LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
October 16/08

Bible Reading of the day.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 11,42-46. Woe to you Pharisees! You pay tithes of mint and of rue and of every garden herb, but you pay no attention to judgment and to love for God. These you should have done, without overlooking the others. Woe to you Pharisees! You love the seat of honor in synagogues and greetings in marketplaces. Woe to you! You are like unseen graves over which people unknowingly walk."Then one of the scholars of the law said to him in reply, "Teacher, by saying this you are insulting us too."And he said, "Woe also to you scholars of the law! You impose on people burdens hard to carry, but you yourselves do not lift one finger to touch them.

Saint Silouan (1866-1938), Orthodox monk
Writings (©Archimandrite Sophrony [Sakharov]) "Woe to you Pharisees! You love the seat of honor"
The soul of the humble is like the sea. Throw a stone into the sea – for a moment it will ruffle the surface and then sink to the bottom. Thus do afflictions disappear down in the hearts of the humble because the strength of the Lord is with them. Where is your habitation, O humble soul? And who dwells in you; and to what shall I liken you? You burn bright like the sun, and are not consumed (Ex 3,2), but with your warmth you give warmth to all. The earth is yours, for the meek shall inherit the earth, said the Lord (Mt 5,5). You are like a flowering garden. In the heart of the garden lies a fair dwelling where it pleases the Lord to take up his abode. You are the beloved of heaven and earth. The apostles, prophets, saints and holy Fathers love you. The angels, the Seraphim and Cherubim love you. The most holy Mother of God loves you, O humble soul. The Lord loves you and, in you, he rejoices.
 

CANADA
Prime Minister Stephen Harper Wins Canada Election. AP 15/10/08
Tories (Conservatives) get another minority, but a stronger one. National Post 15/10/08

Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special Reports
An Islamic rule of law for Lebanon? -By Muhamad Mugraby 15/10/08

A chance for Lebanon and Syria to help themselves - and each other. The Daily Star 15/10/08
Divesting From the Islamic Republic. By: By: Jamie Glazov. FrontPage.com 15/10/08

From corruption to poverty, Arab regimes are failing.By Khalil Gebara 15/10/08

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for October 15/08
Mrach 14 Hails Victory Achieved by Setting Up Ties with Syria-Naharnet
Berri Preaches Spring in Fall-Naharnet
Geagea for Normal relations with Syrian Brethren-Naharnet
Aoun Praises Ties with Syria, Alliance with Hizbullah
-Naharnet
Raids Lead to Arrest of 20 in North, South Lebanon
-Naharnet
Lebanon, Syria Sign First Ever Document on Establishment of Ties
'New era' for Syria, Lebanon-Chicago Tribune
Syria and Lebanon set up formal ties-International Herald Tribune
Shatah Meets Rice as U.S. Reiterates its Commitment to Lebanon-Naharnet
Raids Lead to Arrest of 20 in North, South Lebanon-Naharnet
Assad's Announcement on Establishing Ties with Lebanon Hailed-Naharnet
U.S. Welcomes Assad's Move But Says 'There's Still Outstanding Work to Be Done'
-Naharnet
Aoun Terms his Critics 'Swearing Women'
-Naharnet
Assad Issues Decree to Establish Beirut Embassy
-Naharnet
Gemayel for Further Normalization of Syrian-Lebanese Relations
-Naharnet
Saniora Welcomes Assad's Historic Decree on Ties with Lebanon
-Naharnet
France Welcomes Assad's Move on Lebanon Ties
-Naharnet
Wood Fire Prompts University Evacuation, Burns House, Wounds 4
-Naharnet
Chamoun Resigns and Runs for Elections
-Naharnet
Jumblat Welcomes Assad's Decree on Ties with Lebanon
-Naharnet
Geagea, Mubarak Discuss Shebaa Farms, Syrian Troop Buildup
-Naharnet
Marada Hails Geagea's Approval to Aoun's Participation in Reunion
-Naharnet
Pope to Receive Suleiman in Vatican
-Naharnet
Amnesty International Condemns Saudi Executions-Naharnet
Assad issues decree to establish full diplomatic relations with Lebanon-Daily Star
Paris sources suspect Russia arming Hizbullah - report-Daily Star
Lebanese authorities arrest Syrian opposition member-Daily Star
Security forces 'prepare arrest warrant' for Omar Bakri-Daily Star
Chamoun quits as Deir al-Qamar mayor to be eligible for Parliament-Daily Star
Tripoli cell 'had planned to assassinate LAF chief'-Daily Star
Geagea urges Egyptian president to help liberate Shebaa Farms-Daily Star


Lebanon, Syria Sign First Ever Document on Establishment of Ties
Naharnet/Lebanon and Syria on Wednesday signed a document on the establishment of the first ever diplomatic ties between the two neighboring countries.
A statement signed by Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem and visiting Lebanese counterpart Fawzi Salloukh announced "the launch of diplomatic relations between the Syrian Arab Republic and the Lebanese republic effective today, October 15, 2008."
"The statement reaffirms the determination of both parties to reinforce and consolidate their relations on the basis of mutual respect, the sovereignty and independence of each and to preserve privileged fraternal relations between the two brotherly countries in order to respond to the aspiration of both peoples," it added. The two states had announced in August their intention to establish ties, following a pledge by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his Lebanese counterpart Michel Suleiman in Paris in July. Muallem said in comments published by the daily As-Safir on Wednesday: "We are satisfied, particularly with the positive progress in the Lebanon situation as a result of the commitment to the Doha Accord."
He described the security cooperation between Lebanon and Syria as "good." Muallem believed that uncovering terrorist cells in both Lebanon and Syria proved that the "source of danger" on both countries "is one." "We've got to cooperate in order to confront those terrorists," he stressed.
Wednesday's announcement comes a day after Assad issued a presidential decree to open relations with Lebanon, where Damascus was the main powerbroker for three decades until it was forced to withdraw its troops in 2005. Relations between the two have often been fractious since then, with the anti-Damascus parliamentary majority in Lebanon accusing Syria of meddling in the country's affairs.
"Progress being made in terms of bilateral relations between Lebanon and Syria... is a historic step forward on the road to affirm and solidify Lebanon's independence, sovereignty and free decision-making," Prime Minister Fouad Saniora said in a statement on Tuesday.
He hoped the move was "a prelude to a new page (in relations) that will benefit both Lebanon and Syria, having learned from lessons and experiences of the past."
Since 1991, a year after the end of Lebanon's 15-year civil war, Damascus and Beirut have been tied by a treaty of friendship and cooperation on political, economic and security issues. The anti-Syrian camp which forms the majority in Lebanon's parliament has long been critical of the treaty as sacrificing the interests of Beirut to the benefit of Damascus. On Monday, U.S. President George Bush warned Syria that it must respect Lebanon's sovereignty, following the deployment of an estimated 10,000 Syrian troops on the border. Leaders of the anti-Syrian March 14 coalition say Damascus could be setting the stage to return its forces to their country. But Suleiman said on Saturday that Lebanon accepted Syria's position that the troop movements were aimed at tackling cross-border smuggling.
Syria withdrew its troops from Lebanon in 2005 under a wave of pressure following the assassination in a massive Beirut bomb blast of former billionaire premier Rafik Hariri. Damascus has consistently denied charges of involvement in the murder. Beirut, 15 Oct 08, 08:35

Raids Lead to Arrest of 20 in North, South Lebanon
Naharnet/The number of arrests related to the terror cell behind three bomb attacks in northern Lebanon has reached more than 20, the daily As-Safir reported Wednesday. Among the arrested were three men who were seized during a series of raids by the Lebanese army in Sidon, the paper said.
It said similar raids also were carried out in northern and eastern Lebanon, particularly in the Bekaa Valley. As-Safir said among the detainees was a man identified as Mohammed al-Sabsi who is "very close" to Abdul Ghani Ali Jawhar, a fugitive in the case. Interior ministry officials showed reporters an explosives belt, rifles, ammunition, bombs and guns that were found at the home of Jawhar's sister. A security source told the Voice of Lebanon radio station on Wednesday that Jawhar's hideout has been discovered and measures were taken to prevent his escape from the northern refugee camp of Beddawi to Ain el-Hilweh near Sidon.
As-Safir, citing well-informed sources, said a man who claims to be al-Qaida chief in Ain el-Hilweh and with links to Fatah al-Islam is likely the person who gave orders to detonate the bombs and facilitate terrorist access to explosives. Among the targets the alleged al-Qaida chief planned to hit were the Internal Security Forces headquarters in Beirut's Ashrafiyeh district and a military bus in addition to a number of assassinations, including one targeting Lebanese army commander Gen. Jean Qahwaji who was at that time commander of the 10th Brigade. Meanwhile, al-Akhbar newspaper quoted a security official as denying that detainees held in the terror case had confessed to planning to assassinate security and political figures.
The official said the explosives belt found at the home of Jawhar's sister was likely to be used in case he was ringed by security forces. Al-Akhbar quoted a senior security official as saying that Jawhar is believed to have planted the bomb in the Tal district in the northern city of Tripoli Aug. 13, particularly after some of the detainees acknowledged Jawhar was the man in the photo. Jawhar's sister admitted to having alerted her brother at 3 a.m. when she happened to observe a security convoy passing through the street where she lives. She said Jawhar fled in his pajamas to a location likely very close to Tripoli. Beirut, 15 Oct 08, 10:09

Shatah Meets Rice as U.S. Reiterates its Commitment to Lebanon
Naharnet/Finance Minister Mohammed Shatah has discussed with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Syrian-Lebanese ties, the situation in the region and Lebanon's economic reform program, An Nahar daily reported Wednesday. The newspaper's Washington correspondent quoted well informed sources as saying American officials stressed to Shatah that U.S. support to a sovereign and independent Lebanon is an "institutional support" that will continue after the election of a new U.S. president. They told Shatah, as they informed President Michel Suleiman during his visit to the U.S. last month, that there was unanimity in Congress and among Republicans and Democrats on continued support to Lebanon. The sources also quoted the U.S. officials as saying economic and military aid programs reflect American commitment to Lebanon.
Earlier Tuesday, U.S. State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack said that Shatah was "in town for the World Bank/IMF meetings, and he's also a former ambassador to Washington from Lebanon and a close advisor to Prime Minister Saniora. So it's a good opportunity to talk about not only economics, but politics."
Rice "will talk to him about the Lebanese economic reform plan. She'll also talk to him about the political situation in the region, as well as in Lebanon," he said.
Lebanon's ambassador to Washington Antoine Shedid attended the talks between Rice and Shatah. Meanwhile, An Nahar said that U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Eric Edelman will arrive in Lebanon in the next few days to hold talks with Lebanese leaders and military officials.
Edelman will also follow up on military and training issues that have been discussed between President Suleiman and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, according to the daily. Beirut, 15 Oct 08, 05:25

Pope to Receive Suleiman in Vatican
Naharnet/Pope Benedict XVI will receive Lebanese President Michel Suleiman at the Vatican at the end of this month, the religious news agency I.Media reported Tuesday. The 59-year-old Maronite Christian and former commander-in-chief of the Lebanese army will travel to Vatican City on October 30.
Prior to Suleiman's election in May, following months of political paralysis, the pope had urged Lebanese leaders to unify as a "symbol" of peaceful coexistence between different religious communities.(AFP)Beirut, 14 Oct 08, 16:23

Assad's Announcement on Establishing Ties with Lebanon Hailed
Naharnet/President Michel Suleiman has expressed relief over the announcement by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that he will establish diplomatic ties with Lebanon and said he hoped the decision would restore the "bright" relations between the two countries.  Prime Minister Fouad Saniora also welcomed the announcement. "Progress being made in terms of bilateral relations between Lebanon and Syria ... is a historic step forward on the road to affirm and solidify Lebanon's independence, sovereignty and free decision-making," Saniora said in a statement. He added that he hoped the move was "a prelude to a new page (in relations) that will benefit both Lebanon and Syria, having learned from lessons and experiences of the past." Reacting to the news in comments to the BBC, Druze leader and long-time anti-Syrian MP Walid Jumblat characterized it as "a positive development and the beginning of a long path toward building a healthy relationship with Syria, step by step." For his part, Labor Minister and Hizbullah official Mohammed Fneish told AFP the step "is an affirmation of Syria's seriousness in establishing diplomatic ties through exchanging embassies with Lebanon.
"This is a practical measure that embarks upon a new path in Lebanese-Syrian relations. What is required is that this continues in the positive manner in which (Suleiman) began with it," added Fneish, whose party is pro-Syrian. Assad said last month he expected full diplomatic relations between Damascus and Beirut by the end of this year. The next ambassador to Beirut will face "complicated files such as the cases of missing Syrians and Lebanese, border demarcation and revision of certain accords" between the two states, the official daily Al-Watan said on Tuesday. Since 1991, a year after the end of Lebanon's 15-year civil war, Damascus and Beirut have been tied by a treaty of friendship and cooperation on political, economic and security issues.
The anti-Syrian camp which forms the majority in Lebanon's parliament has long been critical of the treaty as sacrificing the interests of Beirut to the benefit of Damascus.(AFP-Naharnet) Beirut, 15 Oct 08, 08:04

U.S. Welcomes Assad's Move But Says 'There's Still Outstanding Work to Be Done'
Naharnet/The United States has welcomed Syrian President Bashar Assad's decree to set up diplomatic ties with Lebanon and urged Damascus to demarcate the border between the two neighbors. "It is a positive step toward Syria recognizing its full responsibilities in terms of implementing Security Council resolutions and other international agreements," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Tuesday. "Now, there are other aspects of this, and that includes fully defining the border between Syria and Lebanon. So there's still outstanding work to be done. And also behavior beyond just setting up these embassies and establishing diplomatic relations also matters," he added. Asked if he heard anything back from the Syrians about how they handled the case of two U.S. journalists, McCormack said: "I'm not aware of anything new."The journalists who were detained in Syria after going missing in Lebanon said last week that they had been kidnapped and smuggled across the border against their will. Beirut, 15 Oct 08, 04:54

Aoun Terms his Critics 'Swearing Women'
Naharnet/Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun said Tuesday his critics are "like women they always swear at others." Aoun made the remark to correspondent of Hizbullah's al-Manar television in Tehran, the Iranian capital which he is visiting since Sunday. The FPM's Orange Television also screened the interview. Aoun said the main competition in the 2009 parliamentary elections would be in "Christian areas. That is why they escalate their criticism, they are trying to plant things in the heads of Christian voters that are different from the nature of this visit." He claimed that "terror is infiltrating to us through states that sometimes claim to be helping us." Aoun met earlier in the day Iran's nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili who thanked the FPM leader for his "constructive and positive role aimed at bolstering national unity in Lebanon, backing the resistance and developing Islamic-Christian coexistence." Aoun also held talks with head of the parliamentary national security and foreign affairs committee Alaa Din Broujourdi who praised the FPM leader's "role in backing steadfastness of the resistance and helping the Arabs walk tall after defeats that some had thought are lasting." Beirut, 14 Oct 08, 22:16

Paris sources suspect Russia arming Hizbullah - report
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Daily Star/BEIRUT: French newspaper Liberation reported in its Tuesday edition that sources in Paris suspected Russia was providing Hizbullah with missiles through Syria. The paper said the Bulgarian intelligence services had reliable information about Bulgarian police and customs officials finding Russian-made weapons on a ship on August 4 in Varna. Allegedly, the ship's captain said the vessel was heading to the Port of Latakia in Syria.

Lebanese authorities arrest Syrian opposition member
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Daily Star/BEIRUT: Lebanese authorities have arrested a top Syrian opposition figure identified as Nawwaf al-Ali, according to As-Safir newspaper Tuesday. As-Safir reported that Ali was handed over to the Lebanese prosecutor's office. The newspaper said security forces continued their hunt for Syrian opposition members who had taken advantage of the deteriorating Lebanese-Syrian relations over the past three years to turn Lebanon into an arena for political and media agitation.

A chance for Lebanon and Syria to help themselves - and each other
By The Daily Star
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Editorial
Syrian President Bashar Assad took an important first step on Tuesday by issuing a decree ordering his Foreign Ministry to proceed with an exchange of embassies and ambassadors with Lebanon. The move was long-overdue, and many Lebanese suspicious of Assad's intentions will be unconvinced that he and his regime have genuinely accepted the legitimacy of this country's independence and sovereignty. These should not dismiss the opportunity that may be at hand, however; on the contrary, their best course of action would be to explore the Syrian opening as thoroughly as possible in order to gauge - and hopefully realize - its full potential.
It will be up to both sides to determine history's verdict on Assad's decree: major turning point, minor footnote, or something in between. Whatever the case, making the most of it demands good-faith diplomacy by the two governments in order to improve their ability to cooperate and coordinate in ways that also better the lives of their respective populations.
There is an encouraging precedent which, although tied to a relationship very different from the Lebanese-Syrian one, demonstrates that Damascus is fully capable of setting aside policies of long standing when they no longer serve its interests. Better still, it was Assad himself who provided this example in late 2006 when he relinquished a decades-old claim to the territory of Alexandretta, which was wrenched away from Syria and handed to Turkey by French Mandate authorities just before World Wars I and II. Assad's pragmatic gambit paved the way for a sea change in Syrian-Turkish relations, which had been poor for decades.
It is true that when it comes to the balance of power, Syria enjoys an advantage over Lebanon that it emphatically did not over Turkey. But the incentives that helped Assad arrive at his decision over Alexandretta are present in much greater force when it comes to Lebanon. If Damascus wants the still-unfolding end of its international isolation to become permanent, there is no better way to proceed than by creating a regularized and stable relationship with Beirut. In addition, if Assad wants to retool his creaking economy - especially in an era of profound uncertainty owing to the global financial crisis - he will find no more productive partners than his Lebanese cousins, some of whom are already at work reinvigorating Syria's banking sector.
In turn, Damascus can do wonders to improve Lebanon's fragile security environment by, inter alia, helping it to shore up a state that has been steadily undermined for 30 years (often at Syrian urging). Both countries can benefit from the establishment of formal diplomatic ties within the parameters of mutual respect laid out by Lebanon's president, Michel Sleiman, in his inaugural address. It may take some hard work and some difficult compromises, but the rewards would be well worth the effort for both sides

Geagea urges Egyptian president to help liberate Shebaa Farms
LF leader says Syrian presence along northern border aims to intimidate

By Hussein Abdallah /Daily Star staff
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
BEIRUT: Lebanese Forces (LF) leader Samir Geagea asked Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak during a visit to Cairo to help Lebanon re-establish its sovereignty over the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms. Geagea, who headed a delegation which also included former Minister Joe Sarkis, MP Antoine Zahra, and LF official Joseph Nehme, asked Mubarak to utilize Egypt's friendly relations with the United States in pressuring Israel to withdraw from the occupied territory.
Geagea also asked Mubarak to play a role in convincing Syria of the necessity to sign a joint document with the Lebanese government to emphasize the Lebanese identity of the area. "Signing such document would obligate Israel to withdraw under United Nations Security Council Resolution 425, which it had already implemented in May 2000," he said. "But Israel is still arguing that the Shebaa Farms are part of Syria's territory and is backing its claim by resorting to the UN ... Signing such a document is the fastest way to liberate the remaining part of Lebanon's occupied territory," he added.
The LF leader also discussed with Mubarak the recent Syrian troop build-up along Lebanon's northern border.He argued that the Syrian move was not aimed at preventing border smuggling, as asserted by Damascus. "The troop reinforcement aims at reminding the Lebanese that Syria is still present ... It also aims at putting the residents of the North under pressure ahead of next year's parliamentary elections," Geagea said.
The leading March 14 politician also met on Tuesday with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abu al-Gheit and Arab League chief Amr Moussa. Meanwhile, efforts to reconcile rival Christian leaders are expected to take center stage upon Geagea's return from Cairo and Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun's return from Tehran.The intra-Christian reconciliation is expected to kick off with a meeting between Geagea and Marada leader Suleiman Franjieh. The meeting, to be held at the Presidential Palace, will be attended by Aoun.
The Marada Movement on Tuesday described as "positive" Geagea's approval of Aoun's participation.
"Although three years late, Geagea's decision is a step in the right direction," a Marada statement said, adding that Phalange leader and former President Amin Gemayel was also welcome to attend the meeting.
Also on Tuesday, Aoun said after meeting a number of Iranian MPs in Tehran that Lebanon would live in peace and unity if the "opposition wins the majority of seats in the 2009 polls."Aoun, who started a visit to Tehran on Sunday, met on Tuesday with Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, who praised the retired general for "preserving national unity in Lebanon and supporting the resistance in confronting Israel."Aoun met on Monday with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki.
In another development expected to give pace to the ongoing reconciliation efforts in the country, Future Movement leader Saad Hariri returned to Beirut Tuesday after spending two weeks in Saudi Arabia.
Hariri's return may pave the way for holding a reconciliation meeting between himself and Hizbullah's leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.
Supporters of both leaders engaged in violent clashes last May, leading to Hizbullah's takeover of large swathes of predominantly Sunni western Beirut.
A Hizbullah delegation, headed by MP Mohammad Raad, visited the Future Movement leader late in September to "break the ice" between the two parties and prepare for the Hariri-Nasrallah summit.
Raad is also expected to head a delegation that would meet Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) leader Walid Jumblatt in the coming days.
Officials from Jumblatt's party have already held a series of meeting with representatives from Hizbullah.
The PSP-Hizbullah meetings were held under the auspices of Lebanese Democratic Party leader Talal Arslan.
Sleiman to visit pope at Vatican
VATICAN CITY: Pope Benedict XVI will receive Lebanese President Michel Sleiman at the Vatican at the end of this month, the religious news agency I.Media reported Tuesday.
The 59-year-old Maronite Christian and former Lebanese Armed Forces commander will travel to Vatican City on October 30.
Prior to Sleiman's election as president in May, and following months of political paralysis in the Middle Eastern country, Pope Benedict had urged Lebanese leaders to unify as a "symbol" of peaceful coexistence among different religious communities. - The Daily Star

Gemayel for Further Normalization of Syrian-Lebanese Relations
Naharnet/Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel on Tuesday welcomed a move by Syrian President Bashar Assad towards setting up diplomatic with Lebanon and called for settling pending issues between the two states. Gemayel, in a statement, said: "This is what the Lebanese people have been waiting for."
Gemayel specifically called for settling the issue of Lebanese citizens missing in Syrian jails and demarcating the joint borders. He called for further "normalization of relations" between Lebanon and Syria. On arresting members of the alleged terrorist cell blamed for the Tripoli bombings, Gemayel said: "This is evidence that the Lebanese Army is capable of keeping the situation under control." Beirut, 14 Oct 08, 21:46

France Welcomes Assad's Move on Lebanon Ties
Naharnet/France on Tuesday welcomed Syrian President Bashar Assad's decree to set up diplomatic ties with Lebanon as a "positive step."A foreign ministry spokesman said the Assad decree "falls in line with a process that had started in Paris." He was referring to the summit conference that groups French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Assad, Lebanon's Michel Suleiman and the Emir of Qatar Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani on July 12. "The decree has yet to be implemented. However, we cannot but express our satisfaction with the decree and consider it a positive indication," the French foreign ministry spokesman said.
Beirut, 14 Oct 08, 20:32

Jumblat Welcomes Assad's Decree on Ties with Lebanon
Naharnet/Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat on Tuesday termed a decree by Syrian President Bashar Assad to set up diplomatic ties with Lebanon a "positive development." However, Jumblat said it is the "beginning of a long march to build, step by step, sound relations with Syria." Lebanon, according to Jumblat, awaits Syria to "fulfill its commitment by demarcating borders with Lebanon so that we can regain the Shebaa Farms to Lebanese sovereignty."
In answering a question as to whether the Assad decree would affect the deployment of Syrian troops off Lebanon's borders, Jumblat said: "The deployment is on Syrian territory and this is an internal Syrian topic." Beirut, 14 Oct 08, 16:27

Geagea, Mubarak Discuss Shebaa Farms, Syrian Troop Buildup
Naharnet/Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea discussed Tuesday with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak the political situation in Lebanon, particularly the issues of the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms and Syrian troop buildup along the border with Lebanon. Geagea told reporters in Cairo that he believed the Syrian deployment was aimed at putting "moral pressure on the residents of northern Lebanon with (parliamentary) elections nearing."
Geagea -- accompanied by MP Antoine Zahra, Ex-Minister Joe Sarkis and LF's Foreign Affairs Official Joseph Nehmeh -- traveled to Cairo on Monday night in a previously unannounced visit that will last several days. He is expected to meet Tuesday with Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit, Arab League chief Amr Moussa and other officials. The pan-Arab daily al-Hayat on Tuesday, citing well-informed Egyptian sources, pointed that Geagea is a leading figure of the ruling March 14 coalition. The sources said his visit, the first to Cairo, reflects a new trend by both Geagea and his party to establish contacts with Arab states, the beginning of which will be in the Egyptian capital. They also pointed to the "importance of this move by the Lebanese Forces in strengthening Lebanese-Arab relations
" Beirut, 14 Oct 08, 12:59

Marada Hails Geagea's Approval to Aoun's Participation in Reunion
Naharnet/Marada Movement hailed as "positive" Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea's approval to the participation of Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun in the upcoming Christian reconciliation. In a statement issued by the movement on Tuesday, Marada said it hoped Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel would also be present "so the Christian scene would be complete."Marada called on the Maronite League to set up a committee made up of the parties taking part in the reconciliation and sponsor agreement. Beirut, 14 Oct 08, 11:11

Wood Fire Prompts University Evacuation, Burns House, Wounds 4
Naharnet/Four firefighters were wounded while combating a huge blaze that spread across wild woods in the Chouf Mountains southeast of Beirut Tuesday.
The Civil Defense Directorate said one of its volunteers and three Lebanese Army soldiers were wounded while fighting the blaze in the woods of Dibbiyeh, Serjbal, Zaarouriyeh and Dmit. Fire stretched close to population centers which prompted evacuation of the Beirut Arab University Campus in Dibbiyeh, the Civil Defense Directorate announced. The blaze destroyed at least one house despite efforts by 24 fire engines and three helicopters to contain it. The terrain is littered by thousands of anti-personnel land mines since the days of the 1975-1990 civil war, which hinders efforts by land teams trying to extinguish the blaze.
Beirut, 14 Oct 08, 19:45

Chamoun Resigns and Runs for Elections
Naharnet/National Liberal Party leader Dory Chamoun has resigned his post as head of the Deir al-Qamar municipality to run for the 2009 parliamentary elections.
Chamoun told the daily As-Safir his NLP would compete in the forthcoming elections in most of the Mount Lebanon constituencies, particularly in the Chouf, two Metins and Kesrouan.  In answering a question as to whether he has coordinated his move with the Lebanese Forces Party and its Chouf Candidate George Adwan, Chamoun said: "I haven't coordinated with anyone … it is early to take decisive decisions" regarding alliances. He said the NLP avoided running for parliamentary elections in the past years because "we did not want to compete under the umbrella of Syrian occupation." Beirut, 14 Oct 08, 17:41

Amnesty International Condemns Saudi Executions

Naharnet/Saudi Arabia beheaded two men Tuesday, the latest state-sanctioned killings in a country where use of the death penalty has risen sharply in recent years and a disproportionate number of those executed are foreigners, a rights group said. Venancio Ladion, from the Philippines, was beheaded for murdering a Saudi man in Mecca by suffocating him and stabbing him in the neck with a pen. Also put to death was Saudi Fahd al-Shadoukhey for committing theft and rape while under the influence of alcohol. The executions were announced by the Saudi Interior Ministry. They bring the total number of people beheaded in the kingdom this year to 72, according to an Associated Press count. Last year, the number of executions in Saudi Arabia jumped more than four-fold, with 158 people killed compared with 39 the previous year, rights group Amnesty International said in a report.
Amnesty condemned the kingdom's disproportionate execution of foreigners and defendants younger than 18 at the time of their crimes. It said many trials that ordered capital punishment failed to meet international standards for fairness. Under Saudi Arabia's strict interpretation of Islamic Sharia law, people convicted of murder, drug trafficking, rape and armed robbery can be executed. It has routinely been criticized by rights groups for its stand on capital punishment and for ignoring a U.N. call last year for a moratorium on executions.
Lamri Chirouf, a researcher who worked on the report, said it is difficult to know the reasons for the increase because of the secrecy of Saudi Arabia's judicial system. But he pointed to several factors that he said were responsible for making Saudi Arabia one of the few countries to use capital punishment so extensively — the scope of capital crimes is wide, judges have no limits on their discretion to impose the death penalty, and capital cases are summary and secretive.
"All these three factors put together make it very easy to pass the death sentence and carry it out," he said.
Almost half of the 1,800 executions recorded by Amnesty over the last 28 years were of foreigners, it said. Most of them were migrant workers from poor and developing countries in Africa and Asia. Often, those defendants are unable to follow court proceedings in Arabic and have no legal assistance, the report said.
That trend has remained constant over that period, Chirouf said. The report found that foreigners are more vulnerable in capital cases in part because they don't have relatives or anyone else in the country to turn to for help and often lack the language skills to understand proceedings.
It said they also lack the social connections and wealth needed to pay compensation to their victims' families, which in Saudi Arabia can help win a pardon.
"The death penalty is carried out disproportionately and discriminately on national or ethnic grounds against poor foreign workers and against Saudi Arabian nationals who lack the family or other connections that, fortunately, help others to be saved from execution," said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty's Middle East director.
Saudi Arabia is home to 5.6 million foreign workers employed in sectors such as oil, business and engineering. The Saudi population is 22 million.
Amnesty said reforms to what it described as a largely secret and summary criminal justice system have failed to deliver needed changes.
"We had hoped that the much-heralded human rights initiatives introduced by the Saudi Arabian authorities in recent years would bring an end to — or at least a significant reduction in — the use of the death penalty," said Smart. Particularly troubling, the group said, is that Saudi law does not disqualify confessions obtained by torture or other illegal means.(AP) Beirut, 15 Oct 08, 06:28

Tories get another minority, but a stronger one
Don Martin, National Post
Published: Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Leah Hennel, Canwest News ServiceConservative leader Stephen Harper celebrates his win in Calgary, Oct. 14, 2008.
CALGARY -- The Calgary convention centre crowd was strangely muted until their leader took the stage, party faithful clearly disappointed at finishing just shy of absolute power. They needn't fret. The Conservatives have won a majority in political power if not in name. Prime Minister Stephen Harper finished close to his dream of painting half the Commons seats a dark blue on Tuesday night with about 143 seats, less than a dozen shy of his end-to-dysfunctionality control goal for Parliament. Riding an unexpected jump in economy-spooked Ontario's support, which gave them six new seats ringing the Liberal's Toronto fortress, the Conservatives are now set to lead the an absolute-power minority, perhaps the strongest in history. To the relief of campaign-weary Canadians, who voted their displeasure with the lowest voter turnout in history, this result ends the threat of another election for two years or more.With the Liberals a fading force, losing popular vote in four consecutive elections, and a do-over leadership convention on the horizon for 2009, Mr. Harper will have an even weaker Liberal opponent to tackle with even less money to fight back.
His crime and economic agenda can confidently run roughshod over the Liberals, whose defining position is going to be the fetal curl until the Official Opposition gets its act together, which could take years. There will be grumbles that Mr. Harper had his three strikes at elevating the Conservatives into the majority stratosphere and has hit an electoral ceiling of voter support. There will be people who argue breaking the spirit of his own fixed election laws and squandering $300-million for an election when only about three dozen seats changed hands was a waste of time and effort.
And there's bound to be a backlash against Quebec's fickle election voting behaviour, embracing do-nothing Bloc Quebecois while denying the Conservatives a critical payoff. That may well be the big aftershock of this vote -- how a minuscule arts funding cut and an optional youth sentencing provision could derail the Conservative's cruise-control to a majority, this after the government crafted so many policies and programs to appease Quebec.
The next time the prime minister advocates a Quebec-only benefit or directs great gobs of political payola toward that province, he will face grinding-teeth objections from inside his western base.
But Mr. Harper's leadership is obviously secure given the strong results with apparent gains in every other region of the country.
He can, if he wants, take a fourth grasp for a supersized mandate, although given a victory speech that basically echoed the agenda he left behind to force the election, might not be necessary to accomplish his goals. The discipline of power and Mr. Harper's legendary control tendencies will keep any disgruntled MPs with leadership ambitions cowering in the corner until the prime minister decides to leave.
The same cannot be said for Liberal leader Stephane Dion. He had competition from defeated Green leader Elizabeth May for the night's biggest loser, but at least Ms. May lost a seat she couldn't win and her party's share of the vote went up. Mr. Dion had no such comfort to fall back on after losing 19 seats to finish below what even John Turner posted in 1988. He lost Atlantic heavyweight Robert Thibault and Toronto maverick Garth Turner to the Conservatives, while giving his rivals a toehold on P.E.I. for the first time in more than 30 years.
The third minority in a row opens up multitudes of options as Canada's political parties regroup over the election post-mortems to see if it's finally time to form a coalition of the willing on the left to finally challenge Conservatives settling in for a long run in power.
Mr. Dion cannot last, of course. He may try, insisting he's no quitter, but if he refuses to leave voluntarily he will suffer the same mutiny of caucus support experienced by former Canadian Alliance leader Stockwell Day in 2001. At best, he's a marker holding a symbolic leadership until a convention to crown his replacement can be organized. I'm betting he's gone within a month, replaced by interim leader Ralph Goodale.
New Democrat Jack Layton, for his part, can claim better than expected results and will stand pat, waiting for his next deluded run to become prime minister. He was in danger of losing his only Quebec seat, thus getting rid of a wannabe leader Thomas Mulcair, and at this writing had a shocking lead for an Edmonton, where caucus chair Rahim Jaffer was behind at press time.
He also deserves considerable credit for resonating with voters with hard-targeted message on jobs long before the rest of his opponents grasped the ballot box issue. And so, with another minority the ultimate result of this oddball dirty campaign, the question remains: Has the dysfunctionality of Parliament that prompted this election been resolved -- or merely extended?

OTTAWA - Canadians have elected a record number of women to the House of Commons.

By The Canadian Press
With winners declared in nearly all ridings across the country, 68 women were slated to join the ranks of Canada's political elite, said Equal Voice, a non-partisan group dedicated to boosting the influence of women in politics. The previous high-water mark was 65 women, or 21.1 per cent, elected in 2004. That fell slightly in 2006 to 64 women, although subsequent byelections added two more female voices to the Commons.
"We are pleased with the growing awareness by Canadians that we need more women in elected office," Raylene Lang-Dion, Equal Voice's national chairwoman, said in a statement. "We urge Prime Minister Harper to respond by appointing women to half of the cabinet positions - and ensuring that women are represented well among the senior ministries." Going into Tuesday's election, Canada ranked 51st internationally when it came to female representation in federal parliaments.
A record number of female candidates were running in Tuesday's election: 437 of 1,593 candidates, or 27 per cent. All the major parties boosted the proportion of females on their rosters. The Liberals ran a record number of women for any party - 113 women or 37 per cent.
The NDP fielded 104 women or 34 per cent of its candidates. The Bloc had 21 women, or 28 per cent, on its slate of 75 candidates.
The Green party ran 89 women, or 29 per cent, including Leader Elizabeth May. The Conservatives continued to have the worst record with respect to women, despite boosting their numbers somewhat over the 2006 election. They ran 60 women this time, just 20 per cent

An Islamic rule of law for Lebanon?
By Muhamad Mugraby
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
There is little doubt that Lebanon has no future as an independent and democratic political entity without the establishment of, and full respect for, the rule of law. The question is: Which rule of law? A rule of law on the legal tradition which Lebanon borrowed from Western Europe, which may be referred to as the "civil rule of law," or a rule of law based on Lebanon's pre-statehood and original tradition of Islamic law, which could correctly be called the "Islamic rule of law?" The failure of the civil rule of law to take hold would make it inevitable for the Islamic rule of law to take over.
Among the most elementary requirements for the civil rule of law which Lebanon had to observe is the development of a body of statutes sanctioned by a legitimate legislature, constitutionally established (i. e. a duly elected parliament). This task has been mostly fulfilled by borrowing and Arabizing text from French law. But so far many other necessary requirements have not been met, such as, by way of illustration:
A. The existence of one legitimate constitutional government, recognized by the people as legitimate and sovereign, with all three branches constituted as per the constitution: the executive (Cabinet), the legislative (Parliament) and the judicial (courts of law), governed by law and accountable in accordance with the law with honor and integrity.
B. Equality under the law with no discrimination for reasons such as religion or gender, already provided under Article 7 of the Constitution.
C. Equal application of the law, which requires consistency in interpretation of the rules and in their application to citizens.
D. Respect for human rights, particularly in the prevention of arbitrary detention and all forms of torture, safeguarding the rights of defense and avoidance of denial of justice.
Lebanon's dismal failure on all these fronts flagrantly and flatly contradicts its subscription, in its statute book, to the West European legal model. Hence, a full and candid diagnosis is urgently called for.
It would not be an exaggeration to recognize that the entire modern political history of the Republic of Lebanon revolves around the open issue of maintaining Maronite Christian political supremacy, or at least parity, vis-ˆ-vis Lebanon's Muslims. This issue has produced the strongest impediment to the emergence of a true Lebanese national consciousness based on a true national identity and citizenship, with full respect for the rule of law.
Role of the Maronite Church
The central role of the Maronite Church, before and after Lebanon achieved statehood, and its political leadership of a distinctly Christian political establishment, cannot be ignored. The rise of the power of the Maronite Church must be seen in its historical perspective. This church started as independent and outside the mainstream before reaching full affiliation with the Roman Catholic Church.
The Roman Catholic Church had little or no presence in the Middle East until the Crusades. The first crusade commenced in 1096 on the calling of Pope Urban II in the Council of Clemont which he had convened on November 25, 1095. It took two centuries for the various crusades to be finally defeated. Within that period, the Roman Catholic Church established increasingly strong links with various independent Middle Eastern churches, including the Maronite Church, leading, by the 18th century, to the full incorporation of the Maronite Church as an autonomous unit of the Roman Catholic Church and, by the 20th century, to the patriarch of the Maronite Church becoming a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.
The Crusades
French crusaders long before established a special relationship with the Maronite community, and many Maronites fought along their side. It is said that a delegation of 25,000 Maronites went to Acre, Palestine, to welcome the landing of the French Crusader-King Louis IX in 1250. Later that year, Louis IX sent the Maronite Church a letter of commitment in which he stated: "We are persuaded that this nation that we found established under the name of St. Maroon is part of the French Nation. For its friendship to the French resembles the friendship among themselves."
Louis IX promised protection to the Maronite patriarch and his flock similar to that accorded to the French themselves. The French king was declared a saint by the Catholic Church after he led three unsuccessful crusading campaigns into Egypt, Palestine and Tunisia, with the last of his crusades ending with his death.
The Crusades came to a final end with the defeat of the crusaders in Tripoli in 1289 followed by their defeat in Acre in 1291. In the ensuing battles in the hills around Tripoli with certain Maronite forces formerly allied with the crusaders, Maronite Patriarch Antoine himself was killed. It was unprecedented that a leader of the Christian clergy was killed by Muslim soldiers.
Sykes-Picot
The Republic of Lebanon stands on territories that were, for several centuries, part of the Ottoman Sultanate, and before that, from the seventh century AD, of many Islamic kingdoms commencing with the three historic Caliphates of the Rashideen, the Umayyads and the Abbasids. The French claimed the Ottoman territories of Syria, including those that were to become the State of Greater Lebanon, pursuant to a secret pact they had concluded with Britain on May 16, 1916, called the Sykes-Picot Agreement, defining the way the two countries wished to distribute among themselves the Ottoman territories of the Middle East after the expected defeat of the Ottomans in World War I. In short, the agreement allotted Iraq and Palestine to the British and Syria and Lebanon to the French. The Sykes-Picot Agreement was in sharp conflict with the pact that the British had with the Arab Kingdom of Hijaz led by Prince (later King) Faisal, a kingdom that fielded military forces that fought the Ottomans on the British side. So Faisal entered Damascus and established his government there on the faith of the Arab-British agreement. He accepted the declaration of loyalty from Beirut and Baabda, the seat of the autonomous Sunjuk of Mount Lebanon, and his flags were raised both in Beirut and in Baabda.
The Sykes-Picot Agreement was revealed by Lenin following the Bolshevik Revolution, and it became a matter of time before the true intentions of the allies, France and Britain, were tested. When Faisal refused to relinquish Damascus peacefully, the French Army, led by General Henri Gouraud, defeated the Arab army at Maysaloun, on the outskirts of Damascus, on July 24, 1920, and, the following day, entered the city triumphantly. The French general promptly visited the tomb of Saladin and announced to the dead Muslim hero that his people, known to the contemporaries of Saladin as the "Franks," were indeed back. After securing Damascus, Gouraud returned to Beirut where, on August 31, 1920, he issued a decree declaring the annexation of the occupied Welayat of Beirut, including most of South Lebanon and part of the Bekaa, the Welayat of Tripoli, including Dinnieh and Akkar, and parts of the Welayat of Damascus, being the Qada of Bekaa, the Qada of Baalbek, the Qada of Hasbaya, and the Qada of Rashaya, to Mount Lebanon. The following day, September 1, 1920, Gouraud issued another decree declaring the birth of "Greater Lebanon" from all those territories. On September 29, 1923, France received a League of Nations mandate over Syria and Greater Lebanon. In 1926, Greater Lebanon was renamed the "Republic of Lebanon" under the constitution of May 23 of that year.
Fall of the Ottoman Empire
The peoples of the Middle East were deeply wounded with the resounding defeat of the Ottoman Army at the hands of the British, and the routing of King Faysal's Arab forces at the hands of the French, and were further profoundly insulted by the treachery of the British. Gouraud was a reincarnation of a sort of Louis. Saladin, Kurdish by ancestry, was a native of Baalbek and an all-time Muslim/Arab hero. But now he was being derided in his grave with the remarks of the arrogant French general who believed that he was in Beirut and Damascus to fulfill the mission of the Crusaders. From there on the destiny of the Republic of Lebanon was heavily influenced by the conflict between Western influence, successively led by France, Britain and the United States, and Lebanese aspirations for real independence in harmony with Lebanon's natural Arab/Islamic environment.
Gouraud Declares 'Greater Lebanon'
When General Gouraud was making his announcement of Greater Lebanon, he had Maronite Patriarch Elias Hoayek on his right side. It is true that on Gouraud's left side was the mufti of Beirut, Mustafa Naja. But the mufti's presence was little more than dŽcor. For Patriarch Hoayek had played an active role in the preparation for that historic moment. He had been several times to Paris at the head of delegations of Maronite bishops advocating the Greater Lebanon that became. Many modern-day Lebanese credit Hoayek with responsibility for giving birth to what became the Republic of Lebanon. But the role of the Maronite Church in this event was not confined to the event itself.
The Maronite Church and the Republic of Lebanon
Since September 1, 1920, the leadership of the Maronite Church has, both overtly and covertly, played a major role in Lebanese politics. Under the French mandatory power, the political institutions of the country were dominated by Maronite politicians who were often former employees of the office of the French high commissioner. But no Maronite would serve in any office if vetoed by the church. The patriarch continues to this date to exercise the role of final arbiter among Christian politicians and to exercise a decisive, yet informal, veto power in Lebanese politics as a whole.
In 1920, it was generally assumed by the Maronite Church and the French military command in Beirut that the ratio of Christians to Muslims among the population of Lebanon was 55:45. The population census of 1932 failed to conclusively validate this ratio, and was never repeated. The 55:45 ratio was not given any political significance until the year 1943, when Lebanon declared itself independent despite French objections which were swiftly overridden by the superior British military presence. But it was slightly modified to a 6:5 ratio, which was reflected in the following general elections laws. In 1991, that ratio was updated to 50:50.
Demographic changes
Hand in hand with this last amendment (which was part of the Taif Accord that ended Lebanon's 1975-1990 Civil War), the office of the president continued to be reserved to the Maronites, but was stripped of much of its powers. As no population census was made after 1932, population figures were estimated. Intelligent population guessing today puts that ratio at nearly 20:80 and receding fast as the Muslim Lebanese population is much younger than the Christian Lebanese population and the rate of emigration is substantially higher.
The National Pact
The moment of transition to independence away from France and a partial return to the Arab/Islamic neighborhood marked a new political fiction conveniently called the National Pact, consisting of a reciprocal concession that Lebanon would have an Arabic face, but no more, and that the destiny of Lebanon would be linked neither to France nor to the Arab world, meaning that Lebanon would neither seek political unity with the Arab countries nor political alliance with France and the West. This fiction lasted until February 22, 1958, when the constitutional unity of Syria and Egypt was declared under the leadership of Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser. Lebanon was already suffering from political turmoil marked by divisive general elections under the shadow of a definite political tilt by the Lebanese government in favor of the West. These were the days of the Eisenhower Doctrine and the Baghdad Pact which came on the heels of the tripartite invasion of Egypt by the combined Israeli-British-French military forces, ending in a massive political victory for Nasser that elevated him to the status of a modern-day Saladin. The situation in Lebanon quickly escalated into a rebellion which was further fueled by the fall of the pro-Western monarchy in Baghdad in July of 1958. Soon the American Marines landed in Beirut and did not leave until the commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), General Fouad Chehab, was elected president with the blessings of all concerned, including the Maronite patriarch and President Nasser.
The Chehabist Doctrine
President Chehab's term of office was characterized by the excessive use of army officers in key posts, the rise of the notion of state security based on the expanded activity of army intelligence and justified by a failed coup d'etat, and the building of institutions to apply sectarian parity, 50:50, in the hiring of government employees. In 1964 he was succeeded by Charles Helou, a lawyer and writer hand-picked by Chehab and handled by Chehabist army officers. During Helou's term, the catastrophic defeat of Egypt and Syria in the 1967 war fueled the rise of Palestinian guerrilla organizations under the umbrella of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). In open defiance of Lebanese authorities, those groups based themselves in, and commenced their operations from, South Lebanon in what came later to be known as Fatah Land, named for the PLO's dominant faction.
The Palestinian factor
Lebanese sympathy for the Palestinian cause brought the wrath of Israel on Lebanon. On December 31, 1968, the Israeli Army launched an unprovoked attack on Beirut International Airport and landed soldiers who briefly held the airport and used explosives to destroy every Lebanese civilian aircraft that happened to be there, amounting to the majority of the country's civil fleet, and signaling the beginning of a long and never-ending war between Lebanon and Israel. On November 3, 1969, the Commander of the LAF at the time, General Emile Boustani, signed an agreement with the PLO in Cairo which came to be known as the "Cairo Agreement," officially recognizing the Palestinian military activities in certain areas of South Lebanon and ceding Palestinian refugee settlements to their control.
The rapid expansion in Palestinian military muscle in Lebanon, with PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat taking control of a large section of Beirut for his headquarters, and the lack of an official Lebanese political will to check the Palestinian activities after the very close encounter they had with the Jordanian Army in 1970, fueled sectarian tensions among many Lebanese and provided an excuse for the organization of armed private militias. A general breakdown of law and order followed the attack on a Palestinian bus transiting the neighborhood of Ein al-Remmaneh on April 13, 1975, and the massacring of all its passengers, and precipitated a civil war between the PLO forces and their Lebanese allies under the umbrella of the National Movement ("NM") led by Kamal Jumblatt on the one hand, and the Christian forces of the Tigers, of former President Camille Chamoun, the Phalange Party and their allies. Some elements of the then-fragmented LAF joined forces on both sides. When the collapse of the Christian military front became a matter of hours, the Syrian Army entered the country, with the open and active support and consent of the big powers led by the United States, and swiftly ended the fighting. Its occupation of Lebanon was blessed by the Maronite Christian leaders and camouflaged as an Arab League initiative. The Syrians checked but did not try to end the PLO. They simply put it under a leash. In 1976 a new president was elected, Elias Sarkis, who was a high-ranking civil servant of the Chehabist era and a close ally of Chehab. He was elected in May 1976 at a hotel in the Bekaa under the protection of the Syrian Army.
The South Lebanon Army
The unraveling of the Lebanese Army gave Israel an opportunity in the South Lebanon town of Marjayoun where an army garrison was besieged by the PLO-NM alliance and could not be reached or resupplied from Lebanese territory. Major Saad Haddad took command of this garrison by traveling via Israeli-held territory. Subsequently he became an Israeli ally and the Lebanese Army garrison developed into the South Lebanon Army (SLA) wholly financed, equipped and controlled by Israel. The largest of the Christian militias was borne of the Phalange Party and, after subduing by force the rival Tigers militia, came to be known in the late 1970s as the "Lebanese Forces" (LF). The LF was heavily trained, armed and financed by Israel. In 1978 the Israeli Army staged an invasion of South Lebanon and, in close cooperation with Major Haddad's force, established a "security belt" as a buffer to protect Israeli territory. Limited Israeli operations continued on Lebanese territory intermittently until the major invasion Israel launched on June 4, 1982, which ended the official PLO presence in Beirut and military presence in South Lebanon with the exception of the Palestinian refugee camps. The commander of the Lebanese Forces militia, Bashir Gemayel, son of the founder of the Phalange Pierre Gemayel, was elected president during the Israeli occupation. He was assassinated following the eviction of the PLO forces from Beirut. This was followed by the massive massacre, in the impoverished Beirut suburb of Sabra and Shatila, of countless civilians, Palestinian and Lebanese, by Lebanese Forces militiamen in revenge for the death of Bashir, and the election of Bashir's older brother, Amin, as president with full Israeli and American support. Multi-national European and American forces had already landed in Lebanon, led by American Marines and French paratroopers. They departed following several major attacks, with hundreds of fatalities, including the blowing up of the Marines' compound at Beirut Airport, the headquarters of the French paratroopers not far away from there, and the US Embassy.
The Iraq war and Bashar Assad
The US military returned to the Middle East in force in 1990 to roll back the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait and in 2001-2003 to invade and occupy Iraq and Afghanistan. In spite of the Syrian government's support, under President Hafez Assad, for the 1991 Gulf war directed by President George H. W. Bush, the Syrian government under President Bashar Assad did not back the 2003 invasion of Iraq launched by President George W. Bush and was suspected of having an agenda to help the Iraqi resistance to US occupation. Hence Syria's relationship with the United States deteriorated. As the Iraq war worsened, Bush signed into law on December 12, 2003, the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2003, designed to pressure Assad's government to work more aggressively in fighting terrorism at home and in Iraq. The new law authorized a combination of punitive economic sanctions and diplomatic measures. This signaled a new round of confrontation between the US and Syria. The first battle in this confrontation was Lebanon. The term of the Lebanese president, Emile Lahoud, was to expire in November of 2004. Lahoud, like many of his predecessors, was elected while Syrian troops occupied much of Lebanon. He was considered an ally of Assad. Like most previous Lebanese presidents, Lahoud wished to have a second term in office, although re-election was explicitly forbidden by Article 49 of the Constitution. Parliament had extended the term of his predecessor, Elias Hrawi, for three years through a constitutional amendment. Lahoud thought it was fair for him to receive a similar extension. But the United States and France, which had cast a blind eye on the term extension of Hrawi, were now opposed to the Lahoud extension. After months of speculation on this issue, a semi-official press release was issued on behalf of Lahoud on August 24, 2004, asserting his willingness to serve a new full term in office pursuant to a new constitutional amendment which the United States and its allies openly opposed.
The shift from Shariah to French law
For most of the 19th century and the early part of the 20th, the Ottoman Sultanate was undergoing vast legal reforms as part of a comprehensive modernization process to enable its full participation the European community of nations. The centerpiece of the reforms was the codification of Islamic Shariah. The new code was called Majallat al-Ahkam al-Adliah, or the Code of Justice Rules. A significant part of this code is still in effect in Lebanon. In the early part of the 20th century two more modern laws were enacted: the Code of Judicial Procedure, which remained in force in Lebanon until superseded by the Code of Civil Procedure in 1932, and the Law of Associations, which remains in force until the present day.
Parts of the Arabic language are often abused in translation into other languages. The most significant example is the name "Allah" which is simply Arabic for "God," just as "Dieu" is for the French. Similarly, the Arabic word Sharia is Arabic for "law" or "legislation." Its various derivatives are still used as basic legal terms in Arab and Islamic countries. The Islamic tradition highly valued Islamic Shariah as a pillar of human society. Islamic Shariah was chiefly concerned with the sanctity of life, the sanctity of private property and the sanctity of contracts. Under the heading of contracts one does not only find private contracts and promises but constitutional contracts and international treaties as well. The most famous constitutional contract in Islamic history is the pact that was entered into by the Prophet Mohammad and the three groups that constituted the population of Medina: the Muslim immigrants from Mecca, the Muslims of Medina and the Jews of Medina. It stated that, together, the three groups constituted an independent nation, and set forth the rights and obligations of the citizens and groups thereunder. The major towns that were taken by the Muslims as part of what is known as the Futouh - the plural of the Arabic word fateh, which means an "opening up" but is commonly, and erroneously, translated as "conquest" - were opened to the Muslims peacefully under written pacts with the community elders of each, where the Muslims pledged to protect the security of their lives and property. Hence the spectacular early Islamic Futouh were not accompanied by bloodshed among civilians or the destruction of cities. Thus Islamic Shariah maintained and greatly expanded upon the earlier culture of the covenants that distinguished the traditions of the prophets Ibrahim and Moses. But, unlike those covenants, the Islamic contracts were of a secular nature and made among people and not between prophets and God.
Protection of minorities
From the dawn of the Islamic era following the Futouh, a legal regime was put in place to protect the religious minorities called ahl alzimma. Church leaderships enjoyed great autonomy in religious communal matters and original jurisdiction over family law, and cooperated closely with the Islamic state's political leadership. Most of the Christian churches of the Middle East had, and continue to have, deep roots in the Islamic world.
Fall of the Islamic rule of law
So when the French expeditionary force landed in Beirut in October of 1919, there already was a strong legal tradition in place based on a rich mix of Islamic Shariah and modern Ottoman codes which gave rise to a distinctive and powerful Islamic rule of law, which the French proceeded to put an end to without ever succeeding in establishing a viable alternative thereto.
The French generals and other high commissioners who followed pursuant to the military occupation and the League of Nations Mandate saw to it that the Republic of Lebanon did not only have a liberal constitution modeled on the French one, albeit with restricted sovereignty, but that a series of statutes were issued modeled on French law. The jurisdiction of the Islamic Shariah courts, which before Gouraud exercised general jurisdiction as the courts of common law, was restricted to family law and inheritance, and their common law role was replaced by a new system of civil courts modeled after the French judiciary with a backbone of mixed courts where Lebanese and French judges sat by side in tribunals often chaired by French judges. As a result Lebanon received a legacy of civil law that, bit by bit, superseded the Islamic Shariah system. What enabled this vast legal development was the establishment in Beirut in 1913 of a Jesuit law school affiliated with a French university at Lyons. This school did not become fully functional until the French occupation of Lebanon. Most of its students were Maronite. From there on it supplied all the judges and a majority of the legislators, ministers, prime ministers and presidents. Until the late 1950s it enjoyed a total monopoly on legal education in Lebanon. If it had the rule of law among its mission statement, it certainly did not make of it much of a success.
A new call for the protection of ahl alzimma?
What happened is that the Maronite Church, followed by the Maronite political establishment, always endeavored to have its cake and to eat it too. It not only sought to maintain the privileges enjoyed by the Maronite community under its leadership under the Ottoman Empire as a protected minority in accordance with the Sharia rules applicable to ahl alzimma, and to expand those privileges, but also opted for the exercise of political hegemony based on the theoretically superior numbers of Christians, constantly ignoring Article 7 of the Constitution. This slowly but surely gave rise to a growing reaction among other religious communities with many communal politicians calling for similar or opposite privileges. Hence a perverted political discourse took hold, which continues with frightening manifestations to this day, marked by conflicting calls for "restoring" and/or "safeguarding" the perceived rights of each and every religious community, but not of human rights or the rights of citizens. When the number of Maronites in Lebanon dwindled dramatically, politicians from the communities who made the new majority naturally aimed for hegemony based on numbers. Consequently, the Maronite Church, followed by Maronite politicians, openly sought reinforcement of protection for the old privileges, much in the zimma tradition. In a way the Maronite Church and politicians may not have realized, they effectively voted for the restoration of the Islamic rule of law with all the safeguards for minorities it embodies, and against the civil rule of law based on the notion of equality and non-discrimination. Such behavior, and the behavior of the Maronite political establishment as a whole, makes the advent of the Islamic rule of law unavoidable.
The alternative
The alternative would have been for the Maronite political establishment to recognize that, in the long run, real and effective protection for the Maronites is the same as real and effective protection for all the religious communities of Lebanon, and lies mainly in the recognition of the equality of all Lebanese based on human rights and the protection of the civil rule of law. This alternative is still open but it may vanish before long. Choosing this alternative would necessitate a swift and convincing change in the political discourse beginning with the dropping of the "rights of Christians" slogan and the launch of a credible effort to put together a cross-communal political coalition to wage a national campaign for the civil rule of law.
**Muhamad Mugraby is a Lebanese lawyer, human rights defender and president of the Center for Democracy and the Rule of Law. He wrote this article for THE DAILY STAR.