LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
February 06/08

Bible Reading of the day.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 5,21-43. When Jesus had crossed again (in the boat) to the other side, a large crowd gathered around him, and he stayed close to the sea. One of the synagogue officials, named Jairus, came forward. Seeing him he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, saying, "My daughter is at the point of death. Please, come lay your hands on her that she may get well and live."He went off with him, and a large crowd followed him and pressed upon him. There was a woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years. She had suffered greatly at the hands of many doctors and had spent all that she had. Yet she was not helped but only grew worse. She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak. She said, "If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured."Immediately her flow of blood dried up. She felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction. Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who has touched my clothes?" But his disciples said to him, "You see how the crowd is pressing upon you, and yet you ask, 'Who touched me?'" And he looked around to see who had done it. The woman, realizing what had happened to her, approached in fear and trembling. She fell down before Jesus and told him the whole truth. He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be cured of your affliction." While he was still speaking, people from the synagogue official's house arrived and said, "Your daughter has died; why trouble the teacher any longer?"Disregarding the message that was reported, Jesus said to the synagogue official, "Do not be afraid; just have faith." He did not allow anyone to accompany him inside except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. When they arrived at the house of the synagogue official, he caught sight of a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. So he went in and said to them, "Why this commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but asleep."And they ridiculed him. Then he put them all out. He took along the child's father and mother and those who were with him and entered the room where the child was. He took the child by the hand and said to her, "Talitha koum," which means, "Little girl, I say to you, arise!"The girl, a child of twelve, arose immediately and walked around. (At that) they were utterly astounded. He gave strict orders that no one should know this and said that she should be given something to eat.

Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special Reports
A New Sykes-Picot Tragedy. By Dean Andromidas. January 05/08
Save Lebanon from Syria and Iran.By OLIVIER GUITTA. February 05/08
Hezbollah ‘paid’ by their masters. By Ahmed Al-Jarrallah. February 04/08

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for February 05/08
Army Hits Back at Hizbullah, Refuses to be Implicated in Political Bickering-Naharnet
Saniora Slams Army Skeptics-Naharnet
Running in place from Lebanon to Dimona-Ha'aretz
Lebanon to complain to UN over Israeli Border Shooting-Naharnet
Lebanese Man Has No Intention to Leave Chad-Naharnet
Moussa Asks: Have You Got a Replacement for Suleiman?-Naharnet
Suleiman: I Did Not Declare My Candidacy-Naharnet
Gemayel: Army is No 'Scapegoat'-Naharnet
U.S. Acceptance of Iraqi Refugees in Lebanon, Other Countries Speeds Up-Naharnet
First Democrats Abroad in Arab World Expect to Mobilize Voters-Naharnet
Olmert to MPs: Bear Full Responsibility for Lebanon War-Naharnet
Lebanon to Complain to U.N. Over Israeli Border Shooting-Naharnet
Iran Freeze's Lebanon's Presidential Election for a Year-Naharnet
Mossad: Iran Will Have Nuclear Weapon in Three Years-Naharnet
HRW Denounces Syria Detentions, Alleged Beatings-Naharnet
Israel on Alert After Dimona Suicide Bombing-Naharnet
Suicide bombers strike home of Israel's nukes-AFP
Fadlallah blames US for 'closing doors' on Arab initiative-Daily Star
Ex-CIA analyst outlines gap in West's regional policiesDaily Star
A British politician's Hizbullah election strategy-Daily Star
Outgoing UN envoy to Lebanon touts 'success' of Resolution 1701-Daily Star
IMF gives Lebanon glowing marks for financial resilience-Daily Star
Sidon's disastrous dump set to foul sea again, expert warns-Daily Star
Fishermen sound alarm on deadly blowfish-Daily Star
Winograd report calls for drastic re-think of how to use cluster munitions-By IRIN News.org
Poor quality of education turns students into laborers-AFP
Olmert takes 'responsibilty' for failed war-AFP
Iran celebrates opening of space center with rocket test-AFP
Moussa Resumes Beirut Mission on Friday-Naharnet
Gemayel: Army is No 'Scapegoat'-Naharnet
Jumblat Praises Army-Naharnet
Hizbullah Vows Retaliation After Deadly Border Shooting Incident-Naharnet
AMAL Wants 'Practical' Measures to Accompany Riot Investigation-Naharnet
Austria Expects Presidential Election Next Week-Naharnet
Houri: Moussa's Return Not Linked to Sunday's Riots-Naharnet
Lebanon: France and Hezbollah threat-Kuwait Times
Hezbollah warns Israel over death of Lebanese civilian-TREND Information

Hezbollah ‘paid’ by their masters
By Ahmed Al-Jarrallah
Editor-in-Chief, the Arab Times
February 04/08
IN Lebanon, some leaders who are now accustomed to living in dire situations believe they can only achieve their objectives through violence and by instigating conflicts. Lebanon’s problems lie in its geographical location. While Israel is in the south waiting for an invitation to Lebanon, where it can wreak havoc on the Lebanese and their properties, Syria is in the east and north practising the Baath ideology, thinking that Lebanon is part of its territory. Syria is currently working on the approval of its structure in Lebanon with the help of influential people who immobilized moves on the presidential election, closed the parliament, paralyzed half of the cabinet and desecrated religious symbols. These people include Hassan Nasrallah.
After obstructing peace initiatives in Lebanon, the Syrian cohorts in the country are now targeting the Lebanese Army. These cohorts are castigating the government for protecting the southern border and effectively rooting out terrorism in the north. However, the government has continued to exert tremendous efforts to maintain peace and order as well as unite the Lebanese. We then wonder why such crimes are happening in an Arab country which has the right to live freely? Several countries including the US, France, Turkey and other European and Arab nations tried to solve the problem in Lebanon but their efforts went in vain. It seems there is no solution to the problem because the Syrian regime is taking advantage of those who put the country up for sale to get rid of Lebanon. These traders earn their living out of Lebanon’s destruction.
Those who brought sorrow to Lebanon and shattered the dreams of the Lebanese are the ones who stopped the ‘heart’ of Beirut from beating. While criticizing the poor performance of the economy, these people ransacked the Ministry of Electricity and went out in the streets complaining about the power shortage. They took control of the Israeli Army, wreaked havoc all over the country and accused the government of being an Israeli follower.
They are now pushing Lebanon in to a pool of blood — murdering innocent individuals because of their identities and sectarian affiliations similar to what happened in Kosovo. They have also blocked moves of the international community to solve the crisis. This situation is an atrocious crime in the modern history of an Arab country, which saw a civil war that killed one hundred thousand people, maimed two hundred thousand and displaced almost half a million. Violence reigned in the country giving unscrupulous persons chance to commit various crimes such as drug trading, mafia activities and illegally crossing of the borders. Only criminals can deceive their nation and its people. They traded the blood of their countrymen to serve the interests of foreigners. These people have placed their nation at the bottom of their list of priorities. For them , what matters is the opinion of Iran and Syria and without a spirit of nationalism, they have severed ties to their country and community.
How can Suleiman Franjieh explain his announcement on his preparedness for civil war? His grandfather, former Lebanese President Suleiman Kabalan Franjieh, highly regarded national identity but his grandson worked against Lebanon. Franjieh served in the ministries and the Parliament for several years due to his connections with the Syrian influences in Lebanon. His Hezbollah alliances, on the other hand, remained respectable through their resistance in the south, which they continued to the Doors of Fatema. Later, they went out on the streets trying new ways to get attention. Isn’t it true that Hezbollah is being paid by those who control their guns starting from the Doors of Fatema to the Windows of Aisha?
E-mail: ahmedjarallah@hotmail.com

Save Lebanon from Syria and Iran
By OLIVIER GUITTA (Middle East Times)Published:
February 04, 2008
The outpouring of emotion and rage following the brutal assassination of towering Lebanese figure Rafik Hariri on Feb. 14, 2005, triggered the hopeful Lebanese Cedar Revolution. The anti-Syrian movement behind it, the March 14 forces, succeeded in forcing tens of thousands of Syrian troops to leave Lebanon.
But that did not mean Syria was totally out of Lebanon. In fact, right after the Syrian withdrawal, the very well informed Kuwaiti newspaper Al Seyassah reported that, according to sources close to the Lebanese Ministry of Interior, tens of thousands of Syrians were naturalized, and among them were 5,000 Syrian intelligence personnel. And as of today, Syria is still very much in charge of Lebanon. What is the international community doing about this?
Not much, to say the least.
Indeed after the momentum of the spring 2005 revolution, it really looks like the West has given up on Lebanon and left the anti-Syrian forces in the mud. This trend has been quite clear in the past few months. Even after 29 terror attacks (since October 2004), targeting anti-Syrian personalities (mostly journalists and politicians), believed by many analysts to have been ordered by Damascus, the West is giving a free pass to the regime of Bashar Assad.
All the more mind-boggling is that recently Western targets have been victims of Syria's terror policy, according to some intelligence analysts. UNIFIL forces stationed in Lebanon have been murdered and on Jan. 15, a U.S. embassy vehicle was targeted. One would think that the West would react accordingly to attacks on its citizens, by retaliating with force or diplomacy. But nothing....
On the contrary, in the past year, Syria has been very much courted by the West, from U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, to the Belgians, Italians, Spanish, Germans, and lately the French. In fact, the Nicolas Sarkozy administration was put in charge, by its allies (most notably the United States), to deal with the Lebanese situation and in particular the selection of the next president in Lebanon.
While the former French administration of Jacques Chirac was adamant in isolating Syria because of the murder of Chirac's close friend, Hariri, Sarkozy thought he could engage the Syrians and charm them. Thus, Sarkozy sent twice to Damascus his close advisers, Jean-David Levitte (the former French ambassador to Washington) and Claude Guéant (who happens to be close to Assef Chawkat, Syrian's head of security and Assad's brother-in-law).
Their mission was to ask Assad to pressure his Lebanese loyal supporters, including Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah, the president of Lebanon's parliament, Nabih Berri, and the Christian former army general, Michel Aoun, to accept a consensus presidential candidate.
But instead, Assad got to impose on the March 14 alliance, through France, army Chief Michel Sleiman – a man who incidentally was appointed by Damascus to this post – as the potential new president. But that was not enough. Syria wanted more control over the government and that is why it is blocking the situation.
History should have taught Nancy Pelosi and Western European powers that engaging a regime like Assad's does not work; on the contrary it actually emboldens it. Therefore, Syria is now adopting an even tougher stance. Assad can be really satisfied with his strategy: he did not concede anything; he publicly humiliated France; he showed that he was a key partner and he broke out of isolation.
After this debacle, Sarkozy recognized that it was no use speaking to the Syrians. It is quite possible that the idea behind this opening to Syria – offering Damascus a chance to reintegrate into the international community – was to break the Syrian-Iranian alliance and isolate Tehran even more. But this was a doomed policy.
And as Lebanese MP Elias Atallah, an expert on Syria, recently told Libération newspaper: "Our long experience shows that, each time friendly countries try to open up to Damascus, this ends up having a negative impact on Lebanon. In reality, the relations between the Syrian and Iranian regimes are very deep. They have been allied since 1982. Whoever thinks that he can change Syria's role is simplistic. Iran and Syria can totally live with their differences. They are minimal."
Last week, in Washington, a courageous Shiite leader, Ahmad al-Assad, who is vehemently opposed to Hezbollah, clearly summed up his frustration when he rightly pointed out that Damascus and Tehran are being given a free pass. Critics of the regimes in Damascus and Tehran say, "These two dictatorial regimes actually feel no Western pressure whatsoever for their role in spreading chaos, blood and mayhem in Lebanon. So why should they stop?"
Today's situation is reminiscent of 1988 when Richard Murphy, then U.S. assistant secretary of state, also fell into Damascus' trap. This resulted in several years of chaos and Syria's occupation and control of Lebanon. If the West is serious about winning the war against radical Islam, Lebanon is a key battle that should be fought. The Lebanese people deserve no less.
**Olivier Guitta, an adjunct fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies and a foreign affairs and counterterrorism consultant, is the founder of the newsletter The Croissant (www.thecroissant.com).

Suspicion over Suleiman Embarrasses Moussa
Naharnet/Well-informed sources said the return of Arab League chief Amr Moussa to Beirut will be determined after contacts with the various Lebanese leaders, particularly Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. The sources said Berri informed Moussa during a telephone conversation on Saturday that he rejects the "negative stances" by some sides regarding the Arab League initiative. The speaker asked Moussa to inquire about why the United States did not respond to the Arab initiative, particularly after he received information from European diplomatic sources that said Washington rejected the Arab plan.
The sources said Berri also stressed to Moussa that Free Patriotic Movement leader Gen. Michel Aoun was willing to resume talks that could be sponsored by the Arab League chief. Lebanese leaders contacted by Moussa said he is expected to return to Beirut this week to supervise a meeting between Aoun, former President Amin Gemayel and MP Saad Hariri to discuss the three-point Arab plan. The plan calls for the election of army commander Gen. Michel Suleiman president, formation of a national unity government in which no one party has veto power, and adoption of a new electoral law.
The sources said the Moussa-sponsored discussions were also expected to focus on a point stated in a statement by Prime Minister Fouad Saniora's government which calls for recognizing Lebanon's right to "resist the Israeli occupation" – a position that satisfies the Hizbullah-led opposition -- and at the same time "respect international resolutions" – a stance that pleases the majority. Another point to be discussed, according to the sources, is related to providing mutual guarantees between the warring political camps "to facilitate confidence-building" efforts. A leading Hizbullah figure said these two points could be considered as "factors assisting in building trust," without indicating whether they could lead to a settlement. Electing Suleiman in line with a parliamentary session scheduled for Feb. 11, however, tops Moussa's agenda, according to the sources. Meanwhile, a ministerial source saw that stances by some opposition leaders, who continued to view Suleiman with deep suspicion following bloody riots in Beirut last week, slimmed chances of success for Moussa. Beirut, 04 Feb 08, 11:26

Gemayel: Army is No 'Scapegoat'
Naharnet/Ex-President Amin Gemayel on Monday called for a "transparent investigation" into last week's riots that would expose "aggressors" who targeted both the people and the army and warned against turning the army into a scapegoat. Gemayel, addressing a joint meeting of the Phalange Party's politburo and central council, said: "We insist on a transparent investigation that goes to the end and exposes all facts related to aggressors who targeted the people, the army and its vehicles."He voiced our "utmost rejection" to attempts aimed at turning the army into a "scapegoat." Gemayel expressed rejection to "any attempt to hurl the army into political battles that are not … in the interest of Lebanon and its people."He warned against "persisting with attempts targeting the army and army morale … Such serious precedents would limit the effectiveness of the army in confronting future internal and external risks."Gemayel concluded by warning against hurling Lebanon "into the unknown." Beirut, 04 Feb 08, 19:53

Hezbollah warns Israel over death of Lebanese civilian
04.02.08 17:24
(dpa) - An official from the Lebanon-based Shiite group Hezbollah on Monday warned Israel that targeting Lebanese civilians "will not pass without retaliation" after a Lebanese man was killed by Israeli gunfire. Lebanese army sources said the man was killed and another wounded in an incident late Sunday on the outskirts of the village of Ghajjar at the border between Lebanon and Israel. The Israeli army said the two men had been armed and trying to smuggle drugs into Israel.
"We have said before that targeting Lebanese civilians will not pass without retaliation," Hezbollah MP Mohammed Haidar said.
"It is the right of the resistance Hezbollah to respond to any attack on any civilian," he added. Tensions between Israel and Lebanon have been high since the end of Israel's war with Hezbollah in 2006. Hezbollah Chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah warned last month that the group would retaliate against any attack on Lebanese civilians in southern Lebanon. Reports in Israel said Israeli troops opened fired on at least two armed men trying to infiltrate Israel's northern border with Lebanon, killing one and seriously wounding the other. UNIFIL spokeswoman Yasmina Bouziane said the United Nations force in Lebanon "has launched an immediate investigation to ascertain the facts, looking into initial allegations of smuggling."In November, 2007, Israeli troops in Ghajjar opened fire, slightly injuring one of two men trying to infiltrate Israel. The injured man was carrying a bag of illicit drugs. Last month, two Katyusha rockets were launched at northern Israeli town of Shlomi, inflicting damage and no casualties.Half of Ghajjar is under Israeli control and the other half is in Lebanon.

Hizbullah Vows Retaliation After Deadly Border Shooting Incident
Hizbullah MP Hussein Hajj Hassan on Monday vowed to retaliate for the deadly shooting by Israeli forces of a man across the border in southern Lebanon.
"This matter definitely will not pass in a way that the people will remain silent," Hajj Hassan said on LBC television. "It is the right of the resistance to respond one day by any means." The lawmaker decried the lack of international criticism of the Israeli firing. He said if the situation had been reversed, with an Israeli killed by fire from Lebanon, "you wouldn't imagine how many condemnations would have been issued ... as if a citizen on our side has no value."
Hajj Hassan did not threaten immediate retaliation. However, Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah warned in a recent speech that the group's patience was wearing thin with what he described as repeated Israeli violations of Lebanese territory. A Lebanese man was killed and another was wounded when Israeli troops opened fire on them near the border, security officials said Sunday. A Lebanese security official told Agence France Presse: "We believe that the two men were involved in a drug smuggling operation." A Lebanese military spokesman said that the two men were unarmed at the time of the incident and were on the Lebanese side of the border town of Ghajar. But an Israeli army spokesman said that an Israeli patrol had come under fire from the Lebanese side of Ghajar.
The Israeli military said it was responding to fire apparently from drug smugglers on the Lebanese side. Such shootings have been rare since the 2006 war between Israel and Hizbullah. The Israeli military said its soldiers came under fire in Ghajar, which is split between the two countries by a U.N.-demarcated line. The soldiers returned fire and identified a hit. There were no Israeli casualties.
Lebanese security officials said the two people were shot late Sunday along the Wazzani River in the southeastern corner of Lebanon across from Israeli positions in Ghajar. They were taken to a hospital in Marjayoun, where officials confirmed they had received one body and another person who was wounded.
U.N. peacekeeping troops, deployed in south Lebanon, said there was a "shooting incident in the area of Ghajar" and that it has started an "immediate investigation to ascertain the facts, looking into initial allegations of smuggling." Yasmina Bouziane, spokeswoman for the 13,000-strong force, known as UNIFIL, said in a statement that a Lebanese man was evacuated by peacekeepers to a hospital in Marjayoun, where he was later declared dead. Another individual was evacuated by the Lebanese army, the statement said. Bouziane said the UNIFIL commander, Maj. Gen. Claudio Graziano, "is in contact with senior officers on both sides, urging them to show maximum restraint." In November, Israeli troops in Ghajar opened fire, slightly injuring one of two men trying to infiltrate Israel. The injured man was carrying a bag of illicit drugs, the Israeli military said at the time. There have been other incidents along the border since 2006 but most have been resolved quietly with UNIFIL's intervention.
The most serious incident involved a shootout between Lebanese army troops and the Israeli army in February 2007 at Maroun al-Rass, an area of the border that was not clearly demarcated. Ghajar, at the foot of Mount Hermon straddling the border between Lebanon and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, is perched on a cliff overlooking the precious Wazzani spring, which has been a source of continuous dispute between Israel and Lebanon. It is inhabited mainly by Alawites, most of whom have obtained Israeli citizenship even though they consider themselves Syrian. According to a U.N.-drawn "blue line" marking the border between Israel and Lebanon following the May 2000 withdrawal of Israeli troops, two-thirds of the village is on Lebanese soil, while the other third is part of the Golan which Israel seized from Syria in 1967 and unilaterally annexed in 1981.(AP-AFP-Naharnet) Beirut, 04 Feb 08, 07:52

Jewish state's troops kill one man, wound another along Blue Line
By Mohammed Zaatari -Daily Star staff
Monday, February 04, 2008
SIDON: One Lebanese man was killed and another wounded on Sunday after Israeli forces opened fire on them near the divided border village of Ghajar, security sources said. The two were evacuated to a hospital in nearby Marjayoun, where one of them was pronounced dead, a source told The Daily Star. No information on the other's condition was available as the paper went to press. Ghajar is divided by the United Nations-drawn "Blue Line" that serves as a de facto border between the two countries. A Lebanese security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the circumstances of the incident were still unclear but postulated that it might be related to smuggling. Another source, however, said that the men were transferred to Ragheb-Harb Hospital in Nabatiyeh, which is linked to Hizbullah, raising the possibility that a resistance operation might have been under way.
According to AFP, an Israeli military spokesman said the Jewish state's fired in self-defense. "Shots were fired from Ghajar against an army force. The troops returned fire and [confirmed] hitting one gunman," the spokesman said. Israeli security sources said their troops suffered no casualties and imposed a curfew on the Israeli-controlled side of the village. Very few incidents have taken place on the Blue Line since the end of the summer 2006 war with Israel, after which the Lebanese Army and a beefed-up UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) deployed in strength in the border area. UNIFIL spokesman Yasmina Bouzianne confirmed the incident, adding that an investigation had been launched. She also said that UNIFIL's commander, Major General Claudio Graziano, had called senior officers in both Lebanon and Israel and urged them to restrain their forces. - With AFP

Army Hits Back at Hizbullah, Refuses to be Implicated in Political Bickering
Naharnet/The Lebanese army hit back at Hizbullah, saying it refused to be implicated in the political bickering which ensued after bloody riots in Beirut left seven people killed.
"Involving the army in political wrangling will only contribute to weakening the army," the army said in a communiqué Monday. The military command called on the various political factions to "distance the army from all political struggling in order to preserve" its unity, the statement said. It criticized what it called "cheap publicity which is far-away from all humanitarian and ethical values."Hizbullah MP Hussein Hajj Hassan on Monday accused "some army officers of not abiding by the mission and principles of the military."The army communiqué called on politicians against "jumping into erroneous conclusions or make insinuations to the tasks assigned to its officers and to their affiliations.""It is imperative that politicians assume responsibility and stay away from fabrications," it said. Beirut, 05 Feb 08, 08:21

Saniora Slams Army Skeptics
Naharnet/Premier Fouad Saniora on Tuesday rejected attempts to fuel skepticism in the army's capabilities and slammed those seeking to lower its morale. "We reject doubting the army," Saniora said during the launching ceremony of a campaign on power consumption at the Grand Serail. There are those who are seeking to fuel "skepticism and strike at the army's morale," Saniora said. "The issue of the power crisis has been used as a means to attack the government," he added.
Saniora's comments came a day after Hizbullah MP Hussein Hajj Hassan accused "some army officers of not abiding by the mission and principles of the military."
The Lebanese army also hit back at the legislator, saying it refused to be implicated in the political bickering which ensued after bloody riots in Beirut's suburbs left seven people killed.An investigation is underway to determine who was behind the killings during the riots which started as protests against alleged long spells of power cuts. Beirut, 05 Feb 08, 13:55

Lebanese Man Has No Intention to Leave Chad
They share a heavy dose of fatalism, years of experience of Africa and a relentless optimism: a hard core of 150 foreigners sheltering from the fighting in Chad at a French military base have no intention to quit. "It's nothing compared to the wars in Lebanon," says Fayez Bey Fadl, a tubby 53-year-old Lebanese.
His restaurant, which "does very well," is barely 100 meters from the presidential palace in a zone which has seen bitter combat between government troops and rebels. But so far, he says, it has not been damaged or looted. After 30 years in Africa, living through seven coups, Fayez Bey Fadl is philosophical. "Material things don't matter, if tomorrow my restaurant is destroyed, the day after tomorrow I will rebuild it." "We'll have a slap-up meal and you will all be my guests," he said, breaking out into a big laugh. "As long as you are alive, you can open up your restaurant where you like, in Chad, Djibouti or Central African Republic."
A few yards away is a khaki tent where foreigners arriving at the base have to go through rapid formalities, identity and baggage checks, before being issued with a pass. Alain Veau, a man in his sixties, is watching the scene out of the corner of his eye, as men women and tired children get out of French armored vehicles. A former bank employee, his only concern is for his Chadian wife, who stayed behind in Moundou, one of the big cities in the south of the country.
"When you know Africa well, you try not to panic," he explained. "In life, you have to keep a bit of optimism, whatever happens.""My goal is to find my wife. If we can start again in Chad, so much the better, but if not, we'll do it somewhere else," he said. Nevertheless Alain Veau was rattled by his experiences on Saturday. "We spent all day flat on our stomachs. There was shooting from all directions. You could hear the bullets whistling, the gunfire, as if it was in the room."
In the heavy heat of Ndjamena, other die-hards have taken refuge in the Oasis, the bar at the French base. Some are glued to news on the satellite news networks. Whenever Chad is mentioned, they turn up the volume. "Houses got shelled, bullets went through walls, that can happen but that won't make me leave," says Pascal Pommarel, 48, who is leader of a development project. But others are opting to go home. A Transall transport plane took off on Monday night from Ndjamena airport with 80 foreigners on board, bound first for the Gabonese capital Libreville and then Paris for some. For Chadian-born Natour, who has French nationality, "the hardest thing is the people you leave behind," she said at she climbed the steps onto the waiting plane.(AFP) Beirut, 05 Feb 08, 14:51

Moussa Asks: Have You Got a Replacement for Suleiman?
Arab League chief Amr Moussa said he would discuss with the various leaders in Beirut on Friday ways to implement a three-point Arab plan aimed at ending the prolonged political crisis. "I'm coming back to Beirut to discuss the Arab initiative. That's it," Moussa said in remarks published by the daily An Nahar Tuesday.
In response to a question on whether his mission will focus on electing army commander Gen. Michel Suleiman as president, Moussa asked: "Have you got another candidate?"Moussa said he had contacted Damascus, Saudi Arabia and Egypt and described the telephone conversations as "encouraging."
Moussa's return followed reports that Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri had informed the Arab League chief during a telephone conversation on Saturday that he rejects the "negative stances" by some sides regarding the Arab initiative.
Informed sources said Berri stressed to Moussa that Free Patriotic Movement leader Gen. Michel Aoun was willing to resume talks that could be sponsored by the Arab League chief. Moussa is expected to resume efforts aimed at organizing a meeting between Aoun, ex-President Amin Gemayel and Mustaqbal Movement leader Saad Hariri to discuss the three-point Arab plan. The plan calls for the election of Suleiman president, formation of a national unity government in which no one party has veto or majority powers, and adoption of a new electoral law. Another point to be discussed, according to the sources, is related to providing mutual guarantees between the warring political camps "to facilitate confidence-building" efforts. A leading Hizbullah figure said these two points could be considered as "factors assisting in building trust," without indicating whether they could lead to a settlement.
Electing Suleiman during a parliamentary session scheduled for Feb. 11, however, tops Moussa's agenda, according to the sources.
Hizbullah MP Hussein Hajj Hassan said Moussa is welcome in Lebanon if his visit is aimed at mediating between factions.
"The opposition is rejecting the suggested formulas on the establishment of the next government," Hajj Hassan said, adding that the opposition still adheres to the veto power, "or else there won't be a solution." Meanwhile, a ministerial source saw that stances by some opposition leaders, who continued to view Suleiman with deep suspicion following bloody riots in Beirut last week, slimmed chances of success for Moussa. Beirut, 05 Feb 08, 09:06

Suleiman: I Did Not Declare My Candidacy
Naharnet/Army commander Gen. Michel Suleiman stressed that he has not declared his candidacy for the 2008 presidential race.
"I did not declare my candidacy," Suleiman told senior army officers on Monday at the start of a series of briefings at the military command in suburban Yarze.
"I assumed that there was unanimous consensus on my candidacy, an option for a settlement which is in the best interest of all the Lebanese," Suleiman told his officers. His remarks were published by the daily As Safir on Tuesday. "I announced from the beginning that I am willing to bear any responsibility, but if another candidate emerges, then I will be the first one to give him my support and facilitate his mission in my capacity as army commander," Suleiman said.
He assured that "justice and equality before the law have been principles recognized by the army command for a long time" and vowed to stay on course.
Suleiman also stressed that Lebanon's enemies were Israel, terrorism and an attempt to destabilize the country's security. Beirut, 05 Feb 08, 10:13

Lebanon to Complain to U.N. Over Israeli Border Shooting
Naharnet/Lebanon would lodge a complaint with the United Nations about an incident in which Israeli soldiers shot dead a Lebanese man and wounded another.
Prime Minister Fouad Saniora's office said Saniora had "asked the Lebanese delegation to the United Nations to register a complaint against Israel with the Security Council, following the aggression against Lebanese territory." One man was killed and another wounded on Sunday when Israeli troops opened fire near the divided border village of Ghajar.A spokeswoman with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said UNIFIL had begun an investigation.
A Lebanese military spokesman said the two men were unarmed and on the Lebanese side of the border when the shooting took place.
Another official said the pair were suspected drug traffickers. But an Israeli army spokesman said that an Israeli patrol had come under fire from the Lebanese side of Ghajar. Ghajar, at the foot of Mount Hermon straddling the border between Lebanon and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, has been a source of continuous dispute between Israel and Lebanon. Its residents are mostly Alawites, the majority of whom have obtained Israeli citizenship even though they consider themselves to be Syrian. According to a U.N.-drawn "blue line" marking the border between Israel and Lebanon following the May 2000 withdrawal of Israeli troops, two-thirds of the village is on Lebanese soil. The other third is under Israeli control as part of the Golan which the Jewish state seized from Syria in 1967.(AFP)
Beirut, 05 Feb 08, 07:39

Iran Freeze's Lebanon's Presidential Election for a Year
Naharnet/Iran has decided to suspend Lebanon's presidential election until early 2009, when US. President George Bush ends his term in office, an-Nahar's Hiyam Kossaify wrote.With Bush in power, Sanctions would always be a "sword pointed at Iran regarding its nuclear file, which means that Tehran still needs its outlet at the Mediterranean, that is resistance weapons, in case a regional emergency required southern (Lebanese) backing," Kossaify wrote.
This, according to the article, means that the presidential election is more of a "leaf in blowing wind."
The majority, according to the writer, deals with the Iranian decision as a "fait accompli," but has not crystallized a unified stand on how to respond to it.
Lebanese ministerial circles, according to Kossaify, also link attempts to block the election of Army Commander Gen. Michel Suleiman to efforts aimed at speeding up formation of the international tribunal that would try suspects in the 2005 assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri and related developments.
She noted that it is more than just a coincidence that Police counter-terrorism Maj. Wissam Eid was assassinated a few hours after the United Nations appointed judges to the international tribunal, including the four Lebanese judges.
It also was more than a coincidence that Premier Fouad Saniora visited Riyadh the same day Eid was assassinated, she noted.
Kossaify disclosed that the basic reason for Saniora's visit was to ask for Saudi financial backing of the tribunal, a request that has been accepted by the kingdom.
She noted that shifting to the "operational phase" of the tribunal's path has "become a necessity," especially during the presidential void era.
Lebanese sources confirmed western information that moving a number of witnesses under U.N.-auspices out of Lebanon has started to guarantee their safety. Beirut, 05 Feb 08, 15:17

Running in place from Lebanon to Dimona
Haaretz-By Akiva Eldar
The suicide bombing in Dimona and the ongoing Qassam rocket fire on Sderot reveal that the "running in place" did not begin and end with the Second Lebanon War. The Winograd Committee asks how it is possible for a war that lasted more than a month to have ended with neither a diplomatic nor military victory. The war against Hamas has been going on for more than seven years, but victory seems about as close as the diplomatic horizon.
The committee complains that the strongest army in the Middle East, with complete air superiority and advantages of both size and technology, was unable to defeat Hezbollah, "a semi-military organization of a few thousand men." This same strong army, along with all the other Israeli security services, has been controlling the territories for more than 40 years and enjoys complete supremacy there, yet it has been unable to defeat Hamas, whose forces and weaponry are inferior to those of Hezbollah.
Yesterday's events prove that the policy makers have not learned the principal lesson of the Second Lebanon War. The Winograd Committee punted the opportunity it was offered to effect a real "change of direction," as the ground operation that the committee praises was called. Instead of focusing on the core issue of how a strong state deals with "a semi-military organization of a few thousand men," the committee runs in place between "the decision-making process" and "staff work." It resembles a boxing commentator who comments at length on the moves of one boxer while ignoring those of the other - as if each one's actions did not affect the other's responses.
The leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah understand that they have no power to defeat Israel by a knockout. It is enough for them to win a few points in Arab and Palestinian public opinion and gain a little sympathy from the West, via pictures of bleeding children and civilians who have lost their homes. Both organizations understand Israeli politicians' sensitivities about freeing captives and entice them to enter the arena. Had the ground operation in Lebanon lasted a few more days and ended in a "military victory," the hundreds of thousands of Shi'ite refugees who fled northward would have threatened to topple Fouad Siniora's government.
The United States warned Prime Minister Ehud Olmert about the danger of a Hezbollah takeover of Beirut, which would turn Lebanon into an Iranian satellite. A continuation of the fighting would have forced Israel to choose between submission to an American demand that it withdraw its forces and a confrontation with its most important ally. Arab states that initially supported the operation against Hezbollah, such as Saudi Arabia, had also begun to change direction and turn against Israel. There was a real fear that the reward of a glorious military achievement would ultimately prove to be a diplomatic loss.
Operation Defensive Shield was considered a military success. The Israel Defense Forces took over the strongholds of Palestinian militancy and significantly reduced the number of terror attacks. But the operation did not solve any strategic problems. Indeed, the situation has gotten worse. The pragmatic Palestinian camp collapsed and gave way to militant Islamists. Today, Hamas controls the Gaza Strip, and the security services fear that the West Bank will go next. Hamas has already succeeded in causing friction between Israel and Egypt, and Jordan is worried about the danger of an angry Palestinian mob breaking down the West Bank's eastern border.
In Olmert's "defense," one can note that his good friend President George W. Bush, the leader of the world's greatest power, also learned the hard way that military superiority is not always a guarantee of victory. The U.S. occupied Iraq via a crushing air operation and a determined ground operation, and ever since it has been running in place there and counting its dead. Nor is Olmert the only one afflicted with this mental block: His main rival, former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, also never learned the limits of force. Netanyahu admitted to the Winograd Committee that he supported the war in Lebanon because "the goals set by the cabinet were worthy ones."
The asymmetry in the conflict with the Palestinians, like that in the Lebanese theater, makes Israel's military superiority an irrelevancy, and sometimes even a double-edged sword. Instead of striving for military victories, Israel would do better to strive for diplomatic achievements. After seven years in which it has tried to advance vital aims via warfare, freezes and unilateral withdrawals, it has returned to square one: an attempt to reach a diplomatic agreement that would include security arrangements. The problem is that in this theater, too, we are continuing to run in place all the way to the next conflict without victory.

This article appears in the February 8, 2008 issue of Executive Intelligence Review.
A New Sykes-Picot Tragedy
Or Mideast Peace?
by Dean Andromidas
http://www.larouchepub.com/other/2008/3506sykes_or_me_peace.html
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak was asked by the Washington Post's Lally Weymouth, in an interview published Jan. 26, "Do you think that the Syrian track should be pursued?" He replied, "I think that we have shown ... a respect for Syria, its interests and its leaders. We expect from them to do the same regarding Israel. If this basic kind of element will be there, I think a Syrian track is ... potentially positive." Weymouth went on: "I thought the U.S. has opposed Israel negotiating with Syria." Barak replied, "I think they realized in recent years that we understand the Syrian issue better."
Lyndon LaRouche has insisted, since last Autumn, that a negotiated Israeli-Syrian peace is attainable in the near term, and is indispensable to unlock the potential for Israeli-Palestinian peace, and change the dynamic of the region from war to peace. Yet, since the November 2007 Annapolis conference, there has been no progress on the Israeli-Syrian peace front, because the Bush Administration refuses to back such an initiative, a refusal that plays directly into the hands of British gamemasters who are orchestrating global mayhem in the midst of international financial collapse. In the last weeks, the stalemate in the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks has led to an escalation of violence, while in Lebanon, the renewed violence has rekindled fears of civil war, like that which ravaged Lebanon in the 1970s and '80s. Meanwhile, despite desire for peace on both sides, war between Israel and Syria is not being ruled out.
Pointing to a British hand, LaRouche, in a recent comment on the situation, cautioned that most players in the region still do not understand the British role in creating and managing the chaos. They do not understand that "the British do not like to fight wars," said LaRouche. "The British want to set up two opponents to fight and destroy each other." That is what is going on in Lebanon, Iran, and elsewhere in Southwest Asia, he said.
Blair: Her Majesty's High Commissioner
LaRouche has underscored that the British run the Middle East, just as they have since the infamous Sykes-Picot agreement of World War I, in which Britain and France divided the defeated Ottoman Empire between them. Today, as then, they have a High Commissioner for the region—this time in the person of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. From his position as special envoy of the so-called Quartet of Middle East mediators (the United Nations, European Union, the United States, and Russia), Blair is in a hands-on position to influence war and peace in the region.
The crucial role he played in initiating the disastrous Iraq War makes Blair a dubious "peace" negotiator. As envoy to the Quartet, he is under no formal oversight, as he would be as a United Nations envoy. Nonetheless, he has an enormous expense account, paid out of the millions of dollars in economic aid which keeps the Palestinian National Authority and its impoverished population on life support. While Palestinians are suffering the ravages of occupation, including unemployment, malnutrition, and the daily fear of death, the "Quartet Blair Mission," as it is described in the lease, has rented no fewer than ten rooms in the American Colony Hotel, the only five-star hotel in East Jerusalem, at the annual cost of $1,334,082. This is in addition to Blair's rented townhouse office in a swank section of London.
Questions are being asked: Who does Blair work for? The Quartet, which has been dysfunctional since its formation? Or the two major financial institutions which have just hired him as a consultant, JPMorgan Chase and Zürich Financial Services, the Swiss insurance corporation from which he reportedly receives £500,000 per year?
By his actions, or lack thereof, he is serving the same British gamemasters who provoked the Iraq War. As economic aid czar for the Palestinians, Blair has accomplished nothing, at a time when all sane observers agree that improving the everyday living conditions of Palestinians is a key factor in creating the preconditions for peace.
The only way the process can go forward politically is to secure a rapprochement between Fatah and Hamas, and dropping the British policy of fostering civil war between the two Palestinian factions. The civil war scenario has been the policy implemented by U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor Elliott Abrams, since Hamas won the election in January 2006.
According to a Jan. 23 Times of London report, Abed Rabbo, chief Palestinian negotiator, gave Blair a "5% chance" of success, because Blair refuses to use what is seen as his enormous prestige to pressure Israel. One Palestinian businessman told the Times that Blair has done nothing to press Israel to lift the roadblocks in the Palestinian territories, or to stop Israel denying the Palestinians access to Israel's sea and air ports. Instead, Blair has several pet projects for which he is trying to raise billions, including industrial parks which would do nothing for the Palestinians.
"He is talking about industrial parks, and none of these are going to work from our own past experiences, because that industrial park is going to be inside Palestinian territory and goods need to move in and out," said businessman Abdull Malik al-Jaber. "It looks good in front of the international media to say that we have raised $7 billion in Paris. The question is, how many jobs is it going to create each month in Palestine? His mandate is to help the Palestinian economy, and there is no way on earth you can help the Palestinians' economy without removing the obstacles."
A Modern Warsaw Ghetto
Blair has done nothing to pressure the Israelis to lift the siege they have imposed on the 21st Century's Warsaw Ghetto, also known as the Gaza Strip. Nor has he tried to convince the Israelis to allow cement to enter, for the completion of a desperately needed sewage treatment plant. Failure to complete the plant within the next three months will have disastrous consequences for Gaza's already meager and polluted water supply. In fact, neither Blair nor any of his team have stepped foot in Gaza since Blair took his position.
Blair's failure directly contributed to the breakout of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, who crashed down the wall separating the Gaza Strip from Egypt, at the end of January. Some 700,000 Palestinians crossed over into Egypt in search of food, fuel, and other supplies that they have been unable to purchase because of the Israeli siege. The siege has almost collapsed the United Nations Works and Relief Agency's food distribution operation, which supplies food to almost half of Gaza's 1.5 million people. The Warsaw Ghetto-type conditions have spread outrage in the Arab population throughout the region, especially in Egypt, where the Muslim Brotherhood has strong ties to Hamas. The latter had conducted a mobilization in support of the suffering Palestinians in Egypt itself, which forced the Egyptian authorities to allow the breaking down of the wall.
Any chance for a peace agreement requires a rapprochement between Fatah and Hamas, but this remains deadlocked. As LaRouche said last November, and reiterated on Jan. 30, the road to such an agreement is best negotiated through Damascus, where the greatest possibility for a settlement exists. Since almost every detail of an Israel-Syria agreement is widely known, and has largely been worked out, LaRouche said that an Israeli-Syrian accord would create the context for progress on the overall peace front. "You need to take a step," said LaRouche, "and this is the best chance."
Growing Tensions in Lebanon
Almost the same day that Ehud Barak told the Washington Post that Israel was ready for peace talks, the worst incident of violence in Lebanon since the end of the civil war left eight civilians dead and 29 wounded on Jan. 26. The massacre took place in south Beirut, a political base for the Hezbollah and Amal opposition parties. Riots began when a member of the Shi'ite Amal movement was shot dead, during a demonstration protesting inflation in energy prices and the cut-off of electricity. Police reports indicated that several of those killed were victims of snipers posted atop surrounding buildings. This violence came only two days after the assassination by car-bomb of a senior Lebanese police intelligence officer.
A well-informed Beirut-based intelligence source said that the killing of the eight demonstrators appeared to have been an attempt to implicate the Lebanese Army in firing on Shi'ite protesters. Given the sectarian nature of the Lebanese political system—divided among the Shi'ite community, mostly represented by Hezbollah and Amal, and the Christian and Sunni Muslim communities—any undermining of the neutrality of the Lebanese Army, which represents all sectors, could be a prelude to civil war. Hezbollah has demanded an investigation to see whether the Army was responsible for the shootings, and if not, who was. The source reported that Hezbollah does not believe the Army was to blame. Its leader, Gen. Michel Sleiman, had been endorsed as a unity Presidential candidate by both government and opposition circles, because of his reputation for fairness.
This provocation comes while there is a stalemate in the government crisis in Lebanon, where both the ruling coalition and the opposition must elect a new President and agree on a new power-sharing arrangement. In early December 2007, the Lebanese factions were very close to agreeing on the election of Sleiman, reported Lebanese sources, but that deal is on the verge of falling apart, threatening to leave a dangerous vacuum. The source mentioned above, reports that the failure to elect Sleiman is directly linked to the visit of White House envoys David Welsh from the State Department, and Cheney-man Elliott Abrams. These two reportedly told the government coalition of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and the March 14 movement, to stall the vote on forming a government for several months—at which time events would be "more favorable" to them.
On Jan. 15, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, secretary general of Hezbollah, delivered a speech in which he referenced the intervention by the U.S. officials, and questioned whether they were referring to an attack on Iran or Syria, or were scheming to get Israel to attack Hezbollah in south Lebanon. He warned that after Israel's failed war against Lebanon in July 2006, its leaders would have to think "a thousand times" before an attack, which this time would surely include an attack on Syria.
Nightmare Scenarios
Political crises in Lebanon, Palestinian-Israeli violence, and tensions along the Egyptian-Israeli border have served historically as tinder for Mideast conflagrations. The release in Israel, the week of Jan. 21, of the long-awaited report of the Winograd Commission, which investigated the Israeli government and military performance in the Lebanon War, revealed just how disastrous that war was.
"Israel embarked on a prolonged war that it initiated, which ended without a clear Israeli victory from a military standpoint," retired Justice Eliyahu Winograd, chairman of the commission, told a press conference. "A quasi-military organization withstood the strongest army in the Middle East for weeks. Hezbollah rocket fire on the Israeli homefront continued throughout the war, and the IDF [Israeli Defense Forces] failed to provide an effective defense. Daily life was disrupted, residents left their homes and entered bomb shelters. These results had far-reaching consequences for us and our enemies." The panel found "severe failures and faults in the decision-making process, both in the political echelon and the military echelon."
Tom Segev of the Israeli daily Ha'aertz, a historian and commentator, commented on the commission report that, "the main question that should have been the focus of discussion was whether this war was essential. Or if it was not essential, then it was superfluous. There are no other types of war."
As for the military failings, Segev wrote that the commission failed to answer or even consider, "To what extent have 40 years of occupation affected the ability of the Israeli Defense Forces to protect the country? Or, in other words, does the IDF train its soldiers to fight, or does it mainly teach them to oppress the Palestinian population?"
All experts agree that the next Israeli-Lebanese war would see Israel attacking Syria, whose conventional missile arsenal can strike anywhere in Israel.
These nightmare scenarios would all disappear if a Syrian-Israeli peace process were initiated. There is a widespread consensus that a Syrian-Israeli peace, brokered by the good offices of the United States Presidency, could be negotiated within weeks.