LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
April 27/08

Bible Reading of the day.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 15,18-21. If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you. Remember the word I spoke to you, 'No slave is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. And they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know the one who sent me.

Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special Reports
Al-Zawahiri's Threats to Lebanon and UNIFIL and the Responsibility.By: Raghida Dergham 26/04/08
Arabization, Internationalization and Hell. By: Zuheir Kseibati 26/04/08
An empty table-By: Lucy Fielder. 26/04/08

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for April 26/08
US Congressman Ackerman: Lebanon not for Sale-Naharnet
Peres: Assad Wants Lebanon, Not Golan-Naharnet
Roumieh hostage crisis ends peacefully-AFP
Fatfat says Jumblatt won't break ranks-Daily Star
Divisions serve Lebanon's 'enemies' - Qabbani-Daily Star
Jumblatt stresses Hizbullah arms again -Naharnet-Daily Star
Analysts attribute Zahle shootings to local competition-Daily Star
National Liberal Party hails Kuwait summit-Daily Star
'Friends of Lebanon' successful, say French sources-Daily Star
Israelis test popular drug to treat postwar blues-AFP
Beirut protest decries Egypt's closure of Gazan border-AFP
UNIFIL denies accusations of bias, defends 'even-handed' role
Finance Ministry reports reduction in budget deficit-Daily Star
Minimum wage hike as early as Tuesday - Abboud-Daily Star
Disabled children from South tour UNIFIL headquarters-Daily Star
Australian Embassy honors troops who fell in battle-Daily Star
Demining body cleared 287,255 square meters during March-Daily Star
Lebanese theater group to stage Walt Disney production-Daily Star
Smuggling necessary facet of life for villages along Syrian border-AFP
Syria agrees to cooperate with IAEA-Radio Netherlands
Aoun: Saniora Government, Not Syria, Responsible for Finding Those Missing-Naharnet
Jumblat Attacks Jibril and Hizbullah-Naharnet
Mufti Qabbani: Dialogue Should be Shepherd By President-Naharnet
Prison Riot Ends, Hostages Freed-Naharnet
When Would the War Start?-Naharnet
Islamists in Lebanon Want Egypt to Help Gaza-Naharnet
Narcotics Used to Treat Israeli Soldiers Who Fought Hizbullah
-Naharnet
Berri Sets Saturday Deadline for Response to Dialogue Offer
-Naharnet
Suleiman: Army Ready to Fight Off Israeli Aggression
-Naharnet
Sadr to Restart Fight Against U.S., Set Up Parallel State Similar to Hizbullah's
-Naharnet
Smuggling a Salvation for Lebanese Villages on Syrian Border
-Naharnet
Israel's U.N. Ambassador: Syria, Iran, Hamas, Hizbullah World's Evils
-Naharnet
U.S. Trains Lebanese Army on Medical Command
-Naharnet
U.S. Embassy Limits Movement of Personnel to Zahle
-Naharnet
Gemayel: Berri's Offer is Tantamount to Death Threat
-Naharnet
Calm returns to Lebanon's largest prison, hostages released after ...International Herald Tribune
What can Lebanon do to solve its political problems-CNN
Lebanon protest demands that Egypt open Gaza border-AFP

U.S. Congressman Ackerman: Lebanon not for Sale
Naharnet/
Chairman of. Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia in the foreign affairs committee in the U.S. Congress Gary Ackerman noted on Friday that "during the Bush Administration, Damascus has literally been getting away with murder". The New York House representative accused Syria of "counting on its continued ability to make trouble and to upset the situation in Lebanon as leverage to avoid accountability. They're deluding themselves if they think so."
"Peace can not be purchased by rewarding aggression. There will be no deal with the dictator in Damascus. Lebanon is not for sale and justice is not a commodity in which the United States should trade" he stressed. Ackerman added "The Special Tribunal will proceed and the guilty will pay for their crimes. Neither bombs, nor threats, nor hollow promises of peace will avert the justice that is coming. The Assad regime must know that salvation will not come from well-intentioned American politicians ready to sell the freedom of others to buy the illusion of security for themselves." The U.S congressman highlighted the fact that "Syria facilitated the movement of jihadis into Lebanon, armed them, and set them to make war against the Lebanese state. Many brave Lebanese soldiers and Palestinian refugees died in the fighting in Nahr al Bared in order to preserve Lebanon's sovereignty". "Together with Iran, Syria is responsible for the arming and rearming of Hizbullah. In defiance of U.N. Security Council mandates, Syria is continuing to provide arms and to facilitate the movement of arms from Iran to Hizbullah in order facilitate that group's efforts to undermine Lebanon's sovereignty and independence" He added. Ackerman accused Syria of carrying on assassinations of Lebanese politicians and journalists during the past two years.
Ha said "In its attempt to restore Lebanon to its previous position as Syria's footstool, Damascus has almost certainly been responsible for the wave of murders of Lebanon' s pro-independence leaders beginning in 2005, with Rafik Hariri and including cabinet ministers, parliamentarians, prominent journalists and dozens of innocent civilians."The prominent U.S. diplomatic addressed the on going governmental crisis. Today, as has been the case since November 2007, Lebanon's government remains without a president and unable to resolve its political crisis" Ackerman accused "Lebanese in positions of power" naming the leaders of Hizbullah, Amal and Aoun's FPM of committing themselves to "the interests of Syria, Iran and themselves than they are too their own country" "A deal with Syria and Iran may be possible, but I sincerely doubt that it can be bought or sustained by sacrificing others, or by offering just carrots and no sticks" he confirmed. Beirut, 25 Apr 08, 21:24

Peres: Assad Wants Lebanon, Not Golan

Naharnet/Israeli President Shimon Peres was quoted Friday as saying the only way for Syrian President Bashar Assad to regain the Golan Heights is to cut his relations with Iran and Hizbullah. The daily Maarive said Peres made the remark in a confidential meeting. "Withdrawing from the Golan and reaching an agreement with Assad is not accepted in light of the present situation.""We would not turn the Golan heights to the Iranians," he added. "Assad prefers Lebanon and the relation with Hizbullah to the Golan Heights. If they do not break their relations with Hizbullah and the Iranians, they can't have the Golan.""Barak, Netanyahu and Rabin offered the Syrians all the heights, but they prefer Lebanon. We all want peace, but the question is what do we give up and what does the other side give up," he added.
An aide to Peres quoted the Israeli president as saying "Israel would not accept changing Lebanon into a branch for Iran … Assad is worried that he might lose his rule of Syria if he agreed on peace with Israel." Beirut, 25 Apr 08, 18:26

Aoun: Saniora Government, Not Syria, Responsible for Finding Those Missing
Naharnet/
Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun on Friday said the March 14 majority alliance "declared war on Syria when it left Lebanon. Had they been brave they would have confronted Syria on Lebanese terrain." Aoun, in a statement to his Orange Television, said: "When I called for a war of liberation it was aimed at liberating Lebanon's land and I said that by achieving this goal the war would end.""The goal has been achieved. So what is the reason for proceeding with the battle?" Aoun asked.  "We have no interest but in building future relations, and we shouldn't be in collision with them. The relationship between the two nations should be neighborly and brotherly," he stressed. Aoun said Premier Fouad Saniora's Government "rejects calls to look for those missing in their land (buried in mass graves), that is why we cannot hold Syria responsible first" for the Lebanese missing in its jails. "The government should find those buried in its land and the government is capable of doing this because there is no village that does not know the location of its mass grave and who is responsible for it, be they Palestinians or Lebanese militias. The government knows, The intelligence agencies know and many journalists know where the mass graves are," Aoun added. He said a "minority" of those held in Syria had been held directly by the Syrian forces. The majority were either arrested by Lebanese police or held by pro-Syrian factions and turned on to the Syrians. Beirut, 25 Apr 08, 17:52

When Would the War Start?
Naharnet/Tehran, Damascus and Hizbullah are "worried" about a war, the zero hour for which, is "nearing by the day," as-Safir's managing editor Sataa Noureddine wrote on Friday. The three allies, Noureddine added, hide their concerns behind rhetoric based on challenge. Messages relayed between Washington and Tehran as well as between Damascus and Jerusalem also "hide speeding preparations for a war that no one knows how it would start," he added.
Noureddine wrote that "such a storm (of reconciling approaches towards Tehran and Damascus) is a military decoy used prior to the outbreak of battles, or it is a prelude to war needed to tell the public opinion in the United States, Israel and the rest of the world that the American and Israeli governments did their best to avoid war … but left with no option but resorting to force." Israel and the United States are "convinced that Iran, Syria and Hizbullah left in the past three years the margin of negotiations," he added. The question that remains unanswered is "when would the war start? Before or right after George Bush's visit to Israel in mid-May, before or right after the International Atomic Energy Agency's report on the Iranian nuclear program in June and before or right after the U.S. presidential elections in November," Noureddine concluded. Beirut, 25 Apr 08, 14:44

Prison Riot Ends, Hostages Freed
Naharnet/A mutiny at Lebanon's largest prison in Roumiyeh where guards had been taken hostage ended peacefully early Friday. "The prisoners handed over the seven warders they were holding hostage and returned to their cells after having negotiated and handed over demands to the chief of internal security, Antoine Shakuri," a security official said. The prisoners at Roumiyeh, eight kilometers (five miles) northeast of Beirut, were calling for an improvement in their prison conditions and a reduction in their sentences, he said. Most of the inmates were serving long sentences, or were on death row. The official said police chief Gen. Ashraf Rifi promised to examine ways of replying to these demands in the framework of the law. Earlier he said that the rioters had set fire to their cells in the block holding convicted inmates.  The mutiny broke out at 4:35 pm Thursday after a quarrel between a warder and a Palestinian prisoner got out of hand.
Security sources told Naharnet hundreds of riot policemen advanced across the ground floor of the building after firefighters extinguished a blaze that inmates had started in mattresses after taking guards hostage. "The riot police force moved into the building through emergency outlets, cleared the ground floor which includes the management offices and moved into the first floor" of the three-story building, said one source who asked not to be identified. Each floor includes 60 cells.
The rioting inmates are armed with makeshift knives, and "sharp tools," the source added.
"They don't have firearms simply because the guards they took hostage were not armed in line with prison rules," the source explained.
The advancing force is using "tear gas canisters to control the inmates, some of whom are surrendering," he added. Academic Omar al-Nashabi, who has carried out a study on the prison, told AFP that more than 4,000 prisoners were being held in the jail which was originally designed in 1971 to hold a maximum of 1,500. "The building where the mutiny erupted houses nearly 950 prisoners, 225 of them foreigners, mainly Palestinians or Syrians," he said. The security official said the disturbances did not affect the remand section of the prison where detainees suspected of taking part in a deadly Islamist uprising in the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp last summer are being held. He explained that four ex-security commanders, jailed in Roumiyeh in connection with the 2005 murder of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri, are also being held in the remand section about 150 meters away from the convicts' compound at the recommendation of the U.N. commission of inquiry into his killing.(Naharnet-AFP) Beirut, 25 Apr 08, 07:38

Israel's U.N. Ambassador: Syria, Iran, Hamas, Hizbullah World's Evils
Naharnet/Israel's ambassador to the United Nations Dan Gillerman has described Syria, Iran, Hamas and Hizbullah as the main axes of terror in the world.
"Basically, Syria and Iran, together with Hamas and Hizbullah, are the main axes of terror and evil in the world," the Israeli ambassador told a luncheon briefing for reporters Thursday. Gillerman also called Syria a "destabilizing influence" in the Middle East. "You see Syria's hosting, very hospitably and warmly, over 10 terror organizations in Damascus," the ambassador said, adding that the country also supports Hizbullah, which has close ties to Tehran and Damascus.(AP-Naharnet)
Beirut, 25 Apr 08, 07:04

Suleiman: Army Ready to Fight Off Israeli Aggression
Naharnet/Army Commander Gen. Michel Suleiman said in an interview published Friday that the military was ready to fight off any Israeli aggression on Lebanon.
"If Israel should commit any stupidity, we are ready to use every available means to fight and confront the enemy under any circumstances," Suleiman told Al-Afkar magazine. He stressed that the military is "united" and can "prevent" the outbreak of civil war. On the Zahle incident where two Kataeb party members were gunned down, Suleiman said the shooting was "not planned."He noted that the army was working to prosecute the perpetrators. Suleiman uncovered that a recent visit to Beirut by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Welch was aimed at discussing support for the Lebanese army, including the need for necessary weapons and equipment. The army chief said he had set up a permanent camp near the southern village of Rmeish, adding that he spends one night a month there along with a number of army staff to "stay up-to-date with the latest news as well as to give guidance and instruction." Beirut, 25 Apr 08, 09:13

Berri Sets Saturday Deadline for Response to Dialogue Offer
Naharnet/Speaker Nabih Berri has reportedly set Saturday deadline for response from the ruling March 14 alliance to his dialogue offer. The daily As Safir, which carried the report, said Berri will wait for Saturday before he sets a new date for a parliament session to elect a new president. It quoted Berri as saying that there is a strong possibility of forming a transitional government which would take charge of preparations for presidential elections. Beirut, 25 Apr 08, 12:33

Mufti Qabbani: Dialogue Should be Shepherd By President
Naharnet/Grand Mufti Sheik Mohammed Rashid Qabbani on Friday Rejected Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri's call for agreement on a declaration of Principles between the opposition and majority prior to electing a president. "Everybody is for dialogue, but Lebanon should have a president (first) to shepherd this dialogue so that it could lead to a settlement that ends the Lebanon crisis," The top Sunni Muslim cleric said. Qabbani called for "speedy implementation of the Arab initiative clauses, without pre-conditions or a parcel of solutions, along the line of the constitution and within the framework of constitutional institutions." "Any proposal that is not in line with the constitution blocks the settlement," Qabbani stressed. Beirut, 25 Apr 08, 16:06

Narcotics Used to Treat Israeli Soldiers Who Fought Hizbullah
Naharnet/An Israeli medical team has started tests using the drug Ecstasy as a treatment for conflict-linked post-traumatic disorders suffered mainly by troops who fought against Lebanon's Hizbullah, the Maariv daily reported on Friday. Doctors at the Beer-Yakov psychiatric hospital south of Tel Aviv are testing the response of Israeli post-traumatic disorder patients to MDMA, the active ingredient in the drug. Rakefet Rodriguez, Sergio Marchiveski and Marina Kaufchicz, who are leading the experimental program, are convinced that psychotherapy is crucial in curing patients and that Ecstasy can help them to recover. The doctors believe the drug has both calming and stimulating effects that can help patients not only overcome trauma but also dominate it, Maariv said. Almost 500 reserve troops suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder following the 34-day war that pitted Israeli troops against Lebanon's Hizbullah Shiite militia in July and August 2006, the paper said. Ecstasy, which is illegal in most countries, is one of the world's most commonly used narcotics.(AFP) Beirut, 25 Apr 08,

Jumblat Attacks Jibril and Hizbullah
Naharnet/Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat on Friday reiterated calls for eliminating Syrian-backed Palestinian bases and accused Hizbullah of sponsoring its own state and army. Jumblat, addressing a meeting of Socialist International's Mediterranean Committee at a Beirut hotel, said "Palestinian groups are deployed along the borders with Syria and some (other) Lebanese areas. Their weapons that follow Syria's regime should be brought under control."
He was referring to basses manned by Ahmed Jibril's Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC) and Fatah-Uprising, the mother group of Fatah al-Islam terrorists. Both Factions are based in Syria. "A defense strategy should be adopted. We should not have an army along side the army and a state along side the state. A single party should not decide on war or peace in Lebanon," he added. "Had the Lebanese state been able to decide on war or peace in July 2006 we would have spared victims and destruction," Jumblat noted. The Lebanese people, according to the PSP leader, could be re-united by tackling "economic hardships hitting at impoverished classes." Beirut, 25 Apr 08, 16:31

Islamists in Lebanon Want Egypt to Help Gaza
Naharnet/More than 200 people staged a sit-in outside the Egyptian embassy in Beirut on Friday to demand that Cairo opens its border with the densely populated Gaza Strip. "We are here to hand over to diplomats a letter for Egyptian President Husni Mubarak demanding that the border be opened because of the inhumane conditions inside Gaza," Mohammed Yassin, one of the organizers, said. Men holding the Muslim holy book the Koran and veiled women with pictures of Palestinian children killed by Israeli raids took part in the protest outside the embassy, which was guarded by Lebanese police. "The Palestinian people are being subjected to an inhumane blockade unequalled in human history," said the letter addressed to Mubarak. "It is inadmissible that Palestine's elder sister Egypt look on at this blockade with crossed arms as the Israelis massacre Palestinians." The sit-in lasted for an hour and ended after the protesters were unable to meet an Egyptian diplomat to deliver the letter. Egypt's Rafah crossing, the only gateway to Gaza that bypasses Israel, has been mainly closed since the Islamist Hamas movement wrested control of the Gaza Strip from forces loyal to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas in June.
Israel says its lockdown is aimed at preventing militants inside the densely populated and impoverished Gaza Strip from targeting its territory with makeshift rockets and mortars. On January 23 Palestinian militants demolished the border barricades between Gaza and Egypt, sending hundreds of thousands of Gazans flooding into Egypt to stock up on vital supplies. Egyptian and Hamas forces resealed the frontier on February 4. On Thursday the United Nations said it had been forced to stop distributing aid to Gaza because there was no fuel available for its trucks. Israel accuses Hamas of orchestrating a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip to stir international condemnation of the Jewish state.(AFP-Naharnet) Beirut, 25 Apr 08, 15:03

Smuggling a Salvation for Lebanese Villages on Syrian Border
Naharnet/As night falls on remote villages in eastern Lebanon that border Syria, streets and alleyways bustle into life as a small army of pick-up trucks, mules and cars are readied for action. Loaded up with whisky, bread, metal and other goods, drivers head for the dirt roads that zigzag through nearby hillsides and valleys to deliver loads to fellow smugglers across the border before returning with staples such as heating oil, laundry detergent and vegetables. "We work from around 9:00 pm until dawn," said one 46-year-old smuggler who asked to be identified only by his initials of M.Z. "We leave home in our pick-ups, cars and even mules loaded with alcohol and other products." M.Z., who has plied the trade for decades, said smugglers from both sides have specific meeting points along the mountainous border. "Once we get to a meeting place we wait for Syrian vehicles loaded with products and we make the exchange very quickly," he added.
Smuggling between Lebanon and Syria goes back to when both countries became independent in the 1940s, sharing a 170-kilometer (105-mile) long border that has never been officially delineated.
"The Lebanese economy has depended on a parallel economy for ages," said Fares Ishtay, political science professor at Lebanese University. "Salaries in both countries are very low and people depend on undeclared goods to survive."He said that although hashish used to be the main contraband, other products, not considered illegal as such, have now become hot items. Weapons smuggling is a major problem but is concentrated farther north along frontier areas where Hizbullah has a presence. Following the 15-year civil war that ended in 1990, successive Lebanese governments have come under international pressure to tackle smuggling -- especially of drugs and weapons -- but have met with little success.
Many villages near Syria depend on smuggling for survival as locals often live below the poverty line and have few resources. Some villages do not have shops or bakeries. Villagers, some of them children, risk their lives daily going back and forth to smuggle heating oil, household goods and food.
"My uncle who has four children was shot by Syrian border guards in 1993 as he was smuggling items near his village of Al-Suweira," said Hala, 25, who asked that her last name not be used. "He had just delivered sugar and ceramic tiles to Syria and was killed on his way back."She said 90 percent of people in Al-Suweira depended at one time on smuggling to survive, but added that their numbers have shrunk in recent years as many emigrated to Canada or Brazil.
Villagers in Yantak, Ayha, Kafr Quq and Al-Suweira, all with a majority Druze or Sunni Muslim population, shrug their shoulders when asked about the illegal trade. They do not deny it is taking place, however. In Yanta, new homes built of thick white stone stand ready for their owners but the village still resembles a ghost town. "Nearly 80 percent of the locals now live in Edmonton, Canada," said Kamel Ammar, 71, whose sons and brothers are among the émigrés. "People need to make a living -- so they left."
Shepherd Mahmoud Ishtay, 18, said his family of nine depends on mazout – fuel oil -- from Syria to stay warm during the winter months. A jerry can of 20 liters (5.2 gallons) costs 20 dollars (12.7 euros) in Lebanon as opposed to just three dollars in Syria, where heating oil is subsidized by the state. In a bid to crack down, the Syrian government in March began imposing a special tax on trucks that leave Syrian territory loaded with mazout. Authorities also place special seals on vehicles that deliver goods in a bid to ensure they are not used for smuggling. But the traffickers still manage to come up with ingenuous ways to get their merchandise across the border. Standing on the roof of his home facing a chain of mountains, M.Z. points to the Kussaya region to the west.
"Over there you have plastic tubes up to 10 centimeters (four inches) wide that run from the top of the mountain to the valley below," he said with a mischievous look. "Every night we go there to fill jerry cans with mazout sent by the Syrian smugglers." A senior Lebanese security official admitted to AFP that smuggling between the two countries was widespread. He said controlling the frontier was essential to stop weapons and armed elements from entering the country, and said the issue has become even more pressing since Syrian troops withdrew in 2005 following a 29-year presence.(AFP) Beirut, 25 Apr 08, 09:09

U.S. Embassy Limits Movement of Personnel to Zahle
Naharnet/The U.S. Embassy on Thursday said it was "limiting" the movement of its personnel to Zahle and advised citizens to maintain a low profile. The embassy, in a statement, informed its citizens residing in Lebanon of the tense situation in Zahle following the killing Sunday of two Phalange Party members. It also advised U.S. citizens in Lebanon to maintain a low profile and take adequate security measures in their movements in addition to maintaining contact with their embassy. Beirut, 24 Apr 08, 18:51

Sadr to Restart Fight Against U.S., Set Up Parallel State Similar to Hizbullah's
Naharnet/Muqtada al-Sadr is considering setting aside his political ambitions and restarting a full-scale fight against U.S.-led forces — a worrisome shift that may reflect Iranian influence on the young cleric and could open the way for a shadow state protected by his powerful Mahdi Army. A possible breakaway path — described to The Associated Press by Shiite lawmakers and politicians — would represent the ultimate backlash to the Iraqi government's pressure on al-Sadr to renounce and disband his Shiite militia.
By snubbing the give-and-take of politics, al-Sadr would have a freer hand to carve out a kind of parallel state with its own militia and social services along the lines of Hizbullah in Lebanon, a Shiite group founded with Iran's help in the 1980s.
It also would carry potentially disastrous security implications as the Pentagon trims its troops strength and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki finally shows progress on national reconciliation.
In a key step toward unity, al-Maliki announced that all political blocs have agreed to return to the Shiite-led government, a week after lawmakers with Iraq's main Sunni political bloc said the group has agreed to the plan in principle.
A return of the Sunnis would be a boost to al-Maliki and seen by Washington as a significant step forward.
Though the bloc, the National Accordance Front, has not made a formal announcement, al-Maliki said that "national reconciliation has proved a success," according to a statement issued by his office.
The Sunnis are pleased with the squeeze on al-Sadr's movement as well as an amnesty law that could free many detainees.
"Muqtada has shown a great deal of patience not calling for an all-out war yet with so much pressure on him," said Mohan Abedin, director of research at London's Center for the Study of Terrorism and an expert on Shiite affairs. "The Mahdi Army is by far the most powerful Iraqi faction. It can cause damage on a massive scale if it goes to war."
Al-Sadr's next move is still uncertain, but he clearly holds important cards.
The Mahdi Army is estimated to have about 60,000 fighters — with at least 5,000 thought to be highly trained commandos — and is emboldened by its strong resistance to an Iraqi-led crackdown launched last month in the southern city of Basra and elsewhere.
Al-Sadr's movement also holds sway over the densely populated Shiite parts of Baghdad and across the Shiite south by controlling vital needs such as fuel and running social services such as clinics.
A cease-fire declared last summer by al-Sadr has been credited with helping bring a steep drop in violence.
But al-Sadr — who has been in the Iranian seminary city of Qom for the past year — is seriously considering tearing up the truce and disassociating himself from his political bloc in parliament, according to loyalists and Shiite politicians interviewed by the AP over the past two weeks. Then al-Sadr would be free to unleash Mahdi attacks on U.S. and Iraqi forces, the political insiders said.They include members of the 30-seat Sadrist faction in parliament and members of rival Shiite parties, including two who saw al-Sadr recently in Iran. All requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.
"The emphasis is now on weapons and fighting, not politics," said one of the lawmakers in the Sadrist bloc. "(Al-Sadr) now only communicates with the Mahdi Army commanders."Any Mahdi Army offensive could have serious repercussions. Mahdi fighters engaged in fierce battles with U.S. forces in 2004 and then were blamed for waves of roadside bombings that were once the chief killer of American troops.
Mahdi militiamen also fought Iraqi security forces to a virtual standstill last month in Basra before an Iranian-supervised truce.
It's unknown how much al-Sadr's Iranian hosts are shaping his views. Al-Sadr, who is in his mid-30s, is studying in Qom under the supervision of Ayatollah Kazim al-Haeri, a reclusive Iraqi cleric close to Iranian hard-liners. Washington accuses Iran of aiding Shiite militias in Iraq, including so-called "special groups" with murky ties to the Mahdi mainstream. Iran denies the allegations. But Iran has obvious and well known connections to the main Shiite political groups in al-Maliki's government. During the recent battles in Basra, Iran supported al-Maliki's crackdown on so-called "criminals" but did not make a clear statement on the spillover confrontation with the Mahdi Army. Backing a Mahdi Army uprising would allow Tehran to effectively play both sides in a Shiite showdown.
A flurry of recent statements by al-Sadr has emphasized his first public role: as a firebrand militia leader after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
In a statement posted Saturday on his Web site, al-Sadr gave a "final warning" to the government to halt its crackdown or face an "open war until liberation."
Senior Mahdi Army commanders, speaking on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss strategy with media, said they have taken delivery of new Iranian weapons, including sophisticated roadside bombs, Grad rockets and shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles.
The militia's top field commanders, they said, were senior members of the special groups. One commander, who identified himself by his nickname Abu Dhara al-Sadri, said scores of militia fighters were prepared to carry out suicide bombings against U.S. forces. Suicide bombings are the signature attacks of Sunni militants in Iraq's conflict, but the tactic was introduced against Americans in Lebanon by Shiite militants in the 1980s. Sadrist lawmakers and aides have sent compromise-seeking proposals to al-Sadr in Qom. The ideas seek to appease al-Maliki enough to forestall his threat: barring al-Sadr's followers from running in this fall's key provincial elections unless al-Sadr disbands the Mahdi Army. But the proposals have gone unanswered, said al-Sadr's aides.
One offer, they said, would allow for creation of a new political party with no formal links to the Mahdi Army. Another would permit candidates sympathetic to the Sadrists — but with no direct links — to run as independents in the fall election.
One of the authors of the proposals, moderate cleric Riyadh al-Nouri, was gunned down April 11 in Najaf, the spiritual center for Shiites in Iraq. The reason for the slaying was not clear. Lawmakers and politicians told the AP that al-Sadr's more belligerent tone is motivated, in part, by his wish to secure a place for himself in history as a nationalist leader and anger over the recent arrests of hundreds of supporters despite his unilateral cease-fire.
At talks this month in Qom between al-Sadr and former Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, the young cleric vowed never to disband the Mahdi Army while U.S. and other foreign forces remain in Iraq, according to Shiite political figures familiar with the meetings. Al-Jaafari has said he was mediating an accommodation between al-Sadr and al-Maliki's government. Salah al-Obeidi, al-Sadr's chief spokesman in Iraq, acknowledged that al-Sadr and the Iranians were at present bound by close ties and common goals. However, he was quick to add that while al-Sadr and the Iranians shared common interests — namely fighting the Americans in Iraq — the cleric was nobody's puppet. Vali Nasr, an expert on Shiite politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, said the Iranians may want al-Sadr to stay in Qom to keep him in check for the moment. "Muqtada is forcing everyone's hand right now when they (the Iranians) may not be wanting their hand forced," said Nasr.(AP) Beirut, 25 Apr 08, 13:43

Gemayel: Berri's Offer is Tantamount to Death Threat
Naharnet/Ex-President Amin Gemayel on Thursday said a call by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri for agreement on a parcel deal between the opposition and majority is tantamount to a death threat. "It is like directing a gun at your head. You either accept the whole basket or get killed," Gemayel told reporters.
He criticized Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem for claiming that Lebanon's friends who had met in Kuwait want to internationalize the Lebanon crisis.
"Lebanon is at the United Nations intensive care … since UNSCR 1559 was adopted" in September 2004, Gemayel told reporters. Beirut, 24 Apr 08, 18:40

U.S. Trains Lebanese Army on Medical Command
Naharnet/The U.S. Chargé d'Affaires Michele Sison on Thursday presented certificates to the members of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) who completed an emergency medical training course provided by the U.S. Government. An embassy statement said the "training increases the capacity of the LAF Medical Command to offer health care." "The U.S. Government and the LAF are engaged in an active program of training and assistance designed to upgrade the capability of the LAF across a range of areas," the statement added. In her speech at the closing ceremony, Sison said that she "is impressed with the different training programs in which LAF soldiers take part." She added that "U.S. Government support to the LAF is an integral part of the overall U.S. assistance to Lebanon."
Since 2006, the United States has committed 371 million dollars in security assistance to the LAF, and the United States will continue to provide equipment and training to the LAF, the statement added. It stressed: "The United States is committed to building the capabilities of the LAF and it will continue to support the government of Lebanon and the LAF as they continue their efforts to safeguard the peace, unity and sovereignty of Lebanon." Beirut, 24 Apr 08, 18:59

Arabization, Internationalization and Hell
Zuheir Kseibati

Al-Hayat - 24/04/08//
When Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem admits that he and Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa do not belong to the same "school of diplomacy," the other meaning of his complaint is that the Secretary General does not belong to the minister's school even when his country heads the current session of the Arab Summit. Although this dispute became public for the first time during the "Friends of Lebanon" meeting, the indirect skirmishes noted in Kuwait between Moallem and Minister Bernard Kouchner reinforce the pessimism surrounding the prospects of any solution to the ongoing Lebanese crisis, especially with the widening gap between Moallem and the French schools of diplomacy.
Along the persisting crisis, it is possible to speak of a conflict between internationalization and Arabization - even when there is no such conflict - and of an Egyptian-Saudi disagreement with Damascus's interpretation of how to implement the Arab initiative, in addition to Syria's adamant commitment to the March 8 camp's insistence on a "complete basket," such that the election of General Michel Suleiman can only happen after resolving the national unity cabinet and the new electoral law paradoxes. The other effects of the crisis are known, since they are nothing more than necessary tools to keep the tug of war and paralysis imposed on the Lebanese and their constitutional institutions.
Damascus committed an error by refusing to attend the "Friends of Lebanon" meeting in Kuwait as it sought to avoid the embarrassment of coming under Arab and international pressures which may have tested its promises to facilitate ending the crisis, to respond to Lebanese demands and to protect stability in their country. At the same time, however, the meeting sent a double message: First, it says that Arabization (Arab League initiative) intersects and moves along with internationalization, or else it would have been meaningless to remind of Security Council resolutions, especially resolutions 1559 and 1701. Meanwhile, reminding of the Taef Accord demands no interpretation to explain its legitimacy as a guarantor of balance in the Lebanese political system.
On the other hand, the factors motivating Minister Kouchner, the godfather of the meeting, to explain his "school's" vision that the internationalization of Lebanon's crisis has become a reality (since the issuing of resolution 1559), may now encourage protestors and opponents to realize that what they refer to as "the Americanization of the solution" no longer deludes anyone with the slogan of defiance and its relevance, and no longer suffices to ignore the fact that major powers, including Russia and a few influential Arab states have supported Security Council resolutions.
Yet, expecting opponents to be convinced remains as weak as relying on the stability of security in Lebanon, a matter that still concerns Lebanon's friends and brethren, especially that al-Qaeda may surface again to play the tune of security, just as it did during the bloody war waged by Fateh al-Islam to initiate its "state" in congruence with "Iraqization."
It is no exaggerated pessimism or discouragement of the Arab League Secretary General's efforts to admit that the chances of the League's initiative are desperate. The same despair is felt among the Lebanese who realize the difficulty of implementing the initiative given the state of bitter divide between the March 14 and March 8 camps, and between the Christians - especially when former deputy prime minister Michel Murr found no expression other than "a bridge for the Shiites" to describe General Michel Aoun's coalition - in the light of growing sectarian tensions which barely calm down before the warnings of strife and its effects are heard whenever skirmishes take place in the alleys.
Given all this, one of the priorities of the "Friends of Lebanon" who met at the borders of the Iraqi fire, is to ensure that this fire does not extend to the nation-taken-hostage by regional power conflicts which besiege Arabization without frustrating internationalization. If the predictions are right about extending the Lebanese crisis to the spring of 2009, then the majority and opposition leaders may be better off reinforcing a political truce that will not collapse under the fires of accusations and insults or else Lebanon will be dragged into al-Qaeda's trap and its desire to extend its "state."
When Ayman al-Zawahiri reaches the conclusion that the "Mujahideen" are caught between two fires in Lebanon, he leaves no doubt that he is inciting them against both the majority and the opposition at the same time, nor does he leave any doubt that his promised project for both sides is nothing less than hell: sectarian fires to complete the displacement of the Christians (the Iraqi way) because Lebanon is an Islamic stronghold, and confessional fires to burn the temple on everyone before reaching Palestine.
Al-Qaeda wishes for hell, but before it gets there, Resolution 1701 should be brought down by "expelling" the UN forces. It is a project to incinerate Lebanon….or North Palestine

An empty table
By: Lucy Fielder
Al-Ahram Weekly
A press photograph of 14 empty chairs in an upstairs room of the parliament building this week said it all. Despite parliamentary speaker and key opposition figure Nabih Berri's calls for the third "national dialogue" in as many years, no one in Lebanon seems keen to sit around the table, most beyond believing that dialogue could do any good.
"People are getting tired of this game but are still loyal to the two groups -- so much so that no one's willing to back down," said Sami Baroudi, a political science professor at the Lebanese American University. "So the politicians are not feeling the pressure to do anything about it."
Lebanon has had no president for the nearly five months since Emile Lahoud's term ended, many Lebanese feeling that their country has become inured to paralysis. "I don't think there'll be a round of dialogue, I don't think anybody's interested," said Osama Safa, head of the Lebanese Centre for Policy Studies. "We're waiting for regional changes and it won't happen any time soon."
The Western-backed government and the opposition led by Hizbullah -- considered part of the "rejectionist front" with Iran, Syria and Hamas -- have agreed on Lebanese Army Commander Michel Suleiman as a consensus candidate. But they remain locked in a power-struggle over seats in a subsequent cabinet, and in a lesser tussle over Lebanon's controversial electoral law.
A parliamentary session for MPs to approve Suleiman was delayed for the 18th time Tuesday, to the surprise of no one. Some observers believe that next year's parliamentary vote is also jeopardised, with no end in sight to the crisis and no agreement on a new election law, as demanded by the opposition and many Christians who feel current electoral boundaries short-change them.
Safa said such talk, along with the various initiatives that come and go, was just "to keep people busy". Arab and international leaders were expected to meet Tuesday on the sidelines of a conference on Iraq in Kuwait, but with little expectation of a breakthrough. "None of this is serious talk," said Safa. "It is very clear things are frozen right now. There is no war or peace decision and the status quo is the order of the day."
With Iraqi and Palestinian bloodshed growing and little sign of a compromise on Lebanon, all sides await the US election in November for a change in US policy direction on the region. "In the final days of the Bush administration, someone somewhere is upping the ante, and it doesn't seem that there's a thaw in the region," Safa said.
Baroudi said the visit of US Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs David Welch to Beirut last week resulted in the same old statements -- that even US allies in Lebanon were losing faith in Washington's ability or will to deliver. "I think the US is losing credibility, even among 14 March [the pro-government movement]," he said.
The latest of sporadic clashes that have flared up in the vacuum ignited in Zahle, a mainly Christian town in the eastern Bekaa Valley. Safa said although these were between two rival Christian groups, such tensions existed in every camp. Supporters of local opposition MP Elie Skaff fought a gun-battle with Phalange Party supporters, killing two of the latter.
"This is symptomatic of what's happening in all camps and indicative of the charged-up, highly mobilised, highly polarised situation in the country. This could happen at any second, but there seems to be no decision to take it to the next level," Safa said, adding that he doubted the clashes were part of any broader plot to take Lebanon back to the days of civil war.
But Al-Akhbar reported the clashes reflected tensions on the Christian street, which many say has the most to lose from the current presidential vacuum because the executive is reserved for a Maronite Christian under Lebanon's sectarian political system.
A media war has broken out between the 14 March ruling team, whose Christian component is mainly represented by Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and the Phalange, and opposition Christian leader Michel Aoun. One of Aoun's erstwhile allies, MP Michel Al-Murr, has moved away from his Free Patriotic Movement's stance, denouncing the delay in electing a president as "unacceptable" and saying other issues could be discussed later. Aoun and the rest of the opposition argue that the balance of power in the cabinet should be agreed before the president can be elected to ensure they have stronger representation.
"There seems to be a kind of implicit plan by 14 March to whittle away at Aoun's popularity and exploit the fact that there are some splits within the party ranks," Safa said.
Al-Akhbar quoted Aoun's political aide, Jibran Bassil, as saying "consensus can't be imposed through force". "This signal was interpreted by observers as aimed at opening the door for resuming the debate concerning the presidential consensus," Al-Akhbar reported, asking whether Aoun might be on the verge of dropping his support for Suleiman.
© Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved


Al-Zawahiri's Threats to Lebanon and UNIFIL and the Responsibility of the International Community
Raghida Dergham
Al-Hayat - 25/04/08//
New York -- The words of al-Qaeda's second in command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, that Lebanon will play a pivotal role in the upcoming battles with the Crusaders and Jews should be taken very seriously by the United States and the international community. Washington has previously failed to pay attention to the messages of al-Qaeda's chief, Ousama bin Laden, when he threatened to attack American symbols and interests. Hence, it woke up to the 9/11 shock when terrorism brought down the twin towers of American pride and dignity. In addition, the US has already earned a bad and dangerous reputation for being fully committed and focused on an issue it considers of utmost importance on one day, only to complain about the demands of commitments and to show severe complacence that hinders its sound judgment on another. Yet, it is not Washington alone that will pay the price of neglecting the developments on the Lebanese front. The UN itself will lose a lot and will suffer a high cost if it hesitates to take the necessary steps toward Lebanon, which has now become an international project.
Since the Lebanese question is not limited to Lebanon's domestic issues, but is more fundamentally composed of a regional conflict, a political feud, and aspirations for domination by the likes of al-Qaeda, Iran, Syria and Israel, the biggest possible mistake would be to reduce the Lebanese question to a sectarian feud or a conflict between political leaders. The Lebanese front may seriously turn into a battlefield for al-Qaeda-like groups seeking to spread their destructive ideologies, for Palestinian factions that vow loyalty to Syria, for Lebanese militias with Iranian rather than Lebanese loyalties, not to mention the Israeli attacks mounted under various pretexts, while the consecutive Israeli governments continue to avoid peace and its requirements.
Ultimately, there is an intersection of interests between some of these parties that claim to father the "Resistance." However, these are also vying to lead the resistance, as Syria prevents the militant groups from operating along the widest front on the Syrian-Israeli borders, thereby forcing the frustrated fighters to turn to and against Lebanon.
Now that al-Zawahiri has declared the centrality of al-Qaeda's role in Lebanon, the United Nations, the US, the EU, Russia, and the Middle Eastern countries should immediately adopt new strategies before Lebanon turns into another Iraq, especially that terrorism has been summoned to Lebanon through the gates of the same neighbor that facilitated the path for al-Qaeda into Iraq.
Al-Zawahiri did not condemn this neighbor because he needs it. As a matter of fact, the passage into Lebanon for the likes of al-Qaeda is almost confined to Syria. Yet, al-Zawahiri condemned Iran and its Lebanese ally, Hezbollah, criticizing its Manar TV station and the Iranian media. In addition, he considered Iran's objective clear, namely covering up its collusion with the US in conquering the homeland of Muslims in Afghanistan and Iraq.
In effect, al-Zawahiri was calling upon the "jihadist generation" in Lebanon to obstruct the country's transformation into an Iranian base because the "Sunnis" need the Lebanese front to reach Palestine. He was also practically opening a new front against the UNIFIL in Lebanon and the Security Council which endorsed Resolution 1701 that reinforced the international forces and set the foundations for the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
The competition between al-Qaeda and Iran, just as the competition between al-Qaeda and the pro-Iranian militias in Iraq and Lebanon, comes and goes as do the coordination and role-playing which vary at the convenience of players. However, al-Zawahiri's declared entrance into the Lebanese front with such "wars" should be taken seriously. Means should be also devised to stop such entrance, while at the same time preventing Lebanon's transformation into an Iranian base.
At the outset, the Security Council, the UN General Secretariat, and the governments of the US, Russia, Europe and Arab countries must take a decision to prevent turning Lebanon into a failed state and to inform all concerned parties that this red line will not be crossed.
This essentially requires taking decisive stances against the Syrian regime that diligently struggles to exhaust Lebanon and paralyze its constitutional institutions as a means to turn it into a failed state. It is this regime's dream to see the world beg it to make a military return to Lebanon and bring it under control once it has turned it into a failed state. Hence, the Syrian regime bets on American and French weakness, UN helplessness, and on time to terrorize all and force them to accept the status quo. But it will fail.
To ensure that neither Washington nor Paris will wake up to a costly surprise that ends their relaxation or boredom over the Lebanese issue, the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her French counterpart Bernard Kouchner must, first and foremost, issue instructions to the US ambassador to the UN Zalmay Khalilzad and his French counterpart Jean-Maurice Ripert urging them to revitalize their efforts within the international organization. As a matter of fact, both the US and the French diplomacies within the UN have slackened, which a few concerned parties may perceive as a permission to continue their violations and breaches of international resolutions without accountability or punishment. Because Lebanon is an international project and a special responsibility whose burden falls upon the UN, the UN should therefore be the focal point in this issue.
The mechanisms of required action are already available, and the timeframes are provided for in the resolutions issued by the Security Council as well as in the reports prepared by the Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon at the request of the Security Council. These reports are neither shallow nor marginal, but rather, they pertain to resolutions related to the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, the embargo on the flow of arms and fighters through Syrian-Lebanon borders under Chapter Seven of the UN Charter as the case is in Resolution 1701, preventing Iran from exporting its weapons to organizations and militias such as Hezbollah as in Resolution 1747, the Lebanese presidential elections blocked by Syria and its allies in Lebanon, and the right of the Lebanese government to exercise its sovereignty to safeguard Lebanon's complete independence as in Resolution 1559. In addition, these reports have to do with the disarmament of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias as in Resolution 1559, which prompted the terrorists to assassinate former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri after he played a pivotal role in formulating this resolution.
With respect to ending the patterns of impunity and setting up the unprecedented international tribunal to punish the culprits involved in the assassination of Hariri and his comrades as well as in other political assassinations in Lebanon, the mechanism is obvious. All what the chief investigator Daniel Bellemare needs is to show professionalism and courage in wearing the robe of the prosecutor that has been assigned to him and which permits him to pursue the investigation under all circumstances.
The mechanisms of the resolutions and the tribunal should be tied to critical timelines and ultimatums. In parallel, the stakeholders must be slated to impose economic and non-economic sanctions in view of isolating those who refuse to give in to international resolutions.
In other words, the American and French diplomacies should end the patterns of appeasement, compromise, softness, retreat, and toothless statements that are propagated under the pretext of seeking consensus.
It is true that such methods have successfully ensured Russian, Chinese, Libyan and South African involvement in delivering clear messages of support to the core resolutions that set the mechanisms of monitoring, accountability and punishment. However, the time has come now to adopt a stringent approach away from simply pleasing South Africa's Ambassador Dumisami Kumalo who repeatedly stands against international interference in Lebanon, totally overlooking the fact that he has assumed this post for no reason other than international interference in South Africa.
The required strategy now demands the courage to confront, coupled with the boldness to take punitive procedures even if non-backed by consensus. For instance, the largest possible number of European states may be mobilized behind resolutions against Syria if the latter fails to satisfy demands within specified time limits and through the mechanisms of international resolutions. The needed strategy also requires the courage to impose demands on Iran and even punish it for violating the resolutions banning the flow of its arms to Hezbollah in Lebanon. Tehran will not cooperate in this respect because it denies offering military aid and massive financial support to Hezbollah. Tehran will not offer any help to convince Hezbollah to give up its weapons because those weapons are linked to the aspirations of Iran's leaders who want to export the Islamic republic model to the rest of the region.
Therefore, the Security Council and the EU are demanded to avoid sanctioning Iran solely for its defiance in the nuclear file, but rather, to punish it as a direct contributor to the conspiracy to turn Lebanon into a failed state. Russia will not support such steps in the Security Council because it acts as Iran and Syria's guardian against punishment. None of this, however, should prevent France and the US from cornering and embarrassing Russia, China and the smaller states in the Security Council and pressuring European states to impose sanctions to isolate and punish Iran, Hezbollah, Syria and every participant in the plot to turn Lebanon into a failed state.
The time has come to make the red lines clear for every concerned party in Lebanon. The next stage is dangerous and the game of playing on void and wasting time has become fertile ground for the likes of al-Qaeda, not only the Iranian-Syrian aspirations in Lebanon.
There is a need now for a preemptive strategy that deactivates the tactic of creating void; a preemptive strategy that turns time in favor of the Lebanese government and state. This requires effective contribution with generous support to enable the government to carry on the responsibilities of governing and caring for citizens. Such contribution will equally reinforce the army, thus allowing it to stop encroachment by al-Qaeda and other factions and militias, which will in turn consecrate it as the sole military force in the country.
Since Israel is part of what goes on in Lebanon, it constantly flirts with the Syrian regime, which serves as its safety valve. Hence, the US, Europe and the UN should decisively and seriously ask Israel to stop occupying the village of Ghajar, to end its violations of Lebanese skies under unsound excuses, and to withdraw from the Shebaa Farms which Israel recognizes as occupied Arab territories. The Shebaa Farms should be put under UN custody, while international pressures intensify on Syria to force it to demarcate its borders with Lebanon so that the real ownership of this territory is determined, especially as it is used by Hezbollah as an excuse to justify turning Lebanon into a resistance base for the sake of its liberation.
The UN is now directly concerned with the need to adopt a coherent and decisive strategy, especially as al-Zawahiri has called for attacking its forces. It is Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon's duty to adopt a new approach that does not drown in over-diplomacy. It is his duty to raise his voice and repeatedly demand respect for Security Council requirements. It is his duty to name names and force states to bear their responsibilities. It is his duty to associate his written reports with oral demands that exert pressure on Syria, Iran, Israel and any other side that tries to turn Lebanon into a failed state