LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS
BULLETIN
April 05/08
Bible Reading of the day.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to
Saint John 6,1-15. After this, Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee (of Tiberias).
A large crowd followed him, because they saw the signs he was performing on the
sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples.
The Jewish feast of Passover was near. When Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a
large crowd was coming to him, he said to Philip, "Where can we buy enough food
for them to eat?"He said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was
going to do. Philip answered him, "Two hundred days' wages worth of food would
not be enough for each of them to have a little (bit)."One of his disciples,
Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him,
There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are
these for so many? Jesus said, "Have the people recline." Now there was a great
deal of grass in that place. So the men reclined, about five thousand in number.
Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were
reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted. When they had had
their fill, he said to his disciples, "Gather the fragments left over, so that
nothing will be wasted." So they collected them, and filled twelve wicker
baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves that had been more than they
could eat.When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, "This is truly
the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world."Since Jesus knew that they
were going to come and carry him off to make him king, he withdrew again to the
mountain alone.
Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special Reports
The Winning Side of the Iraq Campaign.By: Walid Phares
04.04.08
Eye on Lebanon: The Republic of Lebanon? By: Manuela
Paraipan 04.04.08
Reverse Success. Hassan Haider.Dar Al-Hayat 04/04/08
Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for April 04/08
Victims of Lebanon's Bloody Celebrations-Naharnet
Israel Sends Syria, Hizbullah Contradictory Messages-Naharnet
Assad says no peace, reconciliation or solution for Lebanon-Ya
Libnan
Iran Denies Building Bugs in Syria-Fars News Agency
Moallem: Syria willing to renew peace talks with Israel-Jerusalem
Post
Eye on Lebanon: The Republic of Lebanon?International Analyst
Network
Teachers' strike among 'most
successful' in union's history-Daily
Star
Kuwait to mediate between
Riyadh, Damascus - daily-Daily
Star
Attorneys press demand for
release of ex-generals held in Hariri hit-Daily
Star
Suleiman warns Lebanese are
'fed up' with political impasse-Daily
Star
Hizbullah warns against Us
designs on Lebanon-Daily
Star
Khreis says Berri to delay
talks if Moussa succeeds-Daily
Star
Future MP wants president
first, dialogue second-Daily
Star
The only acceptable number of
land-mine victims is zero-Daily
Star
Proposal for a new electoral
law and a meaningful mounassafah-Daily
Star
Lebanon takes dive in World
Bank's Knowledge Economy Index-Daily
Star
China signs agreement to build
oil refinery in Syria-AFP
Audeh calls for MPs to 'do
their duties-Daily
Star
Universities and cities can
help each other-Daily
Star
Safadi Foundation launches 'She
is Going to Work' project-Daily
Star
Four new documentaries aim to
promote tourism-Daily
Star
Palestinians still lacking
rights - report-Daily
Star
Iran assembles more advanced centrifuges, diplomats say-AP
Schools Closed, Teachers on Strike-Naharnet
European Neighbourhood Policy – LEBANON-Edubourse.com (Communiqués de presse)
Israel: Hizbullah Will not Avenge Mughniyeh
Killing-Naharnet
Lebanon's army chief threatens to quit presidential race if ...International
Herald Tribune
Syria detains prominent human rights activist-Monsters and Critics.com
Syria confirms, Iran denies Israeli comments on listening stations-Monsters
and Critics.com
Conflicting Statements on Monitoring Stations-Asharq Alawsat
Victims of Lebanon's Bloody
Celebrations
The frequent celebratory gunfire in this heavily armed city is killing Beirut,
literally, as one man's burst of joy turns into another's mourning.
The parents of 14-year-old Ahmed Ali al-Sahili know this all too well -- they
lost their son when a bullet pierced his skull as he played outside their home
in the capital's suburbs.
And Sonia Saade, 49, thought her ulcer was acting up when a pain so sudden and
sharp knocked her off her feet as she walked to a pharmacy. She didn't learn it
was a bullet until emergency room doctors spotted a small stain on her T-shirt
and ordered an X-ray.
The two are among a growing list of Lebanese falling victim to celebratory
gunfire that rings out across the capital and other regions when one of the
country's feuding political leaders makes a televised speech.
No sooner does Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah, majority leader Saad Hariri or
any other of the country's top officials take to the air than the rat-tat-tat of
gunfire reverberates through Beirut. Supporters of the Western-backed ruling
coalition and the Hizbullah-led opposition seem locked in a race on whose leader
can draw more celebratory shots or even rocket-propelled-grenades when he
appears on television.
"This is an uncivilized reaction and reflects Lebanon's unstable political
situation," General Achraf Rifi, head of Lebanon's Internal Security Forces,
told AFP, referring to the long-running crisis between the country's pro- and
anti-Syrian camps that has left the country without a president since November.
"Our children are dying for nothing in a barbaric fashion," said an outraged
Rifi. "We must all bear responsibility, especially after the death of this young
child."
Al-Sahili was hit by a stray bullet fired during a speech on March 28 by Fouad
Saniora, the Western-backed premier who was addressing the nation on the eve of
the Arab League summit in Damascus. The bullet shattered the boy's skull and
lodged in his neck. He died on Thursday, never regaining consciousness.
Another teenager, 19, died in March, also from a bullet to the head during a
speech by former minister Talal Arslan, a member of the opposition.
Saade, meanwhile, was hit in the chest by a bullet fired during a recent speech
by Nasrallah, whose militant group is locked in a fierce political struggle with
Saniora's ruling coalition. Doctors who treated her called her survival
miraculous, largely thanks to the fact she was steps away from a hospital. The
bullet entered neatly through her chest and plunged straight down to stop near a
kidney, causing massive internal damage.
"She was barely conscious when she got to the hospital and was operated on by
three surgeons for four hours," said Fayez Abillama, one of her doctors. "She is
lucky to be alive."Rifi's office said since February of last year, when police
began keeping statistics, 12 people had fallen victim to celebratory shots.
"The political leaders need to act to put an end to this situation," he said.
There are also numerous reports of stray bullets hitting cars and buildings.
The Saudi embassy in Beirut said the car of one of its diplomats was hit
recently, as was a convoy for former Lebanese premier Selim al-Hoss.
Premier Saniora, in a statement Thursday, also condemned the practice and urged
all political and religious leaders to appeal to their followers to express
their support in a more civilized fashion.
Parliament speaker and opposition leader Nabih Berri for his part has vowed not
to make any more live television appearances, in light of the volleys of
celebratory gunfire that explode each time he speaks. Security officials say
although the practice is banned and police are out in force when one of the
leaders speaks, they have made no arrests, in part due to the fact that some
areas of the capital are off-limits to them.
"There are areas, such as the Dahiye (southern suburbs of Beirut controlled by
Hizbullah) or the Palestinian refugee camps where my forces cannot enter," Rifi
said.
"So politicians need to start acting responsibly and impress upon their
followers that this has to stop." Saade, who was released from hospital last
week, said she never imagined that the celebratory shots she heard each time a
leader spoke on television would almost kill her. "Unfortunately, I don't think
it will change," she told AFP. "It is up to us to take cover in our home when
one of them speaks." Ali Krayem, general manager of the hospital where al-Sahili
was transported, said he was outraged that a young boy who had been playing
soccer with his friends would fall victim to Lebanon's political crisis. "We've
had about six people hospitalized in the last six months because of this
celebratory gunfire," he said. "The politicians should either shut up or leave
this country because people want to live in peace.(AFP) Beirut, 04 Apr 08, 16:01
Reverse Success
Hassan Haidar -Al Hayat - 03/04/08//
Is the testimony of the Syrian officials themselves, as well as that of the
Lebanese "Nasser Kandil, Michel Aoun and Wiam Wahhab" chorus, enough evidence of
the "success" of the Damascus Summit? Both before and during the summit, Syria
has made strenuous efforts to give the impression that it was at ease with the
proceedings as well as the results; that it had achieved a "great victory" by
breaking its isolation; and that it is mainly concerned with "reinforcing Arab
solidarity and stimulating joint Arab action" and other habitual clichés. Such a
success could only be ensured by Syria's attempts to obscure the issue of
Lebanon and to make it seem merely an internal crisis that should not be
overrated.
But Syria's lack of concern did not manage to conceal the truth: that Lebanon
and Syria's approach to its crisis were in fact the chief concern of all those
present, and of all those absent as well. If Lebanon's crisis is indeed a local
one, then why did most of the major Arab leaders stay away from the summit?
According to Syria's reasoning, shouldn't Beirut's decision to boycott it have
lifted the burden off the summit's shoulders and allowed it to take place under
normal circumstances? In the light of the discontent of the two most prominent
Arab states and the rest of the moderate states, isn't Damascus' attempt to
contain Lebanon's crisis within its borders an unintentional acknowledgment that
the real problem lies with Syria itself, and with its regional policy?
Egypt and Saudi Arabia have tried hard to convince Syria that, after having
withdrawn its troops from Lebanon under wide popular pressure after the
assassination of Rafic Hariri, it had become, by virtue of proximity and
relations, one of the players on the Lebanese scene, but not the only player. No
one is denying that Syria has strategic and security interests in Lebanon, but
such interests should not be used as a pretext to threaten Lebanon's security
and stability. Syria's interests in Lebanon can be preserved through normal
relations, as they exist between any two Arab States. But Syria has insisted on
dealing with Lebanon as a "backyard" under its complete control. Syria considers
that the future, and perhaps the fate, of its regime lies in its ability to
contain the "blow" that withdrawing from Lebanon represents, with the
development of a majority popular movement demanding Syria to establish peer
relations and to stop interfering in Lebanon's domestic affairs.
By such standards, one may say that Syria has "succeeded" with its intransigence
in obstructing the balance sought by the Arabs in Lebanon: a balance between
efforts to rebuild Lebanon and save its economy, and attempts to maintain it as
a "hostage on demand" used to pressure this or that state, or as a bargaining
chip in negotiations and tradeoffs. Syria has rejected Arab and international
advice to stop "fighting" Israel by proxy from Lebanon, as it has for the past
three decades or more, a policy it has abided by since discovering in 1973 that
it was unable to win a traditional war against Tel-Aviv.
The story of Syria's monopoly of Lebanon is an old one, as old as its first
intervention in 1975. Soon after the first bullet of Lebanon's civil war was
fired, the decision was taken to form an Arab Deterrent Force. Within a short
time, with the help of threats and bombings, the ADF had transformed into a
strictly Syrian force, taking orders from Damascus alone. At the time, the Arabs
decided not to confront Syria, who pretexted the demands of its own security, as
well as the "strategic balance" with Israel, to impose its control over Lebanon
and mass weapons and troops on Lebanese soil, despite continued Arab attempts to
curtail its ambitions. Today, Damascus has ruptured the concept of Arab
Solidarity itself by putting its capabilities and its influence in the Arab
world at the service of Iran's growing influence, as in the case of Hezbollah
and Hamas, as well as in Iraq. By so doing, not only does Syria threaten the
Arab system and the mechanisms of its action, it also purposely relinquishes an
Arab immunity it may need as the date of the International Tribunal draws near
Israel Sends Syria, Hizbullah Contradictory Messages
Naharnet/Israel has sent "calming" messages to Damascus despite news of
escalation and talk about beefed up military presence along the northern border.
Israeli circles, however, expected tension to heighten along the northern border
with Lebanon and Syria for fear of a retaliatory attack by Hizbullah to avenge
the killing of its top commander Imad Mughniyeh. The contradictory messages to
Syria and Hizbullah were confusing. While some of them spoke about new scenarios
of a possible Israeli aggression along the northern border, senior Israeli
officials confirmed that Israel had no intention of launching a new assault.
Meanwhile, the daily al-Quds al-Arabi said Syria and Israel have exchanged
"peaceful messages" against the backdrop of rising tension following Mughniyeh's
assassination. Ynet News, citing Arab media, said Damascus began two weeks ago
to boost its forces on the Lebanon border in the Bekaa area.
It said Syria also has raised alert levels and has called up reservists for
training. Hizbullah, for its part, is attempting to complete its readiness to
halt any Israeli tanks push into southern Lebanon and to upgrade the rockets
deployed north of the Litani River, Ynet News said on its website. Beirut, 04
Apr 08, 12:33
Assad says no peace, reconciliation or solution for Lebanon
Friday, 4 April, 2008 @ 5:05 PM
Beirut & Damascus - A senior Arab official who took part in the Arab summit held
in Syria last weekend, revealed on Friday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
wants to adhere to "three Nos" in dealing with the Lebanon crisis in the next
stage: "No peace, No reconciliation, No solution."
The official stressed that the Assad regime was not at all willing to reach a
solution on Lebanon "since such a settlement calls for implementation of Arab as
well as Security Council resolutions - both of which call for supporting
Lebanon's independence, sovereignty as well as the international tribunal.
He said Assad wants a "Syrian solution" to the Lebanon crisis such as Arab and
foreign states will give such a settlement the "necessary support."
The official said Assad was betting that "Syria's determination" to topple the
Lebanese government is "stronger than Arab or international willpower," adding
that Damascus is relying on its allies, particularly Hizbullah. He stressed that
the Syrian regime will not hesitate to use all sorts of "weapons, cards and
pressure," including the possibility of a Lebanon-Israel outbreak of war.
Source: Naharnet
Iran Denies Building Bugs in Syria
TEHRAN (FNA)- An Iranian diplomat rebuffed an Israeli claim that Tehran is
building listening stations in Syria to intercept Israeli military
communications.
"This is not the first time that Israeli sources give such false news," the
media advisor at the Iranian embassy in Damascus told al-Sharq al-Awsat
newspaper on Thursday. The embassy official said any cooperation between Syrian
and Iranian private firms in telephone and cell phone projects is taken by
Western media to be listening stations. "But if Syria built listening stations,
then it would have the right to in the same way Israel does," the diplomat said.
A Syrian member of parliament and head of Syrian-Iranian relations committee,
Mohammed Habash, told the al-Sharq al-Awsat the real objective of Syrian
cooperation with Russia, China and Iran is to protect the country and the
listening stations in Syria are not secret.
"We are still at war with Israel," Habash said, adding that his country has the
right to defend itself with all means within international law.
Moallem: Syria willing to renew talks
By JPOST.COM STAFF
Syria is willing to renew peace negotiations with Israel, but only "if Israel
shows seriousness," the London-based daily Al-Hayat quoted Syrian Foreign
Minister Walid Moallem as saying Friday morning. The paper also said that Israel
and Syria had exchanged reassuring messages amid reports of rising tensions
along the northern border. Moallem, who was meeting with ambassadors from the
European Union, added, however, that "We must be on alert for any Israeli
attack."
According to a report in the Sudanese News Agency Moallem said that Western
pressure on his country would intensify and assessed that the United States
might try to foment new crises and perhaps even a new war in the region. He also
said that negotiations between Israel and Syria "must not come instead of the
Palestinians." As the IDF maintains its high level of alert along the northern
border, defense officials revealed on Thursday that in recent weeks - due to the
escalation in tensions with Damascus - the air force has increased the number of
times it has had to scramble jets to the border, fearing an infiltration by a
Syrian aircraft. At the same time, however, intelligence officials attributed
Syrian military movements near the border more to nervousness than a likelihood
of conflict. And defense officials said Israel had passed a message to the
Syrian military via UN forces in Syria that Israel has no offensive intentions.
Nonetheless, the message said, it would respond forcefully if attacked. Defense
officials said Thursday that Israel would maintain a high level of alert along
the border due to an increase in tensions marked Wednesday by a report in the
London-based daily Al-Quds al-Arabi, which said Syria had concentrated troops
and tanks along the Lebanese border and summoned reserve forces in preparation
for a possible Israeli attack. Vice Premier Haim Ramon said on Thursday that
"Israel has no intention of attacking Syria." Speaking to Israel Radio, Ramon
said that "the anxiety of the last few days is surprising and has no
basis."While the government is always looking to negotiate with Syria," Ramon
said, "unfortunately, Syria is stuck deep in the evil axis of connections with
Hizbullah." Earlier, during a visit to a high school in Arad, President Shimon
Peres also declared that "We have no intention of attacking Syria - Israel is
not looking to go to war, and I hear that Syria says the same."
*Yaakov Katz contributed to this report
Teachers' strike among 'most successful' in union's history
By Anthony Elghossain
Daily Star staff
Friday, April 04, 2008
BEIRUT: Private and public school teachers, as well as Lebanese university
professors and instructors, held a strike on Thursday to call for an increase of
their salaries, which have remained flat since 1996. Nehme Mahfoud, who heads
the Teachers Union for private schools, said that the strike was being carried
out throughout Lebanon and across all educational fields, adding that "this is
one of the most successful strikes in the union's history."
Mahfoud also said that Education Minister Khaled Qabbani had informed union
members that the Cabinet would discuss the teachers' demands during its regular
session next week.The call for a general strike came from the Teachers Union on
Tuesday, and was reportedly upheld by both public and private schools across the
country, including the Hermel region, Jbeil, Jezzine, Koura, Tebnine and Zahle.
Although the cost of living in Lebanon has steadily increased each year since
the end of the Civil War in 1991, salaries across Lebanon have remained fixed
for more than a decade. Political tension, military disruptions, and fluctuating
investor confidence levels that mirror the regional situation have made economic
growthTrillion-Dollar-Experiment somewhat erratic, and this has contributed to
the general lag in salaries. The 2006 summer war arguably derailed Lebanon's
nascent economic recovery by undermining confidence, chasing away investment,
and halting projects already under development, while the political standoff in
Lebanon has only worsened the economic outlook of the country.
Still, the Teachers Union in Tyre, at a meeting held during the strike on
Thursday, argued for the "necessity of responding to our demands, despite the
delicate general economic situation" in the country.
Kuwait to mediate between Riyadh, Damascus
Compiled by Daily Star staff
Friday, April 04, 2008
The emir of Kuwait plans to visit Riyadh later this week to mediate between
Saudi Arabia and Syria, whose ties have deteriorated because of Lebanon's
crisis, according to news reports published on Thursday. Quoting unidentified
high-level sources, the Kuwaiti daily Al-Qabas said Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad
al-Sabah will travel to Riyadh on Saturday for talks with King Abdullah in an
effort to resolve "differences" between Syria and Saudi Arabia.
The paper said the Kuwaiti ruler, who headed his country's delegation to an Arab
summit in Damascus last weekend, was expected to convey a Syrian "message" to
Saudi Arabia.Relations between the two Arab states have deteriorated over the
crisis in Lebanon, which has been without a president since November, prompting
Riyadh to send only a low-level delegation to the Damascus gathering.
Riyadh accuses the Syrian- and Iranian-backed opposition in Beirut of blocking
an Arab League plan that provides for the election of the commander of the
Lebanese Armed Forces, General Michel Suleiman, as president. On Saturday, Saudi
Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal urged Syria to make a "positive move"
toward resolving the political crisis in Lebanon. Syria, which was the power
broker in Lebanon for nearly three decades until it pulled its troops out in
2005, denies meddling in its smaller neighbor's affairs or blocking the election
of a head of state.
Syria and Iran back the Lebanese opposition led by the Hizbullah, while Saudi
Arabia and several other Arab states back the ruling coalition, which also
enjoys Western support. In other developments, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel
Angel Moratinos said he will return to Lebanon to resume his mediation between
Lebanon's feuding politicians on behalf of the European Union. Moratinos has
visited Lebanon and met with rival leaders in the hope of achieving a solution
to the country's crisis. The Spanish foreign minister said that his return
depends on developments in the situation and on the Lebanese government's
agreement.
"The situation is difficult and very complicated," he said. In Beirut, local
efforts to resolve the crisis seemed to have been put on hold ahead of the next
parliamentary session to elect a president, scheduled for later this month.
According to political sources, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri is planning to
postpone the launch of a new round of national dialogue sessions and instead
await the visit of Arab League chief Amr Moussa. Berri had said he would launch
a dialogue that would group Lebanon's bickering political elites if the Arab
summit - held in Damascus last week - failed to solve the crisis. Berri is
scheduled to return to Lebanon soon from a trip to Europe, while Prime Minister
Fouad Siniora is preparing to go on a tour of Arab countries that will focus on
the political situation in Beirut. Siniora had called for an urgent Arab foreign
ministers' meeting to discuss Lebanon's strained relations with neighboring
Syria.
Meanwhile, talk about expanding the current Cabinet resurfaced on Thursday after
Youth and Sports Minister Ahmad Fatfat said that several members in the March 14
Forces supported such a move. In an interview with Radio Lebanon, Fatfat
proposed appointing six new ministers and a replacement for slain Industry
Minister Pierre Gemayel while officialy retaining the six opposition ministers
who resigned in late 2006. "This way we would have 24 actively practicing
ministers, which would allow the Cabinet to be productive, even if [some] of its
members were absent," he said.
Fatfat also cited two reasons for the government's decision to boycott the Arab
summit in Damascus last weekend. The first was the fact that Lebanon had no
president, "which is not just an institutional position but a central tenet of
the Lebanese political setup," he said, adding that Lebanon was the only Arab
country with a Christian president. The second reason was also political, Fatfat
said.
"The Syrian regime, from our point of view, played a negative role [in Lebanon]
which has led to the obstruction of presidential elections in Lebanon until the
present day," he said. Fatfat said he believes Lebanon made a point through its
absence from the Arab summit, as it "refused to be silent about its rights and
its desire for equal relations with Syria, [on the basis of] respect for the
sovereignty and independence of both countries."
"Contrary to what Speaker Berri said ... when Lebanese-Syrian relations are
amended, Arab-Syrian relations will be amended, including Saudi Arabian
relations with Syria," Fatfat added. Meanwhile, Tourism Minister Joseph Sarkis
condemned the opposition for accusing Saudi Arabia of bias and argued that the
kingdom played a constructive role in Lebanon. "Restoring the government
is still a possible option," Sarkis told the Saudi daily Okaz.
"The Arab summit that was held in Damascus stressed the Arab initiative on
Lebanon," Sarkis added. "We think that Moussa must return to Beirut with a
decisive stance and must avoid being pressured to reinterpret the initiative, as
its content is very clear." "If Moussa wants to succeed, he has to come and say:
'Elect a president immediately.' The government will be established according to
the Constitution, based on mandatory consultations with the MPs, and there must
be no room for interpretations or new agreements," he said. - The Daily Star,
with agencies
Attorneys press demand for release of ex-generals held in Hariri hit
By Mirella Hodeib -Daily Star staff
Friday, April 04, 2008
BEIRUT: Attorneys for the four former security chiefs held on suspicion of
involvement in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri said on
Thursday that an international lawsuit was being processed against those
responsible for their continuing detention.
"An international lawsuit has been filed against former head of the
international probe committee Detlev Mehlis, his aide Gerhard Lehmann, Lebanese
State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza, and investigative magistrates Elias Eid and Saqr
Saqr holding them responsible for the unjustified and continued detention of the
four generals," lawyer Malek al-Sayyed told a news conference held to comment on
the 10th report issued by the UN International Independent Investigation
Commission. Sayyed refused to disclose further details. Former security chiefs
Jamil al-Sayyed of General Security, Ali al-Hajj of the Internal Security
Forces, Raymond Azar of army intelligence and Mustafa Hamdan of the Presidential
Guards have been detained since August 2005.
The UN investigation commission said last week that a "criminal network" had
carried out the February 2005 assassination Hariri and was connected to other
acts of political violence, but the panel's report did not name any suspects.
Attorneys said their main focus in the next period was to try to "reactivate the
judicial aspect of the Hariri case which is currently caught in a vacuum." "The
work of the Lebanese judiciary on the Hariri case has been paralyzed since
Investigative Magistrate Elias Eid resigned his post and Magistrate Saqr Saqr
took over six months ago," lawyer Akram Azouri, told The Daily Star.
"This technical vacuum is made worse by political pressures exerted by Justice
Minister Charles Rizk to influence the judiciary and coerce them to keep the
generals in custody," Sayyed's attorney added. UN Undersecretary General for
Legal Affairs Nicolas Michel and a former head of the international probe
committee, Belgian prosecutor Serge Brammertz, both said that the continued
detention of the former security chiefs was the responsibility of the Lebanese
judiciary.
Azouri has launched a campaign to gather the signatures of 25 MPs to have a
special court created to try Rizk. "Article 19 of the Constitution clearly
stipulates that once 25 MPs sign the petition, the speaker is then forced to
hold a session to discuss the petition and establish the special tribunal,"
Azouri said in an earlier interview. "The Cabinet is not supposed to attend the
session, as stated in the Constitution." Speaker Nabih Berri has repeatedly said
he will not convene Parliament as long as Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's
government remains in power. On Thursday, Azouri said he has gathered "enough"
signatures and that his petition was "on the right track and I am grateful to
all the MPs who accepted to support the motion."
"I expect that some MPs from the March 14 will join my efforts to stop this
judicial vacuum because one of the main demands of the March 14 coalition is to
separate the political from the judicial," Azouri said. He added that resorting
to political means "usually weakens the judicial dossier ... but I found myself
totally cornered ... After I succeeded in eliminating all the pretexts for the
detention I found myself faced with the judicial vacuum and this is one way I
can fight it."
Suleiman warns Lebanese are 'fed up' with political impasse
Army chief says he wants to resign from his post in august
Daily Star staff
Friday, April 04, 2008
BEIRUT: The commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces, General Michel Suleiman,
announced in remarks published Thursday that he would leave his post in August
and warned feuding political factions that he would bow out of the presidential
race if his election as a compromise candidate is not secured by then.
The announcement by the army chief that he would leave his post - at least three
months before officially retiring - was viewed as a warning to both the
parliamentary majority and the opposition to break the deadlock that has left
Lebanon without a president since November.
A resignation by Suleiman ahead of a resolution to the political crisis would
almost certainly worsen Lebanon's 16-month-old political crisis, its worst since
the end of the 1975-90 Civil War. The army under Suleiman has been neutral in
the ongoing power struggle between the pro-government and opposition groups.
The two opposing sides have supported the 59-year-old Suleiman as a consensus
candidate to end a dangerous power vacuum after pro-Syrian President Emile
Lahoud's term ended in November without a successor elected.
But Suleiman's election has been held up by political bickering in Parliament
between the Western-backed governing coalition and the Hizbullah-led opposition
over power-sharing in a future government. In the interview Thursday in As-Safir
daily, which is close to the opposition, Suleiman said he had had enough of the
continued "polarization" between the opposing sides and that he felt his dignity
was hurt over the ongoing bickering.
"Every time we take one step forward we find ourselves facing another series of
steps that need to be taken before electing a president," he said.
"This leaves us with a mountain of contradictory conditions that must be met if
a new president is to be elected.
"If one side nominates me the other side protests. If one country supports my
candidacy another opposes it," he added.
Suleiman said he would not wait until the last day of his military service on
November 21 to retire. Instead, he has decided he would quit as army chief on
August 21, three months before retirement, by taking accumulated vacation days,
As-Safir said. The paper described the decision as "a highly explosive political
bomb" that could also scuttle an Arab foreign ministers plan adopted in Egypt in
January to solve the Lebanese crisis. The plan calls for the election of
Suleiman as a consensus president, formation of a national unity government and
the adoption of a new electoral law.
Suleiman said he would "hold all [factions] responsible and make them understand
that the continuation of the current situation will lead to a daily exhaustion
of the army and also the exhaustion of the Lebanese who are fed up with politics
and politicians." The presidential impasse has compounded the ongoing power
struggle between the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and the
opposition. The fierce rivalry has sporadically degenerated into street clashes
in Beirut between supporters of the two camps. The United States and the
governing coalition have accused Syria of blocking the presidential election.
Damascus has denied the charge, while its Lebanese allies have blamed Washington
for scuttling attempts to reach a solution. - The Daily Star, with agencies
Hizbullah warns against Us designs on Lebanon
Friday, April 04, 2008
Daily Star
BEIRUT: Hizbullah's international relations officer, Nawwaf Moussawi, emphasized
on Wednesday the need to prevent the US from turning Lebanon "into a
no-man's-land in which the US could conduct its wars and exercise its hegemony."
The Winning Side of the Iraq Campaign
by Walid Phares
04/03/2008
In his latest assessment of the state of the campaign in Iraq President Bush
drew strategic assertions regarding the measurement of success and the risks of
failure on that battlefield, in what we can coin as the next stage in the
confrontation against the forces of terror in the region.
Practically the military surge has denied al-Qaeda and the Mahdi militia the
realization of their current objectives. So far al-Qaeda wasn’t able to create
an "Emirate" in the Sunni triangle, nor even to reconstitute a Fallujah-like
enclave: That is a defeat for al-Qaeda in Iraq, regardless of their capacity to
strike urban areas and to assassinate important leaders.
Also, the recent operations against Pasdaran-trained forces are a relative --
albeit temporary -- victory over Tehran’s efforts to expand direct control over
Shia Iraq. Iranian political and intelligence influence is certainly present in
the institutions and public life in the country. But the pressing Iranian goal
of creating militia enclaves has failed so far.
But despite these successes, the President made it clear that these achievements
can be reversed if an abandonment of the mission in Iraq is implemented in
Washington.
Noted Growth in Iraq
It is also accurate to acknowledge the gradual strengthening of the Iraqi
security forces and civil society. Iraqi armed forces are growing, though not to
the optimal level needed. The expansion indicates progress, but an abrupt
abandonment of Iraqi security forces would lead to their collapse and the
control of most their units by the Terror foes.
Signs of development can also be seen in Iraq’s Civil society despite an
omnipresent fundamentalism. The removal of Saddam’s regime and the growing
localized resistance to al-Qaeda and the Khomeinist regime have provided some
“space” for new social and political energies to emerge. As the President
correctly noted: “They're (Iraqis) trying to build a modern democracy on the
rubble of three decades of tyranny, in a region of the world that has been
hostile to freedom. And they're doing it while under assault from one of
history's most brutal terrorist networks.” Indeed, it is through that prism that
one can define the pro-democracy struggle in Iraq. There are more democratic
forces in Iraq today than in 2003.
Warning the axis
In defense of the struggling democracy in Iraq, the President also issued a
clear -- though not fully explained -- warning to the Iranian and Syrian
regimes, demanding that they stop supporting the flow of terror across the
borders. His statements included a number of noteworthy elements. First, it was
important for a U.S. President to define the rulers of Iran and Syria as
“regimes” and not “governments”: a clear signal that these forces are ruling
against the will of their peoples. Second, it is important to clarify that the
United States has no intention to abandon Iraq through concessions to the
Ayatollahs and the Syrian Baath. Despite political voices within the beltway
calling for "talks" with the two regimes, it is crucial for the U.S. Government
to send a message to the rulers of these two neighbors that their support for
terror is known, and will be addressed. Without such a message to the Pasdaran,
Syrian intelligence and Hezbollah, it would be naive to talk about “progress” in
Iraq.
Abandonment = Catastrophe
Equally vital to reiterate is that an abrupt abandonment of the Iraqi
battlefield would bring about a catastrophe -- not only in Iraq, but also
throughout the region and even to the United States. President Bush's
description of the ramifications of a “retreat” is realistic. Indeed, at first
the Iraqi democratic forces would be decimated. Second, the Iraqi armed forces
would crumble and split. Third, whatever was achieved in terms of national
consensus would collapse, sectarian divisions would deepen, and al-Qaeda would
expand its influence in the Sunni Triangle and Iran would expand its rule in the
Shia areas. The al-Qaeda bases would become a launching pad for operations in
the region and overseas, including against the United States mainland. Iranian
advances in Iraq would create dangerous shifts in power in the region and
beyond.
Strategic partnership with Iraq
The President’s announcement of a possible treaty of “partnership” between the
U.S. and Iraq is in line with the next stage of the confrontation with terrorist
forces in the region and internationally. This strategic cooperation would be
decided by both “partners,” and will be modified freely by Washington and
Baghdad. This is the right response to the threat posed by al-Qaeda and the
Syrian-Iranian axis. The concept of Iraq as an ally in the War on Terror is the
ultimate objective -- and should have been from the outset -- of U.S. policy and
Iraqi national interest. As Iraqi forces move to the frontline, American and
coalition forces should not be far behind fighting our mutual enemy.
Conclusion
In response to his critics, the President argued: “If America's strategic
interests are not in Iraq, the convergence point for the twin threats of
al-Qaida and Iran, the nation Osama bin Laden's deputy has called the place for
the greatest battle, the country at the heart of the most volatile region on
earth, then where are they?” Unlike Haiti or Bosnia where interventions were
designed to address a specific internal crisis, the campaign in Iraq is a
central piece in the battle against external forces throughout the region.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr Walid Phares, author of Future Jihad: Terrorist Strategies against America,
of The war of Ideas: Jihadism against democracy and of the forthcoming book, The
Confrontation.
Eye on Lebanon: The Republic of Lebanon?
By: Manuela Paraipan
03 Apr 2008
Samir Geagea is back from touring the US. For once, he is saying all the right
things. Will action follow?
Dr Geagea said that he would like to see the UN in control of the
Lebanese-Syrian border. That will happen only if the government asks for UN
support.
Questions: Is March 14 ready to get out of the current lethargic state? Will
Saad Hariri take a bolder stance? If Saudi Arabia supports such a step, then
yes.
I'd like to say that if Geagea and Jumblatt along with the others allies of the
Future Movement want the UN at the border with Syria, then the Sunnis will go
along. However, for the time being, I see the decisions regarding the internal
affairs taken regionally and internationally with little national input. There
is still time for a change, but I would not place a bet just yet.
Speaking of the border with Syria, I want to point out the work of The World
Council For The Cedars Revolution (www.cedarsrevolution.net). It has valuable
representatives in Washington DC, Europe and Lebanon.
The Lebanese representative is Toni Nissi. He is a man with a cause and that is
something I admire. You know how in Lebanon (you can replace Lebanon with any
other country) for many, if not most, money and social position come first and
then the cause - and only if its a lucrative business. Toni Nissi is a different
kind of Lebanese, one that we should read more about in the Western press. Even
if you do not (fully) agree with his ideas and goals, the passion he puts into
his work is inspiring. His team has worked hard to bring to the international
community's attention the situation of Lebanon where you have Hizbullah's arms
outside the law and with tentacles all over the world. They ask for the
immediate implementation of the UN 1559, UN 1701 and UN 1680
Last year, they presented an extensive report on the border between Lebanon and
Syria. A well documented paper with maps, pictures of the Syrian soldiers,
routes to get the weapons inside Lebanon and so on.
Dr Geagea also said that under no circumstances will the Palestinians be
naturalized in Lebanon. This is one of Lebanon's crucial problems. If the
Palestinians stay in Lebanon that will tip the sectarian balance towards the
Sunnis, and that is simply unacceptable for both Christians and Shias.
Another important point of Geagea's discourse was that the International
Tribunal cannot be stopped. He went on saying, that the Tribunal "wouldn't just
deal with the Hariri assassination, but would also shed light on what has
happened in Lebanon in the past 30 years." (Naharnet)
In a recent interview, Samy Gemayel (son of former President Amine Gemayel) made
the following remarks on Tribunal's establishment:
"The international tribunal was and still is one very important matter that
divides the two camps. Even if the tribunal was voted and is now in the hands of
the UN, there are still ways of interfering in the process of the international
tribunal. It is a half-international, half-Lebanese tribunal. You have Lebanese
judges, therefore in a way the process can be slowed down or maybe stopped by
any change in the country. Perhaps the minister of justice can ask the judges to
retire and as such the tribunal can be blocked." (World Security Network)
There are many Lebanese kept in Syrian jails, and I have yet to hear Hizbullah
asking for their immediate release. Well they are too busy praising Samir Kuntar.
For reports & updates on the topic, please check the work of SOLIDA -
www.solida.org
"As long as those detainees had been kidnapped on Lebanese territory, an
independent international committee can be formed to look for them and determine
their whereabouts and achieve the release of those who remain alive. We've asked
Washington to help us in this regard, and we'll try to ask the UNSC to adopt a
resolution in this regard." (Naharnet)
Samir Geagea did not forget Hizbullah. Who could? He was surprised to learn that
Hizbullah, in spite of its rhetoric of accusing March 14 of being American and
Zionists puppets, is still negotiating with Israel. Geagea told the gathering
that "such a negotiation is nil and void because it is not being handled by the
state of Lebanon." Finally! More leaders should start saying that is not kosher
to have a militia negotiating with a state. Period.
I'd like to see Geagea and the other Christian leaders strengthening the
Christian community. I am not saying it because I support sectarianism. I don't.
Fact is that without a strong Christian community, Lebanon, as we know it will
cede to exist. Moreover, this is a step from the very long process of, hopefully
having someday a Lebanese Republic where the citizen matters and not his/her
religious affiliation.