligence and government seized many documents, films, recordings, all very compromising for Syrian intelligence. The confessions of the [Fatah al-Islam] terrorists [arrested during the Nahr al-Bared clashes] brought to light their links to some Syrian services, and the implication of the latter in the wave of explosions and attacks that have been rocking Lebanon for several years."
Also General Ashraf Rifi, the general director of the Lebanese interior forces, affirmed that Lebanese authorities seized 90 kilos of biological material in the Nahr al-Bared camp belonging to FAI. That had to be provided by a regional power.
Finally, fighters from other pro-Syrian groups joined the FAI ranks and two of these groups, Fatah Intifada and PFLP-GC even delivered weapons to FAI. Lastly, just last month, the Lebanese army arrested five FAI members. But the leader of this cell, Abdel-Ghani Jawhar, allegedly fled to Syria just five minutes before the arrival of security forces.
In light of this, the "confessions" of the FAI members seem as an attempt by certain groups in Syria to link the recent terrorist attacks to Lebanon. Some analysts fear all this might be Damascus paving the way to a new Syrian intervention in Lebanon.
**Olivier Guitta, an adjunct fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies and a foreign affairs and counterterrorism consultant, is the founder of the newsletter The Croissant (www.thecroissant.com).
 

Quartet: Mideast peace process should continue
Rice says meetings have improved 'atmosphere'
By Agence France Presse (AFP)
Monday, November 10, 2008
Sylvie Lanteaume and Hala Boncompagni
SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt: The so-called Middle East Quartet called on Israel and the Palestinians on Sunday to press on with peace negotiations even though a year-end target date for a deal is dead in the water. The Quartet also called for a halt to Jewish settlement activity on occupied Palestinian land as per its obligations under international law and UN Security Council resolutions, and for the dismantling of what it called "terrorist infrastructure."
"The Quartet called for the continuing of the peace process in the framework of Annapolis," UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said after a meeting of the Quartet in the Egyptian resort of Sharm El-Sheikh. He was referring to the US city where talks were revived in November 2007 after a near seven-year hiatus, with both sides committing to reaching a long-elusive deal by the end of 2008. But with Israel now counting down to early elections in February and rival Palestinian groups locked in a damaging political feud, all sides have ruled out any chance of meeting the target.
"Without minimizing the gaps and obstacles that remain, the representatives of the parties shared their assessment that the present negotiations are substantial and promising," the final statement said. "The Quartet reiterated its call to the parties to fully implement their obligations under phase one of the road map, including in relation to freezing settlement activity and dismantlement of the infrastructure of terrorism."
The Quartet - the EU, Russia, the UN and the US - met to discuss progress in resolving core issues like the status of Occupied Jerusalem, borders of a future Palestinian state and refugees. Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said she would not sign "any agreement that does not serve Israel's interest and that is not detailed enough to be put into effect. We are not there yet and it could take time."
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, on her 19th trip to the region in two years and what may be her last, has tacitly admitted that a deal is unlikely by the time US President George W. Bush leaves office in January. But the secretary of state said Sunday: "We have an international strategy now to finally establish the two-state solution which President Bush set as a goal several years ago." Both sides, Rice said, "believe that their negotiations are producing an atmosphere of trust as well as the foundation in which to build." In the absence of a full accord, however, Rice is pushing the two sides to define the outlines of a deal before she hands over the dossier to the administration of President-elect Barack Obama.
The Quartet has long backed a peace deal that would see the formation of an independent Palestinian state living side by side in peace with Israel based on a so-called road map of 2003. But the peace process has been clouded by the resignation of Israel's scandal-plagued Premier Ehud Olmert that led to the scheduling of snap elections for February. It has also been complicated by the ongoing feud between the Islamist Hamas movement, which seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, and Abbas' Fatah party, which has held on to the Occupied West Bank. Hamas, which beat Fatah in parliamentary elections in 2006, was reportedly spurred into action after reports surfaced of an impending US-backed Fatah offensive designed to oust Hamas from the coastal enclave.
The international community boycotted the elected Hamas government over the group's refusal to recognize Israel, renounce violence and honor past agreements. However, world powers declined to call on Israel to recognize Palestine, renounce violence or honor past agreements.
Israeli opposition leaders have said the peace process should be put on hold but Livni, who hopes to become premier, stressed that Washington should sustain the momentum. Abbas also called on Obama to keep the peace process a US foreign policy priority and speed up efforts to help seal a deal. "We know that we are unable now to reach peace but we will continue in order to reach it," he said. Quartet envoy Tony Blair, Britain's former prime minister, echoed Abbas.
"The single most important thing for the new US administration is to press this issue from day one ... knowing that for the first time we have comprehensive political negotiations through the Annapolis process," he said. - With The Daily Star

Hamas-Fatah talks postponed for 'two weeks at most'
Daily Star/CAIRO: Egyptian-sponsored talks to reconcile rival Palestinian factions that were canceled this week are expected to resume in less than a fortnight, a senior Fatah official said on Sunday. Egypt on Saturday announced the postponement of unity talks between Fatah, the Islamist movement Hamas and other factions that were to take place in Cairo after Hamas said that it would boycott the meetings. "Based on available information we have from the Egyptians, I expect the resumption of Palestinian talks in Cairo in 10 days, or two weeks at the most," Nabil Shaath, an adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, told reporters in Cairo.
An Egyptian official told AFP that Egypt was in contact with the Palestinian factions after the delay and the meeting would "soon" take place in Cairo. The official did not provide a date. In Sharm El-Sheikh, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abu al-Gheit said after a meeting of the so-called Middle East diplomatic Quartet that Egypt's proposal to unify the rival factions must remain the basis for talks.
Hamas said that its reservations about the Egyptian plan had not been accepted and that the Fatah movement of Abbas was detaining its members in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The ongoing feud is complicating efforts to reach an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, with the international community negotiating only with the Palestinian Authority under Abbas, the leader of Fatah. Hamas and Fatah have been at odds since the Islamist movement seized control of the Gaza Strip from forces loyal to Abbas in June last year after having won legislative elections in 2006, splitting the Palestinian territories into two separately ruled entities.
Hamas, which is labeled a terrorist group by Israel and the West, said on its website that four Palestinian groups had accused Cairo of favoring Fatah.
Cairo, which has long been mediating between the rival factions, has proposed a transitional government to pave the way for elections and reforms to Palestinian security services overseen by Arab security experts. "There can be no abandoning the Egyptian paper," Abu al-Gheit told reporters after the Quartet meeting in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh. "Egypt exerted efforts. It made a proposal and presented it to the factions for discussion. It was apparent in the last few days there was no political will yet," Abu al-Gheit said. Abbas told journalists in Sharm El-Sheikh that the cancellation of the talks was "regretful." "I ask Egypt to continue its efforts, which would lead to a transitional government," he said. - AFP

'They never hurt me:' Canadian journalist freed by Afghan captors
By Agence France Presse (AFP)
Monday, November 10, 2008
KABUL: A Canadian journalist described in a new video released on Sunday how her abductors kept her in a hole in the ground in Afghanistan for four weeks, sometimes chained and blindfolded. Wearing a headscarf and muddied traditional Punjabi outfit, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reporter Mellissa Fung said she had not been hurt during her ordeal, which began when she was abducted in Kabul on October 12.
The 35-year-old was handed over to intelligence officials late Saturday near the town of Maydan Shah, about 50 kilometers southwest of the capital.
Days earlier a Dutch female journalist was freed after a week in captivity, but a French aid worker snatched in the city center on Monday is still missing.
"They kept me blindfolded ... not all the time," Fung was seen telling intelligence chief Amrullah Saleh in the offices of the National Directorate of Security (NDS) hours after her release. "They dug a small hole and there was a tunnel and a cave ... The cave was very, very small," she said, adding that she could barely stand up.
"For the first three weeks they had somebody with me the whole time, watching me, so they did not chain me. The last week, they left me and chained me," she said. "They never hurt me."Fung said she was given packets of biscuits and juice once a day for food, but had no water to drink.
NDS spokesman Sayed Ansari told a news conference earlier that three men had been arrested for the kidnapping, carried out as Fung visited a refugee camp in Kabul. He said she had been kept in a "well," as had a member of the royal family and former presidential candidate, Humayun Shah Asifi, who was kidnapped last month and held for about 10 days. Asifi was kept with the adult son of a Kabul banker in a 1-by-3 meter hole about 5 meters underground outside of the capital.
Three men had been arrested in Fung's case but they were only mid-level players, Ansari said. The kingpins were being sought although one had fled the country, he added. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, announcing Fung's release late Saturday, said no ransom had been paid. Western media had refrained from reporting on the abduction at the request of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, which said it had been acting on the advice of the company's security experts.
They also did not report on the kidnapping of Dutch journalist Joanie de Rijke, freed on Friday, after requests from her associates who said that such reports could endanger her life. De Rijke's kidnapping has been blamed on Taliban insurgents, but Fung is believed to have been snatched by one of the criminal gangs behind a wave of abductions, with wealthy Afghans or their relatives the main target.
Escalating crime and increased insurgent attacks mean security is at its weakest in Afghanistan since the Taliban were removed from power by a US-led offensive in 2001. Last month, three expatriates were shot dead in Kabul in two attacks - one blamed on the Taliban and the other on a rogue guard whose motive was not clear.
Afghan media, meanwhile, welcomed the executions of three convicted murderers put to death in the capital on Saturday in the third known executions of the post-Taliban government. The Arman Millie daily asked President Hamid Karzai to "not be kind to criminals" and sign execution orders for dozens of convicts already on death row "so that people learn lessons from the punishment of criminals." State newspaper Anis said: "It is the demand of every countryman that kidnappers should be stopped and armed groups should be targeted and they should be disarmed and punished." - AFP

Border issues on agenda for Baroud's visit to Damascus
By Hussein Abdallah /Daily Star staff
Monday, November 10, 2008
BEIRUT: President Michel Sleiman and Prime Minister Fouad Siniora met on Sunday as Lebanon was preparing to send its interior minister to Syria on Monday for the first time since former Premier Rafik Hariri's murder in 2005, in an effort to boost security cooperation between the two neighbors.
Sleiman and Siniora discussed the prospects of Ziyad Baroud's visit as well as other issues, most importantly the outcome of the president's weekend visit to Egypt.
Baroud, who visited both Siniora and Sleiman on Sunday to brief them on his visit's agenda, will be accompanied by Lebanon's security chiefs, Wafiq Jizzini and Ashraf Rifi, the president's office said. The visit comes almost three months after Sleiman made a landmark visit to Damascus and less than a month after Syria and Lebanon decided to establish diplomatic relations for the first time.Cross-border smuggling will figure high on the agenda of Baroud's talks, a source at the president's office said.
Syria has deployed reinforcements along its border with Lebanon in what it terms an anti-smuggling operation.
News reports on Sunday said the talks' agenda would also include the recent allegations that Lebanon's Future Movement was involved in funding the militant group Fatah al-Islam. The allegations were made on Syrian state television last week by alleged Fatah al-Islam members who were reportedly arrested by Syrian authorities.
The reports also said Siniora had complained to Sleiman during their Sunday meeting at the Baabda Palace about Damascus' decision to air the allegations on state television rather than raise the issue with Lebanese security authorities. Baroud will be the first Lebanese interior minister to visit Syria since pro-Syrian Premier Omar Karami's cabinet resigned in April 2005, the same month as Syrian troops pulled out of Lebanon after an almost three-decade deployment.
The anti-Syrian camp in Beirut blamed Syria for the assassination of Hariri.The charge has been repeatedly denied by Damascus, whose troops withdrew from the smaller neighbor it dominated for decades, having come under pressure on the streets of Beirut after the murder.
Syrian President Bashar Assad said on the eve of Baroud's visit that Syria was satisfied with the overall situation in Lebanon in the aftermath of last May's Doha Accord."The Doha Accord has laid down the foundations of stability in Lebanon ... It also put an end to plans to disturb the country's unity," Assad told members of the Arab Parliament, who gathered for a meeting in Damascus. Meanwhile, parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri was quoted by Russian newspaper Vremia Novosti as saying after he wrapped up a visit to Moscow over the weekend that Russia was willing to sell Lebanon military hardware at "advantageous prices."
Hariri held talks with Russian officials in Moscow as he met both Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Hariri reportedly asked for Russia's help to achieve an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon's occupied Shebaa-Farms.
Separately, Sleiman ended a visit to Cairo on Saturday after meeting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Arab League chief Amr Moussa, and members of the Lebanese community.
The president told members of the Lebanese community in Cairo before departing to Beirut that Lebanon was moving toward restoring its regional role and proving that it could be the "Switzerland of the Middle East."Sleiman told reporters earlier on Saturday that border demarcation between Lebanon and Syria would not be delayed by differences over the ownership of the Shebaa Farms."A joint statement which was released following my recent meeting with Assad officially recognized Lebanon's ownership of the Shebaa Farms," he said in a joint news conference with Mubarak. "Border demarcation between Lebanon and Syria will start as soon as all technical and administrative measures are in place," he added. Asked to explain Moussa's absence last week at the second session of the national dialogue second, Sleiman said that the Arab League chief's absence had no implications."Nothing should be read into that ... Moussa's absence does not mean that Arabs have stopped their support for dialogue in Lebanon."Sleiman urged Arab states to make use of the "worldwide atmosphere of change" and speed up efforts to mend fences and achieve Arab consensus. He added that Lebanon was also ready to benefit from "the tide of change," particularly following the recent US presidential elections which saw Barack Obama set to become the United States' first African-American president.
Sleiman also said that he agreed with Mubarak on holding annual meetings of the joint Lebanese-Egyptian Committee. Siniora visited Egypt late last month to attend a Lebanese-Egyptian Committee meeting. The premier, however, was not able to meet Mubarak, who was not feeling well following his return from an official visit to Paris. For his part, Mubarak reiterated his country's commitment to supporting the Lebanese government and providing Lebanon with gas and electricity as well as assistance for its armed forces. Mubarak added that Egypt would "continue" to be at an equal distance from all parties in Lebanon.
"We look forward to seeing the enhancement of security and stability in Lebanon ... Egypt is sure that the Lebanese want to safeguard their country against any from of regional or international intervention," Mubarak said. Separately on Saturday, Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt said that technical and not security reasons were delaying his meeting with Hizbullah's leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. "I am not worried about my personal security, but the meeting is being delayed by technical reasons," he said, adding that his relations with the Shiite group have become "calm" following recent bilateral meetings between PSP and Hizbullah representatives. He was referring to a number of meetings that grouped officials from both groups at Youth and Sports Minister Talal Arslan's residence in Khaldeh.
He added that last month's meeting between Hariri and Nasrallah had also contributed to "improving relations." Jumblatt, who reiterated his intention to compete in next year's parliamentary elections within the ranks of the March 14 Forces, said that reconciliation between the March 14 alliance and Syria was dependent on the results of the ongoing investigations into Hariri's assassination. - With AFP

Moscow agrees to sell Beirut weapons for low prices - Hariri
Daily Star/BEIRUT: Parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri told Russian media outlets Sunday that Moscow was willing to sell Lebanon military hardware at "advantageous prices."Russia will "help the Lebanese Army, which needs heavy weapons," Hariri was initially quoted as saying by Vremia Novosti newspaper after a visit to Moscow. Hariri told Interfax news agency separately that current American military aid is "limited to light weaponry," stressing that the Lebanese Army also needs "tanks and artillery equipment. "These needs will be addressed when the Lebanese defense minister visits Moscow this month or at the latest in December," the MP said. The issue of Hizbullah's arms divides the country's political leaders, with Hariri's grouping insisting that the state should have sole authority in taking decisions on war and peace.Hizbullah and its allies say the weapons are necessary to protect Lebanon from Israeli aggression. - AFP

Israeli spies linked to murder of Hezbollah chief
From The Sunday Times
Two brothers seized in Lebanon are accused of a role in the death of a Hezbollah chiefUzi Mahnaimi in Tel Aviv
Two brothers held in Lebanon as Israeli spies are linked to a team responsible for the assassination of a notorious terrorist leader, Lebanese security sources have claimed.  Ali Jarrah, 50, a Lebanese citizen, and his brother Youssef, from Marj in the Bekaa valley, were arrested last week by the Lebanese army, which charged them with espionage. A third suspect has also been held, sources close to the investigation said. All three face the death penalty.
The spy ring has been linked to the assassination of Imad Mughniyeh, a leading figure in Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shi’ite militia, who was killed in a bomb blast in Damascus in February. Hezbollah’s leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, blamed Israel for the attack and vowed to take revenge.
Mughniyeh has long been a target for Israel and America. He was responsible for bombing the US marine barracks and embassy in Beirut in 1983, in which more than 350 died, and was behind an attack on the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires in 1992, which killed 29.
One source suggested the brothers may have been “spotters”, part of an observation team that monitored Mughniyeh’s movements shortly before his death. Others said there was no direct evidence of this. According to the Lebanese army, Jarrah and his brother were found to possess “communication devices and other sophisticated equipment”.
Lebanese investigators impounded a Mitsubishi Pajero 4x4 parked in front of Jarrah’s home. The vehicle was said to be fitted with advanced surveillance equipment.
“Some equipment was found in his house; other items were hidden in a vehicle,” said a security official who claimed the men had also been monitoring the movement of officials crossing the Syrian-Lebanese border.
According to Lebanese sources, the Jarrah brothers were recruited by Israel during the 1980s, when the Israeli army controlled large swathes of southern Lebanon.
Ali Jarrah is said to have joined militant Palestinian groups, which enabled him to travel between Lebanon and Syria and move around Damascus without attracting suspicion.
Sources close to the investigation said Jarrah had confessed to having been recruited by the Israelis to gather intelligence on militant Palestinian organisations in Lebanon.
Only in recent years had he started to monitor senior figures in Hezbollah, it was claimed. A statement issued by the Lebanese army said the two men had admitted to “gathering information on political party offices and monitoring the movements of party figures for the enemy”.
The Beirut paper As-Safir reported that during the war with Israel in southern Lebanon in 2006, Jarrah was seen with a video camera at relief centres connected to Hezbollah. “Was he pinpointing security targets in the Bekaa?” it asked. According to the paper, investigators are attempting to determine whether a video camera fixed inside Jarrah’s car was directly connected by a satellite link to controllers in Israel.
Since the death of Mughniyeh, who was killed instantly when a booby-trapped headrest in his 4x4 exploded, Hezbollah has been determined to track down his assassins. The brothers had apparently been frequent visitors to the Kfar Sousa district of Damascus where Mughniyeh, who had an American bounty of $5m (£3.2m) on his head, was finally identified. According to some reports, Jarrah was first picked up in the southern suburbs of Beirut by Hezbollah security men on July 7, after being suspected of having had a role in Mughniyeh’s assassination. Hezbollah is said to have finally handed Jarrah to the Lebanese authorities after questioning him for nearly four months. According to Lebanese security sources, the brothers are distantly related to Ziad Jarrah, one of the hijackers of United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed into a Pennsylvania field on September 11, 2001, killing everyone on board. Their families come from the same town in the Bekaa valley.
The Israeli government has refused to comment on the arrests.

Lebanon exports world's most expensive chocolate
By Ilona Viczian /Special to The Daily Star
Monday, November 10, 2008
BEIRUT: These days status symbols are everywhere - from cars and jeans to cell phones and, now, even chocolate. We all love chocolate, but what is the ultimate price to pay for the delicious dessert? Patchi, the famous Lebanese luxury chocolate-makers, have taken decadence to a new level. Recently, they launched the world's most prestigious and expensive box of chocolate, turning the ubiquitous treat into a coveted possession. When it comes to selling luxury chocolates, packaging really is everything. Designers at Patchi began with the box itself, a beautiful, leather-wrapped cover that is hand-embroidered with high-quality silk from India and China. This is only the beginning, however. Upon opening the box, the chocolate connoisseur will find 49 hand-wrapped chocolates ensconced in soft suede leather, separated by gold and platinum linings. In case that isn't enough, each chocolate is adorned with either a 24-carat gold flower and Swarovsky crystal or a handcrafted, miniature silk rose.The gold-plated plaque inside of the box leaves space for a dedication, which is meant to be personally engraved.
Despite all the glitziness, the box has a beautiful, elegant appearance, and the colors are subdued. It currently sells at the renowned London-based department store Harrods, with the hefty price tag of 5,000 British pounds (currently about $7,824, but closer to $10,000 before recent drastic changes in exchange rates).
Patchi, which opened in 1974, quickly established itself as the destination for sophisticated chocolate lovers who are also seduced by unique and attractive packaging. With the success of their chocolates worldwide, they have branched into other areas in the luxury market, such as a handmade silverware line and ornamented accessories. They are also known for their array of exquisite handmade roses, which add a delicate and pretty touch.
Nadine Haikal owns a boutique in Hamra called Cocodine, which sells gifts and chocolates. Her shop has been open for almost three years, and most of her chocolates are imported from Belgium. When asked what she thought of the world's most expensive box of chocolate, she said, "There would be no customer here for that.
"With what's happening with the economy people aren't even buying kilos - they buy grams, or even pieces!" she asserted. "There is no market for it here."
Still, said Haikal, "business is good."Cocodine sells a variety of vessels, including silverware, Czech glassware, and hand-painted ceramics. Selling gifts in fancy boxes help stores increase revenues. If a customer chooses to purchase a vessel with the chocolate included prices can reach close to $1,000.
"I like those customers!" said Haikal. Even Haikal's top prices don't approach that of the world's most expensive box of chocolate, and such customers are rare. Buyers of the Patchi-designed extravagant luxury item might be even rarer

The defense debate: 'Is it really about Lebanon and about us?'
By Fidelius Schmid /Special to The Daily Star
Monday, November 10, 2008
BEIRUT: With the autumn sun warming Beirut's Corniche, a slight breeze bringing fresh air from the sea, most Lebanese on Sunday had other things in mind than the political struggle about a national defense strategy. "We're having a walk and we don't really follow the news," said Nura, who was walking along the seaside with her mother and her sister.
"Lebanese politicians do what they're told by other countries, anyway - so what does it matter?" added Nura's mother, Sanna.
The debate about a national defense plan left them - and the vast majority people met by The Daily Star over the weekend - indifferent. After national talks about the subject failed to reach a breakthrough last week, the talks were postponed to December.
"I think, what is essential is that they sit down and have serious talks and come up with a decision," said Houssam Khatib, who runs a business in Hamra. "The content is something that experts should judge on."
While most people were unwilling to discuss politics on the record at all, many of those who agreed to be quoted on the subject mainly expressed dissatisfaction with Lebanon's political class over all.
"I focus on my life, on university," said Lama Jaroudi in Achrafieh. "Even though I live in Lebanon, where everything is about politics, I've stopped following it."
In fact, Jaroudi added, she thought "most Lebanese politicians are just trash."
A wealthy-looking lady in the same neighborhood who did not give her name went even further.
"What do you want me to say? I'm just about fed up with it. I'm taking my grandchildren to the movies," she said.
Rami, who runs a restaurant on Hamra Street, said people had stopped to see the link between their lives and the political arena. "You know, people get the impression it is all part of a bigger game. This defense thing, is it really about Lebanon and about us?" he asked.
Last week, the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), MP Michel Aoun, had put forward a blueprint for a defense strategy, that reportedly called for integration of Hizbullah into the Lebanese Armed Forces, the creation of a national air-defense system to protect Lebanon against the Israeli Air Force and a rollout of the national resistance throughout Lebanon.
The March 14 Forces heavily criticized his plan, arguing that it would undermine United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended hostilities in the 2006 war with Israel. This would "provide Israel with an excuse for further attacks against Lebanon," the alliance warned in a statement, adding that Aoun's proposal would "set the basis for a constant war, internally and externally."
"There is always the two sides," Ali Mustafa said outside the front gate of the American University of Beirut. "This debate boils down to whether you consider Hizbullah a protection force or a security risk," he said. "I think they are protecting. If it hadn't been for Hizbullah, Israel could have invaded the whole of Lebanon in 2006."
Disarming Hizbullah or leaving it aside, he said, was not an option. "I don't think Hizbullah would let that happen, so it's not practical", he said. "We need to integrate them." He said the most important thing to him was consensus. "Fortunately, we had Qatar [which brokered an end 18 months of impasse in May[. And, in that spirit, we have to come forward with a solution for the defense question."
Mohammad Fakih, a bank employee who declared himself a "fan" of Aoun, argued in favor of integrating Hizbullah. "Yes, the state should have the say about the economy, defense. But the Lebanese Army is not strong enough on its own" he said. "Hizbullah is well-equipped, has well-trained people. This is helpful."
He also said he saw "many positive points" in Aoun's proposal. "But of course now the other side will have all kind of critical points," he said. "But let the politicians argue and accuse each other ... This is democracy, and as long as they do not get back to killings and violence, this is positive."
The other side, of course, disagreed. "Hizbullah should stick to itself and not be integrated into the army," Ibrahim Baltagi said in Achrafieh. "I agree with Prime Minister [Fouad] Siniora's statement - the state should have a monopoly of power and weapons."
Sharing the March 14 concern, which was mirrored by Israeli press reports last week, Bahtagi argued that giving Hizbullah too big a say in defense matters would only provide Israel with an excuse for aggression. "Hizbullah a part of the army, getting the [Defense Ministry] - Israel would feel encouraged to attack us again" he said. "I think, the army should have at its disposal, what it needs to defend the Lebanon. Helicopters, tanks, all the necessary equipment."
Then he went on to enjoy his Sunday, as most Lebanese did. "Would you just excuse us?" a young woman on Hamra Street said while pushing her companion on along the sidewalk. "We don't want to get involved in that kind of discussion."
Siniora said Friday that a silent majority would soon speak up for "the state to be the only real power in the country." On Sunday in Beirut at least, most referred to remain exactly that. Silent