LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
August 20/08

Bible Reading of the day.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 19,23-30. Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and said, "Who then can be saved?" Jesus looked at them and said, "For human beings this is impossible, but for God all things are possible." Then Peter said to him in reply, "We have given up everything and followed you. What will there be for us?" Jesus said to them, "Amen, I say to you that you who have followed me, in the new age, when the Son of Man is seated on his throne of glory, will yourselves sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more, and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.

Gregory the Great (c.540-604), Pope and Doctor of the Church
Homily 5 on the Gospel/"We have given up everything and followed you."
You have heard, my brethren, that Peter and Andrew abandoned their nets to follow the Redeemer at the first sound of his voice (Mt 4,20)... Perhaps someone will say to himself under his breath: «What have those two fisherman abandoned to answer the Lord's call? They had practically nothing.» But in this matter we should think of their disposition of heart rather than their fortune. The person who has not kept hold of anything for himself has left a good deal; the person who has forsaken everything has left a good deal, even if it is but small. As for ourselves, we passionately hold on to what we possess, and what we don't have, we pursue with all our desire. Indeed, Peter and Andrew left a great deal since both forsook even the desire to possess. They forsook a great deal because, in giving up their goods, they also gave up their covetousness. In following the Lord they gave up everything they might have desired if they had not followed him.

Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special Reports
Hezbollah’s telecommunications expansion.By Walid Phares 19/08/08
Rice Brokers Another Disaster.By Joel J. Sprayregen. American Thinker 19/08/08
Hizbullah's accord with Salafist groups is unlikely to have a long-term impact- The Daily Star 19/08/08

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for August 19/08
PM: IDF's gloves to come off if Lebanon turns into Hizbullahland-Jerusalem Post
Israel would attack Lebanon without restraint if a Hezbollah ...Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Suicide Terrorists Reportedly Infiltrate into Lebanon as Tourists-Naharnet
Army Chief Post in Limbo Amid Continued Disagreement Over Key Posts -Naharnet
Berri: Extraordinary Parliament Session Within One Week -Naharnet
Report: Disagreements Might Postpone National Dialogue -Naharnet
Hizbullah Exhibition Marks 'Divine Victory'-Naharnet
Jordanian FM: There Should be Arab Backing to National Dialogue-Naharnet
Aoun Accuses Former Government of 'Collusion with Terrorism'-Naharnet
Jisr: Mustaqbal Movement Rejects Hizbullah-Salafi Document-Naharnet
Saniora in No Hurry to Appoint New Army Commander-Naharnet
Hariri: Only Doha Accord Sets Dialogue Mechanism-Naharnet
Zaki: Trial or Freedom for Nahr al-Bared Detainees-Naharnet
Army Chases Tripoli Saboteurs-Naharnet
Saniora After Cheap Iraqi Oil-Naharnet
Salafism: a small movement making big waves in Lebanon-Daily Star
The social situation in Lebanon and the prospects for improvement-Daily Star
Former SLA Soldiers in Israel Protest for Their Rights-Arutz Sheva
Israel Slams UNIFIL Complaints Against IAF, Praise for Hizbullah-Arutz Sheva
Report: Syria test launches series of missiles, rockets-Ha'aretz
Barak to run campaign on Second Lebanon War failures-Jerusalem Post
Israeli troops prevented the smuggling of drugs from Lebanon into-Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Celebrations erupt across Pakistan as Musharraf quits-AFP
Hizbullah, Salfists ink accord banning sectarian strife-Daily Star
Hariri warns against altering national dialogue agenda-Daily Star
Syria hands over list of 100 Lebanese detainees-Daily Star
ISF arrests men with arms, detonators in Jounieh-Daily Star
US denies rejecting army request for weapons-Daily Star
SLA soldiers say Israel now treats them 'like dogs'-Daily Star
Lebanon sees $83 million balance of payments surplus-Daily Star
Lebanese economic activity rises 7.5 percent from 2007-Daily Star
Activity on BSE increased by 141 percent this year-Daily Star
PLO calls for haste in resolving issue of detainees linked to Nahr al-Bared conflict-Daily Star
Army intervenes after homemade bomb thrown in Tripoli-AFP
NGO calls for ideas to support media development-Daily Star
Media watchdog slams bids to impose self-censorship-Daily Star
Jezzine celebrates inauguration of new water pumping stations-Daily Star
Salafism: a small movement making big waves in Lebanon-Daily Star
The social situation in Lebanon and the prospects for improvement-Daily Star

Army Chief Post in Limbo Amid Continued Disagreement Over Key Posts
Naharnet/Two days before a cabinet session scheduled for Thursday, divisions among various political factions on senior military and security posts left the vacant army commander seat in limbo. An Nahar daily on Tuesday quoted well-informed government sources as saying that efforts are underway to appoint the army chief and four Central Bank governor deputies during Thursday's government session. The same sources said that 10 or 12 director generals at various ministries and around six heads of public institutions could be appointed later. They said, however, that there was still no agreement on the first batch of appointments, including the name of the army commander. As Safir daily said on Tuesday that the appointments were not on the agenda of the cabinet session. It quoted government sources as saying that the issue of key posts, if agreed upon, will be discussed from outside the agenda. Informed sources told Al Liwa newspaper that the latest bus bombing that targeted soldiers in northern port city of Tripoli pushed for efforts to solve the army chief post crisis. However, a government source told the daily that the cabinet was not expected to make appointments to top posts on Thursday. Also, Prime Minister Fouad Saniora appeared to be in no hurry to appoint a new army commander. "The issue of appointing directors to key security posts is still being considered," Saniora told reporters after meeting President Michel Suleiman at Baabda Palace on Monday. Beirut, 19 Aug 08, 07:52

Shiite Hezb'allah and Sunni Salafis sign accord
Rick Moran
If I had a dime for every time some "expert" told us that the idea of Shia Iran working with Sunni al-Qaeda was preposterous because SUNNIS AND SHIAS HATE EACH OTHER AND WOULD NEVER WORK TOGETHER IN A MILLION YEARS!
Amidst a growing world crisis, new developments in Lebanon may signal what lies ahead in the sphere of global jihadist forces in the near future. A memorandum of understanding has been signed by Hezbollah, the main pro-Iranian organization in the region, and a number of Salafist groups outlining efforts to "confront America."
Innocent minds may question how that impacts our lives. However, events that unfold in Beirut have a direct effect on the war on terror, or to be more precise, on the jihadist war on democracies. Here is why:
Frequent AT contributor Dr. Walid Phares is the author of this article, appearing in the Middle East Times. I will not quote extensively from it, wishing only that you read the entire excellent piece, but this little bit should open some eyes of those predisposed to disbelieve an alliance between Islamic radicals regardless of their sect: Undoubtedly, the consequences of this event will be filled with strategic implications. Certainly this joint declaration is only between a number of Salafist groups, not the entire tree, let alone the Wahhabi Muslim Brotherhood web on one hand and Hezbollah; it remains confined to Lebanon; we're not dealing with an all-out two-trees jihadist merge.
Far from that, what we're witnessing is a massive move on behalf of one tree, the Khomeinists, to connect to some branches of the Salafist tree.
These attempts aren't new, for Iran has been funding "Sunni" Hamas and Islamic Jihad for decades. And the Syrian regime has been controlling Sunni-Salafist satellites for years.
Fatah al-Islam, a Salafist combat group which fought the Lebanese army during the summer of 2007 has been released from Syria into northern Lebanon. But all of these relationships were not declared openly nor were they organized officially.
The Salafist-Hezbollah agreement in Lebanon is a novelty from which there are a number of lessons to be learnt:
Iran is beginning to boldy reach out and attempt a unification of all the American hating jihadists, bringing them under one roof so to speak. This can only mean bad news for the west and especially bad news for America as Iran now seeks to assert itself in the Middle East and beyond.

Report: Disagreements Might Postpone National Dialogue
Naharnet/The national dialogue, which will be chaired by President Michel Suleiman, might be postponed because of continuous bickering over its agenda and participation, the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat reported on Tuesday. Al-Mustaqbal Movement leader Saad Hariri said on Monday that the dialogue would be held in line with "the mechanism set by the Doha Accord." "Any attempt to overstep this mechanism aims at diverting the dialogue and hampering efforts by President Michel Suleiman to sponsor the conference," Hariri added in a statement released by his press office. He was apparently rejecting attempts by Hizbullah to flood the proposed conference by listing a variety of topics on its agenda and adding self-proclaimed "independent" figures to the conferees.
Free Patriotic Movement leader Gen. Michel Aoun, meanwhile, called for limiting the number of participants in the dialogue to reach better understanding.
Al-Hayat said that Suleiman was awaiting progress on the agreement reached during the Lebanese-Syrian summit in Damascus, particularly the decision to establish diplomatic ties between the two countries, before inviting Lebanese leaders to the dialogue table. Beirut, 19 Aug 08, 08:58

Berri: Extraordinary Parliament Session Within One Week
Naharnet/Speaker Nabih Berri has told As Safir daily that he will invite parliament to convene within a week to discuss issues related to the people's economic and living conditions. Parliament will also convene in September during a series of other extraordinary sessions, Berri told the daily in remarks published on Tuesday
President Michel Suleiman issued a decree last Wednesday calling on parliament to convene in an extraordinary session from Aug. 19 till Oct. 20.
The decree said parliament will discuss during the session the 2006, 2007 and 2008 state budget projects as well as other draft laws referred to it.
Parliament convenes twice a year in two ordinary sessions -- the first starts mid-march until the end of May and the second from the middle of October through the end of December. As Safir quoted well-informed legislative sources as saying that the elections law along with living conditions will be among the top issues to be discussed during the session. The daily said that parliament's administrative and justice committee will come up with the final draft of the elections law after a few weeks, which makes it possible to adopt the law during the extraordinary parliament session. Beirut, 19 Aug 08, 08:33

Aoun Accuses Former Government of 'Collusion with Terrorism'
Naharnet/Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun on Monday accused the former government of "collusion with terrorism" and vowed to carry on with political escalation. "I believe the former government was involved in terrorism since it did not take any measures to stop it from spreading," Aoun told reporters in Rabiyeh after the weekly meeting of his Change and Reform parliamentary bloc. He demanded "clarifications as well as practical measures," pledging to go on with "our political escalation." Aoun said the issue of appointing directors to key security posts would likely be finalized next Thursday.Beirut, 18 Aug 08, 18:05

Saniora in No Hurry to Appoint New Army Commander
Naharnet/Prime Minister Fouad Saniora on Monday appeared to be in no hurry to appoint a new Lebanese army commander. "The issue of appointing directors to key security posts is still being considered," Saniora told reporters after meeting President Michel Suleiman at Baabda Palace. "We should not be in a hurry" to appoint a new army commander," Saniora added. He said that an army commander would eventually be appointed. "Be assured." Saniora discussed with Suleiman Thursday's cabinet session agenda. He said that he briefed Suleiman on his visit to Egypt, which he described as "good."Saniora said Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has welcomed steps taken by Suleiman. Beirut, 18 Aug 08, 15:23

Hizbullah Exhibition Marks 'Divine Victory'
Naharnet/A recording of slain Hizbullah military chief Imad Mughniyeh's voice echoes around the charred remains of captured Israeli tanks as the Shiite group showcases its 2006 "victory" over Israel. In a large car park in the southern Lebanese town of Nabatiyeh, battle relics from the deadly 34-day conflict are arranged as grim exhibition artifacts while Mughniyeh's pre-recorded voice orders his troops to open fire. Smoke pours around a tank; just one of the many war trophies Hizbullah has put on display since August 15 to mark the two years since its "divine victory" over Israel. The devastating conflict, which was sparked by Hizbullah's capture on July 12, 2006 of two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid, killed more than 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians and 160 Israelis, most of them soldiers.
The war ended with a U.N.-brokered ceasefire on August 14, 2006. Mughniyeh was suspected of masterminding the July 12 raid, as well as dozens of other attacks spanning at least two decades. Audio recordings and videos of explosions and gunfire thunder around the outdoor exhibition, glorying in the triumph of the "resistance" and of Mughniyeh, who was killed in a car bomb blast in Damascus on February 12.
Hizbullah blamed the bombing on Israel, which denied any involvement, even as some fingers pointed at other parties.
Display architect Akil Hoteit and his 290-strong team have worked for three weeks to put together the exhibition, which he said is an "artistic work" and homage to the efforts of the "resistance." "It's like you were there," university student Fouad Jawhar said as he toured the exhibits.
At the entrance, a giant olive green cap similar to the type worn by Mughniyeh greets visitors who must cross a "victory bridge" whose sides are decorated with Israeli artillery shells. At the "tank cemetery," Israeli battle tanks -- Merkavas captured by Hizbullah during Israel's withdrawal from south Lebanon in 2000 -- stand beside the shell of a helicopter shot down in 2006. In a corner a fake skeleton wearing an Israeli army uniform lies in a coffin. At the center of the exhibition is a 10-square-metre (108-square-foot) "cemetery," featuring Hebrew inscriptions and Israeli army badges. Scattered all around are bullet-holed military helmets, worn boots and torn uniforms. But the "star" attraction is dedicated to Mughniyeh, and includes his desk, weapons and prayer mat, all on display in tribute to the "martyr."
Mughniyeh, who had a five-million-dollar bounty on his head, was on the most wanted lists of Israel and the United States after a string of bloody attacks in the 1980s and 1990s across the globe. His mother Amina Salame brought Mughniyeh's youngest son, Jihad, to the exhibition's private opening on Friday, and together the pair paused in front of a display of the clothes he was wearing when he died. His photos, as well as those of fighters firing rockets towards Israel, stand opposite pictures of dead and wounded Israeli soldiers. Others show weeping Israeli troops, mourning the loss of fallen comrades.(AFP) Beirut, 19 Aug 08, 09:05

SLA Soldiers in Israel: Ehud Barak Betrayed Us!
by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz
(IsraelNN.com) Soldiers of the now-defunct South Lebanon Army (SLA) demonstrated at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv on Sunday against what they feel is discrimination among their ranks by Defense Ministry officials. The protesters said that the higher ranking officers among the former SLA soldiers received what the IDF promised they would receive when they fled into Israel after the withdrawal of the IDF from Lebanon in 2000, but that the lower ranking soldiers have not received their due. "We are the first group all over the world that fought for the Jewish people. Are the Jewish people happy to see what Israel has done with her allies?" said Pierre Diyov, one of the protesters. As for Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who as the Prime Minister in 2000 ordered the Israeli withdrawal from South Lebanon, the SLA protesters said they can not understand how Israelis can trust him after he was responsible for broken promises to the SLA.
"How can he protect the people of Israel when he can't even protect people who served with him?" asked one of the protesters, Josh, who had served 17 years in the SLA. "As far as I am concerned, Ehud Barak is a traitor, because when he withdrew the IDF from Lebanon he said that the children of the SLA members are children of the State of Israel, and today those children don't even have a house." The former SLA soldiers threatened to hold demonstrations outside the Defense Ministry every week in the event that Barak is elected to the prime ministership. They'll return regularly "until every family will get a house like he gave Hizbullah for free," say the Lebanese refugees. Most of the former SLA members who stayed in Israel live in the north of the country.

Israel Slams UNIFIL Complaints Against IAF
by Hana Levi Julian
(IsraelNN.com) The head of Israel’s diplomatic delegation to the United Nations met with the commander of the UN’s Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) on Friday to deal with flak over continued Israeli Air Force reconnaissance flights and other complaints. Dan Carmon, acting head of the delegation, sat down with Maj.-Gen. Claudio Graziano to discuss the latter’s accusations Thursday that Israel had violated UN Security Council Resolution 1701, the ceasefire agreement that ended the 2006 Second Lebanon War. Graziano said that continued Israel Air Force overflights in Lebanese airspace and Israel's refusal to submit maps of areas on which it dropped cluster bombs during the war constituted a "permanent violation of 1701." He also referred to the village of Ghajar, which straddles the Israel-Lebanon border, as "a permanent area under occupation", in spite of Israel's cooperation with the UN in drawing the border. Carmon reportedly reprimanded Graziano during their meeting for ignoring Hizbullah’s repeated and numerous violations of the ceasefire agreement, an issue raised by another group, the International-Lebanese Committee for UN Security Council Resolution 1559, as well. Toni Nissi, general coordinator for the volunteer committee, referred to UNIFIL in a news conference Saturday as “hostages of Hizbullah.”
Nissi’s group monitors the implementation of a number of UN resolutions, including 1701, which he said Hizbullah has violated “big time, and not only by hiding its weapons in warehouses in the south.”
The Israel Air Force has continued its flyovers in order to monitor the terrorist group’s rearmament. Rearming is a violation of Resolution 1701.
Exactly two years ago, Hizbullah terror leaders said that the group was not obligated by the ceasefire resolution. At the time, deputy chief terrorist Sheikh Naim Qassam declared, “The UN decision does not obligate us and it does not carry weight with us. What Israel did not succeed in taking during war, it will not succeed with diplomacy and politics.” On the issue of weapons smuggling into Lebanon, Graziano told reporters at a New York news conference Thursday that he could not ensure the area under his jurisdiction would be impenetrable. He also admitted that his forces made no attempt to prevent arms smuggling from Syria, as demanded by the UN Security Council, because the Lebanese government had not asked them to.
Despite a clear UN resolution and a 19-year-old national agreement calling for the disarmament of all non-governmental militias, Lebanon's cabinet voted earlier this month to allow Hizbullah to keep its weapons arsenal. The government decision specifically approved Hizbullah activities aimed at Israel.
Israel’s Cabinet also recently received an intelligence report on Syria’s latest weapons deliveries to Hizbullah – including the very advanced SA-8 Gecko surface-to-air anti-aircraft missile system. Graziano stated there is no evidence of arms smuggling nor has there been movement of armed gunmen, and said UNIFIL forces enjoy excellent cooperation from Hizbullah terrorists and the local Lebanese population. “At this moment, Hizbullah is one of [the] parties that agrees with 1701,” he said, insisting that no one was armed south of the Litani River, with the exception of UNIFIL troops, Lebanese soldiers, and “hunters.”

Sec. Rice Brokers Another Disaster
By Joel J. Sprayregen-American Thinker
Condoleezza Rice -- supposedly an expert on Russia -- rushed to Tbilisi last week, persuading reluctant Georgian President Saakahsvili to sign a cease-fire containing enough loopholes for a Russian tank battalion to drive through.
Rice said she was told by French President Sarkozy that Russia's President had promised "that the minute the Georgian president signed the cease-fire agreement, Russian forces would begin to withdraw." The Russians outsmarted her by reserving an imprecise role for Russian "peacekeepers" -- a truly Orwellian designation for soldiers who are busy destroying Georgia. Rubbing borscht into the wound, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said Russian troops would not withdraw until Moscow "is satisfied that security measures its forces are allowed to take under the agreement are effective." When asked how much time this would take, he contemptuously replied: "As much as needed."
A day later, Rice was compelled to admit she had been duped: "From my point of view, the Russians are perhaps already not honoring their word." Rice's record is hardly reassuring. Two of her prior cease-fires -- Gaza 2005 and Lebanon 2006 -- resulted in massive flows of rockets to Hezbollah and Hamas terrorists, guaranteeing copious bloodshed, especially if Israel or the U.S. gets serious about the Iranian nuclear threat.
Peril to Ukraine, Poland and Estonia
The perils along Russia's elephantine borders are likewise alarming. Georgia, a tiny prosperous democracy situated on the fault line separating Christian from Moslem states, is suffering political and economic ruin. There are far larger dominoes located more centrally in Europe. If the Russians escape from this aggression cost-free, then Ukraine, Poland (a Russian general last week threatened Poland with becoming a nuclear target for hosting U.S. missile defense) and Estonia (with which Russia has conspicuously refused to accept the border) may be the next targets.
The current conflict dates to the 13th century when Ossetians, a mostly Christian people speaking an Iranian language, fled the Mongol invasion of Russia, migrating south over the Caucasus Mountains. By 1801, Russian manifest destiny absorbed the Caucasus, resulting in annexation of Georgia, including South Ossetia. Georgia has since see-sawed from independence when Russia is weak to suppression when Russia is strong. South Ossetians side with Russians because their North Ossetian kinsmen remained within Russia and Russia uses Ossetians as leverage against Georgians.
When the Soviet Union collapsed, Georgia became independent. South Ossetia (like Abkhazia, the western region of Georgia which Russia is likewise seeking to detach) is indisputably within the recognized territorial boundaries of Georgia. South Ossetians -- inhabiting an enclave the size of Rhode Island with a majority of Ossetians and Russians -- seek independence. Hundreds were killed in 1992 fighting, ended by creation of a Russian-South Ossetian-Georgian peacekeeping force.
Why Russia Decided to Punish Georgia as Surrogate for the U.S.
By jeopardizing Georgia's energy pipelines, President Putin aims to bolster Russian near-monopolization of the lucrative Caspian energy supply to Europe; Putin's economic tactics, e.g., ongoing theft of Beyond (British) Petroleum's interests and imprisoning businessmen, puts to shame Nineteenth Century Robber Barons. No wonder he is being called the new Tsar.
Saakashvili, a graduate of Columbia University elected in 2004, advocates free markets, democracy, and alignment with the West (including NATO membership) and Georgian sovereignty over breakaway regions. Two recent events motivated Russia to punish Georgia as a surrogate for the West. Russia was antagonized by western backing for Kosovo independence. And President Bush, at the March NATO summit, backed membership for Ukraine and Georgia. Coolness (some would say timidity) of the European powers to Bush's proposal emboldened Russia.
Russia clearly planned to use the Olympic season (just as it invaded Afghanistan on Christmas day in 1979) to bait Saakashivili into responding to violence against Georgians. The results are ominous. Russian forces are systematically destroying the economy and military bases of Georgia (e.g., stealing all Georgia's naval patrol boats). They sit astride the main east-west road, making travel and commerce impossible, with tanks positioned near Tbilisi. Georgian men in South Ossetia have been separated from women and taken to unknown fates in Russian detention camps. A reporter saw Georgian men being compelled to clean streets in South Ossetia's capital. Georgian villages in South Ossetia are being looted and razed. A credible diplomat told me of summary executions of Georgians. The Russians are getting away with ethnic cleansing and will seek to depose the Georgian president.
What the U.S. and Its Allies Can Do
At week's end, President Bush said:
"The United States and our allies stand with the people of Georgia and their democratically elected government; Russia has damaged its credibility and its relations with the free world."
These words are meaningless unless western nations-thoughtfully but resolutely implement a blend of available sanctions, including (1) forcing Russia to veto a Security Council resolution condemning its aggression against Georgia; (2) investigating Russian war crimes; (3) extending NATO protection to Russia's neighbors; (4) expelling Russia from the G-8; and (5) reconsidering the 2010 winter Olympics in Sochi, located on Georgia's doorstep.
European Union powers must come to understand that their fixation on soft power is useless when dealing with evils of this magnitude. It took U.S. air power to rescue Europe from its helplessness to end ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. If European powers do not learn swiftly that economic power brings real security responsibilities, Europe may be doomed to suffer a succession of Prague Springs in the 21st century.
I do not advocate a mindless return to the Cold War . But history teaches that the first unpunished invasion of a small neighbor will not be the last. The defense of small free countries requires medicine stronger than Ms Rice's porous cease-fires.
**Joel J. Sprayregen is a Chicago lawyer and writer on international security matters. He has travelled in Georgia, is in touch with authoritative sources there and expects to return to the country next month.

NGO calls for ideas to support media development
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
BEIRUT: Internews Network, as part of the Small Grants Program in Support of Independent Media invites independent media NGO's and CSO's to submit proposals for small projects in support of media development in Lebanon, a statement by the organization said on Monday. Proposals should follow the guidelines set forth at www.internews.org. Funding will range between $5,000 to $20,000 for innovative projects supporting new media, youth engagement, civil society development, with special focus on projects outside the capital.

SLA soldiers say Israel now treats them 'like dogs'
Compiled by Daily Star staff
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
About 100 Southern Lebanese Army (SLA) soldiers living in Israel demonstrated Sunday outside the Kirya army base in Tel Aviv against the discrimination they have suffered in the Jewish state, Israeli media reported. "Eight years have lapsed since the pullout from Lebanon and with it, the arrival of numerous SLA fighters who assisted the Israeli army and who are presently complaining about inequality in their absorption in Israel," Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot reported on Monday.
SLA members on Sunday protested against what they said is the discrimination caused by the Israeli government in 2003 when it decided to divide their treatment between two different governmental offices according to military ranking.
"The protesters feel betrayed by the Defense Ministry, which they believe abandoned them after many years of service," Yediot Ahronot said.
Currently, a SLA soldier ranking lieutenant colonel and higher receives treatment from the Defense Ministry and those ranked lower receives assistance from the Immigrant Absorption Ministry. "We want the minimum that we deserve. I am not a new immigrant, I fought, served in the army and I deserve to be treated by the Defense Ministry. This is what we want. You can't throw people at the Immigrant Absorption Ministry,"a former SLA officer told the Israeli daily.
"We are fighting now in order to live as we should, we can't do this," said Claire, who spent her service in the SLA's communications branch and who has felt abandoned ever since Israel's pullout from Lebanon. "I came here eight years ago with my husband and children, we were in the SLA, we had true peace with Israel. After the Israeli military pullout from Lebanon we didn't know what to do, they neglected us.
"We came to this country and we know that people receive all their rights here. For eight years they didn't know how to absorb us like they should have; they divided us," she added in sorrow. Claire, who lives in Nahariya, has been the sole caretaker of her four children since her husband died.
Also talking to Yediot Ahronot, Marwan, who served in the SLA for two years prior to the pullout and currently resides with his wife and three children in Carmiel, said he was worried about the future of his children."We reached a point where a lot of people aren't working, and we cannot continue living this way because it is really hard," he added. Hakim, who served as an SLA officer for 15 years, was one of the protest's organizers. He told Yediot Ahronot that for lack of a better choice, some of the families returned to Lebanon and ended their lives in jail.
"We are asking for equality; what is happening now is unjust. We worked with the Defense Ministry, not with the Ministry of Immigrant Absorption, and they threw us out like dogs," he said. "There are 460 families with nothing to eat. We have no one to represent us; if I have a problem I have no one to turn to, we are thrown up into the air." - The Daily Star

Media watchdog slams bids to impose self-censorship
Daily Star staff
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
BEIRUT: The Maharat Foundation's watchdog for freedom of opinion and expression in Lebanon stressed in its monthly report released on Monday the need for media outlets to play a role "as a Fourth Estate alongside the state's main powers.""Media outlets play two main roles in any society," Maharat said.
"The first role consists of informing citizens of the different kinds of information they are interested in, while the second consists of playing the role of a public guard that tackles issues in favor of public interest and uncovers corruption which the state's bodies fail to defy."According to Maharat, media outlets cannot be held back from transmitting news they have verified, even if doing so might instigate internal debate. "The public has the right to know everything, particularly issues that interest it," the July report said. "It is a sacred right which media outlets cannot handle with reservation and self-censorship because this way they will lose their main role."
Maharat was referring to the Association of Lebanese Banks which last month called on media outlets to deal with news "that tries to harm Lebanon and its national economy in a careful manner."Maharat also said that people have the right to be informed about the justice system. "Publicizing trials is enshrined in the Constitution and laws," the report said, in reference to a call by Lebanese judges to take immediate measures against whoever attacks the judiciary as an authority or the judges in person. "This request constitutes an attack against the freedom of opinion and expression," the report added. "The judicial authority and judges are public figures who handle public professions. Media outlets have the right to criticize them through their role as public guard." -The Daily Star

Syria hands over list of 100 Lebanese detainees
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
BEIRUT: Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh said on Monday Damascus has presented to Beirut a list of 100 Lebanese citizens jailed in Syria as criminals. Salloukh said talks would determine if the detainees could "serve the remaining periods of their sentences in Lebanon." "The Syrians also gave us lists of Syrian citizens missing in Lebanon," Salloukh added.

Hariri warns against altering national dialogue agenda
Siniora also insists talks deal solely with Hizbullah's weapons, defense strategy
By Hussein Abdallah -Daily Star staff
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
BEIRUT: Future Movement leader Saad Hariri said on Monday that the upcoming national dialogue, which will be chaired by President Michel Sleiman, would be held in accordance with the mechanism that was agreed on in the Doha accord. "Any attempt to overstep this mechanism aims at changing the dialogue's agenda," Hariri said in a statement released by his press office. The dialogue is mainly aimed at discussing Hizbullah's possession of arms with a view toward agreeing on a national defense strategy for Lebanon. Prime Minister Fouad Siniora told Al-Mustaqbal newspaper in remarks published on Monday that the only item on the proposed dialogue's agenda was working out a defense strategy for Lebanon. "If the participants would like to expand the dialogue, we could add some other issues, but then we would be canceling Parliament's role," he said. Siniora added that Sleiman has not yet set a date for holding such dialogue.
Hariri and Siniora's positions came in response to recent remarks by Hizbullah's second in command Sheikh Naim Qassem, who said on Sunday that the national dialogue should also deal with issues other than the defense strategy. "We are not saying that to turn our back to discussing a defense strategy for Lebanon, but to say that there are other important issues which need to be discussed during national dialogue sessions," he said.
"We need to address economic and social issues, as well as ways to implement the decisions that were taken during earlier dialogue sessions," he added.
Meanwhile, former President Amine Gemayel said on Monday that the upcoming dialogue should concentrate on the defense strategy issue and leave secondary issues to be dealt with at a later stage.
Gemayel also rejected introducing new participants to the proposed dialogue, which already includes 14 political figures representing Lebanon's different parties and sects. Also commenting on the upcoming dialogue, Minister of State Jean Ogassapian told Voice of Lebanon radio on Monday that the national dialogue would only discuss the defense strategy issue."Social and economic issues should not be discussed during dialogue sessions. They should rather be dealt with by the government only," he said. In a separate development on Sunday, Siniora visited Sleiman at the presidential palace in Baabda to brief him on the outcome of his recent visit to Egypt. Siniora told reporters after the meeting that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak had given him "a message of support for Sleiman."
The premier's visit to Cairo was aimed at launching energy cooperation between Lebanon and Egypt. Siniora also revealed to reporters that he would be visiting Iraq in two days for trade talks. Asked about the measures that needed to be taken to establish diplomatic ties between Lebanon and Syria, Siniora said that the Cabinet will issue a decision in this regard in its upcoming session, scheduled for Thursday.
The session is also expected to deal with appointing a new commander for the Lebanese Armed Forces.
Meanwhile, Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt told his party's weekly Al-Anbaa in remarks published Monday that Sleiman's visit to Syria did not achieve progress regarding the issue of the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms.
"We still need Syria to acknowledge Lebanon's ownership of the disputed territory in an official document that should be sent to the United Nations to end the border dispute once and for all," he said. Jumblatt also rejected the comparison of the case of missing Lebanese in Syria to that of missing Syrians in Lebanon.
"The two cases are not the same ... Syria's armed forces and intelligence were the ones operating in Lebanon and not the other way around," he said.
Also on Monday, Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) leader MP Michel Aoun accused the former Siniora government of being involved in terrorism.
"I believe the former government was involved in terrorism since it did not take any measures to stop it from spreading," Aoun told reporters after the weekly meeting of his Reform and Change parliamentary bloc. Aoun also proposed allowing the deputy premier to chair Cabinet sessions whenever the prime minister is absent. "This privilege should be given to the deputy premier, who should not remain marginalized," he said.
The post of deputy prime minister is occupied by retired-general Issam Abu Jamra, a senior member of Aoun's FPM.
Aoun also revealed that his bloc in Parliament would soon propose a draft law to prevent the appointment of lawmakers to ministerial posts.
Commenting on the upcoming national dialogue, Aoun said he opposed the inclusion of more participants, adding that the "number of participants should rather be reduced." In a separate development on Monday, Jordanian Foreign Minister Salaheddine al-Bashir visited the presidential palace and handed over a written message to Sleiman from Jordanian King Abdullah. Bashir, who arrived in Beirut on Sunday, also met Siniora and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.
Siniora also contacted on Monday his Jordanian counterpart Nader al-Dahabi and received phone calls from Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abu el-Gheit and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal.

Hizbullah, Salfists ink accord banning sectarian strife
By Hussein Abdallah -Daily Star staff
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
BEIRUT: Hizbullah signed on Monday a memorandum of understanding with representatives of Sunni Salafist groups in a step aimed at easing sectarian tensions between Sunnis and Shiites in Lebanon. The document was signed at Safir Heliopolitan Hotel in Beirut by Hizbullah politburo chief Sayyed Ibrahim Amin al-Sayyed and the head of the Salafist Belief and Justice Movement Sheikh Hassan Shahhal. Shahhal is the cousin of Sheikh Dai al-Islam al-Shahhal, the alleged founder of Salafist movements in Lebanon. The eight-item memorandum banned internal strife between Muslims as well as all forms of sectarian incitement.
It also called for confronting "US and Israeli policies that aim at inciting strife and dividing Muslim ranks." The memorandum, which recognized the freedom of religious and political belief, vowed to confront all forms of "takfiri" ideology (describing others as infidels) and stressed that such ideology will not be tolerated by Hizbullah or the Salafists. It also called for forming a committee of clerics that would discuss disagreements between Sunnis and Shiites.
The memo also committed Hizbullah and the Salafist groups to supporting each other against any oppression by internal or external parties. Before the signing ceremony, Sheikh Hassan Shahhal said that the Salafist groups would not have attempted to sign such an understanding without the approval of Future Movement leader MP Saad Hariri."I would like to thank Hariri and former Minister [and Future MP] Samir al-Jisr for their cooperation and backing of our move," Shahhal said. But Jisr denied that Hariri had any prior knowledge of the memorandum of understanding.
"I heard in the media that the memorandum was approved by Hariri and myself ... I care to clarify that this was not the case," Jisr said Monday. "A Salafist delegation visited me on Sunday and told me about its plans to sign such a memo with Hizbullah, but this does not give me the privilege to accept or reject such a move," he added. Jisr also stressed that his movement prefers comprehensive agreements between all Lebanese parties, rather than bilateral ones, "which yielded negative results in the past." He was referring to the memorandum of understanding Hizbullah signed with MP Michel Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement in 2006.
But Jisr had said on Sunday after meeting the Salafist delegation that Future Movement had prior knowledge of meetings taking place between Hizbullah and Salafist groups. "We welcome such a move ... we are against violence and we repeatedly said that most Salafist groups are also against violence," he said. "Communication between Salafist groups and Hizbullah helps in avoiding sectarian violence in Lebanon," he added. Meanwhile, Sheikh Dai al-Islam al-Shahhal criticized on Monday the accord as "harmful to the Sunnis" and urged Future Movement to deny any cooperation with the Salafist groups who singed the document.
"This document is ... harmful to the Sunni community and would end up in vain, God willing," he said. "Those who signed have no influence, and whoever wants to defuse tension should talk to forces that do exist."

US denies rejecting army request for weapons
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Daily Star/BEIRUT: Deputy head of the United States diplomatic mission to Beirut Bill Grant on Monday denied claims that Washington had refused to provide the Lebanese Army with weapons. "The Army sets its needs and requests for assistance," Grant told the daily An-Nahar. The US, he added, does not impose limits on what the Lebanese Army can request. "The Army can request whatever it wants and the United Sates does not set conditions for using the weapons it provides," Grant said. US military assistance "aims at helping the Lebanese Army safeguard stability in Lebanon, which is part of regional stability," he added.

Salafism: a small movement making big waves in Lebanon
Various Islamist groups claim to adhere to what they call 'the true face of Islam'
By Dalila Mahdawi -Daily Star staff
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
BEIRUT: Hizbullah's signature of a Memorandum of Understanding on Monday with Salafist groups raised questions about the origin, the doctrine and the spread of the Sunni ideological movement, whose influence is more and more tangible on the Lebanese political scene.
Salafism, which follows a radical school of Sunni Islamic thought, was established in Lebanon in the 1960s by Sheikh Salem al-Shahhal. It came into being at Egypt's prominent Islamic school Al-Azhar University in the 19th century, where it was initially propagated as an intellectual movement by Jamal al-Deen al-Afghani, Muhammad Abduh and Rashid Rida. Today, the Salafist movement in Lebanon enjoys strongest support in the North, particularly in Tripoli's Abu Samra area.
Salafists are thought to comprise less than five percent of the world's Muslim population and have splintered into about 50 different branches. Each of these groups claims to represent true Salafism, leading to much confusion over the use of the term.
Even though all branches espouse charitable and social work, some of these movements aspire to change society through scholastic activity and daa'wa, or preaching, while others employ violence. After Shahhal's death, his two sons, especially the elder Dai al-Islam, have continued to lead the more mainstream of Salafist organizations in Lebanon. According to the report, "Lebanon's Sunni Islamists-A Growing Force" by Omayma Abdel-Latif of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, "Today one of the leading Salafist figures in the North, Dai al-Islam al-Shahhal identifies the Salafist movement as 'the true face of Islam.'"
"Our goal is a call to go back to the basics of Islam," the report quoted him as saying. Salafists are strictly monotheistic and largely hostile to other forms of Islam, such as Shiism or Sufism. The word Salafi is derived from the Arabic term salaf, given to the third generation of the Prophet Muhammad's followers whose religious ideals Salafists try to emulate.
According to Fidaa Itani, a journalist at the Beirut newspaper Al-Akhbar and an expert in Islamist movements, "Salafists are characterized by their tendencies towards jihad," or holy war. Many jihadist movements, like Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda, are indeed ideologically rooted in Salafism, which for many years remained politically aloof. A number of the Salafist groups operating in Lebanon have used or continue to employ violence, such as the Jund al-Sham, Osbat al-Ansar, and Fatah al-Islam groups. Although they had been active for decades, Lebanon's Salafist groups gained international prominence in 2007 following the outbreak of bloody clashes between the Salafi group Fatah al-Islam and the Lebanese Armed Forces at the Palestinian refugee camp Nahr al-Bared, near Tripoli.
Osbat al-Ansar and breakaway group Jund al-Sham both operate out of the Palestinian refugee camp Ain al-Hilweh in Sidon, and have used violence, often against each other, to further their goal of overthrowing the government and establishing Islamic rule. Many Salafist groups are particularly hostile to the Shiite group Hizbullah, whose political and military strength Salafists fear is aimed at undermining Sunnis. Following Hizbullah's armed takeover of West Beirut and Mount Lebanon in May, hundreds of armed Salafists declared jihad on the group. Salafists are politically linked, claimed Itani, to "Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait."
According to the Carnegie report, Lebanese Salafist movements have also been associated, since 2005, with the Future Movement. However, according to Abdel-Latif, "Salafist leaders deny categorically that they get funding from Hariri, insisting that the funds mainly come from sympathetic individuals and associations in the Gulf."

Hizbullah's accord with Salafist groups is unlikely to have a long-term impact
By The Daily Star
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Editorial
The agreement signed on Monday between Hizbullah and Salafist factions in Lebanon is a welcome attempt to defuse sectarian tensions in the country, especially since far too few efforts of the kind have been undertaken. But because the accord only aims at addressing the symptoms, and not the actual illness of a weak state, it is doubtful that it will have a long-term impact on Lebanon's stability.
The problem of communal strife is not unique to Lebanon, and there are reasons that sectarian tensions have repeatedly boiled over into violence here, just as they have in places like Iraq and tribal areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan. In each of these situations, the state and its institutions are either completely absent, badly lacking in legitimacy or severely undermined by institutionalized forms of discrimination such as arbitrary confessional power-sharing formulas. In the absence of a strong state that regards all of its citizens as equals, societies are prone to division along ethnic, religious, racial or other lines. This is what happened in the United States during the civil unrest of the 1960s and this is what has been happening in Lebanon for the last few decades - and will continue to occur until a strong state is created. The Sunni-Shiite rift in Lebanon is only the most recent symptom of a weak state that has in the past been just as incapable of preventing the pitting of other sects against one another. Inking accords among the country's various religious communities is a great way of demonstrating an accommodating stance, but it is about as effective in the long term as applying a band aid to a mortal wound.
A better approach would be one that aims to strengthen the role of the state and its constitutional institutions, rather than continue to bypass those entirely. The parliamentary majority has repeatedly criticized the fact that the Lebanese state lacks authority in various parts of the country. And Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has added his voice to the chorus of calls for a strong and capable state. All that remains is for the country's two political camps to join forces and do something before the symptom of Lebanon's illness rears its head again in another bout of deadly violence.

Hezbollah’s telecommunications expansion
By Walid Phares
As part of his ongoing monitoring and analyzing of the strategic expansion of Hezbollah in Lebanon, military expert Thomas Smith published a series of articles and blogs following up on the build up by the Iranian-backed militia in Lebanon, particularly in the areas north of the Litani river. In his last piece he had a conversation assessment with me on the latest penetration by Hezbollah of the Mount Lebanon areas, north of the Druze districts into the heartland of the Christian areas. It follows another piece about Hezbollah's strenght. Please find the two short blogs here.
BEYOND THE DROPZONE - World Defense Review
Phares on Hezbollah’s telecommunications expansion
by W. Thomas Smith Jr. on 17 August 2008
In a conversation last week with Middle East terrorism expert Dr. Walid Phares regarding Hezbollah’s recent strategic positioning and repositioning since the 2006 war with Israel - more specifically since the attacks on the Lebanese government in May 2008 - the subject came up of Hezbollah’s extensive telecommunications system.
I was reporting the existence of Hezbollah’s telecommunications system - and Hezbollah’s control of much of greater Lebanon’s telecom system - as early as September of 2007 (when I was in Lebanon). Dr. Phares has also been writing about it, and with much greater specificity than perhaps any other writer or analyst to date.
On Wednesday, Phares told me:
“Before the invasion of West Beirut and the assault on the Druze mountain, Hezbollah’s telecommunications systems were up-and-running and fully operational in half of Lebanon. They showed the structure of absorption for thousands of Hezbollah fighters and Iranian Pasdaran already deployed in Lebanon. The swift takeover of half of Lebanon’s capital and the multi-axis advance on the Shuf heights demonstrated that this system can insure an internal “hard” communications which can instruct, direct, guide, and move large units from one side of Lebanon to another.
“Following the political victory of Hezbollah in Doha and the surrender of the Lebanese first cabinet of Seniora and the March 14 Coalition to the Syrian-Iranian agenda, Hezbollah’s TC system not only survived, but we believe was extended and expanded. Reports - including those from media open sources - tells us that the TC system was stretched across the line of summits from the Metn area in the center northbound to Kesruwan and Jbeil mountains, deep in the Christian heartland of Lebanon. Hezbollah operatives and special forces have been seen on the commanding heights and summits of central Mount Lebanon where they’ve established “security zones.” The Iranian-backed militia today controls better strategic location than that which was ever controlled by the Syrian occupation forces before 2005.”
Hezbollah "five-times" stronger than it was during Israeli war
In terms of weaponry, strategic and political positioning, and its ever-expanding international reach; Hezbollah is "five times more capable today," than it was at the beginning of the July 2006 war with Israel: A fact, according to experts, that prompted Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak to tell his troops during a Tuesday morning tour of positions along the Golan Heights, "It's not for nothing that we're training here."
Not for nothing indeed. Poised just over the border in south Lebanon is Hezbollah; a Lebanon-based Shiia terrorist army, organized somewhat on the Taliban model, heavily funded and equipped by Iran and operationally supported by both Iran and Syria.
Hezbollah has strengthened its strategic positions across Lebanon in recent months. And in recent weeks, its military training and posturing has increased in regions of the country far beyond its traditionally recognized southern defenses (below the Litani River) and Al Dahiyeh (Hezbollah's south Beirut stronghold near the airport).
Worse, Hezbollah's newfound political power - literally forced on the government at the point of a gun after Hezbollah turned its weapons on the Lebanese citizenry in May 2008 - has enabled the terrorist group to both maintain its private militia status (including its possession of military grade weapons and a massive private telecommunications system) and position itself as a "legitimate" arm of the Lebanese Defense apparatus. And the West - including the virtually impotent United Nations forces in Lebanon - has done absolutely nothing to prevent any of it.
All of this - accomplished despite the will of the pro-democracy majority in Lebanon - has emboldened Hezbollah, and created an environment wherein the terrorist group now feels comfortable openly-flexing its muscle in areas of Lebanon that suggest ominous plans for that country's future.
Since the attacks in May, eye-witnesses and open-sources from Arab-language newspapers have reported an increasing number of Hezbollah paramilitary exercises - scouting, navigating, night operations - many of those exercises being conducted provocatively close to Christian areas of Lebanon, and along-or-near strategically vital roads that pass through the mountains between the coast and the Bekaa Valley to the Syrian border.
For instance, in the months before and weeks since the May attacks, Hezbollah and Pasdaran (Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) fighters - according to more than one independent source - have conducted small military exercises in the area around the town of Jezzine, east of Sidon.
"Reports about this have been limited because journalists either don't fully recognize the strategic significance or they are afraid of Hezbollah," says Col. Charbel Barakat (Lebanese Army, ret.), a former infantry brigade commander who today directs the office of counterterrorism for the pro-democracy World Council of the Cedars Revolution. "Almost no Western journalists have reported this, and only a few Lebanese have."
Further north in the Sannine mountains west of Zahle, Hezbollah has reportedly set up guided-missile batteries and early-warning radar. Civilian hikers unfortunate enough to venture into this area reportedly have been detained, held, and interrogated for several hours by Hezbollah militiamen.
Also in recent weeks, Hezbollah and Pasdaran reportedly have been observed training and setting up temporary outposts in the Aqura area on the road between Aqura and Baalbeck - and the security teams surrounding the exercise zone in one instance were reportedly wearing Lebanon Internal Security Forces (ISF) uniforms, though the ISF according to our sources denied they had policemen in the area at that time.
Aqura is key, because it is along the east-to-west road from Aqura to the coast that in a future war, Hezbollah plans to cut the country's largest Christian area in half. In such an attack - similar to what Hezbollah has previously done in Druze areas of the western Bekaa - Hezbollah fighters would knife through the Christian area, accessing pre-staged weapons and ammunition from the Shiia villages of Lasa, Almat, Ras Osta, and Kafr Salah which are located along (or fairly close to) the Aqura-to-Jbail trek.
"Hezbollah is establishing layered-defenses north of the Litani, in the southern and central Bekaa, and they have reinforced their presence in southern Beirut." says Dr. Walid Phares, director of the Future of Terrorism Project for the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. "They also have created new positions in Mount Lebanon and in the far north near the highest peak of the Cedars mountains. Which means technically, Hezbollah - which means Iran - controls the highest ground in the region south of Turkey."
Strategic positioning is behind Hezbollah's activity: Controlling as much of the commanding high-ground as possible and being positioned to cut roads and divide-and-isolate Sunni, Druze, and Christian areas in the event of war.
"Hezbollah knows that he who controls the mountains - consequently the mountain passes - controls all of Lebanon," says Barakat. "Hezbollah is also telling itself, 'I am afraid the Israelis will attack me north of the Litani (so I will strengthen those positions above the Litani) and I am not allowed to have my weapons and missiles south of the Litani, so I will move them north.'"
Like the Israelis, Hezbollah is not simply training for "nothing." Unlike the Israelis - who train solely to defend their state - the ultimate goals of Hezbollah are to control as much of Lebanon as possible, further the aims of the Iranian Revolution, and generally export terror.
What makes Hezbollah particularly scary today is the organization's increasing political clout, the attempt in some circles to whitewash who-and-what they are, and as Phares says, "Hezbollah today is five-times more capable militarily than it was during the July 2006 war."
— W. Thomas Smith Jr
August 17, 2008